Identification of an unknown body by means of osteosynthesis material

The present case describes the identification of an unknown corpse recovered from water by means of two osteosynthesis plates with serial numbers. This method of identification is compared with the pros and cons of other possibilities of identification using medical findings. Although in Western Europe osteosynthesis material is normally removed some months after the operation, autoptic exposure of a suspicious bone may occasionally allow valid, fast and convenient identification of the body, especially if osteosynthesis material with different serial numbers was used.     

Psychopathic traits and offending trajectories from early adolescence to adulthood

Purpose

Measures of adolescent psychopathy have yet to be examined in offending trajectory studies. This may explain why identifying etiological differences between individuals following high-rate and moderate-rate offending trajectories has remained elusive. The current study used the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) to examine psychopathic traits and offending trajectories within a sample of incarcerated offenders.

Methods

Convictions were measured for Canadian male (n = 243) and female (n = 64) offenders at each year between ages 12 and 28. Semi-parametric group based modeling identified four unique trajectories: adolescence-limited (AL) (27.3% of sample), explosive-onset fast desister (EOFD) (30.6%), high-rate slow desister (HRSD) (14.6%), and high frequency chronic (HFC) (27.5%).

Findings

Both a three and a four factor model of psychopathy were tested, and both factor structures were positively and significantly associated with the HRSD and HFC trajectories. Regarding individual factors of psychopathy, the ‘Antisocial’ factor of the PCL:YV was the only individual dimension significantly associated with membership in high-rate compared to moderate-rate offending trajectories.

Conclusions

Psychopathic traits appear more commonly present amongst individuals who follow chronic versus moderate offending trajectories. Implications for early intervention and risk management of offenders are discussed.     

Heterogeneous effects of adolescent violent victimization on problematic outcomes in early adulthood*

Violent victimization—particularly when it happens to young people—can inflict a wide array of negative consequences across the life course. Nevertheless, some victims are more likely to suffer these consequences than others, and we do not have a very good understanding of why that is. One promising avenue of research is to examine how individuals’ differential risks of being victimized affect the extent to which they experience negative outcomes. By using propensity score matching and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 8,323), in this study I estimate the heterogeneous effects of adolescent violent victimization on several problematic outcomes in early adulthood (violent and property offending, subsequent violent victimization, depressive symptoms, hard drug use, and low educational attainment). Individuals’ differential risks of adolescent violent victimization are estimated with a host of personal, social, and contextual factors, including prior experiences with crime and violence. The results show that the consequences of adolescent victimization in early adulthood are more pronounced for youth with the lowest risks of being victimized. These findings have important implications for theory, research, and practice, and they emphasize that the consequences of victimization cannot be understood separately from the sources of victimization.     

对女性肋骨进行组织形态测量推断年龄

探讨人类密质骨的年龄变化规律 ,为法医学、人类学利用骨骼推断年龄提供新方法。收集 6 7例中国北方汉族女性右侧第六肋骨的中 1/3段 ,制作脱钙骨切片 ,在计算机图像分析仪上测量 9项组织形态学参数 ,并进行多元逐步回归分析 ,得到一个推断年龄的多元回归方程 :^Y =31 2 6 4+0 86 8X2 +2 86 6 93X4 +0 6 89X7-778 874X8-0 0 0 6X9,复相关系数和标准误分别是 0 92 3和 4 0 8。经 2 5例已知年龄的标本检验 ,预测年龄的误差在± 5岁以内的可达 84% ,误差在± 8岁以内的可达 10 0 %。结果表明 :应用肋骨的组织结构特征可准确推断死者年龄     

Blasphemy in an Age of Corroding Secularity

‘Sacred’ may be defined in various ways, depending on one’s worldview. In a pluralistic society, a single perspective from which to decide what is sacred seems absent. Yet certain elements are taken to be sacred such that they transcend individual worldviews. Their inviolability entails blasphemy laws, where ‘blasphemy’ extends beyond what is traditionally considered religious, since ‘religion’ itself is not clearly demarcated either. The interests of the sacred may be protected by blasphemy laws, but the downside of such laws is that the freedom of expression is compromised. A balanced view is necessary to accommodate these conflicting interests.

     

Age determination of blood spots in forensic medicine by force spectroscopy

We present a new tool for the estimation of the age of bloodstains, which could probably be used during forensic casework. For this, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) for high-resolution imaging of erythrocytes in a blood sample and the detection of elasticity changes on a nanometer scale. For the analytic procedure we applied a fresh blood spot on a glass slide and started the AFM detection after drying of the blood drop. In a first step, an overview image was generated showing the presence of several red blood cells, which could easily be detected due to their typical "doughnut-like" appearance. The consecutively morphological investigations in a timeframe of 4 weeks could not show any alterations. Secondly, AFM was used to test the elasticity by recording force-distance curves. The measurements were performed immediately after drying, 1.5 h, 30 h and 31 days. The conditions were kept constant at room temperature (20 degrees C) and a humidity of 30%. The obtained elasticity parameters were plotted against a timeline and repeated several times. The elasticity pattern showed a decrease over time, which are most probably influenced by the alteration of the blood spot during the drying and coagulation process. The preliminary data demonstrates the capacity of this method to use it for development of calibration curves, which can be used for estimation of bloodstain ages during forensic investigations.     

