Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Pathology After Shotgun Injury to the Brain

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was initially conceptualized in boxers, but has extended to other athletes in recent years, albeit with limited clinical correlations. It is often asserted that CTE pathology represents the substrate for progressive neurodegenerative disease. We report the case of a shotgun injury to the brain with 42‐year survival and no neurological disease progression until shortly before death. The decedent had no other traumatic brain injury (TBI) exposure and did not play football or other high energy collision sport. Neuropathological examination confirmed tissue damage, but additionally demonstrated localized patterns of phosphorylated tau (p‐tau) meeting criteria for CTE pathology. P‐tau and TDP‐43 deposits within marginal tissue of damaged brain were also present focally. No amyloid‐β (Aβ) deposits were present. These findings indicate that CTE pathology may occur following a single, severe TBI.     

Forensic Imaging‐Guided Recovery of Nuclear DNA from the Spinal Cord*,†

Abstract: Our objective is to document the recovery of DNA from the spinal cord or surrounding dura mater in 11 cases of severely burned human remains. Radiographs established that portions of charred tissue contained spine segments. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) revealed that each spine specimen contained an intact spinal cord remnant. A full DNA profile was obtained from seven specimens using spinal cord dura mater in six specimens and spinal cord medulla in one specimen. A partial profile was obtained from four specimens (spinal cord dura mater, 2; spinal cord medulla, 2). Bone and muscle surrounding the spinal cord appear to insulate nucleic acid containing tissue from critical thermal degradation. The spinal cord, which is easily identified by MDCT examination of remains and easily recovered at the postmortem examination, can be a source of DNA with extraction yields comparable with other tissue sources. Specimens of dura mater are preferable as processing time is faster than bone.     

Who speaks for the European border security industry? A network analysis

This article contributes to the literature on the European border security industry with a network analysis of a new bipartite data set. The network is composed of speakers and their speech topics at a European border security conference taking place from 2008 to 2015. Speakers are linked to conferences by year of attendance and to speech topics to identify key actors and discourses using measures of centrality. A multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure (MR-QAP) is used to explain the continuity of conference speech topics. The centrality analysis reveals a number of “hubs” and the discourse analysis reveals a consistent focus on social control and surveillance over human rights. The MR-QAP regression suggests that shared discourses are driven by organisations which act as key speakers at many events, and whose discourses are prioritised over those of other actors. The article concludes with notes on the critical implications of the findings.     

An organizational analysis of political action committees

As the number and putative importance of political action committees have grown, so too has scholarly attention to this new breed of political organization. Yet this attention has been uneven. Although much is now known about the aggregate spending patterns of PACs, much less is known about their internal lives. The present study attempts to open the PAC black box to empirical inquiry. Drawing on interviews with the managers of 70 Washington-based political action committees, we suggest how theoretical perspectives about formal voluntary associations may be usefully applied in explaining the behavior of PACs. After examining the relationships among several variables — organizational goals, constituency relations and decision making, strategy, and interorganizational relations — we show how these forces affect the behavior of corporate, trade/membership, labor, and nonconnected PACS.     

Coping with Electronic Data Discovery Issues

This article provides an overview of the steps a company should take if electronic discovery is requested from it during the course of litigation. Either by seeking a protective order or by inducing a motion to compel by objecting to the discovery requests, a ruling should be obtained from the court as to the parameters and limits of the requested discovery and who bears the cost of retrieving and producing the electronic data. If production is ordered by the court, the producing party must ensure through the use of formal review measures that any privileges protecting the data are not waived. While severe sanctions may be imposed on a party who destroys electronic evidence after litigation is initiated or when it is reasonably likely that litigation will ensue, a company may prevent a broad-scale, expensive production of electronic evidence by installing prior to any litigation a system of routine organization and disposal of non-essential electronic data.     

Book reviews

Language Planning and National Development: The Uzbek Case William Fierman Berlin, New York: de Gruyter, 1991, Contributions to the Sociology of Language No 60, XIII, 375 pp, $110.00

Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and Autonomy in Twentieth‐Century Iran Touraj Atabaki London, England: British Academic Press, 1993, pp 238

Central Asia: New Arc of Crisis Shirin Akiner London, Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, 1993, 79 pp,appendices, £4.95

Without right and left Nursultan Nazarbaev Class Publishing, London, 1992, 171 pp, photos, pb NP

The Islamization of Central Asia. A Case Study of Uzbekistan Diloram Ibrahim Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1993, 32 pp, £1.50

Survival Among the Kurds. A History of the Yezidis John S. Guest London: Kegan Paul International, 1993, 324 pp, Illus., bibliography, index, £45

Samarkand compiled by Andrei Nedvetsky, 159 pp, illustrated, Bukhara compiled by Andrei Nedvetsky, 159 pp, illustrated, Khiva compiled by Andrei Nedvetsky, 127 pp, illustrated, Reading, England: Garnet Publishing, 1993, £16.95 each

My Golden Road from Samarkand Jascha Golowanjuk London: Quartet Books, £14.95, 244 pp

Turkey's New Geopolitics From the Balkans to Western China Graham E. Fuller, Ian O. Lesser, Paul D. Henze & J. F. Brown Boulder, Oxford, UK: Westview Press, A RAND Book, 1993, 197 pp, £10.50

Turkish Foreign Policy. New Prospects Clement H. Dodd (editor) Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire: The Eothen Press, 1992, 117 pp, £12.50 pb

Derwische. Gelebter Sufismus Jurgen Frembgen Koln, Germany: DuMont Buchverlag, 1993, 283 pp, illustrations

Die Gärten des Islam Hermann Forkl, Johannes Kalter, Thomas Leisten & Margaret Pavaloi (editors) Stuttgart/London: Hansjorg Mayer, 1993, 388 pp, illustrations, £30

Birth of a Tragedy. Kashmir 1947 Alastair Lamb Hertingfordbury: Roxford Books, 1994, 177 pp, £9 pb

The Afghan Syndrome. The Soviet Union's Vietnam Major‐General Oleg Sarin & Colonel Lev Dvoretsky London: Greenhill Books, Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1993, £22.50, 195 pp, appendices, index