Pavlic,M.; Haidekker,A.; Grubwieser,P.; Rabl,W.; A case of suicide with the insecticide omethoate is reported. An 18-year-old apprentice gardener had ingested an unknown amount of omethoate. His body was found in his room lying in the storage space under his bed. The autopsy first showed multiple superficial incisions in the skin of his wrists, furthermore hemorrhagic pulmonary oedema, dilation of the right cardiac ventricle and oedema of the brain. The gastric mucosa was swollen and showed a dark brownish colour. [Read More]

Makristathis,A.; Schwarzmeier,J.; Mader,R.M.; Varmuza,K.; Simonitsch,I.; Chavez,J.C.; Platzer,W.; Unterdorfer,H.; Scheithauer,R.; Derevianko,A.; Seidler,H.; In anthropology, objective parameters to adequately describe storage conditions and the preservation of mummies have yet to be identified. Considering that fatty acids degrade to stable products, we analysed their profile in human mummies and in control samples by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Originating from different epochs and civilizations, samples of the Tyrolean Iceman, other glacier corpses, a freeze dried mummy, corpses from a permafrost region, a corpse mummified immersed in water, and a desert mummy were evaluated. [Read More]

Steinlechner,M.; Schmidt,K.; Kraft,H.G.; Utermann,G.; Parson,W.; Allele frequencies for ten short tandem repeat (STR) loci D3S1358, VWA, D16S539, D2S1338, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D19S433, TH01 and FGA were determined in a Black African sample population from Gabon. All loci were highly polymorphic and except for TH01, D21S11 and D16S539, all met Hardy-Weinberg expectations. There was little evidence of association of alleles between the loci in this database. The combined power of exclusion for the ten STR loci was 0. [Read More]

Oberegger,H.; Zadra,I.; Schoeser,M.; Abt,B.; Parson,W.; Haas,H.; Iron is an essential trace element for almost all organisms. However, an excess of this metal within cells can be deleterious on account of catalysis of cell-damaging hydroxyl radicals. Therefore, the concentration of iron within cells is tightly regulated and the primary control occurs by regulating its uptake. Under conditions of low iron availability, most fungi mobilize extracellular iron by excretion of low-molecular-mass ferric iron chelators, termed siderophores. [Read More]

Saurwein-Teissl,M.; Lung,T.L.; Marx,F.; Gschosser,C.; Asch,E.; Blasko,I.; Parson,W.; Bock,G.; Schonitzer,D.; Trannoy,E.; Grubeck-Loebenstein,B.; Although it is generally recognized that the function of the immune system declines with age, the nature of the underlying defects is still poorly understood. We now demonstrate the predominance of CD8(+)CD28(-) T cell clonal expansions in elderly persons who fail to produce specific Abs following influenza vaccination. These clones express effector cell markers and are mostly CD45RA(+). When isolated and put into culture, they are unable to proliferate, but produce IFN-gamma (but no IL-5) upon stimulation with anti-CD3 or autoantigen. [Read More]