OPUS 12 Scientist 2008 Vol. 2, No. 2
Stawicki, MD
Initially published 12/2006 OPUS 12 Scientist published 04/2008
OPUS 12 Journal Network collaboration with the Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Professor Anil Aggrawal, Editor-in-Chief [JOURNAL HTML LINK]
JOURNAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology,
Volume 7, Number 2, Professor Anil Aggrawal, Editor-in-Chief
ABOUT JOURNAL HIGHLIGHTS
This section of OPUS 12 Scientist features selected abstracts
and/or articles from scientific journals affiliated with OPUS 12
Scientist and OPUS 12 Foundation, Inc. Each reprinted abstract
and/or article includes a link to the original journal website,
allowing the reader to access articles in participating journals
directly from this PDF document. See more information about
the OPUS 12 Journal Network and how to join on the last page
of this Journal Highlights feature.
All abstracts and/or articles featured in this section have been
reprinted with permission of the originating journal and
approved by the Editorial Board and/or the Editor-in-Chief of
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Cite as: Journal highlights: Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and
Toxicology, Volume 7, Number 2, Professor Anil Aggrawal, Editor-in-Chief.
OPUS 12 Scientist 2008;2(2):27-28.
Correspondence to: Dr. Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine, The
Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002, India. Email:
dr_anil@hotmail.com.
The OPUS 12 Journal Network Links: (a) Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal
of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology [CLICK HERE]; (b) Internet Journal of
Book Reviews [CLICK HERE].
United Kingdom moves closer than ever to the
decriminalisation of some controlled drugs But
is this enough?
Nikilas P. Lemos, BSc, MSc, PhD, MRSC
Head of Forensic Toxicology, St Georges Hospital Medical School,
University of London, London SW17 0RE.
Reforming Britains hard line anti-drugs policy has been a taboo
subject for most politicians until very recently. And this despite
the fact that Britain remains ahead of the rest of Europe on almost
every kind of drug-taking according to the European Unions
latest report on this topic. Then, suddenly, Home Secretary David
Blunkett proposed late last year the reclassification of cannabis as
a class C drug. This, in effect, meant that the countrys lawmakers
were asked to make the possession of cannabis a non-arrestable
offence. The Home Secretarys proposals followed earlier
announcements by Londons Metropolitan Police in March of the
same year that in the London Borough of Lambeth people found
with small amounts of cannabis would not be arrested. Instead,
Police Constables were directed to confiscate the drugs involved
and to allow offenders to go after issuing them with a formal
warning. This, as initially predicted and recently confirmed by
the Metropolitan Police, saved in man-hours the equivalent of two
PCs which were better used in combating more serious crime. On
first examination these measures appear bold and certainly can be
Copyright 2008 OPUS 12 Foundation, Inc.
The OPUS 12 Journal Network Sharing Quality Science Worldwide
Section Editor: S. P.
perceived as the most liberal reaction to cannabis in the United
Kingdom since it was outlawed in 1928. [READ MORE].
Increased brain 7-hydroperoxycholesterol in
Alzheimer type dementia
Akiyoshi Nishimura 1, Migiwa Asano 2, Hideyuki Nushida 2, Junko
Adachi 2, Satoshi Fujiwara 1, Yasuhiro Ueno 2
1
Department of Legal Medicine, Yokohama City University School of
Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, 236-0004, Japan. 2
Department of Legal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of
Medicine, 7 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
Oxidative stress in Alzheimer type dementia (ATD) brains was
studied by the analysis of cholesterol-derived hydroperoxide as an
index of lipid peroxidation. ATD was diagnosed pathologically
using Braak and Braaks criteria and human brain tissues were
collected at forensic autopsy (control, n=5; ATD, n=7). Tissue
samples were obtained from frontal, angular and occipital cortex,
frontal, angular and occipital white matter, and hippocampus. The
extracted membrane lipids were injected into an octyl column for
HPLC with post-column chemiluminescence for detection of two
cholesterol-derived hydroperoxides, 7-(7-OOH) and 7-
hydroperoxycholest-5-en-3-ol (7-OOH). The data showed that
the concentrations of 7-OOH and 7-OOH in the angular gyrus
white matter of the dementia group were the highest and
approximately 10-fold greater that corresponding value for the
controls. Our present findings suggest that oxidative stress,
membrane lipid peroxidation in particular, may reflect the extent
of neurodegenerative process in AD, and would also argue in
favour of the hypothesis that in AD hippocampal atrophy may
contribute to oxidative stress in the posterior associate region.
[READ MORE].
Forensic analysis of diatoms A review
Rajinder Singh, Rajvinder Singh, Sumit Kumar, M. K. Thakar
Department of Forensic Science, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India.
When a corpse is recovered from water, there is usually a
suspicion whether it was a case of ante-mortem or post-mortem
drowning i.e. whether the body was drowned before or after
death. To diagnose the cause of death in such cases, presence of
diatoms in the body tissues is very useful evidence. From various
chemical and other tests the presence of diatoms inside the body is
proved. The type of diatoms found in that body tissues are
compared with types of diatoms species present in the water body
from where the corpse is recovered to determine the scene of
occurrence for the reconstruction of events. By evaluating all
these significant aspects, supportive evidence to the conclusion is
given. In this present study, an attempt is made to collect the
relevant literature and study various methods and techniques used
for the detection of diatoms and their evaluation with the aim to
find out the best available method and technique on the basis of
reliability, sensitivity and reproducibility. [READ MORE].
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OPUS 12 Scientist 2008 Vol. 2, No. 2
Initially published 12/2006 OPUS 12 Scientist published 04/2008
OPUS 12 Journal Network collaboration with the Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Professor Anil Aggrawal, Editor-in-Chief [JOURNAL HTML LINK]
Mass disasters: Forensic scientific
considerations
Cyril Wecht, MD, JD
Past President, American Academy of Forensic Sciences and Past President,
American College of Legal Medicine, USA.
Disasters typically occur without warning and can strike anywhere
and at any time. Whether the disaster is natural like a flood or
earthquake, or man-made like a fire or terrorism attack, the
primary roles of the Coroner/Medical Examiners (C/ME) office
are essentially the same. [READ MORE].
Interviews
Jan Edward Leestma, MD Author of the renowned Forensic
Neuropathology textbook (Raven Press, 1987). [READ MORE].
Sylvia Tomlison Author of the bestseller Plucked and Burned
(Redbud Publishing, 2003). [READ MORE].
These abstracts have been republished in OPUS 12 Scientist
courtesy of Prof. Anil Aggrawal, Editor-in-Chief of the Internet
Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology [CLICK HERE].
Related OPUS 12 Journal Network Links: (a) Anil Aggrawal's Internet
Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology [CLICK HERE]; (b)
Internet Journal of Book Reviews [CLICK HERE].
Copyright 2008 OPUS 12 Foundation, Inc.
The OPUS 12 Journal Network Sharing Quality Science Worldwide
Section Editor: S. P. Stawicki, MD
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