Postmortem blood and vitreous humor ethanol concentrations in a victim of a fatal motor vehicle crash

A 20-year-old male was found on the passenger side of a small car after a collision with a semi-trailer truck. Postmortem blood, collected from the chest cavity, and vitreous humor samples were collected following harvesting of the heart and bones. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed a blood ethanol concentration of 0.32 g/dL and a vitreous humor ethanol concentration of 0.09 g/dL. The stomach was intact and full of fluid and food, but its contents were not collected. Possible explanations for the large difference between the two results include diffusion of ethanol from the stomach into the chest cavity, contamination of the blood sample prior to collection, and ingestion of a large quantity of ethanol shortly before death. This case demonstrates the importance of proper quality assurance procedures in collecting postmortem specimens and of collecting a vitreous humor sample for ethanol analysis in postmortem toxicology cases.     

Factors Associated with Physician Discussion of Health Behaviors with Adolescents

Behaviors developed in adolescence influence health later in life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of health care provider's discussion of health behaviors with overweight and non-overweight adolescents and identify demographic and health behaviors related to exercise, hours of television viewing, and weight issues associated with these discussions. A Cross sectional survey of urban adolescents was conducted. Trained interviewers administered surveys over a three month period in 2001 at an urban academic pediatric and adolescent clinic. The 252 adolescents surveyed had a mean age of 15 with 49% categorized as being at risk for overweight/overweight and 51% as normal weight using the CDC percentiles for BMI. While 16% of the adolescents reported that their physician or nurse discussed the amount of television they watched, rates of discussion related to exercise (58%), and weight (54%) were much higher. In multivariate analyses, health care provider discussions with adolescents regarding exercise were more common for overweight (O.R.=2.42, 95% C.I. [1.28–4.57]) and at risk for overweight (O.R.=1.98, 95% C.I. [1.03–3.81]) adolescents, whereas physician discussion of television viewing was not associated with weight. Discussions of weight were more common for female (O.R.=2.18, 95% C.I. [1.21–3.95]), African-American (O.R.=2.53, 95% C.I. [1.40–4.57]), and overweight (O.R.=3.92, 95% C.I. [1.97–7.81]) adolescents. Even after adjusting for weight, race and gender strongly influenced the frequency of discussions about weight in physician offices. Although health care providers frequently address weight and exercise with adolescents, more discussions related to sedentary behaviors such as television viewing may be warranted to address adolescent obesity.Received PhD in Epidemiology from University of California, San Diego. Research interests include smoking prevention and cessation among adolescents and health promotion interventions.Received MD from University of Missouri-Kansas City and MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include health services research and research in support of measurable, systematic improvements in the quality of medical care.Received medical degree from Christian Medical College, Punjab, India and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include diet and physical activity behaviors, role of the environment in obesity and obesity prevention, especially among children and adolescents.Received MBBS from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH from University of Kansas Medical Center. Research interests include smoking cessation, database design, implementation, data management and analysis, and use of information technology in health care settings.Director, Cancer Prevention, Control, and Population Sciences, Kansas Cancer Institute. Received MD/MPH from Tulane University and MS from Harvard School of Public Health. Research interests include disparities in healthcare; smoking cessation among underserved populations, specifically African Americans; diet, nutrition, obesity, and physical activity.     

Searching for Symptoms of Political Shirking: Congressional Foreign Travel

Despite the hypothesized propensity for shirking to marklegislative institutions, the evidence is rather equivocal;moreover, most of the research has focused exclusively onlegislator voting, thereby constraining whatevergeneralizations might emerge. The purpose of this paper is tocontribute to the debate over the question of politicalshirking by extending the range of phenomena examined toinclude congressional foreign travel. Our analysis providesevidence that opportunism is a problem in Congress. We findthat last-period problems have arisen in the area of foreigntravel, and that increased scrutiny to the problem on the partof Congress only shifted consumption patterns, i.e.,legislators began taking foreign junkets near, but not at theend of, their legislative careers. Not all foreign travelshould be construed as worthless junketing since there isstrong evidence that some foreign travel is related tomembers' responsibilities on congressional committees.     

Gubernatorial Use of the Item Veto for Narrative Deletion

Legislative use of narrative, such as conditions and riders, in appropriations bills has become common and has had negative consequences for the executive budget and veto, as well as for the legislative process. Some governors have used the item veto as a remedy. While they have not necessarily diminished the amount of narrative, they have achieved some protection of the executive budget and veto power. Their success depends greatly on the type of legal authority embodied in this constitutional power.     

Forensic value of pattern and particle transfers from deployed automotive airbag contact

Many automobile manufacturers began installing airbags on the driver's side in the late 1980's. Passenger side airbags followed in the early 1990's. Most airbags use a solid-propellant type of material that produces a hot gas to inflate the airbags. The gas in the driver side airbag leaves the inflator at a temperature as hot as 600 degrees C. The hot gas escapes through the vent holes after deployment, but it can also leak through the stitching seams in the front and singe a pattern on the occupant's clothing characteristic of the seam pattern. The singe patterns from the driver and passenger side airbags will be different. Cornstarch, which is used as a lubricant in some driver side airbags, can transfer to the driver's shirt. Hairs, fibers and make-up can transfer from the driver or passenger to the surface of the deployed airbags. Two cases are presented, illustrating singe patterns and particle transfers, and how they helped determine who a driver or passenger were.     

Criminal law and HIV transmission/exposure: two new cases

In a regular column, we review new developments in the area of criminal prosecutions for HIV transmissions or exposure. Since the last issue of the Review, two new Canadian cases have come to our attention. A Swedish case is reported in HIV/AIDS in the Courts - International.     

The quantification of fingerprint quality using a relative contrast index

Research into fingermark enhancement techniques has traditionally used visual comparisons and qualitative methods to assess their effectiveness based on the quality of the developed fingermark. However, with increasing research into the optimisation of these techniques the need for a quantitative evaluative method has arisen. Parameters for acceptable fingerprint quality are not well defined and generally encompass clear, sharp edges and high levels of contrast between the fingermark ridges and background material. Using these current parameters, a conclusive measurement of fingerprint quality and thus the effectiveness of development techniques cannot be achieved.This study presents a model through which an aspect of fingerprint quality can be objectively and impartially measured based on a relative contrast index, constructed through measuring the reflective intensity of the fingermark ridges against the background material. Using a fibre-optic spectrophotometer attached to a microscope with axial illumination, the intensity counts of the ridge detail and background material were measured and a logarithmic contrast index constructed. The microscope and spectrophotometer parameters were experimentally tested using a standard colour resolution chart with known reflective properties. The protocol was successfully applied to four sample groups: black inked fingerprints on white paper; latent fingermarks on white paper developed separately with ninhydrin and physical developer; and fingermarks in blood deposited on white tiles and enhanced with amido black. The contrast indices obtained quantitatively reflect the level of contrast and provide an indication of fingerprint quality through a numerical representation rather than previous qualitative methods. It has been suggested that the proposed method of fingerprint quantification may be viable for application in the forensic research arena as it allows the definitive measurement of contrast to aid the evaluation of fingermark detection and enhancement techniques.