Field Of Legal Medicine Research Articles

Questionnaire survey for the International Journal of Legal Medicine on the occassion of the 26th triennal meeting of the International Academy of Legal Medicine.

A questionnaire was prepared in advance of the 26th triennial conference of the International Academy of Legal Medicine (IALM) and sent to 474 email addresses included in the IALM mailing list. The questionnaire addressed three current challenges faced by the International Journal of Legal Medicine (IJLM): the publication of guidelines and validation studies in the field of legal medicine, the publication ethics of case reports, and the recruitment of new reviewers for the IJLM. The response rate was 20%. The survey results highlight the need for international guidelines in various areas of legal medicine. Some desired guidelines already exist. To provide visibility and knowledge of the existing national guidelines, the IJLM has launched a Topical Collection on Quality Assurance in Legal Medicine. This collection aims to inform readers about country-specific characteristics of legal medicine structures and the existing national guidelines.Around 80% of the participants stated that there are legal or ethical requirements for the publication of forensic case reports or case series. Various options for obtaining consent for publication are discussed. Eighty-six of the 97 participants indicated their willingness to review manuscripts for the IJLM. It is emphasized that the contributions of reviewers should be duly recognized and valued.

The Role of miRNA Expression Profile in Sudden Cardiac Death Cases.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the leading causes of death in the world and for this reason it has attracted the attention of numerous researchers in the field of legal medicine. It is not easy to determine the cause in a SCD case and the available methods used for diagnosis cannot always give an exhaustive answer. In addition, the molecular analysis of genes does not lead to a clear conclusion, but it could be interesting to focus attention on the expression level of miRNAs, a class of non-coding RNA of about 22 nucleotides. The role of miRNAs is to regulate the gene expression through complementary binding to 3'-untraslated regions of miRNAs, leading to the inhibition of translation or to mRNA degradation. In recent years, several studies were performed with the aim of exploring the use of these molecules as biomarkers for SCD cases, and to also distinguish the causes that lead to cardiac death. In this review, we summarize experiments, evidence, and results of different studies on the implication of miRNAs in SCD cases. We discuss the different biological starting materials with their respective advantages and disadvantages, studying miRNA expression on tissue (fresh-frozen tissue and FFPE tissue), circulating cell-free miRNAs in blood of patients affected by cardiac disease at high risk of SCD, and exosomal miRNAs analyzed from serum of people who died from SCD.

The Online Attention to Research in Legal Medicine: An Altmetric Study on the Most Discussed Articles on the Web

Background: Online attention is a relevant research feature that can be related to its societal impact. Online attention in the field of legal medicine was explored as well as the relation between citation count and the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS). Methods: A search was performed, through the free Dimensions app, during September 2020, on the journals related to legal medicine listed in the 2019 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The 200 published items with the highest AAS were retrieved and screened for bibliometric data. Articles with related citations were gathered from Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, and Dimensions. Results: Seventy-five percent of the articles were published by five of the selected journals. Twitter and news outlets were the most prevalent Altmetric resources. Additionally, 73.5% of the articles were published between 2013 and 2020. The most frequent topics were the ones related to toxicology and pharmacology, followed by criminalistics and law and bioethics. A poor correlation was found between the citations in WOS, Dimensions, and Scopus and the AAS. Conclusions: The online attention on legal medicine-related topics can be considered high on social media. The high number of news outlets is a distinctive feature of the most discussed articles in legal medicine. In this field of medicine, citation-based metrics combined with Altmetric can allow a broader evaluation of research findings but it should be underlined that, when measuring very different aspects of a published item, the scores in classic citation databases and Altmetric do not have a direct relation.

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in The Field of Legal Medicine from Türkiye

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in The Field of Legal Medicine from Türkiye

SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD AND ITS IMPACT; A PERSPECTIVE

India is a country of diverse cultures with various religious beliefs. People's religious right is protected under Article 25 and Article 26 of the Constitution of India. Spirituality states that only the body dies but the soul remains unborn, immortal, and infinite. It also believes in the theory of reincarnation and attaining Nirvana (the ultimate liberation from birth and death cycle). It is a root cause of practicing various death rituals depending upon age, gender, marital status, religion, and how the death had happened. But few socio-cultural practices create conflict and overburden the concerned authority which somehow cannot be overlooked. Practices related to performing the last rite including disposal of the dead have created some issues in the field of legal medicine as well as for concerned authorities.We must find an alternative way to cope with these issues.

