Forensic Art Research Articles

PECULIARITIES OF AN EXPERT STUDY OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MILITARY INVASION OF THE RUSSIAN NAZI TOTALITARIAN REGIME IN UKRAINE

The publication is devoted to issues of theory and practice of forensic expert art examination on the symbolism of the military invasion of the Russian Nazi totalitarian regime in Ukraine within the framework of the forensic speciality 15.1 – «Art examination». The categories «symbol» and «symbolism» are analyzed, as well as the provisions of the Law of Ukraine «On the prohibition of propaganda of the russian nazi totalitarian regime, armed aggression of the russian federation as a terrorist state against Ukraine, symbols of the military invasion of the russian nazi totalitarian regime in Ukraine», which define such objects of expert research as the Latin letters «Z», «V» and the symbols of the armed forces and other military formations of the russian federation, which carry out military aggression against Ukraine. The provisions of the current legislation regarding the ban on the production and promotion of St. George’s ribbon (guards’ ribbon) are being studied. The main forms of using the symbols of the military invasion of the russian nazi totalitarian regime in Ukraine are determined. The peculiarities of expert examination of relevant objects by forensic art experts are characterized. Proposals regarding the improvement of the current criminal legislation in terms of responsibility for the use of symbols of the military invasion of the russian nazi totalitarian regime are substantiated.

Can Undergraduate Artists With No Training in Forensic Art Produce Accurate Age Progressions?

When children go missing and remain missing for long periods of time, authorities sometimes retain forensic artists to age progress the last known picture to provide an estimate of the current appearance. In the present research, undergraduate artists with no training in forensic art were asked to age progress images of children to an adult appearance. Similarity of age progressions produced by undergraduate artists were as similar to the corresponding targets as were age progressions produced by practicing forensic artists. However, age progressions produced by undergraduate artists were rated as being more similar to description matched foils than were the age progressions produced by professional forensic artists, suggesting that professionally produced age progressions might be more useful. Results suggest that untrained individual have sufficient knowledge of facial growth to produce age progressions that are somewhat similar to their corresponding targets.

Facial Soft Tissue Thickness Differences among Three Skeletal Classes in Korean Population Using CBCT.

Studies related to facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) have been conducted since the late 19th century. Soft tissue is any tissue in the body that is not hardened by ossification or calcification processes, such as bones and teeth; and varies according to sex, age, race, and nutritional status. Forensically, soft tissue thickness plays an important role in cases where a cadaver has no unique characteristics; and the remains cannot be identified through DNA analysis, fingerprints, or examination of dental records. Therefore, the results of the current study suggest that the average thickness of the three skeletal classes (i.e., straight, concave, and convex) should be used for face restoration and forensic art research. It is thought that the current study's results will be invaluable in the fields of forensic science, forensic art, anthropology, and dentistry. As a result, gender differences were observed in all classes, and the facial tissue thickness in Korean adults differed according to gender and occlusion type.

Організаційні й тактико-психологічні засади проведення судово-мистецтвознавчих експертиз у кримінальному провадженні

Організаційні й тактико-психологічні засади проведення судово-мистецтвознавчих експертиз у кримінальному провадженні

On the persistence of race: Unique skulls and average tissue depths in the practice of forensic craniofacial depiction.

The (re-)surfacing of race in forensic practices has received plenty of attention from STS scholars, especially in connection with modern forensic genetic technologies. In this article, I describe the making of facial depictions based on the skulls of unknown deceased individuals. Based on ethnographic research in the field of craniofacial identification and forensic art, I present a material-semiotic analysis of how race comes to matter in the face-making process. The analysis sheds light on how race as a translation device enables oscillation between the individual skull and population data, and allows for slippage between categories that otherwise do not neatly map on to one another. The subsuming logic of race is ingrained - in that it sits at the bases of standard choices and tools - in methods and technologies. However, the skull does not easily let itself be reduced to a racial type. Moreover, the careful efforts of practitioners to articulate the individual characteristics of each skull provide clues for how similarities and differences can be done without the effect of producing race. Such methods value the skull itself as an object of interest, rather than treat it as a vehicle for practicing race science. I argue that efforts to undo the persistence of race in forensic anthropology should focus critical attention on the socio-material configuration of methods and technologies, including data practices and reference standards.

