Forensic and medical aspects of lethality from thromboembolytic complications of trauma,diseases and certain pathological conditions

A total of 743 lethal outcomes of thromboembolytic complications of trauma, diseases and certain pathological conditions as observed in 1999-2001 and in the three quarters of 2002 were studied. The undertaken analysis confirmed two factors provoking the pathological thrombosis, i.e. 1. Pathological changes observed in the surface vascular wall preconditioned by mechanical damages, atherosclerotic process and aging; and 2. A slower blood flow due to an impaired blood circulation, a forced positioning and to hypodynamics. While deciding on a possibility of a direct cause-effect relation between past traumas, surgeries, poisonings and death of thromboembolism of the pulmonary arteries (TEPA), such relation can be mentioned only on rare occasions. It is more often the case that an indirect, mediated relationship is found, when TERA evolves due to an unfavorable combination of risk factors, i.e. a forced immobility, changing coagulated blood system, impaired blood vessels etc.     

Methods of making the plaster copies of skulls for the medical and criminalistic identification of individuals

A possibility was studied to use the plaster copies of skulls in the forensic medical identification of personality by applying the craniofacial method. No dependence was found between the plaster casts and the moulding types. Differences between the same craniometric sizes in the skull and in its cast are of an incidental nature. Such incidental deviation is related with an accuracy of determining the localization of craniometric points and with an instrumental precision of measuring devices. The necessity is substantiated that, while making a craniofacial examination, it is necessary to mark all anthropometric points in the skull cast, with the original being a control. The use of a plaster skull cast is possible in those cases, when the burial of the remains must be done in full.     

An Estimator for Some Binary-Outcome Selection Models Without Exclusion Restrictions

This article provides a new maximum-likelihood estimator forselection models with dichotomous dependent variables when identicalfactors affect the selection equation and the equation of interest.Such situations arise naturally in game-theoretic models whereselection is typically nonrandom and identical explanatory variablesinfluence all decisions under investigation. When identicalexplanatory variables influence selection and a subsequent outcomeof interest, the commonly used Heckman-type estimators identifyfrom distributional assumptions about the residuals alone. Whenits own identifying assumption is reasonable, the new estimatorallows the researcher to avoid the painful choice between identifyingfrom distributional assumptions alone and adding a theoreticallyunjustified variable to the selection equation in a mistakenattempt to "boost" identification. The article uses Monte Carlomethods to compare the small-sample properties of the estimatorwith those of the Heckman-type estimator and ordinary probit.     

Using Ecological Inference Point Estimates as Dependent Variables in Second-Stage Linear Regressions

The practice of using point estimates produced by the King ecologicalinference technique as dependent variables in second-stage linearregressions leads to second-stage results that, in general,are inconsistent. This conclusion holds even when all assumptionsbehind King's ecological technique are satisfied. Second-stageinconsistency is a consequence of the fact that King-based pointestimates of disaggregated quantities contain errors correlatedwith the true quantities the estimates measure. Our findingson second-stage inconsistency, as well as a fix that we propose,follow from econometric theory in conjunction with an analysisof simulated and real ecological data sets.