Correspondence

Negotiation Journal -     

The epidemiology of sudden infant death syndrome in Finland in 1969-1980

SIDS cases were defined by examining all death certificates, in which sudden deaths were expected to be found from the years 1969-80 from the Central Statistical Office of Finland. The age limits were 28-364 days. If the death certificate did not give enough information as to whether the cause of death was explained or unexplained, autopsy records and microscopic specimens were examined. If the death was sudden, but no autopsy was done, no microscopic specimens were taken, or there were some slight findings which could have partly explained the death were classified as borderline cases. The mean annual incidence of SIDS in Finland was 0.41/1000 livebirths in 1969-80. In 1969-74 and 1975-80 the incidences were 0.31 and 0.51, respectively. The increasing tendency of SIDS was partly due to more borderline cases in the first period and partly due to more twins, and infants with small birth weight, dying of SIDS in the second period. Deaths at weekends and sleeping with parents in the second period were more common than in the first study period. In the SIDs group the young maternal age, low social class, family type unmarried couple or single mother, maternal anemia during pregnancy were more common than in the control group. Mothers of SIDS infants had more previous children and fewer visits and later first visit to prenatal clinics than control mothers. The duration of gestation was shorter and the mean birth weight and length were smaller in the SIDS case than in the control group. Twins were more common among SIDS infants than in the common population. The most important risk factor of SIDS was maternal smoking during pregnancy. The epidemiological results conform with the hypoxia hypotheses.     

Evaluation and treatment of insanity acquittees in the community

This paper describes the monitored outpatient treatment program for Psychiatry Security Review Board (PSRB) clients in the largest single community treatment agency in the Oregon system. We describe 161 persons referred to this agency for evaluation and treatment. Ninety-one PSRB clients received treatment and of this group 51% had their conditional release revoked by the PSRB. The most frequent cause of revocation was noncompliance with treatment. There were only 11 crimes committed during the study period, four of which were in the felony range. The majority of PSRB clients are chronically mentally ill persons. We discuss both the treatment approach and our results in light of a recently published research agenda for insanity acquittees.     

Detection of cocaine metabolite in perspiration stain, menstrual bloodstain, and hair

Low nanogram and picogram quantities of cocaine metabolite equivalents were detected in extracts from perspiration stains, menstrual bloodstains, and hair using radioimmunoassay. The theory of drug inclusion in hair and its significance are discussed.     

Blood droplet dynamics--I

The interpretation of bloodstain patterns at crime scenes has received increased attention in recent years. Important to an understanding of this is knowledge of the fundamentals of blood droplet formation and impact dynamics. A review of the literature reveals that a considerable amount of work has been done with aqueous drop dynamics. Workers in the forensic science area seem to have been unaware of this. In addition, some of the most important and comprehensive early work with blood droplet dynamics seems to have been forgotten. It is not cited in more recent publications dealing with bloodstain pattern interpretation. This literature is reviewed and discussed as well. The present study presents results of experiments with blood droplet dynamics and high-speed photographs of blood droplet impacts on stationary target surfaces. Some longstanding misconceptions of importance to forensic scientists engaged in crime scene reconstruction are discussed.