ANALYSIS OF SUICIDES IN THE PROVINCE OF VOJVODINA, REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, DURING THE 2001-2015 PERIOD.

Suicide is an act of intentionally causing one's own death. Every year, approximately 800,000 people commit suicide. The average suicide rate in Serbia is around 19 per 100,000 people, which puts Serbia in the upper half on the list of European countries. The aim of this study was to define the number of suicides committed in the 2001-2015 period in the Province of Vojvodina, the male to female ratio of suicides, the most commonly used method of execution, the proportion of complex suicide, and distribution of suicides according to age groups, seasons, and days of week. This study was conducted as a descriptive retrospective study in the Center for Forensic Medicine, Toxicology and Molecular Genetics, Clinical Center of Vojvodina, by examining autopsy medical records. All suicide cases were divided according to age, gender, method of execution, season of the year, and day of the week. For statistical analysis, χ2 test included in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 was used, where the value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. During the 2001-2015 period, in the Province of Vojvodina, suicide was committed by 2241 people, 1812 men and 429 women. The highest number of suicides was recorded in the 45-54 age group in men and in the ≥75 age group in women. The most commonly used method was hanging in both genders. The proportion of complex suicides was 0.4%. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of suicides committed in different seasons. The highest number of suicides was committed on Friday. This research suggests that there is a need for intensive work on the prevention of suicides, especially among males aged 45-54 and females older than 75, especially in certain months and days when the suicide rate is higher.

Suicide with an unusual home-manufactured firearm.

A 22-year-old male with a medical history of depression was found lying on his right side with a pool of blood around his head. A pistol-shaped metal device was found next to the right hand of the deceased. Examination of the body revealed the presence of a gunshot wound to the head. The entrance wound was located in the right temporal area and was partially surrounded by a semicircular muzzle imprint. Analysis of the firearm revealed a home-manufactured device constructed from the posterior part of a captive bolt gun chamber containing a firing pin. The front part of an original captive bolt's cylinder was replaced with a conical iron tube, which could be detached from the chamber by an unscrewing action. The tube was unrifled and drilled in order to accept standard 9 mm ammunition. A hollow rectangular piece of metal was welded to the posterior part of the chamber perpendicularly and used as a grip. Cases of injuries caused by different types of captive bolt guns are well documented in the forensic literature. However, conversions of captive bolts in projectile-discharging devices or their use in the construction of zip guns, as well as the injuries produced by such types of firearms, are extremely rare in forensic and medico-legal practice.

Genetic analysis of 12 X-STR loci in the Serbian population from Vojvodina Province.

The analysis of 12 X-STR loci included in the Investigator® Argus X-12 kit was performed on a sample of 325 unrelated persons from Vojvodina Province, Republic of Serbia. No significant differences were observed in the allele frequencies in males and females. Heterozygosity values among the studied loci ranged from 67.62 to 94.28%. All loci in female individuals were consistent with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test. The combined power of discrimination values in male and female individuals was 0.9999999994 and 0.999999999999999, respectively. The combined mean exclusion chance was 0.999998 in deficiency cases, 0.9999999977 in normal trio cases, and 0.9999994 in duo cases. Loci DXS10135 and DXS10101 were found to be most polymorphic. The haplotype diversity was found to be greater than 0.993 for all linkage groups. The exact test for pairwise linkage disequilibrium for the 12 loci in the male samples showed significant linkage disequilibrium for the DXS10103-DXS10101 and DXS10134-DXS10146 pairs of loci. The results from the current study confirmed that the panel of 12 X-STR loci is highly polymorphic and informative and can be implemented as a powerful tool in deficient paternity testing and kinship analysis, as well as a useful complement tool of autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) in forensic investigation. Population differentiation analyses indicated significant differences in genetic structure between the Serbian population and the geographically and ethno-linguistically distant populations, while genetic homogeneity was present in populations with similar geographic origin.

Genetic polymorphism of 17 Y chromosomal STRs in the Rusyn population sample from Vojvodina Province, Serbia.

Seventeen short tandem repeats on the Y chromosome were analyzed in the sample of 200 males of Rusyn origin from the Vojvodina Province, Serbia. We observed 180 different haplotypes; 163 of which were unique and 17 occurred between two and four times. The haplotype diversity was 0.9988, and the discrimination capacity was 0.9. Data are available in the Y chromosome haplotype reference database under accession number YA003631. The obtained results were compared to haplotypes from geographically and linguistically close populations.

An unusual suicide case by combination of choking and hanging.

A 40-year-old man was found dead in his prison cell, hanging on a twisted bandage tightened around his neck. His permanent metal tracheostomy tube was completely corked with a piece of paper wrapped with transparent cellophane from a cigarette case. After police investigation and complete autopsy, suicide was determined as the manner of death. Although suicides by 1 form of asphyxia are relatively common, combination of several different forms of asphyxia is far less frequent. We present this unusual and very rare case of suicide by combination of 2 forms of asphyxia, that is, choking and hanging, along with autopsy findings and discussion.

Death due to an unrecognized ascariasis infestation: two medicolegal autopsy cases.

Two unusual autopsy cases of fatal Ascaris infection have been presented. The first case presents lethal diffuse peritonitis due to duodenal rupture caused by the presence of parasitic Ascaris worm in gastrointestinal tract of 2.5-year-old child. The second one is a case of subacute asphyxia caused by obturation of upper respiratory tract by a large number of adult Ascaris roundworms. General economic crisis and inefficient medical service make possible spreading of almost eradicated disease, thus the possibility of the most serious complications of this helminthiasis must not be forgotten.

[Homicide or suicide by strangulation--case report].

INTRODUCTION: Ligature strangulation represents a violent mechanical asphyxiation caused by tightening a loop around the victim's neck, pulled either by an active or passive force. Mechanism of death is most often due to cerebral hypoxia caused by compression of blood vessels which feed the brain, but it can also occur either due to compression and closing the air passages or by stimulating the superior laryngeal nerve. CASE REPORT: An 81-year-old woman was found in her home lying across the couch with a bathrobe belt tied around her neck and a knot at the back side. Body examination showed congestion of the face, conjunctival petechiae as well as a ligature mark in the middle of the neck. The internal examination revealed hematomas on the left side of the tongue, on its base and in the neck muscles on the left side. CONCLUSION: Thorough forensic expertise of a strangulation case includes the circumstances surrounding the death, detailed information of a crime scene and a complete autopsy report. The relevant pieces of information obtained from each of the investigation phase can be vital for making the right decision about the cause of death.