Hypothermic death: Possibility of diagnosis by post-mortem computed tomography

Referring to our experience with post-mortem computed tomography (CT), many hypothermic death cases presented a lack of increase in lung-field concentration, blood clotting in the heart, thoracic aorta or pulmonary artery, and urine retention in the bladder. Thus we evaluated the diagnostic performance of post-mortem CT on hypothermic death based on the above-mentioned three findings. Twenty-four hypothermic death subjects and 53 non-hypothermic death subjects were examined. Two radiologists assessed the presence or lack of an increase in lung-field concentration, blood clotting in the heart, thoracic aorta or pulmonary artery, and measured urine volume in the bladder. Pearson's chi-square test and Mann–Whitney U-test were used to assess the relationship between the three findings and hypothermic death. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the diagnosis were also calculated. Lack of an increase in lung-field concentration and blood clotting in the heart, thoracic aorta or pulmonary artery were significantly associated with hypothermic death (p = 0.0007, p < 0.0001, respectively). The hypothermic death cases had significantly more urine in the bladder than the non-hypothermic death cases (p = 0.0011). Regarding the diagnostic performance with all three findings, the sensitivity was 29.2% but the specificity was 100%. These three findings were more common in hypothermic death cases. Although the sensitivity was low, these findings will assist forensic physicians in diagnosing hypothermic death since the specificity was high.     

Novel Reassortant Influenza A(H1N2) Virus Derived from A(H1N1)pdm09 Virus Isolated from Swine,Japan, 2012

We isolated a novel influenza virus A(H1N2) strain from a pig on January 13, 2012, in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the strain was a novel type of double-reassortant virus derived from the swine influenza virus strains H1N1pdm09 and H1N2, which were prevalent in Gunma at that time.     

The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error in Japan: the Locomotive Syndrome and Health Outcome in Aizu Cohort Study

Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology - Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is the leading cause of vision impairment and the second leading cause of blindness. It is a major public health challenge...     

A case of self‐harm by alcohol intoxication resulted in unintended in‐hospital death

In‐hospital hanging during a confusional state from alcohol intoxication is rare. To treat cases of acute alcohol intoxication, careful observation will be needed to avoid accidental psychological reactions.     

Effect of thyroid hormone-disrupting chemicals on swim bladder inflation and thyroid hormone-related gene expression in Japanese medaka and zebrafish

We compared the influence of thyroid hormone-disrupting chemicals (heptafluorobutanoic acid, PFBA and tris[1,3-dichloro-2-propyl] phosphate, TDCPP) and thyroid hormone (3,3′,5-triiodo-L-thyronine, T3) on swim bladder inflation and thyroid hormone-related gene expression in Japanese medaka and zebrafish. The swim bladder of most larvae had inflated at 4 h post hatching (hph) in Japanese medaka and at 48 hph in zebrafish in controls. In both fish species, the swim bladder inflation was inhibited in larvae exposed to PFBA (lowest observed effect concentration [LOEC] in medaka: 40 mg/L; in zebrafish: 80 mg/L), TDCPP (LOEC in medaka: 1 mg/L; in zebrafish: 0.5 mg/L), and T3 (no inhibition in Japanese medaka; LOEC in zebrafish: 7.5 μg/L). We also examined the influence of PFBA, TDCPP, and T3 on the expression of thyroid stimulating hormone subunit beta (tshβ) or thyroid hormone receptor alpha (trα) and beta (trβ). No changes were observed in the expression of genes after PFBA and TDCPP exposure; however, T3 exposure upregulated trα and trβ expression in both fish species. When the results were compared between Japanese medaka and zebrafish, swim bladder inflation in both species was found to be inhibited by exposure to thyroid hormone-disrupting chemicals. Our results show that inhibition of the swim bladder inflation at 4 hph in Japanese medaka and 48 hph in zebrafish is a potential indicator of thyroid hormone-disturbing activity of chemicals.     

Difference in left atrial myocardial dynamics during reservoir phase between hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypertensive heart determined using three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography

The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - We aimed to investigate left atrial (LA) myocardial dynamics during reservoir phase using three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography...