Legal Medicine

Ancestry inference for an individual can only be as good as the reference populations with allele frequency data on the SNPs being used. If the most relevant ancestral population(s) does not have data available for the SNPs studied, then analyses based on DNA evidence may indicate a quite distantly related population, albeit one among the more closely related of the existing reference populations. We have added reference population allele frequencies for 14 additional population samples (with >1100 individuals studied) to the 125 population samples previously published for the Kidd Lab 55 AISNP panel. Allele frequencies are now publicly available for all 55 SNPs in ALFRED and FROG-kb for a total of 139 population samples. This Kidd Lab panel of 55 ancestry informative SNPs has been incorporated in commercial kits by both ThermoFisher Scientific and Illumina for massively parallel sequencing. Researchers employing those kits will find the enhanced set of reference populations useful.

We investigated in the female inmate population whether they had and which were the foundations of hope for a better future after liberation. We created and applied a questionnaire structured on four general information chapters regarding health, attitude and spiritual life. In total, 67 questions with 293 items. For this study, we selected 62 items. Hope for better reintegration was layed on family support and (re)imployment. The majority considered that the length of the detention influences the chances for social reintegration. The family perception was clarified and the relationship with the parents and spouse was tightened. The spiritual questions reflected a moderate return to religion. The study proved that the female detainees have a positive perception on the role of education and that the efforts of different educational factors during detention was strongly positive. The development of moral, family, social and spiritual values was beneficial and raised the hopes of socia...

Cardiovascular complications of cocaine abuse include myocardial ischemia and infarction, dysrhythmias, cardiomyopathies and aortic dissection. The case in point pertains to a 26-year-old, Caucasian male, substance abuser who suffered a thoracic aortic dissection following the use of crack cocaine. The autopsy and histological findings showed a connective tissue abnormality including a focal microcystic medial necrosis and a fragmentation of the elastic fibers in the arterial walls. Blood concentrations of cocaine and benzoylecgonine, taken individually, were considered to be within a potentially toxic range. Blood concentrations of methadone also indicated use of this drug at the same time. The small amounts of morphine found in the blood and urine were compatible with heroine or morphine use more than 24 h before death.

Body fluid traces recovered at crime scenes are among the most important types of evidence to forensic investigators. They contain valuable DNA evidence which can identify a suspect or victim as well as exonerate an innocent individual. The first step of identifying a particular body fluid is highly important since the nature of the fluid is itself very informative to the investigation, and the destructive nature of a screening test must be considered when only a small amount of material is available. The ability to characterize an unknown stain at the scene of the crime without having to wait for results from a laboratory is another very critical step in the development of forensic body fluid analysis. Driven by the importance for forensic applications, body fluid identification methods have been extensively developed in recent years. The systematic analysis of these new developments is vital for forensic investigators to be continuously educated on possible superior techniques. Significant advances in laser technology and the development of novel light detectors have dramatically improved spectroscopic methods for molecular characterization over the last decade. The application of this novel biospectroscopy for forensic purposes opens new and exciting opportunities for the development of on-field, non-destructive, confirmatory methods for body fluid identification at a crime scene. In addition, the biospectroscopy methods are universally applicable to all body fluids unlike the majority of current techniques which are valid for individual fluids only. This article analyzes the current methods being used to identify body fluid stains including blood, semen, saliva, vaginal fluid, urine, and sweat, and also focuses on new techniques that have been developed in the last 5-6 years. In addition, the potential of new biospectroscopic techniques based on Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy is evaluated for rapid, confirmatory, non-destructive identification of a body fluid at a crime scene.

The "mature minor doctrine" is the common-law rule that allows an adolescent who is mature to give consent for medical care. Ethical decisions regarding consent and confidentiality should be distinguished from legal requirements. Recent court decisions have altered the law, especially in regard to consent for refusal of life-sustaining treatment. There are statutory exceptions to the rule of parental consent regarding emergency care, sexually transmitted diseases, drug treatment, mental health care, pregnancy, contraception, and emancipation. A detailed analysis of the mature minor exception is presented, utilizing court case vignettes. There is minimal legal risk in allowing adolescents older than 14 years of age to give consent for treatments entailing small degrees of risk, when they can make adultlike decisions and demonstrate signs of maturity.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences in postmortem blood biochemistry between fresh-, saltwater drowning and acute myocardial infarction/ischemia (AMI) (n ¼ 11, n ¼ 15 and n ¼ 23, respectively; postmortem interval ,48 h). Left and right cardiac blood samples were examined for the serum markers: sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), magnesium (Mg), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), pulmonary surfactant-associated protein A (SPA) and cardiac troponin T (cTn-T). The most efficient markers were the left–right cardiac BUN ratio for determination of drowning (hemodilution) and the left heart blood Mg level for differentiation between fresh-and saltwater aspiration. A characteristic feature of saltwater drowning was a low left–right BUN ratio and a marked elevation in the serum Cl, Mg and Ca levels of the left heart blood. Serum cTn-T level was usually low in drownings, showing a difference from most cases of AMI. Freshwater drowning showed a significant elevation of serum SPA , although there was considerable overlapping with saltwater drowning and AMI. These findings suggested the usefulness of serum markers in the investigation of death from drownings.

