[The current problems of injury assessment dealt with in the publications in the journal "Sudebnomeditsinskaya ekspertiza (Forensic medical expertise)" for the period from 2000 till 2014].

The objective of the present study was the analysis of the scientometric characteristics of the publication activity of the authors participating in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza (Forensic medical expertise)" for the long period from 2000 till 2014 with special reference to the assessment of the coverage of the most topical problems, such as diagnostics of various injuries and their variability, expert evaluation of the conditions and mechanisms of their infliction for the purpose of characteristic of the properties of traumatic objects (weapons). The study allowed to identify the leading domestic and foreign periodicals most frequently cited by the authors of "Sudebno-meditsinskaya expertiza". The most active authors of the journal represent the research groups of the departments and laboratories of the forensic medical expertise agencies based at Moscow, Sankt-Peterburg, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Kazan, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Ryazan, Tver, and Khabarovsk. It is concluded that the continuation of the analysis and assessment of the scientific activity of the specialists in the this field of forensic medical expertise is an indispensable condition for the further development and improvement of forensic medical expertise in the Russian Federation.

[The possibilities for determining the passenger position inside the car passenger compartment based on the injuries to the extremities estimated with the use of the sequential mathematical analysis].

The objective of the present study was to determine the diagnostic coefficients (DC) of injuries to the upper and lower extremities of the passengers inside the car passenger compartment based on the analysis of 599 archival expert documents available from 45 regional state bureaus of forensic medical examination of the Russian federation for the period from 1995 till 2014. These materials included the data obtained by the examination of 200 corpses and 300 live persons involved in the traffic accidents. The statistical and mathematical treatment of these materials with the use the sequential analysis method based on the Byes and Wald formulas yielded the diagnostic coefficients that made it possible to identify the most important signs characterizing the risk of injuries for the passenger occupying the front seat of the vehicle. In the case of the lethal outcome, such injuries include fractures of the right femur (DC -8.9), bleeding (DC -7.1), wounds in the soft tissues of the right thigh (DC -5.0) with the injurious force applied to its anterior surface, bruises on the posterior surface of the right shoulder (DC -6.2), the right deltoid region (DC -5.9), and the posterior surface of the right forearm (DC -5.5), fractures of the right humerus (DC -5.), etc. When both the driver and the passengers survive, the most informative signs in the latter are bleeding and scratches (DC -14.5 and 11.5 respectively) in the soft tissues at the posterior surface of the right shoulder, fractures of the right humerus (DC -10.0), bruises on the anterior surface of the right thigh (DC -13.0), the posterior surface of the right forearm (DC -10.0) and the fontal region of the right lower leg (DC -10.0), bleeding in the posterior region of the right forearm (DC -9.0) and the anterior region of the left thigh (DC -8.6), fractures of the right femur (DG -8.1), etc. It is concluded that the knowledge of diagnostic coefficients helps to draw attention of the experts to the analysis of the above morphological signs for the objective determination of the passenger position inside the car passenger compartment during traffic accidents and thereby to improve the quality of expert conclusions and the results of forensic medical examination of the injuries inflicted in car crashes.

[The analysis of publications in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza (Forensic Medical Expertise)" for the period from 2000 till 2014].

This paper presents the result of the analysis of the scientometric characteristics of the materials concerning the main aspects of research carried out in the framework of the speciality 14.03.05 (Forensic medicine published in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza (Forensic Medical Expertise)" during a long period. The objective of the analysis was to establish the priorities in this field, reveal the lines of research of the highest interest for domestic and foreign authors, and estimate the value of the relevant scientific publications. It is concluded that the scientometric analysis of the scientific literature on the problems of forensic medical examination is indispensable for the further improvement of its quality.

[The current problems of investigations into thanatogenesis and the causes of death considered in the articles published in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza (Forensic Medical Expertise)" during the period from 2000 to 2014].

The objective of the present work was the analysis of the scientometrical characteristics of the publication activity of the authors of the articles concerning the problems of investigations into thanatogenesis and the causes of death that were submitted for the publication in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza" during the period from 2000 to 2014. The analysis was aimed at detecting the priority fields of research of interest not only for domestic but especially for foreign specialists. The study has revealed the most popular Russian-language and foreign journals that were most frequently cited by the authors of "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza". It was shown that the largest number of publications were submitted by the research groups affiliated with the departments and other subdivisions of the practical expert institutions of Moscow, Sankt-Petersburg, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Baku, and Krasnoyarsk. It is concluded that the further analysis and assessment of the research activities of specialist in forensic medical expertise with the use of scientometrical methods constitute the indispensable condition for the development and improvement of the quality of forensic medical expertise in the Russian Federation.

[The topical issues of road traffic injury emerging from the publications in the journal "Forensic Medical Expertise" for the period from 1958 to 2012].

The results of the sientometric analysis of the publications in the journal Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza (Forensic Medical Expertise) for the 55 year period (from 1958 to 2012) was used to evaluate the information support of scientific research and practical observations of forensic medical experts concerning the topical issues of road traffic injury in this country. The authors performed the search for the relevant publications which revealed 165 articles that were classified and grouped with a view to their systematic assessment for the enhancement of the effectiveness of research work and practical activities of specialists concerned with forensic medical traumatology with special reference to road traffic injury. The present paper is a preliminary communication to be followed by a series of further publications containing the results of in-depth sientometric analysis of the articles published by specialists in injury cases involving cars, trains, and airplanes in the journal Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza.

[The specific features of a lethal injury to the driver and the passenger of a scooter resulting from the collision with a car moving in the same direction].

