Clinico-morphological parameters of heroin abuse and pathology connected with it

Morphological manifestations of narcomania in heroin users are described. Diseases associated with heroin narcomania and causes of death of heroin users are presented. Morphological manifestations at the site of injections and inflammatory reactions in parenchymatous organs are characterized. The authors pay special attention to the productive inflammation which can serve as one of the signs that confirm narcomania in cases with parenteral injections of crude heroin. The authors refer the granulomas to toxic allergic form of granulomatous hypersensitive inflammation.     

Profenofos metabolites in human poisoning

Profenofos and its metabolites were determined in a case of fatal poisoning. Little profenofos and large amounts of metabolites were detected by gas chromatography/flame photometric detection in the acid extracts of blood and urine after methylation with diazomethane. Four major metabolites containing phosphorus were identified with the synthesized metabolites, namely, despropylated profenofos, desethylated profenofos and des-S-propylated profenofos, respectively. 4-Bromo-2-chlorophenol (BCP), an aryl moiety of profenofos, was also determined in blood and urine with high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) as free or conjugated metabolites.     

Cranio-facial morphanalysis: a new method for enhancing reliability while identifying skulls by photo superimposition

Skull-photograph superimposition continues to be the most prevalent method employed for identifying a skull recovered in a criminal case as that belonging to a putative victim whose face photograph is available. The reliability of identification achieved has been shown to be 91%, indicating the possibility of a skull mismatching with a face photograph belonging to a person other than the actual deceased. This lack of reliability dampens the confidence of the expert and in turn confounds the mind of the judge. It has been shown that the variations in the shape of the facial organs are influenced by the corresponding variations in the skeletal elements of the facial skull. "Cranio-facial morphanalysis", a new anthroposcopic method proposed here for evaluating the shape correlations between a skull and a face photograph, when applied conjointly with skull-photograph superimposition is shown to increase the reliability in forensic skull identification.     

Spectra interference between diquat and paraquat by second derivative spectrophotometry

A rapid and accurate method, combining solid-phase extraction and second-order derivative spectrophotomety approaches, is developed for the simultaneous determination of diquat (DQ) and paraquat (PQ) in blood, tissue and urine samples. Supernatant resulting from the precipitation of protein (with trichloroacetic acid) in plasma and tissue or Amberlite IRA-401 resin treated urine are passed through a mini-column packed with Wakogel gel (Silica gel). Analytes are then eluted with a non-organic solvent, 0.2mol/l HCl solution containing 2mol/l NH(4)Cl. UV spectrum of the eluent in 220-350nm range provides effective screen to detect the presence of DQ and/or PQ. In the presence of DQ or PQ alone, the analyte present is quantitated by conventional zero- or second-order derivative spectrophotometry. The calibration curve in the 0.1-5.0mg/l range for either analyte obeys Beer's law. When both DQ and PQ are present, their concentrations are determined by the peak amplitudes of their respective second-derivative spectra after the addition of alkaline dithionite reagent. Interference is negligible when the DQ/PQ concentration ratio is within the 5.0-0.2 range.Using a 2-ml of sample size, the detection limits for DQ and PQ in plasma are 0.02 and 0.005mg/l. The corresponding detection limits for urine samples (10ml sample size) are 0.004 and 0.001mg/l. Recoveries of DQ and PQ in triplicate plasma and urine samples spiked with 0.5mg/l of analytes are 93 and 85%. The precision of the proposed method resulting from triplicate study of spiked urine samples varies from 3.2 to 4.6% at 0.5mg/l of DQ and PQ, respectively.     

Detection and assay of cis- and trans-isomers of 4-methylaminorex in urine, plasma and tissue samples

The 4-methylaminorex (4-MAX) is an amphetamine-related psychostimulant drug that has appeared on the clandestine market with a street name of "U4Euh". This compound exists as four stereoisomers, trans-4R,5R, trans-4S,5S, cis-4R,5S and cis-4S,5R, of which the cis forms have been classified as Schedule I substances in the US. The increasing variety of designer drugs has highlighted the importance of detection, identification, and quantitative measurement of these drugs, including 4-MAX, in biological samples. In the present study, the isomers of 4-MAX were detected in urine of rats treated with the drugs by some but not all of the on-site immunoassays tested, mainly as amphetamine or methamphetamine. To facilitate identification of 4-MAX by laboratories specialized in drug analysis, the electron-ionization mass spectrum and TLC data for underivatized 4-MAX using a routine laboratory drug-screening procedure is provided. In addition, a GC/MS method is described for the quantitative determination of cis- and trans-4-MAX as tert-butyldimethylsilyl-derivatives in plasma, urine and tissue.     

"Wrongful life" a la francaise

A recent decision of the French supreme court has recognised what has been termed in the common law system, a "wrongful life" action. Intentionally provocative, the decision shows how the desire for equitable or "corrective" justice poses a threat not only to established legal principles on civil liability, but also to the ethical framework in which both the medical and legal professions must operate.     

低氧和氧化应激中 NO介导培养神经元损伤机理的实验研究

目的探讨低氧、氧化应激中一氧化氮（NO）和氧自由基之间关系及其对培养神经元的损伤机理。方法对培养的新生大鼠神经细胞分别进行低氧、H2O2氧化应激处理和超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）抗氧化应激处理,用比色法等检测培养上清液中NO、丙二醛（MDA）、乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）和SOD含量变化指标。结果与对照组比较,低氧组和H2O2组的NO、LDH、MDA含量均显著增高,SOD含量显著降低,NO与SOD含量变化呈负相关关系。预先给予终浓度为200U/ml的SOD处理,可使神经细胞的NO、LDH和MDA释放量明显减少。各组间NO含量与LDH、MDA含量呈正相关关系。结论低氧、氧化应激促使神经元NO产生增多,NO有增加氧自由基对神经细胞的损伤作用。SOD具有清除氧自由基和减轻NO对神经元的损伤作用。     

A Linear Poisson Autoregressive Model: The Poisson AR(p) Model

Time series of event counts are common in political scienceand other social science applications. Presently, there arefew satisfactory methods for identifying the dynamics in suchdata and accounting for the dynamic processes in event countsregression. We address this issue by building on earlier workfor persistent event counts in the Poisson exponentially weightedmoving-average model (PEWMA) of Brandt et al. (American Journalof Political Science 44(4):823–843, 2000). We developan alternative model for stationary mean reverting data, thePoisson autoregressive model of order p, or PAR(p) model. Issuesof identification and model selection are also considered. Wethen evaluate the properties of this model and present bothMonte Carlo evidence and applications to illustrate.