Digital camera identification using PRNU: A feature based approach

Source camera identification is one of the emerging field in digital image forensics, which aims at identifying the source camera used for capturing the given image. The technique uses photo response non-uniformity (PRNU) noise as a camera fingerprint, as it is found to be one of the unique characteristic which is capable of distinguishing the images even if they are captured from similar cameras. Most of the existing PRNU based approaches are very sensitive to the random noise components existing in the estimated PRNU, and also they are not robust when some simple manipulations are performed on the images. Hence a new feature based approach of PRNU is proposed for the source camera identification by choosing the features which are robust for image manipulations. The PRNU noise is extracted from the images using wavelet based denoising method and is represented by higher order wavelet statistics (HOWS), which are invariant features for image manipulations and geometric variations. The features are fed to support vector machine classifiers to identify the originating source camera for the given image and the results have been verified by performing ten-fold cross validation technique. The experiments have been carried out using the images captured from various cell phone cameras and it demonstrated that the proposed algorithm is capable of identifying the source camera of the given image with good accuracy. The developed technique can be used for differentiating the images, even if they are captured from similar cameras, which belongs to same make and model. The analysis have also showed that the proposed technique remains robust even if the images are subjected to simple manipulations or geometric variations.     

功能性技术特征的识别与保护范围的界定——最高人民法院法释[2009]2l号司法解释第4条的适用与完善

权利要求中的功能性技术特征是指在权利要求中仅使用功能或者效果来限定的技术特征功能性技术特征以说明书中公开的具体实施方式及其等同的实施方式确定保护范围;如果该功能性技术特征在专利申请日已经成为本领域普通技术人员约定俗成、普遍知晓的技术名词或者上位概念,则以本领域普通技术人员在专利申请日所普遍知晓的具体实施方式及等同的实施方式确定保护范围,不以说明书是否公开为限。将此类特征的保护范围限定在实现该功能或者效果的具体实施方式及等同的实施方式,意在合理界定专利权的保护范围,以使保护范围与技术贡献相一致。说明书中的具体实施方式,应当是所属领域普通技术人员阅读说明书后,能够概括出的实现该功能或效果的必要技术手段;等同的实施方式应当根据“等同原则”进行界定。     

Plea bargaining with budgetary constraints

In this paper, we construct a simple model that illustrates a perverse effect associated with plea bargaining in which an increase in sanctions can lead to reduced deterrence. This finding is derived from the interaction of binding budgetary constraints and plea bargaining. In an environment with these institutional features, higher sanctions are not always optimal when resources are limited, even if such sanctions are costless. Such potential phenomena may be useful in explaining the fact that many states have introduced limitations on plea bargaining. Prosecutors being concerned with their conviction rates is necessary for such a result to be present.     

The Possibilities and Limitations of Forensic Hand Comparison

On recordings of certain crimes, the face is not always shown. In such cases, hands can offer a solution, if they are completely visible. An important aspect of this study was to develop a method for hand comparison. The research method was based on the morphology, anthropometry, and biometry of hands. A new aspect of this study was that a manual and automated test were applied, which, respectively, assess many features and provide identification rates quickly. An important observation was that good quality images can provide sufficient hand details. The most distinctive features were the length/width ratio, the palm line pattern and the quantity of highly distinctive features present, and how they are distributed. The results indicate that experience did not improve the identification rates, while the manual test did. Intra‐observer variability did not influence the results, whereas hands of relatives were frequently misjudged. Both tests provided high identification rates.     

Determination of phosphoglucomutase phenotypes in hair bulbs

The research was to determine a simple method of phosphoglucomutase phenotype identification in hair bulb. The agarose technique and electrophoresis on cellulose-acetate foil methods were chosen because a small quantity of the maternal available for examination. It was found out that 1 or 2 bulbs are sufficient to identify the PGM1 features if the electrophoresis method is applied and if more bulbs are available, the PGM3 characteristic can also be identified. The modified technique was used for staining the phosphoglucomutase phenotypes.     

A Mark for Peter

Abstract

This paper objects to certain forms of punishments, such as supermax confinement, on grounds that they are inappropriately contemptuous. Building on discussions in Kant and elsewhere, I flesh out what I take to be salient features of contempt, features that make contempt especially troubling as a form of moral regard and treatment. As problematic as contempt may be in the interpersonal context, I contend that it is especially troubling when a person is treated contemptuously by her political community's institutions—such as by certain forms of punishment. Punishment is contemptuous if it fails to respect offenders as moral persons, who as such are always capable of moral reform. Respect for offenders therefore requires, at least, that punishment not tend to undermine the prospect of offenders’ reform. I flesh out this constraint by considering various ways in which punishments may tend to undermine offenders’ reform. In particular, I discuss ways in which supermax confinement tends to violate the reform-based constraint. Finally, I address several potential objections to my account.     

