LIFE BEYOND LIFE – An Easy Way to Derive Lung Fibroblasts from Cadavers

Several protocols have illustrated the possibility of deriving cells, such as fibroblasts, from different organs. These techniques generally concern organs sampled from living persons, but have already been described for cadavers, especially concerning the skin and tendons. We present, for the first time, an easy way to derive pulmonary fibroblasts from a lung tissue sampled from a cadaver and directly culture plated. The fibroblast output was checked daily. We obtained lung fibroblasts from 3 (60%) cadavers and 2 (100%) living persons. The fibroblast output took about 3 days for cells from living persons and took up to 39 days for those from cadavers. We did not clearly identify any parameters that could explain these differences. Nevertheless, these derived cells had the same features as the source cells, especially in terms of morphology and proliferation, and could potentially be used in different research domains such as forensic or regeneration medicine.     

Charles Norris (1868-1935) and Thomas A. Gonzales (1878-1956), New York's forensic pioneers

American forensic medicine is forever indebted to pioneers like George Magrath of Boston, Milton Helpern of New York, LeMoyne Snyder of Michigan, and others, but the organizing of forensic medicine in the formal sense is due to the efforts of Charles Norris (Figure 1) and his successor Thomas A. Gonzales (Figure 2). These men were instrumental in developing the subspecialty as an extension of clinical medicine in which information derived from study of the dead was applied to benefit the living. Their combined efforts between 1918 and 1954 represent the epitome of the application of scientific expertise to medicolegal investigation of deaths in America. Their collaboration from 1918 to 1935 was particularly fruitful. The support of Dr. Alexander Gettler and, in 1938, the addition of Dr. Wiener to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner made this period a golden era for forensic medicine.     

Clinical forensic medicine

This article discusses the merits of participation by medical examiners in the area of clinical forensic medicine. The present connotation that we deal after the fact should be abandoned with enhanced involvement in assisting the living. The paper focuses on a broad range of categories where forensic scientists by virtue of their training and experience could be most helpful in the application of medical knowledge to the solution of questions of law.     

法医牙科学研究进展CSCD

法医牙科学是法医学与口腔医学的交叉学科,通过科学地收集、检测、评价牙科证据而为司法实践提供有法律效力的证明资料。本文从年龄推断,性别推断,种族、职业及生活习惯推断,个体识别,家庭暴力或虐待行为判定等方面对法医牙科学的应用现状进行综述,并对其未来应用进行展望,希望对法医牙科学体系进行不断的补充和完善,使其在法医学甚至司法实践中更好地发挥作用。     

Tasks of research in forensic medicine - different study types in clinical research and forensic medicine

In the last years the research output of forensic medicine has sometimes been regarded as insufficient and as of poor quality, especially when parameters as impact factors and external funding were taken into account. However, forensic medicine has different tasks compared to clinical medicine. The main difference between basic subjects, clinical and forensic medicine is not a lack of scientific efficiency in forensic medicine but is a result of the questions asked, the available methods and specific aims. In contrast to natural-scientific research, forensic science has furthermore important intersections with arts and socio-scientific disciplines. Etiologic and pathogenetic research is of only limited relevance in forensic medicine. Thus, forensic medicine is excluded from these research fields, which are mainly supported by external funding. In forensic medicine research mainly means applied research regarding findings, the probative value and reconstruction as well as examination at different points of intersection between medicine and law. Clinical types of research such as controlled randomised, prospective cross-sectional, cohort or case-control studies can only rarely be applied in forensic medicine due to the area specific research fields (e.g. thantatology, violent death, vitality, traffic medicine, analytical toxicology, hemogenetics and stain analysis). The types of studies which are successfully established in forensic medicine are comparison of methods, sensitivity studies, validation of methods, kinetic examinations etc. Tasks of research in forensic medicine and study types, which may be applied will be addressed.     

Age estimation

While age estimation of unidentified corpses and skeletons for identification purposes has a long tradition in forensic sciences, age estimation of living persons has formed a relatively recent area of forensic research which is becoming increasingly important. The international interdisciplinary Study Group on Forensic Age Diagnostics (AGFAD) issued recommendations for age estimation of living persons for the purpose of criminal, civil, asylum and old-age pension procedures as well as for determining the sex and age of skeletons. In the present work, the authors set out state-of-the art age estimation methods for specific case groups, define minimum requirements for reference studies and specify the need for further research. In addition, ethical and medico-legal aspects as well as issues relating to quality assurance are discussed.     

