Validation of Large White Pig as an animal model for the study of cannabinoids metabolism: application to the study of THC distribution in tissues

This study presents a new animal model, the Large White Pig, which was tested for studying cannabinoids metabolism. The first step has focused on determination of plasma kinetics after injection of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at different dosages. Seven pigs received THC by intravenous injections (50, 100 or 200 microg/kg). Plasma samples were collected during 48 h. Determination of cannabinoids concentrations were performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results showed that plasma kinetics were comparable to those reported in humans. Terminal half-life of elimination was 10.6 h and a volume of distribution of 32 l/kg was calculated. In a second step, this model was used to determine the kinetic profile of cannabinoids distribution in tissues. Eight Large White male pigs received an injection of THC (200 microg/kg). Two pigs were sacrificed 30 min after injection, two others after 2, 6 and 24 h. Different tissues were sampled: liver, kidney, heart, lung, spleen, muscle, fat, bile, blood, vitreous humor and several brain areas. The fastest THC elimination was noted in liver tissue, where it was completely eliminated in 6 h. THC concentrations decreased in brain tissue slower than in blood. The slowest THC elimination was observed for fat tissue, where the molecule was still present at significant concentrations 24 h later. After 30 min, THC concentration in different brain areas was highest in the cerebellum and lowest in the medulla oblongata. THC elimination kinetics noted in kidney, heart, spleen, muscle and lung were comparable with those observed in blood. 11-Hydroxy-THC was only found at high levels in liver. THC-COOH was less than 5 ng/g in most tissues, except in bile, where it increased for 24 h following THC injection. This study confirms, even after a unique administration, the prolonged retention of THC in brain and particularly in fat, which could be at the origin of different phenomena observed for heavy users such as prolonged detection of THC-COOH in urine or cannabis-related flashbacks. Moreover, these results support the interest for this animal model, which could be used in further studies of distribution of cannabinoids in tissues.     

Four major disasters in Aquitaine,France: use of odontologic techniques for identification

The 4 mass disasters that have affected the Aquitaine region (France) in the previous 15 years are related through the specificity and the efficiency of dental methodology in identifying the victims. The results point to the decisive influence and the efficiency of dental methodology for identification of bodies that are burned or disfigured after an accident or a prolonged period in water.     

How fair is pricing perceived to be? An empirical study

The perceived fairness of different rules for allocating scarce resources is analysed in two cases: seats on a high speed train and parking spaces in a company car park. Attitudes toward allocation rules depend on context. They vary according to: the educational level of respondents; the type of “good”; and the exceptional or recurring nature of scarcity. Peak pricing, administrative and lottery rules are seen as the most unfair, together with queuing in some cases. The moral rule is considered to be the fairest one, except by more educated people who prefer the compensation rule.     

MERGERS, STANDARD OF PROOF AND EXPERT ECONOMIC EVIDENCE

There is an increasing use of complex econometric modellingin EC merger control proceedings. The question is whether econometricsare subject to a standard of evidence similar to that applicableto facts and theories that the Commission traditionally usesand articulates in its merger decisions or whether there shouldbe some margin of discretion left to the Commission in the treatmentand handling of econometric evidence. In the former case, ECcourts would exert an intensive review of the Commission's useand articulation of econometric evidence. In the latter case,EC courts would adopt a rather deferential approach. While theissue has not yet been dealt with before EC courts, this articlesubmits that the Commission should use econometrics with cautionand, hence, should meet a relatively high evidentiary thresholdbefore admitting the results of econometric models into evidence.Several guiding principles of evidence are suggested, whichare not intended to negate the Commission's margin of discretion,but would, nevertheless, ensure that econometrics be subjectto a fairly high standard of proof.     

US tax treatment of foreign grantor trust during the year of the Grantor's death

This article, specifically, addresses the US tax treatment ofa foreign trust that changes from a foreign grantor trust toa foreign non-grantor trust when the grantor (settlor) diesduring the year and how the trust accounts for its distributednet income and undistributed net income in the year of death.¹     

A New Tool for Coding and Interpreting Injuries in Fatal Airplane Crashes: The Crash Injury Pattern Assessment Tool Application to the Air France Flight AF447 Disaster (Rio de Janeiro–Paris), 1st of June 2009

For investigation of air disasters, crash reconstruction is obtained using data from flight recorders, physical evidence from the site, and injuries patterns of the victims. This article describes a new software, Crash Injury Pattern Assessment Tool (CIPAT), to code and analyze injuries. The coding system was derived from the Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS). Scores were created corresponding to the amount of energy required causing the trauma (ER), and the software was developed to compute summary variables related to the position (assigned seat) of victims. A dataset was built from the postmortem examination of 154/228 victims of the Air France disaster (June 2009), recovered from the Atlantic Ocean after a complex and difficult task at a depth of 12790 ft. The use of CIPAT allowed to precise cause and circumstances of deaths and confirmed major dynamics parameters of the crash event established by the French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority.     

The fight against crime and/or the protection of privacy: a thorny debate!1

This article analyses a recent legislative provision adopted by the Belgian legislator imposing on all communication service providers the requirement that they retain traffic data for a minimum period of 12 months, in addition to the recent European debates about Echelon and traffic data retention in the light of the requirements of Article 8 of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The equilibrium between state security requirements and privacy protection imperatives leads the proposal of a certain number of limitations, as regards to cyber‐surveillance by governmental authorities in order to maintain the efficient functioning of our democracies.     

Reviews

Gradualist choice with question marks: an international panel of economists on the Hungarian transition

Istvan P. Szekely & David M. G. Newbery (eds), Hungary: An Economy in Transition. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press 1993.

Joseph Held, ed., Democracy and Right‐Wing Politics in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993, vi + 232 pp., $40.50.

Stephen K. Batalden ed., Seeking God: The Recovery of Religious Identity in Orthodox Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. DeKalb, IL, Northern Illinois University Press, 1993, ix + 299 pp., $32.00.

K. Kaariainen, Atheism and Perestroika. Helsinki, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1993, 189 pp., Finmarks 140.00.

Börje Ljunggren ed., The Challenge of Reform in Indochina. Boston, MA: Harvard Studies in International Development, Harvard University Press, 1993.

Valery Boldin, Ten Years that Shook the World. The Gorbachev Era as Witnessed by his Chief of Staff. London: Harper Collins, 1994, viii + 310 pp., £10.99, $25.00.     

Toward Subnational Comparative Cultural Policy Analysis: The Case of Provincial Cultural Policy and Administration in Canada

Comparative policy analysis is an underdeveloped field of study in Canadian policy scholarship at the national and subnational levels. Cultural policy research is also underdeveloped in Canada, particularly at the provincial level. This article aims to contribute to the development of subnational comparative cultural policy analysis by assessing the analytical value of utilizing national-level cultural policy approaches as referents for provincial comparative analysis. We develop four main approaches to cultural policy and administration—the French, British, American, and hybrid (mixed) approaches—and explore their applicability to analyzing the origin and evolution of cultural policy and administration in five Canadian provinces. The article draws on a recently concluded three-year national study of provincial and territorial cultural policy and administration codirected by authors Gattinger and Saint-Pierre.