Understanding the biodiversity and distribution of forensically relevant blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in a region can aid in legal investigations when insects are associated with remains. For this purpose, we conducted a 14-month-long blowfly survey at the Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Traps baited with pork kidney were deployed for 24 h twice a month throughout the study. A total of 3180 adult blowflies were collected, comprising 13 species from 7 genera. Phormia regina (Meigen) and Lucilia coeruleiviridis (Macquart) were the predominant species collected from this survey, with collections representing 65.9% and 20.6%of total flies captured, respectively. In addition to relative abundance, we investigated blowfly community composition, species abundance, richness, and diversity by season. One state record was identified, with adult Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvoidy) being collected for the first time in Tennessee. Additionally, an earlier record of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) in Tennessee was noted. These findings can be used to aid in legal investigations in the area and surrounding areas where work is limited, as well as to provide information on which forensically relevant species should be the subject of future research in the area.

The computed tomography (CT) technique has attracted much attention as a promising tool for non-invasive diagnosis and examination in the field of forensic science. The purpose of this study is to assess the trend in CT-related forensic studies through bibliometric methods and thus present a holistic idea about the application of CT in the field of forensic science of the past and present. A total of 2084 articles published in the Scopus index journals between 1978 and 2020 were analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.15. A drastic increase in the number of CT-related articles was noticed in forensic science since the early 2000s. Switzerland, having the most productive institution (University of Zurich) and author (Michael J. Thali), contributed most to the increasing number of publications. Forensic Science International was the top journal, where approximately 12.5% of the articles (261 out of 2084) have been published. CT was frequently used for autopsy and diagnosis purposes, but recently its applicability has expanded to the field of forensic anthropology and personal identification. This research is expected to provide researchers using CT with not only an understanding about past research trends but also an insight about future research topics and potential collaborative opportunities.

Jeong Y, et al. Korean J Phys Anthropol. 2018 Dec;31(4):121-131. https://doi.org/10.11637/kjpa.2018.31.4.121

The utility of the subpubic angle (SPA) as a sex indicator has not been tested for the Korean population. Moreover, the inconsistency in the SPA measurement methods makes the SPA comparisons between populations impractical. This study aims to present the SPA of the contemporary Korean population and generate a statistical model to discriminate between the sexes. Additionally, this study presents a standardized method for the SPA measurement from a 3D pelvic model. This study used the CT images of 139 resolved forensic cases (70 males, 69 females) in South Korea. The SPA was measured using an open-source software, which exhibited a high concordance and reproducibility within- and between observers. The Korean SPA is highly sexually dimorphic with the mean female SPA (91.0°) greater than the male (66.2°). With the age effect controlled for, the sex of an individual explains 75.1% of the SPA variance. The logistic regression model yields an overall discrimination accuracy of 92.8%. This study is the first to record the Korean SPA using CT images and will contribute to sex estimation of the Korean victims in a forensic context. Also, the proposed SPA measurement method will allow for inter-population comparisons of the SPAs.