The "empty heart" sign

Approximately 15% of victims of instantly lethal central nervous system trauma have an empty or nearly empty heart at autopsy. This article defines and discusses the "empty heart" sign.     

Quantitation using GC-TOF-MS: example of bromazepam

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) offers new perspectives for forensic toxicology. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of a mixture of three selected benzodiazepines (diazepam, nordazepam and bromazepam) were used to compare gas chromatography (GC-TOF-MS, quadrupole GC-MS, GC-ECD) and liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) data. Method validation parameters like LOD, LOQ, S/N-ratios reflect the capabilities of GC-TOF-MS. Five-point calibrations for bromazepam in human peripheral blood (50, 100, 160, 200, 300 ng/ml) using medazepam as internal standard (1000 ng/ml) were performed. The calibrations using GC-TOF-MS (using the fragments of m/z 236 and 288), GC-ECD (dual system) and HPLC-DAD (at 235 nm) all showed correlation coefficients close or superior to 0.99. Quadrupole GC-MS data was not used in the comparison of extracted samples due to the low sensitivity in the full scan mode. Two analyses of real cases concerning bromazepam are presented. In the first case, the presence or absence of bromazepam could not be established with both HPLC-DAD and GC-ECD due to background signals. The extracted ion chromatograms and spectrum traces after the analysis with the GC-TOF-MS could clearly excluded the presence of bromazepam. The second case illustrates the quantitation of bromazepam, where both HPLC-DAD and GC-ECD were unable to give satisfactory results, again due to interfering background signals. The analyses performed on the GC-TOF-MS-system demonstrated high sensitivity and also high selectivity due to the high quality of mass spectra obtained. The advantages of GC-TOF-MS make it a promising analytical technique for forensic toxicology.     

Luxembourg

European Journal of Political Research -     

Medicolegal aspects of witnessed suicide due to gunshot to the head. II. Legal medicine aspects and examination of the firing hand

The second part of the paper on suicides by gunshots to the head in the presence of witnesses focuses on relevant morphological autopsy findings such as entrance site, signs of close range or contact shots, bullet path etc. and also discusses selected aspects of ascertaining gunshot residues. For the identification of the shooter an integral medicolegal assessment of all the facts including the investigation results and the autopsy findings is essential. However, the morphological findings alone do not allow safe diagnosis, as for example in a homicide the temporal region, which was affected in all our cases, may have been deliberately chosen by the perpetrator as a localization typical of suicide. Thus methods to ascertain gunshot residues on the firing hand (by means of adhesive films and the polyvinyl-alcohol collection method--PVAL) are of great practical importance. In seven cases adhesive films and/or the polyvinyl-alcohol collection method were used. In one case the gunshot residues (GSR) were analysed by means of tape lifts and subsequent scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that especially the combined application of topographical (adhesive tape/PVAL) and cumulative (SEM) methods allowed for the doubtless identification of the shooter, thus usually confirming the suicide. By the example of one case it is demonstrated that without the immediate collection of evidence at the scene objective reconstruction of the event becomes impossible. On the basis of the reported cases recommendations are finally given for a differentiated approach in the medicolegal evaluation of alleged witnessed suicide by gunshot (to the head).     

Drawings of the opposite sex: Continued use of the draw a person test and young state hospital patients

The Draw A Person test has continued to be one of the most frequently utilized psychological tests with children and adolescents. This is especially true for the child/adolescent populations in state hospitals. Because of the frequent criticism leveled against the DAP's validity, this study was undertaken in order to provide normative data for the DAP with this particular clinical population. Previous research has focused on the drawings of the same sex as the subjects; this study deals with the characteristics of the drawings of the opposite sex. The subjects were 84 male and 66 female psychiatric patients from the Adolescent Unit (AU) at Rusk State Hospital. As each patient was admitted to the AU, he was scheduled for psychological testing, with the DAP, the Revised Beta, and the MMPI being a part of this testing. The results of this study indicate that IQ ranking is the most significant factor affecting DAP test performance by male subjects. IQ ranking was not found to significantly influence the drawings by females. Neither MMPI test performance nor social background factors were shown to significantly affect DAP test performance. It is suggested that in order for the DAP to become a more objectively utilized personality technique, a scoring method should be developed that takes into account the overall quality of the drawing in conjunction with the individual details of each area of the figure drawn. More focus should also be given to the characteristics of the opposite-sex figure drawn by the subjects and its potential interpretation.Received his M.S. degree in psychology from North Texas State University in 1968. Current interests include establishment of residential psychiatric facilties for children and adolescents, development of new treatment modalities for children and adolescents (i.e., Wilderness Camping Programs for emotionally disturbed children and adolescents), and understanding and developing working knowledge of the criminally insane child or adolescent.Received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Alabama. His research interests include program evaluation and psychometric studies of psychological tests.Received his B.A. degree in mathematics at the University of South Florida in 1968 and his M.S. degree in statistics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1970. His current interest is mental health statistics.Received his Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in 1975. His current interest is in assertion training.     

The physician assistant as forensic investigator

Physician assistants are employed as forensic investigators at the Office of the Medical Examiner, Suffolk County, New York. We describe the educational qualifications of physician assistants and their valuable role in forensic medicine in Suffolk County.