Clarification of the Object and Subject of Examination of Antique Edged Weapons

The problem of conducting a comprehensive examination of antique edged weapons is considered. The formal-logical method is applied; empirical methods: review of regulations and deontological sources; comparison of the norms of substantive law with deontological norms of expert activity; private scientific methods of art history. In order to clarify the subject of a comprehensive examination of antique edged weapons, the subjects of a forensic examination of edged weapons are compared with a forensic art examination. The main contradictions associated with the ambiguity of the definition of the object and subject of this subspecies of forensic examination are highlighted. It is proved that this is based on the inaccuracy of the definitions given in the Federal Law “On Weapons”. On the basis of this, the officially allocated objects are analyzed: cold antique weapons, copy, reconstruction, replica, cultural values. The heterogeneity of these objects is proved. In this regard, the concept of “cultural values” is proposed to be considered as a subject of expertise. Based on the analysis of the basic concepts of Art. 1, 9, 17 of the Federal Law “On Weapons” is proposed to introduce a classification: 1) cold antique weapons (authentic antique weapons); 2) cold antique (authentic) weapons with signs of belonging to cultural values; 3) an antique item that has signs of edged weapons (an antique item that has an external resemblance to edged weapons); 4) edged weapons (copies; reconstruction, replicas) with signs of antiques; 5) edged weapons (copies; reconstruction, replicas) that have signs of belonging to cultural values.

Understanding the Relationship between Genetic Markers and Skeletal Remains: Implications for Forensic Anthropology and Phenotype-Genotype Studies.

Human identification techniques have been a leading tool to hold perpetrators accountable, give families closure, and approximate faces on skulls. This project is a pilot study to critically examine three disciplines that fall under the human identification umbrella: forensic anthropology, forensic genetics, and forensic art. Current facial research in genetics focuses on data from living individuals, identifying specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that influence specific regions of the face. This study assesses the translation of these regions to craniometric dimensions (interlandmark distances) of the underlying skull itself. The goal of this project is to provide information regarding the correlation of craniometric measurements and SNPs, as well as to encourage interdisciplinary work within the forensic sciences. We examined a selection of candidate SNPs currently identified in the literature to examine correlations between interlandmark distances and these SNPs within the same individual. A series of 99 craniometric landmarks were collected from 17 documented skulls from the Texas State Donated Skeletal Collection using a three-dimensional Microscribe digitizer. Criteria for inclusion in this study included European American ancestry, presence of intact skulls, and presence of associated donor blood cards collected at the time of body donation. Using these blood cards, DNA from each individual was extracted, amplified, and sequenced through next-generation sequencing for the chosen SNPs. Bioinformatics tests were then applied to observe the presence or absence of the major or minor alleles in specific locations on the genome. After determining the presence or absence of an SNP (minor allele), a set of statistical tests were performed, including Spearman's correlation between the craniometric measurements and the individual's genetic data variables; two-way hierarchical clustering and bootstrap forest modeling between variables that demonstrated significant correlation; a principal components analysis on the craniometric data (interlandmark measurements) and genetic data (SNP presence/absence) to check homogeneity of each data set; and a pairwise Procrustes analysis on the correlation of the two data sets as different groups. The results indicate correlations of varying degrees between the targeted craniofacial regions and the targeted SNPs. Eleven SNPs showed significant correlation (p < 0.05), but the correlations were not as expected and showed some interesting results. By group level there was no significant correlation, but there was correlation at the individual level. While some SNPs affected the soft tissues only, others showed correlations with the skull (hard tissue), a finding not previously reported. Combining craniometric and DNA analyses to leverage genotype-phenotype associations has great potential to expand the discourse of current facial approximation and thereby to provide new investigative tools for human identification in forensic anthropology.

