Fatal Child Abuse Presenting with Multiple Vertebral and Vascular Trauma

This case study involves the unexplained death of a previously healthy 30‐month‐old child. Reportedly, she was found unresponsive by her foster father following a 2‐hour nap. She was transported to the hospital and died in the emergency room of unknown causes. Blood drawn in the ER showed hemoglobin of 4.3 mg/dL. Postmortem skeletal survey, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, and retinal examinations were negative. The medical examiner assumed jurisdiction of the body. The autopsy showed massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage, transections of the abdominal aorta, and inferior vena cava, and complete tears of the anterior longitudinal ligament of the spine at C5/C6 and L1/L2 with diastases of the vertebral bodies at the corresponding intervertebral disk spaces. The case is believed to be extraordinary due to both the extent of injury that does not match the reported history and the mechanism of vertebral and vascular injuries.     

论对特殊被害人的刑法保护—以我国刑法第254条、255条之规定为视角

所谓特殊被害人,即我国刑法第254条、255条规定的遭受打击报复、陷害等犯罪行为的控告人、申诉人、批评人、举报人、会计人员、统计人员等六种被害人员。当前,这六种人员在履行职责、维护正义、维护国家、集体、自身利益时,其中的部分人时常遭到打击报复、陷害,人身权利和民主权利得不到保障。造成这一现象的原因固然众多,然而刑法第254条、255条规定之缺陷为重要缘由,因为对特殊被害人的刑法保护在法律上主要体现为刑法第254条、255条之规定。因此,为加强对特殊被害人的刑法保护,尽快完善这两条已成当务之急。     

略论我国第一个《刑法修正案》

笔者认为,《刑法修正案》不属于单行刑法,用“修正案”的形式补充修改刑法具有灵活性、便于适用性,能保持刑法统一等优点,但是我国第一个《刑法修正案》在立法技巧上仍不当地沿用了以往单行刑法的模式。     

基于Ion Torrent PGM~(TM)测序系统的人mtDNA全测序分析

目的应用Ion Torrent PGM~(TM)测序系统对人线粒体DNA(mitochondria DNA,mtDNA)全序列进行分析检测,研究不同组织间mt DNA序列差异情况。方法通过法医尸体检验采集6名无关个体的组织样本,包括胸腔血液、头发、肋软骨、指甲、骨骼肌和口腔上皮。使用4对引物对线粒体全序列进行扩增,应用Ion Shear~(TM)Plus Reagents试剂盒和Ion Plus Fragment Library试剂盒等构建文库,并在Ion Torrent PGM~(TM)测序系统上进行线粒体基因组全序列测序,并针对异质性位点和在HVⅠ区域突变位点,进行Sanger测序验证。结果所有样本的全基因组mtDNA都扩增成功,6名无关个体分属于6种不同的单倍型,同一个体不同组织之间mtDNA存在异质性差异。异质性位点和HVⅠ区域突变位点采用Sanger测序结果均得到验证。通过Kappa统计方法进行一致性检验后发现,相同个体不同组织的mtDNA序列检验结果仍具有较好的一致性。结论本研究所采用的人线粒体基因组全序列的测序检验方法,可以检测出同一个体不同组织间mtDNA的异质性差异,该差异具有较高的一致性,该结果对mtDNA在法庭科学中的应用具有指导作用。     

An initial evaluation of the Global Review Form as an approach to measuring individual change

Background: Routine assessment of individual change in forensic mental health services is increasingly recognised as important. However, existing tools have been criticised and their periodic use make them unsuited to directly measure the impact of interventions. This paper describes the initial evaluation of the Global Review Form (GRF) as a framework for measuring change over time. Specifically, measurement properties, feasibility and usefulness in routine practice are examined. Method: 28 male service users in three distinct areas of an adult secure service (low secure, locked rehabilitation and high relational support housing) were rated over a 20-week period by their multidisciplinary teams. Findings: The GRF showed promising construct validity and appropriate stability and sensitivity to change across time. It enabled measurement and understanding of individual change over time. Staff feedback suggested the GRF is a useable and practical outcome measuring tool. Conclusions: The GRF shows promise for use as a routine outcome monitoring tool within forensic mental health services.     

