Sudden death in angiodysplasia of the gastroesophageal junction.

A 22-year-old Korean soldier, who had received blows to the neck and epigastrium from an officer 10 h earlier, suddenly died after massive hematemesis. He had been in relatively good health except for episodes of blood-tinged vomiting approximately 5 and 7 months prior to this event. Postmortem examination revealed angiodysplasia involving the gastroesophageal junction, and the stomach was distended with blood. No abnormal findings were present around the whole viscera, and the duodenum was free of blood. The pathologic significance of upper gastrointestinal angiodysplasia as a potential source of bleeding and a chronologic correlation between the trauma and bleeding are discussed.     

Supreme auditing institutions: A politico-economic analysis

While the beneficial aspects of a public accounting office's activity are not disputed here, it is argued in this article that four major distortions are produced: the concern with administrative rationality overlooks costs elsewhere (Section 2); budgetary aspects are overvalued compared to other issues (Section 3); incentives-oriented behavior is suppressed (Section 4); and the evaluation is biased by concentrating on minor, instead of major, aspects of inefficiency (Section 5). Section 6 considers alternatives to public accounting offices and makes some suggestions for new institutional arrangements particularly for constitutional rules.     

Preadolescent peer friendships: A critical contribution to adult social relatedness?

The primary aim of this paper is to review the literature on preadolescent friendships in order to examine the relationship between preadolescent friendships and social support in adulthood. Social supports are important to health, both directly and as a stress buffer. Few studies, however, have specifically examined adult social supports from the perspective of their developmental precursors and critical developmental periods. Some data indicate that the preadolescent period may be of particular importance to the development of adult social skills and ties. Observational and empirical studies of preadolescent peer relationships, and in particular best friendships, suggest unique and critical contributions to adult social relatedness. Present research is suggestive but is insufficient to validate preadolescence as a critical period in adult social relatedness. Our review has implications for better understanding the mechanisms by which preadolescent friendships effect adult social support—an important mediator of the effects of stress on health. Further longitudinal study is needed.Received Ph.D. from University of Maryland. Research interests are social supports and psychological responses to trauma and disaster.Received M.D. from Yale University. Research interests are social supports and traumatic stress.     

IS AGE IMPORTANT? TESTING A GENERAL VERSUS A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR*

We tested competing hypotheses derived from Gottfredson and Hirschis (1990) general theory and Moffitt's (1993a) developmental theory of antisocial behavior. The developmental theory argues that different factors give rise to antisocial behavior at different points in the life course. In contrast, the general theory maintains that the factor underlying antisocial behavior (i.e., criminal propensity) is the same at all ages. To test these competing predictions, we used longitudinal data spanning from age 5 to age 18 for the male subjects in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Using reports from three sources (parents, teachers, and the boys themselves), we estimated second-order confirmatory factor models of antisocial behavior. These models provided consistent support for the developmental theory, showing that separate latent factors underlie childhood and adolescent antisocial behavior. Moreover, we found that these childhood and adolescent factors related in ways predicted by Moffitt's developmental theory to four correlates of antisocial behavior: Childhood antisocial behavior was related more strongly than adolescent antisocial behavior to low verbal ability, by per activity, and negative/impulsive personality, whereas adolescent antisocial behavior was related more strongly than childhood antisocial behavior to peer delinquency. The two underlying latent factors also showed the predicted differential relations to later criminal convictions: Childhood antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for violence, while adolescent antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for nonviolent offenses.     

The use of either the nose or outer ear as a means of determining the postmortem period of a human corpse.

Presented in this paper are the initial results involving the use of the nose or outer ear as temperature measurement sites to determine the postmortem period of the human corpse. Simple mathematical models for both sites are developed based on cooling curves of five corpses. Analysis of errors between actual and calculated postmortem intervals suggest that in its present form, the described methods would not be suitable for use in accurately determining the time since death of human corpses.