Journal of forensic sciences最新文献

{"title":"Comparative transcriptomic analysis provides novel insights into mescaline biosynthesis by Lophophora williamsii","authors":"Eun-Mi Hwang MS,&nbsp;Kyu-Sik Jeong PhD,&nbsp;Seong Yeon Yoo PhD,&nbsp;Jihyun Kim PhD,&nbsp;Sanggil Choe PhD,&nbsp;Joo-Young Kim PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15679","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15679","url":null,"abstract":"<p><i>Lophophora williamsii</i>, known for mescaline synthesis, has raised legal and ethical considerations. However, <i>L. williamsii</i> specimens that do not contain mescaline have been recently identified, necessitating the development of techniques to differentiate between mescaline-positive and mescaline-negative groups. Genetic markers have been explored to differentiate these specimens, complementing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. Here, we used a single-molecule real-time polymerase chain reaction to generate a full-length <i>L. williamsii</i> transcriptome and elucidate the mechanisms underlying mescaline biosynthesis. In total, 2,839,819 base pairs of highly accurate long reads were obtained using PacBio Iso-Seq and 70,945 unigenes were obtained through transcriptome sequencing. Known genes involved in the mescaline biosynthetic pathway were confirmed in the <i>L. williamsii</i> transcriptome, including 6 genes encoding tyrosine decarboxylases, 1 encoding tyrosine/DOPA decarboxylase, 215 encoding O-methyltransferases, and 129 encoding hydroxylases. Gene Ontology analysis revealed 2903 biological processes, 695 cellular components, and 1766 molecular functions. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed two biosynthetic pathways, namely, phenylpropanoid and isoquinoline biosynthesis, associated with mescaline biosynthesis. To investigate genetic differences based on the presence of mescaline, Illumina Nova sequencing was conducted. The expression levels of genes involved in mescaline biosynthesis were compared to establish a candidate gene pool based on the presence of mescaline. Subsequently, functional annotation was performed on the identified candidate genes using a genetic database derived from PacBio sequencing. These findings underscore the need for a re-evaluation of forensic methods and legal regulations concerning newly identified <i>L. williamsii</i> specimens.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 2","pages":"490-503"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142735445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: The impacts of thermocouple insulation failure on the accuracy of temperature measurement data in forensic fire-death scenarios—Part II: Low electrical resistance and contamination","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15678","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15678","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000 <span>Silveira, D</span>, <span>Kendell, A</span>, <span>Shook, B</span>. <span>The impacts of thermocouple insulation failure on the accuracy of temperature measurement data in forensic fire-death scenarios—Part II: Low electrical resistance and contamination</span>. <i>J Forensic Sci</i> <span>2024</span>; <span>69</span>(<span>5</span>): <span>1906</span>–<span>17</span>. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15577\u0000 </p><p>In both the Abstract and Highlights for this article, the upper limit for the range of temperature errors that occurred during thermocouple measurements of an ice bath at 0°C was given as “almost 2200°C.” This value was originally measured in Fahrenheit and was not properly converted to Celsius. The correct value in both instances should appear as “almost 1200°C.”</p><p>We apologize for this error.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"409"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1556-4029.15678","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142717864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Serial killer and necrophilia: Report of twenty-five years of treatment and management in a rare case","authors":"Ilaria Rossetto PhD, MD,&nbsp;Filippo Franconi MD,&nbsp;Fulvio Carabellese JUS,&nbsp;Gianfranco Rivellini MD,&nbsp;Lia Parente PsyD,&nbsp;Felice Carabellese MD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15675","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15675","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The authors report a case of a sexual serial killer responsible for four homicides (one homosexual and three prostitutes) over a 12-year period. The perpetrator was diagnosed with a severe personality disorder and necrophilia at the time of the crimes and was declared partially mentally impaired and dangerous to societal security by the Court of Jurisdiction for these crimes. The offender served 22 years in prison, including half of the detention in an OPG (High Security Forensic Psychiatry Hospital) receiving psychiatric treatment. This was followed by 3 years of internment in the REMS (Residences for the Execution of Security Measures): these facilities are regional mental health community facilities, each accommodating 20 patients, established throughout Italian administrative division. Such facilities are designed for the accommodation and treatment of offenders who are either deemed not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) or declared totally mentally impaired (Articles 88, Italian Penal Code) or assessed as partially mentally impaired (Article 89 Italian Penal Code), typically following reduced imprisonment terms. The case documents the history of schizophrenic disorder, the development of serial killers' behavior during incarceration, and the comprehensive process of treatment and management that encompasses 25 years. Cases documenting the evolution of the human path and long-term treatment of serial killers remain rarely documented available in the literature.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 2","pages":"804-812"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142690031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genital lacerations following sexual assault and consensual sexual intercourse: A systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Leah S. Crawford EMT,&nbsp;Nancy R. Downing PhD, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, FAAN,&nbsp;Abimbola D. Famurewa CPS,&nbsp;Jenifer R. Markowitz ND, RN, WHNP-BC, SANE-A, DF-IAFN,&nbsp;Gang Han PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15666","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15666","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The identification of genital injuries during a medical-forensic examination may impact the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare prevalence of genital lacerations (or tears) in persons reporting consensual versus non-consensual vaginal penetration. We hypothesized there would be greater prevalence of genital injuries in the non-consensual