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.     

The Differentiation of the Volatile Organic Signatures of Individuals Through SPME-GC/MS of Characteristic Human Scent Compounds

Abstract:  Human scent evidence is utilized as an investigative tool through canine scent discriminations based on the premise that human scent is an individualizing characteristic. This study describes the development of what is effectively a human scent barcode consisting of the relative ratios of an individual's "primary odor" compounds utilized to determine a reproducible and individualizing profile which can be stored in a searchable database for a proof of concept of human scent as a biometric measure. Triplicate hand odor samples were evaluated from 10 subjects utilizing solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) and compared via Spearman Rank Correlations. Narrowing the compounds considered for each subject to only those common in all three samples, or a subject's "primary odor constituents," produced a greater degree of both individualization and discrimination; at both correlation thresholds of 0.9 and 0.8, the individuals were correctly discriminated and identified in 99.54% of the cases.     

An Unusual Zip Gun Suicide—Medicolegal and Ballistic Examination

Abstract:  Home-made guns are imitations of typical firearms and usually have handgun characteristics. This article presents an unusual case of a suicide carried out by means of a fatal gunshot wound to the head using a home-made zip gun. A 49-year-old male, with a history of paranoid psychosis was found dead in the dwelling place of a family house. The investigation at the crime scene did not lead to suspicion of a gunshot wound because of the unusual nature of the firearm used. A medical examiner diagnosed an opened head injury as the primary cause of the victim's death. The autopsy findings provided immediate grounds for further inspection of the crime scene. Subsequently, a simple zip gun, which had been overlooked during the scene investigation, was discovered. An undeformed projectile recovered from the victim's head was consistent with the use of the home-made firearm. Following the completion of the investigations and autopsy, the death was classified as a suicide.     

Death penalty views in China, Japan and the U.S.: An empirical comparison

Many nations impose the death penalty, yet most of the literature on capital punishment has focused on Western nations, particularly the U.S. China and Japan are two retentionist nations. Based on the data collected in 2005, this study examined the level of death penalty support and views on capital punishment among college students from China, Japan, and the U.S. It was found that Chinese respondents reported the highest level of death penalty support, followed by Japanese and U.S. students. Respondents from China and Japan were more likely to believe in the deterrence value of capital punishment than their U.S. counterparts. Views on retribution differed among the respondents. U.S. students were most likely to feel that innocent people are sentenced to death. In multivariate analyses, deterrence was the strongest correlate of death penalty views among Chinese and Japanese respondents, followed closely by retribution. For both Chinese and Japanese students, the barbarity of government taking the life of a person was the strongest predictor for opposing the death penalty. For U.S. respondents, retribution was the strongest reason for supporting capital punishment and the barbarity of executions was the strongest reason for opposing the death penalty.     

Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP): administrative implementation, interim final rule. Interim final rule with request for comments

The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to establish the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP or Program). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing this interim final rule with request for comments in order to establish administrative policies, procedures, and requirements for the CICP. This Program is designed to provide benefits to certain persons who sustain serious physical injuries or death as a direct result of administration or use of covered countermeasures identified by the Secretary in declarations issued under the PREP Act. In addition, the Secretary may provide death benefits to certain survivors of individuals who died as the direct result of such covered injuries or their health complications. The Secretary is seeking public comments on this interim final rule.     

Medical devices; radiology devices; reclassification of full-field digital mammography system. Final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the reclassification of the full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system from class III (premarket approval) to class II (special controls). The device type is intended to produce planar digital x-ray images of the entire breast; this generic type of device may include digital mammography acquisition software, full-field digital image receptor, acquisition workstation, automatic exposure control, image processing and reconstruction programs, patient and equipment supports, component parts, and accessories. The special control that will apply to the device is the guidance document entitled "Class II Special Controls Guidance Document: Full-Field Digital Mammography System." FDA is reclassifying the device into class II (special controls) because general controls along with special controls will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FDA is announcing the availability of the guidance document that will serve as the special control for this device.     

Amendments to general regulations of the Food and Drug Administration. Direct final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending certain of its general regulations to include tobacco products, where appropriate, in light of FDA's authority to regulate these products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act). With these amendments, tobacco products will be subject to the same general requirements that apply to other FDA-regulated products. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, we are publishing a companion proposed rule under FDA's usual procedures for notice and comment to provide a procedural framework to finalize the rule in the event we receive significant adverse comment and withdraw this direct final rule.     

Consuming Sex: Socio-legal Shifts in the Space and Place of Sex Shops

Materials defined as pornographic have always been subject to regulation because of the potential of such items to 'corrupt and deprave'. Yet the state and law has rarely sought to ban such materials, attempting instead to restrict their accessibility. The outcomes of such interventions have, however, rarely been predictable, an issue we explore with reference to the changing regulation of sex shops in Britain and France since the 1970s. Noting ambiguities in the legal definitions of spaces of sex retailing, this paper traces how diverse forms of control have combined to restrict the location of sex shops, simultaneously shaping their design, management, and marketing. Describing the emergence of gentrified and 'designer' stores, this paper demonstrates that regulation has been complicit in a process of neo-liberalization that has favoured more corporate sex shops – without this having ever been an explicit aim of those who have argued for the regulation of sex retailing.     

"客观归责"在中国犯罪论体系中的地位研究——以因果关系为切入点

客观归责理论是德国刑法理论界一个非常重要的热点问题,我国的理论界也对这一理论进行了研讨,但这种研讨还没有形成一定的规模,尤其是客观归责在我国犯罪构成中的地位,鲜有人涉及.作为一种移植来的舶来品,要在我国生根发芽,必须在我国的犯罪构成中有一席之地,才能真正的从理论走向实践.     

论适当性原则——引入立法事实的类型化审查强度理论

适当性原则是比例原则审查"目的手段关系"的第一阶段,要求手段必须有助于目的实现。面对"假想式因果关系"和主观性解释立场的质疑,立法事实论的引入有重要意义。适当性原则的立法事实论证呈现多元的审查强度,并且,个案中影响立法事实审查强度选择的具体参数有学理类型化的可能性。需要从推导方向、论证侧重、判断基准"时点"等方面,进一步规范适当性原则类型化审查强度的司法操作。