Forensic Science Review最新文献

{"title":"The Current Regulations in Handling Autopsy of COVID-19 Corpses: A Narrative Review.","authors":"R G Menezes,&nbsp;R S Bakhurji,&nbsp;A A AlGhuneem,&nbsp;H A AlAbdullah,&nbsp;N I Al-Saleh,&nbsp;M K Eskander","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people around the world either directly or indirectly. Deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing cause of death. It is estimated that millions of excess deaths were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The importance of a clinical autopsy on COVID-19 corpses lies in understanding the pathogenesis of the disease better. Moreover, a forensic autopsy may be performed on a COVID-19-infected corpse when indicated for medico-legal purposes. From the autopsy perspective, handling COVID-19-infected corpses requires specific guidelines and safety measures to be followed to limit the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus. This is essential as COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease caused by a newly discovered virus. This review narrates the safety measures that should be followed at different stages of handling COVID-19 corpses, starting from the death scene to burial and funeral. Ethical issues in handling COVID-19 corpses are also briefed in this review. As COVID-19 can be transmitted through infected bodies, it is crucial to wear recommended personal protective equipment, specifically for aerosol-generating procedures. There are specific safety measures to be considered before transporting the body to the mortuary, with particular requirements to be implemented there, such as specific engineering controls, staff training, and autopsy room precautions. After conducting the autopsy, disinfection of the tools and equipment, body bags, transport vehicles, and the autopsy room should be considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"35 1","pages":"47-57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10449669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cannabidiol and Δ8-Tetrahydrocannabinol: Cannabinoids of Rising Interest and Concern.","authors":"R M White","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although much is known about Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and its inactive open ring isomer, cannabidiol, far less is known about the effects, metabolism, and pharmacodynamics of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol's double-bond isomer, Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol. With the passage of the so-called United States \"Farm Bill,\" which was made law in order to allow legal hemp cultivation in the United States, more needs to be known about the effects of Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, a double-bond isomer of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and cannabidiol (CBD), which is an open-ring isomer of Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol. It is the aim of the review to summarize current knowledge of Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol and CBD, including the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of CBD. Also, plant genetics, the effect of cannabinoids on the current topic of viral entry into mammalian cells, and the current practice of vaping, dabbing, and dripping are covered.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"35 1","pages":"27-45"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10449668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dental Anomalies as Identification Strategies for Unknown Human Remains: Literature Review and Applications.","authors":"J S Sehrawat,&nbsp;B Ahlawat","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The unique hard and resilient nature of human teeth makes them useful for various forensic odontological examinations. Structural alterations, cultural modifications, pathological variations, and restorative material make them excellent forensic indicators about biological identity of the unknown deceased or living individuals. Variations in the anatomical details of teeth may be imprinted by defective dental development, traumatic damages, pathologies, and nonmasticatory or weaponry use of teeth during an individual's lifetime. Such imprints can be used for comparisons and identification in forensic anthropology. Deliberate dental alterations/modifications and mutilations practiced due to cultural or esthetic purposes have been reported from some contemporary human population groups as well as from some ancient documented skeletal collections. Willful dental modifications have been most commonly done by filling, drilling, grooving, grinding, staining, and chipping. These dental features may be useful only for differentiation of varied anthropological populations, but their forensic utility cannot be ignored, particularly when antemortem dental records are available for comparisons. Various dental developmental anomalies and defects, restorations, pathological signatures, and occupational markers definitely corroborate other methods of forensic identifications, but cannot be used as sole criteria for individualization of unknown human remains retrieved in medicolegal scenarios. This review article attempts to glean information about various characteristic features of teeth and their forensic significance to aid identification of unknown human dental remains found in forensic contexts; its concluding emphasis focuses on the role of such dental individualities in identification strategies for human remains excavated from an abandoned ancient well situated underneath a religious structure at Ajnala (Amritsar), India. The unique dental features, extrinsic staining of anterior teeth, low frequency of dental pathologies, and notched incisors of those excavated remains were suggestive of them belonging to slain sepoy from an historic military regiment.