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In June 1972, a flood tore through Rapid City, South Dakota and the surrounding Black Hills, killing at least 238 people, a disproportionate number of them Native people. Many whose lives and homes were destroyed lived in neighborhoods perilously close to the banks of Rapid Creek, including the vestiges of a Native neighborhood known as Osh Kosh Camp. This article asks why those people lived in that place at that time. I argue that White Americans racialized certain spaces, including urban spaces, under the conceptual framework of Indian Country as part of the process of settler colonialism. As a result, the American project of racializing western spaces attempted to erase Native people from Rapid City and its history. Despite this, Native people continued to live and work in the city throughout the twentieth century. After the flood, Native people had less access to recovery funding despite bearing a disproportionate cost from the disaster, and city officials did not take the needs of the city’s Native community into account when planning for Rapid City’s recovery. Despite the goals of White settlers, the attempt at erasing Indian Country failed. The Flood and its aftermath helped galvaniized Native protest and resistance in the Black Hills.

Vorgestellt wird der Todesfall einer 64-jahrigen Frau mit einer symptomatischen chronisch obstruktiven Lungenerkrankung (COPD) und ausgeschopften konservativen Therapiemasnahmen, welche sich einer bronchoskopischen Dampfablationstherapie unterzogen hat und wenige Tage danach tot in ihrer Wohnung aufgefunden wurde. Todesursachlich war eine massive innere Blutung im therapierten Lungengewebe bei Arrosion eines groseren Lungenschlagaderastes. Es handelt sich dabei um eine bisher nicht beschriebene Interventionskomplikation.

In der vorliegenden Kasuistik wird der plotzlich und unerwartet eingetretene Tod eines jungen, zuvor gesunden Mannes vorgestellt, bei welchem sich wahrend der Legalinspektion Hinweise auf eine gastrointestinale Blutung mit Hamatemesis und Melana ergaben und die nachfolgende rechtsmedizinische Obduktion eine Dieulafoy-Lasion im distalen Osophagus als Blutungsquelle erbrachte. Die Dieulafoy-Lasion stellt eine seltene Ursache oberer gastrointestinaler Blutungen dar, bei welcher ein groskalibriger arterieller Gefasast durch einen umschriebenen Mukosadefekt ins Lumen protrudiert, und welche uberwiegend im Magen und seltener im Osophagus lokalisiert ist.

The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft landed successfully on Mars and imaged the surface to characterize the surficial geology. Here we report on the geology and subsurface structure of the landing site to aid in situ geophysical investigations. InSight landed in a degraded impact crater in Elysium Planitia on a smooth sandy, granule- and pebble-rich surface with few rocks. Superposed impact craters are common and eolian bedforms are sparse. During landing, pulsed retrorockets modified the surface to reveal a near surface stratigraphy of surficial dust, over thin unconsolidated sand, underlain by a variable thickness duricrust, with poorly sorted, unconsolidated sand with rocks beneath. Impact, eolian, and mass wasting processes have dominantly modified the surface. Surface observations are consistent with expectations made from remote sensing data prior to landing indicating a surface composed of an impact-fragmented regolith overlying basaltic lava flows., The InSight spacecraft landed on Mars on November 2018. Here, the authors characterize the surficial geology of the landing site and compare with observations and models derived from remote sensing data prior to landing and from ongoing in situ geophysical investigations of the subsurface.

This article examines the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) and its campaign in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to end the practice of live scientific experimentation on animals. In attempting to enact state and federal-level legislative reform, the AAVS ran up against the American Medical Association (AMA), who claimed vivisection was critical to furthering medical advances and who sought to defend their profession's recently won respectability. This article argues that the very public campaign by the AAVS toward political reform pushed the AMA, and medicine more broadly, into the political sphere. The debate over the morality of vivisection at the beginning of the last century was thus critical to creating the politically powerful AMA of the twenty-first century.

