Infrared quantitative evidential breath-alcohol analyzers: in vitro accuracy and precision studies

The in vitro accuracy and precision of four infrared breath-alcohol analyzers, the Alcotest 7010, BAC Verifier, Intoxilyzer 5000, and Intoximeter 3000, were studied with a protocol adapted from portions of the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) "Standard for Devices to Measure Breath Alcohol." Statistical evaluation of these studies indicated that all instruments met or exceeded the performance requirements modified from the U.S. DOT Standard for quantitative evidential breath-alcohol analyzers.     

Rational Irrationality and the Microfoundations of Political Failure

Models of inefficient political failure have been criticized forimplicitly assuming the irrationality of voters (Wittman, 1989,1995, 1999; Coate and Morris, 1995). Building on Caplan's (1999a,1999b) model of ``rational irrationality'', the current papermaintains that the assumption of voter irrationality is boththeoretically and empirically plausible. It then examinesmicrofoundational criticisms of four classes of political failuremodels: rent-seeking, pork-barrel politics, bureaucracy, andeconomic reform. In each of the four cases, incorporating simpleforms of privately costless irrationality makes it possibleto clearly derive the models' standard conclusions. Moreover, itfollows that efforts to mitigate political failures will besocially suboptimal, as most of the literature implicitlyassumes. It is a mistake to discount the empirical evidence forthese models on theoretical grounds.     

A diflunisal related fatality: a case report

A case is reported where the death of an individual resulted from the ingestion of diflunisal. Diflunisal was identified by a combination of liquid chromatography, UV spectrophotometry and colorimetry. Diflunisal was quantified in blood (260 mg/l), bile (71 mg/l), kidney (350 mg/kg), liver (400 mg/kg), stomach contents (34 mg) and urine (78 mg/l). No previous literature references discussing diflunisal related fatalities were available.     

Assessing the Dayton Accord: The structural weaknesses of the general framework agreement for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Dayton Accord — brought a formal end to the war in Bosnia, but the prospects for an enduring peace remain uncertain. One of the obstacles to peace is the accord itself. This article outlines the main provisions of the agreement and then examines its structural weaknesses. These weaknesses, it is argued, though significant, may not be insuperable. There is broad scope for interpretation of the treaty's terms and for innovation within its framework. Its effectiveness in the long term will depend in part on whether the implementing powers succeed in exploiting this potential.     

Off the Grid: Vaccinations Among Homeschooled Children

To protect public health, states require that parents have their children immunized before they are permitted to attend public or private school. But for homeschooled children, the rules vary. With the spectacular growth in the number of homeschooled students, it is becoming more difficult to reach these youth to ensure that they are immunized at all. These children are frequently unvaccinated, leaving them open to infection with diseases that are all but stamped out in the United States with immunization requirements. States should encourage parents to get their homeschooled students vaccinated through enacting the same laws as those used for public school students. This could be done by enforcing current laws through neglect petitions or by requiring that children be immunized before participating in school sponsored programs. As most states require some filing to allow parents to homeschool their children, it would be easy to enact laws requiring that homeschooled children be immunized or exempted before completing registration.     

Off with their Heads: The Need to Criminalize some forms of Scientific Misconduct

Improvement in policy for the management of scientific misconduct has been slow. While assurance of due process at the ORI level is now in place, similar protections at the institutional level and institutional responsibility for further oversight and a workplace where the responsible conduct of research can be practiced have not yet been addressed. In contrast, policy regarding human subject protection has evolved rapidly to reflect firmer norms, with decisive priority given to subject protection over scientific or social needs. Perhaps because scientific misconduct policy has the potential to harm the careers of individual scientists and harms to individual subjects are thought to be indirect, the scientific community has been successful in blocking every move toward testing more rigorous regulation. The mantras that scientists can discipline their own, and the price of competitive science is some level of scientific misconduct are not persuasive. The standards by which science is judged should not be an exception to those governing others who deal with the public's money and have a duty to the public interest.     

Chloral hydrate overdose: trichloroethanol detection by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

A case is presented where an individual ingested a fatal dose of chloral hydrate. Trichloroethanol (TCE), the metabolite of chloral hydrate, was initially identified by the Fujiwara reaction and quantified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in blood )127 mg/l), urine (128 mg/l) and stomach contents (25 mg total).