The Microbial Rosetta Stone database: A common structure for microbial biosecurity threat agents

Infectious microorganisms are important to multiple communities engaged in biodefense and biosecurity, including the agencies responsible for health, defense, law enforcement, agriculture, and drug and food safety. Many agencies have created lists of high priority infectious microorganisms to prioritize research efforts or to formally control the possession and distribution of specific organisms or toxins. However, the biological classification of infectious microorganisms is often complex and ambiguous, leading to uncertainty and confusion for scientists involved in biosecurity work. To address this problem, we created a database, known as the Microbial Rosetta Stone, which resolves many of these ambiguities and includes links to additional information on the microbes, such as gene sequence data and scientific literature. Here we discuss the efforts to coordinate organism names from pathogen lists from various governmental agencies according to biological relatedness and show the overlap of high-priority organisms from multiple agencies. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive coordination of pathogens, synonyms, and correct taxonomic names. The organized tables and visual aids are freely available at http://www.microbialrosettastone.com. This website provides a single location where access to information on a broad range of disease-causing organisms and toxins is available to members of the biosecurity community.     

Isolation of Delta9-THCA-A from hemp and analytical aspects concerning the determination of Delta9-THC in cannabis products

A simple procedure based on a common silica gel column chromatography for the isolation of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (Delta9-THCA-A) from hemp in a multi-milligram scale is presented. Further, the decarboxylation reaction of Delta9-THCA-A to the toxicologically active Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC) at different analytical and under-smoking conditions is investigated. Maximal conversion in an optimised analytical equipment yields about 70% Delta9-THC. In the simulation of the smoking process, only about 30 % of the spiked substance could be recovered as Delta9-THC.     

STR analysis of artificially degraded DNA-results of a collaborative European exercise

Degradation of human DNA extracted from forensic stains is, in most cases, the result of a natural process due to the exposure of the stain samples to the environment. Experiences with degraded DNA from casework samples show that every sample may exhibit different properties in this respect, and that it is difficult to systematically assess the performance of routinely used typing systems for the analysis of degraded DNA samples. Using a batch of artificially degraded DNA with an average fragment size of approx. 200 bp a collaborative exercise was carried out among 38 forensic laboratories from 17 European countries. The results were assessed according to correct allele detection, peak height and balance as well as the occurrence of artefacts. A number of common problems were identified based on these results such as strong peak imbalance in heterozygous genotypes for the larger short tandem repeat (STR) fragments after increased PCR cycle numbers, artefact signals and allelic drop-out. Based on the observations, strategies are discussed to overcome these problems. The strategies include careful balancing of the amount of template DNA and the PCR cycle numbers, the reaction volume and the amount of Taq polymerase. Furthermore, a careful evaluation of the results of the fragment analysis and of automated allele calling is necessary to identify the correct alleles and avoid artefacts.     

Canadian Human Rights Commission recommends prison needle exchange programs

In a report released on 28 January 2004, the Canadian Human Rights Commission recommended that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) implement a pilot needle exchange program in three or more correctional facilities, at least one of them a women's facility, by June 2004.     

Relevance of "psychopathy"-- concepts from the Hare measure for preventive detention

Preventive detention can be ordered, if a person falls back into crime repeatedly and shows a "disposition to commit substantial offences". In the trial and at subsequent points of time expert opinions supporting this personal disposition have to be obtained. However up to now it is not clear on which basis such statements should be made. On the basis of a retrospective investigation of the author's own expert opinions the paper discusses the relevance of Hare's psychopathy concept for opinions on criminal disposition.     

Spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder

The report presents the case of a 33-year-old man under the primary assumption of homicide in which the court-ordered autopsy revealed death as a result of bleeding due to a spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder. The article gives a short summary of the pathomorphological findings and their respective causes, for example the typical location of the rupture at the posterior wall and roof of the bladder and the common concomitant drunkenness. Furthermore, obligatory forensic investigations--beside the autopsy--are mentioned and discussed.     

Traumatic potential of colour marking cartridges (FX ammunition)

Colour marking cartridges as the FX ammunition (Simunition Europe, Brussels) are increasingly used by the police for realistic close range combat training. Conversion kits for service weapons of different manufacturers are available. The ballistic data of this ammunition is reported and experimentally verified. The risk of injury seems to be very low, if the recommended protective equipment is used. Small hematomas up to superficial lacerations are to be expected only in areas over a bony support. Shots to the unprotected eye will result in severe injuries.