Forearm bones and sexual variation in Turkish population

Forensic anthropologists are aware that there are considerable differences between human populations and therefore develop study models for each skeletal population. The purpose of this study was to analyze forearm bones obtained from forensic settings in Turkey. The sample consists of 42 males and 38 females with an average age of 40 and 36 years, respectively. Numerous measurements were taken from the radius and ulna including lengths (in millimeters), midshaft diameters, and epiphyseal breadths (0.01 mm). Individuals with any anomaly and pathology were not included in the investigation. A stepwise analysis, when applied to individual bones, selected only length and midshaft transverse dimension in the radius and length only in the ulna. When the length was excluded from the statistic, head diameter and distal breadth of the radius and distal minimum head and midshaft anteroposterior diameters of the ulna provided the best predicting functions. Classification results were 92% for the radius and 91% for the ulna. For the incomplete bones, the accuracy rates were about 92% and 83%, respectively. In conclusion, a sex determination was made, in different rates of accuracy, in the human skeleton. Correct assessment can vary among populations. Dimorphism in our region forearm bones is greater than American whites. This supported the hypothesis that human variation is diverse, and population difference should be taken into account when osteometric standards are applied to others. Further studies are needed to understand why the forearm is more dimorphic in Turks.     

Validated method for the simultaneous determination of Delta9-THC and Delta9-THC-COOH in oral fluid, urine and whole blood using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization

A fully validated, sensitive and specific method for the extraction and quantification of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Delta(9)-THC (THC-COOH) and for the detection of 11-hydroxy-Delta(9)-THC (11-OH THC) in oral fluid, urine and whole blood is presented. Solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique were used, with electrospray ionization. Three ions were monitored for THC and THC-COOH and two for 11-OH THC. The compounds were quantified by selected ion recording of m/z 315.31, 329.18 and 343.16 for THC, 11-OH THC and THC-COOH, respectively, and m/z 318.27 and 346.26 for the deuterated internal standards, THC-d(3) and THC-COOH-d(3), respectively. The method proved to be precise for THC and THC-COOH both in terms of intra-day and inter-day analysis, with intra-day coefficients of variation (CV) less than 6.3, 6.6 and 6.5% for THC in saliva, urine and blood, respectively, and 6.8 and 7.7% for THC-COOH in urine and blood, respectively. Day-to-day CVs were less than 3.5, 4.9 and 11.3% for THC in saliva, urine and blood, respectively, and 6.2 and 6.4% for THC-COOH in urine and blood, respectively. Limits of detection (LOD) were 2 ng/mL for THC in oral fluid and 0.5 ng/mL for THC and THC-COOH and 20 ng/mL for 11-OH THC, in urine and blood. Calibration curves showed a linear relationship for THC and THC-COOH in all samples (r(2)>0.999) within the range investigated. The procedure presented here has high specificity, selectivity and sensitivity. It can be regarded as an alternative method to GC-MS for the confirmation of positive immunoassay test results, and can be used as a suitable analytical tool for the quantification of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid, urine and/or blood samples.     

STR data for the AmpFlSTR identifier loci from an old settlement in northwestern Turkey

The polymorphism of 15 STR loci has been studied in a population sample of 193 healthy unrelated individuals from the population of Duzce, a city in the northwestern Turkey. The most valuable loci, from forensic point of view according to their power of discrimination values, were D2S1338, D18S51, FGA, and D19S433 where CSF1PO appeared to be the least powerful one. From paternity point of view, FGA, D21S11 were found to be the loci with highest exclusion value whereas D3S1358 and TPOX were the locus with the lowest exclusion.     

Bloodstain pattern analysis in a case of fatal varicose vein rupture

Rupture of a varicose vein is a rare cause of sudden death. It occurs when the failure of venous valves causes an increase in venous pressure great enough to provoke rupture of the blood vessel. When it does happen, the victim is often found surrounded by a pool of blood, and the examination of the scene can mislead the forensic team to think of violent death. Until now, the bloodstain patterns in these fatal cases have not been described. An examination of the bloodstain pattern in a case of fatal varicose vein rupture in an 84-year-old man is here reported.     

Mole guns in Turkey in 2003-2005

This study describes the frequency of mole guns in Turkey by examining the cases sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine of Turkey between 2003 and 2005. In total, 11 mole guns were examined. Mole guns are manufactured to be used as a trap against detrimental animals. Although they are not meant to be used as a firearm, they are able to cause death. Mole guns appearing in regular casework were evaluated in terms of type of the gun, number of barrels, size and caliber, rifling, design, mechanism, fitness for use, legality, and geographical distribution. Ninety-one percent of the guns were 12 gauge. Most commonly they originate from Inner Anatolia. Mole guns are typically handmade. Some examples of injuries and deaths caused by mole guns are also offered.     

