No / A buried or dumped body may be accompanied by a range of materials, including clothing and other textiles, metals such as tools and weapons, as well as plastics and paper products. This chapter concentrates on clothing and metal fastenings associated with clothing. Bodies that have been subject to clandestine disposal may be clothed, semiclothed, or naked. Reconstructing the nature and position of this clothing is critical to understanding the circumstance of disposal as well as perhaps to assisting in establishing motive and offender behavior. In addition, clothing and personal effects may provide assistance in establishing identity, although this will need confirmation by dental records or DNA. Modern clothing, footwear, and accessories are made from a range of materials: natural and synthetic textiles, leather, plastic, and metal. Along with the body they may be subject to a range of depositional environment, including surface disposal and burial in a range of soil types and microclimates. These materials will respond and degrade at different rates often leading to differential preservation.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prelude to the Anatomy Act of 1832, which indulged the anatomists’ scientific ambition, granting a legitimate and sufficient source of cadavers to dissect legally. When read in concert with the history of anatomy and the historical record of body snatching, including case law and anatomy legislation, Frankenstein exemplifies the issues in medico-legal history at the turn of the nineteenth century, for Victor Frankenstein and the Creature’s stories are set amid the context of anatomical study, grave-robbery, crime, punishment and the illicit relationship between medicine and murder. This thesis accordingly addresses the medico-legal history of anatomy, the anatomist’s ambition and complex inhumanity, and the mingled identity of the anatomical subject as illegitimate and criminal. This analysis demonstrates that Frankenstein sheds light upon the anatomist’s ambition, the identity of the human cadaver, and the bioethical consequences of meddling with nature.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prelude to the Anatomy Act of 1832, which indulged the anatomists’ scientific ambition, granting a legitimate and sufficient source of cadavers to dissect legally. When read in concert with the history of anatomy and the historical record of body snatching, including case law and anatomy legislation, Frankenstein exemplifies the issues in medico-legal history at the turn of the nineteenth century, for Victor Frankenstein and the Creature’s stories are set amid the context of anatomical study, grave-robbery, crime, punishment and the illicit relationship between medicine and murder. This thesis accordingly addresses the medico-legal history of anatomy, the anatomist’s ambition and complex inhumanity, and the mingled identity of the anatomical subject as illegitimate and criminal. This analysis demonstrates that Frankenstein sheds light upon the anatomist’s ambition, the identity of the human cadaver, and the bioethical consequences of meddling with nature.

No description available.

The manner in which remains decompose has been and is currently being researched around the world, yet little is still known about the generated scent of death. In fact, it was not until the Casey Anthony trial that research on the odor released from decomposing remains, and the compounds that it is comprised of, was brought to light. The Anthony trial marked the first admission of human decomposition odor as forensic evidence into the court of law; however, it was not “ready for prime time” as the scientific research on the scent of death is still in its infancy. This research employed the use of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from decomposing remains and to assess the impact that different environmental conditions had on the scent of death. Using human cadaver analogues, it was discovered that the environment in which the remains were exposed to dramatically affected the odors released by either modifying the compounds that it was comprised of or by enhancing/hindering the amount that was liberated. In addition, the VOCs released during the different stages of the decomposition process for both human remains and analogues were evaluated. Statistical analysis showed correlations between the stage of decay and the VOCs generated, such that each phase of decomposition was distinguishable based upon the type and abundance of compounds that comprised the odor. This study has provided new insight into the scent of death and the factors that can dramatically affect it, specifically, frozen, aquatic, and soil environments. Moreover, the results revealed that different stages of decomposition were distinguishable based upon the type and total mass of each compound present. Thus, based upon these findings, it is suggested that the training aids that are employed for human remains detection (HRD) canines should 1) be characteristic of remains that have undergone decomposition in different environmental settings, and 2) represent each stage of decay, to ensure that the HRD canines have been trained to the various odors that they are likely to encounter in an operational situation.

En chirurgie vasculaire, l’accès à l’artère fémorale, qu’il soit par une incision chirurgicale ou par une approche percutanée, est très fréquemment utilisé pour une multitude d’interventions vasculaires ou endovasculaires; pour des pontages divers, le traitement d’occlusions artérielles, la réparation d’anévrismes et la pose d’endoprothèses. L’objectif général de ce projet de recherche est de faciliter et réduire les risques des approches de l’artère fémorale par une meilleure compréhension anatomique du triangle fémoral. La méthodologie a été réalisée grâce à l’utilisation de cadavres spécialement embaumés par la méthode développée par Walter Thiel. Les résultats présentés dans ce mémoire ont permis de proposer des solutions en réponse à des problèmes cliniques en chirurgie vasculaire. Dans un premier temps, l’étude de la vascularisation cutanée du triangle fémoral a mené à proposer de nouvelles incisions chirurgicales afin de limiter la dévascularisation cutanée des plaies et ainsi réduire les problèmes de cicatrisation observés. Ensuite, nous avons validé l’identification radiographique et échographique de l’artère fémorale à son croisement avec le ligament inguinal afin de faciliter l’identification d’un site de ponction artérielle adéquat. Enfin, nous avons développé une méthode échographique simple qui facilite l’approche percutanée de l’artère fémorale, même chez les patients obèses. Les retombées de ce projet de recherche sont multiples pour les cliniciens, l’étude fournit une meilleure compréhension anatomique tridimensionnelle du triangle fémoral et les techniques proposées dans ce mémoire pourront apporter une amélioration de la pratique chirurgicale et faciliter le travail des médecins. Toutefois, ces propositions devront maintenant être validées en clinique. / In vascular surgery, access to the femoral artery is frequently used either through a surgical incision of the groin or by a percutaneous approach in a wide variety of vascular and endovascular procedures; for multiple bypasses, treatment of arterial occlusions, aneurysms repair and placement of various stents. The general purpose of this study is to facilitate and reduces the risks of both the surgical and the percutaneous approaches of the femoral artery through a better anatomical understanding of the femoral triangle. The methodology was conducted on specifically embalmed cadavers according to the method developed by Walter Thiel. The results presented in this memory allowed us to propose solutions to clinical problems in vascular surgery. First, the study of the cutaneous vascularisation of the femoral triangle led to suggest new surgical approaches in order to reduce lesions of the cutaneous arteries and the potential devascularization of the borders of the wound yielding a better postoperative outcome. Then, we validated the radiographic and ultrasonographic position and identification of the inguinal ligament and the proximal femoral artery to facilitate the identification of a safe arterial puncture site. Moreover, we developed a simple method for ultrasound-guided arterial puncture, suitable for obese patients, to facilitate the percutaneous approach of the femoral artery. The benefits of this research project are multiple for clinicians, the study provides a better tridimensional anatomic understanding of the femoral triangle and the techniques proposed will lead to an improved surgical practice and facilitate the work of doctors. However, our work and propositions still need to be validated clinically.