Recognition of children on age-different images: Facial morphology and age-stable features.

The situation of missing children is one of the most emotional social issues worldwide. The search for and identification of missing children is often hampered, among others, by the fact that the facial morphology of long-term missing children changes as they grow. Nowadays, the wide coverage by surveillance systems potentially provides image material for comparisons with images of missing children that may facilitate identification.

Temperature measurement from the brain and rectum in charred corpses: a pilot study on an animal model.

Measurement of body temperature provides relevant data on postmortem interval, and different studies have been so far attempted to apply temperature assessment methods also under extreme environmental conditions; however, none of them has been performed yet on charred or heated bodies, where temperature measurement is presumed to be unreliable because of the possible influence of heating. This study aimed at verifying any possible early-stage alterations of rectal and endocranial temperature due to fire on an animal model during the charring process. Three pigs, 2 adults (pigs 1 and 2) whose weight was about 50 kg each and 1 piglet weighing 3 kg, were heated and burnt on a natural fire lit on top of a wooden stack, without the use of accelerants; 2 thermocouples were positioned in the rectum and in the cranium to record second-by-second rectal and endocranial temperature values.

Applicability of cranial models in urethane resin and foam as a substitute for bone: are synthetic materials reliable?

As literature is poor in functional synthetic cranial models, in this study, synthetic handmade models of cranial vaults were produced in two different materials (a urethane resin and a self-hardening foam), from multiple bone specimens (eight original cranial vaults: four human and four swine), in order to test their resemblance to bone structure in behavior, during fracture formation. All the vaults were mechanically tested with a 2-kg impact weight and filmed with a high-speed camera. Fracture patterns were homogeneous in all swine vaults and heterogeneous in human vaults, with resin fractures more similar to bone fractures.

Personal identification by the comparison of facial profiles: testing the reliability of a high-resolution 3D-2D comparison model.

Identification from video surveillance systems is frequently requested in forensic practice. The "3D-2D" comparison has proven to be reliable in assessing identification but still requires standardization; this study concerns the validation of the 3D-2D profile comparison. The 3D models of the faces of five individuals were compared with photographs from the same subjects as well as from another 45 individuals.

A new computer-assisted technique to aid personal identification.

The paper describes a procedure aimed at identification from two-dimensional (2D) images (video-surveillance tapes, for example) by comparison with a three-dimensional (3D) facial model of a suspect. The application is intended to provide a tool which can help in analyzing compatibility or incompatibility between a criminal and a suspect's facial traits. The authors apply the concept of "geometrically compatible images".

New method for height estimation of subjects represented in photograms taken from video surveillance systems.

The article describes a method developed and applied by the authors for the purpose of determining the height of subjects taped on video surveillance systems. The determination of height is obtained by developing a virtual telecamera having the same characteristics of the video surveillance system with which the images have been shot. The results demonstrate that height is a parameter that can be accurately estimated with the method proposed, in the experimental conditions described, and consequently, can be utilized in probatory inquiry.