根据中国汉族女性甲状软骨推算年龄的研究

目的 根据中国汉族女性甲状软骨推算年龄。方法 对69例已知年龄的中国汉族女性甲状软骨进行软X线摄片和(或)普通X线摄片,从甲状软骨的摄片上选择5个与年龄变化关系较为密切的观察部位,每个部位又划分成3至6个等级,然后采用多元线性回归分析法,建立其推算年龄的数学模型。结果运用该方法推算女性甲状软骨年龄,其标准差为1.969,复相关系数为0.984。结论 本方法适用于中国汉族女性甲状软骨年龄推算,其有效年龄范围为18～60岁。     

Age patterns of migration among Korean adults in early 20th-century Seoul

In this study, we examine age patterns of migration among adults who resided in Seoul in the early twentieth century. We use information, obtained from the Seoul household registers, on the length of time these adults lived in their current residences to estimate age-specific migration rates and construct migration life tables. Our findings point to the following: First, Seoul residents were quite mobile. On average, during the early twentieth century, Seoul residents moved approximately four times between their primary working ages of 15 and 64. Second, upper-class individuals were more mobile than lower-class individuals. While the upper-class individuals moved approximately five times between ages 15 and 65, the lower-class individuals moved less than three times. This class differential can be explained because Korean bureaucrats experienced frequent duty changes during this period. Third, household composition also affected migration rates. We compare our results with European migration studies and discuss the implications of these finding on urbanization that occurred in early twentieth century Seoul.     

Detection of toluene in an adipoceratous body

A 24-year-old male was found dead in a car left in a river for about 3 months. The cadaver was almost adipoceratous and autopsy findings revealed that there were neither remarkable injuries nor lethal diseases. Toluene, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, isovaleraldehyde and n-butyl n-butyrate were detected in the specimens collected at the autopsy by head space gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The toluene concentrations (μg/g) were 31.0 in brain, 10.6 in liver, 5.4 in kidney, 15.0 in skeletal muscle and 187.1 in adipose tissue. The presence of diatom in lung, liver and kidney suggested that death was caused by drowning. So far as we know, this is the first report of detection of toluene in an adipoceratous body.     

根据中国汉族男性甲状软骨推算年龄的研究

目的根据中国汉族男性甲状软骨推算年龄。方法对73例已知年龄的中国汉族男性甲状软骨进行软X线摄片和(或)X线摄片,从摄片上选择8个与年龄变化关系较为密切的观察部位,每个部位又划分成3至6个等级,然后采用多元线性回归方法,建立其推算年龄的数学模型。结果运用该方法推算男性甲状软骨年龄,其标准差为1.354,复相关系数R为0.9971。结论本方法适用于中国汉族男性甲状软骨的年龄推算,其有效力年龄范围为13-67岁。     

Age discrimination in retirement: in search of an alternative

American employers have traditionally relied on age as the criterion for mandatory retirement. Yet advances in medicine indicate the inadequacy of age as a measure of job competence and suggest the potential for a more reliable measure. With current social and economic conditions pressing many employees to seek to work beyond mandatory retirement ages set by their employers, transition to more reliable measures has become a vital matter. This Note explores the potential for implementing medically-based alternatives to the age proxy. It initially addresses problems of medical feasibility and economic practicality, and considers how the divergent interests of employees and employers can be accommodated. The balance of the Note examines the present roles of Congress, agencies, and courts in facilitating age-blind mandatory retirement policy. It suggests the need for reform of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and recommends a more effective distribution of roles among governmental institutions.     

The Persisting Ideal of Agreement in an Age of Boilerplate

This essay argues that the treatment of boilerplate as a distinct phenomenon in some contract scholarship sheds light on the way we imagine our social relations. In Omri Ben-Shahar's 2007 compilation, Boilerplate: The Foundation of Market Contracts, aspects of the traditional meeting-of-the-minds model persist, notwithstanding the move away from this framework indicated by the differentiation of boilerplate from traditional contract. Much boilerplate scholarship is informed by a narrative of agreement as an ideal involving agency, autonomy, and meaningful choice. Thus, in an age in which form language pervades American life, a narrative of genuine agreement continues to frame a conception of contractual relations.