Head injuries of Roman gladiators

Gladiator remains from a recently unearthed cemetery in ancient Ephesus (Turkey) offer a unique opportunity for proving common theories involving the weaponry and techniques of gladiator fighting based on the evidence supplied by cranial bones. This mass grave is the first of its kind to undergo a thorough osteological and forensic examination.A minimum number of individuals (MNI) analyses revealed that at least 68 individuals. All individuals found turned out to have been males aged between 20 and 30 years, except for one female associated with a female slave gravestone, and one male aged 45–55 years, had been buried in this area of the cemetery. The male mean body height was 168 cm (S.D. = 5 cm), which lies inside the normal range of height for Roman populations at those times.Eleven (16% of MNI) individuals exhibit a total of 16 well-healed antemortal cranial traumata. Five of the 11 individuals showed multiple trauma. Ten (15% of MNI) individuals exhibited a total of 10 perimortal cranial traumata. This is a surprisingly high frequency of deadly head injuries, taking into account that most of the gladiator types wore helmets. A possible explanation could be the frequently reported deathblow technique used by the hammer-carrying death god “Dis Pater”.The gladiator weaponry is well known through historical sources. At least one injury per known type of offensive weapon could be identified, as well as evidence for the most popular, the gladiator trident, which was found to be represented by one perimortem and two antemortem injuries. Overall the reportedly very strict nature of combat rules for gladiator fights could be confirmed by the absence of multiple perimortal traumatized individuals, showing a lack of the excessive violence commonly observed on medieval battle ground victims.This graveyard gives the opportunity to confirm historical aspects and to check the reliability of forensic methods for identification of antemortem, perimortem, or postmortem bone lesions. Typical examples for these kinds of lesions and injuries are presented. The colour of the margins of the traumata proved to be the most distinguishing feature for postmortal lesions.     

The Imprint of Childhood Physical and Emotional Abuse: A Case Study on the Use of EMDR to Address Anxiety and a Lack of Self-Esteem

This article examines the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in helping a client address problems with persistent anxiety and a lack of self-esteem. During EMDR treatment, the client explored the dichotomous thinking that had plagued her since childhood, and correspondingly, the role of childhood physical and emotional abuse in her chronic feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. The client experienced significant improvement in her levels of anxiety and problems with self-esteem, both at the end of treatment and at 1-year follow up. Qualitative and quantitative data are utilized in this case study outlining the use of EMDR with a client diagnosed with dysthymic disorder.     

应激相关障碍的损伤程度评定标准之比较与探讨

应激相关障碍的损伤程度评定,因无统一的评定标准,成为司法鉴定中的一个难点和热点。不同专家提出的评定标准中对该类伤害评定为轻微伤、轻伤、或重伤的意见不一,甚至还有对轻伤再分级的,且各家对应激相关障碍的定义亦有差别。本文对有代表性的观点进行比较、分析后,进一步进行探讨并提出见解,认为该类伤害应该属于损伤并应该评定损伤程度。评定必须严格按照《中国精神障碍分类与诊断标准(第三版)》(CCMD-3)进行诊断,按照已有的损伤鉴定标准的原则,根据具体的临床种类、病情程度、病程及预后等综合考量,酌情作出不评定伤情程度,或评定为轻微伤、轻伤或重伤的结论,意在对此问题的解决有所帮助。     

War,Trauma and Salvation――A Review on Shun Medoruma’s Okinawan Novels

Okinawais, Japan’s Hawaii, is known for the blue sea and clear sky, but at the same time it permeates with the pain from the war. As the representative of the new generation of Okinawan writers, Shun Medoruma reconstructs the traumatic memory objectively in his literary writing from an unique perspective, though he had no experiences of the war. He attempts to comprehend the survival and meditate on the pain from fear, and inanity which were generated in the war, and finally to fulfill the salvation of the soul. What Shun Medoruma focuses on is not the war, but the shock to Okinawan people. He shows his ethical concern for the fate of Okinawa, and thinks about the future of Okinawa deeply by understanding the war, trauma and salvation in his novels.     

