Quantitative determination of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in cadaver blood.

We have described a highly sensitive, accurate, and selective method for the determination of delta 9-THC in postmortem blood. Although the method requires the use of fairly complex and sophisticated equipment, the procedure is straightforward and has been reproduced many times in our laboratories. It is thought that this procedure will serve as a useful adjunct to the forensic scientist in his armamentarium for determining physiological levels of important, abused drugs in postmortem analysis.     

Sex determination of cadaver material by the detection of specific nucleotide sequences of the Y chromosome following DNA cleavage

A gene technological method of sex determination in cadaverous material is reported. The samples were taken from a child's corpse, which was nearly completely skeletonized after 1 year in water. From cells of the bone marrow the DNA was isolated and digested by restriction enzymes. A defined fragment of 2.12kb length was cleaved off by the endonuclease HaeIII in the presence of Y chromosomes. After agarose-gel electrophoresis of the DNA fragments, the specific sequence was detected by hybridization with the cloned, radioactively labelled complementary plasmide pHY2.1.     

Gas chromatographic method of quantitative determination of carbon monoxide in cadaver blood

A gas chromatographic method has been developed for measurement of carbon monoxide in cadaveric blood on a chromatographer with thermal conductivity detector and air oxygen as the internal standard. The error of the method is no more than 4% with the mean quadratic deviation +/- 0.18-0.33 min. The method was studied on 10 model and 30 expert blood samples. Putrefactive products did not influence the accuracy of analysis.     

A new method of age determination by age-related changes in the hand bone

An anthropological method designed for determining the age is under discussion; it is based on the point-evaluation of age-related changes observed in the hand bones by X-Ray, i.e. osteophytes, osteoporosis, osteosclerosis and joint deformations. The method was made use of to elaborate a new modified point-based assessment of the above changes in the hand bones with respect to their severity.     

Significance of the ear in the determination of age

The morphology of human ear conch is said to be rather individual, but a perfect person-identification by this mean is not possible. It is demonstrated by photographs-made in a 15 years' interval-that ear conch and auricular area can be typically marked by proceeding age and specific diseases.     

The determination of the age of an individual by the morphological signs of the pubic symphysis

The series of 365 pelvic bones from the area of pubic joint (195 female and 170 male) were studied. The author developed regression equations to determine individual age on the basis of the results of age dynamics study in relation to 5 morphologic characteristics of pubic joint (joint surface, front and rear borders, upper and lower ends). This method makes it possible to determine individual age within the interval of 15-90 years of age (mean error 7.23 years, correlation factor 0.9261).     

Limits of the Lamendin method in age determination.

This study shows that epithelial attachment level, used as age determination criterion in Lamendin's method, is not reliable for adults of either sex above the age of 49 years with periodontal diseases in any quadrant. The underestimation of calculated age increases from 7 to 19 years with chronological age. On the other hand, the present paper confirms the pertinence of dentin translucency as an age indicator in Lamendin's method.     

Development of the femur--implications for age and sex determination

Growth of four variables of the femur (diapyseal length, diaphyseal length plus distal epiphysis, maximum length and vertical diameter of the head) was analyzed by polynomial regression for the purpose of evaluating its significance and capacity for age and sex determination throughout the entire life continuum. Materials included in analysis consisted of 346 specimens ranging from birth to 97 years of age from five documented osteological collections of Western European descent. Linear growth was displayed by each of the four variables. Significant sexual dimorphism was identified in two of the femoral measurements, including maximum length and vertical diameter of the head, from age 15 onward. These results indicate that the two variables may be of use in the determination of sex in sex determination from that age onward. Strong correlation coefficients were identified between femoral size and age for each of the four metric variables. These results indicate that any of the femoral measurements is likely to serve as a useful source to estimate sub-adult age in both archaeological and forensic samples.     

Preliminary evaluation of the childhood experiences of violence questionnaire short form

Despite advances in child maltreatment research, accurate measurement of exposure remains a key issue. In this study, we evaluated a short form (CEVQ-SF) of the Childhood Experiences of Violence Questionnaire (CEVQ) in a sample of adolescents involved with child protection services in an urban city in Ontario, Canada. Focusing on the two most readily defined maltreatment types, physical and sexual abuse, we evaluated the short form's comparability with the full version of the CEVQ. Both versions had good internal consistency and moderate-to-good 2-week test-retest reliability. The criterion validity of the two CEVQ versions in comparison with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was satisfactory. Construct validity for both versions was demonstrated: physically and sexually abused youth had higher odds of reporting clinical traumatic symptoms compared with either type alone. The CEVQ-SF is as reliable and valid as its full version. Implications for its use in large population-based surveys are discussed.     

Practical value of LDH-X determination for the detection of sperm traces

The examination of 38 stains collected in sexual offences provided spermatozoa-positive, LDH-X-negative results in 4 samples and spermatozoa-negative, LDH-X-positive results in 6 samples. The results suggest that besides the microscopic detection of spermatozoa the demonstration of LDH-X should be performed in medicolegal identification of seminal stains.