비파괴 분석법에 의한 천연석채(천연 안료)의 효율적 분석

Component analysis of pigments is very important in terms of forensic art or restoration of artworks and cultural properties. In this study, the components were analyzed by non-destructive analysis methods such as spectrophotometry, X-ray fluorescence(XRF) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction(XRD) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy for 37 types of natural pigments(Natural Seokchae). The analysis found that there were some color differences depending on the type of main coloring mineral, the degree of other mineral content and the stoichiometric compositions. As a result, the constituent elements of the Natural Seokchae were determined by XRF. The coloring minerals such as azurite and lazurite(blue), malachite and celadonite(green), cinnabar and realgar(red), orpiment(yellow), goethite and hematite(brown), calcite(white), ilmenite(black), and clinochlore(gray) were determined by XRD. Raman spectra were obtained from 30 out of 37 samples; specific peaks of azurite, lazurite, malachite, cinnabar, realgar, calcite, albite, quartz and goethite were identified according to their corresponding pigments.

Depth of the field. Bystanders’ art, forensic art practice and non-sites of memory

Abandoned sites of trauma often become objects of art-based research. The forensic turn offered artists the requisite tools to approach uncommemorated post-violence sites to interact with their human and non-human actors. The usage of artistic methods allows us to inspect nondiscursive archives and retrieve information otherwise unavailable. The new wave of “forensic art” joins the efforts of post-war artists to respond to sites of mass killings. In the post-war era, sites of trauma were presented as (implicated) landscapes, or unhospitable terrains. The tendency to narrow space to the site and to contract the perspective is continued today by visual artists entering difficult memory grounds, looking down, inspecting the ground with a “forensic gaze”. A set of examples of such artistic endeavors, following the research project Uncommemorated Genocide Sites and Their Impact on Collective Memory, Cultural Identity, Ethical Attitudes and Intercultural Relations in Contemporary Poland (2016–2020) is discussed as “bystanders’ art.”

Institute of Forensic Art Examination of Fine Art Objects: Theoretical and Practical Problems

The problem of organizing expert activities in the field of forensic art examination of fine arts at a practical level is considered. The conditions of objectivity (reliability) of the results of a forensic art examination of fine art in law enforcement practiceare identified. In this regard, the problem of the reliability of the examination results is considered at the interdisciplinary level: substantive law – criminal and customs; criminal procedure law, as well as forensic science and expert activities. The necessity of creating, within the framework of the anti-corruption policy of the state, an independent institute of forensic art criticism of fine arts is substantiated. It is proposed: 1) to create an information base under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on the data of art historians known in different fields of fine art who can act as competent persons in legal proceedings; 2) to create a mechanism for the appointment of a commission of forensic-forensic art examination of objects of fine art examination on the basis of automatic random selection of subjects of examination. It is proved that this measure excludes the possibility of giving an unreliable conclusion as part of a forensic art examination of objects of fine art.

Forensic Art and Anthropology

Abstract Forensic artists must overcome ingrained ideas of what the human face “should” look like in order to learn how to draw it realistically. Ironically, those ingrained images and perceptions tucked away in our minds present the biggest obstacles to realism. As a teacher of a forensic art class in anthropology at Northern Arizona University, I encounter students of varying degrees of artistic ability and background. I do not require that students have pre-requisite courses in art before taking my course because I believe that any student can learn to draw faces more realistically if they apply some basic forensic art techniques used in composite sketching combined with an understanding of facial anatomy. This article is about teaching Northern Arizona University students forensic art drawing methods, but it is also about the lesser-known aspect of doing composite sketches, such as applying cultural understanding and sensitivity when interviewing traumatized witnesses and survivors of crime. The result is a very holistic approach to composite sketching rather than a purely technical one.

Using Computed Tomography (CT) Data to Build 3D Resources for Forensic Craniofacial Identification.

Forensic craniofacial identification encompasses the practices of forensic facial approximation (aka facial reconstruction) and craniofacial superimposition within the field of forensic art in the United States. Training in forensic facial approximation methods historically has used plaster copies, high-cost commercially molded skulls, and photographs. Despite the increased accessibility of computed tomography (CT) and the numerous studies utilizing CT data to better inform facial approximation methods, 3D CT data have not yet been widely used to produce interactive resources or reference catalogs aimed at forensic art practitioner use or method standardization. There are many free, open-source 3D software packages that allow engagement in immersive studies of the relationships between the craniofacial skeleton and facial features and facilitate collaboration between researchers and practitioners. 3D CT software, in particular, allows the bone and soft tissue to be visualized simultaneously with tools such as transparency, clipping, and volume rendering of underlying tissues, allowing for more accurate analyses of bone to soft tissue relationships. Analyses and visualization of 3D CT data can not only facilitate basic research into facial variation and anatomical relationships relevant for reconstructions but can also lead to improved facial reconstruction guidelines. Further, skull and face surface models exported in digital 3D formats allow for 3D printing of custom reference models and novel training materials and modalities for practitioners. This chapter outlines the 3D resources that can be built from CT data for forensic craniofacial identification methods, including how to view 3D craniofacial CT data and modify surface models for 3D printing.

