International Journal of Legal Medicine最新文献

Introduction: Forensic Odontology plays a crucial role in medicolegal identification by comparing dental evidence in antemortem (AM) and postmortem (PM) dental records, including orthopantomograms (OPGs). Due to the complexity and time-consuming nature of this process, imaging analysis optimization is an urgent matter. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) are promising artificial intelligence (AI) structures in Forensic Odontology for their efficiency and detail in image analysis, making them a valuable tool in medicolegal identification. Therefore, this study focused on the development of a CNN algorithm capable of comparing AM and PM dental evidence in OPGs for the medicolegal identification of unknown cadavers.

Materials and methods: The present study included a total sample of 1235 OPGs from 1050 patients from the Stomatology Department of Unidade Local de Saúde Santa Maria, aged 16 to 30 years. Two algorithms were developed, one for age classification and another for positive identification, based on the pre-trained model VGG16, and performance was evaluated through predictive metrics and heatmaps.

Results: Both developed models achieved a final accuracy of 85%, reflecting high overall performance. The age classification model performed better at classifying OPGs from individuals aged between 16 and 23 years, while the positive identification model was significantly better at identifying pairs of OPGs from different individuals.

Conclusions: The developed AI model is useful in the medicolegal identification of unknown cadavers, with advantage in mass disaster victim identification context, by comparing AM and PM dental evidence in OPGs of individuals aged 16 to 30 years.

Trace DNA plays a pivotal role in forensic investigations, serving as a critical tool for linking suspects to criminal activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, disposable face masks emerged as key items of forensic interest, particularly in cases where suspects used them to conceal their identities. This study evaluates the efficiency of two trace DNA collection methodologies-cotton swabbing and tapelifting-for recovering DNA from face masks. Samples were collected from 50 masks worn by suspects in robbery cases, utilizing the Copan cotton swab (150 C) and the SceneSafe Fast™ minitape (K545). Statistical analysis revealed that minitapes (MT) significantly outperformed cotton swabs (CS), yielding higher DNA concentrations (mean MT: 0.41 ng/µL, CS: 0.17 ng/µL; p < 0.05) and recovering more complete DNA profiles, including full single (FS) and full mixed (FM) profiles (p < 0.05). These findings highlight the superior efficiency of MT, particularly for recovering trace DNA from small or fabric-like surfaces. The study underscores the importance of selecting optimal collection methods in forensic investigations, especially for modern evidence types such as face masks. Recommendations include the routine adoption of minitapes in casework involving face masks and further research into their efficacy on other mask types and under varied environmental conditions. This research offers valuable insights to refine trace DNA recovery strategies, enhancing the reliability of forensic evidence.

In forensic anthropology, personal identification is mainly performed through a qualitative assessment and comparison of morphological bone and dental features between antemortem and postmortem data. Although non-metric traits have been traditionally considered as individualizing features, their potential has been limitedly investigated. Indeed, frequencies of variants can represent an additional tool to provide probabilities and likelihood ratios that an individual presents a combination of traits, hence quantifying a possible identification. This study investigates the potential of cranial non-metric traits as individualizing features in personal identification, and it describes the application of this probabilistic approach to a sample from a mass fatality which occurred in 2015. 119 crania of males were assessed for scoring 35 non-metric traits by presence and absence. For each cranium, the compound frequencies of independent traits, probabilities and likelihood ratios that a cranium presents a specific blend of traits were calculated. Over 70% of the likelihood ratios exceeded 1,000,000, providing extremely strong evidence that a specific set of traits corresponds to a cranium. Probabilities to find an individual with the set of traits within a group of 528 people (corresponding to the recovered bodies for this case) were extremely low (e.g., 0.006 people out of 528). The considerably high likelihood ratios and low probabilities suggest that combinations of cranial non-metric traits are extremely specific to the single individual, hence they represent valuable individualizing features. Despite this approach does not seem immediately applicable for the resolution of this case because of the dearth of appropriate antemortem images, collecting cranial non-metric frequencies may be worth of further investigation as a supplementary tool to screen potential identities and provide quantitative evidence to the investigators and the judge.

Background: the Istanbul Convention demands care to victims of violence while upholding forensic standards. Victims, however, often seek medical help at hospitals where the availability of forensic experts is limited. This results in overlooked injuries and lost or damaged evidence, ultimately impacting court proceedings and identification of individuals at risk. The aim of this paper was to establish real-time remote guidance for distant physicians during the forensic examination of violence victims.

