Determination of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Postmortem Samples in Ectopic Pregnancies

Increased human chorionic gonadotropin levels (HCG) can be detected in femoral blood, bile, and vitreous humor collected during autopsy of pregnant women using a standard kit designed for living patients. In the study herein, the concentrations of HCG were measured in postmortem serum, vitreous, bile, cerebrospinal, and pericardial fluids in 4 cases of fatal ectopic pregnancy and 40 controls using a quantitative electrochemiluminescence immunoassay designed for living patients. No false‐negative cases were identified in any of the analyzed samples in any of the ectopic pregnancy cases. No correlations were found between total HCG levels in postmortem serum and the other tested specimens. The results of this study would suggest that higher HCG in bile, vitreous, pericardial, and cerebrospinal fluids may confirm the existence of ectopic pregnancy and therefore identify other situations in which this hormone is increased, although gestational age cannot be reliably estimated using these values.     

Detection and visualization of human tears using alternate light sources for forensic purposes

The current scientific techniques for locating body fluids focus on quick and effective methodologies for easy and reliable identification. Efficient detection and identification of body fluids play a vital role in establishing the ‘corpus delecti’ of a crime. Non-destructive techniques such as the use of Alternate Light Sources (ALS) have been exploited for crime scene searches over large areas and detection of body fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and saliva on a range of substrates. Tears are rarely found but can be considered as potential body fluid evidence due to their unique biochemical and molecular properties. Tears are secreted in response to physical or emotional stimuli. Due to the small volume of secretions, they are often overlooked in the crime scene. Tears may be found on surfaces such as clothing, bedding, tissue, handkerchief, or balaclava. The use of ALS to locate tears on tissue paper and fabric surfaces was tested which were not apparent to the naked eye. Tears stains were successfully detected on surfaces of forensic interest with varying sample ages up to three months with a broad excitation spectrum between 254 nm and 410 nm. Dried stains on tissue paper and fabric substrates were better detected with sharp margins, clear stain pattern visibility, and fluorescence intensity in comparison with moist and fresh stains. Tears stains can hence be detected with the use of ALS and suitable filter combinations under normal conditions and do not require any specific settings to locate them. These findings are suggestive for easy and quick identification of tears on large surfaces and as a presumptive test for forensic casework evidence examination.     

Unsettling Narratives: Overcoming Prejudices in the Hostel Stories Project

ABSTRACT

In 1988, Jock Collins boldly suggested that Australia’s earlier migrant arrivals, the subject of prejudice themselves, often become the perpetrators of prejudice. Indeed, as we collect oral histories from post-war migrants, we are regularly confronted with angry statements such as “asylum seekers are just let in and given everything”. What lies at the heart of this phenomenon? Clearly, prejudice and stereotyping exists in all societies but seems to be particularly evident in societies where an ongoing flow of migrants continues to change and alter the ethnic and racial mix. This article reflects upon research conducted in the Hostel Stories project, where we frequently were confronted with stereotyped, prejudicial, and even racist comments about other migrants and refugees during interviews with migrants. These statements made us ask whether Collins was correct in his observations. Drawing on the literature from various disciplines, we consider various influences on migrant attitudes towards other migrants. We propose that it is critical to continue to progress beyond the conventional topics explored in migration studies and ask difficult questions in order to contribute to a growing global discussion on ethnicity and intergroup relations, especially in relation to prejudice and racism.     

Postmortem Distribution of 3‐Beta‐Hydroxybutyrate

The concentrations of 3‐beta‐hydroxybutyrate (3HB) in femoral blood, urine, vitreous humor as well as pericardial and cerebrospinal fluids were retrospectively examined in a series of medico‐legal autopsies, which included cases of diabetic ketoacidosis, hypothermia fatalities without ethanol in blood, bodies presenting mild decompositional changes, and sudden deaths in chronic alcoholics. Similar increases in 3HB concentrations were observed in blood, vitreous, and pericardial fluid, irrespective of the cause of death, suggesting that pericardial fluid and vitreous can both be used as alternatives to blood for postmortem 3HB determination. Urine 3HB levels were higher than blood values in most cases. Cerebrospinal fluid 3HB levels were generally lower than concentrations in blood and proved to be diagnostic of underlying metabolic disturbances only when significant increases occurred.     

Application of Volume‐of‐Fluid Method to Analyze the Viscosity Effect on the Spine Formation of Bloodstains

In bloodstain pattern analysis, the blood droplet volume and surface impact velocity play an important role, and many related experimental studies have been carried out. If an appropriate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that could solve bloodstain patterns, especially spine formation bloodstain patterns, can be obtained, the blood droplet volume and impact speeds at various crime scenes can be predicted more accurately. For this purpose, Flow‐3D software using the volume‐of‐fluid method was applied to analyze the behavior of human blood droplets during an impact event, especially focusing on the viscous effect on splashing, which forms the spine which can be used to predict the impact velocity. To obtain a non‐Newtonian viscosity model of blood for a computational fluid dynamic analysis, the venous blood samples of 163 people were tested using a hemorheology instrument. Among the venous blood samples of 163 people, 37 samples for which all blood test results were in a normal range were selected for the non‐Newtonian viscosity modeling. From the CFD analysis, it could be concluded that a non‐Newtonian viscosity model is more appropriate than a constant viscosity model for predicting splashing that forms the spine. The gradient of the non‐Newtonian model at a high shear rate has more of an effect on spine formation than that at a low shear rate. The lowest viscosity with a high velocity at the outer front of the radiating flow plays an important role in forming the splashing pattern.     

