Polymorphism of four X-chromosomal STR loci in Belarusians and Slovaks

We have investigated four X-chromosomal STR loci (a tetranucleotide repeat marker HPRTB, DXS7423 and trinucleotide repeat systems DXS101, DXS8377) in population samples of unrelated Belarusian and Slovak males (N = 180 and 116, respectively).Markers were amplified in a multiplex PCR reaction with primers labeled with fluorescent dyes 5-FAM and 5-JOE (dye set F). The separation and detection of PCR products were performed by capillary electrophoresis on a 3130 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems), using positive controls (K562 and NA9947A) and the GeneScan-500 ROX internal lane standard. Allele designation was based on comparison with the constructed allelic ladder. We performed statistical analysis estimating power of discrimination for males (PD_male). Our data was compared with European populations from Poland and Germany. The obtained data are useful in forensic practice and they contribute to creation of national X-STR databases in Belarus and Slovakia.     

Lebensgef?hrte der Mieterin im Schutzbereich des Mietvertrags?

Die Schutz- und Sorgfaltspflichten des Bestandgebers (hier die Pflicht zur R?umung und Streuung des Besucherparkplatzes) bestehen nicht nur gegenüber dem Bestandnehmer, sondern auch gegenüber den zu dessen Hausgemeinschaft geh?renden Familienangeh?rigen und Hausangestellten, nicht jedoch gegenüber Personen, die sich nur kurzfristig in den Mietr?umen aufhalten, wie G?ste, Lieferanten, Handwerker oder blo?e Besucher, mag es sich dabei auch um Angeh?rige des Mieters handeln. Der Lebensgef?hrte der Mieterin geh?rt nur dann zum Schutzbereich des Mietvertrags, wenn er mit ihr in Wohnungsgemeinschaft lebt und somit zu ihrer Hausgemeinschaft geh?rt.     

Acute cardiovascular fatalities following cannabis use.

We report six cases of possible acute cardiovascular death in young adults, where very recent cannabis ingestion was documented by the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in postmortem blood samples. A broad toxicological blood analysis could not reveal other drugs. Similar cases have been reported in the literature, but the toxicological analysis has been absent or limited to urine samples, which represent a much broader time window for cannabis intake. This paper presents six case reports, where cannabis alone was detected in blood. Further, an overview over previously published cases, clinical trials and possible patho-physiological mechanisms are presented.     

Die unmittelbare Anwendung der Protokolle der Alpenkonvention in ?sterreich

Die Alpenkonvention und ihre Protokolle sind ein umfassendes multilaterales Vertragswerk, das auf den Schutz der ?kologisch sensiblen Alpenregionen vor den Belastungen durch Tourismus, Verkehr und sonstigen Nutzungen zielt. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Praxis der Anwendung der Protokolle der Alpenkonvention in ?sterreich, wo sich zu verschiedenen Einzelf?llen bereits eine Judikatur des Verwaltungsgerichtshofes entwickelt hat. Dabei gibt es wenige, aber doch spektakul?re “leading cases”.     

Detection of cocaine in blood stains]

Cocaine is rapidly degraded in blood samples, and its degradation was found to be highly dynamic in nature. The analysis of blood spots dried on filter paper may provide a method to minimize the break-down of cocaine and to largely preserve the analytical profile of the parent drug and its hydrolysis products at the time of sampling. The short term stability of cocaine in 100 microL blood spots prepared from unpreserved and preserved (sodium fluoride, 0.25%) blood samples was compared to the stability of the particular whole blood specimens stored in tubes at ambient temperature and at -20 degrees C. Due to dehydration, both the chemical and the enzymatic hydrolysis of cocaine and its products could be stopped in dried blood spots. More than 75% of the initial cocaine concentration could be detected in the blood spots, and the analytical profile was ensured for 17 days. Provided its practical suitability, the spot technology should offer a simple approach to detect actual impairment of motorists taken in police custody in the view of section 24a of the German traffic act as well as in cocaine associated criminal cases.     

Serum beta-glucuronidase activity in polytrauma patients and in centrifuged autopsy blood samples]

The serum activity of beta-glucuronidase was investigated in 58 patients after severe trauma as well as in 43 autopsy cases. In 10 cases the enzyme activities in postmortem blood samples from the femoral vein were compared to those present in the correspondent heart blood samples. An elevated activity of beta-glucuronidase was observed in 14% of the patients within the first 36 h after severe trauma increasing to 62% in blood samples collected later on. The activity of beta-glucuronidase in the heart blood samples was always higher than in the corresponding sample from the femoral vein. In cases of prolonged post-mortem interval an elevated activity might have been due to bacterial contamination. In postmortal blood samples from the femoral vein an elevated enzyme activity was found in 70% of the study material. The results of the preliminary study on the activity of beta-glucuronidase in blood samples frequent in forensic routine work indicated that an elevated enzyme activity might be present for the following scenery: after severe trauma, in alcohol/drug abuse, presence of putridity/autolysis, presence of inflammatory processes, in diabetes as well as in carcinoma diseases. The significance of elevated beta-glucuronidase activity concerning alterations of unconjugated drug concentration due to in vitro cleavage of O-glucuronides should be investigated.