Analysis of ionic ratios in myocardial tissue and their relation to cardiac damage

The authors evaluated the usefulness of the postmortem biochemical analysis of ionic ratios in different parts of the heart and their relation to cardiac damage caused by chest trauma, as observed by anatomopathologic study. Fifty-nine 59 cases were studied, selected from routine necropsies, and samples were taken from different sites of cardiac tissue. The cause of death was trauma in 40 cases and nontraumatic causes in 19 cases. The object of this study was to analyze the levels of Na+, K+, Ca+2, Mg+2, and Zn+2 in different zones of the heart, and the relationship between intracellular and extracellular ion ratios and the different causes of death and any anatomopathologic alterations observed. The biochemical tests revealed a possible relation between the ionic values and cause of death. Alterations in cell membrane permeability and corresponding modification of the ionic ratios were produced earlier than histologic alterations, which need longer to establish themselves whether or not they follow a traumatic process.     

A new improved method for extraction of DNA from teeth for the analysis of hypervariable loci

A new method for better recovery of DNA suitable for amplification of hypervariable loci from fragments of teeth, consisting of two steps-scraping and aspiration, and extensive decalcification-is reported. Higher yields of high molecular weight DNA were obtained from the root, pulp, and crown of all kinds of 120 teeth, irrespective of gender, age, and source of teeth. HLA DQA1, 5 poly markers (LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and Gc), and other 12 short tandem repeat loci (HPRTB, F13B, LPL, D13S317, D7S820, D5S818, D21S11, D18S51, FGA, D8S1179, D3S1358, and vWA) could be successfully amplified and typed from recovered DNA.     

Extension of the color suite available for chemical enhancement of fingerprints in blood

The use of ortho- and para-phenylenediamine (OPD & PPD respectively) for the enhancement of fingerprints in blood has been investigated. Optimal pH conditions and H2O2 concentrations have been determined using UV/Vis spectroscopy. Both OPD and PPD are effective and less hazardous alternatives to the presently used 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB) for the development of blood fingerprints, especially on porous surfaces. The orange color of OPD and the purple color of PPD offer alternative colors to the brown color of DAB and the light green color of ABTS for standing out against particular backgrounds. Both OPD and PPD can be used after ninhydrin treatment, but the reverse is not the case.     

The spectrum of intramyocardial small vessel disease associated with sudden death

Intramyocardial small vessel abnormalities are not commonly recognized. The best known abnormality is fibromuscular dysplasia involving the sinoatrial or atrioventricular nodal arteries. Small vessel disease has been reported as an isolated cardiac anomaly in individuals with sudden death, and may also be associated with other cardiac conditions including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and mitral valve prolapse. The nature of the association is unknown, and the mechanism causing sudden death is sometimes obscure. We describe pathological changes of the intramyocardial small vessels of three individuals with sudden death. Abnormalities involved small vessels at different levels. In all the cases, the abnormalities were thought to have caused or contributed to the individual's death. The possible mechanisms of this are discussed.     

Courts and health policy: judicial policy making and publicly funded health care in Canada

The 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provided political actors with the opportunity to make rights-based challenges to public policy decisions. Two challenges launched by providers and consumers of health care illuminate the impact of judicial review on health care policy and the institutional capacity of courts to formulate policy in this field. The significant impact of rights-based claims on cross-jurisdictional policy differences in a federal regime is noted.     

The Influence of Future Certainty and Contextual Factors on Delinquent Behavior and School Adjustment Among African American Adolescents

This study examined the ability of future certainty—an individual's perception of future stability, operationalized as the likelihood of certain life outcomes–to explain variance in delinquency and school adjustment, while controlling for economic, neighborhood, and family factors, among a cross-sectional sample of 1422 male and 1562 female African American adolescents drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Three kinds of future certainty were examined: future life certainty (e.g., life expectancy), marriage certainty, and college certainty. In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, future certainty and family functioning were stronger predictors than economic and neighborhood variables: neighborhood disorganization and family socioeconomic status. Future life certainty and expectations of attending college were stronger predictors of delinquency among males than females. Marriage certainty was the weakest predictor of the three certainty variables.     

Elections and Economic Turbulence in Brazil: Candidates, Voters, and Investors

The relation between elections and the economy in Latin America might be understood by considering the agency of candidates and the issue of policy preference congruence between investors and voters. The preference congruence model proposed in this article highlights political risk in emerging markets. Certain risk features increase the role of candidate campaign rhetoric and investor preferences in elections. When politicians propose policies that can appease voters and investors, elections may have a limited effect on economic indicators, such as inflation. But when voter and investor priorities differ significantly, deterioration of economic indicators is more likely. Moreover, voter and investor congruence is more likely before stabilization, when an inverted Philips curve exists, as opposed to following stabilization, when a more traditional Philips curve emerges.     

Challenges for China's Reform of Government Procurement

China's reform of government procurement aims to promote greater prudence in expenditure management through introducing transparency, accountability, and competition into the procurement process. The reform can also be construed as China's effort to fulfill its commitment to the WTO. This paper examines the evolution of the reform and measures the success of the reform against three indicators: the amount of cost reduction, the coverage of procurement activities, and the degree of harmonization with the WTO Agreement of Government Procurement. This paper argues that the success of the reform has been limited by an array of factors, including the misconceptions of certain procurement officials and their malpractices in procurement processes, the poor capacities of some local governments in enforcing reform, structural deficiencies in the budget management system, and the lack of political will of both central and local authorities in spurring trade liberalization.