Accidental poisonings involving carbon monoxide, heating systems, and confined spaces

Eleven incidents of carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication resulting in sixteen fatalities are reported. All of the cases involved heating systems as either the source or the means of distributing the CO. Blood samples were analyzed for ethanol and CO. Elevated blood CO saturations were found in 14 of the 16 victims while none of the victims had a blood ethanol concentration greater than 0.10% (w/v).     

Suicide by self-inflicted stab wound of the chest

A case is presented in which a 44-year-old man stabbed himself in the heart with a kitchen knife, then changed his bloody clothes, and ate lunch with his aunt, who did not notice the event. After 2 h he died of cardiac tamponade.     

Aging studies on fingerprint residues using thin-layer and high performance liquid chromatography

The chemical substances of perspiration found in latent fingerprint residue may hold the key for dating latent fingerprints. To study the chemical transformations of these components as a function of time and environment, fingerprint residues from four males and four females were analysed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Three major and two or three minor components were detected by both methods and the variation in the quantity of the major components with time was observed.     

Acute effects of carbon monoxide and cyanide on hepatic mitochondrial function

The effects of carbon monoxide and cyanide on the hepatic redox state and energy charge were investigated. Rats were used for the experiment under pentobarbital anesthesia. Immediately after laparotomy, a rat was placed in an animal chamber made of a transparent plastic box and exposed to a test gas for 3 min. Every test gas was produced in a gas chamber connected to the animal chamber with a flexible tube. HCN was produced from NaCN and H2SO4. In the CO inhalation experiment, various amounts of CO were introduced into the gas chamber. Immediately after an exposure, about 2 g liver was frozen in situ with a precooled clamp. Oozed blood from the wound surface was sampled. Concentrations of ATP, ADP, AMP, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate in hepatic mitochondria were determined, and the redox state and the energy charge were calculated. For cyanide as well as CO, significant negative correlations were found between the concentration in the blood and the redox state. The same held true for the energy charge. The redox state showed a slight increase at low concentrations of both gases; however, thereafter it began to decrease sharply with increases in concentrations. When concentrations of the toxicant in the blood reached certain levels, a kind of turning point, beyond which the redox state does not decrease any more, was observed. It was about 40% for HbCO and about 2.0 micrograms/ml for cyanide, and the points seemed to be related to the concentrations, beyond which cells are irreversibly damaged. On the other hand, the energy charge did not change at low concentrations. With an increase in toxicant concentrations, the energy charge decreased drastically. The rate of decrease in the energy charge became higher when blood concentrations exceeded certain levels. It was about 40% for HbCO and 2.0 micrograms/ml for cyanide. The presence of low levels of blood cyanide did not affect the relationship between the energy charge and the HbCO concentration.     

Implementing Change in an Urban School District: A Case Study of the Reorganization of the Little Rock School District

In July 2005, the Little Rock, Arkansas, school district implemented a new policy to reorganize its management structure in order to create a more efficient bureaucracy. Using Richard Matland’s ambiguity‐conflict model of policy implementation, the authors examine the implementation of this school reorganization policy. Interviews and surveys were conducted with the superintendent and his executive assistants, school principals, teachers, and staff. In line with Matland’s model, the findings suggest that successful implementation is directly related to the policy characteristics of ambiguity and conflict. However, the authors point to the importance of recognizing particular characteristics for different groups of stakeholders within the policy implementation process. Discrepancies among groups of policy actors in the degree of policy ambiguity and policy conflict lead to strikingly different implementation strategies.     

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail

Legal context: Trade mark oppositions are routinely filed by brand owners againstan offending application or registration in either a pre-grantor a post-grant procedure before the respective national trademark office, but in Japan, there are several nuanced trade markopposition practice differences that should not be taken forgranted. Key issues: In light of persisting and recent abysmal trade mark opponentsuccess rates, favourable trade mark invalidation appeal (IA)data, and the inherent procedural handicaps against opponentsin Japan's current trade mark opposition system, Trade markowners would be better served by using Japan's trade mark IAprocedures to police against conflicting trade marks in Japanand not mechanistically file oppositions in Japan as one couldin other important trade mark jurisdictions like the USA orEurope. Practical significance: Japan's trade mark opposition and IA procedures offer complementaryoptions to police against conflicting trade marks so choosingthe right procedure is critical to its achieving the mission'ssuccess in curbing competitors' marks in the world's secondlargest free market economy.