International Journal of Legal Medicine最新文献

{"title":"Literature reviews: typology and forensic applications.","authors":"Ademir Franco, Wahaj Anees, Débora Moreira, Cauane Blumenberg, Marcelo Napimoga, Luiz Renato Paranhos","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03514-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03514-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Secondary research models, such as literature reviews, are designed to summarize existing primary data. Literature reviews serve distinct purposes depending on their methodology and scope. In forensic science, they have been widely used to recover historical information, facilitate bibliometric investigations, compile and compare analytical techniques, promote best practices, and support decision-making. This study presented a comprehensive description of common literature review types, namely (1) narrative, (2) integrative, (3) scoping, (4) systematic (with or without meta-analysis), (5) bibliometric, and (6) umbrella reviews, highlighting their specific characteristics and applications in forensic science. Forensic experts, students, instructors, and research authors and readers must be familiar with the typology and appropriate use of literature reviews to effectively select the most suitable approach for their studies and professional practice. In this context, the goal of academic research, as pursued in the present work, is to strengthen forensic knowledge, enhance theoretical rigor, and ultimately improve practices in the field through education in scientific research methodology.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144110627","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":"Rearing maggots of the blow fly Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) on tissues of rabbits treated with morphine hydrochloride caused shifts in their developmental time, with implications for postmortem interval estimation.","authors":"Abeer M Salem, El-Sayed H Shaurub, Yahya Al Naggar, Mustafa Soliman, Amr Mohamed, Eman E Zaher","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03509-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03509-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous research has shown that the effects of different drugs on the growth rate of blow flies vary by species, which can influence the determination of the minimum post-mortem interval (PMImin​). In this study, we assessed how morphine affects the development, growth, and survival rate of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794), a forensically important blow fly species, and whether these effects are dose dependent. We also measured morphine concentrations in insect samples (3rd -instar larvae and puparial cases) and in various post-mortem tissues of rabbits (cardiac blood, skeletal muscle, and liver). Rabbits were administered two lethal doses of morphine hydrochloride (5 and 10 mg/kg), then sacrificed, and tissue samples were collected for toxicological analysis. At a controlled temperature of 37 °C, newly hatched larvae (1-2 h old) were placed on the rabbit carcasses and randomly sampled at 12 h regular interval (12-132 h) to determine larval development time, puparial development time, larval mortality, larval length, and larval weight. Changes in these insect parameters led to an underestimation of PMImin by up to 15.92 h if the presence of morphine was not considered. Moreover, morphine concentrations in all insect samples (180 and 223 ng/g in the 3rd instar larvae; 40 and 45 ng/g in the puparial cases after treatment with 5 and 10 mg/kg of morphine hydrochloride, respectively) and rabbit tissues (1129 and 2564 ng/g in the cardiac blood; 1777 and 2823 ng/g in the liver; 825 and 1070 ng/g in the skeletal muscles after treatment with 5 and 10 mg/kg of morphine hydrochloride, respectively) were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography system equipped with a binary pump and UV detector. Morphine can affect the development of different life cycle stages of Ch. megacephala, highlighting the importance of accounting for its presence when determining PMImin ​ in such conditions. The data obtained could aid in criminal investigations. Although a concentration-dependent effect has been discussed, the use of whole animal carcasses may lead to uneven distribution of the drug, and concentrations in the areas from which larvae are feeding may differ significantly due to ante-mortem processes in the body.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144110646","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":"Dating long bone fractures of infants under one year of age.","authors":"Amandine Capelli, Luisa Nogueira, Frédéric Santos, Béatrice Leloutre, Marco Albertario, Caroline Bernardi, Véronique Alunni","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03518-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03518-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Infants under one year of age frequently suffer from inflicted fractures. Dating the trauma is vitally important to identify the perpetrator and ensure the protection of the child. While several studies have investigated the radiological dating of fractures in children, few have focused specifically on those occurring during the first year of life. Although maltreatment is particularly common in the first few months of life, dating these fractures remains challenging, as bone healing capacity is age-dependent and may differ from that observed in older children. In addition, the radiological nomenclature found in the literature is heterogeneous and often imprecise.The aim of this study was to apply clearly defined radiographic criteria to establish an analytical methodology that facilitates the dating of long bone fractures in infants under one year of age. A total of 99 infants under one year old with long bone fractures of known date were included, representing 290 radiograph sets. Four dating groups were defined based on literature data, with the aim of developing predictive models based on well-defined radiographic features, in order to construct a simplified dating decision tree.Our findings suggest that the absence of periosteal apposition and bone remodeling is consistent with a fracture less than one week old. On the other hand, the presence of periosteal apposition suggests a fracture that is probably one to eight weeks old, and more than one month old when accompanied by signs of remodeling. Finally, isolated signs of remodeling are suggestive of a fracture of more than two months.