Orosomucoid (ORM) typing by isoelectric focusing: description of two new alleles in a German population and thermostability in bloodstains

The genetic polymorphism of serum orosomucoid (ORM) was studied in 168 unrelated German individuals using isoelectric focusing followed by immunoprinting. Two new alleles, tentatively designated ORM1*14 and ORM2*13, were identified. The method was successfully applied to demonstrate ORM1 types in dried bloodstains. Each type of ORM1 was also correctly determined in bloodstains heated at 130 degrees C for 30 min. The results indicated that ORM1 is a new powerful genetic marker system for the grouping of bloodstains.     

Fatal intoxication by Remoxipride

The case history and toxicologic findings of a 23-year-old woman who committed suicide with Remoxipride are described. Remoxipride is a recently developed neuroleptic drug of the benzamide type. Remoxipride was detected in the liver, stomach content, blood, and urine. The concentration of Remoxipride in the blood was 230 mg/L. The recommended therapeutic level for Remoxipride should not exceed 7 to 8 mg/L. The victim had no blood alcohol, but an ethanol concentration of 0.048 g/100 L was detected in the urine. The mechanism of death from Remoxipride intoxication is not known. In clinical studies, sinus bradycardia and infrequent supraventricular and ventricular ectopic beats have been noted.     

ABH and Lewis antigens of tracheal glands. II. Lewis negative individuals

Immunocytochemical studies were performed on tracheal wall samples embedded in paraffin; the samples were taken at 23 autopsies. In all cases, the red cells had been typed in postmortem serological studies as being Le(a-b-). Blood-group antigens were demonstrated by the indirect immunoperoxidase technique, using monoclonal Anti-A, Anti-B, Anti-Lea and Anti-Leb; H was detected by UEA 1. The secretor characteristics could clearly be diagnosed from the ABH staining pattern of the mucous glands. In 11 cases, the lewis antigen labeling patterns were identical to the group of Lewis-positive individuals. It seems probable, from the statistical point of view, that these 11 individuals were, in fact, Lewis-positive and that the negative serology resulted from deterioration of the cadaver blood samples. The immunocytochemistry was quite different in the remaining 12 cases: (a) secretors (n = 9) were completely negative for Lea, Leb was equally negative in one case, but in the remainder it was detectable within mucous epithelia in minimal amounts and in an atypical granular distribution; (b) nonsecretors (n = 3) reversely exhibited complete negativity for Leb but a minimal staining for Lea. These findings are in harmony with the well established Lewis serology typing of secretions in Lewis negative individuals. Thus, a minimal Lewis antigen biosynthesis and secretion seem to occur in the absence of the Le gene: A alpha-4-L-fucosyltransferase of low activity might be the product of the allele le.     

New findings concerning the pathogenesis of acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning

The pathomechanism of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning was studied by means of cardiopathological and neuropathological investigations in experimental CO intoxication. It has been shown that besides CO-hemoglobin association, the binding of CO to cytochromes is a significant factor. The latter is thought to be responsible for the cytotoxic phenomena. Combined ultrastructural and cytochemical studies have enabled differentiation between toxic, hypoxic, and mixed alternations.     

Paradigm,School, or Sect? Some Reflections on the Status of Rational Choice Theory in Contemporary Scandinavian Political Science

There is a marked difference between American and Scandinavian political science when it comes to the position of rational choice theory within the discipline. In the US it is said to have become "probably the hottest thing going in political science today", whereas in Scandinavia it seems at present to linger on the borderline between a school and a sect. As part of a possible explanation for this difference, this article points, on the one hand, to some differences between the status of American and Scandinavian political science and on the other hand to some differences between dominant intellectual traditions. The intellectual differences may in turn be linked to differences between American and Scandinavian politics. Thus, in some respects rational choice theory appears to be more congenial to the American than to a Scandinavian political setting. The article concludes with a short discussion of how ongoing changes in Scandinavian and, more generally, European politics might affect the scientific status of rational choice theory in the future.     

MEDIATION AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This article summarizes policies and procedures used by various courts in the United States in responding to domestic violence. Over 200 courts and services were contacted under a grant from the State Justice Institute in developing this survey. The article covers the profile of mediation services, mediator training regarding domestic violence, screening for domestic violence and protocols used.     

Government Risk-Financing Pools: An Assessment of Current Practices

Since 1970, state and local governments have experienced two “insurance crises;” the first occurred in the mid- to late-1970s and the second in the mid-80s. The result has been a twenty-year period of time in which state and local governments have been able to afford insurance only intermittently-if insurance has been available at all. In response to this problem, local governments, government associations, and state governments created alternative risk-finartcing mechanisms to provide coverage for themselves. These mechanisms, commonly referred to as self-insurance pools, enable local governments within a state to pool together risks and resources to finance the costs of fortuitous losses. In 1988, the first comprehensive examination of pooling practices was undertaken through a nationwide survey. This article reports the findings from the first follow-up study since the 1988 survey and further extends knowledge of pooling and pooling practices.     

The Young Evatt — Labor's New Liberal

In 1936 H. V. Evatt published The King and His Dominion Governors. Although not yet quite at the height of his achievement upon the world stage, Evatt was already the leading statesman in–the–making, at home and abroad. A figure no less than Harold Laski introduced the volume. The title page of the book testified to Evatt's prestige, as well as indicating something of his own sense of achievement Evatt presented himself to the world as follows: