Discrimination of Falls and Blows in Blunt Head Trauma: Assessment of Predictability Through Combined Criteria*

Abstract: The discrimination of falls from homicidal blows in blunt head injuries is a common but difficult problem in both forensic anthropology and pathology. Three criteria have been previously proposed for this distinction: the hat brim line rule, side lateralization of fractures, and number of lacerations. The aim of the present study was to achieve a better distinction rate by combining those criteria and assess the predictability of these combined criteria tools. Over a 6‐year period, a total of 114 cases (92 males and 22 females) were studied: 21 cases of downstairs falls, 29 cases of falls from one’s own height, and 64 cases of head trauma by a blunt weapon. The results revealed predictability rates varying from 62.5 to 83.3% for criteria pointing towards a fall. As for combined criteria in favor of a blow, the assumption was accurate in all cases (100%).     

近视眼底改变与功能相关性的研究及其法医学意义

目的研究近视眼底改变与视觉功能的关系;研究近视者轻度眼部钝挫伤后眼底改变与视觉功能的关系。对象与方法选取不同程度的近视志愿者104人/170眼及眼部轻度钝挫伤的近视者56人/112眼分别作为实验组和眼外伤组,按眼底变化分为0至4级,并测定弧盘比值,分别检测其屈光度、矫正视力及静态视野。结果在实验组和眼外伤组中,眼底改变、包括弧盘比值均与近视屈光程度、矫正视力、静态视野平均缺失敏感度相关。结论运用眼底分级可以估计受检眼的视觉功能,弧盘比值可以作为有效的补充手段;轻度眼部钝挫伤的近视者若仅见视觉功能降低,而未检见明显的眼球结构损伤性改变,则不能简单地按照伤后检见的视觉功能水平作为法医学鉴定的依据。     

Suicide by blasting caps: a case study of rare cranial trauma

Suicide is a deliberate act of ending one's life. Suicide by use of any explosive device, when not involved in a terrorist act, is quite rare in occurrence when compared with other methods routinely utilized. In this paper, we present to the medicolegal community a case of an adult male who committed suicide with blasting caps and the subsequent extensive damage to the cranial hard tissue. Although the cause and manner of death were relatively straightforward, consultation with forensic anthropologists was requested for an anthropological trauma assessment of the highly fragmented skull. After the skull was cleaned and reconstructed, the analysis revealed similarities between blasting cap trauma to the head and high velocity gunshot trauma to the head. Therefore, in a case where some evidence may have been removed or destroyed, forensic analysis involving trauma of this magnitude could result in a misinterpretation of the true mechanism responsible for the osseous damage. In this case, cooperation among the law enforcement agency, coroner's investigators, the forensic pathologist, and forensic anthropologists provided a comprehensive death case analysis.     

道路交通伤患者的智力和记忆研究

目的　研究道路交通伤对患者的智力和记忆的影响。　方法　采用韦氏成人智力量表中国版(WAIS -RC)和韦氏记忆测验量表 (WMS)对 178例患者进行研究。　结果　发现 178例患者的平均智商为71.8± 17.8。言语智商 78.3大于操作智商 67.9(t=13 ,p <0 .0 0 1)。 3 4 .8%的患者智商低于正常 ,4 5 .5 %处于边缘状态。患者的平均记忆商为 5 7.9± 11.7。 5 9.6%的记忆商低于 5 1,84 .3 %的患者记忆商低于正常。　结论　伴有颅脑损伤的道路交通伤患者多有程度不同的智力和记忆损害。     

血府逐瘀汤辅助治疗重症闭合性胸外伤临床观察

目的 观察血府逐瘀汤辅助治疗重症闭合性胸外伤的疗效。方法 将60例重症闭合性胸外伤患者随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组30例。对照组在西医常规对症治疗的基础上进行纤维气管镜肺泡灌洗,治疗组在对照组疗法的基础上加服血府逐瘀汤。采用视觉模拟量表(visual analogue scale,VAS)评价患者的胸痛程度,通过检测外周血白细胞(white blood cell, WBC)及血清C-反应蛋白(C-reactive protein, CRP)水平评价炎症程度,采用血气分析评价肺通气和换气功能。结果 治疗组患者治疗后VAS评分降低程度显著大于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗组患者住院时间较对照组明显缩短（P<0.05）。治疗第3、7、12天末,治疗组患者血pH值、动脉血氧分压、血氧饱和度均显著高于对照组（P<0.05）,动脉血二氧化碳分压、外周血WBC计数、血清CRP水平均显著低于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗组临床疗效明显优于对照组（P<0.05）。结论 血府逐瘀汤能提高重症闭合性胸外伤患者肺泡的通透性,改善肺组织的通气及换气功能,降低炎症反应。     

