Heat induced changes to dental resin composites: a reference in forensic investigations?

The objective was to investigate color change and surface damage in dental resin composites exposed to high temperatures over different time intervals for comparative purposes. Samples were prepared using two resins - Z100(R) (R1) and Charisma (R2), heated at the following temperatures: 200 degrees C, 400 degrees C, 600 degrees C, 1000 degrees C, for 15, 30 and 45 min (n = 104 for each resin sample). Color (DeltaE) and brightness (DeltaL) changes were analyzed by spectrophotometry using the CIE Lab system and surface changes by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). R1 showed more intense color changes after heat exposure than R2. DeltaL values were found to be the best parameter for evaluation of light and color change. A biphasic pattern after thermal exposure was detected, from dark brown to light white. SEM showed more intense alterations in R2 than in R1. These results indicate that the parameters observed in both resins are useful as a guide in forensic analyses.

Critical issues in the historical and contemporary development of forensic anthropology in Australia: An international comparison.

The aim of this brief critical qualitative analysis is to examine the development of forensic anthropology in Australia, at a time of significant change in the discipline. It will briefly summarise its historical establishment, making comparative reference to other regions-particularly the United Kingdom and United States, and the influence of the Bali Bombings of 2002, Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 2004 and Black Saturday Bushfires of 2009. The analysis goes on to consider key factors in research in forensic anthropology in the United States, and the development of standards and regulation in the US and UK. The significance of research in post-mortem diagenesis in Brazil-a country sharing aspects of climate, soil types and demography with Australia-is also considered, as well as the significance of patterns of casework encountered in Australia compared with those of other jurisdictions. While forensic anthropology as a discipline has grown remarkably in recent years, this analysis suggests that research and training tailored to the specific pattern of casework encountered in Australia is now essential to support the development of national standards in science, education, and professional regulation. The significance of the establishment of the first taphonomy research facility outside of the US-the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research-is briefly considered with reference to what this facility may offer to the development of forensic anthropology in Australia.

Forensic facial comparison: issues of admissibility in the development of novel analytical technique.

Much contemporary debate in forensic science concerns validity and admissibility of scientific evidence in court. In this paper, three current approaches to facial identification--image superimposition, photogrammetry, and morphological analysis--are considered with regard to criteria for scientific evidence in the United States, and England, and Wales. The aim of the paper is to assess the extent to which facial image comparison meets criteria of admissibility in these jurisdictions. The method used is a comparative evaluation of the methods of facial image comparison and their underlying premises against the range of admissibility criteria reported in court rulings and relevant judicial and scientific inquiries in the United States and the United Kingdom. While the techniques of facial image comparison are generally accepted within their practitioner communities, they are not tested, and their error rates are unknown. On that basis, the methods of facial image comparison would appear not to meet the anticipated standards. They are, nevertheless, admitted in court in the United States, and England, and Wales. This paper concludes that further research in science and law will be necessary to more definitively establish admissibility of facial image comparison evidence, as it will for other nascent and novel methods that are potentially influential in court proceedings.

Dados médico-legais sobre afogamentos na região de Ribeirão Preto (SP, Brasil): um passo para a prevenção / Medico-legal data on drowning in Ribeirão Preto region (SP, brazil): a step for prevention

Este é um estudo de prevalência com a primeira descrição específica de casos de afogamento em uma área não-costeira do Brasil, em Ribeirão Preto, estado de São Paulo, uma região com padrão de vida comparável ao de países desenvolvidos, com o objetivo de estabelecer medidas preventivas para este tipo específico de trauma. Metodologia: Uma análise da documentação médico-legal de 89 casos de afogamento ocorridos entre 2001 e 2004. O padrão de mortes por afogamento foi estudado através de parâmetros como idade, sexo, características sócio-econômicas e avaliação do consumo de álcool. Resultados: um índice de 2,69 casos por 100.000 habitantes foi observado. O perfil predominante entre as vítimas de afogamento foi o do homem caucasiano em idade economicamente produtiva (15-59 anos), afogados acidentalmente em rios e represas na área rural durante o verão e o outono, sendo inviável a avaliação do consumo de álcool. Conclusão e Relevância: a observação do perfil da vítima de afogamento através dos relatórios médico-legais permitiu o desenvolvimento de um projeto piloto de sucesso na prevenção de afogamentos que pode ser expandido para outras áreas não-costeiras do Brasil, visando à redução do número de vítimas através da prevenção. As dificuldades de investigar a influência do consumo de álcool são discutidas.

This is a prevalence study with the first specific description of drowning cases ina non-coastal area of Brazil, in the locality of Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo—a region with standards of living comparable to those in developed countries—regarding the establishment of preventative measures for this specific kind of injury. Methodology: An analysis of the forensic documentation of 89 drowning cases occurred between 2001 and 2004. The pattern of drowning fatalities was studied in relation to parameters like age, sex, socio-economic background and evaluation of alcohol consumption. Results: rate of 2.69 cases per 100,000 habitants per year was observed. The predominant profile among drowning victims was that of the Caucasian male of economically productive age (15 to 59 years), accidentally drowned in rivers and dams in rural areas during the summer and autumn, being impossible the evaluation of alcohol consumption. Conclusion and Relevance: the observation of the victim profile through the analysis of forensic reports allowed the development of a successful pilot program of drowning prevention that can be expanded to other non-coastal areas in Brazil, regarding the reduction of the number of victims by prevention. The difficulties in alcohol consumption analysis are discussed.

Laf 1. 0: implantação de um sistema informatizado para laboratórios de antropologia forense / Laf 1. 0: establishment of a computerized system for laboratories of forensic anthropology

Desenvolvimento de um software para cadastro e recuperação de informações em Antropologia Forense baseado no protocolo desenvolvido durante o projeto “UK –Brazil Scientific Cooperation – Forensic Anthropology and Identification of Human Remains”. Metodologia: Por se tratar de um aplicativo acessado via Browser (software que permite o acesso à Internet, como o Microsoft Internet Explorer®) foi necessária a escolha de uma linguagem de programação que se enquadrasse nesse requisito juntamente com uma aplicação servidora. A linguagem escolhida foi PHP® e a aplicação servidora foi o Apache®. Para o armazenamento dos dados foi escolhido o Sistema Gerenciador de Banco de Dados MySQL®...

A Software development for registration and recovery of information on Objective: A Software development for registration and recovery of information on Forensic Anthropology, based on the protocol developed during the project “UK – Brazil Scientific Cooperation – Forensic Anthropology and Identification of Human Remains”. Methods: Considering it is a Browser accessed application (software that allows Internet access, as Microsoft Internet Explorer®), it was necessary to choose an adequate programming language to this requirement as the server application. The chosen language was PHP® and the server application was Apache®. For data storage it was chosen the Data Bank Managing System MySQL®. Forensic Anthropology, based on the protocol developed during the project “UK – Brazil ScientificCooperation – Forensic Anthropology and Identification of Human Remains”. Methods: Considering it is a Browser accessed application (software that allows Internet access, as Microsoft InternetExplorer®), it was necessary to choose an adequate programming language to this requirement as the server application. The chosen language was PHP® and the server application was Apache®. For data storage it was chosen the Data Bank Managing System MySQL®...