Gewaltforschung zum Thema „häusliche Gewalt“ aus kriminologischer Sicht

Domestic violence continues to be a subject of public interest and media presence, especially when it involves spectacular cases ranging from abuse of children to fatal violence in the family. Although domestic violence has been the subject of scientific research for the last three decades, there is still no clear evidence of prevalence and etiology of this particular kind of violence. Since the introduction of the German Violence Protection Act which came into force in January 2002, domestic violence has been met with severe societal and legal sanctions. The consequences for culprits are not only theoretical but also include an increase in criminal proceedings and improved civil court protection. Therefore medical staff, particularly legal medicine, is more than ever confronted with the need to standardize documentation of injuries resulting from domestic violence. In addition, legal medical specialists are often confronted with the victims’ personal and social problems. This paper gives an insight into the historical background and recent law reforms which have created legal sanctions and protection against domestic violence.     

Preclinical evaluation of coronary vascular function after cardioplegia with HTK and different antioxidant additives.

OBJECTIVE: Due to limited resources, improvement of preservation solutions is still of great importance in cardiac transplant surgery. New additives with antioxidant properties were tested with respect to coronary function of isolated rat hearts. METHODS: Bretschneider HTK solution containing none or an antioxidant additive (deferoxamine, trolox or LK 616) was used for 8h cold cardioplegia. After reperfusion with Krebs-Henseleit buffer (KHB), we assessed vascular dilator capacity (bradykinin, adenosine triphosphate, reactive hyperemia), myocardial function (left ventricular developed pressure, heart rate, oxygen consumption) and release of biochemical markers (aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, troponin, adenosine). RESULTS: Bradykinin- and adenosine triphosphate-induced vasodilations were largely reduced in hearts stored 8h in traditional HTK as compared to unstored controls. Storage in HTK+LK 616 significantly improved bradykinin-induced vasodilation. Vasodilation toward ATP was best preserved in hearts stored in HTK+deferoxamine. Deferoxamine and trolox, both improved reactive hyperaemic response during reperfusion. Left ventricular pressure development was significantly reduced after 8h cardioplegia, but no difference existed between different cardioplegia groups. Release of biochemical markers of tissue injury was similar in all cardioplegia groups. After storage in HTK+LK 616 (100 microM), however, heart marker release was slightly augmented as compared to HTK. CONCLUSIONS: Despite similar myocardial function and marker release, coronary vascular function after cardioplegic storage may profit by addition of iron chelators (or antioxidants) to traditional HTK solution.     

Neuropathy with lysosomal changes in Marinesco-Sj?gren syndrome: fine structural findings in skeletal muscle and conjunctiva.

The light- and electron-microscopical findings in the skeletal muscle and conjunctiva of 6 patients with Marinesco-Sj?gren syndrome (MSS) were presented. All patients were related and showed the cardinal clinical symptoms of the syndrome: congenital cataracts, mental retardation, delayed statomotor development, and cerebellar ataxia. The most prominent alteration found in the skeletal muscle of four patients was extensive neurogenic atrophy with conspicuous groups of atrophic muscle fibers. Additional findings were vacuolar degeneration and secondary, unspecific changes like slight mitochondrial alterations and increased variability in muscle fiber calibers. The ultrastructural examination revealed double-membrane structures near to, but not in direct contact with the nucleus. The nuclear changes described earlier (7, 20) were not found in any of the cases. Conjunctival biopsies revealed a marked increase in the number of lysosomes in fibroblasts. In summary, to the well known myopathic damage of muscles in MSS a neurogenic component should be added. Disturbed lysosomal function is to be considered as the basic abnormality, though the enzyme defect has not yet been identified. In cases of clinically suspected MSS, examination of a conjunctival biopsy is highly recommended.     

Berufskrankheit Nr. 2108–2110 – bandscheibenbedingte Erkrankungen der Wirbelsäule

The inclusion of disc-related disease of the cervical and lumbar spinal column in the Occupational Illness Ordinance with effect in law from 1 January 1993 brought with it a multitude of problems on a scal no-one could have foreseen for medical experts. At that time there were absolutely no conclusive criteria available to distinguish the many cases that were not specifically occupational in origin from cases that were classifiable as occupationally induced. Such criteria appeared to be urgently needed, especially as even considerable occupational stress on the spine is by no means sure to result in disease of the disc. The epidemiologically derived data gathered from disc-related diseases in specific occupational sectors alone have proved unsuitable for application as conclusive criteria of causation in individual cases as demanded by the legislator. The historical developments directed at solving the problems involved for those entrusted with providing expert opinions are presentd, as are the tentative approaches currently being followed.     