Zusammenfassung: Periostreaktionen an langen Röhrenknochen im Kindesalter gehören zu den röntgenologischen Befunden, die für das "battered child syndrome" charakteristisch sind. Es wird über einen 2Monate alten Säugling berichtet, der mit einem Hämatom am rechten Oberschenkel in ein Kinderspital gebracht worden war. Wegen einer radiologisch nachgewiesenen Periostabhebung am rechten Oberschenkel und einem angegebenen häuslichen Trauma war zunächst der Verdacht auf eine Kindesmisshandlung geäußert worden. Die anschließende umfassende radiologische Diagnostik zeigte dann jedoch gleichartige Auffälligkeiten auch am linken Ober- und Unterschenkel. Nachdem derartige Veränderungen gelegentlich im Rahmen des Skelettwachstums im Kindesalter beobachtet werden, muss eine solche physiologische Entstehungsmöglichkeit gerade bei multifokalem Auftreten grundsätzlich in die differenzialdiagnostischen Überlegungen bei der Abklärung einer fraglichen Kindesmisshandlung einbezogen werden

A case of joint suicide of a young woman and man who became acquainted in a suicide web forum and used this platform to make an appointment to commit suicide together is described. During their investigation, police were able to reconstruct the events by analysing the computer of the deceased women which was also found with the bodies. An indoor charcoal burning unit was used to release carbon monoxide as the method of suicide.

Zusammenfassung: Es wird ein Fall vorgestellt, der auf den ersten Blick an spektakuläre Arsenmorde der Vergangenheit anzuknüpfen scheint. Im Rahmen von Scheidungsstreitigkeiten zwischen einem 70-jährigen Mann und seiner knapp 30Jahre jüngeren Frau war es beim Betroffenen zu Symptomen einer Arsenvergiftung gekommen. Nach dem unerwarteten Tod seines Hundes hatte der Mann seinen Hausarzt aufgesucht, der bei einer Blutuntersuchung einen erhöhten Arsenspiegel feststellte. Bei chemisch-toxikologischen Analysen von Probenmaterial, das im Rahmen rechtsmedizinischer Untersuchungen der Betroffenen sowie einer Exhumierung des Hundes gewonnen wurde, fanden sich bei dem Mann und seiner Frau auffällig erhöhte Arsenspiegel. Die vorliegende Kasuistik unterstreicht eindrücklich die Wichtigkeit der Arsenspezifizierung in einem qualifizierten Labor im Fall einer erhöhten Arsenkonzentration in Probenmaterial

A new three-phase multilevel dc-ac converter with four-state switching cell is presented in this paper. Initially, the power stage diagram is presented and discussed. Its main characteristics are described and the more relevant waveforms, generated by simulation, are shown. After that, the converter operation is presented and all topological states are shown. The vectorial interpretation of the load voltage is shown to all available vectors of load voltage in the new topology. Next, the operation of the converter with sinusoidal pulse width modulation is discussed and some relevant figures are presented. In the sequence, the four-state switching cell is presented and the presence of the three-phase coupled inductor to provide significant reduction in harmonic distortion is discussed. A prototype with 15-kW output power was build with switching frequency equal to 9 kHz and dc link voltage was 300 V. Finally, the related results obtained from the implemented prototype are presented and briefly discussed.

Zusammenfassung: Blutspuren gehören zu den aussagekräftigsten Spuren in der forensischen Fallanalyse. Einerseits kann die Beurteilung von Aussehen, Menge, Form und Verteilung an Tatorten Hinweise auf den Tathergang geben. Andererseits lassen sich heute auch aus kleinsten Blutmengen zumeist vollständige DNA-Profile erstellen, die dann ebenfalls eine Rekonstruktion des Tatablaufs und über die molekulargenetische DNA-Analyse Aussagen zur Tatbeteiligung von Personen ermöglichen. In der vorgestellten Studie wurden Vollblutproben auf unterschiedliche Spurenträger aufgebracht und mithilfe des Hexagon OBTI® auf das Vorhandensein von Blut hin untersucht. Nach Inkubation mit 2 verschiedenen Zubereitungen von Amidoschwarz10B konnte gezeigt werden, dass dessen Einsatz zu starken Beeinträchtigungen bzw. falsch-negativen Ergebnissen des OBTI führen kann. Ein negativer Einfluss von Amidoschwarz10B auf das Probenmaterial war hingegen bei den nachfolgend durchgeführten DNA-Analysen nicht festzustellen