The evolution of the field of legal medicine: A holistic investigation of global outputs with bibliometric analysis

The purpose of this study is to make a holistic summary of the articles published in the field of Legal Medicine/Forensic Science through bibliometric methods, determine the top cited publications in the field, and to determine the most active journals and especially trend topics. The articles published in the field of Legal Medicine between the years 1975 and 2018 were downloaded from the Web of Science index and were analyzed using bibliometric methods. The correlations between the number of publications of the countries and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP PPP) values was analyzed using the Spearman's correlation coefficient. The number of articles to be published in the field of Legal Medicine between the years 2019 and 2022 was estimated with linear regression analysis. The results showed that there were totally 38845 articles published in the field of Legal Medicine. Regression analysis results indicate that it will exceed 2500 publications after 2022. The most productive countries in the field of Legal Medicine were the USA (12.448, 32.045%). A high correlation was found between legal medicine publication productivity and GDP and GDP PPP (r = 0.726, p < 0.001; r = 0.703, p < 0.001). As for the collaboration between countries, analysis results showed that the network web indicated the most important factor as the geographical location. This study will provide important information to a forensic scientist (a doctor, academic, and practitioner).

The use of human samples obtained during medicolegal autopsies in research: An introduction to current conditions and initiatives in Japan.

Background Leftover samples obtained during autopsies are extremely important basic materials for forensic research. However, there are no established practices for research-related use of obtained samples. Objective This study discusses good practice for the secondary use of samples collected during medicolegal autopsies. Methods A questionnaire was posted to all 76 departments of forensic medicine performing medicolegal autopsies in Japan, and 48 responses were received (response rate: 63.2%). As a secondary analysis, we surveyed information provided on department websites. Results Ethical reviews conducted when samples were to be used for research varied greatly among departments, with 21 (43.8%) departments reporting 'fundamentally, all cases are subject to review', eight (16.7%) reporting 'only some are subject to review' and 17 (39.6%) reporting 'none are subject to review'. Information made available on websites indicated that 11 departments had a statement of some type to bereaved families about the potential research use of human samples obtained during autopsies. Nine of these included a notice stating that bereaved families may revoke their consent for use. Several departments used an opt-out system. Conclusion There is no common practice in the field of legal medicine on the ethical use for medical research of leftover samples from medicolegal autopsies. The trust of not only bereaved families but also society in general is required for the scientific validity and social benefits of medical studies using leftover samples from medicolegal autopsies through the use of opt-out consenting and offline and online dissemination and public-relations activities.

Demographic variables, clinical aspects, and medicolegal implications in a population of patients with adjustment disorder.

IntroductionAlthough adjustment disorder (AD) is considered as residual diagnosis and receives little attention in research, it plays an important role in clinical practice and also assumes an increasingly important role in the field of legal medicine, where the majority of diagnostic frameworks (eg, mobbing) often refer to AD. Our study aimed to look for specific stressor differences among demographic and clinical variables in a naturalistic setting of patients with AD.MethodsA restrospective statistical analysis of the data of patients diagnosed with AD from November 2009 to September 2012, identified via manual search from the archive of the outpatient setting at the University Unit of Psychiatry “A. Fiorini” Hospital, Terracina (Latina, Italy), was performed.ResultsThe sample consisted of 93 patients (46 males and 47 females), aged between 26 and 85, with medium–high educational level who were mainly employed. In most cases (54.80%), a diagnosis of AD with mixed anxiety and depressed mood was made. In all, 72% of the sample reported a negative family history for psychiatric disorders. In 22.60%, a previous history of psychopathology, especially mood disorders (76.19%), was reported. The main stressors linked to the development of AD were represented by working problems (32.30%), family problems (23.70%), and/or somatic disease (22.60%) with significant differences with respect to age and sex. Half of the patients were subjected to a single first examination; 24.47% requested a copy of medical records.ConclusionConfirming previous data from previous reports, our results suggest that AD may have a distinct profile in demographic and clinical terms. Increased scientific attention is hoped, particularly focused on addressing a better definition of diagnostic criteria, whose correctness and accuracy are critical, especially in situations with medicolegal implications.

