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Long bone asymmetry and hemihypertrophy as a skeletal marker of child abuse

Diaphyseal overgrowth is a well‐documented complication of long bone fracture in orthopedic studies, but it is not a condition commonly mentioned in the forensic literature as a possible indicator of child abuse. Here we present an occurrence of humeral hypertrophy associated wit...

A survey of explosive traces in public places

Interpretation and evaluation of trace explosives evidence requires practitioner understanding of factors including transfer, persistence, and environmental prevalence. This study builds on previous work and studies the contemporary prevalence of organic high explosives and inorg...

Patterns of observer error in scoring macromorphoscopic traits for population affinity

Revising methodologies is essential to understand the limitations and biases inherent in certain methods, which is crucial for obtaining reliable results. Due to the subjective nature of non‐metric methods, variation in trait scoring and its impact on accurately classifying biolo...

DNA analysts' experiences with human factors: A quantitative and qualitative snapshot

DNA analysis can play a crucial role in rightful and wrongful convictions. However, forensic experts' methods may be influenced by human factors, including cognitive bias. Examiners' efforts to mitigate such bias can play a role in their courtroom testimony. There is li...

Testing the efficacy of surface swab sampling to determine postmortem submersion interval ...

Postmortem interval (PMI) estimation contributes valuable information in the medicolegal investigation of decomposed human remains, and estimating the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) can specifically aid investigations involving victims discovered in aquatic environments. M...

From crime scene to laboratory: A case study of a comprehensive investigation into an IBX...

An explosion in an industrial filtering unit, resulting in a fatality, triggered a comprehensive forensic investigation. Sixteen pieces of evidentiary materials were collected from the scene of occurrence. The chemical residue at the explosion's origin was identified as 2‐Io...

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Micro X‐ray computed tomography (μCT) for forensic investigation of wood

Wood is a common material and is widely used in daily life. Small wood fragments or wooden products are sometimes found at crime scenes as evidence. We investigated the usefulness of micro‐computed tomography (μCT) for forensic wood examination. First, X‐ray and image acquisition...

Silent abuse in the blind spot between medicine and law: A case series of Munchausen...

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a rare but dangerous form of child abuse in which a caregiver exaggerates, fabricates, or induces medical symptoms in a dependent individual, typically a child. It is of the utmost importance to recognize and address this syndrome, which has signif...

The power of STR discrimination: Two brothers with high‐profile similarity

This report describes a rare case of exceptionally high‐STR profile similarity between two full siblings. The siblings were found to be identical across all 15 autosomal loci analyzed using the PowerPlex® ESI 16 kit. The likelihood of two siblings exhibiting an identical genetic ...

Characteristics of hemorrhages located at the origin of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in...

The study aimed to determine the incidence, distribution, and relation to the knot in a noose position of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle origin hemorrhages in hangings and to assess their occurrence regarding the subjects' major anthropometric characteristics. A retros...

Systematic analysis of population studies performed with the ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep...

Many forensic laboratories have conducted sequence‐based population studies to support the integration of massively parallel sequencing (MPS). However, the data remain limited concerning African populations. MPS enhances allelic representation compared to CE methods. It is hypoth...

Reproducibility and repeatability experiment with nested factors applied to the evaluation...

In this article, a redefined gage reproducibility and repeatability (R&R) method is proposed to identify possible sources of error and variation components in a fingerprint morphometric measurement system. Unlike traditional gage R&R, this new method incorporates a linear...

Optimizing amplification threshold of low template DNA

Forensic DNA laboratories often face challenges in processing low template DNA samples efficiently. This study aimed to optimize the criteria for amplifying low‐quantity samples by considering DNA concentration, degradation factor, and biological sample type. We analyzed 155 real...

Inter‐laboratory variation in interpretations, comparisons, and statistical analyses of...

DNAmix2021 was a large‐scale inter‐laboratory study conducted to assess variation in interpretations, comparisons, and statistical analyses of DNA mixtures. Analyses were based on 765 responses by 106 participants from 52 labs. Eight distinct DNA mixtures were created, each of wh...

Identification of non‐glandular trichome hairs in cannabis using vision‐based deep...

The detection of cannabis and cannabis‐related products is a critical task for forensic laboratories and law enforcement agencies, given their harmful effects. Forensic laboratories analyze large quantities of plant material annually to identify genuine cannabis and its illicit s...

Of rodents and foxes: Faunal activity and scavenging at carcasses in a Central European ...

Vertebrate activity can significantly affect forensic investigations. Trauma interpretation is impaired when vertebrates scavenge on injuries and inflict damage, and scavengers can hinder the recovery of human remains through dispersal. However, forensic scavenging research is sc...

Portable Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy and machine learning for sex...

Forensic entomology is crucial in medicolegal investigations, utilizing insects — primarily flies — to estimate a supplemental post‐mortem interval based on their development at the (death) scene. This estimation can be influenced by extrinsic factors like temperature and hum...

Estimation of postmortem submersion interval using total aquatic decomposition scores of...

Estimation of the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) using total aquatic decomposition scores (TADS) has shown considerable promise in recent forensic research. Since decomposition is a time‐ and temperature‐dependent process, the Accumulated Degree Day (ADD) of water has been...

Assessing the effectiveness of alternate light sources in the search for skeletal remains

Many search and recovery operations for human skeletal remains are unsuccessful due to difficulties recognizing bones in outdoor environments even when evidence indicates the last known whereabouts of missing individuals. Though the collagen component of bone is known to emit flu...