Forensic science international
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This article presents review and opinion about the use and abuse of journal impact factors for judging the importance and prestige of scientific journals in the field of forensic science and toxicology. The application of impact factors for evaluating the published work of individual scientists is also discussed. The impact factor of a particular journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to a journal's articles that were published in the previous 2 years by the total number of citable items (articles and reviews) published in the same 2-year period. ⋯ Authors should submit their research results and manuscripts to journals that are easily available and are read by their peers (the most interested audience) and pay less attention to journal impact factors. To assess the true usefulness of a person's contributions to forensic science and toxicology one needs to look beyond impact factor and citation counts. For example, one might consider whether the articles contained new ideas or innovations that proved useful in routine forensic casework or are widely relied upon in courts of law as proof source.
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Case Reports
An autopsy case of combined drug intoxication involving verapamil, metoprolol and digoxin.
We present here a fatal poisoning case involving verapamil, metoprolol and digoxin. A 39-year-old male was found dead in his room, and a lot of empty packets of prescribed drugs were found near the corpse. ⋯ The cause of death was given as cardiac failure, hypotension and bradycardia due to a mixed drug overdose of verapamil, metoprolol and digoxin, based on the results of the autopsy and toxicological examination. We speculate that the toxicity of verapamil is potentiated by drug interaction with metoprolol and digoxin.
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Forensic three-dimensional/computer aided design (CAD)-supported photogrammetry (FPHG) plays an important role in the field of the documentation of forensic relevant injuries; particularly so when a detailed, 3D reconstruction is necessary. This is demonstrated in the case of a patterned blunt injury to the face of a victim, which injury was subsequently proven by FPHG to have been caused by a blow from the muzzle of a soft air gun. The objects to be evaluated had to be series photographed in order to be evaluated virtually on the computer. ⋯ This system measures and calculates the spatial location of distinctive points on the objects' surfaces, and creates 3D data models of the objects. In a 3D/CAD program, the "virtual 3D model of the injury" is then compared against the "virtual 3D model of the possible injury-causing instrument". The validation of FPHG, as shown by the 3D match between certain characteristics of the muzzle form and the facial injury, demonstrates how this 3D method can be used for patterned wound documentation and analysis.
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According to the Turkish Penal Code, Section 456, an assailant is punished in a correlation to the severity of the victim's injury. In this study, the injury scale used in Turkey in the basis code 456 is compared with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). For this aim, a total of 984 cases out of the total amount reported at the Traumatology Section of the Turkish Council for Forensic Medicine were randomly selected and evaluated retrospectively. ⋯ From this point of view, in the modified AIS 91.1% of first degree of injury, 51.2% of second degree and 97.2% of third degree of injury are harmonious with TIS. Generally, 83.2% of the cases are harmonious with the AIS system. The purpose of this study is to determine what was the source of differences and to focus on particular traumatic lesions in order to determine a possible rearrangement of the Turkish Injury Scale.
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A 74-year-old woman was struck by a car travelling at about 50 km/h. On arrival at hospital, a CT scan showed dissection of the ascending and descending aorta. She collapsed and died suddenly 8h later. ⋯ The thoracic aortic dissection was not the direct cause of death although histological examination did reveal that it occurred in the accident. Traumatic aortic dissection is rare although traumatic aortic rupture is a major cause of death after blunt chest trauma. This paper discusses the mechanisms, and factors involved in aortic dissection caused by blunt trauma.