Inside versus outside lobbying: How the institutional framework shapes the lobbying behaviour of interest groups

Different types of interest groups use different lobbying strategies. This article presents an investigation of this already well‐established hypothesis once more, but additionally proposes that the institutional framework of the country in which interest groups operate also influences their lobbying behaviour. More specifically, it is shown that groups working in the interest of the public are better integrated into the policy‐making process when direct democratic instruments, such as referendums, occur regularly (as in Switzerland) than when referendums are the exception (Germany). The article demonstrates that Swiss cause groups – often also referred to as ‘public interest groups’ in the literature – use a more balanced mixture of insider and outsider strategies than their German peers, but also that this moderating effect cannot be found for specific interest groups, such as industry groups or unions.     

Deaths in preschool and school age--a retrospective analysis from a medicolegal point of view

At the Department of Legal Medicine in Giessen all forensic autopsies from the years 1990 until 2001 were investigated under the aspect of "death in preschool and school age between 3 and 16 years of age." Out of 69 deaths 19% were due to a natural and 81% to an unnatural cause of death. Both groups (3 to 6 and 7 to 16 years of age) were analyzed retrospectively with regard to age and circumstances of death and compared with the literature. The purpose of the differentiating evaluation is to furnish ideas how to prevent violent deaths of children.     

Detection of the cholinesterase inhibitor tacrine and its main metabolites

Tacrine, a cholinesterase inhibitor for symptomatic treatment of minor to moderate dementia, and its primary metabolites 1-hydroxy-tacrine and 4-hydroxy-tacrine were studied by means of thin-layer chromatography, UV spectroscopy and gas-chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The analytical data (corrected hRf values, UV spectra in solution as well as reflectance spectra, high-pressure liquid chromatography data, GC retention indices and EI mass spectra) including various derivatization methods are described.     

Multiple homicides as a result of chloroform poisoning: case report and experimental study.

Two cases (involving five murder victims) of multiple homicide by inhalational chloroform intoxication are reported. In the discussion of the findings the valence of toxicological analyses is underlined with regard to the possibility of forcible external suffocation due to occlusion of the respiratory orifices by means of a chloroform-soaked soft covering. In addition storage experiments were performed at +4, +20 and -20 degrees C with cadaver blood mixed with chloroform. The optimal solution for avoiding volatile losses was stored in glass tubes with ground glass stoppers. In cases of unclear death in which involvement of volatile substances is suspected it is, therefore, advisable to preserve an additional blood sample at -20 degrees C in glass tubes that are only opened for the analysis of volatile substances.     

Differential diagnosis SIDS/non-SIDS on the basis of histological findings of petechial thymus hemorrhages

Petechial thymus hemorrhages are found most frequently in SIDS (87%), and very much more rarely in fetuses after abortion and stillbirths (55%) as well as in perinatal deaths (40%). In these groups, there was a uniform histological bleeding pattern with emphasis on the cortical zone. In non-SIDS deaths of natural causes or extrinsic suffocation in babies and infants, it could be demonstrated in 39%. In extrinsic suffocation, the thymus hemorrhages were mostly less pronounced in quantitative terms than in SIDS. In non-SIDS (without extrinsic suffocation), a hemorrhage pattern different from SIDS could be detected with hemorrhagias of different sizes and irregularly distributed over the cortex and medulla.     

Histologic findings in the esophagus in infancy. A contribution to the question of gastroesophageal reflux in sudden infant death

In 53 mortalities (1 stillbirth, 2 neonates, 7 cases up to 5 years of age and 43 SIDS cases), systematic histological investigations were carried out on the esophagus. The results comprised a topography of epithelial defects and inflammatory wall changes. In the SIDS cases, focal epithelial defects could be detected in 14% and fresh inflammatory infiltrates in 7% without preferential localization. There were also lymphocytic reactions of varying extent (62%), but mainly in the upper one-third of the esophagus. Similar findings were found in the 10 non-SIDS cases. The results pattern is discussed with regard to its pathological relevance. It appears to be doubtful that the inflammatory changes are the result of reflux, as reflected in morphological terms.