From the back through the thorax into the eye-unusual double suicide with a firearm

The bodies of a27-year-old woman and a44-year-old man were found lying entwined on their bed. Alarge-caliber revolver lay on the bed next to them. The forensic examinations at the discovery site and the subsequent medico-legal autopsies revealed afatal, sagittal gunshot wound of the thorax with atrajectory from back to front in the woman. The underlying man showed aretained projectile with asagittal bullet track from the entrance wound in the middle of the anterior chest wall to the spinal column. Examinations at the scene carried out to estimate the time since death showed consistent results for both persons with acoincident time of death approximately 7h before the time of examination. The results of the subsequently conducted toxicological investigations revealed an acute influence by exceptionally high concentrations of amphetamine in the woman and acombined intoxication with amphetamine, ecstasy and alcohol in the man. Both individuals showed metabolites indicative of previous cocaine consumption. In conjunction with the police investigations, the forensic medical findings strongly suggested an unusual case of double suicide

Molecular and chemical characterization of a Sphagnum palustre clone: Key steps towards a standardized and sustainable moss bag technique

This work aimed to define the molecular and chemical signature of a S. palustre clone developed in the framework of the EU-FP7 Mossclone project to improve the standardization and reliability of the moss-bag technique. The molecular characterization was performed by a set of DNA molecular markers (RAPD, ISJ, PCR-RFLP, sequencing and microsatellites) to tag the clone produced within the project. Molecular characterization also provided new DNA markers that can be applied in systematic analyses of Sphagnum, and gave new insights to implement well established techniques. The elemental composition of the clone was measured by ICP-MS analysis of 54 major and trace elements, with and without commonly applied pre-exposure treatments (oven devitalization and EDTA washing). Concentrations of almost all analyzed elements were significantly lower (from 10 to 100 times) in the clone than in conspecific field moss, apart from some elements (K, Mo, P and Na) deriving from the culture medium or EDTA treatment. Oven devitalization and EDTA washing did not significantly affect the clone composition. A comparison between the elemental composition of the clone with that of naturally growing Sphagnum species proved the particularly low elemental content of the clone. Therefore, in view of a rigorously standardized moss-bag protocol for the monitoring of persistent atmospheric pollutants, the use of the S. palustre clone, a biomaterial with very low and constant element composition, and homogenous morphological characteristics is strongly recommended