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Background:Several reports suggest that variance in personality traits is inherited, but little is known about the genes responsible. It has been suggested that there is a relationship between personality characteristics and the gene responsible for the activity of the enzyme debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase (CYP2D6).Objective:To examine the proportion of poor metabolizers in a group of personality disordered patients.Methods:Blood samples were obtained from 23 patients with a high or very high score on the dimension ‘harm avoidance’ of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The samples were genotyped for the null alleles CYP2D6*3 and*4 by performing an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction.Results:The frequencies of genotypes in the sample were very similar to the frequencies found in a general white population.Conclusions:The investigation produced no support for the idea that the CYP2D6 gene is related to personality by means of variations in the temperament dimension of harm avoidance.

Dans la perspective de l'histoire du continent africain, le colonialisme européen n'est guère qu'un épisode qui, comme le souligne l'historien nigérien Ajayi, durait dans la plupart des cas moins d'un siècle. Et pourtant, ajoute cette personnalité, la dominance politique européenne et ses prolongements, tels que le christianisme, l'enseignement occidental, les idées politiques et sociales, ont laissé une empreinte durable sur les institutions africaines. De même, la géopolitique a fixé des unités selon lesquelles l'Afrique a été subdivisée, et qui ont en majorité peu changé après la décolonisation. Mais Ajayi rappelle qu'il ne faut sous-estimer les initiatives des Africains, la réaction contre la violation des institutions africaines. La population a souvent su tirer exploiter les conditions nouvelles à son propre profit, soit en collaborant jusqu'à un certain point avec le système, soit en pratiquant une résistance active ou passive couronnée de succès.

After I had put myself the task of investigating the correctness of the results obtained by Heibges concerning the clausulae of Chariton, I decided to determine the frequency in which the different rhythmical forms appear in the authors of non-rhythmical works. For that purpose I investigated the prose works of Thucydides and Plutarch as carefully and in as specified a form as was possible. This I did with the intention to compare the percentages with those of Heibges. In this comparison, however, I came to the conclusion that the figures for Thucydides and Plutarch differed considerably, and that in such a way that certain conclusions could be drawn concerning the manner in which Plutarch constructed his clausulae according to fixed rules.

SUMMARYThe degree to which a binary tactile (or visual) image matches the original object is limited by the resolution of the sensor array. Given this fundamental limitation it is still possible to minimize the error in the image formed by the interconnection of the centers of activated sensors along the object's edge. This is achieved by a suitable choice of the physical size of each sensor within the limits of the pixel size. An empirical investigation shows that normally a sensor area of about 50% of the square of the resolution yields an optimal result.

IN the Byzantinische Zeitschrift xxi. 52 Paul Maas states: ‘Es ist das Verdienst von H. B. Dewing, zuerst erkannt zu haben, dasz Prokop seine Satzschliisse rhythmisch reguliert.’ That this is only partly true appears from the remark of Heisenberg in the Berliner Philologische Wochenschrift, 1901, Sp. 1481, who comments on it, and that in a case of text–criticism, and likewise from a remark of Cronert in the Rheinisches Museum, 54, 1899, 593. Dewing was the first to point out the connection between the rhythm of Procopius and Meyer's law and to collect specific statistical material, although his numbers are to a great extent of no practical value. Compare in this connection Maas B.Z. xix. 593 (Maas himself came to the conclusion later that he exaggerated in this article: тά, μή, σύν, пΕρί should, according to Maas, here not be considered as accentuated). It appears to me that the correct statement of the end–rhythm of Procopius is that given by Maas for Constantinus Manasses, B.Z. xi. 505: ‘Im Ausgang der Satzglieder musz die Zahl der zwischen den letzten beiden Hochtonen stehenden Silben eine gerade sein,’ on condition that 0 is considered as an even number.