Journal of Forensic Research

Among the common methods used in the forensic sciences for confirming the identity are fingerprinting, DNA analysis and dental comparison. In forensic dentistry, the oral cavity plays a very important role because of unique anatomy of teeth. In certain situations, if teeth are lost due to any reason, the most common of which is trauma, then the use of human palatal rugae has been suggested as an alternative method for identification. Palatal Rugae are anatomical wrinkles or folds called 'plica palatine', the irregular connective tissue located on the anterior third of the palate behind the incisive papilla. These are studied for various purposes mainly in fields of anthropology, genetics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, and forensic science.. These are formed by 12th to 14th week of prenatal life and almost remain throughout life. As they are stable landmark, which once formed, do not undergo any changes except in length (due to normal growth) and remain in position throughout person's life. Thus palatoscopy or palatal rugoscopy is used as an aid in clinical dentistry.

Allele frequencies for the 15 autosomal STR loci D3S1358, TH01, D21S11, D18S51. Penta E, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSF1PO, Penta D, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX, and FGA (PowerPlex ® 16 system ™ , Promega corporation)were determined in a population sample of 538 unrelated individuals from northeastern China Han (Liaoning).

Methamphetamine is a commonly abused central nervous system stimulant. The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has seen increasing positive methamphetamine cases that do not have a suitable blood sample for analysis. We compare liver, vitreous, and central blood levels of methamphetamine and the metabolite amphetamine to levels in peripheral blood samples in 18 medical examiner cases. Specimens were screened by ELISA and confirmed by GCMS analysis following liquid-liquid extraction. Methamphetamine central blood to peripheral blood ratios averaged 1.61 (± 0.48), vitreous to peripheral blood 1.63 (± 0.75) and liver to peripheral blood 5.68 (± 2.32). The data suggests that in cases where blood is not available, vitreous and liver specimens are useful in confirming methamphetamine use.