Trials and tribulations of using beta-amyloid precursor protein immunohistochemistry to evaluate traumatic brain injury in adults

Axonal pathology is increasingly identified by beta-amyloid precursor protein (betaAPP) immunohistochemistry in the brains of patients who may or may not have a history of trauma. The presence of betaAPP-IR(+) has been variously interpreted as either that diffuse traumatic axonal injury (TAI) is indeed a universal finding in cases of fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI) or there are other causes of betaAPP-IR(+) axons which under certain circumstances may be sufficient to mimic TBI and therefore make the medico-legal interpretation of certain cases very difficult. To address some of the uncertainties we have undertaken a detailed analysis of the amount and distribution of betaAPP immunohistochemistry in 63 cases of fatal TBI, 17 cases of patients dying after cardiac arrest, 12 cases dying in association with status epilepticus, 3 cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, 13 cases of hypoglycaemia and in 60 controls. Three patterns of betaAPP-IR(+) were identified. First, diffuse multi-focal, second, corresponding to the outline of an infarct or haematoma, and thirdly a mixture of the two. The first pattern was seen in cases of the lesser grades of TAI, CO poisoning, and hypoglycaemia, the second pattern in cases in which there was evidence of raised intracranial pressure and the third in cases of severe TAI. It is concluded that the proper interpretation of cases requires the examination of a sufficient number of blocks ( [Formula: see text] ), processing using standardised protocols including betaAPP immunohistochemistry and in some cases the mapping of any IR(+) on anatomical line diagrams. betaAPP carried out on a small number of randomly taken blocks is likely to lead to misinterpretation of the clinico-pathological correlations and possibly to a miscarriage of justice.     

Neubeginn oder Ende der Sozialdemokratie?

After the Social Democrats regained power in the majority of West European countries during the second half of the 1990s, the debate about the decline of Social Democracy, initiated only a few years earlier, increasingly seemed to be obsolete. However, the road to power by the Social Democrats was accompanied by a programmatic debate, which culminated in the “Third Way”. This article analyses the programmatic development in four West European countries and tries to empirically answer the question, whether we can characterize the recent development as a new beginning or the end for Social Democracy. Social and economic policies are at the centre of the analysis, since these policy areas have been at the core for the development of the “parties matter thesis” in the past. The analysis shows that the current or “new” Social Democracy clearly deviates from the “old” programmatically. However, this programmatic reorientation does not constitute a unique Social Democratic reform program, but moreover an acceptance of the central position of Christian Democracy. Therefore, the original “parties matter thesis” seems to lose some of its explanatory power.     

Schwimmende Politeia? Demokratische Mikroinseln im Südpazifik und in der Karibik

Microislands are not a hot spot of comparative government studies. Without good reasons. Surely, from a political perspective Microislands are not of great importance. But such an argument should not prevent researchers from taking a closer look at Microislands. Because they are perfectly designed to broaden our knowledge of the circumstances under which democracies occur and survive. In this paper three assumptions, taken from the rare literature on Microislands, are tested: territorial space, homogeneity and insularity. It can be shown that the geographical as well as the geopolitical position of Caribbean and south pacific microislands posses a high explanatory power for the question why those states are stable democracies.     

Between the Letter and the Spirit: International Statebuilding Subversion Tactics in Burundi

This article explores the appropriation dynamics of international statebuilding in Burundi, with a focus on the period from 2010 to 2015. If international statebuilding is most commonly presented (and debated) as practices leaning towards the achievement of a liberal democracy, this article argues that it can also be used towards undemocratic ends. The central claim is the following: the (most) recent authoritarian trend observed in Burundi’s main political force in government, the National Council for the Defence of Democracy – Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), did not only occur against international statebuilding but also through its appropriation and, more specifically, through self-reinforcing subversion tactics of appropriation. The article conceptualizes these tactics, examines the factors of emergence and conditions of existence, and presents the main expressions along three major editorial lines of international statebuilding: pluralist democracy, vibrant civil society and respect of the rule of law.     

An enzyme immunoassay for prostate-specific p30 antigen detection in the postcoital vaginal tract

A sandwich enzyme immunoassay test utilising a mouse monoclonal antibody has been adapted for the sensitive detection of the p30 prostatic antigen in semen and in postcoital vaginal swabs. In liquid semen, p30 was still detectable at a 1/1,000,000 dilution, and it could still be detected on vaginal swabs 24 h postcoitus.     

Zur Bedeutung „transnationalen Sozialkapitals“: Sind Grenzgebiete Laboratorien sozialer Integration in Europa?

The article focuses on transnational relations in border regions. Social capital theory assumes that in border regions special opportunity structures exist for the social integration of the population of old and new member states of the European Union based on the specific possibilities for cross-border cooperation. Border regions may be seen as “laboratories of social integration”. The article discusses whether “transnational social capital” actually develops and to what extent it adds to the social integration of the regions and of Europe. Representative survey data from the German-Polish, German-Czech, and German-French border regions – gathered on both sides of the border – serve as the basis of the analysis. Results show that currently – especially on the old outer borders of the EU – the accumulated transnational social capital adds very little to social integration at the regional and European level.     

Rollen und Institutionen als symbolische Ordnung von Netzwerken

Roles and institutions lead to the reduction of uncertainty in communication, and to a particular pattering of social networks. Cultural patterns for actorhood, for social relationships, and for patterns of relationships are conceptualized as ??relational institutions?? that structure social networks as cultural models. Roles mediate between the structure of social networks and institutionalized cultural patterns: On the one hand, they can emerge in small-scale network contexts and crystallize as long as the network structure persists. On the other hand, communication draws on institutionalized models to reduce its own complexity and uncertainty. Thus, relational institutions imprint social networks through role categories. In order to elaborate on this relational conception of institutions and roles, the text combines arguments from social network research, from the normative and the interpretive role concept, from philosophical anthropology and neo-institutionalism with the general perspective of relational sociology.