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Third molar maturity index (I3M) assessment according to different geographical zones: a large multi-ethnic study sample
AbstractIdentification of living undocumented individuals highlights the need for accurate, precise, and reproducible age estimation methods, especially in those cases involving minors. However, when their country of origin is unknown, or it can be only roughly estimated, it is extremely difficult to apply assessment policies, procedures, and practices that are accurate and child-sensitive. The main aim of this research is to optimize the correct classification of adults and minors by establishing new cut-off values for four different continents (Africa, America, Asia, and Europe). For this purpose, a vast sample of 10,701...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - March 1, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Assessing wound vitality in decomposed bodies: a review of the literature
AbstractThe capability of discriminating between a vital and a post-mortem injury has always been a central theme in forensic pathology, particularly when the corpse is an advanced state of decomposition. Post-mortem decay of the body can mask or disrupt the classical features of a skin lesion, making it difficult to establish the cause and manner of death. Taphonomically challenging situations pose several interpretative issues of skin lesions which need to be addressed with scientifically recent methods that are still limited in the forensic literature. For that reason, the present research aims at resuming what is curre...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - March 1, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Skin laceration caused by a short distance shot from a pepper spray launcher: a case report
We present a case where a man is hit by the liquid jet of a JPX Jet Protector® with an estimated shooting distance of 0.3 m. The man suffered from a bleeding skin laceration, which had to be sewed in the hospital. This case report furthermore outlines the potentially dangerous effect of pepper spray launchers and thereby their role in forensic investigations. (Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine)
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - March 1, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Skull-photograph superimposition: elucidating and resolving misinterpretations pertaining to methods and reliability
(Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine)
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - March 1, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Postmortem PF4 antibodies confirm a rare case of thrombosis thrombocytopenia syndrome associated with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 anti-COVID vaccination
We report a case of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, bilateral adrenal hemorrhage, and thrombocytopenia in a 70-year-old man found dead. He had previously received the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (Vaxzevria ®, AstraZeneca) 18 days before, and had since developed unspecific and undiagnosed characteristics of what proved to be a rare case of vaccine-associated thrombocytopenia with thrombosis syndrome (TTS). He was found dead 1 week after the beginning of symptoms (day 25 post-vaccine). Autopsy yielde d venous hemorrhagic infarction with the presence of thrombi within dural venous sinuses, and extensive hemorrhagic necrosis ...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - February 6, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

DNA and protein analyses of hair in forensic genetics
This article reviews recent developments in DNA and protein analysis of hair and attempts to provide a comprehensive solution to improve forensic hair analysis. (Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine)
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - February 3, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Automated localization of the medial clavicular epiphyseal cartilages using an object detection network: a step towards deep learning-based forensic age assessment
ConclusionsWe demonstrated a robust automated approach for annotating the medial clavicular epiphyseal cartilages. This enables training and testing of deep neural networks for age assessment. (Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine)
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - February 2, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Inter-population differences in acetabular senescence: relevance in age-at-death estimation
Abstract Since investigation of the timing of the skeletal traits among the acetabula of different populations is lacking, this study aims to evaluate the relevance of geographical origin in the acetabulum aging process and in the usability of the SanMill án-Rissech aging method. The acetabula of 826 European North Americans derived from the Bass Collection (USA) have been analyzed and compared with 611 Portuguese acetabula from the Luis Lopes Collection (Portugal) applying the most updated acetabular age estimation technique (2017). After evaluatin g and comparing the acetabular aging rates between both populations by...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - February 1, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Validation of discriminant functions from the rib necks in two Portuguese adult identified populations
AbstractSexual dimorphism is the basis for sex estimation research in skeletal remains, helping the positive identification of individuals in forensic backgrounds. In this regard, it has been proved that the metrical analysis of the costal neck of the first four ribs in Spanish contemporary adult skeletons shows high sexual dimorphism, especially in the first rib. However, the validation of any method developed in identified skeletal collections must be compulsorily reproduced in other skeletonized sets to verify either its potential application in individuals from other locations, or the existence of possible biases a...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 31, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Semi-supervised automatic dental age and sex estimation using a hybrid transformer model
In this study, we aimed to develop a deep learning model for automatic dental age and sex estimation from orthopantomograms (OPGs) and compare to manual methods. A large dataset of 15,195 OPGs (age range, 16 ~ 50 years; mean age, 29.65 years ± 9.36 [SD]; 10,218 females) w as used to train and test a hybrid deep learning model which is a combination of convolutional neural network and transformer model. The final performance of this model was evaluated on additional independent 100 OPGs and compared to the manual method for external validation. In the test of 1413 OPG s, the mean absolute error (MAE) of age estim...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 31, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Postmortem reference concentrations of 68 elements in blood and urine
ConclusionThe present study provides an important tool when evaluating postmortem elemental concentrations. It fills a needed gap between large antemortem population studies and postmortem case reports or small case series of elemental intoxications. (Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine)
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 30, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

From Deutsche Zeitschrift to International Journal of Legal Medicine —100 years of legal medicine through the lens of journal articles
AbstractFrom volume 67 (1970) onwards, the journal appeared under the new bilingual titleZeitschrift f ür Rechtsmedizin—Journal of Legal Medicine. The editorial board was expanded and internationalised. From 1970 to 1990, 1416 articles were published in 36 volumes. 1036 articles were in German and 380 in English. The authors of 411 articles came from non-German-speaking countries. Compared to the periods under review in the first two parts of our article series, the proportion of papers on forensic genetics increased significantly between 1970 and 1990, with a small increase in publications on the identification of unkn...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 28, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Use of third molar eruption based on Gambier ’s criteria in assessing dental age
AbstractThe biological aspects of determining the dental age of subadults represent an important interdisciplinary scientific link with applications in criminal law and in forensic anthropology and dentistry. In criminal procedural law, it is necessary to determine the exact age of an undocumented person in view of the application of the provisions on juvenile offenders and minor victims. Chronological age can be estimated from the development of the third molars, as these are the only teeth that develop at the age of 18. The aim of this study was to verify the applicability of the Gambier method based on the eruption of t...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 28, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Reevaluation of ambiguous genetic variants in sudden unexplained deaths of a young cohort
Abstract Sudden death cases in the young population remain without a conclusive cause of decease in almost 40% of cases. In these situations, cardiac arrhythmia of genetic origin is suspected as the most plausible cause of death. Molecular autopsy may reveal a genetic defect in up to 20% of families. Most than 80% of rare variants remain classified with an ambiguous role, impeding a useful clinical translation. Our aim was to update rare variants originally classified as of unknown significance to clarify their role. Our cohort included fifty-one post-mortem samples of young cases who died suddenly and without a definit...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 25, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research

Molecular age estimation based on posttranslational protein modifications in bone: why the type of bone matters
AbstractAge-at-death estimation is of great relevance for the identification of unknown deceased individuals. In skeletonised corpses, teeth and bones are theoretically available for age estimation, but in many cases, only single bones or even only bone fragments are available for examination. In these cases, conventional morphological methods may not be applicable, and the application of molecular methods may be considered. Protein-based molecular methods based on the D-aspartic acid (D-Asp) or pentosidine (Pen) content have already been successfully applied to bone samples. However, the impact of the analysed type of bon...
Source: International Journal of Legal Medicine - January 17, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research