International Journal of Legal Medicine最新文献

Background: Fungi are important decomposers aiding in recycling of organic matter. The use of fungi in forensic settings has grown in popularity in the recent years, due to its diverse applications.

Objective: This scoping review seeks to compile the advances in using fungi as evidence and identify current trends in the workflow of fungal applications in forensic science.

Design: Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed databases were used to find relevant literature published during the years of 2005-2025. Eighty-one articles were identified as they fit the eligibility criteria of the review.

Result: Fungi growing on a cadaver can aid in identifying the stage of decomposition and approximate estimation of time since death, while alteration of soil fungal community due to decomposition can help in post-burial interval assessment. Fungal spores are effective as trace evidences to locate primary and secondary crime scenes, using either dust or soil, by integrating DNA metabarcoding and statistical approaches. However, fungi can also alter evidence, such as in hair, body fluids and drugs.

Conclusion: Research has established fungi as one of the most robust pieces of evidence. Research should be conducted on refining the methodologies and considering the various factors which can affect fungal growth.

India's genomic diversity is influenced by regional population dynamics and strong endogamy. The present study explores the genetic structure of the Brahmin population in Gujarat, a culturally and genetically preserved community, using autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STR). Genomic DNA from the blood samples of 819 healthy individuals (562 males and 257 females) were subjected to autosomal STR typing using the GlobalFiler™ Express PCR Amplification Kit. Capillary electrophoresis-based fragment analysis was performed using the ABI 3500 Genetic Analyser, and proceeded to genotype analysis using GeneMapper ID-X. In total, 74 alleles were assessed with observed heterozygosity (Ho) of 0.80 ± 0.01, expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.79 ± 0.02, and unbiased expected heterozygosity (uHe) of 0.79 ± 0.02. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was followed by most of the markers except D16S539 and D3S1358. Forensic efficiency measures (PIC = 0.63-0.95; PD = 1; PE = 0.99999) confirmed the significance of these markers for genetic and forensic research. Additionally, comparative genomic analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) revealed close genetic affinity between Brahmins of Gujarat and Brahmins from Haryana and Rajasthan. These findings enhance the genetic makeup of the Brahmin population of Gujarat. Additionally, a novel germline-origin Type 2 tri-allelic pattern (8, 9, 11) at the D13S317 locus was identified in a healthy male participant, which was traced to a Type 2(B) tri-allelic variant at the same locus in his biological mother. These findings highlight the need for understanding the tri-allelic pattern for its appropriate interpretation in STR analysis.

Background: Fundus examination is crucial to assess retinal haemorrhages after sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), to rule out fatal abusive head trauma.

Objective: To determine how many SUDI cases in France underwent a fundus examination, and to identify factors associated with its completion.

Method: Children who died from SUDI included in the French SUDI registry were analysed. It was determined whether a fundus examination had been performed and, if so, whether the results showed the presence of retinal haemorrhages. Groups having undergone or not fundus examinations were compared in terms of age at death, gender, perinatal history, need for resuscitation, post-mortem investigations (brain imaging, autopsy), potential prosecutor's intervention, and presence of traumatic injuries. A survey was sent to referral centres to determine whether and how they performed fundus examinations.

Results: Our study included 1,326 cases of SUDI occurring between 2015 and 2022, of which 252 (19%) underwent fundus examinations, with a significant increase from 10 (9.3%) in 2015 to 57 (31.8%) in 2022 (p < 0.001). Significant differences were observed between the groups with and without fundus examination in the number of autopsies (217 [86.8%] vs. 845 [79%]; p = 0.004), and the presence of traumatic injuries (15 [6.4%] vs. 23 [2.3%]; p = 0.003). Retinal haemorrhages were detected in 26 children, and were significantly associated with higher rates of prosecutor's interventions after hospital admission (12 [57.1%] vs. 32 [16.2%]; p < 0.001), cardiac activity resumption (9 [40.9%] vs. 17 [7.9%]; p < 0.001) and traumatic injuries (14 [53.8%] vs. 1 [0.5%]; p < 0.001). Of the 34 centres surveyed, 15 completed the questionnaire, and only 5 reported regularly performing fundus examinations.

Conclusion: A fundus examination is performed in only 19% of SUDI cases in France. Efforts should be made to generalize this examination to avoid missing out fatal abusive head trauma.

