Forensic anthropology in Latin America

Forensic anthropology has been one of the fastest growing medico-legal disciplines both in its contribution to the practical needs of the legal system and research accomplishments. New anthropological standards were developed to apply to a specific population of a region. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a large sample of anthropological forensic cases and to review pertinent literature that deals with anthropological standards developed for the population of the continent of Central and South America. Using Uruguay as an example, there was not a single office or anthropologist assigned to analyze human skeletal remains in Uruguay. In 1991 the Laboratorio de Antropología Forense at the Morgue Judicial of Montevideo was created. A total of 189 forensic anthropological cases (276 individuals) were analyzed since this date. Twenty six percent of cases involving human remains were positively identified. The majority came from the Departamento de Montevideo, the largest population district of the country. Most of the cases fell into the 60 to 69 years old age range (35%). Females represented 32% of the total. Since the establishment of the laboratory, the number of forensic cases increased considerably from 20 in 1991 to 40 in 1997. The case studies were accompanied with skull-photo superimposition and facial reconstruction when no other evidence for positive identification was available. This service provided by the laboratory was quickly known to coroners, law enforcement agencies, and other legal authorities and thus utilized not only in Uruguay but also in several other countries in the continent. Because of the obvious need for an anthropologist, there are now university programs to provide forensic anthropological education. Yet, research has lagged behind considerably. Deficiencies are obvious in basic osteological standards of estimating age, calculating stature, determining sex and assessing race that can be applied to populations of the continent. Regional standards are also needed to estimate postmortem interval, to identify culture specific causes of trauma and other forensic phenomena. Some of these can be remedied if there is a database where the available literature is stored and osteometric information is shared.     

Mechanism responsible for the formation of focal swellings on injured neuronal processes using a novel in vitro model of axonal injury

A novel in vitro model of axonal injury using PC12 cells was designed to introduce traumatic alterations on neuronal processes and to identify mechanisms responsible for the formation of focal swellings by observation with phase-contrast and transmission electron microscopes. The injury on the processes was developed by one-dimensional, horizontal oscillation. Phase-contrast microscopic observation on the injured processes showed their terminal increase in diameter. Long term observation of cellular responses to the mechanical insult disclosed that the terminal swelling coincided with the detachment of growth cones from the culture plate. The finding suggests that the detachment of the growth cone would destroy a cytoskeletal network, which determines and maintains the cell shapes, and then cause the spherical deformation of the processes. Ultramicroscopically, the processes with terminal swellings regenerated the growth cones by the cytoskeletal reconstruction.     

The personal identification of many samples recovered from under the sea

An automatic and rapid DNA typing system was employed for personal identification, using fragmentary tissue samples from victims in an airplane accident. Two victims were crushed into small pieces, and 33 samples suspected to belong to them were recovered from under the sea. From each sample, 10 mg was used for testing. The parents' bloods of two presumptive victims were also examined. DNA extraction from samples was performed by the NaI method, and the obtained DNA samples were analyzed with the ABI PRISM system. Among 33 samples, 31 samples were identified to be human tissues, possibly from two victims. The other two samples seemed to be parts of marine animals. ABO blood group, STR polymorphism, and mitochondrial DNA polymorphism typing were possible in every examined human sample. Two victims' fragmentary tissues were identified by determining ABO genotype, STR type and mitochondrial DNA type. The system we employed enabled an accurate typing of many fragmentary samples in a short time, thus contributing to the fast and secure identification of many victims in such cases as big air accidents.     

Usefulness of a toothbrush as a source of evidential DNA for typing

We investigated the usefulness of a toothbrush as a source of DNA for an unidentified cadaver. Ten toothbrushes were obtained from ten individuals along with their peripheral blood. We recovered from 10 to 430 ng of DNA from all but one of the toothbrushes. All ten toothbrushes, including the one containing no detectable DNA by fluorometry, were typed correctly at all of the loci tested, including nine STRs. Three toothbrushes obtained in two actual deaths also identified two victims and one suspect. Therefore, toothbrushes seem to be useful as a source of evidential DNA for personal identification.     

