The problems of personnel training for military forensic medical expertise under the current reform of the military forces in the Russian Federation

The educational sphere is becoming a major priority in the state policy. The Concept of national security for the Russian Federation regards intellectual impairment as a most serious internal threat to the military security. It declares that the operational efficiency of the armed forces should be based on high-quality education of specialists. The current reform of the military forces in the Russian Federation envisages the modification of the forensic medical expertise and the system of training relevant personnel. The post-diploma education of forensic medical experts encounters difficulties at all levels. In all probability, such education will be performed in the near future through the primary retraining mechanism. In the course of the ongoing reform, the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Military Medical Academy remains the sole facility for the post-diploma education of military forensic medical experts. The teaching staff of the department have sufficient qualification and experience for training highly skilled specialists as stipulated by the reform of the military forces in the Russian Federation.     

Leadership, behavioral context, and the performance of work groups in a knowledge-intensive setting

The behavioral work context in which members of groups interact with each other is crucial for facilitating knowledge exchange and combination (Nonaka in Great minds in management: the process of theory development, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005; Nonaka et al. in Long Range Plan 33:5–34, 2000). Yet little is known about the ways leaders, by signaling expectations and exhibiting supportive behaviors, facilitate such a behavioral context, which may then enhance performance. This study aims to contribute to the literature by examining how leader expectations and supportive behaviors facilitate behavioral integration and enhance the performance of work groups engaging in the development of advanced technological products. Data collected from management teams of 102 work groups indicate significant and positive relationships between: (1) leader expectations and leader supportive behaviors, (2) leader supportive behaviors and group behavioral integration, and (3) behavioral integration and group performance. In addition, the results indicate that leader supportive behaviors partially mediate the relationship between leader expectations and group behavioral integration, and the latter partially mediates the link between leader supportive behaviors and group performance. No significant link was found between leader expectations and group performance. In so doing, this study contributes to research on the way leaders, by shaping a behavioral context, facilitate knowledge exchange and combination, thereby enhancing group performance.     

Images of illness: how causal claims and racial associations influence public preferences toward diabetes research spending

Despite the salience of health disparities in media and policy discourse, little previous research has investigated if imagery associating an illness with a certain racial group influences public perceptions. This study evaluated the influence of the media's presentation of the causes of type 2 diabetes and its implicit racial associations on attitudes toward people with diabetes and preferences toward research spending. Survey participants who viewed an article on genetic causation or social determinants of diabetes were more likely to support increased government spending on research than those viewing an article with no causal language, while participants viewing an article on behavioral choices were more likely to attribute negative stereotypes to people with diabetes. Participants who viewed a photo of a black woman accompanying the article were less likely to endorse negative stereotypes than those viewing a photo of a white woman, but those who viewed a photo of a glucose-testing device expressed the lowest negative stereotypes. The effect of social determinants language was significantly different for blacks and whites, lowering stereotypes only among blacks. Emphasizing the behavioral causes of diabetes, as is common in media coverage, may perpetuate negative stereotypes. While drawing attention to the social determinants that shape these behaviors could mitigate stereotypes, this strategy is unlikely to influence the public uniformly.     

A Comparison of Cleaning Regimes for the Effective Removal of Fingerprint Deposits from Brass

Abstract:  Effective removal of fingerprint deposits is crucial for experimentation related to the corrosion of metals by fingerprint deposits. Such removal is also necessary prior to deposition of test fingerprints. The effectiveness of four regimes in removing fingerprint deposits from brass is considered. Sustained wiping of the deposit with a tissue at applied pressures of up to c . 1430 Pa or rubbing while the brass was immersed in acetone both failed to remove completely all traces of fingerprint deposits. Heating the brass to 600°C was an effective remover; however, this also oxidized the surface of the metal except where inhibited by fingerprint deposits. The most effective regime, and the only one of the four that removed all traces of deposit without affecting the properties of the metal surface, was immersion in warm soapy water while rubbing with a tissue. We propose this as the preferred method for fingerprint removal.     

