Kitchen Knife Research Articles

A RARE FOREIGN BODY IN THE CHEST UNDER COVID-19 EPIDEMIC CONDITIONS

One of the negative factors of civilization around the world is the significant growth of injury rate. The manifestations of the latter include suicidal acts that occur in the process of social and individual life. Sometimes people commit suicide because of having incurable diseases. Alcohol addiction contributes to suicide risk. To share with the general medical community the rare case of suicidal trauma which seemed fatal but resolved favorably, though it was not immediately verified. Only after performing a radiological examination in two projections, the subject of suicidal action was detected. We observed a case of a suicide victim: a 55-year-old patient who, being impaired by alcohol, decided to commit suicide after learning about COVID-19 mortality. One hour later he was admitted to the emergency department. After stabbing himself with a kitchen knife, a 55-year-old patient called an ambulance and was delivered in satisfactory condition to the emergency surgical department 1 hour after the injury. There were no signs of bleeding or its consequences or manifestations of vena cava compression. Hemodynamics was stable; there were no external respiration disorders. Clinical blood test was within normal range. Revision of the wound in the lower neck was performed. At a depth of 2.5 cm, something perceived as a sternal notch was located manually, which later turned out to be a foreign body. Due to the location of the injury, it was decided to hospitalize the injured patient for observation. Plain and lateral radiography was performed. Longitudinal sternotomy was chosen for access. Under the entrance wound in the neck, in the lateral mediastinum above the root of the lung, a knife was found above the diaphragm penetrating the parenchyma of the lower lobe. After removing the knife, the lung wound was sutured. The postoperative period ended successfully. Before surgery, an imaging study with at least two different views is mandatory for all chest wounds. If possible, thoracotomy should be scheduled for the daytime.

The Burial

The Burial Samantha Xiao Cody (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Photo by saiberiac [End Page 84] In the days after Mr. Huang was arrested for killing his son, we began seeing the dog everywhere. The Huang house was swarmed with reporters and curious passersby, but every time we crept near, we were swatted away and scolded for being nosy by one of the lao nai nais who were always standing there, soaking up information like sponges. The Huang house stayed silent, the shutters drawn, but we were sure Mrs. Huang was still inside. "I can't even imagine," our mothers whispered, shaking their heads. Some of our mothers, like Eddie's ma, made food and left it out on the back lawn of the Huang house in the afternoons, and though we never saw Mrs. Huang emerge, the dishes were always back out on the lawn in the morning, empty and clean. [End Page 85] We first saw the dog standing near the storm drain at the end of the street. It was skinny, gray, some kind of mutt. It wasn't a cute dog, or at least, we wouldn't say so. We saw it in the late afternoon, just before we'd have to part ways and go home, when the sunlight was slanting nearly horizontal, a wide, deep gold, casting long shadows like ghostly roads across lawns and house fronts. The dog's shadow reached toward us, stretching down the asphalt. We stared at the dog, and it stared at us, before it slunk off into the scraggly bushes beside the road. We shivered. Summer was ending. ________ Of course, we now spent almost all our time imagining what had happened within the walls of the Huang house that night Marvin Huang had died. The adults around us talked about Mr. Huang, what they remembered of him. "I remember he was always nervous," our mothers whispered. "Always stressed about something, always scared of losing face. I remember when his card was declined at the grocery store and he turned red and ran out, leaving all his food there on the belt," they said. "I remember when his wife wore that dress to the talent show at school, you know the one, the one that was too young for her, and when he saw us looking and he realized, he grabbed her and Marvin and put them right back in the car," they said. "I remember when he lost his job and refused to tell anyone, but we all knew because Marvin was going to school in those clothes that were too small and too old," they said. "And, you know. There were the rumors, that Mr. Huang sometimes got a little angry, sometimes filled up his hands with that anger." When Marvin came up, the adults fell silent. During our summer holidays, we gathered every day in the woods behind the sagging neighborhood park on the bank of the lethargic creek that slipped through the trees behind our houses. Everything about our neighborhood looked tired, from the playground to the trees to the creek to the narrow one-story houses to the mothers coming home from their shifts as nurses, waitresses, salon workers. But there was some magic to our little creek and woods, especially in the summer. The water became swollen with sunlight, blinding flakes of it dancing on the surface. The tree leaves glowed a translucent, veiny green. Sometimes we had to ignore the Styrofoam floating on the water or the cigarette butts thrown onto the dirt, but it was more than good enough for us. "Mr. Huang must have gone crazy," Kevin said. "He must've snapped and stabbed Marvin with a kitchen knife." [End Page 86] Kevin was the coolest of all of us. He was the one the Black and Latino and white boys joked around with at school, the one who knew all the new shows and the best music, the only one of us whom girls talked to, with his above-average height and his handsome, angular face. He was the only one of us who would sometimes skip school, or drink or sneak out at night...

