The use of scanners in forensic medicine

The paper describes usage of scanners with computer image processing for illustrations and as an independent method of clues examination in forensic medical practice.     

The use of buffered celite columns in drug extraction techniques and their proposed application in forensic toxicology

The recoveries of acidic, basic, and neutral drugs through buffered celite columns are reported. The methods are rapid, simple, clean, and efficient, especially with compounds having a high volatility.     

The odontological identification of Eva Braun Hitler

On May 7th-9th, 1945, a team of Russian pathologists autopsied several bodies found in and near the Fuehrer Bunker in Berlin; among them, a female body (No. 13) was later identified as that of Eva Braun Hitler (EBH), mainly by means of a gold bridge from the lower right jaw. A postmortem photograph of this bridge also shows a separate gold filling. Data now available on the dental treatment of EBH have permitted the present authors to substantiate that this gold filling also came from the mouth of EBH. Further speculation about the fate of EBH would henceforth seem professionally unfounded.     

The forensic evaluation of dental injuries in Istanbul, Turkey

When a person is wounded in Turkey, he first attends hospital for treatment. The hospital is responsible for a report describing his injuries and their treatment and prognosis. The patient is then scanned by a specialist in forensic medicine who provides a final official report. In that report the lesions, the prognosis (including whether the injuries are life threatening or not) and the projected days away from daily activity are shown. In this study 18,317 cases which were examined in the second and the third Specialization Board of the Council of Forensic Medicine during 1996 were analyzed. Among them 112 cases were dental injuries. Dental injuries are reviewed according to their sex, causation, detail of injury, and they are compared to other studies.     

The precarious practice of forensic psychiatric risk assessments

The development of forensic psychiatric risk assessments is discussed from a clinical point of view using the example of Sweden. A central task in forensic psychiatry has traditionally been to identify dangerous, mentally disordered subjects considered to be prone to commit violent acts. Over time, “dangerousness” has been reworded into “risk”. Nevertheless, such assessments have generally been based on the psychiatric factors characterising the individual patient, while group interaction, situational factors, or social and cultural circumstances, such as the availability of alcohol and drugs, have been largely overlooked. That risk assessments have a focused on people with a diagnosis of “mental disorder” and been used as grounds for coercive measures and integrity violations has somehow been accepted as a matter of course in the public and political debate. Even the basic question whether offenders with a mental disorder are really more prone to criminal recidivism than other offenders seems to have been treated light-handedly and dealt with merely by epidemiological comparisons between groups of persons with broad ranges of psychosocial vulnerability and the general population. Legal texts, instructions and guidelines from the authorities in charge are often vague and general, while actors in the judicial system seem to put their trust in psychiatric opinions. The exchange of professional opinions, general public expectations, and judicial decision processes poses a huge risk for misunderstandings based on divergent expectations and uses of terminology.     

The human ear: its role in forensic practice

The human ear has much to offer investigators in relation to many areas of forensic practice including forensic pathology, anthropology, identification and facial reconstruction and yet its full potential is often overlooked. This review paper explores current knowledge related to the human ear drawing attention to those situations where the ear could play a valuable role in a forensic investigation.     

The use of wildcards in forensic DNA database searches

Forensic genetic databases contain millions of DNA profiles worldwide. An allelic drop-out at a heterozygous locus (two different alleles) erroneously results in an observed homozygous profile. To guard against this, wildcards are induced for homozygous profiles. The wildcard represents any allele including the observed allele.In this paper, theoretical expressions for the number of matching loci are derived, results shown from a Danish dataset with more than 50,000 DNA profiles and simulations used to link homozygosity with the drop-out probability, which best mimics wildcard matching.     

Ontogeny and dental genetics in forensic problems

Teeth are an excellent and reliable source of information useful in establishing identities in the absence of dental records providing that matching dental casts or teeth of other possibly related family members are available and that information on dental trait frequencies can be obtained. Such demographic data is generally available from physical or odontological anthropology departments in universities or museums. The data collected is subjected to statistical scrutiny and treatment of probability methodology.     

接触DNA在法医实践中的应用研究进展

人体在接触物体后,会在其表面留下少量接触DNA。对接触DNA的检验是目前法医DNA检验技术的热点和难点。接触DNA的检验成功率差异较大,受各环节多重因素影响。影响接触DNA检验成功率的主要因素有接触DNA检材的准确发现、接触DNA的提取与纯化以及扩增策略的选择和结果分析等。本文详述了接触DNA检验过程的进展及研究展望。     

