Russian Journal of Forensic Medicine

The article is dedicated to the anniversary of the outstanding physician and scientist Vladislav Ivanovich Viter, founder of the Scientific School of Forensic Medicine. It tells about his life path, scientific achievements, and contribution to the development of medicine. Vladislav Ivanovich was born into a family of doctors and devoted his whole life to medicine. He went from a student to a professor and head of the Department of Forensic Medicine. Viter is the author of >400 scientific papers, including 30 books, and has received numerous awards and titles. The article emphasizes the importance of Vladislav Ivanovich’s contribution to the development of forensic medicine and medicine in general. It also noted his personal qualities such as hard work, perseverance, and dedication.

BACKGROUND: When creating models utilizing artificial neural networks, the quantity of training data and the distribution of data need to be considered, particularly when making gender predictions.

AIM: This study seeks to determine the potential impact of using the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) on gender prediction using the artificial neural networks model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study utilized a dataset consisting of 297 cephalometric measurements from Indonesian patients, comprising 229 samples from females and 68 samples from males. WebCeph is used to measure certain parameters, such as Sella-Nation-Point A (SNA) angle, mandibular length, mandibular angle, Sella-Glabella-Point A (SGA) angle, and diagnosis. Data processing and artificial neural networks model creation were conducted using Python.

RESULTS: The gender identification accuracy of the artificial neural networks model is 87% for females and 0% for males, resulting in an overall average accuracy of 78%. When using SMOTE, the accuracy is 22%, with 0% for females and 37% for males. However, when using SMOTE and normalization, the accuracy increases to 71%, with 82% for females and 30% for males. The accuracy of normalization without SMOTE is 76%, with 86% for females and 14% for males.

CONCLUSIONS: This research has proven the efficacy of SMOTE in improving the classification of male matrices. Nevertheless, this study reveals that the overall accuracy results of SMOTE are suboptimal in comparison to the absence of SMOTE and normalization. The application of data balancing strategies is necessary to achieve optimal accuracy in gender prediction when artificial neural networks, and other parameters must be applied.

BACKGROUND: Although scooters were officially recognized as vehicles in the Russian Federation not so long ago, the incidence of scooter injuries has been growing for several years.

AIM: To analyze epidemiological data and the nature of injuries in victims of nonfatal electric scooter incidents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 78 medical records of persons injured in road incidents involving electric scooters who were treated in the trauma department of the Regional Hospital No. 4 of Adler between 2020 and 2021. The nature of the injury by sex, age, seasonality, time of day, and characteristics of damage depending on the category of road users (driver and pedestrian) were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTS: Of the 78 road incidents involving electric scooters, 28 occurred in 2020 and 50 in 2021. The sex distribution was nearly the same, with ≥40 men and 38 women, and their median age was 36 (30–45.8) years. Most of the accidents (n=52) occurred in summer and autumn months. The exact time of injury was known in 35 cases (17‰ in the daytime, 18‰ in the evening. Depending on the circumstances, all accidents were divided into falls from electric scooters (n=73), collisions of moving scooters with pedestrians (n=3), and collisions of moving scooters with a moving car (n=2). Of the 73 patients who sustained fractures, 67 had a closed type. Intra-articular fractures were detected in 41 victims. Lowe-limb fractures (n=43) prevailed over fractures of other localizations. In addition, 18 cases of knee injuries and 14 cases of trauma to the proximal tibial epiphysis were recorded.

CONCLUSION: The incidence of scooter injury is increasing. In the warm regions of the Russian Federation, such accidents have a year-round prevalence with predominance in the summer months owing to the large influx of vacationers. More often than other incidents, falls from electric scooters are noted, resulting in lower limb injuries, including with intra-articular fractures of the condyles of the tibia.

BACKGROUND: The comparative morphology of the human and animal skeletons has been incompletely described in the forensic medical and anthropological literature. Moreover, bones of the distal parts of bear limbs are anatomically similar to those of humans. Together with some features of the bear’s skeleton, poor preservation, absence of claws, and incomplete remains, difficulties and errors may occur during identification.

AIM: To create an illustrative material describing morphological features important for the identification of each element of the distal parts of bear limbs in comparison with humans.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preparations of the distal parts of the right thoracic and right pelvic extremities of the bear were made using osteological materials. The missing talon phalanges of a bear and bones of a human hand and foot were taken from the institute collections. The International Veterinary Anatomical Nomenclature was used to describe the anatomical features of bear bones, and the latest recommendations of International Anatomical Terminology were considered for human bones.

