International Journal of Legal Medicine最新文献

{"title":"Autosomal and Y-STR genetic database from a population of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the postwar period.","authors":"Ana María López-Parra, Sara Palomo-Díez, Cláudia Gomes, Carlos Baeza, Manuel Lozano, Sara Bravo, Cesar López-Matayoshi, Eduardo Arroyo-Pardo","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03422-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03422-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Under the initiative of the \"Direcció General de Memòria democràtica-Departament de Justícia\" (Generalitat of Catalonia, Spain), a multi-disciplinar project was funded to identify the remains of people disappeared in Catalonia during and after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Samples were officially sent by Autonomous Government of Catalonia to the Laboratory of Forensic and Population Genetics at Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, to be genotyped. Our study presents a database of 343 victims genotyped for STRs comprised in GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit (Thermofisher Scientific) and a subset of 292 typed with Y-STRs from Yfiler™ Plus PCR Amplification Kit (Thermofisher Scientific). Complete profiles amounted to 116 (33.81%) and 89 (30.48%) for autosomal and Y-STRs respectively. Allelic/haplotype frequencies, forensic parameters and HW equilibrium were calculated with STRAF software. Drop-out frequencies were also calculated for each locus. All the markers were in HW equilibrium (p > 0.05). Allelic drop-out frequencies were larger in the case of CSF1PO (1.5340E-01) and TPOX (1.2640E-01), probably due to extremely low DNA preservation combined with a less efficient PCR for these loci, among other causes. The comparison of our autosomal database with a set of modern European populations from STRidER database (ENFSI) reveals that the present study sample clusters with other West European samples. This is also the case for Y-STR when our study is compared with European and North African samples. Our results seem to suggest that modern Spanish forensic databases can be used to identify deceased persons during the Spanish Civil War and later, from their living descendants.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143038431","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":"European specialty and specialist practice in legal and forensic medicine.","authors":"Jason Payne-James, Vassilios Papalois, Bernadette Butler, Bertrand Ludes, Antti Sajantila, Joao Grenho, Denis Cusack","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03420-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03420-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143038432","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":"Forensic sex classification by convolutional neural network approach by VGG16 model: accuracy, precision and sensitivity.","authors":"Cristiana Palmela Pereira, Mariana Correia, Diana Augusto, Francisco Coutinho, Francisco Salvado Silva, Rui Santos","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03416-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03416-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>In the reconstructive phase of medico-legal human identification, the sex estimation is crucial in the reconstruction of the biological profile and can be applied both in identifying victims of mass disasters and in the autopsy room. Due to the inherent subjectivity associated with traditional methods, artificial intelligence, specifically, convolutional neural networks (CNN) may present a competitive option.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study evaluates the reliability of VGG16 model as an accurate forensic sex prediction algorithm and its performance using orthopantomography (OPGs).</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>This study included 1050 OPGs from patients at the Santa Maria Local Health Unit Stomatology Department. Using Python, the OPGs were pre-processed, resized and similar copies were created using data augmentation methods. The model was evaluated for precision, sensitivity, F1-score and accuracy, and heatmaps were created.</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>The training revealed a discrepancy between the validation and training loss values. In the general test, the model showed a general balance between sexes, with F1-scores of 0.89. In the test by age group, contrary to expectations, the model was most accurate in the 16-20 age group (90%). Apart from the mandibular symphysis, analysis of the heatmaps showed that the model did not focus on anatomically relevant areas, possibly due to the lack of application of image extraction techniques.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results indicate that CNNs are accurate in classifying human remains based on the generic factor sex for medico-legal identification, achieving an overall accuracy of 89%. However, further research is necessary to enhance the models' performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143033107","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":"Forensic pathology standards in China: a 30-year retrospective study.","authors":"Tu Lyu, Dong Zhao, Guanglong He","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03423-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03423-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>China's forensic pathology standardization has accumulated more than 30 years of experience, but there is limited research summarizing the features and detailed information concerning these standards. In this paper, we collected documents on forensic pathology standards and statistically analyzed their types, effective scopes, drafting units, authorization departments, promulgation times, revision cycles, and other information. All of the standards information was obtained from standardization websites and databases. Since the first national standardization committee of forensic science established in 1991, a total of thirty-six forensic pathology standards have been published, including one national standard, thirty-one sector standards, and four enterprise standards. Among them, twenty-four standards were currently valid, while another twelve had been repealed. There were two management standards and thirty-four technical standards. The minimum revision cycle for standards was nine years, and the maximum cycle was twenty-three years. The standards system of forensic pathology had been primarily established, and the public welfare attributes of standardization were strengthened. However, some challenges still await positive actions, such as resolving the relative deficiencies of basic and management standards, satisfying the requirements for national standards, and advancing the delayed revisions of standards. In the future, we should continue to promote national standards for forensic pathology, actively absorb advanced international experience, strengthen the construction of basic and management standards, and fully encourage the flexibility, efficiency, and pioneer of standards dominated by associations, enterprises, and other organizations.