Aurantioporthe corni gen. et comb. nov., an endophyte and pathogen of Cornus alternifolia.

Cryptodiaporthe corni is the causal agent of a destructive disease called golden canker, which affects Cornus alternifolia, known as the pagoda or alternate-leaved dogwood. Due to the association between Cr. corni and pagoda dogwood, we sought to determine whether this fungus was capable of living as an endophyte in pagoda dogwood and causing this disease.

Supravital energy production in early post-mortem phase - estimate based on heat loss due to radiation and natural convection.

The temperature-based determination of the time since death in the early post-mortem (pm) period plays an important role in medico-legal practice. In contrast to the common opinion according to which convection and conduction are mainly responsible for post-mortem heat loss, a considerable part of energy is emitted by thermal radiation. The present paper concentrates on the heat loss due to radiation and natural convection.

Determination of time-dependent skin temperature decrease rates in the case of abrupt changes of environmental temperature.

The present study deals with the development of a method for determining time-dependent temperature decrease rates and its application to postmortem surface cooling. The study concentrates on evaluating skin cooling behavior since data on skin cooling in the forensic literature are scarce. Furthermore, all heat transfer mechanisms strongly depend on the temperature gradient between body surface and environment.

Energy loss due to radiation in postmortem cooling. Part B: Energy balance with respect to radiation.

With the help of the law of Stefan and Boltzmann and a model for the cooling of exposed skin derived from the data of Lyle and Cleveland, the radiation energy loss ER can be calculated according to the following formula: [formula in text] where epsilon represents the emissivity of the skin (0.98), sigma the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, AR the radiating surface area, TS(0) the skin temperature at death, TE the environmental temperature and Z' = 0.1017 the gradient of the skin temperature curve.

The significance of the anatomy of the skull base for mechanical modelling: a comparative study.

The present paper aims at analysing the significance of the anatomical structures of the human skull base for mechanical modelling. Three different Finite-Element (FE)-models of the human neurocranium were developed. The most complex model (1242 solid cuboid elements) contains holes and spaces functionally simulating the foramina and fissures and additional element layers for the inner relief of the skull base (petrous temporal and sella).

Energy loss due to radiation in postmortem cooling. Part A: quantitative estimation of radiation using the Stefan-Boltzmann law.

Conduction and convection are assumed to account for most of the energy loss from the dead body to the (cooler) environment. There are no quantitative estimations in the literature for the contribution of radiation to heat loss. The aim of the present paper was to estimate the radiation energy loss in postmortem cooling.

Suppression of vagus-mediated pancreatic polypeptide release by the mu-opiate receptor agonist loperamide in man.

1. Morphine suppresses the release of pancreatic polypeptide, a hormone under vagal cholinergic control. The intention of the study was to detect whether the mu-opiate receptor agonist loperamide is also able to inhibit pancreatic polypeptide release, and to define its site of action.

Pulmonary giant cells and traumatic asphyxia.

A morphometrical analysis was performed to elucidate the significance of pulmonary polynuclear giant cells as a histological sign of asphyxiation. A total of 13 cases of homicidal strangulation of throttling, 8 cases of traumatic asphyxia due to chest compression and 10 control cases (cause of death: severe head injury, no signs of aspiration or other relevant pulmonary alterations, smokers and non-smokers) were investigated. The number of alveolar macrophages containing 1 or 2 nuclei and of polynuclear giant cells per microscopic field (0.

[Biomechanical analysis of movement using stroboscopy].

In cases when violence has occurred in some form and its associated forces are subject to expert evaluation. For a mathematical assessment of the intensity of the acting forces there is often a lack of confident basis data, which is why an experimental study is necessary. A simple testing arrangement with a photocamera and flashlight in stroboscopic mode provides a convincing pictorial representation of movement and velocity.

[Biomechanical and morphologic reconstruction of a questionable case of child abuse].

A 3-month-old baby died 8 days after admission to the hospital as a result of injuries received under unknown circumstances. The forensic autopsy revealed a fracture of the scull and a severe blunt injury to the head and brain. Histological investigation of the reactive changes at and around the edges of the fracture showed that the trauma could not possibly have been congenital.

On the estimation of lay-time by measurements of rigor mortis.

Measurements of the torgue to overcome rigor mortis on the legs of 101 male human cadavers at 5 degrees C are reported. There seems to exist an upper limit, which is dependent on the lay-time, above which no value occurs, but below which every value may be found. By calculating the 90% tolerance limits for lay-times grouped at 12-hourly intervals, this upper limit was found to decrease exponentially with lay-time.

[Pacemaker and seat belt (author's transl)].

Although seat-belt-induced traffic accident injuries to wearers of pacemakers are rare, about 50,000 pacemaker patients have to "buckle up." A study of 450 pacemaker patients indicated that, as in the general population about 50% use their seat belts. Fifty percent of the patients felt uncomfortable or showed local damage of the area overlying the pacemaker.

[Measurements of rigor mortis on human skeletal muscles in situ (author's transl)].

The torque, necessary to break the rigor mortis of arms and legs at 17 female and 35 male cadavers stored at a temperature of 4 degrees C was determined. The values show differences between male and female cadavers to an extent, that both groups have to be treated separately. Relating the torque to the diameter or the cross section of the limb does not eliminate the differences: Frequently considerable differences between left and right limbs were obtained, however, without preference of one side over the other.