Sickle cell trait-associated deaths: a case series with a review of the literature

This study presents a series of 16 carriers of hemoglobin S (HbS) who died during various circumstances. Many of the cases were associated with mild to moderate exertion. The onset and/or duration of symptoms varied from a few minutes to several hours with many displaying a prolonged lucid interval with stable vital signs. Despite seeking medical treatment, sickle cell trait-related micro-occlusive crisis was never considered in the differential diagnosis. Several cases were associated with sudden death. In those deaths which were delayed, high anion gap and uncompensated metabolic acidosis were typical and were not heat related. Also characteristic were large increases in creatine kinase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase along with myoglobinemia. Although the antemortem diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis was made, the underlying cause was never deduced by the clinicians. The sickling found at autopsy is not always a postmortem artifact, and in the right circumstances can be diagnostic.     

Quantitative assessment of the percent fat in domestic animal bone marrow

Measurement of the amount of fat in femoral bone marrow can provide a quantitative assessment of the nutritional status of an individual animal. An analytical method is presented for quantitating the percent fat in bone marrow from three domestic species: bovine, canine, and equine. In this procedure, fat is extracted from bone marrow using pentane, and the percent fat recovered is determined gravimetrically. Based on analyses from adult animals (normal body condition scores), the average percentage of fat in the bone marrow was >80%. In cases in which animals have been diagnosed as emaciated or exhibit serous atrophy of fat (body scores of 1 or 2), the femoral bone marrow fat was less than 20%. In domestic animals, bone marrow fat analysis can be a useful, quantitative measure that, when used in conjunction with all other data available, can support a diagnosis of starvation or malnutrition.     

Detention and treatment down under: human rights and mental health laws in Australia and New Zealand

Mental health law reform in recent decades has drawn on the international human rights movement. The entering into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on May 3 2008 has been hailed by some as signalling a new era in relation to how domestic mental health laws should be reformed. Both Australia and New Zealand have ratified the CRPD and Australia has acceded to its Optional Protocol. New Zealand and the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria have statutory bills of rights which have an interpretive effect, but are unable to render other statutes invalid. Drawing on the results of interviews conducted with fifty-two representatives of consumer and carer organisations, lawyers, and mental health professionals across Australia and New Zealand, this paper examines the current thinking on human rights and mental health laws in these countries and outlines what changes, if any, may be brought to domestic legislation in light of the Convention.     

Developing and Validating a New Classroom Climate Observation Assessment Tool

The climate of school classrooms, shaped by a combination of teacher practices and peer processes, is an important determinant for children's psychosocial functioning and is a primary factor affecting bullying and victimization. Given that there are relatively few theoretically-grounded and validated assessment tools designed to measure the social climate of classrooms, our research team developed an observation tool through participatory action research (PAR). This article details how the assessment tool was designed and preliminarily validated in 18 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms in a large urban public school district. The goals of this study are to illustrate the feasibility of a PAR paradigm in measurement development, ascertain the psychometric properties of the assessment tool, and determine associations with different indices of classroom levels of relational and physical aggression.     

Special-interest groups and growth

This paper explores empirically the relation between special-interest groups and economic growth. Our analysis exploits new data on the number of groups observed across countries and time, in order to mitigate the identification problems associated with earlier studies. Also in contrast to earlier work, we examine the impact of groups on two sources of growth??capital accumulation and technological change??in addition to the impact of groups on output growth. The findings are consistent with Olson??s (The rise and decline of nations: the political economy of economic growth, stagflation, and social rigidities. New Haven, Yale, 1982) claim that societies with greater numbers of interest groups grow slower, accumulate less capital, and experience reduced productivity growth relative to others.     

DETECHIP®: A Sensor for Drugs of Abuse*

Abstract: The design and preliminary characterization of a novel sensor for drugs of abuse, DETECHIP^®, is described in this proof‐of‐concept note. Combining both colorimetric and fluorimetric assays, DETECHIP^® is suitable for lab and field use. More than a conventional spot test which provides a single “yes or no” answer, DETECHIP^® provides twenty responses for a more complete characterization of suspect material. This is accomplished by visually noting colorimetric and fluorescent changes of carefully selected dyes upon the addition of test analytes, including drugs of abuse, with respect to controls. Color and fluorescence changes are recorded numerically so that a 20 digit identification code can be constructed for comparison of test analytes and known compounds. DETECHIP^® is applicable to a variety of drugs, both plant‐derived and synthetic, addressing the need to use several different spot tests simultaneously for a single sample.     

Mega-Regional Trade Deals in the Asia-Pacific: Choosing Between the TPP and RCEP?

The emergence of “mega-regional” trade agreements has recently become the most significant trade policy issue in the Asia-Pacific. Since 2010, governments in the region have launched negotiations for two new trade agreements: the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Differentiated by their membership, scope and level of ambition, the TPP and RCEP embody competing visions for how the Asia-Pacific trade system should evolve, and regional governments must now make choices over which initiative better serves their economic and political interests. This article explores the trade policy choice posed by these mega-regional trade negotiations, reviewing the evolution of the Asia-Pacific trade system, the recent emergence of the TPP and RCEP, and the competitive dynamics inherent in the development of the two proposals. It argues that four key considerations (trade policy ambition, the role of ASEAN, US-China geopolitical rivalry and defensive concerns) will be of key importance in informing regional governments’ decisions as the TPP and RCEP move towards completion in 2015.     

