Procedural Justice and the Assessment of Civil Justice in Japan

In analyzing the data from a structured interview survey with Japanese litigants of civil trials, we examined the relationships between their perceptions of outcomes and process of the trials, responses to the trials, and evaluation of the judicial system. The results showed that both favorability of trial outcomes and procedural fairness of trials increased satisfaction with the trial outcomes and evaluation of the judicial system. Satisfaction was largely determined by perceived favorability, while the evaluation of the judicial system was largely determined by perceived procedural fairness, suggesting a justice bond effect that justice fortifies people's societal commitment. Consistent with procedural justice theories, the perception of procedural fairness was increased by the sense of control and the appraisal of relational factors, though both were affected by favorability.     

MI Implementation in Juvenile Justice: A Case Report

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a communication style focused on enhancing clients’ own motivation towards change. In the justice system MI has evidence to support that it enhances communication and change behaviors in youth. As most MI training is designed for healthcare settings training and implementation of MI must be adapted to fit the juvenile justice model. This includes both rehabilitation and restorative justice. Here we describe the details that allowed one county small county in Pennsylvania to roll out MI training and initial skills review in less than 6 months. The case reviews the details of planning, trainings, and timing of activities. We then discuss what elements of those details fit into a greater implementation plan that may be applied elsewhere. Four key elements were instrumental to implementation: 1) appreciation of JPO time constraints, 2) cost containment 3) using blending to enhance JPO flexibility with MI use, and 4) policies that normalize use of MI. This outline may assist other courts in their own implementation efforts.     

Factors Associated with Physician Discussion of Health Behaviors with Adolescents

Behaviors developed in adolescence influence health later in life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of health care provider's discussion of health behaviors with overweight and non-overweight adolescents and identify demographic and health behaviors related to exercise, hours of television viewing, and weight issues associated with these discussions. A Cross sectional survey of urban adolescents was conducted. Trained interviewers administered surveys over a three month period in 2001 at an urban academic pediatric and adolescent clinic. The 252 adolescents surveyed had a mean age of 15 with 49% categorized as being at risk for overweight/overweight and 51% as normal weight using the CDC percentiles for BMI. While 16% of the adolescents reported that their physician or nurse discussed the amount of television they watched, rates of discussion related to exercise (58%), and weight (54%) were much higher. In multivariate analyses, health care provider discussions with adolescents regarding exercise were more common for overweight (O.R.=2.42, 95% C.I. [1.28–4.57]) and at risk for overweight (O.R.=1.98, 95% C.I. [1.03–3.81]) adolescents, whereas physician discussion of television viewing was not associated with weight. Discussions of weight were more common for female (O.R.=2.18, 95% C.I. [1.21–3.95]), African-American (O.R.=2.53, 95% C.I. [1.40–4.57]), and overweight (O.R.=3.92, 95% C.I. [1.97–7.81]) adolescents. Even after adjusting for weight, race and gender strongly influenced the frequency of discussions about weight in physician offices. Although health care providers frequently address weight and exercise with adolescents, more discussions related to sedentary behaviors such as television viewing may be warranted to address adolescent obesity.Received PhD in Epidemiology from University of California, San Diego. Research interests include smoking prevention and cessation among adolescents and health promotion interventions.Received MD from University of Missouri-Kansas City and MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include health services research and research in support of measurable, systematic improvements in the quality of medical care.Received medical degree from Christian Medical College, Punjab, India and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include diet and physical activity behaviors, role of the environment in obesity and obesity prevention, especially among children and adolescents.Received MBBS from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH from University of Kansas Medical Center. Research interests include smoking cessation, database design, implementation, data management and analysis, and use of information technology in health care settings.Director, Cancer Prevention, Control, and Population Sciences, Kansas Cancer Institute. Received MD/MPH from Tulane University and MS from Harvard School of Public Health. Research interests include disparities in healthcare; smoking cessation among underserved populations, specifically African Americans; diet, nutrition, obesity, and physical activity.     

A new retrieval system for a database of 3D facial images

A new retrieval system for a 3D facial image database was designed and its reliability was experimentally examined. This system has two steps, firstly to automatically adjust the orientation of all 3D facial images in a database to that of the 2D facial image of a target person, and then to identify the facial image of the target person from the adjusted 3D facial images in the database using a graph-matching method. From the experimental study [M. Yoshino, K. Imaizumi, T. Tanijiri, J.G. Clement, Automatic adjustment of facial orientation in 3D face image database, Jpn. J. Sci. Tech. Iden. 8 (2003) 41-47], it is concluded that the software developed for the first step will be applicable to the automatic adjustment of facial orientation in the 3D facial image database. In 28 out of 110 sets (25.5%), the 3D image of the target person was chosen as the best match (from a database of 132 3D facial images) according to the similarity of the facial image characteristics based on the graph matching. The 3D facial image of the target person was ranked in the top of 10 of the database in 75 out of 110 sets (68.2%). These results suggest that this system is inadequate for the identification level, but may be feasible for screening method in a small database. It will be necessary to further pursue the possibility of realization of a facial image retrieval system for a large database such as suspects' facial images in future.     

