Showing papers in "Forensic Science International in 2019"

TL;DR: The fundamentals of genetic genealogy are laid out, along with the challenges that are encountered in many of these investigations, and a set of case studies that demonstrate the variety of cases encountered thus far are demonstrated.

TL;DR: The available research supports the idea of susceptibility of forensic science practitioners to various types of confirmation bias and of the potential value of procedures designed to reduce access to unnecessary information and control the order of providing relevant information.

TL;DR: This summary includes an overview of substances involved (particularly synthetic cannabinoids ("spice"), novel opioids and synthetic cathinones ("bath salts") as well as of postmortem concentrations determined in various biological matrices to assist forensic toxicologists with the interpretation of death cases involving NPS.

TL;DR: There is an urgent need for forensic scientists, bioethicists, law enforcement agencies, genetic genealogists and other interested parties to work together to produce international guidelines and policies to ensure that the techniques are used responsibly and effectively.

TL;DR: It is shown that use of cannabis is not without its risks of occasional serious medical emergencies and sudden death, with reports of at least 35 persons presenting with significant cardiovascular emergencies who had recently smoked a cannabis preparation.

TL;DR: The analysis of nine cannabidiol (CBD) e-liquids from a single manufacturer for cannabinoids and other psychoactive compounds resulted in the detection of CBD in all nine produces and the unexpected detections of 5-fluoro MDMB-PINACA, 5F-ADB, and DXM in these products illustrates the need for oversight.

TL;DR: The presented HPLC-DAD method was successfully applied to characterize 110 cannabis samples seized by the Swiss police, demonstrating its applicability for routine cannabis potency testing in the forensic setting.

TL;DR: To quantify cocaine and cutting agents in 116 illicit samples from NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, U.S, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated and presented good results in screening analysis for cocaine, levamisole, benzocaine, phenacetin, hydroxyzine and caffeine.

TL;DR: The conducted research indicated that the temperature and matrix have a significant influence on the stability of cathinones, as well as the pH, and the importance of proper storage of samples and the possibility of pre-analytical changes in concentrations, in particular during routine material transportation.

TL;DR: The purpose of the authors is not to undermine the reliability of hEtG as an alcohol use marker, but rather to enhance it by promoting familiarization with all aspects related to it, from ethanol pharmacokinetics and EtG incorporation into hair, to sample preparation and analytical methods, to specific cases warranting close attention and additional tests.

TL;DR: This study demonstrates that GC-VUV is a powerful technique for drug isomer differentiation, showing reproducible and discriminating spectra for aromatic ring-isomers for both MS and VUV.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to analyze the data collected from two waste water treatment plants in Seyhan and Yuregir in Turkey.

TL;DR: This review briefly introduces proteomics methods, and surveys a variety of forensic applications (including criminal justice, historical, archaeological, and national security areas), and challenges and crucial areas for further research are addressed.

TL;DR: This review highlights the most common chemometric techniques used in drug profiling and more specifically, the most efficient comparison metrics and pattern recognition techniques outlined in the literature.

TL;DR: Key influencing elements in the forensic workflow related to the most meaningful chemometrics application and evaluation are presented.

TL;DR: An artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to automatically identify diatoms in conjunction with a classical chemical digestion approach is demonstrated and paves the way for future intelligent diatom examinations.

TL;DR: A validated screening technique for fentanyl analogs in whole blood and oral fluid using LC-QTOF-MS with low limits of detection was developed and validated using liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

TL;DR: The results show that the combined error of segmentation- and landmark recognition error can be substantial, which may preclude the usage of 'clinical' CT scans as an alternative source for forensic anthropological reference data.

TL;DR: The research presented here has used reverse transcription quantitative PCR to examine the relative expression ratio (RER) in two types of body fluid-specific markers (saliva and semen), to develop a method to estimate the age of biological stains.

TL;DR: Not only new synthetic opioids but also additional NPS including synthetic cannabinoids, new stimulant drugs, and designer benzodiazepines should be included in the routine toxicological screening methods.

TL;DR: It is found that, in contrast to what would be expected by the CSI effect literature, participants believed that the process of forensic science involved considerable human judgment and was relatively error-prone, and participants had wide-ranging beliefs about the accuracy of various forensic techniques.

TL;DR: Five simple and reliable models to estimate PMI based on the analysis of potassium, hypoxanthine and urea in the vitreous humor are presented and the R2 and the mean squared error have been calculated for each model in order to select the best of the five.

TL;DR: Although sildenafil and tadalafil were mainly detected in adulterated samples, their analogues were also found and new analogues have appeared steadily on illicit erectile dysfunction (ED) products even after they were first discovered.

TL;DR: A simple, robust, and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination and quantification of 63 forensically relevant drugs and pesticides in human whole blood and validated results were used to develop a user-friendly, systematic, and quantitative toxicological GC/MS/MS system and software "Quick-DB Forensic".

TL;DR: This study upholds the value of the pelvis for the estimation of skeletal sex and provides models for that can be applied with high accuracy and low bias.

TL;DR: Analytical spectroscopy with chemometrics was employed to provide objective and non-destructive characterisation of lipsticks for forensic purposes to provide a greater level of confidence when conducting 'questioned versus known' comparisons of similar lipsticks.

TL;DR: The toxicological significance of the measured concentration in hair was difficult to establish, and the interest of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to solve this fatal case was focused on.

TL;DR: Results showed that a cut-off value of I3M<0.08 may be an additional tool for indicating adult age in the tested population of individuals from southeastern France.

TL;DR: The obtained results could be important for forensic age estimation outcomes and for orthodontic and surgical treatment planning in CL(P) patients.

TL;DR: A multi-analyte method for detection and quantification of 16 synthetic cathinones in human hair has been developed and fully validated using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry system and the validation criteria parameters were satisfactory according with the international guidelines.