Low Down

It is absolutely necessary for a medicolegal system to have access to a well-equipped, adequately staffed toxicology laboratory. Without this, rulings as to cause and manner of death may be erroneous. All physicians and toxicologists have had cases where an individual was found to have a fatal level of drug in the blood but was functioning with this level; the drug had nothing to do with the death. This is seen typically in drug abusers who acquire a tolerance to drug levels that would kill an ordinary person, but are normal functioning levels to them. This same situation is seen by clinical physicians — the patient admitted to the emergency room conscious and coherent, with drug levels that would be associated with unconsciousness or death in most individuals.   In all autopsy cases, at a minimum, blood, urine, bile, and vitreous should be collected if available. All specimens should be collected with a clean needle and a new syringe.  The specimens of blood, urine, bile, and...

I am going to focus on the science of learning – in this case learning foreign languages. This process includes: _ Cognition . Cognitive processes will differ, depending on whether this is your first, second, or third language. In any case, you will fare better in your language-learning activities if you understand such concepts as coding and encoding and the difference between knowledge and proficiency. _ Memory . Memory has a number of components. These include sentient memory (or awareness), short-term memory, long-term memory, and working (or activated) memory. Activated memory is important for recognition, recall, and reconstruction of others’ expressions and construction of our own (new) expressions. Good memory depends on memory strategies and body chemistry; both of these can be improved by learners. _ Aptitude . Aptitude refers to the ability to learn a foreign language, much of which may be innate or at least developed over a long time. Some students just seem to learn langua...