Evaluation of human brain damage in fatalities due to extreme environmental temperature by quantification of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), S100β and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) immunoreactivities

Fatalities due to extreme environmental temperatures involving hypothermia (cold exposure) and hyperthermia (heat stroke) might present with poor or nonspecific morphological pathologies, which are insufficient to establish the cause of death in forensic practice. The present study immunohistochemically investigated basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), S100β and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in the parietal lobe and hippocampus of the brain in fatalities from hypothermia (n=15) and hyperthermia (n=18), and compared them to those of controls (n=39), including acute death due to ischemic heart disease, mechanical asphyxiation and drowning. In addition, S100β concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was measured. Characteristic findings in hypothermia cases were higher glial bFGF immunopositivity in the cerebral cortex and white matter, and higher S100β immunopositivity in the cerebral cortex with a lower CSF S100β concentration. Hyperthermia showed lower glial GFAP and S100β immunopositivities in the white matter, and higher neuronal ssDNA immunopositivity in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, accompanied by high glial bFGF and S100β immunopositivities in the cerebral cortex. These findings suggest neuroprotective glial responses without marked neuronal or glial damage in fatal hypothermia, and diffuse neuronal apoptosis despite initiation of neuroprotective cortical astrocyte responses, accompanied by glial damage in the white matter, in fatal hyperthermia. These markers may be useful for evaluating brain damage and responses in fatalities due to extreme environmental temperatures.     

Big Investment Fraud and “Yakuza Money” Crime — Two Perspectives of Financial Crime in Japan

Financial crime in Japan takes a major toll on both individual victims and the nation’s economy. This paper focuses on large investment frauds that have occurred from post-war Japan to the present as well as financial crimes that involve racketeers of boryokudans, or organized crime groups, more commonly known as yakuza. Major financial offending by organized crime groups include: yamikin (loan sharks), sokaiya (shareholders who extort corporate funds), jiageya (“land sharks” who frighten tenants into vacating properties), and new forms of yakuza money crime that constitute significant challenges to enforcement. The paper concludes that more comprehensive legislation that applies to all forms of investment fraud is needed in order to stem the tide of white-collar crime in Japanese society.     

IMPARTIAL OBSERVATION AND PARTIAL PARTICIPATION: Feminist Ethnography in Politically Charged Japan

ABSTRACT

Using reflexive accounts from her own research, the author of this article discusses her struggles as a Japanese feminist anthropologist with what “contribution” actually means in different research contexts. The author compares her dissertation research on a feminist group with her ongoing research project on right-wing opponents of feminism. As a feminist, the author found it relatively easy to practice the idea of contribution with feminists as her research subjects. The situation was much more complex, however, when studying conservative opponents of feminism, whose views were directly oppositional to the author's views and to the human rights principles supported by the American Anthropological Association. By examining her fieldwork experiences on these two types of activists, the author discusses the possibilities and constraints of ethnographic practices such as participant observation, archival research, and contribution to the people anthropologists study and to feminism. The author also discusses the role that the internet is playing in current research contexts, and argues that the distinction between home and field is increasingly blurred. This study complicates the notion of “native anthropology,” contending that as the anthropologist engages deeply in politically charged situations in the field, the distinction of native versus other may no longer be accurate. By illustrating complexities surrounding the practice of fieldwork, the author complicates the notion of contribution, and shows that one possible way to grapple with the difficult question of what and to whom to contribute is to listen to diverse, complex voices, not only of feminists but also of their political opponents, antifeminist conservatives.     

A survey of the potency of Japanese illicit cannabis in fiscal year 2010

In recent years, increased 'cannabis potency', or Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in cannabis products, has been reported in many countries. A survey of Japanese illicit cannabis was conducted from April 2010 to March 2011. In Japan, all cannabis evidence is transferred to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare after criminal trials. The evidence was observed at Narcotics Control Department offices in major 11 cities. The total number of cannabis samples observed was 9072, of which 6376 were marijuana. The marijuana seizures were further classified, and it was found that in terms of the number of samples, 65.2% of them were seedless buds, and by weight 73.0% of them were seedless buds. Seedless buds were supposed to be 'sinsemilla', a potent class of marijuana. THC, cannabinol (CBN) and cannabidiol (CBD) in marijuana seizures exceeding 1g were quantified. The number of samples analyzed was 1115. Many of them were shown to contain CBN, an oxidative product from THC. This was a sign of long-term storage of the cannabis and of the degradation of THC. Relatively fresh cannabis, defined by a CBN/THC ratio of less than or equal to 0.1, was chosen for analysis. Fresh seedless buds (335 samples) contained an average of 11.2% and a maximum of 22.6% THC. These values are comparable to those of 'high potency cannabis' as defined in previous studies. Thus, this study shows that highly potent cannabis products are distributed in Japan as in other countries.     

Quantitative analysis of pulmonary pathophysiology using postmortem computed tomography with regard to the cause of death

