Persecution of Jewish forensic pathologists

Not even forensic pathologists were spared by the anti-Jewish laws of the Third Reich. Fritz Strassmann and Paul Fraenckel were among more than 140 faculty of the Berlin Department of Medicine persecuted by the national socialist dictatorship. It was because of their Jewish background that Georg Strassmann was expelled from university in Breslau, and Leone Lattes was forced to leave in Pavia. Miklós Nyiszli was deported from Oradea to Auschwitz and forced to perform forensic autopsies. Stefan Jellinek in Vienna, Ludwik Hirszfeld in Warsaw and Friedrich Schiff in Berlin were other medical professionals whose achievements had enriched legal medicine before they became victims of anti-Jewish persecution.     

STR analysis of artificially degraded DNA-results of a collaborative European exercise

Degradation of human DNA extracted from forensic stains is, in most cases, the result of a natural process due to the exposure of the stain samples to the environment. Experiences with degraded DNA from casework samples show that every sample may exhibit different properties in this respect, and that it is difficult to systematically assess the performance of routinely used typing systems for the analysis of degraded DNA samples. Using a batch of artificially degraded DNA with an average fragment size of approx. 200 bp a collaborative exercise was carried out among 38 forensic laboratories from 17 European countries. The results were assessed according to correct allele detection, peak height and balance as well as the occurrence of artefacts. A number of common problems were identified based on these results such as strong peak imbalance in heterozygous genotypes for the larger short tandem repeat (STR) fragments after increased PCR cycle numbers, artefact signals and allelic drop-out. Based on the observations, strategies are discussed to overcome these problems. The strategies include careful balancing of the amount of template DNA and the PCR cycle numbers, the reaction volume and the amount of Taq polymerase. Furthermore, a careful evaluation of the results of the fragment analysis and of automated allele calling is necessary to identify the correct alleles and avoid artefacts.     

Research in forensic neurotraumatology

Over the past 100 years forensic research in neurotraumatology was focusing on the genesis, e.g. biomechanis, and the origin of epidural, subdural, subarachnoidal, intracerebral and brain stem haemorrhage, particularly under aspects to enable the differential diagnosis of bleeding due to non-traumatic diseases. Moreover the estimation of the age of brain injuries has important criminological implications (survival time following traumatic forces to the head, alibi etc.). Beside these main fields of research, aspects of expertise in special areas such as head trauma due to child abuse, capability to act despite severe brain injuries and research on cervical trauma are reviewed.     

两地区医疗纠纷法医学尸检鉴定质量的比较研究

目的研究影响涉及医疗纠纷法医学尸检鉴定质量差异的原因。方法两个具有代表性的法医学尸检鉴定机构所涉及医疗纠纷的相关案例,进行字2检验、t检验等统计学研究。结果通过字2检验发现,在设定的10个指标中,有7个指标存在显著性差异,提示两鉴定单位在“涉及医疗纠纷的法医学尸检鉴定”中检验手段和标准、规范性等均存在极大的差异。结论通过研究,提示法医学鉴定人素质、尸检的标准化和规范化、尸检检材的提取标准化、死因或疾病的诊断标准、会诊制度及法医学鉴定书的书写规范化等是法医学尸检鉴定质量控制和管理的重要环节。     

Reconstruction of a real car-pedestrian-accident. Part 2: Modelling and simulation

A real pedestrian-car-crash was reconstructed by use of a multi-body simulation. The main aspect was the use of an individual body surface for the human body model and the car. The simulation allowed a plausible reconstruction of the accident. A good correlation of the contact-pairs in the model and the real forensic data was achieved by variation of the hypothetical szenario.     

Component analysis of illicit heroin samples with GC/MS and its application in source identification

A novel method based on GC/MS and GC for component analyses of seized illicit heroin was established by using SKF525A as an internal standard. The main components in illicit heroin products such as heroin, O3-acetylmorphine, monoacetylcodeine, and O6-acetylmorphine were determined quantitatively and the organic adulterants such as paracetamol, acetaminophen caffeine and theophylline were detected qualitatively using the developed method. With these obtained data, 500 seized illicit heroin samples were divided into nine groups. The decomposition pattern of heroin was studied. The dependencies of both the decomposition pattern and the content ratios of monoacetylcodeine to heroin and monoacetylcodeine to O6-acetylmorphine on the source of the seized illicit heroin were observed. This information was used to develop a novel method for its source identification. The examination results were in agreement with the practical cases, thus providing significant information for detection of criminal cases involving illicit heroin.