Another death due to ingestion of Nicotiana glauca

Deaths attributed to ingestion of Nicotiana glauca are extremely rare. We report here a case where a 43-year-old man was found dead after apparently drinking a water extract of Nicotiana glauca. The primary alkaloid in the plant is anabasine. Toxicological analysis by capillary gas chromatography showed the deceased had a blood anabasine concentration of 2.2 mg/L. Clinically, the features of poisoning are nicotine-like and if death occurs it results from respiratory paralysis. The case further supports the view that, in the human, anabasine is considerably more toxic than nicotine.     

Practice of forensic entomology. Part 1: Insect collection at the site of discovery of the corpse

The life cycle of a fly illustrates that the late immature stages of necrophagous insects frequently leave the body, and are therefore not found on the corpse itself. Taking into account these stages (i.e. pupae) while investigating a death scene is very important. Two case histories demonstrate the effects of not taking that fact into consideration when determining the post-mortem interval. Since there is no standardized method in Germany for collecting insects at a death scene, an entomological collection kit with a short instruction is introduced.     

Examples for use of the STR systems in stain assessment with special reference to Y chromosome systems

The authors describe 3 cases where Y-chromosomal systems were used for typing the biological traces. In the first case, a murder, for the major amount of cell material found on a dish towel (and analysed two years after the crime) female persons were excluded for the system amelogenin and Y-chromosomal systems. A brother of the victim could not be excluded for autosomal STR-systems. Upon confrontation with the results of the DNA-analysis (among other things), this brother confessed the murder of his sister some days later. He was found guilty by the court. In the second case described, a rape of two girls, many traces were analysed parallely with Y-chromosomal and autosomal PCR-systems. The objects where male DNA matching the suspect were found (a paper tissue, a sweat shirt and the knickers of the girls), also showed small amounts of alleles matching with the suspect for autosomal systems, while the major part in these systems was from the girls. The suspect was sentenced to many years imprisonment. In the third case, a possible rape of a young woman, a stained microscope slide of a vaginal swab had to be examined. Microscopically a few sperm heads could be seen in a surplus of leucocytes. The male proportion could be analysed only in the Y-chromosomal systems, not in the autosomal ones. For the frequency calculation of the Y-chromosomal allele combination the haplotype data bank of the Institute for Legal Medicine of the Humboldt university in Berlin was indispensable.     

Fatal child abuse (caused by physical violence) in Germany during 1 January 1985 to 2 October 1990. Results of a multicenter study]

No reliable data are available on cases of lethal child abuse (by active force) in the area of Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification (the former West Germany). In a multicenter study we therefore examined the police and court records for such cases occurring in the period 1 January 1985 to 2 October 1990 in nearly the entire area of Federal Republic of Germany. RESULTS: The study center received information on 58 cases of lethal child abuse. Extrapolated to all institutes of legal medicine, this corresponds to 62 cases in all of West Germany in the period studied. An approximately equal number of unreported cases should be added to this figure. Including unreported cases, at least 20 cases of lethal child abuse occurred per year; thus only one in every two cases ever came to light. Almost two thirds of the victims were younger than one year old. At autopsy 59% exhibited signs of repeated abuse at autopsy. By far the most common cause of death was direct impact from a blunt object, usually to the head. Mostly, the male person to whom the victim relates most closely (father, stepfather, partner of the mother) has killed the child. Twenty-one of the 74 persons charged saw the charges against them dropped or were acquitted due to lack of evidence; 51 received sentences ranging from one year probation to life. In the remaining two cases the outcome of the trial was unknown. Signs of abuse were readily apparent at autopsy in almost all cases. The high number of unreported cases underscores the need to educate medical students and practicing physicians to be on the look-out for signs of abuse and argues for an increase in the rate of autopsy.     

Iliac cancellous bone in drug addicts: a histomorphometric study

Histomorphometry was used to determine structural bone changes in drug addicts. Iliac crest bone biopsies were obtained at autopsy from 28 subjects (21 male, 7 female, aged 18 to 45 years) who had a history of drug abuse and had died due to overdose of illicit drugs. For histomorphometry, undecalcified sections were investigated using the Merz grid. The following histomorphometric indices were measured and calculated: BV/TV, BS/BV, Tb.Th, Tb.N, Tb.Sp, OV/TV, OS/BS, Ob.S/BS, O.Th, ES/BS, Oc.S/BS, and N.Oc/T.A. In 28 controls (24 male, 4 female, aged 17 to 47 years) trabecular bone specimens were investigated in the same way. The parameters in drug addicts did not show any correlation to age, body weight, height or sex differences. Trabecular bone volume and trabecular thickness were slightly but not significantly increased (BV/TV: 23.37 +/- 5.77% (mean, SD), controls 22.23 +/- 5.08%, p = 0.434; Tb.Th: 172.67 +/- 36.83 mcm, controls 169.73 +/- 36.13 mcm, p = 0.764). Only the eroded surface was significantly different to the controls (ES/BS: 8.16 +/- 2.04%, controls 6.96 +/- 2.17%, p = 0.038). We conclude that the incidence of metabolic bone disease in drug addicts is low.     