DNA fingerprinting for sample authentication in biobanking: recent perspectives

DNA fingerprinting for sample authentication in biobanking: recent perspectives Raffaele Palmirotta,1,2,* Maria Laura De Marchis,1,3,* Cristiano Ialongo,4 Costanza Majorani,5 Jhessica Alessandroni,1 Antonella Spila,1 Maria Giovanna Valente,6 David Della-Morte,1,7 Patrizia Ferroni,1,2 Fiorella Guadagni1,2 1Interinstitutional Multidisciplinary Biobank, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, 2Telematic University San Raffaele, 3Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nephrologic, Geriatric and Anesthesiological Sciences, Sapienza University, 4Department of Internal Medicine, Tor Vergata University, 5Department of Environment and Primary Prevention, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, 6Fondazione San Raffaele, Ceglie Messapica, 7Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: The availability of biological samples has assumed a crucial role in the field of biomedical research in order to assess predisposition to complex diseases, identification and validation of new diagnostic biomarkers, drug targets, and improvement of monitoring strategies. To ensure correct collection, storage, and use of biological material, a biobank requires standard operating procedures, not only to guarantee the integrity of the sample, but also for the traceability and uniqueness of the same sample and to avoid potential contamination. Over the past three decades, researchers have increasingly used DNA polymorphisms for biological identification purposes, radically changing forensic investigations. This revolution has led to the birth of new scientific terms, such as “DNA fingerprinting” or “genetic profiling”, and a new field of legal medicine known as “forensic genetics”. Given the significant need for a biobank to devise a system of identification, authentication, and traceability of biological samples, many researchers are applying forensic genetics-based methodologies to the science of biobanking. This review recapitulates the main DNA polymorphisms presently known and the techniques most widely used for biological identification purposes, from standard methods based on short tandem repeats, to use of single nucleotide polymorphisms, through to the more recent insertion/deletion polymorphisms. The experience of several research groups who have applied classical or innovative methods for identification of biological samples in the context of a biorepository is also discussed. Finally, some technical issues are suggested that could facilitate decisions about the most appropriate markers and DNA fingerprint methodology for evaluation of identity and traceability in each disease-based biobank. Keywords: biobank, biorepository, DNA fingerprint, traceability, standard operating procedures, DNA polymorphisms

The surgically treated gunshot injury. Securing evidence in hospitals without primary participation of police or legal medicine

Against the background of a problematic reconstruction of a hunting accident, the question arises how such cases can be handled in hospitals and how exhibits can be adequately dealt with. After evaluating a questionnaire on current conditions of securing evidence in cases of surgically treated gunshot wounds from 26 surgical institutions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in consideration of the certified advanced training in the field of legal medicine, recommendations are given regarding the securing of evidence within the clinical setting without primary involvement of police or legal medicine.

Uloga medicinskog prava u funkcionisanju zdravstvenog sistema

In order to have a better and more efficient functioning of the health system of any country, it is necessary to know the legal functioning of health institutions and to understand the rights of patients and the rights of health care workers. It is necessary to know the general concepts of health legislation, different legal rules whose object are human health and health care. Knowledge of the public health ethics, human rights and values in health care, rights and responsibilities of patients and the rights and duties of health workers and their safety at work have a special significance. And in the end, it is essential to control the entire health care system and prevent criminal acts connected to the performance of health services or, if that's not possible, to sanction them appropriately. Objective. The objective of this paper is to highlight the role and importance of knowing the regulations of the functioning of the health system, that is knowledge of legal rules that regulate medical activity. Methods. The literature that was analysed comes from the field of medical law, social medicine, public health, legal and sublegal documentation in the field of healthcare and others. Current knowledge in the field of medical law were followed. Results. Medical law is a set of legal rules governing medical activity, that determine properties of the entities that carry out this activity and their relationship with the users of their services. Medical law is part of a larger field called the health law, and that covers all legislation in the interest of public health. Medical law make adequate state regulations and rules adopted by professional associations of health professionals (medical, dental and pharmaceutical commerce), and both regulations are approved by the relevant ministries. Regulations govern the rules of behavior of health workers while performing their activities, their internal relationship, relationship with patients, public relations, relationship to society, etc. Conclusion. The health system of each country works better and more efficiently if health workers are well acquainted with the legal functioning of health institutions, the rights of patients and their own rights. In addition, it is necessary that lawyers are trained specifically in the field of legal medicine, which requires a good knowledge of the national and international legal regulations in the field of medical activity. The need of elementary knowledge of medical law must go to all the health care users, the general population, should not be ignored.

