Acid violence: a burning issue of Bangladesh--its medicolegal aspects

Throwing acid on others' face and body to cause grievous injuries is a barbaric act of vengeance. For the last few years, it has been on the rise in both urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. The perpetrators are mostly men and adolescent boys. The victims are girls and young females. The reasons for attacks are sexual advances from man, refusal of marriage proposal, and vengeance. Cheap and easy availability of acids makes it the most effective weapon for man to use against girls' or young women's faces to prove that they have no right to deny a man's proposal and is one of the extreme forms of repression and violation of women's right. The consequence of acid attacks on survivors brings dramatic change in their lifestyle. Most of them have to give up their education or work. Social isolation, fear of further attacks, and insecurity damage their self-esteem and confidence. Illiteracy, poverty, threats to further retribution, and ignorance about legal support increase their miseries. Gradual increase of acid attacks suggests that legal provisions and their enforcement are not adequate and effective. Social awareness, economic and psychologic support, rehabilitation, and strict enforcement of laws are key to combat acid violence in Bangladesh.     

"A brilliant ball of fire." The sabotage of United Airlines Flight 629

Among the known causes of aircraft disasters, sabotage is perhaps the most terrifying and difficult to comprehend. Bombs have been exploded in at least 34 commercial aircraft, with the resultant loss of more than 300 lives. Motives for these acts include profit, the deaths of certain persons, and politics. On November 1, 1955, United Airlines Flight 629, bound to Denver-Portland, exploded and burned in flight near Longmont, Colorado, a few minutes after takeoff, with the loss of all 44 on board. Investigation revealed that the plane had been destroyed by the explosion of a bomb that had been placed in the rear luggage hold in Denver. Twelve days after the disaster, John Gilbert Graham, the son of one of the female passengers, was arrested and charged with murder. He reportedly admitted placing a time bomb on board the aircraft, apparently in order to collect $37,500.00 in life insurance that he had taken on his mother's life. Though he soon recanted, he was convicted of murder and was executed. The potential for additional such crimes remains.     

A brush fire forensic case.

In Italy, every summer forest fires attract public attention due to the number of victims, the intensity of the fires, the areas devastated, the environmental damage and the loss of property. Excluding some fires by natural causes, other causes are related to the social, economic, and productive profile of the territory. The erroneous expectation is that wooded areas destroyed by fire can then be used for private interests. Often, a fire, started to clear a small area, can completely change the expected result, producing disaster, loss of property, destruction of entire forests and resident fauna, and kill innocent people. In this case report, the reconstruction of an arson scene, the analytical techniques and the results obtained are illustrated in this paper, with the aim of sharing with other research laboratories the current knowledge on forest fire.     

Concealed homicidal strangulation by burning.

Compression of the neck, either with the hands or by a ligature, is not an uncommon method of homicide. Burning of the body to try to conceal the homicide may complicate the situation by making it difficult to interpret the findings. We hereby report two cases of homicidal ligature strangulation with extensive burning of the bodies. In both cases, external findings included the presence of a soft piece of fabric around the neck that, when removed, disclosed a portion of pale, unburned skin that vividly contrasted with surrounding areas. Osteocartilaginous lesions were present in only one case. Carboxyhemoglobin levels in both cases were very low, and the histopathologic examination of distal airways for soot particles was negative.     

Electrophoresis reliability: I. The contaminant issue

The effects of the common contaminants--soil, oil, gasoline, salt, acid, base, bleach, and detergent--on various forensically used genetic marker systems were studied. The predicted effects of the various contaminants on the proteins and the electrophoretic separations agreed with the observed results. A contaminant that affected protein conformation also adversely affected the integrity of the electrophoretic system, thus signalling an anomaly. It also was pointed out that the ideal control study for the effects of contaminants on genetic markers in evidentiary material is often provided to forensic scientists--that is victim's blood on victim's clothing and other substrata. The data presented in this paper support the validity and reliability of electrophoretic analyses of evidentiary material with respect to the contaminant issue.     

摁住楼市“虚火”

最近几个月,房地产调控政策频出,包括房地产贷款的"两道红线"。为抑制楼市"虚火",住房和城乡建设部副部长倪虹带队赴上海、深圳等地调研督导房地产市场情况。机构统计数据显示,去年年内累计房地产调控政策次数已达97次。一些人担心,楼市会陷入越上涨越调控、越调控越上涨的"老怪圈"。     

日本政府应对“平成萧条”的政策评析及其带来的启示

20世纪90年代,随着泡沫经济的崩溃,日本经济陷入了持续长达十余年的萧条与衰退,亦称"平成萧条".它不但表现为居高不下的不良债权、庞大的财政赤字及通货紧缩,更深刻地反映了政府主导型市场经济体制的危机.日本近代以来的发展道路对我国有着深刻影响,了解日本政府的应对政策,汲取其教训,将对我国经济发展有着重要的启示和借鉴意义.     

