Application of Enhanced Point Estimators to a Sample of In Vivo CT‐derived Facial Soft Tissue Thicknesses

Facial approximations based on facial soft tissue depth measurement tables often utilize the arithmetic mean as a central tendency estimator. Stephan et al. (J Forensic Sci 2013;58:1439) suggest that the shorth and 75‐shormax statistics are better suited to describe the central tendency of non‐normal soft tissue depth data, while also accommodating normal distributions. The shorth, 75‐shormax, arithmetic mean, and other central tendency estimators were evaluated using a CT ‐derived facial soft tissue depth dataset. Differences between arithmetic mean and shorth mean for the tissue depths examined ranged from 0 mm to +2.3 mm (average 0.6 mm). Differences between the arithmetic mean plus one standard deviation (to approximate the same data points covered by the 75‐shormax) and 75‐shormax values ranged from ?0.8 mm to +0.7 mm (average 0.2 mm). The results of this research suggest that few practical differences exist across the central tendency point estimators for the evaluated soft tissue depth dataset.     

黄牛脑水通道蛋白4的表达及其对高原脑水肿的易感性

为了探讨黄牛对高原脑水肿的易感性,并为青藏高原养牛业提供参考,运用免疫组织化学SABC染色法并采用Image-Pro Plus 6.0软件,对成年黄牛大脑不同功能区水通道蛋白4(AQP4)的表达及分布特征进行了研究。结果显示,黄牛不同功能区脑组织中AQP4表达面积(S)和积分光密度(IOD)值的大小顺序为S扣带回>S中央前回>S丘脑>S尾状核,IOD扣带回>IOD中央前回>IOD丘脑>IOD尾状核,且扣带回和中央前回的S和IOD值均显著高于丘脑和尾状核(P<0.01)。结果证实,成年黄牛脑不同功能区、同功能区不同层及同功能区同层不同类型细胞对水的通透性及代谢功能存在较大差异,对脑水肿的易感性是不同的。     

Review of pathologic findings in remnant hearts following valve donation

The failure of medical examiners/coroners (ME/C) to allow heart valve donation is a major problem encountered by tissue agencies. Even though many ME/C favor tissue donation they remain responsible for determination of cause and manner of death. In 2001, the Jesse E. Edwards Registry of Cardiovascular Disease was approached by one of the nation's largest tissue procurement agencies (The American Red Cross--ARC) for the purpose of performing cardiovascular pathologic examinations following valve donation. The affiliation existed from October 2001 to January 2005. This study was undertaken to review all 593 postvalve recovery heart remnants received during that time period to tabulate the abnormalities identified and to determine whether donation interfered with the determination of cause of death. For each case, a preliminary cause of death was provided by the ARC. The decedent's body height and weight were also provided. Using the preliminary cause of death, the 593 cases were divided into natural and nonnatural manner of death groups. This division of the cases resulted in 106 cases placed in the natural manner of death group and 487 cases in the nonnatural manner of death group. For each case, all cardiac findings including significant conditions, additional findings, incidental findings, and congenital abnormalities were tabulated. Within the natural manner of death group, 15 cases had a noncardiac cause of death and 91 cases had a cause of death suspected to be cardiac related. In the 91 cases, a total of 132 significant cardiac findings were identified and there were six structurally normal hearts including two infants. In the nonnatural manner of death group, 214 significant cardiac findings were identified and 222 cases had a structurally normal heart. In both natural and nonnatural groups, the most common cardiac abnormality was atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Other frequently encountered conditions were also identified including 11 cases with acute angle of origin of a coronary artery (five cases natural group; six cases nonnatural group). An important feature of this review was the recognition of potentially inheritable conditions that were diagnosed in both natural and nonnatural manner of death groups. There were three cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (one natural; two nonnatural), three cases of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (one natural; two nonnatural), and one case of mitral valve prolapse (natural). In reviewing these cases, we did not feel that valve donation severely impaired cardiac pathologic examination. The benefits of cardiovascular pathologic examination by a cardiac pathologist include the identification of significant and incidental findings and recognition of potentially inheritable conditions.     

Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Heat on the PCR‐Amplification of Various Sized DNA Fragments Extracted from Sus Scrofa Molars*

Abstract: This study examined the effects of heat on the amplification of DNA from the dental pulp of Sus scrofa molars and investigated the protection afforded to the pulp tissue by the dental enamel, alveolar process, and soft tissue of the head. Segments of defleshed maxilla and mandible encasing the first molar (n = 60) were subject to a range of temperatures for 15 min. Dental pulps were retrieved. Amplifications using three‐primer and four‐primer multiplexes showed no degradation of the largest fragment following exposure to 450°C. Amplifications in the three‐primer multiplex (283 bp) were successful following exposure to 525°C in maxillary samples only. This study revealed the enamel density of maxillary molars to be greater than mandibular molars in Sus scrofa. Following incineration of intact heads for 15 min (n = 10) and 1 h (n = 4) at an average temperature of 625°C, amplifications of the largest fragment (450 bp) were successful from both maxillary and mandibular teeth.     

