Homicidal alcoholic intoxation versus manual neck compression

A case of homicide involving a 49-year-old man is reported. In the course of a booze-up he was forced to excessive consumption of alcohol and was pushed back into a sofa by repeated grasping his neck which finally left him dead. The postmortem examination revealed a small abrasion in the right mandibular region, a contusion of the subcutaneous tissue above the left clavicle, a haemorrhage in the deep muscles of the neck at the right side of the cervical spine, a fatty tissue haemorrhage between the left cornus of hyoid and thyroid cartilage as well as petechiae of the eyelids and conjunctivae. The blood alcohol concentration amounted to 4.00@1000, the urine alcohol concentration to 5.26@1000. Thus, a manual strangulation of the neck versus a lethal alcohol intoxication had to be taken into consideration as cause of death. The morphological findings of the postmortem examination and the pathophysiological concepts of the underlying mechanisms of death in manual strangulation versus lethal alcohol intoxication are discussed with regard to their significance for the juridical assessment.     

Complex brain malformation as a rare cause of neonatal death

A dead female neonate was brought to a children's hospital by the mother. The MRI scan suggested a malformation of the brain. Because of the other circumstances of the case (the mother left the hospital unauthorizedly), a forensic autopsy was ordered, in the course of which the brain was removed while the head was totally immersed in water. This method, which was introduced by Prahlow et al., helps to obtain intact brain specimens without interfering with the necessary medicolegal preparations to determine whether the child was born alive. Neuropathological examinations classified the cerebral malformation as (lethal) lissencephaly. Further investigations showed that the mother had lived in Germany without a residence permit.     

Systematic Toxicological Analysis Revealing a Rare Case of Captan Ingestion

This article presents a case of suicide by intoxication with various pharmaceuticals, particularly anticonvulsants, combined with the fungicide captan. A cause of death could not be ascertained at autopsy. However, systematic toxicological analysis (STA) including a screening via solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) for (semi) volatile organic compounds revealed results suggesting a possible cause of death. The effects of captan on the human organism, its metabolism, and distribution will be discussed. Macroscopically, the cause of death was unascertained. STA revealed clonazepam, citalopram, and its metabolites, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, lacosamide, clonazepam, captan, and its metabolite tetrahydrophthalimide (THPI). For the first time, it was detected in human viscera. A quantification of THPI was performed to obtain distribution in the organs. The significance of a complete STA must be emphasized. The presence of THPI would have been missed without previous detection of captan. Consequently, this fatality would not have been investigated satisfactorily.     

Alcoholic cardiomyopathy versus chronic myocarditis--immunohistological investigations with LCA, CD3, CD68 and tenascin

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disorder of unknown aetiology characterized by the left ventricular cavity enlargement and wall thinning associated with reduced left ventricular wall motion. DCM in chronic alcoholics is supposed to be caused by alcohol induced myocardial damage (alcoholic cardiomyopathy). Nevertheless, cardiotropic viruses, such as enteroviruses have long been suspected as causative agents for at least some forms of DCM. In the present study, 13 cases of DCM in chronic alcoholics were investigated with qualification and quantification of infiltrating leucocytes using immunohistological antibodies against leucocyte common antigen (LCA), T-lymphocytes (CD3) and macrophages (CD68). In addition, the expression of tenascin, playing a role in the initiation of fibrotic changes, was examined. All antigens were known to be possibly enhanced in cases of chronic myocarditis. Using these immunohistological techniques, 2 out of 13 cases had evidence for chronic inflammatory myocardial alterations in the sense of lymphocytic infiltrates (>2.0 CD3 T-lymphocytes/visual field at 400 x (HPF); >7 CD3 T-lymphocytes per mm(2)). These cases were diagnosed as having inflammatory cardiomyopathy. The other cases without myocardial inflammation were diagnosed as idiopathic/alcoholic DCM.     

The Process-Outcome Connection in Foreign Policy Decision Making: A Quantitative Study Building on Groupthink

This article investigates whether certain factors pertaining to the process of foreign policy decision making have a measurable, qualitative effect on foreign policy outcomes . The research is grounded in the groupthink literature but incorporates different dimensions of similar underlying notions from other international relations areas as well. Three different types of process factors are investigated: situational factors, such as stress and time constraints; factors associated with the structure of the group; and information processing factors. We test the influence of these factors on two types of outcomes—a decision's effect on national interests and its effect on the level of international conflict. We investigate this link in 31 cases of decision from 1975 through 1993. Scores for the outcome variables are based on survey responses from 21 foreign policy experts. For the process variables, we develop sets of operational definitions and then code each case based on extensive reading of case-study materials. OLS regression models are used to assess the hypotheses. We find that situation variables matter very little in terms of affecting outcomes and quality of information processing. On the other hand, both group structural factors and information processing are significantly related to outcomes in terms of national interests and level of international conflict.