Age of attainment of mineralization stages of the permanent dentition.

The ages at which the maxillary and mandibular teeth of 121 boys and 111 girls reached 14 mineralization stages were determined from serial cephalograms at the Burlington Growth Centre. The present data are more comprehensive than any previously available and can be applied to chronological age determinations in juveniles of indefinite age, and of specimens in anthropological and forensic investigations. The sexes differed in the age at which they attained the stages of mineralization, with the canines demonstrating the greatest difference. In each sex, the ages at identical stages were similar for the corresponding teeth in the maxilla and mandible. Variability in age was greater among the males, especially for the first premolars, and increased with age, except for the third molars. Variability in age of third molar mineralization was greater in females and diminished among both sexes at late stages of root formation.     

Rhetoric and rationality: A study of democratization in the Soviet Union

Can political actors use rational strategies for political conflict when established institutions are unavailable to structure political choices because the institutions are themselves among the contested issues? In Soviet politics from 1985 to 1991, cross-cutting cleavages placed in question the possibility of any stable outcome. We argue that a multi-dimensional issue space was reduced to a single dimension, along which Mikhail Gorbachev could temporarily occupy a median, by the interaction between Gorbachev's own rhetoric and rhetorical tactics used by leaders of his nomenklatura opposition, by Boris Yeltsin as the leader of the democratic opposition, and by single-issue groups called neformaly. The match between these four players' rhetorics and the four strategic options identified by a simple spatial model offers empirical evidence that rational strategies were available despite institutional flux.     

The forensic science implications of site and temporal influences on postmortem blood-drug concentrations

The dependence of postmortem blood-drug concentrations on the collection site and on the postmortem interval before specimen collection has been studied. These studies consisted of both sequential sampling from the same collection site at defined time intervals and a comparison of the drug concentrations of postmortem blood simultaneously collected from various sites. A site and time dependence was observed for postmortem blood-drug concentrations. The heart blood-drug concentrations were, in general, significantly higher than those of peripheral specimens. As a result of this phenomenon, the analysis of peripheral blood specimens and solid tissues is often necessary before a definitive interpretation of postmortem toxicological analyses is possible.     

Sudden,unexpected death following typhoid-cholera vaccination

A previously healthy 33-year-old Australian male died suddenly and unexpectedly 8 h after a typhoid-cholera vaccination. Such facalities are extreme rarities and the present case is the first in which postmortem measurement of serum immunoglobulins has been undertaken. The clinical course and necropsy findings suggest that death was the result of a slowly evolving systemic anaphylactic reaction which terminated in hypotension and righs heart failure. The deceased was probably atopic. The current recommendations for the vaccination of international travellers against typhoid and cholera are discussed.     

Use of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprints for identity determination: comparison with traditional paternity testing methods--Part II

Six red blood cell (RBC) antigen systems, coupled with human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) phenotyping, were used to establish paternity on 28 mother/child/alleged-father trios. Samples were subsequently examined using the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprinting test with the multilocus Jeffreys DNA probes 33.6 and 33.15. In 27 of 28 paternity cases, the DNA fingerprinting test results supported and enhanced the results of RBC and HLA typing by resolving disputed paternity cases conclusively. One discrepancy between conventional serological methods and DNA analysis is discussed.