Genetic factors are known to have important roles in sudden unexplained death (SUD) of apparently healthy individuals. Currently, molecular autopsy is considered an effective diagnostic tool in the multidisciplinary management of SUD. Recent studies highlighted the contribution of regulatory variants to complex genetic disorders. Pathogenic variants within the untranslated regions of SUD susceptibility genes were also identified in certain cases. However, the functional validation of pathogenic variants outside of the coding regions remains challenging. As the most direct method, transcriptome analysis could be performed at the same time with molecular autopsy to identify the abnormal expression of SUD susceptibility genes, while the post-mortem degradation of mRNA in myocardial tissues has made it difficult to interpret the transcriptome profiling results. In this study, we performed a retrospective analysis-based prioritization of SUD susceptibility genes based on the distribution of pathogenic genetic variants in previous studies with molecular autopsy findings reported. After gene prioritization, we analyzed the transcriptome data of 432 left ventricle tissues with different sampling time intervals from the Genotype-Tissue Expression database, in order to characterize the degradation pattern of prioritized SUD susceptibility genes. Furthermore, RNA degradation difference between unfrozen and thawed samples was investigated. We demonstrated that with proper segmentation of genes according to their degradation patterns, a partial least squares-discriminant analysis could effectively recognize the expression difference of targeted genes between normal samples and simulated SUD cases. Taken together, our findings presented a strategy for the interpretation of RNA profiling results during the forensic investigation of SUD.

Body armour designed for use by police officers in England and Wales is currently tested using Roma Plastilina No1 (RP1) as the witness material for the measurement of back face signature (BFS). However, this material has limitations when testing body armour designed for females, as it is not possible to measure the BFS in the breast region due to the way the breast shapes are formed. Therefore, to enable measurement of BFS for females over the breast, an alternative backing material is required to form surrogate breasts and torso which would enable BFS to be measured. A comparison was conducted between RP1, 10% ballistic gelatine and a 30/70% styrene-etylene / butylene-styrene (SEBS) gel, using standardised ballistic test packs and two projectiles: DM11A1B2 9 mm FMJ at velocities 365 ± 10 ms^-1; Remington R357M3 0.357" JSP at velocities 390 ± 10 ms^-1. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference identified in measured BFS among the three backing materials with both projectile types. RP1 had the overall smallest variance in measured BFS for both projectile types, however the limitation in being able to mould to create a breast shape is a major limiting factor. With 10% ballistic gelatine, when testing with the 0.357" projectile, a greater variance in measured BFS was shown compared to the other materials. The SEBS gel was consistent for the 0.357" projectile, but with the 9 mm projectile there was greater variance in results. Both 10% ballistic gelatine and SEBS gel would enable a moulded female test form to be created, however SEBS gel has a much longer shelf life and showed resistance to damage, although neither of these materials could be considered as a biofidelic substitute for breast tissue.

Background: Female neonaticide is a widespread issue in India, with the majority of cases going unreported due to a lack of proper evidence. The prime objective of forensic investigation in neonaticide is to provide evidence against the claim of a stillbirth. The neonatal line is an incremental line corresponding to the event of birth that separates the enamel formed before birth from the enamel layer laid after birth. It is found in all developing teeth during birth, including all deciduous teeth and permanent molars. The presence of the neonatal line distinguishes live birth from stillbirth, and it is possible to estimate the exact period of survival of the infant by measuring the amount of postnatal hard tissue.

Objective: To assess the applicability of the neonatal line as evidence of live birth in forensic odontology.

Methodology: The systematic review was registered in PRSOPERO with registration number CRD42023439753. The sources of data included Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed. The studies were evaluated for quality using the QUIN tool, which was specifically designed for analytical cross-sectional studies.

Results: A search across PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and gray literature identified 97 articles on neonatal line. After title review, 50 articles were dismissed for not meeting the review objectives. Abstract screening excluded 26 articles that were reviews or duplicates. Of the 21 articles that proceeded to full-text review, four met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative analysis. A meta-analysis was not possible because of the considerable variability between studies.

Conclusion: The presence of an NL signifies a live birth, and by assessing the extent of postnatal hard tissue development, one can estimate the infant's survival in days, which might indicate neonaticide. Although several skeletal indicators can determine " whether an infant was born alive," these may not always be reliable. Therefore, NL could provide an additional method and act as a supplementary tool for investigations. However, the evidence is not robust enough to support its use in practical forensic odontology applications.

Protocol registration: The study protocol can be accessed in the PROSPERO database, which is the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, with the registration number CRD42023439753.