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144110624","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":"Assessing the accuracy of the third molar eruption as an indicator of adulthood: findings from a black South African sample using the Gambier method.","authors":"Nikolaos Angelakopoulos, Shatakshi Sharma, Sudheer Babu Balla, Galina Zolotenkova, Stefano De Luca","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03505-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03505-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Age estimation is a critical aspect of forensic practice, often requiring straightforward, accurate, and precise dental methods employed by experts in various contexts where their expertise is needed. The third molar eruption analysis presents a practical approach. This study evaluates the Gambier et al. scoring system for assessing legal adulthood (18 years) through third molar observations in black South African subadults.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>A retrospective analysis was conducted on 877 orthopantomograms (357 males and 520 females) of individuals aged 14 to 24 years.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The mean chronological age increased with the progression of stages (1 to 3) and phases (A to D) of the third molar eruption for both sexes. Our study revealed a strong association between advanced eruption phases and the likelihood of being 18 years or older. For instance, phase D (complete emergence in the occlusal plane) showed a high likelihood of individuals being 18 years or older, with 76% of males (32 out of 42) and 80.5% of females (66 out of 82) in this phase aged above 18.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This technique, due to its ease of use, can provide useful preliminary information regarding the probable age of alleged minor asylum seekers. However, the results indicate that, in line with the minimum age principle, this method should be applied cautiously when determining adulthood, as the minimum age for both stage 3 of eruption and phase D is clearly below 18 years. Therefore, it should always be used alongside other validated methods recommended by international protocols and good practice guidelines to ensure reliability across different populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144093823","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":"Cranial sutures as an age indicator: verification of the method using postmortem CT acquisition material.","authors":"Marta Barszcz, Elżbieta Badach, Krzysztof Jerzy Woźniak","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03504-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03504-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Age estimation at the time of death is an integral part of forensic examination whenever unidentified human remains are discovered. In the case of adult remains the methods of age estimation are based mostly on the extent of age-related degenerative changes. The most controversial method makes use of cranial suture assessment. The purpose of this study was to verify whether assessment of cranial suture closure may be considered a useful and reliable method in forensic estimation of age at death. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) acquisitions of 114 male skulls were evaluated. Multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) to visualize the progress of suture closure in cross-sections was used. The inner and outer surfaces of each skull were visualized with the volume rendering technique (VRT). The coronal, sagittal, and lambdoid sutures were assessed with a suture closure scale introduced by Broca. Cranial suture assessment has been generally used for estimating age ranges, such as \"younger/older\", \"under about 30 years of age\", \"over 50 years of age\". Moreover, lambdoid suture closure is unrelated to age, except for its ectocranial part L3 on the left side. These observations indicate no major importance of this age estimation method in forensic anthropology.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144010048","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":"Genetic characterization of the Sikh population of Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, through forensically important STR markers.","authors":"Gourav Ostwal, Pankaj Shrivastava, Kapil Verma, Shivani Dixit, R K Kumawat, Bhawana Joshi","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03503-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03503-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Short tandem repeat (STR) markers are well established as the gold standard and boon for forensic DNA applications. India is well known for its population diversity. Since several population genetic studies have been undertaken, more diverse populations need to be explored. In this study, we first evaluated randomly selected 297 unrelated individuals belonging to the sikh population of Sri Ganganagar Rajasthan through 24 autosomal STR loci included in the Ingenomics™ AutoProfiler STR Kit. A wide range of allelic diversity was observed, with a total effective allele count of 6-41 among all the studied loci. Allele 8 of the TPOX locus was the most frequent allele in the studied population, with a value of 0.444. Locus SE33 was found to be the most useful locus in the studied set of markers for the studied population, with the highest number of effective alleles (Ne = 41), highest value of power of discrimination (PD = 0.991), polymorphic information content (PIC = 17.82), typical paternity indexTPI = 6.75), power of exclusion (PE = 0.849), highest number of heterozygotes (92.59%), lowest value of matching probability (pm = 0.009) and lowest number of homozygotes (741%). All the tested loci were useful together with the highest value of the combined power of discrimination (CPD = 1), the combined power of exclusion (CPE = 1), the combined paternity index (CPI = 1.37 × 10¹⁰) and the lowest value of the combined matching probability (CPM = 6.53 × 10^- 31). In the population comparison, the studied population showed genetic affinity with the populations of Rajasthan and Punjabi in Pakistan. This study used a population dataset for forensic DNA application and genetic studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143970790","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":"The estimation of biological sex through the radius and ulna in Portuguese reference skeletal samples.","authors":"Catarina Pinto, Sandra Marques, Maria Teresa Ferreira, Susana Garcia, Francisco Curate","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03507-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03507-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sex estimation is a critical step in the identification process of human skeletal remains, alongside age, stature and population affinities. The pelvis is the most dimorphic skeletal region but the long bones also provide good estimates of sex. This study aims to develop models for sex estimation using the ulna and radius in a pooled sample of 181 individuals (107 females, 74 males) from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection and the 21st Century Identified Skeletal Collection. A metric approach was implemented for sex estimation based on these measurements, resulting in fifteen models generated through logistic regression that were subsequently tested in the Lisbon Identified Skeletal Collection (N = 107; 61 females, 55 males). The resulting models were contrived in an online responsive application ( https://vertigemdasespecies.shinyapps.io/RADIULNA/ ) designed to facilitate sex predictions. In general, the models present high accuracy and low sex-bias. Overall accuracies vary between 84.0% and 95.8% under cross-validation, and between 81.9% and 90.6% in the testing sample. Among the radius-only models, the 3R model (variables sagittal diameter of the head, head-tuberosity radial length and distal epiphysis width) presents the higher accuracy under cross-validation (94.7%), while the 4R model (same variables as 3R plus the circumference of the radial tuberosity) shows the best performance in the testing sample (90.6%). In the ulna, the model with higher cross-validated accuracy is the 4U model (variables maximum length, ulnar coronoid height and circumference at the midshaft), while the 2U model (variables maximum length and ulnar notch length) performs better in the testing set (89.8%).