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143033106","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":"Dietary and competition effects on life history attributes of Chrysomya megacephala and Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in south-west Europe.","authors":"A Martínez-Sánchez, T Ivorra, Y Velásquez, L Cerdá-Ortega, C Ibáñez, S Rojo","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03425-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03425-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The range of the oriental latrine fly (Chrysomya megacephala) is currently expanding. It coexists with another blowfly with a similar ecology, the green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata), one of the most abundant species in carrion during warm months. It is essential to understand the influence of temperature, larval substrate type, and larval competition on the development rates of these necrophagous calliphorids to evaluate the role and the adaptation of C. megacephala in the ecosystems, and on the necrophagous Diptera community. Moreover, due to the forensic importance of both species, biological data are need for forensic purposes in south-west Europe. This study represents the first on the biology of C. megacephala in Europe, and of L. sericata in Spain. We performed a field experiment in Alicante province (south-east Spain) to analyse the monthly abundance of both species in natural conditions, and three lab rearing experiments involving both species to evaluate (i) development at constant temperatures, (ii) the growth of larvae and pupae on different substrates, and (iii) coexistence in pure and mixed cultures under controlled abiotic conditions. The results allowed us to analyse the biological differences between both species, and their effects on the forensic entomology application.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143023418","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":"Nanoparticle-assisted PCR: fundamentals, mechanisms, and forensic implications.","authors":"Kamayani Vajpayee, Vidhi Paida, Ritesh K Shukla","doi":"10.1007/s00414-024-03402-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03402-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has transformed forensic DNA analysis but is still limited when dealing with compromised trace or inhibitor-containing samples. Nanotechnology has been integrated into nanoPCR (nanoparticle-assisted PCR) to overcome these obstacles. Nanomaterials improve PCR sensitivity, selectivity, and efficiency. Examples of these materials are semiconductor quantum dots and metal nanoparticles. They enhance DNA binding to primers, stabilize enzymes, and function as effective heat conductors, making accurate amplification possible even with tainted samples. The developments in nanoPCR have potential uses in forensics, as they allow for the more sensitive analysis of smaller, polluted, or deteriorated samples. Nevertheless, there are methodological and ethical issues. To provide credible and legitimate forensic evidence, rigorous validation and standardization of NanoPCR techniques are vital. The article addresses the relevant ethical and methodological aspects in forensic casework while examining the integration of nanotechnology into PCR.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143004710","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":"Comparison of background characteristics and neuropathology findings between medico-legal autopsy cases with traumatic axonal injury, vascular axonal injury, or absence of axonal injury in β-amyloid precursor protein stain.","authors":"Gaia Narayan, Petteri Oura","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03415-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03415-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In forensic neuropathology, the β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) immunostain is used to diagnose axonal injury (AI). The two most common aetiologies are traumatic (TAI) and ischaemic (vascular; VAI). We aimed to identify background characteristics and neuropathology findings that are suggestive of TAI, VAI, or no AI in neuropathologically examined medico-legal autopsy cases. The dataset comprised 166 cases from Finland over the period 2016-2023. The diagnosis of AI was based on β-APP stain (TAI, VAI, or no AI). Data on background characteristics and neuropathology findings were collected from cause-of-death investigation documents. Prevalence ratios were calculated for each variable to enable comparisons between the AI categories. The sample were 71.7% males; median age was 41 years (range 0-96). There were 26 cases with TAI, 44 with VAI, and 96 with no AI. The variables that showed statistical significance and had at least two-fold prevalence among TAI cases compared to VAI cases were: a documented recent injury; and presence of any extracranial/cranial/intracranial injury (including subdural haemorrhage [SDH], subarachnoid haemorrhage [SAH], intracerebral/ventricular haemorrhage [ICVH], or contusion) in autopsy or neuropathology. Correspondingly, variables indicating TAI over no AI were: a documented recent injury; postinjury survival ≥ 24 h; and presence of any extracranial/cranial/intracranial injury (including SDH, SAH, ICVH, contusion), herniation, or infarction in autopsy or neuropathology. Postinjury survival < 30 min was identified as an indicator of no AI over TAI. Finally, variables indicating VAI over no AI were: postinjury survival ≥ 24 h; lack of external injury to the head; and presence of SDH, brain oedema, herniation, or infarction in autopsy or neuropathology. In conclusion, we report several differences in characteristics and findings between cases diagnosed with TAI, VAI, and no AI. Our findings may help estimate the likelihood and potential aetiology of AI based on background