From the back through the thorax into the eye-unusual double suicide with a firearm

The bodies of a27-year-old woman and a44-year-old man were found lying entwined on their bed. Alarge-caliber revolver lay on the bed next to them. The forensic examinations at the discovery site and the subsequent medico-legal autopsies revealed afatal, sagittal gunshot wound of the thorax with atrajectory from back to front in the woman. The underlying man showed aretained projectile with asagittal bullet track from the entrance wound in the middle of the anterior chest wall to the spinal column. Examinations at the scene carried out to estimate the time since death showed consistent results for both persons with acoincident time of death approximately 7h before the time of examination. The results of the subsequently conducted toxicological investigations revealed an acute influence by exceptionally high concentrations of amphetamine in the woman and acombined intoxication with amphetamine, ecstasy and alcohol in the man. Both individuals showed metabolites indicative of previous cocaine consumption. In conjunction with the police investigations, the forensic medical findings strongly suggested an unusual case of double suicide

Extending results of Morgan and Parker about commuting graphs

http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0004972712000330

Metal and proton adsorption capacities of natural and cloned Sphagnum mosses

Terrestrial mosses are commonly used as bioindicators of atmospheric pollution. However, there is a lack of standardization of the biomonitoring preparation technique and the efficiency of metal adsorption by various moss species is poorly known. This is especially true for in vitro-cultivated moss clones, which are promising candidates for a standardized moss-bag technique. We studied the adsorption of copper and zinc on naturally grown Sphagnum peat moss in comparison with in vitro-cultivated Sphagnum palustre samples in order to provide their physico-chemical characterization and to test the possibility of using cloned peat mosses as bioindicators within the protocol of moss-bag technique. We demonstrate that in vitro-grown clones of S. palustre exhibit acid–base properties similar to those of naturally grown Sphagnum samples, whereas the zinc adsorption capacity of the clones is approx. twice higher than that of the samples from the field. At the same time, the field samples adsorbed 30–50% higher amount of Cu2+ compared to that of the clones. This contrast may be related to fine differences in the bulk chemical composition, specific surface area, morphological features, type and abundance of binding sites at the cell surfaces and in the aqueous solution of natural and cloned Sphagnum. The clones exhibited much lower concentration of most metal pollutants in their tissues relative to the natural samples thus making the former better indicators of low metal loading. Overall, in vitro-produced clones of S. palustre can be considered as an adequate, environmentally benign substitution for protected natural Sphagnum sp. samples to be used in moss-bags for atmospheric monitorin

Molecular cytogenetic characterization of a small, familial supernumerary ring chromosome 7 associated with mental retardation and an abnormal phenotype

A family is described in which a mother and two of her children were mosaic for a small supernumerary ring chromosome. As the origin of the ring chromosome could not be determined by routine cytogenetic studies, fluorescent in situ hybridization was performed, which indicated that the ring chromosome was derived from the pericentromeric region of chromosome 7. Further characterization with a YAC-probe showed the involvement of the proximal q-arm of chromosome 7. Both sibs had speech difficulties and were mildly mentally retarded whereas the mother's intelligence was at the lower end of the normal range. They all had an unusual face, characterized by a fiat profile, short forehead, downslant of the palpebral fissures, high and broad nasal bridge, simply formed ears, and prognathia. This is the second report of a small supernumerary ring chromosome derived from the pericentromeric region of chromosome 7, and the described clinical phenotype differs from that delineated in the previous report. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Metal and proton adsorption capacities of natural and cloned Sphagnum mosses

Terrestrial mosses are commonly used as bioindicators of atmospheric pollution. However, there is a lack of standardization of the biomonitoring preparation technique and the efficiency of metal adsorption by various moss species is poorly known. This is especially true for in vitro-cultivated moss clones, which are promising candidates for a standardized moss-bag technique. We studied the adsorption of copper and zinc on naturally grown Sphagnum peat moss in comparison with in vitro-cultivated Sphagnum palustre samples in order to provide their physico-chemical characterization and to test the possibility of using cloned peat mosses as bioindicators within the protocol of moss-bag technique. We demonstrate that in vitro-grown clones of S. palustre exhibit acid–base properties similar to those of naturally grown Sphagnum samples, whereas the zinc adsorption capacity of the clones is approx. twice higher than that of the samples from the field. At the same time, the field samples adsorbed 30–50% higher amount of Cu2+ compared to that of the clones. This contrast may be related to fine differences in the bulk chemical composition, specific surface area, morphological features, type and abundance of binding sites at the cell surfaces and in the aqueous solution of natural and cloned Sphagnum. The clones exhibited much lower concentration of most metal pollutants in their tissues relative to the natural samples thus making the former better indicators of low metal loading. Overall, in vitro-produced clones of S. palustre can be considered as an adequate, environmentally benign substitution for protected natural Sphagnum sp. samples to be used in moss-bags for atmospheric monitorin

Time to stop ovarian cancer screening in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers?

Women at high risk of ovarian cancer (file to a genetic predisposition may opt for either surveillance or prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (pBSO). Main objective of our study was to determine the effectiveness of ovarian cancer screening in women with a BRCA1/2 mutation. We evaluated 241 consecutive women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation who were enrolled in the surveillance program for hereditary ovarian cancer from September 1995 until May 2006 at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), The Netherlands. The ovarian cancer screening included annual pelvic examination, transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) and serum CA125 measurement. To evaluate the effectiveness (if screening in diagnosing (early stage) ovarian cancer sensitivity. specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) of pelvic examination, TVU and CA125 were calculated. Three ovarian cancers were detected (luring the surveillance period: 1 prevalent cancer. 1 interval cancer and 1 screen-detected cancer. all in all advanced stage (FIGO stage IIIc). A PPV of 20% vs-as achieved for pelvic examination, 33% for TVU and 6% for CA125 estimation alone. The NPV were 99.4% for pelvic examination, 99.5% for TVU and 99.4% for CA125. All detected ovarian cancers were in an advanced stage, and sensitivities and positive predictive values of the screening modalities are low. Restricting (lie analyses to incident contacts that contained all 3 screening modalities did not substantially change the outcomes. Annual gynecological screening of women with a BRCA1/ 2 mutation to prevent advanced stage ovarian cancer is not effective. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss. Inc