October postmortem

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Postmortem iris recognition and its application in human identification

Iris recognition is a validated and non-invasive human identification technology currently implemented for the purposes of surveillance and security (i.e. border control, schools, military). Similar to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), irises are a highly individualizing component of the human body. Based on a lack of genetic penetrance, irises are unique between an individual’s left and right iris and between identical twins, proving to be more individualizing than DNA. At this time, little to no research has been conducted on the use of postmortem iris scanning as a biometric measurement of identification. The purpose of this pilot study is to explore the use of iris recognition as a tool for postmortem identification. Objectives of the study include determining whether current iris recognition technology can locate and detect iris codes in postmortem globes, and if iris scans collected at different postmortem time intervals can be identified as the same iris initially enrolled. Data from 43 decedents involving 148 subsequent iris scans demonstrated a subsequent match rate of approximately 80%, supporting the theory that iris recognition technology is capable of detecting and identifying an individual’s iris code in a postmortem setting. A chi-square test of independence showed no significant difference between match outcomes and the globe scanned (left vs. right), and gender had no bearing on the match outcome. There was a significant relationship between iris color and match outcome, with blue/gray eyes yielding a lower match rate (59%) compared to brown (82%) or green/hazel eyes (88%), however, the sample size of blue/gray eyes in this study was not large enough to draw a meaningful conclusion. An isolated case involving an antemortem initial scan collected from an individual on life support yielded an accurate identification (match) with a subsequent scan captured at approximately 10 hours postmortem. Falsely rejected subsequent iris scans or "no match" results occurred in about 20% of scans; they were observed at each PMI range and varied from 19-30%. The false reject rate is too high to reliably establish non-identity when used alone and ideally would be significantly lower prior to implementation in a forensic setting; however, a "no match" could be confirmed using another method. Importantly, the data showed a false match rate or false accept rate (FAR) of zero, a result consistent with previous iris recognition studies in living individuals. The preliminary results of this pilot study demonstrate a plausible role for iris recognition in postmortem human identification. Implementation of a universal iris recognition database would benefit the medicolegal death investigation and forensic pathology communities, and has potential applications to other situations such as missing persons and human trafficking cases

Traditional and Health-Related Philanthropy: The Role of Resources and Personality

I study the relationships of resources and personality characteristics to charitable giving, postmortem organ donation, and blood donation in a nationwide sample of persons in households in the Netherlands. I find that specific personality characteristics are related to specific types of giving: agreeableness to blood donation, empathic concern to charitable giving, and prosocial value orientation to postmortem organ donation. I find that giving has a consistently stronger relation to human and social capital than to personality. Human capital increases giving; social capital increases giving only when it is approved by others. Effects of prosocial personality characteristics decline at higher levels of these characteristics. Effects of empathic concern, helpfulness, and social value orientations on generosity are mediated by verbal proficiency and church attendance.

Post-Mortem diagnosis of dementia by informant interview.

The diagnosis of normal cognition or dementia in the Brazilian Brain Bank of the Aging Brain Study Group (BBBABSG) has relied on postmortem interview with an informant. Objectives:To ascertain the sensitivity and specificity of postmortem diagnosis based on informant interview compared against the diagnosis established at a memory clinic. Methods:A prospective study was conducted at the BBBABSG and at the Reference Center for Cognitive Disorders (RCCD), a specialized memory clinic of the Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo Medical School. Control subjects and cognitively impaired subjects were referred from the Hospital das Clínicas to the RCCD where subjects and their informants were assessed. The same informant was then interviewed at the BBBABSG. Specialists' panel consensus, in each group, determined the final diagnosis of the case, blind to other center's diagnosis. Data was compared for frequency of diagnostic equivalence. For this study, the diagnosis established at the RCCD was accepted as the gold standard. Sensitivity and specificity were computed. Results:Ninety individuals were included, 45 with dementia and 45 without dementia (26 cognitively normal and 19 cognitively impaired but non-demented). The informant interview at the BBBABSG had a sensitivity of 86.6% and specificity of 84.4% for the diagnosis of dementia, and a sensitivity of 65.3% and specificity of 93.7% for the diagnosis of normal cognition. Conclusions:The informant interview used at the BBBABSG has a high specificity and sensitivity for the diagnosis of dementia as well as a high specificity for the diagnosis of normal cognition

