Alarm pheromones as an exponent of emotional state shortly before death--science fiction or a new challenge?
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
Roman Hauser
Publications and source records attributed to Roman Hauser.
Verification of the exponential model of body temperature decrease after death in pigs.
The authors have conducted a systematic study in pigs to verify the models of post-mortem body temperature decrease currently employed in forensic medicine. Twenty-four hour automatic temperature recordings were performed in four body sites starting 1.25 h after pig killing in an industrial slaughterhouse under typical environmental conditions (19.5-22.5 degrees C). The animals had been randomly selected under a regular manufacturing process. The temperature decrease time plots drawn starting 75 min after death for the eyeball, the orbit soft tissues, the rectum and muscle tissue were found to fit the single-exponential thermodynamic model originally proposed by H. Rainy in 1868. In view of the actual intersubject variability, the addition of a second exponential term to the model was demonstrated to be statistically insignificant. Therefore, the two-exponential model for death time estimation frequently recommended in the forensic medicine literature, even if theoretically substantiated for individual test cases, provides no advantage as regards the reliability of estimation in an actual case. The improvement of the precision of time of death estimation by the reconstruction of an individual curve on the basis of two dead body temperature measurements taken 1 h apart or taken continuously for a longer time (about 4 h), has also been proved incorrect. It was demonstrated that the reported increase of precision of time of death estimation due to use of a multiexponential model, with individual exponential terms to account for the cooling rate of the specific body sites separately, is artifactual. The results of this study support the use of the eyeball and/or the orbit soft tissues as temperature measuring sites at times shortly after death. A single-exponential model applied to the eyeball cooling has been shown to provide a very precise estimation of the time of death up to approximately 13 h after death. For the period thereafter, a better estimation of the time of death is obtained from temperature data collected from the muscles or the rectum.
Animals↗
The estimation of stature on the basis of measurements of the femur.
The study aims to establish the relationship between body height and the greatest length of the femur. The motive for undertaking these examinations was the lack in the literature of studies that allow -- with reference to the current population of Central Europe -- the reconstruction of height while alive based on measurements of a skeleton. It was decided to examine isolated bones from human remains undergoing forensic autopsy, and belonging to individuals of both sexes whose growth processes had stopped. Examinations were conducted on 91 human bodies from the contemporary Polish population. The research points to a very close relationship between the length of a dead body and the measured greatest length of the femur. This relationship was expressed in nine coefficients of correlation calculated for both sexes.
Anthropometry↗
["Alarm substances" as biological markers indicating emotional state before death].
This scientific project presents the results of preliminary examinations aimed to identify alarm pheromones secreted by mammals. Wistar male rats were used for the experiment. Animals were treated by aversive sensoric stimuli and fear conditioning procedures. The animals' behaviour was registered. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of air samples taken from their environment was conducted with the use of GC-FID and GC-MSD technics. In the rhinocephalon structures (olfactory bulb, olfactory tract) the concentration of glutamate was measured. During the progress of the experiment increasing behavioral reactions of anxiety were observed in the rats. In their atmosphere organic compounds were identified. Some of them can be considered to be alarm substances. In the examined structures of the rhinocephalon on increased concentration of glutamate in each individual was revealed.
Animals↗
[Issues related to the identification process of catastrophes victims].
Catastrophes on an international scale with an increasingly pronounced terrorist factor (for example, the terrorist attacks in the United States of America on September 11, 2001) are occurring with increasing frequency. This fact compels the international forensic medical community--especially at the present moment--to undertake coordinated and rapid measures in the area, closely related to our profession, of issues connected with problems of identifying the victims of catastrophes. To date organizational issues have not been harmonized to the required at an international level degree. The subject has been raised frequently at congresses and symposiums of forensic medicine. The real and present danger of catastrophes at a national and regional level demands the adoption of rapid organizational activities at these levels too. Because the victims of such catastrophes are often of various nationalities, these activities also demand urgent organizational harmonization in keeping with established international norms. The following article addresses this issue. It contains propositions in outline with the aim of presenting them to discussion. These suggestions refer solely to organizational activities on the regional, national, and international levels, connected with the issue of identification in the broad sense of the word.
Community Networks↗
[Retinal hemorrhages as a case for shaking trauma. Case report].
An interesting shaking trauma case was reported. A detailed analysis of the pattern of injuries and their progress allowed to reconstruct the mechanism and time point of cerebral lesions in a 6 week old infant who survived the impact. The necessity of postmortem investigation of the fundus and cranial nerves in fatal cases of shaking trauma is stressed.
Battered Child Syndrome↗
[Controversies concerning the comma. The voice in the discussion].
In the article, a case is presented, which was assessed in accordance with the Constitutional Tribunal sentence of July 7th, 2003. Due to an essential change in the legal system entailing a return to the contents of art. 156 section 1 p. 2 of the Penal Code resolved on June 6th, 1997, this sentence caused the forming of the opinions which are medically illogical and contradictory to medico-legal experience.
Crime↗