The case report presents an identification process based on DNA isolated from personal belongings, including a filter mask. In May 2021, an unidentified 65-year-old male corpse was revealed by the city's outskirts road. Since it was impossible to use material from living relatives for comparative analysis, the samples of personal belongings of the alleged victim were used instead: clippings of the filtering face piece type 2 (FFP2) face mask (parts adhering to the nose and the earlobes, the central part of the mask), swabs from the razor (blade and shaft), toothbrush shaft, and toothbrush filaments clippings. The presented case indicates the need for collecting a wide range of samples for genetic analyses, including filter masks as an alternative item of personal belonging.
This article is a synthesis of the history of medicolegal opinions in France in the 17th century. Mainly two research methods were used in the work - the historical method and the descriptive method. The article aims to present the knowledge of French forensic medicine in a historical and legal context. It shows the pioneering research of medics and surgeons, presents the legal regulations of that time, and emphasizes the high level of French science compared to other European countries. It is worth adding that from the earliest times the issues with the assessment of health and life were assigned to medical experts - jurors (the edict of 1603 médecins jurés et chirurgiens jurés). During this period, forensic and medical examinations became a duty. People became interested in the mental health of the accused, as well as in the inspection of the reproductive organs in the event of a divorce. Italian surgery had a huge impact on the history of medicolegal opinions in the French territories. Interestingly, France was the first country to separate judicial and medical issues from tasks related to the medical police.
Aim: Bendiocarb is used against a wide range of insects but has already been withdrawn from the market in some countries. It poses a high risk to birds as they can accidentally ingest it while searching for food, followed by toxic effects. This paper presents the results of toxicological and histopathological studies of 48 cases of intentional birds of prey poisoning with bendiocarb in Eastern Europe, specifically Poland.
Material and methods: A novel ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method for bendiocarb determination in animal liver samples was developed and fully validated. The sample preparation technique was based on one-step precipitation of proteins with cold acetonitrile. The internal standard used was carbaryl-d7. Full time of analysis was less than 10 minutes. The application of the UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS method allowed us to achieve the lowest LOQ (1 ng/g) of bendiocarb in biological samples to date.
Results: Necropsies and histopathological examinations of common ravens (Corvus corax), western marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus), red kites (Milvus milvus), and a white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) revealed multi-organ toxicity manifested as congestion, oedema, or stagnation of blood. An analytical investigation confirmed the presence of bendiocarb in liver in the 1808-7721 ng/g range. Furthermore, the presence of this compound was qualitatively confirmed in the stomach and beak contents and also in the bait located near the deceased animals.
Conclusions: A comprehensive forensic examination is crucial to monitor wildlife fatalities, especially applying a combined analytical and histopathological approach to identify and eliminate highly toxic substances which pose a threat to the ecosystem.
Aim: Analysis of suicides on the basis of forensic post mortem examinations conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Bydgoszcz in comparison with data from previous years and other centers.
Material and methods: The assessment included 6,564 forensic medical opinions from the post mortem examinations carried out in 2011-2020, including 1,073 cases of suicide, taking into account the sex and age of the victims, the place where the suicide was committed, the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants, methods of committing suicides and date (month and year).
Results: Suicides accounted for 16.34% of all post mortem examinations. The most common method of suicide was hanging - 73%. The second most common way to take your own life was fall from height - 8%. The most numerous age group among those committing suicide are people between 51 and 60 years of age. In most cases, the suicide victims were sober. There is a significant difference between the state of sobriety and the gender of the victim. Male victims were much more often under the influence of alcohol during the suicide. 14% of all suicides were committed by women, and 86% by men. Death as a result of suicide took place somewhat more often within the boundaries of large urban agglomerations than in towns and villages.
Conclusions: The research showed an increase in the suicide rate compared to the previous years. Hanging is still the most common form of suicide. There has been an increase in the number of suicides in the elderly and an increase in the number of so-called combined suicides.
Donor DNA profiling can serve at least two purposes: 1) to enhance the evidential value of DNA deposited on garments/ items and 2) to provide valuable tactical information during crime scene investigation. In this review, different types of methods for the recovery of the contact DNA traces have been summarized. Additionally, with the available techniques, the unique characteristics and limitations thereof have been overviewed. The aim of this paper is to review the techniques of touch traces collection.
