Diabetes mellitus and hypopituitarism

A 38-year-old diabetic woman developed hyponatraemia and fatal non-ketotic coma after elective cholecystectomy. At the autopsy, it was revealed that the immediate cause of death was cerebral oedema with secondary pontine haemorrhage. The cerebral oedema was associated with severe hyponatraemia and atrophy of the endocrine organs, including the adrenal glands. Biochemical analysis of serum taken immediately before death indicated that the primary defect was pituitary insufficiency, a recognised but rare complication of diabetes.     

Nixon and the Jews

ABSTRACT

In public the 37th President of the United States did not express hostility or disparagement, or show any signs of religious prejudice towards Jews. But inside the White House, Richard M. Nixon's remarks were often scurrilous. His antisemitism was not casual; it was close to compulsive. And it could be coupled with other seething grievances, for example, towards liberals, radicals, the media, Blacks and Italian-Americans. Yet Nixon controlled his antisemitism. It had no adverse effect on Jewish life, either at home or abroad. The malice that he nurtured remained unmobilized. Apart from a few limited personnel instances (mostly but not completely ignored by Nixon's underlings), it is impossible to connect private resentment to public policy, probably because the barriers to the expression of antisemitism in the United States have been so high. The ugliness of his utterances in the Oval Office revealed his character, but did not extend outward to shape the processes of governance. A disconnect can therefore be discerned between what he felt and how he acted. Most American Jews voted for Nixon's Democratic opponents in 1968 and 1972. But even Jews who voted against him, even those who loathed him, have often acknowledged that Nixon's policies fortified the security of Israel; and he was proud of his support for the Jewish state during the Yom Kippur War. What betrayed Nixon, and what forced him to resign the presidency, was his decision to instal a secret taping system in the Oval Office. When the tapes were played in 1974, he showed himself to be conspiring to obstruct justice. In subsequent years, further exposure of the tapes revealed the extent and intensity of Nixon's antipathy to Jews. The expletives that had to be deleted did much to besmirch the dignity of the office. But such was the stigma the political culture attached to antisemitism that, had his bigotry become public before 1968, Nixon's career would have been over.     

野田内阁加入TPP的战略意图探析

TPP是一种旨在实现贸易、投资及人员往来等全面自由化的高水平自由贸易协定。野田内阁意图通过TPP提升日本企业的国际竞争力,推动国内农业的结构性改革,重振日本经济;在对外关系上,则欲借此修复巩固日美同盟,配合美国牵制中国的战略布局,并在未来亚太经济一体化的进程中占据有利位置。基于上述战略意图,尽管遭到日本国内长期依赖财政补贴及贸易保护的农业部门和希望继续维持现有医疗保障体系的医师会等团体的坚决反对,以致日本面临政治分裂的风险,野田仍作出了参加TPP谈判的政治决断。     

Comparison of two methods for isolating DNA from human skeletal remains for STR analysis

Abstract: The quality and efficiency of a standard organic DNA isolation method and a silica‐based method using the QIAGEN Blood Maxi Kit were compared to obtain human DNA and short tandem repeats (STRs) profiles from 39 exhumed bone samples for paternity testing. DNA samples were quantified by real‐time PCR, and STR profiles were obtained using the AmpFlSTR^® Identifiler^® PCR amplification kit. Overall, the silica‐based method recovered less DNA ranging from 0 to 147.7 ng/g (average 7.57 ng/g, median = 1.3 ng/g) than did the organic method ranging from 0 to 605 ng/g (average 44.27 ng/g, median = 5.8 ng/g). Complete profiles (16/16 loci tested) were obtained from 37/39 samples (95%) using the organic method and from 9/39 samples (23%) with the silica‐based method. Compared with a standard organic DNA isolation method, our results indicate that the published silica‐based method does not improve neither the quality nor the quantity of DNA for STR profiling.     

