Forensic science international最新文献

The Netherlands plays a key role in the global production of the synthetic illicit drug MDMA. However, the actual Dutch production of MDMA is difficult to quantify. The illicit production of MDMA results in large amounts of waste. This study uses amounts of waste found in the environment and production-related MDMA residues in wastewater to estimate the amount of MDMA that is produced. The MDMA produced, associated to the amount of waste found in the environment is 4.2 and 5.8 tons per year for two common synthesis routes. The MDMA produced, associated to production-related residues in wastewater is significantly larger, with 39.2 tons per year. The estimated MDMA production associated to waste in the environment and wastewater analysis is 43.4 and 45.0 tons per year for two common synthesis routes. Even though these estimates are difficult to validate, they are feasible when compared to prevalence-based consumption estimates or production estimates based on interceptions of precursors. The current study illustrates that waste of an illicit industry can shed light on its production volumes, thereby, complementing other efforts to estimate production, trade and use of synthetically produced illicit substances.

In recent years, Photon-counting detector CT (PCD CT) has emerged as a new and groundbreaking technology in clinical radiology. While clinical research and practical applications of PCD-CT are constantly evolving, it has not yet been integrated into post-mortem CT (PMCT) imaging. Documented research into the potential applications of PCD CT in the field of post-mortem human forensic pathology and anatomical pathology is scarce in literature. This is despite the fact that PCD CT shows promise in expanding PMCT imaging diagnostic due to features such as ultra-high resolution and intrinsic spectral multienergy imaging. The authors have recently started scanning forensic corpses with a PCD CT to explore its possibilities and limits in the post-mortem field. In this technical note, the PCD CT acquisition and reconstruction parameters that resulted in excellent image quality in terms of noise and contrast for a slice thickness up to 0.2 mm in unenhanced whole-body examinations are presented.

Xylazine, increasingly implicated in illicit opioid overdose deaths, poses a significant public health threat due to its synergistic effects with fentanyl and resistance to naloxone reversal. Despite its rising prevalence, xylazine is not classified as a controlled substance, leading to its exclusion from routine forensic screening. This study introduces a novel analytical method combining Raman hyperspectral imaging with Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) to detect xylazine in drug mixtures containing common excipients such as acetaminophen, dipyrone, and mannitol. Utilizing only non-negativity constraints, MCR-ALS successfully resolved the Raman spectrum of xylazine at levels as low as 5 % without reference spectra. The method demonstrated robust performance, with percent variance explained (R²) values of 99.60 %, 99.80 %, and 99.91 % for the drug mixtures containing 25 %, 10 %, and 5 % xylazine, respectively.

Experimental: taphonomy and neotaphonomic monitoring have become two relevant tools in interpreting modifications, and most especially in forensic investigations. Research facilities, where human decomposition experiments are carried out under controlled situations, provide a better understanding of the tapho-forensic history of cadaveric remains under specific environments and in different situations or even climates. There are, however, limitations of time to monitoring, such as space for experimentation and ethics, that do not always allow to carry out these types of investigations. The study presented here investigates the early post mortem modifications of the cadaveric state using animal models (pig autopods) simulating different forensic scenarios in accelerated time, under controlled climatic parameters, in different environmental contexts. This study was carried out under semi-arid conditions programmed in a climatic chamber. The aim of this study is to open a new range of knowledge in experimental taphonomy. As results of this experiment, different types of cadaveric states (such as total skeletonization, skeletonization with dry putrid matter, saponification and mummification) were obtained related to the type of contexts in which animal models were deposited (submerged or buried in wet or dry sediment).

In Germany, Forensic Addiction Treatment serves the purpose of reintegration into society. Patients with a migration background are over-represented, show slightly higher rates of premature termination and exhibit less successful outcomes. However, outcome research was often limited by conceptual ambiguities and insufficient control for confounding variables. In the present article, we defined reintegration as a comprehensive concept comprising three domains (re-delinquency, addiction-related behavior, resocialization). In a multicenter approach, 466 migrant patients were compared on 35 catamnestic variables to a group of non-migrants matched on the variables sex, main offense, main diagnostic group and age at discharge. For to seek evidence for and against interrelation, we applied both inferential and Bayesian statistics. Both groups show almost the same substance use behaviors and identical re-delinquency rates, with some tendency toward more serious re-offenses among non-migrants. The migrant-group combines more favorable patterns on relevant indicators of resocialization. However, while treatment is proving equally successful in terms of its core purpose of reintegration, it does not succeed in overcoming systemic barriers to accessing the general health care system, as migrants show more reluctant help-seeking behaviors. This, in turn, could increase the risk of long-term re-delinquency due to a lack of adequate post-forensic support. Hence, barriers should be reduced and treatment offers should be adapted to migrants' needs.

