Identification of fetal blood stains by radioimmunoassay of alpha 1-fetoprotein.

Radioimmunoassay of alpha 1-fetoprotein(AFP) for medico-legal identification of fetal blood stains using a commercial kit is described. The AFP content in fetal blood stains on filter paper ranged from 21--320 ng/9 mm2. The protein was detected in stains of adult blood and retroplacental blood in only negligible amounts. Aging of the blood stains did not influence the values up to 1 month. The method is simple and sensitive enough for application to medico-legal-practice.     

RESPONSES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM TO LEGISLATION PROVIDING MORE SEVERE THREATENED SANCTIONS

In 1971, the Tennessee legislature enacted legislation providing for mandatory jail sentences and driver's license revocations for anyone convicted of driving while intoxicated. This new law had no demonstrable impact on the highway traffic fatalities rate-the intended objective. This paper explores the reasons for this apparent lack of impact. Data suggest that, while there was some increase in the severity of sanctions imposed on drunken drivers, there was still a consistent tendency to suspend the jail sentences and grant drivers restricted driving privileges. Nor is there any reason to believe that the police intensified their efforts to apprehend larger numbers of drunken drivers. Thus, the more severe sanctions threatened in the new law were generally mitigated in practice. Some possible interpretations for this are offered.     

A fatal chronic ketamine poisoning

A few papers in the literature reported incident deaths by acute ketamine poisoning. In this paper, we report an unusual homicide caused by chronic ketamine poisoning. The victim was a 34-year old married woman with no previous medical history (except as reported herein) who died in her own home. The court investigation revealed that she was chronically poisoned by her husband over a period of about one year in an act of homicide. Determination of ketamine concentrations in autopsy specimens was carried out with gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that ketamine concentration was 21 microg/mL in gastric contents, 3.8 microg/mL in blood and 1.2 microg/mL in urine. The most striking forensic findings were cardiac muscle fibrosis and hyaline degeneration of small arteries in victim's heart, the pathological features of ketamine poisoning previous reported only in animal studies.