The forensic investigation of propane gas asphyxiation

Two unusual suicides of a 19-year-old white man and a 47-year-old white man, involving propane inhalation and plastic bag suffocation, are described. The special characteristics of propane gas as an asphyxiant agent are discussed, as well as its effect on the human body. The discussion emphasizes the postmortem examination and the collection of samples for toxicologic analysis.     

Citizenship and Res Publica : The Emergence of Republican Rights

A fourth kind of citizens' rights--the republican rights--are being recognized and enforced in the last quarter of the twentieth century, after the civil, political, and social rights have been defined. Republican rights are the rights that every citizen has that the public patrimony, the res publica , is utilized on behalf of the public interest. While civil rights protect citizens against a powerful state, republican rights protect the state against powerful citizens involved in several forms of rent-seeking. Three major types of republican rights are identified: rights to the environment, to the historical patrimony, and to the economic patrimony. The last, in flow terms, corresponds to the state's revenues, which are permanently threatened by businessmen, bureaucrats, and all kinds of special interest groups, sometimes in subtle ways. To identify and contain these threats is a major challenge for modern institutions and law systems.     

Parasomnia pseudo-suicide

Complex behaviors arising from the sleep period may result in violent or injurious consequences, even death. Those resulting in death may be erroneously deemed suicides. A series of case examples and review of the pertinent literature are provided to increase awareness of the possibility that some apparent "suicides" are the unfortunate, but unintentional, consequence of sleep-related complex behaviors and therefore are without premeditation, conscious awareness, or personal responsibility. The correct cause-of-death determination in such cases may have profound social, religious, and insurance implications for surviving friends and family members.     

Objective measurement of dental color for age estimation by spectroradiometry

Age-related changes in tooth color have been described previously, however, the use of dental color for age estimation in forensic odontology has been limited due to the difficulty of measuring color objectively. This study presents an objective method for determining dental color to estimate the age of an individual. Dentine color in 250 teeth from patients ranging in age from 10 to 89 years was determined by spectroradiometry. Color measurements were performed as suggested in the CIE 1931 (International Commission on Illumination). Chromaticity coordinates (x, y, z), luminance (Y), whiteness index (WIC, Z%, WIC) and yellowness index (YI) were obtained. Correlations between these colorimetric variables and aging were established by linear regression analyses. All the variables fit the mathematical model with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.53 to 0.75. This method of color measurement produced an expected associated error of calibration averaging 13.7 years about the mean estimated values, at a 70% level of confidence. Two different multiple regression models for dental age estimation were tested, and variables that made the greatest contributions to age calculation were identified. To determine the effect of postmortem interval on tooth color and its influence in age estimation, 37 teeth obtained from human skeletal remains buried during an interval ranging from 21 to 37 years were also studied. In this material, the correlation between age and dental color measured by spectroradiometry was weaker than in fresh extracted teeth.It is concluded that determination of dentine color by spectroradiometry is a potentially useful objective method to estimate age in forensic studies in combination with other methods.     

The 2000-2001 GEP-ISFG Collaborative Exercise on mtDNA: assessing the cause of unsuccessful mtDNA PCR amplification of hair shaft samples

We report the results of Spanish and Portuguese working group (GEP) of International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) Collaborative Exercise 2001-2002 on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. 64 laboratories from Spain, Portugal and several Latin-American countries participated in this quality control exercise. Five samples were sent to the participating laboratories, four blood stains (M1-M4) and a sample (M5) consisting of two hair shaft fragments. M4 was non-human (Felis catus) in origin; therefore, the capacity of the labs to identify the biological source of this sample was an integral part of the exercise. Some labs detected the non-human origin of M4 by carrying out immuno-diffussion techniques using antihuman serum, whereas others identified the specific animal origin by testing the sample against a set of animal antibodies or by means of the analysis of mtDNA regions (Cyt-b, 12S, and 16S genes). The results of the other three human blood stains (M1-M3) improved in relation to the last Collaborative Exercises but those related to hairs yielded a low rate of success which clearly contrasts with previous results. As a consequence of this, some labs performed additional analysis showing that the origin of this low efficiency was not the presence of inhibitors, but the low quantity of DNA present in these specific hair samples and the degradation.As a general conclusion the results emphasize the need of external proficiency testing as part of the accreditation procedure for the labs performing mtDNA analysis in forensic casework.     

Detection and confirmation of fentanyls in high clay-content soil by electron ionization gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Detection of illicit drugs in the environment, particularly in soils, often suggests the present or past location of a clandestine production center for these substances. Thus, development of efficient methods for the analysis and detection of these chemicals is of paramount importance in the field of chemical forensics. In this work, a method involving the extraction and retrospective confirmation of fentanyl, acetylfentanyl, thiofentanyl, and acetylthiofentanyl using trichloroethoxycarbonylation chemistry in a high clay-content soil is presented. The soil was spiked separately with each fentanyl at two concentrations (1 and 10 μg/g) and their extraction accomplished using ethyl acetate and aqueous NH₄OH (pH ~ 11.4) with extraction recoveries ranging from ~56% to 82% for the high-concentration (10 μg/g) samples while ranging from ~68% to 83% for the low-concentration (1 μg/g) samples. After their extraction, residues containing each fentanyl were reacted with 2,2,2-trichloroethoxycarbonyl chloride (Troc-Cl) to generate two unique and predictable products from each opioid that can be used to retrospectively confirm their presence and identity using EI-GC-MS. The method's limit of detection (MDL/LOD) for Troc-norfentanyl and Troc-noracetylfentanyl were estimated to be 29.4 and 31.8 ng/mL in the organic extracts. In addition, the method's limit of quantitation for Troc-norfentanyl and Troc-noracetylfentanyl were determined to be 88.2 and 95.5 ng/mL, respectively. Collectively, the results presented herein strengthen the use of chloroformate chemistry as an additional chemical tool to confirm the presence of these highly toxic and lethal substances in the environment.     

Understanding America's Hesitant Steps Toward Financial Capitalism: Politics, the Depression, and the Separation of Commercial and Investment Banking

Few would disagree that the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 is thecontinental divide in American financial and banking history. Bydisallowing banks from getting involved in the investment bankingindustry, this Act imposed an institutional change that shaped howfinancial institutions conduct their business, even today in itsdecline. Conventional wisdom has it that the Act was enacted tocorrect the ``deficient'' financial system that existed during theperiod. In this paper we investigate whether this assertion can beempirically verified by analyzing the Senate vote on a predecessorof this Act (which included the clause separating commercialbanking from investment banking activities). Using multinomiallogits, we examine what may have motivated senators to vote for itspassage. The econometric evidence indicates that the Senate votewas significantly influenced by important interest groups(including national banks as well as manufacturing sectorinterests), despite the large populist outcry for financial marketreforms at the onset of the Depression.