Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-03-12DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03204-4
Se-Jin Park, Su Yang, Jun-Min Kim, Ju-Hee Kang, Jo-Eun Kim, Kyung-Hoe Huh, Sam-Sun Lee, Won-Jin Yi, Min-Suk Heo
Sex and chronological age estimation are crucial in forensic investigations and research on individual identification. Although manual methods for sex and age estimation have been proposed, these processes are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and error-prone. The purpose of this study was to estimate sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs automatically and robustly using a multi-task deep learning network (ForensicNet). ForensicNet consists of a backbone and both sex and age attention branches to learn anatomical context features of sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs and enables the multi-task estimation of sex and chronological age in an end-to-end manner. To mitigate bias in the data distribution, our dataset was built using 13,200 images with 100 images for each sex and age range of 15-80 years. The ForensicNet with EfficientNet-B3 exhibited superior estimation performance with mean absolute errors of 2.93 ± 2.61 years and a coefficient of determination of 0.957 for chronological age, and achieved accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity values of 0.992, 0.993, and 0.990, respectively, for sex prediction. The network demonstrated that the proposed sex and age attention branches with a convolutional block attention module significantly improved the estimation performance for both sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs of elderly patients. Consequently, we expect that ForensicNet will contribute to the automatic and accurate estimation of both sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs.
{"title":"Automatic and robust estimation of sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs using a multi-task deep learning network: a study on a South Korean population.","authors":"Se-Jin Park, Su Yang, Jun-Min Kim, Ju-Hee Kang, Jo-Eun Kim, Kyung-Hoe Huh, Sam-Sun Lee, Won-Jin Yi, Min-Suk Heo","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03204-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03204-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sex and chronological age estimation are crucial in forensic investigations and research on individual identification. Although manual methods for sex and age estimation have been proposed, these processes are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and error-prone. The purpose of this study was to estimate sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs automatically and robustly using a multi-task deep learning network (ForensicNet). ForensicNet consists of a backbone and both sex and age attention branches to learn anatomical context features of sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs and enables the multi-task estimation of sex and chronological age in an end-to-end manner. To mitigate bias in the data distribution, our dataset was built using 13,200 images with 100 images for each sex and age range of 15-80 years. The ForensicNet with EfficientNet-B3 exhibited superior estimation performance with mean absolute errors of 2.93 ± 2.61 years and a coefficient of determination of 0.957 for chronological age, and achieved accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity values of 0.992, 0.993, and 0.990, respectively, for sex prediction. The network demonstrated that the proposed sex and age attention branches with a convolutional block attention module significantly improved the estimation performance for both sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs of elderly patients. Consequently, we expect that ForensicNet will contribute to the automatic and accurate estimation of both sex and chronological age from panoramic radiographs.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164743/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140101481","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-13DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03173-8
Alexander Tyr, Brita Zilg, Tobias Gelius, Rasmus Möllby, Nina Heldring
Fluid-filled paranasal sinuses are suggested to be a valuable tool to distinguish between drowning and non-drowning postmortem, yet the mechanisms governing fluid entry remains unknown. We investigate if fluid-filled paranasal sinuses are caused by a passive influx from submersion or an active aspiration mechanism during drowning. The ovine nasal cavity and maxillary sinuses are remarkably similar anatomically to humans, and have been used for endoscopic surgical training in recent decades. We submerged 15 decapitated ovine heads from agricultural waste at a depth of 2 m in flowing water for 1, 8, and 24 h and 7 days. Paranasal sinuses were CT imaged and compared pre- and post-submersion to non-submerged controls. Furthermore, we examined the paranasal sinuses of a single homicide case of a non-drowned submerged subject. Results demonstrate that fluid passively enters the maxillary sinus postmortem in the non-drowned ovine heads following 1 h of submersion. Fluid volume was independent of submersion time and influenced by time out of water as well as handling, since volume was reduced between consecutive CT scans. In contrast to our hypothesis, the filling of the paranasal sinuses is due to passive influx of fluid from submersion rather than an active aspiration during drowning. The observation that paranasal sinuses were fluid-filled in a single medico-legal case of postmortem submersion supports the finding of passive influx. Consequently, careful interpretation of fluid-filled paranasal sinuses is required when bodies are found in water, as the finding cannot distinguish between postmortem submersion and drowning.
