Forensic science international最新文献

{"title":"Benchmarking of proficiency tests for the fingerprint field","authors":"Andy Bécue ,&nbsp;Alexandre Anthonioz ,&nbsp;Guy Harris ,&nbsp;Roger Heredia ,&nbsp;Aldo Mattei ,&nbsp;Christophe Rion ,&nbsp;Alina Saggau","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112384","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112384","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since 2015, European fingerprint service providers carrying out laboratory activities must be EN ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. Consequently, relevant and reliable proficiency tests are required by those accredited forensic laboratories to regularly assess and certify their analytical capabilities. In this context, Work package #10 of the ENFSI-EU funded project named \"Competency, Education, Research, Testing, Accreditation, and Innovation in Forensic Science\" (Grant #101051099) aimed at proposing guidance to forensic laboratories for the selection of proficiency tests in the fields of fingermark visualization, imaging, and comparison/identification. In this paper, the methodology that has been set and followed is described, and the resulting guidance document presented. Additionally, a critical overview of the current market of commercial proficiency tests dedicated to the fingerprint field is proposed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112384"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143079068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“Body farm time machine”: Results from taphonomic study of burial and underwater contexts","authors":"A. Macho-Callejo ,&nbsp;L. Huidobro-Pasero ,&nbsp;E. Honrubia-Clemente ,&nbsp;J. Santos-González ,&nbsp;Y. Fernández-Jalvo ,&nbsp;A. Gutiérrez","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112313","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112313","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 p<em>ost mortem</em> 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).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112313"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142767721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do migrants better in reintegration? A multicenter follow-up study on re-delinquency, addiction-related behavior and resocialization after German Forensic Addiction Treatment","authors":"Jan Querengässer ,&nbsp;Adelheid Bezzel","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112311","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112311","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112311"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142767738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"FIGG at 5: An update on U.S. public perspectives on forensic investigative genetic genealogy five years after its introduction to criminal investigations","authors":"Christi J. Guerrini ,&nbsp;Jill O. Robinson ,&nbsp;Mohamed I. Elsaid ,&nbsp;Whitney Bash Brooks ,&nbsp;Ariel Levchenko ,&nbsp;Stephanie M. Fullerton ,&nbsp;Sara Huston ,&nbsp;Norah L. Crossnohere ,&nbsp;John F.P. Bridges ,&nbsp;Jacklyn M. Dahlquist ,&nbsp;Louiza Kalokairinou ,&nbsp;Diana Madden ,&nbsp;CeCe Moore ,&nbsp;Amy L. McGuire","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112372","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112372","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In 2018, after law enforcement announced it had used a technique called forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) to identify the Golden State Killer, we conducted a U.S. general population survey and found most respondents supported using FIGG to solve violent crimes. Since then, FIGG has helped close hundreds of criminal cases, but it also has weathered controversies. On FIGG's fifth anniversary, we conducted an expanded, follow-up survey with U.S.-based participants to determine if public opinion had changed and found continued support for FIGG across most applications. The same proportion (91 %) of respondents in the 2018 and 2023 surveys endorsed using FIGG in genetic genealogy databases to help identify perpetrators of violent crimes. Similar to the 2018 survey, only 57 % of respondents supported FIGG to help identify perpetrators of non-violent crimes. The results indicate that U.S. policies that have been adopted for FIGG are generally consistent with the opinions of our survey respondents over time. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to strengthen FIGG governance with the goal of maintaining public trust in the technique.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112372"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143058558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating the protein modification and degradation under the influence of petrol and kerosene","authors":"Jennifer Johnson ,&nbsp;Satish Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During any crime scene investigation, forensic experts gather a variety of evidence in various forms, often degraded, contaminated, or fragmentary in nature. Arson-associated suicide or homicidal cases often result in partial or complete burning of this evidence, making the acquisition of crucial information more challenging. Proteins found in biological samples serve as crucial sources of evidence in criminal investigations due to their abundance within the body and greater stability