Feature reviews

Portraits of Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro: Nothing Can Stop the Course of History. Edited by Jeffrey M Elliott and Mervyn M Dymally. New York: Pathfinder Press. 1986. 258pp. £5.75pb

Fidel and Religion: Castro Talks on Revolution and Religion with Frei Betto. Frei Betto. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1987. 314pp. $19.95hb

Fidel: A Critical Portrait. Tad Szulc. London: Century Hutchinson. 1987. 585pp. £14.95hb. New York: William Morrow. 1986. 703pp. $19.95hb

Castro. Peter Bourne. London: Macmillan. 1986. 332pp. £14.95hb

Kwame Nkrumah and African liberation

The Closest of Enemies: A Personal and Diplomatic History of the Castro Years. Wayne S Smith. New York: W W Norton. 1987. 308pp. $19.95hb

The Rise and Fall of Kwame Nkrumah: A Study of Personal Rule in Africa. Henry L Bretton. London: Pall Mall Press. 1967. 232pp. n/p

Black Star: A View of the Life and Times of Kwame Nkrumah. Basil Davidson. London: Allen Lane. 1973. 225pp. n/p

Ghana's First Republic 1960–1966. Trevor Jones. London: Methuen. 1976. 366pp. £3.95pb

The likelihood of coups.

The Likelihood of Coups. Rosemary H T O'Kane. Aldershot, England: Avebury. 1987. 162pp. £18.50hb

The Iran‐Contra Affair

The Iran‐Contra Connection: Secret Teams and Covert Operations in the Reagan Era. Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott and Jane Hunter. Boston, Massachusetts: South End Press. 1987. 313pp. $11.00pb

The Tower Commission Report: The Full Text of the President's Special Review Board. John Tower, Edmund Muskie and Brent Scowcroft. New York: Bantam Books and Times Books (distributed in the UK by. Transworld). 1987. 550pp. £4.95pb

Perspectives on terrorism

Terrorism, Ideology and Revolution: The Origins of Modern Political Violence. Edited by Noel O'Sullivan. Brighton, England: Harvester. 1986. 224pp. n/p

Terrorism and the Liberal State. Paul Wilkinson. London: Macmillan Educational. 1986. 322pp. £20.00hb/£7.95pb

Terrorism: How the West Can Win. Edited by Benjamin Netanyahu. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. 1986. 239pp. £14.95hb

Terrorism and International Order. Lawrence Freedman, Christopher Hill, Adam Roberts, RJ Vincent, Paul Wilkinson and Philip Windsor. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul for Royal Institute for International Affairs. 1986. 111pp. £5.95pb

Holy Terror: The Inside Story of Islamic Terrorism. Amir Taheri. London: Century Hutchinson. 1987. 301pp. £12.95hb

Invisible Annies: Terrorism into the 1990s. Stephan Segaller. London: Michael Joseph. 1986. 311pp. £15.95hb

Food, famine and future prospects for Africa

World Hunger: Twelve Myths. Frances Moore Lappé and J Collins. New York: Grove Press for Food First. 1986. 208pp. $7.95pb

World Recession and the Food Crisis in Africa. Edited by Peter Lawrence. London: James Currey/African Review of Political Economy. 1986. 314pp. £25.00hb/£9.95pb

Food in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Edited by Art Hansen and Delia E McMillan London: Frances Pinter. 1986. 410pp. £30.00hb

Drought and Aid in the Sahel: A Decade of Development Cooperation. Carolyn M Somerville. Boulder, Colorado: Westview. 1986. 306pp. n/p

Rural Vulnerability to Famine in Ethiopia, 1958–77. Mesfin Wolde Mariam. London: Intermediate Technology Publications. 1986. 191pp. £7.95pb

The Ethiopian Famine. Kurt Jansson, Michael Harris and Angela Penrose London: Zed. 1987. 196pp. £25.95hb/£6.95pb

South African history

South Africa: A Modern History. T R H Davenport. London: Macmillan. 1987 (third edition). 692pp. £45.00hb/£16.95pb.

History of Southern Africa. J D Omer‐Cooper. London: James Currey. 1987. 298pp. £25.00hb/£9.95pb

Hidden Struggles in Rural South Africa: Politics and Popular Movements in the Transkei and Eastern Cape 1890–1930. William Beinart and Colin Bundy. London: James Currey. 1987. 326pp. £25.00hb/£9.95pb

Rural Transformations in Industrialising South Africa: The Southern Highveld to 1914. Timothy J Keegan. London: Macmillan. 1987. 302pp. £29.50hb

Our common environmental future

Environment and Development. Peter Bartelmus. London: Allen and Unwin, 1986. 96pp. £5.95pb

Our Common Future. The World Commission on Environment and Development Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1987. 383pp. £5.95pb

Learning from China? Development and Environment in Third World Countries. Edited by Bernhard Glaeser. London: Allen and Unwin. 1987. 282pp. £30.00hb     

Business Process Re-Engineering and Balanced Scorecard in Swedish Public Sector Organizations: Solutions for Problems or Problems for Solutions?

This article analyzes and discusses the adoption and implementation of Business Process Re‐Engineering (BPR) at a hospital and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at a local government. At the hospital, BPR was adopted as a solution to problems, but became de-coupled from operations, and later used for legitimacy reasons. At the local government, without having identified clear problems, BSC was adopted as an attractive solution but became coupled, rather than de-coupled, to operations. Our study shows that de-coupling does not follow the path proposed by neo-institutional theory, and that legitimacy from popular management concepts can be obtained both by coupling and by de-coupling the concepts from operations.