Racemization of aspartic acid from human dentin in the estimation of chronological age

The estimation of chronological age in cadavers, human remains and in living human beings by various methods is discussed. These methods, which are based on the age dependent non-enzymatic changes of l-form amino acids to d-form amino acids, mainly aspartic acid, are among the most reliable and accurate methods to date. Most of these methods use gas chromatography (GC). In this review, results of aspartic acid racemization in dentin at different targets are discussed. In addition, pre-considerations and guidelines are given for the selection of dentin from teeth. A pilot project was run to evaluate the efficiency of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with fluorescence detection. New buffer conditions were found to obtain stable derivatives of aspartic acid enantiomers for the estimation of racemization.     

A forensic entomology case from the Amazon rain forest of Brazil

The first case of application of forensic entomology in the Brazilian Amazonia is described. The corpses of 26 men were found in the rainforest in Rondonia State, Brazil. Fly larvae collected on the bodies during autopsy were identified as Paralucilia fulvinota (Diptera, Calliphoridae). No data or specimens were collected at the crime scene. At the laboratory, the larvae developed into pupae in 58 h and into adults in 110.5 h. The total development time for P. fulvinota was measured in field experiments inside the forest. The age of the larvae when collected from the bodies was estimated as the difference between the time required for them to become adults and the total development time for this species. The estimated age of the maggots and the minimum postmortem interval was 5.7 days.     

Mental Health Court Outcomes: A Comparison of Re-Arrest and Re-Arrest Severity Between Mental Health Court and Traditional Court Participants

Mental health courts have been proliferating across the country since their establishment in the late 1990's. Although numerous advocates have proclaimed their merit, only few empirical studies have evaluated their outcomes. This paper evaluates the effect of one mental health court on criminal justice outcomes by examining arrests and offense severity from one year before to one year after entry into the court, and by comparing mental health court participants to comparable traditional criminal court defendants on these measures. Multivariate models support the prediction that mental health courts reduce the number of new arrests and the severity of such re-arrests among mentally ill offenders. Similar analysis of mental health court completers and non-completers supports the prediction that a "full dose" of mental health treatment and court monitoring produce even fewer re-arrests.     

Further evidence of the validity of the Suicide Risk Assessment Scale for prisoners

The Suicide Risk Assessment Scale (SRAS; nine items) is useful in correctional settings but needed further validation. First, 44 inmates originally screened as suicidal with the SRAS were evaluated by institutional psychologists according to five criteria: suicidal urgency, risk, appropriateness of referral, need for short- or long-term watch. On the whole, the SRAS was judged to be as effective as a more elaborate test. Second, 242 suicidal and non-suicidal inmates were tested with the SRAS. Their results correlated better with suicidal risk (.71) than with urgency (.50). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis even showed that the SRAS performed better than a more elaborate test in predicting risk.     

Genetic variation of 15 STR autosomal loci in the Maracaibo population from Venezuela

Allele frequencies for 15 short tandem repeats (STRs) autosomal loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA, included in the AmpFLSTR Identifiler, Applied Biosystems) were studied in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela and were compared with other published Latin-American populations for the same loci. Population and forensic parameters were estimated.     

Public and private sector wages interactions in a general equilibrium model

It is common wisdom that public sector wages are not determined in the same way as private sector wages. At the same time, the empirical evidence available for OECD countries finds a strong positive correlation between public and private sector wages. In this paper, we develop a model that is consistent with a political economy view of the determination of public sector wages and employment, while being consistent with the said empirical evidence. Public finance constraints are crucial: In booms, governments expand employment and wages, while in downturns, lack of tax revenues forces the government to cut back the wage bill.     

Clientelism or Something Else? Squatter Politics in Montevideo

Through the in‐depth ethnographic study of one squatter neighborhood in Montevideo and its leader's political networks, this article illustrates a successful strategy through which some squatter neighborhoods have fought for their right to the city. This consists of opportunistic, face‐to‐face relationships between squatter leaders and politicians of various factions and parties as intermediaries to get state goods, such as water, building materials, electricity, roads, and ultimately land tenure. Through this mechanism, squatters have seized political opportunities at the national and municipal levels. These opportunities were particularly high between 1989 and 2004, years of great competition for the votes of the urban poor on the periphery of the city, when the national and municipal governments belonged to opposing parties. In terms of theory, the article discusses current literature on clientelism, posing problems that make it difficult to characterize the political networks observed among squatters.     

Accidental potassium dichromate poisoning. Toxicokinetics of chromium by ICP-MS-CRC in biological fluids and in hair

Intoxications by chromium (Cr) compounds are very life threatening and often lethal. After oral ingestion of 2 or 3g of hexavalent Cr (Cr(VI)), gastrointestinal injury, but also hepatic and renal failure, often occurs which each leads to a fatal outcome in most patients. Cellular toxicity is associated with mitochondrial and lysosomal injury by biologically Cr(VI) reactive intermediates and reactive oxygen species. After Cr(VI) has been absorbed, there is not much that can be done except to control the main complications as the treatment is only symptomatic. The biotransformation of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) reduces the toxicity because the trivalent form does not cross cellular membranes as rapidly. In fact, more than 80% of Cr(VI) is cleared in urine as Cr(III). We report the case of a 58-year-old male patient who was admitted to hospital after accidental oral ingestion of a 30 g/L potassium dichromate (the estimated amount of ingested Cr is about 3g). ICP-MS equipped with a collision/reaction cell (CRC) and validated methods were used to monitor plasma (P), red blood cells (RBCs), urine (U) and hair chromium. For urine the results were expressed per gram of creatinine. After 7 days in the intensive care unit, the patient was discharged without renal or liver failure. P, RBC and U were monitored during 49 days. During this period Cr decreased respectively from 2088 μg/L to 5 μg/L, 631 μg/L to 129 μg/L and 3512 μg/g to 10 μg/g. The half-life was much shorter in P than in RBC as the poison was more quickly cleared from the P than from the RBC, suggesting a cellular trapping of the metal. Hair was collected 2 months after the intoxication. We report a very rare case of survival after accidental Cr poisoning which has an extremely poor prognosis and usually leads to rapid death. For the first time, this toxicokinetic study highlights a sequestration of chromium in the RBC and probably in all the cells.