In police investigation, description of the morphology of the suspect can be deceptively misdescriptive.

Also in 2015 the Laboratory of Hematology Forensic has proposed a new analysis to assist forensic investigation: Highlighting morphological characters to a person from a biological trace found on the crime scene (eye, skin and hair color).

This analysis is based on Study of SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) in genes involved in pigmentation mechanisms.

For this study the laboratory selected three hundred thirty-seven volunteers with different phenotypic traits. All samples were collected according to the guidelines approved by ethics committees in France.

In this method we built classification:

• Three categories with SNPs of known association with eye color phenotypes: blue, brown and intermediate.
• Six models with SNPs of known association with skin color phenotypes between fair skin and dark skin
• Seven categories with SNPs involved in hair color: Red hair vs. dark hair

The analysis of SNPs was undertaken using Snapshot chemistry and capillary electrophoresis. A set of twenty-six SNPs from twelve different genes was selected to perform it.

The laboratory has set up a database (Filemaker Software) for storing the genetic and phenotypic data of all those volunteers. This developed tool helps to predict morphological traits to a person from biological material found at crime scenes.

Background: The use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations has gained worldwide acceptance in recent decades. During the last years in Mexico, reports of missing persons have increased dramatically due to the abrupt rise of violent crimes. The situation goes far beyond the current technological response capacity in the country and it exposed a second challenge in the form of increased social pressure on the government coming from the relatives of missing people: they seek to find any remaining of their beloved ones. Therefore, we implemented the FICHA project. Methods: A total of 190 blood samples from relatives of missing people in northeastern Mexico were genotyped and analyzed using a multiplex STR system. Results (statisticals) and conclusions: some of the profiles obtained served as an aid in the resolution of cold cases.

Cannabinoid gas-phase detectors were assembled modifying piezoelectric quartz crystals with Fast Blue B salt, Triton X-100, and Nafion-coated Fast Blue B salt. A similar sensor was assembled using cucurbit (6) nuril for modifier to detect cocaine in the gas-phase. Several analyses were carried out with seized drug samples, and the amount of cannabinoids or cocaine adsorbed on the sensors was calculated using Sauerbrey equation. Moreover, PM7 semi empirical calculations were used to understand the adsorption processes in these systems. Fast Blue B salt coated with a thin Nafion layer for cannabinoids and cucurbit (6) uril for cocaine provided stable and reversible responses during the analyses of several seized samples. Theoretical calculations support their affinity towards the analytes, and our results show that it is possible to assemble reliable piezoelectric sensors for cannabinoids and cocaine.

Carbon monoxide is a euphoric toxic gas with the propensity of causing death within a short time interval. In this study, eighteen (18) rabbits of same sex and age were divided into three groups thus: Carbon monoxide Death (CD) group was made up of animals exposed to high levels of Carbon monoxide (CO) till death, while Disguised Death (DD) group composed of animals mechanically sacrificed and exposed to carbon monoxide. Similarly Control Group (CG) was comprised of animals mechanically sacrificed without exposure to carbon monoxide. Vitreous humour samples were extracted from the animals and their lipid profiles determined using standard methodologies. Pearson correlation analyses were used to establish relationships between vitreous lipid profile components and the acute graded carbon monoxide concentrations. Results showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the vitreous lipid profile of the studied groups. The decrease in vitreous humor lipid profile was more pronounced in CO death than disguised death. Hence a markedly decreased vitreous lipid profile could serve as an adjunct hallmark in the investigation of CO poisoning death.

Background: Eight Medical Reserve Corps’ (MRC) Units from Darke, Shelby, Miami, Champaign, Clark, Preble, Montgomery, and Greene counties in Ohio conducted Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Active Shooter (AS) training for MRC volunteers. The purpose of the training was to improve regional Mental Health (MH) emergency response capacity.

Methods: MHFA training was provided by certified trainers. AS training was provided by law enforcement officers. Volunteers were randomly assigned to three conditions: Contact (C) with assailant, Barricade (B), Survive (S) in 3 different orders: Group 1 exposed in CBS order, Group 2 BSC, Group 3 SCB. Survival during the AS scenarios were keyed to responses to a disgruntled person, run-hide-fight, and perimeter safety.

