An unusual blunt force trauma pattern and mechanism to the cranial vault: Investigation of an atypical infant homicide

This case report presents an unusual fracture pattern in the cranium of a four-month-old infant indicative of child abuse. Upon postmortem examination, the infant presented with numerous bilateral linear cranial fractures running perpendicular to the sagittal suture with depressed and curvilinear fractures apparent on the supra-auricular surfaces of the cranium. Histological evidence indicates multiple traumatic events to the cranium. In addition, the stair-step pattern of a parietal fracture may represent multiple contiguous fractures from repeated loading of the head at different times with variation of the focal points of compressive force. Additionally, the left humerus, left radius, and left ulna have healing metaphyseal fractures, and the left ulna also has an antemortem diaphyseal fracture which resulted in the distal metaphysis being rotated 45 degrees medially. Integration of autopsy, anthropological, and neuropathological reports for this case suggest multiple inflicted injury episodes with a repeated atypical mechanism(s) to the cranial vault of the infant. During investigative interviews, the caretaker admitted to squeezing the infant's head and neck on multiple occasions to quiet the child. This reported abusive mechanism is consistent with the pattern of symmetric cranial fractures and soft tissue injuries indicating asphyxiation. This case report provides forensic investigators with a potential trauma mechanism to explore in cases when a similar pattern of cranial trauma is observed and highlights the need for greater research on fracture propagation and fracture healing in the infant cranium.     

A forensic examination of four popular cross‐platform file‐sharing apps with Wi‐Fi P2P

File‐sharing apps with Wi‐Fi hotspot or Wi‐Fi Direct functions become more popular. They can work on multiple platforms and allow users to transfer files in a concealed manner. However, when criminals use these apps in illegal activities, it becomes an important issue for investigators to find digital evidence on multiple platforms. At present, there are few studies on this topic, and most of them are limited to the single platform problem. In this paper, we propose a forensic examination method for four popular cross‐platform file‐sharing apps with Wi‐Fi hotspot and Wi‐Fi Direct functions: Zapya, SHAREit, Xender, and Feem. We use 22 static and live forensic tools for 11 platforms to acquire, analyze, and classify the forensic artifacts. In our experiments, we find many useful forensic artifacts and classify them into six categories. The experimental results can support law enforcement investigations of digital evidence and provide information for future studies on other cross‐platform file‐sharing apps.     

Validation of the 4‐aminophenol color test for the differentiation of marijuana‐type and hemp‐type cannabis

The analysis of cannabis plant material submitted to seized‐drug laboratories was significantly affected by the signing of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, which defined hemp and removed it from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act. As a result, field law enforcement personnel and forensic laboratories now are in need of implementing new protocols that can distinguish between marijuana‐type and hemp‐type cannabis. Colorimetric tests provide a cost‐effective and efficient manner to presumptively identify materials prior to submission to a laboratory for analysis. This work presents the validation of the 4‐aminophenol (4‐AP) color test and demonstrates its utility for discriminating between marijuana‐type and hemp‐type cannabis (i.e., typification). Validation studies included the testing of numerous cannabinoid reference materials, household herbs, previously characterized cannabis plant samples, and real‐case samples. The 4‐AP test reliably produces a pink result when the level of Δ⁹‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is approximately three times lower than the level of cannabidiol (CBD). A blue result is generated when the level of THC is approximately three times higher than that of CBD. Inconclusive results are observed when the levels of THC and CBD are within a factor of three from each other, demonstrating the limitations of the test under those scenarios.     

The effect of household corrosive substances on latent fingermark development in the context of deliberate corrosive substance attacks

Corrosive substance attacks (CSA) are a prevalent issue in the UK with 525 offenses involving a corrosive substance reported to the police in the year ending March 2022. Easy availability, low cost, and concealability in public are common reasons for choosing a corrosive substance as a weapon. The Metropolitan Police revealed that 68% of 1849 CSA cases resulted in no suspect identified or evidential difficulties. There is limited research into the effect of corrosive substances on latent fingermarks. This study aimed to determine the potential for fingermarks to be recovered from surfaces exposed to a household corrosive substance within the context of a deliberate CSA. Natural and sebaceous-loaded fingermarks were exposed to Domestos bleach, Harpic limescale remover (hydrochloric acid-based) and lemon juice. Harpic limescale remover had the most detrimental effect, with only 7.1% of fingermarks (n = 378) exposed being identifiable (defined as sufficient clear ridge detail for identification) after enhancement, followed by bleach with only 10.3% of fingermarks (n = 378) identifiable. Lemon juice had the least detrimental effect on fingermarks, with 40.5% fingermarks (n = 378) identifiable compared to 53.4% for the controls (not exposed to any substance; n = 378). Throughout the study, fewer natural fingermarks were identifiable after exposure to corrosive substances compared to sebaceous fingermarks which was as expected. Overall, this study demonstrated that there is potential to recover latent fingermarks, depending on their composition, following exposure to a household corrosive substance. This area warrants further research to establish best practice to maximize the potential to recover identifiable fingermarks.     