网络环境下的法医学循证

法医学是当前司法鉴定中的重要组成部分,其研究内容广泛,具有高度的专业性。随着网络技术的发展、信息资源的增加以及人们法律意识的增强,法医学必然会面临许多新问题,对诉讼证据的要求标准也越来越高。鉴于此,在法医学领域应建立起循证的理念,通过循证的方式在法医学以及相关领域内寻求最合适的解决法医学实务中具体问题的证据,循证不但能够及时解决法医学领域的现行问题,其对于法医学的进步与发展也将具有重大的推动作用。本文综述了循证的基本理论及其在法医学领域的作用,以及循证的途径、方法、证据的评价,并探讨网络环境下法医学循证的应用价值。     

Analysis of the autopsy,toxicological, and psychiatric reports of Portugal’s first major forensic case: part III

This work presents an odd historical record obtained through more than 14 years of research regarding one of the first major European forensic cases. The presumed homicide of Mário Guilherme Augusto de Sampaio in 1890 was allegedly perpetrated by his uncle, the prestigious doctor Vicente Urbino de Freitas. This famous poisoning had international repercussions for decades, with the participation of several forensic experts that made the history of forensic sciences, namely forensic toxicology and pathology. This third work aims to collect, restore, and analyse all the forensic evidence, particularly from the autopsy, toxicological, and psychiatric forensic reports. Facts regarding the life of Vicente Urbino de Freitas during his exile in Brazil were also recovered, along with a vast and outstanding assortment of forensic medicine photographs from the 19th century.     

The history of the forensic applications in radiology

The history of progress in any field of science is related directly to technical advances which have occurred during that period. The microscope contributed immensely to the advancement of forensic investigations in the late 19th century, with its use to study trace evidence including blood, semen, soil, paint, and biological material. The application of the discovery of x-radiation by Dr. R?entgen of Würzburg, Germany, in 1895 provided an important new tool for medical practitioners throughout the world. Its application was also realized as a potential weapon by medicolegal investigators. Discovery of the location of foreign objects, including bullets, thus became a clinical as well as a forensic technique in support of the investigation of living and deceased persons. The early application of x-ray methodology in England in 1896 by Prof. Arthur Schuster of Owens College, Manchester, in a case of a gunshot wound of a woman, is described as well as some aspects of the primitive technique which were used.     

论“有专门知识的人”制度的完善——关于新《刑事诉讼法》第192条的思考

＂有专门知识的人＂有别于鉴定人,其诉讼职责是就鉴定人作出的鉴定意见提出意见。法律对＂有专门知识的人＂制度规定得过于原则和粗疏,缺乏具体程序,必然会给实施带来诸多困难。应当明确＂有专门知识的人＂的诉讼地位,建立健全＂有专门知识的人＂的选任、出庭质证等具体程序和制度。     

非同位素标记探针杂交分析白细胞端粒DNA长度

目的建立用非同位素标记探针杂交测定端粒DNA长度的方法,并探讨其法医学的应用价值。方法酚/氯仿抽提基因组DNA,限制性内切酶消化,0.8％琼脂糖凝胶电泳,Southern印迹,化学发光法检测端粒DNA谱带,与标准分子量DNA比较,积分光密度扫描计算端粒DNA平均长度。结果所测样本获得了较好的低背景杂交谱带,测得31~35岁端粒。DNA的平均长度为11.71kb,51~55岁平均为11.04 kb。结论用上述建立的方法初步显示年龄与端粒长度之间有一定的相关性,为法医学年龄的推断开辟了一个新的研究领域。     

河南三门峡地区夏秋季常见嗜尸性蝇类的初步研究

目的探讨三门峡地区常见嗜尸性苍蝇种类、演替规律及其在法医学实践中的应用价值。方法采用笼诱法观察7月中旬-10月中旬兔尸上嗜尸性苍蝇种类演替规律及生活习性。结果出现的双翅目嗜尸性苍蝇有3科9属13种,主要为蝇科的舍蝇、市蝇、厩腐蝇、元厕蝇、斑蹠黑蝇、兰翠蝇;丽蝇科的大头金蝇、丝光绿蝇、亮绿蝇、巨尾阿丽蝇;麻蝇科的棕尾别麻蝇、褐须亚麻蝇和尾黑麻蝇;且出现时间有很强的规律性。结论河南三门峡地区夏秋季常见嗜尸性蝇类在兔尸上的出现有一定的演替规律,可望为该地区法医学死亡时间的推断提供参考。     

