Showing papers in "Science & Justice in 2014"

TL;DR: Cognitive bias can impact forensic anthropological non-metric methods on skeletal remains and affects the interpretation and conclusions of the forensic scientists, demonstrating a strong confirmation bias in the assessment of sex, ancestry and age at death.

TL;DR: Information presented here is designed to facilitate informed decisions about the most appropriate sampling and extraction methodology, relevant both to the soil type and the details of a specific forensic case, to ensure sufficient DNA yield and enable successful analysis.

TL;DR: This study analysed a variety of blue, red and black gel inks on white office paper using HSI to demonstrate promise for ink discrimination compared to other analytical methods of examination.

TL;DR: A review of some of the current interpretation models, highlighting their weaknesses and strengths and if this can be realistically executed under current justice systems.

TL;DR: Dental experience played a role in decision-making, with dental students making more matches as the experiment progressed, regardless of context or task ambiguity, while manipulating task ambiguity and the presence and emotional intensity of additional contextual information.

TL;DR: The use of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Profiling and Imaging (MALDI MSP and MALDI MSI) for the determination of the presence of blood in fingermarks by specifically detecting the molecules of haem and haemoglobin through their mass-to-charge ratios.

TL;DR: Modelling from this standpoint expands the scope of forensic science and provides new R&D opportunities, as remnants of criminal activity are collected and used in various forms of crime monitoring and investigation.

TL;DR: Experimental results show that almost all explosive compounds meet the confirmation criteria (minimum 4 points) required for the positive identification by the DC 2002/657/EC.

TL;DR: In most of bodies, freshly formed adipocere was able to delay the appearance of later decompositional stages explaining why most of the bodies were in relatively good condition and how useful the total aquatic decomposition score (TADS) for ADD prediction be.

TL;DR: The research findings suggest that factors continue to hinder the effective use of forensic science despite technological advances and this paper considers their potential causes.

TL;DR: The result indicates that the degradation pattern of tissue 18S-rRNA and microRNA is useful in the determination of the postmortem interval within seven days.

TL;DR: It is shown for the first time the full impact of how easy it can be - even for evidence experts - to use pairs of hypotheses that they assume are mutually exclusive and exhaustive but are not, and hence to arrive at erroneous conclusions about the value of evidence using the LR.

TL;DR: It is argued that one should not attempt to directly assess whether a forensic analysis technique is scientifically acceptable, rather one should first specify what one considers to be appropriate principles governing acceptable practice, then consider any particular approach in light of those principles.

TL;DR: Using visualisation as a catalyser for a collaborative approach integrating forensic data thus calls for better specifications.

TL;DR: The research determined that the LIBS method is capable of revealing qualitative elemental differences between ink samples and showed the potential of LIBS for forensic purposes as an effective and robust technique, requiring a small amount of sample and giving analytical information in a very short time.

TL;DR: A novel application of visible wavelength reflectance hyperspectral imaging has been used for the detection and positive identification of blood stains in a non contact and non destructive manner on a range of coloured substrates.

TL;DR: The analysis of sixteen synthesised cathinone derivatives encountered in casework using presumptive testing, thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is reported.

TL;DR: Three likelihood ratio methods are presented for the comparison of evaporated gasoline residues (up to 75% weight loss under laboratory conditions) and show strong improvement of discrimination as compared with a completely uninformative method.

TL;DR: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was well suited as a single technique to detect links between seizures and could be used in priority for operational intelligence purposes and was able to highlight links between cases that were previously unsuspected and retrospectively confirmed by circumstantial information.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a long-term and ongoing improvement effort within the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) to establish a valuable innovation programme, from the overall perspective of the role and use of forensic science in the criminal justice system, the concepts of forensic information value added (FIVA) and Forensic Information value efficiency (FIVE) are introduced.

TL;DR: A highly sensitive method with minimal sample pre-treatment suitable for the analysis of small OF volumes (100 μL) for the confirmation of cannabinoids in DUID cases is developed.

TL;DR: It is documented that drug testing using exhaled breath provided as many positives as urine testing despite an expected shorter detection window, and that the breath sampling procedure was well accepted and provided practical benefits reported both by the prison inmates and testing personnel.

TL;DR: A multi-residual ultra-performance liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF/MS) method was developed to screen for the presence of the phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors sildenafil, tadalafils, and vardenafil and their analogues thioaildenfil and thiohomosildenAFil in powders and pharmaceutical dosage forms.

TL;DR: A novel method for selecting subsets of wavenumbers provided by attenuated total reflectance by Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy able to improve the clustering of medicine samples into two groups; i.e., authentic or fraudulent.

TL;DR: Preliminary results show that there are serious misunderstandings of the verbal scale and it does not achieve the purpose for which it was created.

TL;DR: Lumicyano™ appears to be a suitable technique for the development of fingermarks on plastic carrier bags and it can help save lab space and time as it does not require dyeing or drying procedures.

TL;DR: The forensic expert can detect biological fluids at the crime scene using an ALS even several days after a crime has occurred, showing the novelty of this study.

TL;DR: In order for the results of different studies to be comparable, it is necessary to standardise the position of the count area and to use the same method of obtaining the fingerprint, especially when involving a forensic application.

TL;DR: It is shown that in some cases, when there are no clear propositions or no defendant, a forensic scientist may be able to generate explanations to account for observations, and it is helpful for the scientist to distinguish those two roles.