单细胞检验技术用于混合上皮细胞的分离和检验

目的建立单细胞显微捕获联合低体积扩增技术,用于混合上皮细胞检材分离检验。方法取5名男性口腔上皮细胞拭子浸泡液30μL,分别滴加到5份含同一女性皮肤表皮细胞拭子上,制成5份混合上皮细胞样本为实验组,同时制备同样的5份样本为对照组。实验组样本采用显微捕获单个口腔上皮细胞,并使用低体积扩增技术进行扩增;对照组用M48纯化试剂盒提取DNA,Identifiler试剂盒复合扩增,扩增体系为10μL。所有产物均用ABI 3130遗传分析仪进行STR分型。结果 5份实验组样本均得到男性STR分型结果,5份对照组样本则均仅得到混合分型结果。将该方法应用于1例强奸杀人案例检验,取得了满意效果。结论单细胞显微捕获联合低体积扩增技术可用于混合上皮细胞样本的分离检验。     

67个X-SNP位点的分型检测和连锁不平衡检验

目的 筛选一组在中国汉族人群中具有法医学应用前景的X-SNP位点.方法 根据dbSNP和HapMap两个数据库提供的位点信息和频率数据从X染色体上筛选出67个候选X-SNP位点,采用多重PCR联合基质辅助激光解析电离飞行时间质谱技术检测中国汉族人群428名无关个体,获得67个候选X-SNP位点在中国汉族人群中的频率数据...     

(Non‐)Enforcement of Directors’ Duties in Corporate Groups: Goh Chan Peng v Beyonics Technology Ltd

Corporate groups, a ubiquitous feature of modern business, pose formidable challenges for common law courts relying on traditional corporate law doctrine. Arising out of a corporate group's recent bid to recover millions of dollars in lost profits from a former director and CEO who had diverted a core business, Goh Chan Peng v Beyonics Technology Ltd raised thorny issues of separate legal entity doctrine, single economic unit theory, and reflective loss shared by common law legal systems. Despite finding that the defendant had breached his duties to the ultimate holding company, the Singapore Court of Appeal absolved the faithless director from most of his liabilities, relying on limited domestic precedent to the exclusion of a rich body of Commonwealth jurisprudence – including the House of Lords’ landmark Johnson v Gore Wood decision. This note explores the paths not taken by the court, and highlights the pitfalls of a narrow, autochthonous approach to problems of common law doctrine.     

SNP genotyping of forensic casework samples using the 52 SNPforID markers

The analysis of degraded DNA is one of the biggest challenges in forensic casework. SNPs, which can be amplified using small amplicons, have previously been successfully applied to the profiling of forensic evidence that could not be analyzed using conventional STRs. Here we selected the 52 SNPforID SNP markers, with amplicons that ranged in size from 59 bp to 115 bp, and used them to profile a range of casework samples from Malaysia. DNA degradation is a common problem in Malaysia due to the high temperatures and humidity. To carry out the study we modified the 52 SNPforID markers into four 13-plex SNaPshot assays to enable easier interpretation of profiles on the ABI PRISM^® 310 and 3500.Fifty-one crime samples comprising bloodstains on cloth, swabs, and a mat and 2 swabs of trace DNA from 10 crime scenes in Malaysia were profiled after DNA extraction using a phenol–chloroform method. The samples were also subjected to STR analysis using the Powerplex^® 16 system (Promega), which resulted in only 17 full profiles and 9 partial profiles; using SNPs, 36 full profiles and 5 partial profiles could be generated.     

mtDNAprofiler: A Web Application for the Nomenclature and Comparison of Human Mitochondrial DNA Sequences,

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a valuable tool in the fields of forensic, population, and medical genetics. However, recording and comparing mtDNA control region or entire genome sequences would be difficult if researchers are not familiar with mtDNA nomenclature conventions. Therefore, mtDNAprofiler, a Web application, was designed for the analysis and comparison of mtDNA sequences in a string format or as a list of mtDNA single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs). mtDNAprofiler which comprises four mtDNA sequence‐analysis tools (mtDNA nomenclature, mtDNA assembly, mtSNP conversion, and mtSNP concordance‐check) supports not only the accurate analysis of mtDNA sequences via an automated nomenclature function, but also consistent management of mtSNP data via direct comparison and validity‐check functions. Since mtDNAprofiler consists of four tools that are associated with key steps of mtDNA sequence analysis, mtDNAprofiler will be helpful for researchers working with mtDNA. mtDNAprofiler is freely available at http://mtprofiler.yonsei.ac.kr .