Radiological lung transparency depends on the air contents involved in respiratory function. The present study quantitatively investigated postmortem lung air distribution in forensic autopsy cases (n=135) using computed tomography (CT) to analyze cardiopulmonary pathophysiology in the death process, involving emphysema, congestion and edema. Combined analyses of the CT morphology and attenuation value (Hounsfield unit, HU) of the bilateral lungs, with reference to histopathology, could categorize CT findings (10-90 percentile mode/mean HU values) with regard to the causes of death as follows: (I) hyperaeration (mode/mean HU below -760/-560: emphysema) for obstructive pulmonary disease, starvation and hypothermia (cold exposure); (II) mostly normal aeration with partial ground glass opacification (mode/mean HU, -850 to -360/-700 to -380: partial congestion and edema), consisting of subtype II-a with peri-bronchial/-vascular opacity for mechanical asphyxia, drowning and fire fatality, and subtype II-b with decreased vascularity for gunshot head injury, cerebrovascular disease and hemopericardium; (III) hypoaeration to airless with predominant hypostatic ground glass opacification (mode/mean HU, -870 to 0/-720 to -200: mottled hypostatic congestion and edema) for blunt head/neck injury, intoxication, hyperthermia (heat stroke) and congestive heart failure; (IV) hypoaeration to airless with predominant hypostatic consolidation (mode/mean HU, -790 to 0/-520 to -70: intense hypostatic congestion with edema) for acute ischemic heart disease; and (V) airless to consolidated (mode/mean HU over -420/-370: segmental or multiple patchy consolidations with edema) for pneumonia. Mode HU represents the major alveolar status, while the mean HU reflects the whole lung air contents. CT data analysis is useful for quantitative evaluation of pulmonary pathology as a supplementary procedure.     

Dural hemorrhage of the tentorium on postmortem cranial computed tomographic scans in children

We analyzed four children with increased density of the tentorium on postmortem computed tomographic (CT) scans that suggested traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage; but in which followup autopsy demonstrated an absence of subarachnoid hemorrhage. All cases had neither head injuries nor distinct intracranial abnormalities. Histological examinations showed extensive hemorrhage within the tentorium. These findings indicate that increased density of the tentorium on postmortem CT scan reflects 'dural hemorrhage' that may occur in children without intracranial abnormalities. Pediatricians and forensic pathologists should be aware of this phenomenon when using postmortem preautopsy CT scanning for diagnosis of child abuse.     

Single-stranded DNA as an immunohistochemical marker of neuronal damage in human brain: an analysis of autopsy material with regard to the cause of death

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is a marker of apoptosis and programmed cell death, which appears prior to DNA fragmentation during delayed neuronal death. The present study investigated the immunohistochemical distribution of ssDNA in the brain to investigate apoptotic neuronal damage with regard to the cause of death in medicolegal autopsy cases (n=305). Neuronal immunopositivity for ssDNA was globally detected in the brain, independent of the age, gender of subjects and postmortem interval, and depended on the cause of death. Higher positivity was typically found in the pallidum for delayed brain injury death and fatal carbon monoxide intoxication, and in the cerebral cortex, pallidum and substantia nigra for drug intoxication. For mechanical asphyxiation, a high positivity was detected in the cerebral cortex and pallidum, while the positivity was low in the substantia nigra. The neuronal ssDNA increased during the survival period within about 24h at each site, depending on the type of brain injury, and in the substantia nigra for other blunt injuries. The neuronal positivity was usually lower for drowning and acute ischemic disease. Topographical analysis of ssDNA-positive neurons may contribute to investigating the cause of brain damage and survival period after a fatal insult.     

Comprehensive evaluation of pericardial biochemical markers in death investigation

Pericardial fluid (PCF) is a well-preserved cadaveric material in cases without structural damage. The present study investigated fundamental serum components of PCF, including total proteins (TP), albumin (Alb), urea nitrogen (UN), creatinine (Cr), uric acid (UA), glucose (Glu), sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in PCF with regard to the postmortem and survival periods, and cause of death in serial medicolegal autopsy cases (n = 288) with intact pericardial and cardiac structures within 48 h postmortem. The amount of PCF (mostly 5–25 ml) showed no survival or postmortem time dependence, or difference among the causes of death. For all cases, there were moderate postmortem decreases of Na and Cl, and increases of K and Mg, which were insufficient for application to estimate the time since death; however, characteristic findings with regard to the cause of death were detected in cases of hours-long survival, especially in ‘functional causes of death’: higher Alb, UN, Cr, UA, K and Mg, and lower Na, Cl and Ca in intoxication; lower TP, Alb, Cr, K and Mg, and higher Na and Cl in hypothermia (cold exposure); higher Alb, UN, Cr, UA and Mg, and lower Glu and Ca in hyperthermia (heatstroke). These observations suggest the usefulness of pericardial biomarkers for investigating the cause and process of death to reinforce pathological and toxicological findings.     

Postmortem serum catecholamine levels in relation to the cause of death

Catecholamines are major humoral factors and neurotransmitters that contribute to various stress responses. However, they have been considered unstable due to agony, terminal medical care and postmortem interference. The present study was a comprehensive investigation of postmortem serum levels of adrenaline (Adr), noradrenaline (Nad) and dopamine (DA) with regard to the cause of death in serial medicolegal autopsy cases (n=542) including fatalities from various traumas and diseases. There was a slight tendency toward postmortem increases of Nad and DA in cardiac blood as well as Adr and Nad in peripheral blood, a slight age-dependent decrease in Adr and DA in right heart blood, and a marked increase in serum DA due to administration during critical medical care. When these factors were taken into consideration, significantly higher cardiac blood levels were observed for Adr and Nad in injury and asphyxiation cases and for Adr in fatal methamphetamine (MA) abuse and other poisoning cases, whereas those levels were lower in fatal hypothermia. Drowning, fire fatality, acute cardiac death and cerebrovascular disease showed intermediate Adr and Nad levels. The DA level was elevated in cases of injury, hyperthermia, MA fatality and other poisoning. Topographical analyses suggested that the major sources of increased serum catecholamines in cases of injury was abdominal viscera including adrenal glands, and that in cases of asphyxiation, drowning, fire fatality, hyperthermia, MA fatality, other poisoning, acute cardiac death and cerebrovascular disease was the extremities in addition to abdominal viscera. However, there was in part a large case-to-case difference in each marker related to individual causes of death. These findings differed markedly from clinical observations and suggest that the postmortem serum catecholamine levels may reflect the magnitude of physical stress responses during the process of death in individual cases.