Modern molecular biology and clinical genetics have the ability to diagnose many diseases, the presence or absence of which is important in various areas of forensic medical opinion. The aim of the study is to present examples of possible non-standard application of clinical molecular-genetic tests in forensic medicine. From among all the opinions prepared so far at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Katowice, three were selected two of which concerned post-autopsy conclusions relating to the cause of death, and in one case - opinion based on the files of a case related to the suspicion of a maltreated child syndrome in an infant. In all these cases, the results of the molecular and genetic tests were negative, which was taken into account by the experts when formulating the final conclusions of the opinion. The use of clinical molecular and genetic tests in forensic medicine is possible and always brings important additional information that broadens the possibilities of opinion-making and facilitates diagnosis. The areas in which this type of research may be particularly useful are: diagnostics of the basis of thromboembolic complications, modern integrated morphological and molecular diagnostics of neoplasms and diagnostics of genetic defects of connective tissue in children suspected of having abused child syndrome.
Recent years saw frequent media reports of young people who die while they are being arrested by the police. Death in these circumstances affects people who are agitated and restrained with the use of force, with their autopsies indicating no unequivocally traumatic cause of death. The goal of this study was to identify the mechanism and circumstances of sudden deaths in agitated individuals who are being restrained. Ten cases evaluated at our center since 2010 were included in this study: nine involved forensic postmortem examination and one involved casefile analysis. In each case there was sudden cardiac arrest or at least a loss of consciousness, and the cardiopulmonary resuscitation proved ineffective. In six cases the cause of agitation was acute psychosis, in four it was an effect of narcotics, usually in high concentration. Conjunctival petechiae were detected in only five cases. The most probable cause of death in the evaluated cases was the combination of physical exertion caused by pathological psychomotor agitation and forcible restraint, hindering the function of the respiratory system. This mechanism is known as restraint asphyxia.
Genetic markers for the prediction of biogeographical ancestry have proved to be effective tools for law enforcement agencies for many years now. In this study, we attempted to assess the potential of insertion-deletion markers (InDel) and microsatellites (STRs) as subsidiary polymorphisms for inference of Slavic population ancestry. For that purpose, we genotyped Slavic-speaking populations samples from Belarus, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine and Russia in 46 InDels and 15 STRs by PCR and capillary electrophoresis and analyzed for between-population differentiation with the use of distance-based methods (FST, principal component analysis and multidimensional scaling). Additionally, we studied a sample from a Polish individual of well-documented genealogy whose biogeographic ancestry had previously been inferred by commercial genomic services using autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), mitochondrial DNA and Y-SNP markers. For comparative purposes, we used genotype data collected in the "forInDel" browser and allele frequencies from previously published papers. The results obtained for InDels and STRs show that the Slavic populations constitute a genetically homogeneous group, with the exception of the Czechs differing clearly from the other tested populations. The analysis of the known Polish sample in the Snipper application proves the usefulness of the InDel markers on the continental level only. Conversely, microsatellites not only improve prediction, but are also informative if considered as an independent set of ancestry markers.
Pneumonia is one of the most common causes of children's hospitalization and death. The aim of the study was a medico-legal analysis of children who died suddenly due to pneumonia undiagnosed in their lifetime. The research was of a retrospective character and consisted in an analysis of prosecution files. The study included 47 children who died between 2011-2018 in whom pneumonia after post-mortem examination was indicated as the cause of death, as well as children in whom the cause of death, despite additional post-mortem examinations, including histopathological tests, was not established. In some cases, under additional post-mortem examinations, additional targeted immunohistochemical staining of selected lung sections was performed to establish the diagnosis. In children with prodromal symptoms, histopathological examination showed significantly more frequent atelectasis than in children without prodromal symptoms. Pneumonia is a significant clinical problem. Especially in young children, it may proceed with- out any symptoms that would cause such a diagnosis to be made. A properly conducted post-mortem diagnosis supplemented by immunohistochemical examinations allows to reduce the number of unexplained deaths in children.