Haftpflichtverfahren gegen Ärzte haben in den letzten Jahren erheblich zugenommen. Am Anfang gerichtlicher Auseinandersetzungen stehen häufig Kommunikationsprobleme. Über unerwünschte Zwischenfälle sollte offen informiert werden, dies bedeutet noch keine Anerkennung einer Haftungsverpflichtung. Viele Verfahren werden nach einvernehmlicher Einholung von Gutachten außergerichtlich beendet. Bei nachgewiesenem Behandlungsfehler kann außer einer Verurteilung zu privatrechtlicher Haftung auch ein Strafverfahren drohen. Die wichtigsten juristischen Verfahrensschritte und ihre Konsequenzen werden dargestellt.

Der plötzliche Kindstod (SIDS) stellt in den Industrieländern die häufigste Todesursache in der Postneonatalperiode dar. Die Inzidenz ist in den letzten Jahren rückläufig und liegt derzeit unter 0.5 von 1000 Lebendgeborenen. Die Ätiologie des SIDS ist nach wie vor ungeklärt. Vermutet wird ein Erstickungsvorgang, ausgelöst durch ein zentrales Atemversagen, CO2-Rückatmung oder Verlegung der Atemwege. Als weitere pathophysiologische Faktoren werden Hyperthermie sowie zentrale Störungen der Schlaf- und Aufwachreaktion diskutiert. Zu den wichtigsten Risikofaktoren gehören Bauchlage, Frühgeburtlichkeit, Rauchen und Drogenkonsum der Mutter während der Schwangerschaft, Stillverzicht, Alter der Mutter < 18 Jahre und Wärmebelastung des Kindes. Beim SIDS handelt es sich nicht um eine Entität, sondern um die deskriptive Bezeichnung für eine Gruppe von plötzlich und unerwartet eintretenden Säuglingstodesfällen, deren Ursache sich mit den derzeit zur Verfügung stehenden Methoden nicht nachweisen lässt (Ausschlussdiagnose). Die forensische Bedeutung des plötzlichen Kindstodes resultiert nicht nur aus seiner relativen Häufigkeit, sondern insbesondere aus den in jedem Einzelfall zu erwägenden Differentialdiagnosen. So müssen durch Obduktion und umfassende postmortale Zusatzuntersuchungen (histologische, toxikologische, mikrobiologische / virologische Untersuchungen) unter Einbeziehung der Umstände am Auffindeort und der klinischen Anamnese andere natürliche und insbesondere nicht-natürliche Todesursachen abgeklärt werden.

Auch wenn sich die reparativen Vorgange bei der Wundheilung in den verschiedenen Organsystemen grundsatzlich ahneln, mussen bei der Wundaltersschatzung von Hautlasionen und Hirnkontusionen spezielle Aspekte berucksichtigt werden. Unterschiede im Hinblick auf Chronologie und Auspragung der zellularen Reaktion und Phagozytoseaktivitat sind u. a. auf die Blut-Hirn-Schranke und das organspezifische Makrophagen- und Mikrogliasystem im ZNS zuruckzufuhren. Allgemein sollte man bei der Probenasservierung auf eine ausreichende Zahl an Praparaten von verletztem und unverletztem Gewebe mit reproduzierbarer Entnahmestelle und adaquater Dicke achten sowie die Fixierung zeitlich begrenzen, um Fixationsartefakte zu vermeiden. Da die Farbeintensitat gerade bei der immunhistochemischen Reaktion die Ergebnisse entscheidend beeinflussen kann, sind die verwendeten Methoden zu validieren. Kommt ein immunhistochemischer Parameter auch in unverletztem Kontrollgewebe vor, ist in der Regel eine morphometrische Analyse erforderlich, um die traumatisch induzierte Anderung der Immunreaktion zuverlassig erfassen zu konnen.

