Weapon identification using antemortem computed tomography with virtual 3D and rapid prototype modeling-A report in a case of blunt force head injury

This research shows the exfoliation of the anterior dentition has significant potential to aid in establishing the minimum length of the post-mortem interval. Accumulated degree days (ADD) were used to quantify the decomposition of the periodontal ligament, represented by post-mortem exfoliation of the incisors. After subjects were removed subsequent to disturbance by scavengers and time limitations on the study, the final sample size was 36 incisors from the maxillae and mandibles of seven pigs (Sus scrofa). Average daily temperature was calculated using hourly temperature data recorded using DS1921G thermochrons for the duration of the project (June 14-December 17, 2008). During this period, six teeth (16.7%) were exfoliated. ADD for these six teeth ranged from 1539.7 °C to 2006.7 °C. The average ADD required for exfoliation was 1788.0 °C (SD=198.1 °C). No differences in ADD required for exfoliation were observed between the maxillary and mandibular teeth (t=2.085; p=0.128).     

Toxicologic analysis in cases of possible sudden infant death syndrome: a worthwhile exercise?

The diagnosis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is one of exclusion. At the Department of Forensic Medicine, Westmead Hospital, toxicologic analysis is performed as part of the postmortem examination of all apparent SIDS deaths. The results for the 5-year period January 1, 1994, to December 31, 1999, were audited to determine whether such routine testing was worthwhile. During this time there were 117 cases with a history consistent with SIDS. Drugs were detected in 19 (16%) of these cases. In 1 case, death was attributed to the finding of methadone. The presence of methadone was regarded as a possible contributing factor to death in a further 2 cases. The presence of possible methadone toxicity had not been expected from the history given before the examination in these 3 cases. In 114 cases there was a suitable sample for alcohol testing; in no case was alcohol detected. In 13 cases the postmortem examination revealed an anatomic cause of death (including 3 cases consistent with whiplash/shaken baby/impact head injury), which excluded a diagnosis of SIDS. In conclusion, routine toxicologic testing in all possible cases of SIDS death supplements the postmortem examination in excluding cases of non-SIDS.     

Regional Design,Local Autonomy,and Ethnic Struggle: Romania’s Syncopated Regionalisation

Despite many institutional features being changed during the post-communist transition, the regional administration in Romania witnessed a very limited change in post-communist times. Although it was a total political failure, the recent reshaping of the regional administration triggered a vivid public and scholarly interest on the matter. The purpose of the article is to shed new light on political constraints operating when it comes to reshaping regional design in Romania. Whereas official arguments pointed towards the necessity to address EU conditionality, the reshape was more likely underpinned by the government’s attempt to gain electoral advantages in the local elections scheduled for 2012. The decisive opposition made to the project by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrat? a Maghiarilor din Romania) reveals the importance that ethnic factors have played in this context.     

Reviews

E. Comisso and L. D'Andrea Tyson eds. Power, Purpose and Collective Choice. Economic Strategy in Socialist States. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London, 1986, 422 pp. $43.45 h/b, $16.45 p/b.

Dietrich Andre Loeber ed. Ruling Communist Parties And Their Status Under Law. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1986, xxi + 550 pp. £101.50 h/b.

E. S. Williams, The Soviet Military: Political Education, Training and Morale. London: Macmillan, 1987, xv + 203 pp. £27.50.

John Erickson, Lynn Hansen and William Schneider, Soviet Ground Forces: An Operational Assessment. London: Croom Helm & Westview, 1986, xix + 267 pp. £25.00.

Kurt M. Campbell, Soviet policy towards South Africa. London: Macmillan, 1986, xii + 223 pp. £27.50.

David A. Korn, Ethiopia, the United States and the Soviet Union, London: Croom Helm, 1986, 199 pp. £19.95.

Samuel M. Makinda, Superpower Diplomacy in the Horn of Africa, London: Croom Helm, 1987, 241 pp. £22.50.

Ivan Volgyes, Politics in Eastern Europe. Chicago: Dorsey Press, 1986, xvii + 368 pp. $20.00.

Olga A. Narkiewicz, Soviet Leaders: from the Cult of Personality to Collective Rule. Brighton: Wheatsheaf, 1986, ix + 256 pp. £18.95.

Simon Bergstrand and Rigas Doganis, The Impact of Soviet Shipping. London: Allen & Unwin, 1987, xvi + 184 pp. £30.00.

Martin Kitchen, British Policy towards the Soviet Union during the Second World War. London: Macmillan, 1986, viii + 309 pp. £29.50.

Alexandre Popovi?, L'lslam balkanique. Les Musulmans du sud‐est européen dans la période post‐ottomane, Osteuropa‐Institut an der Freien Universitat Berlin, Balkanolo‐gische Veröffentlichungen, edited by Norbert Reiter, vol. 11, Berlin, in conjunction with Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1986, xii + 493 pp.

Bernard Lory, Le Sort de l'Héritage Ottoman en Bulgarie; l'Exemple des Villes Bulgares, 1878–1900. Published at the initiative and with the help of the Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes d'Istanbul and l'Association pour le Développement des Etudes Turques, Paris, Editions Isis, Istanbul, 1985, viii + 235 pp.

Shirin Akiner, Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union. 2nd ed. London: KPI, 1986. xiii + 462 pp.

Bruce W. Watson and Susan M. Watson, eds., The Soviet Navy: Strengths and Liabilities, Westview Press/Arms and Armour Press, London, 1986, xv + 333 pp. £19.95.

Robert Conquest, ed., The Last Empire: Nationality and the Soviet Future. Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, Calif, (distributed in UK by Clio), 1986, xiv + 406 pp. £23.45.

Jeffery Simon and Trond Gilberg, eds. Security Implications of Nationalism in Eastern Europe, Westview Press. Boulder, Colorado and London, 1986 xvi + 327 pp. £27.75.

K. R. M. Short, ed., Western Broadcasting over the Iron Curtain, Croom Helm, London, 1986, 274 pp. £22.50.

John Bushnell, Mutiny amid Repression: Russian Soldiers in the Revolution of 1905–1906. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985, ix + 334 pp. £24.50.

Roger Woods, Opposition in the GDR under Honecker 1971–85. Macmillan, London, 1986, x + 257 pp. £27.50.

Yury Boshyk, ed., Ukraine during World War II— History and its Aftermath. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1986, xix + 219 pp. no price quoted.

Peter Beilharz, Trotsky, Trotskyism and the Transition to Socialism, London: Croom Helm, 1987. 197 pp. £25.00.

A. Buick & J. Crump, State capitalism: the wages system under new management. Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1987, ix + 165 pp. £25.00 h/b, £8.95 p/b.