Troubling frames: Zapiro’s iconography on Oscar Pistorius as traumics

ABSTRACT

This study aims to examine the comics form in relation to its representation of perpetrator trauma. Specifically, the study considers a selection of Jonathan Shapiro’s iconography on Oscar Pistorius as biograph(y)ics, since the artist ‘commixes’ Pistorius’s life from his rise to athletic fame – through the court trials for his alleged murder of Reeva Steenkamp on 14 February 2013 – to his conviction followed by a thirteen-year jail sentence on 24th November 2017. In my reading of the panels, I draw on Hilary Chute’s notion of the ethics of testimony in illustrative art and Jacques Derrida’s theorising on hauntology and the revenant to argue that wrongdoers can also experience their crimes as trauma. This critical engagement enables me to read Shapiro’s panels as not merely reinforcing dominant interpretations of the fallen hero, but also as a means by which the cartoonist destabilises and reconfigures socially accepted notions of the villain.     

Fatal non-accidental pediatric cranial fracture risk and three-layered cranial architecture development

This study examines the influence of three-layered cranial architecture development upon blunt force trauma (BFT) cranial outcomes associated with pediatric non-accidental injury (NAI). Macroscopic and microscopic metric and morphological comparisons of subadult crania ranging from perinatal to 17 years of age chronicle the ontogenetic development and spatial and temporal variability in the emergence of a mature cranial architecture. Cranial vault thickness increases with subadult age, accelerating in the first 2 years of life due to rapid brain growth during this period. Three-layer differentiation of the cranial tables and diploë initiates by 3–6 months but is not consistently observed until 18 months to 2 years; diploë formation is not well developed until after age 4 and does not manifest a mature appearance until after age 8. These results allow topographic documentation of cortical and diploic development and temporal and spatial variability across the growing cranium. The lateral cranial vault is identified as expressing delayed development and reduced expression of the three-layer architecture, a pattern that continues into adulthood. Comparison of fracture locations from known BFT pediatric cases with identified cranial fracture high-risk impact regions shows a concordance and suggests the presence of a higher fracture risk associated with non-accidental BFT in the lateral vault region in subadults below the age of 2. The absence or lesser development of a three-layered architecture in subadults leaves their cranial bones, particularly in the lateral vault, thin and vulnerable to the effects of BFT.     

“Those Are Our People and That's Our Family”: Wabanaki Perspectives on Child Welfare Practice in Their Communities

In collaboration with the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission Convening Group, this study explored perspectives of Wabanaki community members and tribal child welfare staff on state child welfare involvement in Wabanaki communities. Qualitative analysis of three focus groups found that participants perceived fundamental differences between what guides the work of tribal child welfare staff and state child welfare staff, as well as differences in understanding the profound impact of removing a child from the community. These findings are suggested to be elements of a Wabanaki counter-narrative that contrasts with the historical dominant narrative about Native families and children.     

158例"周围神经损伤"法医学鉴定分析

目的 研究"周围神经损伤"法医学鉴定案件的特点,探讨如何运用临床资料、法医检查和神经电生理检测结果等对周围神经损伤者进行法医学鉴定.方法收集临床诊断为"周围神经损伤"的158例法医学鉴定案件,对其个体特征、损伤情况、鉴定结果、夸大与伪装情况等进行统计分析.结果 在158例"周围神经损伤"案件中以男性、青壮年及无业人员多...     

Cervical soft tissue emphysema in hanging--a prospective autopsy study

The underlying mechanism of cervical soft tissue emphysema (CSTE) in hanging remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of CSTE in cases of hanging. The sample included 83 deceased persons, average age 55.3 ± 17.9 years. CSTE was established in 44 cases. CSTE is presented as frothy air, soap bubble-like formations in superficial and/or deep connective tissue between the neck muscles up to the ligature mark, visible during gross neck examination, using special neck autopsy technique-preparation of the neck organs in layers. The interpretation of positive CSTE must be taken with caution: it could be an antemortem phenomenon possibly because of either Macklin Effect or direct or indirect trauma to the cervical airways, as well as an ante- or postmortem artifact.