[Features of detection and interpretation of intravital and postmortem changes according to the results of traditional X-ray and X-ray computed tomography of objects from historical graves and artefacts]. / Osobennosti vyyavleniya i interpretatsii prizhiznennykh i posmertnykh izmenenii po rezul'tatam traditsionnoi rentgenografii i rentgenovskoi komp'yuternoi tomografii ob"ektov iz istoricheskikh zakhoronenii i artefaktov.

OBJECTIVE: To study emergence mechanism, physical nature, pattern of intravital and postmortem changes of biological and non-biological objects originated in the period from 1550 to 1918 yr. using traditional X-ray and X-ray computed tomography. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The relics of Saint Macarius the Roman of Novgorod, the remains of the First Reverend of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent in Saint Petersburg Mother Superior Theophania, damages on the chair leg on which Tsesarevich Alexey sat during the shooting of Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his family and entourage in 1918 in Yekaterinburg were stidued. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The application of highly informative methods of traditional X-ray and X-ray computed tomography of biological and non-biological objects showed their high informativity and allowed to correctly interpret the emergence mechanism, physical nature, pattern of intravital and postmortem changes of skeleton bones and historical artefact (chair legs) originated long ago. The necessity of special professional training and advanced training of experts in forensic radiology to prevent possible diagnostic and expert errors has been substantiated.

[Models and sculptural casts in forensic medicine and medical criminology]. / Mulyazhi i skul'pturnye slepki v sudebnoi meditsine i meditsinskoi kriminalistike.

The study objective is to present facts from the history of casting art and biographical information about the casting artists S.P. Fiveysky and M.A. Kurbatov, the founders of the casting craft in Russia. The attributes of the technology for making death masks, their features, advantages, and disadvantages as objects that capture appearance are described. The role of models and death masks in forensic practice, forensic science, and pedagogical activity is addressed.

[Adverse outcome in post-operative period (small-shot wound) from arrosive bleeding in forensic practice]. / Neblagopriyatnyi iskhod v posleoperatsionnom periode (ognestrel'noe ranenie drob'yu) ot arrozionnogo krovotecheniya v sudebno-meditsinskoi praktike.

The aim of this work is to draw the attention of forensic experts to the need to use new methodological approaches in postmortem morphological diagnostics of the lifetime injuries and the duration of death rate in forensic medical practice. A case of a fatal outcome from a small-shot gun wound complicated by arrosive bleeding in the postoperative period is considered. The missed opportunity to effectively use new methodological approaches in solving issues related to the completeness and timeliness of medical care is shown. The authors draw attention to the inadmissibility of using the nosological form with the code X94.9 ICD-10 «Attack by shooting from a small-shot gun¼ in the death certificate and suggest discussing the possibility to edit it for the 11th revision of the ICD.

[The peculiar features of the morphological manifestations of the damage to the liver associated with the death cap mushroom poisoning]. / Osobennosti morfologicheskikh proiavlenii porazheniia pecheni pri otravlenii blednoi pogankoi.

This article is focused on the peculiar features of the morphological manifestations of massive hepatic necrosis associated with the death cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides) poisoning in comparison with similar cases of intoxication. It has been shown that the poisoning is associated with cell proliferation in the peri-portal regions of the liver and induction of the mechanisms of apoptosis responsible for the death of hepatocytes.

[Certain immunohistochemical markers of the intravitality of strangulation mechanical asphyxia]. / Nekotorye immunogistokhimicheskie markery prizhiznennosti stranguliatsionnoi mekhanicheskoi asfiksii.

Thus article was designed to report the results of the investigations into specific histological features of the skin and soft tissue samples taken from the strangulation areas on the neck and from the lungs of the persons who had committed suicide by hanging. The studies revealed the well apparent expression of fibrinogen in the derma and the subdermal cellolocutaneous layer of the skin subjected to intravital strangulation. Similar changes were absent in lung alveoli.

[Forensic medical diagnostics of intra-vitality of the strangulation mark by morphological methods].

The objective of the present study WaS to overview the current domestic and foreign literature concerning the up-to-date methods employed for the expert evaluation of intra-vitality of the strangulation mark. The secondary objective was to propose the new approaches for addressing this problem. The methods of expert diagnostics with a view to determining the time of infliction of injuries as exemplified by mechanical asphyxia are discussed. It is concluded that immunohistochemical and morphometric studies provide the most promising tools for the evaluation of intra-vitality of the strangulation mark for the purpose of forensic medical expertise.

[Postmortem forensic medical diagnostics of fulminant sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacterium (Capnocitophaga canimorsus) following a dog bite].

This article provides the example of postmortem forensic medical diagnostics of fulminant sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacterium (Capnocitophaga canimorsus) following a dog bite. In order to identify the etiological factor of fulminant sepsis, the expert carried out the study of the autopsy materials with the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This method has only recently been introduced into postmortem diagnostics of fulminant sepsis in this country; it has no analogs abroad and can be employed for the purpose of forensic medical expertise and pathological anatomic studies.

[Characteristics of morphological manifestations of anaphylactic shock in response to the administration of pharmaceutical preparations encountered in the practice of forensic medical expert-histologist].

The authors report the results of a forensic medical investigation of 6 cases of death associated with the administration of pharmaceutical products documented by forensic medical experts of the Russian Centre of Forensic Medical Expertise. The results of the study are compared with the clinical data and summarized using the methods of tanatogenetic analysis. The following main clinical variants of iatrogenic anaphylactic shock (IAS) are distinguished: bronchospastic IAS (n = 1), asphyxic IAS (n = 1), hemodynamic IAS (n = 3), and combined (bronchospastic plus hemodynamic) IAS (n = 1). The signs of all these variants are described allowing for their diagnostics and differentiation diagnostics. These data can be used for the purpose of forensic medical diagnostics and elucidation of the mechanisms of tanatogenesis.

[The procedure for documentation of digital images in forensic medical histology].

This paper is devoted to the novel computer technologies employed in the studies of histological preparations. These technologies allow to visualize digital images, structurize the data obtained and store the results in computer memory. The authors emphasize the necessity to properly document digital images obtained during forensic-histological studies and propose the procedure for the formulation of electronic documents in conformity with the relevant technical and legal requirements. It is concluded that the use of digital images as a new study object permits to obviate the drawbacks inherent in the work with the traditional preparations and pass from descriptive microscopy to their quantitative analysis.

[Obturation, aspiration, and inhalation in case of mechanical asphyxia].

This paper aims at updating terminology employed for the characteristic of selected forms of mechanical asphyxia. The medical terms "obturation", "aspiration", and "inhalation" are not infrequently used by forensic medical experts and pathological anatomists engaged in diagnostics of mechanical asphyxia, elucidation of the mechanism of the accompanying injury and causes underlying its fatal outcome. It is argued that the use of these terms for the purpose is sometimes either unjustified or incorrect or both. To begin with, they have different meanings in different situations. Second, the mechanism of death from mechanical asphyxia is variable and associated with specific morphological features that are directly dependent not only on the route by which a foreign body enters the respiratory tract but also on its size, weight, structure, shape, properties, and aggregated state. Third, it is necessary to differentiate between inhalation of a toxicant in case of poisoning and inhalation of a gaseous substance leading to mechanical asphyxia.

[Assessment of harm to the health in proximal hip fractures].

The analysis of expert certification on isolated hip fractures has shown that some experts make errors of underestimation of harm to the health basing on the criterion "duration of health impairment". How to prevent such errors and to improve quality of forensic medical certification is proposed. Such measures will raise social value of medical forensic expertise.