International Journal of Legal Medicine最新文献

{"title":"HOW do we improve the testing of female ballistic body armour? - a comparison of roma plastilina no.1, 10% ballistic gelatine and sebs gel.","authors":"Chris Malbon, Clare Knock, Debra J Carr","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03578-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03578-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>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.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145124664","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":"Detection of gunshot residues using infrared photography: influence of ammunition type, surface color and blood contamination.","authors":"Joel Bottoni, Holger Wittig, Thomas Rost, Alexander Schocker, Philipp Wild, Urs Nachbur, Dominique Neuhaus, Lennart Bedarf, Kathrin Gerlach, Eva Scheurer, Claudia Lenz","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03609-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03609-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Detecting gunshot residues (GSR) plays a crucial role in forensic science and forensic medicine by providing important insights into the shooting distance, the shooter, as well as the type of weapon and ammunition used. Detection of GSR on dark surfaces is often impossible on site, and traditional methods such as tape-lift techniques with adhesive films or scanning electron microscope tabs might destroy the GSR pattern at the crime scene during their application. Infrared (IR) photography has proven particularly effective in detecting GSR on dark surfaces, enabling the preservation of the GSR pattern before applying destructive methods. This study aimed to examine how the type of ammunition and the presence of bloodstains affect GSR detection and differentiation using IR photography. 15 types of leaded and 5 types of lead-free 9 mm Luger ammunition were fired onto white cotton fabric and dark-blue denim fabric using the same firearm model, with an additional 14 samples being stained with blood. Resulting GSR patterns varied depending on the ammunition type and fewer GSR particles were visible on denim fabric, even in IR photography, compared to white cotton fabric, but still achieving reliable results comparable to the standard tape-lift method. In addition to the known ability of IR photography to detect GSR from leaded ammunition on clean surfaces, our findings demonstrate for the first time that GSR from lead-free ammunition, as well as GSR on blood-contaminated surfaces can be reliably visualized. In conclusion, IR photography provides a robust, easy-to-use and non-destructive tool for GSR detection, with the distinct benefit of allowing immediate on-site visualization of GSR patterns prior to any laboratory processing. With the use of the custom-made Python script (openly accessible on Github), a quantitative evaluation of GSR comparable to the tape-lift method is a further enhancement in this aspect.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145091808","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":"To err is no more (only) human: where does legal medicine stands on?","authors":"Simone Grassi, Francesco De Micco","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03611-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03611-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145086050","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 role of forensic imaging in the allegations of torture in asylum seekers.","authors":"Giuseppe Davide Albano, Giuseppe Lo Re, Sergio Salerno, Marika Barberi Triskari, Mariagrazia Fornasari, Giuseppe Micci, Domenico Albano, Mauro Midiri, Corinne La Spina, Ginevra Malta, Stefania Zerbo, Antonina Argo","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03601-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03601-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nowadays, according to the Istanbul Protocol, diagnostic tests are not an essential part of the clinical assessment of a person alleging torture or ill-treatment. In many cases, a medical history and physical examination are sufficient. However, literature evidence suggests a helpful role of diagnostic imaging in the allegation of evidence of torture, especially in the case of musculoskeletal injuries. The purpose of this narrative review is to highlight the role of imaging tests in suspected torture victims, emphasizing the role of these methods in establishing legal evidence of mistreatment. No specific imaging features are described in the literature, however, musculoskeletal imaging allows the detection of previous fractures, bone deformities, and tendon and ligament injuries. These are mainly due to blunt force injuries. MRI is the most helpful imaging tests to allegate evidence of Falaka. Imaging tests, particularly conventional X-rays and CT, are helpful in forensic investigations of when there is suspicion of retained foreign bodies, such as bullets or shrapnel, especially in cases where clinical examination is inconclusive. CT and MRI can show late sequelae of head trauma such as subdural hematomas, hygromas, old intracerebral bleeding, and hydrocephalus. The current literature highlights the importance of subjecting patients to imaging and specialists examinations to document evidence of torture and support the assessment of the degree of consistency with the reported history. These are second-level investigations that must be targeted to specific diagnostic questions and preceded by a thorough examination conducted by experts in the field using standardized methodologies, in line with the recommendations of the Istanbul Protocol. Imaging studies can bridge the gap between clinical examination and the patient's history.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145080575","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":"Correction to: Investigating skeletal fracture patterns in truck occupants involved in fatal motor vehicle incidents.","authors":"Alexandra Wulff, Joanna F Dipnall, Richard G D Fernandez, Emma C Cheshire, Michael J P Biggs, Hans de Boer, Samantha K Rowbotham","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03606-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03606-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145075187","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 use of liver biomechanics in forensic pathology.","authors":"Johann Zwirner, Pavithran Devananthan, Natalia Kabaliuk, Paul D Docherty, Benjamin Ondruschka","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03581-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03581-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stiffness and plasticity of human tissues are routinely assessed during forensic autopsy and have recently been identified as a promising metric for estimating time since death in animal models. In this study, the biomechanical state of the human liver is investigated concerning pathology, age at death, sex, liver weight, autolysis, and blood congestion. Additionally, its use for biomechanical time since death estimation is evaluated. The storage, loss, and complex shear