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When reconstructing a shooting incident with a shotgun, the muzzle‐to‐target distance can be determined by relating the size of a dispersion pattern found on a crime scene to that of test shots. Ideally, the test shots are performed with the weapon and ammunition that were used in the incident. But sometimes examiners will have to resort to alternatives, such as using cartridges of the same brand and type but with another pellet size. For this reason, the relationship between pellet size and shotgun dispersion patterns was studied with both lead and steel shotgun pellets. Cartridges were loaded with identical cartridge cases, powder charges, and wads but with different pellet sizes, below size B. The cartridges were fired, and the dispersion patterns at 5 m in front of the muzzle were measured and compared. The results provide strong support for the proposition that shotgun dispersion patterns with both lead and steel shot increase with decreasing pellet size if all other relevant parameters are kept equal. The results also provide an indicative measure of the magnitude of the effect. Pattern sizes were approximately 1.7 times larger with #9 than with #0 lead shot and 1.4 times larger with #9 than with #1 steel shot. The differences between consecutive shot sizes were generally smaller. This means that cartridges of equal brand and type but with the next nearest shot number can be used for a muzzle‐to‐target distance determination, keeping the information of the current study in mind in the final interpretation of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human face represents a combined set of highly heritable phenotypes, but knowledge on its genetic architecture remains limited, despite the relevance for various fields. A series of genome-wide association studies on 78 facial shape phenotypes quantified from 3-dimensional facial images of 10,115 Europeans identified 24 genetic loci reaching study-wide suggestive association (p < 5 × 10 -8 ), among which 17 were previously unreported. A follow-up multi-ethnic study in additional 7917 individuals confirmed 10 loci including six unreported ones (p adjusted < 2.1 × 10 -3 ). A global map of derived polygenic face scores assembled facial features in major continental groups consistent with anthropological knowledge. Analyses of epigenomic datasets from cranial neural crest cells revealed abundant cis -regulatory activities at the face-associated genetic loci. Luciferase reporter assays in neural crest progenitor cells highlighted enhancer activities of several face-associated DNA variants. These results substantially advance our understanding of the genetic basis underlying human facial variation and provide candidates for future in-vivo functional studies., Competing Interests: ZX, GD, LH, ML, PH, Md, GZ, KA, DL, YL, BP, EF, MM, JS, KM, SX, LJ, SW, Fd, BL, SR, AZ, SL, GS, LP, HT, RG, MB, SC, CG, GP, GB, FR, AU, MI, EW, SK, TN, RP, SB, SM, KT, AR, NM, TS, ES, SW, FL, MK No competing interests declared, (© 2019, Xiong et al.)