Differences in Handwritings of Schizophrenia Patients and Examination of the Change after Treatment

The aim of this study was to analyze the differences between the handwritings of schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects in addition to the changes that occurred in schizophrenia patients' handwriting in response to the treatment. The test subjects were 29 schizophrenia patients and 29 healthy individuals with the same age, gender, and dominant hand. The changes in the handwritings were examined according to 14 different parameters. On the day of admittance, the percentage of extra letters was 16.7%, and after 7–10 days of hospitalization, it rose to 33.3%. The percentage of skipped words decreased from 29.2% to 16.7% after 7–10 days of hospitalization, and to 10% after 3 weeks. The letters written by schizophrenia patients are significantly larger in height and width compared to the control group. The schizophrenia patients showed a higher incidence of crossed-out letters, adding extra words, missing punctuation as well as missing words.     

Statistical analysis of the measurement errors in the determination of fragment length in DNA-RFLP analysis.

DNA from human whole blood samples was digested with the restriction enzyme HinfI and RFLP analysis performed using the single locus probes MS1, MS31, MS43a and YNH24. The intergel variation of 3291 duplicate measurements of fragment lengths in terms of basepairs was investigated. The difference between two measurements of the same fragment on different gels increased approximately exponentially with increasing fragment length. After transformation of the fragment length into a normalized migration distance it was found that the difference between two transformed measurements was normally distributed with a S.D. (0.70 mm) which was independent of the fragment length. The errors of band 1 and band 2 on the same lane were correlated (r2 = 0.8). It is useful in the calculation of frequencies and in retrieval procedures and also in the calculation of likelihood ratios to be able to use a S.D. which is independent of the fragment length.     

The general toxicology unknown. I. The systematic approach

The general toxicology unknown often presents challenges and interests to toxicologists. A systematic analytical approach to search for drugs or poisons is presented here. The preliminary screening analyses were as follows: alcohol by gas chromatography (GC), ethchlorvynol colorimetric analysis, enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT), basic drug screening by GC, and neutral and weakly acidic drug screening by GC. Other additional analyses were performed depending on the special circumstance of each individual case and the results of these preliminary analyses. Positive findings were confirmed by computerized gas chromatography/mass spectrometry when practical. Quantitation was performed by GC whenever possible.     

The Role of UNEP and UNDP in Multilateral Environmental Agreements

This study examines the role of the UN’s programmes for environment and development (UNEP and UNDP) in the genesis and implementation of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). This is set in the wider context of the changing dominant focus of the international agenda, from ‘environment’ at the Stockholm Conference in 1972, to ‘environment and development’ at Rio in 1992, and ‚sustainable development’ in Johannesburg in 2002. UNDP is a development organisation strongly rooted in its country office network. Its role is becoming increasingly normative however, particularly since 2002 when UNDP opted to root most of its activities on the Millennium Development Goals. UNEP, as an environmental organisation has been successful at catalysing MEAs at the global and regional level; but without a significant increase in its budget over 30 years, its capacity has been spread very thinly. Many of the institutional arrangements for MEAs have effectively become independent of UNEP resulting in a very loosely and sometimes poorly coordinated network. Two case studies are used to illustrate the current institutional arrangements: UNEP’s Regional Seas Conventions and Protocols, and the Convention for Biological Diversity. These illustrate the fragmentation of current institutions, the need for strengthened technical and scientific support, the importance of addressing problems at their root causes and the need to increase the devolution of global governance to the regional level. Satisfying the identified needs requires actions within the remit of both UNEP and UNDP. It is argued that current institutional arrangements have not kept pace with the requirements of evolving policy. As part of a reform process, one option may be to merge the two programmes into a single structure that conserves and strengthens vital technical functions but enables a balanced and integrated approach to sustainable development.