中华鳖TLR2部分序列的克隆及其组织表达差异分析

为探究中华鳖天然免疫的分子机制,针对TLR2(Toll-like receptor 2)保守区设计兼并引物,从中华鳖脾cDNA中扩增出了740bp的目标序列。测序和序列分析结果表明,该序列包含富含半胱氨酸型C端结构域、跨膜结构域和TIR结构域;与斑马鱼、鸡等脊椎动物相应的TLR2序列相似性为60.5%～74.4%。采用荧光定量PCR检测中华鳖感染嗜水气单胞菌后各组织TLR2mRNA表达的变化,结果显示,感染后第24小时,中华鳖脾和外周血TLR2mRNA相对表达水平升高,其中外周血中的增幅最显著,是对照组的8.57倍;中华鳖外周血经4μg/mL酵母聚糖刺激后,第2小时TLR2mRNA相对表达水平较高。首次获得了中华鳖TLR2部分cDNA序列,并分析了不同刺激物对中华鳖TLR2mRNA转录的影响。     

Pronasale Position: An Appraisal of Two Recently Proposed Methods for Predicting Nasal Projection in Facial Reconstruction

This study examines two recently proposed methods for predicting nose projection from the skull, those developed by Stephan et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 122, 2003, 240) and Rynn et al. (Forensic Sci Med Pathol 6, 2010, 20). A sample of 86 lateral head cephalograms of adult subjects from Central Europe was measured, and the actual and predicted dimensions were compared. Regarding nose projection (the anterior and vertical position of the pronasale), in general, the method of Rynn et al. (Forensic Sci Med Pathol 6, 2010, 20) was found to perform better and with less error variance than the method of Stephan et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 122, 2003, 240), but the mean difference between the actual and predicted values did not exceed 2.2 mm (6.5% of the actual dimension) in most of the variables tested. The vertical dimensions of the nose were predictable with greater accuracy than the horizontal dimensions. Although the mean error of both methods is not great in practice and thus both methods could be considered to be “accurate,” the real variance of error should not be overlooked.     

FACE‐R—A 3D Database of 400 Living Individuals' Full Head CT‐ and Face Scans and Preliminary GMM Analysis for Craniofacial Reconstruction

In the past, improvements in craniofacial reconstructions (CFR) methodology languished due to the lack of adequate 3D databases that were sufficiently large and appropriate for 3‐dimensional shape statistics. In our study, we created the “FACE‐R” database from CT records and 3D surface scans of 400 clinical patients from Hungary, providing a significantly larger sample that was available before. The uniqueness of our database is linking of two data types that makes possible to investigate the bone and skin surface of the same individual, in upright position, thus eliminating many of the gravitational effects on the face during CT scanning. We performed a preliminary geometric morphometric (GMM) study using 3D data that produces a general idea of skull and face shape correlations. The vertical position of the tip of the (soft) nose for a skull and landmarks such as rhinion need to be taken into account. Likewise, the anterior nasal spine appears to exert some influence in this regard.     

死亡大鼠看家基因mRNA时序性降解的组织差异性研究

目的研究死亡大鼠看家基因mRNA时序性降解的组织差异性,评价其用于死亡时间推断的价值。方法SD大鼠20只分为死后0、1、3、5、7d共5组,脊椎脱臼法处死大鼠,提取大鼠心、肝、脾、肺、肾、脑组织,在相应时间段提取RNA,应用一步法RT-PCR技术检测各组织中看家基因GAPDHmRNA和β-actinmRNA的水平,Vilber凝胶图像分析系统测定扩增产物IOD值,SPSS10．0统计软件对数据进行方差分析。结果GAPDHmRNA、β—actinmRNA扩增产物相对灰度与积分光密度值随死后经过时间的延长而逐渐减小,且与死亡时间显著相关,大鼠脾脏和脑组织GAPDHmRNA和β-actinmRNA在死后5d内可检出,心脏和肾脏在死后3d内可检出,而肝脏和肺脏GAPDHmRNA和β-actin mRNA降解较快,仅在死后1d内可检出。结论脑组织和脾脏中mRNA稳定性较好,适用于PMI特别是晚期PMI的推断。除环境温度外,环境湿度也是死亡时间推断中的重要影响因素。     

益母草碱油包油微乳在小鼠体内组织分布研究

目的 探讨益母草碱油包油微乳剂和益母草碱混悬剂在动物体内药物代谢动力学特征和组织靶向性。方法 采用高效液相色谱法测定小鼠血浆与组织中益母草碱浓度,计算药物代谢动力学参数。结果 与混悬剂比较,益母草碱微乳剂在体内平均滞留时间提高了7 h,其相对生物利用度为550.684%;益母草碱微乳剂AUC(0→∞)在小鼠各组织的分布整体提高到混悬组的3.626~26.265倍;益母草碱微乳剂在心、肺和脑组织的靶向指标分别为1.044、1.335和4.772。结论 益母草碱油包油微乳提高了生物利用度,对脑组织具有较好的趋向性分布。     

参七虫草胶囊对肺纤维化大鼠肺组织基质金属蛋白酶-9及基质金属蛋白酶抑制剂-1表达的影响

目的 探究参七虫草胶囊治疗肺纤维化的机制。方法 将80只雄性SD大鼠随机分成空白组、模型组、泼尼松组、参七虫草胶囊组,每组20只。采用博莱霉素气管内滴注法复制肺纤维化模型。给药后15、30 d,分别观察各组大鼠肺组织病理变化,并采用免疫组织化学方法检测肺组织中基质金属蛋白酶-9（matrix metalloproteinases-9,MMP-9)和基质金属蛋白酶抑制剂-1（issue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1,TIMP-1）的表达水平。结果 与模型组比较,参七虫草胶囊组、泼尼松组大鼠各时点肺泡炎性反应和肺纤维化程度明显减轻,各时点泼尼松组、参七虫草胶囊组肺组织MMP-9、TIMP-1表达水平显著降低（P<0.05,或P<0.01）。结论 参七虫草胶囊抑制肺纤维化早期肺泡的炎性反应与其降低肺组织MMP-9、TIMP-1表达水平有关。