Научная обоснованность результатов судебно-искусствоведческой экспертизы предметов изобразительного искусства

The problem of determining the reliability of the results of forensic art examination of objects of fine art is considered. The purpose of the study is to establish signs of the scientific validity of the conclusion of a forensic expert. For this, analytical and logical methods are used, as well as methods of art criticism. As a result, the distinguishing features of judgments, conclusions and conclusions of a forensic expert are determined at an empirical, theoretical (and methodological) levels. It is proved that the structure of scientific knowledge is one of the main criteria that determine the scientific validity of the results of a forensic art examination of objects of fine art, which is relevant in assessing the reliability of expert conclusions in law enforcement practice.

COVID-19 and anatomy: Stimulus and initial response.

The outbreak of COVID-19, resulting from widespread transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, represents one of the foremost current challenges to societies across the globe, with few areas of life remaining untouched. Here, we detail the immediate impact that COVID-19 has had on the teaching and practice of anatomy, providing specific examples of the varied responses from several UK, Irish and German universities and medical schools. Alongside significant issues for, and suspension of, body donation programmes, the widespread closure of university campuses has led to challenges in delivering anatomy education via online methods, a particular problem for a practical, experience-based subject such as anatomy. We discuss the short-term consequences of COVID-19 for body donation programmes and anatomical education, and highlight issues and challenges that will need to be addressed in the medium to long term in order to restore anatomy education and practice throughout the world.

Analytical characterization of 5,5\u2032-dibromoindigo and its first discovery in a museum textile

The exploitation of natural sources and later synthetic molecules to generate blue to purple coloration in textiles has a long history in the dyer’s craft. Natural indigoids such as indigo, woad, and Tyrian or shellfish purple served this purpose for millennia, but in the late 1800s synthetic analogs, in particular indigotin, quickly replaced natural sources. Halogenated versions of the dye were also created, and some like 5,5′-dibromoindigo were brought to market. Interestingly, these have not been significantly discussed in the literature, nor have they been found in forensic or technical art history investigations of textiles until now. This paper reports the first identification in a museum context of this unusual synthetic brominated analog of indigo, discovered on three twentieth century Japanese yukata. Analytical data collected on reference materials using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, UV–visible spectroscopy, Raman microspectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy are provided to assist with future identifications of this relatively unknown colorant. Density functional theory applied to 5,5′-dibromoindigo was used to confirm the experimental Raman spectrum.

Age and Gender Estimation from Face Images Using CNN-Based Wide Residual Networks

Age and gender are one of the chief personal traits of humans. The estimation of human age and gender is very important to a rising amount of utilisations, especially after the boom of social media and social networking platforms. The popularity of this field is growing day by day due to its vast emerging real world applications, such as forensic art, electronic customer relationship management, law enforcement, security control and surveillance monitoring, biometrics, entertainment, cosmetology, human-computer interactions and many more. In this paper, a deep learning-based solution is being proposed to implement the task of age and gender detection of humans from facial images. For this purpose, facial landmarks of the human faces are not used in the proposed solution. The proposed model has been trained using IMDB-WIKI data set which is the largest public data set for age and gender prediction having 0.5 million facial images from the IMDB and Wikipedia web domains. In the proposed work, the IMDB data set has been used as the training data set, whereas WIKI has served as the test data set. The backbone of the proposed system consists of Convolutional Neural Network-based Wide Residual Networks. These networks are computationally inexpensive and also provide state-of-the-art results on several competitive benchmarks. The results indicate that the proposed system performs better than the existing systems for age and gender estimation task.

