Forensic Sciences Research最新文献

{"title":"Silent witness: a moss provides important evidence in solving a cemetery crime.","authors":"Matt von Konrat, Llo Stark, Jenna Merkel, Anne Grauer, Wayne Jakalski, Paul Kiefer, Danny Kreider, Eric Leafblad, Alan Lichamer, Gary Merrill, Jason Moran, Gavin Quinn, Doug Seccombe, Kathryn Sodetz, Matthew Thrun","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf038","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Forensic botany, particularly bryophyte analysis, is a potentially important but underutilized tool in criminal investigations. Bryophytes, including mosses, liverworts, and hornworts, have the potential to offer crucial evidence in establishing crime scene timelines and possible connections between suspects, victims, and the scene of the crime. In this case study, a common moss, <i>Fissidens taxifolius</i>, played a pivotal role in revealing the duration of the desecrated human remains and potential evidence for the location from which they had been disinterred. This case study highlights the need for greater utilization of forensic botany, especially microscopic plant material for its potential broader inclusion in criminal investigations. <b>Key Points</b>  Forensic botany: bryophytes, a potentially helpful forensic evidence tool, provide critical information in criminal cases.Widespread but overlooked: bryophytes' ubiquitous nature and properties present great potential in forensic investigations, yet they are often overlooked.Key timeline evidence: bryophyte fragments found with buried human remains were used to develop a timeline, and played a pivotal role in reconstructing events.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf038"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12967056/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147435872","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":"Comparative analysis of DNA collection techniques applied to disposable 3-layer earloop face masks.","authors":"Niramon Masuntisuk, Tayawee Romgaew, Natcha Sanpang, Sunisa Aobaom","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf041","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Since COVID-19 has emerged and become a global health issue, an awareness of wearing face masks has been attentive to prevent the spread of the disease. Face masks that have become a part of daily life, may be encountered at crime scenes and serve as a potential source of DNA for human identification. This study developed a rapid method for obtaining abundant DNA from 3-layer disposable face masks. Ten healthy volunteers were recruited to wear the masks for a period of 2 h. The optimal method for retrieving DNA was determined to be direct cutting of the middle section of the mask's inner layer. The average DNA concentrations from males and females were 0.127 0 ± 0.233 7 ng/μL and 0.069 9 ± 0.107 4 ng/μL, respectively, with no significant difference observed between the sexes (<i>P</i> = 0.286). Furthermore, testing a smaller area (28 cm²) from the mouth-covering region still yielded sufficient DNA for STR genotyping (average 0.025 5 ± 0.021 8 ng/μL). Comparison of the inner and the filter layers revealed that the filter layer contained significantly less DNA (average 0.021 3 ± 0.020 3 ng/μL, <i>P</i> < 0.05). A mockup study was conducted on two female volunteers using six commercial brands of medical, carbon, and super 3D mask types. The results showed that the minimum DNA concentration (0.008 3 ± 0.003 1 ng/μL) extracted from a carbon type is also plenteous for short tandem repeats (STR) genotyping. Finally, mockup samples with low copy number were genotyped and they produced profiles with >19 autosomal STR loci. This suggests that the method was suitable in DNA analysis when a face mask is found as forensic DNA evidence.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf041"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12874880/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147436441","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":"Hydrocarbon forensic chemistry: exploring multiple fronts-a minireview.","authors":"Lúcio Paulo Lima Logrado","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf047","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydrocarbons are a significant class of compounds encountered in various subareas of forensic chemistry, including transportation fuels, fire debris, explosives, post-explosion residues, environmental samples, drugs of abuse, and toxicology. This article provides an overview of the diverse contexts in which hydrocarbon analysis plays a crucial role in forensic investigations, underscoring its importance for forensic chemistry. This is achieved by drawing on the experience accumulated from analyses conducted in these various contexts at the National Institute of Criminalistics of the Brazilian Federal Police, as well as insights gained from a comprehensive literature review. Each topic is briefly discussed separately, focusing on the significance of hydrocarbon analysis and its contribution to solving investigations across different contexts. This review offers a unique perspective that has not been addressed in this manner by the specialized literature, thereby contributing to the forensic community's understanding of the importance of hydrocarbons in various contexts within forensic chemistry.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf047"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12874879/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147436451","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":"Acknowledgment to reviewers-January 2025 to October 2025.