Results: Willingness of volunteers to provide MHFA was not changed by AS training (p=0.679). There was no difference in MH knowledge of (p=0.823) or attitude (p=0.138) among volunteers with previous MH training. Among those without MH training, participation in the AS scenarios increased their ability to provide MH services from awareness to novice level (p=0.019). Volunteers who had prior training in MHFA had higher AS survival rates than those with other MH trainings (86.1% versus 70.3%, p=0.024). Survival from an AS event was higher among volunteers who had prior MH training than those without (89.8% versus 75.5, p=0.004)

Conclusions: When the ‘staged’ AS training introduced realism (guns firing, injured and dead moulage victims, escaping to survive while holding hands up to move past armed police) survival increased compared to others with less direct exposure. There was a dose-linear response in survival rates with ‘early-on realistic exposure’ resulting in greater survival. Realistic and dramatic AS training increased survival and among novice volunteers, ability to provide MH services. Individuals with pastMH trainings did not demonstrate improved MH knowledge, their AS survival increased.

Global and gene-specific variation in DNA methylation has been observed between human populations. However, to our knowledge, differences in DNA methylation between South African ethnic groups have not been reported before. The present study aimed to determine if there was differential methylation in previously reported gene-specific markers between four groups. Saliva was collected from 42 healthy individuals, belonging to Black, Indian, White and Coloured ethnicities. A multiplex Methylation-Sensitive Restriction Enzyme (MSRE)- PCR assay was used to determine methylation levels of CpG sites in the USP49, DACT1, L81528 and PFN3 genes. The Coloured ethnic group displayed highest methylation levels for all selected markers, whereas the Black ethnic group showed lowest. DACT1 and L81528 markers displayed significant variations between ethnic groups (p=0.02 and p=0.03, respectively). Differences in DNA methylation levels between populations all over the world could potentially assist forensic analysts to accurately narrow down the search to ethnicity of sample donors as well as aid medical scientists in personalised medicine.

Forensic education is yet to gain a foothold in the Nigerian educational system even though there are several well-trained practitioners plying their trade in the country. The near absence of forensic education emanates from low manpower in the academia, dearth of facilities, non-regulatory policy and lack of awareness amongst others. For such a rich discipline to gain its roots in our educational system and to make it standardized in conformity to global best practices, the need for a regulatory body to unveil and enforce well-coded guidelines for its practice cannot be over emphasized. In this paper, the authors propose a national forensic education accreditation body- the Forensic Education Programmes Accreditation Commission (FEPAC), which would be in charge of regulating the practice of forensic education in Nigeria. The body when fully operational would work with the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Forensic Research and Development Centre (FORDEC) and foreign-based forensic agencies for the overall functioning of forensic education in Nigeria. The different roles of the commission are spelt out alongside the numerous benefits of such a commission on the different stakeholders in the country.

LMC (Low Melanin Content) and HMC (High Melanin Content) subjects have respectively low and high melanin content in both skin and eyes; LMC has white skin and blue eyes and HMC has dark skin and eyes. Comparative investigation between frequencies of genetic variants in LMC subjects versus HMCsubjects may indicate which polymorphic variant is associated with melanin synthesis in skin and eyes. Coordinately, studies with Snow White-Like (SW) subjects may be informative to reveal any tissue-specific expression, since these individuals have white skin and dark eyes.

The LMC - HMC - SW model was used to analyze the allelic distribution of eight biallelic SNPs in pigmentrelated genes in admixed South Brazilian individuals. Based on allele frequencies of different human populations, allele “L” was used for the alleles associated with low melanin content populations (LMC subjects), and allele “H” was used for the alleles associated with high melanin content populations (HMC subjects). Allelic distribution of eight SNPs showed that 100% of LMC subjects (N=73) had less than eight H alleles, and 82% of HMC subjects (N=61) had eight or more H alleles. The AUC (Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve) value was 0.99, and the calculation of PGL (Pathway Genetic Load) and GP (Genetic Probability) showed that the SNP set presented 93% and 91% concordance between DNA genotype and phenotypes, respectively. Factorial Discriminant Analyses (FDA) performed in the SW group (light skin and dark eyes; N=116) showed a positive association between SNPs rs16891982 (SLC45A2), rs8045560 (MC1R), rs1426654 (SLC24A5), rs2733832 (TYRP1) and rs1042602 (TYR), and the LMC cluster for skin phenotype, and a positive association between SNPs rs4778138 (OCA2), rs12913832 (HERC2) and rs916977 (HERC2), and the HMC cluster for eye phenotype. The understanding of gene functionin externally visible characteristics is important for the prediction of skin and eye colors in humans; the analyses presented here are an important contribution to the forensic DNA phenotyping scenario.

