A report of an international collaborative experiment to demonstrate the uniformity obtainable using DNA profiling techniques.

This paper describes a collaborative exercise intended to demonstrate whether uniformity of DNA profile results could be achieved between different European laboratories. It was shown that this goal can be obtained provided that a common protocol is followed (specifically the use of a common electrophoretic buffer as being the most important parameter). Generally, lower molecular weight loci (with lower molecular weight fragments) such as YNH24 perform better than higher molecular weight loci such as MS43a. The results of the exercise are discussed in relation to the objectives of the European DNA profiling group (EDNAP).     

Threatening and otherwise inappropriate letters to members of the United States Congress

The authors examine the characteristics of threatening and otherwise inappropriate communications sent to members of the U.S. Congress by a sample of 86 subjects, 20 of whom threatened assassination. We quote excerpts from these letters and provide quantitative data on such variables as the volume, duration, form, and appearance of such communications; the enclosures; the subjects' perceived relationships to the recipients; the thematic content of the communications; and the messages and threats communicated. Comparisons between 43 subjects who pursued encounters with members of Congress and 43 who did not revealed 17 factors associated with such pursuit. In this population, threateners were significantly less likely to pursue an encounter than inappropriate letter writers who did not threaten, regardless of the type of threat or the harm threatened. Inappropriate letters to members of Congress are compared with those directed to Hollywood celebrities. Mentally disordered persons writing to public figures often mention and sometimes threaten public figures other than those to whom the letters are addressed, which raises important issues regarding notification of endangered third parties and the sharing of information among protective agencies.     

国家与经济发展:关于发展问题的深层次思考

研究一个国家的经济发展问题离不开政治因素的讨论。作为政治因素的核心,国家自然应进入我们的研究视野。应建立国家经济学,把政治观念与新古典的分析方法结合起来,探讨经济发展的源泉,揭示经济发展规律,研究经济发展问题。     

医疗损害赔偿纠纷不适用公平责任原则--兼与姚勇先生商榷

《法律与医学杂志》2005年第12卷（第4期）刊载姚勇先生大作“李某某诉某大学附属医院医疗事故人身损害赔偿案”一文,从被告是否存在侵害被告知情权和是否存在误诊过失进行了论证,结论是在这两方面被告均无过失（见原文）.     

人体冠心病心肌组织cTnI免疫组织化学研究

目的 研究cTnI免疫组织化学法诊断人体急性心肌梗死的法医病理学意义.方法 应用免疫组织化学法检测人体冠心病心肌组织cTnI的变化,进行图像分析,与HE染色法进行比较.结果 人体冠心病心肌组织急性心肌梗死区域心肌细胞内cTnI免疫组化染色缺染、分布失规律性;梗死修复区域纤维间质cTnI免疫组化染色弱阳性:陈旧性心肌梗死瘢痕区域纤维间质cTnI免疫组化染色阴性.失血性休克组近心内膜心肌细胞内cTnI免疫组化染色轻度增强,并见点灶状心肌细胞内cTnI免疫组化染色缺染.结论 cTnI免疫组织化学检测可以应用于人体急性心肌梗死的诊断.     

Toxicologic findings in the USS Iowa disaster.

The toxicologic results from the 47 victims of the explosion on the USS Iowa are presented. Good correlation between carboxyhemoglobin saturations and cause of death was found. There were no correlations between blood cyanide concentrations and causes of death. Volatile analysis suggested postmortem ethanol production rather than antemortem ethanol ingestion. No drugs except nicotine were detected in any of the victims.     

Impact of tropical conditions on thin layer chromatography in analytical toxicology: high temperatures and moderate humidities.

The impact of high temperatures (24 to 39 degrees C) and low to moderately high humidities (20 to 70%) on the applicability of TLC systems for drug identification was studied during a 6 month climatologic cycle in Burkina Faso (West Africa). In general, the Rf values as observed on the plates were found to be substantially affected as compared with values obtained at temperate climates. Some TLC systems were more affected than others and the largest deviations of up to 30 Rf units were at low humidities. Tropical conditions also had a negative effect on the reproducibility of Rf values. However, when an Rf-correction procedure was applied, using reference mixtures of known drugs on each plate, accuracy as well as reproducibility of the resulting Rfc values were drastically improved and data thus corrected were found to be compatible with existing TLC data bases developed under moderate climatological conditions. The impact of high to extremely high humidities (70 to 100%) remains to be investigated.     

When siting works, Canada-style.

Hazardous waste management poses increasing problems for Canadian provinces and American states, given the vast quantities and types of wastes generated and the virtual inability to open new storage, treatment, or disposal facilities. The Canadian experience is very similar to the American one in many respects, except for the fact that three provinces (Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec) have devised alternative approaches to siting that appear successful in moving beyond the political gridlock so common on this issue. In each of these cases, traditional, top-down approaches to siting have been eschewed in favor of a more comprehensive approach that includes extensive public participation, economic and social compensation packages, formal partnerships between public and private organizations, and direct links between siting proposals and other aspects of waste management, including waste reduction, recycling, and export/import control.     

Can information change public opinion? Another test of the Marshall hypotheses

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall offered his opinion regarding the utility of public opinion polls as a tool for assessing the “evolving standards of decency” regarding capital punishment. His arguments became known as the Marshall hypotheses and spawned a considerable body of empirical testing. The three Marshall hypotheses are: (1) support for capital punishment is inversely associated with knowledge about it, (2) exposure to information about capital punishment produces sentiments in opposition to capital punishment, but (3) exposure to information about capital punishment will have no impact on those who support it for retributive reasons. The results of previous tests of these hypotheses were somewhat mixed but supportive. None of these studies, however, examined the effects of change in knowledge levels with changes, if any, in death penalty attitudes and beliefs as needed for a more complete test of the Marshall hypotheses. The present study addressed this shortcoming. The results provided mixed support for these three hypotheses. That is, death penalty supporters were somewhat less informed than death penalty opponents; exposure to death penalty information and knowledge gains tended to be associated with attitudinal change in a directions suggested by these hypotheses; but, retributivists' attitudes toward and beliefs about capital punishment were not any more resistant to change than were the attitudes and beliefs of non-retributivists.