Discrimination of human and animal bloodstains using hyperspectral imaging.

Blood is the most encountered type of biological evidence in violent crimes and contains pertinent information to a forensic investigation. The false presumption that blood encountered at a crime scene is human may not be realised until after costly and sample-consuming tests are performed. To address the question of blood origin, the novel application of visible-near infrared hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is used for the detection and discrimination of human and animal bloodstains.

Water-content related alterations in macro and micro scale tendon biomechanics.

Though it is known that the water content of biological soft tissues alters mechanical properties, little attempt has been made to adjust the tissue water content prior to biomechanical testing as part of standardization procedures. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of altered water content on the macro and micro scale mechanical tissues properties. Human iliotibial band samples were obtained during autopsies to osmotically adapt their water content.

Tensile properties of the human iliotibial tract depend on height and weight.

Background And Aims: The human iliotibial tract (IT) is increasingly used in different types of musculoskeletal models. Previous findings indicate age-dependent changes of the human IT tensile properties, these lack confirmation to date. The relationship of the human IT and anthropometrical parameters, such as body height and weight has not been investigated before.

Entomological and Cardiologic Evidence of Time Since Death in Short Postmortem Intervals.

Estimating the time since death of the deceased is a main goal in forensic investigations, but this can be challenging due to contradictory results derived from different investigations at the scene of death. We present a case of a 78-year-old woman, found dead in a small forest with broad-leaved trees, whose husband had a history of domestic violence. Routinely performed investigations, such as postmortem rectal temperature and lividity, yielded inconsistent time since death results between only a few and longer than 20 h.

Individual human scent as a forensic identifier using mantrailing.

Specially trained dogs have long been used by law enforcement agencies to help in criminal investigations and in searching for missing persons. Still, it is unclear which components of human scent released into the environment contribute to successful searches of individuals. In this study, saliva and axillary sweat samples were taken from a total of 190 people.