The Ratio of 6β‐Hydroxycortisol to Cortisol in Urine as a Measure of Cytochrome P450 3A Activity in Postmortem Cases

Poisoning can occur with chronic accumulation of a drug due to reduced metabolic capacity; conversely, under‐treatment may occur due to an increased metabolic rate. Over half of all drugs are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 3A complex (CYP3A). The activity of CYP3A can be assessed by the urinary ratio of 6β‐hydroxycortisol to cortisol. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of this ratio as a postmortem marker for determining whether altered CYP3A enzyme activity occurred prior to death. In a series of 244 postmortem cases, this ratio ranged from 0.014 to 78.6 (median 3.50). The median was significantly higher (5.14) in a subgroup of 28 cases that exhibited the presence of CYP3A‐inducing drugs. In cirrhosis, the median ratio was 1.69. This pointed to a reduced metabolic capacity of CYP3A. Thus, the ratio may constitute a rough indicator of the CYP3A metabolic capacity, which could be of value in special cases.     

3D打印治安管理对策研究

3D打印技术如今已受到了社会各界广泛的关注,有着良好的发展前景。然而其本身也具有着一定的治安隐患,如危险物品泛滥、特殊物品复制等。对于3D打印技术,需要进行系统的风险评估,并通过完善机制的构建进行人为控制,以保证其健康发展。这一机制的构建,除了应运用较多的高科技手段外,也应当在管理规范层面做到有序、协调。     

非洲猪瘟TaqMan实时荧光定量PCR检测方法的建立与应用

为建立检测非洲猪瘟病毒(African swine fever virus,ASFV)的快速诊断方法,本研究根据ASFV SY18株p17蛋白的编码基因D117L的保守序列设计并合成引物和探针,建立了基于ASFV p17蛋白的编码基因D117L的TaqMan荧光定量PCR检测方法,并验证其特异性、灵敏性和重复性。结果显示,本研究建立的TaqMan荧光定量PCR检测方法的C_t值与标准品在1×10^9~1×10^1copies/μL范围内呈良好的线性关系,相关系数为0.998,斜率为-3.192,检测下限为10 copies/μL,且与其他能引起相似症状的猪源病毒无交叉反应。重复性试验结果显示,组间与组内变异系数均小于1.920 7%,重复性好。此方法可用于ASF的早期诊断和ASFV快速检测。     

Solidarity and Social Networks: The Invisible Backbone That Ethiopians and Eritreans in Washington D.C. used to Transform Adams Morgan and U Street

Abstract

This research depicts the social networks that the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities use to establish and support ethnic and non-cultural businesses in Washington D.C. It also showcases the solidarity expressions that, behind-the-scenes, sustain and help strengthen these migrant-led businesses in the area. Furthermore, it describes the opportunity structure found in Washington D.C. that has allowed Ethiopians and Eritreans to open businesses and progress in neighborhoods such as Adams Morgan and U Street. The study uses ethnographic research comprised of participant observation and in-depth interviews to analyze 20 case studies of successful Ethiopian and Eritrean entrepreneurs in D.C. This paper describes the characteristics of an immigrant community that is underrepresented in the literature, especially regarding its entrepreneurship; it underscores the special role that family and kin play in supporting their entrepreneurship; and it makes visible the impact that Ethiopians and Eritreans have had in some areas of Washington D.C.     

The High Representative and directoires in European foreign policy: the case of the nuclear negotiations with Iran

ABSTRACT

The negotiations with Iran about its nuclear programme have seen the most protracted involvement of the High Representatives of the European Union in a high-profile policy case. This article traces the evolution of the High Representatives’ participation in the negotiations, from the first contacts with the E3 (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) in 2003 to the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. It focuses on the institutional role the High Representatives played in relation with the directoires leading the talks with Iran – first the E3 and, since 2006, E3/EU. In this context, it examines the personal and organisational factors that affected the influence each of the three High Representatives (Javier Solana, Catherine Ashton and Federica Mogherini) had in regard to the directoires. The analysis distinguishes specifically between the phases before and after the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. The article shows how similar personal qualities of the three High Representatives in terms of problem-solving and trust-building gave them political capital that enabled them to adopt a fairly constant role as bridge-builders within the directoires and between the directoires and other actors. The reforms of the Lisbon Treaty had only a minor impact.