The routine use of C-reactive protein in forensic investigations

In clinical medicine, C-reactive protein (CRP) is extensively used as a general marker for immune system activation, and post-mortem applicability has been established [M.Q. Fujita, B.L. Zhu, K. Ishida, L. Quan, S. Oritani, H. Maeda, Serum C-reactive protein levels in postmortem blood-an analysis with special reference to the cause of death and survival time, Forensic Sci. Int. 130 (2002) 160-166; L. Uhlin-Hansen, C-reactive protein (CRP), a comparison of pre- and post-mortem blood levels, Forensic Sci. Int. 124 (2001) 32-35]. We have analysed the routine use of CRP in non-selected cases. Scarcity of blood available for analysis is a common problem in forensic investigation, and in response to this we have developed a method using liver as a source. In 50 consecutive autopsy cases, we have evaluated method, validated results and discussed their interpretation. In three cases the analysis was not possible. For each of the remaining cases (n=47) we have analysed whole blood, serum and/or liver samples. 57% (n=25) had serum CRP > 10 mg/L. Serum levels were higher than in whole blood or liver. CRP levels in serum and whole blood samples were stable in more than one month after death, making storage for later analysis possible. Liver levels peaked at one week, but after one month putrefaction was obvious. CRP levels were independent of the post-mortem interval. The use of liver as a source has not yet been described in literature. Our results in liver samples correlate well with plasma results, and liver is a good post-mortem alternative when blood is not available. We conclude that CRP measurements are easy, viable and inexpensive in a forensic setting, and that the number of cases with CRP elevation is high in a non-selected forensic material. In cases of doubt, marked elevation of CRP is an indicator of natural mode of death, and in cases of trauma, it indicates vital reaction. It can be used as a pre-autopsy screening, leading to a more extensive search for diseases not easily diagnosed, such as sepsis or ketoacidosis.     

The forensic science use of reflective ultraviolet photography

Reflective ultraviolet photography has many forensic science applications particularly in child abuse, rape, homicide, and bite mark cases. The potential of this relatively simple and inexpensive procedure has not been fully explored. The procedure for its use in bite mark cases is presented.     

Topographies of forensic practice in Imperial Germany

This article examines the topography and “cultural machinery” of forensic jurisdictions in Imperial Germany. It locates the sites at which boundary disputes between psychiatric and legal professionals arose and explores the strategies and practices that governed the division of expert labor between them. It argues that the over-determined paradigms of ‘medicalization’ and ‘biologization’ have lost much of their explanatory force and that historians need to refocus their attention on the institutional and administrative configuration of forensic practices in Germany. After first sketching the statutory context of those practices, the article explores how contentious jurisdictional negotiations pitted various administrative, financial, public security, and scientific interests against one another. The article also assesses the contested status of psychiatric expertise in the courtroom, as well as post-graduate forensic psychiatric training courses and joint professional organizations, which drew the two professional communities closer together and mediated their jurisdictional disputes.     

The epidemiological characteristics of fatal subdural hematomas in forensic medical practice

A retrospective analysis of subdural hematomas is carried out: 493 in subjects dead from mechanical injuries (from files of forensic medical morgues in Tver', 1992-1994), and 37 cases with chronic subdural hematomas (from files of forensic medical morgues No. 2 and 6 in Moscow, 1995-1997). Age and sex of victims, time and circumstances of injuries, topographic and morphological features of subdural hemorrhages and their relation to concomitant injuries, and presence of ethyl alcohol in the organism are studied. The data on chronic subdural hematomas are presented. The authors emphasize the need in forensic medical studies of this condition.     

微波在法医病理学免疫组化染色中的应用

将松下牌微波炉（microwave oven，MWO）应用于20例人体尸检材料（心、脑）的链霉菌素一生物素免疫组化染色（LSAB法），检测了10种心、脑组织抗原．MWO应用于尸检材料免疫组化染色时的使用要点为（1）抗原的修复：切片置于0.01M枸椽酸盐缓冲液（PH6．0）中，DEF档（210W），10min，温度92－98℃；（2）滴加正常血清、一抗、二抗及SP复合物后，于LOW档（70W），5min，温度20～37℃,其它步骤与标准方法一致．结果表明：MWO的应用有助于封闭抗原的修复，提高阳性染色程度，降低背景着色，缩短染色时间．     

Persistent systems techniques in forensic acquisition of memory

In this paper we discuss how operating system design and implementation influence the methodology for computer forensics investigations, with the focus on forensic acquisition of memory. In theory the operating system could support such investigations both in terms of tools for analysis of data and by making the system data readily accessible for analysis. Conventional operating systems such as Windows and UNIX derivatives offer some memory-related tools that are geared towards the analysis of system crashes, rather than forensic investigations. In this paper we demonstrate how techniques developed for persistent operating systems, where lifetime of data is independent of the method of its creation and storage, could support computer forensics investigations delivering higher efficiency and accuracy. It is proposed that some of the features offered by persistent systems could be built into conventional operating systems to make illicit activities easier to identify and analyse. We further propose a new technique for forensically sound acquisition of memory based on the persistence paradigm.