Determination of dopamine and dopamine-derived (R)-/(S)-salsolinol and norsalsolinol in various human brain areas using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Using a solid-phase extraction procedure and a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC/MS) method the levels of dopamine and the levels of dopamine-derived salsolinol (SAL) and norsalsolinol (NorSAL) were determined in human brain areas involved in the etiology of alcoholism, parkinsonism and other diseases. The possibility that biosynthesis of salsolinol occurs through a stereospecific enzymatic reaction was considered. Using a two-step derivatization with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoracetamide (MSTFA) and the chiral reagent (R)-(-)-2-phenylbutyryl chloride, baseline separated peaks of (R)- and (S)-SAL were obtained. Both enantiomers were found in human brain samples with no correlations between levels of salsolinol and dopamine. These findings do not support the hypothesis that only an enantio-selective synthesis of (R)-SAL by a putative salsolinol synthase is responsible for the in vivo formation. In our opinion, non-enzymatic formation of salsolinol via the Pictet-Spengler reaction reveals both salsolinol enantiomers and an additional enzymatic synthesis of only (R)-SAL explains the enantiomer ratio (R)-/(S)-SAL of approximately 2.     

Privacy and security in centralized vs. decentralized databank systems

This paper explores the questions of whether or not a centralized personal-information databank system presents a greater threat to the privacy and other related rights of the persons on whom data are kept than does a decentralized system that collectively holds the same data, and which databank system can provide better data security. It is concluded that, except possibly in the case of a coup d'état, a properly designed and controlled centralized databank system is a smaller threat to privacy and provides more effective security than a decentralized system.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. 29943.     

Use of radiographs in the forensic autopsy

The X-ray examination of corpses is a most useful tool in the field of medicolegal diagnostics. Sometimes the cause of death can already be seen before autopsy. The following modes of application are reviewed: search for foreign bodies, identification of poison, air-embolism, pneumothorax, air-filled lungs and gastro-intestinal organs in new-borns, diagnosis of tuberculosis in corpses, visibility of hidden fractures, structure of bones as a factor of biomechanical load capacity, identification and determination of age and experimental research with corpses.     

Contact shot from infantry weapons with a flash-suppressor

The number of reports on contact shots from firearms with a flash suppressor attached to the muzzle is small. On the basis of a case report (suicidal shot to the forehead with a Kalschnikow AKMS 47 assault rifle) the morphological peculiarities (characteristics soot pattern, relatively small powder cavity and only minor skin tears in the presence of a bony support) are presented and the conclusions to be drawn from the findings regarding the flash-suppressor, the shot distance, the angle of the shot and the way of holding the weapon are discussed.     

Homicidal alcoholic intoxation versus manual neck compression

A case of homicide involving a 49-year-old man is reported. In the course of a booze-up he was forced to excessive consumption of alcohol and was pushed back into a sofa by repeated grasping his neck which finally left him dead. The postmortem examination revealed a small abrasion in the right mandibular region, a contusion of the subcutaneous tissue above the left clavicle, a haemorrhage in the deep muscles of the neck at the right side of the cervical spine, a fatty tissue haemorrhage between the left cornus of hyoid and thyroid cartilage as well as petechiae of the eyelids and conjunctivae. The blood alcohol concentration amounted to 4.00@1000, the urine alcohol concentration to 5.26@1000. Thus, a manual strangulation of the neck versus a lethal alcohol intoxication had to be taken into consideration as cause of death. The morphological findings of the postmortem examination and the pathophysiological concepts of the underlying mechanisms of death in manual strangulation versus lethal alcohol intoxication are discussed with regard to their significance for the juridical assessment.     

Discriminant function sexing of fragmentary and complete femora: standards for contemporary Croatia

Determining sex is one of the first and most important steps in identifying decomposed corpses or skeletal remains. Previous studies have demonstrated that populations differ from each other in size and proportion and that these differences can affect metric assessment of sex. This paper establishes standards for determining sex from fragmentary and complete femurs in a modern Croatian population. The sample is composed of 195 femora (104 male and 91 female) from positively identified victims of the 1991 War in Croatia. Six discriminant functions were generated. one using seven variables, three using two variables, and two employing one variable. Results show that complete femora can be sexed with 94.4% accuracy. The same overall accuracy, with slight differences in male/female accuracy, was achieved using a combination of two variables defining the epiphyses, and with the variable maximum diameter of the femoral head.     

Anti-corruption: What Do We Know? Research on Preventing Corruption in the Post-communist World

This review assesses the anti-corruption literature in a first attempt to identify systematically significant trends so far and challenges remaining to future political science research. Research on anti-corruption is a young métier. While reflecting on the field at large, the review focuses on two issues that have been central to its development: the role of post-communist Eastern Europe and of civil society involvement. Organised in a chronological way, the review distinguishes and discusses four phases, in order to trace how scholars have addressed these two issues in the context of a rapid evolution of anti-corruption debates, ongoing transformations in Eastern Europe and increasing insight into the controversial matter of anti-corruption efforts. It considers four crucial periods: (1) earlier scholarly debates on corruption (pre-1990s); (2) initial anti-corruption debates (1990s); (3) a period of reorientation (early 2000s); and (4) latest anti-corruption debates (mid-2000s). Changing perspectives on anti-corruption in relation to post-communism and civil society involvement are discussed for each of the four phases in order to delineate the different research trajectories. This leads to the conclusion that future research, while addressing the theory deficit, needs to take account of increasingly complex conceptual challenges posed by the (interrelated) changes in international and domestic governance.     

The decline in the number of school districts in the U.S.: 1950–1980

Between 1950 and 1980 the number of school districts fell from 83,642 to 15,987. Data for the fifty states for 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980 are used to identify the factors that contributed to this decline. The focus is on the tradeoff between cost savings through scale economies (a few large districts) and a diverse population's demand for choice in public schooling (many small districts). We find that much of the decline in the number of school districts has resulted from: 1) the decline in the farm population and increase in population density, which has made it easier to take advantage of scale economies; 2) the growing importance of state aid, which reduces quality variation among districts within a state; and 3) the increase in the fraction of teachers that belong to the National Education Association teacher's union, which may reflect increased political influence used to lower the costs of organizing. Several states have laws that require school district and county (or state) boundaries to coincide. In the last section of the paper we estimate the costs of these laws. First, we compare the predicted number of districts, using the regression results in the earlier section of the paper, to the actual number in these states. Then we estimate a demand equation that is used to generate the dollar amount of the cost due to diminished interjurisdictional competition.