Effect of Investigator Disturbance in Experimental Forensic Entomology: Carcass Biomass Loss and Temperature

Abstract: Often carrion decomposition studies are conducted using a single carcass or a few carcasses sampled repeatedly through time to reveal trends in succession community composition. Measurements of biomass and other abiotic parameters (e.g., temperature) are often collected on the same carcasses but are rarely a focal point of the studies. This study investigated the effects that repeated sampling during experiments have on the decomposition of carrion, measured as both gross biomass (carcass plus fauna) and net biomass (carcass only), on carcasses disturbed on every visit (with weighing only or also with the collection of fauna) and on carcasses disturbed only once. Each trial lasted at least 21 days, with samples taken in triplicate. Rat carcasses used in this study were placed in the field on the same day and either weighed on every visit or ignored until a given day. Internal and ambient air temperatures were recorded on each carcass at the time of sampling and on undisturbed carcasses using temperature loggers. The presence of succession fauna did not result in significant biomass loss on most days; however, there were individual days early in decomposition (days 3 through 6) when the succession fauna comprised a large portion of the gross biomass. With the exception of biomass loss by the emigration of maggots on days 4 and 5, neither repeated weighing of the carcasses nor repeated weighing and faunal sampling of the carcasses statistically affected the rate of biomass loss. Internal temperatures of carcasses sampled repeatedly were frequently 2–5°C lower than those that had not been disturbed, and ambient temperatures differed significantly depending on the location of measurement device. Results indicate that methods used historically for biomass loss determination in experimental forensic entomology studies are adequate, but further refinements to experimental methodology are desirable.     

Oriental medicine professionals' duty to inform patients

Oriental medicine has constituted a significant portion of health care in Korea, but discussion regarding the legal duties of Oriental medicine professionals has been marginalized. This article proposes the first step in discussing the duty of Oriental doctors and pharmacists to inform their patients about the medicine they provide. It begins by introducing the only decision the Supreme Court of Korea has made regarding the legal obligation of Oriental medicine professionals, where the Court held that the Oriental medicine retailer had a duty to provide information about the medicine being sold. This article supports that decision of the Supreme Court and further argues that other primary providers of Oriental medicine-Oriental doctors and pharmacists-should also bear the duty to inform. The conclusion is driven from the fundamental principle of the Korean Constitution: that everyone is entitled to the right to self-determination. In discussing the scope of information doctors and pharmacists should provide, this article notes the unique features of Oriental medicine used in Korea. The author concludes that Oriental doctors and pharmacists should inform their patients of the nature and effect of the medicine being provided, detailed usage instructions, potential risks associated with the medicine, and information regarding combined use with conventional medicine. As for restorative Oriental medicine, doctors and pharmacists should particularly provide instructions regarding its unique restorative purpose.     

内地仲裁裁决在香港法院执行中的公共政策问题

公共政策是《纽约公约》框架下拒绝承认和执行外国仲裁裁决的传统抗辩事由,但由于其理论具有一定模糊性,导致实践中的不确定性。《安排》引入了公共政策机制,以调整内地与香港仲裁裁决的相互执行程序。在各国法院对公共政策进行严格解释的大趋势下,由于两地道德观念相通、国家主权相同,为了更有效地促进两地司法协助的开展,两地在相互承认与执行仲裁裁决中应取消公共政策机制的束缚。     

Accidental death from hydromorphone ingestion

Abstract: A 15‐year‐old male orally consumed an unknown but fatal amount of sustained release hydromorphone. He was naïve to opioid use. No other drugs or alcohol were involved. The cause of death was acute aspiration‐related bronchopneumonia, secondary to hydromorphone ingestion; the manner of death was accidental. Hydromorphone and hydromorphone‐3‐glucuronide were quantified in postmortem fluids by tandem liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The hydromorphone concentrations in the peripheral blood, urine, and vitreous humor were 57, 4460, and 31 ng/mL, respectively. The hydromorphone‐3‐glucuronide concentrations in the corresponding three fluids were 459, 36,400, and 40 ng/mL. Hydromorphone‐3‐glucuronide accumulation probably did not contribute significantly to the opiate toxicity. The proposed minimum lethal hydromorphone blood concentration in the nontolerant user is in the vicinity of 60 ng/mL.     

Improved gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometric method for determination of 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid in hair using mechanical pulverization and bead-assisted liquid-liquid extraction

A gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometric (GC-NCI-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of 11-nor-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) in human hair. After decontamination, hair samples were weighed (25mg), mechanically pulverized with a bead mill, and incubated in 0.7 mL of 1.0M sodium hydroxide at 95 °C for 30 min. Bead-assisted liquid-liquid extraction was performed with n-hexane:ethyl acetate (9:1, v/v), a method developed in our laboratory. The extract was evaporated to dryness, derivatized with pentafluoropropanol and pentafluoropropionic anhydride, and analyzed by GC-MS/MS in the negative ion chemical ionization mode using methane as the reagent gas. The linear ranges were 0.05-10.0 pg/mg for THC-COOH with the coefficient of determination (r(2) = 0.9976). The intra-day and inter-day precisions were within 1.7 and 13.8%, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day accuracies were -4.8 to 10.0% and -3.9 to 3.8%, respectively. The limit of detection and quantification were 0.015 and 0.05 pg/mg, respectively. The recoveries were in the range of 79.4-87.1%. The results indicate that the proposed method is simple, rapid, accurate, and precise for determination of THC-COOH in hair. The method identified THC-COOH in hair specimens from suspected marijuana abusers.     

