Determination of ABH secretor status by an electronic quantitation method

Blood Group A and B substances in secretor (Se) and nonsecretor (se) salivas were tested by means of an electronic data processing-hemagglutinin-inhibition test (EDP-HAIT) with immunoglobulin M (IgM) isohemagglutinins. Besides a difference in quantity, the blood group substances in Se saliva showed high binding efficiencies compared with those in se saliva. EDP-HAIT with IgG isohemagglutinins proved no difference in the binding efficiencies of Se and se salivas. The determination of secretor status by EDP-HAIT with IgM isohemagglutinin was accurate because the conclusion was obtained based on two different quantitative results. Secretor status of some salivas in gargled water could be determined by comparing the binding efficiencies.     

Sex identification in fresh blood and dried bloodstains by a nonisotopic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analyzing technique

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) specimens were prepared from blood or bloodstain extracts, and the content of a Y-chromosome specific DNA fragment was investigated by the Southern hybridization method using a nonisotopic staining technique. Thus obtained patterns of male DNA showed a clear band, whereas broad stains with some faint bands appeared on the patterns of DNA from both sexes. This method is expected to be a new powerful mean of forensic medical examination.     

The ratio of insulin to C-peptide can be used to make a forensic diagnosis of exogenous insulin overdosage

A 25-year-old man was killed by his lover by an intravenous injection of insulin and then air. We had difficulty in determining whether insulin had really been injected, so we have 18 control cases and proved that the ratio of insulin to C-peptide in a corpse can be used as positive evidence for the insulin overdosage.     

Biparietal Thinning: Accidental Death by a Fall from Standing Height

Biparietal thinning resulting in bilateral and symmetrical resorption and loss of thickness of the parietal bones is an uncommon to rare condition in the anthropological and clinical literature. This enigmatic condition of unknown etiology was first reported in the 18th century and has been variously described as a nonmetric trait, anatomical variant, anomaly, and pathology. Biparietal thinning presents grossly and radiographically as oval‐shaped depressions in 0.25–0.8% and 0.4–0.5% of individuals and with a higher frequency in females over the age of 60 years. A review of the literature revealed only one example of cranial trauma associated with biparietal thinning and none of fatal trauma associated with this condition. This case reports a rare example of fatal trauma in an elderly man that resulted from a backward fall from a standing height and highlights the increased risk of craniocerebral trauma in individuals with this condition.     

In defense of criminal defense expenditures and plea bargaining

Given the continuing controversy over defendants' buying justice through defense expenditures, this paper shows that disparities in criminal defense expenditures can insure that it is the guilty and not the innocent who will be punished. Our model allows defense and prosecution expenditures to be simultaneously determined. We show that criminal defense expenditures result in lower expected penalties for the innocent at trial and that they helo ensure that plea bargaining efficiently screens defendants even when differential risk aversion is present. Finally, we examine how differences in defendant's wealth and the use of public defenders affect the legal system's ability to differentiate the innocent from the guilty.     

Apnea, glial apoptosis and neuronal plasticity in the arousal pathway of victims of SIDS

Of 27,000 infants whose sleep-wake characteristics were studied under the age of 6 months, 38 died unexpectedly 2-12 weeks after the sleep recording in a pediatric sleep laboratory. Of these infants, 26 died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and 12 of definitely identified causes. The frequency and duration of sleep apneas were analysed. Sleep recordings and brainstem histopathology were studied to elucidate the possible relationship between sleep apnea and neuropathological changes within the arousal system. Immunohistochemical analyses were conducted using tryptophan hydroxylase (TrypH), a serotonin synthesizing enzyme, and growth-associated phosphoprotein 43 (GAP43), a marker of synaptic plasticity. The terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) method was used for apoptosis. The pathological and physiological data were correlated for each infant. In the SIDS victims, statistically significant positive correlations were seen between the number of TrypH-positive neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the midbrain and the duration of central apneas (p = 0.03), between the number of TUNEL-positive glial cells in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTN) and the average number of spines in GAP43-positive neurons in the PPTN (p = 0.04). These findings in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the midbrain and PPTN, that play important roles in the arousal pathway suggest a possible link between changes in arousal and SIDS.     

Economic development of Pacific Rim countries and Southern Africa

This paper examines the economic relationships between Japan and her neighbours as well as commenting on South African relations with the area in general. Brief case‐studies are also selected with emphasis on the economic factors governing the degree of success in development.     

Development of rigor mortis is not affected by muscle volume

There is a hypothesis suggesting that rigor mortis progresses more rapidly in small muscles than in large muscles. We measured rigor mortis as tension determined isometrically in rat musculus erector spinae that had been cut into muscle bundles of various volumes. The muscle volume did not influence either the progress or the resolution of rigor mortis, which contradicts the hypothesis. Differences in pre-rigor load on the muscles influenced the onset and resolution of rigor mortis in a few pairs of samples, but did not influence the time taken for rigor mortis to reach its full extent after death. Moreover, the progress of rigor mortis in this muscle was biphasic; this may reflect the early rigor of red muscle fibres and the late rigor of white muscle fibres.     

Detection of the calcium antagonist nicardipine and its metabolites by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

An 89-year-old male patient, hospitalized with Parkinson's syndrome, suddenly died shortly after an intravenous drug injection. The conditions indicated that an overdose of nicardipine (1.3 mg/(mlkg)) may be given to the patient. At the autopsy, no pathological changes were noted. With a capillary gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer (GC-MS), nicardipine (4.97 microg/ml) and its pyridine metabolite (M-5, 5.0 microg/ml) were detected in the heart blood of the deceased. This result indicated that an overdose of intravenous nicardipine caused a sudden death of a patient in a poor condition.     

Postmortem changes in cytochrome c oxidase activity in various organs of the rat and in human heart

Cytochrome c oxidase (COX), a mitochondrial enzyme, is inactivated by cyanide or carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication. To test whether cytochrome c has potential as an indicator of these toxins in cadavers, we measured COX activity in the main organs of the rat, and in the human heart, at various times after death. Each tissue sample or organ was homogenized and the COX activity in the mitochondrial fraction was measured using ferrous cytochrome c as the substrate. COX activity was significantly higher in rat brain, heart and kidney than in lung and liver from 0 to 4 days after death. The loss of COX activity was significantly slower in the brain and heart than in the lung, liver and kidney. Most importantly, COX activity correlated with the time-since-death for each of the rat organs we tested (r2=0.70-0.95), but for the human heart (r2=0.47). It may be possible that COX activity is likely to be a useful indicator of the time-since-death, and is worth pursuing as an indicator of the tissue cyanide and CO content.