Nachruf auf Winfried Steffani

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Identification of sinicuichi alkaloids in human serum after intoxication caused by oral intake of a Heimia salicifolia extract

A 26-year-old male came to hospital around midnight complaining about muscle pain of the extremities as well as the tongue and slightly raised temperature. He reported the intake of an unknown amount of sinicuichi tea he had fermented over 24 h by adding yeast and sugar. The patient was treated with Vomex A (dimenhydrinate) and released from hospital the following afternoon. A blood sample taken shortly after submission and a small amount of the used plant material were available for analysis. Herbal drugs are widely used as stimulants as a legal alternative to illegal psychoactive drugs or in traditional context. Among many others like Sassafras officinalis, Salvia divinorum or Ephedra, Heimia salicifolia ("sinicuichi"), a species of the lythraceae family, is available via several online shops. Brewed up or fermented and consumed, the so-called sinicuichi tea may cause exhilarating feelings and an alteration of awareness accompanied by bradycardia, relaxation of the muscles and a pleasant faintness. Therefore Sinicuichi brew and heimia leaves are widely used for medication by the natives of Central and South America. After liquid extraction with acetone five different alkaloids were detected in the plant material by LC-MS/MS operated in the Q1 scan mode applying a TurboIonSpray source. Subsequently, Product Ion Spectra were recorded and after confirming the molecular formula by determining the accurate masses, possible structures of H. salicifolia alkaloids were assigned. The information of the Product Ion Spectra was then used to set up a sensitive multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method. Applying the MRM method to the patient's serum sample after alkaline liquid-liquid extraction all of the five heimia alkaloids detected in the plant material were also detected qualitatively in the serum extract, confirming the ingestion.     

Vital animal predation of the genital region caused by a mongrel dog

A 79-year-old man, who was in a helpless situation due to cardiac decompensation, suffered dog bite injuries on the left thigh and in the genital region while still alive. Two extensive soft-tissue defects with contused and bruised wound edges were surrounded by multiple slit-like skin lesions. The outer genitals were almost completely missing. Because of surgical emergency treatment, molecular biological investigations were no longer possible. Therefore, the cause of the bite injuries had to be determined solely on the basis of the documented morphology of the wounds.     

Informal Circles of Ministers: A Way Out of the EU's Institutional Dilemmas?

This contribution argues that the particular relevance of informal circles of ministers lies in their ability to routinise and communise the process of the interpretation of constitutional norms at the intergovernmental level. The informal setting triggers a particular mode of interaction—deliberative intergovernmentalism. In the case of economic policy coordination among the euro–zone countries, which is analysed in this article, this interaction produces common standards for the assessment of the economic situation in the member states and guidelines on appropriate policy responses in particular budgetary and economic situations. In a situation, in which there is growing need for closer policy coordination but European Union member states are reluctant to transfer further decision–making competences to the supranational level, the mediation between diverging interpretations of the rather 'thin' formal constitutional norms governing the coordination process is crucial in order to ensure the overall stability of the coordination framework. Informal circles of ministers can therefore be a way out of the current institutional dilemmas arising from the attitude of national governments to move towards new areas of common engagement while being increasingly reluctant to transfer further formal decision–making competences to the supranational level.     

Accounting. Die Macht der Zahlen im gegenwärtigen Kapitalismus

Calculative schemes (e.g. gross national product, rate of unemployment, return on investment) are tools for the control of contemporary capitalist societies as well as means for its self-perception. Politically the power of numbers draws on its institutionally secured ability to define, respectively reconstruct, relevant ends and performance-parameters for organizations as well as individuals or entire systems of action. Moreover, the calculative practices of accounting represent socially and individually hardly contestable patterns, shaping or even constituting the construction of our selfs as well as constellations of social problems, being part of the overall constructive process of the world and attaching meaning to it. This article outlines relevant aspects of accounting-research in the Anglo-Saxon context on the level of organization, profession and the individual, and points to some theoretical shortcomings particularly of the so-called post-modern strand in this field. However, an analysis of the calculative practices of accounting will contribute to a better understanding of contemporary capitalism.     

Delinquency as a symptom of adolescents' orientation toward status and success

In this paper, we follow the premise that delinquency in adolescence is a by-product of struggles with developmental tasks. In an empirical analysis of a survey of 1717 West German adolescents aged between 12 and 16, we found evidence that delinquency was associated with adolescents' conformity to society's standards of prestige and success. Data are presented that show a relationship between delinquency and inability to succeed at school, on the one hand, and failure to achieve full recognition of status and prestige in the peer group, on the other hand. The findings provide evidence that difficulties and problems connected with the integration into the network of academic performance, as well as difficulties and problems connected with recognition within the peer group, are associated with delinquency.This research was supported by the Center for Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence at the University of Bielefeld, funded by grants from the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft).Received Ph.D. in social psychology, from University of Münster, Federal Republic of Germany. Research interests: developmental problems in adolescence and prevention of problem behavior.Received Ph.D. in sociology from University of Hanover, Federal Republic of Germany. Research interests: research methods and problem behavior in adolescence.