Sudden, unexpected death due to massive, nontraumatic intra-abdominal hemorrhage in association with cirrhosis of the liver

Hemoperitoneum is usually due to rupture, laceration, or perforation of a blood vessel or organ. The author describes three deaths due to massive intra-abdominal hemorrhage, all in alcoholics with cirrhosis of the liver, in which no source for the bleeding was found. One of the three individuals, who was briefly hospitalized, showed evidence of a disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC). In the author's opinion, this is the most likely cause of the intra-abdominal hemorrhage in the two other cases and is related to the cirrhosis of the liver.     

The administrative legacy of ancient India

Marx and Weber considered ancient Asian bureaucracies as irrelevant for the modern world. But one important element of the Indian bureaucratic legacy namely, the district overlord or collector, was taken over by the British and instituted all over their Asian and African possessions. It still forms the foundation of field administration in all these countries after independence. This paper traces the textual origins of centralized Indian bureaucracy in Kautilya's Arthasastra, its dilution over the centuries due to the failure of imperial integration in India, compared to its success in China and the survival of the district overlord institution which the British resuscitated and modernized. The paper also speculates about the reasons for the failure of Marx and Weber to interpret or predict Indian development.     

A novel histological technique for distinguishing between epithelial cells in forensic casework

There are a number of forensic cases in which the identification of the epithelial cell type from which DNA originated would provide important probative evidence. This study aimed to develop a technique using histological staining of fixed cells to distinguish between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelium. First, 11 different stains were screened on formalin-fixed, wax-embedded cells from five women. Samples were analysed qualitatively by examining staining patterns (colour) and morphology (absence or presence of nuclei). Three of the staining methods – Dane's, Csaba's and Ayoub-Shklar – were successful in distinguishing skin epithelial cells from buccal and vaginal. Second, cells were smeared directly onto slides, fixed with one of five fixatives and stained with one of the three stains mentioned above. Methanol fixation, coupled with the Dane's staining method, specific to keratin, was the only technique that distinguished between all three cell types. Skin cells stained magenta, red and orange and lacked nuclei; buccal cells stained predominantly orange–pink with red nuclei; while vaginal cells stained bright orange with orange nuclei and a blue extracellular hue. This staining pattern in vaginal cells was consistent in samples collected from 50 women aged between 18 and 67. Identification of cell type from unlabelled micrographs by 10 trained observers showed a mean success rate of 95%. The results of this study demonstrate that histological staining may provide forensic scientists with a technique for distinguishing between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelial cells and thus would enable more conclusive analyses when investigating sexual assault cases.     

THE FIFTH WORLD CONGRESS ON FAMILY LAW AND THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Editor's note on the 5^th World Congress on Family Law and Children's Rights held in Halifax Nova Scotia, August 23–26, 2009     

俄中美三角中的俄罗斯东部地区

21世纪初西伯利亚和远东的地理政治与地理经济作用正逐渐增长,太平洋地区国家对该地区的兴趣和关注也在飞速增长.莫斯科、北京和华盛顿在广袤的西伯利亚和远东的利益将如何部署,这种部署会建立在合作的基础之上还是会成为引发各种冲突表现的主要原因?它将怎样影响在太平洋地区和全世界的国际关系?一种关于"俄中美三角关系"在西伯利亚和远东广大地区相互作用之前景的观点得出了关于潜在冲突的结论,这种潜在的冲突埋伏在三方态度和利益的差异上.在太平洋地区潜在的国家利益和全球及地区力量分配的改变可能会给三方利益和立场的确定带来调整.