Significance of skin metallization in the diagnosis of electrocution

The differentiation of minute current marks from the faint traces of burns may offer some difficulties. Marcinkowski and Wojciechowski (1973) treated the skin of corpses with the same metal objects either heated to a high temperature or exposed to 250 V of alternating current, and determined (by an electrographic method) that metallization appeared only after applying the electric current.The continuation of these observations is linked with the actual experimental studies of Pankowski. By treating the skin of corpses with alternating and direct current of 10, 50, 100 and 250 V for 0.3 sec, 1 sec, 30 sec and 1 min passing through a radioactive electrode of ⁶⁰Co, he has shown that the radioactivity of the skin at the site of electrode contact increases with the elevation of the voltage and its duration. In the case of direct current the rise was 630 – 54000-fold at the site of the positive electrode.Using electrodes of copper, aluminium and iron (not radioactive) it has also been shown (by an electrographic method) that metallization intensifies under the same conditions of time and voltage.Metallization could be detected even when no current marks on the skin were evident. Electrography appears to be extremely useful in the detection of metallization. No metallization was detected at the site of the negative electrode (as refers to direct current).     

Performance of political parties in the 2016 parliamentary election in Slovakia: regional comparisons and district-level determinants

This paper explores the results of the 2016 parliamentary election in the Slovak Republic, with a special emphasis on the regional aspects of participating political parties’ election campaigns. It summarizes the election results for the country as a whole, as well as separately by region. An empirical analysis of party electoral performance at the district level suggests that the incumbent Smer party tended to do well in districts with higher rates of unemployment and a lower proportion of university-educated population. Similar patterns hold for the Slovak ethnic nationalist Slovak National Party and the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia. By contrast, the two parties that presented themselves as being starkly opposed to the Smer government’s policies—Freedom and Solidarity and Ordinary People and Independent Personalities—exhibit greater support in districts with more university-educated voters and lower unemployment rates.     

Death of a Female Prostitute Due to Intestinal Obstruction by an Unknown Substance

A young adult black female, known to be a prostitute and suspected of smuggling narcotics, was found dead in her apartment in a state of early decomposition. Oval‐shaped gray‐white masses of exogenous origin protruded from the anus. The autopsy showed dilatation of the folds of the large intestine, which were almost completely filled with these oval‐shaped gray‐white masses of foreign material. The uterus was enlarged with multiple large leiomyomas. Toxicological tests of blood and the foreign material revealed no toxicologically relevant substances. Kaolin was detected in a sample of the foreign material from the large intestine. The immediate cause of death was intestinal obstruction due to the formation of a kaolin bezoar with simultaneous compression of the large intestine by the enlarged myomatous uterus. Subsequent revelation of a habit the deceased had brought from her native country led to the conclusion that this exotic custom was responsible for her death.     

Fatal Ingestion of Chlumsky Disinfectant Solution

A 32‐year‐old pregnant woman in the 25th week of pregnancy underwent oral glucose tolerance screening at the diabetologist's. Later that day, she was found dead in her apartment possibly poisoned with Chlumsky disinfectant solution (solutio phenoli camphorata). An autopsy revealed chemical burns in the digestive system. The lungs and the brain showed signs of severe edema. The blood of the woman and fetus was analyzed using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and revealed phenol, its metabolites (phenyl glucuronide and phenyl sulfate) and camphor. No ethanol was found in the blood samples. Both phenol and camphor are contained in Chlumsky disinfectant solution, which is used for disinfecting surgical equipment in healthcare facilities. Further investigation revealed that the deceased woman had been accidentally administered a disinfectant instead of a glucose solution by the nurse, which resulted in acute intoxication followed by the death of the pregnant woman and the fetus.     

Legal Concepts as Mental Representations

Although much ink has been spilled on different aspects of legal concepts, the approach based on the developments of cognitive science is a still neglected area of study. The “mental” and cognitive aspect of these concepts, i.e., their features as mental constructs and cognitive tools, especially in the light of the developments of the cognitive sciences, is discussed quite rarely. The argument made by this paper is that legal concepts are best understood as mental representations. The piece explains what mental representations are and why this view matters. The explanation of legal concepts, understood as mental representations is one of (at least) three levels of explanation within legal philosophy, but—as will be argued—it is the most fundamental level. This paper analyzes the consequences of such understanding of concepts used in the field of legal philosophy. Special emphasis is put on the current debate on the analogical or amodal nature of concepts.

     

The “revival of communism” or the effect of institutions?: The 1993 Polish parliamentary elections

In several Eastern European countries the breakdown of communism in 1989 was followed by a surprising return to power of post-communist parties. Yet, some electoral victories of post-communists look puzzling when contrasted with a small size of a shift in voters' preferences that has led to them. Such is the case of the 1993 Polish parliamentary elections. Using partition-function form games and results of simulated elections, we estimate the impact of three factors that were blamed, in addition to the shift to the left in voters' preferences, for the 1993 victory of the post-communists in Poland. We show that the shift to the left was insufficient to assure post-communists an electoral victory, and that this victory would not have happened under the old electoral law or under a unified coalition of the Right. Our results show the high sensitivity of emerging democracies to the details of their institutional backbones.