如何正确看待法医骨龄和刑事责任年龄

骨龄又叫骨骼测定年龄,刑法所规定的“刑事责任年龄”为某一个体的“生活年龄”,二者所代表的含义不同,且存在着较大的差异。司法机关直接利用骨龄作为对犯罪嫌疑人定罪量刑的证据判案时常引发不小争议。故此,实现“骨龄”推断到“生活年龄”推断是法医任重而道远的任务。本文分析了二者的差异及原因,并呼吁尽快出台综合评定其个体“生活年龄”的全新标准或规范。     

IMA和H-FABP在心源性猝死法医学诊断中的应用

急性心肌缺血的发生是心源性猝死的最常见原因,而如何认定早期急性心肌缺血是法医学研究的热点,同时也是临床预防心肌梗死发生的重要环节。本文通过对缺血修饰白蛋白(ischemia modified albumin,IMA)和心型脂肪酸结合蛋白(heart-type fatty acid binding protein,H-FABP)的结构、功能、临床应用价值及法医学中的应用前景进行综述,旨在分析二者是否可作为早期心肌缺血的生化检测指标用于心源性猝死的诊断,并为今后选择心源性猝死的科研方向提供借鉴。     

孢粉学在法医学中的应用

孢粉学是研究植物孢子和花粉(简称孢粉)的科学,是一门新兴的边缘学科。由于孢粉具有个体小、质量轻、数量多,不容易被发现等特征,给法医工作者留下证据,为破案提供有利线索,因此孢粉学在法医学实践应用中具有良好的应用前景。此文通过阐述孢粉学的概况、分类、形态特征及传播的规律,分析孢粉学在法医学上应用的优点和局限性,旨在为进一步完善孢粉学在法医学中的应用提供参考。     

The response of relatives to medicolegal investigations and forensic autopsy

Relatives of deceased persons, on whose body a forensic autopsy had been performed at the Institute of Forensic Science, Bern, Switzerland, were interrogated by a questionnaire. The aim was to investigate the attitude of relatives toward medicolegal investigation procedures in general and toward forensic autopsy in particular. A great majority of the relatives showed a positive or indifferent attitude toward a forensic autopsy. They showed a great interest in autopsy results and wished to be informed. It was concluded that information given before the autopsy is important for better understanding and can, if properly given, improve the relatives' acceptance and collaboration regarding forensic investigations. By contrast, a lack of information before the autopsy and about the autopsy results can cause further suffering on behalf of the bereaved. A forensic autopsy can be of great benefit for relatives and can help them to cope with a tragic loss.     

心脏传导系统取材方法多媒体计算机辅助教学的应用研究

本研究综合应用多媒体计算机,ＷＩＮＤＯＷＳ３．１视窗下多媒体创作工具等技术,结合法医学实际,根据心传导系统取材方法的研究成果,研制适用于法医学的心传导系统取材方法计算机辅助教学系统,探索新的教学手段和技术方法。并经实际使用得到较满意的效果,满足了法医学工作的需要。本文还就提高法医学计算机应用水平的问题进行讨论。     

Y－染色体SNPs及其在法医学中的应用价值

随着人类基因组计划的迅猛发展,已有越来越多的Y染色体SNP位点被发现,在个人识别、家系谱的建立、疾病的预测与诊断方面,Y染色体单核苷酸多态性提供了非常有价值的遗传标记。同样在法医学中也有广阔的应用前景。本文综合介绍了SNP和Y-SNP的一般特性及在法医学中的应用价值。     

The Status of Forensic Anthropology in Europe and South Africa: Results of the 2016 FASE Questionnaire on Forensic Anthropology

One of the goals of the Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE) is to map the existing education and practice opportunities in the field of forensic anthropology in order to support the development of the discipline and to optimize the training courses provided by the Society. To address this goal, an online questionnaire was sent to European and South African practitioners of forensic anthropology and related disciplines in 2016. The results of the questionnaire showed that the status and roles of forensic anthropologists vary depending on the national legal systems, education, and employment status of the practitioners. Despite the fact that the expertise of forensic anthropologists has been increasingly requested in a variety of investigations and the spectrum of tasks has become broader, including identification of living persons, specialized education in forensic anthropology is still restricted to a few graduate and postgraduate programs in European countries and to annual FASE courses.     

拷贝数变异及其在法医学中的研究进展

近年来拷贝数变异的研究已逐渐延伸至各个领域,如复杂疾病病因探索、精准治疗以及遗传育种和进化等。拷贝数变异独有的遗传学特点使得人们逐渐相信其可以成为解决相关问题的生物学遗传标记。随着检测技术的发展,拷贝数变异在法医学方面的应用也将逐渐增多。本文就拷贝数变异概念与发展以及在法医学中的应用进行阐述,为今后拷贝数变异的实际应用提供新的思路。