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Tomsia M, Droździok K, Banaszek P, Szczepański M, Pałasz A, Chełmecka E. The intervertebral discs' fibrocartilage as a DNA source for genetic identification in severely charred cadavers. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2022; 18:442-449. [PMID: 36208368 PMCID: PMC9636093 DOI: 10.1007/s12024-022-00536-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Identifying charred human remains poses a challenge to forensic laboratories. High temperature completely incinerates the superficial tissues and partially destroys bones, forcing the forensics to seek an alternative, for bones and teeth, forensic material that should quickly and cheaply deliver DNA of sufficient quantity and quality. We sought, other than rib cartilage, types of cartilages that could serve as a DNA source. DNA was isolated from the fibrous cartilage of a fibrous ring of intervertebral L1-L2 discs sampled from charred cadavers or charred body fragments: 5 victims of car fires, 1 victim of combustion during a residential house gas explosion, and 3 victims of nitroglycerin explosion. DNA was isolated by the column method. DNA quality and concentration were assessed by RT-PCR and multiplex PCR for 23 autosomal and 17 Y chromosome STR loci. STR polymorphism results obtained by capillary electrophoresis served for likelihood ratio (LR) calculations. DNA concentration in relation to the cadaver's age and post-mortem interval (PMI) were analyzed. All samples (n = 9) yielded good-quality DNA in quantities (0.57-17.51 ng/µL for T. Large autosomal sequence) suitable for STR-based amplification. The isolated DNA characterized a low degradation index (0.80-1.99), and we were able to obtain complete genetic profiles. In each of the nine cases, the genotyping results allowed identifying the victims based on comparative material from the immediate family. The results demonstrate the usefulness of human intervertebral disc fibrocartilage as an alternative DNA source for the genetic identification of charred bodies or charred torso fragments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcin Tomsia
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology, Medical University of Silesia, Medyków 18, 40-752, Katowice, Poland.
| | - Kornelia Droździok
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology, Medical University of Silesia, Medyków 18, 40-752, Katowice, Poland
| | - Przemysław Banaszek
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology, Medical University of Silesia, Medyków 18, 40-752, Katowice, Poland
| | - Michał Szczepański
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology, Medical University of Silesia, Medyków 18, 40-752, Katowice, Poland
| | - Artur Pałasz
- Department of Histology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Medical School of Silesia in Katowice, Medyków 18, 40-752, Katowice, Poland
| | - Elżbieta Chełmecka
- Department of Statistics, Department of Instrumental Analysis, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical University of Silesia, Ostrogórska 30, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland
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Development and implementation of forensic anthropology in Swedish forensic practice. SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.2478/sjfs-2022-0015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
This paper presents the ongoing development of forensic anthropology in Sweden. We discuss the background of the discipline, its application, as well as its current and potential development in Swedish forensic practice. Collaboration with osteoarchaeologists in skeletal forensic cases has a long tradition in Sweden. Analyses of skeletal remains are performed ad-hoc, in contrast to analyses of fleshed human remains. While several law enforcement employees are educated in forensic anthropology and/or osteoarchaeology, they are not employed in these fields, and regional variations are evident. Internationally, forensic anthropology has become an autonomous forensic discipline over the past decades, requiring skills beyond mere skeletal analysis. To keep on a par with international standards, it may be time to revisit the concept of forensic anthropology in Sweden. Despite the limited presence of supporting organisational structures and systems, forensic anthropological and hard-tissue-reliant physico-chemical analyses have proven valuable in Swedish forensic practice, especially in cases of personal identification, trauma analysis and search efforts. We argue that Sweden could benefit from making qualified forensic anthropology expertise available in all law enforcement regions, starting to implement and promote forensic anthropology in routine forensic casework and formalising the role of forensic anthropology practitioners.