than another biological macromolecule. Protein based technologies are gaining momentum for investigating wide range of forensic cases. In the present study, we probed different modifications in chicken protein subjecting after burning with petrol and kerosene individually. Structural changes and modifications in burnt chicken meat protein samples were analyzed by various biophysical techniques, such as absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. Gel-based method such as electrophoresis was performed which showed different degradation patterns under the influence of petrol and kerosene. Our results showed that petrol-exposed meat sample caused higher rate of protein degradation than kerosene exposed samples, over a period of 12 days. Prevalent oxidative modifications, including increased carbonylation and decreased thiol levels were observed in both petrol and kerosene treated sample attributing oxidative stress environment caused by burning. Present study highlights that petrol is more potent in causing damage and protein modification than kerosene. Furthermore, this study elucidates the application of protein-based methods in forensic science, which can serve as a corroborative approach in ascertaining the cause of death in cases of burning, particularly where fuel has been utilized.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112379"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143046179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biomass loss during decomposition – A new tool in improving PMI estimation?","authors":"Natalie Gasz,&nbsp;Michelle Harvey","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Determining the minimum post-mortem interval (_minPMI) is a useful tool in the investigation of recovered human remains. Though typically based on temperature of remains in the early stages, and insect activity later in the decomposition process, attempts at concealment of remains can hinder these processes. Concealment can affect not only the immediate temperature remains are exposed to but may also result in an inability for insect colonisation to occur. This in turn will hinder the ability to estimate an accurate _minPMI, and therefore timeline of events. As such, an understanding of the decomposition patterns where insect access is restricted through physical exclusion may assist in establishing a _minPMI. This study utilised still born piglets (n = 48) over a 14-day period in November 2019 – 2022, in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Piglets were either exposed, (controls), or had complete insect exclusion through a mechanical barrier which still allowed air flow and sampling to occur, with a total of 6 replicates of each condition per year. Piglets were observed daily, with temperature of remains, stage of decomposition, weight, and any insect activity present recorded. Physical barriers successfully excluded insects for the duration of the trial, however produced a greenhouse effect, producing a total of 4500 – 6000 accumulated degree hours (ADH) during the trial while controls only reached 3000–4500ADH in the same period. Bloat phase was severely prolonged in insect exclusion replicates, and subjects did not reach the dry phase by 2700ADH across all years, compared to control piglets which all had entered dry phase by this time. When comparing percentage biomass loss, consistency in overall biomass loss was noted in control piglets, as well as insect exclusion piglets in all trials. Control piglets showed a standard deviation of 5 % biomass loss at any given ADH. Exclusion of insects reduced overall biomass loss in comparison to ADH, however trends in the rate of loss could be established within the corresponding years. This study highlights that biomass loss can occur in the absence of insect exclusion through other decomposition processes, such as bacterial interactions, and may be a useful tool in the estimation of _minPMI.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112389"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143074201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Point-of-care β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose as candidate screening methods for ketoacidosis-associated death in forensic autopsy investigations","authors":"Victoria Higgins ,&nbsp;Matthew Nichols ,&nbsp;Helen Jo ,&nbsp;Rawan Alsafadi ,&nbsp;Amber Manocchio ,&nbsp;Paul M. Yip ,&nbsp;Jennifer M. Dmetrichuk","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>Ketone bodies, like β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), derived from fatty acid breakdown, can cause fatal ketoacidosis if levels are excessively high. Postmortem diagnosis of ketoacidosis is challenging due to non-specificity of rapid chromogenic tests and the time required for LC-MS/MS analysis. This study investigates the feasibility of using point-of-care (POC) BHB and glucose testing to diagnose ketoacidosis-related deaths and distinguish between diabetic and other types of ketoacidosis, post-mortem.</div></div><div><h3>Design and methods</h3><div>This study evaluated the Nova StatStrip meter’s analytical and post-mortem performance for measuring BHB and glucose in decedent whole blood and vitreous humor. Precision, linearity, and recovery were assessed. BHB and glucose were measured in whole blood and vitreous humor from 100 autopsy cases (both ketoacidosis and non-ketoacidosis deaths). Results were compared quantitatively and qualitatively with standard laboratory methods to determine the meter's accuracy and reliability in predicting ketoacidosis-related deaths. