过敏性休克死亡豚鼠器官中IgE的表达及其法医学意义

目的寻找法医学鉴定过敏性休克死亡的病理形态学诊断指标。方法利用组织芯片技术采用免疫组化SP法检测豚鼠过敏性休克死亡后0,6,12,24h等4个时间点的心、肝、肺、肾、脾、胃、肠、气管及扁桃体组织中的IgE的表达。结果实验组肺及气管组织IgE呈阳性表达,脾组织IgE呈弱阳性表达,以死亡即刻表达最强,且随死亡时间的延长而减弱,各时间点的显色信号强度存在显著性差异(P<0.05);实验组其它器官及对照组9个器官均无表达。结论应用免疫组化方法检测IgE在肺、气管、脾组织中的表达,可作为法医学鉴定过敏性休克死亡的病理形态学诊断指标;肺及气管组织IgE阳性强度随时间的延长而减弱,提示法医学鉴定过敏性休克死亡应尽早尸检。     

围产期母婴医疗纠纷尸检49例分析

围产期母婴死亡所致的医疗纠纷在医疗纠纷的法医学鉴定中占有相当大一部分比例。本文从死者性别年龄、涉及医院、尸检结果、医疗行为过错情况等方面统计分析了49例围产期母婴死亡的医疗纠纷尸检案例,揭示了围产期母婴的常见死亡原因、医疗因素在其中的作用以及医疗纠纷的发生原因等,希望能对该类医疗纠纷的法医学鉴定、医疗纠纷的正确处理和防范提供帮助。     

人体血液体外电击致血细胞穿孔的扫描电镜观察

目的探讨血细胞体外电击时细胞膜的结构变化。方法对成人血液分别分组通过220V交流电电击5,10,20,30s和1min后,用扫描电镜观察血细胞膜的变化。结果电击后,即可以观察到红细胞与白细胞的细胞膜穿孔,其中红细胞穿孔可为一个或多个,形状多为圆形或卵圆形,白细胞穿孔则为多个,呈筛网状;穿孔细胞数随电击时间延长而增多;电击5s时为6%左右,以后逐渐增加,至电击1min时,穿孔细胞数可达40%左右。结论电流作用可以使血细胞膜发生穿孔,穿孔细胞数随通电时间延长而增多。     

Use of diagonal teeth measurements in predicting gender in a Turkish population

Mesiodistal and buccolingual measurements, commonly used as a means of sex determination from teeth, can sometimes cause difficulties. The aim of this study is to test whether diagonal measurements can make it possible to take more accurate measurements. The results of diagonal measurements of dental casts taken from 30 males and 30 females have been evaluated by discriminant function statistics. Intra- and interobserver error tests did not indicate any statistically significant differences between the findings of two observers. Seven of the 14 measurements on the maxilla and 10 of the 14 measurements on the mandible have been found to be significantly greater in males. According to the results of the stepwise discriminant function statistics, the most contributory measurements to the function were upper first incisor mesiobuccal-distolingual (MBDL) and distobuccal-mesiolingual, lower second incisor MBDL, and lower canine MBDL. The highest reliability was obtained in MBDL measurements. It was realized that diagonal measurements of teeth, especially of canines, revealed clear dimorphic differences. Classification accuracy was found to be 83.3% for total sample, 78.3 for upper jaw, and 85.0% for the lower jaw. Accuracy rate was higher in the lower teeth. Commonly seen orthodontic anomalies, such as tooth rotations, crowding, attritions, deep dentin-enamel junction defects, and certain types of fillings, could make it difficult to correctly take width measurements or could cause other mistakes to occur. This explains the reason why this research has been considered to be of some use in diagonal measurements, which is an accurate method, particularly when employed for the front teeth.     

Alpha-amylase kinetic test in bodily single and mixed stains

Recently, in Italy, a murder and a putative sexual violence was accomplished on a child. A bodily fluids mixture on the child's underwear between the victim (female) and the suspect (male) was ascertained by short tandem repeat (STR) DNA typing and, due to the absence of seminal fluid, saliva from the suspect and urine from the child was hypothesized. In order to investigate the possibility of specifically and rapidly detecting saliva stains both alone and mixed with other bodily fluids, we used a quantitative spectrophotometric technique, named Amylase test, for the detection of alpha-amylases. We determined alpha-amylase activity and reaction kinetic curves in several samples collected from the child's underwear. In order to confirm our intuition, we first tested saliva, perspiration, and urine, singularly and in mixtures; second, several forensic stains including saliva, perspiration, urine stains, saliva/perspiration, and saliva/urine mixture stains were tested. Evaluating alpha-amylase activity values and time-course curves' behavior of alpha-amylase reactions we were able to recognize successfully, in all cases, the presence of saliva and to distinguish it specifically from other bodily fluids containing alpha-amylase. A further confirmation of our result was provided by STR DNA typing on several areas of the underwear: a clear correlation between alpha-amylases activity and male DNA was detected on all the samples evaluated.     