characteristics and other neuropathology findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143005163","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":"iForensic, multicentric validation of digital whole slide images (WSI) in forensic histopathology setting according to the College of American Pathologists guidelines.","authors":"Nicola Pigaiani, Antonio Oliva, Vito Cirielli, Simone Grassi, Vincenzo Arena, Luca-Maria Solari, Naomi Tatriele, Dario Raniero, Matteo Brunelli, Stefano Gobbo, Aldo Scarpa, Liron Pantanowitz, Pamela Rodegher, Federica Bortolotti, Francesco Ausania","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03421-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03421-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pathology has benefited from the rapid progress of image-digitizing technology during the last decade. However, the application of digital whole slide images (WSI) in forensic pathology still needs to be improved. WSI validation is crucial to ensure diagnostic performance, at least equivalent to glass slides and light microscopy. The College of American Pathologists Pathology and Laboratory Quality Center recently updated internal digital pathology system validation recommendations. Following these guidelines, this pilot study aimed to validate the performance of a digital approach for forensic histopathological diagnosis. Six independent skilled forensic pathologists from different forensic medicine institutes evaluated 100 glass slides of forensic interest (80 stained with standard hematoxylin and eosin, 20 with special staining), including different organs and tissues, with light microscopy (Olympus BX51, Tokyo, Japan). Glass slides were scanned using the Aperio GT 450 DX Digital Slides Scanner (Leica Biosystems, Nussloch, Germany). After two wash-out weeks, forensic pathologists evaluated WSIs in front of a widescreen using computer devices with dedicated software (O3 viewer, O3 Enterprise, Zucchetti, Trieste, Italy). Side-by-side comparisons between diagnoses performed on tissue glass slides versus WSIs were above the threshold stated in the validation guidelines (mean concordance of 97.8%). CSUQ Version 3 questionnaire showed high satisfaction for all pathologists (mean result: 6.6/7). Our institutional digital forensic pathology system has been validated for practical casework application. This approach opens new scenarios in practical forensic casework investigations, such as sharing live histological ex-glass slides online, as well as educational and research perspectives, with improving impacts on the whole daily workflow.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143005165","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":"Left ventricular rigor mortis interferes with postmortem aortic root geometry.","authors":"Jan Michael Federspiel, Karen B Abeln, Frank Ramsthaler, Thomas Tschernig, Peter H Schmidt","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03409-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03409-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aortic regurgitation is a common valve disease and can be caused by delineated findings such as fenestrations or hardly discernible alterations of the aortic root geometry. Therefore, aortic regurgitation can be a challenging diagnosis during an autopsy. Cardiac surgeons, however, are confronted with comparable problems during surgery and have developed a refined knowledge of the anatomy of the aortic root including its geometry. Transferring this knowledge from the operating room to the dissection would further complement the panel of postmortem diagnostic tools. To foster translation of the clinical anatomy, the present study assessed the impact of postmortem peculiarities (i.e. myocardial rigor mortis, putrefaction) that might influence aortic root geometry. The aortic root geometry was described by aortic perimeters (basal, sinus, sino-tubular junction, and ascending aorta), effective height (distance from the cusp's free margin to its nadir), geometric height (cusp height), commissural height (distance from the base of an interleaflet triangle to the end of a commissure), and length of the ascending aorta. Data from 140 cases were analyzed (linear regression, comparative testing). Myocardial rigor mortis was associated with smaller basal rings. Weak positive correlations between the duration of the postmortem interval and aortic root dimensions were observed. In summary, postmortem peculiarities, especially the myocardial cadaveric rigidity, influence postmortem aortic root geometry. Despite these circumstances, the current study demonstrates that aortic root geometric assessment, including effective height, is feasible in a postmortem setting. Further studies are needed to elaborate on aortic root geometry as a diagnostic tool in a necropsy setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143004239","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":"Novel aortic lesions in hanging deaths.","authors":"Dalibor Kovařík, Petr Hejna, Michaela Ublová, Štěpánka Pohlová Kučerová, Martin Janík","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03410-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03410-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In response to a recent case report published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine entitled \"A case of hemorrhage at the junctions of the posterior intercostal arteries-a vital sign?\", we wish to corroborate the findings of periadventitial hemorrhages at the junctions of the posterior intercostal arteries in cases of suicidal hanging and to reveal two other novel aortic lesions associated with hanging. In our ongoing prospective study, we identified six cases of aortic intimal ruptures among 257 suicidal hanging deaths, along with the novel observation of subintimal hemorrhages-both of which have not been previously documented in the forensic literature. Our findings suggest that the complex anatomy of the aorta and surrounding structures may increase the vulnerability of vascular structures during hanging, particularly under conditions of complete suspension. We propose that reported aortic lesions may serve as significant morphological indicators of hanging, thereby enriching its medicolegal investigation. To establish the diagnostic relevance of these findings, further prospective autopsy studies with larger sample sizes are warranted.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143004879","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}