渤海油田漏油事故法律问题分析

渤海油田漏油事故造成了极为严重的环境污染,对海洋生态环境、海洋资源均产生严重影响。在此事件中,海洋局并未及时主动公开这一突发性的环境污染事件,应依法承担相应的行政责任,而事故责任人应承担相应的民事责任,包括但不限于清理油污、赔偿海洋生态损害、渔业资源损害、渔民损失等,海洋局和渔业部门可代表国家对事故责任人提供环境民事公益诉讼。检察机关亦应追究事故责任人的刑事责任。     

Personal identification by the comparison of facial profiles: testing the reliability of a high-resolution 3D-2D comparison model

Identification from video surveillance systems is frequently requested in forensic practice. The "3D-2D" comparison has proven to be reliable in assessing identification but still requires standardization; this study concerns the validation of the 3D-2D profile comparison. The 3D models of the faces of five individuals were compared with photographs from the same subjects as well as from another 45 individuals. The difference in area and distance between maxima (glabella, tip of nose, fore point of upper and lower lips, pogonion) and minima points (selion, subnasale, stomion, suprapogonion) were measured. The highest difference in area between the 3D model and the 2D image was between 43 and 133 mm(2) in the five matches, always greater than 157 mm(2) in mismatches; the mean distance between the points was greater than 1.96 mm in mismatches, <1.9 mm in five matches (p < 0.05). These results indicate that this difference in areas may point toward a manner of distinguishing "correct" from "incorrect" matches.     

明朝初期“重典治吏”思想的意义及启示

“重典治吏”思想在朱明王朝立国执政的纲要中占据指导性位置,其“有法必依,执法必严”的核心理念贯穿于整个明初社会的恢复和发展阶段,客观上缓和了阶级矛盾,促进了社会经济的发展,符合广大民众肃腐惩贪的愿望。反思当下依然严峻的反腐败斗争形势,明初的“重典治吏”思想有助于我们从思想根源上摆脱特权思想的牵制与羁绊,进一步提高反腐制度的执行力,在强化惩处的同时兼施奖励,做到德治与法治并举。     

Interaction of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and methamphetamine during metabolism by in vitro human metabolic enzymes and in rats

Illicit amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) tablets commonly contain one or more active ingredients, which have hallucinogenic and/or stimulant effects. Because components such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and methamphetamine (MA) in ATS tablets have similar chemical structures, they could be metabolized by common metabolic enzymes. To investigate potential metabolic interactions of ATS tablet components, we studied the in vitro metabolism of MDMA and MA using human metabolic enzymes. MDMA and MA were mainly metabolized by cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) and mutually inhibited the production of their main metabolites. In vivo experiments were also performed using intravenous administration of MDMA, MA, or their mixture to rats. The plasma concentrations of MDMA and MA after co-administration were higher than those after administration of MDMA or MA alone. The results in this study imply that multiple components in ATS tablets can interact to mutually inhibit their metabolism and potentially enhance the toxicity of each component.     

Comparison of bulk and compound-specific δ13C isotope ratio analyses for the discrimination between cannabis samples

Five marijuana samples were compared using bulk isotope analysis compound-specific isotope ratio analysis of the extracted cannabinoids. Owing to the age of our cannabis samples, four of the five samples were compared using the isotope ratios of cannabinol (CBN), a stable degradation product of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Bulk δ(13)C isotope analysis discriminated between all five samples at the 95% confidence level. Compound-specific δ(13)C isotope analysis could not distinguish between one pair of the five samples at the 95% confidence level. All the measured cannabinoids showed significant depletion in (13)C relative to bulk isotope values; the isotope ratios for THC, CBN, and cannabidiol were on average 1.6‰, 1.7‰, and 2.2‰ more negative than the bulk values, respectively. A more detailed investigation needs to be conducted to assess the degree fractionation between the different cannabinoids, especially after aging.     