{"title":"Postmortem CT analysis of paranasal sinuses using an experimental model of drowning.","authors":"Alexander Tyr, Brita Zilg, Tobias Gelius, Rasmus Möllby, Nina Heldring","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03173-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03173-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fluid-filled paranasal sinuses are suggested to be a valuable tool to distinguish between drowning and non-drowning postmortem, yet the mechanisms governing fluid entry remains unknown. We investigate if fluid-filled paranasal sinuses are caused by a passive influx from submersion or an active aspiration mechanism during drowning. The ovine nasal cavity and maxillary sinuses are remarkably similar anatomically to humans, and have been used for endoscopic surgical training in recent decades. We submerged 15 decapitated ovine heads from agricultural waste at a depth of 2 m in flowing water for 1, 8, and 24 h and 7 days. Paranasal sinuses were CT imaged and compared pre- and post-submersion to non-submerged controls. Furthermore, we examined the paranasal sinuses of a single homicide case of a non-drowned submerged subject. Results demonstrate that fluid passively enters the maxillary sinus postmortem in the non-drowned ovine heads following 1 h of submersion. Fluid volume was independent of submersion time and influenced by time out of water as well as handling, since volume was reduced between consecutive CT scans. In contrast to our hypothesis, the filling of the paranasal sinuses is due to passive influx of fluid from submersion rather than an active aspiration during drowning. The observation that paranasal sinuses were fluid-filled in a single medico-legal case of postmortem submersion supports the finding of passive influx. Consequently, careful interpretation of fluid-filled paranasal sinuses is required when bodies are found in water, as the finding cannot distinguish between postmortem submersion and drowning.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164805/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139729576","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-24DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03162-x
Tania Camila Niño-Sandoval, Ana Milena Doria-Martinez, Ruby Amparo Vásquez Escobar, Elizabeth Llano Sánchez, Isabella Bermón Rojas, Laura Cristina Vargas Álvarez, David Stephen Fernandez Mc Cann, Liliana Marcela Támara-Patiño
The aim of this systematic review is to analyze the literature to determine whether the methods of artificial intelligence are effective in determining age in panoramic radiographs. Searches without language and year limits were conducted in PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Hand searches were also performed, and unpublished manuscripts were searched in specialized journals. Thirty-six articles were included in the analysis. Significant differences in terms of root mean square error and mean absolute error were found between manual methods and artificial intelligence techniques, favoring the use of artificial intelligence (p < 0.00001). Few articles compared deep learning methods with machine learning models or manual models. Although there are advantages of machine learning in data processing and deep learning in data collection and analysis, non-comparable data was a limitation of this study. More information is needed on the comparison of these techniques, with particular emphasis on time as a variable.
本系统性综述旨在分析文献,以确定人工智能方法是否能有效确定全景X光片的年龄。在 PubMed/Medline、Embase、Web of Science 和 Scopus 数据库中进行了无语言和年份限制的检索。此外,还进行了人工检索,并在专业期刊中检索了未发表的手稿。有 36 篇文章被纳入分析。结果发现,人工方法和人工智能技术在均方根误差和平均绝对误差方面存在显著差异,人工智能技术更胜一筹(p
{"title":"Efficacy of the methods of age determination using artificial intelligence in panoramic radiographs - a systematic review.","authors":"Tania Camila Niño-Sandoval, Ana Milena Doria-Martinez, Ruby Amparo Vásquez Escobar, Elizabeth Llano Sánchez, Isabella Bermón Rojas, Laura Cristina Vargas Álvarez, David Stephen Fernandez Mc Cann, Liliana Marcela Támara-Patiño","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03162-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03162-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this systematic review is to analyze the literature to determine whether the methods of artificial intelligence are effective in determining age in panoramic radiographs. Searches without language and year limits were conducted in PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Hand searches were also performed, and unpublished manuscripts were searched in specialized journals. Thirty-six articles were included in the analysis. Significant differences in terms of root mean square error and mean absolute error were found between manual methods and artificial intelligence techniques, favoring the use of artificial intelligence (p < 0.00001). Few articles compared deep learning methods with machine learning models or manual models. Although there are advantages of machine learning in data processing and deep learning in data collection and analysis, non-comparable data was a limitation of this study. More information is needed on the comparison of these techniques, with particular emphasis on time as a variable.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139944147","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-10DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03174-7
Elena Giovannini, Simone Santelli, Guido Pelletti, Maria Paola Bonasoni, Angela Cornacchia, Susi Pelotti, Paolo Fais