RESULTS: Each bone of the bear’s hand and foot was described in comparison with a similar human bone. For greater versatility, descriptions were made in terms of the international zoological nomenclature. For all bones, except for distal sesamoid bones, high-quality photos are provided for aspects that are important for identification. Comparative anatomical analysis showed that the bones of the wrist differ to a greater extent, whereas all tarsal bones, which are part of the human foot, had analogs in the bear foot and had closer measurements. The articular surfaces of the heads of the metacarpals and metatarsals showed specific ridges articulating with the cutouts at the bases of the proximal phalanges of the fingers. In addition, the bear’s hand and foot contained numerous inset sesamoid bones and claw-like processes on the distal phalanges of the fingers.

CONCLUSION: Comparative anatomical analysis showed similarities in the structures of the bones of the hand and foot of a brown bear and a human caused by foot walking. Owing to the morphological similarity, bone identification can be difficult. The set of features described in the article, which are specific to bear bones, in combination with illustrative material will help in identifying bones more accurately, even for individual bones.

BACKGROUND: The article considers the possibilities of preventing self-harm and suicide among inmates in minimum security institutions of the penal and correctional system of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Statistics of the annual cases of self-harm and suicidal acts confirm the need to prevent them using psychological, technical, and legislative tools.

AIM: To determine the possibilities of preventing self-harm and suicidal acts among persons serving sentences in minimum security correctional institutions of the penal and correctional system of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An intellect map was used to visualize concepts. The following were used as tools for psychological diagnostics: questionnaires to establish the presence or absence of mental disorders and identify signs of potential suicide risk; sketch of a potential client’s persona to see the behavior, emotional state, daily activities, demographic characteristics, and needs and goals of the client; and thematic plan schedule of individual counseling meetings.

RESULTS: Autoaggression was most often singled out as the most relevant destructive form of behavior in correctional institutions of the penal system. To understand the phenomenon of autodestructive behavior, an intellectual map of this concept was presented, showing its specificity, spheres of its research and study, and types and highlighting the directions for the prevention of such behavior.

CONCLUSION: The implementation of the formulated proposals, as well as the control and coordination of activities to prevent self-harm and suicide among inmates by the management, was found to reduce these incidents. This will positively help eliminate one of the threats to the personal safety of convicts.

BACKGROUND: Drowning is the third leading cause of death by unintentional injury, accounting for 7% of all injury-related deaths worldwide. According to the latest World Health Organization Global Health Estimates, 236,000 people died from drowning in 2019.

AIM: This systematic review aimed to examine the clinical, laboratory, and other postmortem characteristics associated with death from drowning in freshwater areas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed, Epistemonikos, and Cochrane Library databases was performed with no restrictions to find relevant articles. After the removal of duplicates, articles were reviewed, and information on the clinical, laboratory, and other postmortem characteristics of freshwater drowning deaths was extracted.

RESULTS: Of the 493 articles, 73 papers were considered relevant for full-text review. Of these, 22 articles met the inclusion criteria for the review. Most drowning deaths occurred in freshwater. Victims were males, with a male-to-female ratio of 8:3. External and internal clinical characteristics that are widely reported included signs of asphyxia such as cyanosis of the lips and bilateral fingernails, immersion signs such as washerwoman’s hand, pink teeth, Neil’s sign, Svechnikov’s sign, Wydler’s sign, and debris in the airways, and typical drowning signs such as froth in the airway, emphysema aquosum, and Paltauf spot.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the presence of signs of asphyxia, immersion signs, and typical drowning signs such as froth in the airway, emphysema aquosum, and Paltauf spots were associated with drowning deaths in freshwater.

Fractures of various locations as a result of traumatism rank second in both Russia and abroad. In Iran, and in the daily work of a forensic expert, skeletal trauma, if not prevalent, is one of the injuries encountered during the examination of victims, accused, and other persons. In addition to determining the mechanism of bone fracture formation, experts face cases of persistent injuries. Determining the time of the occurrence of bodily injuries in living persons generally does not involve special labor if full-fledged research objects are available. A much more difficult task is determining the age of a bone fracture from control radiographs, without primary clinical and radiological data, when the expert is provided with only control radiographs of the area of interest, which were taken after a long time has elapsed from the time of injury. In modern domestic and foreign scientific sources, no clear criteria have been established for determining the age of fractures based radiographs. Although some studies have been devoted to this issue in forensic medical literature, they are based on the results of nonradiological research methods: histological, histochemical, fractographic, ultrasound, and others. In the specialized literature on traumatology, determining the age of fractures since occurrence is not a priority. The analysis of literary sources shows the relevance of research on radiography methods for forensic medical practice.

