ETHICAL ISSUES IN FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH ON MENTALLY DISORDERED OFFENDERS

This paper analyses ethical issues in forensic psychiatric research on mentally disordered offenders, especially those detained in the psychiatric treatment system. The idea of a 'dual role' dilemma afflicting forensic psychiatry is more complicated than acknowledged. Our suggestion acknowledges the good of criminal law and crime prevention as a part that should be balanced against familiar research ethical considerations. Research aiming at improvements of criminal justice and treatment is a societal priority, and the total benefit of studies has to be balanced against the risks for research subjects inferred by almost all systematic studies. Direct substantial risks must be balanced by health benefits, and normal informed consent requirements apply. When direct risks are slight, as in register-based epidemiology, lack of consent may be counter-balanced by special measures to protect integrity and the general benefit of better understanding of susceptibility, treatment and prevention. Special requirements on consent procedures in the forensic psychiatric context are suggested, and the issue of the relation between decision competence and legal accountability is found to be in need of further study. The major ethical hazard in forensic psychiatric research connects to the role of researchers as assessors and consultants in a society entertaining strong prejudices against mentally disordered offenders.     

Chemotherapy through Lysosomes with a DNA-Daunorubicin Complex

WHEN a drug can pass freely across cell membranes, it becomes distributed throughout the body fluids whichever its route of administration and invades all cells by diffusion at comparable rates. But if it is firmly associated with a non-permeant, pino-cytizable and digestible carrier, it will tend to remain confined within a smaller fluid space determined by its route of administration, its excretion will be slow and its intracellular penetration will be restricted to the endocytic route (Fig. 1). Free drug will then appear first within lysosomes, following digestion of the carrier. From the lysosomes it will diffuse into the other parts of the cells and eventually into the extracellular fluids. The intracellular concentration of the drug thus becomes dependent on the pinocytic activity of the cells and on the digestive potential of their lysosomes and must exceed the extracellular concentration in the most active cells. Obviously, this model requires the complex to be stable in the body fluids and to dissociate inside lysosomes. The drug itself must be resistant to lysosomal inactivation.     

The GIRK1 Brain Variant GIRK1d and Its Functional Impact on Heteromultimeric GIRK Channels

Four isoforms of GIRK channels (GIRK1–4) have been described in humans. In addition, several splice variants of more or less unknown function have been identified from several tissues and species. In our study, we investigated the structure and function of a new variant of GIRK1 that has been isolated from rat brain. Because of wide similarities with a previously described variant, we also named it GIRK1d. This variant lacks a region corresponding to exon 2 of full-length GIRK1, leading to a truncated GIRK1 that lacks the main part of the C-terminus. To study GIRK1d we used the Xenopus laevis expression system, the two-electrode voltage clamp method, and confocal laser scan microscopy. We found that our GIRK1d variant preferentially binds GIRK2 or GIRK4 over GIRK1. Furthermore, it largely reduces conductances mediated by GIRK1/2 or GIRK1/4 hetero-multimeric channels when coexpressed and nearly totally abolishes currents when replacing GIRK1 in hetero-multimeric channels.     

How sympatric is speciation in the Howea palms of Lord Howe Island?

The two species of the palm genus Howea (Arecaceae) from Lord Howe Island, a minute volcanic island in the Tasman Sea, are now regarded as one of the most compelling examples of sympatric speciation, although this view is still disputed by some authors. Population genetic and ecological data are necessary to provide a more coherent and comprehensive understanding of this emerging model system. Here, we analyse data on abundance, juvenile recruitment, pollination mode and genetic variation and structure in both species. We find that Howea forsteriana is less abundant than Howea belmoreana . The genetic data based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms markers indicate similar levels of variation in the two species, despite the estimated census population size of H. belmoreana being three times larger than that of H. forsteriana . Genetic structure within species is low although some weak isolation by distance is detectable. Gene flow between species appears to be extremely limited and restricted to early-generation hybrids – only three admixed individuals, classified as F2s or first generation backcrosses to a parental species, were found among sampled palms. We conclude that speciation in Howea was indeed sympatric, although under certain strict definitions it may be called parapatric.     