Methods: Augmented Reality Assisted Medical Evidence Collection and Documentation (ARMED) was established in Heidelberg at the Institute for Forensic and Traffic Medicine (IFTM) in 2023 as an innovative telementoring model. Video-teleconferencing components including a head-mounted device (HMD), a customized software package, hardware devices, and a data management portal were employed to facilitate seamless expert care delivery, data sharing, and to ensure privacy and confidentiality. ARMED platform was evaluated in three partner hospitals with parameters including internet connection stability, clarity of live-streaming and audio-visual communication, the quality of photos, and the safety of data management.

Results: The combination of RealWear Navigator 500 as HMD, a customized version of videoconferencing software, and a portal server system for safe and secure patient data management constituted a robust, user-friendly, and practical telemedicine solution.

Conclusion: ARMED facilitates real-time communication between healthcare providers and forensic experts, enhancing their ability to recognize and detect injuries effectively. This holds the potential to significantly improve the process of evidence collection for documenting cases of violence, ultimately aiding in the pursuit of justice and the protection of victims.

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has always been a point of contention among India, Pakistan, and China for various reasons. This region has great significance historically due to its geography and ethnic diversity. However, a comprehensive genetic study providing the genetic landscape of Jammu and Kashmir was lacking until now. In this study, we analysed 21 hyper-variable autosomal STR loci of 694 individuals from Jammu and Kashmir and compared them with neighbouring populations to explore the genetic implications of demographic dynamics that have taken place in this region. Our findings suggest that the population of Jammu and Kashmir is a genetic mixture of two major clines, northern and southern, that correspond with the variation in geography, linguistics, and demography of the region. Broadly, the gene flow into the southern cline appears to be in historical times perhaps as a result of the spread of Gurjars, Dogri language and invasions of Mongols. However, the arrival of ancient nomadic tribes into this region may belong to the time depth of the arrival of pastoralist communities in this region. As a future perspective, a comprehensive study including samples from individual tribes will provide fine-scale structure of the gene pool of Jammu and Kashmir.

Various concerns relating to international humanitarian law and human rights were risen by natural catastrophes (tsunamis, floods, fires), the Covid-19 pandemic, the epidemic breakouts of Ebola, as well as the significant migrant wave observed in the Mediterranean region. Forensic Medicine has direct interactions with both domestic and international law, and thus is frequently asked to provide solutions for these issues. The term "Humanitarian Forensic Action" (HFA), which refers to the application of forensic science to serve humanitarian endeavors, was created. The management of crises including armed conflicts, natural disasters, and humanitarian crises is therefore related to HFA. HFA is a specialized field of forensic sciences that is used to handle the identification of the deceased and human remains, as well as to contribute to the management of the dead, the management of mass disasters, and the investigation of abuse and torture. The psychosocial effects that these tragic events have on the victims, their loved ones, and society at large represent another HFA-related field. Firstly this systematic review aims to present all available international literature that discusses HFA as a unique forensic discipline. Secondly, through this review, it is hoped that HFA awareness will be risen among forensic practitioners, thus allowing improved adoption in general and future development as a branch of forensic sciences. As far as we are aware, there isn't another systematic study that presents the entirety of HFA's branches at once.

Sexual violence against women remains a global challenge, with Brazil exemplifying persistent issues despite legislative advancements. This study examined sexual violence within São Paulo state, Brazil's largest and economically affluent state, focusing on prevalence, patterns, forensic evidence, and health consequences. We analyzed 40,757 medical reports of alleged cases of rape against women available from the São Paulo Medical Legal Institute from 2014 to 2017. An increase in female rape cases was observed, reflecting broader societal trends, but underreporting, prevalent due to fear and stigma, underscored the need for multifaceted interventions. We also explored correlations between rape prevalence and the Human Development Index, highlighting disparities between urban and rural areas. Additionally, the study revealed concerning proportions of cases involving vulnerable victims, emphasizing the imperative for tailored interventions and legislative reforms. Furthermore, we demonstrated that only a small portion of medicolegal examinations were able to find evidence of sexual violence or recent sexual acts, necessary for conducting the criminal investigation of the alleged act. Therefore, despite challenges in forensic evidence collection, efforts to enhance medical examination protocols and awareness among professionals are crucial. Moreover, findings underscored the significant health consequences of rape, including unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, necessitating comprehensive healthcare services for survivors. In conclusion, we reinforced that addressing sexual violence demands coordinated action, including legislative reforms, community engagement, and survivor-centered approaches, to create safer and more resilient communities.

