Reviews

Anders Aslund, How Russia Became a Market Economy. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995, xviii + 378 pp., £25.75/£9.95.

Boris Kagarlitsky, Restoration in Russia: Why Capitalism Failed. London: Verso, 1995, 172 pp., £39.95/£11.95.

Simon Clarke (ed.), Management and Industry in Russia: Formal and Informal Relations in the Period of Transition. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1995, xii + 244 pp. £45.00.

Jan Adam, Why Did the Socialist System Collapse in Central and Eastern European Countries? The Case of Poland, the Former Czechoslovakia and Hungary. London: Macmillan, 1996, xii + 244 pp., £40.00.

? Bogeti? & Arye L. Hillman (eds), Financing Government in the Transition: Bulgaria. The Political Economy of Tax Policies, Tax Bases, and Tax Evasion. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1995, xv + 254 pp., £19.95.

Vladimir Tismaneanu (ed.), Political Culture and Civil Society in Russia and the New States of Eurasia. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1995, xiii + 384 pp., $22.95.

Alexander Maksimovich Yakovlev, Striving for Law in a Lawless Land—Memoirs of a Russian Reformer. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1996, xvi + 237 pp., $62.95.

Tuomas Forsberg (ed.), Contested Territory: Border Disputes at the Edge of the Former Soviet Empire. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1995, xi + 267 pp., £45.00.

Graham Smith (ed.), The Nationalities Question in the Post‐Soviet States. London: Longman, 1996, xiv + 524 pp.

Aleksandr’ G. Savel'yev & Nikolai N. Detinov, The Big Five: Arms Control Decision‐making in the Soviet Union. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995, xiv + 204 pp., £47.95.

Keith L. Nelson, The Making of Detente: Soviet‐American Relations in the Shadow of Vietnam, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995, xvii + 217pp., £29.00.

George Ginsburgs, Alvin Z. Rubinstein & Oles M. Smolansky (eds), Russia and America: From Rivalry to Reconciliation, New York: M. Sharpe, 1993, xi + 353 pp.

Diego Cordovez & Selig S. Harrison, Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, ix + 450 pp., $35.00.

Andrei S. Grachev, Final Days. The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995, xviii + 222 pp., £22.50.

Ilya Prizel & Andrew A. Michta (eds), Polish Foreign Policy Reconsidered. Challenges of Independence. Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1995, xiii + 174 pp., £25.00.

James Riordan, Christopher Williams & Igor Uynsky (eds), Young People in Post‐Communist Russia and Eastern Europe. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1995, xvi + 215 pp., £39.50.

James von Geldern & Richard Stites (eds), Mass Culture in Soviet Russia: Tales, Poems, Songs, Movies, Plays and Folklore 1917–1953. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1995, xxix + 492 pp., £39.50 h/b, £19.50 p/b.

Katerina Clark, Petersburg, Crucible of Cultural Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995, xii + 377 pp., £25.50.

Anna Feldman Leibovich, The Russian Concept of Work: Suffering, Drama, and Tradition in Pre‐ and Post‐Revolutionary Russia. Westport, CT and London: Praeger, xv + 166 pp., £44.95.

R. Antony French. Plans, Pragmatism & People. The Legacy of Soviet Planning for Today's Cities. London: UCL Press, 1995, xi + 233 pp.

Roger Brunet, Denis Eckert & Vladimir Kolossov, Atlas de la Russie et des pays proches. Montpellier‐Paris: Reclus‐La Documentation Franchise, 1995, 208 pp., 220Ff.

Bruce Grant, In the Soviet House of Culture: A Century of Perestroikas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995, xvii + 225 pp., £12.00.

Michael Bourdeaux (ed.), The Politics of Religion in Russia and the New States of Eurasia, The International Politics of Eurasia, Volume 3. Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1995, xiv + 321 pp., $49.95 h/b, $19.95p/b.     

Pathological myophosphorylase reaction in malignant hyperthermia

In malignant hyperthermia, myophosphorylase reaction shows characteristic changes that take place within minutes: (1) a generally strongly weakened reaction; (2) numerous negatively reacting fibres; (3) frequently, fibre sections that show spotty and/or striatal weak or negative reactions and fibre sections with strong striatal reactions with relatively narrow sarcomere spacings (a "sign of hypercontraction"). Obviously, the morphological findings that show characteristic "striated fibres" are typical of the malignant hyperthermia syndrome! It is important to note that the muscular fibres showing such changes are, as a rule, inconspicuous when using other stains and reactions. These pathological myophosphorylase reactions were observed in five deceased patients (one independently of anaesthesia after an extended walk) and in 19 pigs (18 times after halothane testing and once in an experimental animal with clinical evidence of the presence of malignant hyperthermia). These reactions were not noted in pigs with negative halothane reactivity or prior to halothane testing. They were also not seen in a large number of very different healthy and diseased control and reference cases from our biopsy and autopsy material. Myophosphorylase reaction enables convincing demonstration of malignant hyperthermia, past or present. Hence, it is possible to elucidate puzzling deaths or verify apparently clear death occurring during or subsequent to anaesthesia or simply following stress ("human stress syndrome"). Many of these deaths doubtlessly escape the attention of clinicians using the usual morphological examination methods. However, the reaction cannot be used to identify potential victims.     

An evaluation of fused silica capillary columns for the screening of basic drugs in postmortem blood: qualitative and quantitative analysis

Fused silica capillary columns (Durabond) have been evaluated for the screening of more than 100 basic drugs in postmortem blood samples. The combination of these columns, nitrogen-phosphorus detectors, and SKF-525A (internal standard) allows for the simultaneous screening and quantitation of several basic drugs such as amphetamines, amitriptyline, and codeine. Approximately 2000 blood samples have been analyzed by this procedure. The use of capillary columns results in excellent baseline stability and this, together with an autosampler and data system, enables unattended overnight operation. "Double peaking" associated with splitless injection can be a problem as can sensitivity for some of the polar drugs; however, with the extraction procedure described and the equipment used, the screening of blood for basic drugs is improved when compared with packed column technology.     

An in vitro study of the accuracy and precision of Breathalyzer models 900, 900A, and 1000

Ninety Breathalyzer instruments (Model 1000) and twenty instruments (Models 900, 900A) were studied using a protocol described by the Department of Transportation's "Standard for Devices to Measure Breath Alcohol." Although the mean of each of three concentrations tested (0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 g/210 L) compared favorably in both series, the standard deviation was consistently higher for the Model 1000 instruments. The Model 1000 instruments also produced a significant number of test results which exceeded the normally expected scientific deviation.