Strontium and geolocation, the pathway to identification for deceased undocumented mexican border-crossers: a preliminary report

Much of the difficulty associated with identifying and repatriating deceased undocumented border-crossers stems from an inability to narrow down the search area to more probable options. Analysis of the isotopic variation in the tooth enamel of modern Mexican populations is currently underway at the University of California Santa Cruz. Using Thermo Ionization Mass Spectrometry, the pilot research analyzed strontium isotopes located in the donated permanent teeth of Mexican-born individuals of known origin from four states. The preliminary results reveal the formation of three distinctly significant regions in the data set. Using the technology outlined here, a map documenting the isotopic variation in modern Mexican tooth enamel is being complied to use for cross comparison with deceased border crossers of unknown origin.     

A Bayesian approach to estimate skeletal age-at-death utilizing dental wear

In the forensic context, teeth are often recovered in mass disasters, armed conflicts, and mass graves associated with human rights violations. Therefore, for victim identification, techniques utilizing the dentition to estimate the first parameters of identity (e.g., age) can be critical. This analysis was undertaken to apply a Bayesian statistical method, transition analysis, based on the Gompertz-Makeham (GM) hazard model, to estimate individual ages-at-death for Balkan populations utilizing dental wear. Dental wear phases were scored following Smith's eight-phase ordinal scoring method and chart. To estimate age, probability density functions for the posterior distributions of age for each tooth phase are calculated. Transition analysis was utilized to generate a mean age-of-transition from one dental wear phase to the next. The age estimates are based on the calculated age distribution from the GM hazard analysis and the ages-of-transition. To estimate the age-at-death for an individual, the highest posterior density region for each phase is calculated. By using a Bayesian statistical approach to estimate age, the population's age distribution is taken into account. Therefore, the age estimates are reliable for the Balkan populations, regardless of population or sex differences. The results showed that a vast amount of interpersonal variation in dental wear exists within the current sample and that this method may be most useful for classifying unknown individuals into broad age cohorts rather than small age ranges.     

Managing incidental findings in human subjects research: analysis and recommendations.

No consensus yet exists on how to handle incidental findings (IFs) in human subjects research. Yet empirical studies document IFs in a wide range of research studies, where IFs are findings beyond the aims of the study that are of potential health or reproductive importance to the individual research participant. This paper reports recommendations of a two-year project group funded by NIH to study how to manage IFs in genetic and genomic research, as well as imaging research. We conclude that researchers have an obligation to address the possibility of discovering IFs in their protocol and communications with the IRB, and in their consent forms and communications with research participants. Researchers should establish a pathway for handling IFs and communicate that to the IRB and research participants. We recommend a pathway and categorize IFs into those that must be disclosed to research participants, those that may be disclosed, and those that should not be disclosed.     

A novel histological technique for distinguishing between epithelial cells in forensic casework

There are a number of forensic cases in which the identification of the epithelial cell type from which DNA originated would provide important probative evidence. This study aimed to develop a technique using histological staining of fixed cells to distinguish between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelium. First, 11 different stains were screened on formalin-fixed, wax-embedded cells from five women. Samples were analysed qualitatively by examining staining patterns (colour) and morphology (absence or presence of nuclei). Three of the staining methods – Dane's, Csaba's and Ayoub-Shklar – were successful in distinguishing skin epithelial cells from buccal and vaginal. Second, cells were smeared directly onto slides, fixed with one of five fixatives and stained with one of the three stains mentioned above. Methanol fixation, coupled with the Dane's staining method, specific to keratin, was the only technique that distinguished between all three cell types. Skin cells stained magenta, red and orange and lacked nuclei; buccal cells stained predominantly orange–pink with red nuclei; while vaginal cells stained bright orange with orange nuclei and a blue extracellular hue. This staining pattern in vaginal cells was consistent in samples collected from 50 women aged between 18 and 67. Identification of cell type from unlabelled micrographs by 10 trained observers showed a mean success rate of 95%. The results of this study demonstrate that histological staining may provide forensic scientists with a technique for distinguishing between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelial cells and thus would enable more conclusive analyses when investigating sexual assault cases.