False positives and false negatives with a cocaine-specific field test and modification of test protocol to reduce false decision

The specificity of the Scott test, which is widely used in the field to detect cocaine, was investigated. Several drugs and medicines were applied to the test, and the conditions leading to false positives or false negatives were defined. The Scott test consists of three steps, each involving the addition of a certain reagent and observation of the color that consequently develops. In the first step, blue precipitates appear. In the second, these precipitates completely disappear. In the third step, blue appears again, but in the lower layer. It became clear that proper sample size is critical for correct decision, since too much heroin or dibucaine showed exactly the same color sequence as cocaine HCl and thus gave false positives, and too much cocaine HCl showed persisting precipitates in the second step, yielding a false negative. The appropriate sample size was 1mg or smaller. Freebase (crack) cocaine gave false negatives even when the sample size was appropriate, and it could not be distinguished from a newer substance of abuse, 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT, foxy). The authors developed a new protocol to distinguish crack from 5-MeO-DIPT.     

The Baltic as a shipping and information area: the role of Amsterdam in Baltic integration in early modern Europe

In early modern times, the Netherlands imported grain from the Baltic, especially Poland, and re-exported it elsewhere in Europe. The Dutch shipping industry was extremely profitable, for transport costs were very high, and the number of Dutch ships was by far the largest among the European countries. Dutch prosperity was based on shipping of grain from the Baltic. Amsterdam was also a center of information because it was a port at which many ships stayed, and which attracted various merchants owing to its policy of religious tolerance. Much commercial information and know-how were accumulated in and spread from Amsterdam which contributed to the growth of the regional European economy from the Baltic because many merchants migrated to Northern Europe via the city, bringing with them the latest commercial techniques. Amsterdam therefore served as a core of Baltic integration in the early modern period, for it was a center of shipping and information.     

The generic drug market in Japan: will it finally take off?

Historically, brand-name pharmaceuticals have enjoyed long periods of market exclusivity in Japan, given the limited use of generics after patent expiration. To improve the efficiency of the health-care system, however, the government has recently implemented various policies aimed at increasing generic substitution. Although this has created expectations that the Japanese generic drug market may finally take off, to date, generic usage has increased only modestly. After reviewing the incentives of key market participants to choose generics, we argue that previous government policies did not provide proper incentives for pharmacies to boost generic substitution. We offer some recommendations that may help to increase generic usage.     

Detection of diatom in formalin-fixed tissue by proteinase K digestion

The diatoms detection has been proposed to be useful in the diagnosis of drowning. Enzymatic digestion of unfixed lung tissues and other organs with proteinase K is widely employed to detect diatoms. Handling unfixed organs or blood from the bodies with some infectious diseases could prove to be dangerous. In this study, we examined the application of enzymatic digestion for diatom detection to formalin-fixed lung obtained at autopsy. Furthermore, we assessed the effect of hydrogen peroxide on the contamination of the lung specimen with foreign bodies inhaled in the course of drowning, smoking, or air pollution. Formalin-fixed lung was heated in 0.01 M Tris–HCl buffer (pH 7.5) containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) (tissue lysis-buffer), with or without glycine. Thereafter, the lung was subjected to enzymatic digestion with proteinase K. A part of formalin-fixed or unfixed samples digested with proteinase K were incubated with hydrogen peroxide at 80 °C for 6 h or 12 h, while the residues were processed without incubation. Formalin-fixed samples heated in tissue lysis-buffer with glycine could be digested with proteinase K; further, the number and proportion of diatoms detected in both formalin-fixed and unfixed samples were observed to be similar. The results suggest that enzymatic detection of diatoms can be applied to formalin-fixed organs by heating the samples in glycine-containing tissue lysis-buffer. As the use of formalin-fixed tissue for diatom detection can decrease risk of contamination by pathogenic organisms during the course of enzymatic digestion, the method presented in this study would be beneficial, to some extent, to individuals performing diatom analysis. Moreover, our results suggest that archival organs stored in formalin solution could be available in diatom detection over a long time-period following autopsies. Clearer image of diatoms was observed in the specimen incubated with hydrogen peroxide for 6 h, in which inhaled foreign bodies were discolored, than those not subjected to incubation. Therefore, incubation of sample digested with hydrogen peroxide in the limited time would be helpful for quantitative and qualitative diatom analysis.     

Reflections on the Kyoto conference on global warming

The Third Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was held in Kyoto in December 1997. It ended successfully with the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, which lays down internationally binding provisions for handling the problem of global warming in the twenty‐first century, but the negotiation process was extraordinarily difficult, due to the complex nature of the issue of global warming, and to the fact that the national interests of every nation were closely involved. As Japan's ambassador for global environmental affairs, Toshiaki Tanabe was chief negotiator for Japan, and gives here an insider's view of how that successful outcome was reached. The requirement for Japan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent is a heavy burden, he says, and poses a serious challenge.