Investigative Team

Keyword(s):  
2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 1271-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Riddle ◽  
Robert E. Johnson ◽  
Mark P. Jensen ◽  
Francis J. Keefe ◽  
Kurt Kroenke ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (48) ◽  
pp. E7645-E7654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Bouslimani ◽  
Alexey V. Melnik ◽  
Zhenjiang Xu ◽  
Amnon Amir ◽  
Ricardo R. da Silva ◽  
...  

Imagine a scenario where personal belongings such as pens, keys, phones, or handbags are found at an investigative site. It is often valuable to the investigative team that is trying to trace back the belongings to an individual to understand their personal habits, even when DNA evidence is also available. Here, we develop an approach to translate chemistries recovered from personal objects such as phones into a lifestyle sketch of the owner, using mass spectrometry and informatics approaches. Our results show that phones’ chemistries reflect a personalized lifestyle profile. The collective repertoire of molecules found on these objects provides a sketch of the lifestyle of an individual by highlighting the type of hygiene/beauty products the person uses, diet, medical status, and even the location where this person may have been. These findings introduce an additional form of trace evidence from skin-associated lifestyle chemicals found on personal belongings. Such information could help a criminal investigator narrowing down the owner of an object found at a crime scene, such as a suspect or missing person.


2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 272-274
Author(s):  
Leanne M Sykes ◽  
Liam Robertson ◽  
Herman Bernitz

Natural disasters, fatal accidents, and violent criminal offences are part of everyday life. All of these may result in fatalities that shatter the lives of the victim’s families and friends. Their trauma is compounded by the fact that all unnatural deaths have to be investigated, and the bodies of the deceased positively identified before they can be released to the families for burial. Bodies of victims of violent crimes, fires, drowning, motor vehicle or aviation accidents, work place fatalities or situations where some time has elapsed since death may be so disfigured that “identification by a family member is neither possible or desirable”. Often the nature or degree of the injury may be so extensive that fingerprinting is also not a viable option. DNA analysis may be considered, however it takes time and is a costly procedure. There are also concerns with maintaining strict control over the chain of evidence during all additional procedures and tests. Thus, in these situations the forensic odontologist may be called in as part of the investigative team.


2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 960-965
Author(s):  
Scott A. Gilmore

On September 21, 2017, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2379 mandating the establishment of an Investigative Team to collect and preserve evidence for use in national courts of international crimes carried out by the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Resolution 2379 marks a growing trend in the United Nations’ establishment of investigative mechanisms to support the domestic prosecution of international crimes, in lieu of referrals to the International Criminal Court or creation of ad hoc international or hybrid tribunals.


1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poolsook P Sriyaporn ◽  
W Pissasoontorn ◽  
Orathai Sakdisawadi

A preliminary developmental survey (using DDST) of 1442 Bangkok children who were between the ages of two weeks and six years was conducted between June 1983 and December 1987. The results of this study showed that the 25th percentile for the development of Bangkok children in the areas of personal-social, fine motor adaptive, language and gross motor skills were comparable to the children in original samples in Denver. Although the Bangkok group seems to have passed many test items at earlier ages, the 75th-90th percentile in each test item was generally more delayed in the Bangkok group. The investigative team suggests that further research for the purpose of establishing a norm for the DDST be pursued on the basis of geographical sampling more than socioeconomical sampling that was used in this study. Asia Pac J Public Health 1994;7(3):173-7.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-245
Author(s):  
Y.S. Lin ◽  
M.L. Rothen ◽  
P. Milgrom

Researchers have suggested that combining topical fluoride with an antiseptic to reduce cariogenic bacteria may be more effective than fluoride application alone in preventing dental caries. In previous studies, povidone iodine (PVP-I), a widely used bactericidal antiseptic, and sodium fluoride (NaF), used to foster remineralization of enamel, were applied sequentially topically and shown to be safe and effective. The study aim was to characterize the kinetics of iodine and fluoride following topical application of a single combination PVP-I and NaF anticaries varnish in healthy adults. Sixteen participants (aged 23 to 57 y) participated in a pharmacokinetics study following the application of 0.4 mL varnish containing 10% (w/v) PVP-I and 5% (w/v) NaF. Serum and urine samples were collected at various time points over 24 h following application of varnish. Iodine and fluoride concentrations were analyzed, and for each time point, baseline concentrations were subtracted from observed values. Following varnish application, 2 of 16 participants had nearly undetectable baseline-corrected iodine and fluoride levels, suggesting minimal absorption, lack of release of iodine and fluoride from the varnish, or inconsistent dosing. The average peak concentrations were 57 ± 33 ng/mL iodine and 60 ± 34 ng/mL (0.060 ± 0.034 ppm) fluoride and occurred within 3 h of application. The average elimination half-life was 5.5 ± 1.4 h and 3.1 ± 1.6 h for iodine and fluoride, respectively. Renal clearance of iodine and fluoride was similar to literature values. No adverse events related to the study varnish were observed by the investigative team or reported by the participants. In this study, serum fluoride and iodine transiently increased but were within normal range 24 h after application of the varnish. This study has shown that the combination of PVP-I and NaF in a proposed anticaries varnish was well tolerated. Knowledge Transfer Statement: This clinical study demonstrated that a dental varnish combining 10% (w/v) povidone iodine and 5% (w/v) sodium fluoride is well tolerated. Serum fluoride and iodine transiently increased but were within normal range after 24 h. Further studies should be conducted to assess the efficacy of a combination in preventing dental caries, especially in high-risk populations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiquan Zhao ◽  
Li Jian ◽  
Yuguo Zhou ◽  
Jiandong Shang ◽  
Yan Ning ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: According to the data from the joint investigative team of the WHO and China, the fatality rate in Wuhan is 5.8%and 0.7% in the rest of China. Most of the patients who have died have had chronic diseases or advanced age, and patients with critical COVID-19 have the highest death rate. Patients with critical COVID-19 are the main focus of research on treatment. However, there are few reports on critical COVID-19 patients in China and worldwide. It will help other researchers and clinicians around the world for similar cases.Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly infectious and has a high fatality rate.This paper summarizes and analyses the clinical characteristics of patients with critical COVID-19 to improve clinicians' understanding of this disease. Methods: We selected 16 patients with critical COVID-19 who were treated in the ICU of a grade A hospital in Wuhan from February to March 2020. Then, we collected the clinical data and analysed their general conditions, clinical symptoms, blood tests, CT scans and treatments. Results: Patients with critical COVID-19 had comorbidities (87.5%), and the main symptoms were low or moderate fever (75%), cough and expectoration (68.75%), and multiple lesions in both lungs (100%). 2. Patients with critical COVID-19 were divided into the non-surviving and surviving groups, and the interleukin-6 (IL-6) level and CD4/CD8 ratio were significantly different (P<0.05). 3. On chest CT, multiple patchy lesions were observed in both lungs, mainly as patchy infected lesions, partial consolidation, ground-glass opacities, and interstitial changes. 4. There were 10 patients (62.5%) who survived and 6 (37.5%) who died. Conclusion: Critical COVID-19 is mainly characterized by low or moderate fever, cough and sputum and often occurs in people with chronic disease.Chest CT showed multiple patchy ground-glass opacities and consolidation. For critically ill patients, it is important to monitor interleukin-6 (IL-6) and CD4/CD8 ratio. Early treatment involves thymalfasin, immunoglobulin and other immune-enhancing treatments, and a large dose of ulinastatin can reduce plasma levels of inflammatory factors.


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