Drugs in motorists traveling Swedish roads: on-the-road-detection of intoxicated drivers and screening for drugs in these offenders

This paper deals with the police officer's or police doctor's ability to find drivers under the influence of drugs. We have also studied whether the protocol on the driver's previous histories of drug intake is useful for directing the chemist in his analytical approach to revealing intoxicants in the suspects' body fluids. A comprehensive procedure for screening traffic-hazardous drugs in the urine was found necessary and is described. By using this method, we have studied the incidence of drunken drivers with detectable medicinal or illicit agents. The results demonstrate that 91% of those drivers found by the officer or doctor of the police to be on intoxicants other than ethanol, carried some kind of traffic-hazardous drug in their body fluids, and that the doctor was a better judge than the police in identifying these offenders. By using a series of chemical methods for drug screening, we found that every third driver suspected of drunken driving due to ethanol, but not to other intoxicants, held some kind of a traffic-hazardous drug substance in his urine; benzodiazepines and cannabinoids were the most common findings. The data imply that 34% of these suspects revealed their intakes of traffic-dangerous intoxicants. We conclude that the judgements of both the officer and doctor of the police are needed for an efficacious detection of drivers under the influence of drugs. Moreover, the results infer that the chemist has to screen for intoxicants to reveal these in a suspect driver. We also conclude that drugs, particularly the benzodiazepines or cannabinoids, may be commonly encountered in drunken drivers, suspected of being inebriated by ethanol but no other toxicants.     

性染色体及线粒体DNA遗传标记的法医学应用

对性染色体及线粒体DNA的结构特征、遗传特征等相关基础知识及其遗传标记在法医学领域应用的研究进展等进行了综述,分析了上述各类遗传标记在法医学领域应用的利弊,以促进非常染色体DNA遗传标记在法医学实践中的应用。     

Death Due to Complications of Anhidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia

Ectodermal dysplasia comprises a group of disorders affecting ectodermal tissues. Severity depends on the genetic aberration; hyperpyrexia secondary to absence of sweat glands is a common complication. Treatment is supportive. This case report describes a 1‐month, 27‐day‐old male infant with a diagnosis of X‐linked recessive anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia. On the day of his death, his mother swaddled him in a blanket and placed him on the couch at 5:30 am. When she picked him up at 8:00 am, he was unresponsive. At the emergency department, his rectal temperature was 40°C. Postmortem blood culture was positive for group B streptococcus, a possible etiology for fever. It is vital to teach parents that close monitoring of children with ectodermal dysplasia is necessary, as an increase in body temperature can become life threatening.     

甘肃省汉族人群18个STR位点的遗传多态性

目的 调查18个短串联重复序列（Short Tandem Repeat,STR）位点在甘肃省汉族人群中的基因频率分布.方法 采用PCR扩增及毛细管电泳技术对272名个体的18个STR基因座进行分析.结果 共检出202种等位基因,基因频率分布在0.002～0.570之间.18个STR基因型分布均符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡（P＞0.05）,杂合度在0.599～0.893之间,个人识别能力在0.771～0.984,多态信息含量在0.534～0.910,非父排除概率在0.290～0.782.结论 本研究结果可为人类群体遗传学及法医学后续研究提供详实可靠的基础数据.     

武汉地区汉族人群线粒体DNA Region V区9bp片段缺失多态性

目的 研究武汉地区汉族群体线粒体DNA RegionV区9bp片段缺失多态性.方法 PCR扩增后采用银染技术分离片段,检测武汉地区汉族群体线粒体DNA RegionV区9bp片段缺失的频率.结果 在武汉地区汉族239个无关个体中发现标准型、缺失型两种多态类型,9bp片段缺失频率为17.15％.结论 武汉地区汉族群体在DNA RegionV区9bp片段存在缺失多态性.     

多巴胺受体基因遗传多态性与精神分裂症的关联及法医学意义

精神分裂症是一种常见的多因子参与的复杂疾病,司法精神病学鉴定中对精神分裂症的涉及甚多,但无有效的生物学鉴定指标。研究表明,多巴胺神经递质功能紊乱可能在精神分裂症的发生及其主要症状中发挥重要作用。本文综述了多巴胺受体的分类、基因结构以及近年来关于多巴胺受体基因遗传多态性与精神分裂症的关联研究及其法医学意义。     

内蒙古中西部地区汉族、蒙古族ApoB基因遗传多态性

目的研究内蒙古中西部地区汉族、蒙古族ApoB基因遗传多态性。方法选取内蒙古中西部地区汉族、蒙古族无关个体,采用聚合酶链反应一限制性片段长度多态性技术,判断样本中是否含有ApoB基因中的稀有等位基因：XbaI（x＋）和＆DRI（E-）,并计算其基因型频率、等位基因频率及相关的群体遗传学参数。结果内蒙古汉族群体中稀有等位基因XbaI（x＋）和＆0RI（E-）频率分别为2％和4．6％,而在蒙古族群体中没有检测出此两种稀有等位基因。结论ApoB基因XbaI和＆0RI位点的等位基因频率分布在不同种族中差异较大,具有种族鉴定的应用可能。     

Ethical,legal, social,and policy issues in the use of genomic technology by the U.S. Military

Advances in genomic science are attracting the interest of the U.S. military for their potential to improve medical care for members of the military and to aid in military recruitment, training, specialization, and mission accomplishment. While researchers have explored the ethical, legal, and social issues raised by the use of genomic science in a wide variety of contexts, there has been virtually no examination of these issues in connection with the use of genomics by the military. This article identifies potential uses of genomic science by the military, proposes an applicable ethical and legal framework, and applies the framework to provide ethical and legal guidance for military decision-makers.     

What's in a name: the Vermont Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act

On May 8, 2014, Vermont passed the Vermont Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act (Act) requiring labels on certain genetically engineered foods. Once the bill takes effect July 1, 2016, all Vermont-retailed foods with more than 0.9% of their total weight in genetically modified ingredients must be labeled with language stating, “may be partially produced with genetic engineering.” As genetically engineered food are considered scientifically equivalent to their traditional counterparts and are not subject to federal labeling by the FDA, the Act presents several legal questions. Several of the legal questions have been raised in a recent lawsuit filed by the Grocery Manufactures Association that claims the Act violates the First Amendment, Supremacy Clause, and Commerce Clause. This paper will discuss why the Second Circuit could strike down the Act as unconstitutional as to each claim.     

Defining Environmental Justice Communities for Regulatory Enforcement: Implications from a Block‐Group‐Level Analysis of New York State

The absence of a clear definition of environmental justice areas has been cited as one of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's major deficiencies in managing federal environmental justice programs. Several states have explicitly defined potential environmental justice areas and integrated targeted efforts into the policy‐making process. At the block‐group level, this study evaluates the effects of New York State's environmental justice policy, which defines communities of concern in terms of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as mandates supplemental regulatory enforcement activities for these neighborhoods, on the agency's policy implementation practices under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. The empirical findings suggest that there is inconclusive evidence regarding race/ethnicity‐ and class‐based environmental inequity. Also, the state's policy intervention is not universally effective. Moreover, task environments of a given community are a consistent determinant of the agency's regulatory compliance monitoring and assurance activities. This study then derives broader implications regarding the adoption of a policy instrument that defines and screens potential environmental justice communities.