Forensic aspects of digoxin-poisoning: toxicological and morphological findings (author's transl)]

Case report. A 82 year old woman died 80 min after accidental ingestion of 5 mg beta-methyl-digoxin. The autopsy and the histological examination revealed non-specific alterations due to shock and preexisting coronary heart disease. Digoxin levels in various fluids and tissues were estimated by radioimmunoassay: bloodplasma 20--25 ng/ml, liquor 10--13 ng/ml, liver 100--110 ng/g, kidney 130--145 ng/g; the gastric fluid contained 0,6 mg. Forensic aspects of glycosid-intoxication, especially of the varying concentrations in different tissues, are discussed.     

Behaviour of p-nitrophenol-glucuronide in hydrolysis with mineral acids (author's transl)]

The behaviour of p-nitrophenol and synthetic p-nitrophenol-glucuronide with mineral acids has been investigated. With sulfuric acid (33%) about 93% of the glucuronide derivative have been hydrolysed; the solution was heated in open vessel for 15 sec. With hydrochloric acid (6%) only about 65% of the conjugated p-nitrophenol have been converted to the free form. No losses were detected, when free p-nitrophenol was treated under the same conditions. Three other methods of hydrolysis have been applied.     

Adolescent Boys and Body Image: Weight and Muscularity Concerns as Dual Pathways to Body Dissatisfaction

This research evaluated a dual pathway model for body dissatisfaction among adolescent boys. The study provides empirical support for the importance of distinguishing between weight and muscularity concerns in understanding male body image. A total of 128 boys from grades 8 and 11 completed a self-report questionnaire. Results indicated that weight and muscularity concerns each made unique contributions to body dissatisfaction and were associated with distinct individual and peer context characteristics. Weight concern was associated with elevated BMI and more frequent appearance conversations with friends. Muscularity concern was significantly greater among boys who reported more frequent muscle-building conversations, had lower BMI, and were older. The results support the importance of distinguishing between and assessing both muscularity and weight concerns in the development of body image dissatisfaction among adolescent boys.     

A test of the effectiveness of the revised maxillary suture obliteration method in estimating adult age at death

The effectiveness of the original maxillary suture method for estimating age at death, introduced in 1987 by Mann and colleagues, has been tested, but their revised maxillary suture method (1991) has not been subject to similar scrutiny. The purpose of this study is to test the accuracy of the revised maxillary suture method in estimating age at death on a genetically diverse skeletal sample of 155 maxillae (96 males, 59 females, aged 26 to 100 years) of known age at death from the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Results from a prior study of the original maxillary suture method will be compared. With age category correctly estimated for 83% of this sample, the results of this study indicate that the revised method is more effective in estimating age at death than the original method. The revised method appears to perform best for older individuals and tends to underestimate age for individuals of all age groups. The results suggest that the revised method is useful as a method for age estimation when it is used conjunction with other estimators.