Journal development and a thank you to reviewers

Two years after our previous report [1], we would liketo update our authors, reviewers and readership on thecurrent development of the Int J Legal Med.Mostimportantly, the impact factor has remained nearly con-stant during the last 2 years (2011, 2012), staying above2.5, even though the frequency of self-citations hasdecreased in the same period.The editors and the members of the editorial officeprocessed a total of 823 manuscripts which were sub-mitted in 2011 and 2012. Due to the excellent work ofnearly 260 reviewers working in all fields of legalmedicine, a total of 1,671 reviews were carried out.The average time for the first review could be reduced toabout 16 days. The average processing time per manuscriptremained constant at 33 days.The increased number of high-quality manuscripts sub-mitted allowed us to increase the number of papers pub-lished per volume. Nevertheless, the acceptance rate is lessthan 30 %. In addition to the impact factor, the number offull text downloads represents an impressive marker of thereputation of the journal. In 2011, there were a total of154,672 downloads. In 2012, scientists downloaded the fulltexts 278,430 times.To improve the journal’s transparency and to structure thedifferent issues of eachvolume more consistently, we definedthe main categories of topics (e.g. DNA research, toxicology,morphology, forensic imaging). Moreover, we introduced anewcategoryofmanuscript(populationgeneticdata)andlaidout guidelines for preparing such manuscripts [2].New members of the Editorial and Advisory Boardsas well as new reviewers—all of them extraordinaryscientists with special knowledge in various fields oflegal medicine—will guarantee successful developmentin the future.In the name of the publishers and the editors, wewould like to thank the reviewers for their outstandingwork (Table 1) and the authors for the high quality oftheir submissions. Without the time consuming work ofboth groups of scientists, such an impressive develop-ment would not have been possible. The members of theeditorial and advisory boards, the staff of the editorialoffice as well as the broad readership of the InternationalJournal of Legal Medicine express their sincere gratitudeto you. We greatly welcome your continued support ofthe journal.

How sick is the defendant? Forensic and emergency medical aspects at trial

The evaluation of a defendant's ability to stand trial is a core task in the field of legal medicine as a supportive instrument of jurisprudence. Before the trial, the court-appointed expert informs him-/herself regarding existing somatic and psychological illness(-es) within the context of preparing an expert evaluation, then composing the written expert evaluation, which reflects the condition of the subject at the time of the examination and arrives at an assessment of the ability to stand trial. The decompensation or aggravation of illnesses - in particular in stressful situations, as is to be expected for the defendant in the courtroom - can thus be taken into consideration such that alongside the current evaluation of the defendant's health condition, emergency medical treatment may also become necessary in court at times. We present three case reports about forensic and emergency medical aspects at trial, considering how the forensic expert can be able to meet the subsequent challenges.

Journal performance report

On 1 July 2009, the International Journal of LegalMedicine instituted an electronic manuscript submissionand reviewing process by introducing Editorial Manager[1]. In the meantime, the editorial board was strengthenedwith the addition of T. Bajanowski [2], and B. Brinkmannterminated his work as Editor-in-Chief [3]. Now, 20 monthslater, we feel it is time to analyse the development of thejournal during this eventful period.First of all and most importantly, the impact factor roseyet again from 2.574 in 2009 to 2.793 in 2010. This couldnot have been achieved without the intensive work andexcellent collaboration of all editors and reviewers.In the 16 months from 1 July 2009 to 31 October 2010, atotal of 455 manuscripts dealing with all fields of legalmedicine were submitted to the journal office (Table 1).This is a significant increase over previous years. This is

Bio-medicolegal guidelines and protocols: survey and future perspectives in Europe

The preservation of uniqueness and the enhancement of the value of evidence in legal medicine is based on the implementation and development of a "quality management system," which includes a continuous education of specialists, the introduction and application of guidelines and protocols, as well as mechanisms of internal quality control. This ongoing process shows differences with regard to various fields of knowledge such as forensic genetics, toxicology, forensic pathology or forensic psychiatry, especially if different European countries are compared. To get an overview on the development of legal medicine in different European countries, a questionnaire was developed and sent to representatives of 42 European countries to verify the existence of bio-medicolegal guidelines and protocols. A National Society of Legal Medicine is established in 27 out of 32 countries (84%) which could be included in the final analyses. In 25 countries (78%), a specialisation is necessary as a prerequisite of inclusion in a national register, and 30 of the countries (94%) have guidelines in at least one field of legal medicine. The most common guidelines concern forensic pathology (in the fields of professional qualification and sudden death), forensic toxicology (driving under the influence of drugs and substance testing) and forensic genetics (paternity testing and personal identification). The findings of this study show that comparison is possible and can be a basis for further consensus in the European medicolegal community. The process of harmonisation of the medicolegal autopsy rules in Europe initiated in 1990 was a first step on this way. Further consensus is necessary and might be gained by developing European guidelines for each field within the subdisciplines, based on a standard European Guideline Format.

