A retrospective study of drugged driving in Norway

The National Institute of Forensic Toxicology, Oslo, receives blood and urine samples from all Norwegian drivers apprehended on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 1983 we received samples from 1446 drug-suspected drivers, out of which 445 underwent toxicological analysis. The drugs found most frequently were tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (n = 199), diazepam (n = 166) and amphetamine (n = 102). A cautious interpretation of the data indicate that about 200 of the 445 subjects selected for toxicological analysis drove under severe influence of drugs. Because of the high percentage of submitted cases not analysed for drugs, this figure represents a minimum estimate. Compared with the results from 1978, we found a several-fold increase in detections of THC and amphetamine in 1983. The number of diazepam detections did not increase in a similar way, but we estimated that the diazepam detections would have increased 3-fold if we had analysed as frequent for this drug in 1983 as in 1978.     

Study of cathepsin A, B and D activities in the skin wound edges. Its application to the differential diagnosis between vital and postmortem wounds

The aims of the authors in this paper has been to check the diagnostic ability of the Cathepsin A, B and D concentrations in the skin wound edges to the differential diagnosis between vital and postmortem wounds. We have studied 56 domestic pigs grouped in seven experimental series consisting of 8 animals in each, according to the time (0, 5, 15, 30 min and 1, 3 and 6 h) after the injury. The enzymatic activities were investigated following the methods by Bowen and Davison Biochem. J., 131 (1973) 417-419, Suhar and Marks J. Biochem., 101 (1979) 23-30 and by Anson (modified by Yamamoto, Eur. J. Biochem., 95 (1979) 459-467) for Cathepsin A, B and D, respectively. For the differential diagnosis between vital and postmortem wounds, our results showed that the most useful markers studied are the Cathepsin A and D activities, Cathepsin D that of the first one.     

A simplified procedure for simultaneous detection of salivary proteins and its application in paternity testing

An alternative simplified procedure for the genetic analysis of salivary protein complex (SPC) which eliminates the need for a specific concentrated parotid sample is proposed. After the technique is applied isoelectric focusing and protein detection is carried out by silver staining. The chance of exclusion of non-fathers for these systems in our population is 0.161711 for Pr, 0.07948 for Db, 0.07836 for Pa and 0.00995 for PIF. The total exclusion rate for these systems is 0.30042.     

Overprovision and the licensing (Scotland) act 1976

This paper examines Scottish licensing law, in particular the granting of licenses to supply alcoholic liquor. Any application for a license must be granted unless one or more of four conditions are fulfilled. One of these, that the award would lead to overprovision, is the central concern of this study. The paper does not investigate why the consumption and distribution of alcohol are regulated nor why regulatory control takes the form it does. ¹ The starting point is rather that regulation exists and takes a particular form. Attention is focused on the operation of this regulatory control and with how it might be improved.In the next section, some of the key features of the licensing law and its appeals are reviewed, establishing the importance of evidence of the presence or otherwise of overprovision. Section II discusses the use of density of licensed premises as a measure of provision, indicates the problems, and argues that a measure might be refined and validated by entering it in an equation explaining the retail price of alcoholic beverages. Section III examines empirically the relationship between price and licensing density.     

US police officers’ knowledge regarding behaviors indicative of deception: Implications for eradicating erroneous beliefs through training

Abstract

The current study surveyed a random sample of Texas law enforcement officers (n?=?109) about their knowledge regarding behaviors indicative of deception. The officers were not highly knowledgeable about this topic, overall performing at a chance level in assessing how various behavioral cues relate to deception. Confidence in one's skill was unrelated to accuracy, and officers who reported receiving the most training and utilizing these skills more often were more confident but no more accurate in their knowledge of the behaviors that typically betray deception. The authors compare these results to previous studies that have examined officers’ beliefs in other countries and discuss the implication of these results in terms of developing future training programs that may debunk the common misconceptions that officers possess.