椎弓崩裂与外伤伤病关系法医学鉴定26例分析

目的阐述椎弓崩裂与外伤之间伤病关系的法医学鉴定要点。方法收集26例椎弓崩裂案例,从年龄、伴随症状、治疗方式、致伤方式等方面讨论此类病例的特点。结果认定外伤与损伤后果之间存在一定因果关系的2例被鉴定人年龄均在50岁以下,致伤方式均为高能量损伤,且均伴有合并伤,2例患者均接受了手术治疗。结论应关注50岁以下中青年外伤后椎弓崩裂与外伤之间的伤病关系分析。对于选择手术治疗者,更需分析两者之间的伤病关系。     

国家赔偿责任的民法基础

历史上盛行国家无不法行为能力理论,据此国家不对其公务员履行职务时的侵权行为承担责任,公务员要自己承担赔偿责任。随着法治国家观念的确立,国家开始代替其公务员向受害人承担赔偿责任,即所谓的代位责任。也有国家确立了国家的直接赔偿责任,即自己责任。但无一例外,国家的赔偿义务均建立在民法基础上,以全额赔偿为原则。我国国家赔偿制度确立了独一无二的"个人不赔,国家不全赔"的赔偿模式,偏离了赔偿法所固有的民法属性,无法良好保护受害人。而其根源则在于欠缺对国家赔偿责任的历史与本质的全面理解。有鉴于此,应尽快修订《国家赔偿法》,确立国家的全额赔偿责任,更好地服务法治国家的建设。     

Examination of Hacking and Blunt Force Skeletal Trauma

Hacking trauma is prevalent in forensic cases involving genocide and dismemberment, but research into the identification of this type of trauma is lacking. The present study examines characteristics of hacking and blunt force skeletal trauma in order to determine if there is a point at which blunt force trauma becomes distinguishable from hacking trauma. Ten implements with a range of blade angles (i.e., the striking surface of the implement) were used in conjunction with a controlled-force hacking device to impact 100 limb bones of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Observations of the trauma included the occurrence and degree of fragmentation, the entrance widths of the impacts, and composite scores of six hacking characteristics, especially the distinctive V-shaped kerf. ANOVA tests and regression analyses were used to assess the relationships between these characteristics and the blade angles. A significant relationship (p-value = 0.011) was found between the composite hacking scores and the blade angles, indicating that blunt force and hacking trauma can be distinguished. The entrance widths of the impacts exhibited a significant relationship with the blade angles (p-value = 0.037). There was also a significant relationship between the visibility of a V-shaped kerf in the bones (p-value = 0.003), with visibility decreasing around the 60° blade angle. These data should assist in establishing guidelines to differentiate hacking and blunt force skeletal trauma in cases where the implement is on a spectrum between sharp and blunt.     

Memory and forgetting: examining the treatment of traumatic historical memory in Grave of the Fireflies and The Wind Rises

Within Japanese popular culture, manga and anime have played a significant role in mediating responses to the outcome of the Pacific War. Miyazaki Hayao's (possibly) final feature-length film, The Wind Rises, has been an important addition to the preceding body of popular media ‘texts’ that raise such themes. This article aims to address the question of how far cinematic animation can reasonably be obliged to follow the kinds of historiographical concerns that inevitably arise when engaging with Japan's militarist past. To answer this question, considerable space is devoted to examining the historical context of what others have done in the post-war period and integrate that commentary into an analysis of how the works of Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao fit amongst a succession of creative works that have been co-opted in the reshaping of historical perceptions of the Japanese at war amongst the Japanese themselves. This will also require some incidental discussion of methodological issues that arise when dealing with such cases as vehicles for understanding transformations in historical consciousness. Ultimately it is argued that Miyazaki does indeed make an important contribution to the commentary on the Japanese war experience, although it must, perhaps unavoidably, be on highly personal terms so far as The Wind Rises is concerned.     

我国雇主责任主体制度的缺陷和完善之路径——兼评雇主责任、帮工责任和法人责任之关系

最高人民法院《关于审理人身损害赔偿案件适用法律若干问题的解释》中将雇主责任、帮工责任和法人责任分别规定，各自适用不同的法律规则。这样的规定与民事诉讼法、劳动法的相关法律规则产生了冲突和矛盾，造成劳动者或者雇员因职务行为致人损害，受害人寻求救济时陷入法律适用上的困境的问题。我国未来的《民法典》应当重视这一问题的解决，在确定雇主责任时，遵循雇主责任的法理，借鉴其他国家的成功经验，注意民法与其他部门法之间的体系化协调，将现行的雇主责任、帮工责任和法人责任合并规定，统一适用雇主自己责任，排除雇主和雇员共同责任的法律规则的适用。