[Hand injuries by pyrotechnic articles--case report and reconstructive experimental investigations]. / Handverletzungen durch pyrotechnische Gegenstände. Falldarstellung und experimentell-rekonstruktive Untersuchungen.

Injuries caused by explosions of fireworks often involve people's hands. The case of a young man who suffered severe hand injuries as well as damage to both eardrums and one eye is described. Reconstructive experimental investigations of the explosive effect of six different pyrotechnic articles were carried out using human hands from body donors. With the most powerful firecrackers that used to be legally available in Germany ("Super-Böller A", "Kanonenschlag") and a self-made one with 36 g gunpowder only blackening of the skin occurred. Three pyrotechnic articles not allowed in Germany ("La Bomba", "Color salute" and "Vogelschreck") caused serious injury to the hand's soft tissue and bones.

[Corpse disposal by concealment in transport containers or packaging materials: Examination by post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) before forensic autopsy]. / Leichenbeseitigung durch Verstecken in Transport- behältnissen oder Verpackungsmaterialien: präautoptische Untersuchung mittels postmortaler Computertomographie (PMCT).

The presented case reports illustrate the value of post-mortem computed tomography in cases of homicide in which the body was hidden in a container or packaging material and could not be inspected directly from outside. In Case 1, the body was forced into a suitcase, which was then thrown into a flood basin. Post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) visualized the compressed and extremely flexed body inside the suitcase as well as fractures of the left temporal bone, the left ulna and the left side of the mandible. After recovery of the body, the consequences of long-term immersion in fresh water became visible. At autopsy, a laceration in the left temporal region and a temporal bone fracture were observed. The fractures of the left ulna and the left jaw were associated with moderate hematoma. In Case 2, the body of an 11-year-old girl was retrieved from a plastic bag concealed in a garden shed. The cause of death was ligature strangulation. In the presented cases, PMCT was performed as part of the police investigations for reliable primary documentation of the contents of the containers without further manipulation. Thus the human body, its position inside the container and the presence of bone injuries could be demonstrated before opening the container. In such cases, post-mortem imaging provides reliable and rapid information to the investigating authorities before autopsy already.

The Cohesin loading factor NIPBL recruits histone deacetylases to mediate local chromatin modifications.

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a rare congenital malformation disorder. About half of the patients with CdLS carry mutations in the NIPBL gene encoding the NIPBL protein, a subunit of the Cohesin loading complex. Recent studies show association of Cohesin with chromatin-remodeling complexes, either by establishing cohesion or by recruiting Cohesin to specific chromosome locations. In yeast two-hybrid assays, we identified an interaction of NIPBL with the histone deacetylases -1 and -3. These interactions were confirmed in mammalian cells by coimmunoprecipitation and a critical region for interaction was defined to a stretch of 163 amino acids of a highly conserved region of NIPBL, which is mutated in patients with CdLS. Utilizing reporter gene assays, we could show that NIPBL fused to the GAL4-DNA-binding domain (GAL4-DBD) represses promoter activity via the recruitment of histone deacetylases. Interestingly, this effect is dramatically reduced by both NIPBL missense mutations identified in CdLS and by chemical inhibition of the histone deacetylases. Our data are the first to indicate a molecular and functional connection of NIPBL with chromatin-remodeling processes via the direct interaction with histone deacetylases.