Como la vara de Moisés: la herencia patológica como argumento para la vigilancia médica del matrimonio consanguíneo en México, 1870-1900

This paper analyzes the discussions in the field of legal medicine in Mexico about the prudence of regulations concerning intermarriage that were decreed in the civil codes for the Federal District of 1871 and 1884. It shows that the heated debate forced the authors of the regulations to struggle for the need for medical vigilance of marriages between relatives, as a preventive measure sustained in a nihilistic vision of the pathological inheritance. The paper concludes by proposing a philosophical analysis that abandons the old fields of the "external" and the "internal".

新しい質量分析技術の法医学領域への応用

In the fields of legal medicine and forensic toxicology, numerous drugs and poisons obtained from diverse biological specimens such as whole blood, urine, and hair need to be identified and quantified. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new methods for analysis of drugs, especially mass spectrometric methods. In this paper, we introduce three methods—surface ionization organic mass spectrometry, a combination of mass spectrometry and cryogenic oven trapping (COT), and laser spray ionization (LSI)—and their application to legal medicine. Gas chromatography/surface ionization organic mass spectrometry is very sensitive in detecting drugs containing tertiary amine residues; for Phencyclidine (PCP), its sensitivity is 20 to 1,000 times higher than that of the conventional electron ionization method. Surface ionization organic mass spectrometry is suitable for compounds containing cyclic tertiary amino side chains. COT in combination with gas chromatography has enabled detection of many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with high sensitivity. We have succeeded in quantifying several VOCs, such as chloroform, cyanide, thinner components, ethanol, and general anesthetics in whole blood by COT; COT affords a sensitivity that is 10 to 50 times higher than that of the conventional headspace gas chromatography method. Recently, we succeeded in identifying and quantifying 15 VOCs in human whole blood with the combination of COT and mass spectrometry. LSI is a new ionization method for liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. We have succeeded in detecting aconitine alkaloids and psychopharmaceuticals using LSI. In the infusion mode, aconitine and haloperidol were ionized with higher efficiency compared to that in the conventional electrospray mode. However, since the signals in the LSI mode are not stable, it is necessary to improve the stability of signals in the LSI mode for applying LSI to forensic toxicology.

Sudden infant death—focus subject of medico-legal research

The compilation of research activities concerning SID in the field of legal medicine could only choose those out of a great abundance of high-quality examinations which represent applied research. By this they have contributed either to the clarifying of the aetiology which has not been cleared up or to the prophylaxis. For this looking through in a widest sense the basic approach was to consider SID being the result of an intrinsic and/or extrinsic disturbance of the modulation of respiratory regulation of the infant. This namely means a metabolic disturbance of respiratory neurons. One must not share this opinion even if it is given a certain plausibility by newer physiological examinations. But this also means that some examinations did not receive the acknowledgement which they would have received if there had been an immunological approach. The compilation was completely done without a presentation of the primary crisis intervention and the long-term care as being a fundamental medico-legal approach. Altogether may be summarized that legal medicine has completely fulfilled its duty to take care of the problem SID and that the examinations did not remain without success.

The teaching of legal medicine in British medical schools.

In view of recent public anxiety concerning possible inadequacies in the field of legal medicine and ethics, a questionnaire survey was made of medical students, newly qualified housemen, medical school deans, coroners and medical defence and protection organizations. The results indicate that the teaching of legal medicine and ethics is insufficient, and a recommendation is made for an increase in such teaching.

Interlaboratory survey on thallium in urine

Quality assurance of analytic results was legalized in the Federal Republic of Germany by the law regulating the calibration of measuring devices of July 11, 1969, and the ordinance concerning the exception from compulsory calibration dated June 29, 1970. Accordingly, in the field of health care the Guidelines of the Medical Society of West Germany for the realization of quality assurance activities have to be followed. Since January 1, 1974, the law regulating the calibration of measuring devices has been fully effective. In the field of legal medicine the clinico-toxicologic analysis is considered to be a part of health care. As far as quantitative determinations are considered, these analyses have to follow the regulations mentioned above. To fulfil the basic program, adequate control samples are necessary. For toxicologic analysis there have been no control samples so far. Therefore, a control sample for thallium has been developed which can be used for long- and short-term interlaboratory surveys. The results are reported.