Screening postmortem blood and tissues for nine classes [correction of cases] of drugs of abuse using automated microplate immunoassay

A commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was evaluated as a screening procedure for the detection of nine classes of abused drugs in postmortem blood and tissue specimens. Specifically, postmortem blood, fluid and/or tissue homogenates were screened for amphetamine (AMP), methamphetamine (MET), barbiturates (BARB), benzodiazepines (BZD), cannabinoids (CNB), cocaine (benzoylecgonine; BE), morphine-specific (MOR), opiates (class; OPI), phencyclidine (PCP) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) by ELISA and by coated tube radioimmunoassay (CTR) (BARB, BE, OPI, PCP, LSD) or double-antibody radioimmunoassay (DAR) (AMP/METH, BZD, CNB). Specimens that screened 'positive' by any method were confirmed and quantitated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The only assay that appeared to perform less optimally than RIA was the MOR assay (five false negatives). However, this assay is very specific for free morphine while the GC/MS confirmation method provided a total morphine value. The OPI assay was more sensitive, producing fewer false negatives, and is recommended for broad class opiate screening. EIA is an adequate alternative to RIA for screening postmortem specimens, including blood and tissue, for nine major classes of drugs.     

Vertrauensfrage und Parlamentsauflösung. Anmerkungen zur verfassungspolitischen Debatte und zur Verfassungspraxis in den Ländern

The article reconstructs major topics of the current debate on the dissolution of the federal diet according to Art. 68 Basic Law. It will examine constitutional traditions of the vote of confidence and the right to dissolve a parliament and analyze the constitutional practices in the states. Overall, it will be shown that the goals to be achieved with the constitutional norms in question depend less on codified norms but rather on a well functioning party system. In consequence, the current changes in the party system might create new challenges for German parliamentary democracy.     

Pursuing Security in Cyberspace: Strategic and Organizational Challenges

This article argues that the United States government should be acting rapidly to decrease the risks the country is running in cyberspace. While the private sector has a critical part to play in enhancing the country's cybersecurity posture, the government also has a necessary role. It is on the government's role that this article focuses. The article begins by discussing the characteristics of cyberspace. Next, the challenge of cybersecurity is explored through a risk management model that addresses, in turn, threats, vulnerabilities, and potential consequences. Finally, the article lays out some of the characteristics of an effective government response, which help to illuminate a few of the strategic and organizational challenges that will have to be overcome to improve the country's security in the cyber realm.     

Securitization and Judicial Review: A Semiotic Perspective on the Relation Between the Security Council and International Judicial Bodies

This article examines therelation between the Security Council andinternational judicial bodies. The first partexplains, on the basis of linguistic theoriesof international security, the new role assumedby the Security Council after the Cold War. Thesecond part analyses, on the basis of insightsborrowed from legal semiotics, the position ofinternational judicial organs vis-à-vis theSecurity Council (especially the InternationalCourt of Justice and the Tribunals for Rwandaand the former Yugoslavia). The article arguesthat international judicial bodies havedeveloped ways of checking the power of theSecurity Council, which go beyond thetraditional modes of judicial review. Legalsemiotics offers the tools necessary tounderstand these countervailing activities andthus the relation between internationaljudicial bodies and the Security Council ingeneral.     

Hungarian population data of eight X-linked markers in four linkage groups

The X chromosomal STR markers DXS10135 and DXS8378 in linkage group 1, DXS7132 and DXS10074 in linkage group 2, HPRTB and DXS10101 in linkage group 3, and DXS10134 and DXS7423 in linkage group 4 were studied in the Hungarian population. After genotyping unrelated men (219) and women (165), forensic efficiency parameters were calculated. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium could not be detected. There were several microvariant and rare alleles were sequenced: four in locus DXS10135 (alleles 17.1, 18.1, 20.1 and 26.1), one in locus DXS10074 (alleles 11), three in locus DXS10101 (alleles 26, 34.2 and 35) and five in locus DXS10134 (alleles 35.3, 37.2, 38.2, 39.2, 41).     

Gender symmetry, sexism, and intimate partner violence

This study of a predominantly Hispanic sample of 92 male and 140 female college students examines both gender symmetry in intimate partner violence (IPV) and inconsistent relationships found in previous studies between sexist attitudes and IPV. Results indicate that although comparable numbers of men and women perpetrate and are victimized in their relationships with intimate partners, the path models suggest that women's violence tends to be in reaction to male violence, whereas men tend to initiate violence and then their partners respond with violence. Benevolent sexism was shown to have a protective effect against men's violence toward partners. Findings highlight the importance of studying women's violence not only in the context of men's violence but also within a broader sociocultural context.     

Psychiatric Disorders of Parents of Physically Abused Adolescents

Psychiatric disorders of 142 parents of adolescents who were documented as physically abused during adolescence and 168 parents of non-abused comparison adolescents were assessed. Fathers and mothers of physically abused adolescents exhibited higher rates of Axis I diagnoses and co-occurring disorders, and had more impaired GAS scores than comparison parents. Fathers of abused adolescents had greater lifetime incidence of Conduct Disorder and Substance Abuse/Dependence than comparison fathers. Mothers of abused adolescents had more unipolar depressive disorders than comparison mothers. This study highlights the importance of mental health assessments and interventions for parents of physically abused adolescents. Since onsets of parental psychiatric disorders antedated the abuse, early recognition and treatment of parental disorders may contribute to prevention of the onset and/or reoccurrence of adolescent physical abuse.