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Forensic Science

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Displaying 51 - 75 of 531

Ultrasensitive sequencing of STR markers utilizing unique molecular identifiers and the SiMSen-Seq method

April 3, 2024
Author(s)
Maja Sidstedt, Arvid Gynna, Kevin Kiesler, Linda Jansson, Becky Steffen, Joakim Hakansson, Gustav Johansson, Yalda Bogestal, Andreas Tillmar, Peter Radstrom, Anders Stahlberg, Peter Vallone, Johannes Hedman
Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) is increasingly applied in forensic short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. The presence of stutter artefacts and other PCR or sequencing errors in the MPS-STR data partly limits the detection of low DNA amounts, e.g., in

National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network Meeting Report: Managing Patients Exposed to Xylazine-Adulterated Opioids in Emergency, Hospital and Addiction Care Settings

March 16, 2024
Author(s)
Jeanmarie Perrone, Rachel Haroz, Joseph D'Orazio, Giacomo Gianotti, Jennifer Love, Matthew Salzman, Margaret Lowenstein, Ashish Thakar, Stephanie Klipp, Lisa Rae, Megan Reed, Edward Sisco, Rachel Wightman, Lewis Nelson
Used as a veterinary sedative and not approved for human use, xylazine has been increasingly linked with opioid overdose deaths in the United States. A growing number of people have been exposed to xylazine in the illicit opioid supply (especially fentanyl

Forensic Science Environmental Scan 2023

March 7, 2024
Author(s)
Henry Swofford
This environmental scan provides a broad view of the forensic science environment (as of 2023) and characterizes high-level historical and current issues and trends that might impact near and long-term decisions by forensic science research and standards

Chemical Foundations for a Cannabis Breathalyzer (Final Research Report)

March 1, 2024
Author(s)
Tara Lovestead, Jason A. Widegren, Kavita Jeerage
Our ultimate goal is to support the reliable identification of recent cannabis use by developing an infrastructure for evaluation, calibration, and quality control of cannabis breathalyzers akin to that which exists for alcohol breathalyzers. The primary

Determination of D9-THC, THCA, D8-THC, and total D9-THC in 53 Smokable Hemp Plant Products by Liquid Chromatography and Photodiode Array Detection

January 8, 2024
Author(s)
Walter Brent Wilson, Aaron Urbas, MARYAM ABDUL-RAHMAN, Arianna Romares, Ewelina Mistek-Morabito
The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill has led to an estimated value of $824M for hemp production in the United States (US) in 2021 with an approximately 76% of it focused on floral hemp that is used to produce hemp-derived finished products such as smokable

Automated interpretation of firearm mark comparison results

December 13, 2023
Author(s)
Martin Baiker-Sorensen, Ivo Alberink, Laura Granell, Leen van der Ham, Erwin J.A.T. Mattijssen, Erich Smith, Johannes A. Soons, Peter Vergeer, Xiaoyu Alan Zheng
In this article an automated approach for interpretation of firearm mark comparison results is presented. First, similarity scores are derived for marks typically encountered on primers of fired cartridge cases: aperture shear striations as well as

Developmental Validation of the VersaPlex(R) 27PY System

November 21, 2023
Author(s)
Kristy Lenz, Stephen McDaniel, Dawn Rabbach, Becky Steffen, Douglas Storts, Robert McLaren
The VersaPlex™ 27PY System is a short tandem repeat (STR) multiplex from Promega that co-amplifies 27 loci. This six-dye multiplex was designed for casework samples and includes loci that meet database requirements for the US (CODIS) and Europe (ESS). The

Demystifying Accreditation A Framework for Accreditation of Forensic Units

October 1, 2023
Author(s)
Nicole Jones, Erin Forry, Donna J. Sirk
Accreditation is a formal recognition by an independent third party/accreditation body that a forensic service provider such as a laboratory, unit, or agency,a meets standards. A standard is a requirement or guideline used to ensure that a process or

On the challenge of unambiguous identification of fentanyl analogs: exploring measurement diversity using standard reference mass spectral libraries

July 11, 2023
Author(s)
Arun Moorthy, Edward Erisman, Anthony J. Kearsley, Yuxue Liang, Edward Sisco, William E. Wallace
Fentanyl analogs are a class of designer drugs that are particularly challenging to unambiguously identify due to the mass spectral and retention time similarities of unique compounds. In this paper, we use agglomerative hierarchical clustering to explore

Concentration of Ignitable Liquid Residue from Simulated Fire Debris by Dynamic Vapor Microextraction: Sensitivity to Instrument Settings and Debris Characteristics

July 6, 2023
Author(s)
Jennifer Berry, Mary Gregg, Amanda Koepke, Reta Newman, Kavita Jeerage
Dynamic vapor microextraction (DVME) is a potential method for the extraction and concentration of ignitable liquid (IL) residue in fire debris. This low flow rate, purge-and-trap headspace concentration method collects IL vapors onto a chilled adsorbent

Interpretation and Report Writing in Forensic Comparisons of Paint Evidence: An Inter-laboratory Exercise

June 21, 2023
Author(s)
Donna J. Sirk, Andria Mehltretter, Meghan Prusinowski, Hal Arkes, David Flohr, Cedric Neumann, Scott Ryland, Tatiana Trejos
This interlaboratory study evaluated a guide for interpreting and reporting trace evidence examinations. The online survey aimed to assess the examiners' interpretation of casework scenarios designed by a subject matter expert panel (SMEP), specifically

U.S. population data for 94 identity informative SNP loci

May 15, 2023
Author(s)
Kevin Kiesler, Lisa Borsuk, Becky Steffen, Peter Vallone, Katherine Gettings
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology analyzed a set of 1036 samples representing four major U.S. population groups (African American, Asian American, Caucasian, and Hispanic) with the ForenSeq DNA Signature Prep Kit, DNA primer mix B

Rapid Analysis of Drugs: A Tool to Detect Drug Overdose Spikes, Build Trust Among People Using Drugs and Reduce Overdoses - Maryland, November 2021 - August 2022

April 28, 2023
Author(s)
Erin Russell, Edward Sisco, Allison Thomson, Jasmine Lopes, Dana Heilman, Margaret Rybak, Malik Burnett, Meghan Appley, Matthew Gladden
Maryland overdose deaths increased 16%, to a record high of 2,912 deaths during the 12-month period from July 2020 to June 2021. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and/or fentanyl analogs* contributed to 84% of these overdose deaths.† Timely public health

Who Is That? Perceptual Expertise on Other-Race Face Comparisons, Disguised Face Comparisons, and Face Memory

April 20, 2023
Author(s)
Amy Yates, Jacqueline Cavazos, Geraldine Jeckeln, Ying Hu, Eilidh Noyes, Carina Hahn, Alice O'Toole, P. Jonathon Phillips
Forensic facial specialists identify faces more accurately than untrained participants on tests using high quality images of faces. Whether this superiority holds in more challenging conditions is not known. Here, we measured performance for forensic
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