Finding of a bullet in the cervical column of a body hit by a train

This case is about the finding of a body of an unidentified male of approximately 70 years of age who was hit by a train. During the carrying out of the corresponding autopsy and after the radiological tests for posterior odontological identification, a foreign body of a cylindrical-cone shape, identical to that of a bullet, was found lodged between the first and second cervical vertebrae. During dissection of the neck, a bullet was found. When the ballistic test was carried out, it was ascertained that the bullet was from a cartridge of 7.92 by 57-mm Mauser caliber, manufactured in Spain in 1936. This ammunition corresponds to that used during the Civil War in Spain (1936-1939). After the identification of the body, it was proved that the bullet was the result of a war wound. However, the victim had been unaware of the existence of the bullet, which had remained in his body for 50 years.     

Histopathological lung changes in immune complex mediated anaphylactic shock in humans elicited by dextran

Severe dextran-induced anaphylactic reaction (DIAR) is being recognized as a form of immediate IgG mediated immune complex reaction. Support for this pathogenesis is found in the correlation between the titer of dextran-reactive antibodies of IgG class and the severity of the reaction. Autopsy records were reviewed in 27 certified cases of fatal DIAR. The most frequent macroscopic findings were dilatation of the right side of the heart and acute pulmonary stasis. Autopsy lung specimens were collected from 17 of these patients. In 15 of the 17 lung specimens pulmonary microemboli were found. The microemboli had the appearance of hyaline eosinophilic globules, and the lung vasculature also contained leukocytes, platelets and disintegrated erythrocytes. These findings show similarity to the findings in a monkey model of known IgG mediated anaphylaxis, and give further support to the proposed pathogenesis of severe DIAR.     

Military expenditure and economic development: An endogenous growth perspective

This paper attempts to analyse the interrelationships between government and military expenditure and economic growth in particular, and between security and development in general, in a new framework. It has three novel features. First, the impact of military spending (as well as any other government spending which has similar externalities) is studied in an endogenous growth framework unlike most of the previous research in the field. Second, growth, welfare and security effects are studied simultaneously. Third, simulation studies are made for specific countries to capture long-term steady state effects which are difficult to analyze in longitudinal case studies.     

Foreign investiment in socialist Cuba: Significance and prospects

In February 1982, Cuba’s Council of State approved legislation that authorized some forms of foreign investment in the island. The legislation was largely ignored by foreign business that for nearly a decade showed scant interest in investing in Cuba. However, in the 1990s, foreign investiment in socialist Cuba has increased rapidly. The first part of the article gauges the economic significance of foreign investment in the context of the financial needs of the country. The second part touches on a number of issues that have a bearing on the further growth of foreign investment in Cuba. The article concludes with some general observations on the impact of foreign investment on the Cuban economy and prospects for the future. Jorge F. Pérez-López is an international economist with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor. His writings on international economics issues— especially on the Cuban economy—have appeared in professional journals and several edited volumes. He is the author ofThe Economics of Cuban Sugar (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991),The Cuban Second Economy: From Behind the Scenes to Center Stage (Transaction Publishers, 1995), and editor and contributor ofCuba at a Crossroads (University Press of Florida, 1994). He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.     

Sovereignty,Power and Resistance

This article will analyse the three conceptualapproaches to sovereignty which prevail in thecontemporary discourse, and which can besummarily identified as follows: firstly,sovereignty is the notion which accounts forboth the form and the source of politicalpower, then sovereignty is a function of law,and lastly, sovereignty manifests itself as aform of resistance. This conceptual overview ofthe theoretical elaborations on sovereigntywill show that what is named as sovereignty infact indexes, above all, an oscillation betweenthe impossibility of self-presence and thedrive to achieve such self-presence, and that,in spite of, or maybe even by virtue of thisoscillation, it nonetheless succeeds insustaining the political discourse, if only inthe guise of a performative suspension of thenation as immanent community.     

Ion mobility spectrometry of drugs of abuse in customs scenarios: concentration and temperature study.

A custom-built ion mobility spectrometer has been used to obtain the IMS spectra of cocaine, heroin, amphetamine sulfate and LSD at different drug concentrations and desorption temperatures. Practical detection limits for these four drugs were obtained as a function of desorber temperature and for heroin as a function of analysis time. Spectral and ionization interferences for each of the four drugs of interest were determined. Spectral interferences by innocuous materials are few; ionization interferences occur only at very high ratios of the mass of innocuous material to that of the drug of interest.