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for each matrix/analyte combination to evaluate screening capabilities for ketoacidosis- and diabetic ketoacidosis-related deaths.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Imprecision was highest in decedent vitreous humor samples for both BHB and glucose and both assays exhibited acceptable linearity. ROC curve analysis indicated comparable post-mortem performance between methods and matrices. Whole blood BHB showed the best performance for predicting all-cause ketoacidosis on the meter, despite exhibiting a higher device error messages than vitreous humor. Glucose in vitreous humor exhibited the most optimal performance (100 % sensitivity and specificity) but showed the highest rate of error messages (64 %). Thus, whole blood glucose (80 % sensitivity, 98 % specificity) would be the preferred matrix to identify potential DKA-related deaths. Agreement between meter and laboratory methods was excellent despite differing thresholds (96–100 %).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This study suggests that post-mortem BHB levels in whole blood and vitreous humor can be conveniently obtained using the StatStrip meter and have comparable performance to current standards, making it suitable as a screening tool for ketoacidosis-related death. Screening thresholds recommended are vitreous humor (≥ 0.9 mmol/L) or whole blood (≥ 1.6 mmol/L) BHB for ketoacidosis-related death, followed by whole blood glucose (≥ 27.3 mmol/L) for DKA-related death.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112358"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) in forensic science – A review","authors":"Elżbieta Maćkiewicz,&nbsp;Jacek Rogowski,&nbsp;Małgorzata Iwona Szynkowska-Jóźwik","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112347","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112347","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The paper presents the possibilities of using the ToF-SIMS technique in the examination of a range of samples as forensic evidence. These include the analysis of documents, the examination of writing media, the analysis of crossing lines, the analysis of cosmetics, hair analysis, the examination of automobile paints, and the analysis of fingerprints and their contamination with exogenous substances. The advantages and disadvantages of this method were analysed with reference to the information that any forensic investigator would wish to obtain when examining highly significant evidence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112347"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142871201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forensic feature extraction of document paper using periodic marks: PCA and t-SNE for manufacturer discrimination and document dating","authors":"Yong Ju Lee ,&nbsp;Chang Woo Jeong ,&nbsp;Hyoung Jin Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112348","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112348","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Paper differentiation can play a critical role in forensic document examination along with examinations of handwriting identification, impressed writing, and ink and printer toner analyses. If reference database to compare was constructed, paper analyses are also useful in terms of examining when document paper was produced. In this study, two datasets were utilized for principal component analysis (PCA) and t-SNE, and each dataset was constructed for the manufacturer discrimination and document paper dating tasks. A database for the angle and step data of periodic marks at top 10 intensity respectively was established by a two dimensional lab formation sensor. Model performance was evaluated using clustering indexes, i.e., the silhouette index, the normalized mutual information, the Calinski–Harabasz index, and the Davies–Bouldin index. Periodic marks analysis using an unsupervised machine learning model was performed to differentiate the manufacturers and investigate the production date in the case of forming fabric alteration. We found that forensic differentiation of paper is feasible using a combined PCA and t-SNE model on test document data and two datasets because the forming fabric of paper-making machines inevitably leaves periodic marks on the surface of the paper. Our findings demonstrate that these periodic marks can play a key role in forensic feature extraction. As a result, the combined PCA and t-SNE model has demonstrated high performance on the target tasks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112348"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142902655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimating illicit production of MDMA from its production waste, a Dutch case study","authors":"Thomas L. ter Laak ,&nbsp;Jorrit van den Berg ,&nbsp;Erik Emke ,&nbsp;Shanna Mehlbaum ,&nbsp;Pim de Voogt","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112315","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112315","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"367 ","pages":"Article 112315"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142824135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}