Human identification is an absolutely paramount in any forensic investigation. Scientific methods are employed both in forensic laboratory and crime scenes to achieve identification and subsequent testimony in court. Physical evidence is a key element for forensic identification. One such evidence left unintentionally by the perpetrator is foot-impression. Anthropologists assist in identification by constructing a biological profile. Human foot-impressions have been used to determine stature, gender, body weight, age and race. Foot-impression is classified into Two Dimensional (2D) and Three Dimensional /foot-outline (3D) that are lifted through different techniques for forensic examination. One way of lifting a 3D foot-impression is by the tracing technique. Because feet bear body weight, the foot-impressions are likely to correlate with weight. The utility of foot-impression as an indicator of body mass has been less explored. It is mandatory that racial and cultural aspects of foot morphology must be considered in determination of height, body weight, gender and race. The present study’s aim is to determine living body weight from foot-outline (3D) anthropometry of indigenous Bidayuhs, residing in Malaysian Borneo. The foot-outlines and body weights from the consented subjects have been collected following the standard procedure. The data obtained was computed with PASW 20 computer software and derived population specific regression equations to determine living body weight from foot-outline length measurements. The result shows that all foot-outline lengths exhibit statistically significant positive correlations with body weight. It is concluded with caution that it is erroneous to utilize these derived equations to any populations either in Malaysia or any populations in the world for body weight determination.

The objective of this work was to study the eye shape of the Chinese and Malay in Malaysia in order to establish a photofit database for these two groups of people. A total of 188 subjects (94 males and 94 females) ranging from 18 to 25 years old were randomly chosen from the population of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The eye width and intercanthal distance of each subject were measured for eye shape classification. SPSS analysis suggested that there was significant differences in the types of inter eye distance (p<0.05) and inter eye distance measurement (p<0.01) amongst the Chinese and Malays. Gender difference was found to be highly significant across inter eye distance measurement (p<0.05) however the opposite was noted across the types of inter eye distance (p>0.05). There was also significant differences across ages for types of inter eye distance (p<0.05) whereas insignificant results were obtained across the inter eye measurement parameter (p>0.05). Two-way between group ANOVA indicated that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between races and gender; between races and ages; and between gender and ages; for inter eye distance measurement. This study also highlighted that race and gender plays a significant role across the types of inter eye distance and inter eye distance measurement. Wide set eyes appeared to be dominant in comparison to close set eyes across both races and gender. As an outcome of this study, an eye shape photofit database representing the Chinese and Malay population in Malaysia was made possible and can be used for forensic identification purpose.

The present study declares the relationship between the cause of death and postmortem alterations in some body fluids (CSF, serum and plasma). Immuno-histochemical and micro architecture examination of brain tissue of White New Zealand rabbits were applied at different Postmortem Interval (PMI) after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Thirty adult male White New Zealand rabbits were divided into two groups; the first group was killed by cervical dislocation and the second through head trauma. Each group was subdivided into three times of PMIs (zero, 6, and 12 hrs PM). CSF was used to detect the levels of K+, Na+, Ca++, and albumin. While, lactic acid, hypoxanthine, ammonia and uric acid concentrations were measured in plasma. Estimation of High Mobility Group Box-1 (HMGB1), Interleukin-1-beta (Il-1B) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) were assessed in serum. In addition, immunohistochemical observations of Bcl2 and P53 apoptotic proteins in brain tissue. The results revealed that some of the examined markers as K+, Na+, albumin, ammonia, hypoxanthine and High Mobility Group Box-1(HMGB1) had the potential role in estimation of PMI at examined time periods in physical and traumatized death. Traumatic death induced severe cerebral hemorrhages and necrosis of cerebral parenchyma than physical death. Immunohistochemical results of P53 and Bcl-2 in brain tissue declared focal positive reactions of some neurons, astrocytes and microglia in different degrees with time since death. It was concluded that biochemical analysis of some body fluids, tissue pathological changes and apoptotic markers are applicable tools for assessing accurate PMI after traumatic brain injury and could have a crucial role in legal medicine.

