Improving medicolegal death investigative gaps of fatal elder abuse

The purpose of this brief is to present several case vignettes that illustrate omissions in the investigation of elder deaths. These vignettes demonstrate the need for a standardized approach in the conduct of medicolegal investigations of fatal elder abuse. For each of the described oversights, a recommendation is offered to address the gap in investigation processes, which in turn could improve the determination of cause and manner of elder death. Inherent limitations of resources and practical realities of death investigation are discussed and recommendations are made for future research. Viewed broadly, deficiencies in elder death investigations can lead to the underreporting of elder abuse and the reduction of legal options for victims, which may reflect a systemic pattern of social injustice.     

新疆维吾尔自治区死亡水平的演变规律及分布特征分析

本文根据《新疆辉煌50年》及三次人口普查数据,分析了新疆维吾尔自治区历年来死亡率、死亡人数、死亡率模式、平均预期寿命等指标的演变过程及分布特征,试图揭示新疆维吾尔自治区死亡水平的内在变动规律,为计划生育及相关政府部门制定政策提供依据。     

Maternal mortality: What can we learn from stories of postpartum haemorrhage?

Death from pregnancy is rare in developed countries such as Australia but is still common in third world and developing countries. The investigation of each maternal death yields valuable information and lessons that all health care providers involved with the care of women can learn from. The aim of these investigations is to prevent future maternal morbidity and mortality.Obstetric haemorrhage remains a leading cause of maternal death internationally. It is the most common cause of death in developing countries. In Australia and the United Kingdom, obstetric haemorrhage is ranked as the 4th and 3rd most common cause of direct maternal death respectively. In a number of cases there are readily identifiable factors associated with the care that the women received that may have contributed to their death. It is from these identifiable factors that both midwives and doctors can learn to help prevent similar episodes from occurring.This article will identify some of the lessons that can be learnt from the recent Australian and UK maternal death reports. This paper presents an overview of the process and systems for the reporting of maternal death in Australia. It will then specifically focus on obstetric haemorrhage, with a focus on postpartum haemorrhage, for the 12-year period, 1994–2005. Vignettes from the maternal mortality reports in Australia and the United Kingdom are used to highlight the important lessons for providers of maternity care.     

我国死刑程序运作状况的实证分析

就我国死刑案件审判特殊程序运作状况,对法院、检察院工作人员,警察,律师,普通社会公众,服刑人员等进行了抽样问卷调查。调查内容包括三个方面：所有调查对象对死刑案件第二审程序规定运作状况的认识;法律职业群体对死刑案件审判程序运作状况的认识;服刑人员和普通公民对死刑案件审判中当事人权利保障问题的认识。根据对问卷的统计、分析得出：由于当前中国社会经济、文化的发展和犯罪态势的影响,我国刑事诉讼法有修改的必要。为了进一步保证死刑案件诉讼程序的规定得到更好地执行和遵守,提出了如下改革建议：扩大律师在刑事诉讼中的权利;扩大人民监督员和特约检察员对刑事案件审理过程的程序性监督;引入沉默权制度;在审判委员会中,应坚持少数服从多数的原则。     

脑死亡与器官移植

自1967年南非医生班纳德(Banard)成功实施首例心脏移植手术以来,人们逐渐认识到,心肺死亡并不能等同于整体的死亡,而脑死亡才具有不可逆性,脑死亡的问题首次被提了出来。直至今日,其已为众多国家地区的医学及法律所确认,并制定了一系列脑死亡标准。脑死亡的确定,极大的提高了器官移植的例次及成功率,为器官移植的发展提供了坚实基础。而中国至今未制定脑死亡标准及脑死亡法,为了适应于国际趋势的需要,制定脑死亡及器官移植法迫在眉睫。     

唱给自己的安魂曲——鲁迅小说《明天》的再诠释

《明天》是鲁迅小说中较为特殊的一篇 ,它是鲁迅为自己创作的一部小说 ,隐藏着更深的发泄、自慰和自我解脱的心理动机 ,形象地演绎了早期鲁迅解开死亡之结的精神历程 ,因此《明天》这部小说对研究鲁迅思想和艺术有重大的价值。     

Divorce and parity progression following the death of a child: A register-based study from Finland

Most studies that have examined whether a child’s death influences parental relationship stability have used small-scale data sets and their results are inconclusive. A likely reason is that child loss affects not only the risk of parental separation, but also the risk of having another child. Hence parity progression and separation must be treated as two competing events in relation to child loss. The analysis in this paper used Finnish register data from 1971 to 2003, covering over 100,000 married couples whose durations of both first marriage and parenthood could be observed. We ran parity-specific Cox regressions in which process time started from the birth of each additional child. All marriages included women of childbearing age, none of whom had experienced any child death on entering the analysis. We find that child loss only modestly influences the divorce risk, whereas its effect on the risk of parity progression is considerable.     

Timing of Remarriage Among Divorced and Widowed Parents

Research on timing of parental remarriage is important to understanding consequences of remarriage for children. In this study, survival analyses were conducted predicting timing of parental remarriage from parental loss in a sample of 3,774 offspring whose parents divorced or whose mother or father died during childhood. Transition to remarriage was quicker for parents who divorced compared to those who were widowed, especially for fathers. By examining timing of remarriage from the perspective of parents, and thus children, we identify not only who is more likely to experience parental remarriage, but when remarriage is likely to occur.     

Death of a child: Perspective of Chinese mothers in Singapore

The grief of Chinese mothers is examined in a phenomenological exploratory study. Grieving for the deceased child is moderated by diverse Chinese religious beliefs intertwined with cultural practices. Five aspects of grieving include giving meaning to the child’s life and death, quality and assurance of the afterlife, the function of crying, and a continuing bond. Extrapolating from the mothers’ grieving are questions related to the implications of children’s death for other family members and the significance of the interconnectedness of the self, others, the environment and the universe in processing a crisis through religion and spirituality in multicultural social work.     

Children, death and ageism

The position of children in the social order can be seen as an ambiguous one. On the one hand, they are highly valued, at a rhetorical level at least, as the basis of the future generation. On the other hand, however, they can be seen to be marginalized and disenfranchised, protected from more aspects of social life than is strictly necessary. This paper explores some of the important issues relating to children's disenfranchised social position, with specific reference to issues relating to death, dying and bereavement.