Pulmonary Cement Embolism After Kyphoplasty

Pulmonary polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement embolism after kyphoplasty (KP) surgery is a quite frequent event as well as the pulmonary embolization of central venous catheter fragment. This report shows the case of a subject who, after KP, developed pulmonary embolism and who underwent thoracic surgery. After hospital discharge, the subject advanced a claim for damages toward the hospital where he was operated, complaining sensation of tenderness at the chest surgical scar and esthetic damage. To understand the nature of the embolism (either central venous catheter fragment or cement), chemical investigations were then ordered. Spectrometry identified the PMMA cement used for KP. When doubts rise about the origin of the embolized material, chemical investigations may reveal important data not only for clinical but also for forensic purposes.     

Death from Hypothermia during a Training Course under “Extreme Conditions”: Related to Two Cases

Death from hypothermia following exhaustion or from various complicated pathologies is no longer a frequent cause of death among combat troops. During a training course under “extreme conditions” in the French Alps, two young African officers died. Confronted with these two clinically confirmed cases of hypothermia, the unknown anatomopathological and biological specificities associated with death from hypothermia were highlighted. In these typical and clinically confirmed cases of death from subacute exhaustion hypothermia, none of the signs revealed by the autopsy were specific. Although some recent publications have addressed the utility of postmortem biochemical markers when establishing a diagnosis, with no anamnesis, with no knowledge or analysis of the circumstances of death, and without an in situ examination of the body, it appears difficult, if not impossible, to confirm that death was caused by hypothermia.     

扩增TP53内含子8用于生物检材的种属鉴定

目的扩增常见动物TP53内含子8片段,确定其在法医学生物检材种属鉴定中的应用价值。方法收集标本为包括人在内的15种常见动物的血痕或肌肉组织,提取DNA后定量,应用PCR扩增TP53内含子8,PAGE电泳,银染后观察结果。结果人和猕猴都扩增出一条长度为460bp的片段,鳝鱼、鲢鱼、青蛙、鸭、兔、猫、小白鼠、豚鼠、猪、牛、羊虽有扩增产物,但不在分型区内,鸡、狗未见扩增产物。结论扩增TP53内含子8进行种属鉴定,方法简单,灵敏度较高。     

论法律解释的融贯性——评德沃金的法律真理观

以融贯性作为检验法律真理的标准,是一种超越真理观上的绝对主义与相对主义立场的尝试。德沃金的法律解释思想以融贯论作为法律真理观,以罗尔斯的"反思性均衡"作为法律解释的方法,以信念之间、信念和经验之间的融贯性作为法律解释的标准,从而为"法律唯一正解"提供了哲学上的正当化根据。但是,原则之间的竞争与冲突是不容否定的事实,并不存在理想意义上的融贯;法官的类推解释只能达致局部融贯而无法形成整体融贯;法律的无穷解释使德沃金的解释理论陷入无法自拔的"明希豪森困境",这些理论上的难题使德沃金的法律真理图景成为一种虚假的幻相。     

If Brain Scans Really Detected Deception,Who Would Volunteer to be Scanned?

Abstract: Recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of deception among healthy people, have raised the possibility that such methods may eventually be applied during legal proceedings. Were this so, who would volunteer to be scanned? We report a “natural experiment” casting some light upon this question. Following broadcast of a television series describing our team’s investigative neuroimaging of deception in 2007, we received unsolicited (public) correspondence for 12 months. Using a customized template to examine this material, three independent assessors unanimously rated 30 of an initial 56 communications as unequivocally constituting requests for a “scan” (to demonstrate their author’s “innocence”). Compared with the rest, these index communications were more likely to originate from incarcerated males, who were also more likely to engage in further correspondence. Hence, in conclusion, if neuroimaging were to become an acceptable means of demonstrating innocence then incarcerated males may well constitute those volunteering for such investigation.     

轻度闭合性头颅外伤致听力损害的研究

目的探讨轻度闭合性头颅外伤造成听力损害的特点,为法医临床学鉴定提供理论依据。方法选取51例轻度闭合性头颅外伤后听力损害的患者,经详细询问病史、耳科及神经系统全面检查、颞骨或头颅CT扫描,对纯音测听（pure tone audiometry,PTA）、声导抗（acoustic immittance,AT）、听性脑干反应（auditory brainstem response,ABR）及40Hz听觉相关电位（40Hz auditory event related potential,40Hz AERP）检查进行分析研究。结果轻度闭合性头颅外伤后听力损害多为感音神经性耳聋,听力损失程度多≤60dB,少数患者听力损失较重或为混合性聋,部分患者可伴耳鸣、眩晕、恶心或短暂呕吐等症状;伤后不同就诊时间的各项听力检查与正常对照组比较均有明显差异（P〈0.05）,听力损失在高频区明显;ABR各波潜伏期、波间期与正常对照组比较,Ⅰ～Ⅲ波间期差异不显著（P〉0.05）,各波潜伏期、Ⅲ～Ⅴ波间期、Ⅰ～Ⅴ波间期均有显著差异（P〈0.05）。结论轻度闭合性头颅外伤可以造成一定程度的高频听力损害和脑干功能受损,部分患者伴有前庭功能障碍,结合临床表现及辅助检查,考虑迷路震荡在损伤机制中起着重要作用。     

Be Wary of Asian Triumphalism

American‐led globalization has enabled the third great powershift of the last five hundred years—the “rise of the rest” following on the rise of the West and then the rise of the US as the dominant power in the West. When China, India, Brazil, Turkey and the rest sit at the table of global power with the West what will the world order look like? Will it be post‐American? Will it be culturally non‐Western, but play by the same rules of an open international order laid down by the American's after World War II? In the following pages, leading American and Asian intellectuals ponder these questions.     

马克思自然观视域中的生态伦理思想及其现实启示

人与自然的和谐共生是马克思生态自然观的核心.马克思自然观蕴含的生态伦理思想主要表现为:自然的先在性以及人与自然的不可分割性确证了自然界永续存在的权利和价值:自然规律为人类的实践活动的生态伦理立法:"两个和解"为生态环境问题的最终解决指明了方向.这些思想启示我们建设生态文明必须做到三点:确立促进人与自然和谐共进的生存方式;明确现代人的生态环境责任;树立科学的生产方式和消费方式.