Traditional aboriginal values in a Westminster parliament: The legislative assembly of Nunavut

This article examines the interplay of structure and culture in the Legislative Assembly of the newly established territory of Nunavut in Canada's eastern Arctic. This institution combines the Westminster cabinet-parliamentary system with traditional Inuit culture, many features of which are antithetical to British-style ‘responsible government’. The distinctive ‘consensus government’ system which characterises the Nunavut Legislative Assembly has important features consistent with Inuit values and approaches, for example, the absence of political parties. Based primarily on personal interviews with Members of the Assembly, the article considers whether Inuit culture has significantly recast the structures and the political imperatives inherent in the Westminster system or if the powerful values and constraints of that system have effectively overridden Inuit values. Perceptions and reflections of members serving in the First Assembly (1999–2004) suggest that while substantial adaptations to the conventional Westminster system have been made, these are indeed adaptations rather than fundamental alterations to the system.     

Using spectral information in forensic imaging

Improved detection of forensic evidence by combining narrow band photographic images taken at a range of wavelengths is dependent on the substance of interest having a significantly different spectrum from the underlying substrate. While some natural substances such as blood have distinctive spectral features which are readily distinguished from common colorants, this is not true for visualization agents commonly used in forensic science. We now show that it is possible to select reagents with narrow spectral features that lead to increased visibility using digital cameras and computer image enhancement programs even if their coloration is much less intense to the unaided eye than traditional reagents. The concept is illustrated by visualising latent fingermarks on paper with the zinc complex of Ruhemann's Purple, cyanoacrylate-fumed fingerprints with Eu(tta)(3)(phen), and soil prints with 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-[4'-(dimethylamino)phenyl]pyridine [BBIDMAPP]. In each case background correction is performed at one or two wavelengths bracketing the narrow absorption or emission band of these compounds. However, compounds with sharp spectral features would also lead to improved detection using more advanced algorithms such as principal component analysis.     

Objective Evaluation of Subclass Characteristics on Breech Face Marks

Subclass characteristics can be found on the breech face marks left on spent cartridge cases. Even if they are assumed to be rare and their reported number is small, they can potentially lead to false associations. Subclass characteristics have been studied empirically allowing examiners to recognize them and to understand in which conditions they are produced. Until now, however, their influence on the identification process has not been studied from a probabilistic point of view. In this study, we aim at measuring the effect of these features on the strength of association derived from examinations involving subclass characteristics. The study takes advantage of a 3D automatic comparison system allowing the calculation of likelihood ratios (LRs). The similarities between cartridge case specimens fired by thirteen S&W .40S&W Sigma pistols are quantified, and their respective LRs are computed. The results show that the influence of subclass characteristics on the LRs is limited, even when these features are prevalent among the potential sources considered in a case. We show that the proportion of firearms sharing subclass characteristics should be larger than 40% of the pool of potential firearms for the effect to be significant.     

不纯正不作为犯罪中先行行为引起的义务研究

引起作为义务的先行行为应当是对法益安全造成了现实、具体、紧迫危险的行为,先行行为具有直接性、高概然性、临近性三个特征。原则上,先行行为应当以违反法律规范为前提。但是,在对行为人施加作为义务不与刑法的其他更高价值追求相违背的前提下,合法的先行行为也能够引起作为义务。在不违反禁止重复评价原则的前提下,应当肯定犯罪行为引起的作为义务。引起作为义务的先行行为自身既可以是作为,也可以是不作为;既可以是故意或者过失行为,也可以是无责任行为。     

OFFENDER REACTlON, PROFESSIONAL OPINION, AND SENTENCING

The central issue of this study involves determining whether the deviant is merely a passive recipient of a deviant label or if he is able to actively influence the labeling process. It is found that sex offenders who admit at least some involvement in deviant sexual activities stand a greater chance of being recommended for probation than these who deny involvement, but only if the offense does not contain certain features, e.g., force or pregnancy of the victim, which would normally preclude considering probation. The criminal justice system contains within it some means for allowing offenders to negotiate some of the consequences of conviction.     

Criminal Law beyond the State: The European Model

This article will analyse two models of criminal law beyond the State, which are here termed ‘eunomic’ and ‘dialogic’. It will then focus on one case study, European criminal law, which was inherently ‘dialogic’ until the last decade of the past century but has now quite unique features. In accordance with classic liberal views, criminal law has always been conceptualised as one of the most salient attributes of the sovereign State. The monopoly on the use of violence was to be legitimised by the State's concern for the sphere of autonomy of the individual. It is submitted in this article that it is precisely this condition that is lacking in the current European model, which promotes security‐oriented paradigms of self‐fulfilment and effectiveness. However, criminal law, if properly conceived, could in theory function as a powerful vehicle of integration.     