With the PALM MicroBeam system, precise laser microdissection of single cells from cell smears or tissue preparations is possible. Furthermore, this system uses a contact-free and therefore contamination-free laser pressure catapulting technique in which high energy generated by a focused laser pulse catapults single dissected cells into a collecting vessel. In this study, this technique was tested for forensic purposes with smear preparations from postcoital vaginal swabs, sperm swabs, and buccal cell swabs on different types of microscopic slides. Apart from super-frosted slides, cutting and catapulting of selected cells was possible in all cases. Subsequent polymerase chain reaction was performed using the genRES MPX-2 Amplification Kit. In the case of sperm cells stained with hematoxylin and eosin, fragments larger than approximately 200 bp could not be detected. Partial genetic profiles were obtained for DNA amounts originating from only two cell equivalents. Complete profiles, however, were observed with all preparations of a minimum of 10 epithelial cells, demonstrating a potential benefit of this technique for the contamination-free forensic analysis of extremely small specimens or mixed stains.

In a total of 104 individuals who had sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI), the course of glial immunoreactivity was investigated at the injured cortical area during the first 30 weeks after the trauma, in order to provide data for a forensic wound age estimation. Glial cells were stained with antibodies against the intermediate filament protein vimentin, the extracellular matrix protein tenascin and the serine protease inhibitor alpha1-antichymotrypsin (alpha1-ACT). Injury-induced glial staining reactions could be observed, at the earliest, after a post-infliction interval of 3.1 h for alpha1-ACT, 22 h for vimentin and 7 days for tenascin.

The time-dependent inflammatory cell reaction in human cortical contusions has been investigated during the first 30 weeks after blunt head injury. Immunohistochemical staining was carried out using CD 15 for granulocytes and LCA, CD 3 and UCHL-1 for mononuclear leucocytes. In order to provide reliable data for a forensic wound age estimation, the intensity of the cellular reaction was evaluated with a quantitative image analysis system. CD 15-labelled granulocytes were detectable earliest 10 min after brain injury, whereas significantly increased numbers of mononuclear leucocytes occurred in cortical contusions after a postinfliction interval of at least 1.1 days (LCA), 2 days (CD 3) or 3.7 days (UCHL-1), respectively.

The case of sudden cardiac death of a 23-year-old body builder who used anabolic steroids combined with other performance enhancing drugs is reported. Postmortem investigations revealed cardiac hypertrophy, acute cellular necrosis and interstitial fibrosis of the myocardium. The side-effects and interactions of the substances used are discussed.

In einer Doppelblindstudie mit 31 Probanden wurden durch Anwendung eines standardisierten und validierten Testverfahrens (SKT) kognitive Leistungsstorungen nach einmaliger oraler Aufnahme einer therapeutischen Dosis von 15 mg Midazolam quantitativ erfast. Die Storungen entsprachen teilweise dem klinischen Bild eines mittelgradigen bis schweren Durchgangssyndroms oder organischen Psychosyndroms. Zusatzlich trat bei allen Probanden eine komplette anterograde Amnesie ohne Aufhellungstendenz auf. Motorische Koordinationsstorungen wurden besonders durch den Nachweis eines grobschlagigen Drehnystagmus deutlich, der bei 25 Probanden verlangert war. Alle subjektiven und objektiven Wirkungen waren auf den Zeitraum der ersten 3 bis 6 Stunden nach Midazolameinnahme beschrankt.

