美韩同盟再定义与韩国的战略选择:进程与争论

本文系统总结了自2002年底以来美韩同盟再定义的磋商过程,以及双方在驻韩美军基地调整、同盟内部军事安全角色分工、同盟的未来战略构想等三大焦点问题上所取得的实质性进展,认为通过区域扩展和内涵扩展的路径选择,美韩同盟再定义已基本实现利益平衡与威胁平衡的双重目标。通过对美韩全球性战略同盟关系的定位与确认,韩国也由此结束了数年来激烈的外交方向辩论,再度确立了中近期亲美的结盟外交路线,然而有关韩国对外战略的争论不会就此终结。     

Corneal‐Smart Phone: A novel method to intelligently estimate postmortem interval

The changes of postmortem corneal opacity are often used to roughly estimate the postmortem interval (PMI) in forensic practice. The difficulty associated with this time estimate is the lack of objective means to rapidly quantify postmortem corneal changes in crime scenes. This study constructed a data analysis model of PMI estimation and implemented an intelligent analysis system for examining the sequential changes of postmortem corneal digital images, named Corneal‐Smart Phone, which can be used to quickly estimate PMI. The smart phone was used in combination with an attachment device that provided a darkroom environment and a steady light source to capture postmortem corneal images. By segmenting the corneal pupil region images, six color features, Red (R), Green (G), Blue (B), Hue (H), Saturation (S), Brightness (V) and four texture features Contrast (CON), Correlation (COR), Angular Second Moment (ASM), and Homogeneity (HOM), were extracted and correlated with PMI model. The results indicated that CON had the highest correlation with PMI (R² = 0.983). No intra/intersubject variation in CON values were observed (p > 0.05). With the increase in ambient temperature or the decrease in humidity, the CON values were increased. PMI prediction error was <3 h within 36 h postmortem and extended to about 6–8 h after 36 h postmortem. The correct classification rate of the blind test samples was 82%. Our study provides a method that combines postmortem corneal image acquisition and digital image analysis to enable users to quickly obtain PMI estimation.     

Prevalence of diatom frustules in non-vegetarian foodstuffs and its implications in interpreting identification of diatom frustules in drowning cases

Detection of diatom frustules in bone marrow (diatom test) is used for diagnosing ante-mortem drowning where the usual signs of drowning are not present in dead bodies recovered from water. However, controversies over the reliability of diatom test results are continuing. There have been indications on the possibilities of diatoms entering into systemic circulation from atmospheric air, food and drink. While diatoms have been demonstrated in the gut content of edible marine forms such as shrimps and clams, the present study, for the first time, provides empirical evidence on the prevalence as well as abundance of diatom frustules in the samples of cooked non-vegetarian foodstuffs that impend human consumption in Kelantan, Malaysia. It is found that 50 g each of cleaned and cooked prawns and of clams impending human consumption contain about 8360 and 29,054 diatom frustules, respectively. A person accustomed to prawn and clam food would be ingesting an estimated 2 million diatoms in a single year. Considering the suggestion that detection of five diatom frustules in 10 g of bone marrow would suffice for concluding drowning as mode of death, and the fact that there is yet no proof that diatom frustules do not enter into the human systemic circulation through the digestive tract, the estimated number of diatom frustules routinely ingested acquires significance since entry of a few of such ingested frustules into the systemic circulation can lead to false positive test results. The findings of this research raise two important issues: first, population based routine food related diatom ingestion requires to be estimated, and, second, studies have to be initiated to categorically prove or disprove the possibility of entry of diatom frustules into the systemic circulation via the digestive tract.     

德日两大犯罪论体系比较研究

面对犯罪的国际化,需要各国的刑法学、刑事制度进行更多的交流和共建.各国刑法、刑法学都是以其特定的历史、社会、文化为背景而展现出特殊性与活力,但犯罪所具有的基本性质却能够成为各国刑法学进行交流的基础.在进行比较刑法学研究过程中,不能将视野局限在刑法条文和刑法学框架之中,而要将不同刑法和刑法学归属其中的整个法制度和社会制度甚至文化背景,都要作为比较和考察的对象.日本刑法学虽然表面上和德国刑法学类似,但实际上无论是在对新旧刑法学的融合方面,还是在受到美国法制影响方面,其所具有的独特性共同形成了日本刑法及刑法学的现状.     

Can computed tomography replace or supplement autopsy?

Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) has been integrated into the practice of many forensic pathologists. To evaluate the utility of PMCT in supplementing and/or supplanting medicolegal autopsy, we conducted a prospective double-blind comparison of abnormal findings reported by the autopsy pathologist with those reported by a radiologist reviewing the PMCT. We reviewed 890 cases: 167 with blunt force injury (BFI), 63 with pediatric trauma (under 5 years), 203 firearm injuries, and 457 drug poisoning deaths. Autopsy and radiology reports were coded using the Abbreviated Injury Scale and abnormal findings and cause of death (COD) were compared for congruence in consensus conferences with novel pathologists and radiologists. Overall sensitivity for recognizing abnormal findings was 71% for PMCT and 74.6% for autopsy. Sensitivities for PMCT/autopsy were 74%/73.1% for BFI, 61.5%/71.4% for pediatric trauma, 84.9%/83.7% for firearm injuries, and 56.5%/66.4% for drug poisoning deaths. COD assigned by reviewing PMCT/autopsy was correct in 88%/95.8% of BFI cases, 99%/99.5% of firearm fatalities, 82.5%/98.5% of pediatric trauma deaths, and 84%/100% of drug poisoning deaths of individuals younger than 50. Both autopsy and PMCT were imperfect in recognizing injuries. However, both methods identified the most important findings and are sufficient to establish COD in cases of BFI, pediatric trauma, firearm injuries and drug poisoning in individuals younger than 50. Ideally, all forensic pathologists would have access to a CT scanner and a consulting radiologist. This would allow a flexible approach that meets the diagnostic needs of each case and best serves decedents' families and other stakeholders.     

Interpreting perimortem blast trauma from skeletal remains: Complications and considerations

Blast trauma results from highly variable events that can lead to similar effects in the skeleton. Clinical literature, which largely focuses on soft tissue, provides limited efficacy for interpreting fully skeletonized cases. Interpretation of skeletal blast trauma is hampered by the low number of fully skeletonized case studies and experimental replication studies, which mainly use nonhuman proxies. The purpose of this study is to discuss fracture patterns on two individuals from WWII as a means to better understand and identify fracture patterns associated with blast trauma. Existing clinical and anthropological criteria are reviewed and applied to two World War II cases, both presumed to exhibit blast trauma based on historical contexts. These case studies exhibit combinations of complicated and extensive signs of blunt-force and projectile trauma, reflecting the diversity of skeletal trauma resulting from blast-related events. This analysis emphasizes the arguably impossible task of establishing a diagnosis based on the available literature and lack of prior knowledge about specific losses. Ultimately, analysts must consider the totality of skeletal trauma, combining biomechanical theory and relevant clinical and anthropological literature to arrive at useful yet defensible assessments of trauma. However, refined criteria and additional studies are needed to assess complicated trauma from blast-related events in anthropological contexts.     

Identifying reliable ions for the statistical differentiation of structurally similar fentanyl analogs

Definitive identification of fentanyl analogs based on mass spectral comparison is challenging given the high degree of structural and, hence, spectral similarity. To address this, a statistical method was previously developed in which two electron-ionization (EI) mass spectra are compared using the unequal variance t-test. Normalized intensities of corresponding ions are compared, testing the null hypothesis (H₀) that the difference in intensity is equal to zero. If H₀ is accepted at all m/z values, the two spectra are statistically equivalent at the specified confidence level. If H₀ is not accepted at any m/z value, then there is a significant difference in intensity at that m/z value between the two spectra. In this work, the statistical comparison method is applied to distinguish EI spectra of valeryl fentanyl, isovaleryl fentanyl, and pivaloyl fentanyl. Spectra of the three analogs were collected over a 9-month period and at different concentrations. At the 99.9% confidence level, the spectra of corresponding isomers were statistically associated. Spectra of different isomers were statistically distinct, and ions responsible for discrimination were identified in each comparison. To account for inherent instrument variations, discriminating ions for each pairwise comparison were ranked based on the magnitude of the calculated t-statistic (t_calc) value. For a given comparison, ions with higher t_calc values are those with the greatest difference in intensity between the two spectra and, therefore, are considered more reliable for discrimination. Using these methods, objective discrimination among the spectra was achieved and ions considered most reliable for discrimination of these isomers were identified.     

Reporting likelihood ratio for casework in firearm evidence identification

Likelihood ratio (LR) plays an important role in estimating the weight of evidence in firearm evidence identifications. LR is computed from a statistical model including the distribution of the known-matching (KM or within) and known-nonmatching (KNM or between) comparison scores. Current LR procedures rely on KM/KNM scores from existing reference firearm toolmark data sets or alternatively from generating a set of test fires using multiple firearms. Both procedures may contain theoretical or practical issues which may hinder the LR procedures from reporting an unbiased LR estimation in casework. In this paper, a reference data set was established from a set of firearms, each test-fired two cartridge cases, resulting in a basic data set and a control data set. The congruent matching cells (CMC) method was used to generate CMC scores that are used to fit in the KM/KNM statistical distributions for LR estimation. In the initial test, 130 firearms from eight manufacturers were used for generating a reference data set consisting of 260 cartridge cases representing 130 KM and 8385 KNM pairwise breech face images. Test results showed that the KM and KNM distribution intersect at CMC = 2, which is equivalent to LR = 1 (equally to support both the prosecutor and the defense propositions). When the CMC threshold is increased to 6 or more, the LR values are higher than a million, which can provide extremely strong support to the conclusion of the same firearm (or the prosecutor's proposition) in the casework of firearm evidence identification.