Biparietal Thinning: Accidental Death by a Fall from Standing Height

Biparietal thinning resulting in bilateral and symmetrical resorption and loss of thickness of the parietal bones is an uncommon to rare condition in the anthropological and clinical literature. This enigmatic condition of unknown etiology was first reported in the 18th century and has been variously described as a nonmetric trait, anatomical variant, anomaly, and pathology. Biparietal thinning presents grossly and radiographically as oval‐shaped depressions in 0.25–0.8% and 0.4–0.5% of individuals and with a higher frequency in females over the age of 60 years. A review of the literature revealed only one example of cranial trauma associated with biparietal thinning and none of fatal trauma associated with this condition. This case reports a rare example of fatal trauma in an elderly man that resulted from a backward fall from a standing height and highlights the increased risk of craniocerebral trauma in individuals with this condition.     

Victim participation in criminal trials in Japan

Since 2000, the Japanese Code of Criminal Procedure has been revised twice to introduce into criminal trials two systems of victim participation: the Victim’s Statement of Opinion (VSO) and the Victim Participation System. This study addresses the impact of those systems on decision-making in criminal trials, with special focus on the impact on sentencing. Following a literature review are the early findings from my psychological experiment which focuses on sentencing by lay judges. The results indicate that information concerning crime victims does have an impact on sentencing, but it is immaterial whether or not the information is submitted through recently introduced systems. Evaluations of those systems from the perspectives of crime victims also indicate that they tend to evaluate at least the VSO positively, regardless of the statements’ perceived lack of impact on the outcome.     

Detection of the calcium antagonist nicardipine and its metabolites by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

An 89-year-old male patient, hospitalized with Parkinson's syndrome, suddenly died shortly after an intravenous drug injection. The conditions indicated that an overdose of nicardipine (1.3 mg/(mlkg)) may be given to the patient. At the autopsy, no pathological changes were noted. With a capillary gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer (GC-MS), nicardipine (4.97 microg/ml) and its pyridine metabolite (M-5, 5.0 microg/ml) were detected in the heart blood of the deceased. This result indicated that an overdose of intravenous nicardipine caused a sudden death of a patient in a poor condition.     

Japan’s position in international climate policy: navigating between Kyoto and the APP

The emergence of technology-oriented agreements such as the 2005 Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) may have significant implications for the future of global climate governance, as these agreements could be perceived as an alternative for the existing international climate regime. It is, therefore, important to examine what has moved countries to be involved in these agreements alongside the UN climate regime. This article seeks to identify possible factors contributing to Japan’s participation in both the UN climate regime and the APP, looking at the position of domestic interest groups, the distribution of climate policy-making at the government level and varying international pressures. It concludes that Japan’s participation in both the APP and the UN climate regime flows from a policy-making process that tries to accommodate conflicting viewpoints at the domestic and international levels. To what extent Japan’s participation in both fora can be regarded as constructive will depend on the partnership’s ability to support the implementation of a future climate regime.

A gastric artery aneurysm complicated by a dissection of gastric and hepatic arteries: possible role of adventitial inflammation and disruption of internal elastic lamina in splanchnic artery dissection

A 77-year-old woman was found deceased at home. An autopsy examination revealed a hemoperitoneum due to a ruptured false aneurysm of a branch of the left gastric artery. A long dissection extending from the aneurysm involved splanchnic arteries including the left gastric, common hepatic, right and left branches of proper hepatic, and intrahepatic arteries. An intimal tear was identified in the common hepatic artery. Neutrophils infiltrating in the adventitia may have been reactive and may have triggered the adventitial rupture of aneurysm or development of the dissection. Disruption of the internal elastic lamina, which has been proposed to cause dissection of intracranial arteries, was seen in the dissected arteries. Little is currently known about aneurysms or dissections of splanchnic arteries; however, observation of adventitial inflammation and internal elastic lamina may help disclose the etiology and pathogenesis.     

Override propensity in the US congress: veto challenge and override vote by the two chambers

In contrast to the study of the US presidential veto, the study of the congressional override of vetoes has been scarce. This study examines the influences of partisanship in Congress, presidential popularity, presidential legislative assertiveness and the chamber in which a bill originated. By using the logit model, the article examines the models of House veto challenge, Senate veto challenge, House vote for override and Senate vote for override. The study shows substantial influences of the presidential party's margin, the cameral origin of a bill and the president's legislative assertiveness on the veto challenges by the two chambers. However, none of the variables are significant in the models of override vote. This may suggest fragmented decision-making in Congress after it decides to challenge a veto.     

Autopsy and genetic diagnosis of 21-hydroxylase deficiency with bilateral testicular tumors in a case under no medication for over one year

The autopsy findings of an adult patient with 21-hydroxylase deficiency are presented. Genetic analysis of the 21-hydroxylase gene (CYP21A2) was performed for accurate diagnosis of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), and bilateral testicular tumors were characterized. We report a 29-year-old Japanese man who was diagnosed with CAH (21-hydroxylase deficiency) in infancy and had continued steroid therapy until the age of 28. However, for more than one year, he had not been treated for CAH and was found dead. In the medico-legal autopsy findings, both adrenal glands were enlarged, and hypertrophy of adrenal cortices and bilateral testicular tumors positive for melan-A were observed. Genomic DNA was prepared from cervical lymph nodes collected during autopsy, and CYP21A2 was PCR amplified and sequenced directly using newly designed primers. From the morphological findings, the bilateral testicular tumors were considered to be adrenogenital syndrome (TTAGS). Through the whole sequence of CYP21A2, the intron 2 splice mutation (656)A to (656)G was found. TTAGS were thought to be adrenal rests enlarged by ACTH stimulus. From the autopsy findings and the result of genetic analysis, he was diagnosed with the salt-wasting form of 21-hydroxylase deficiency and his cause of death was presumed to be heart failure based on abnormal electrolytes.     

Systematic,Political, and Socioeconomic Influences on Educational Spending in the American States1

For decades, scholars have debated the relative explanatory power of economic and political factors in determining policy outputs. In addition, I introduce a new concept, “systematic determinants,” which includes incrementalism and proportionalism. Policy spending is likely to change only marginally, or incrementally, from previous spending levels. Also, the relative sizes of policy programs in a government are likely to remain similar, or proportional. In my study of the elementary and secondary educational spending by the state governments of the United States in 2000, I found that the systematic determinants, such as incrementalism and proportionalism, have a greater influence on the educational spending. Also, my finding shows that Democratic‐majority legislative chambers are likely to increase educational spending.