Impact of aging on fingerprint ridge density: Anthropometry and forensic implications in sex inference

The variation in the epidermal ridge's width between the sexes, during various growth stages, and among different populations has been previously assessed. However, the changes that occur with aging are barely known.The goal of this study was to analyse the degree of variation in epidermal ridge width due to aging. So that, fingerprint ridge density was estimated to establish their relationship with body and hand size changes that typically occur in adulthood.In this study, a sample of 213 adults of both sexes from a Spanish native population of different age ranges—18–30?years old (“junior” group) and 50–66?years old (“senior” group)—was used. Ridge density was assessed in three counting areas of the distal phalanx of each finger (radial, ulnar, and proximal). Height, weight, and a set of anthropometric measurements for both hands were also taken.Our results show that ridge density is higher in females than males throughout adulthood and decreases with aging in the radial and ulnar areas (as the hands widen) but not in the proximal region. Thus, a relationship between hand dimensions and ridge density was found.The data indicate that aging changes may conceal the recognized sex differences in ridge density, and so a better understanding of the topological variations in the epidermal ridge width throughout the life cycle and the factors involved would facilitate the interpretation of the differences between the sexes and different age groups.     

Substitution of human for horse urine disproves an accusation of doping*

In order to detect switching and/or manipulation of samples, the owner of a stallion asked our lab to perform a DNA test on a positive doping urine sample. The objective was to compare the urine DNA profile versus blood and hair DNA profiles from the same stallion. At first, 10 microsatellite markers were investigated to determine the horse identity. No results were obtained when horse specific markers were typed in the urine sample. In order to confirm the species origin of this sample we analyzed the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. This analysis from blood and hair samples produced reproducible and clear PCR-RFLP patterns and DNA sequence match with those expected for horse, while the urine sample results were coincident with human. These results allowed us to exclude the urine sample from the questioned stallion and determine its human species origin, confirming the manipulation of urine sample.     

PCL-R psychopathy predicts disruptive behavior among male offenders in a Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital

In this study, the relationship between psychopathy, according to the Dutch language version of Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and various types of disruptive behavior during inpatient forensic psychiatric treatment is investigated. Ninety-two male participants were administered the PCL-R following admission to an inpatient forensic hospital. From daily hospital information bulletins, incidents of verbal abuse, verbal threat, physical violence, and violation of hospital rules were derived. Also, the number of seclusion episodes was recorded. As expected, significant correlations were found between PCL-R scores and verbal abuse, verbal threat, violation of rules, total number of incidents, and frequency of seclusion. Psychopaths (PCL-R > or = 30) were significantly more often involved in incidents than nonpsychopaths. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the PCL-R Factor 2 score in particular contributed uniquely to the prediction of the total number of incidents. The findings are discussed in terms of their clinical implications.     

Assignment of paternity in a judicial dispute between two neighbor Holstein dairy farmers

DNA profiling was used as evidence to assign paternity in a dispute between two neighbors in a judicial case of undue appropriation of cattle offspring from five alleged Holstein sires. Five offspring were genotyped using ten genetic markers (nine microsatellites and the BOLA-DRB3 locus). The computer program CERVUS was used to estimate the LOD score values and the confidence of paternity assignments. The results presented here show that three out of five paternity cases were assigned at 95% of confidence to a single sire with a LOD score ranging from 2.53 to 3.55. A fourth male was assigned using its delta value. Finally, all alleged sires were excluded from the paternity of the fifth offspring, probably due to the existence of an non-sampled male in the studied population. We concluded that the likelihood-based approach, included into CERVUS program, was a powerful tool in cattle kinship analysis when dealing with judicial dispute particularly when the dam's genotype was absent, allowing the assignments of paternity at 95% level of confidence in situations usually used by dairy and beef cattle producers in Argentine (e.g., multi-sire pasture mating).     

Diagnostic efficacy of biochemical markers in diagnosis post-mortem of ischaemic heart disease

In forensic medicine, there is a need for more sensitive biochemical markers for the post-mortem diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. A study of the distribution of biochemical markers in different fluids is of great significance in post-mortem diagnosis, because their distribution depends on the location of tissue damage and release kinetics. The aim of this study is to compare the sensitivities and specificities of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), myoglobin and cTnI in serum and pericardial fluid for the post-mortem diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We studied 188 cadavers selected during 1 year from medicolegal autopsies. The groups were as follows: (1) myocardial infarction (n = 52); (2) asphyxia (n = 59); (3) multiple trauma (n = 41); (4) natural deaths excluding myocardial infarction (n = 36). We obtained statistically significant differences in pericardial fluid for all the biochemical markers, the highest levels being obtained in the group of cadavers who had died from myocardial infarction. A common factor is the high negative predictive value found in biochemical markers, which is contrary to the findings obtained in clinical practice, when the percentages of sensitivity are very high.     

Czech Republic

European Journal of Political Research -