Cerebral traumatism with a playground rocking toy mimicking shaken baby syndrome

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS), one of the most deadly and devastating forms of child abuse, is caused by violent shaking. The combination of subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, brain swelling, and diffuse axonal injury is highly typical of this syndrome and faced with these autopsy findings, induced traumatic lesions are strongly considered. However, it is known that motor-vehicle accidents and falls from great height can also produce this pattern of injury. Nevertheless, stories of arms fall, couch fall, or bumped head while the baby is being carried are generally considered incompatible with SBS. We here report a case of a 2-year-old boy presenting with all the classic autopsy findings of SBS from a playground rocking toy shaken by an older child.     

Criminal Justice in a Democracy: Towards a Relational Conception of Criminal Law and Punishment

This article starts from the observation that in classical Athens the discovery of democracy as a normative model of politics has been from the beginning not only a political and a legal but at the same time a philosophical enterprise. Reflections on the concept of criminal law and on the meaning of punishment can greatly benefit from reflections on Athenian democracy as a germ for our contemporary debate on criminal justice in a democracy. Three main characteristics of the Athenian model will be analysed: the self-instituting capacity of a democracy based on participatory and reflective citizenship, political power as the capacity of citizens for co-operating and co-acting with others, and the crime of hubris as one of the key issues in Athenian criminal law. These analyses will lead to the conclusion that one of the key issues of a democratic legal order lies in its capacity of recognizing the fragility of the human condition and of developing workable and effective standards of justice in that context. A relational conception of criminal law and punishment, based on proportionality, reflexivity, mutual respect and responsibility fits best with a democracy under the rule of law.

Latent Fingermark Aging Patterns (Part III): Discontinuity Index as One Indicator of Degradation

This article is the third in a series of reports exploring quantifiable visual parameters of the aging process of latent fingermarks. On this occasion, research is focused on the occurrence of ridge discontinuities (i.e. breakages) as a function of time. Experiment variables included type of secretion (eccrine and sebaceous), substrate (glass and plastic), and exposure to natural light (dark, shade, and direct light) over a 6 months period. Fingermarks were sequentially visualized with titanium dioxide powder, photographed, and the number of naturally occurring ridge discontinuities subsequently evaluated. A semi‐quantitative value, named Discontinuity Index, was used to better characterize this aging parameter. Results indicated that ridges of sebaceous depositions on glass were generally less affected by the environmental conditions compared with those on plastic surface. In addition, aging in darkness was not always the best condition for preservation, and the direct exposure to light seemed not to affect the degradation under certain conditions.     

The calculus of voting: An empirical test

Abstract. According to the rational choice model, the calculus of voting takes the form of the equation R = BP − C, where the net rewards for voting (R) are a function of the instrumental benefits from the preferred outcome compared to others (B) and the probability (P) of casting the decisive vote that secures these benefits, minus the costs of becoming informed and going to the polls (C). Here, we provide a systematic test of this model. The analysis relies on two surveys, conducted during the 1995 Quebec referendum and the 1996 British Columbia provincial election, in which very specific questions measured each element of the model. As well, this study incorporates two other factors that can affect the propensity to vote — Respondents' level of political interest and their sense of duty. We find that B, P, and C each matter, but only among those with a relatively weak sense of duty. The feeling that one has a moral obligation to vote is the most powerful motivation to go to the polls. We conclude that the rational choice model is useful, but only in explaining behaviour at the margins of this important norm.     

Determination of glyphosate in biological fluids by 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy

Identification of glyphosate in four cases of poisoning, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of biological fluids is reported. It has been performed by using a combination of 1H and 31P NMR analyses. Characterization of the N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine herbicide was achieved by chemical shift considerations and coupling constant patterns: CH2-(P) presents specific resonance at 3.12 ppm and appears as a doublet with a H-P characteristic coupling constant of 12.3 Hz. Moreover, resonances due to isopropylamine were present, confirming the ingestion of the considered trade formulation. After a calibration step, quantitation was performed by 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy. The benefit and reliability of NMR investigations of biological fluids are discussed, particularly when the clinical picture is quite confusing.     

A fatal case of mercuric cyanide poisoning

A 57-year-old pharmacist was found dead 11 days after his disappearance. At the autopsy, samples of blood, urine, gastric content were obtained. Presence of ethanol, cyanide and mercury were detected in some samples. Cyanide and mercury were identified and quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC) in fluorescence mode and ICP with mass selective detector (ICP-MS) respectively. Whole blood concentrations of ethanol was 1.72 g/L. Cyanide and mercury concentrations in whole blood were respectively 0.16 and 3.8 mg/L. Concentrations of cyanide (27 mg/L) and mercury (150 mg/L) in gastric contents prove a massive oral ingestion of mercuric cyanide or mercuric oxycyanide occurred. In this case report, the death was attributed to the combined toxicity of cyanide and mercury.     

Improved method for the detection of TATP after explosion

TATP in post explosion exhibits was reported earlier to be best recovered from vapor phase. A typical procedure includes its adsorption on Amberlite XAD-7, elution with acetonitrile and analysis by GC/MS. In this work, improved recovery of TATP from the vapor phase was achieved by SPME using PDMS/DVB fiber and immediate sampling to GC/MS. The recovery of TATP by SPME was compared with headspace and with adsorption on Amberlite XAD-7 by spiking onto filter paper put in a 100 mL beaker. The limit of detection of TATP was 6.4 ng in these conditions, few orders magnitude more than in the other tested methods. Recovery of TATP in the presence of various solvents was also studied. Acetone, water, and mixtures of water:alcohols (1:1) were found to reduce the recovery of TATP. Using SPME, TATP has been identified in dozens of post-explosion cases.