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"34 2","pages":"107-129"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40588929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Nordic Countries Enforce Impaired Driving Legislation.","authors":"A W Jones","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article reviews how the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden enforce their legislation pertaining to driving under the influence of alcohol and/or other impairing drugs. The evidence necessary for a successful prosecution of traffic offenders has undergone radical changes over the past 50 years. The once widely used clinical tests of impairment are no longer a major element of the prosecution case and a physician is more seldom required to examine apprehended drivers and document any clinical signs and symptoms of alcohol and/or drug influence. These clinical tests have been superseded by results derived from a comprehensive toxicological analysis of psychoactive substances in samples of the driver's blood. The current statutory limits of blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) are among the lowest in the world: Norway and Sweden (0.20 g/kg) and Denmark and Finland (0.50 g/kg). Results from using evidential quality breath-alcohol instruments are accepted as evidence in drunk-driving cases and this has necessitated setting statutory breath-alcohol concentration (BrAC) limits. Laws dealing with driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) other than alcohol have also been updated and made more pragmatic for prosecution of traffic offenders. In Finland and Sweden zero-tolerance laws exist, making it illegal to drive with any quantifiable amount of a scheduled drug in the driver's blood. Prescription drugs are exempt from this zero-tolerance mandate provided the medication was used in accordance with a physician's ordination. Lacking a valid prescription or if there is a supratherapeutic concentration of the drug in blood, this will lead to a prosecution for DUID. In Denmark and Norway threshold concentration limits have been established for many psychoactive drugs, both licit and illicit. After these stricter laws for DUID were introduced, the number of suspects apprehended by the police per year increased by as much as tenfold in some Nordic countries. There is increasing evidence that many traffic delinquents in the Nordic countries suffer from a substance-use disorder, because repeat-offending is a common occurrence. This suggests that some type of treatment and rehabilitation program might be more beneficial compared with conventional penalties for people arrested for DUI and/or DUID.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"34 2","pages":"131-143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40588930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Opioid Crisis: Prevalence and Markets of Opioids.","authors":"E A Gardner,&nbsp;S A McGrath,&nbsp;D Dowling,&nbsp;D Bai","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The US opioid crisis came in three waves - prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyls - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resulting in the deaths of nearly 500,000 people from 1996 to 2019. In 2009, drug overdose deaths exceeded those involving automobiles. Opioid overdose deaths contributed to the decrease in life expectancy for Americans from 78.8 to 78.5 during 2014 to 2017. The overprescribing of a schedule II prescription opioid was escalated by pharmaceutical companies promoting a growing belief that pain was an undertreated condition. In 2012, the number of opioid prescriptions peaked at 255 million and deaths exceeded 11,000 per year. The typical prescription opioid abuser was white, male, and 45-55 years of age. The hardest-hit states were in Appalachia and the Northeast. When an abuse-resistant formulation was introduced for OxyContin, the most prevalent prescription opioid, users turned to heroin. From the early 1980s, a new pizza delivery style of Mexican trafficking in black tar heroin infiltrated many of the same states hit hardest by prescription opioids. Heroin overdose deaths reached 14,495 in 2017. As heroin abuse increased in states supplied with black tar heroin, fentanyl-contaminated white powder heroin began to appear in the Northeast. Fentanyl was quickly followed by fentanyl analogs. While heroin deaths continued to escalate through 2017, they were soon overshadowed by fentanyl overdose deaths. Finally, prescription opioid and heroin overdose deaths started to decline in 2017, though fentanyl deaths continued to increase. In late 2019, it appeared that restrictions on transportation and travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in decreased availability of illicit drugs, but by 2020 drug abuse had escalated in many countries. Globally, heroin was the primary