Dissecting intramural haematoma of the coronary artery with intimal tears.

A dissecting intramural haematoma of the coronary artery is an infrequent cause of sudden and unexpected death. Most cases are women and in a significant number of these women, the haematoma occurred at term to 80 days postpartum. Because the intimal rupture and communication with the lumen were not found in most of the cases, the site of rupture has been considered to be a vasa vasorum. The authors report on a case of one woman who was at a later postpartum period (106 days). The microscopic finding of the dissected coronary artery revealed two intimal tears in a section. The case showed that the dissecting intramural haematoma of the coronary artery is caused not only by the rupture of the vasa vasorum but also by the rupture of the intima.     

Communist China’s entry into the Korean hostilities and a U.S. proposal for a collective security arrangement in the Pacific offshore island chain

In late 1950, against the background of communist China’s full entry into the Korean War, the U.S. government put forward a Pacific Ocean Pact, which would comprise the United States, Japan, the Philippines, if possible Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. This article, after tracing China’s intervention in the Korean War, discusses U.S. policy planning on the proposal for a Pacific Pact, and examines the precise objectives of the proposal. It is argued that the American proposal for a Pacific offshore island chain pact was basically intended to enhance U.S. security interests in Northeast Asia, particularly Japan. The Pacific Pact proposal therefore contained a scheme for committing formally substantial U.S. armed forces to the defense of the Pacific Ocean; the revitalization of Japanese power; and the welding of the resources of strength of Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines to the defense of Japan.     

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.     

Sudden infant death syndrome: Histological studies on adrenal gland and kidney

Histological observations were made on the adrenal glands and kidneys in ten cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The amount of fetal cortex was excessive in the adrenal glands and many glomeruli of fetal form were observed in the kidneys. These findings suggest that the adrenal glands and the kidneys in SIDS cases are more or less immature in development. The immature development in these organs, especially in the adrenal glands, was considered to play a role in the cardiac or respiratory mechanisms in SIDS.     

Methamphetamine impurity profiling using a 0.32 mm i.d. nonpolar capillary column

Classification of seized methamphetamine by impurity profiling can provide very useful information in criminal investigations of drug traffic routes, sources of supply and relationships between seizures. The aim of this study is to improve and develop an analytical method for detecting impurities such as starting materials and by-products in illegally prepared methamphetamine.HCl samples. A 50mg sample of methamphetamine.HCl was dissolved in 1 ml of buffer solution (four parts 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 7.0 and one part 10% Na2CO3). Impurities were extracted with 0.5 ml of ethyl acetate containing four internal standards (ISs) (n-decane, n-pentadecane, n-nonadecane and n-hexacosane) and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) using a flame ionization detector (FID) on a DB-5 capillary column (0.32 mmi.d. x 30 m, film thickness 1.0 microm). The use of a middle-bore column offered better separation of the impurity peaks. The correction of the retention times of impurity peaks with four ISs made peak identification very accurate for subsequent data processing. Twenty-four characteristic peaks were selected for comparison and similarity and/or dissimilarity between samples, and the data were evaluated by the Euclidean distance of the relative peak areas after logarithmic transformation. The results indicate that the present method would be useful for methamphetamine impurity profiling.     

An infant fatality involving ajmaline

An infant fatality following accidental ingestion of ajmaline is described. Ajmaline was determined by thin-layer chromatography and infrared spectrophotometry, and quantitated by high performance liquid chromatography. The ajmaline concentration in blood was 5.5 micrograms/mL. The toxicological data relevant to the interpretation of case findings are presented.     

Orosomucoid (ORM) typing by isoelectric focusing: description of two new alleles in a German population and thermostability in bloodstains

The genetic polymorphism of serum orosomucoid (ORM) was studied in 168 unrelated German individuals using isoelectric focusing followed by immunoprinting. Two new alleles, tentatively designated ORM1*14 and ORM2*13, were identified. The method was successfully applied to demonstrate ORM1 types in dried bloodstains. Each type of ORM1 was also correctly determined in bloodstains heated at 130 degrees C for 30 min. The results indicated that ORM1 is a new powerful genetic marker system for the grouping of bloodstains.     

Lao Wisdom as “Buffer State” in an Emerging Mekong Regional Economy – How a Small Country Behaves among Big Countries –

Lao PDR, located in a geopolitically strategic area of the Mekong region, has served as a “buffer state” without being placed under any one country's influence, contributing to the status quo of regional power balance. The skillful balanced diplomacy of Lao PDR has enabled it to keep this position. Yet, in face of growing Chinese presence, how long will that be the case? With an emerging regional economy across borders in the Mekong region as the background, Lao PDR, a small, land-locked country, has achieved relatively high economic growth rates and has started to attract foreign direct investment in recent years. In this process, Japanese companies have started to invest in manufacturing there, and Japan-Laos business partnership has been taking off. Looking for further development, Lao PDR has been consolidating its position as the “battery of the Mekong,” a net exporter of electricity. By improving its connectivity with neighboring countries, Lao PDR has also been making untiring efforts to become a “land-linked” country, aiming to serve as a “logistic hub” for the region, taking advantage of its geopolitical advantage, Yet, many challenges exist before this goal is achieved.     

Impact of university intellectual property policy on the performance of university-industry research collaboration

Despite the expectation of various advantages, university-industry research collaboration (UIC), a relationship between two different worlds, often faces serious conflicts. The performance of UIC depends on the research partners’ strategies and institutional designs through which they seek to mitigate these conflicts and increase partner incentives. We pay special attention to the role of the university intellectual property (IP) policy, formally introduced to Japan in 2003, as the basis of UIC contracts and empirically examine its impact on the performance of UIC projects, considering the factors in firms’ participation in UIC. We argue that the university IP policy that is equitable in sharing revenue and royalty from innovative outcomes and applied flexibly according to the partner’s needs may contribute to improving project performance by enhancing the commitment of firms, and we test our hypotheses using a sample of Japanese firms obtained from our original survey. The estimation results support the hypotheses, although the mediation via the firm’s commitment only partially explains the relationship between the university IP policy and UIC performance.     

The course of respiration in death caused by obstructive asphyxia

Experiments were carried out on 30 dogs to investigate the course of respiration during obstructive asphyxia. They were asphyxiated by occlusion of the exposed trachea. Intrathoracic pressure, blood pressure in the femoral artery, electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram readings were registered. In most cases, the respiration course during the dyspnea stage by occlusion of the trachea generally had an inspiratory character. In a few animals, when the trachea was occluded in the expiratory phase, there were a few positive expiratory respirations with moderate inspiratory movement and thereafter the respirations were inspiratory during the dyspnea stage. The terminal respirations, which occurred 1-2 min before the circulatory breakdown, were generally inspiratory, but in a few dogs they were expiratory.