Gambaran Makroskopik Dan Mikroskopik Kandung Kemih Pada Hewan Coba Postmortem

: The aim of this study was to obtain the microscopic and microscopic postmortem changes of urinary bladder in domestic pigs. This was a descriptive observational study. The observations were performed at several time intervals, as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36, 42, and 48 hours postmortem. The macroscopic observation of urinary bladder showed that the organ color became darker at 2-3 hours postmortem, the consistency became soft at 24 hours postmortem, and the organ became flattened and longer at 24-30 hours postmortem. The microscopic changes were epithelial desquamation at 1 hour postmortem which was continued leaving a flat thin basal layer at 24 hours postmortem. Congestion was observed at 1 hour postmortem. Hydropic degeneration of the muscle layer began at 3hours postmortem, and the layer became unidentified at 42 hours postmortem. Epithelial changes were hydropic degeneration, picnotic, and anuclear at 4 hours and were identified until 21 hours postmortem. Debris of necrotic epithelial cells was observed until 36-48 hours postmortem. Conclusion: The earliest macroscopic change started at 3 hours postmortem was the change in color. The earliest microscopic changes started at 1 hour postmortem were epithelial desquamation and congestion

Dysregulated protocadherin-pathway activity as an intrinsic defect in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cortical interneurons from subjects with schizophrenia.

We generated cortical interneurons (cINs) from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from 14 healthy controls and 14 subjects with schizophrenia. Both healthy control cINs and schizophrenia cINs were authentic, fired spontaneously, received functional excitatory inputs from host neurons, and induced GABA-mediated inhibition in host neurons in vivo. However, schizophrenia cINs had dysregulated expression of protocadherin genes, which lie within documented schizophrenia loci. Mice lacking protocadherin-α showed defective arborization and synaptic density of prefrontal cortex cINs and behavioral abnormalities. Schizophrenia cINs similarly showed defects in synaptic density and arborization that were reversed by inhibitors of protein kinase C, a downstream kinase in the protocadherin pathway. These findings reveal an intrinsic abnormality in schizophrenia cINs in the absence of any circuit-driven pathology. They also demonstrate the utility of homogenous and functional populations of a relevant neuronal subtype for probing pathogenesis mechanisms during development

Postmortem tissue distribution of morphine and its metabolites in a series of heroin related deaths

The abuse of heroin (diamorphine) and heroin deaths are growing around the world. The interpretation of the toxicological results from suspected heroin deaths is notoriously difficult especially in cases where there may be limited samples. In order to help forensic practitioners with heroin interpretation we determined the concentration of morphine (M), morphine‐3‐glucuronide (M3G) and morphine‐6‐glucuronide (M6G) in blood (femoral and cardiac), brain (thalamus), liver (deep right lobe), bone marrow (sternum), skeletal muscle (psoas) and vitreous humor in 44 heroin related deaths. The presence of 6‐monoacetylmorphine (6‐MAM) in any of the postmortem samples was used as confirmation of heroin use. Quantitation was carried out using a validated LC‐MS/MS method with solid phase extraction. We also determined the presence of papaverine, noscapine and codeine in the samples, substances often found in illicit heroin and that may help determine illicit heroin use. The results of this study show that vitreous is the best sample to detect 6‐MAM (100% of cases), and thus heroin use. The results of the M, M3G and M6G quantitation in this study allow a degree of interpretation when samples are limited. However in some cases it may not be possible to determine heroin/morphine use as in 4 cases in muscle (3 cases in bone marrow) no morphine, morphine‐3‐glucuronide or morphine‐6‐glucuronide was detected, even though they were detected in other case samples. As always postmortem cases of suspected morphine/heroin intoxication should be interpreted with care and with as much case knowledge as possible