Cathartic effect of suicide attempts not limited to depression: a short-term prospective study after deliberate self-poisoning

The cathartic effect of suicide is traditionally defined as the existence of a rapid, significant, and spontaneous decrease in the depressive symptoms of suicide attempters after the act. This study was designed to investigate short-term variations, following a suicide attempt by self-poisoning, of a number of other variables identified as suicidal risk factors: hopelessness, impulsivity, personality traits, and quality of life. Patients hospitalized less than 24 hours after a deliberate (moderate) overdose were presented with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression and Impulsivity Rating Scales, Hopelessness scale, MMPI and World Health Organization's Quality of Life questionnaire (abbreviated versions). They were also asked to complete the same scales and questionnaires 8 days after discharge. The study involved 39 patients, the average interval between initial and follow-up assessment being 13.5 days. All the scores improved significantly, with the exception of quality of life and three out of the eight personality traits. This finding emphasizes the fact that improvement is not limited to depressive symptoms and enables us to identify the relative importance of each studied variable as a risk factor for attempted suicide. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as in particular the nongeneralizability of the sample and setting.     

The 2000-2001 GEP-ISFG Collaborative Exercise on mtDNA: assessing the cause of unsuccessful mtDNA PCR amplification of hair shaft samples

We report the results of Spanish and Portuguese working group (GEP) of International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) Collaborative Exercise 2001-2002 on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. 64 laboratories from Spain, Portugal and several Latin-American countries participated in this quality control exercise. Five samples were sent to the participating laboratories, four blood stains (M1-M4) and a sample (M5) consisting of two hair shaft fragments. M4 was non-human (Felis catus) in origin; therefore, the capacity of the labs to identify the biological source of this sample was an integral part of the exercise. Some labs detected the non-human origin of M4 by carrying out immuno-diffussion techniques using antihuman serum, whereas others identified the specific animal origin by testing the sample against a set of animal antibodies or by means of the analysis of mtDNA regions (Cyt-b, 12S, and 16S genes). The results of the other three human blood stains (M1-M3) improved in relation to the last Collaborative Exercises but those related to hairs yielded a low rate of success which clearly contrasts with previous results. As a consequence of this, some labs performed additional analysis showing that the origin of this low efficiency was not the presence of inhibitors, but the low quantity of DNA present in these specific hair samples and the degradation.As a general conclusion the results emphasize the need of external proficiency testing as part of the accreditation procedure for the labs performing mtDNA analysis in forensic casework.     

Fatal overdoses of tramadol: is benzodiazepine a risk factor of lethality?

Tramadol is a centrally acting analgesic agent used in the treatment of mild to moderate pain. It has a low affinity to opioid receptors and inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrin and serotonin producing an analgesic action by blocking nociceptive impulses in the spine. Although 21 drug-combined fatalities including tramadol have been reported, only two fatal overdoses in adults with tramadol alone have been reported to date. We report four additional lethal intoxications, assess the toxicity of tramadol, the detection method and the possible interaction with other central nervous system (CNS) depressants, particularly benzodiazepines. Similarities between tramadol and buprenorphine are discussed, and a possible cytochrome P450-based interaction between tramadol and benzodiazepine is considered. To our knowledge, this relationship has never been reported in the literature.     

Results of the GEP-ISFG collaborative study on the Y chromosome STRs GATA A10, GATA C4, GATA H4, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS460 and DYS461: population data

The Spanish and Portuguese ISFG Working Group (GEP-ISFG) carried out a collaborative exercise in order to asses the performance of two Y chromosome STR tetraplexes, which include the loci DYS461, GATA C4, DYS437 and DYS438 (GEPY I), and DYS460, GATA A10, GATA H4 and DYS439 (GEPY II). The groups that reported correct results in all the systems were also asked to analyse a population sample in order to evaluate the informative content of these STRs in different populations. A total of 1020 males out of 13 population samples from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Macao, Mozambique, Portugal and Spain were analysed for all the loci included in the present study. Haplotype and allele frequencies of these eight Y-STRs were estimated in all samples. The lowest haplotype diversity was found in the Lara (Argentina) population (95.44%) and the highest (99.90%) in Macao (China). Pairwise haplotype analysis showed the relative homogeneity of the Iberian origin samples, in accordance with what was previously found in the European populations for other Y-STR haplotypes (http://www.ystr.org). As expected, the four non-Caucasian samples, Macao (Chinese), Mozambique (Africans), Costa Rica (Africans) and Argentina (Lara, Amerindians), show highly significant Phist values in the pairwise comparisons with all the Caucasian samples.     

