Heart valve measurement at autopsy can distinguish cardiac from non-cardiac causes of death

The circumferences of the four intact cardiac valves were measured during 397 coroner's autopsies using an obturator cone to assess the value of this measurement in the postmortem diagnosis of cardiac disease. Valve sizes of cases with cardiac and noncardiac causes of death were compared using logistic regression to assess the effects of confounding variables including sex, age, height, build and the presence of chronic obstructive airways disease. Mitral valve enlargement was found to be significantly associated with cardiac death, as were build, age, and sex. Measurement of the mitral valve at autopsy can help distinguish cardiac from noncardiac causes of death.     

The macro- and micromorphological signs of the edge of stabbing-cutting weapons in skin wounds

110 stab-cut skin wounds in 34 dead bodies as well as 38 stab-cut instruments were studied. Three morphologic types of traces left by blade edges of stab-cut instruments, i.e. puncture, microrupture and microcut, were established. Gross and micromorphology of each of these traces depends on the properties of blade edges of stab-cut instruments.     

Detection of orosomucoid 1 phenotypes in semen and semen stains

Orosomucoid 1 phenotypes were detected in seminal plasma by isoelectric focusing and immunoprinting. The orosomucoid 1 phenotypes in seminal plasma correlated with the types found in the corresponding serum specimens. Semen stains stored for ten days could be typed for orosomucoid 1. The present work revealed that orosomucoid 1 is a useful genetic marker for the medicolegal grouping of semen stains.     

Evaluating Public Sector R&D Programs: The Advanced Technology Program's Investment in Wavelength References for Optical Fiber Communications

Griliches (1958) [Journal of Political Economy,66: 419--431] and Mansfield et al. (1977) [Quarterly Journal of Economics 91: 221--240] pioneered the application of fundamental economic insight to the development of measurements of private and social rates of return to innovative investments. This paper illustrates field-based methods for measuring the social rates of return to innovative investments by the public sector. The case study described herein relates to the development of an improved standard reference material for the measurement of the wavelength of light in an optical fiber network.