Children involved in car crashes can experience either direct trauma or inertial injuries resulting from interactions with external objects, such as other vehicles, or with the restraint system. Furthermore, improper use of restraint systems can lead to additional severe injuries. Recent reports from international institutions underscored the persistent prevalence of inadequate restraint systems utilization and this widespread issue increases children's vulnerability and risk of injuries.The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of the literature on injuries sustained in children involved in road accidents describing and analyzing elements useful for forensic assessment.The literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science from January 1970 to March 2023. Eligible studies have investigated issues of interest to forensic medicine about traffic accidents involving pediatric passengers. A total of 69 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria and were categorized and analyzed according to the anatomical regions of the body affected (head, neck, thoraco-abdominal, and limb injuries), and the assessment of lesions in reconstruction of the accident was examined and discussed.The review highlights that in motor vehicle accidents involving children, the forensic evaluation of both the cause of death and accident dynamics needs to consider several factors, such as the child's age, the type of restraint system employed, and the specific passenger seat occupied. Considering the complexity of the factors that can be involved in this road accident, it is crucial that there is a comprehensive exchange of information between the judge and the medical expert.
发生车祸的儿童可能会受到直接创伤,也可能因与外部物体(如其他车辆)或约束系统的相互作用而受到惯性伤害。此外,约束系统使用不当还会导致更严重的伤害。本研究旨在对有关道路交通事故中儿童所受伤害的文献进行系统综述,描述和分析有助于法医评估的要素。文献检索使用了 PubMed、Scopus 和 Web of Science(1970 年 1 月至 2023 年 3 月)。符合条件的研究对涉及儿科乘客的交通事故的法医学相关问题进行了调查。综述强调,在涉及儿童的机动车事故中,对死因和事故动态的法医评估需要考虑多个因素,如儿童的年龄、所使用的约束系统类型以及所占据的特定乘客座位。考虑到这起交通事故可能涉及的复杂因素,法官与医学专家之间进行全面的信息交流至关重要。
{"title":"Pediatric motor vehicle crashes injuries: A systematic review for forensic evaluation.","authors":"Elena Giovannini, Simone Santelli, Guido Pelletti, Maria Paola Bonasoni, Angela Cornacchia, Susi Pelotti, Paolo Fais","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03174-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03174-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Children involved in car crashes can experience either direct trauma or inertial injuries resulting from interactions with external objects, such as other vehicles, or with the restraint system. Furthermore, improper use of restraint systems can lead to additional severe injuries. Recent reports from international institutions underscored the persistent prevalence of inadequate restraint systems utilization and this widespread issue increases children's vulnerability and risk of injuries.The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of the literature on injuries sustained in children involved in road accidents describing and analyzing elements useful for forensic assessment.The literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science from January 1970 to March 2023. Eligible studies have investigated issues of interest to forensic medicine about traffic accidents involving pediatric passengers. A total of 69 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria and were categorized and analyzed according to the anatomical regions of the body affected (head, neck, thoraco-abdominal, and limb injuries), and the assessment of lesions in reconstruction of the accident was examined and discussed.The review highlights that in motor vehicle accidents involving children, the forensic evaluation of both the cause of death and accident dynamics needs to consider several factors, such as the child's age, the type of restraint system employed, and the specific passenger seat occupied. Considering the complexity of the factors that can be involved in this road accident, it is crucial that there is a comprehensive exchange of information between the judge and the medical expert.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164731/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139712004","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-17DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03184-5
Maximilian Timme, Laurin Steffens, Jan Viktorov, Adam Streeter, André Karch, Andreas Schmeling
Various staging scales have been proposed for the assessment of the visibility of the periodontal ligament space of mandibular third molars on dental panoramic radiographs (PANs) for forensic age assessment in living individuals. However, up to now, there has been no systematic comparison between these staging scales available. We directly compared the 2010 staging scale proposed by Olze et al. with the 2017 staging by Lucas et al. and the 2020 staging by Guo et al. in a German study population. We evaluated 233 PANs from 115 females and 118 males aged 20.0 to 40.9 years using three independent examiners, with one examiner conducting two assessments. We examined the correlation between age and stage, as well as the inter- and intra-rater reliabilities. While the point estimates for the correlation coefficient and the reliability measures were lowest for the Guo scale and highest for the Olze scale, confidence intervals showed a large overlap, particularly for the scales of Olze et al. and Lucas et al. The correlation coefficients between stage and age were consistently lower in females than in males across all methods. In summary, we showed that the staging scales of Olze et al. and Lucas et al. were very similar. The Olze method showed higher point estimates across all analyses, and because there are more reference data available for this method, we argue that it should be preferred as the method of choice for further studies in the field. However, Guo method could be considered for instances, in which the inter-radicular periodontal ligament is not evaluable.
