Suicide with an unusual shotgun

The authors describe a special case of suicide, committed by a self-constructed nailgun. The inshot-wound, localized in the mouth, primarily remained undiagnosed. The patient survived two weeks and died of pulmonary embolism.     

Acetaldehyde accumulation during headspace gas-chromatographic determination of ethanol

The acetaldehyde accumulation in blood during the equilibration time of samples processed by gas-liquid chromatographic headspace technique is reported. The quantitative loss of blood ethanol concentration is recorded at various temperatures and times of the preheating process.When the equilibration process is performed at 40 °C, minimal errors, due to ethanol oxidation, are observed.     

The biology-policy interface: Theories of pathogenesis,benefit valuation and public policy formation

This paper reviews some of the basic concepts of cost and risk-benefit analysis in the context of toxic chemical regulation and discusses several critical complexities inherent in the practical application of this methodology. The broad qualitative use of risk-benefit analysis can be an important aid to the decision-making process. It is concluded, however, that the full-scale incorporation of a rigorous form of risk-benefit analysis into the regulatory process is inappropriate at this time and could have significant and unintended consequences.The authors wish to express their gratitude to their colleagues, Professors Norm Carruthers, Denton Marks and Dean Uyeno, and an anonymous referee for their instructive comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

The ultrastructural indices of the morphofunctional state of the heart in acute and chronic alcoholic intoxication

Morphofunctional myocardial characteristics in subjects who died of acute and chronic alcoholic intoxication were studied at ultrastructural level. The resulting new data enhance the level of diagnosis concerning the cause of death, the grounds of thanatogenesis. Possibilities for using the results of investigation in scientific and practical work are shown.     

The forensic medical characteristics of the injuries to the spleen in blunt trauma of the abdomen

Analysis of 220 sectional cases with blunt spleen trauma is given in this article. Trauma circumstances, morphologic features of spleen injuries depending on the kind of blunt trauma, mechanism of their formation were studied.     

A modified Gustafson method of age estimation from teeth

Modifications to the Gustafson method of age estimation from teeth are described. They are designed to minimise the subjective nature of the scoring technique and to quantify the regressive changes in the enamel, dentine and cementum. Randomly selected teeth from 25 Indians were examined by the Gustafson method and by our own modification. It was shown that our modified method resulted in more accurate and reproducible age estimations than did the original method.