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Abstract Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a ubiquitous, common sequela of accidents with an annual prevalence of several million cases worldwide. In forensic pathology, structural proteins of the cellular compartments of the CNS in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been predominantly used so far as markers of an acute trauma reaction for the biochemical assessment of neuropathological changes after TBI. The analysis of endogenous metabolites offers an innovative approach that has not yet been considered widely in the assessment of causes and circumstances of death, for example after TBI. The present study, therefore, addresses the question whether the detection of metabolites by liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis in post mortem CSF is suitable to identify TBI and to distinguish it from acute cardiovascular control fatalities (CVF). Metabolite analysis of 60 CSF samples collected during autopsies was performed using high resolution (HR)-LC/MS. Subsequent statistical and graphical evaluation as well as the calculation of a TBI/CVF quotient yielded promising results: numerous metabolites were identified that showed significant concentration differences in the post mortem CSF for lethal acute TBI (survival times up to 90 min) compared to CVF. For the first time, this forensic study provides an evaluation of a new generation of biomarkers for diagnosing TBI in the differentiation to other causes of death, here CVF, as surrogate markers for the post mortem assessment of complex neuropathological processes in the CNS (“neuroforensomics”).

Firearm weapons are not just limited to firing projectiles but can also be employed in beating a person. When used for imparting blows, they produce characteristic soft tissue injuries in the form of abrasions, bruises, hematomas, and lacerations with or without associated fractures. The hits are preferably given over the head. The hands may show typical defense wounds if the victim is conscious and anticipatory. The contours and dimensions of injuries may correspond to different parts of the gun, thereby allowing a possible weapon match. Three autopsy cases of gunshot homicides are herein reported whereby, in addition to the gunshot injuries, patterned blunt injuries over the head of all the decedents were noted with/without underlying impressed fracture(s) of skull. The injuries represented blows sustained from different parts of the pistol(s) employed in killing. The morphological patterns and weapon-centric specificity of wounds as well as the diagnostic cautions required during their interpretation at autopsy are discussed.

IEEE 802.16 is yet a very recent technology and released hardware does frequently only support standards partially. The same applies to public available simulation tools, in particular for NS-2. As the latter is the de-facto standard in science and as we use it for our research in the context of the WEIRD project, we evaluate the IEEE 802.16 support for NS-2. We present several general but also specific issues, which areimportant in order to carry out reliable research based on thesetools. In particular, we show in much detail where modulesdeviate significantly and even fail totally.

Abstract  A 23-year-old woman traveling in the front passenger seat of a car was killed in a traffic accident involving two rear-end collisions. After the second rear-end collision, the car caught fire. While the driver could be rescued, the pregnant passenger remained inside the car. After the fire had been extinguished, a charred body was found in a pugilistic attitude with an exposed abdominal cavity and a ruptured anterior wall of the gravid uterus. Between the woman’s legs, an almost unburned fetus was found with body measurements corresponding to a gestational age of 28 weeks. The placenta had remained inside the uterine cavity and was still connected with the fetus via the umbilical cord. In conclusion, the rupture of the pregnant uterus with expulsion of the fetus had to be considered a secondary event due to the initial heating and subsequent shrinking of the uterine wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  When a body is exposed to a cold environment, the livid colour of livor mortis changes to cherry red. This colour change is due to an increase in the concentration of oxygenated haemoglobin. The chronological course and the extent of haemoglobin re-oxygenation associated with the exposure to low ambient temperatures have not been understood so far. The relations between refrigeration time under a constant ambient temperature (5°C), skin temperature, body mass index (BMI), spectral reflectance curve and O2–Hb concentration in livor mortis were systematically investigated in 84 bodies brought to the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Freiburg University Hospital shortly after death. In the first measurements performed shortly after death, the reflectance curves of the livores of all bodies showed a broad minimum at 555 nm. After a refrigeration time of 44.9 ± 17.9 h, the spectrum changed to the typical picture of O2-rich blood with 2 minima at 541 and 576 nm and a maximum at 560 nm in between. This qualitative change of the reflectance spectra was observed for a skin temperature of 10.3 ± 2.7°C. With the help of a physical skin model it was possible to calculate that due to the post-mortem exposure to cold the O2–Hb concentration in the livores rose from 0–1% to a value of up to 89.3%. The change in the reflectance curve was discernible from an oxygen saturation of 25 ± 13.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]