Manual and Automated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR): A Comparison of Associated Injury Patterns,

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare patterns of trauma associated with AutoPulse^® CPR and manual CPR. Finalized autopsy records from 175 decedents brought to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences were reviewed, 87 received manual‐only CPR, and 88 received AutoPulse^® CPR (in combination with manual CPR as per standard protocol). The characteristic pattern observed in manual‐only CPR use included a high frequency of anterior rib fractures, sternal fractures, and midline chest abrasions along the sternum. The characteristic pattern observed in AutoPulse^® CPR use included a high frequency of posterior rib fractures, skin abrasions located along the anterolateral chest and shoulder, vertebral fractures, and a few cases of visceral injuries including liver lacerations, splenic lacerations, and hemoperitoneum. Knowledge of the AutoPulse^® CPR injury pattern can help forensic pathologists differentiate therapeutic from inflicted injuries and therefore avoid an erroneous assessment of cause and manner of death.     

Necropsy Findings in Dogs that Died During Grooming or other Pet Service Procedures

Procedures involved in grooming, bathing, and other pet services can often lead animals to death. Of the necropsies of 1391 animals carried out at a private diagnostic laboratory in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 2004 to 2009, 94 were dogs that died during the above‐mentioned procedures. Young male dogs and small breeds like Poodle Miniature, Yorkshire Terrier, and Lhasa Apso were most frequently observed. Blunt‐force trauma was responsible for the deaths of 31% of the animals, with a higher incidence of trauma to the head, characterized chiefly by fractures and nervous tissue lesions. In the other 69% of cases, the animals showed signs of stress, and died due to pulmonary edema and hemorrhage. As we cannot rule out the intentional character in some situations, this article provides veterinary forensic support for veterinarians and pet owners, especially in lawsuits, helping in finding the cause of animal's death in such pet services.     

Applicability of Cranial Models in Urethane Resin and Foam as a Substitute for Bone: Are Synthetic Materials Reliable?

As literature is poor in functional synthetic cranial models, in this study, synthetic handmade models of cranial vaults were produced in two different materials (a urethane resin and a self‐hardening foam), from multiple bone specimens (eight original cranial vaults: four human and four swine), in order to test their resemblance to bone structure in behavior, during fracture formation. All the vaults were mechanically tested with a 2‐kg impact weight and filmed with a high‐speed camera. Fracture patterns were homogeneous in all swine vaults and heterogeneous in human vaults, with resin fractures more similar to bone fractures. Mean fracture latency time extrapolated by videos were of 0.75 msec (bone), 1.5 msec (resin), 5.12 msec (foam) for human vaults and of 0.625 msec (bone), 1.87 msec (resin), 3.75 msec (foam) for swine vaults. These data showed that resin models are more similar to bone than foam reproductions, but that synthetic material may behave quite differently from bone as concerns fracture latency times.     

The Filmmaker's Triage: The Doctor Figure and Images of Trauma

ABSTRACT

While writing a fictionalised feature film screenplay set around the character of a South African doctor during his year of compulsory community service in a rural hospital, I began researching how this figure has been represented in other narrative films, particularly those stories told in an African setting. A number of films and television dramas, some made by African filmmakers and others by filmmakers from outside of Africa, have been produced around the medical encounter. My interest lies not in assessing the health messaging found in these films and programs, which is better left to the health educationalists and medical sociologists, but in examining the fictional doctor figure as the main protagonist in these films. While the sociocultural and political dimensions of medicine, health and illness are relevant, I refer to them only in passing while exploring the fictional imagery of the doctor figure within the imagined filmed-Africa as it appears in the films The Last Face, Beyond Borders and Le grand blanc de Lambaréné.     