High blood alcohol content has been associated with fatal accident, traumatic death, and violent death. The question of alcohol concentration in the body is often raised in the court of law. It is important to estimate the level of alcohol which could cause impairment or lethality. One issue faced by pathologists when performing an autopsy is an inadequate blood sample to measure Blood Alcohol Concentration (BLAC). Most often they are left with a urine sample to interpret the alcohol level in the body. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between blood and urine alcohol concentrations. This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to interpret the relation between BLAC and Urine Alcohol Concentration (UAC). A total of 473 postmortem cases with blood and/or urine samples were sent for alcohol analysis in the year 2016 at Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Total of 229 cases were analyzed for BLAC and UAC. About 2.76% of cases where urine alcohol was detected the blood alcohol was negative. There was a significant average difference between BLAC and UAC (t46 = -4.638, p < 0.001), however both were relatively strong and positively correlated (r = 0.609, p < 0.001). Regression formula could be represented using BLAC = 71.326 + 0.437 (UAC) with r = 0.609. When BLAC or UAC was detected over 50% of the cases were associated with a road traffic collision death. Prevalence of blood alcohol value above the legal limit of 80 mg/100ml was 24.6% amongst all the 142 motor vehicle accident cases sent for BLAC analysis. The average ratio of UAC/BLAC for true positive of the determined prevalence was 1.29 ± 0.22.

Rapid detecting, visualizing, and photographing latent saliva stains in the field remain as a challenge to the forensic science community. A more challenging situation is such an attempt on black color surfaces because traditional methods, e.g., blue lights and U.V. lights are usually unable to produce strong light for a better contrast. Under a quasi-experimental study, this paper reports detection and visualization of latent saliva stains on a pistol grip using three different light sources of blue light (450 nm), a U.V. light (365 nm) and a blue laser (447 nm) for a comparative purpose. The preliminary results indicate that the laser method is much superior to the blue and the U.V. lights since the laser possesses three unique technological strengths: a compact diode pump solid-state laser (447 nm wavelength), a 1 nm color-purity bandwidth, and a special yellow filter/goggle. Essentially, the laser device can detect and produce an excellent image of the latent saliva stain on the pistol grip almost simultaneously. The forensic value of the study lies in the fact that once saliva stains are located on a surface, a swab for a DNA test can follow immediately. To date, this new method may represent a new fieldbased approach to detect latent saliva stains at crime scenes. Finally, this work may progress toward the ultimate goal of rapidly detecting latent biological evidence (e.g., sweat residues) that would otherwise remain undetected using traditional development methods.

Human and animals have many adaptive mechanisms against extreme thermal conditions. Failure of these mechanisms induces various alterations in many organs especially brain. This study was performed on rats to investigate the effect of exposure to extreme cold till loss of consciousness or until death. Serum levels of glucose, Triglyceride (TG), Cholesterol (CHO), Total Protein (TP) and cortisol were determined. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) were estimated in brain tissue. The genetic alteration of hypothermia was studied by measuring DNA damage using comet assay. Additionally, histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations in brain tissue were recorded. Hypothermia, significantly decreased serum glucose and CHO while increased TG and cortisol levels but had no effect on TP level. Also, marked increase in MDA level and DNA damage in brain tissue concurrently with reduction of TAC were recorded. Histopathological alterations including vasogenic perivascular edema, necrosis/ loss of Purkinje cells of cerebellum, neuronal degeneration/ necrosis and perineuronal edema in cerebrum and hippocampus were observed. Moreover, hypothermia decreased the immunopositivity of synaptophysin and neurofilaments but temporary increased the Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) in brain tissue. In conclusion, hypothermia, despite several adaptive mechanisms, induced lethal harmful biochemical, genetic, pathological and immunohistochemical alterations which can be used as useful markers for hypothermia.

In criminal cases, the potential transfer of bloodstain is one possibility of discussion on Court. Therefore we developed an experimental model in which the conditions are standardized and thus reproducible. However, in this model, the transfer of blood from a first support to a second support is only possible if the bloodstain is still wet and if it is not strongly attached on the first support. In conclusion, this study defines the limiting conditions of bloodstain transfer.