Post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) is an increasingly utilized tool in forensic medicine for evaluating head gunshot injuries. Vault bevelling sign, when present, provides information regarding entry and exit wounds; when absent, identifying wound type on PMCT remains challenging. A cutaneous hyperdense ring, described in an animal study by Junno et al. (2022), may be indicative of contact shots. We hypothesized that it could also be observed in human gunshot injuries. Our study evaluates the reliability of the cutaneous hyperdense rim sign for identifying entry gunshot wounds in PMCT. After excluding complex and mucosal wounds, two operators retrospectively evaluated 64 gunshot wounds (30 entry and 34 exit wounds) in 34 head PMCT cases (2018-2022). Gold standard for wound type determination was the autopsy report. The hyperdense rim sign was defined as at least two-thirds of a continuous cutaneous hyperdense circle on a multiplanar reconstruction of cutaneous tissue tangent to the wound. The hyperdense rim sign demonstrated a specificity of 97% (95% CI: 85-100%) and a sensitivity of 63% (95% CI: 44-80%) for identifying entry wounds. Moreover, in 16 external examination reports where the presence of powder residues or bullet wipe at entry wound was explicitly mentioned, a positive association was observed between hyperdense rim sign and the presence of these elements (p = 0.018). These findings suggest that the hyperdense rim sign, when present, may be a valuable tool for entry wound determination in gunshot injuries, interpreted in conjunction with other CT and autopsy features.

This article evaluates the criteria for diatom testing in forensic investigations, focusing on drowning cases. Diatoms, unicellular algae found in aquatic environments, are critical to the determination of drowning because water containing diatoms is inhaled during submersion. The primary objectives include defining the exact amount and type of tissue to be analyzed, expressed in terms of diatom concentration relative to tissue weight, and detailing the conditions under which water samples are collected to study the diatom flora at the site. In addition, the importance of accurately identifying diatom taxa and comparing them by unit weight is emphasized. To improve the reliability of diatom testing, the study discusses advanced methods such as microwave digestion, vacuum filtration, and automated scanning electron microscopy (MD-VF-Auto SEM), which offer higher sensitivity and specificity. The integration of DNA sequencing and deep learning techniques is explored, offering promising improvements in diatom detection and classification. These advances aim to reduce false positives and improve the accuracy of determining drowning as the cause of death. The article highlights the need for standardized protocols for diatom testing to ensure consistency and reliability. By incorporating new technologies and refining existing methods, the forensic application of diatom testing can be significantly improved, allowing for more accurate and reliable conclusions in drowning investigations.

DNA identification of human skeletal remains play a valuable role in the forensic field, especially in missing persons and mass disasters investigation. Hard tissues, such as bones and teeth, represent a very common kind of samples analyzed in forensic laboratories because often they are the only biological materials remaining. However, the major limitation in using these compact samples rely on time consuming and labor-intensive treatment of grinding them into powder before proceeding with the conventional DNA purification and extraction step. In this context, a novel DNA extraction assay, called the TBone Ex kit (DNA Chip Research Inc.), was developed to digests bone chips without powdering "as reported by Kitayama (JAMA 12:84-89, 2010)." Here, we simultaneously analyzed bone and tooth samples obtained by our police laboratory that belonged to 15 different forensic cases from Sardinia (Italy). The total of 27 samples were recovered from different scenarios and were exposed to extreme environmental factors, including sunlight, seawater, soil, fauna, vegetation and high temperature and humidity. The TBone Ex kit was used prior to the EZ2 DNA extraction kit on the EZ2 Connect Fx instrument (Qiagen), and high quality autosomal and Y-chromosome STRs profiles were obtained for the 80% of the cases, in a relatively short time frame. This study provides additional support for the use of the TBone Ex kit for digesting bone fragments/whole teeth as an effective alternative to pulverization protocols. We empirically demonstrated the effectiveness of the kit in processing multiple bone samples simultaneously, largely simplifying the DNA extraction procedure, and the good yield of recovered DNA for downstream genetic typing in highly compromised forensic real specimens. In conclusion, the results of this study appear useful for forensic laboratories, to which the various actors of the criminal justice system - such as potential jury members, judges, defense attorneys and prosecutors - require immediate feedback.