Consumption of psychoactive substances in prison: Between initiation and improvement, what trajectories occur after incarceration? COSMOS study data.

Background: Few studies have examined the consumption trajectories of inmates after entry to prison. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the consumption of psychoactive substance between the period before detention and during incarceration and to characterize the profiles of prisoners with similar consumption trajectories during incarceration.

Methods And Findings: A multicenter, cross-sectional study was performed in all of the prisons from one region of France.

Quantification of fatal helium exposure following self-administration.

Helium is nontoxic at standard conditions, plays no biological role, and is found in trace amounts in human blood. Helium can be dangerous if inhaled to excess, since it is a simple tissue hypoxia and so displaces the oxygen needed for normal respiration. This report presents a fatal case of a middle-aged male victim who died from self-administered helium exposure.

Tomodensitometric survey of the distance between thoracic and abdominal vital organs and the wall according to BMI, abdominal diameter and gender: proposition of an indicative chart for the forensic activities.

Introduction: Forensic doctors are frequently asked by magistrates when dealing principally with knife wounds, about the depth of the blade which may have penetrated the victim's body. Without the use of imaging, it is often difficult to respond to this question, even in an approximate way. Knowledge of the various distances between organs and the skin wall would allow an assessment to be made of the minimum blade length required to obtain the injuries observed.

Fatal falls from bicycles: a case report.

Though rare occurrences, fatal falls from bicycles are generally linked to the absence of a protective helmet and/or a collision with another vehicle. The case presented here is exceptional due to its circumstances and the consequences of the accident: a fall with no obstacle at a low speed that brought about multiple traumas and the death of a cyclist wearing a protective helmet. Comparing this against a review of cyclist accidentology literature, this case is unique.

Organ donation in France: legislation, epidemiology and ethical comments.

The Bioethics Laws revised in 2004 have defined rules concerning organ donation and transplantation. They have also permitted the creation of the French Biomedicine Agency which guarantees the right of enforcement. In France there are three situations in which organs may be harvested: from cadaveric donors, from living donors and, since 2005, from non heart beating donors.