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/fsr/owaf048","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf048"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12821358/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146067614","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":"Reliability study of the Chinese method for bare footprint linear measurement.","authors":"Kai Sun, Yaping Luo","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf049","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf049","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In many countries, bare footprints collected from crime scenes can be used as evidence for forensic identification, which involves the linear measurement of quantitative characteristics. Compared with several other methods of footprint measurement, the Reel method has been proven to be reliable and has been used in many countries. The Chinese method for bare footprint measurement is the official method issued by Ministry of Public Security of China, but its reliability has not been tested. This study focuses on the reliability test of the Chinese method for bare footprint measurement, which can serve as a reference for the verification in the process of footprint identification. Sixty-four volunteers were randomly selected to make dust and inked footprints, and five metrics of each footprint were measured and re-measured by three raters to test the reliability. These metrics consisted of four main ones from the Chinese method, with one from the Reel method for comparison. Based on intraclass correlation coefficients, the standard error of measurement and 95% Bland-Altman limits of agreement, test-retest reliability, and rater reliability within and among three raters were analysed. The Chinese method finally demonstrated a high degree of reliability. Although the Reel method achieved a marginally higher reliability score, its advantage was slight. Furthermore, the Chinese method for bare footprint measurement is not only reliable but also simple to operate, making it a viable supplement to the Reel method in contexts outside of China. In the process of footprint identification in China, when footprints are re-measured or measured by different appraisers for verification, the reliability values given in this paper could be used as a reference.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf049"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12828693/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146067605","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":"Preliminary determination of <i>a priori</i> information for forensic lubricant analysis in sexual assault cases.","authors":"Candice Bridge, Brooke Baumgarten, Liansheng Tang, Ngoc Ty Nguyen","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf045","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While mass production of materials provides many benefits to the community, it hinders the potential to source unknown samples in a forensic context. To circumvent this issue, the forensic community has been exploring the use of likelihood ratios to compare two probabilities with the goal of deciding if it is more likely that the unknown sample is from a known source or a different source. To aid in this calculation, it is helpful to understand the prevalence of that item in the local community, which is a determination that can be hindered by mass production. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, including rarity and commonality, of sexual lubricant products in the local area surrounding the University of Central Florida (UNIVERSITY). This information would provide a baseline on the number of products available for purchase in the area that can be used in acts of consensual intercourse or sexual assault. Understanding the products available would also provide insight into the type of chemical compounds that are present within sexual lubricants, which can be used for sourcing purposes. The results of this study revealed several major findings: (i) the physical marketplace around the UNIVERSITY is dominated by water-based lubricants, (ii) lubricant brands may be directly associated with a particular retail store, and (iii) specific chemical compositions of a lubricant product may also be associated with a particular retail store. Providing frequency data and odds information about the lubricant products can assist investigators and forensic scientists in understanding the layout of the local sexual lubricant marketplace, which can assist in determining the uniqueness of the unknown sample recovered in a sexual assault case and potentially provide an investigative lead. <b>Key points</b>  A survey of commercially available lubricant products was conducted.Surveys were conducted at supermarkets, gas stations, grocery stores, etc<i>.</i>Products surveyed informed conditional probabilities for lubricant products.Products surveyed also informed odds statistics that may aid criminal investigators.Information on the rarity of products/lubricant compounds was provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf045"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13003758/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147500153","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":"Is he really my relative? Kinship cases in substructured populations: a study on the Lebanese population.","authors":"Ansar El Andari, Issam Mansour","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf043","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The probabilistic analysis performed in DNA kinship cases is affected by factors such as the number of loci analyzed, the STR allelic relative frequency dataset, and the population genetic characteristics of the individuals involved in the analysis. The Lebanese population shows high rates of endogamy and consanguinity, which challenges the power of discrimination of DNA profiles and is a potential source of misleading conclusions. The present study aims to evaluate the probability of false positives in relationship testing, especially siblingship, avuncular, and grandparent-grandchildren relationships, when cases are subject to different constraints, including DNA profile sizes (15 <i>vs.</i> 23 STR loci) and inbreeding coefficients (<i>F</i> _ST). A total of 126 794 kinship comparisons were performed for each type of kinship test using a Lebanese database of 505 unrelated healthy individuals. To do so, DNA analysis results were assessed under a pair of propositions involving the stated relationship link between the two individuals <i>vs.