moduli of 54 human liver parenchyma samples collected during routine forensic autopsies, were determined using a rheometer. All samples were microscopically analyzed for signs of pathology, autolysis, and blood congestion. High-grade fatty liver samples (n = 6) exhibited significantly higher storage moduli, and complex shear moduli compared to healthy (n = 27), low-grade fatty liver (n = 14), and cirrhotic (n = 7) samples (p ≤ 0.02). High-grade fatty liver samples also had significantly higher loss moduli compared to healthy and cirrhotic samples (p ≤ 0.04). The rheological properties of the human liver were unrelated to age at death (p ≥ 0.26), liver weight (p ≥ 0.13), and sex (p ≥ 0.32). Autolysis significantly increased the loss moduli of healthy liver samples (p = 0.01). Blood congestion significantly lowered the loss moduli of healthy (p = 0.03) and fatty (p < 0.01) samples, as well as storage moduli (p = 0.01), and complex shear moduli (p = 0.01) of fatty samples. A significant positive correlation between the post-mortem interval and the loss modulus was observed for healthy samples, if only samples without signs of blood congestion were included (p = 0.02; n = 9). When stored at 4 °C for an average of eight days post-mortem, liver biomechanics was significantly altered by fatty infiltration, autolysis, blood congestion, and the post-mortem interval, while liver weight, age at death, and sex had no relevant impact.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145075214","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":"Fact-finding with fungi: A scoping review on recent advancements in the role of fungi as evidence in forensic science.","authors":"Dhatri V Karanth, Arjun Rao Isukapatla","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03586-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03586-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>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.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>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.</p><p><strong>Result: </strong>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.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>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.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145075197","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":"Retrospective analysis-based prioritization and degradation pattern characterization of sudden unexplained death susceptibility genes.","authors":"Qi Shen, Zhimin Wang, Junyi Lin, Liliang Li, Suhua Zhang, Shouyu Wang, Chengtao Li","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03575-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03575-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>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.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145069413","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":"Cell free DNA and MiRNA analysis by quantitative Real-Time polymerase chain reaction in postmortem interval determination.","authors":"Duygu Yavuz-Kilicaslan, Emrah Emiral, N Lale Satiroglu-Tufan","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03590-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03590-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The time elapsed after death is known as the postmortem interval (PMI). After death, the body undergoes changes such as algor mortis, rigor mortis, livor mortis, and putrefaction. In forensic medicine, PMI is traditionally determined using standard methods and forensic entomology, both of which can be affected by environmental conditions. Recently, genetic materials, which are less influenced by the environment, have gained attention in PMI studies. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) comprises short DNA fragments released into the bloodstream due to cell necrosis and apoptosis. This study quantitatively analyzed cfDNA and specific microRNAs (miRNAs) - miR-122, miR-133, miR-1, miR-16, and let-7e - in serum samples from rats at various time intervals to assess their correlation with PMI. The results were analyzed using Ct, ΔCt, ΔΔCt, and fold change methods. Statistically, miR-16 and miR-122 had lower ΔCt values at all time points. miR-16 showed a lower ΔΔCt average at 24 and 48 h and the highest fold change at 24 h. Reference genes GAPDH and ACTB declined over time, with higher averages at 0, 6, and 12 h compared to 24 and 48 h. This research is the first to quantitatively explore cfDNA's potential role in PMI estimation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145069424","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":"Diagnostic accuracy of rib fracture detection in forensic post-mortem photon counting CT.","authors":"Paolo Lombardo, Conny Hartmann, Chantal Fridle, Hendrik von Tengg-Kobligk, Thomas D Ruder, Wolf-Dieter Zech","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03597-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03597-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Recently, post-mortem photon-counting CT (PMPCCT) has been introduced to forensic imaging. Compared to conventional energy integrating post-mortem CT (PMCT), PMPCCT enables ultra-high resolution (UHR) imaging, which is particularly suitable for visualizing fine fractures and fissures. These are often found in rib trauma, which is usually relevant in forensic medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of rib fracture detection using PMPCCT compared to PMCT and forensic autopsy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of n = 20 bodies that had suffered blunt chest trauma before death and n = 5 non-trauma control cases were investigated. PMCT and PMPCCT were conducted prior to forensic autopsy. Two observers (radiologist and forensic pathologist) analyzed PMCT images (reconstructed with a slice thickness of 0.5 mm in a 512 matrix) and PMPCCT images (reconstructed with slice thicknesses of 0.5 mm and 0.2 mm (UHR) in a 1024 matrix). Imaging diagnosis of rib fractures was compared to autopsy diagnosis as gold standard. The diagnosis of different types of rib fractures assessed at imaging was compared between PMCT and PMPCCT.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Inter-rater agreement between the two observers was good (κ = 0.79). Both PMCT and PMPCCT diagnosed less rib fractures than the autopsy (n = 356 fractures). Compared to PMCT, UHR-PMPCCT demonstrated slightly higher sensitivity (e.g., 92% vs. 82% in observer 1), slightly higher specificity (e.g., 97% vs. 95%), and lower positive predictive value (e.g., 75% vs. 82%) for the diagnosis of all rib fractures. Chi-squared tests showed significant differences (p-value < 0.05 in both observers) between UHR-PMPCCT and PMCT for the diagnosis of incomplete rib fractures with visible dehiscence of one cortical line.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Based on the results, it is questionable whether PMPCCT offers additional forensic value over PMCT for the specific forensic issue of diagnosing rib fractures.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145069468","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}