Medical hypotheses
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The postmortem diagnosis of drowning continues to be one of the most difficult in forensic pathology because of unspecific autopsy findings. It must be always remembered that disposal of a victim body in water is not unknown in homicide. The most important physiological consequence in fatal drowning is hypoxemia. ⋯ Although some studies reached conclusions to define the mechanisms involved in pathogenesis of mechanical asphyxia and aspiration necessity of additional studies arose. The mechanism of the production of massive aggregates remains to be determined. In the mean time the detection of SP-A (immunohistochemical) as well as biochemical is potentially useful tool in the forensic practice with possible application in daily practice.
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Among the basal ganglia nuclei, the subthalamic nucleus has a major function in the motor cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuit and is a target site for neurosurgical treatment such as parkinsonian patients with long-term motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. According to animal and human studies, the motor functions of the subthalamic nucleus have been well documented whereas its implication on limbic functions is still less well understood and is only partially explained by anatomical and functional theories of basal ganglia organisation. After chronic subthalamic nucleus stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease, many studies showed executive impairments, apathy, depression, hypomania, and impairment of recognition of negative facial emotions. ⋯ We propose a new function scheme of the limbic system, establishing connections between limbic cortical structures (medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus) and the limbic part of the basal ganglia. This new circuit could be composed of a minor part based on the model of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop, and of a major part linking the subthalamic nucleus with the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway via the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens, and with limbic cortical structures. This scheme could explain limbic impairments after subthalamic nucleus stimulation by disruption of limbic information inside the subthalamic nucleus and the ventral tegmental area.
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I have come to believe that science depends for its long-term success on an explicit and pervasive pursuit of the ideal of transcendental truth. 'Transcendental' implies that a value is ideal and ultimate - it is aimed-at but can only imperfectly be known, achieved or measured. So, transcendental truth is located outside of science; beyond scientific methods, processes and peer consensus. Although the ultimate scientific authority of a transcendental value of truth was a view held almost universally by the greatest scientists throughout recorded history, modern science has all-but banished references to truth from professional scientific discourse - these being regarded as wishful, mystical and embarrassing at best, and hypocritical or manipulative at worst. ⋯ Ultimately, science should be conducted at every level, from top to bottom, on the basis of what Bronowski termed the 'habit of truth'. Such a situation currently seems remote and fanciful. But within living memory, routine truthfulness and truth-seeking were simply facts of scientific life - taken for granted among real scientists.