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The original theory of postmortem rigidity has been developed and substantiated based on the concept of postmortem muscular contracture. It is postulated that the unrestricted growth of Ca2+ concentration in myoplasm of contractile cells during the immediate postmortal period brings the actin-myosine complex to the force generation state without subsequent relaxation.

It is shown based on the historical and legal analysis that the designation of the child's status as a newborn infant throughout the period of its neonatal life till violent death "at or immediately after births" is the exclusive prerogative of the law-enforcement authorities. An original approach has been developed and recommended for the introduction into the expert practice. According to this proposal facts and arguments in the "Expert conclusions" should be formulated so as to avoid mentioning the child as newborn and to indicate only the duration of its extrauterine life. Such an approach leaves it to the law-enforcement authorities to decide in each concrete case whether the child should be designated as a newborn infant or not.

The main theories of myocardial lesions associated with a blunt chest injury proposed starting from the XIXth century till the present time are considered based on the overview of the literature data. It is shown that the theory of selective mechanical activation of ATP-dependent K+ channels is most promising for further investigations into the mechanisms of myocardial dysfunction resulting from blunt chest injuries. The authors emphasize the absence of the universally accepted theory explaining the mechanism behind traumatic cardiac troubles and its fatal outcome despite numerous studies of cardiac lesions in patients with a blunt chest injury. It dictates the necessity of further research, both clinical and experimental, for a deeper insight into the problem.

Based on analyses of 756 intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements in different terms of postmortal period, it was established that decrease in IOP occurred simultaneously with increase in prescription of death coming and had its own pattern, which could be described with mathematical formulas, resulting from fundamental conservation laws.

The authors give general analysis of the work of 51-th Territorial Bureau of RF Forensic-Medical Expert Examination for on-site corpse inspection and detailed analysis of the work of the Moscow operative investigation group during 2006. The corpse inspection quality and effectiveness depend on timely and complete realization of organizing preparatory measures ensuring optimal conditions for the inspection. Adoption of new and use of existing scientific and technical methods make it possible to increase the reliability of conclusions regarding prescription of death coming.

The authors propose a modern approach to determination of intraocular pressure in corpses. The method holds promise for estimation of prescription of death coming.