Postmortem Distribution of 3‐Beta‐Hydroxybutyrate

The concentrations of 3‐beta‐hydroxybutyrate (3HB) in femoral blood, urine, vitreous humor as well as pericardial and cerebrospinal fluids were retrospectively examined in a series of medico‐legal autopsies, which included cases of diabetic ketoacidosis, hypothermia fatalities without ethanol in blood, bodies presenting mild decompositional changes, and sudden deaths in chronic alcoholics. Similar increases in 3HB concentrations were observed in blood, vitreous, and pericardial fluid, irrespective of the cause of death, suggesting that pericardial fluid and vitreous can both be used as alternatives to blood for postmortem 3HB determination. Urine 3HB levels were higher than blood values in most cases. Cerebrospinal fluid 3HB levels were generally lower than concentrations in blood and proved to be diagnostic of underlying metabolic disturbances only when significant increases occurred.     

Higher Fines—Fewer Traffic Offences? A Multi-Site Observational Study

Assess the impact of a 100-per cent increase of fines on compliance with speed-limits (50 km/h) and parking regulations in urban areas. Norm violations were measured through standardized observations in all five major cities in Switzerland before and after fines had been raised by 100 % or more at two pre- and two post-intervention periods. The speed of 20,000 cars was measured, and 10,000 parked cars were controlled. Levels of police controls remained stable over the entire period, but enforcement activity varied considerably across cities. Violations of parking regulations decreased by 32 %. Speed-limit violations remained unaffected in the longer run by higher fines. When cities without relevant enforcement activity were excluded, a reduction by 17 % was observed. No causal inferences can be drawn given the absence of a control area. However, the data suggest that higher fines deter traffic violations, provided enforcement activity remains at relevant levels.     

The French population censuses: Purposes and uses during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries

From the mid-17th until the beginning of the 20th century, French censuses became increasingly more frequent and organized. This article focuses on the purposes of the first censuses (military), how the population was conceived of, and what variables were collected. The main characteristics of included individuals, the data considered important during each period, and the major categories chosen are examined. Also included are the evolution of reasons for knowing the precise age of individuals and how age groups were standardized because these aspects are closely linked to census operations. Finally, we will see how censuses have been used to obtain an overview of the population and, during the 19th century, how they were central to the discussion of the decline in fertility and, more generally, the changes occurring in the French population. How each new question led to the invention of a new variable and how data were presented is also examined.     

Reviews

THE ROOTS OF U.S. POLICY TOWARD LA TIN AMERICA

G. Pope Atkins, Latin America in the International Political System, second edition. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1989. Pp. 421.)

Lars Schoultz: National Security and United States Policy toward Latin America. (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1987. Pp. 377.)

Kevin J. Middlebrook and Carlos Rico, eds.: The United States and Latin America in the 1980s (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1986. Pp. 648. Second printing 1988.)

GENEROSITY AND SELF‐INTEREST

Teresa Odendahl: Charity Begins at Home: Generosity and Self‐interest among the Philanthropic Elite. (New York: Basic Books, 1990. Pp. 298.)

HOBBES AMONG THE PATRIARCHS

Arnold A. Rogow: Thomas Hobbes: Radical in the Service of Reaction. (New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1986. Pp. 287.)

STRACHEY AND MACLEAN: BRITISH ALTERNA TIVES

Michael Newman: John Strachey. (Manchester: Manchester Press, 1989. Pp. 201.)

B. J. Ripley and J. McHugh: John Maclean. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989. Pp. 201.)     

Intimate Partner Violence Victim and Perpetrator Characteristics Among Couples in the United States

This paper describes the characteristics (sociodemographic, drinking and selected psychological attributes) of victims, perpetrators and those who engage in mutual intimate partner violence (IPV) among couples in the U.S. Subjects constitute a multistage area probability sample representative of married and cohabiting couples from the 48 contiguous United States. Results indicate that age is the only variable that appears to have a consistent effect for men and women and across violence-related statuses: Older individuals are less likely to be victims, perpetrators and less likely to be involved in mutually violent relationships. Other variables such as ethnicity, marital status, drinking, impulsivity, depression and powerlessness are either gender or status-specific in their ability to predict victimization, perpetration or victimization/perpetration. Overall, those involved in violent relationships do not appear to be very different from those not involved in violent relationships. The most likely reason for lack of this difference is the nature of IPV in general population samples, which is in most cases moderate. Work on this paper was supported by a grant (R37-AA10908) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the University of Texas School of Public Health.     

Determination and distribution of clotiapine (Entumine) in human plasma, post-mortem blood and tissue samples from clotiapine-treated patients and from autopsy cases

The antipsychotic drug clotiapine (Entumine^®) has been marketed for more than 35 years, however there is little published data on the therapeutic and toxic concentrations of this drug. To fill this gap, two rapid and sensitive methods were developed for the determination of clotiapine (2-chloro-11-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)dibenzo-[b,f][1,4]-thiazepine), in human plasma and post-mortem blood and tissue samples. After simple liquid–liquid extraction at pH 9.5 with n-hexane/dichloromethane (85/15, v/v), clotiapine was quantitated by HPLC-DAD and by GC-NPD. The calibration curve was linear between 10 and 1000 μg/L. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 2 and 6 μg/L for the GC-NPD method and 5 and 15 μg/L for the HPLC-method, respectively. These methods were applied to 12 plasma samples from patients treated with clotiapine, to seven autopsy cases and to one case of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). Concentrations ranged for the clotiapine-treated patients between 6 and 155 μg/L (mean 46 μg/L), and for the autopsy cases between 22 and 341 μg/L (mean 123 μg/L).