“REPASTS” OF THE REVOLUTION: PERSONAL ASCETICISM AND COLLECTIVE SACRIFICIAL FEASTS (F. M. DOSTOEVSKY’S DEMONS, J. CONRAD’S THE SECRET AGENT: A SIMPLE TALE)

This paper presents a comparative analysis of food patterns as the elements of political discourse in the novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) and Joseph Conrad (1857-1924). The stereotypes of food behavior and the gastronomic symbols, associated with the revolutionary activities, appeared simultaneously with literary nihilists. In Dostoevsky’s Demons (1871-1872), the issue of accomplishing social harmony (which was discussed in polemics with T. Carlyle and J. S. Mill) is connected to metaphorical images of repast. The “culinary” episodes are quite limited; this “poverty” of gastronomic motives could be explained by the “industrial era” ideology, when a meal ceased to stay among existential foundations. The ”revolutionaries” destroying Russian traditional life are depicted as instruments of suicide or destruction. Heroes are eager for spiritual food but can only “devour each other” or be devoured; the “Idea”, which destroys individual organisms, turns entire social organisms into “porridge”. The abstract characters of feasts and the absence of any specific meal details symbolize “emptiness” of human existence. This rejection of “basic” elements of life can develop into “sacrificial” feasts with human victims. In Conrad’s novel The Secret Agent (1907; a dialogue with Dostoevsky), the revolutionary “sacrificial meal” appears through the “kitchen” metaphors and “slaughterhouse” symbols. The remains of an idiot sacrificed by new “apostles” resemble butcher’s by-products. The “secret agent” (Verloc) having satisfied hunger with meat (like Verkhovenskiy who is constantly hungry) is murdered with a kitchen knife as a sacrificial animal. Another expressive “gastronomic” trail is Conrad’s parody on stereotypical food asceticism of fighters for the Idea: fat anarchist Michaelis eats only raw carrots. Thus, in Dostoevsky’s and Conrad’s novels, important models of individual food behavior and culinary “bloody triune” metaphors are associated with nihilistic behavior and revolutionary activities. Food metaphors help writers to express their negative attitude towards the destructive activities of nihilists. The main ideas of the paper were presented at the BASEES Annual Conference 2018 (Fitzwilliam College — Churchill College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom).

Production, Microbiological and Organoleptic Properties of Stored Cocoyam-based Products

