The construction of first-class universities and disciplines is a major strategic initiative of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, and an important task for building a world-class higher education powerhouse. Forensic medicine was officially listed as a first-level discipline under the medical category in 2022, presenting unprecedented historical opportunities for the development of forensic medicine. Facing this significant strategic opportunity, this paper sorts out the disciplinary system of forensic medicine, carries out forward-looking planning for the development of the discipline, and looks forward to the development vision of the discipline: （1） Establish an organically connected three-stage forensic medicine talent training system to cultivate applied and innovative talents that meet the needs of China’s socialist modernization construction; （2） Establish a unified standardized forensic practice qualification examination system, organically connect talent training with professional qualification examination, and optimize the professional development path of forensic medicine; （3） Widely intersect, integrate and transform forensic medicine with other multiple disciplines, expand and enrich the second- and third-level disciplinary systems of forensic medicine, and build a world-class forensic medicine discipline with Chinese characteristics.

The development of forensic medicine is crucial to the national welfare, people’s livelihood, social stability, and the construction of a Safe China. It plays an indispensable role in the comprehensive promotion of the rule of law. The establishment of forensic medicine as a first-level discipline, along with the transformation brought by the fifth research paradigm, makes the construction of forensic medicine stand at a new historical starting point. This paper reviews the current status and challenges of forensic medicine development, outlines the characteristics of the fifth research paradigm and its impact on the construction of forensic medicine, and proposes strategies for addressing these challenges.

The 2024 National Education Work Conference pointed out that at the current juncture of the critical period for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the implementation of the Education Powerhouse Construction Plan Outline should be taken as the main line of work, and building first-class disciplines is an crucial task for a higher education powerhouse. In 2022, forensic medicine was officially listed as a first-level discipline under the medical category, presenting an unprecedented historical opportunity for the development of forensic medicine. The forensic medicine discipline of Southern Medical University comprehensively improves the quality of talent cultivation and facilitates the construction of first-class disciplines as its main direction. It aims to initiate and implement a high-level faculty team building plan featuring “combining recruitment and cultivation, inter-disciplinary integration”; make vigorous efforts to establish a first-level doctoral program, refine advantageous second-level disciplines and research directions; and establish an innovative research platform from a high starting point with deep integration. The discipline adheres to moral cultivation and the Five Domains of Education simultaneous development, to build a high-quality talent joint training model. Guided by the construction of the national legal system and industry needs, the discipline will enhance social service capabilities. The forensic medicine construction in our university will continue to contribute to the rule of law in China and educational power.

The forensic medicine discipline of Sun Yat-sen University is one of the important origins of modern and contemporary forensic medicine education in China, and it is a microcosm of the development of forensic medicine education, research and identification practice in the People’s Republic of China. This paper introduces the historical evolution, current situation, opportunities and challenges faced by the forensic medicine discipline of Sun Yat-sen University. Based on the historical new starting point of forensic medicine becoming a first-level discipline, it analyzes the construction goals and measures of the forensic medicine discipline of Sun Yat-sen University in the new era, aiming to reach consensus and promote the high-quality development of forensic medicine.

Forensic medicine has been designated as a first-level discipline, presenting new opportunities and challenges for the development of forensic medicine. Since the 1980s, the establishment of forensic medicine discipline and the cultivation of high-level forensic talents have become hot topics in the development of forensic medicine in China. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, the forensic team of Shanxi Medical University has been aiming at the forefront, proposing the development goals of “Five First-class” and the discipline development path “Six Major Achievements”. It has selected benchmark disciplines, identified gaps in disciplinary development, unified thoughts, formulated completion timelines, concentrated superior resources, assigned tasks to individuals, and created an “Organized Fill-in-the-Blank Format” forensic medicine discipline construction model with the characteristics of the new era. The construction model of forensic medicine has achieved good results in the goals, discipline framework, scientific research, talent cultivation, discipline team and platform construction, forming a relatively complete discipline construction and management system, and accumulating valuable experience for the construction of first-level discipline and high-level talent cultivation of forensic medicine.

