Archiwum Medycyny Sadowej i Kryminologii最新文献

Aim: The paper presents the basic principles of judicial review in cases of shooting people or animals on hunting with rifled long weapons, including deaths with a fatal outcome.

Material and methods: Such opinions are issued on the basis of the collected evidence and the knowledge of an expert in the field of weapons and ammunition, ballistics as well as in the field of anatomopathological medicine.

Results: This type of comprehensive analysis allows for the issuance of a detailed and at the same time precise opinion as a special means of evidence, having the most important importance in the course of the entire trial. Therefore, it is extremely important to properly secure the evidence in the form of a bullet or its fragments and to confront these elements with the assessment of the gunshot wound, and above all the shape and size of the gunshot canal and the momentary gunshot cavity. These types of proceedings are quite complicated, as they require a broad spectrum of knowledge from an expert, therefore, in order to solve the complicated subject matter of the opinion, it is often necessary to issue an opinion even by several experts.

Conclusions: Forensic opinions in cases related to gunshots, including fatal ones, require an expert to have interdisciplinary specialist knowledge. All analyzes in this regard should be based on ballistic expertise in the aspect of gunshot wound assessment. The combination of these two elements determines the issuance of an objective and unquestionable interpretation.

Aim: The study aimed to examine whether volatile substances (ethanol, isopropanol, and acetone) can be detected in costal cartilage and also if concentrations of detected substances reliably reflect their concentrations in the peripheral blood - the standard forensic material for toxicological analyses. Such knowledge can be useful in cases when a cadaver's blood is unavailable or contaminated.

Material and methods: Ethanol, isopropanol, and acetone concentrations were determined in samples of unground costal cartilage (UCC), ground costal cartilage (GCC), femoral venous blood, and urine. The samples were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) with a flame ionization detector using headspace analysis.

Results: Volatile substances were detected in 12 out of 100 analysed samples. There was a strong positive correlation between ethanol concentration in the blood and urine (r = 0.899, p < 0.001), UCC (r = 0.809, p < 0.01), and GCC (r = 0.749, p < 0.01). A similar strong correlation was found for isopropanol concentration in the blood and urine (r = 0.979, p < 0.001), UCC (r = 0.866, p < 0.001), and GCC (r = 0.942, p < 0.001). Acetone concentration in the blood strongly correlated only with its concentration in urine (r = 0.960, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: We demonstrated for the first time the possibility of detecting volatile substances: ethanol, isopropanol and acetone in a human costal cartilage. Also, the study showed that higher volatiles concentrations were better determined in ground samples.

Background: After unprecedented demand for ethanol in the pandemic, profiteers used methanol for making illegal alcoholic drink.

Material and methods: Final judgements passed by criminal divisions of common courts of law in cases where death or grievous bodily harm was caused by injuries to the facial and cerebral parts of the skull resulting solely from punches to the facial area of the skull. Assessment of individual cases within each group to determine similarities and differences. Comparative analysis of both groups.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study investigated the effects of methanol poisoning on 400 patients who referred to hospitals affiliated with Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences from March 20 to September 20, 2020.

Results: Ninety-eight-point five percent of patients had consumed alcohol for social reasons and only 0.3% had used it as a measure to avoid COVID-19. Eighty-seven percent of the patients used homemade alcohol bought from peddlers. The most common clinical symptom was gastrointestinal disorders (64.8%) and the most common complications were vision problems (12.3%). Ten-point-six percent (42 patients) of the patients died. The most important factors affecting mortality risk were dyspnea, neuropathic problems, abnormal radiological findings, dialysis, abnormal blood pressure, vision problems and dizziness.

Conclusions: Informing the public about the risks of using homemade alcoholic beverages is essential if the associated disability and mortality has to be avoided.

Introduction: In Poland, the problem of suicide attempts has not been the subject of a comprehensive analysis. We examined the magnitude of the phenomenon and suicide trends over the past 3 decades, focusing on the number of suicide deaths and attempts, the method and place of suicide, gender, age, day of the week, and state of mind.

Material and methods: We used official nationwide data collected by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the National Police Headquarters (NPH) for the years 1990-2018. The final statistical data collected by the CSO was verified on the basis of medically certified deaths.

Results: Despite the correlation between the information from the CSO and NPH on the classification of suicides, in the opinion of authors', the published data is underestimated or incorrectly categorized. There were 187,502 suicide attempts in Poland between 1990 and 2018, 75.8% of which resulted in death. In 2018, the suicide rate in Poland was 13.6 per 100,000 people and was higher than in 1990 (9.7). The highest risk for suicides is observed for men aged 45-54 years, at the turn of winter and spring, on Mondays, and in rural areas. The critical period is Mondays at the turn of winter and spring. Hanging is the most commonly used suicide method.

Conclusions: Based on the collected statistical data, it should be stated that suicide attempts have for many years been a significant social problem in Poland, for which no systemic solutions have been introduced.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to compare the dual-energy behaviour of the main illicit substances as well as their cutting agents in order to be able to differentiate them.

Material and methods: Cocaine, heroin, MDMA, and cannabis as well as 3 adulterants, 2 diluents, and water were scanned at 90 kV and then at 140 kV on a single X-ray tube computed tomography (CT) scanner. The data acquired enabled a mapping of the attenuation values to 90 and 140 kVp as well as a resulting dual-energy index (DEI) mapping.