Diagnosis of death due to electrocution is difficult when typical electric marks are absent. A valid diagnostic method based on useful biomarkers are needed for these atypical electrocution cases. Herein we utilized formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples that are archived in our forensic center to conduct label-free proteome analysis in the aim of screening differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) for diagnosis of atypical electrocution. By using cases dying from mechanical injury and drug intoxication as negative controls, a total of 1591 proteins were identified, among which 128 proteins (8.0%) were DEPs to the atypical electrocution cases. These DEPs were mainly enriched in processes involved in cellular metabolism, DNA replication and gene transcription. The vast majority of the DEPs (121/128, 94.5%) were downregulated, while the remaining DEPs were upregulated in the hearts from atypical electrocution. Mitofusin-2 (MFN2) and Nucleolin (NCL) were the top upregulated and downregulated DEPs, respectively, that showed the greatest fold-changes. Immunohistochemical staining in independent case series verified that both MFN2 and NCL altered significantly in heart specimens from atypical electrocution death. Cardiac expression of MFN2 and NCL were not affected by decedents' age, sex, or postmortem interval. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the areas under the curve (AUC) of the two proteins were 0.8925 and 0.9008, with diagnostic sensitivity being 87.54% and 88.89%, and specificity being 74.19% and 84.12%, respectively. Our results suggest that cardiac MFN2 and NCL are potential useful biomarkers for forensic diagnosis of atypical electrocution death.

Objectives: Age estimation plays a major role in the identification of unknown dead bodies, including skeletal remains. We present a novel age estimation method developed by applying a deep-learning network to the coxal bone and lumbar vertebrae on post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) images.

Materials and methods: The coxal bone and lumbar vertebrae were targeted in this study. Volume-rendered images of these bones from 1,229 individuals were captured and input to a convolutional neural network based on the visual geometry group 16 network. A transfer learning strategy was employed. The predictive capabilities of age estimation models were assessed by a 10-fold cross-validation procedure, with mean absolute error (MAE) and correlation coefficients between chronological and estimated ages calculated for validation. In addition, gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) was conducted to visualize the regions of interest in learning.

Results and conclusion: The estimation models created showed low MAE (range, 7.27-6.44 years) and high correlation coefficients (range, 0.84-0.91) in the validation. Aging-induced shape changes were grossly observed at the vertebral body, coxal bone surface, and other sites. The Grad-CAM results identified these as regions of interest in learning. The present method has the potential to become an age estimation tool that is routinely applied in the examination of unknown dead bodies, including skeletal remains.

Vertebral artery injuries (VAIs) are rarely observed in forensic practice and can result from either penetrating injuries or blunt force trauma to the neck. The identification of such injuries represents a pivotal challenge for forensic pathologists, due to the protected anatomical course of these vessels, particularly in their extracranial tract. Over the years, several approaches have been proposed to address this issue, including vessel gross examination through different dissection techniques, the water injection method and, more recently, post-mortem computed tomography angiography (PMCTA), which is currently deemed the gold standard approach. However, no studies have employed contrast-enhanced radiological techniques using an ex-situ approach to investigate VAIs.The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic potential of fluoroscopy and contrast-enhanced micro-CT in detecting extracranial vertebral artery lesions via an ex-situ approach. Cervical blocks (C1-C3) from three forensic cases of neck stab wounds were collected, and fluoroscopy and contrast-enhanced micro-CT, using Barium Sulfate and Diatrizoate Sodium as contrast agents respectively, were performed. The above radiological techniques proved accurate and reliable in identifying vascular injuries, exhibiting enhanced diagnostic performance compared to conventional macroscopic examination. Fluoroscopy provides dynamic imaging, enabling real-time detection of contrast leakages, while contrast-enhanced micro-CT allows simultaneous assessment of both vascular injuries and bone fractures. Therefore, these promising techniques could serve as complementary tools to conventional diagnostic approaches, offering an accurate and comprehensive characterization of the cervical injury pattern in cases of fatal penetrating neck trauma.

In forensic casework, unraveling the criminal nature of an event requires not only identifying the individual source of specific biological stains but also confirming their cellular origin. Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of identifying body fluids using specific mRNA markers and linking body fluids to their donors via coding region SNPs (cSNPs) within these mRNAs. Nanopore sequencing enables the detection of more cSNPs within longer mRNA amplicons due to its long-read capability. In this proof-of-principle study, we developed a targeted mRNA nanopore sequencing panel to simultaneously infer body fluid sources and identify individuals. This panel includes 12 body fluid-specific mRNAs and two reference genes (RGs), with a total of 41 cSNPs included in these 14 mRNA transcripts. Sequencing data showed that specific mRNAs were highly expressed in peripheral blood, semen, and menstrual blood, with an average read proportion exceeding 95% (excluding RGs reads). Cross-reactivity was observed in saliva and vaginal secretions, but all body fluid samples could still be accurately clustered. Alternative alleles were detected for 16 cSNPs, and genotyping results for randomly selected samples were validated for consistency with Sanger sequencing. The system demonstrated discriminatory power (DP) ranging from 0.5645 to 0.9017, providing information about the body fluid donor. However, further research is needed to identify more specific mRNAs, introduce additional highly polymorphic cSNPs, and perform evaluations on larger populations.