The production, microbiological and organoleptic properties of stored cocoyam-based products were carried out. A-5 kg corms were sorted, washed and boiled for 3 hours and was cooled, peeled and cut into small sizes of average of 2.0 cm by 1.5 cm dimension with a sharp kitchen knife; dried under the sun for 5 days. The dried corms (<i>achicha</i>) were pulverized with a locally fabricated machine and stored in plastic containers for 0, 1, 2, 3 month (s) intervals. A-300 g of cocoyam leaves were plucked, sorted, washed, and sun-dried for 3 days. The <i>mpoto</i> were pulverized with a locally fabricated machine and stored in plastic containers for 0, 1, 2, 3 months. After 3 months’ storage, the total viable counts (TVC) and total fungi counts (TFC) of <i>achicha</i> were as follows: <i>edeofe</i> (2.8×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>), <i>cocoindia</i> (3.4×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>) and <i>anampu</i> (2.4×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>); and <i>edeofe</i> (1.4×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>), <i>cocoindia</i> (1.7×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>) and <i>anampu</i> (0.8×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>) respectively. The TVC and TFC of <i>mpoto</i> stored for 3 months were as follows: <i>edeofe</i> (2.7×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>), <i>cocoindia</i> (2.1×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>) and <i>anampu</i> (1.4×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>); and <i>edeofe</i> (1.0×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>), <i>cocoindia</i> (0.5×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>) and <i>anampu</i> (0.5×10⁴ <i>cfu/g</i>) respectively. The bacteria isolated and identified were <i>Bacillus</i> spp in <i>edeofe</i> and <i>cocoindia</i> of <i>achicha</i> and <i>mpoto</i>; <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp in <i>anampu</i> of <i>achicha</i> and <i>cocoindia</i> of <i>mpoto</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i> in <i>anampu</i> of <i>achicha</i> and <i>edeofe</i> of <i>mpoto</i>. <i>Penicillum</i>, <i>Rhizopus</i> and <i>Aspergillus</i> spp were also identified in <i>achicha</i> and <i>mpoto</i> of all the varieties. The organoleptic properties of <i>achicha</i> and <i>mpoto</i> scored approximately 8.00 (like very much) which showed that the products were generally accepted due to low microbial loads and high preference on the desired attributes of <i>achicha</i> and <i>mpoto</i>. It is recommendable to use the tubers and the leaves in food preparations for human consumption.

包丁操作の「見える化」:−包丁操作の熟練因子−

包丁操作の「見える化」:−包丁操作の熟練因子−

Production, Proximate Compositions and Dry Matters of Stored &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;achicha&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; and &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;mpoto - &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;Cocoyam Based Products

The production, proximate compositions and dry matters of stored <i>Achicha</i> and <i>Mpoto</i> were conducted. Fresh cocoyam corms/cormels and leaves [<i>ede ofe </i>(NCE 002), <i>cocoindia </i>(NCE 001) and ukpong/<i>anampu </i>(NCE 004)] were obtained from National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria. A-5 kg cocoyam corms/cormels of the samples was sorted, washed and boiled for 3 hours and was cooled, peeled and cut into small sizes of average of 2.0 cm by 1.5 cm dimension with a sharp kitchen knife. They were spread on a mat and dried under the sun for 5 days. The dried cocoyam corms/cormels (<i>achicha</i>) were pulverized before storage with a locally fabricated machine and stored in various plastic containers for 0, 1, 2, 3 months intervals. A sample of 300 g of cocoyam leaves were plucked, sorted, washed, spread on a mat and sun-dried for 3 days. The dried cocoyam leaves (<i>mpoto</i>) were pulverized before storage with a locally fabricated machine and stored in various plastic containers for 0, 1, 2, 3 months. The proximate compositions and dry matters of 3 different varieties of 4 samples of stored <i>Achicha</i> and <i>Mpoto </i>were determined. The results of stored <i>Achicha</i> showed that <i>Edeofe</i> had the least contents in moisture (12.33%) and <i>Anampu</i> had least contents in crude fibre (1.64%) and carbohydrate content (75.65%); <i>Edeofe</i> had the highest contents in ash (3.83%), crude protein (4.78%), crude fat (0.93%), and <i>Cocoindia</i> had the highest contents of dry matter (87.79%) after 3 months storage. The proximate compositions of stored <i>Mpoto</i> showed that <i>Edeofe</i> had the least moisture content (10.16%), <i>Anampu</i> had the highest contents in ash (14.92%), <i>Edeofe</i> had the highest contents in crude protein (15.19%), crude fat (0.89%), crude fibre (8.74%), dry matters (89.85%); and <i>Cocoindian</i> had highest carbohydrate content (51.08%) after 3 months storage. This showed that stored <i>Mpoto</i> samples were richer in ash, crude protein, crude fibre and dry matters than the stored <i>Achicha</i> samples which were richer in moisture, crude fat and carbohydrate contents. It is recommendable to use the tuber and the leaves in food preparations for human consumption.