Results: Drugs, cocaine, MDMA (pill), and cannabis had a positive DEI (0.014-0.008), while heroin and MDMA (powder) had a negative DEI (-0.016 and -0.013). The DEI of water was -0.01 and that of taurine was -0.018. Adulterants had negative DEI, while diluents had a positive DEI. All DEI were significantly different (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Cocaine and heroin can be clearly differentiated using DEI.

Introduction: An association of MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism with aggression and violence has been demonstrated in many studies; however, this association is inconclusive due to the allelic variation in different populations. Allelic variants and the frequency of this polymorphism among recidivist violent offenders could provide more information about this complex behaviour. Hence, the association between violence and the polymorphism of variable numbers of tandem repeats located upstream of the MAOA gene needs to be ruled out.

Material and methods: Identified recidivist violent offenders by various laws of 'Offences against Human Body and Property' of the Indian Penal Code and natives of the southern state of India, Kerala, were the cases. Individuals without a history of any offences, from the same locality, were taken as controls. DNA extracted from the buccal epithelial cells from the subjects was genotyped using PCR methods for identifying MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism.

Results: In the subjects (n = 67), polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene, which comprises of 30bp repeats, 3.5 and 4.5 repeat alleles were observed statistically significantly (p = 0.015). Both 3.5 and 4.5 repeat alleles were present in the participants belonging to the control group. All the participants belonging to experiment group had 3.5 repeats only.

Conclusions: This candidate gene-environment interaction (cGxE) may be one of the reasons for the development of psychopathology in violent offenders. This is the first study among offenders in this regard in India, and data generated will be a significant contribution to the aetiology of various psychiatric disorders and population-specific genome database.

This article deals with the problematic aspects relating to aviation crash victim identification in Poland and the specific nature of participation of a forensic medicine expert in activities undertaken as part of an external examination group and a Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team. It describes in a concise manner the course of the process of identification of the victims' bodies, beginning with the actions undertaken at the incident site and ending with the public prosecutor's decision to allow for the interment of dead bodies or human remains. It presents a catalogue of identification methods by grouping them from the most credible ones to the ones that merely suggest the victim's identity. It concisely describes the tasks faced by the forensic pathologist, who plays a double role at a crash site, i.e. as a member of an external examination group and of a DVI team.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to find causal relationships between the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), the so-called "legal highs", and the cause of death, taking into account information indicating the victim's mental disorders before death.

Material and methods: The research material includes the results of toxicological analyses of blood samples collected during autopsies of 40 deceased persons whose cause of death was associated with the ingestion of new psychoactive substances (NPS). The blood samples were subjected to solid phase extraction (SPE), and then analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS-MS) for quantification. Information on individual cases was taken from case files provided by the prosecutor's office for research purposes.

Results: As a result of the analyses, 24 types of NPS were detected, comprising synthetic cathinones - 15 cases, synthetic cannabinoids - 10 cases, synthetic opioids - 13 cases, other - 2 cases. In the study group there were 5 women (12.5%) and 35 men (87.5%). Suicide was demonstrated in 10 cases (25%), while the remaining 30 cases (75%) were accidental deaths, including those in which the actual motivation of drug use could not be determined. Drugs used to treat mental disorders were detected in 6 cases, while analgesics were demonstrated in 5 cases.

Conclusions: In the majority of cases, including suicides and accidental deaths where the manner of death was unknown, NPS use and consequent death from various causes are associated with psychiatric disorders.

Teresiński in his studies, both older ones, published in 2013 [1, 2] and the recent one from 2019 [3] as a follow-up to the earlier studies, discusses "acceleration" as a criterion of selective verification of the sequelae of whiplash injury. In principle, the approach outlined in the cited studies is correct, but it lacks an explicit definition of what precisely is meant by "acceleration". In the 2013 papers, the author failed to give any indication as to what type of "acceleration" was discussed, while in his latest publication he stated that "acceleration" referred to the "acceleration of the centre of gravity of the vehicle in which the victim was travelling", which is also an insufficiently precise definition. More detailed information on the topic can be found in the paper by Kędzierski [4], written from the perspective of an engineer and complementary to Teresiński's study [3], which was published in the same issue of Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology, but the aspect is not highlighted enough among the abundance of information presented there.

In view of a growing number of terrorist attacks, as well as mass casualty events including natural disasters, aviation accidents, disasters in land traffic, construction disasters and others, emergency response services operating on the sites of such mass events require a set of rapid, efficient and well-coordinated methods of operation. As a result of the increasing migration of people for tourism, business and settlement purposes, it frequently happens that the emergency response resources and infrastructure in the countries where mass casualty events occur are insufficient for the identification of victims who may be citizens of multiple countries. Coordinated actions by international Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) teams using Interpol's standardised DVI procedures may be a good solution ensuring efficient and reliable identification of local and international disaster victims. Interpol's periodic DVI conferences provide a great opportunity for the exchange of experiences between DVI team specialists from different countries, and discussions on various aspects of disaster victim identification based on real-life events in which DVI specialists were actively involved. The article presents the latest reports on the organisation of identification activities at the scene of events, and the role of the principal DVI methods, which were presented during the international 30th Interpol Disaster Victim Identification Conference which took place at the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore on 14-16 May 2019. Also outlined are the measures taken towards the introduction of Interpol's international DVI standards in Poland, and the establishment of the Polish DVI team.