Call for Papers

Call for Papers

Call for Papers     

A new approach to amino acid racemization in enamel: testing of a less destructive sampling methodology

Aspartic acid racemization has been found to be an accurate measure of age at death for recent forensic material. This paper examines the practicality of using acid etching of the tooth surface to extract amino acids from the enamel for racemization analysis. By serial etching of the tooth and contamination of the teeth with bovine serum albumin prior to etching, the ability of etching to remove contamination was assessed. The destructiveness of the method was visualized and quantified using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). By bleaching the teeth and by deeper etching it was possible to obtain more consistent values. While etching had little effect on the enamel at the macroscale, it did have an impact at the microscale. The quantities of enamel removed varied depending upon the tooth morphology, but were not large. Acid etching of enamel thus appears to be a promising new method for extracting proteins for amino acid racemization age estimation noninvasively.     

Personality Disorder in Psychological Injury: A Biopsychosocial and Forensic Perspective

The present paper explores personality disorder from a biopsychosocial and developmental perspective, in particular, while considering forensic applications. It reviews criticisms of the current approach to classification, especially about its categorical in nature. Then, the paper focuses on the Five-Factor Model of personality dimensions and the attempts to relate it to understanding and assessing personality disorder (Costa and Widiger 2002). Developmental research is revealing that from early in life, temperament and personality seem to conform to a five-factor structure akin to the Big Five, although there are exceptions. Next, the paper examines the biopsychosocial model of personality and considers how personality disorder in the healthcare context affects treatment, relations with providers, and so on. Lastly, the paper examines Young’s (1997) stage model of development in relation to the Big Five and shows how the manner in which it deals with the development of the self may facilitate understanding of personality development and its disturbance. Recommendations and implications are considered.     

Suicidal Fatality from Azide Ingestion

A 35-year-old man ingested an unknown amount of sodium azide and died within 2 h. The postmortem interval was 3 days. No alcohol or drugs were found in the blood and urine. Azide was derivatized in the peripheral blood, urine, and vitreous fluid with propionic anhydride. A portion of the headspace was injected onto a gas chromatograph with a nitrogen–phosphorus detector. Azide was quantitated in the peripheral blood (1.1 μg/mL), urine (7.5 μg/mL), and vitreous (43 μg/mL). The vitreous appears to be a better fluid for azide screening because of slower degradation.