Body Height Estimation from Head and Face Dimensions: A Different Method*

Abstract: As there are cases brought for forensic examination where only the craniofacial region is available, estimation of stature from craniofacial dimensions is without doubt important in forensic cases. The study presented here attempts to estimate stature from craniofacial dimensions in the Turkish population. In the second phase of the study, the correlations between craniofacial dimensions and stature were also evaluated according to different head and face types. All measurements were taken from 286 healthy males with a mean age of 22.71 ± 4.86 years. The sample was then reclassified according to different head and face indexes. For the whole sample, correlation coefficients were low, changing only between 0.012 and 0.229. Thus, no significant increase in correlation coefficients was observed after the samples had been reevaluated according to different head and face types. As a conclusion, craniofacial dimensions are not good predictors for body height for the Turkish population.     

Partial Agonist Therapy in Schizophrenia: Relevance to Diminished Criminal Responsibility

Abstract: Pathological gambling (PG), classified in the DSM‐IV among impulse control disorders, is defined as inappropriate, persistent gaming for money with serious personal, family, and social consequences. Offenses are frequently committed to obtain money for gambling. Pathological gambling, a planned and structured behavioral disorder, has often been described as a complication of dopamine agonist treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease. It has never been described in patients with schizophrenia receiving dopamine agonists. We present two patients with schizophrenia, previously treated with antipsychotic drugs without any suggestion of PG, who a short time after starting aripiprazole, a dopamine partial agonist, developed PG and criminal behavior, which totally resolved when aripiprazole was discontinued. Based on recent advances in research on PG and adverse drug reactions to dopamine agonists in Parkinson’s disease, we postulate a link between aripiprazole and PG in both our patients with schizophrenia and raise the question of criminal responsibility.     

Dance of Orientalisms and waves of catastrophes: culturalism and pragmatism in imperial approaches to Islam and the Middle East

This article focuses on a seeming contradiction between ‘Islamophobic’ and ‘Islamophilic’ approaches in contemporary Western policies and discourses on the Middle East. While Islamophobia continues to shape some domestic policies of Western states and provide ideological justification for the wars they wage abroad, ‘Islamophilic’ tendencies in foreign policy have also emerged, especially in responses to the ‘Arab Spring’. Not clearly noted in Western public discourse, this represents a historical continuation of Western support for Islamism common during the Cold War, but is also a shift from the Islamophobic discourse of the post-cold war period, especially since 9/11. While Islamophobic and Islamophilic discourses may appear to be opposites, the paper argues that they represent two sides of the Orientalist logic, continuing to reduce understanding of Middle Eastern societies and politics to a culturalist dimension. Unlike traditional Orientalism, they treat Middle Eastern people as political subjects, but approach them as defined by their culture and religion. They define ‘moderate’ Islamism as the typical (and preferred) politics of the people of the region. Focusing on specific recent developments, the paper suggests that, rather than paving the way to more peaceful relations with the region or to internal peace and stability there, the Islamophilic shift in Western policy may rather lead to new waves of catastrophes by further destabilising and fragmenting the region, threatening to evoke new waves of Islamophobia in the West.     

Escaping the merchant/missionary dilemma: an imperial policy for the Asia-Pacific

The Asia policy of the Bush administration follows from two principles: its preference for ‘hub-and-spoke relationships’ led from Washington, and the restored priority of security issues over the mixture of trade interests and human rights that was the hallmark of the Clinton presidency. The initial focus of the administration on the restoration of political and strategic ties with old allies such as Japan, and on strategic competition, has been mitigated by another realistic approach: the need to seek new allies and partnerships. This policy was already evident towards India before September 11, 2001, but has been magnified with the onset of a coalition against terrorism, and almost as importantly, against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The resumption of strategic and military ties with China, the priority of anti-terrorist cooperation over human rights issues with Southeast Asia, the increased support for India that is of more strategic value than America's tactical involvement with Pakistan, are developments that overshadow the US relationship with traditional allies such as Japan or the European Union. The major weakness of the Bush Asia policy, however, is its relative neglect of major economic and social issues in the region. Although support for some weakened ASEAN economies has increased, there is neither a more intense coordination of economic policies with Japan, in spite of initially declared intentions, nor a major economic and social strategy for Southeast and South Asia that would support the fight against terrorism.