为评估下颌第三磨牙牙周韧带间隙在牙科全景X光片(PAN)上的可见度,人们提出了各种分期量表,用于活人的法医年龄评估。然而,到目前为止,这些分级标准之间还没有系统的比较。我们在德国研究人群中直接比较了 Olze 等人提出的 2010 年分期标准和 Lucas 等人提出的 2017 年分期标准以及 Guo 等人提出的 2020 年分期标准。我们由三名独立的检查人员对 115 名女性和 118 名男性的 233 个 PAN 进行了评估,他们的年龄在 20.0 岁至 40.9 岁之间,其中一名检查人员进行了两次评估。我们研究了年龄和阶段之间的相关性,以及评分者之间和评分者内部的可靠性。虽然郭氏量表的相关系数和信度测量的点估计值最低,而奥尔兹量表的点估计值最高,但置信区间显示出很大的重叠,尤其是奥尔兹等人和卢卡斯等人的量表。总之,我们发现 Olze 等人和 Lucas 等人的分期尺度非常相似。Olze 方法在所有分析中都显示出更高的点估计,而且由于该方法有更多的参考数据,我们认为该方法应作为进一步实地研究的首选方法。不过,在无法评估齿间牙周韧带的情况下,也可以考虑郭氏方法。
{"title":"Radiological assessment of periodontal ligament space visibility on third molars for forensic age assessment - a comparison study of three different staging scales.","authors":"Maximilian Timme, Laurin Steffens, Jan Viktorov, Adam Streeter, André Karch, Andreas Schmeling","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03184-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03184-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Various staging scales have been proposed for the assessment of the visibility of the periodontal ligament space of mandibular third molars on dental panoramic radiographs (PANs) for forensic age assessment in living individuals. However, up to now, there has been no systematic comparison between these staging scales available. We directly compared the 2010 staging scale proposed by Olze et al. with the 2017 staging by Lucas et al. and the 2020 staging by Guo et al. in a German study population. We evaluated 233 PANs from 115 females and 118 males aged 20.0 to 40.9 years using three independent examiners, with one examiner conducting two assessments. We examined the correlation between age and stage, as well as the inter- and intra-rater reliabilities. While the point estimates for the correlation coefficient and the reliability measures were lowest for the Guo scale and highest for the Olze scale, confidence intervals showed a large overlap, particularly for the scales of Olze et al. and Lucas et al. The correlation coefficients between stage and age were consistently lower in females than in males across all methods. In summary, we showed that the staging scales of Olze et al. and Lucas et al. were very similar. The Olze method showed higher point estimates across all analyses, and because there are more reference data available for this method, we argue that it should be preferred as the method of choice for further studies in the field. However, Guo method could be considered for instances, in which the inter-radicular periodontal ligament is not evaluable.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164763/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139898057","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-03-20DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03205-3
Christian Haarkötter, María Saiz, Xiomara Gálvez, Diana C Vinueza-Espinosa, María Isabel Medina-Lozano, Juan Carlos Álvarez, Jose Antonio Lorente
Forensic DNA analysis in compromised skeletal remains may pose challenges due to DNA degradation, often resulting in partial or negative autosomal STRs profiles. To address this issue, alternative approaches such as mitochondrial DNA or SNPs typing may be employed; however, they are labour-intensive and costly. Insertion-null alleles (INNULs), short interspersed nuclear elements, have been suggested as a valuable tool for human identification in challenging samples due to their small amplicon size. A commercial kit including 20 INNULs markers along with amelogenin (InnoTyper® 21) has been developed. This study assesses its utility using degraded skeletal remains, comparing the results obtained (the number of detected alleles, RFU values, PHR, and the number of reportable markers) to those obtained using GlobalFiler™. Subsequently, the random match probability of the two profiles for each sample was determined using Familias version 3 to evaluate the power of discrimination of the results obtained from each kit. In every sample, InnoTyper® 21 yielded more alleles, higher RFU values, and a greater number of reportable loci. However, in most cases, both profiles were similarly informative. In conclusion, InnoTyper® 21 serves as a valuable complement to the analysis of challenging samples in cases where a poor or negative profile was obtained.