</i> unrelatedness, offering quantification through the likelihood ratio (LR), a widely accepted metric to assess the value of scientific results. Among the simulated cases, false associations for full siblingship relationships were observed in 1 995 (1.6%) instances using a DNA profile size of 15 STRs (LR > 1, or log(LR) > 0). False associations decreased to 340 (0.3%) cases when the DNA profile size was increased to 23 STRs, and to 299 (0.2%) and 91 (0.07%) cases using the co-ancestry coefficient for the Lebanese population (0.002) and that recommended by the National Research Committee (0.02), respectively. Simulations of half siblingships (representing half-siblingship, avuncular, and grandparent-grandchildren relationships) showed similar results. Conversely, 41 full biological siblingship cases, 24 true full-siblingship laboratory cases, and 124 true half-siblingship laboratory cases were used as controls to assess the effects of implementing the conditions applied in the simulations (profile size and co-ancestry coefficient (<i>F</i> _ST) values) to lower false associations. Results for the positive controls showed that the implementation of the National Research Committee-recommended <i>F</i> _ST value of 0.02 decreased the LR by an average of 10² for 15-STR DNA profiles, and by an average of 10⁴ for 23-STR DNA profiles, which did not lead to misleading results. However, the use of a DNA profile size of 23 STRs with the Lebanese co-ancestry coefficient showed the most meaningful results. This study could help to set national recommendations for the interpretation of kinship testing in the Lebanese population.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf043"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12879190/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147436460","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":"Sex estimation through the lens of cross-sectional geometric properties of the ulna.","authors":"Nefeli Garoufi, Andreas Bertsatos, Maria-Eleni Chovalopoulou","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf017","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sex estimation is an essential part of anthropological analysis in both forensic and archaeological studies, as it is vital for the construction of biological profiles from skeletal remains. The last years have seen a steady increase in the development of alternative methodologies for sex estimation, which do not depend on strictly traditional osteometric measurements. The present study focuses on the evaluation of the sex diagnostic capacity of the diaphyseal cross-sectional geometric (CSG) properties of the ulna on 215 individuals (120 males, 95 females) from a contemporary Greek population sample, utilizing support vector machine supervised learning algorithms for the classification analysis. The correlation of age-at-death on the utilized CSG variables and the effect of bilateral asymmetry in the presence of sexual dimorphism were evaluated as well. The highest cross-validated accuracy reached was 98.15%, exceeding the accuracy achieved by standard ostemeotric measurements of the ulna, highlighting the importance of evaluating and, subsequently, incorporating alternative measurements in sex estimation practices. The optimal classification model is freely available as a standalone R function, in order to facilitate the utilization of the CSG properties in forensic context.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 3","pages":"owaf017"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12628314/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145565603","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":"Interpretation of drug trafficking patterns and utility of forensic intelligence.","authors":"Diksha Thakur, Neeti Prakash Dubey, Rajvinder Singh","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf040","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Illegal drug trafficking is a significantly notified socioeconomic and epidemiological practice threatening human civilization for the last century. It has a significant part in the crime rate of many countries. This review aims to provide a scientific and rational interpretation of the worldwide seizure of illicit drugs and examine the possibility of forensic intelligence to counter the drug menace including narco-terrorism. For this review, data were obtained from various World Drug Reports of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, digital databases, research journals, and other authentic virtual sources meticulously explored. It is observed that the dynamic modus operandi and coping mechanisms adopted for the supply of illicit drugs in the market are almost stable. The authors find that the scientific tool in the form of forensic intelligence will be more useful and reliable to counter the drug menace and its established links accurately.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf040"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12885096/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147436439","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":"Suicides in Tricity and Gdańsk County in 2010-2023: insights from demographic and toxicological data.","authors":"Julia Lassmann, Aleksandra Flis, Julia Szymczak, Karol Karnecki, Dorota Pieśniak, Marek Wiergowski","doi":"10.1093/fsr/owaf042","DOIUrl":"10.1093/fsr/owaf042","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The analysis of the number of suicides in Poland in the years 1999-2023 done by the National Police Headquarters shows a range from 3 530 (in 2007) to 6 165 (in 2013), with a downward trend since 2013. The highest rates of suicides were noted among age groups of 55-64 years and 30-39 years. Males comprise the majority of suicide attempts (72%) and deaths (85%). Similar trends are observed in the territory of Tricity (an urban area consisting of three contiguous cities-Gdańsk, Sopot, and Gdynia) and Gdańsk County, where in the years 2010-2019, suicides were predominantly committed by middle-aged males. The purpose of this study was to analyze suicide deaths based on protocols of postmortem examinations done at the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Medical University of Gdańsk in the years 2010-2023. The focus was on the annual number of deaths, suicide method, place of death, sex, age, season, history of psychiatric disorders, and the level of intoxication. The results of the analysis indicate an increased number of suicides during the COVID-19 pandemic, predominance of males and city residents among suicide victims, and hanging as the main method of suicide. An increase in intoxicated victims was noted during the pandemic, as well as a higher contribution of ethyl alcohol in male suicides. The highest number of positive results for psychoactive substances was for ethyl alcohol. Most of the suicide victims were aged from 42 to 50 years, with a downward trend from 2018 to 2023, when an increased number of suicides was noted among people up to 30 years of age.</p>","PeriodicalId":45852,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Sciences Research","volume":"10 4","pages":"owaf042"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12777702/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145967435","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}