Retrospective Analysis of 73 Hanging and Ligature Strangulation Cases.

ABSTRACT: Objective To retrospectively analyze 40 cases of hanging and 33 cases of ligature strangulation in Kunming, to explore the neck injury characteristics and similarities and differences of related asphyxia signs of corpses in hanging and ligature strangulation cases, in order to provide reference for forensic identification. Methods Statistics of hanging and ligature strangulation cases accepted by Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau from 2000 to 2017 were collected. Data including the gender, age, injury tool, neck injury and related asphyxia signs of the deceased in hanging and ligature strangulation cases were statistically tested by SPSS 23.0. Results There were more males in hanging cases than females. However, there were more females than males in ligature strangulation cases. In hanging cases, suicide was common, while homicide was rare. In ligature strangulation cases, homicide was common, while suicide or accidental death was rare. The average age of the deceased in hanging cases were older than those in ligature strangulation cases. The ligature mark in hanging was usually above the thyroid cartilage. The ligature mark in ligature strangulation was usually at the same level of the thyroid cartilage. The most common vital reactions were exfoliation and subcutaneous hemorrhage at the ligature mark, common among the deceased in hanging cases. Hyoid fracture rate of the deceased in ligature strangulation cases was more common than those in hanging cases. Conclusion The gender, age distribution, position of ligature mark, detection rate of vital reactions at the ligature mark and hyoid fracture rate of the deceased can help distinguish hanging from ligature strangulation.

Application of 18S rDNA Clone Library to Detect Diatom Population Diversity in Dianchi.

ABSTRACT: Objective To detect the diatom population diversity in Dianchi by constructing a 18S rDNA clone library. Methods DNA from diatoms in 6 water samples of Dianchi was amplified with diatom 18S rDNA specific primer.The 18S rDNA clone library was constructed, and clones were randomly selected for sequence. Sequence alignment was performed by BLAST. The diatom population distribution in Dianchi was analyzed and the phylogenetic tree of diatom 18S rDNA in Dianchi waters was established with the MEGA v7.0.14 software. Results Two hundred and forty clones were sequenced, with 167 diatom sequences obtained, including 11 diatom species such as Stephanodiscus, Diatoma, and Melosira. There were certain differences in diatom population distribution among the 6 samples. Conclusion The population distribution of diatom species in Dianchi shows unique features and the sequence analysis of diatom 18S rDNA has a certain reference value to the inference of forensic drowning sites.

Network Analysis of Y-STR in Six Ethnic Populations in Guangxi and Its Forensic Significances.

ABSTRACT: Objective To explore the distribution of genetic structure of Y-SNP and Y-STR genetic markers in different ethnic groups and its application in forensic science. Methods SNaPshot minisequencing was used to detect the polymorphisms of 12 Y-SNP loci in 439 males from 6 ethnic groups, including Guangxi Han, Guangxi Jing, Guangxi Miao, Guangxi Yao, Guangxi Zhuang and Guangxi Dong. DNATyperTM Y26 kit was used to multiplex-amplify 26 Y-STR loci. The PCR products were analyzed by 3130xl genetic analyzer. The network analysis of Y-STR haplotype under the same Y-SNP haplogroup was analyzed by Network 5.0 software. Results Six haplogroups defined by 12 Y-SNP loci were detected in 6 ethnic groups, and 362 haplotypes were detected in 26 Y-STR loci. The haplotype diversity was 0.996 6. In the C haplogroup, the samples from Guangxi Yao, Guangxi Zhuang and Guangxi Dong were clustered on different branches; in the O1 haplogroup, those from Guangxi Zhuang, Guangxi Miao and Guangxi Jing were relatively independent and clustered separately; in the O2 haplogroup, some samples from Guangxi Miao and Guangxi Yao were gathered in a cluster. Conclusion Based on the Y-STR network analysis of samples with identical haplogroup of Y-SNP, some ethnic groups can be preliminarily distinguished, which could be used to infer male suspects' ethnic group through detecting their genetic markers left in the crime scene.

[International incidence trend of coal workers' pneumoconiosis and silicosis].

Pneumoconiosis is a group of occupational disease that seriously threaten the health of workers, which was regard as incurable for the irreversibility of pulmonary fibrotic lesions. It was successfully controlled in a few countries but resurgent in resent years. At the same time, the silicosis in the emerging industries has gradually appeared in many countries. In this article, the process aforementioned were described and the lessons were summarized to give some suggestions for promoting the prevention of pneumoconiosis in our country.

[Genotyping of ABO Blood Group in Partial Population of Yunnan Province by SNaPshot Technology].

OBJECTIVES: To detect the genotype of ABO blood group by SNaPshot technology. METHODS: DNA were extracted from the peripheral blood samples with known blood groups （obtained by serology） of 107 unrelated individuals in Yunnan. Six SNP loci of the 261th, 297th, 681th, 703th, 802th, and 803th nucleotide positions were detected by SNaPshot Multiplex kit, and relevant genetics parameters were calculated. RESULTS: In 107 blood samples, the allele frequencies of types A, B, OA, and OG were 0.355 1, 0.168 2, 0.230 0 and 0.247 6, respectively, while that of types AG and cis AB were not detected. The genotyping results of ABO blood group were consistent with that of serologic testing. CONCLUSIONS: SNaPshot technology can be adapted for genotyping of ABO blood group.

