Probleme bei der beurteilung von schüssen durch glasscheiben

Zusammenfassung Dem Vinogradov-Phänomen kommt zumindest bei Schüssen durch spröde Materialien erhebliche Bedeutung für die Begutachtung von Schußwaffendelikten zu. Besonders bei Verwendung von Bleimunition kann es zu schwerwiegenden Fehlbeurteilungen hinsichtlich der Schußentfernung, aber auch der Munitionsart kommen.In Verbindung mit der Untersuchung des Vinogradov-Phänomens wurde in einer Versuchsreihe auch die Morphologie der Schußlücke an Glasscheiben verschiedenen Formats geprüft. Es wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen Geschoßart, Geschoßgeschwindigkeit, Dicke der beschossenen Scheibe und Größe von Ein- und Ausschuß gefunden und diskutiert.Weiterhin wurde die Frage der Rekonstruktion der Schußrichtung behandelt. Sie ist durch Glasscheiben auch dann näherungsweise möglich, wenn die beschossene Glasscheibe selbst nicht mehr erhalten ist.

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Problems in interpretation of gunshots through glass

Summary The Vinogradov Phenomena may be very important at least in cases of gunshot firing at brittle materials. Especially when lead projectiles were used there may occur severe errors of interpretation concerning gunshot range and type of ammunition.A series of tests were carried out regarding this problem. Further experiments were performed with respect to the characteristics of bullet holes in glass. Entry and exit holes were found to correspond with kind of ammunition, bullet velocity and thickness of the glass.Finally, some aspects concerning the firing direction were examined. Even in cases when the pane of glass had been destroyed it may be possible to reconstruct the direction of fire.

     

Advances in urinary proteome analysis and biomarker discovery

Noninvasive diagnosis of kidney diseases and assessment of the prognosis are still challenges in clinical nephrology. Definition of biomarkers on the basis of proteome analysis, especially of the urine, has advanced recently and may provide new tools to solve those challenges. This article highlights the most promising technological approaches toward deciphering the human proteome and applications of the knowledge in clinical nephrology, with emphasis on the urinary proteome. The data in the current literature indicate that although a thorough investigation of the entire urinary proteome is still a distant goal, clinical applications are already available. Progress in the analysis of human proteome in health and disease will depend more on the standardization of data and availability of suitable bioinformatics and software solutions than on new technological advances. It is predicted that proteomics will play an important role in clinical nephrology in the very near future and that this progress will require interactive dialogue and collaboration between clinicians and analytical specialists.     

High-Throughput Analysis of Antimalarial Susceptibility Data by the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) In Vitro Analysis and Reporting Tool

Assessment of in vitro susceptibility is a fundamental component of antimalarial surveillance studies, but wide variations in the measurement of parasite growth and the calculation of inhibitory constants make comparisons of data from different laboratories difficult. Here we describe a Web-based, high-throughput in vitro analysis and reporting tool (IVART) generating inhibitory constants for large data sets. Fourteen primary data sets examining laboratory-determined susceptibility to artemisinin derivatives and artemisinin combination therapy partner drugs were collated from 11 laboratories. Drug concentrations associated with half-maximal inhibition of growth (IC₅₀s) were determined by a modified sigmoid E_max model-fitting algorithm, allowing standardized analysis of 7,350 concentration-inhibition assays involving 1,592 isolates. Examination of concentration-inhibition data revealed evidence of apparent paradoxical growth at high concentrations of nonartemisinin drugs, supporting amendment of the method for calculating the maximal drug effect in each assay. Criteria for defining more-reliable IC₅₀s based on estimated confidence intervals and growth ratios improved correlation coefficients for the drug pairs mefloquine-quinine and chloroquine-desethylamodiaquine in 9 of 11 and 8 of 8 data sets, respectively. Further analysis showed that maximal drug inhibition was higher for artemisinins than for other drugs, particularly in ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)-based assays, a finding consistent with the earlier onset of action of these drugs in the parasite life cycle. This is the first high-throughput analytical approach to apply consistent constraints and reliability criteria to large, diverse antimalarial susceptibility data sets. The data also illustrate the distinct biological properties of artemisinins and underline the need to apply more sensitive approaches to assessing in vitro susceptibility to these drugs.     

Joint analysis of individual participants’ data from 17 studies on the association of the IL6 variant -174G>C with circulating glucose levels,interleukin-6 levels,and body mass index

Background. Several studies have investigated associations between the -174G>C single nucleotide polymorphism (rs1800795) of the IL6 gene and phenotypes related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) but presented inconsistent results.

Aims. This joint analysis aimed to clarify whether IL6 -174G>C was associated with glucose and circulating interleukin-6 concentrations as well as body mass index (BMI).

Methods. Individual-level data from all studies of the IL6-T2DM consortium on Caucasian subjects with available BMI were collected. As study-specific estimates did not show heterogeneity (P>0.1), they were combined by using the inverse-variance fixed-effect model.

Results. The main analysis included 9440, 7398, 24,117, or 5659 non-diabetic and manifest T2DM subjects for fasting glucose, 2-hour glucose, BMI, or circulating interleukin-6 levels, respectively. IL6 -174 C-allele carriers had significantly lower fasting glucose (?0.091 mmol/L, P=0.014). There was no evidence for association between IL6 -174G>C and BMI or interleukin-6 levels, except in some subgroups.

Conclusions. Our data suggest that C-allele carriers of the IL6 -174G>C polymorphism have lower fasting glucose levels on average, which substantiates previous findings of decreased T2DM risk of these subjects.     

A Longitudinal Comparison of Arm Morbidity in Stage I–II Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy,Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Followed by Completion Lymph Node Dissection,or Axillary Lymph Node Dissection

Background  

Long-term shoulder and arm function following sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) may surpass that following complete axillary lymph node dissection (CLND) or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). We objectively examined the morbidity and compared outcomes after SLNB, SLNB + CLND, and ALND in stage I/II breast cancer patients.     