West China Forensic Medicine at Sichuan University （hereinafter referred to as West China Forensic Medicine） has a long history and profound cultural heritage. It is one of the universities that initiated modern forensic medicine in China and one of the six founding institutions of forensic medicine higher education in China. Under the lifelong efforts of its founders, Mr. WU Jia-wen and Mrs. WU Mei-yun, West China Forensic Medicine has developed over three generations and more than seven decades, forming a distinct characteristic of “education as the foundation, research as the essence and identification as the practice”. This paper elaborates on the historical evolution and significant development achievements of West China Forensic Medicine in its discipline construction, and in the process of exploring the development achievements of forensic medicine discipline construction. It summarizes experiences and wisdom, providing references and experiences for the future development of the forensic medicine discipline, the continuous improvement of the forensic science level, and the construction of the first-level discipline of forensic medicine in China.

Under the background of forensic medicine becoming a first-level discipline, the opportunities and challenges of discipline development coexist. Starting from the actual situation and characteristics of local medical colleges and universities, this paper discusses the problems and solutions for the development of forensic medicine discipline from the perspective of building a regional high-level medical university. Combined with the experiences of carrying out forensic medicine education in our college, this paper supplies our thoughts and practices on improving the discipline system, enhancing the ability to serve society, perfecting the talent cultivation model and promoting forensic culture, to provide reference and inspiration for the development of forensic medicine in other universities, jointly promote the advancement of forensic medicine in China to a new stage, and contribute the wisdom and strength of forensic medical experts to the construction of a law-based China, a safe China and a healthy China.

Objective To investigate the effects of three common anticoagulants, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid-K₂ （EDTA-K₂）, sodium citrate and heparin sodium, on the visual characteristics of bloodstains such as patterns and colors. Methods Freshly collected blood samples were treated with EDTA-K₂, sodium citrate and heparin sodium respectively, and bloodstain samples were prepared on two objects, acrylic plate and ceramic tile. Bloodstains without anticoagulant treatment were used as the control sample. The drying time, wetting ratio, the number of cracks, the number of fragments, the central impression area ratio and the mean gray value of bloodstains were observed and recorded. Results Anticoagulants delayed the drying process of bloodstains. At 3.5 h, the wetting ratios of EDTA-K₂-, sodium citrate- and heparin sodium-anticoagulated bloodstains on the acrylic plate were 54.80%, 56.68% and 60.60%, respectively, which were higher than that of bloodstains without anticoagulant treatment （25.70%）. Anticoagulants increased the number of cracks, the number of fragments and the central impression area ratio. The changes of these three visual characteristics were most obvious in the sodium citrate-anticoagulated bloodstains, with the crack number of 0.93/mm, the fragment number of 46, and the central impression area ratio of 48.41% after drying. Anticoagulants reduced the mean gray value of bloodstains. Among them, the sodium citrate-anticoagulated bloodstains exhibited the longest time to peak in mean gray value, reading 3.5 h. Similar changes in visual characteristics were observed on the ceramic tile. Conclusion The three commonly used anticoagulants change the visual characteristics of bloodstains. It is not recommended to use anticoagulated blood as a substitute for preparing experimental samples in bloodstain pattern analysis experiments. Based on the changes in the visual characteristics during the drying process of bloodstains, the time of bloodstain deposition can be roughly estimated, and the blood scene staged with anticoagulated blood can be identified.

Objective To explore a deep learning-based automatic bone age estimation model for elbow joint X-ray images of Chinese Han adolescents and children and evaluate its performance. Methods A total of 943 （517 males and 426 females） elbow joint frontal view X-ray images of Chinese Han adolescents and children aged 6.00 to <16.00 years were collected from East, South, Central and Northwest China. Three experimental schemes were adopted for bone age estimation. Scheme 1: Directly input preprocessed images into the regression model; Scheme 2: Train a segmentation network using “key elbow joint bone annotations” as labels, then input segmented images into the regression model; Scheme 3: Train a segmentation network using “full elbow joint bone annotations” as labels, then input segmented images into the regression model. For segmentation, the optimal model was selected from U-Net, UNet++ and TransUNet. For regression, VGG16, VGG19, InceptionV2, InceptionV3, ResNet34, ResNet50, ResNet101 and DenseNet121 models were selected for bone age estimation. The dataset was randomly split into 80% （754 samples） for training and validation for model fitting and hyperparameter tuning, and 20% （189 samples） as an internal test set to test the performance of the trained model. An additional 104 elbow joint X-ray images from the same demographic and age group were collected and used as an external test set. Model performance was evaluated by comparing the mean absolute error （MAE）, root mean square error （RMSE）, accuracies within ±0.7 years （P_{±0.7 years}） and ±1.0 years （P_{±1.0 years}） between the estimated age and the actual age, and by drawing radar charts, scatter plots, and heatmaps. Results When segmented with Scheme 3, the UNet++ model achieved good segmentation performance with a segmentation loss of 0.000 4 and an accuracy of 93.8% at a learning rate of 0.000 1. In the internal test set, the DenseNet121 model with Scheme 3 yielded the best results with MAE, P_{±0.7 years} and P_{±1.0 years} being 0.83 years, 70.03%, and 84.30%, respectively. In the external test set, the DenseNet121 model with Scheme 3 also performed best, with an average MAE of 0.89 years and an average RMSE of 1.00 years. Conclusion When performing automatic bone age estimation using elbow joint X-ray images in Chinese Han adolescents and children, it is recommended to use the UNet++ model for segmentation. The DenseNet121 model with Scheme 3 achieves optimal performance. Using segmentation networks, especially that trained with annotation areas encompassing the full elbow joint including the distal humerus, proximal radius, and proximal ulna, can improve the accuracy of bone age estimation based on elbow joint X-ray images.

