Acallosal brain in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

A definitive explanation of "crib" or "cot" death remains unknown. An unusual incidental autopsy finding of agenesis of the corpus callosum in a case presenting as "near miss" sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is discussed. Hitherto, only a single case associated with SIDS has been reported in the literature. The condition may be easily missed outside the interest in neuropathology.     

Working women and international issues

We are trapped in a transition: between the formation of the new and the erosion of the old norms, values and systems. In many important meetings, where major questions of life and death are examined; where the North-South postures are taken; where agenda items on ECDC, TCDC and LDCs are analysed; where monetary reforms are advocated; where food strategies are formulated—the ‘women's dimension’ still often faces those with ‘intellectual’ difficulties in considering it a legitimate subject in its own right. Why is it necessary to climb the same steep mountains over and over again? What are the deeply rooted reasons which prevent ‘women's issues’ being considered an integral part of development questions? Why are the doors behind which the major questions of this century are being debated soundproof, heavy and hermetically sealed? The collective voices of women do not yet appear to penetrate them. This global resistance, which effectively excludes women at so many levels, from international and national to community and the family, has deep roots—roots which are buried in the inner conscience of mankind. And strands of these roots are intertwined with every discipline; in every human science. Where does one begin?The purpose of this paper is to explore some aspects of economic and social development which have a direct bearing on the problems of working women and international issues.     

Stressed,depressed, or bewitched?

Mental illness is an important cause of disability in sub-Saharan African countries and is rarely covered in health-related development activity. This article examines the close relationship between mental illness, religion, and culture, referring to the authors' experiences in Zimbabwe as an example. They emphasise the importance of gaining a sympathetic understanding of the religious beliefs and social contexts of psycho-social distress states, rather than simply translating concepts and ideas developed in the societies of Europe and North America.     

Interrogating genomic diversity of E. coli O157:H7 using DNA tiling arrays

Here, we describe a novel microarray-based approach for investigating the genomic diversity of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a semi-high throughput manner using a high density, oligonucleotide-based microarray. This microarray, designed to detect polymorphisms at each of 60,000 base-pair (bp) positions within an E. coli genome, is composed of overlapping 29-mer oligonucleotides specific for 60 equally spaced, 1000-bp loci of the E. coli O157:H7 strain EDL933 chromosome. By use of a novel 12-well microarray that permitted the simultaneous investigation of 12 strains, the genomes of 44 individual isolates of E. coli O157:H7 were interrogated. These analyses revealed more than 150 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and several deletions and amplifications in the test strains. Pyrosequencing was used to confirm the usefulness of the novel SNPs by determining their allelic frequency among a collection of diverse isolates of E. coli O157:H7. The tiling DNA microarray system would be useful for the tracking and identification of individual strains of E. coli O157:H7 needed for forensic investigations.     

Re Edwards (2011) 4 ASTLR 392: who owns a dead man's sperm?

Re Edwards (2011) 4 ASTLR 392; [2011] NSWSC 478 adds to the small line of cases to have considered whether a woman can not only require medical staff to remove sperm from her dead male partner, but whether she is justified in terms of law and international human rights to use it to create children. In this case a Justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court framed the issue as "what right does a woman have to take sperm from the body of her deceased partner so that she may conceive a child?" He did so, despite the manifest ambiguity and difficulty in characterising the legislative rights in this case, without referring to substantive human rights obligations under international Conventions to which Australia is a ratifying party (particularly Art 10 of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Art 23 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Technological advances such as those creating the possibility of capturing a dead person's sperm by electro-ejaculation and creating children by subjecting it to intracytoplasmic sperm injection in connection with in vitro fertilisation have altered the balance of individual and social interests in deciding who should be regarded as owning a dead man's sperm and how that relates to basic common law rights of bodily inviolability without free consent. It is to be regretted that in jurisdictions lacking relevant constitutional human rights, or legislation requiring coherence with international human rights, judges do not avail themselves in cases of statutory ambiguity of interpretative insights to be gained from legally binding human rights treaties to which Australia is a party.     

Cultivating Evidence-Based Pathways for Cannabis Product Development: Implications for Consumer Protection†

Disparities between federal and state cannabis regulation, coupled with protracted federal enforcement, have facilitated the proliferation of a multi–billion dollar cannabis industry that generally evades compliance with federal consumer protection laws. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) established regulatory pathways for the lawful development of products such as food, drugs, and dietary supplements. The FDCA uses a science-based approach to protect consumers from harmful products, but early inconsistencies between state and federal cannabis regulation prevented and/or discouraged the cannabis industry from complying with FDCA requirements. Cannabis products are promoted as safe and attributed with providing effective therapeutic treatment for numerous medical conditions, yet the claims often lack the rigorous evidence-based support typically expected by regulators and the medical community. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced its expectation that cannabidiol (CBD) products comply with the FDCA and follow a science-based approach to product development. The FDA is addressing violations involving unsubstantiated CBD health claims and is working to clarify the future regulatory pathway for CBD products. Meanwhile, the state-approved cannabis market continues to operate, selling numerous products that have circumvented the FDCA consumer protections. This article examines the need for strengthening consumer protections in the cannabis market. We use evidence-based medicine as a model to address the importance of science-based product development and to contextualize a science-based comparison of regulatory pathways for cannabis drugs, food, and dietary supplements.     

Reflections on innovation,assessment, and social change: a SPARC case study

This article challenges the terms on which donor agencies evaluate development success, drawing on a particular case to make its point. It describes the resettlement of 60,000 people squatting along the railway tracks in Mumbai, a process planned and carried out by a federation of the railway dwellers themselves, with support from the NGO SPARC (the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres). The article argues that this effort, which met donor criteria for a successful project, was the tip of an iceberg. Without an appreciation of the years of learning and innovation that preceded it, and the underpinning of principles and relationships built up over many years, this achievement cannot be adequately assessed or understood – and certainly not replicated. Yet in the world of formal assessment and evaluation, there tends to be a lack of interest in the deeper learning about social change that makes such success stories possible.     

Sudden death owing to right atrial hemangioma

Primary cardiac tumors are rare, with an autopsy incidence of 0.03%. Seventy-nine percent to 85% of primary cardiac tumors are benign, and of the benign tumors, cardiac hemangiomas account for 5-10% of cases. Most cardiac hemangiomas are asymptomatic and are discovered incidentally at autopsy, or by echocardiography, computerized tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. We report a case of sudden death owing to cardiac hemangioma in a 22-year-old woman who collapsed while shopping and became unresponsive. The autopsy revealed a hemorrhagic mass on the surface of the right atrium which was infiltrating and replacing the wall of the right atrium; histopathological examination confirmed the tumor was a cavernous hemangioma. Fewer than 20 cases of right atrial cavernous hemangiomas have been reported in English literature, emphasizing the rarity of our case.