Is Bigger Really Better? A Comparative Analysis of Municipal Mergers in Australian and Japanese Local Government

While structural reform by means of municipal mergers has been employed in many different countries, council consolidation has been especially marked in Australian and Japanese local government. This suggests that much can be learned by examining amalgamation through the analytical prism of comparative analysis. In this article, we investigate structural reform through municipal amalgamation in Australian and Japanese local government by examining the aims of amalgamation, the methods employed by public policy makers and the outcomes which were achieved. From this comparative analysis, we attempt to draw some broader lessons for local government policy making aimed at local government reform.     

Factors Related to Sexual Assault Experience Among Early Adolescents in Japan

This study examined factors related to sexual assault among early adolescents in Japan. During a 6-month period, an anonymous questionnaire survey was distributed to 1,246 students ages 13– 15 years at eight junior high schools. Consent to participation in this study was obtained from a total of 1,125 (90.3%) students. It was found that the prevalence of sexual assault was higher among both female and male students who had sent a message/photo to or met a person they initially contacted via the Internet, while the prevalence was lower among students with a conservative attitude toward sexual activity. In addition, female students who recognized the signs of dating violence had less experience of sexual assault. These findings indicate the need for increased education about the Internet and dating violence for effective prevention of sexual assault.     

Non-traumatic postmortem computed tomographic (PMCT) findings of the lung

PURPOSE: We attempted to obtain postmortem computed tomographic (PMCT) images of the lung in cases of non-traumatic death and describe the results to distinguish usual postmortem findings from those of specific thoracic causes of death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our subjects were a total of 150 consecutive non-traumatic cases with cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival who were examined by CT within 2h after certification of death between January 1993 and December 2001. PMCT images of the lung and the frequency of imaging findings (dependent density, ground glass attenuation (GGA), consolidation, pleural effusion, and endotracheal (or endobronchial) air defect) were retrospectively reviewed. Autopsy had been conducted in 16 of the cases. RESULTS: The causes of death and frequency percentages of dependent density, GGA, consolidation, pleural effusion, and endotracheal (or endobronchial) air defect were: 91 cases of acute heart failure (AHF) (69, 66, 24, 11, 14%), 23 cases of aortic dissection (57, 39, 4, 52, 0%), 11 cases of pneumonia (18, 82, 100, 45, 27%), 23 other specified cases (52, 30, 13, 17, 9%), and two unspecified cases (0, 0, 0, 50, 0%), [total respective frequency percentages were (60, 57, 25, 21, 12%)]. Autopsy confirmed that GGA on PMCT in AHF cases corresponded to pulmonary edema. CONCLUSION: When PMCT of the lung shows no other shadows than dependent density, further analysis is necessary to detect the cause of death.     

Estimation of postmortem interval based on the third component of complement (C3) cleavage

To estimate postmortem interval (PMI), the spontaneous conversion of the native third component of complement (C3) to its derived fragments in whole blood was studied by crossed immunoelectrophoresis. C3 cleavages in vitro at different temperatures showed that the incubation of whole blood at a higher temperature led to a faster conversion of beta 1C (native C3) to beta 1A (C3c). In cadaveric blood, we found a significant positive correlation between percentage of C3 cleavage and PMI. From these results, it is possible to estimate PMI from the ratios of C3 cleavage.     

Usefulness of dura mater in providing DNA samples for identifying cadavers

We examined the usefulness of the dura mater in identifying human remains. Dura mater was collected from 50 cadavers, including drowned, charred, and mummified remains. The STR genotype using the AmpFlSTR Identifiler Kit could be typed at 15 STR and amelogenin loci in 30 samples of 33 cases. Furthermore, the ABO genotype and amelogenin using gel-based methods could be typed in 44 samples of 50 cases. In cases with successful typing of STR, ABO-DNA, and amelogenin, the longest time after death was from 12 to 26 days in a drowned body. The minimum quantity of dura mater required for DNA extraction was about 2.5 mg, dried and fixed by ethanol, in a cadaver 15 h after death. The state of the DNA from the dura mater from the calvaria may be better than that from the basis cranii interna. We found that DNA from dura mater is one of the most useful samples for forensic identification.     

Estimation of postmortem interval from hypoxic inducible levels of vascular endothelial growth factor

Estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most important tasks in forensic medicine. Five autopsy organ tissues such as brain, lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys were taken at the time of forensic autopsy from 19 known PMI cases with a range of postmortem intervals ranging from 1 to 120 h (the mean was 25.81 h), and the time-course of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was measured. The human hepatoma-derived Hep 3B cell line was used as a control. The levels of VEGF increased linearly with the PMI up to 20 h in lung (r = 0.95 and in kidney (r = 0.89), and up to 15 h PMI in liver (r = 0.88). The VEGF levels fell after 24 h PMI, and then remained stable. In brain, the levels of VEGF started to increase after 24 h PMI and increased linearly with PMI up to 40 h in brain (r = 0.94) and then begin to fall. In heart, there was no clear correlation between the PMI and VEGF level. Some variations occurred in selected cases, such as the infant and asphyxial deaths. In conclusion, measurement of hypoxia-inducible levels of VEGF in various body organs appears to be a useful method of estimating the PMI up to 24 h in forensic medicine and pathophysiology. This method is also probably applicable in ischaemia in clinical and basic medicine.