group. We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and gray literature for relevant observational case–control studies. Relative risk (RR) ratios using Mantel–Haenszel method were calculated to compare prevalence of genital lacerations between patients reporting consensual versus non-consensual penetration. Mantel–Haenszel chi-square tested significance and Cochran's Q determined between-study heterogeneity. In all studies, genital injuries were observed in both groups. The overall RR of 1.26 indicated a 26% greater risk of genital lacerations in the non-consensual group compared to the consensual group (<i>p</i> = 0.003). Study heterogeneity was 54% (<i>p</i> = 0.05). Findings suggest a greater likelihood of observing genital lacerations in persons reporting non-consensual vaginal penetration. High heterogeneity reflects variations between studies regarding provider education and training, visualization techniques, patient characteristics, time between assault and examination, and documentation practices. A major limitation is the lack of observer blinding creating potential bias. Findings support the need to standardize genital visualization techniques and documentation in sexual assault medical forensic examinations. Healthcare providers conducting medical forensic examinations must understand the limitations of studies comparing non-consensual and consensual injury findings if asked to provide information or testimony on this topic.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"161-169"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11693518/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142684026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A statistical analysis for deepfake videos forgery traces recognition followed by a fine-tuned InceptionResNetV2 detection technique","authors":"Sandhya MSc,&nbsp;Abhishek Kashyap PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15665","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15665","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Deepfake videos are growing progressively more competent because of the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning technology. This has led to substantial problems around propaganda, privacy, and security. This research provides an analytically novel method for detecting deepfake videos using temporal discrepancies of the various statistical features of video at the pixel level, followed by a deep learning algorithm. To detect minute aberrations typical of deepfake manipulations, this study focuses on both spatial information inside individual frames and temporal correlations between subsequent frames. This study primarily provides a novel Euclidean distance variation probability score value for directly commenting on the authenticity of a deepfake video. Next, fine-tuning of InceptionResNetV2 with the addition of a dense layer is trained FaceForensics++ for deepfake detection. The proposed fine-tuned model outperforms the existing techniques as its testing accuracy on unseen data outperforms the existing methods. The propsd method achieved an accuracy of 99.80% for FF++ dataset and 97.60% accuracy for CelebDF dataset.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"349-368"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142678068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Significance of image brightness levels for PRNU camera identification","authors":"Abby Martin PhD,&nbsp;Jennifer Newman PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15673","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15673","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A forensic investigator performing source identification on a questioned image from a crime aims to identify the unknown camera that acquired the image. On the camera sensor, minute spatial variations in intensities between pixels, called photo response non-uniformity (PRNU), provide a unique and persistent artifact appearing in every image acquired by the digital camera. This camera fingerprint is used to produce a score between the questioned image and an unknown camera using a court-approved camera identification algorithm. The score is compared to a fixed threshold to determine a match or no match. Error rates for the court-approved camera-identification PRNU algorithm were established on a very large set of image data, making no distinction between images with different brightness levels. Camera exposure settings and in-camera processing strive to produce a visually pleasing image, but images that are too dark or too bright are not uncommon. While prior work has shown that exposure settings can impact the accuracy of the court-approved algorithm, these settings are often unreliable in the image metadata. In this work, we apply the court-approved PRNU algorithm to a large data set where images are assigned a brightness level as a proxy for exposure settings using a novel classification method and then analyze error rates. We find statistically significant differences between error rates for nominal images and for images labeled dark or bright. Our result suggests that in court, the error rate of the PRNU algorithm for a questioned image may be more accurately characterized when considering the image brightness.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"132-149"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11693528/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142678075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Bayesian approach to Suchey-Brooks age estimation from the pubic symphysis using modern American samples","authors":"K. Godde PhD,&nbsp;Samantha M. Hens PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15651","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15651","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A critical component of the biological profile involves accurate estimation of the age-at-death of the decedent(s). While bias, inaccuracy, and population specificity have plagued age estimation methods, these issues are minimized by Bayesian statistics. Our primary analysis generated ages of transition from the published Suchey-Brooks pubic symphysis dataset and coupled them with informative priors derived from two modern American forensic samples (Forensic Data Bank [FDB] and Forensic Anthropology Database for Assessing Methods Accuracy [FADAMA]) to test the accuracy of Bayesian analysis against the original method. Exact binomial tests assessed the accuracy of the generated age ranges; realized accuracies and bias are reported for final age ranges at various coverages. In a second analysis, the Bayesian Suchey-Brooks parameters and original, non-Bayesian age ranges were also applied to FADAMA. In the primary analyses, the Bayesian approach improved age estimates over traditional ranges, especially for females. Highest posterior density ranges at 95% provided realized accuracies on a holdout sample between 93% and 96% with extremely low bias for most phases. We provide lookup tables with Bayesian age ranges for various coverages. In the second analysis, realized accuracies were slightly higher in the non-Bayesian approach for both sexes (86%–92% vs. 83%–91%), due to lower precision and likely practitioner bias in aging forensic cases. The popularity of the Suchey-Brooks pubic symphysis aging method in modern forensic casework necessitates the use of the Bayesian approach and we encourage practitioners to utilize the lookup tables for forensic casework in the United States.