The singular and combined appearance of conjunctival petechiae, of acute pulmonary emphysema and of signs of aspiration was evaluated in resuscitated and non-resuscitated children dying of SIDS (n = 115), of other causes of natural death (n = 17), of severe head injury (n = 10) and of asphyxiation/strangulation (n = 7). Conjunctival petechiae occurred in all of the asphyxiated victims and in five out of 10 children dying of severe head injury, but were exclusively found in four resuscitated babies and one baby with questionable resuscitation trials of the SIDS-group (4%), furthermore in one resuscitated child dying of a congenital heart defect. Acute pulmonary emphysema was detected in six out of the seven children of the asphyxiation/strangulation group, in two resuscitated children with head injury and in five resuscitated babies dying of SIDS. Both parameters were observed exclusively in the asphyxiation/strangulation group (71% of the cases) but not in the control cases. Therefore, it can be concluded that the simultaneous appearance of conjunctival petechiae and of acute pulmonary emphysema strongly indicates death by asphyxiation.

During a dispute, a boy was injured by a curtain rail which penetrated the skull in the left frontal region and led to severe brain injury. Despite intensive medical care, death occurred 10 days later due to malignant cerebral edema. With regard to the question whether the trauma resulted from throwing or pushing, some biomechanical aspects are discussed including individual morphologic findings as well as the kinetic energy required for penetrating the skull. According to the calculated data, we conclude that the velocity necessary for penetrating could be reached by throwing the curtain rail.

It is assumed that ATP induces closure of the binding jaw of ligand-gated P2X receptors, which eventually results in the opening of the membrane channel and the flux of cations. Immobilization by cysteine mutagenesis of the binding jaw inhibited ATP-induced current responses, but did not allow discrimination between disturbances of binding, gating, subunit assembly or trafficking to the plasma membrane.A molecular model of the pain-relevant human (h)P2X3 receptor was used to identify amino acid pairs, which were located at the lips of the binding jaw and did not participate in agonist binding but strongly approached each other even in the absence of ATP.A series of cysteine double mutant hP2X3 receptors, expressed in HEK293 cells or Xenopus laevis oocytes, exhibited depressed current responses to α,β-methylene ATP (α,β-meATP) due to the formation of spontaneous inter-subunit disulfide bonds. Reducing these bonds with dithiothreitol reversed the blockade of the α,β-meATP transmembrane current. Amino-reactive fluorescence labelling of the His-tagged hP2X3 receptor and its mutants expressed in HEK293 or X. laevis oocytes demonstrated the formation of inter-subunit cross links in cysteine double mutants and, in addition, confirmed their correct trimeric assembly and cell surface expression.In conclusion, spontaneous tightening of the binding jaw of the hP2X3 receptor by inter-subunit cross-linking of cysteine residues substituted at positions not directly involved in agonist binding inhibited agonist-evoked currents without interfering with binding, subunit assembly or trafficking.

The time-dependent appearance of signs of cell death was investigated in human skin wounds using in situ end labeling of DNA fragments (ISEL). In the dermal layer an average of not more than 0.3 positively stained fibroblastic cells/0.01 cm x 0.01 cm was found up to a postinfliction interval of approximately 6 h. Average numbers exceeding 1 positive cell/0.01 cm x 0.01 cm were first detectable in a skin wound after 24 h. Therefore, average numbers greater than 1 labeled cell/ 0.01 cm x 0.01 cm indicate a postinfliction interval of approximately 1 day. An increase in the average number of positively stained cells occurred with increasing wound age. Values exceeding 3 cells/0.01 cm x 0.01 cm were first detectable 19 days after wound infliction. Accordingly, values of more than 3 labeled cells indicate a postinfliction interval of approximately 3 weeks or more. Since low numbers of labeled fibroblastic cells or even negative results were found in wounds of advanced age, only positive results provide information which can be useful for a forensic age estimation of human skin wounds.

Fur das forensische Nutzungspotential postmortaler Zahnbefunde sind Umfang und Qualitat der pramortalen Befunddokumentation entscheidend. Die Befragung von 143 Zahnarzten der Region Mittelfranken ergab, das in 65% nur ein Zahnbefund nach den Vertragsrichtlinien („Minimalbefund”), in 19,5% ein Befund, der daruber hinaus auch selbstgefertigte Restaurationen enthalt („Fortschreibungsbefund”) und in 15,5% ein Befund, in dem samtliche, auch vorbestehende Restaurationen, eingetragen sind („Musterbefund”) dokumentiert wird. Die durch Nachuntersuchung von 61 Patienten ermittelte Fehlerquote lag bei den einzelnen Befundtypen zwischen 21,3% („Musterbefund”) und 55,6% („Minimalbefund”).