Application of a computer assisted image analyzer to the assessment of area and number of sites of dental attrition and its use for age estimation

A simple method was devised to assess dental attrition in terms of its area and number of sites by using dental plaster casts and a computer assisted image analyser. The changes presented on the occlusal surfaces of teeth were investigated for age estimation using these criteria. The area of attrition on each tooth demonstrated a significant positive correlation with age, but a wide individual variation was observed in the values for each tooth. Therefore, this method was unsuitable for accurate age estimation of a single tooth. A strong negative correlation with age was observed in the number of sites of attrition. A multiple stepwise regression analysis using the variables 'attrition area' and 'attrition number' revealed multiple correlation coefficient values of 0.93. The quantitative assessment of both horizontal and vertical factors of dental attrition would be essential to improve the accuracy of this method.     

Detection of deception with fMRI: Are we there yet?

A decade of spectacular progress in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology and systems neuroscience research has so far yielded few changes in our daily lives. The dearth of clinical applications of this prolific and academically promising research tool began raising the eyebrows of the public and the research funding agencies. This may be one of the reasons for the enthusiasm and interest paid to the growing body of literature suggesting that blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) fMRI of the brain could be sensitive to the differences between lie and truth. The word ‘differences’ is critical here since it refers to the often‐ignored core concept of BOLD fMRI: it is only sensitive to differences between two brain states. Thus, available studies report using fMRI to discriminate between lie and truth or some other comparative state rather than to positively identify deception. This nuance is an example of the extent to which applied neuroscience research does not lend itself to the type of over‐simplification that has plagued the interpretation of fMRI‐based lie detection by the popular press and the increasingly vocal academic critics. As an early contributor to the modest stream of data on fMRI‐based lie detection, I was asked by Dr Aldert Vrij to write a piece in favour of fMRI‐based lie detection, to be contrasted with a piece by Dr Sean Spence presenting an opposite point of view ( Spence, 2008 ). This seemingly straightforward task presented two hurdles: having to respond to the popular as well as scientific view of what lie detection with fMRI is and present a wholly positive view of evolving experimental data.     

An unusual case of high-voltage electrocution of a truck driver due to inadvertent contact of the truck with an overhead wire

Electrocution deaths are mostly accidental. However, reconstruction of events in unusual electrocution death is challenging. This article reports an accidental death due to electrocution in a highly unusual circumstance, in which a truck driver reversing his vehicle was electrocuted when his truck inadvertently touched an overhead high-voltage wire. The electric injury marks were present over the sole of the right foot. The scene investigation revealed that the high-voltage wire was loose and was below the level of the prescribed height. The truck was passing over an elevated area made up of dirt and stone. The interior of the cabin of the truck revealed a few non-insulated metallic areas over the floor of the truck, between the accelerator and the brake, which were attributed as the sources of entry of electricity into the body. The electric injury marks were different than those usually seen in high-voltage electrocution as there was an intermediate object (truck) involved, and the contact period between the truck and the electric wire was minimal. This fatality was attributed to the non-proper insulation of the interior of the truck, the negligent driving of the truck driver over the elevated surface, and the loose high-voltage wire without proper maintenance.     

The mourning process and “living with the dead”: Two case reports and a review of the literature

The discovery of mummified bodies in domestic settings is not unusual in the medico‐legal context. It is often a marker of social isolation, even in our urban modern society, and usually occurs among elderly people living alone or in precarious conditions. However, bereaved subjects can sometimes be found managing their grief by deliberately keeping the corpses of their loved ones at home. Investigation of these atypical cases can be challenging and often requires a multidisciplinary effort by different forensic specialists. We report two cases of people who lived for several months with the mummified remains of a relative. In both cases, the judge ordered a forensic psychiatry assessment of the survivors’ competency and the reasons for this peculiar behavior, which is regarded as abnormal in our society. Case 1 describes a shared psychosis, which developed out of a condition of extreme seclusion of the entire family. Case 2 shows that even a mild personality disorder on which a series of traumatic events operates can trigger psychotic decompensation, causing extreme denial of the reality of death. The analysis of these cases contributes to our knowledge of the scantly studied phenomenon of “Living with the Dead” and raises questions about the psychopathology behind it. It is useful to identify subjects who are more prone to developing this “deviant” behavior, in order to distinguish people with mental illness from those who merely want to profit from the death of a loved one.     

Eosinophilic myocarditis from a forensic histopathological perspective

Eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) is a rare and potentially fatal form of myocarditis characterized by infiltration of the myocardium with eosinophil leukocytes, often accompanied by eosinophilia. Although the exact underlying cause remains unknown, it has been shown to be associated with hypersensitivity reactions, immune-mediated disorders, infections, or cancer. Due to the differences in symptomatology, it is often diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination. We aimed to retrospectively examine the histopathological findings of rare cases of EM and to detect accompanying cardiac and other organ pathologies. The histopathological findings of the cases that underwent autopsies between 2012 and 2020 and were diagnosed with EM were assessed. Demographic features, symptoms, causes of death, macroscopical findings at autopsy, toxicologic and microbiological analysis results, accompanying cardiac pathologies, and histopathological findings in other organs were evaluated. Myocarditis was detected on histopathologic examination in 558 (1.1%) of 49,612 forensic autopsies. There were 12 (2.3%) EM cases. There were nine males and four females. The mean age was 42.3 (3–83) years. Heart weights ranged from 82 to 564 g. The most common finding on macroscopic examination was the mottled discoloration and scarring in the myocardium. Microscopic examination revealed perivascular and interstitial infiltration of eosinophils in all of the cases accompanied by myocyte necrosis in four of them. EM was reported as the cause of death in four cases. EM remains a challenging heart disease with its obscure etiopathogenesis and varying clinical presentation and a rare entity diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination in sudden and unexpected deaths.