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.     

Prevalence of co-occurring disorders among juveniles committed to detention centers

The Practical Adolescent Diagnostic Interview (PADDI), a structured diagnostic interview designed to gather basic information about substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and related experiences, was used in routine evaluation of all adolescents committed to two juvenile detention centers. Anonymous data from 252 consecutively admitted adolescents were analyzed to assess the prevalence and severity of problem areas and to provide a preliminary exploration of interrelationships among those problems. Results demonstrated that a majority of adolescents manifested multiple problems. Whereas prevalence rates were high across gender, females displayed significantly greater mental health problems and maltreatment histories.     

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.     

Diagnosing neopatrimonialism: an interview with Thandika Mkandawire

ABSTRACT

Thandika Mkandawire is a Malawian economist and public intellectual. He is currently Chair and Professor of African Development at the London School of Economics. He was formerly Director of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, and Director of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). In 2015, he published an influential critique of neopatrimonialism, ‘Neopatrimonialism and the Political Economy of Economic Performance in Africa: Critical Reflections’.

His empirical analysis demonstrates that neopatrimonialism can neither explain heterogeneity in political arrangements nor predict variability in economic outcomes. He argues that its dominance in scholarly and popular discourses of the continent derives from its appeal to crude ethnographic stereotypes. Yet such stereotypes are at odds with the idea that African citizens can be trusted to vote intelligently. As a result, the neopatrimonial school tends to seek political arrangements that can circumnavigate democratic politics, particularly in the form of bureaucratic authoritarianism or external agents of restraint. Against this, Mkandawire insists on an approach that recognises the importance of democratic politics, and the critical role that ideas, interests and structures play in shaping African societies. In this interview with the Journal of Contemporary African Studies (JCAS), Mkandawire reflects on the historical genesis of neopatrimonialism, the political economy factors that likely explain the ways in which it has taken hold in African scholarship and public discourse, and how to move forward.     

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.     

Party System Change in Italy: Politicising the EU and the Rise of Eccentric Parties

Using expert survey data covering the 2001–13 period, this article investigates the changing shape and structure of the Italian policy space over time, as well as parties’ shifting policy positions. Our results show the emergence of a distinct pro-/anti-EU (European Union) dimension structuring party competition and a change in the meaning of EU related attitudes. The increasing importance of the pro-/anti-EU dimension is due to the entry of brand new parties in 2013. Our findings also speak to the Euroscepticism literature, as they question the hypothesis according to which Euroscepticism is confined to peripheral parties located at the extremes on the left–right scale.