Forensic medical diagnostics of the injuries inflicted to the drivers and the passengers of bicycles (scooters, mopeds, quadrocycles, etc.) remains a serious challenge for the specialists involved in forensic medical and combined medico-autotechnical expertises. The present article is an overview of materials pertinent to the analysis of this form of traffic injuries. The approach to the analysis is exemplified by the case of repeated panel expertise with the purpose of elucidation of the mechanisms and the sequence of events leading to a combined blunt injury in the driver and the passenger of a scooter resulting from the collision with a car moving at a high speed in the same direction. Both victims presented with a whiplash injury to the brain stem region responsible for their immediate death at the scene of the accident. The results of the expertise allowed to differentiate between the driver and the passenger in terms of the extent of the injury. The authors emphasize the necessity of and good prospects for further traffic injury research bearing in mind a great variety of the aforementioned means of transportation.

[A case of death resulting from compression of the body by the load (timber logs) that fell out of the vehicle in a road accident].

The authors describe an example of repeated panel forensic medical expertise of a case of death resulting from compression of the body by the load (timber logs) that fell out of the vehicle in a road accident. The mechanisms and the sequence of development of the injuries inflicted to a pedestrian, starting from the combined blunt trauma to the head, body, and extremities from the collision with one KamAZ lorry that was followed by the impact of the load (timber logs) that fell out of another KamAZ vehicle. The necessity of further investigations for the development of universal expert criteria for the intragroup and individual identification of the injurious objects is emphasized.

[Postural asphyxia in the publications of foreign authors].

In this country, expertise of the corpses of subjects who died from various forms of asphixia is the third, after mechanical injury and intoxication, most frequent procedure in the forensic medical practice. Asphixia may be either violent (i.e. caused by a variety of external factors) or non-violent (resulting from the disturbances of intra-tissue respiration). According to the statistical data accumulated by the Russian State Forensic Expertise Facilities for the period from 2009 till 2013, the examination of the corpses of subjects who died from various forms of asphyxia accounts for 23.9-24.6% of all cases of violent death. The foreign forensic medical literature reports rare cases of death in accidents categorized by the authors as postural asphyxia. The objective of the present communication was to discuss similar observations of mechanical asphixia reported by the Russian forensic medical experts in the papers published in the second half of the 20th century in conjunction with the cases encountered in the current forensic medical practice. The authors emphasize that the cases of death from mechanical asphyxia are usually described in the domestic literature in terms of "compression asphyxia" or "asphyxia from compression of chest or abdomen".

[The topical problems of the car accident injury emerging from the materials of the articles published in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza" during the period from 1958 to 2012].

The authors undertook the scientometric analysis of the articles published in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza" during the last 55 years (from 1958 to 2012) with special reference to the information support of research and practical activities of forensic medical experts in this country concerning the topical problems of the car accident injury. The search for relevant information revealed a total of 111 articles that were categorized into several groups for their further systematization and analysis with the view for improving the effectiveness of research and experimental studies in the framework of the principal activities of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Department of the Russian Federation. This article is an extension of previous publications of the authors concerning the main aspects of the car accident injury. The forthcoming reports to be published in the journal "Sudebno-meditsinskaya ekspertiza" will present the results of the further in-depth scientometric analysis of the data on road accidents in this country.

[Prospects for the use of walking characteristics of the subjects with the injuries to the locomotor apparatus in the expert practice].

This paper is devoted to the problems of clinical and biochemical studies of the walking characteristics of the subjects with the injuries to the locomotor apparatus. The data presented reflect the criteria for the medical and socio-medical assessment of walking disorders that allow for the objective interpretation of the results of diagnostics and treatment of the patients presenting with pathological changes in the organs of movement. It is shown that these criteria still poorly developed and adapted to the purposes of forensic medical practice can be employed for the expert estimation of damages to the pelvis and large joints of the lower extremities.

[The significance of goniometric data for the estimation of the harm to health inflicted to the victims of ankle joint injuries].

The present paper is devoted to the forensic medical estimation of the harm to health inflicted to the victims of ankle joint injuries with reference to the role and significance of traditional goniometry in the practical work of traumatologists, orthopedists and forensic medical experts. It is shown that the use of goniometric data alone as the sole criterion for the estimation of the harm to health in case of ankle joint injuries is unjustified and hampers further development of this field of forensic medicine.

[On the forensic medical estimation of the harm to health in the case of the ankle joint injury].

This paper is focused on the forensic medical evaluation of the severity of the harm to health of the subjects suffering an ankle joint (AJ) injury. The retrospective data pertinent to the forensic medical evaluation of ankle joint injuries are presented in conjunction with the methods for their clinical diagnostics currently applied in traumatology and orthopedics and by the specialists in socio-medical expertise for the assessment of the efficacy of the surgical treatment, prognosis, and rehabilitation of the affected patients.

[The potential of the modern methods for clinical diagnostics applied in the forensic medical assessment of functional disturbances of the ankle joint in the case of its injury].

The present paper is focused on the problems of clinical diagnostics of the functional disturbances in the locomotor apparatus as exemplified by the injuries to the ankle joint. The results of analysis of the entire range of up-to-date diagnostic tools for the purpose suggest the necessity of revision of obsolete methodological principles still adopted in forensic medicine as regards the problem being condidered. It is proposed based on the recent progress achieved by the specialists in traumatology, orthopedics, medicosocial expertise, and the related areas that a forensic medical expert should not confine oneself to the consideration of the sole criterion, such as "the range of articular movements", for the estimation of the severity of harm to health in the patients presenting with a joint injury.