Book reviews

Derek Bok, The State of the Nation (Harvard University Press, Cambridge and London, 1996), 483 pp., ISBN 0–674–29210–3

Philip J. Davies and Frederic A. Waldstein (eds), Political Issues in America Today: the 1990s Revisited (Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 1996), 275 pp., ISBN 0–7190–4225–9

Marino Regini, Uncertain Boundaries. The Social and Political Construction of European Economies (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995), 164 pp., ISBN 0–521–473771–3

Dietrich Rometsch and Wolfgang Wessels (eds), The European Union and Member States: Towards Institutional Fusion? (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1996), xvii + 382 pp., ISBN 0–7190–4809–5 (hb)

Stephen D. Morris, Political Reform in Mexico. An Overview of Contemporary Mexican Politics (Rienner, Boulder and London, 1995), x + 262pp., ISBN 1–55587–594–7 (pb)

Atilio Boron, State, Capitalism, and Democracy in Latin America (Rienner, Boulder and London, 1995), x + 262 pp., ISBN 1–55587–508–4 (hb)

Alexander Stille, Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and Death of the First Italian Republic (Vintage, London, 1995), 467 pp., ISBN 9–59–959491–9 (pb)

David Westerlund (ed), Questioning the Secular State: The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics (Hurst, London, 1996), 428 pp., ISBN 1–85065–241–4     

Postmortem urine immunoassay showing false-positive phencyclidine reactivity in a case of fatal tramadol overdose

This is a report of postmortem false-positive reactivity using an enzyme-multiplied urine phencyclidine (PCP) immunoassay (EMIT II+) due to a single-agent fatal tramadol overdose. An autopsy of a 42-year-old male who died alone at home revealed no identifiable lethal anatomic abnormalities, thus leading to toxicologic analysis. Femoral blood was obtained for drug testing by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and showed a tramadol level of 14.0 mg/L, 2 orders of magnitude greater than the therapeutic range (0.1 to 0.3 mg/L). Urine was also obtained and EMIT II+ immunoassay revealed positivity for PCP at 88 mAU/min. However, confirmatory testing by HPLC failed to identify PCP in either the urine or serum. To verify the suspicion that this was a false-positive PCP result, stock solutions of tramadol and its major metabolite (O-desmethyltramadol) at concentrations of 100 mg/L in 10% methanol/H2O were compared with a blank solution (10% methanol/H2O) for EMIT II+ PCP reactivity and demonstrated reactivities of 44 mAU/min and 27 mAU/min, respectively. While these individual results were below the cutoff reactivity for a positive EMIT II+ PCP result (ca. 85 mAU/min), they were much more reactive than the blank calibrator (set at 0 mAU/min). Therefore, we conclude that the immunoreactivity of tramadol and its metabolites in aggregate is responsible for the PCP immunoassay interference and false-positive result.     

Genetic analysis of the populations from Northern and Mesopotamian provinces of Argentina by means of 15 autosomal STRs

The allele frequencies for the 15 short tandem repeats included in the Power Plex-16 kit (Promega Corp., Madison, WI, USA) were determined in a sample of 429 unrelated individuals from five provinces of the Northern and Northeastern regions of Argentina. Three Northern provinces including Salta, Formosa and Chaco and two within the region surrounded by the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers commonly known as the Argentine Mesopotamia, including Misiones and Corrientes. Since in this region Entre Ríos Province is also present, previously published results were used for comparison. The calculated parameters: polymorphism information content (PIC); discrimination power (DP); matching probability (MP); typical paternity index (TPI) and power of exclusion (PE) showed Penta E to be the most valuable marker from the studied sample set. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations using the Bonferroni correction for the number of loci analyzed, except D3S1358 in Salta and THO1 in Formosa provinces. Population differentiation test revealed that the Salta population sample data denoted significant differences for various loci when compared with the other province information presented here in, as well as with other published data sets.     

“Thinking About Makin’ It”: Black Canadian Students’ Beliefs Regarding Education and Academic Achievement

Black Canadians share many aspects of the historical experiences of African Americans, but there are also important differences. One similarity between these two groups is the persistent academic underachievement of Black adolescents. Although this is a subject of widespread concern in both countries, it has received little empirical scrutiny in Canada. We address this shortcoming by examining the academic and achievement-related beliefs of Black high school students in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Halifax. Despite significant regional differences most participants believed that schooling could lead to success for them. Females’ attitudes and beliefs regarding education were more positive than those of males. Perceived parental values and support were strong predictors of participants’ attitudes and school marks; socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived peer support were non-significant correlates of academic outcomes. We discuss the results in terms of the germane US research, and highlight the implications of the findings for understanding diversity among Black Canadian youth.Received PhD from the University of Toronto. Areas of research include educational and psychological correlates of ethnic and racial identity in Black Canadians.Received PhD from the University of Toronto. Research focuses on the cultural dimensions of friendship.Received PhD from the University of Toronto. Research interests include adolescent development, social justice, and children’s rights-related thinking and knowledge.     

Melbourne (1835–1927): The Birth of a Music City

Music heritage in cities has become a significant area of interest in the twenty-first century because it is linked to profitable music tourism and a growing cultural economy. Melbourne, the Victorian state capital, is used as a case study; in March 2013, the city was unofficially crowned Australia’s music capital because it, at the time, had the most music venues and a vibrant music economy. However, this paper argues that this identification is somewhat ahistorical for two reasons. Firstly, it leaves out the colonial and gold rush prehistory of Melbourne’s music culture. Secondly, it omits the critical recognition of Melbourne’s (and Australia’s) first international music superstar exports, such as opera diva Dame Nellie Melba (nee Helen Porter Mitchell), who was named after her home town of Melbourne, and pianist prodigy and composer Percy (Aldridge) Grainger. Drawing on a textual analysis of government policies, economic reports, and the work of historians, musicologists and journalists, this paper synergises the history of Melbourne’s music culture from its colonial beginnings in 1835, until 1927, when the city was no longer Australia’s political capital. It identifies four early stages of Melbourne’s musical development, which laid the foundations for iconic music venues, Australia’s first opera company, music entrepreneurs, and the initial nurturing of the nation’s first music superstars in Melba and Grainger.     

The Contraceptive Self-Efficacy Scale: Analysis in Four Samples

Previous research has established a relationship between Contraceptive Self-Efficacy (CSE), as measured by the 18-item CSE scale, and young women's contraceptive behavior (Bilodeau, Forget, and Tetreault, 1994; Heinrich, 1993; Levinson, 1986; Wright, 1992). In this paper, we continue to explore the scale and its relationship to contraceptive behavior with four diverse samples to establish generalizability and to set guidelines for use of the scale. A series of correlational analyses were conducted with each sample. A pattern of low correlations among CSE items across samples emerged, indicating that use of the total item set separately as the basis for CSE was warranted. Zero-order and partial correlations revealed which CSE items were correlated with contraceptive behavior as well as which items explained unique variance in contraceptive behavior for each sample. Regression analyses showed that CSE was significantly predictive of contraceptive behavior for all samples. These results are discussed in terms of scale properties and use in research and clinical settings. Educational implications are formulated as well.