Objective To explore the correlation between the actual age and the pulp chamber volume （PCV） and pulp dentinal index （PDI） of the right first molars based on cone beam computed tomography （CBCT） technology, and to construct an accurate and convenient model for age estimation. Methods CBCT image data of 1 857 Han adults （883 males and 974 females） from the Department of Stomatology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College were collected. The data were divided into training and validation sets at a ratio of 8∶2. A total of 1 485 training samples were used to construct the age estimation model, and 372 samples were used to validate the accuracy of the model. The Mimics 21.0 software was used to measure the PCV and calculate the PDI of the right first molars. Their correlations with age and the differences between different sexes and tooth positions were analyzed. Results Both the PCV and the PDI of the first molars showed strong negative correlations with the actual age （r values ranged from 0.82 to 0.89）. The differences in PCV and PDI between different sexes and tooth positions were statistically significant （P<0.05）. The age estimation model based on PDI was superior to that based on PCV. The model based on the PDI values of the two right first molars （y=73.72-44.15 x₃-28.27 x₄, where x₃ and x₄ are the PDI values of the right maxillary and mandibular first molars, respectively） was the best, with the R² of 0.79 and the mean absolute error of 4.90 years. Conclusion Both PCV and PDI of the first molars are effective indicators for age estimation. The age estimation model based on the PDI is more convenient and accurate than that based on the PCV, providing a more effective method for age estimation in forensic practice.

Objective To establish a highly sensitive and specific method for detecting human DNA based on real time quantitative PCR （qPCR） technique for the rapid detection of potential DNA contamination sources in DNA laboratories. Methods Primers and probes were designed with Primer Express^TM software using the reference sequence of human 18S rRNA gene as a template, and the optimal prime-probe combination was screened by matrix method. The PCR products of the target sequence of human 18S rRNA gene were used to construct the plasmid, and a plasmid standard was used to draw the standard curve of the qPCR system. According to the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-time PCR Experiments （MIQE） guidelines, the specificity, sensitivity, repeatability and application effect of the qPCR system were evaluated. Results The sensitivity of the qPCR system established in this study was 5.3×10^-5 ng/μL, which showed good specificity for human DNA samples. The correlation coefficient of the qPCR system was -0.999, and amplification efficiency was 100%. Both the intra-batch and inter-batch variation coefficients were less than 2%. Conclusion The established human DNA detection method based on qPCR technique has good specificity, high sensitivity, and robust stability. It can be used for rapid detection of DNA contamination and daily monitoring of the accumulated human DNA in the laboratory environment.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Japan’s implementation of policies prioritizing economic development caused a lack of effective supervision over the discharge of industrial wastewater and exhaust gases, which led to the occurrence of the “Four Major Pollution Diseases”, including Minamata disease, causing serious social and public health problems. To more effectively address public nuisances and provide compensation to victims, the Japanese government gradually established an environmental damage compensation system with administrative relief characteristics since the 1970s. Through long-term practice and system optimization, this system has evolved into a mature institutional framework with a clear division of labor and efficient collaboration. This paper systematically reviews the development process of Japan’s environmental damage compensation system and deeply analyzes its legal framework and supporting policies, aiming to provide useful references for the construction and improvement of China’s environmental damage compensation system. Meanwhile, through the case analysis of Minamata disease, the paper explores the specific mechanisms and effects in the compensation practices, further revealing the system’s operational characteristics and implications, and providing a reference basis for the construction of China’s environmental governance legal system.