"First pass phenomenon" of inhaled gas in the fire victims

We investigated the differences in the levels of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), cyanide (HCN) and petroleum fuels (gasoline and kerosene) between left and right ventricular bloods from fire victims. COHb was slightly, and HCN and petroleum fuels were markedly higher levels in the left than those in the right. These effects were so called 'first pass phenomena' due to the circulation, diffusion and metabolization before the deaths of fire victims.     

中日专利“加快审查制度”之比较

问:邻国日本实施的"加快审查制度"和"特快审查制度"与中国的"加快审查制度"有哪些区别? 答:专利是专利权人依法享有的排他实施其发明创造的专用权与独占权,专利权人有权制止仿造、销售、使用等侵权行为并获得赔偿,由此可以取得商业竞争优势,在一定期限内独占市场.     

论柄谷行人“阅读马克思”

日本学者柄谷行人与其他国家的许多后现代主义者一样,也从马克思的思想中汲取了学术营养。他从20世纪80年代初就倾力于研究后现代主义和阅读马克思。他认为,马克思的思想与马克思主义存在着很大的差别,马克思的《资本论》和恩格斯晚年的思想包含有丰富的非暴力的社会民主主义构想——联合。作为联合的社会主义,可以从世界帝国与法的关系中找到启示和方向。     

The issue of constitutional law legitimacy on "human assisted reproduction" between reasonableness of the choices and effectiveness of the protection of all involved subjects.

This artiche analyzes the constitutionality petition to the constitutional Court against Law 40 of 2004 on "human assisted reproduction", where it prohibits the "preimplantatory genetical diagnosis", because it could be against the mother's right to health (art. 32 Italian Constitution) and the egalitarian protection clause (art. 3 Italian Constitution). In the constitutionally petition the ordinary judge proposes an interpretation in accordance with Constitution of the contested disposition (art. 13 of Law 40 of 2004) and this could be the possibility to teste the "living law" theory and its relation with the "adequate interpretation" of the law and the Constitution.     

The recovery of finger marks from soot-covered glass fire debris.

This study aimed to expand the scope of previous research by assessing the effectiveness of soot-removal techniques on glass from petrol-bomb debris using methods of 1% and 2% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions, ultrasonic bath and vacuum suction. Of particular interest were the 1% and 2% NaOH solutions applied to the soot-covered surfaces. Petrol bombs containing petrol or a 50:50 mix of petrol and motor oil were exploded and the debris was collected for analysis. Favourable results were found to varying degrees using each of the soot-removal methods with the 1% and 2% NaOH wash solutions, being the most useful. The 2% NaOH solution also proved successful as a soak to loosen and remove heavy contamination of soot and accelerants without damaging the finger mark beneath. This study also found that recovery of finger marks in blood from beneath soot using the 2% NaOH solution was possible. Finger marks were also applied to glass bottles with plastic adhesive labels, and providing the fire damage is not too great marks were also retrievable. Results from this study lead to the conclusion that the NaOH wash solution is ideally suited for soot removal to reveal latent and blood-contaminated marks both within the laboratory and at crime scenes.     

浅谈"城中村"存在的消防安全隐患及整治措施

"城中村"给城市建设和消防安全监督管理带来了许多难题,制约着城市的发展和城市化进程的加快.要顺利推进"城中村"消防安全隐患整治和消防设施改造,各级政府部门应该立足实际、多措并举,及时建立起新的合作与整合机制,从而实现"城中村"与城市的和谐统筹发展.     

物证鉴定中的物证污染问题

物证污染是影响物证鉴定结果的最重要因素之一,它会损害物证鉴定结论质量甚至造成错误的鉴定结论。随着以法医DNA检验为代表的物证鉴定技术检验灵敏度的提高,物证污染出现的可能性及其造成的危害程度都显著增加。物证污染有多种形式和来源,可能发生在犯罪现场或实验室。采取适当的污染防范措施可以有效降低物证污染发生的可能性,及时监测和发现物证污染可以将污染造成的危害降到最低。     

The Mediterranean basin: A population genetic study based on 25 X-chromosome SNPs

The X-chromosome has valuable characteristics for population genetic studies. In order to investigate the genetics of the human Mediterranean populations further, we developed a 25 X-chromosome SNP-multiplex typing system. The system was based on PCR multiplex amplification and subsequent multiplex single base extension with the SNaPshot reaction, capillary electrophoresis and multicolor fluorescence detection.We investigated 11 Mediterranean populations with the 25 X-chromosome SNPs. A high overall homogeneity was found among the Mediterranean populations except for Moroccans, who differed genetically from the rest of the populations in the Mediterranean area. This result supports the hypothesis of a low incidence of the south-north genetic interchange at the western shores of the Mediterranean basin. A low genetic distance was found between populations in the Middle East and the western part of the Mediterranean area most likely reflecting the strong effect of the Neolithic wave.A certain level of background linkage disequilibrium among the 25 SNPs on the X-chromosome in Ibiza and Cosenza was observed, possibly as a consequence of their demographic history.     

Technology transfer: A public policy issue

Technology and the dissemination of information has become a public policy issue in the United States. This article examines the concept of technology transfer and the issue of exporting technological innovation by providing an historic overview of the process and the private and public sector's attitude towards the transfer of technology.