Analysis of hair after contamination with blood containing 6-acetylmorphine and blood containing morphine

The study was carried out to investigate external contamination of hair by blood in heroin-related post-mortem cases. Solutions were prepared containing 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 3.0μg/mL of 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-AM) only or morphine only in human blood. Samples of approximately 3.2g of drug-free hair were contaminated by soaking in the blood solutions for 5min. They were then removed and left at room temperature. Approximately 0.5g of hair was collected from each of the blood soaked hair samples at 6h, 1, 2, 4 and 7 days after contamination. As each hair sample was collected it was shampoo-washed to prevent further drug absorption. Hair samples were analysed in triplicate using a fully validated method described previously. 6-AM broke down to morphine in all samples. In hair contaminated with blood containing 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2μg/mL 6-AM or morphine drug was either not detected or was detected below the limit of quantitation (0.2ng/mg hair) at all contamination times. In hair contaminated with blood spiked with 0.5μg/mL morphine, the concentration in hair ranged from 0.54 to 0.91ng/mg and in hair contaminated with blood spiked with 3.0μg/mL, from 3.25 to 5.77ng/mg. The concentrations of 6-AM ranged from 0.65 to 1.11ng/mg and morphine from 0.34 to 0.80ng/mg in hair contaminated with 0.5μg/mL 6-AM in blood. 6-AM ranged from 2.12 to 3.67ng/mg and morphine from 0.84 to 2.05ng/mg in hair contaminated with 3μg/mL 6-AM in blood. For 6-AM and morphine ANOVA statistical evaluation showed no significant difference among the concentrations over time.     

Establishment of the measurement uncertainty of 11-nor-D9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid in hair

The quantitative analysis of 11-nor-D(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in hair requires a sensitive method to detect a low-pg level. Before applying the method to real hair samples, the method was validated; in this study, we examined the uncertainty obtained from around the cut-off level of THCCOOH in hair. We calculated the measurement uncertainty (MU) of THCCOOH in hair as follows: specification of the measurand, identification of parameters using "cause and effect" diagrams, quantification of the uncertainty contributions using three factors, the uncertainty of weighing the hair sample, the uncertainty from calibrators and the calibration curve, and the uncertainty of the method precision. Finally, we calculated the degrees of freedom and the expanded uncertainty (EU). The concentration of THCCOOH in the hair sample with its EU was (0.60 ± 0.1) × 10(-4)ng/mg. The relative uncertainty percent for the measurand 0.60 × 10(-4)ng was 9.13%. In this study, we also selected different concentrations of THCCOOH in real hair samples and then calculated the EU, the relative standard uncertainty (RSU) of the concentration of THCCOOH in the test sample [u(r)(c0)], the relative uncertainty percent, and the effective degree of freedom (v(eff)). When the concentrations of THCCOOH approached the cut-off level, u(r)(c0) and the relative uncertainty percent increased but absolute EU and v(eff) decreased.     

A study on the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in hair root and whole hair

In this study, we investigated the patterns of cannabis users (n=412) according to their sex, age, and the results of urinalysis and hair analysis, and classified the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair into three categories to examine the levels of cannabis use. We also compared the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair root, hair without the hair root and whole hair and examined the relationship among them according to the results of urinalysis. The hair samples were washed, digested with 1ml of 1M NaOH at 85°C for 30min and extracted with 2ml of n-hexane:ethyl acetate (9:1) two times after adding 1ml of 0.1N sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.5) and 200μl of acetic acid. The final mixture was derivatized with 50μl of PFPA and 25μl of PFPOH for 30min at 70°C. The solution was evaporated, and the residue was reconstituted in 40μl of ethyl acetate and transferred to an autosampler vial. One microlitre was injected into the GC/MS/MS-NCI system. The concentrations of THCCOOH ranged from 0.06 to 33.44pg/mg (mean 2.96; median 1.32) in hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results and ranged from 0.05 to 7.24pg/mg (mean 1.35; median 0.37) in hair from cannabis users who had negative urine results. The average concentration of THCCOOH in hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results was higher than that from cannabis users who had negative urine results. Male cannabis users in their forties were predominant. We classified the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair into three groups (low, medium and high), and could use the grouping of THCCOOH in hair as a guide for determining the level of use. The low, medium and high concentration ranges for THCCOOH in hair were 0.05-0.24, 0.25-2.60 and 2.63-33.44pg/mg, respectively. We also investigated 28 hair samples with the root. The highest concentrations of THCCOOH were seen in the hair root from 18 out of the 28 hair samples. The average concentrations of THCCOOH in hair root, hair without hair root and whole hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results were higher than those who had negative urine results.     

New federalism and health policy

The making of health policy in the United States is a complex process that involves the private and public sectors, including multiple levels of government. Five characteristics of the policy process are identified, which establish the means by which policies are formulated and which affect the nature of the policies that emerge. These characteristics include (1) the relationship of the government to the private sector; (2) the distribution of authority and responsibility within a federal system of government; (3) the relationship between policy formation and implementation; (4) a pluralistic ideology as the basis of politics; and (5) incrementalism as the strategy for reform. The article focuses on the impact on health policy of the distribution of authority and responsibility within the federal system, particularly the impact of new federalism policies as they emerged during the past decade. The effects of dual federalism, cooperative federalism, creative federalism, and new federalism are examined in relation to health policies. The article concludes with an examination of the challenge to long-established values and health policies posed by new federalism.     

Genetic variation at eight STR loci in the Korean population

The frequency distributions of eight STR loci were surveyed in 510 unrelated individuals from the Korean population