1,720,960 research outputs found
Bayesian framework for the evaluation of fiber evidence in a double murder-a case report
No full textFiber evidence found on a suspect vehicle was the only useful trace to reconstruct the dynamics of the transportation of two corpses.
Optical microscopy, UV-Vis microspectrophotometry and infrared analysis were employed to compare fibers recovered in the trunk of a car to those of the blankets composing the wrapping in which the victims had been hidden.
A “pseudo-1:1” taping permitted to reconstruct the spatial distribution of the traces and to further strengthen the support to one of the hypotheses.
The Likelihood Ratio (LR) was calculated, in order to quantify the support given by forensic evidence to the explanations proposed.
A generalization of the Likelihood Ratio equation to cases analogous to this has been derived.
Fibers were the only traces that helped in the corroboration of the crime scenario, being absent any DNA, fingerprints and ballistic evidence
Polymer characterization in forensic science: differentiation of plastic bags for tracing the source of illegal drugs
No full textA quantitative differentiation method for plastic bags by wide angle X-ray diffraction for tracing the source of illegal drugs
No full textThirty-three shopping bags, commonly encountered in the packaging of drug doses, were characterized by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Using this single technique, without sample preparation, nearly all the considered samples could be differentiated, achieving a discriminating power of 0.992. The rather large degree of variability existing in grocery bags, even though they are mass produced, was shown, confirming that these items can be useful in tracing the source of illicit drug doses
A quantitative differentiation method for plastic bags by infrared spectroscopy, thickness measurement and differential scanning calorimetry for tracing the source of illegal drugs
No full textFifty shopping bags, commonly encountered in the packaging of drug doses, were characterized by thickness measurements, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. By these very straightforward and inexpensive techniques, without sample preparation, nearly all the considered samples could be discriminated. Ninety-seven percent of the possible pairs of white, apparently similar dull polymer films were differentiated. The rather large degree of variability existing in grocery bags, even though they are mass produced, was shown, confirming that these items can be useful in tracing the source of illicit drug doses
Thermogravimetry as a tool for the characterization of polymeric items of forensic interest
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
A method based on thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry for the forensic differentiation of latex gloves
No full textLatex gloves are quite frequently employed by felons, when committing crimes, if they want to avoid shedding fingerprints or biological traces. Less forensic aware crime committers, though, may discard the gloves at the crime scene or nearby. If found and properly analyzed, these items may therefore provide useful information to investigators. An analytical procedure of such items is proposed, using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. By these very straightforward and inexpensive techniques, without sample preparation, nearly all the considered samples could be discriminated. 99.5% of the possible pairs of latex gloves, indistinguishable by visual examination, were differentiated. The rather large degree of variability existing in latex gloves, even though they are mass produced, was shown, confirming that these items can be useful in comparisons between items related to the crime scene and those seized in the suspect's premises
PCR based analyses of epidermal cells found on adhesive tape
No full textAdhesive tapes are commonly used by Police Forces to collect Gun Shot Residues (GSR). In a previous experiment (Torre C. and Gino S., submitted to J. Forensic Sci.) it was observed that enough DNA can be extracted, amplified and typed for the HLA-DQa locus (Saiki et al., 1986), in order to attribute with certainty a GSR stub and/or to obtain samples for DNA analyses
PCR-DNA typing from beard samples
No full textThe analysis of DNA polymorphisms by means of PCR (Erlich H.A., 1989; Innis M.A. et al., 1990) has drastically increased the possibility of using some evidence that was not suitable until a short while ago
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