This is the second part of the results from the field experiment aimed at validating PMI estimation based on insect evidence. First, we investigated the accuracy gains of PMI after supplementing age estimates with PAI. Second, we compared the impact on PMI of various ways, in which an expert selects insect evidence for the estimation. Third, we provided baseline data regarding the accuracy of PMI as estimated using different methods, insect species and life stages. Insects were sampled from nine pig carcasses exposed in a forest habitat, one carcass every one or two months, with 8-11 samples taken from each carcass using standard techniques. It was found that insect age alone clearly underestimates the true PMI across insect species and life stages. When age estimates were supplemented with PAI, the estimated PMI became generally significantly closer to the true PMI. Averaging PMI across multiple different pieces of evidence yielded more accurate estimates than using single evidence. The best single evidence method tested in this study, i.e. the use of the oldest evidence from the latest colonizing species, yielded the average PMI errors of about 22 % or 25 % (depending on the type of PAI used). For the best multiple evidence method, i.e. averaging PMI for late life stages of early colonizing species and early life stages of late colonizing species, these errors were about 13 % and 16 %. PMI ranges derived using 30 % error rate covered a true PMI in 95 % of cases but only for the best multiple evidence methods. These results demonstrate that the compound entomological method for estimating PMI (including age and PAI estimates), when applied to mock human death cases, is satisfactorily accurate. Moreover, the present findings highlight the importance of PAI and the great benefits of using multiple insect evidence to estimate PMI.

Environmental and individualistic variables affect the rate of human decomposition in complex ways. These effects complicate the estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) based on observed decomposition characteristics. In this work, we develop a generative probabilistic model for decomposing human remains based on PMI and a wide range of environmental and individualistic variables. This model explicitly represents the effect of each variable, including PMI, on the appearance of each decomposition characteristic, allowing for direct interpretation of model effects and enabling the use of the model for PMI inference and optimal experimental design. In addition, the probabilistic nature of the model allows for the integration of expert knowledge in the form of prior distributions. We fit this model to a diverse set of 2529 cases from the GeoFOR dataset. We demonstrate that the model accurately predicts 24 decomposition characteristics with an ROC AUC score of 0.85. Using Bayesian inference techniques, we invert the decomposition model to predict PMI as a function of the observed decomposition characteristics and environmental and individualistic variables, producing an R-squared measure of 71 %. Finally, we demonstrate how to use the fitted model to design future experiments that maximize the expected amount of new information about the mechanisms of decomposition using the Expected Information Gain formalism.

When multiple sets of skeletonized human remains exist in the same context, they can become commingled due to multifactorial circumstances that affect the postmortem environment. Numerous techniques exist for reassociating commingled skeletal remains (e.g., visual pair-matching, and osteometric pair-matching); however, the scale of commingled skeletal assemblages influences the effectiveness of these approaches. Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has recently been proposed as a rapid technique for obtaining elemental signatures from skeletal elements of multiple individuals and then reassociating those elements with their correct individual. This study evaluates the potential of portable LIBS as a useful tool for reassociating commingled human skeletal remains in forensic contexts. In this study six skeletons drawn from the donated skeletal collection at the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science, at the University of South Florida, were used to assess whether LIBS data could be used to reassociate multiple skeletal elements from the same individual. LIBS data were collected at 206 anatomical locations from 28 individual bones across each skeleton in the sample. LIBS data were reassigned to their individual with an accuracy of 91 % using quadratic discriminant analysis of dimensionally reduced data (via principal component analysis). The study demonstrates that portable LIBS has potential for reassociating commingled human skeletal remains from forensic contexts.

This work introduces a framework for assessing the economic value of illegal clearings in the Amazon primary rainforest based on Habitat Equivalency Analysis and the restoration of suppressed ecosystem services (ES). The framework ensures ES restoration in both quantity and quality, considering past and current losses as well as future gains adjusted for discount rates to present values. The translation of ES restoration into economic values is grounded in local market values, striving to ensure the results are both representative and accurate. The application of the framework in 10 ha of illegally cleared Amazon primary rainforest resulted in an economic valuation of 2022 Int.$ 341,611, or 2022 Int.$ 3175 per hectare per year, which is 35 % higher than valuations based solely on timber and cleared area restoration. The framework is sensitive to compensation period, discount rate, and ES recovery curve, leading to economic effects on the valuation of the illegal clearings in the Amazon primary rainforest. The framework is distinguished by its low human, material, and temporal costs, making it applicable even in preliminary environmental assessments. By describing the tangible economic value of Amazon primary rainforest illegal clearings, the framework allows for critical comparison with existing literature on tropical forest values, aiming to enrich society's comprehension of the costs and benefits of Amazon deforestation.