Design, Fabrication and Evaluation of a Hand-Operated Semi-Automatic Chopping Machine for Leafy Vegetables and Medicinal Herbs

A hand-operated semi-automatic vegetable chopping machine was designed, fabricated and evaluated to introduce an efficient chopping machine to ease the preparation of leafy vegetables and herbal medicines. The main features and components of the chopping machine were integrated cutting and feeding mechanism, operating handle, cylindrical container, piston, collecting drawer and the frame. The machine was designed to operate manually reducing the operational &amp; capital cost and to ease the use in rural areas, where there is no electrical supply. A performance test was done for this machine using four different leafy vegetables and medicinal herbs [Mukunuwenna (Alternanthera sessilis), Kankun (Ipomoea aquatica), Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) and Kathuru murunga (Sesbania grandiflora)] in comparison with manual chopping using a general kitchen knife. Five unskilled males and females were involved in a performance test with three replicates. The three-factor factorial experimental design was used in the evaluation. The actual capacity and the efficiency of the chopping machine were 1.81 kg h-1 and 74%, respectively compared to 1.02 kg h-1 and 76% of the manual kitchen knife. The average width of a particle cut by machine and kitchen knife were 1.87 mm and 3.38 mm, respectively. According to the user-feedback, this machine is a safe, affordable and convenient device for processing vegetables and herbal medicines.

The “Tick Tock” Sign: An Uncommon Physical Examination Finding for in Situ Impaled Cardiac Injuries

An 80-year-old man with a history of depression and dementia presented to the emergency department by paramedics with a self-inflicted stab wound to the chest with a knife in a suicide attempt. The patient had locked himself in the bathroom and, after a period of not answering, family members broke down the door and found the patient in the bathtub with a kitchen knife sticking out of his chest. Per paramedics, they found approximately 100 mL of blood at the scene.

Finite element analysis of polycarbonate knife cum peeler

A new concept of kitchen knife is proposed in the presented work and structural stresses are calculated using Solidworks® Simulation software (previously COSMOSWorks) to find its factor of safety (FOS). An h-adaptive method is used which refines the elemental size in the areas of higher strain and “strain energy norm” error. The strength and stiffness criteria are used to select suitable design parameters. The concept is a combination of two cutting devices used in the kitchen these days, a knife, and a peeler. The two types of blade which provide the said functionalities are combined into just one. The blade slides inside a plastic handle having a surface to surface contact, which works like a plunger and barrel arrangement. Here the blade acts like a plunger and the handle acts like a barrel. If the blade is moved to one extreme of the handle, the device acts as a knife, and a peeler if moved to the other extreme. Multiple sketches and CAD (Computer Aided Design) models were created and the most preferred one was further examined. First, a preliminary study is done to find a suitable geometry without the h-adaptive solution. The preliminary geometry is then simulated using h-adaptive method to examine contact stresses and the FOS. Necessary design simplifications were done for simulation purpose. Final production CAD will reflect the aesthetics and functional features after obtaining necessary data from the study presented in this paper. The static loading simulations done in this work shows the most stressed areas of the model and the design presented has a minimum FOS of 1.93 on the handle and 3.7 on the blade using h-adaptive method (using yield strength and nodal stress values).

Results of Hygiene Education of Kitchen Knife by using ATP Inspection - Comparison of Handle and Blade

In Japan, the number of food poisoning cases and the number of patients have been gradually decreasing in the last ten years. However, from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of bacterial food poisoning cases has been approximately 41% of the total number in the past five years, which is still high. Therefore, in this study, to prevent food poisoning, we conducted hygiene education using the ATP test and confirmed the educational effect by comparing before and after education. ATP luminescence kit (Lumitester PD-10, LuciPac Pen) manufactured by Kikkoman Corporation used for the microbiological test. Before the hygiene education, the ATP of the knife handle, and the ATP of the knife blade measured before and after cooking. Twelve knives for vegetables and 12 knives for meat targeted. Before the hygiene education, the handle and the blade of the meat knife measured of ATP, that before cooking and washed after cooking. Further, the handle and blade of the kitchen knife for vegetables were also measured for ATP in the same manner as the knife for meat.

