西方司法证明科学的新发展

本文对西方当代司法证明科学领域几项突出的新发展作了介绍和评析:运用贝叶斯定理对事实判定者的认知过程加以量化;适用似真推理弥补传统形式逻辑推理的不足;建立相应的似真推理平台——对话理论;将信息科学引入证明过程。这些新发展突破了传统司法证明理论的瓶颈,为司法证明科学的发展注入了新的活力。     

艰难的历程辉煌的成就——我看建国60年

一、人类历史的脚步匆匆，眨眼间，共和国就走过了60年的历程。然而，在这60年中，中国发生了翻天覆地的巨大变化。我们看到的是：新中国的伟大事业波澜壮阔，中华民族的辉煌业绩光照千秋。我们每一个中华儿女对此无不感到无比的自豪!     

诉审关系论辩——兼论对诉审关系异化的程序性抑制

考察诉审关系必须放在控辩审三方格局的整体背景之下,理想的诉审关系要求审判者与起诉者所主张的利益无涉;要求审判者与冲突双方保持同等的距离,不偏不倚;要求审判者高于冲突双方,在诉讼程序进程与实体争议解决中居主导地位。我国相关制度的改革也要在理想的诉审关系格局之内进行。     

AN OVERVIEW OF CHINESE LAW ON FOOD SAFETY

This article reviews the evolution of Chinese law on food safety and the concerned system defined by the Food Safety Law (2009) and other related laws. Although being improved by this law, in comparison with the Food Hygiene Law (1995), food safety still remains severe today. In analysing the food safety problems in China, it is found that the issues, such as tension between security and safety, problems in agricultural products, difficulties in administration and supervision etc., cannot be solved by this law in the near future.     

伟大的里程碑——中国首次载人航天飞行圆满成功

"神舟"五号的成功回收和航天员杨利伟的胜利凯旋,宣告我国首次载人航天飞行圆满成功.中国由此成为继俄、美之后世界上第三个实现载人航天的国家,中国人民在攀登世界科技高峰的征程中又跨出了具有重大历史意义的一步.这是一个伟大的里程碑.     

Intentional overdose of glargine insulin: Determination of the parent compound in postmortem blood by LC-HRMS

Insulin glargine is a long-acting insulin analog that is converted after enzymatic cleavage of the arginine pair of the β-chain into its main metabolite M1 (21^A-Gly-insulin), which is responsible for the hypoglycemic activity. In all the overdose cases described in the literature, only M1 concentrations have been reported, whereas insulin glargine was always absent or below the limit of quantitation. In this study, we present a case of suicide of a young nurse by injection of insulin glargine in which the parent molecule was found at a toxic concentration in blood. The determination and the discrimination of insulin glargine from human insulin and other synthetic analogs in the blood specimen were performed by liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (Waters XEVO G2-XS QToF) and extraction after precipitation in the presence of bovine insulin (internal standard), with a mixture of acetonitrile/methanol +1% formic acid followed by purification on solid phase extraction cartridges C18. Glargine insulin tested highly positive in the blood with a concentration of 1.06 mg/L. Due to the difficulty in obtaining a M1 pure standard, the metabolite could not be dosed. This unique presence of the parent molecule, reported for the first time, can be explained by inter-individual variability in the rate of conversion to metabolite. Intravenous injection versus subcutaneous injection can also explain the presence of insulin glargine. Finally, the dose injected may have been so high that saturation of the proteolytic enzymes responsible for conversion to M1 should have occurred.     

Increased lung weight in fatal intoxications is not unique to opioid drugs

Fatal intoxications with opioids are known to be associated with an increased lung weight, as well as with brain and pulmonary edema and urinary retention. However, there is evidence to suggest that fatal intoxications with non-opioid substances are also associated with increased lung weight; however, the latter aspect has not been comprehensively analyzed. To determine to what extent opioid and non-opioid substances are associated with increased lung and brain weight, we studied these organs in cases where the cause of death was attributed to intoxication with a single agent. Using data from cases autopsied at the National Board of Forensic Medicine (NBFM) in Sweden from 2009 through 2019 where the cause of death was attributed to a single substance, we created models of combined lung weight and brain weight. The models used age and sex as predictors as well as nested varying effects for the specific intoxicant and category of intoxicant. Suicidal hanging with negative toxicology cases served as controls. The population majority was male among both intoxications (68%) and controls (83%). The most common single substance group was opioids. All tested substances were associated with heavier lungs than controls, with the largest effect in the opioid group. Our findings show that several substances are associated with increased lung weight and that among intoxication deaths there is no difference in expected brain weight between substances. Hence, heavy lungs, without a reasonable explanation, should prompt a broad toxicological screening.     

Suicide of an adolescent girl with sodium nitrite ordered on the internet

Nitrites are commonly used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Recently, they have been identified in cases of voluntary intoxication. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl who was found lifeless on her bed next to a glass containing a white powder and a bottle containing a white powder with a moistened appearance. External examination and autopsy revealed a nonspecific asphyxia syndrome, which was confirmed by the pathological analysis. Analysis of the samples revealed metoclopramide in the peripheral blood at a concentration of 0.402 mg/L (LC–HRMS). An analysis of the gastric contents was carried out after sodium nitrite was detected in the powders found near the body (Raman spectrometry). Nitrites were found in the gastric fluid at a concentration of 30.9 mg/L. Death occurred secondary to anoxia, following ingestion of nitrites; suicide kits are available on the web and nitrites are relatively easy to source and inexpensive. Nitrites are delivered in powder form to be dissolved in liquid, which may then be consumed with metoclopramide (or an alternative anti-emetic drug) to maximize absorption and reduce emesis. The toxic effect of nitrites lies in their oxidizing power, causing the transformation of hemoglobin into methemoglobin, which, when it accumulates, induces tissue anoxia resulting in death. There has been an alarming increase in the number of cases linked to suicide using nitrites or a nitrite suicide kit. The fact that nitrites are readily available online underscores the importance of establishing effective preventive measures such as limiting the access and use of this chemical.