Traumatic rupture of the basilar artery: report of two cases and review of the literature

Two cases of traumatic rupture of the basilar artery are reported. In the first case, severe basal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to a complete transverse tear of the basilar artery was observed in a 53-year-old restrained male driver who was involved in a head-on collision while intoxicated and drowsy. He lost consciousness shortly after the accident and was admitted to hospital in cardiopulmonary arrest. Intensive resuscitative therapies produced cardiac response, but he died 50 minutes after the accident. The ethanol concentration in his blood and urine was 0.35 and 0.55 mg/ml, respectively. In the second case, SAH due to a similar tear of the basilar artery was observed in a 47-year-old man who received several fist blows to the face while intoxicated. He suddenly lost consciousness after the final blow and was admitted to hospital in cardiopulmonary arrest. Intensive resuscitative therapies produced cardiac response, but he died 6 hours after the event. In these cases, the mechanism of the traumatic rupture of the basilar artery is thought to be overstretching due to hyperextension of the head, and intoxication, drowsiness, or both may have interfered with the decedents' ability to protect themselves; thus, the hyperextension of the head may have been rather forceful.     

复合扩增9个STR位点在亲子鉴定中的应用评估

在法医学亲子鉴定中应用复合扩增及四色荧光自动分析技术检测 Profiler plusTM9个 STR位点,一次性获得的信息量大,累计非父排除率达 0.9999。应用于 268例亲子鉴定的结果表明, 9个具有高度多态性 STR基因座的联合检测,能使三联体亲子鉴定的排除结论明确无误。对不排除案例,其 RCP值均可达国际认定标准。对二联体亲子鉴定一般需增加 CofilerTM试剂盒 4个 STR位点检测。     

D1S80等位点在法医物证鉴定中应用价值评估

比较D1S80 ,DQA1+PM和CTT等位点在法医物证鉴定中应用情况 ,经研究发现 ,D1S80位点识别能力较强 ,基因遗传稳定 ,其电泳检测操作简单 ,易推广 ;DQA1+PM位点扩增片段较短 ,反向斑点杂交法灵敏度高 ,特别适用于陈旧、降解和微量生物检材的鉴定 ;CTT位点的荧光检测法稳定、可靠 ,实验结果便于保存和管理。总之 ,D1S80、DQA1+PM和CTT位点的遗传符合孟德尔定律 ,分型简便、可靠 ,在亲子鉴定和个人识别中发挥重要作用。     

交通肇事眼损伤鉴定及其VEP检查特征分析

对 30例交通肇事眼损伤鉴定及其VEP检查结果进行回顾性分析 ,旨在探讨交通肇事眼损伤鉴定的特征 ;结果表明 :与普通伤害案件相比 ,(1)交通肇事眼损伤鉴定时合并颅脑损伤 (83% )及多颅神经损伤 (53% )的比例较高 ;导致复视及眼球运动受限 (30 % )的情况较多 ;视神经损伤 (2 0 % )及眶壁骨折 (2 0 % )的发生率较高 ;鉴定时应注重这些方面的检查。 (2 )交通肇事眼损伤鉴定当事人主诉双眼视力下降 (53% )的比例较高 ,雾视法进行伪盲试验受到限制 ,VEP检查显得更为主要。VEP检查是确证视神经损伤的良好方法 ,不同程度的视功能障碍其VEP表现为波形熄灭、波形离散、波幅降低、潜伏期延长不等。另一方面 ,交通肇事后弥漫性脑组织损伤也在眼底及VEP上有一定表现。     

用反相杂交技术对HLA-DQA1基因分型及其应用

目的 :HLA -DQA1其因的分型研究及在实际办案中的应用。方法 :PCR结合反相杂交检测技术对HLA -DQA1基因进行分型。结果 :检见7种基因 ,24种基因型 ,获得上海地区HLA -DQA1基因的基因频率及基因型的频率分布数据。结论 :对法医学中常见的血液 (痕 )、牙齿、精斑、混合斑、人体组织等检材进行HLA -DQA1分型检测 ,其结果稳定可靠 ,为实际办案提供了科学依据     

STR复合扩增及荧光检测技术在个体识别中的应用

目的 :使用 310型遗传分析仪对D3S1358等 10个位点进行基因型检测并应用于法医物证学个体识别案件。方法 :用PCR复合扩增结合四色荧光检测技术对样本DNA进行基因分型。结果 :常见物证检材可成功地得到检验。结论 :这些位点适用于法医物证学个体识别。