The Anonymous Matrix: Human Rights Violations by 'Private' Transnational Actors

Do fundamental rights obligate not only States, but also private transnational actors? Since violations of fundamental rights stem from the totalising tendencies of partial rationalities, there is no longer any point in seeing the horizontal effect as if rights of private actors have to be weighed up against each other. On one side of the human rights relation is no longer a private actor as the fundamental‐rights violator, but the anonymous matrix of an autonomised communicative medium. On the other side, the fundamental rights are divided into three dimensions: first, institutional rights protecting the autonomy of social discourses – art, science, religion ‐ against their subjugation by the totalising tendencies of the communicative matrix; secondly, personal rights protecting the autonomy of communication, attributed not to institutions, but to the social artefacts called ‘persons’; and thirdly, human rights as negative bounds on societal communication, where the integrity of individuals' body and mind is endangered.     

An unusual autoerotic accident: sexual pleasure from peritoneal pain

The paper describes a fatal autoerotic accident of a 23-year-old man who derived sexual pleasure from painful irritation of the peritoneum by sharp force. For this purpose he clamped two knife blades into a vice suspended from a rope-pulley construction so that he could lower it to pierce the abdominal skin with the tips of the knives. When one of the ropes broke, the vice with the knives fell onto the man's belly piercing the inferior vena cava and leading to death by exsanguination. This, to the authors' knowledge, has been the first ever report of a fatal autoerotic accident in which sexual pleasure was to be obtained from painful irritation of the peritoneum.     

Forensic medicine in the German Democratic Republic

Forensic medicine services were resumed in the territory of the Soviet occupation zone in early summer 1945. One coherent legal system was established, following the foundation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), 7 October 1949. Forensic medicine was subject of teaching and examinations from the very outset. Sub-specialisation (fellowship) was introduced in 1955. The Gesellschaft für Gerichtliche Medizin der DDR (GDR Society of Forensic Medicine) was established in 1967 and began to organise with high continuity a wide-ranging variety of scientific events. Almost all administrative districts had their own institute of forensic medicine by 1990.     

Decapitation due to early post-mortem canine gnawing

A 53-year-old male was found dead in his home. The deceased's head, almost totally skeletonized, was lying at a distance of about 150 cm from the thorax inlet. The other occupant of the flat was a mongrel sheepdog. The autopsy conducted for the inquest established extensive damage to soft tissue in the head, neck and chest. The second to sixth cervical vertebrae were missing. The seventh cervical vertebra and the right first rib displayed bone lesions. The tissue injuries were attributed in the diagnosis to post-mortem canine gnawing. Cause of death was given as intermittent haemorrhaging of the gastro-intestinal tract from oesophageal varices in a status of hepatic cirrhosis. There was no indication that death had been caused by another party. About two days were estimated to have elapsed since death. Attention is drawn to this doubtless rare instance of total decapitation of the deceased with displacement of the head caused by a dog during the early post-mortem period.     

The BF F subtypes are detectable in the Ba fragment of factor B

The unanimous recognition of the two subtypes FA and FB of the BF*F allele has repeatedly been challenged. In the present investigation we are reporting about the unequivocal and simple detection of the subtypes on the Ba fragment of factor B by immunofixation isoelectric focusing after conversion with inulin. The common BF phenotypes F, S, and FS could be diagnosed in addition to the subtypes of BF*F which were observed in two regions acidic of the F major band. By comparison of standard phenotypes the subtypes in the Ba fragment corresponded to those of native factor B. All BF bands could be attributed to the Ba fragment by developing Western Blots with monoclonal antibodies directed against Ba. The distribution of the major BF phenotypes and alleles and the BF F subtypes in a population sample of 527 unrelated individuals from F.R.G. was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The allele frequency was determined to be 0.0731 for BF*FA, and 0.1053 for BF*FB. The advantages of determining the subtypes on the Ba fragment are: broadening of the FA/FB corridor, a more reliable diagnosis of phenotypes, improved distinction between homozygous FA and heterozygous FAFB types, and recognition of common BF phenotypes as well as subtypes in aged sera. It is suggested that the problem in the designation of BF F subtypes by different groups should be resolved by an international reference typing.     

Puppe's rule--a literature review

As early as 1903, it was pointed out by Puppe that it is possible to determine the sequence of injuries in skull fractures caused by blows to the head: the second fracture ends at the point where a break in cohesion is already present. This finding was confirmed by tests carried out by other forensic pathologists. It soon became clear that the rule also applies to gunshot fractures. In the case of gunshot injuries, it is even possible to make more detailed statements. However, the applicability of Puppe's rule is limited by incomplete ossification or ossification disorders. The priority rule is also found in English-language literature, but without the name of the author who first described it.