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In forensic genetics, the analysis of postmortem bones is one of the most challenging due to the low quantity of degraded endogenous DNA. The most widely used approach for sample preparation, in those cases, is pulverizing the bone. However, processing pulverized bone is extremely delicate, requiring strict laboratory conditions and operating procedures. In fact, several recent publications have focused on non-powder approaches. The objectives of this study were, thus, to validate a non-powder protocol for DNA extraction from forensic bones and an alternative pretreatment, large fragment demineralization (LFD). Thirty human femurs and tibiae received by the Legal Medicine Institute of Brescia, Italy, were included in the study. Bone powder and one transversal section of the diaphysis were sampled from each bone. DNA extraction from the powder was carried out using PrepFiler BTA (BTA), while the transversal section was submitted to the alternative demineralizing pretreatment (LFD) followed by DNA extraction using the QIAamp DNA Investigator. DNA extracts were assessed for human DNA quantity and degradation by means of a validated in-house qPCR assay and amplified with commercial kits. Inhibition assessment was carried out through Quality Sensor analysis using 24plex QS Kit. The differences in quantity, quality of human DNA, and number of alleles detected between both methods were comparable and not statistically significant. We propose the use of the LFD protocol as a complementary approach capable of confirming the genotypes or detect alleles not observed using BTA, without the need for pulverization.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) refers to the amount of ethanol present in the blood of an individual. Ethanol is among the most common substances encountered in forensic toxicology because ethanol abuse is related to fatal traffic accidents and general anti-social behavior. The objective was to describe the profile of victims of fatal traffic accidents in the state of Mato Grosso between 2013 and 2015. We analyzed 3,045 case records from Mato Grosso state Official Public Forensic Institution, Politec. Positive results for the presence of ethanol in the blood of victims of fatal traffic accidents was higher for males 1,162 (83.1%), from 21 to 30 years of age, and occurred predominantly during the weekends. Traffic accidents in Cuiabá County had the highest mortality coefficient per 100 thousand inhabitants (28.9%) than the rest of the state. Regarding the months of the year, there was a homogenous distribution with a discrete predominance of cases in October, November and December. The incidents were more frequent between 22h, 8h and 11h/12h am. This study contributes not only for the identification of the individuals most likely to be involved in traffic accidents where ethanol was consumed, but also to subsidize public policies aimed towards intervening and raising awareness of damages due to association among driving and ethanol use or abuse.

The Applied Biosystems™ NGM Detect™ PCR Amplification Kit is a new Human Identification solution with increased sensitivity in comparison to NGM SElect Kit. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of the NGM Detect™ kit compared to AmpFlSTR® NGM Select™ and AmpFlSTR® Identifiler® Plus kits, using a variety of casework samples. The study is being carried out on samples obtained from forensic cases such as sexual violence, exhumations, paternity, homicides and suspicious deaths. The sample typologies refer to: buccal swabs, nail swabs, swabs deriving from sexual violence, human biological tissues and liquids, clothes and objects of common use. The preliminary results show that the combined use of NGM Detect and NGM Select kits provide maximum information in a dual amplification strategy, as the size of several markers are complementary. Furthermore, the NGM Detect and NGM Select kits appear more sensitive than the Identifiler Plus kit. In conclusion, together with the NGM Select™ kit, the NGM Detect™ kit offers the possibility of recovering a lot of genetic information from degraded samples, delivering the best likelihood ratio value of identity compared to other ESS-focused solutions in the market today.