Determining Bruise Etiology in Muscle Tissue Using Finite Element Analysis

Bruising, the result of capillary failure, is a common physical exam finding due to blunt trauma and, depending on location and severity, a potential indicator of abuse. Despite its clinical relevance, few studies have investigated the etiology of capillary failure. The goal of this study was to determine whether capillaries primarily fail under shear stress or hydraulic‐induced tensile stress. An arteriole bifurcating into four capillaries was modeled using ANSYS 14.0 ^®. The capillaries were embedded in muscle tissue and a pressure of 20.4 kPa was applied. Any tensile stress exceeding 8.4 × 10⁴ Pa was considered failure. Results showed that failure occurred directly under the impact zone and where capillaries bifurcated, rather than along the line of greatest shear stress, indicating that internal tensile stress is likely the primary mode of capillary failure in bruising. These results are supported by the concept that bruising can occur via blunt trauma in which no shearing lacerations occur.     

Phenibut screening and quantification with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and its application to driving cases

An analytical strategy for identification by an LC–MS/MS multitarget screening method and a suitable LC–MS/MS based quantification were developed for the psychotropic drug phenibut. The samples analyzed were collected during traffic control and were associated with driving under the influence of drugs. A positive sample for phenibut was identified in a single case of driving under the influence. The quantification revealed a drug concentration of 1.9 μg/mL. An interaction with blood alcohol (BAC = 0.10%) was discussed as the explanation of the way of driving and deficit manifestations observed (swaying, nystagmus, quivering of the eyelid, and reddened eyes). According to the available information, the quantified phenibut concentration could be explained by an intake of four tablets (self-reported) during the day containing 250 mg of the drug. Chromatography was performed with a Luna 5 μm C18 (2) 100 A, 150 mm × 2 mm analytical column, and a buffer system consisted of 10 mM ammonium acetate and 0.1% acetic acid (v/v) included in mobile phases marked as A (H₂O/methanol = 95/5, v/v) and B (H₂O/methanol = 3/97, v/v). An effective limit of detection (LOD = 0.002 μg/mL) could be achieved for the multitarget screening method. The quantification of phenibut was performed on a second LC–MS/MS system with LOD/LOQ values of 0.22/0.40 μg/mL. Since phenibut quantification data are rare, the presented information can be used with caution for evaluation of positive cases in the future.     

Why Methods Matter in European Legal Scholarship

Both in the United States and in Europe, there is a debate on methodology in legal research. Doctrinalists and multidisciplinarians appear to be in different camps fighting over the ‘true nature’ of legal scholarship. We wonder where this renewed attention for methodology is coming from and what is behind it. Should European legal scholars follow certain colleagues in the United States who believe that doctrinal research is dead and should we all engage in law and … research now? If not, does this imply that there is nothing wrong with mainstream European doctrinal legal scholarship? We believe the latter is not the case. Our hypothesis is that an ongoing instrumentalisation of law and legal research decreases the attention for methodology, for theory building, and for keeping enough professional distance to one's object of research. This threatens to result in a creeping process of herd behaviour, in copy pasting the methodology of judicial lawmaking to legal scholarship and in a lack of transparency and methodological justification in scholarly legal publications. What is desperately needed is more reflection on methodology and theory building in European legal scholarship.     

"Fantasiegeld" als Deliktsobjekt der Geldfälschung

Die Existenz einer bestimmten, als Zahlungsmittel gesetzlich vorgesehenen Banknote als Vorbild ist keine Voraussetzung des Nachmachens. Das Falsifikat muss im Wesentlichen die von der Allgemeinheit als für ein gesetzliches Zahlungsmittel wesensbestimmend angesehenen Merkmale aufweisen. Unter der Voraussetzung der Verwechslungstauglichkeit kommt auch "Fantasiegeld" als Deliktsobjekt der §§ 232, 233, 236 und 241 StGB in Frage. Wer falsches oder verf?lschtes Geld weitergibt, erfüllt in der Regel neben der jeweiligen strafbaren Handlung des 13. Abschnitts auch den Tatbestand des Betrugs. Idealkonkurrierende Verwirklichung der Tatbest?nde ist begrifflich nicht ausgeschlossen – Exklusivit?t scheidet aus. Das Verh?ltnis der Tatbest?nde ist nach den Grunds?tzen der Scheinkonkurrenz zu l?sen, wobei Spezialit?t mangels vollst?ndiger überdeckung eines Tatbestands durch einen – weitere Elemente enthaltenden – anderen ausscheidet. § 245 Abs 3 StPO gew?hrt kein Recht auf jederzeitige Besprechung zwischen Verteidiger und Angeklagtem. § 249 Abs 1 StPO enth?lt das Recht des Angekl, selbst Fragen an jede zu vernehmende Person zu stellen. Ein Anspruch, dieses Fragerecht in bestimmter Form wahrzunehmen, ist weder aus dieser Bestimmung noch aus Art 6 Abs 3 lit d MRK abzuleiten.     

Party as linkage

Nomination: Costs and benefits of party membership reconsidered by Wolfgang C. Müller, p.169
Reflections: Party as linkage by Richard S. Katz, p171     

Morphological characteristics of gunshot wounds of liver and spleen

Stellate wounds are to be expected in gunshot injuries to the liver and spleen. As to their configuration, they resemble the skin breaks in an absolute close-range shot. The exit wound is larger than the entry wound. The genesis and utility of such injuries for reconstruction of the shot direction are discussed with reference to seven gunshot mortalities. Stellate wounds could also be achieved by shooting at isolated cadaver organs. The experimentally produced gunshot wounds differed from those produced in vivo in that the entry and exit wounds were equally large.