论财产犯中的占有

财产犯是侵害他人对财物占有的犯罪,因此,占有在财产犯的认定中具有举足轻重的地位。财产犯的占有包括占有的有无和占有的归属两大方面的内容,涉及刑法占有的特征、要素;具有对等关系、上下主从关系的占有以及包装物的占有;死者的占有和存款的占有等具体问题。在上述问题的认定上,必须结合刑法与民法的不同要求综合判断。     

Author gender identification from text

Text is still the most prevalent Internet media type. Examples of this include popular social networking applications such as Twitter, Craigslist, Facebook, etc. Other web applications such as e-mail, blog, chat rooms, etc. are also mostly text based. A question we address in this paper that deals with text based Internet forensics is the following: given a short text document, can we identify if the author is a man or a woman? This question is motivated by recent events where people faked their gender on the Internet. Note that this is different from the authorship attribution problem.In this paper we investigate author gender identification for short length, multi-genre, content-free text, such as the ones found in many Internet applications. Fundamental questions we ask are: do men and women inherently use different classes of language styles? If this is true, what are good linguistic features that indicate gender? Based on research in human psychology, we propose 545 psycho-linguistic and gender-preferential cues along with stylometric features to build the feature space for this identification problem. Note that identifying the correct set of features that indicate gender is an open research problem. Three machine learning algorithms (support vector machine, Bayesian logistic regression and AdaBoost decision tree) are then designed for gender identification based on the proposed features. Extensive experiments on large text corpora (Reuters Corpus Volume 1 newsgroup data and Enron e-mail data) indicate an accuracy up to 85.1% in identifying the gender. Experiments also indicate that function words, word-based features and structural features are significant gender discriminators.     

Sudden natural death at the wheel--a particular problem of the elderly?

Thirty-nine autopsy cases of sudden natural death at the wheel were analysed with special respect to the questions if this is a peculiar problem of the elderly and if there are particular pathological features in the elderly. The ages ranged from 33 through 83 years and the median age was 56.4 years. 97% of the deaths were attributable to cardiovascular diseases, about 90% to coronary heart disease. People older than 60 years of age tended to exhibit severe chronical arterio-sclerotic changes of the coronary arteries, especially multiple calcified stenoses and myocardial scars, but there was a low percentage of recent thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery.     

A study of business letter features

As part of their work, forensic document examiners examine word processed letters. The purpose of this study, the first of its kind, was to determine how common or rare certain features are in word-processed business letters and if any of these features could determine the author or source. Initially, 114 original business letters were obtained that were dated from 1999 through 2003. Specific features of the letters were selected for examination. These features were letter format, type style, the point size of the font, margin spacing to ascertain the use or nonuse of the default margins for Word (1.25 in. nonjustified) and the default margins for WordPerfect (1 in. nonjustified). In addition, the research involved the examination of the right margins to determine if they were justified or not and the use of the comma or colon in the salutation of the letter. The features of each letter were independently examined by the authors and the findings documented. As expected, several features were found to be very common. For example,full block format was used on 48% of the letters followed by the semi-block with 39%. The Times Family of fonts was used on 67% of the letters. Font point size 12 was the most popular with 70%. The nonjustified default margins were widespread with 67% and the colon was the overwhelming favorite in the salutation with 79%. There were some unexpected findings that could possibly lead to the identification of a source or typist.     

Triaging digital device content at-scene:- Formalising the decision-making process

The prominence of technology usage in society has inevitably led to increasing numbers of digital devices being seized, where digital evidence often features in criminal investigations. Such demand has led to well documented backlogs placing pressure on digital forensic labs, where in an effort to combat this issue, the ‘at-scene triage’ of devices has been touted as a solution. Yet such triage approaches are not straightforward to implement with multiple technical and procedural issues existing, including determining when it is actually appropriate to triage the contents of a device at-scene. This work remains focused on this point due to the complexities associated with it, and to support first responders a nine-stage triage decision model is offered which is designed to promote consistent and transparent practice when determining if a device should be triaged.     

Another death due to ingestion of Nicotiana glauca

Deaths attributed to ingestion of Nicotiana glauca are extremely rare. We report here a case where a 43-year-old man was found dead after apparently drinking a water extract of Nicotiana glauca. The primary alkaloid in the plant is anabasine. Toxicological analysis by capillary gas chromatography showed the deceased had a blood anabasine concentration of 2.2 mg/L. Clinically, the features of poisoning are nicotine-like and if death occurs it results from respiratory paralysis. The case further supports the view that, in the human, anabasine is considerably more toxic than nicotine.     

Comparison of handmarks in manual strangulation: an experimental study

A police case with a strangulated woman with fingermarks on the neck and two suspects identifying each other as the perpetrator set off a laboratory experiment. Twenty-one males participated in the study. Blue paint was applied to their fingers, after which they grasped a neck dummy and pressed hard as if strangulating someone. The imprint was removed from the dummy, and their hands were photographed. Five imprints were randomly chosen and superimposed on the hand photographs in blind trials. In no cases did we match an imprint to the correct hand. However, in four cases we matched the imprint with several hands, one of which was the correct one. This means we were able to exclude nonmatches in 4/5 cases. Overall, matching of hands and fingermarks is difficult and inconclusive. Objective criteria for matching are difficult to establish, and matching is probably best suited for cases with specific anatomical features.     

论法官的裁判良心

近年来司法界已意识到司法裁决并非全由法律所决定,如果司法裁决并非全部客观,法官的职业行为就变得相关,法官审理具体案件时不仅仅依据的是事实与法律,还要结合自己的良心,要求法官在裁判中要尽量保持良心的客观性。因此,关注法官良心与法的关联性、法官良心的自由与中立及法官良心的社会尊重和养成,直接影响着法官裁判的公正及法院的社会公信力。