由于 DNA 降解,对受损骸骨进行法医 DNA 分析可能会面临挑战,这往往会导致常染色体 STR 图谱部分或阴性。为解决这一问题,可采用线粒体 DNA 或 SNPs 分型等替代方法,但这些方法需要大量人力且成本高昂。插入缺失等位基因(INNULs)是一种短穿插核元素,由于其扩增片段较小,被认为是在具有挑战性的样本中进行人类鉴定的重要工具。目前已开发出一种商业试剂盒,其中包括 20 个 INNULs 标记和 amelogenin(InnoTyper® 21)。本研究使用退化的骸骨对其效用进行了评估,并将所获得的结果(检测到的等位基因数量、RFU 值、PHR 和可报告标记物的数量)与使用 GlobalFiler™ 所获得的结果进行了比较。随后,使用Familias版本3确定了每个样本的两个图谱的随机匹配概率,以评估每个试剂盒所得结果的鉴别力。在每个样本中,InnoTyper® 21 都能得到更多等位基因、更高的 RFU 值和更多的可报告位点。不过,在大多数情况下,两种试剂盒的信息量相似。总之,InnoTyper® 21 是对获得较差或阴性图谱的高难度样本分析的重要补充。
{"title":"Evaluation of the usefulness of insertion-null markers in critical skeletal remains.","authors":"Christian Haarkötter, María Saiz, Xiomara Gálvez, Diana C Vinueza-Espinosa, María Isabel Medina-Lozano, Juan Carlos Álvarez, Jose Antonio Lorente","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03205-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03205-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Forensic DNA analysis in compromised skeletal remains may pose challenges due to DNA degradation, often resulting in partial or negative autosomal STRs profiles. To address this issue, alternative approaches such as mitochondrial DNA or SNPs typing may be employed; however, they are labour-intensive and costly. Insertion-null alleles (INNULs), short interspersed nuclear elements, have been suggested as a valuable tool for human identification in challenging samples due to their small amplicon size. A commercial kit including 20 INNULs markers along with amelogenin (InnoTyper® 21) has been developed. This study assesses its utility using degraded skeletal remains, comparing the results obtained (the number of detected alleles, RFU values, PHR, and the number of reportable markers) to those obtained using GlobalFiler™. Subsequently, the random match probability of the two profiles for each sample was determined using Familias version 3 to evaluate the power of discrimination of the results obtained from each kit. In every sample, InnoTyper® 21 yielded more alleles, higher RFU values, and a greater number of reportable loci. However, in most cases, both profiles were similarly informative. In conclusion, InnoTyper® 21 serves as a valuable complement to the analysis of challenging samples in cases where a poor or negative profile was obtained.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164766/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140174602","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-01DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03176-5
Ridhwan Lye, Zuzana Obertová, Nur Amelia Bachtiar, Daniel Franklin
There is renewed interest in Asia for the development of forensic anthropological standards, partly due to the need for population-specific models to maintain high classification accuracies. At present, there are no known studies utilising morphoscopic standards specific to the Indonesian population. Craniometric analyses can often be time-consuming; morphoscopic assessments are quicker and are also known to be reliable and accurate. One of the most utilised morphoscopic standards for the estimation of skeletal sex is that of Walker (2008). Its application across population groups demonstrated reduced accuracies outside of the United States; population-specific predictive models would thus serve to improve the identification process of unknown skeletal remains. Digital imaging also allows for the validation of standards on a contemporary population and is an appropriate proxy to physical skeletal material.The present study quantifies the applicability of the Walker standard to a contemporary Indonesian population. A total of 200 cranial MSCT scans from a hospital in Makassar were analysed using OsiriX®. Scoring was performed in accordance with the Walker standard. Five univariate and nine multivariate predictive models were derived using single trait and multi-trait combinations. The best performing univariate model included the glabella, with a total classification accuracy of 82.0% and a sex bias of 14.6%. Classification accuracy with all traits considered was at 95.2% for females and 82.8% for males with a sex bias of 12.5%. These results provide forensic practitioners in Indonesia with an appropriate morphoscopic sex estimation standard, strengthening their capabilities in the field and improving judicial outcomes.
