Heroin abuse and a gas chromatographic method for determining illicit heroin samples in Singapore.

The abuse of heroin (diacetylmorphine) in Singapore escalated sharply in 1975 and 1976, as indicated by the 35-fold increase in the number of heroin seizures and the 20-fold increase in the urine samples containing morphine since 1974. A rapid and simple GC method has been described to estimate diacetylmorphine (and caffeine). Monoacetylmorphine and acetylcodeine may be ascertained by an additional step involving acetylation. All gas chromatograms of a large number of samples analyzed consistently had the same pattern, indicating that they possibly had a common origin. This GC "fingerprint," together with the quantitative data, appears to be characteristic of the illicit Asian or Chinese type of heroin found in Singapore. The proportions of the four major ingredients in some twelve typical samples have been tabulated. Statistical data confirming the accuracy and reproducibility of the analytical method have also been presented.     

The practical labor lawyer: an employers' guide to strike contingency planning

An employer's capacity successfully to survive a strike will depend largely on the extent to which it has anticipated the strike and taken the steps necessary to defend against it. It is the purpose of this article to catalog the factors employers should consider in approaching an imminent strike and devising contingency plans. It attempts to focus on the types of problems, legal and practical, that frequently arise in strike situations, and suggests certain measures that employers may adopt in preparing for, and defending against, the economic impact of a strike.     

Mnemic disturbances following experimental alcohol-tranquilizer application (author's transl)

Mnemic disturbances occurred in 8 of 14 subjects during a pharmcopsychological investigation of possible interactions between alcohol and dipotassium chlorazepate (Tranxilium). The blood alcohol concentrations were between 0.87% and 1.32%; the serum concentrations of the active metabolite nordiazepam were in the therapeutic range between 145 ng/ml and 345 ng/ml. The constitutional, dispositional, and situative conditions are presented. The forensic medical interpretation of such mnemic disturbances must be made critically and with reservation when evaluating a psychopathological state.