Traumata on Screen: Cinematic Views from Southern Africa

ABSTRACT

This special themed issue of Communicatio explores the profound transformation of the political, cultural and intellectual contours of Africa from the vantage point of African film and grounded within the theoretical and epistemological discourses of trauma studies, memory studies, postcolonial studies, and decolonial studies. The contributors are particularly interested in exploring the relational flows between African cinematic works and the social and imaginary circumstances of their production, engagement and representation. Through an explication of the screen and viewing cultures from Africa, this themed issue wishes to make three contributions. The first is to the already established but on-going scholarly work of trauma studies, but specifically from an African, cinematic vantage point. The second contribution is to the theoretical body of work on African cinema (and in this context, “cinematic” includes both film/television). And the last contribution is to the emerging view that culture is a “two-way street,” to put it colloquially: a reversal of the dominant “Western” direction of culture, with an emphasis on different tones of social values and contexts, that have been marginalised in mainstream popular culture discourses.     

外伤迟发性颅内出血死亡案例研究

通过对一例外伤迟发性颅内出血死亡案例分析,探讨了外伤迟发性颅内出血的临床表现、诊断依据、病理组织学特点及相关法医检验的应对要素。研究发现,外伤性迟发性颅内出血是外伤后早期未发生出血、经数日或数周突发出血,引发伤者出现颅内压升高症状及体征,经CT复查而发现的一种延迟性出血。其成因为外伤时外力作用致脑实质多发小软化灶,持续地损伤脑内血管,因诱因导致血压的突然升高或附近组织急剧变化的抵抗而发生出血。所以,对于外伤性迟发性颅内出血,需结合调查,全面分析其伤后医疗病历、CT检查回报以及尸检病理组织学所见等,综合判断。以避免引起伤者、致伤者、医院甚至办案单位等多方纠纷。     

The Difficult Task of Assessing Perimortem and Postmortem Fractures on the Skeleton: A Blind Text on 210 Fractures of Known Origin

The distinction between perimortem and postmortem fractures is an important challenge for forensic anthropology. Such a crucial task is presently based on macro‐morphological criteria widely accepted in the scientific community. However, several limits affect these parameters which have not yet been investigated thoroughly. This study aims at highlighting the pitfalls and errors in evaluating perimortem or postmortem fractures. Two trained forensic anthropologists were asked to classify 210 fractures of known origin in four skeletons (three victims of blunt force trauma and one natural death) as perimortem, postmortem, or dubious, twice in 6 months in order to assess intraobserver error also. Results show large errors, ranging from 14.8 to 37% for perimortem fractures and from 5.5 to 14.8% for postmortem ones; more than 80% of errors concerned trabecular bone. This supports the need for more objective and reliable criteria for a correct assessment of peri‐ and postmortem bone fractures.     

论风险责任概念的确立

自己责任原则是现代侵权法的基本原则之一,但在适用非按份责任形态的数人侵权责任中,却普遍存在责任人可能为本不属于自己的最终责任份额承担责任的现象。对此问题学说上不但鲜有专门研究,甚至连指称这部分责任的专门术语也不存在。通过对债务与责任的区分、多数人债务与多数人责任的区分,可以清晰地看到最终责任与风险责任的区分。所谓＂风险责任＂,就是责任人承担的超过最终责任份额的责任部分,其实质是受偿不能风险。确立风险责任概念,就形成了＂自然债务—最终责任—风险责任＂的侵权责任概念谱系,能够精确地描绘债务和责任的重合或单独存在状态。     

Visible and invisible trauma: locating AIDS within a gendered framework in Darrell James Roodt’s Yesterday

Darrell James Roodt's Academy Award Nominated 2006 movie Yesterday explores how problematic gender dynamics in contemporary South Africa can influence the ways in which the issue of HIV/AIDS is perceived and dealt with socially. The film portrays the complex relationship between HIV/AIDS and identity as one that is both personal and public. Through the dramatization of a couple's experience of living with HIV/AIDS, Roodt's film considers a way in which the epidemic can be structured – through the framework of a gendered narrative. The film's portrayal of Yesterday's journey underlines how this narrative is filled with silences, a fear to disclose, and the blaming and punishment of the female as a scapegoat for HIV/AIDS.