{"title":"Validating the use of clinical MSCT scans for cranial nonmetric sex estimation in a contemporary Indonesian population.","authors":"Ridhwan Lye, Zuzana Obertová, Nur Amelia Bachtiar, Daniel Franklin","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03176-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03176-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is renewed interest in Asia for the development of forensic anthropological standards, partly due to the need for population-specific models to maintain high classification accuracies. At present, there are no known studies utilising morphoscopic standards specific to the Indonesian population. Craniometric analyses can often be time-consuming; morphoscopic assessments are quicker and are also known to be reliable and accurate. One of the most utilised morphoscopic standards for the estimation of skeletal sex is that of Walker (2008). Its application across population groups demonstrated reduced accuracies outside of the United States; population-specific predictive models would thus serve to improve the identification process of unknown skeletal remains. Digital imaging also allows for the validation of standards on a contemporary population and is an appropriate proxy to physical skeletal material.The present study quantifies the applicability of the Walker standard to a contemporary Indonesian population. A total of 200 cranial MSCT scans from a hospital in Makassar were analysed using OsiriX®. Scoring was performed in accordance with the Walker standard. Five univariate and nine multivariate predictive models were derived using single trait and multi-trait combinations. The best performing univariate model included the glabella, with a total classification accuracy of 82.0% and a sex bias of 14.6%. Classification accuracy with all traits considered was at 95.2% for females and 82.8% for males with a sex bias of 12.5%. These results provide forensic practitioners in Indonesia with an appropriate morphoscopic sex estimation standard, strengthening their capabilities in the field and improving judicial outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164787/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139650749","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-07DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03172-9
Jaime López-García, Mario A Piña, Brett Clark, Martin J R Hall, Daniel Martín-Vega
Accurate minimum post-mortem interval (minPMI) estimations often rely on a precise age determination of insect developmental stages, which is significantly influenced by environmental temperature. An optimal preservation of the entomological samples collected at crime scenes is pivotal for a reliable aging of immature insect samples. For blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), the most widely used insect indicators in forensic investigations, an appropriate preservation of tissues is particularly important in the case of puparial samples because aging methods for intra-puparial forms usually depend on morphological analyses; however, although informative soft tissues and structures could be discoloured and/or distorted if they are not properly fixed, there is a lack of studies to assess different methods for the optimal preservation of intra-puparial forms collected in forensic investigations. The present study compares three preservation methods for intra-puparial forms of the blow fly Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: (i) direct immersion into 80% ethanol, (ii) puncturing of the puparium and hot water killing (HWK) prior to preservation in 80% ethanol, and (iii) HWK without puncturing before preservation in 80% ethanol. External and internal morphological analyses of intra-puparial forms of different ages were conducted to assess the quality of preservation. The results indicate that direct immersion in ethanol led to poor preservation, affecting both external and internal tissues. Both methods with HWK resulted in a better preservation, but puncturing resulted, in some cases, in physical damage of the specimens. HWK without puncturing emerged as the optimal preservation method, consistently yielding high preservation scores for both external and internal morphological analyses. These findings have practical implications for forensic practitioners and emphasise the need for updating some published guidelines and protocols in forensic entomology.