Difference between Artistic Creation and Offense (by the Example of the Pavel Pavlensky Performances)

The article reveals the problem of uniformity of understanding basic concepts of forensic art examination. The concept of "activity" in the art, psychological and legal context is explored. It is noted that the uniformity of understanding of this term is determined by the research of L. S. Vygotsky, A. R. Luriya, S. L. Rubinstein, A. A. Leontiev and others. Following these, the concept of creativity, which is relevant in the expert activity, is proposed. In order to determine the features of artistic creativity, the author analyzes the performances of the representative of contemporary Russian (boundary) art - Pavel Pavlensky. On the philosophical, psychological, art criticism, and legal grounds the author outlines some features that distinguish various types of activities relevant in forensic art examination. It is proved that there is an objective level of understanding of creativity, which is revealed through the comparison of various activities. Proceeding from the general scheme of behavior of subjects (mechanism of action): motive, motivation, action, result of activity, evaluation, it is proved that, in spite of the subjective level of understanding of creativity, it is possible to establish the features of creativity, games, offenses, and crimes. It is asserted that this is relevant in establishing the fact in proof; choosing the type of forensic art examination; appropriate definition of the subject of forensic examination.

Conditions of Assessment of Objectivity of Expert Information

The article deals with the problem of an objective assessment of the reliability of results of forensic art expertise in psychological legal context. The author identifies formal and informal criteria for an objective assessment of the reliability of the expert information. Special attention is given to: "objective", "objectively," "objectivity," "objectify", "objectification" correlated with academic terms. Based on the characteristics of expert activity, the author explores: the structure of objective information; organization of scientific expertise; the objectivity of the ideological positions of the subjects of expertise, defining a plurality of values and criteria of objectivity, evidence of their confidence. The importance of the objectivity is revealed through the study of: conditions of objectivity and stages of objectification of evaluation. It is determined that an objective assessment of the outcome of the examination is based on the optimal (in proceedings) interaction of actors of examination that possess native (dual) axiological notions: professional (legal) knowledge and moral senses of subjects of expertise. It is shown that: objective assessment of information depends on finding adequate to the situation proportionate "solution multipliers" needed for comparison; the final condition for the objective evaluation is to identify the evaluation criteria derived from objective (procedural; emanating from a particular case and scientific) reasons that form the indicators, relative to the specified criterion, and are the result of the objectivity of the evaluation of the reliability of the information.

Forensic art: 2D facial composite through image processing techniques in Sri Lanka

INTRODUCTION Forensic art is a technique used by law enforcement in order to identify a suspect towards apprehension or conviction of wanted persons and composite art is one branch. A “facial composite” is a graphical representation of a human face according to eyewitnesses' description. The failure rate of suspect identification through manual facial composite sketch was reportedly quite high in 2014 in Sri Lanka 1 . In addition, international software available for face identification may not be the best approach for Sri Lankan population. OBJECTIVE To develop an automated, image processing based computer software solution using 2D facial feature templates for suspect identification in Sri Lanka. STUDY DESIGN Facial feature templates were constructed by analyzing a dataset from Sri Lankan young adult population focusing on most occurring facial indices and commonly available facial feature shapes. Anthropometric proportion indices measurements and shape classification for eyes, nose, face, upper vermilion and lower vermilion of 140 undergraduates of both sexes between 20-25 age were identified and categorized according to BMI (Body Mass Index). Face Software Development Kit library (Face SDK library) was used for index measurements and domain expert knowledge from aesthetic and forensic art fields were utilized in identifying facial feature shapes. These parameters were incorporated to construct 2D facial feature templates for major facial feature. Then these templates were transferred into the system to be used for composite construction purpose. Finally face visualization process will perform iteratively until the eyewitness is satisfied with the ultimate image. Evaluation of this solution with face pool technique and anthropometric index evaluation techniques obtained 70.19% accuracy and average of 84% respectively. CONCLUSION A significant accuracy level in composite images has been obtained by using anthropometric indices measurements. Hence, this computerized solution will significantly enhance the currently used manual facial composite procedure for suspect identification in Sri Lanka ensuring justice to the victim of crime.

CLASSIFICATION OF FORENSIC ART EXAMINATION OBJECTS

The paper gives the classification of forensic art examination objects. Consideration is given to the features of conducting the forensic art examination and to the main directions of objects research on the issues of belonging to those that have a cultural value. Determination is made for the authenticity and cost of objects, as well as for the availability of pornographic signs and propaganda of violence and cruelty cults.