Glycemia Determines the Effect of Type 2 Diabetes Risk Genes on Insulin Secretion

OBJECTIVE

Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in diabetes risk genes reduce glucose- and/or incretin-induced insulin secretion. Here, we investigated interactions between glycemia and such diabetes risk polymorphisms.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Insulin secretion was assessed by insulinogenic index and areas under the curve of C-peptide/glucose in 1,576 subjects using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Participants were genotyped for 10 diabetes risk SNPs associated with β-cell dysfunction: rs5215 (KCNJ11), rs13266634 (SLC30A8), rs7754840 (CDKAL1), rs10811661 (CDKN2A/2B), rs10830963 (MTNR1B), rs7903146 (TCF7L2), rs10010131 (WFS1), rs7923837 (HHEX), rs151290 (KCNQ1), and rs4402960 (IGF2BP2).Furthermore, the impact of the interaction between genetic variation in TCF7L2 and glycemia on changes in insulin secretion was tested in 315 individuals taking part in a lifestyle intervention study.

RESULTS

For the SNPs in TCF7L2 and WFS1, we found a significant interaction between glucose control and insulin secretion (all P ≤ 0.0018 for glucose × genotype). When plotting insulin secretion against glucose at 120 min OGTT, the compromising SNP effects on insulin secretion are most apparent under high glucose. In the longitudinal study, rs7903146 in TCF7L2 showed a significant interaction with baseline glucose tolerance upon change in insulin secretion (P = 0.0027). Increased glucose levels at baseline predicted an increase in insulin secretion upon improvement of glycemia by lifestyle intervention only in carriers of the risk alleles.

CONCLUSIONS

For the diabetes risk genes TCF7L2 and WFS1, which are associated with impaired incretin signaling, the level of glycemia determines SNP effects on insulin secretion. This indicates the increasing relevance of these SNPs during the progression of prediabetes stages toward clinically overt type 2 diabetes.Type 2 diabetes is a disorder characterized by chronically elevated blood glucose levels due to insulin resistance and a relative lack of compensatory pancreatic insulin secretion. Environmental triggers such as a sedentary lifestyle, physical inactivity, and increased body weight play an important role in the development of the disease. In this regard, genetics and especially gene-environment interactions play an important role. Recent research revealed more than 25 gene variants leading to a higher risk for the development of type 2 diabetes (1). Interestingly, most of the diabetes risk genes alter β-cell function (1). This supports the hypothesis that the main genetic effect in the development of type 2 diabetes could be impaired insulin secretion. Neither environmental triggers nor genetics alone can explain the multifactorial disease type 2 diabetes, thus a close interaction between both is presumed (2–4). Hence, environmental influences may determine an individual''s susceptibility for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects, or vice versa genotype may designate a person''s susceptibility toward environmental factors.One “environmental” factor that plays a role early in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes is elevated glucose. It is well known that years before type 2 diabetes occurs, glucose control is altered, as reflected by higher fasting glucose and/or higher postprandial glucose (5). High glucose exerts unfavorable effects on insulin sensitivity and secretion, known as glucotoxicity (6,7). On the other hand, elevated glucose levels are needed for the incretin effect. Glucagon-like peptide 1–induced insulin secretion becomes fully active only in the hyperglycemic range (8,9). Incretin-dependent insulin secretion might therefore be of particular importance when compensatory insulin hypersecretion is required.The aim of this study was to investigate whether glycemia influences the effects of genetic variation associated with type 2 diabetes on insulin secretion. We therefore studied 10 genome-wide association study–derived variants that were furthermore found to influence β-cell function in subsequent studies (rev. in 1,10). Of these, 2 (in the TCF7L2 and WFS1 loci) are associated with incretin-stimulated insulin secretion (1). As the magnitude of incretin-stimulated insulin secretion is dependent on elevated glucose levels (8,9), we hypothesized that glucose levels specifically interact with the effect of those SNPs on insulin secretion both in cross-sectional and longitudinal intervention studies.     

Amnesic Concentrations of the Nonimmobilizer 1,2-Dichlorohexafluorocyclobutane (F6, 2N) and Isoflurane Alter Hippocampal θ Oscillations In Vivo

Background: Drug-induced temporary amnesia is one of the principal goals of general anesthesia. The nonimmobilizer 1,2-dichlorohexafluorocyclobutane (F6, also termed 2N) impairs hippocampus-dependent learning at relative, i.e., lipophilicity-corrected, concentrations similar to isoflurane. Hippocampal [theta] oscillations facilitate mnemonic processes in vivo and synaptic plasticity (a cellular model of memory) in vitro and are thought to represent a circuit level phenomenon that supports memory encoding. Therefore, the authors investigated the effects of F6 and isoflurane on [theta] oscillations (4-12 Hz).

Methods: Thirteen adult rats were implanted with multichannel depth electrodes to measure the microelectroencephalogram and were exposed to a range of concentrations of isoflurane and F6 spanning the concentrations that produce amnesia. Five of these animals also underwent control experiments without drug injection. The authors recorded the behavioral state and hippocampal field potentials. They confirmed the electrode location postmortem by histology.

Results: The tested concentrations for isoflurane and F6 ranged from 0.035% to 0.77% and from 0.5% to 3.6%, respectively. Isoflurane increased the fraction of time that the animals remained immobile, consistent with sedation, whereas F6 had the opposite effect. Electroencephalographic power in the [theta] band was less when the animals were immobile than when they explored their environment. F6 suppressed the power of oscillations in the [theta] band. Isoflurane slowed [theta] oscillations without reducing total power in the [theta] band.