Recovery and detection of urea nitrate in traces

Urea nitrate (uronium nitrate, UN) is a powerful improvised explosive, frequently used by terrorists in the Israeli arena. It was also used in the first World Trade Center bombing in New York in February 1993. It is difficult to identify UN in postexplosion debris, because in the presence of water it readily decomposes to its original components, urea and nitric acid. A method for the recovery and detection of urea nitrate in traces is described. The residues are extracted with hot acetone, and the extract chromatographed on chromosorb G-HP. The eluent is analyzed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). By applying this technique, we were able to identify urea nitrate in actual exhibits. It was found that UN can be also formed during the analytical procedure, by certain combinations of urea, nitrate ions, and a source of protons and, hence, the presence of the characteristic adduct ion does not necessarily indicate an "authentic" urea nitrate. Several solutions are suggested to overcome this ambiguity.     

Sudden cardiac death due to giant cell inflammatory processes

Granulomatous inflammation of the myocardium may occur in a number of systemic disease processes including those with infectious etiologies such as fungal, mycobacterial and parasitic infections, as well as hypersensitivity reactions, and rarely autoimmune disorders. In many of these disorders, giant cells are components of the inflammatory infiltrate. Systemic granulomatous processes of unknown pathogenesis, most notably sarcoidosis, may also be associated with involvement of the myocardium. Occasionally, these disorders are associated with sudden death due to pathologic involvement of the heart. In contrast, giant cell myocarditis, also known as idiopathic myocarditis, a rare, frequently fulminant and fatal disorder of unknown etiology, is isolated to the heart and lacks systemic involvement. This disorder is most commonly diagnosed at autopsy. We present two cases in which sudden death resulted from a giant cell inflammatory process affecting the myocardium. Both individuals lacked antemortem diagnoses and collapsed at their respective places of employment. These cases compare and contrast the clinical and pathologic issues involved in the differential diagnoses of the subgroup of sudden cardiac deaths resulting from giant cell inflammatory processes that affect the myocardium, as well as the value of histologic examination and immunohistochemical studies.     

Is breast really best? Risk and total motherhood in the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign

From June 2004 to April 2006, cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council, the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign (NBAC) warned women that not breast-feeding put babies at risk for a variety of health problems. "You'd never take risks before your baby is born. Why start after?" asked televised public service announcements over images of pregnant women logrolling and riding a mechanical bull. The NBAC, and particularly its message of fear, neglected fundamental ethical principles regarding evidence quality, message framing, and cultural sensitivity in public health campaigns. The campaign was based on research that is inconsistent, lacks strong associations, and does not account for plausible confounding variables, such as the role of parental behavior, in various health outcomes. It capitalized on public misunderstanding of risk and risk assessment by portraying infant nutrition as a matter of safety versus danger and then creating spurious analogies. It also exploited deep-seated normative assumptions about the responsibility that mothers have to protect babies and children from harm and was insufficiently attentive to the psychological, socioeconomic, and political concerns of its intended audience. Critical analysis of the NBAC suggests that future health campaigns would benefit from more diverse review panels and from a greater focus on providing accurate risk information about probabilities and trade-offs in order to enable informed decision making.     

Drugs,Violence, and Corruption: Perspectives from Mexico and Central America

Robert J. Bunker, ed., Criminal Insurgencies in Mexico and the Americas: The Gangs and Cartels Wage War. New York: Routledge, 2013. Tables, figures, index, 210 pp.; hardcover $160, paperback $56.95. Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, Studies in Gangs and Cartels. New York: Routledge, 2014. Tables, figures, index, 232 pp.; hardcover $168, paperback $54.95. Michael Deibert, In the Shadow of Saint Death: The Gulf Cartel and the Price of America's Drug War in Mexico. Guilford: Lyons Press, 2014. Map, bibliography, index, 336 pp.; hardcover $24.95, paperback $16.95. Alfredo Nateras Domínguez, Vivo por mi madre y muero por mi barrio. Significados de la violencia y la muerte en el Barrio 18 y la Mara Salvatrucha. Mexico City: Instituto Mexicano de la Juventud (IMJUVE)/Secretaría de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL), 2014. Figures, bibliography, 493 pp.; paperback. Sala Negra de El Faro, eds., Crónicas negras desde una región que no cuenta. Mexico City: Aguilar, 2014. 350 pp.; paperback $17. Héctor Silva Ávalos, Infiltrados: crónica de la corrupción en la PNC (1992–2013). San Salvador: UCA Ediciones, 2014. 312 pp.; paperback $10.     

Detection of methadone in human hair by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Determination of methadone in human hair by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was described. Helium as carrier gas, a 30-m bonded phase-fused silica DB-1 capillary column and splitless injection at 230 degree C temperature were used. The concentrations of methadone and its metabolites were measured in addition by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Both methods GC/MS and RIA showed the presence of methadone in human hair.     

Population genetics and the coagulation factor XIII A polymorphism

Platelets of 235 blood donors were typed for FXIII A polymorphism using agarose gel electrophoresis with subsequent immunofixation with anti-FXIIIA serum. The allele frequencies obtained (FXIIIA 1 = 0.7787, FXIIIA 2 = 0.2212) are in agreement with previously published data for Caucasoid populations. FXIIIA may be an additional valuable marker for paternity and linkage studies.