Development of a DNA-based macroarray for the detection and identification of Amanita species

A DNA-based macroarray was designed to quickly and accurately identify certain Amanita mushroom specimens at the species level. The macroarray included probes for Amanita phalloides and Amanita ocreata, toxic species responsible for most mushroom poisonings, and Amanita lanei and Amanita velosa, edible species sometimes confused with toxic species, based on sequences of the highly variable internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA. A cryptic species related to A. ocreata and one related to A. lanei, identifiable by ITS sequences, were also included. Specific multiple oligonucleotide probes were spotted onto nylon membranes and the optimal hybridization temperatures were determined. The Amanita DNA array was highly specific, sensitive (0.5 ng DNA/μL and higher were detected), and reproducible. In two case studies, the method proved useful when only small amounts of mushroom tissue remained after a suspected poisoning. An identification could be completed in 12 h.     

Human Rights in US Courts: Alien Tort Claims Act Litigation after Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain

In Filartiga v. Pena-Irala (1980), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that victims of human rights violations could sue their oppressors civilly in US courts under an eighteenth century law now called the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). Controversy raged over the Filartiga decision and the proper interpretation of the ATCA for 24 years. Then in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain (2004), the Supreme Court issued its first ATCA decision. This essay analyzes the effect of the Sosa decision on the development of human rights law in US courts. I find that while the federal judiciary is responding to some of the Supreme Court’s directives, lower courts still retain a great deal of discretion in handling ATCA cases.

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Federalizing energy? Agenda change and the politics of fracking

This paper focuses on agenda change affecting the politics of ??fracking operations?? in the US, a process of extracting natural gas from underground shale formations. We examine how the movement of this policy issue between the state and federal levels of government has become increasingly contentious because of rising public concern about pollution impacts. Using information obtained from documentary sources and media content analysis, we found that the natural gas policy coalition has largely focused on a political strategy based on maintaining fracking regulatory controls at the state level, while the environmental policy coalition has pushed for increased regulation of drilling practices in general, including a larger policy and oversight role for federal agencies such as EPA.     

Effects of Past Abuse Experiences on Children's Eyewitness Memory

Relations between child maltreatment and children's eyewitness memory were examined. A matched sample of abused and nonabused 3- to 10-year-old children (n = 70) participated in a play session with an unfamiliar adult and were interviewed about the interaction 2 weeks later. Consistent with results from previous research, older compared to younger children's reports were more complete and accurate. Abused and nonabused children performed similarly with several exceptions: Nonabused children were more accurate in answering specific questions, made fewer errors in identifying the unfamiliar adult in a photo identification task, and (at least for younger boys) freely recalled more information. Most effects remained when group differences in IQ and behavioral symptomology were statistically controlled. Importantly, abused and nonabused children did not differ in their accuracy or suggestibility in response to questions that were relevant to abusive actions. Among abused children, however, those who suffered more severe sexual abuse made more omission errors to specific abuse-relevant questions. Contributions to psychological theory and legal implications for understanding children's eyewitness memory and testimony are discussed.     

Neuropathology of human immunodeficiency virus infection: a forensic autopsy study in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

The objective of this study was to examine the neuropathological changes in the brain of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam, and investigate whether the prevalence of different forms of HIV-related neuropathology varies from other countries. The subjects were patients with risk factors for HIV infection in whom forensic autopsies were performed between 1997 and 1999. In Dar Es Salaam, forensic autopsy constitutes more than 90% of all autopsies, because hospital autopsy is limited due to socio-cultural and religious reasons. HIV infection was identified in 52 of 143 patients selected from forensic autopsies. Neuropathological findings were observed in 31 of 52 HIV-infected patients; these include lymphocytic meningitis 19, bacterial meningitis 3, tuberculous brain abscess 3, cryptococcal meningitis 3, basal ganglia calcification 3, and toxoplasma encephalitis 1. HIV encephalitis, lymphoma, and cytomegalovirus encephalitis could not be found in this study. Whereas the findings should be interpreted cautiously because of possible autopsy bias and a low percentage of cases examined compared to the total number of HIV-infected patients in Tanzania, our observations provide information on the likely diagnostic possibilities to be considered in the evaluation and management of HIV-infected patients with neurological symptoms in Tanzania. In the face of decreased hospital autopsy, most studies have focused mainly on the end-stage HIV disease; forensic autopsy is a potential source of materials for studies on HIV disease spectrum at different stages.     

