Systemic Dissemination of Injected Foreign Material

A 32‐year‐old woman collapsed following an intravenous injection of material that included crushed pharmaceutical tablets. Resuscitation was attempted but was unsuccessful. She had an extensive past medical history of complications resulting from intravenous drug use. Death was due to mixed drug toxicity. The major findings at autopsy included a 10 mm deep skin sinus over the right femoral vein that was used as an injection site. Polarizable foreign material was present at the injection site and also within the lungs with a granulomatous reaction. Of note, a probe‐patent foramen ovale had permitted paradoxical embolization of this material into the systemic circulation with lodgement within the liver, portal lymph nodes, myocardium, spleen, kidneys, and pancreas. This case highlights the importance of checking for any intracardiac shunts, which may be quite small, and systemic dissemination of foreign material to multiple organs in intravenous drug users who present for medicolegal assessment.     

Body Transportation after Homicides: Offender and Offense Characteristics

Body transportation is defined as moving the body of the victim from the scene of a homicide to another location. We analyzed data on 513 South Korean homicide cases with convictions to compare 104 homicides involving the transportation of victims’ bodies with 409 homicides that did not. Offenders who transported their victims’ bodies were significantly younger and more likely to be related to the victims and were less likely to use sharp instruments and more likely to use blunt instruments or strangle the victims than offenders who did not. Victims of homicide involving body transportation were more likely to suffer injuries to the neck and head and less likely to suffer injuries to the torso. Finally, offenders who transported victims’ bodies were more likely to have planned the offense and destroyed evidence. The present findings have practical implications for police investigations.     

Informativeness of NGS Analysis for Vaginal Fluid Identification

The identification of vaginal fluids in forensic examinations plays an important role in crime scene reconstruction. Molecular detection of vaginal bacterial communities can lead to the correct discrimination of body fluids. These kinds of studies can be performed through multiplex real‐time PCR using primers for a specific selection of bacteria. The availability of next‐generation sequencing (NGS) protocols provided for the extension of the analysis to evaluate the prokaryotes present in specimens. In this study, DNA was extracted from 18 samples (vaginal, oral, fecal, yoghurt) and analyzed by real‐time PCR and NGS. The comparison between the two approaches has demonstrated that the information developed through NGS can augment the more conventional real‐time PCR detection of a few key bacterial species to provide a more probative result and the correct identification of vaginal fluid from samples that are more forensically challenged.     

国家紧急权宪法条款设计之若干核心问题探讨--以德国法为经验

在国家紧急权力发动的具体情形、由谁决定紧急状态的存在以及对紧急权力的监督等关于紧急权力宪法条款设计的要件规范、主体规范和保障规范三个核心问题上,德国从1919年的《威玛宪法》到1968年的《基本法》,经历了从概括条款之立法到列举条款之立法,从独任制之立法到合议制之立法,从监督能力欠缺之立法到监督能力维持之立法的转变。我国宪法修正案中的紧急权力条款则存在要件规范和监督规范之缺损和主体规范之空泛等缺陷。借鉴德国的立法经验,从要件规范、主体规范和保障规范等方面完善我国紧急权力宪法条款之设计。     

商事登记制度的立法完善

在我国市场经济发展的现阶段,法典意义上的"民商分立"既无可能,亦无必要。由于我国缺乏商法的传统,在商法明显的国际化与统一化的趋向下,制定《商事通则》亦是困难重重。在我国商事立法进程中,当务之急是制定一部统一的《商事登记法》。商事登记法作为商事立法的重要组成部分,体现着商法营利性的核心理念,应当以效率与安全作为立法的基本价值取向。同时在立法中应注意一些具体问题,如商事主体的确认,注册登记与营业登记的分离以及商事登记机关责任的强化等。     

论制宪权的概念--兼论中国历史上的几次立宪活动

制宪权是宪法制定和运行的前提 ,但传统制宪权理论并未准确揭示其权力属性、内涵和外延。根据制宪权的性质可以判定 :制宪权形成的条件包括国家政治统一、制宪过程民主、以立宪为直接目的等 ,而且制宪权的关键在“定”而非“制”,即制宪权作为一种权力的本质内涵在于能够使宪法产生规范效力。与此相适应 ,制宪权主体构成在体制上可分单一制和复合制两种 ,在具体形态上则更为复杂多样。     

Myocardial hypertrophy induces carotid body hyperplasia

The carotid bodies tend to enlarge after long-standing cardiopulmonary disease. Our objective was to investigate whether cardiac hypertrophy is associated with carotid body hyperplasia. Fifteen autopsy cases with combined left and right ventricular hypertrophy were examined and compared with two control groups (16 cases). The study involved a meticulous dissection of carotid bifurcations, thin serial sections, and morphometric analysis of carotid body volume and cell types (progenitor, dark, light, and sustentacular). There was a significant increase in sustentacular cells in all individuals with cardiac hypertrophy, which was not drug-induced, and accompanied by a similar increase in carotid body volume. Dark or light cell accumulation was detected focally and only in three instances. It appears that the generalized sustentacular cell hyperplasia is the result of long-standing hypoxia, while a superimposed focal prominence of dark or light cells may be proliferative or metaplastic in nature and attributed to short-term hypoxia.