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"9-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142650446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of illustrated backgrounds on the automatic assessment of fingermark quality","authors":"Bérénice Bonnaz MSc,&nbsp;Andy Bécue PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15672","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15672","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the fingermark detection field, background illustrations may negatively impact the visibility of the marks in presence. They can indeed locally reduce the contrast or mask ridge details. When conducting a research project, the choice for plain or illustrated substrates is mostly driven by the research objectives as well as the development level of the investigated technique (e.g., new reagent, comparison between two techniques, semi-operational test). Also, it is not clear how the human assessors in charge of grading the quality of the detected fingermarks actually cope with fingermarks standing astride background prints. In recent publications, latent quality metrics (LQM) and improved latent fingerprint quality metrics (ILFQM) algorithms have been identified as potential alternatives to traditional human assessment. The authors of the present study were therefore interested in assessing the performance of these algorithms with regards to illustrated backgrounds. To reach that goal, 480 fingermarks were deposited on porous (240) and non-porous (240) items presenting various kinds of illustrations (e.g., colored areas, writings, geometric shapes, lines). Several detection techniques were then applied in sequence: 1,2-indanedione/zinc + ninhydrin + physical developer for porous items, and superglue fuming followed by dye-staining or black magnetic powder for non-porous items. A total of 884 pictures were obtained and their quality assessed by LQM and ILFQM. The results were then analyzed to determine if background prints may influence the metrics provided both algorithms, and if yes, to which extent.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"323-339"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142650447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The development of two fast genotyping assays for the differentiation of hemp from marijuana","authors":"Ya-Chih Cheng PhD,&nbsp;Rachel Houston PhD","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15663","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15663","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The legalization of hemp cultivation in the United States has raised the need for reliable methods to distinguish between legal hemp and illegal marijuana. Genetic analysis has emerged as a powerful tool, surpassing traditional chemical methods in specific aspects, such as analyzing trace amounts, aged samples, and different parts of the sample. Genetic differences in cannabinoid synthase genes offer promise for precise crop type determination, particularly focusing on genes like tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase (THCAS), cannabidiolic acid synthase (CBDAS), and cannabichromenic acid synthase (CBCAS). However, previous research faced several challenges in developing discriminatory genetic markers, including limited sample sizes, high similarity between the synthase genes, and the presence of pseudo synthase genes. A comprehensive study using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) introduced a differentiation flowchart based on THCAS, CBDAS, and THCAS pseudogenes. To bridge the gap between NGS and the practical requirements of crime laboratories, two rapid genotyping assays were developed: a CE-based SNaPshot™ assay and a TaqMan™ real-time PCR assay. While the SNaPshot™ assay effectively differentiated various hemp and marijuana types, differentiation was limited with marijuana samples containing THC% close to the 0.3% legal threshold (0.3%–1%). The TaqMan™ qPCR SNP genotyping assay provided quicker results, making it an efficient choice for crime laboratories. However, this method had the same limitations as the SNaPshot™ assay with addtional challenges in differentiating edible hemp seed samples, and it did not provide additional CBD information. The study also highlighted the influence of two variants of one THCAS pseudogene on chemotype determination, emphasizing the necessity for precise genetic analysis for accurate categorization of cannabis varieties.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"49-60"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142650449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relevant propositions for Y chromosome interpretation","authors":"Jo-Anne Bright PhD,&nbsp;Mikkel Meyer Andersen PhD,&nbsp;Duncan Taylor PhD,&nbsp;Hannah Kelly PhD,&nbsp;Maarten Kruijver PhD,&nbsp;John Buckleton DSc","doi":"10.1111/1556-4029.15669","DOIUrl":"10.1111/1556-4029.15669","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Y chromosomal haplotype is expected to be identical (or close to, depending on the mutation rate) among a male and many of his paternal relatives. This means that often the same evidential value for the DNA evidence is obtained, whether the true donor or one of his close paternal relatives is compared to a crime sample. Commentators (see for example the UK Forensic Science Regulator or Amorim) have suggested to change the proposition pair to compare the probability of the evidence if the Person of Interest (POI) or one of his close paternal relatives left the DNA to the probability of the evidence if an unrelated male from the population left the DNA. We argue that this is problematic because there is no clear definition of close paternal relatives and truly unrelated males do not exist. Instead, we take a starting point in the traditional proposition pair “The source of the male DNA is the POI” versus “The source of the male DNA is not the POI” and make the latter one operational by suggesting that it is formulated as “The source of the male DNA is a random man from the population”. The issue of matching males in the POI's lineage is then addressed either in a comment in the statement or directly through a probability model.</p>","PeriodicalId":15743,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic sciences","volume":"70 1","pages":"271-275"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142650448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}