Morphology and metric properties of skin wounds, caused by national uzbek knives

In the course of the experimental observations, the authors recorded the influence of individual features of national Uzbek knives on the morphological picture of the stab-cut wound. In order to study morphological and metric features, stab-cut wounds of the skin caused by national Uzbek knives were studied, taken from 36 corpses of people who died from acute and massive blood loss. It was revealed that the morphological and morphometric features of stab wounds inflicted by Uzbek national knives are a reflection of their structural properties, which are manifested by the formation of a tortuous wound, the presence of a wide rim of hemorrhages around it. The morphology of these wounds reflects the more pronounced traumatic effect of the national knife on the skin than when wounded with an ordinary kitchen knife. Due to the fact that a thick butt is a distinctive feature in the design of the national knife, the blade is distinguished by its massiveness, which, apparently, causes its high traumatic effect. The morphology of the wound reflects the relatively large area of the butt of the knife, compared with the blade, as well as an increase in the relative area of the wound per unit length of its edges. The raised tip of the blade appears in the wound by the formation of an injection point.

Intrauterine stab injury of youth pregnant

A distinct tendency to an increased number of pregnancies and deliveries among young women has been observed lately. Pregnant teenagers with various types of traumas can be admitted to a non-profile pediatric surgical in-patient facility where no gynecologist is available. Purpose . The article describes a clinical case of an injury to the uterus and 33–34-week fetus in 17-year-old pregnant woman after an accidental fall on a kitchen knife. Materials and methods . The patient in a severe condition was admitted to the hospital with a knife in the anterior abdominal wall. Post-hemorrhagic anemia was diagnosed (Hb 95 g/L, RBC3.0 х1012/L). Based on urgent indications of an operating team consisting of a pediatric surgeon and an obstetrician-gynecologist, a midline laparotomy was performed. 2L of blood was removed from the cavity, the cutting edge of a knife was removed from the uterus body. No other damages were found during abdominoscopy. Cesarean section was done in the inferior segment of the uterus, an alive fetus was removed, bilateral ligation of uterine arteries was done and a hemostatic supraplacental suture was applied. A double balloon obstetric catheter was used. The uterine wound was sutured. Total blood loss was about 3 L. It was compensated with red blood cells (1385 ml) and fresh frozen plasma (2740 ml) transfusion. The removed boy had a weight of 2,300 g and 2 Apgar scores. Resuscitation activities were successful. The child was taken to the ICU and put on life support. 2 cm long injury was found in the right axillary region not penetrating into the chest. Its primary surgical debridement was done. Postoperative period in a child and mother who was taken to the maternity home went on without complications. The child was examined in a year. He developed according to the age. Conclusions . It can be possible that pediatric surgical departments are not ready for Cesarean section and elimination of possible complications when dealing with pregnant teenagers with various types of traumatic injuries requiring urgent obstetric intervention. That’s why it’s better when the patients are admitted to maternity homes where a pediatric surgeon is available.

Mystery Music

Mystery Music Eric Burger (bio) I liked the joyful sound of the piano coming from the open door where a few departing partygoers giggled, arms linked. I went in. But despite the pianist's spirit and those lively partygoers, this party was on its last legs. A brown-haired woman with a brass hoop around her neck and an empty martini glass in her hand was sleeping, curled in an armchair. A pudgy man in a silver shirt, looking both pleased with and done with his party effort, tucked in his shirt and said to his friend, "I just can't help but leave a bit of myself everywhere I go." Then they left. None of him lingered in the air. There was just a winding down down down feeling and the now-quieter piano music filling the big, uncarpeted space. I walked over to the hoop woman to check out her grip on the martini glass. The piano playing suddenly got icy and jagged, like some brutal directive. It was telling me something. But what was I supposed to do, whip out a kitchen knife and stab her for crying out loud? Have a psychotic break? The piano must have been in the back room, but it felt like it was on top of me, inside me. Then the playing switched to wooly and sad, like the feeling that might accompany remembrance of a keen-eyed tenth-grade girlfriend who first drifted away—you saw her sometimes in the hallways—and then moved to Argentina. But what to do with this? This was a bossy, yet vague piano. I sat down in the empty arm chair next to the hoop woman, who still slept with the martini glass clutched in her fist like a rattle. The piano playing got quieter, sweeter. I closed my eyes. A sunlit commuter train clattered into my head bearing characters from my childhood that I hadn't thought about in decades: an elderly customer on my paper route who had a parakeet named Clyde, a massively mustachioed hotdog vendor whom I found curious once at a basketball game, a quiet girl from art class who threw crayons at the window. The train slowed down down down while I remembered, while people lost from my life came back to me. A strange mercy from the universe, which tries to help us in ways clumsy and divine. [End Page 49] Eric Burger Eric Burger has received fellowships/awards from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, the Wesleyan Writers Conference, and Writers at Work. His poems have appeared in Denver Quarterly, Black Warrior Review, The Missouri Review Online, Harvard Review Online, Indiana Review, Rattle, Quarterly West, The Southeast Review, and many others. He is a senior instructor in the University of Colorado-Boulder's Program for Writing and Rhetoric, and lives in Longmont, CO. Copyright © 2019 Emerson College

