A case of sudden infant death due to massive hemorrhage in primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

A case of the sudden death of a 14-month-old girl due to massive hemorrhage in a primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) is presented along with a review of the relevant literature. PNET is a rare, malignant brain neoplasm occurring predominantly in children.     

Determination of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in human amniotic fluid using high flow solid-phase extraction columns and HPLC.

A new solid-phase extraction procedure for the determination of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in amniotic fluid, using high flow co-polymeric sorbents is reported. The recoveries of cocaine and benzoylecgonine within the range 0.1-1 mg/l were 95.7% and 50.3%, respectively. The use of high-flow sorbents allowed the easy extraction of amniotic fluid regardless of sample viscosity or physical nature. The use of these solid-phase columns provided many advantages over the more commonly used solvent extraction, including an increase in extraction speed and efficiency, reduced operator time, reduced solvent use and disposal volumes and exceptional extract quality. Further, the determination of amniotic fluid obtained from pregnant cocaine users may provide important information about handling of cocaine by the fetus at various gestational ages. The procedure was successfully applied to amniotic fluid from suspected cocaine abusers.     

Sulfide concentrations in postmortem mammalian tissues

Postmortem changes in sulfide concentrations in body tissues were examined in autopsied rats exposed to hydrogen sulfide concentrations of 550 to 650 ppm, and in nonexposed rats and humans. Analyses were made by gas chromatography, following an extractive alkylation. Sulfide concentrations in the blood, liver, and kidneys of rats increased in both the exposed and nonexposed groups, depending on the lapse of time after death. On the other hand, the lung, brain, and muscle showed little or no change in sulfide concentration with elapse of time after death. The data obtained from human tissues were almost the same as those for rats, except data for blood, in which no or little increase of sulfide was observed.     

The political economy of the peace dividend

We develop a model of the peace dividend and use it to predict the fiscal consequences of a reduction in the demand for military spending. The model is based on the assumption that the political process responds to political demands and costs in a way that maximizes net political benefits. The predictions of our model on how a peace dividend will be allocated over nonmilitary spending, tax relief, and deficit reduction is tested against the experience of eight major wars in United States history.     

Trends in North Korean foreign policy

North Korea’s foreign policy track record in the post-cold war era is mixed. Most notable setbacks are the diplomatic normalization between the Soviet Union (now Russia) and South Korea; the reversal of its UN policy that paved the way for the simultaneous admission of the two Korean states to the world organization; and the diplomatic normalization between China and South Korea. On the credit side of Pyongyang’s diplomatic ledger are changes in its relations with Tokyo and Washington. While tangible results have yet to materialize, particularly in North Korea-Japan relations, the groundwork has nonetheless been laid for significant improvement. North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons development program has played a major role in the unfolding of its relations with the United States. Conceptually, North Korean foreign policy can be explained in terms of its quest for three interrelated goals: security, legitimacy, and development. In the post-cold war era security appears to have emerged as the most important of the three goals. North Korea is at a crossroads. The choices it makes in foreign policy will determine not only the direction of its domestic policy but, ultimately, the survival of the regime itself. The external players in Seoul, Washington, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, and Vienna (the IAEA) have varying degrees of leverage over Pyongyang’s policy as well.     

Sudden death in angiodysplasia of the gastroesophageal junction.

A 22-year-old Korean soldier, who had received blows to the neck and epigastrium from an officer 10 h earlier, suddenly died after massive hematemesis. He had been in relatively good health except for episodes of blood-tinged vomiting approximately 5 and 7 months prior to this event. Postmortem examination revealed angiodysplasia involving the gastroesophageal junction, and the stomach was distended with blood. No abnormal findings were present around the whole viscera, and the duodenum was free of blood. The pathologic significance of upper gastrointestinal angiodysplasia as a potential source of bleeding and a chronologic correlation between the trauma and bleeding are discussed.     

WINNING COALITIONS AND ETHNO-REGIONAL POLITICS: THE FAILURE OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE 1990 AND 1995 ELECTIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE

Why is that former dominant or single party regimes, especiallythose in Africa, have generally survived and even emerged strengthenedafter the introduction of multi-party competitive elections?In Côte d'lvoire since 1990 the ruling party has beenable to win elections by using incumbency to present itselfas the organization most likely to be capable of putting togethera winning coalition. In a society segmented by a multiplicityof cultural and religious divisions and where political poweris a zero-sum game, the logic of democratic representation meansthat no group can afford to be excluded. Yet in the 1990 and1995 Ivorian elections .the opposition attacked die ethnic characterof the government and deliberately mobilized ethnic minorities,regional and religious (Islamic) sentiments. They thereforefailed to escape, in electoral terms, from their extremely localizedstrongholds. Their attempt to mobilize around an anti-foreignerplatform in 1990 rebounded in 1995 when the government itselftook over their ‘ultra-nationalist’ stance by excludingnon-Ivorians from the elections. The consequent exclusion ofthe opposition's favoured Presidential candidate and the failureof the opposition alliance to agree on a non-northern, non-Islamicalternative candidate led to a violent boycott and the eventualcollapse of the opposition alliance.