Mix-Ups, Mistake and Moral Judgement: Recent Developments in U.K. Law on Assisted Conception

Hard cases make bad law. In a matter of months, two such cases involving assisted reproduction have appeared before the U.K. High Court and legislation has been enacted. The common threads between them are consent and fatherhood. The first case concerns a ‘mistake’ resulting in sperm from the wrong man being used to create an embryo for a couple and the second the revocation of consent by a man to his former partner being allowed to use an embryo they created together. Furthermore, Parliament has intervened, passing legislation which sets out when sperm from a dead man may be used by his former partner to generate an embryo. This note argues that the three developments cannot be reconciled with one another and that the cases in particular, decided on a narrow legal basis, convey contradictory messages, leading in at least one instance to a gross injustice.     

高师音乐教育实施人才创新培育策略

高等师范院校音乐教育专业的教育目标是培养学生的艺术创造力,而高师音乐教育改革的内容和目的,就是要加快创新人才的培养,这是高师音乐教育面临的重大课题。在音乐教育的教学中,应把培养学生的创新精神、创新能力、创新素质引入到教学内容中去,建立创新人才培养的教学模式,注重培养学生的艺术实践和感受能力。     

Föderalismus, Dezentralisierung und Performanz. Eine makroquantitative Analyse der Leistungsfähigkeit territorialer Politikorganisation in entwickelten Demokratien

Does federalism matter? We develop a theoretical model on the causal relationships between federalism, decentralization and system performance by merging the two literatures on political and fiscal federalism. The model is then tested in a quantitative analysis, including the OECD countries. We find that, consistent with our model, federalism and decentralization are different dimensions of the territorial organization of politics. Decentralization has positive effects; federalism tends to result in either no or a negative performance effect.     

论社会治理中的诚信实现机制

加强社会诚信建设,治理社会诚信缺失是一项社会系统工程,必须依靠整个社会的力量,充分发挥政府、企业、中介组织和个人的积极作用,构建包括有效的约束机制、发达的评价机制、完善的激励机制、强大的监管机制、及时的公开机制在内的社会诚信实现机制。     

基于我国银行业的商业银行利率风险分析

随着我国利率市场化进程的加快和新《巴塞尔协议》2006年前后在我国的即将落实,促使商业银行在今后要更多地重视利率风险因素对银行盈利能力的影响。当前商业银行在利率风险管理方面应该注意以下几个方面一是应切实实行资产负债管理;二是实行资产多元化以分散风险;三是增加非利息收入,通过提高银行整体盈利水平来化解贷款利率风险过于集中的问题。     

The Policy of High‐Tech Industry Development: The Case of Location Assessment for Biotech Industry Parks in Taiwan

Biotechnology will be the star industry of the 21^st century, and will also be one of the main focal areas of Taiwan's future industrial development. Many scholars have suggested that the presence of geographical clusters is an important factor that determines an industry's international competitiveness. As an example of the clustering effect, when high‐tech industry was just starting to take off in Taiwan, the establishment of the Hsinchu Science‐Based Industrial Park successfully promoted the upgrading of the industrial structure. The goal of this study is to explore the development of an industrial park location selection model for Taiwan's biotech industry, while considering the influence of the clustering effect, with the ultimate intent of promoting the industry's development. Because clustering factors are certainly not necessarily independent, and may entail a feedback effect, this study uses the analytic network process (ANP) multiple criteria decision‐making (MCDM) model to construct a “biotech park” location selection model, and then determine the optimal location of a biotech park from three alternatives. The results suggest that Taipei City would be the optimal choice for a biotech park. This finding can serve to guide the government's biotech industry development policies.