Souvenir knife: a retained transcranial knife blade

Upon necroscopic examination of a homeless male found comatose in the street and pronounced dead at a medical center 12 hours later, a sharp tip of a knife lodged in the right parietal region of his skull was incidentally discovered. The blade transected the diploe and penetrated the cerebral cortex. Subsequent police investigation revealed that this was the remnant of a stabbing attempt on his life several months prior to his death. The cause of death was determined to be unrelated to the metallic blade fragment, thus making it a truly incidental and rare finding of a "souvenir knife." Nevertheless, since the injury sustained in the stabbing was potentially life threatening, the investigation into that assault was reopened.A case report is presented, along with a brief review of the literature on "souvenir objects."     

Medical care of individuals residing in substance abuse and recovery homes: an analysis of need and utilization

The current study examined medical care need and utilization patterns among a substance abusing and recovering population (n = 876), investigating factors such as employment and drug use categories (e.g., pharmaceutical use, cocaine use, heroin use, alcohol use). It was found that those who were unemployed needed and utilized greater medical care than those who were employed. Results indicated that heroin, cocaine, and/or alcohol use was not predictive of medical care need or utilization, whereas pharmaceutical drug use was predictive of medical care need and utilization. Trauma and risky use of substances were not significant predictors of medical care need or utilization whereas the suicide severity composite was significant. Potential implications for misuse of medical services (e.g., to obtain pharmaceutical drugs of use) and federal medical care expenditure allocation are discussed.     

Analysis of pilot-related equipment and archaeological strategy in the recovery of aircrew losses from the Vietnam War

Determining the location and distribution of cockpit and aircrew-related equipment within the wider debris field of a military aircraft crash site is an essential first step in planning and executing the recovery of missing aircrew members presumed still to be on the site. Understanding the spatial relationship of these materials improves the likelihood of finding and recovering the remains of the aircrew during the excavation of an aircraft crash site. Since the greater portion of these unaccounted for crewmembers were involved in aircraft with single-seat cockpits or cockpits with two or three seats in tandem, pre-analysis of the debris pattern may be more-or-less straightforward. Larger, multiple-personnel aircraft, on the other hand, create a potentially more complex analytical situation given the aircrew's greater freedom of movement within the aircraft. Nevertheless, the same fundamental principles apply and, indeed, have been successfully so for some time in the civilian arena. But older aircraft crash sites, i.e., those dating to World War II, Korea, or the Vietnam conflict, have been and still are undergoing taphonomic processes that progressively alter these relationships. The following will illustrate that exchange of information between the anthropologist/archaeologist and the life-support analyst is required to maximize the effectiveness of field recovery and demonstrates the relationship between the recovery of life-support equipment and human remains and the effect that aircraft type has on this relationship.     

Compensation for medical injury in New Zealand: does "'no-fault" increase the level of claims making and reduce social and clinical selectivity?

The issues of patient safety and quality of care have gained policy attention with a growing appreciation of the scale and impact of medical injury in health systems. While the focus is clearly on the prevention of iatrogenic injury, the question of patient compensation is now also considered important, if only because in fault-based tort systems the fear of litigation may itself be a barrier to the disclosure and open discussion of medical error. No-fault systems, by contrast, do not require proof of culpability, and thus may both reduce barriers to compensation and increase disclosure of error. Little evidence, however, is available on the performance of such systems. This article reports on the analysis of two data sources-a sample of hospital admissions and a complete set of compensation claims for medical injury. Both are for the same year and region of New Zealand, a country that has maintained a no-fault system of accident compensation for a quarter of a century. Just over 2 percent of hospital admissions were associated with an adverse event that was potentially compensable under scheme criteria. While the claims process was well targeted, the level of claims making and receipt was low, with the ratio of successful claims to potentially compensable events being approximately 1:30. Comparison of social and clinical characteristics of the two data sets revealed a degree of selectivity. Compared with the hospital events, the typical successful claimant was younger and female and was much more likely to have experienced a surgical adverse event that, while unexpected, was not due to substandard care. It is concluded that, in interpreting these results, account needs to be taken of a number of features unique to the New Zealand system. These include: the limited payoff for a compensation claim (no pain and suffering or lump sum, free hospital care); the relative complexity of the grounds for claim (either rarity and severity or practitioner error); and a history of limited litigation for medical error. This suggests that, while the New Zealand system is well targeted, cheap, and free of financial and legal barriers, a change in legal doctrine alone has not in itself been sufficient to remove completely the selective and low level of claims making traditionally associated with patient compensation under tort.