The identification of traumatic causes in the case of damage caused by sharp objects has always been one of the main issues of interest to the investigating authorities. Currently, forensic medicine allows for determining a specific acute traumatic object, including glass fragments. However, in the available literature, no information is available about the possibility of detecting microfragments of glass in the scar. Herein, the case of a man who suffered a chest wound is presented. The patient was brought to the hospital, where the wound was sutured. In the medical records, the wound was described as a stab wound and could have been caused by a knife. The accused categorically denied inflicting a knife wound on this person and argued that the victim was in a state of severe alcoholic intoxication and fell repeatedly, including on a sideboard, glass from which was found during an inspection of the scene. Four months later, the victim died from alcohol poisoning. A forensic medical examination was conducted to confirm the possibility of injury from glass fragments from the sideboard. A scar was identified on the victim’s chest. Microparticles were found in the scar tissue, and their characteristics led to the conclusion that they were microfragments of colorless, transparent glass. Determining the presence of glass microfragments in scar tissue does not require complex technical equipment and are common in wide expert practice; their use has confirmed the possibility of detecting glass microfragments not only in soft tissues along the wound channel but also in scar tissue after wound healing.

2024 marks the 120th anniversary of the death of Ivan Ivanovich Neiding, a prominent Russian forensic scientist and professor of the medical faculty of Imperial Moscow University. The formative years of forensic medicine in Russia are inextricably linked to natural development and success in medical science. An analysis of the history of the forensic medical service also showed its close connection with the law and the needs of judicial investigative institutions. This interaction revealed the nature of scientific research and the practical orientation of forensic medical examination. I.I. Neiding has made significant contributions to the development of Russian forensic medical science and practice and was one of the best representatives of the faculty of Moscow University at the end of the XIX century. His name is associated with the period of brilliant scientific flourishing of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine. During his 22 years as head of the department, I.I. Neiding had done a lot to ensure that the teaching of forensic medicine meets the ever-increasing practical demands. The creative path of this scientist can be an example for young specialists in the field of forensic medicine. His image was recreated based on the memoirs of his contemporaries and speeches. The article provides information about the life and work of I.I. Neiding. The memoirs of this scientist’s contemporaries and views on forensic medicine are presented. This study has not only cognitive significance but also carries the idea of educating young professionals. Among others, I.I. Neiding makes up the color of Russian medicine and pedagogy. Many of the provisions of I.I. Neiding’s research have not lost their relevance even today.

In Moscow, on the basis of the Moscow Regional Research Institute named after M.F. Vladimirsky, the annual XI International Congress “Current Issues of Forensic Medicine and Expert Practice - 2024” was held on April 17–18, 2024. It was dedicated to the memory of Professor Vladimir Aleksandrovich Klevno, a talented scientist, a prominent domestic forensic physician, the first head of the Department of Forensic Medicine of MONIKI, one of the members of the Council of the National Medical Chamber, President of the Association of Forensic Experts, editor-in-chief of Forensic Medicine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, who was the ideological inspirer and organizer of this congress. For several decades V.A. Klevno was one of the country’s leading specialists in the field of forensic medicine, a major scientist and organizer of forensic science and expert practice, who made an invaluable contribution to the development of domestic forensic activity. The congress continued the proud tradition of bringing together experts, researchers, and professionals to further develop collaboration and exchange of cutting-edge research and the latest developments in the fields of forensic medicine, pathological anatomy, and legal practice. This international congress aimed to expand the knowledge of specialists in the fields of forensic medicine, pathological anatomy, and healthcare organization. The conference was distinguished by a rich program, a variety of new formats, and effective working tools that were used by the organizers this year. In particular, special projects were launched – thematic video master classes and the work of the sections “Non-state forensic activity” and “Histological studies in pathoanatomical and forensic medical expert practice.” Within the framework of the congress, a joint session of the Association of Forensic Experts and the Interregional Thanatoradiological Society “Radiation diagnostics in pathoanatomical and forensic medical expert practice” was also held. The article is devoted to an overview of the most striking and memorable events of the event.