Fulminant liver failure in a young child following repeated acetaminophen overdosing

Acetaminophen (paracetamol), a widely used analgetic drug, is well tolerated at therapeutic doses, but may cause severe hepatotoxicity when ingested in large overdose. Self-poisoning is still very popular in adults and accidental ingestion of one single overdose occurs occasionally in children. In contrast, lethal intoxication in children after repeated administration of therapeutic doses is a very rare event. This case report describes an iatrogenic acetaminophen overdosing in a 5-year-old child receiving 8.5 g acetaminophen in 48 h. Fulminant liver failure developed within 60 h. Autopsy findings included panlobular liver cell necrosis. Acetaminophen serum levels were rather low compared to cases with ingestion of one single overdose. Postmortem diagnosis of chronic acetaminophen intoxication as cause of death should include the clinical history as well as, if available, the calculated drug serum half-life.     

Evaluation of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) membrane test assays for the forensic identification of seminal fluid.

Prostate specific antigen (PSA, also known as p30), a glycoprotein produced by the prostatic gland and secreted into seminal plasma, is a marker used for demonstrating the presence of seminal fluid. Methods for the detection of PSA include Ouchterlony double diffusion, crossover electrophoresis, rocket immuno-electrophoresis, radial immunodiffusion, and ELISA. The extremely sensitive ELISA technique can detect PSA in concentrations as low as approximately 4 ng/mL. However, all these techniques are cumbersome and time consuming to perform in forensic laboratories, especially when only a few samples per week are processed. Various membrane tests are currently used in clinical settings to screen a patient's serum for the presence of PSA at levels greater than 4 ng/mL. In this study we evaluated three immunochromatographic PSA membrane tests by analyzing semen stains stored at room temperature for up to 30 years, post-coital vaginal swabs taken at different time after intercourse, semen-free vaginal swabs, and various female and male body fluids, including urine. The data demonstrate that PSA membrane test assays offer the same sensitivity as ELISA-based tests and provide a rapid approach for the forensic identification of seminal fluid. Furthermore, when the supernatant from a DNA extraction is used for the assay, there is essentially no DNA consumption for determining the presence of PSA in a forensic sample.     

Chorionic villus sampling prior to pregnancy termination, a tool for forensic paternity testing.

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS), prior to pregnancy termination (pre-termination CVS), is suggested as a tool for forensic paternity testing. Unlike the abortion material, which consists of ruptured tissues of fetal and maternal origin, extra-embryonic membranes obtained through CVS can provide an uncontaminated source of fetal tissue for genotyping. We discuss the possibility of confined placental mosaicism (CPM) and its implications on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based analyses of short tandem repeats (STRs) and the D1S80 loci.     

The impact of genetic enhancement on equality

There apparently is a genuine possibility that genetic and non-genetic mechanisms eventually will be able to significantly enhance human capabilities and traits generally. Examining this prospect from the standpoint of equality considerations is one useful way to inquire into the effects of such enhancement technologies. Because of the nature and limitations of competing ideas of equality, we are inevitably led to investigate a very broad range of issues. This Article considers matters of distribution and withholding of scarce enhancement resources and links different versions of equality to different modes of distribution. It briefly addresses the difficulties of defining "enhancement" and "trait" and links the idea of a "merit attribute" to that of a "resource attractor." The role of disorder-based justifications is related to equality considerations, as is the possibility of the reduction or "objectification" of persons arising from the use of enhancement resources. Risks of intensified and more entrenched forms of social stratification are outlined. The Article also considers whether the notion of merit can survive, and whether the stability of democratic institutions based on a one-person, one-vote standard is threatened by attitude shifts given the new technological prospects. It refers to John Stuart Mill's "plural voting" proposal to illustrate one challenge to equal-vote democracy.     

Lethal poisoning with ethyl alcohol and its surrogates in various regions of the Russian Federation

The index of lethal poisoning with ethyl alcohol and its surrogates in Russia remains one of the highest in the world. It is explained by high alcohol consumption in Russia (about 15 liters of pure alcohol per capita annually), consumption of mainly strong beverages (about 80%), extensive sales of adulterated strong alcoholic beverages (more than 25%), virtually no preventive work in the population, and other causes. The index of lethal poisoning with alcohol and its surrogates in the country and its regions is one of the most important parameters in evaluation of the socioeconomic well-being of the population.