Immunohistochemical study of basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor expression for age determination of cutaneous wounds

The authors investigated the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) during skin wound healing using immunohistochemical techniques. After a full-thickness incision was made on the dorsal skin, mice were killed 0.5, 1, 3, 8, 24, 72, 144, or 240 hours after incision, and the wound was excised. To evaluate the influences of postmortem degeneration, cutaneous wound excision was performed 1 to 5 days after the mice were killed. The excised wounds were stained by the conventional streptoavidin-biotinylated peroxidase complex method, using specific antibodies, and the ratio of the number of positive cells to total cells was determined. Expression of bFGF was detected in the nuclei of epidermal cells and fibroblasts in the early 0.5- to 1-hour phases and the late 24- to 144-hour phases. Expression of VEGF was detected in the cytoplasm of epidermal cells in the 24- to 144-hour phases. Immunoreactivity of both cytokines was detected 1 day post mortem and was especially well preserved in the fibroblasts. Time-dependent expression of both factors suggested that they would be useful markers for the determination of wound age. However, bFGF should be superior to VEGF because of its earlier expression and because of its more persistent expression in dermal fibroblasts with increasing postmortem interval.     

Evidence of hexavalent chromium ingestion

We describe the application of histochemical demonstration of chromium in a case of fatal ingestion of potassium dichromate in a suicide attempt. Using 2-(8-quinolylazo)-4,5-di-p-tolylimidazole (QTI), we could demonstrate chromium in the erythrocyte of the victim, in situ. This finding provides a means of proving the hexavalent chromium ingestion.     

A fatal case of oral ingestion of toluene

A 51-year-old male ingested orally a large quantity of toluene and died about 30 min later. The presence of toluene in body fluids and tissues was confirmed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Tissue distribution of toluene showed that the liver detected the highest content of toluene (433.5 micrograms/g), except for the stomach contents, followed by pancreas (88.2 micrograms/g), brain (85.3 micrograms/g), heart (62.6 micrograms/g), blood (27.6 micrograms/g), fat (12.2 micrograms/g) and finally cerebrospinal fluid (11.1 micrograms/g).     

Frequencies of salivary genetic marker systems in the Japanese population and their application to forensic medicine

Seven salivary polymorphic systems were studied using whole and parotid saliva from random Japanese individuals. The gene frequencies obtained were: Pa⁺ = 0.212, Pb¹ = 1.000, Pb² = 0, Pr¹ = 0.763, Pr² = 0.237, Db⁺ = 0.051, Pm⁺ = 0.409, Ph⁺ = 0.026 and Amy₁^v = 0.013, respectively. Based on these gene frequencies, the chances for exclusion of falsely alleged fathers were calculated. The chance of exclusion on the basis of five salivary polymorphic systems was 0.305. The combined chance of exclusion utilizing only blood, serum and red-cell enzyme polymorphic systems among the Japanese population was 0.919; however, by applying salivary polymorphic systems to the calculation, the total exclusion rose to 0.944.     

An autopsy case of imipramine poisoning

We present a fatal imipramine poisoning. Quantitative analysis of imipramine and its metabolite, desipramine, was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The concentrations of imipramine and desipramine were 18.67 microg/mL and 6.21 microg/mL in heart blood and 6.90 microg/mL and 1.77 microg/mL in the femoral venous blood, respectively. We concluded that the cause of death was due to imipramine poisoning.     

Feelings of Connectedness and Internalization of Values in Asian American Adolescents

This study is an attempt to examine a possible mechanism for the high academic achievements of Asian Americans by comparing the quality of experience of Asian American and Caucasian American adolescents. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) was used to record subjective experiences. Subjects were 34 Asian American and 392 Caucasian American adolescents in the sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. The ESM analyses revealed interesting differences between the two groups in their psychological functioning. The levels of Asian Americans' perceived importance of activities to future goals and happiness, enjoyment, self-esteem, and activeness covaried more positively and strongly, as compared to those of Caucasian American adolescents. The physical presence of others also affected the quality of experience of Asian American adolescents more strongly and more positively than that of Caucasian American adolescents. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of Asian adolescents' readiness for internalization of cultural values, which may promote academic excellence.     

Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activation by administration of cyanamide: a potent inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase

In this report, we investigated the effects of cyanamide (a potent inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH: EC 1.2.1.3)) on hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA)-axis using in situ hybridization histochemistry and radioimmunoassay. Cyanamide administration resulted in a dose-dependent increase in plasma corticosterone concentrations, significant increases in not only corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) mRNA, but also arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA in the anterior pituitary. These results suggest that cyanamide is able to activate the HPA axis at all levels of the axis.     

The applicability of holography in forensic identification: a fusion of the traditional optical technique and digital technique

In this study, the applicability of holography in the 3-dimensional recording of forensic objects such as skulls and mandibulae, and the accuracy of the reconstructed 3-D images, were examined. The virtual holographic image, which records the 3-dimensional data of the original object, is visually observed on the other side of the holographic plate, and reproduces the 3-dimensional shape of the object well. Another type of holographic image, the real image, is focused on a frosted glass screen, and cross-sectional images of the object can be observed. When measuring the distances between anatomical reference points using an image-processing software, the average deviations in the holographic images as compared to the actual objects were less than 0.1 mm. Therefore, holography could be useful as a 3-dimensional recording method of forensic objects. Two superimposition systems using holographic images were examined. In the 2D-3D system, the transparent virtual holographic image of an object is directly superimposed onto the digitized photograph of the same object on the LCD monitor. On the other hand, in the video system, the holographic image captured by the CCD camera is superimposed onto the digitized photographic image using a personal computer. We found that the discrepancy between the outlines of the superimposed holographic and photographic dental images using the video system was smaller than that using the 2D-3D system. Holography seemed to perform comparably to the computer graphic system; however, a fusion with the digital technique would expand the utility of holography in superimposition.     

A fatal case of amniotic fluid embolism with elevation of serum mast cell tryptase

A case of a 40-year-old female who died of amniotic fluid embolism is presented. This case showed typical histological findings of this syndrome. Postmortem serum of this case showed an elevated tryptase level (67.2ng/ml, normal levels <10ng/ml). Tryptase is a neutral protease of mast cells, and an important indicator of mast cell activation and degranulation. Thus, mast cell activation, a central feature of anaphylaxis, may have been involved in the pathogenetic mechanism of this case.     

Blood carbofuran concentrations in suicidal ingestion cases

We describe four fatal cases due to ingestion of carbofuran, a carbamate insecticide. Carbofuran was detected in the gastric contents using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrophotometry (GC/MS), and quantified in the blood using a gas chromatograph equipped with nitrogen-phosphorus detector (NPD). Fatal concentrations of carbofuran in blood ranged from 0.32 to 11.6 microg/ml.