Brain Fluid Content Related to Body Position and Postmortem Interval – An Animal Model

Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were euthanized and placed in a horizontal or vertical (head‐down) position at room temperature, after which brain fluid content was measured by a moisture analysis technique at variable time points. No significant difference in brain fluid content was observed between horizontal and vertical postmortem positions. A significant increase in brain fluid content was demonstrated 3, 6, and 24 h after death, with maximal fluid content observed at 24 h. Specifically, the brain fluid content of control animals was 77.79 ± 0.36%, increasing to 80.05 ± 0.22% at 24 h (p < 0.0001). This study has demonstrated no significant differences in brain fluid content related to postmortem position, suggesting that a head‐down position is not associated with increased brain fluid content or swelling. However, significant temporal increases in brain fluid content after death, most likely related to cerebral liquefaction, occur.     

Petechial Hemorrhages and Ethanol in Deaths from Intoxication

Petechiae in conjunctivae and in the palpebrae/skin of the eyelids are of particular interest for the forensic pathologist, because of their association with pressure on the neck. They have been described in the eyelids of intoxicated persons both in case reports and in text books of forensic pathology. We studied 590 deaths caused by intoxication, and 75 had petechiae either in the conjunctivae, the eyelids, or in both locations. We examined the influence of drugs and ethanol on the location of the petechial hemorrhages in these deaths. Deaths with ethanol in blood and in urine/vitreous humor more often had petechiae in both locations than those without. This association was statistically significant, independent of body position and livor mortis. No association between the location of petechiae, medicinal drugs, or narcotics was found. These results suggest that ethanol may contribute to the development of petechial hemorrhages in deaths from intoxication.     

Vertical Lip Position and Thickness in Facial Reconstruction: A Validation of Commonly Used Methods for Predicting the Position and Size of Lips

This study examined several methods used to estimate oral fissure position, lip margin position, and lip thickness recommended by Angel, George, Lebedinskaya, Taylor, Wilkinson et al., Balueva and Veselovskaya. A sample of 86 lateral head cephalograms of adult subjects from central Europe were measured and the actual and predicted dimensions were compared. The best estimation for oral fissure position was “opposite the lower ¾ mark of maxillary incisors” (error of 1.3 mm). Upper lip margin was predicted best by “upper ¼ mark of maxillary incisors” (error of 1.7 mm), and lower lip margin by “cementum‐enamel junction of mandibular incisors” (error of 2.3 mm). The regression equations of Wilkinson et al. displayed least error (1.3 mm and 1.8 mm, respectively) for upper and lower lip thickness, and method of George (error of 3.4 mm) for total lip thickness.     

宋慈《洗冤集录》产生的历史文化条件——纪念宋慈诞辰830周年

本文从历史、文化、地理、法律、个人等角度出发讨论宋慈及《洗冤集录》产生的条件。我国法医检验早期发展是宋慈及《洗冤集录》产生的历史条件,朱熹理学影响是宋慈及《洗冤集录》产生的文化条件,南宋建阳政治文化发展是宋慈及《洗冤集录》产生的地理条件,完善的南宋检验制度是宋慈及《洗冤集录》产生的法律条件,宋慈在《洗冤集录》中把个别的具体事例进行全体性、系统性综合是个人努力和总结的结果。因此,南宋时期出现宋慈及其《洗冤集录》是中华文化的一部分,是历史必然和文化传承至一定阶段的产物,更是中华文化结晶和法医文化遗产。     

Women’s age at last childbearing and its determinants: a case study of Antwerp (Flanders,Belgium) on the basis of the multi-source COR* historical sample

Declines in the age at last childbearing in the first demographic transition reflected conscious changes in fertility behaviour during that period, in particular efforts to limit the total number of children. Such fertility limitation behaviour was the net result of ‘cultural causal factors’ on the one hand and ‘structural and economic causal factors’ on the other hand. This paper analyses the evolution of women’s age at last childbearing by reconstructing women’s life histories based on data from the multi-source COR* historical sample for Antwerp in the period 1846–1920. The paper also assesses the causes of this evolution through a number of theoretically grounded structural/economic, cultural and life course determinants, placing these concepts in a macro-micro framework of methodological individualism. For this purpose, in the first place a Kaplan-Meier analysis is applied to 10-year birth cohorts; a proportional hazard model is also applied to three different birth cohorts (mothers born before 1840; born in the period 1840–1859; and born after 1860); and a range of cultural and life course determinants are analysed, including women’s literacy status, marriage witness characteristics, the seasonality of marriages and births, and birth histories. The analysis confirms the decline in the age at last childbearing especially in the late cohort, and also highlights inter-cohort differences caused by cultural and life course determinants.     

Marital fertility during the Korean demographic transition: child survival and birth spacing

In this paper, we examine marital fertility patterns during the demographic transition in Korea. The demographic transition was a fundamental transformation in human societies, and has been a key topic in demographic research. However, our understanding of the demographic transition in Korea is limited, largely due to a lack of adequate data. By using individual longitudinal data drawn from the population registers in a rural Korean village between 1920 and 1977, we attempt to contribute to this literature. We first discuss conceptual and data issues, and the historical context. We then test a key exposition of demographic transition theory: an improvement in child survival was a prerequisite for fertility decline. We find that: (1) an improvement in child survival was crucial for marital fertility changes across birth cohorts; (2) the relationship between child survival and marital fertility remained stable; (3) parity-specific fertility control emerged early and birth spacing became important later as ways of limiting marital fertility; and (4) the sex of the deceased offspring became important for marital fertility. The implications of these findings for the Korean demographic transition and future study topics are discussed.     

新闻内容的历史构成及其特征分析

不同历史时代、历史时期、历史阶段的社会变化内容和形式,总会清晰地或者模糊地留存在新闻的记忆当中。历史的轨迹就是新闻的轨迹。新闻图景与时代主体具有一致性,与一定的社会制度具有相适性,与一定社会拥有的新词媒介的数量、质量是高度相关的,与新闻媒介生态是直接相关的。     

陕甘宁边区的农村文艺建设及其历史启示

延安时期,陕甘宁边区政府高度重视农村文艺工作。边区农村文艺的繁荣,主要借助于专业艺术团体的文化下乡和发动农民自办群众性的文艺活动两种途径而展开。边区农村文艺建设的成功实践,为我们当前进行社会主义新农村文化建设提供了重要启示。     

坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域中的指导地位——读《德意志意识形态》有感

《德意志意识形态》是马克思意识形态学说创立的标志著作。但马克思主义是否是意识形态?如果是,那么与资本主义社会的意识形态又有何区别?这些问题时至今日仍为中外学界所关注。梳理马克思《德意志意识形态》一文中的意识形态学说内容,结合实践,证明马克思主义是科学的意识形态,在我国意识形态领域中居于指导地位。     

士人情怀与语词游戏——试论宋词的解构倾向

在特殊的历史文化语境下,宋代文人士大夫被激发出了空前的主体意识与进取精神。内忧外患的严峻现实,又使士人在进取意识之外又多了沉重的忧患意识,这种忧患感和压迫感需要士人自己去消解、去解构。词作为一种新兴的文体与话语建构形式,以其与传统截然相反的功名观与道德观,以及以艳、以俗为美的审美风貌,藉以语词游戏的方式一起解构着传统的价值观与话语模式,维持着士人人格与心理的平衡。