Carbofuran poisoning of pregnant woman and fetus per ingestion

A case of carbamate pesticide poisoning of a pregnant woman by carbofuran ingestion is presented. The mother recovered from the poisoning in the hospital but necrosis of the fetus was found. Toxicological findings of the liver, brain, and kidney of the fetus revealed carbofuran in concentrations comparable with the mother's blood. Our findings in the case contribute to the research on permeation of the placental barrier by chemical substances.     

B. Reviews and notes: Bibliographies and works of reference

A GREEK AND ARABIC LEXICON: MATERIALS FOR A DICTIONARY OF THE MEDIÆVAL TRANSLATIONS FROM GREEK INTO ARABIC. Edited by GERHARD ENDRESS and DIMITRI GUTAS. Fascicle 1. (Handbook of Oriental Studies, the Near and Middle East, XI. Band.) Leiden, Brill, 1992. 30*. 96pp. Hfl.40.‐

THE ROLE OF THE BOOK IN THE CIVILISATIONS OF THE NEAR EAST: PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE HELD AT THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY AND THE CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARY, DUBLIN, 29 JUNE – 1 JULY 1988 = MANUSCRIPTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST 5 (1990–1991). Leiden, Ter Lugt Press, c1993. 136pp. Hfl 210.‐

BROCADE OF THE PEN: THE ART OF ISLAMIC WRITING. Edited by CAROL GARRETT FISHER. East Lansing, Michigan State University, 1991. 100pp. B&W illustrations and Arabic calligraphy.

AFGHANISTAN. Compiled by SCHUYLER JONES. (World Bibliographical Series, 135.) Oxford, Santa Barbara & Denver, Clio Press, 1992. xxvi+281pp.     

Recent trends in abortion legislation in Eastern Europe,with particular reference to Poland

LL.M., Warsaw University 1968; Ph.D. (law), Warsaw University 1974; Dr. hab. (law), Warsaw University 1986.     

Psychoactive drugs in the road traffic in the legal and consultative aspects—Experience gained by the Forensic Medicine Department, Silesian University of Medicine, Katowice

Introduction

In the years 1997–2007 in the Forensic Medicine Department, Silesian University of Medicine, Katowice a total of 785 blood samples collected from drivers being the perpetrators of road accidents was tested for the presence of psychoactive drugs.

Methods

The studies took advantage of FPIA (Abbott), ELISA (Neogen), LC–MS and GC FID.

Results

21% of tested samples were positive. In the blood of the driver cannabinoids, amphetamine and its derivatives were most frequently found. Moreover, individual opium alkaloids, their combinations with barbiturates, benzodiazepines or amphetamine, benzodiazepine derivatives (isolated cases), drugs of benzodiazepine group in combination with barbiturates, tramadol or tricyclic anti-depressants (isolated cases), carbamazepine, phenotiazine, cocaine, dibenzepine, benzene, toluene and acetone were determined.

Conclusion

The obtained results showed cannabinoids and amphetamine derivatives to be the most frequent whereas opium alkaloids, barbiturates and benzodiazepines rather rare psychoactive drugs found in the tested blood samples of the drivers involved in the road accidents. The authors suggest screening psychoactive drugs not only in drivers involved in road accidents but also those put through the routine road check procedures. While giving opinions on the influence of the above mentioned drugs on the psychophysical efficiency of road traffic users, drugs and compounds which are not subject to legal control but have an effect on the human psychomotor efficiency and thus, enhance the risk of the road accident should be also taken into account.     

Revisiting country of origin principle: Challenges related to regulating e-commerce in the European Union

The article analyses the country of origin principle of information society services in the light of harmonisation and unification efforts undertaken by the European lawgiver. Although the country of origin principle remains the key element of the construction of freedom to provide information society services, the principle itself suffers a number of both explicit and implicit restrictions which render its practical application a serious challenge. The difficulty is posed by the fact that the Electronic Commerce Directive fails to expressly specify both the scope of harmonisation as regards the principle, and the level of harmonisation of the directive itself. Furthermore, it is understood differently by private international lawyers. In the eDate Advertising case the ECJ ruled that the principle is not a conflict-of-laws rule, neither does it require implementation to the national legal systems in this shape. This is not to mean, however, that the debate over the function of the country of origin principle in private international law is over. Last but not least, there are many different types of country of origin principles applicable to various types of services provided via the Internet. This multitude of country of origin principles is perhaps the greatest weakness the regulatory approach adopted by the European lawmaker.     

Rethinking the notion of hosting in the aftermath of Delfi: Shifting from liability to responsibility?

Liability of Internet intermediaries for a third-party content is a complex topic, especially with regards to the storage of illegal or harmful postings offered by portals. The E-Commerce Directive offered a liberal framework for handling such cases, provided that a hosting service provider has not played an active role in content management. Being passive turned out to be the key precondition for immunity under safe harbour provisions. Yet, after the Delfi ruling the legal landscape has changed radically. Although the judgment of the Strasbourg tribunal has been dismissed in some jurisdictions as an error or one-off case, the truth is that it took into account acquis communautaire and imposed liability on the news portal, which followed the guidelines of Google France and eBay rulings. Given the lack of predictability of the current legal framework, the aim of this contribution is to offer a deep-dive into the notion of hosting from a technical perspective in order to better understand why Articles 14–15 of the E-Commerce Directive may require a re-examination. It is also submitted that portals and other online service providers relying on a broad construction of safe harbours should be entitled to Good Samaritan protection akin to section 230 of the American Communications Decency Act in order not to hold them liable for being active in fighting hate speech and other forms of illegal and harmful conduct.     

Y-chromosome STR haplotypes and alleles in the population sample of Old Believers residing in the Northeastern Poland

Haplotype and allele frequencies for eight Y-STRs were determined in a population sample of Old Believers residing in the Northeastern Poland. A total of 127 unrelated males produced 100 different haplotypes. The most common haplotype was shared by 3.97% of the sample, while 85 haplotypes were unique. The gene diversity was 0.99.     

Genetic variation of STR loci D3S1358, TH01, D21S11, D18S51, Penta E, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSF1PO, Penta D, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX and FGA by GenePrint PowerPlex 16 in a Polish population

Allele frequencies for the fifteen STRs included in the GenePrint PowerPlex kit were determined in 870 unrelated individuals from Polish population. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Exact tests disequilibrium analysis revealed no departures from independence out of 105 pair-wise comparisons. The combined MP and PE for all 15 loci are 6.00x10(-17) and 0.999999, respectively.