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The 74th Annual Scientific Conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
The AAFS is excited to announce that the 74th Annual Scientific Conference will be in-person this year at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington, February 21-25. For those who cannot attend in person, a virtual solution is also being offered.
Forensic application of sandpaper spray ionization mass spectrometry (SPS‐MS): Direct...
In this work, we employed a new ambient ionization mass spectrometry technique, sandpaper spray mass spectrometry (SPS‐MS), as an efficient tool to analyze pills and tablets of pharmaceutical formulations. The following samples were analyzed: regulators of blood pressure, cholest...
A comparative review of error rates in forensic handwriting examination
A comparison of error rates between studies in forensic handwriting examination has been made in response to the lack of knowledge on error in this field. Fifteen indicators have been used to describe and compare error rates between studies. The results of each study have been pr...
The “t” time: Investigating handedness through strokes and slopes
This study investigated the stroke and slope characteristics in left‐handed and right‐handed handwriting. Stroke (letters t, f, đ, and H) and slope (letters t, f, l, d, and g) directions were analyzed on in‐house samples (n = 64), revealing statistically significant differences (...
A proposal for cut marks classification using machine learning: Serrated vs. non‐serrated,...
In tool mark identification, there is still a lack of characteristics and methodologies standardization used to analyze and describe sharp force trauma marks on skeletal remains. This study presents a classification method for cut marks on human bones, providing an applicable met...
Sexual dimorphism of pelvic scarring: A new method of adult biological sex estimation
Estimating biological sex is a crucial aspect of forensic anthropology, and is pivotal in forensic investigations. Presently, the most frequently adopted osteological sex estimation methods focus on the anterior pelvis, which is easily susceptible to postmortem damage, revealing ...
Forensic psychiatric assessment in autism spectrum disorder: Experience of a forensic...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by marked differences in communication patterns, reciprocal social interactions, and restricted, stereotyped, and repetitive interests and activities. Various behavioral problems in ASD, more so when a...
Review of SNP assays for disaster victim identification: Cost, time, and performance...
In mass disaster events, forensic DNA laboratories may be called upon to quickly pivot their operations toward identifying bodies and reuniting remains with family members. Ideally, laboratories have considered this possibility in advance and have a plan in place. Compared with t...
Temperature and pH‐dependent stability of fentanyl analogs: Degradation pathways and...
The collection, storage, and transport of samples prior to and during analysis is of utmost importance, especially for highly potent analogs that may not be present in high concentrations and are susceptible to pH or thermally mediated degradation. An accelerated stability study ...
Letter to the editor—Answering the call for a scientific consensus regarding the...
Phytocannabinoid profile and potency of cannabis resin (hashish) of northwest Himalayas of...
Cannabis is one of the most consumed illicit drugs and the potency of cannabis products is of note due to health‐related concerns. Hand‐rubbed hashish is the ancient technique of extracting psychoactive resin from cannabis plants and is practiced in the Indian Himalayas. This stu...
Osteon shape variation in the femoral diaphysis: A geometric‐morphometric approach on...
Geometric morphometrics (GMM) have been applied to understand morphological variation in biological structures. However, research studying cortical bone through geometric histomorphometrics (GHMM) is scarce. This research aims to develop a landmark‐based GHMM protocol to depict o...
Pollen identification of three notorious illicit drug plants and its potential...
Opium poppy, coca and cannabis are raw materials for three notorious illicit drugs. For a long time, drug lords have been growing and smuggling these drugs in a variety of ways and channels and are continually finding new ways of trafficking their wares, which has led to the incr...
Analysis of the privacy‐performance tradeoff of reference testing in Forensic...
During an investigation using Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy, which is a novel approach for solving violent crimes and identifying human remains, reference testing — when law enforcement requests a DNA sample from a person in a partially constructed family tree — is...
The impacts of thermocouple insulation failure on the accuracy of temperature measurement...
Part II of this two‐part article investigates the impact of thermocouple insulation failure on temperature measurement data in forensic fire‐death scenarios. Two different models of glass fiber‐insulated thermocouple wires (GG‐K‐24‐SLE and HH‐K‐24 from Omega Engineering) were pas...
The impacts of thermocouple insulation failure on the accuracy of temperature measurement...
Thermocouples are utilized to monitor a wide range of temperatures in industrial applications. They are also used in both fire and forensic science research to measure temperatures of fires and of materials exposed to fire. Taking accurate temperature measurements during forensic...
Correction to: Accuracy of comparisons conducted by forensic firearms examiners
Selective postmortem arterial angiography of head and neck using digital x‐ray or computed...
Identification of vascular injuries is crucial for complete postmortem evaluation and understanding of trauma deaths by the Medical Examiner. Some vascular injuries are difficult to evaluate due to challenging anatomic locations, especially in the head and neck. Documenting injur...
Analysis of automotive paint layers on plastic substrates using chemical imaging μ‐FTIR...
Automobile paint chips are a crucial piece of trace evidence for forensic investigators. This is because automotive paints are composed of multiple layers, including the primer, basecoat, and clearcoat, each of which has its own chemical composition that can vary by vehicle make,...