An unusual death in water

A case of combined suicide involving the explosion of a handgranate in water demonstrates the possible misinterpretation of external injuries.     

Effects of a state law on rates of restraint on a child and adolescent unit

Rates of restraint and seclusion on a child and adolescent unit were evaluated before and after the implementation of a restrictive state law which was designed to reduce the monthly rates of restraint. Overall, the total number of hours in restraint, corrected for mean daily census, decreased significantly. The average number of patients in chemical restraint stayed about the same. There was a significant increase in number of patients, number of episodes, and hours of mechanical restraint as expected. Rates of seclusion dropped to zero as mandated. A new category of physical restraint was defined by law and was used to limited extent.     

The dynamic postmortem changes of the nucleoproteins in the tissues of the liver and eye

Postmortal changes in nucleoproteins were examined in the hepatocytes and anterior corneal and crystalline lenticular epithelial cells from 106 cadavers within 48 h after death by microfluorometry. Cryostat tissue sections were stained by acridine yellow by the method of R. Rigler (1966). The author found a natural decrease in fluorescence intensity of the examined tissue cellular nuclei at 530 nm within 4-24 h. and an increase in their fluorescence intensity at 640 nm within 4-48 h. after death. Data obtained may be used to establish the time of death.     

The clinico-morphological basis for a diagnosis of diffuse axonal brain damage in head trauma

The most typical neurologic signs and variants of computer-tomographic cerebral picture in diffuse axonal lesion of the brain are presented. Dynamics of pathomorphologic changes depending on duration of posttraumatic periods is detected.     

Some factors in police discretion and decision making

This is a study of the exercise of police discretion as indicated by the responses of police recruits to a series of ambiguous, but common incidents. The situations are ambiguous in that they do not call for a clear course of action. The study measures the influence on the use of discretion of certain factors characterizing the police officers and the incidents themselves. The key finding is that the recruits most often seem to impose their own brand of justice based upon their judgement of what the community's expectations of the appropriate police response are. This judgement is most influenced by the accumulation of experience or “street wisdom”.     

Private Representation in Washington: Surveying the Structure of Influence

Despite the significance of interest representation to theories of law and politics, the social organization of interest representation has not received systematic empirical analysis. Based on interviews with 776 individuals engaged in the representation of private interests concerning national policies on agriculture, energy, health, and labor, this article reports some findings concerning the social and political characteristics of representatives, the nature of their work and their relationships with client organizations. Three models of the social organization of interest representation are developed and examined: a model based on substantive expertise, an institutional targets model, and a client-based model. The findings indicate that representation is predominately organized around client interests Although lawyers constitute a significant and distinctive group among representatives, they are neither as numerous nor as active in policy making as is commonly assumed. The analysis suggests that representatives are not likely to exercise influence in the policy-making process that is autonomous from client organizations.     

The present direction of research in forensic odontology

Forensic odontology is receiving increased attention in the literature and has become a widely recognized field of expertise with broad ramifications. With this growth, research is needed to solve the most pressing problems of the discipline. The purpose of this paper is to identify current trends in research in forensic odontology. The review consisted of studies using the scientific method and reports of new techniques being tested. Also, abstracts from the annual meeting of the Odontology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences from 1980 to 1987 have been reviewed to determine the current areas of emphasis in forensic dentistry.