The distribution of fractures at the base of the skull was investigated in 147 victims with lethal head shot wounds caused by handguns or small calibre low-velocity rifles. In individuals without an impact of the projectile at the base of the skull, bullets lodged in the head were found up to a calibre of 7.65 mm (pistol) or ·38 special (revolver), respectively. In cases with a trajectory through the cranial fossae positive results were obtained up to 9 mm (pistol) or even ·45 (revolver). Fractures in anterior parts of the base of the skull were a rather frequent finding (82% of the cases) and could also be observed in victims shot by low energy guns. Fracture lines in particular in all cranial fossae, however, indicate a comparatively high energy missile and were found in victims without a direct impact of the bullet at the base of the skull after the use of guns with a calibre of at least 7.65 mm. Severe fractures leading to a hinge-like mobility of the base of the skull point also to projectiles of rather high energy. On the other hand, such fractures were also found in a victim with a contact shot by a ·22 rifle. Therefore, it must be emphasized that individual factors such as the constitution of the base of the skull, the path of the bullet, technical parameters of the gun and ammunition used are of great importance if conclusions are to be drawn on an unknown gun by evaluation of fractures at the base of the skull.

This study investigated whether oestrogen receptors can be immunohistochemically detected in paraffin-embedded vaginal mucosa samples using monoclonal antibodies and whether the method would be suitable for the identification of vaginal cells in cytological smears. Samples of vaginal mucosa were obtained from living females and female corpses, as vaginal smears. For comparison purposes, resected prepuce samples and samples of postmortem male urethral mucosa were also investigated. Nuclear oestrogen receptors could be regularly detected in the basal, parabasal and deeper intermediate epithelium layers of freshly fixed vaginal mucosa but proved to be highly sensitive to autolytic changes. In the cytological smears obtained from living subjects, no oestrogen receptors were detectable. Oestrogen receptors were also detected in the basal epidermal cells of the male prepuce.

Single crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction is essential for determining occupancies, positional as well as static and dynamic displacement parameters in crystalline matter by measuring Bragg, satellite or diffuse reflections. In our contribution a new low-temperature high pressure cell for neutron single crystal diffraction will be presented. It is designed to operate from a few K to ambient temperature in “orange” cryostats at pressures up to at least 3 GPa. We will present first neutron diffraction results obtained at E4/HMI Berlin and discuss the quality of the data and the significance of the results. A software package has been written (as a part of the PROMETHEUS system), which deals with the data reduction for both X-ray and neutron high pressure cell single crystal data. Likewise a data collection program has been developed for single crystal data collection on four-circle diffractometers using Merrill-Bassett cells. A series of single crystal experiments on H2O and D2O ice VI and KDP (...

A prospective randomised controlled clinical trial began in 1989 on 126 patients with superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (pTa-pT1, grades 1-3) to compare the efficacy of adjuvant topical mitoxantrone after transurethral resection versus no further treatment. 62 patients received no further treatment, 64 patients received weekly 20 mg mitoxantrone intravesically for 6 weeks after differentiated TUR of all visible tumours. The endpoint of the study was any progression of stage or grade or further recurrences. The median follow up was 29 months--the minimum follow up was 24 months. The percentage of recurrences (25.8 versus 23.4), the recurrence rate (1.2 versus 0.9), the overall disease free interval and the tumour progression rate showed no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05 Mantel-Cox test). Only the comparison of time to recurrence in tumours with recurrences showed a statistically significant difference, with a longer disease free interval for the TUR plus mitoxantrone group (P = 0.016 Mantel-Cox test).