opioid of abuse and only a few countries - including Canada, Germany, Austria, and Belgium - have experienced a significant increase in prescription opioids. However, illicitly manufactured fentanyls are a growing problem in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"34 1","pages":"43-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39580111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital Forensics Experimentation: Analysis and Recommendations.","authors":"E OliveiraJr,&nbsp;T J Silva,&nbsp;A F Zorzo,&nbsp;C V Neu","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Digital forensics (DF) is becoming one of the most prestigious research areas in computer science due to its inherent nature of providing a means to acquire, examine, analyze, and report evidence to be used in legal processes. To successfully perform it, novel techniques, approaches, and tools have been proposed, experimented on, and evaluated by researchers. However, the experimentation process is not a trivial task in this area as substantial evidence is not accepted in court. Therefore, the experimentation process has to be improved in DF, especially its documentation and data sharing to enable its reproducibility. The objective of this paper is to characterize the state-of-the-art research on DF experiments. We conducted a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS), analyzing 107 primary studies reporting DF experiments. We demonstrate that DF experimentation somehow fails at documenting the most essential elements of an experiment, such as hypothesis, variables, design, instrumentation, validity evaluation, setup, training, datasets and benchmarks, statistical techniques (descriptive, hypothesis, and effect-size test), limitations, and data sharing. In this work, we also propose a set of recommendations to improve experimentation in DF, especially regarding its replication and reproducibility. DF experimentation should evolve if the community intends to provide reliable and reproducible studies. By embracing this, both academicians and practitioners might benefit from such experiments and evidence.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"34 1","pages":"21-41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39580110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clinical and forensic toxicology of methanol.","authors":"A W Jones","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Methanol has a very simple chemical structure (CH3OH) considering its potential health hazard, including the many poisoning deaths after ingestion. In countries where authentic alcoholic beverages are expensive, restricted, or banned for religious or other reasons, some people resort to purchasing alcoholic drinks made illegally. These clandestine sources of \"booze\" often contain high concentrations of methanol, added by the perpetrators to enhance potency and increase profits. Although an effective medical treatment for methanol poisoning exists, because most such incidents occur in socially deprived parts of the world, the hospital emergency facilities are scarce and/or inadequate. Trace amounts of methanol (median ~1.0 mg/L) are produced endogenously via certain enzymatic processes, such as one-carbon metabolism. Methanol and methyl esters are also contained in fresh fruits and vegetables as well as in alcoholic beverages. During a period of heavy drinking the blood-methanol concentration (BMC) increases and might surpass 10 mg/L, which is considered a biomarker for alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Methanol itself has a low intrinsic toxicity, but is converted in the body into two highly toxic metabolites, formaldehyde and formic acid. This metabolism is delayed by co-ingestion of ethanol, which creates a latent period of 12-24 h before toxic symptoms develop. Accordingly, when patients are admitted to hospital for diagnosis and treatment, a life-threatening metabolic acidosis has already developed and is irreversible. Symptoms of methanol poisoning include blurred vision, breathlessness, nausea, gastric pains, and acid-base disturbances and deficiency of oxygen in arterial blood. The visual disturbances might even develop into permanent blindness, owing to an interaction of toxic metabolites with the optic nerve. The minimum lethal dose of ethanol in humans is not easy to specify, because most poisonings involve co-ingestion of ethanol, which to some extent protects the patient from toxic sequelae. Effective antidotes for treatment of methanol poisoning are administration of ethanol or the therapeutic drug fomepizole (Antizol®), which is 4-methyl pyrazole (4-MP). Both treatments work by blocking the metabolism of methanol by liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The metabolic acidosis caused by the accumulation of formic acid in the body is treated with sodium bicarbonate, which helps to normalize pH in the bloodstream. Thereafter, methanol and its metabolites in the blood are removed by hemodialysis. However, the long-term prognosis for survivors of methanol poisoning is not good, because many are elderly males who are in poor health and often suffer from an alcohol-use disorder.