Why did CPSU reform fail? The 28th Party Congress Reconsidered

This article considers the reasons for the failure to reform the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which was central to the Soviet collapse. Using a wide range of party and other archives, it challenges the conventional view that power was concentrated in the hands of a very conservative party apparat that was able to frustrate any attempt at reform. Focusing on the issue of party renewal at the 28th Party Congress of 1990, it argues that party reformers, including many party secretaries, made serious efforts to change a hierarchically organised vanguard party into a social democratic one at about this time. Their eventual failure was due more than anything else to the reformers' lack of an organised movement and Gorbachev's indecisiveness.     

Hair analysis for drug abuse, Part II. Hair analysis for monitoring of methamphetamine abuse by isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Sectional analysis of methamphetamine abuser's hair was performed by using stable-isotope dilution GC/MS method. Drug concentrations of hair shaft cut into 2-cm sections from the root side were compared with the self-reported drug histories of 11 cases and the results of experiments on monkeys. It was found that in nine of the 11 cases, the relationship between the results of sectional analysis and drug histories coincided, but the sectional analyses of two cases were not consistent with self-reported drug history. The difference in drug concentrations between the regions of scalp hair was also investigated. Our study suggests that hair analysis, especially sectional analysis, may be useful in determining past drug history even though it is not exact.     

Sex determination from plucked human hairs without epithelial root sheath. II. Depigmentation of melanin in the hair cortex before Feulgen reaction

In hair roots devoid of the epithelial root sheath, an attempt was made to decolorize the melanin granules without affecting the Feulgen reaction for the sex chromatin. The hair samples were treated with 0.25% potassium permanganate for 1 hour, 0.3% hydrogen peroxide for 1 minute and 5% oxalic acid for 5 minutes, and then stained with Feulgen. The frequency of sex chromatins ranged from 22% to 47% (average 32%) in female samples and from 0% to 8% (average 5%) in male samples. Thus, the frequency distributions of the male and female samples were completely independent of each other. The sex chromatins in dried female hairs were detectable at a frequency of 16 – 26% several weeks after plucking. The depigmentation procedure almost completely bleached the melanin granules in the hair cortex, and produced no harmful effect on the Feulgen reaction that followed.     

An Autopsy Case of Acute Massive Hematochezia Caused by Superior Mesenteric Vein Thrombosis: A First Report in Forensic Medicine

Superior mesenteric vein thrombosis (SMVT) is an uncommon cause of intestinal ischemia and massive gastrointestinal bleeding. This report describes a man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis, who died of massive hematochezia due to SMVT. A medicolegal autopsy disclosed a thrombus at the superior mesenteric vein and hemorrhagic infarction of the bowel wall, an area also within the territory of the superior mesenteric vein. Liver cirrhosis, an enlarged spleen, and esophageal varices without rupture were also observed, but ulcers and variceal bleeding were not. Other organs showed no significant findings. His blood alcohol level was 0.14% w/v. Thus, this man died from severe hematochezia associated with SMVT due to liver cirrhosis and alcohol dehydration, which can lead to coagulopathy and rapid progress of thrombus formation. This is the first report on an alternate cause for massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage with a cirrhotic patient in a forensic autopsy.     

Why do states join US-led military coalitions?: The compulsion of the coalition's missions and legitimacy

Why do states join US-led military coalitions? The war/dispute-diffusionliterature suggests that opportunity and willingness are crucialdeterminants of coalition participation (Siverson and Starr, 1990,1991). A state joins a coalition if it has a strong interestin war and enough capability to send armed forces abroad. Alliancestudies connect coalition participation problems with the reliabilityof allied countries (Leeds, 2003; Gartzke and Gleditsch, 2004).These studies seem to provide a fairly good picture on the question;however, they are not free of problems. In particular, theystudy only coalitions for interstate war and militarized disputesbut ignore coalitions for other purposes. Coalitions can beformed for military operations other than war (Kober, 2002).There are coalitions for humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping,and even for the evacuation of noncombatants. This article showshow difference in operation-types and collective legitimacyaffect the decision of a state to participate in US-led coalitions.A coalition with United Nations' authorization may appear tobe a legitimate international ‘police’ act and attractmore partner states. A coalition for intervention into domesticaffairs may be less attractive to possible participants becauseof the violation of the noninterference norm of internationallaw. Statistical analysis on United States coalition partnersfrom 1950 to 1999 suggests that how and for what purposes coalitionsare formed cannot be overlooked. Coalition participation isnot fully explained by the existing perspectives found in war/dispute-diffusionliterature and alliance studies, and there is a need to invoke‘the compulsion of the coalition's missions and legitimacy’. Received for publication November 16, 2005. Accepted for publication April 20, 2006.     

Sudden death due to undiagnosed intracranial hemangiopericytoma

A previously healthy 9-year-old Japanese boy with a 4-day history of vomiting and headache died suddenly and unexpectedly. An external examination revealed no abnormalities other than foam around the mouth and nose. An internal examination revealed severe pulmonary edema and hemorrhagic hemangiopericytoma arising from the choroid plexus of the right lateral ventricle. The cause of death was thought to be neurogenic pulmonary edema caused by the rapid growth of a hemangiopericytoma, with intratumoral hemorrhage.     

Estimating age of humans based on telomere shortening

To estimate age using DNA based on telomere shortening, we determined the terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length, as telomere length, using Southern blot analysis of peripheral human blood and blood stains. All blood stains had been stored at room temperature for 5 months. The average TRF length clearly showed a tendency to shortening with aging. The formula for age estimation was based on a correlation between average TRF length and age of the subjects. The estimated age calculated from TRF length widely depends on environmental and genetic factors. However, as long as the DNA is well preserved, use of our method is feasible regardless of age of the subject and can give a rough estimation of age of subjects in forensic samples that carry no morphological information.