3,781 research outputs found
Detection of blood aspiration in deadly head gunshots comparing postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) and autopsy
BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to analyze the reliability of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) versus autopsy in detecting signs of blood aspiration in a distinct group of patients following deadly head, mouth or floor of mouth gunshot injuries. METHODS: In this study, in 41 cases PMCT was compared to autopsy reports, the gold standard of postmortem exams, regarding detection of blood aspiration. PMCT was evaluated for the presence and level of typical signs of blood aspiration in the major airways and lung using a semi-quantitative scale ranging from level 0 (no aspiration) to 3 (significant aspiration) also taking density values of the described potential aspiratory changes into account. RESULTS: Overall, in 29 (70.7%) of 41 enrolled cases PMCT and autopsy revealed the same level of aspiration. A difference of one level between PMCT and autopsy resulted for 5 (12.2%) of the remaining 12 cases. More than one level difference between both methods resulted for 7 cases (17.2%). Autopsy described no signs of aspiration in 10 cases, compared to 31 cases with reported blood aspiration. In contrast, PMCT revealed no signs of blood aspiration in 15 cases whereas 26 cases were rated as positive for signs of aspiration in the major airways. In 18 of these 26 cases considered positive for blood aspiration by autopsy and PMCT, clear signs of aspiration signs were also described bilaterally by both methods. CONCLUSIONS: The presented study provides evidence for the assumption that PMCT seems to be helpful in the detection of blood aspiration in cases of deadly head gunshots. In conclusion, it seems reasonable to suggest performing PMCT additionally to traditional postmortem exams in cases of suspected aspiration to rule out false-negative cases and to possibly allow for a more detailed and rather evidence based examination reconnoitering the cause of death. However, the adequate use of PMCT in this context needs further evaluation and the definition of an objective scale for aspiration detection on PMCT needs to be established in future studies
Brentano’s lectures on positivism (1893-1894) and his relationship to Ernst Mach
This paper is mainly about Brentano’s commentaries on Ernst Mach in his
lectures “Contemporary philosophical questions” which he held one year before he left
Austria. I will first identify the main sources of Brentano’s interests in Comte’s and J. S.
Mill’s positivism during his Würzburg period. The second section provides a short overview
of Brentano’s 1893-1894 lectures and his criticism of Comte, Kirchhoff, and Mill. The next
sections bear on Brentano’s criticism of Mach’s monism and Brentano’s argument against
the reduction of the mental based on his theory of intentionality. The last section is about
Brentano’s proposal to replace the identity relation in Mach’s theory of elements by that of
intentional correlation. I conclude with a remark on the history of philosophy in Austria
Equatorial ozone characteristics as measured at Natal (5.9 deg S, 35.2 deg W)
Ozone density profiles obtained through electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) sonde measurements at Natal were analyzed. Time variations, as expected, are small. Outstanding features of the data are tropospheric densities substantially higher than those measured at other stations, and also a total ozone content that is higher than the averages given by satellite measurements
An Injectable Trace Mineral Supplement in Yearling Bulls Causes a Short-Term Increase in Circulating Trace Mineral Levels But Does Not Improve Sperm Quality
Proper trace mineral supplementation is necessary for reproductive development and function. Supplementation with various trace minerals has been shown to improve overall sperm quality and morphology and increase the percentage of live sperm. When developing beef bulls, it is necessary to meet trace mineral requirements to ensure proper reproductive success. An injectable trace mineral product has been made commercially available for use in cattle as a supplemental form of chelated selenium, copper, zinc, and manganese. Considering the role of trace minerals in bull reproductive function, we posed the question of whether using an injectable trace mineral product beyond dietary supplementation could improve sperm quality and percentage of bulls passing yearling breeding soundness exams. The objectives of our study were to compare serum trace mineral concentrations of bulls before and after administration of an injection of trace minerals or saline and to compare semen trace mineral concentrations after treatment. To determine if an injectable trace mineral product could be of benefit, we compared serum and semen trace mineral concentrations as well as semen quality and percentage passing a yearling breeding soundness examination in treated and untreated bulls
Automatic music transcription: challenges and future directions
Automatic music transcription is considered by many to be a key enabling technology in music signal processing. However, the performance of transcription systems is still significantly below that of a human expert, and accuracies reported in recent years seem to have reached a limit, although the field is still very active. In this paper we analyse limitations of current methods and identify promising directions for future research. Current transcription methods use general purpose models which are unable to capture the rich diversity found in music signals. One way to overcome the limited performance of transcription systems is to tailor algorithms to specific use-cases. Semi-automatic approaches are another way of achieving a more reliable transcription. Also, the wealth of musical scores and corresponding audio data now available are a rich potential source of training data, via forced alignment of audio to scores, but large scale utilisation of such data has yet to be attempted. Other promising approaches include the integration of information from multiple algorithms and different musical aspects
Chrysanthemum species used as food and medicine: Understanding quality differences on the global market
Background
Chrysanthemum flowers [Ch. x morifolium (Ramat.) Hemsl. and Ch. indicum L.] are a globally used and pharmacologically interesting botanical drug, however, with variable product quality.
