Journal of Forensic Research

Most of decapitation has been performed by sharp and hanging rope. A 41-year-old man was found died with decapitation on the roof of second story in the apartment where he lived. The separated head was placed apart from his torso. Each edge of the parts was relatively sharp. There were also a number of incised wounds in the face, neck, left arm, and abdomen. All wounds were accompanied with subcutaneous hemorrhage and hematoma, suggesting that these wounds had been performed during survival. The separated head was accompanied with the larynx, pharynx and the parts of lungs and heart. Severe recessus ran from his right shoulder to left lateral chest, which indicates that the victim’s chest was severely hit by the unsharp object such as the railing. Then the force of inertia was acted toward the head from the toe. The head attachments were pulled out by the gigantic force of inertia. The victim was injured several incised wounds on the neck and then received strong force to chest, which caused decapitation inducing death. The present case is the first report among decapitation. Force to the body causes decapitation as if wounds are injured by the sharp instrument.

Human buccal cells are an easy source of nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) other than human blood. We have extracted buccal cells from mouthwashes of 10 individuals and tested its usefulness for genotyping, telomere length determination and gene expression. Genomic DNA was extracted using a salt precipitation method whereas total RNA was extracted using Hipura total RNA extraction kit. The quantity and quality of DNA and RNA was found to be satisfactory. PCR amplification was achieved using locus specific primers and genotyping was performed for minisatellites, microsatellites and Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Telomere length was determined from the genomic DNA of buccal cells obtained from mouthwashes. Telomere length obtained from the DNA isolated from buccal cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells was compared. Real time quantitative PCR was successfully performed for GADD45A, G6PD, B-Actin and B2M. In conclusion, our method of DNA /RNA extraction can be considered as an alternative method of sample collection for forensic medicine.

Objective: The chance of obtaining a conclusive DNA profile strongly depends on the quantity of biological material that can be recovered from a crime scene sample. Optimizing the collection strategy is therefore of prime interest. A difference in the level of tightness of the cotton meshed around the shaft has been observed between manufacturers and is hypothesized to affect the collection and subsequent release capacity of cotton swabs. Consequently, we compared the performance of cotton swabs from two different suppliers: Applimed SA and DryswabTM. Methods: These swabs were used to recover 50 ml of blood, either pure or diluted (1:1000 and 1:5000), deposited on both smooth and absorbent surfaces. Performance was compared in terms of ease of use, concentration of extracted DNA, and quality of DNA profiles. DNA quantification was obtained by real-time PCR using the QuantifilerTM Human DNA Quantification Kit. Evaluation of DNA profiles was based on profiles obtained using AmpFlSTR® NGM SElectTM PCR Amplification kit. Results: When considering smooth surfaces, recovered DNA was more concentrated when using the DryswabTM than the Applimed SA cotton swab. More precisely, DNA concentrations ranged from 15.7 to 28.8 ng/ml and 6.7 to 21.2 ng/ml, respectively for samples of pure blood. The same trend was observed for the absorbent surface, with 2.0 to 5.0 ng/ml and 0.9 to 1.4 ng/ml, respectively. Conclusion: Our results illustrate that different cotton swabs produce different results in terms of ease of use and quantity of recovered DNA and this should be taken into consideration when choosing which swab to use at both the crime scene and laboratory. More specifically, results from the present study suggest that looser meshing of the cotton fibres forming the swab is preferred.

The aim of this study is to determining the thickness of enamel showing similar enamel rod end patterns, and extrapolating our study results to estimate the duration of time takes to change into the subsequent pattern due to in vivo brushing and its significance in ameloglyphics. Eighteen maxillary left first premolars were used in this study. Of these, three teeth were used to select appropriate abrasive paper among 80-, 400-, 600-grit silicon carbide abrasive papers and five teeth were used to check reliability of the selected abrasive paper. Ten teeth were used to analyze enamel rod end patterns. The patterns were analyzed at an interval of 1 μm thickness of enamel from the tooth surface till the change of third set of pattern to its subsequent pattern. Our study showed 600-grit silicon carbide abrasive paper abrades 1 μm thickness of enamel upon one rotation in microtome. Biometric analysis of enamel rod end patterns obtained from 10 extracted teeth revealed that 10%, 60% and 30% of enamel rod end patterns were similar up to 3 μm, 4 μm and 5 μm depth of enamel, respectively. In this study, 3-5 μm thickness of enamel showed similar enamel rod end pattern. On extrapolation our study results with earlier literature revealed that each enamel rod end pattern takes approximately 4-6 years to change into the subsequent pattern due to in vivo brushing. So, the enamel rod end pattern should record for at least every 4 years during its practical application.

The notes of 100 patients who attended a psychosexual clinic in the UK between 2011 and 2013 were analysed. The notes were searched for a disclosure of sexual abuse or assault and the frequency of disclosure was calculated. Patients with an obvious physical cause for their psychosexual problem, such as diabetes were excluded. Patients presented with a wide range of psychosexual problems and the relationship between sexual abuse/assault and the specific type of psychosexual problem was also explored. The results of this study, although small, could possibly support more financial investment into initial counselling and domestic/sexual violence services to prevent the development of serious long term psychosexual sequelae, as these can be very costly to treat, both in terms of finance and clinic time.

There are a variety of techniques for accurate estimation of age from teeth that offer a reasonable degree of accuracy, but it still remains a dilemma for the inexperienced practitioner to standardize a particular one. For this reason this study intends to standardize an age estimation method for the Indian population. Age estimation in this study was done by two established radiological methods like (Tooth Coronal index (TCI) and Kvaal’s method) and two histological techniques (Kashyaps and Koteswara modification of Gustafson’s method and secondary dentine method). A total of forty-one extracted teeth of varied age and gender, of known age, sex and teeth number were taken, photographed and numbered for blind fold study. A new technique of radiographic method using a modified paralleling technique with grid lines was employed. Radiological parameters such as “crown height”, “pulp height” and were measured for TCI whereas “height” and “width” at three different points were taken for Kvaal’s technique. Morphological parameters such as attrition, histological parameters such as secondary dentin, root transparency and cementum apposition were assessed from ground sections. TCI method was found to be the best radiologic and secondary dentin estimation was found to be the best histological techniques.