Death secondary to a donkey's bites

We present a unique case of death due to the assault and bites of a donkey on a 65-year-old man. The farmer, found dead in his farmyard, had a very deep wound in the anterior region of the neck, with a sharp transection of the trachea and severe bleeding by several minor vessels wall disruptions. The cause of death was established to be massive bleeding combined with asphyxia due to aspiration of the blood. Moreover, multiple contusions with associated skin abrasions and perforations were present. The general impression of the injuries was consistent with an animal's bite marks. Herbivorous or omnivorous bite attacks on humans are rare; instead, these animals attack by kicking, trampling, and kneeling, resulting in secondary blunt injuries. The donkey is usually a docile animal, but its behavior can be aggressive during the mating season, and the possibility of biting should not be underestimated, as illustrated by the 2 cases published previously as well as by the case presented here.     

Entomotoxicology, experimental set-up and interpretation for forensic toxicologists

Forensic entomotoxicology studies the usefulness of insects as alternative toxicological samples. Use of insects as alternative matrix for drug detection is well documented and recommended when conventional matrices such as blood, urine or internal organs are no longer available. However, several limitations of entomotoxicology have been highlighted, especially concerning interpretation of the drug concentrations in insects on human forensic cases. In addition, the lack of knowledge in pharmacokinetic of drugs in insects, large variability of experimental set-up and toxicological analysis compromise the utility of this science. This review focuses on the current knowledge of factors influencing drug detection in insects. Reasons for the current limitations, but also recommendations for future research are discussed and proposed in this paper.     

Class voting, social changes and political changes in the Netherlands 1971–2006

To what extent can the decline of class voting in the Netherlands be explained by sociological factors (compositional changes, the evolution of the class structure and economic progressivism) and political factors (a party-merger and changing party positions)? Multinomial logit (MNP) and conditional logit (CL) are employed using the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (1971–2006) and data of the Comparative Manifesto Project. We find that the rise of the class of social-cultural specialists is important for understanding changes in the class–vote relationship. Surprisingly, the impact of economic progressivism became more important for left-wing voting. Finally, although there seems to be a clear relation between party positions and the strength of class-based voting, the party positions hardly explain the assumed linear decline in class-based voting.     

Philosophers,Activists, and Radicals: A Story of Human Rights and Other Scandals

Paradoxically, the political success of human rights is often taken to be its philosophical failing. From US interventions to International NGOs to indigenous movements, human rights have found a place in diverse political spaces, while being applied to disparate goals and expressed in a range of practices. This heteronomy is vital to the global appeal of human rights, but for traditional moral and political philosophy it is something of a scandal. This paper is an attempt to understand and theorize human rights on the terrain of the social actors who put them to use, particularly radical activists that have a more critical relationship to human rights. Attempting to avoid the philosophical pathology of demanding that the world reflect our conception of it, we base our reflection on the ambiguous, and potentially un-patterned, texture of human rights practice—taking seriously the idea that human rights express a relationship of power, importantly concerned with its legitimate arrangement and limitation. In both the philosophical literature and human rights activism, there seems to be a consensus on basic rights as undeniable moral principles of political legitimacy. This use of human rights is contrasted with radical social movements that reject this conception of rights as ideological and illegitimate, making specific reference to the Zapatista movement (Chiapas, Mexico) and the Landless Peasant Movement of Brazil (MST, from the Portuguese Movimento dos trabalhadores rurais Sem Terra), which are critical of the human rights discourse, but also make strategic use of the idea and offer alternative articulations of political legitimacy.     

On the frequency of occurrence of a peculiar polyester fibre type found in blue denim textiles

In a double murder investigation, the victims were found after a prolonged stay in a drainage canal. In spite of the expectations, fibre examination established a multitude of primary and secondary transferred fibres. One of these fibre types was a colourless polyester fibre possessing a blue coloured molten fibre end. These matched one of the types present in the suspect's blue denim trousers. The aim of this study was to verify the rarity of this peculiar fibre type and more precisely its presence in blue denim textiles. Over five hundred different blue jeans textiles were examined and only one of these presented exactly the same type. The comparison involved microscopy, microspectrophotometry in the visible range and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate this fibre type is extremely rare in a blue jeans fabrics and that “standard” blue denim should not be disregarded in case work.     

Diacetylene copolymers for fingermark development

In 1979, Miller and Patel showed that a solution containing two diacetylene monomers, 2,4-hexadiyne-1,6-bis(phenylurethane) (HDDPU) and 2,4-hexadiyne-1,6-bis(p-chlorophenylurethane) (HDDCPU) could be used to develop latent fingermarks on a non-porous surface. In the current work, the same mixture (HDDPU:HDDCPU=10:1, in acetone solution) was used to develop fingermarks on a wide variety of surfaces, both non-porous and porous, including paper. An airbrush system was optimized for the application of the reagent solution. Once the solution evaporates on a surface, the monomers co-crystallize in different ways, depending upon a number of factors, including the surface residue. "Active" co-crystallization leads (with heat or radiation) to the formation of purple polymer, while "inactive" crystallization results in a non-polymerizable white deposit. Fingermark contrast was achieved as a result of active co-crystallization (giving purple polymer) in either the ridges or the furrows, depending upon the surface and other factors. A general observation (supported by spot tests with linseed oil, salt and amino acid solutions) was that on paper, oily materials are more likely to lead to the formation of the purple polymer, while the presence of water inhibits polymerization. However, these observations are not consistent across all other substrates. It is hypothesized that water disrupts hydrogen bonding between diacetylene molecules, and thus prevents the topochemical polymerization of the diacetylenes, which occurs in the solid state between favourably aligned monomers. An interesting observation was the development of fingermarks deposited on paper that had already been treated with the diacetylene reagent.     

Permanent teeth development in a Spanish sample. Application to dental age estimation

The purpose of this study is to clarify the chronology of different stages of dental development, according to Demirjian, in a sample of Spanish children, which will enable us to build a database that will be used as a reference in regard to the dental development of individuals of our socio-geographic environment. In the same studied sample, a calculation of the dental age according to Demirjian was carried out. This study was conducted in a final sample consisting of 1010 orthopantograms, corresponding to Spanish children (485 boys and 525 girls) ages 2-16. Comparing the age of onset of the different stages among the children, evidence was found that girls had an earlier general development than boys. These differences were only statistically significant in teeth and concrete stages. The canine teeth revealed greater gender dimorphism, with significant differences in all stages compared with the upper canines. The method proposed by Demirjian for dental age calculation resulted in a significant overestimation of dental age in relation to the chronological age in boys (average of 0.87 years) and girls (average of 0.55 years). Data from this study may be used as reference for dental maturity, as well as a standard for estimating age in Spanish children.     

Psychopathy, traumatic exposure, and lifetime posttraumatic stress

This study examined two theoretical models on the interaction between psychopathy, traumatic exposure, and lifetime posttraumatic stress in a sample of 81 male detainees. In Model 1, the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy were assumed to protect against posttraumatic stress. In Model 2, the lifestyle and antisocial traits of psychopathy were assumed to lead to a lifestyle that increases the risk of traumatic exposure and subsequent posttraumatic stress. The authors found significant negative bivariate associations between Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) total, Interpersonal and Affective facet scores, and posttraumatic stress. Model 1 was confirmed, as they found the interaction between the Affective facet and traumatic exposure had a significant negative effect on posttraumatic stress. Model 2 was rejected. The authors' findings confirm that the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy are associated with an emotional deficit and that the affective features of psychopathy are crucial for understanding the relationship between psychopathy and anxiety.