Molecular analysis meets morphology‐based systematics—a synthetic approach for Chalarinae (Insecta: Diptera: Pipunculidae)

Abstract. This study presents the first phylogenetic estimate for the pipunculid subfamily Chalarinae (genera Chalarus Walker, Jassidophaga Aczél and Verrallia Mik) based on an analysis of one mitochondrial coding (cytochrome oxidase 1) and two nuclear non‐coding genes (28s and ITS2), using parsimony under direct optimization as implemented in poy 4. It completes earlier taxonomic works on these groups. The voucher material used was primarily of Palaearctic origin. The study strongly supports the monophyletic origin of Chalarinae as well as of Chalarus and Verrallia, but failed to recover a monophyletic lineage for Jassidophaga. Whereas the taxa of Jassidophaga with predominantly black‐coloured legs clustered as a monophyletic sister to Verrallia, an Oriental Jassidophaga species with predominantly yellow/light brown‐coloured legs represents a distinct genetic lineage. The Chalarus species included were resolved into eight well‐supported genetic clades: C. angustifrons group, C. basalis group, C. clarus lineage, C. holosericeus group, C. immanis lineage, C. indistinctus group, C. latifrons group and C. spurius group. A phenetic analysis focused on intra‐ and interspecific genetic distances within the subfamily. As a consequence, the eastern Palaearctic C. rectifrons Morakote is proposed as a junior synonym of C. angustifrons Morakote ( syn.n. ). The structure of the C. basalis species group was investigated further with the intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) primer (GACA)₄.     

Age-Specific Survival and Probable Causes of Mortality in Female Lesser Prairie-Chickens

ABSTRACT Long-term population declines and habitat reductions have increased concern over the status of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). Robust estimates of demographic parameters are essential for identifying population declines and planning effective management. We evaluated the effects of age and season on the survival of female lesser prairie-chickens at 2 sites in southwestern Kansas, USA. Using telemetry data from a 7-year field study (from 1997 to 2003), we estimated seasonal (Apr—Sep) and annual (Apr—Mar) survival. We also examined daily survival rates of females attending nests during the 26-day incubation period and young during the 14-day early brood-rearing period. We evaluated the probable mortality causes of radiomarked birds by examining evidence at recovery sites. We captured 227 female lesser prairie-chickens (87 yearlings, 117 ad, and 23 age undetermined) and fitted them with radiotransmitters. Estimates of 12-month survival were lower among yearlings (Ŝ₁₂ = 0.429, SE = 0.117) and adults at site I (Ŝ₁₂ > = 0.302, SE = 0.080) than among yearlings (Ŝ₁₂ = 0.588, SE = 0.100) and adults at site II (Ŝ₁₂ > = 0.438, SE = 0.083). The patterns in timing of mortality and age-specific 6-month survival were consistent with those of 12-month estimates at site I from 1998 to 2002, with a peak in mortality during May and June. Females tending to nests or to prefledged chicks had lower daily survival (DŜR_tend = 0.993, SE = 0.001) than females not involved in these activities (DŜR_{failedbreeder} = 0.997, SE = 0.002). We recorded 92 mortalities from April 1997 to March 2003, and 59% and 11% were attributed to predation by mammals and raptors, respectively. Our research suggests that predation during the nesting season can have a major impact on lesser prairie-chicken demography, and conservation efforts should focus on enhancing female survival during the nesting and brood-rearing seasons.     

Three new deep-sea species of Sphaerodoridae (Annelida,Polychaeta) from the eastern tropical South Pacific*

Three sphaerodorid species new to science are described from a manganese nodule area in abyssal depths of around 4150 m in the Peru Basin in the eastern South Pacific. Sphaerodoridium campanulata sp. n. is isolated within the genus, having, apart from spherical macrotubercles, additional dorsal stalked bell-shaped papillae, not previously described. Sphaerodoropsis discolis sp. n. is a species with four rows of dorsal macrotubercles and two pairs of lateral antennae. Sphaerodoropsis translucida sp. n. has six to seven rows of dorsal macrotubercles arrayed in two transverse rows per segment and two pairs of lateral antennae. A brief discussion points to the close relationship between Clavodorum and Sphaerodoridium, and to the present state of Sphaerodoropsis, being inhomogeneous in the characters of the arrangement of the dorsal macrotubercles and the numbers of the lateral antennae. An overview on the latter genus, with an attempt to subdivide it, is given.