Effect of different splitting techniques on the characteristics of divided tablets of five commonly split drug products in Jordan.

Objective:To determine the accuracy, variability, and weight uniformity of tablet subdivision techniques utilized to divide the tablets of five drug products that are commonly prescribed for use as half tablets in Jordan.Methods:Ten random tablets of five commonly subdivided drug products were weighed and subdivided using three subdivision techniques: hand breaking, kitchen knife, and tablet cutter. The five commonly subdivided drug products (warfarin 5 mg, levothyroxine 50 μg, levothyroxine 100 μg, candesartan 16 mg, and carvedilol 25 mg) were weighed. The weights were analyzed for acceptance, accuracy, and variability. Weight variation acceptance criteria were adopted in this work as a tool to indicate the properness of the subdivision techniques used to produce acceptable half tablets. Other relevant physical characteristics of the five products such as tablet shape, dimensions, face curvature, score depth, and crushing strength were measured.Results:All tablets were round in shape, had weights that ranged between 100.63 mg (standard deviation=0.99) and 379.04 mg (standard deviation=3.00), and had crushing strengths that ranged between 23.29 N (standard deviation=3.58)and 103.35 N (standard deviation=14.98). Both candesartan and carvedilol were bi-convex in shape with an extent of face curvature equal to about 33%. In addition, percentage score depth of the tablets had a range between 0% and 24%. The accuracy and variability of subdivision varied according to the subdivision technique used and tablet characteristics. Accuracy range was between 81% and 109.8%. Moreover, the relative standard deviation was between 1.5% and 17.4%. Warfarin 5 mg subdivided tablets failed the weight variation test regardless of the subdivision technique used. Subdivision by hand produced half tablets that were acceptable for levothyroxine 50 μg and levothyroxine 100 μg. Subdivision by knife produced half tablets that were acceptable only for candesartan tablets. However, the tablet cutter produced half tablets that passed the weight variation test for four out of the five drug products tested in this study.Conclusions:The tablet cutter performed better than the other subdivision techniques used. It produced half tablets that passed the weight uniformity test for four drug products out of the five.

How does Kitchen Knife Cause Different Sensation?

How does Kitchen Knife Cause Different Sensation?

An analytical hierarchy process for tofu micro and medium enterprises product plan

In micro and medium enterprises of Tofu, there is an activity that is done repeatedly and traditionally, namely the cutting process. The cutting process is done by using a kitchen knife so that it is not efficient and able to cause fatigue for the operator. Additionally, there is also the possibility of different cut sizes of tofu because the cutting is done without using a measurement tool. The operator just follows the mild flow on the tofu. The purpose of this study is to plan a manufacture of tofu cutting tools. This study used The Analytical Hierarchy Process method in which this method begins by conducting interviews regarding the choices in level 1, 2 and 3 actions to several respondents. The result from a variety of alternative solutions based on requirements specifications showed that the products of tofu cutters were selected with materials, such as pine wood, strings, handles, naples and naple bolts. This tool will produce tofu whose size is 52 x 52 cm2. The product design is carried out based on the specifications of materials and tools to produce a simple design so that the tofu cutter tool is easy to use and low cost.

Sharp Force Homicide in Denmark 1992-2016.