Effectiveness of comparison overlays generated with DentalPrint software in bite mark analysis

Validation studies of the new DentalPrint software were carried out with experimental bite marks in pigskin. The bite marks were digitally photographed according to the ABFO guidelines for evidence collection. Dental casts used in the experiment were scanned in 3D and 2D, and comparison overlays were generated using DentalPrint and Adobe Photoshop software, respectively. Digitized photographs of the experimental bite marks and the biting edges obtained in the overlays were compared by two different examiners to analyze the impact of training and experience with the two methods. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, sensitivity, specificity, and 95% confidence intervals for each cutoff point were calculated. The expert examiner using DentalPrint obtained the best results, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.76 (SE=0.057; CI at 95%=0.652-0.876). Fairly high specificity values were found for DentalPrint, and the best results were obtained for the cutoff value that discriminated between the examiner's response "biter" and the rest of the possible (specificity 97.9%, CI at 95%=93.2%-99.6%). Therefore, the results presented here indicate that DentalPrint is a useful, accurate tool for forensic purposes, although further research on the comparison process is needed to enhance the validity of bite mark analysis.     

Does Hyperthyroidism Increase Risk of Death Due to the Ingestion of Ecstasy?

Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a psychoactive amphetamine derivative widely used for recreational purposes. Deaths caused by acute drug intoxication with MDMA are rare but can often involve a severe hyperthermic episode. The factors underlying the increased risk of some ecstasy users to a fatal drug reaction are not known. We present a case report of a 24-year-old woman who developed fatal hyperthermia with multi-organ complications following MDMA use and was found at autopsy to have diffuse thyroid hyperplasia (Graves' disease). An antemortem blood MDMA concentration of 0.68 mg/L was measured in a sample obtained on admission to hospital. Although a cause and effect cannot be established, as the thyroid hormone is a major regulator of thermogenesis, we suggest that hyperthyroidism predisposed the subject to ecstasy-induced hyperthermia and that a pre-existing defect affecting temperature status could be one factor in explaining some ecstasy intoxication deaths.     

Bioinformatics and human identification in mass fatality incidents: the world trade center disaster

Victim identification initiatives undertaken in the wake of Mass Fatality Incidents (MFIs) where high-body fragmentation has been sustained are often dependent on DNA typing technologies to complete their mandate. The success of these endeavors is linked to the choice of DNA typing methods and the bioinformatic tools required to make the necessary associations. Several bioinformatic tools were developed to assist with the identification of the victims of the World Trade Center attacks, one of the most complex incidents to date. This report describes one of these tools, the Mass Disaster Kinship Analysis Program (MDKAP), a pair-wise comparison software designed to handle large numbers of complete or partial Short Tandem Repeats (STR) genotypes, and infer identity of, or biological relationships between tested samples. The software performs all functions required to take full advantage of the information content of processed genotypic data sets from large-scale MFIs, including the collapse of victims data sets, remains re-association, virtual genotype generation through gap-filling, parentage trio searching, and a consistency check of reported/inferred biological relationships within families. Although very few WTC victims were genetically related, the software can detect parentage trios from within a victim's genotype data set through a nontriangulated approach that screens all possible parentage trios. All software-inferred relationships from WTC data were confirmed by independent statistical analysis. With a 13 STR loci complement, a fortuitous parentage trio (FPT) involving nonrelated individuals was detected. Additional STR loci would be required to reduce the risk of an FPT going undetected in large-scale MFIs involving related individuals among the victims. Kinship analysis has proven successful in this incident but its continued success in larger scale MFIs is contingent on the use of a sufficient number of STR loci to reduce the risk of undetected FPTs, the use of mtDNA and Y-STRs to confirm parentage and of bioinformatics that can support large-scale comparative genotyping schemes capable of detecting parentage trios from within a group of related victims.     

Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: with high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation

The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases.     

Dynamischer Erhaltungsbegriff und Verbesserungspflicht des Vermieters im MRG

Im Bereich voller Anwendbarkeit des MRG hat der Vermieter für eine Erhaltung des Mietgegenstandes "im jeweils ortsüblichen Standard" zu sorgen. Der vorliegende Beitrag versucht, dem unbestimmten Gesetzesbegriff der Ortsüblichkeit anhand der bisherigen Rechtsprechung Konturen zu verleihen sowie Kriterien für die bisher unklare Abgrenzung zwischen dem dynamischen Erhaltungsbegriff des § 3 MRG und der Verbesserung nach § 4 MRG herauszuarbeiten.