Mehdi Ben Khelil

Unusual suicides with band saws: Two case reports and a literature review

Suicides or suicide attempts with power saws (band, circular or chain saws) are rather rare events and only a few case reports exist in the forensic literature. The use of a band saw, in particular, has been extremely rare in cases of suicide. We report two cases of suicide that occurred in the same suburban area, three years apart. In each case, the victim was a carpenter and had a history of psychiatric disorder and/or of prior suicide attempts. We summarize the findings of the death scene investigations, the pertinent autopsy findings, and also summarize the world literature pertaining to suicide committed with power saws.

Sudden Death Due to Hydatid Disease: A Six‐Year Study in the Northern Part of Tunisia

Human ecchinococcosis also known as hydatid disease is a zoonotic infection caused by the tapeworm Ecchinococcus with 2–3 Million cases worldwide. We hereby report a 6 years period study of Sudden death due to hydatidosis aiming to analyze the epidemiological criteria, death circumstances, and autopsy observations attributed to hydatid disease. During the past 6 years, 26 death cases were due to hydatid disease. Our analysis shows that the sex ratio (M/F) was 1.6, the mean age was 31‐year old, and 65% of the subjects lived in rural places. In 17 cases, death occurred in the victims place, five victims died after a heavy exercise, and in two cases, death occurred immediately after trauma. At autopsy, 91% of the cysts were found in the liver. In three cases, death followed a septic state, and in two cases, it followed an acute respiratory failure. Death was attributed to anaphylaxis in 17 cases.

Sex determination of a Tunisian population by CT scan analysis of the skull

It is widely accepted that the estimation of biological attributes in the human skeleton is more accurate when population-specific standards are applied. With the shortage of such data for contemporary North African populations, it is duly required to establish population-specific standards. We present here the first craniometric standards for sex determination of a contemporary Tunisian population. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between sex and metric parameters of the skull in this population using CT scan analysis and to generate proper reliable standards for sex determination of a complete or fragmented skull. The study sample comprised cranial multislice computed tomography scans of 510 individuals equally distributed by sex. ASIRTM software in a General ElectricTM workstation was used to position 37 landmarks along the volume-rendered images and the multiplanar slices, defining 27 inter-landmark distances. Frontal and parietal bone thickness was also measured for each case. The data were analyzed using basic descriptive statistics and logistic regression with cross-validation of classification results. All of the measurements were sexually dimorphic with male values being higher than female values. A nine-variable model achieved the maximum classification accuracy of 90% with −2.9% sex bias and a six-variable model yielded 85.9% sexing accuracy with −0.97% sex bias. We conclude that the skull is highly dimorphic and represents a reliable bone for sex determination in contemporary Tunisian individuals.

Pattern of suicide by self-poisoning in Northern Tunisia: An eleven-year study (2005-2015)

OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to discuss the epidemiological features of self-poisoning suicide in Northern Tunisia. METHODS We conducted a retrospective, descriptive and cross-sectional study, including all the cases of fatal self-poisoning suicide occurring between January 2005 and December 2015. RESULTS In the study period, 204 cases of self-poisoning suicide occurred in northern Tunisia, with a prevalence of 0.44 cases/100 000 inhabitants/year. Among these cases, 59% were females (the sex ratio was 0.69). The mean age was 34 ± 15.3 years-old. The most common age group of the victims (28.4%) was between 20 and 29 years old. Victims were unemployed in 45% of cases and single at the time of suicide in 52%. None of the victims left a suicide note. Self-poisonings were due to the ingestion of drugs (52.5%), pesticides (42.6%), caustic products (5.5%) and Butane gas (1 case). CONCLUSIONS Fatal casualties of self-poisoning in Tunisia are frequently young, single, unemployed women. This pattern would allow planning of targeted preventive measures.

Accidental and occupational ligature strangulation in northern Tunisia: four-case study

BackgroundDeath by strangulation is a violent and frequent method of homicides. Strangulation is rarely accidental due to ligature which is caused by a wide variety of objects such as cords, ropes or clothing articles (scarves). It concerns mostly accidents at work, rarely road traffic accidents and domestic ones. We report four cases of occupational and accidental strangulation causing death.Case presentationIn our cases, the ligature link was a scarf or a towel. The link was caught on the belt of a tractor in two cases: on a drill pipe and on a combine harvester. Death occurred on site in three cases. The external examination has marked an asphyxia syndrome associated with a large strangulation mark. Furthermore, the autopsy findings have revealed large ecchymotic infiltrations of the neck muscles, a rupture of the trachea, and the oesophagus with a disjunction of cervical vertebra with a contusion of the spinal cord.ConclusionsThe ruptures of the trachea, oesophagus and cervical vertebra are not classic strangulation lesions but are explained by the brutality and violence of the traction exerted on the neck. We highlight the importance of preventive measures in this accidental type of deaths.

Organizational Ostracism: A Potential Framework in Order to Deal with It

Background Organizational ostracism is defined as a violation of norms that we are suggested to acknowledge at the workplace. It results in the exclusion of one person or multiple persons, and causes damage to our innate need to belong. This kind of behaviorism can be engaged through a hierarchical or nonhierarchical relationship. Three elements interact in the framework of organizational ostracism: the actor, the target, and the institution. Our aim was to describe the different factors interacting with every element in order to produce recommendations targeting to prevent the occurrence of such behaviorism in an institution and to help targets of such a violence in order to handle this situation and go forward. As psychological impact of ostracism has frequently been studied in the literature, we focused on its impact on professional tasks. Methods We performed a questionnaire-based study about organizational ostracism. This questionnaire was established through an online platform (https://www.sondageonline.com) and made available through the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/KrkVXe3bMEc79cau2. A keyword was sent to all participants. We created a 23-interrogation questionnaire with open and short questions. Nonwritten consent was obtained from all participants. Results The actor of ostracism engaged in ostracism, in most of the cases, with other persons without a real purpose. The actor of ostracism had an antecedent of problematic relationship at work in 82.9% of the cases. Of the participants, 58.5% were of the view that ostracism aimed to cause hurt and isolate them. Professional isolation was observed in 58.5% of the cases; 51.2% of the participants tried to improve their work potential and explained their reaction by an intrinsic motivation. The organization atmosphere was judged to be bad in most of the cases. Conclusion Our study showed that ostracism was mainly observed in public practice.