Testing problems regarding narcotic substances in hair analysis]

The authors discuss legal, ethic, and technological problems associated with introduction of drug testing by analysis of hair in Russia. There are sufficiently reliable methods of hair analysis, but lack of legal basis and poor equipment of forensic chemical departments impede the introduction and wide use of these methods in Russia. The authors propose certification of the best equipped departments and render them the legal status of regional centers for tests for narcotics and psychotropic agents.     

Forensic evaluation of the QIAshredder/QIAamp DNA extraction procedure

The potential to recover genetic profiles from evidence samples has substantially increased since robust and sensitive amplification kits are commercially available. Nevertheless, even the best amplification kits cannot succeed when the extracted DNA is of poor quality. In this study we compared the efficiency of silica (QIAamp DNA Mini Kit), Chelex and Phenol-Chloroform (PC) based protocols to recover DNA from different categories of samples (blood and saliva on cotton swabs, muscles, cigarette butts, saliva on foods and epidermal cells on clothes). The efficiency of the QIAamp system was improved when samples were treated with QIAshredder homogenizing columns. Overall, conventional Chelex or PC protocols allowed to recover conclusive SGM Plus profiles for 61% of the samples considered in this study. Contrastingly, 82% of them were successfully genotyped after being treated with a combination of QIAshredder and QIAamp systems. Our results further suggested that the QIAshredder/QIAamp protocol was particularly helpful to analyze evidence samples with few DNA and/or that were collected on substrates containing PCR inhibitors.     

Death From Butane Inhalation Abuse in Teenagers: Two New Case Studies and Review of the Literature

The ready availability of butane makes butane abuse frequent. Fatalities are rare. This study presents two cases of death by butane overdose. The postmortem analyses were carried out using headspace gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. It revealed femoral blood butane concentrations of 18 and 22 mg/L, respectively, as well as specific combinations of adjuvants in each victim. In one of the victims, brain and fatty tissue also contained butane, pointing to chronic consumption. The originality of this study is to show that the identification of specific combinations of adjuvants can be helpful for identifying the brand of deodorant used. Also, sampling the skin and mucosa can help identify the method of drug delivery. The histological examination documented both the direct toxic effect of the gas on the respiratory mucosa and signs of chronic abuse. Volatile substance intoxications should be systematically considered in case of sudden death in a teenager.     

If Brain Scans Really Detected Deception,Who Would Volunteer to be Scanned?

Abstract: Recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of deception among healthy people, have raised the possibility that such methods may eventually be applied during legal proceedings. Were this so, who would volunteer to be scanned? We report a “natural experiment” casting some light upon this question. Following broadcast of a television series describing our team’s investigative neuroimaging of deception in 2007, we received unsolicited (public) correspondence for 12 months. Using a customized template to examine this material, three independent assessors unanimously rated 30 of an initial 56 communications as unequivocally constituting requests for a “scan” (to demonstrate their author’s “innocence”). Compared with the rest, these index communications were more likely to originate from incarcerated males, who were also more likely to engage in further correspondence. Hence, in conclusion, if neuroimaging were to become an acceptable means of demonstrating innocence then incarcerated males may well constitute those volunteering for such investigation.     

A just soldier's dilemma: facing a war that does not meet jus ad bellum criteria

In our challenging times individuals in military services may find themselves in the position of being called to contribute to a war whose overall justice they personally find morally suspect, or about which they have moral qualms. The right course of action in this situation can be a serious dilemma. Applying the principle of double effect to this dilemma recognizes essential state responsibility for war, but does not discount the soldier's personal moral responsibilities or individual will. This novel application of the principle of double effect treats damage produced by participating in a questionable war as a side-effect of pursuing other—clearly justifiable—intentions. The just war tradition already uses the principle of double effect when weighing the permissibility of individuals' acts in war, such as choosing bombing targets. The proposal here is to evaluate the decision to contribute to the war effort at all. This adaptation of the classic just war principle of double effect can be used to justify some—but not all—individual participation when a war's state-level justification is suspect.     

Challenging DNA: Assessment of a range of genotyping approaches for highly degraded forensic samples

It is common in forensic casework to encounter highly degraded DNA samples from a variety of sources. In this category bone and teeth samples are often the principal source of evidential material for criminal investigations or identification of long-deceased individuals. In these circumstances standard STRs are prone to fail due to their long amplicon sizes (since DNA becomes progressively more fragmented as it degrades). To successfully resolve such cases alternative markers can be used and until recently the only other tool available was mitochondrial DNA, which despite being more resistant to degradation, is much less informative. A rapidly developing approach to analyzing degraded DNA is the typing of loci from short-amplicon PCR products based on markers such as mini-STRs and autosomal SNPs. We have performed an analysis of several cases with naturally degraded DNA using established STRs plus mini-STRs and autosomal SNPs in order to make an objective comparison of the performance of each method using challenging DNA. The main aim was to establish the benefits and drawbacks of each marker set to help the practitioner choose the DNA analysis method most suited to the circumstances of each case.     

Single sperm cell isolation by micromanipulation for human identification in sexual assault

This study proposes a new alternative solution in preferential extraction methods or microdissection to isolate and analyse single sperm cells in case of sexual assault. After the transfer of swabs in liquid culture medium, perpetrator's spermatozoas can be physically separated from victim's epithelial cells by using classical techniques of micromanipulation as ICSI (IntraCytoplasmic Spermatozoa Injection), usually applied for IVF (In vitro Fertilization).