We report a multiple homicide in Angola involving six Portuguese citizens. Immediately after the crime, four bodies were retrieved from the homicide site. Forensic autopsies were allegedly performed by local doctors and three bodies were transferred to Portugal, where they were buried with no extra expertise, presumably identified only by the examinations carried out in Angola. The two remaining bodies, presumably from sub-adults, were only discovered 1 year later. At that time, some bone samples of these two corpses were sent to Portugal. A multidisciplinary team of the National Institute of Legal Medicine (NILM) in Portugal, including forensic anthropologist and pathologists, and forensic geneticist, found out that the bodies were previously misidentified. In fact, the anthropological and genetic examinations on the remains of the two persons showed that they did not belong to a child and an adolescent but instead to two adult victims, at least one of them was supposed to be buried in Portugal since 1 year. The verification of this misunderstanding led to a series of exhumations, of the three victims previously buried in Portugal. In all, the identities were reconstructed and the cause of death could be established in four of them. A multiplicity of severe traumatic cranial injuries were detected, which were, undoubtedly due to a violent death.

Depuis le milieu des années 1980, l’introduction des tests ADN dans un contexte médico-légal, a contribué de manière importante au bon déroulement de la justice criminelle en aidant à la condamnation des coupables et a l'exonération des innocents. Aussi, leur apport dans l’identification des personnes disparues et des victimes de catastrophes de masse a été possible sur les bases d’analyses anthropologiques tout en liant les restes récupérés à des échantillons de référence. Les nouvelles technologies sont régulièrement introduites et validées pour élargir les capacités des laboratoires qui travaillent à récupérer les résultats de l'ADN avec une sensibilité et une information améliorées. Le typage en tandem court (STR) continue d'être le principal moteur de l'analyse de l'ADN médico-légal, bien que d'autres marqueurs génétiques soient utilisés pour des applications spécifiques. L’Algérie a introduit dans son arsenal légal le recours aux test ADN, loi 16-03 du 19 juin 2016 (journal officiel), de ce fait nous proposons une revue globale de l'évolution du domaine au cours des 30 dernières années, afin de dégager un comparatif et des propositions a explorer sinon des rappels sur les possibilités a engager pour l’Algérie dans ce domaine dans les années a venir en terme de défis techniques et éthiques : Les tests rapides d'ADN sont sur le point de permettre de nouvelles applications ; Le séquençage de nouvelle génération a le potentiel de fournir une plus grande profondeur de couverture pour l'information sur les allèles STR ; La recherche d'ADN familial a élargi les capacités des bases de données d'ADN dans certaines parties du monde où cela est autorisé. Les défis et les opportunités qui auront un impact sur l'avenir de l'ADN médico-légal sont explorés, y compris le besoin d'éducation et de formation pour améliorer l'interprétation des résultats. La réflexion juridique dépasse le cadre propre de la sphère de la justice et le débat est lancé sur les plans de la protection de la vie privée et du non établissement de pratiques discriminantes basées sur la démocratisation des tests génétiques, parfois à quelques cliques sur Internet.

The Y-specific STR loci DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS434, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439 and GATA A10 were studied in a northern Portuguese population. Haplotype and allele frequencies of these 14 Y-chromosome STRs were estimated. In a sample of 212 individuals it was possible to define 196 different haplotypes of which 182 were found only once, 12 were found in 2 samples and the 2 most frequent haplotypes were shared by only 3 individuals. The observed haplotype diversity value was 0.9992. The usefulness of the inclusion of each of these new markers for forensic purposes is discussed by comparing expected and observed increases in haplotype diversity. When combining the new markers (DYS434, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439 and GATA A10) with the classical set (DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392 and DYS393) a 0.68% increase in haplotype diversity was obtained and the number of different haplotypes rose from 157 to 196. When DYS434 was not considered the haplotype diversity was not affected.

The purpose of this study is to make a holistic summary of the articles published in the field of Legal Medicine/
Forensic Science through bibliometric methods, determine the top cited publications in the field, and to determine the most active journals and especially trend topics. The articles published in the field of Legal Medicine
between the years 1975 and 2018 were downloaded from the Web of Science index and were analyzed using
bibliometric methods. The correlations between the number of publications of the countries and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP PPP) values was analyzed using the
Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The number of articles to be published in the field of Legal Medicine between
the years 2019 and 2022 was estimated with linear regression analysis. The results showed that there were
totally 38845 articles published in the field of Legal Medicine. Regression analysis results indicate that it will
exceed 2500 publications after 2022. The most productive countries in the field of Legal Medicine were the USA
(12.448, 32.045%). A high correlation was found between legal medicine publication productivity and GDP and
GDP PPP (r ¼ 0.726, p < 0.001; r ¼ 0.703, p < 0.001). As for the collaboration between countries, analysis results
showed that the network web indicated the most important factor as the geographical location. This study will
provide important information to a forensic scientist (a doctor, academic, and practitioner).

Abstact  Forensic botany can provide significant supporting evidence during criminal investigations. However, it is still an underutilized field of investigation with its most common application limited to identifying specific as well as suspected illegal plants. The ubiquitous presence of plant species can be useful in forensics, but the absence of an accurate identification system remains the major obstacle to the present

California/Mil bank Books on Health and the Public 1. The Corporate Practice of Medicine: Competition and Innova- tion in Health Care, by James C. Robinson 1. Experiencing Politics: A Legislator&#x27;s Stories of Government and Health, by ...