The narrative structure of psychiatric reports

The present contribution illustrates the findings of a research about the narrative structure of psychiatric expertise. We have analysed a sample of nine expertises, using the methodology proposed by Roland Barthes in his book S/Z, in which he applies it to Honoré de Balzac's "Sarrasine". Barthes suggests that every narrative is characterized by the presence of five codes (hermeneutical, proairetic, semantic, symbolic and referential): we have searched for them in the expertises, but we have also observed the presence of many lapsus calami. As for our results, we have interpreted the massive presence of symbolic code in an expertise as a proof of the elaboration of the horror elicited by crime in the expert's narrative and, on the other side, the presence of referential code as the proof of the incapacity to treat such feeling and the necessity to defend himself from it. In this vision, lapsuses arise when the expert is astonished by the horror of the crime, and does not succeed in elaborating it either by using symbolic code or through his cultural resources (referential code). Finally, some reflections are made upon the difficulty for the voice of the defendant to be heard in the texts written about him.     

Pink teeth in a series of bodies recovered from a single shipwreck

Pink teeth have most often been observed in victims of drowning but have also been reported in subjects who died suddenly and unnaturally. There is general agreement that there is no obvious connection between the occurrence of pink teeth and the cause of death, but the condition of the surroundings (especially humidity) must certainly play an important role in the development of the pink-tooth phenomenon. The frequency and distribution of postmortem pink coloration of the teeth have been studied among a representative sample of 52 cadavers. All the bodies were victims of a single shipwreck that occurred on March 13, 1997, in the middle of the Otranto Canal (Mediterranean Sea). The bodies were recovered from the seawater after approximately 7 months. A distinct pink coloration of the teeth was found in only 18 cadavers (13 females and 5 males) of ages ranging between 13 and 60 years. The phenomenon was more pronounced in younger individuals due to age-related changes of the root canal, less penetrable by the pigment responsible for the postmortem pink staining. By histochemical methods and autofluorescence, hemoglobin and its derivatives have been identified as the most likely pigments responsible for this postmortem process that can be considered analogous to postmortem lividity. These data are consistent with previous reports on pink teeth, indicating that the diffusion of the blood in the pulp into the dentinal tubules causes the red discoloration of the teeth. Based on the results, the pigmentation is more prominent on the teeth with single roots rather than in the posterior teeth with multiple roots.     

Development of multiplex PCRs for evolutionary and forensic applications of 37 human Y chromosome SNPs

This work describes an efficient and rapid test for typing 37 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the non-recombining region of Y chromosome (NRY) from a minimal amount of DNA using six PCR multiplexes. Markers were drawn following a hierarchical strategy based on the phylogenetic tree of Y chromosome proposed by the Y Chromosome Consortium [The Y Chromosome Consortium, A nomenclature system for the tree of human Y-chromosomal binary haplogroups, Genome Res. 12 (2002) 339-348]. Two multiplexes--arbitrarily named MY1 and MY2--were developed to explore the basal branches of the tree encompassing all the major clades A-R: MY1 for markers M35, M89, M172, M170, M9, M173, M45 and MY2 for markers M52, M216, M174, M181, M201, M91, M96, M214. Four multiplexes able of typing the more superficial branches typical of most frequent European haplogroups E3b, J2, R1 and I, were also developed and named MY-E3b (M78, M107, M224, M165, M148, M81), MY-J2 (M158, M68, M47, M102, M137, M67), MY-R1 (M17, M269, M18, P25, SRY10831.2) and MY-I (M72, M223, M26, M21, M161). SNP genotyping was carried out by hot-start PCR amplification with primers yielding fragments between 63 and 210 nucleotides, followed by minisequencing reaction based on dideoxy single-base extension and capillary electrophoresis of extension products. The sequential application of these multiplexes is a robust and effective resource for typing the most frequent European Y-SNP haplogroups, and appears to be suitable for forensic purposes and evolutionary studies.