Objective
We aim at understanding the chemical variability of primary material available commercially based on different origins and associated quality problems like contamination with heavy metals. This needs to be assessed in the context of the current regulations for this botanical drug and associated problems.
Material and Methods
15 C. indicum L. and 50 C. x morifolium (Ramat.) Hemsl., including a range of geographical cultivars recognized in China, samples from the USA, Europe and China were analyzed using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) to compare their general chemical profile. Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to quantify heavy metal contamination.
Results
The: HPTLC fingerprints of C. indicum samples are clearly distinguishable from C. x morifolium. Fingerprints of samples from the same cultivars collected from markets in different countries (USA and China) show different patterns. Large variance of fingerprints within each cultivar group was observed. The heavy metal analysis showed excessive amounts of some harmful heavy metal in some commercial products with excessive cadmium being the most frequent problem.
Conclusions
The Chinese medicinal cultivars vary. Differences between samples sourced from the USA and China might be ascribable to geographical factors (e.g. soil composition), degradation during transport/storage or adulteration, but geographical differences should also be taken into account. Importantly, a much more detailed definition of the drug are needed for better quality control. In addition, with continuous contamination problem observed, a more widespread regulation is an essential requirement for better quality
Integrating the Developmental Niche:Relations among Socialization Goals, Parental Ethnotheories, Daily Activities, and Parental Responses to Temperament
Photoconductivity Parameters In Lithium Niobate
Measurements on a variety of doped (magnesium and/or iron) and undoped lithium niobate crystals in the oxidized state demonstrate an Arrhenius dependence of dark conductivity on reciprocal temperature between 460 and 590 K. All of the crystals had roughly the same conductivity and activation energy (1.21 eV) over the temperature range, implying that all have about the same free-carrier concentration and mobility. The enhanced photoconductivity of magnesium-doped lithium niobate is attributed to a greatly reduced trapping cross section of Fe3+ for electrons, the smaller cross section being due to a changed substitutional site for Fe3+. The Fe3+ trapping cross section is calculated from photoconductivity data to be of order 10-18 m2 in undoped lithium niobate. This implies a photoelectron lifetime of order 6x10-11 s in a relatively pure (2-ppm Fe) oxidized crystal
High-Precision Entropy Values for Spanning Trees in Lattices
Shrock and Wu have given numerical values for the exponential growth rate of
the number of spanning trees in Euclidean lattices. We give a new technique for
numerical evaluation that gives much more precise values, together with
rigorous bounds on the accuracy. In particular, the new values resolve one of
their questions.Comment: 7 pages. Revision mentions alternative approach. Title changed
slightly. 2nd revision corrects first displayed equatio
Vacancy localization in the square dimer model
We study the classical dimer model on a square lattice with a single vacancy
by developing a graph-theoretic classification of the set of all configurations
which extends the spanning tree formulation of close-packed dimers. With this
formalism, we can address the question of the possible motion of the vacancy
induced by dimer slidings. We find a probability 57/4-10Sqrt[2] for the vacancy
to be strictly jammed in an infinite system. More generally, the size
distribution of the domain accessible to the vacancy is characterized by a
power law decay with exponent 9/8. On a finite system, the probability that a
vacancy in the bulk can reach the boundary falls off as a power law of the
system size with exponent 1/4. The resultant weak localization of vacancies
still allows for unbounded diffusion, characterized by a diffusion exponent
that we relate to that of diffusion on spanning trees. We also implement
numerical simulations of the model with both free and periodic boundary
conditions.Comment: 35 pages, 24 figures. Improved version with one added figure (figure
9), a shift s->s+1 in the definition of the tree size, and minor correction
- …