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Di Lorenzo P, Di Donna G, Busillo L, Pieri M, Capasso E, Policino F, Casella C, Niola M. Medico-Legal Issues in Cremation: Comparative Analysis of International Legislation. Healthcare (Basel) 2022; 10:2428. [PMID: 36553952 PMCID: PMC9777965 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10122428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Cremation has seen a constant increase in popularity all around the world. Because of its extensively destructive nature, however, a series of medico-legal issues arise concerning identification, forensic autopsy, external examination, histological, toxicological and genetic exams to be performed not in the immediacy of death. The aim of this study is to compare the international legislation on cremation, seeking the response of various countries to their medico-legal issues. Several affinities but also some differences were found. Similarities include the need for a certificate by a medical examiner excluding any medico-legal issues and non-natural causes of death and the expression of consent to cremation given by the deceased when still alive otherwise by relatives. Significant differences were found in German law, which provides for a second medical examination prior to cremation and in Italian law providing for the medical examiner to collect biological samples from the body and store them for a minimum of ten years for any future purpose of justice. The Italian approach could give a plausible solution to the medico-legal issues raised by cremation with the imperative premise, however, we need to look deeply into its privacy and consent implications, cost-benefits rate, sample collection and storage protocol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierpaolo Di Lorenzo
- Department of Advanced Biomedical Science-Legal Medicine Section, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Naples, Italy
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Roos E, Wärmländer SKTS, Meyer J, Sholts SB, Jarvet J, Gräslund A, Roos PM. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis After Exposure to Manganese from Traditional Medicine Procedures in Kenya. Biol Trace Elem Res 2021; 199:3618-3624. [PMID: 33230634 PMCID: PMC8360856 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-020-02501-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron loss and widespread muscular atrophy. Despite intensive investigations on genetic and environmental factors, the cause of ALS remains unknown. Recent data suggest a role for metal exposures in ALS causation. In this study we present a patient who developed ALS after a traditional medical procedure in Kenya. The procedure involved insertion of a black metal powder into several subcutaneous cuts in the lower back. Four months later, general muscle weakness developed. Clinical and electrophysiological examinations detected widespread denervation consistent with ALS. The patient died from respiratory failure less than a year after the procedure. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses identified the black powder as potassium permanganate (KMnO4). A causative relationship between the systemic exposure to KMnO4 and ALS development can be suspected, especially as manganese is a well-known neurotoxicant previously found to be elevated in cerebrospinal fluid from ALS patients. Manganese neurotoxicity and exposure routes conveying this toxicity deserve further attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elin Roos
- Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Sebastian K T S Wärmländer
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
- UCLA/Getty Conservation Programme, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Jeremy Meyer
- Unit for Surgical Research, Medical School of Geneva, University of Geneva, 120511, 14, Genève, Switzerland
| | - Sabrina B Sholts
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 370 12, Washington D.C, USA
| | - Jüri Jarvet
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
- The National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Astrid Gräslund
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Per M Roos
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Physiology, St. Goran Hospital, 112 81, Stockholm, Sweden
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Wärmländer SKTS, Varul L, Koskinen J, Saage R, Schlager S. Estimating the Temperature of Heat-exposed Bone via Machine Learning Analysis of SCI Color Values: A Pilot Study. J Forensic Sci 2018; 64:190-195. [PMID: 30001473 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2018] [Revised: 06/18/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Determining maximum heating temperatures of burnt bones is a long-standing problem in forensic science and archaeology. In this pilot study, controlled experiments were used to heat 14 fleshed and defleshed pig vertebrae (wet bones) and archaeological human vertebrae (dry bones) to temperatures of 400, 600, 800, and 1000°C. Specular component included (SCI) color values were recorded from the bone surfaces with a Konica-Minolta cm-2600d spectrophotometer. These color values were regressed onto heating temperature, using both a traditional linear model and the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) machine-learning algorithm. Mean absolute errors (MAE) were computed for 1000 rounds of temperature prediction. With the k-NN approach, the median MAE prediction errors were 41.6°C for the entire sample, and 20.9°C for the subsample of wet bones. These results indicate that spectrophotometric color measurements combined with machine learning methods can be a viable tool for estimating bone heating temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian K T S Wärmländer
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.,Division of Commercial and Business Law, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden.,UCLA/Getty Conservation Programme, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
| | - Liivi Varul
- Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, 50090, Tartu, Estonia.,School of Humanities, Tallinn University, 10120, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Juuso Koskinen
- Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ragnar Saage
- Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, 50090, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Stefan Schlager
- Department of Anthropology, Medizinische Fakultät der Albert Ludwigs, University of Freiburg, 79085, Freiburg, Germany
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Ellingham STD, Thompson TJU, Islam M. Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy-Dispersive X-Ray (SEM/EDX): A Rapid Diagnostic Tool to Aid the Identification of Burnt Bone and Contested Cremains. J Forensic Sci 2017; 63:504-510. [PMID: 28605021 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2016] [Revised: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
This study investigates the use of Scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) as a diagnostic tool for the determination of the osseous origin of samples subjected to different temperatures. Sheep (Ovis aries) ribs of two experimental groups (fleshed and defleshed) were burned at temperatures of between 100°C and 1100°C in 100°C increments and subsequently analyzed with the SEM-EDX to determine the atomic percentage of present elements. Three-factor ANOVA analysis showed that neither the exposure temperature, nor whether the burning occurred with or without soft tissue present had any significant influence on the bone's overall elemental makeup (p > 0.05). The Ca/P ratio remained in the osseous typical range of between 1.6 and 2.58 in all analyzed samples. This demonstrates that even faced with high temperatures, the overall gross elemental content and atomic percentage of elements in bone remain stable, creating a unique "fingerprint" for osseous material, even after exposure to extreme conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah T D Ellingham
- School of Science and Engineering, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, Cleveland, U.K
| | - Tim J U Thompson
- School of Science and Engineering, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, Cleveland, U.K
| | - Meez Islam
- School of Science and Engineering, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, Cleveland, U.K
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