[The scoring and rating system for the estimation of the teaching efficiency in forensic medicine].

The authors developed a system of criteria for the evaluation of the results of education of forensic medical students based on the scoring and rating scale. The major requirements for the organization of academic activities are considered. It is emphasized that the compliance with these requirements is an indispensable prerequisite for the introduction of the above system in the training routine at the Department of Forensic Medicine.

[The propriety of establishing the fact of neonatality based on the examination of the child's corpse].

It is shown based on the historical and legal analysis that the designation of the child's status as a newborn infant throughout the period of its neonatal life till violent death "at or immediately after births" is the exclusive prerogative of the law-enforcement authorities. An original approach has been developed and recommended for the introduction into the expert practice. According to this proposal facts and arguments in the "Expert conclusions" should be formulated so as to avoid mentioning the child as newborn and to indicate only the duration of its extrauterine life. Such an approach leaves it to the law-enforcement authorities to decide in each concrete case whether the child should be designated as a newborn infant or not.

[Modern approach to the development of physician's competence in the field of forensic medicine and forensic medical examination].

A concept of development, maintenance, and improvement of physician's competence in the sphere of forensic medicine and forensic medical examination is suggested taking into consideration the world tendencies of the present time towards the development of higher professional education, problems facing the higher medical education system in this country becoming integrated into the common European educational framework, and changes in the national legal sphere.

[Psychological aspects of public activity of a forensic medical examiner].

In the recent years, professional activity of forensic medical examiners has been gaining publicity which necessitates knowledge of individual psychologic personality traits, the ability to effectively communicate, and high vocational culture on the part of each specialist. The specific character of professional contacts of a forensic medical expert is self-evident taking into consideration that he (she) has to deal with a great variety of persons including law enforcement officials, law breakers and criminal offence victims, men and women, young and aged people, representatives of different social groups, subjects in a specific emotional state, etc. In order to organize efficacious cooperation with all these individuals, the expert must develop high communicative competence, possess knowledge of psychology of communication, abilities and skills necessary for the establishment and maintenance of professional and business contacts.

[Proposals on standardization of the terminology used in assessing quality of medical service].

The terms and notions used in assessment of medical care quality are sometimes ambiguously interpreted. The authors propose a complex approach to standardization of terminology used for assessment of medical care quality.

[Diagnosis of acute intoxication with ethyl alcohol in expert practice].

Significant chemical and biochemical signs of acute alcoholic intoxication are considered tanatologically. A complex approach to diagnosis of acute poisoning with ethyl alcohol is proposed.

[The use of correction factors in establishing the time of death at the site where the corpse was found with the help of the nomograms of C. Henssge]. / Ispol'zovanie popravochnykh koéffitsientov pri ustanovlenii davnosti nastupleniia smerti na meste obnaruzheniia trupa s pomoshch'iu nomogramm C. Henssge.

Assessment of the time of death (TD) at the site where the corpse is found is a most difficult task. Use of the method proposed by C. Henssge based on the use of special nomograms holds good promise. Our purpose was to derive the allowance coefficients which will extent the range of applications of this method. The research sample consisted of 156 cases. For each case we knew the ambient temperature at the site of the accident at the level of the corpse (which varied from -2 to +31 degrees C) and rectal body temperature (from +12 to +37 degrees C). The time of death was estimated with an accuracy of up to 15-30 min and varied from 2 to 22 h before investigation.

[The diagnosis of the mechanisms of bone tissue destruction from the surface of the break]. / Diagnostika mekhanizmov razrusheniia kostnoi tkani po poverkhnosti izloma.

Data on bone tissue fractography are summarized and systematized. Possibilities of a microscopic fractography method in analysis of skeletal bone fractures in order to determine conditions of traumatic exposure were shown. Destruction of bone tissue is considered from the point of view of fragile and tough destruction using as a model solid body with crack at the top of which deformations of detachment, lateral and longitudinal shifts are acting. Morphologic features for different types of destruction were singled out. Use of these features may help to determine character and type of deformation at concrete areas of fracture during all destruction process.

[The possibilities for detecting pelvic injuries in children (comparative x-ray, computed tomographic and morphological studies)]. / Vozmozhnosti vyiavleniia povrezhdenii taza u detei (sravnitel'noe rentgenologicheskoe, komp'iuterno-tomograficheskoe i morfologicheskoe issledovanie).

The authors analyze the possibility of detecting pelvic injuries in children on an inpatient basis by x-ray examination and computer-aided tomography and by morphological methods during forensic medical autopsy. A total of 146 cases are analyzed. X-Ray examination helped diagnose only 47.37% of all injuries in children with pelvic traumas. The informative value of the x-ray method may be improved if such factors as the presence of residual deformation with manifest asymmetry of the small pelvis entry are taken into consideration. If pelvic injuries are suspected in children, plane computer-aided tomography is advisable, for it permits the diagnosis of 76.32% injuries.