A NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF MANDATORY PARENT EDUCATION*

In an effort to take positive steps toward coping with problems for families and children created by high levels of separation and divorce, ever increasing civil caseloads and the exposure of children to interparental conflict, court‐affiliated educational programs have emerged in the United States for parents separating from their spouse or partner or going through a divorce. This article will provide an overview of the creation of such programs and their development, which includes a discussion regarding the numerous states currently mandating parents to attend. It will summarize some of the research which has been conducted as to the efficacy of the programs and will provide the results of our nationwide research for each state's parent education status. There is a discussion of domestic violence issues and sensitivities in the context of parent education programs and possible future directions for mandatory parent education.     

Postmortem identification of the edentulous deceased: denture tissue surface anatomy

This model evaluates the use of dental stone casts derived from maxillary tissues and from the internal aspects of maxillary dentures for edentulous postmortem identification. Tissue topography of the total cast and of rugae tracings photographed from the casts were evaluated for identification accuracy in twenty-eight trials for each of the two designs. Eight casts were examined in each trial. The trial was designed as matching or nonmatching, and as an equivocal or unequivocal decision by the examiner. Unequivocal decisions with 100% accuracy resulted when the entire dental cast was evaluated. Seventy-nine percent accuracy with equivocation in some trials resulted when only rugae tracings from the casts were evaluated. This investigation supported use of stone casts derived from the internal anatomy of maxillary dentures for forensic science identification when cast topography in toto was considered.     

Rupture of a giant splenic artery aneurysm. Report of an autopsy case.

We describe an autopsy case of a 61-year-old woman with von Recklinghausen's disease, who died suddenly following intraperitoneal hemorrhage due to the rupture of a giant splenic artery aneurysm. The aneurysm measured 16 x 13 x 5.5 cm--much larger than those in most previous reports. The pancreatic body, which was pressed by the aneurysm, was widely atrophic. In general, splenic artery aneurysms are more frequent in pregnant women or patients with portal hypertension. The pathogenesis of this aneurysm is presumed to be arterial dysplasia, focal arterial inflammation, or portal hypertension, unlike other aneurysms due to arteriosclerosis or syphilis. Since the patient had not been pregnant and had not had liver cirrhosis or arteriosclerosis, the pathogenic factor could not be determined in this case. The relationship between the genesis of the aneurysm and von Recklinghausen's disease was not clear either.