Courting the Women’s Vote: The Emotional,Cognitive, and Persuasive Effects of Gender-Based Appeals in Campaign Advertisements

Political Behavior - In this paper, we examine the ways in which citizens emotionally react to and cognitively process campaign advertisements that contain group-based appeals. Specifically, we...     

论行政执法中违法询问笔录的证据能力

询问笔录是行政执法中常见的一种证据材料。当前,行政机关在行政执法中存在着较为严重的询问笔录依赖。行政执法机关在获取此类询问笔录的过程中经常存在违法行为。对于行政执法中违法取得的询问笔录既不能一律否定其证据能力,更不能一律予以采信。除非行政执法机关能证明其所获取的违法询问笔录之违法行为系一种单纯的形式违法,应排除违法询问笔录的证据能力。     

A Proposed Scheme for Classifying Pediatric Rib Head Fractures Using Case Examples

Pediatric rib head fractures are typically described as “posterior” or “costovertebral,” terms lacking specificity. To resolve this issue, a scheme was developed to describe the location of rib head fractures observed in a pediatric forensic population. The scheme uses three anatomical landmarks, terminus (tip), tubercle, and costovertebral articular surface to divide the rib head into two subregions, costovertebral and costotransverse. Examples of five cases of infants with rib head fractures are presented using this scheme. Forty‐eight rib head fractures were observed in these infants with the following frequencies: 56% (three infants) at the terminus; 21% (three infants) in the costovertebral subregion; 21% (one infant) at the costovertebral articular facet; and 2% (one infant) in the costotransverse subregion. Due to the small number of cases assessed, statistical analyses could not be performed; however, the data demonstrate the variation in distribution of pediatric rib head fractures.     

An Unusual Case of Strychnine Poisoning

Strychnine‐related death has been described since the 19th century. This alkaloid was discovered in 1818. Historically, strychnine was used by the South‐East Asian autochthones on their arrows. However, its production was modified by legislation, which was used to protect people against accidental intoxications. Here, we present the case of a 69‐year‐old man who was found dead at home. During the autopsy, we found a blue substance in the stomach. Toxicological analysis measured strychnine at 0.29 μg/mL in the blood sample, which is a relatively low level in comparison with the results given in the literature. However, histologic examination and toxicological findings permitted the conclusion of strychnine poisoning.     

Modeling Bone Surface Morphology: A Fully Quantitative Method for Age‐at‐Death Estimation Using the Pubic Symphysis

The pubic symphysis is widely used in age estimation for the adult skeleton. Standard practice requires the visual comparison of surface morphology against criteria representing predefined phases and the estimation of case‐specific age from an age range associated with the chosen phase. Known problems of method and observer error necessitate alternative tools to quantify age‐related change in pubic morphology. This paper presents an objective, fully quantitative method for estimating age‐at‐death from the skeleton, which exploits a variance‐based score of surface complexity computed from vertices obtained from a scanner sampling the pubic symphysis. For laser scans from 41 modern American male skeletons, this method produces results that are significantly associated with known age‐at‐death (RMSE = 17.15 years). Chronological age is predicted, therefore, equally well, if not, better, with this robust, objective, and fully quantitative method than with prevailing phase‐aging systems. This method contributes to forensic casework by responding to medico‐legal expectations for evidence standards.     

Aortic Dissection and Sudden Unexpected Deaths: A Retrospective Study of 31 Forensic Autopsy Cases

Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is the most common cause of sudden unexpected death related to aortic diseases. A retrospective study of 31 sudden unexpected deaths caused by AAD was conducted at Xi'an Jiaotong University Forensic Center from 2001 to 2012. We summarized the forensic characteristics of AAD and assessed the clinically diagnostic accuracy of AAD. The characteristics of sudden unexpected death due to AAD were male predominant (male: female = 6.7:1), relatively young with the mean age of 44, and predominance of type A dissection (77.4%). Cardiac tamponade was the most frequent cause of sudden death (87.1%). Of the 31 cases, 26 (83.9%) patients were not recognized clinically and were misdiagnosed with acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, cholecystitis, acute gastroenteritis, renal/urinary lithiasis, or acute pancreatitis. In summary, AAD can be difficult to recognize, diagnosis is therefore sometimes delayed or missed. The medicolegal death investigation can help physicians have a better understanding of AAD.