Forensic science international
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Estimation of stature is an important parameter in identification of commingled, mutilated and skeletal remains in forensic examinations. Bilateral asymmetry is defined as the difference between the measurements of the left and right sides of the human body. While estimating stature from skeletal material as well as from body parts in forensic anthropology case work, asymmetry of the human body may result in erroneous estimates due to bilateral variations present in dimensions of the human body and bones. ⋯ Regression equations were calculated for estimation of stature from these limb dimensions using both left and right sides. The study concludes that there is a higher possibility of obtaining erroneous results while estimating stature from those body dimensions which show statistically significant bilateral asymmetry when formula developed from one side is used on the other side. Although, there seems to be a little possibility of obtaining erroneous results while estimating stature from those body dimensions which showed statistically insignificant asymmetry, it is strongly recommended that the examiner must first identify the side to which the limb part or bone belongs to, and then apply the appropriate formula derived for that particular side.
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Controversies exist over the causes of intradural hemorrhages (IDH), subdural hemorrhages (SDH) and hypoxia. SDH is a recognised finding at perinatal and pediatric autopsy. We describe the occurrence of IDH, SDH, and hypoxia in these deaths using a combined approach of post mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PM MRI), autopsy examination and histology. ⋯ IDH and SDH are frequent findings in the perinatal and pediatric autopsy. SDH was associated with a DIDH and was also frequently associated with hypoxia. Focal IDH was not identified at the PM MRI; it was associated with hypoxia (on MRI and/or on histology) in less than a quarter of cases. Our results exhibit an association between IDH, SDH and hypoxia in children dying of natural causes. The highest incidence is seen in the perinatal period.
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During a Christmas party, two male guests started fighting. The perpetrator was allegedly pushed onto a glass table by the victim or fell into the table together with that man so that the glass top broke and caused a cut wound on the perpetrator's back. ⋯ Tests on the breaking characteristics of the glass table, the flying behaviour and the kinetics of thrown glass fragments conducted on various models supported the conclusion that the fatal injury on the victim's neck could not have been caused by a thrown glass fragment. It was much more likely that a stab with a blade-shaped glass fragment was the cause of the fatal injuries.
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To determine the effects of a sudden and sustained reduction in heroin purity on the toxicology of heroin overdose, 959 consecutive heroin overdose cases autopsied at the NSW Department of Forensic Medicine (1/1/1998-31/12/2006) were analysed. There was a significant reduction in blood morphine concentration across the study period (beta=-0.07), declining from a median of 0.50mg/L in the years 1998-2000 prior to 0.40mg/L in the period 2001-2006. ⋯ The decline in blood morphine concentrations remained significant after controlling for these factors (beta=-0.07). In determining toxic and lethal morphine concentrations, the fact that the toxicology of overdose is responsive to changes in the opioid street market needs to be borne in mind.
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Case Reports
Injury biomechanics as a necessary tool in the field of forensic science: a pedestrian run-over case study.
A 49-year-old male pedestrian was fatally injured when an overloaded truck backed over him and two of the truck's rear wheels rolled over his chest. An analysis is presented to estimate whether or not the subject would have been severely injured if the truck had been loaded to the maximum-permitted weight. ⋯ The analysis suggests that loading by either the case weight or the maximum-permitted weight of the vehicle would have caused very severe compressions of the chest, likely resulting in multiple rib fractures, collapse of the ribcage and injury to the thoracic organs. Thus, this analysis suggests that severe, possibly life-threatening, thoracic injury would have occurred if the vehicle was loaded to its maximum-permitted weight.