Types of diatoms in China’s three major rivers and the possible application for an automatic forensic diatom test

Zhao, Jian; Wang, Yu‐Zhong; Zhang, Yanji; Hu, Songmei; Liu, Chao

doi:10.1080/00450618.2014.937456

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Other factors potentially affecting this reliability include sampling from wrong depth or location [ 32 ] and delayed sampling, allowing for diatom concentration changes in the waterbody [ 26 , 33 ]., e.g., after heavy weather conditions [ 34 ]. In this relation, additional research providing reference data on species and abundances from spatial, temporal, and seasonal diatom mapping of local natural waters, as already implemented in some countries, could greatly improve the validation of drowning media [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation and optimization of the diatom L/D ratio as a diagnostic marker for drowning

et al. 2023

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If a dead body is discovered in water, it nearly always raises the question about the cause of death, often associated with the persistent problem to differentiate between a drowning incident and post-mortem immersion. In numerous cases, a reliable confirmation of death by drowning is often only possible by a combination of diagnoses obtained from autopsy and additional investigations. As to the latter, the use of diatoms has been suggested (and debated) since decades. Based on the consideration that diatoms are present in almost every natural waterbody and are unavoidably incorporated when water is inhaled, their presence in the lung and other tissues can provide evidence of drowning. However, the traditional diatom test methods are still subject of controversial discussion and suspected of erroneous outcome, predominantly through contamination. A promising alternative to minimize the risk of erroneous outcome seems to be disclosed by the recently suggested MD-VF-Auto SEM technique. Especially the establishment of a new diagnostic marker (L/D ratio), which represents the factorial proportion between the diatom concentration in lung tissue and the drowning medium, allows for clearer distinction of drowning and post-mortal immersion and is largely robust to contamination. However, this highly elaborated technique requires specific devices which are frequently unavailable. We therefore developed a modified method of SEM-based diatom testing to enable the use on more routinely available equipment. Process steps such as digestion, filtration, and image acquisition were thoroughly broken down, optimized, and ultimately validated in five confirmed drowning cases. Taking certain limitations into consideration, L/D ratio analysis provided promising results, even in cases of advanced decomposition. We conclude that our modified protocol indeed opens a way for a broader use of the method in forensic drowning investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation and optimization of the diatom L/D ratio as a diagnostic marker for drowning

et al. 2023

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“…In addition, diatoms can assess past water conditions using a paleolimnological approach (Soeprobowati et al, 2019). Diatoms can also be used in forensics to identify drowning victims (Zhao et al, 2015). That function makes it necessary to preserve diatoms to maintain the shape of the frustule so that it can be easily recognized (Salmaso et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Diatom in Different Preservation Methods: A Comparation Study

Amin

Prihantini

2023

jppipa, pendidikan ipa, fisika, biologi, kimia

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Diatoms are cosmopolite microalgae with unique characteristics caused of their cells are covered by silica which is called a frustule. Diatom identification is carried out using morphological features that are contained in the frustules. There are some methods for diatom preservation including using Lugol’s iodine, ethanol and formaldehyde solution. This study aims to compare those solutions. Those solutions had prepared with one control and four observations. Lugol’s iodine was prepared with a dose of 1%. Ethanol was used at doses of 20% while the formaldehyde solution was used at 4%. The observed diatom characteristics including the presence of cytoplasm and ornamentation of the diatom frustules (including striae and raphes) were observed to find the distinction in those methods. the presence of cytoplasm in each cell was not too different in the treatment, with the percentage of cytoplasmic cells being 73% (ethanol and formalin) while in Lugol the percentage of cytoplasmic cells was 65% and in the control was 76%. Based on the results, it was found that there was no significant effect of differences in preservation methods on cells with the cytoplasm or not with a p-value> 0.05.

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Identification of diatom taxonomy by a combination of region-based full convolutional network, online hard example mining, and shape priors of diatoms

et al. 2021

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Types of diatoms in China’s three major rivers and the possible application for an automatic forensic diatom test

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Validation and optimization of the diatom L/D ratio as a diagnostic marker for drowning

Validation and optimization of the diatom L/D ratio as a diagnostic marker for drowning

Characteristics of Diatom in Different Preservation Methods: A Comparation Study

Identification of diatom taxonomy by a combination of region-based full convolutional network, online hard example mining, and shape priors of diatoms

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