Fingerprint Change: Not Visible,But Tangible

Hand–foot syndrome, a chemotherapy‐induced cutaneous toxicity, can cause an alteration in fingerprints causing a setback for cancer patients due to the occurrence of false rejections. A colon cancer patient was fingerprinted after not having been able to use fingerprint recognition devices after 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy. The fingerprint images were digitally processed to improve fingerprint definition without altering the papillary design. No evidence of skin toxicity was present. Two months later, the situation returned to normal. The fingerprint evaluation conducted on 15 identification points highlighted the quantitative and qualitative fingerprint alteration details detected after the end of chemotherapy and 2 months later. Fingerprint alteration during chemotherapy has been reported, but to our knowledge, this particular case is the first ever reported without evident clinical signs. Alternative fingerprint identification methods as well as improved biometric identification systems are needed in case of unexpected situations.     

机动车行驶安全距离的判断

机动车能否安全行驶,在一定程度上取决于机动车驾驶人掌握行驶安全距离的能力。机动车行驶安全距离是指从发现障碍开始制动,到最后完全停止所行驶的距离,它包含纵向行驶安全距离和横向行驶安全间距。纵向行驶安全距离取决于制动停车距离;横向行驶安全距离应根据路面的不同、气候的变化灵活掌握。由此可见,机动车驾驶人必须根据机动车的行驶速度、道路状况、气候条件、装载状况等因素,灵活掌握机动车的行驶安全距离,以充分保证其行驶的安全性。     

Death from Barotrauma Due to Compressed Air: A Medico‐legal Analysis

Lesions of the digestive tract due to barotrauma resulting from compressed air application are not common, are rarely lethal, and largely affect the sigmoid and descending colon. Moreover, their pathogenic mechanism is a topic of discussion because these lesions have multiple characteristics. Here, the authors describe an autoptic case of death from lesions of the ascending and transverse segments, with perforations and bleeding suffusions as well as ischemic areas covered the colonic wall that was extremely thinned, congested, and hemorrhagic, with considerable flattening leading to disappearance of the mucosal folds and with numerous petechial hemorrhages. The pathological framework of lung congestion made it possible to identify the mechanism responsible for this death as depletion of the heart's pumping function, which contributed significantly to the acute respiratory failure due to respiratory distress as well as to reduced mobility of the diaphragm due to intestinal distension. Acute heart failure played an important role in this death.     

Evaluation of reliability of STR typing in human colon carcinomas tissues used for identification purpose

The short tandem repeats (STRs) have become an important and widely used tool in forensic casework. Clinical tissue samples are not usually employed in forensic casework, but sometimes, malignant tissue samples may be the only source of biological material for forensic investigations. However, in use of such samples, uncertainties due to microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) may be encountered. In our study of 77 human colon carcinomas tissue with the AmpFlSTR Identifiler Kit comprising 15 STR loci and the amelogenin gene, we detected four kinds of changes between normal tissue and tumor tissue including pLOH, LOH, occurrence of an additional allele (Add) and occurrence of a new allele (New) instead of that found in normal tissue. The overall variation detectable rate was 11.28%, of which pLOH was 79.1%, LOH was 7.9%, Add was 7.9% and New was 5%. Of the above four changes, the incidence rate of pLOH, LOH, Add and New was respectively 8.93%, 0.89%, 0.89% and 0.57%. The STRs mostly affected were D18S51, D5S818, FGA and D19S433. Only pLOH was found at five loci including vWA, TPOX, TH01, D13S317 and amelogenin gene. Our results demonstrate that great care should be taken in the evaluation of typing results obtained from clinical tissue specimens, in particular when no reference samples are available, because genetic instability is a very common event observed in different tumors and the STRs used for individual identification could sometimes be affected.     

Death Caused by Hepatodiaphragmatic Interposition of the Colon

Hepatodiaphragmatic interposition of the colon is a rare, usually asymptomatic, anomaly and is typically an incidental radiologic finding. There are few cases in the literature describing the symptomatic form of the condition, known as Chilaiditi syndrome. In some cases, it may be accompanied by various severe complications. If symptoms are present, usually conservative treatment is given. However, conservative treatment only addresses the symptoms but does not prevent their recurrence and possible complications. Our present report shows that this anomaly may not only cause symptoms, but may also progress and cause severe complications, in our case—megacolon leading to right heart failure and, ultimately, death. To date, however, there have been no literature reports of death caused by colonic interposition. Therefore, it is important to draw attention to the importance of this anomaly and its appropriate diagnosis and treatment to ensure the most favorable patient outcomes.     

The Micro‐Taphonomy of Cold: Differential Microcracking in Response to Experimental Cold‐Stresses

Cold is a central feature of environments at higher latitudes and elevations. Thus, cold‐induced taphonomic changes are relevant in many forensic contexts. Fifty‐two lamb bone segments were used to assess the impact of cold, freeze‐thaw cycles, freeze‐drying, and water immersion on microstructural cracking of bone in a series of controlled exposure experiments. For each bone segment, three thin sections were examined under a light microscope. Cold exposure caused taphonomic changes in the form of microscopic cracking. Transverse cracks occurred in all treatments, whereas osteonal cracks were restricted to rapid freezing treatments. Type of cold exposure had a statistically significant effect on both the total number of cracks and each type of crack observed. Skeletal microcracking could potentially be used as a taphonomic indicator of postmortem bone exposure to sub‐zero temperatures. The type and prevalence of this damage could also be used to distinguish between different types of cold exposure.     

新藤黄酸通过内质网应激诱导人结肠癌HCT116细胞凋亡的研究

目的 研究新藤黄酸（gambogenic acid,GNA）诱导人结肠癌HCT116细胞凋亡的机制。方法 采用不同浓度的GNA作用细胞24 h,对照组是相同浓度GNA加内质网应激抑制剂4-苯基丁酸（4-phenylbutyric acid,4-PBA）共同作用HCT116细胞24 h。采用甲基噻唑基四唑（methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium,MTT）染色测定两组细胞增殖抑制率的差异,采用吖啶橙（acridine orange,AO）和溴化乙锭（ethidium bromide,EB）染色观察细胞的形态学变化,采用膜联蛋白Ⅴ（Annexin Ⅴ, AV）-异硫氰酸荧光素（fluorescein isothiocyanate, FITC）/碘化丙碇（propidium iodide, PI）双重染色检测细胞凋亡率。结果 内质网应激抑制剂4-PBA可以缓解GNA对HCT116细胞增殖的抑制作用;AO/EB染色后荧光显微镜观察发现GNA作用的细胞具有凋亡特征;流式细胞仪检测显示4-PBA可降低HCT116细胞的凋亡率。结论 GNA能抑制人结肠癌细胞HCT116增殖,诱导细胞凋亡,其诱导细胞凋亡的作用可能与内质网应激途径有关。