This study presents findings from a series of investigations on the presence of glycogenated epithelium in the male urinary tract and on the penile surface in order to assess the forensic value of the Lugol's method for the identification of vaginal cells. Direct smears obtained from the urethral opening, glans penis, and penile shaft, along with post-mortem samples of the fossa navicularis, and histological sections of the penis were examined. The presence of polygonal, glycogenated, Lugol-positive epithelium cells in the male urinary tract was found to be common. Our results suggest that these cells originate from the fossa navicularis. Because of the possibility of exfoliation of glycogenated male cells and transfer to the penile surface a Lugol-positive reaction in epithelial cells on penile swabs can no longer be assumed to prove the presence of vaginal cells.

Electron energy spectra from slow nitrogen ions N+ and N2+ (50 and 500 eV) colliding under grazing incidence with W(110) surfaces are reported. The surface work function was varied by the exposure to cesium atoms. The electron energy spectra are interpreted in terms of various inter- and intra-atomic Auger processes: For N+ Auger capture dominates up to a Cs coverage of about 0.2 ML (in terms of a completed monolayer (ML) at room temperature). For larger Cs coverages the resonant capture of one or two electrons from the surface leads to the formation of core excited states of the neutralized projectile (beyond 0.3 ML) and of the Feshbach resonance N−∗ (2s22p23s2) (beyond 0.5 ML). These states manifest themselves by their decay via Auger deexcitation and autodetachment, respectively. We observe one additional rather sharp feature which we tentatively attribute to the decay of the metastable negative ion state N− (2s22p4 1D). For N2+ besides Auger capture into the N2 ground state also Auger deexcitation of excited N2 molecules (B; a3,1Πg) to the ground state seems to contribute to the spectra (below 0.2 ML). With increasing Cs coverage higher excited (Rydberg) states, in particular N2∗ E3∑g+, become populated manifesting themselves by a variety of Auger deexcitation processes. For Cs coverages larger than 0.6 ML the resonant capture of an electron from the surface by the Rydberg state N2 E3∑g+ leads to the formation of the Feshbach resonance N2−∗ E2∑g+ (parent state N2∗ E).

Electron energy spectra from slow CO + ions (50 and 500 eV) colliding under grazing incidence with W(110) surfaces are reported. The surface work function was varied by the exposure to cesium atoms. The electron energy spectra are interpreted in terms of various inter- and intra-atomic Auger processes: for clean W(110) and up to a Cs coverage of 0.2 ML (in terms of one completed adlayer at room temperature) an unique identification of the electronic transition processes could not be made on the basis of the electron spectra. Some observations indicate however that, besides direct Auger capture into the CO ground state, also Auger deexcitation of excited CO molecules (a 3 Π) to the CO ground state and autodetachment of the CO − X 2 Π shape resonance contribute to the spectra. With increasing Cs coverage excited states up to c 3 Π become populated manifesting themselves by a variety of Auger deexcitation processes. For Cs coverages larger than 0.6 monolayers the resonant capture of an electron from the surface by CO b,B 3,1 Σ + leads to the formation of the Feshbach resonance CO −* B 2 Σ + . Again the formation of the resonance is detected by its decay via autodetachment.

This is the report of a 62-year-old man who committed suicide by drilling through his anterior chest wall with an electric power drill. Death was caused by pericardial tamponade combined with bleeding into the pleural cavity. The skin lesion at the left hemithorax was similar to a bullet entrance wound.

A case of death due to car fire is described where the carbonised skull of the cremated corpse showed an ovoid defect of the cranial bone. The question arose whether this formed fracture was caused by a gunshot. But the reconstruction of the cranial remains with detached parts of the tabula externa provided evidence that the suspicious defect was to be classified as an uncommon heat-induced post-mortem artefact.

