Geopolitics,Patagonian Toothfish and living resource regulation in the Southern Ocean

This paper is concerned with the ongoing controversies regarding the over-harvesting of Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) in the Southern Ocean. After some thoughts on the varied geographies of this region, attention is then paid to the Convention for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Thereafter, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing of Patagonian Toothfish is considered in some detail because it forms the basis for a subsequent examination of attempts by states and intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) to manage living resources. These measures have been contested by a variety of bodies and interest groups, however. The final part of the paper considers how the latest fishing crisis in the Southern Ocean challenged intergovernmental governance in the late twentieth century.     

Death of an 89-year-old man during autosexual activity

Autoerotic fatalities are accidental deaths occurring as a direct result of autosexual activities, mostly involving men in the 2nd to 8th decade of life. Death most often occurs in the domestic environment due to strangulation or asphyxia. However, fatalities related to autosexual activity in a wider sense may also be caused by an accident or sudden death from an internal cause. We report the case of an aged man who died while engaged in outdoor autosexual activities due to a combination of a pre-existing internal disease and an accident (drowning).     

Criminal professional body packers and harmless "swallowers"

Body packing practices used by professional drug smugglers are sometimes imitated. However, both groups can develop the same clinical symptoms induced by body packing. The paper describes four cases of criminal professional body packers and two cases of "swallowers" not regarded as criminals who required medical treatment. The authors discuss the necessity of an abdominal X-ray and show how the increasingly professional methods used by body packers make a reliable diagnosis more difficult.     

Dynamic liveness and forgeries detection of the finger surface on the basis of spectroscopy in the 400-1650 nm region

Differentiation of living fingers, fake fingers and fingers from dead bodies was investigated using spectral analysis. For this purpose, reflection and transmission spectra in the wavelength region from 400 to 1650 nm were recorded from living volunteers and corpses. In an additional small test series (one living volunteer, three cadavers), time-resolved spectral images were prepared using reflectance (derived from pulse oximetry). The dynamic differences in the curves (including the absorption changes caused by the blanching effect and the pulse) provide initial approaches for the realisation of systems for liveness detection. Significant differences that would be useful for the integration into fingerprint recording systems of methods to defend against forgeries are discussed.     

Atypical injury pattern of a pedestrian run over by an unimog in the epigastric region

Strongly intoxicated, a 37-year-old man fell in front of the right back wheel of an emergency vehicle (MB Unimog) and was run over according to eye witnesses. He died in hospital shortly afterwards. The autopsy revealed that he bled to death from a traumatic liver rupture (bursting of the right hepatic lobe and severing of a piece of tissue measuring 17 x 8 x 4 cm). There were no injuries classicaly seen in victims run over by a car. The atypical injury findings in this case are due to the special features of the accident vehicle: The Unimog (an all-wheel vehicle with a fixed rear axle and flat coils) struck the right side of the body lying on the street with its rear wheel and was then lifted over the body by its fixed axle without touching the left side.     

Fictitious ambush following an attempted "extended" suicide

An unusual case of a 31-year-old-woman who was found near a forest road with self-inflicted injuries and burns is reported. The woman claimed to have been attacked by a man with a knife who then tried to burn her in her car. While she managed to escape, her cat died in the car. The examination of the wounds showed multiple superficial cuts in body regions easily accessible to her own hand. Gas chromatography of skin samples from the cat proved that it had been in in contact with a fire accelerant. On the basis of the examination findings, differential diagnostic aspects with regard to the motivation of the woman for simulating an offence are discussed. In all probability, the woman intended to commit suicide together with the cat through self-immolation, but did not complete the plan.     

Differential diagnosis: blue gastric mucosa. Post-mortem staining of the gastric mucosa with methylene blue

An intense discoloration of the gastric mucosa or the gastrointestinal tract found at autopsy gives rise to the question of its cause. Such discolorations are mostly described in the context of intoxications. However, traditional foods and diagnostic procedures using indicator dyes can also lead to an unusual discoloration of the mucous membranes. The authors report on the autopsy findings in a man who died from a bleeding gastric ulcer and whose gastric mucosa showed intense blue discoloration. Experimental postmortem examinations (on stomachs) were performed with methylene blue, a dye used in gastroenterology, resulting in a blue discoloration resembling the appearance of the stomach in the autopsy case. Together with the outcome of the toxicological analyses, the experiments pointed to a diagnostic procedure using methylene blue (chromoendoscopy).