Sharp force trauma is a common homicide method. The weapon is typically a knife, which is easily accessible and does not require special skills. We have analyzed all 471 sharp force homicides in Denmark during 1992-2016 with special focus on aspects that are relevant to forensic pathologists, including the distribution of wounds and organ injuries. Most homicides were committed inside with a kitchen knife. The front left thorax was the most common area to be affected by sharp force trauma. In 18.9% of the victims, there was only one sharp injury, the majority on the thorax. The most common trajectory for stab wounds was directly posterior with no deviation to the sides or up/down followed by directly anterior. The heart (including pericardium) and lungs (including hemo- and pneumothorax) had injuries in more than 75% of the victims. 67% of victims were males. Female victims had more sharp force injuries and defense wounds than male victims. Most females were killed in domestic homicides (73.7%), most commonly in partner killings (56.4%). In contrast, many male victims were killed in a setting of nightlife/intoxication (34.0%) most by a friend/acquaintance delivering a few stab wounds. The results clearly show strong sex differences in both victims and offenders. This could be useful for shaping policies and public opinion, and as a route for understanding the developments in interpersonal violence. In the narrow setting of death investigation, our results will provide an evidence-based approach to understanding the injury patterns in sharp force homicide.

Design and Development of an Instant Amala Making Machine with Control System Integration

The most important factor in food production/processing is safety and quality in terms of hygiene and nutritional value. Processing of unripe plantain into finished product of Amala conventionally is laborious and unhygienic. This project named Design and development of an instant Amala making machine with control system integration was designed and fabricated to make Amala preparation an easy one and remove the fatigue usually experienced during manual preparation. The machine was designed for small scale use and it is capable of processing 15 fingers of unripe plantain pulp for 10 people. It has two compartments; the cooking/pounding and the electric motor/water reservoir. The machine was designed using Solidworks CAD software and computer programming using Micro C. After fabrication, the machine was tested and the result observed from the functional evaluation of the machine, shows that before implementation of control, the time recorded was 58 minutes and after incorporating control, it took 56 minutes, the overall operation time of the machine is lesser when compared to the processing of Unripe plantain into flour. It was observed that both took longer because of the thickness of the pot and the sizes to which each finger was reduced, using a kitchen knife. The machine minimizes human intervention and makes for hygienic processing of Amala. The colour observed from the final product of the operation is light brown which makes it pleasant looking, instead of the darkish brown colour usually observed from plantain flour. Further course of action is recommended as the machine as it is still a prototype.

Toughness Detection and Gradation for Kitchen knife Edge

Breakage, curling edge and bluntness are the common failure forms of kitchen knife edge. A comprehensive characterization index, knife edge toughness, has been proposed, which including sharpness, durability and roll/breakage edge resistance indexes. The definition, testing method and testing equipment for each index have been described. Gradation for each index has been taken by market sampling and testing. The grade marking method for kitchen knife edge toughness has been demonstrated by image case.

A case of othello's syndrome: A neuropsychiatric complication of cerebrovascular disease in Uyo, Southern Nigeria

Neuropsychiatric conditions are rare complications of cerebrovascular diseases. We present a case of Othello’s syndrome (delusional jealousy) as a complication of right temporal infarct. This to the best of our knowledge is the first report in Nigeria. The patient is a 62 year old man with a diagnosis of hypertension for 7 years who had an extensive right temporo-occipital infarct. He had been happily married for about 30 years with no issues of infidelity all through the marriage. Four days after the infarct, he started accusing the wife of infidelity and making attempts to kill him. He insisted that he sees her lover jumping into their bedroom through the window which has iron bars. He also claims that he smells a peppery sensation or formalin released to poison him. The accusations worsened to accusing the wife of bringing in seven lovers into the bedroom. He informed all his relatives, neighbours and church members of the wife’s perceived infidelity and supposed plans to kill him. He also filed a police report accusing his wife of plans to murder him. On one occasion, he took a kitchen knife and attempted to stab the wife to death. He was given antipsychotic medications and referred to the psychiatrist. He however refused to take the medications and declined to see the psychiatrist. Further management included collaboration with the police who ensured that he came for psychiatric consultations. Since he commenced mental health care, he has been stable. Neuropsychiatric conditions are rare complications of cerebrovascular diseases.