The electronic structure of thin CsI adlayers deposited on W(110) at room temperature is studied by ion impact electron spectroscopy (IIES) with He + and He 2+ ions, metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES) with He ∗ atoms, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), work function measurements, and to some extent with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The transition from the eletronic structure of single adsorbed molecules to that of the bulk structure could be studied by following the emergence of bulk properties, in particular the bandgap, as a function of the CsI exposure. The experimental results are consistent with the following conclusions: The first step in the layer growth is molecular adsorption of CsI perpendicular to the surface with the iodine end of the molecule pointing toward the substrate accompanied by decrease of the surface work function. The next step, starting with the occurrence of a pronounced work function minimum, is the formation of two-dimensional islands formed by CsI molecules. The results are consistent with lateral growth of the islands until the substrate is largely covered by CsI. The electronic structure of the adlayer cannot be distinguished anymore from that of CsI bulk material by means of electron spectroscopic techniques at exposures which are more than three times that of the occurrence of the work function minimum. The production of vacancies in the I − (5p) and Cs + (5p) orbitals under the influence of the ionizing radiation is studied as a function of the CsI exposure. Their relevance for the desorption process induced by electronic transitions (DIET) is discussed.

We report the spectra of electrons emitted after slow collisions (50 eV) of rare gas ions (He+, Ne+, Ar+, and Xe+) with partially cesiated W(110) surfaces. The electron spectra are discussed in terms of the two interatomic Auger processes, Auger Capture and Auger Deexcitation and the intra-atomic Auger process, Autodetachment of Rg−* (He−* (1s 2s22S) in the case of He). Model calculations including these processes can qualitatively reproduce the measured spectra as well as experimental values for the electron emission coefficients, γ. This is demonstrated for collisions of He+ ions and thermal metastable He atoms with clean and partially cesiated W(110).

A phantom has been designed for measuring flow velocities; using pipes of specified diameter and selectable pulse rates, flow rates varying from 0-250 cm/s can be determined. The measurements are made in a superconductive magnet with a field strength of 1.5 Tesla, employing a RACE technique. The reference technique was electromagnetic flow measurement. There was good linear correlation between the electromagnetic and the MRT results with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. It is necessary in the first place to estimate flow speed; if flow velocity is unknown initially, there is no correlation. Hence, in everyday use erroneous results may be obtained, particularly since one cannot always demonstrate vessels in all parts of the body without superimposition. Further clinical studies are required in various vascular territories to evaluate the usefulness of the RACE technique for flow measurements.

Electron energy spectra from slow (50 to 1000 eV) collisions of inert gas (He+, He2+ and Ar+) and reactive (H+, N+) ions colliding under grazing incidence with W(110) surfaces are reported. The surface work function is varied by the exposure of the W(110) surface to alkali atoms. For clean W(110) the sequence of electronic transitions during a slow (50 eV, typically) collision is similar as reported for other clean metals: Auger capture processes involving two electrons from the surface dominate for all projectiles. For sufficiently large coverages by alkali atoms resonant capture of one or two surface electrons by the projectiles leads to the formation of excited states of the projectiles with one or two electrons occupying valence orbitals. These states decay by Auger deexcitation (Penning ionization) and intra-atomic Auger processes (autoionization and autodetachment), respectively. For the case of Ar+ ions colliding with W(110) partially covered by potassium it is demonstrated that core vacancies (Ar3p−1) are created during the collision provided the kinetic energy of the projectile surmounts about 300 eV. Contributions from both potential and kinetic emission can then be seen in the spectra of the emitted electrons.

Electron energy spectra from slow H + and H + 2 ions (below 100 eV, typically) colliding under grazing incidence with W(110) surfaces are reported. The surface work function was varied by the exposure to alkali (Li, Na, Cs) atoms. The electron emission spectra can be interpreted in terms of various inter- and intra-atomic Auger processes: for clean W(110) Auger capture involving two electrons of the surface dominates both for H + and H + 2 collisions. For sufficiently large coverages by alkali atoms resonant capture of one or two surface electrons leads to the formation of excited states of the neutralized projectile and to the formation of core excited states with two electrons occupying outer-shell orbitais (H − (2l2l′) and possibly H − 2 (1s2l2l′), respectively. These states manifest themselves by their decay via Auger deexcitation and, in particular, by autodetachment. For H + 2 projectiles the implications of these electronic processes for the molecular survival probability are discussed.