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"33 2","pages":"117-143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39172374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Proteomics: A prospective new tool in forensic investigations.","authors":"S Kumar,&nbsp;P Singh","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the last few decades, DNA evidence has become a very powerful tool in forensics, but it also has its limitations. DNA, being a very fragile molecule, can be easily damaged and contaminated. It can be very challenging to find enough DNA in an investigation to really make a breakthrough in certain types of evidence samples. For instance, about half of all rape kits do not yield sufficient genetic information to determine the perpetrator's DNA profile. This is where proteomics, the modern concept of protein analysis, steps in. By observing the amino acid sequence of protein fragments, researchers can work backward to conclude the DNA sequence used to make proteins. Proteomics methods can be used to classify and explain the circumstances that produced the biological samples. This article provides a conceptual overview on the different proteomics applications in forensics, including human identification using hair samples and fingermarks, species determination utilizing teeth and bones, and the determination of postmortem intervals.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"33 2","pages":"145-150"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39172375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Homicidal Pesticide Poisoning - An Overview.","authors":"R G Menezes,&nbsp;T Rizwan,&nbsp;A Khan,&nbsp;M Madadin,&nbsp;M S Usman","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pesticides are chemical or biological agents used to repel or kill pests. Pesticides are potent and lethal toxic substances that are also being infamously used for homicidal purposes due to their easy availability and rapid action. In this review, we look at 21 articles related to homicidal pesticide poisoning in the literature with an emphasis on fatal doses, routes of administration, and profiles of victims and perpetrators. Organophosphates and rodenticides were the most commonly used classes of pesticides, and ingestion was the most common route of administration; however, other modes of administration, such as through intraperitoneal injection, were also reported. Interestingly, we have noticed that victims involved in homicidal poisoning were mostly in close relationships with perpetrators. Most perpetrators were either spouses or other immediate family members. Abiding by the regulations that govern the production, sale, and use of pesticides and proper documentation of the related trail can help control the prevalence of homicidal pesticide poisoning. Recognition of the distinct morbid anatomy of the poisoning cases, alongside a high index of suspicion in cases that fit the profile, is essential for forensic analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"33 1","pages":"67-78"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25313603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forensic Anthropology in Investigations of Crimes Against Humanity: Global Dimensions and the Mid-19th-Century Ajnala (India) Massacre.","authors":"J S Sehrawat,&nbsp;D Sankhyan","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Heinous crimes and brutalities have decimated humanity throughout human history. In modern times, forensic anthropologists have helped to reconstruct the nature and mechanism, intent and purpose, manner, and circumstances of various inhumane instances of genocides and violent crimes. Anthropologists endeavor to bring closure and comfort to bereaved families by disseminating information about the location, exhumation, and identification of the remains of victims. The methodological armamentarium and scope of forensic anthropology have developed much beyond the realms of the traditional biological profiling casework to the scenarios of humanitarian concerns. Humanitarian forensics focuses on the excavation and identification of the remains of victims and facilitates the dignified burial of the deceased. This review article highlights and exemplifies the significant contributions of forensic anthropological expertise in revealing various crimes against humanity and human rights violations committed in the recent past as well as in some contemporary cases reported from around the globe. It includes cases such as Guatemalan, Cambodian, and Bosnian genocides, as well as other mass killings that illustrate the efficacy of anthropological evidence in reconstructing the nature, mechanism, and circumstances related to these incidences. Special emphasis is given to the Ajnala (India) skeletal remains excavated from an abandoned well - remains reportedly belonging to 282 Indian soldiers killed in 1857 whose corpses were dumped into the said disused well by sanitary workers - indicating the importance of forensic anthropology in authenticating the occurrence of events as mentioned in historical records. Analysis of different case histories reveals that forensic anthropologists have played a significant role in recovery and identification of the victims of the many war crimes, genocides, racial conflicts, and violent cruelties committed against mankind in modern history.</p>","PeriodicalId":38192,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science Review","volume":"33 1","pages":"37-65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25313602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}