</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143998666","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":"The impact of considering different numbers of contributors in identification problems involving real casework mixture samples.","authors":"Camila Costa, Carolina Figueiredo, Sandra Costa, Paulo Miguel Ferreira, António Amorim, Lourdes Prieto, Nádia Pinto","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03500-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03500-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Increasingly complex genetic samples are analyzed in forensic genetics routine, including mixtures to which more than one individual contributed. The standard problem relies on identification, aiming to quantify the likelihood of the donor of a reference sample being a contributor to the mixture. This is computed through a likelihood ratio (LR) and requires using devoted probabilistic genotyping software that may consider the quantity of the mixture's DNA (quantitative tools), beyond only the presence/absence of specific alleles (qualitative tools). In any case, the mixture's number of contributors (NoC) is a parameter that the user must introduce. Due to its nature, NoC is unknown for most real casework samples and needs to be estimated, which may be challenging due to poor DNA quality and quantity. This study aims to evaluate the impact of considering different NoC of real mixture samples (both over- and underestimating it after a first assessment of the expert) in identification problems through the pairwise comparison of LRs, using for the statistical assessment of both qualitative (LRmix Studio) and quantitative tools (EuroForMix and STRmix™). Different computational models showed different variations of the results, but for all, the impact was greater when considering a smaller NoC than the one initially estimated by the expert. Quantitative tools showed more sensitivity to NoC variation. Taking advantage of using real data, whose possible complexities surpass those of mock ones, this work highlights the impact that the NoC may have on the quantification of the proof, reinforcing the importance of its proper estimation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144028342","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":"Assessment of DNA transfer and degradation in washing machines: forensic implications.","authors":"A M López-Parra, S Bravo, M Lozano, C Gomes, S Palomo-Díez, E Arroyo-Pardo","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03502-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03502-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>DNA transfer caused by the use of a washing machine is a topic of great importance in the forensic field, as it can have significant implications in collecting genetic evidence at crime scenes. Understanding DNA transfer during the washing process is important since this process can affect the accuracy and reliability of the recovered DNA samples. In this study, two experiments were carried out on 53 volunteers, one studied the transfer of touch DNA and the other studied the transfer of blood DNA. Fabrics were washed with clean acceptor fabric in a washing machine. Mixtures of alleles were obtained, especially in acceptor fabrics, partially matching with the profile of the corresponding volunteer. Complete profiles were not recovered in any case. The age of the volunteers, the type of sample, the small volume of blood, or the short contact with the piece of cloth seem to be factors to consider regarding the low recovery rate of the POI (person of interest) alleles. The presence of extra alleles and the low rate of recovered POI alleles, require the criteria for the interpretation of these profiles to be more restrictive. So, the profiles derived from clothes that have been washed in a washing machine in their interpretation should be considered as LTDNA (Low Template DNA) with the criteria used in the interpretation of mixtures.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143999242","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":"Discovery and comprehensive analysis of a congenital chimerism via paternity testing using short tandem repeat genotyping.","authors":"Hongyan Wu, Lin Zhang, Kejie Wang, Aiying Fan","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03501-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03501-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In medical forensics, the detection of more than two alleles at a single locus is generally interpreted as a mixed sample or contamination. However, this can also indicate chimerism, in which an individual contains two or more distinct cell lines with different genomes. Multiple alleles at a single locus can be identified using short tandem repeat (STR) genotyping. In this study, we report a case of chimerism in a child, in which multiple alleles were detected at several loci during routine paternity testing. In particular, two alleles were detected at six loci with markedly uneven peaks, and three alleles were detected at 10 loci using different analysis kits. Analysis of additional samples from the father, mother, and child revealed that the three alleles were only present in the child's blood. Comprehensive analyses of multiple data sets confirmed that the child had congenital chimerism. The findings of this study highlight the importance of conducting comprehensive evaluations of potential chimerism when multiple alleles are detected at a gene locus to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results and improve the credibility of genetic evidence. After excluding other factors, the potential for chimerism should be acknowledged in legal practice to ensure accurate and reliable identification. Chimerism can be a major confounding factor, and unless professionals are aware of this condition, they may draw incorrect conclusions with serious ramifications for the individuals involved.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143998418","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}