{"title":"The persistence of fibres following a choreographed assault: A quantitative assessment of the influence of physical activity","authors":"Victoria Lau, Claude Roux, Xanthe Spindler","doi":"10.1016/j.scijus.2025.01.004","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The persistence of textile fibres is influenced by activities undertaken by the wearer; however, few studies have exclusively explored this relationship. This study extends the authors’ work described in a previous publication on fibre transfer and aimed to address this gap by investigating the short- to medium-term persistence of textile fibres on a cotton T-shirt and polyester/cotton hoody worn by a ‘victim’ and ‘assailant’ transferred following a typical assault scenario. The number, length and spatial distribution of fibres recovered at intervals up to four hours was examined. Furthermore, the influence of performing physical activity of varying intensity on persistence behaviour was investigated.</div><div>Results showed that retentive capacity of the recipient textile bears a strong impact on fibre recovery, highlighting two distinct trends. Persistence of cotton and man-made fibres from donor hoodies recovered from T-shirts generally decreased as intensity of activity increased. In contrast, retention of T-shirt cotton on recipient hoodies appeared greatest after high intensity activity (77.5%). The confounding increased recovery in the initial hour (161.8%) indicated the important contribution of fragmentation and attributes of the donor fibre, in addition to physical activity, on persistence. The proportion of shorter fibres generally increased with time and intensity of activity. Crucially, physical activity was more strongly associated with fibre length than quantity of fibres recovered, which has potential implications on evidential value in practice.</div><div>The overall project aim was to strengthen the current understanding of fundamental mechanisms implicated in fibre transfer and persistence. This ultimately can be used to inform and support examiners to evaluate fibre findings at the activity level, thereby enhancing the contribution to the judicial system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49565,"journal":{"name":"Science & Justice","volume":"65 2","pages":"Pages 103-118"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science & Justice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1355030625000140","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, LEGAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
The persistence of textile fibres is influenced by activities undertaken by the wearer; however, few studies have exclusively explored this relationship. This study extends the authors’ work described in a previous publication on fibre transfer and aimed to address this gap by investigating the short- to medium-term persistence of textile fibres on a cotton T-shirt and polyester/cotton hoody worn by a ‘victim’ and ‘assailant’ transferred following a typical assault scenario. The number, length and spatial distribution of fibres recovered at intervals up to four hours was examined. Furthermore, the influence of performing physical activity of varying intensity on persistence behaviour was investigated.
Results showed that retentive capacity of the recipient textile bears a strong impact on fibre recovery, highlighting two distinct trends. Persistence of cotton and man-made fibres from donor hoodies recovered from T-shirts generally decreased as intensity of activity increased. In contrast, retention of T-shirt cotton on recipient hoodies appeared greatest after high intensity activity (77.5%). The confounding increased recovery in the initial hour (161.8%) indicated the important contribution of fragmentation and attributes of the donor fibre, in addition to physical activity, on persistence. The proportion of shorter fibres generally increased with time and intensity of activity. Crucially, physical activity was more strongly associated with fibre length than quantity of fibres recovered, which has potential implications on evidential value in practice.
The overall project aim was to strengthen the current understanding of fundamental mechanisms implicated in fibre transfer and persistence. This ultimately can be used to inform and support examiners to evaluate fibre findings at the activity level, thereby enhancing the contribution to the judicial system.
期刊介绍：
Science & Justice provides a forum to promote communication and publication of original articles, reviews and correspondence on subjects that spark debates within the Forensic Science Community and the criminal justice sector. The journal provides a medium whereby all aspects of applying science to legal proceedings can be debated and progressed. Science & Justice is published six times a year, and will be of interest primarily to practising forensic scientists and their colleagues in related fields. It is chiefly concerned with the publication of formal scientific papers, in keeping with its international learned status, but will not accept any article describing experimentation on animals which does not meet strict ethical standards.
Promote communication and informed debate within the Forensic Science Community and the criminal justice sector.
To promote the publication of learned and original research findings from all areas of the forensic sciences and by so doing to advance the profession.
To promote the publication of case based material by way of case reviews.
To promote the publication of conference proceedings which are of interest to the forensic science community.
To provide a medium whereby all aspects of applying science to legal proceedings can be debated and progressed.
To appeal to all those with an interest in the forensic sciences.
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