Wischnevsky's gastric lesions in accidental hypothermia.

We examine the pathogenesis of Wischnevsky's lesions. These gastric lesions were found in 15 of 17 deaths due to accidental hypothermia. Deaths occurred at various minimum temperatures (-2.4-20.4 degrees C); gastric lesions did not always reflect exposure temperatures. However, all victims exposed to temperatures greater than 10 degrees C had severe lesions. At temperatures less than 5 degrees C, on the other hand, severe gastric lesions were seen in victims younger (43.2 years old) than those with mild lesions (61.0 years old). These findings suggest that gastric lesions develop by exposure to temperatures at which the body's response to cold stress continues, or as result of a strong response to short-term stress. Histopathologic examination demonstrated a characteristic finding of cystic dilatation of the capillaries, presumably due to massive reperfusion after functional collapse of the microcirculation in the gastric mucosa.     

Fatal poisoning due to ingestion of boiled oleander leaf extract

Nerium oleander is an ornamental evergreen shrub belonging to the family Apocynaceae. The Apocynaceae family includes the attractive evergreen shrub known as oleander. The cardiotoxic glycoside, oleandrin, is present in all portions of the common oleander plant. Oleander consumption can result in deadly situations accidentally or as a suicide attempt. After consuming kettle-boiled oleander leaf extract as part of a suicide attempt, an 80-year-old man was discovered comatose in his home and taken to our emergency room. The patient's heart rate was 30 beats per minute, and he had hypotension. Arterial blood gas analysis revealed remarkable metabolic acidosis and hyperkalemia (K: 7.7 mEq/L). An electrocardiogram showed a wide QRS wave, similar to a sine curve. The patient collapsed following cardiac arrest soon after hospital arrival. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was initiated; however, the patient eventually died. The serum level of oleandrin at hospital arrival, subsequently measured by LC–MS/MS, was found to be 33.4 ng/mL, far above the levels reported in previous fatal cases.     

Hybridity in the Public Sector—Comparing Development Features in Municipalities in Japan and Norway

The theme in this article is managerial or administrative changes in municipalities seen from the perceptions of citizens. It is asked what characterize these changes, whether they are showing an interrelated and hybrid pattern, and whether the perceptions are varying depending on individual demographic characteristics or contextual factors related to their communities and the country they are living in. The data used are from surveys in Japan and Norway in 2015–2016. The main results indicate that the change or reform measures are indeed interrelated and hybrid. They do not vary much related to individual characteristics, except for political attitudes but more so related to the size of their municipalities, year of local residency, and local political activities. Japan and Norway have also marked different profiles regarding the main perceptions of the citizens, reflecting major structural and cultural differences.     

Co-option,coercion and compromise: challenges of restorative justice in Victoria,Australia

Restorative justice (RJ) encompasses a widely diverging set of practices whereby those most affected by crime are encouraged to meet, to discuss the effects of harms caused by one party to another, and to agree upon the best possible redress of harms when appropriate. In its inception in the late 1970s, RJ was conceptualized and developed as an alternative to formal criminal justice practices. Since this time, however, RJ has largely moved from being an alternative to criminal justice practices to an ‘alternative’ practice within criminal justice systems. This institutionalization has resulted in the significant growth of RJ practices, but has also resulted in RJ being used for criminal justice system goals that are at odds with the needs of victims or offenders. This paper examines the use of the Youth Justice Group Conferencing Program in Victoria, Australia. Drawing from interviews with conference conveners, our research highlights problems related to administrative ‘constraints’ and ‘co-options’ in conferencing in terms of referrals, preparation of conference participants, and victim participation. Following presentation of findings, we conclude with a discussion of implications for the use of RJ within a highly institutionalized setting.     

Population data of six STR loci using hexaplex PCR amplification and typing system, "Midi-6" in four regional populations in Japan

The genetic differences of the allele frequency distributions for six STR loci (D20S480, D6S2439, D6S1056, D9S1118, D4S2639, and D17S1290) among regions in Japan were examined using our recently designed hexaplex amplification and typing system, "Midi-6" newly named, to construct a database in the Japanese population. Genotypes at six loci were analyzed in 198, 200, 175, and 196 individuals from the area of Akita, Nagoya, Oita, and Okinawa, respectively, in Japan. The allele frequency distributions were significantly different (p<0.05) at from one to five loci among the four populations when compared pairwise. Significant differences were also observed at two or three loci between Oita- or Okinawa-Japanese and the "pooled" population (n=769), respectively. However, since F(ST) (theta) values were extremely low (<0.05), ranging from 0.0020 to 0.0118 for six loci, genetic differentiation within the pooled Japanese population was negligible. Therefore, it suggested that the data of the allele frequencies at six loci in the pooled population would be employed as the base of calculation for statistical probabilities.     

Intellectual Property High Court of Japan denies registration of trade mark for market leading multi-million dollar beer product on non-distinctive grounds

The Intellectual Property High Court of Japan's (IPHCJ) recent Honnama trade mark decisionillustrates the difficulties of registering an inherently non-distinctivemark and the perils of relying on secondary meaning evidenceof use that is not identical with the mark in the trade markapplication.     

STR Genotyping from a Dry‐Cleaned Skirt in a Sexual Assault Case

In this sexual assault case, the standard preliminary semen examinations could not confirm physically or biochemically whether the accused's semen had stained the victim's skirt because the skirt had been dry‐cleaned for stain removal and had been worn for more than a year after the assault. Fortunately, however, a photograph taken just after the assault was found in the court records that showed white stains on the checkered skirt. The locations of the stains were estimated based on the checkered pattern of the fabric, and microscopic examination using Baecchi's staining revealed the presence of spermatozoa. Further analysis indicated the male DNA profile generated from the sperm cells was consistent with the suspect's DNA using three multiplex STR typing systems for a total of 21 autosomal and 17 Y chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs). Ultimately, the result of the DNA profile played a very useful role as additional evidence.     

Japan's future defense capability

The primary role of Japan's Self‐Defense Forces, says Atsumasa Yamamoto, is to safeguard the independence and liberty of Japan. He notes, however, that in the post‐Cold War world, the SDF must be prepared to play a supplemental role: to help Japan fulfill its international obligations to foster global and regional stability. Whether Japan's SDF will have the capability to perform these functions in the future is the focus of this study. Major Yamamoto was seconded to IIPS in 1993 from the Japan Defense Agency, where he is a member of the Intelligence Division in the Internal Bureau.     

3 fatalities after communal use of methamphetamine]

Two young men and a 17-year-old girl gathered in order to take methamphetamine, the quantity of which remained unknown. After a short time one of the men died on the scene; the other man, who was alcoholized in addition to having taken methamphetamine, fell over a railing from a height of several metres and suffered severe injuries before dying. The girl, who left for home by taxi, collapsed and died in a hospital about 2 hours later. Methamphetamine was detected in the blood of all three people. The autopsy results and the toxicological findings are reported and discussed with reference to the literature data.