Development and validation of the Cozart DDS oral fluid collection device

The testing of oral fluid for drugs of abuse has increased significantly over recent years and is now commonplace in drug rehabilitation clinics, the workplace, prisons and custody suites. The global problem of identifying drugged drivers has also led to an increase in oral fluid testing at the roadside. The main requirements for the implementation of roadside drug testing are a rapid sample collection time, collection of a known sample volume and recovery of drugs from the collection device. We report here the development of the Cozart^® DDS oral fluid collector, an oral fluid collector that combines rapid and adequate sample collection with satisfactory drug recovery. Oral fluid was collected from drug users (n = 134) and drug-free individuals (n = 137), using the Cozart^® DDS oral fluid collector. The mean time for the completion of collection (full coloration of the sample presence indicator) was 34 s for drug-free individuals and 44 s for drug users. The average volume collected was 0.34 mL (n = 271). No chemical stimulant (to induce salivation) was used to achieve the collection times observed in either the drug-free or the drug-taking sample populations. Drugs were extracted from the collector using the Cozart^® DDS buffer and drug recovery was determined by Cozart^® enzyme immunoassays. The recovery studies showed that for amphetamine, Δ⁹THC, cocaine, methadone, methamphetamine, morphine and temazepam over 90% of the drug in the sample was eluted from the collector. The Cozart^® DDS oral fluid collector provides a reliable mechanism for the collection of oral fluid at the roadside that achieves the rapid collection times required.     

Shorter notes

John B. Dwyer, Seaborne Deception: The History of the U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers (New York: Praeger, 1992).

A.B. Feuer (ed.), Coast‐watching in the Solomon Islands: The Bougenville Reports, December 1941–1943 (New York: Praeger, 1992).     

Gas chromatographic and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of gasoline in a case of gasoline vapor and alcohol poisoning

A case of fatal poisoning due to the combined effect of alcohol and gasoline following an automobile accident is described. Toxicological analyses by means of gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry permitted the identification and quantitation of alcohol and several hydrocarbons in the heart blood and in the gas in the lung. Great variation was found in the estimates of blood gasoline concentration, depending on which of six constituents of gasoline was chosen for quantitation. The cause of this variation is discussed, together with the possible mechanisms leading to death.     

Professional Divestiture: The Cession of Responsibility for Lawyer Discipline

Lawyer-discipline systems underwent substantial reorganization in a majority of states during the 1970s, with responsibility for their operation moving from the bar associations in which they had been located for almost a century to agencies of the state supreme courts. While this transfer of the locus of lawyer discipline resulted in a diminution of the power of the organized bar, it encouraged the professionalization of the process. In this paper the reasons for the willingness of the bar associations in Illinois to cede control over such a central component of professional regulation are examined and their implications for the sociology of the legal profession discussed. Unable to maintain the status quo in the face of extensive criticism, the Illinois bar associations chose not to meet the high costs of upgrading the discipline process but rather to divest themselves of a function that, although at one time central to their identity and authority, had become inconvenient and damaging to their image. It is suggested that the bar associations were willing to countenance such a divestiture because their positions as collective representatives of the profession in Illinois were secure and the major parameters of lawyer discipline well established. Whereas immediate control over self-regulation processes may be necessary during the developmental phase of professionalism, it is not so important once the profession has achieved a dominant market position.     

Socialism after communism?: The socioeconomic and cultural foundations of left politics in post-soviet russia

This article examines socioeconomic foundations of leftist politics in post-Soviet Russia. It is often argued that the reemergence of left politics is the result of contingent factors connected to transitional crises. While this is one source of strength for the left, there are two more important and enduring sources: a “socialist value culture” among a large majority of Russians, and an emerging pseudo-capitalist system that is creating “traditional” class-based and left-leaning attitudes and affiliations among particular social groups. The article examines the extent of this value culture and the emergence of these attitudes and affiliations through an analysis of statistical data and interviews conducted with Russian workers and intelligentsia figures from 1994–1997.     

Microscopical study on estimation of time since death in skeletal remains

For the purpose of estimating time since death in skeletal remains, postmortem changes in human compact bones were examined by microradiography and electron microscopy. The UV-fluorescence of the peripheral zone of compact bone was also examined by microscopic spectrophotometry. Microradiographic examination revealed no morphological changes in bones left in the open air for long periods, except one of 15 years since death. In bones left in the soil, vacuoles of 5-10 microns diameter, which contained a honeycomb-like structure formed by small vacuoles of 0.5-1 microns diameter, were found in the peripheral zone of the substantia compacta approximately 5 years since death, and in bones of 6 years or more, this change extended to the mid-zone. In bones left in the sea for 4-5 years, vacuoles of 5-10 microns diameter were observed in the outer peripheral zone of the substantia compacta. The relative intensity of UV-fluorescence in bones dwindled with time since death and the correlation coefficient was considerably high.     

Avoiding blame,doing good,and claiming credit: Reforming Canadian income security

Abstract: This article examines federal legislation, An Act to Amend the Canada Pension Plan and the Old Age Security Act (Bill C-36), from the vantage point of the contemporary politics of welfare state reform. Government decisions on the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) made in the 1990s noticeably generated political and administrative feedback to the policy agenda and policy development processes. Bill C-36 was the response by policy-makers to solve these issues and use the occasion to make other changes they had been contemplating. The legislative reforms contained the imposition of specific losses for one group; the introduction of benefits for another group, both geographically diffuse clienteles; and, for all covered by these programs, modest improvements in service provision. Inside the federal public service, officials responsible for the CPP Disability program acted effectively as policy entrepreneurs, making use of a window of opportunity, and the necessity of amending the legislation, prompted by the focusing event of a critical audit report.