我国近年来反腐败问题研究综述

本文从腐败本质问题界定、腐败行为特征及其成因、腐败测度、反腐败策略四个方面,对我国反腐败问题进行了文献综述。本文提出,腐败是滥用公共权力谋取特殊权利的一切行为。当前我国腐败行为呈现出绝对权力腐败猖獗、从滥用公共权力向滥用公共资源转变、腐败手段更加复杂和隐蔽、灰色腐败倾向明显等新特征。滥用权力的欲望、官员的经济理性、公共权力寻租、行政监督缺位、行政道德失范是腐败产生的主要原因。中国应创新腐败测度方法,科学测度腐败程度,推进反腐国际化。客观权衡腐败零容忍、全面反腐、权力反腐的利弊,综合使用经济处罚、道德教育与法律惩处手段,加强对腐败行为的行政监督。     

Clarifying the complex chemistry of cobalt(II) thiocyanate-based tests for cocaine using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic techniques

Cobalt(II) thiocyanate-based tests are routinely used to screen cocaine products, with the formation of a blue species interpreted as a positive response. An array of other organic bases has been identified as false positives – including well-documented cocaine product adulterant lidocaine and its salt. False positives prompt continued test development, though improvements are hindered by unresolved product structures and reaction pathways. Toward greater clarity, cobalt(II) thiocyanate reactions with cocaine hydrochloride, along with lidocaine and its salt, were investigated using multiple analytical techniques. Reactions involving cocaine hydrochloride yielded glassy, amorphous blue material while reactions of lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate produced larger, needle-like crystals whose structure was determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction to be an ion pair (Hlidocaine⁺)₂([Co(SCN)₄]²⁻)·H₂O. While the blue precipitate isolated from reactions involving cocaine hydrochloride was unsuitable for crystallographic structure determination, comparative ultraviolet–visible, attenuated total reflectance infrared, and Raman spectroscopic analysis – along with elemental analysis – supports that this solid is comprised of a comparable ion pair (Hcocaine⁺)₂[Co(SCN)₄]²⁻. Pink crystals isolated from lidocaine reaction vessels were identified as coordination compounds cis-[CoL₂(SCN)₂] and trans-[CoL₂(SCN)₂] where L = lidocaine, while pink crystals from both cocaine hydrochloride and lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate reaction vessels were the coordination polymer trans-[Co(H₂O)₂(SCN)₂]·H₂O. The results presented herein enable reaction optimization to favor a desired product, whether ion pair or coordination species.     

Supply response reconsidered: Cocoa in Western Nigeria, 1909–44

This essay uses time‐series data on cocoa plantings in Western Nigeria to re‐examine some popular conclusions about the price responsiveness of farmers in underdeveloped economies. Annual variations in the rate of planting were found to be more closely related to farmers’ income from cocoa sales than to current price. Qualitative evidence suggests that longer‐term trends in cocoa plantings were also influenced by changing opportunity costs and by the institutional structure of rural factor markets. These results cast some doubt on commonly accepted capital stock adjustment models of investment in tree crops, which assume that farmers rely heavily on forecasting future price trends when deciding how much to plant. Given the uncertainty of future crop prices, it seems more likely that farmers plant more trees when they can afford to do so, so long as opportunity costs are not prohibitive.     

From General to Commissioner to General—On the Popular State of Policing in South Africa

Less than two decades after the end of apartheid, South Africa is witnessing a range of policy interventions that almost iconoclastically challenge the premises of democratic governance. Police military ranks have been reintroduced and an exemplary postapartheid law governing the use of lethal force has also been amended in favor of police discretion. Simultaneously, however, community policing, a benchmark for democratic policing, is being rolled out on unprecedented scale. This article argues that the seemingly contradictory mobilization of militarized policing and popular civilian institutional forms has a definite logic and captures the postcolonial condition of policing in South Africa: a populist‐oriented ANC administration has allowed practices of popular policing underwritten by a desire for a forceful state to capture the law that had previously restrained this kind of policing. The result is a violent but intimate relationship between police and people, a situation in which the law is estranged from itself and normalized into the informal realm of private policing.     

On the Success of AmeriCorps Programs in Strengthening Communities: Evidence from Florida

In 1993 President Clinton signed into law the National and Community Service Trust Act, the centerpiece of which was a new national service initiative—AmeriCorps. The overall purpose of AmeriCorps was to promote community building through volunteer service. AmeriCorps was one high-profile program established in part to highlight government-nonprofit partnerships and their capacity to improve communities and service delivery to the most vulnerable in communities—poor children, frail elderly, and teenagers who are at risk of dropping out of school or getting into serious juvenile delinquency problems. AmeriCorps' programs nationally work to achieve three goals—Getting Things Done, Member Development, and Strengthening Communities. Few of the studies on AmeriCorps have explicitly studied their impact on community strengthening. This article reports on a two-year study of twenty two AmeriCorps programs in Florida from 1997–2000, emphasizing their objectives and success in community strengthening. Program results are limited. The programs increased the number of volunteers delivering their services and developed one or more community partner organizations at each site. Nearly all of the program staff and community partners believed that the AmeriCorps programs positively influenced the community's self-help capacity to some extent. However, data indicating broader community strengthening impacts were hard to find and difficult to track. Reasons for this relatively modest impact on broader community strengthening goals are articulated based on surveys, interviews, and site visits.