Pneumomediastinum and soft tissue emphysema of the neck in postmortem CT and MRI; a new vital sign in hanging?

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum commonly occurs in healthy young men or parturient women in whom an increased intra-alveolar pressure (Valsalva maneuver, asthma, cough, emesis) leads to the rupture of the marginal pulmonary alveoli. The air ascends along the bronchi to the mediastinum and the subcutaneous space of the neck, causing cervico-fascial subcutaneous emphysema in 70-90% of cases. Ninety-five forensic cases, including five cases of hanging, were examined using postmortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to autopsy until December 2003. This paper describes the findings of pneumomediastinum and cervical emphysema in three of five cases of hanging. The mechanism of its formation is discussed based on these results and a review of the literature. In conclusion, when putrefaction gas can be excluded the findings of pneumomediastinum and cervical soft tissue emphysema serve as evidence of vitality of a hanged person. Postmortem cross-sectional imaging is considered a useful visualization tool for emphysema, with a great potential for examination and documentation.     

Morphology of second and third instars of Chrysomya villeneuvi Patton (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a fly species of forensic importance

The morphology of the second and third instars of Chrysomya villeneuvi Patton, a fly species of forensic importance, was presented by use of light microscopy. Both instars were of hairy appearance, bearing elongated tubercles along the abdominal and caudal segments. The anterior spiracle had 13-15 papillae. Minute dark spots were observed to thoroughly cover the tubercle's surface, with 4-6 strong dark tips. Regarding the third instar, the intersegmental spines between the prothorax and mesothorax were heavily pigmented. The posterior spiracle had a thick and heavily pigmented incomplete peritreme. The surface and tip of the tubercles was covered with heavily pigmented sharp spines. The integument of the body was covered with numerous distinct net-like patches. A comparison with another well-known hairy maggot, Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart), was discussed.     

实验性猪水泡病的普通病理学

对24头有极轻微疾病的猪,用猪水泡病病毒一株英国毒株作了脑内、静脉内或皮内接种。在皮肤、鼻、舌和扁桃体上主要的病变是一种复层鳞状上皮的极其致密的凝固性坏死。在肾盂、膀胱、扁桃体和唾液腺及胰腺的导管,发生上皮变性并有过碘酸雪夫反应(PAS)阳性物质的形成均是本病常见的特征。仅用组织病理学检查,不能将猪水泡病和口蹄疫所引起的十分明显的皮肤病变区别开。对水泡病和科赛奇B_5之间的关系作了简短的讨论。     

猪水泡病抗体检查的放射免疫扩散和血清中和技术

曾用(a)放射免疫扩散技术结合放射自显影术和(b)血清中和试验检查了猪血清中猪水泡病病毒的抗体。前者较为灵敏,用于血清的初步筛选,后者用于测定阳性血清的滴度。 有一次从屠宰场采集的1759份血清的调查中,在已知发生过本病的地区内的七个圈舍中,有14份血清具有明显的滴度,结论是这个结果既不表示有广泛散播的未查出的疾病,也不表示在猪群中存在隐性感染。     

菲律宾的对外贸易及扩大出口的措施

世界资本主义经济萧条对菲律宾的对外贸易正产生消极影响。一九八○年,菲律宾的贸易条件恶化了,进出口商品的比价比上年减少了百分之十五,主要原因是石油价格上涨。一九八一年,由于菲律宾最重要的出口原料商品价格趋势不佳(铜、金与镍的价格猛     

Where does a man stand on issues of assisted reproduction, surrogacy, artificial insemination within lesbian relationships and posthumous conception?

This article takes issues more commonly associated with women: assisted reproduction, surrogacy, artificial insemination within lesbian relationships and posthumous conception and considers what role a man may play in this domain. To this end the article commences with a short scenario of possible life events then traverses the current legal position to examine the extent that the law either facilitates or frustrates a man's desire and ability to fulfill the role of either father or parent in the above situations. The article considers the issues of assisted reproduction technology in both a regulated and an unregulated environment.     

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.     

Differences in trauma symptoms and family functioning in intra-and extrafamilial sexually abused adolescents

This study investigated to what extent abuse-related symptoms and family functioning are related to intra- or extrafamilial sexual abuse. One hundred adolescents (12 to 18 years old) were recruited shortly after disclosure of the abuse. Information from the participants was obtained through self-report questionnaires and a semistructured interview. Fifty-three percent of the adolescents reported clinically significant symptoms. Data did not support the idea that intrafamilial sexually abused adolescents report more symptoms than extrafamilial sexually abused adolescents. Type of abuse did not account for the differences and variety of reported symptoms or for differences in family functioning. Family functioning-in particular, lack of cohesion- was an independent contributor to internalizing trauma-related problems.