{"title":"Methods for the optimal preservation of blow fly intra-puparial forms for morphological analysis in forensic casework.","authors":"Jaime López-García, Mario A Piña, Brett Clark, Martin J R Hall, Daniel Martín-Vega","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03172-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03172-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Accurate minimum post-mortem interval (minPMI) estimations often rely on a precise age determination of insect developmental stages, which is significantly influenced by environmental temperature. An optimal preservation of the entomological samples collected at crime scenes is pivotal for a reliable aging of immature insect samples. For blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), the most widely used insect indicators in forensic investigations, an appropriate preservation of tissues is particularly important in the case of puparial samples because aging methods for intra-puparial forms usually depend on morphological analyses; however, although informative soft tissues and structures could be discoloured and/or distorted if they are not properly fixed, there is a lack of studies to assess different methods for the optimal preservation of intra-puparial forms collected in forensic investigations. The present study compares three preservation methods for intra-puparial forms of the blow fly Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: (i) direct immersion into 80% ethanol, (ii) puncturing of the puparium and hot water killing (HWK) prior to preservation in 80% ethanol, and (iii) HWK without puncturing before preservation in 80% ethanol. External and internal morphological analyses of intra-puparial forms of different ages were conducted to assess the quality of preservation. The results indicate that direct immersion in ethanol led to poor preservation, affecting both external and internal tissues. Both methods with HWK resulted in a better preservation, but puncturing resulted, in some cases, in physical damage of the specimens. HWK without puncturing emerged as the optimal preservation method, consistently yielding high preservation scores for both external and internal morphological analyses. These findings have practical implications for forensic practitioners and emphasise the need for updating some published guidelines and protocols in forensic entomology.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164728/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139702490","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-03-23DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03213-3
Christian Schyma, Matthias Berthold
Contact shots to the head often leave behind biological traces inside firearm barrels, a phenomenon of great forensic interest. Until now, the visualization and preservation of these traces presented a significant challenge, lacking a reliable method. This study addresses this gap by searching for a suitable method to extract the traces within a casting. Using alginate or gelatine as suitable materials, the results were hampered by serious adhesion issues and their extraction out of the firearm barrel was impeded. Finally, the combination of 11% gelatine with 1% alginate, introduced into the barrel around a 'central spine', succeeded to consistently produce replicable castings. Experimental contact shots displayed a distinct staining gradient from the muzzle to the rear of the barrel, as revealed through endoscopy and proved in the macroscopic casting. The technique proved effective for various common handgun barrels and successfully preserved blood and gunshot residue (GSR) patterns within the barrel. This method offers the dual benefits of visually mapping staining patterns and securing localized samples for targeted molecular genetic analysis in forensic investigations.
{"title":"New alginate-gelatine method for casting of staining inside firearm barrels.","authors":"Christian Schyma, Matthias Berthold","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03213-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03213-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Contact shots to the head often leave behind biological traces inside firearm barrels, a phenomenon of great forensic interest. Until now, the visualization and preservation of these traces presented a significant challenge, lacking a reliable method. This study addresses this gap by searching for a suitable method to extract the traces within a casting. Using alginate or gelatine as suitable materials, the results were hampered by serious adhesion issues and their extraction out of the firearm barrel was impeded. Finally, the combination of 11% gelatine with 1% alginate, introduced into the barrel around a 'central spine', succeeded to consistently produce replicable castings. Experimental contact shots displayed a distinct staining gradient from the muzzle to the rear of the barrel, as revealed through endoscopy and proved in the macroscopic casting. The technique proved effective for various common handgun barrels and successfully preserved blood and gunshot residue (GSR) patterns within the barrel. This method offers the dual benefits of visually mapping staining patterns and securing localized samples for targeted molecular genetic analysis in forensic investigations.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11164745/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140193750","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}
Pub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-02-01DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03177-4
Meena Suresh Kumar, Tanuj Kanchan, Vikas P Meshram
{"title":"Post‑mortem detection of biomarkers for diagnosis of traumatic brain injury.","authors":"Meena Suresh Kumar, Tanuj Kanchan, Vikas P Meshram","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03177-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-024-03177-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139650748","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}