IIJFMT 1(3) 2004
Journal Scan
Insect Faunal Succession on Decaying Rabbit Carcasses in Punjab,
Meenakshi Bharti, Devinder Singh
J Forensic Sci 2003; 48(5): 1133-1143
ABSTRACT
Insect faunal succession on decaying rabbit carcasses was carried out at Punjabi University, Punjab,
Deaths Among Criminal Suspects, Law Enforcement Officers, Civilians, and Prison Inmates -- A Corner-Based Study
Steven A. Koehler, Hank Weiss, Thomas J. Songer, Leon Rozin, Abdulrezzak Shakir, Sham Ladham, Bennet Omalu, Joseph Dominick, Cyril H. Wecht.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol 2003; 24(4): 334-338
ABSTRACT
During the interaction between a criminal suspect and a law enforcement officer, the risk of death to the suspect, police, or civilians is increased. Unfortunately, very little information is available on the death risks arising from this interaction. This study provides an assessment of the risk of death to law enforcement officers, suspects, and bystanders by separating the interactions into the following 4 phases: (1) events prior to and during arrest: (2) police pursuits or chases: (3) transport of the suspects; and (4) during incarceration. A-5-year (1994-1998) retrospective coroner based study of all deaths the occurred during these 4 phases was conducted in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. A total of 77 cases were identified; 14 deaths (18.1%) occurred prior to or during arrest, 10(12.9%) during police chases, 2(2.6%) occurred while the actors were being transported and 51 (66.2%) during incarceration. The majority of cases (98.7%) were males, blacks (63.6%) and single (50.6%). The respective risks of death by phase were pre-arrest / arrest. 6.5 per 100,000 arrests; transport, 0.93 deaths per 100.000 arrests; and incarceration 268 deaths per 100,000 inmates. Study showed the following: (1) risk of death to offenders was greatest during police pursuits; (2) the risks during arrests are not insignificant and involved an officer being threatened with a weapon in one-third of the events; and (3) deaths among inmates were primarily due to natural causes.
Post mortem Findings in 22 Victims Due to Two Grain Silo Explosions in
K Botti, N Grosleron- Gros, N Khaldi, A Oliviera, S Gromb
J Forensic Sci 2003; 48(4): 827-831
ABSTRACT
In 1982 and 1997 there were explosions of barley containing silos in France, one in Metz (1982) and the other in Blaye (1997). There were a total of 25 victims, including 23 fatalities (12 in Metz and 11 in Blaye). In each case there was one survivor. This report is a retrospective study of 22 victims (11 at each side); all of them had multiple lesions due to the explosion and the immediate aftermath. The lesions demonstrated direct involvement of the blast effect associated with silo destruction, the heat from explosion, the effect of toxic gases and asphyxia. The forensic pathologist is an important member of the emergency response team. This team has the responsibility for initially assessing the damage and for identifying the victims. The role of the forensic pathologist is therefore essential and they should be included in emergency planning to facilitate the initial assessment, shorten the time taken to identify the victims and improve safety procedures. Although dust explosions in agro-business plants are occurring more frequently, postmortem data are rare.
Impact Factors of Forensic Science and Toxicology journals: What do the Number Really Mean?
A.W. Jones
Forensic Sci International 2003; 133:1-8
ABSTRACT
This article presents review and opinion about the use and abuse of journal impact factors for judging the importance and prestige of scientific journals in the field of forensic science and toxicology. The application of impact factors for evaluating the published work of individual scientists is also discussed. The impact factor of a particular journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to a journal's articles that were published in the previous 2 years by the total number of citable items (articles and reviews) published in the same 2 year period. Journal impact factors differs from discipline to discipline and range from 0 for a journal whose articles are not cited in the previous 2years to 46 for a journal where the average recent article is cited 46 times per year. The impact factor reflects the citation rate of the average article in a journal and not a specific article. Many parameters influence the citation rate of a particular journal's articles and therefore its impact factor. These include the visibility and size of the circulation of a journal including availability of electronic formats and options for on-line search and retrieval. Other things to consider are editorialstandards especially rapid and effective peer-reviewing and a short time lagbetween acceptance and appearance in print. The number of self-citation density (the ratio of references to articles) and also the inclusion of many review articles containing hundreds of references to recently published articles will boost the impact factor. Judging the importance of a scientist's work based on the average or median impact factor of the journals used to publish articles is not recommended. Instead an article-by-article citation count should be done, but this involves much more time and effort. Moreover, some weighting factor is necessary to allow for the number of co-authors on each article and the relative positioning of the individual names should also be considered. Authors should submit their research results and manuscripts to journal that are easily available and are read by their peers (the most interested audience) and pay less attention to journal impact factors. To assess the true usefulness of a person's contributions to forensic science and toxicology one needs to look beyond impact factor and citation counts. For example, one might consider whether the articles contained new ideas or innovations that proved useful in routine forensic casework or are widely relied upon in courts of law as proof source.