(Re)inventing African oral traditions and national heritage(s) through film images: The case of Keita! The Heritage of the Griot [1995] and Kare Kare Zvako: Mother's Day [2004]

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to explore how African films such as Keita! The Heritage of the Griot and Kare Kare Zvako: Mother's Day reinvent oral traditions on-screen, so that the traditions are revitalised and given new life in a contemporary world where visual and literary narratives have tended to dominate the collection and dissemination of information. The ontological and cosmological dimensions of African oral traditions provide the cultural humus that continues to feed the narrative structures of most African films. It is argued that the films' conscious refusal to be totally submerged in European modernism or their capacity to merge some traditional aspects with modern values is what constructs the multiple subjectivities that most African filmmakers strive to bring out. By using oral narrative structures embedded in songs, storytelling, myths, legends, poems, riddles, anecdotes and proverbs, the selected African films recreate traditions and heritage; they help to preserve African values that face a Western onslaught, promoted through European languages. Oral narratives carry a freight of cultural meanings infused in different modes of expression, while articulating the philosophies and beliefs of African people. It is important to recognise and [re]discover the critical role played by oral narratives in order to understand the epistemologies and ontologies that inform the construction of African films. A study of this nature is critical in that it builds on the existing indigenous knowledge systems embedded in orature (oral literature) that remain threatened by European cultural imperialism, which is promoted through the Hollywood film paradigm.     

Memories of ethnic cleansing and the local Iron Curtain in the Czech–German borderlands

The Czech–German borderlands are an archetypal European border region. They evoke not only Cold War histories, but also shelter layers of European memories of the ethnic reshaping of early post-war Europe. By means of life story interviews with German speakers of the border region, this article analyzes the symbolic meaning of and the individual dealing with the local Iron Curtain. It will shed light on the biographical and narrative interconnectedness of experiences of ethnic cleansing in the early post-war period and retrospective perceptions of the Iron Curtain in these borderlands. In particular, it inquires whether and to what extent the local Iron Curtain intensified fractures caused by the region's post-and pre-war attempts to halt the multiethnic composition of the border communities. The article suggests that the local Czech–German Iron Curtain would have never endured as strongly if the border communities' common identity had not already been severely damaged in the course of the region's traumatic history and forced population transfers.     

人体不同体液内PSA含量及其法医学意义

目的检测人体不同体液内前列腺特异抗原(PSA)含量,探讨其法医学价值。方法收集成年人(19～63岁)晨尿40份(男28份、女12份)、血液58份(男45份、女13份)、唾液25份(男14份、女11份);青少年(10～15岁)男性晨尿205份;哺乳期(25～31岁)女性乳汁9份;使用Cobas e411型全自动电化学发光免疫分析系统及T-PSA定量测定试剂盒,检测各样本T-PSA含量;分析不同体液及不同年龄青少年男性尿液PSA含量差异。结果除男、女性唾液外,其它样本均可检测到PSA,其中成年男性尿液含量最高,与其它体液比较具有显著性差异(P<0.000 1);青少年男性各年龄组尿液PSA含量随年龄逐年增高,11岁及以下年龄组含量不足1ng/mL,14岁及以上年龄组可超过1 000ng/mL。结论前列腺发育成熟的男性尿液PSA含量较高,在进行精液斑的法医学检验时应给予充分注意。     

大学英语课堂口语学习环境的感知及其与口语自我效能感相关性研究

本文通过调查我校学生对大学英语课堂口语学习环境的感知及其与口语自我效能感的关系,结果发现：（1） 多数学生对口语学习环境各维度认知较积极;（2） 学生对于口语学习环境的感知在性别和口语流利程度层面上存在显著性差异;（3） 口语学习环境的六个维度与口语自我效能感呈显著正相关,其中课堂参与和学生亲和是口语自我效能感的两个预测变量。由此提出对大学英语课堂教学的五点建议。     

大学英语教学改革的创新尝试——来自开展“英语寝室”活动的实践报告

"英语寝室活动与课堂教学互动"(Interaction between English Dormitory and Class-teaching)的改革创新,在实现多维互动教学模式、探索培养学生口语能力新途径的过程中迈出了坚实可喜的一步。本文将重点介绍这项改革的实施过程及取得的阶段性成果,并从第二语言习得理论和实践两方面阐述改革的重要意义,最后针对性地提出一些建议。