[Analysis of Koch phenomenon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected guinea pigs vaccinated with recombinant tuberculosis vaccine AEC/BC02].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the Koch phenomenon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB)-infected guinea pigs after vaccinated with killed H37Ra bacteria or tuberculosis vaccine candidate AEC/BC02. METHODS: Eighteen guinea pigs were challenged subcutaneously with 5.0×10(3) CFU MTB and after 40 days were divided into 3 groups (6 per group): NS group, AEC/BC02 group and H37Ra group, which were injected intramuscularly 3 times at 1 day interval with normal saline, AEC/BC02 vaccine and killed H37Ra bacteria respectively. Three weeks after the first vaccination, all guinea pigs were sacrificed to evaluate gross pathological scores for liver, spleen and lung, bacterial loads in lung and spleen, and lung inflammation. RESULTS: The gross pathological score in H37Ra group (48±26) was lower than that in NS group(62±15), but the difference was not significant (t=1.093, P=0.300). The AEC/BC02 group had a significantly lower gross pathological score (36±15) than NS group (t=2.980, P=0.014). No significant difference between H37Ra group and AEC/BC02 group was observed (t=1.009, P=0.337). The spleen bacterial load [(5.31±0.80) log10 CFU]in H37Ra group was slightly lower than that in NS group[(5.57±0.75) log10 CFU] but the difference was not significant (t=1.581, P=0.574). In AEC/BC02 group bacterial load in the spleen was (4.64±0.64) log10 CFU and significantly lower than NS group (t=2.306, P=0.044) and no significant difference between H37Ra group and AEC/BC02 group was observed (t=1.602, P=0.140). Meanwhile, the lung bacterial load in AEC/BC02 group was (3.71±1.01) log10 CFU and in H37Ra group was (3.82±1.25) log10 CFU. Compared to (4.15±0.69) log10 CFU in the NS group, no significant differences were found (t=0.881, P=0.399; t=0.566, P=0.584, respectively). For the lung inflammation, the inflamed areas in H37Ra group were significantly larger [(33.0±4.4%)] than those in both NS group [(14.8±8.4) %, t=4.719, P=0.001] and AEC/BC02 group [(14.8±8.4) %, t=3.616, P=0.005], and no significant differences were seen between AEC/BC02 group and NS group (t=1.041, P=0.322). CONCLUSION: The lung inflammation indicated that killed H37Ra bacteria evoked an obvious Koch reaction in the MTB-infected guinea pigs, whereas AEC/BC02 vaccine showed a low risk of causing Koch phenomenon.

Applying machine learning methods to predict the hospital re-admission within 30 days of total hip arthroplasty and hemiarthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and hemiarthroplasty are common treatments for severe hip joint disease. To predict the probability of re-admission after discharge when patients are hospitalized will support providing appropriate health education and guidance. METHODS: The research aims to use logistic regression (LR), decision trees (DT), random forests (RF), and artificial neural networks (ANN) to establish predictive models and compare their performances on re-admissions within 30 days after THA or hemiarthroplasty. The data of this study includes patient demographics, physiological measurements, disease history, and clinical laboratory test results. RESULTS: There were 508 and 309 patients in the THA and hemiarthroplasty studies respectively from September 2016 to December 2018. The accuracies of the four models LR, DT, RF, and ANN in the THA experiment are 94.3%, 93.2%, 97.3%, and 93.9%, respectively. In the hemiarthroplasty experiment, the accuracies of the four models are 92.4%, 86.1%, 94.2%, and 94.8%, respectively. Among these, we found that the RF model has the best sensitivity and ANN model has the best area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) score in both experiments. CONCLUSIONS: The THA experiment confirmed that the performance of the RF model is better than the other models. The key factors affecting the prognosis after THA surgery are creatinine, sodium, anesthesia duration, and dialysis. In the hemiarthroplasty experiment, the ANN model showed more accurate results. Poor kidney function increases the risk of hospital re-admission. This research highlights that RF and ANN model perform well on the hip replacement surgery outcome prediction.

Cytotoxicity assessment of Ma-huang (Ephedra) under different conditions of preparation.

Ma-huang is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb derived from EPHEDRA: sinica Stapf and other EPHEDRA: species, used to treat asthma, nose and lung congestion, and fever with anhidrosis. It contains 0.5-2.5% by weight of total alkaloids, of which ephedrine accounts for 30 to 90%. Recently, large amounts of ma-huang were used as a source of ephedrine in many dietary supplements formulated for weight reduction, because ephedrine has been found effective in inducing weight loss in diet-restricted obese patients. However, indiscriminate consumption of ma-huang-containing products has resulted in many cases of poisoning, some of which were fatal. The objective of this study is to investigate the relative toxicity of ma-huang extracted under different conditions. The toxicities of various extracts were assayed using MTT colorimetry on a battery of cell lines, while ephedrine alkaloids were analyzed with HPLC. The results are summarized as follows. (1) The cytotoxicity of all ma-huang extracts could not be totally accounted for by their ephedrine contents, suggesting the presence of other toxins in the extracts. (2) Grinding was a significant condition enhancing the toxicity of the extracts. (3) The relatively high sensitivity of the Neuro-2a cell line to the toxicity of ma-huang extracts suggests that the toxic principles were acting on neuronal cells. (4) One condition to produce a ma-huang extract with high ephedrine-to-toxins ratio would be to boil the whole herb for two h.

Polymorphism of the DPB1 locus in Hani ethnic group of south-western China.

Polymorphism of HLA-DPB1 was revealed with a sequencing-based typing (SBT) method in 47 unrelated healthy individuals from Yunnan Hani ethnic minority. The alleles DPB1*5901 and DPB1*7001 were detected for the first time in Chinese populations. A dendrogram showed that the Hani ethnic group belongs to the southern group of Chinese.