Adult polyglucosan body myopathy with subclinical peripheral neuropathy: case report and review of diseases associated with polyglucosan body accumulation

A 65-year-old female had polyglucosan body myopathy, usually called "polysaccharide storage myopathy" that presented with increasing distal paresis and only slight weakness of the proximal limb girdle musculature. Muscle biopsy revealed dystrophic changes that could have been mistaken for muscular dystrophy, and the characteristic light as well as electron microscopic features of polyglucosan bodies varying in number at the three sites of muscle biopsies studied (deltoid, quadriceps femoris, and anterior tibial muscle). In addition, there were occasional nonspecific paracristalline mitochondrial inclusions. No abnormal polyglucosan deposits were found in the sural nerve biopsy. Morphometric evaluation of nerve fiber cross sectional areas revealed some degree of demyelination and remyelination, and of nerve fiber degeneration and regeneration. Unlike a series of 10 unselected control sural nerves with Renaut bodies, hypomyelinated nerve fibers were more numerous adjacent to Renaut bodies. This is the first case of polyglucosan body myopathy in which the axon/myelin ratio and the axonal circularity factor in the sural nerve is evaluated and in which a definite lack of polyglucosan bodies or other abnormal glycogen storage products in a peripheral nerve is documented.     

Histamine release in the course of elective conventional cholecystectomy in aged patients: Problems in defining release in relation to specific intraoperative events

The effectiveness of an H₁ ^–+H₂-prophylaxis against perioperative acute pseudoallergic reactions in which histamine is involved, and against postoperative complications the incidence of which may be increased by these reactions, was the central problem of a randomized trial in 162 aged patients during elective conventional cholecystectomy. As main endpoint it was planned to use the systemic histamine release reaction, as it already had been defined for the conscious and anaesthetized human subject. However, it had to be reassessed and redefined for the intraoperative period after improvement of the plasma histamine assay and new findings about stress-induced histamine release and the kinetics of histamine release during certain phases of operation.Intraoperative release is, at present, defined solely as an increase of plasma histamine values after a particular action (phase of operation). It includes criteria concerning plasma histamine changes either in comparison to the base value before surgery or to the preceding value before the last surgical action. Histamine elevations must exceed the last value by more than 3 standard deviations of the analytical error (i.e. 200% if value <0.25 ng/ml=" and=" 40%=" above).=" basic=" requirements=" for=" the=" histamine=" assay=" (quality=" control),=" correct=" sample=" taking=" and=" appropriate=" preparation=" have=" to=" be=" fulfilled=" over=" the=" whole=" trial=" period.=" when=" these=" criteria=" were=" applied=" to=" the=" 162=" patients=" an=" overall=" incidence=" of=" histamine=" release=" during=" cholecystectomy=" of=" 55.6%=" was=" found=" with=" 9.7–20%=" during=" an=" individual=" phase=" of=" operation.=" the=" data=" of=" this=" study,=" performed=" under=" routine=" conditions,=" with=" a=" sufficient=" number=" of=" patients=" with=" elevated=" risk=" and=" event=" controlled=" plasma=" histamine=" values,=" lead=" to=" a=" better=" understanding=" of=" intraoperative=" histamine=" release,=" its=" incidence=" and=">     

Structure-activity relations of antineoplastic platinum II and platinum IV coordination compounds

Five diammine-Pt(II) or Pt(IV) coordination compounds, namely cis-diammine-dichloro-platinum (II) "cis-DDP", transdihydroxy-cis-diammine-dichloro-platinum (IV) "trans-ODDP", and derived substitution products of lactic acid (racemates or L-forms) with diminished toxicity in comparison to cis-DDP have been tested against mouse leukemia P388, and partly on melanoma B16 for antineoplastic activity. The results have been compared with those obtained with the clinical approved cis-DDP. They were not in every way equal to the antitumor efficiency of cis-DDP. Improved physicochemical properties as well as favorable differences of side effects in contrast to cis-DDP, could be decisive for the potential value of these substances.     

Diagnostic subgroups of developmental dyslexia have different deficits in neural processing of tones and phonemes.

The present study addressed auditory processing in 8-11-year-old children with developmental dyslexia by means of event-related brain potentials (ERP). Cortical sound reception was evaluated by recording N250 responses to syllables and tones and cortical sound discrimination by analyzing the mismatch negativity (MMN) to syllable and tone changes. We found that both cortical sound reception and sound discrimination were impaired in dyslexic children. The analysis of the data obtained from two dyslexic subgroups, Dyslexics-1 being impaired in non-word reading (or both non-word and frequent word reading) and Dyslexics-2 in frequent word reading but not in non-word reading, revealed that the MMN was specifically diminished in the latter group whereas it was normal-like in Dyslexics-1. However, no differences were found between these subgroups in sound reception as indicated by the responses elicited by the standard stimuli. These results show that different diagnostic subgroups of dyslexics have different patterns of auditory processing deficits as suggested by similarly impaired sound reception in both dyslexic groups and the sound-discrimination impairment specific to one of the groups.