LSD and 9,10-dihydro-LSD Analyses in Street Drug Blotter Samples via Easy Ambient Sonic-Spray Ionization MassSpectrometry (EASI-MS)

Normally, the identification of the LSD drug is performed by forensic laboratories, using the Ehrlich spot test. However, this is a nonspecific analysis. Additionally, the Brazilian Federal Police has identified the presence of a new compound in seized blotters: 9,10-dihydro-LSD, an uncontrolled substance. In this work, easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry in the positive ion mode, EASI(+)-MS, was used to characterize LSD and 9,10-dihydro-LSD compositions directly from the surface of blotters. The presence of LSD in the seized blotter samples were also confirmed via high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detector. In a set of 41 blotters analyzed by EASI(+)-MS, 28 showed positive results for LSD, seven for 9,10-dihydro-LSD, and another six samples showed negative results for both LSD and 9,10-dihydro-LSD. The combination of thin layer chromatography with EASI-MS also demonstrated to be a relatively simple and powerful screening tool for forensic analysis of street drugs.     

An assessment of the repeatability of pubic and ischial measurements

Forensic anthropologists frequently use measurements of the human skeleton to determine sex and ancestry. Since the establishment of the Daubert criteria of admissibility of scientific evidence to court, methodologies used by anthropologists came under severe scrutiny. It is therefore important to ensure that the osteometric standards that are used in skeletal analyses are clearly explained, repeatable and reliable. Adams and Byrd (2002) found that measurements of the pelvis that originated from a point inside the acetabulum could not be repeated accurately. The purpose of this paper was to use three different sets of pubic and ischial measurements to establish whether they can be repeated with high precision between four different observers, and also by the observers themselves. Generally, high levels of repeatability were obtained, with intra-class correlations (ICC) above 0.8. Pubic and ischial measurements using a point in the acetabulum as origin performed the worst (ICC values of 0.82 and 0.79 respectively for inter-observer repeatability), whereas other methods performed better with ICC values above 0.9. It is advised that pubic and ischial measurements should be taken using the origin of the iliac blade as landmark.     

Elemental analysis of glass by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (LA-ICP-OES)

The elemental analysis of glass evidence has been established as a powerful discrimination tool for forensic analysts. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (LA-ICP-OES) has been compared to laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and energy dispersive micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μXRF/EDS) as competing instrumentation for the elemental analysis of glass. The development of a method for the forensic analysis of glass coupling laser ablation to ICP-OES is presented for the first time. LA-ICP-OES has demonstrated comparable analytical performance to LA-ICP-MS based on the use of the element menu, Al (Al I 396.15 nm), Ba (Ba II 455.40 nm), Ca (Ca II 315.88 nm), Fe (Fe II 238.20 nm), Li (Li I 670.78 nm), Mg (Mg I 285.21 nm), Sr (Sr II 407.77 nm), Ti (Ti II 368.51 nm), and Zr (Zr II 343.82 nm). The relevant figures of merit, such as precision, accuracy and sensitivity, are presented and compared to LA-ICP-MS. A set of 41 glass samples was used to assess the discrimination power of the LA-ICP-OES method in comparison to other elemental analysis techniques. This sample set consisted of several vehicle glass samples that originated from the same source (inside and outside windshield panes) and several glass samples that originated from different vehicles. Different match criteria were used and compared to determine the potential for Type I and Type II errors. It was determined that broader match criteria is more applicable to the forensic comparison of glass analysis because it can reduce the affect that micro-heterogeneity inherent in the glass fragments and a less than ideal sampling strategy can have on the interpretation of the results. Based on the test set reported here, a plus or minus four standard deviation (± 4s) match criterion yielded the lowest possibility of Type I and Type II errors. The developed LA-ICP-OES method has been shown to perform similarly to LA-ICP-MS in the discrimination among different sources of glass while offering the advantages of a lower cost of acquisition and operation of analytical instrumentation making ICP-OES a possible alternative elemental analysis method for the forensic laboratory.     

Volition versus feasibility: state aid when aid is looked upon favourably: the broadband example

The European Commission published on September 30, 2009, Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to rapid deployment of broadband networks. These Guidelines are applicable to two markets that are connected, although somewhat different. In ??traditional?? or ??first generation?? broadband networks, public intervention mainly relates to rural communities or areas which are economically underdeveloped. Therefore, a corrective nature of the aid is maintained. However, the Guidelines are also applied to accelerate the deployment of next-generation access (NGA) networks, which implies a driving conception of State aid, as this is an emerging market and there are relatively few Europeans who have access to these networks. The analysis of these Guidelines thus seems relevant due to its novelty and, particularly, to the results that it can bring.     

Public Reason Between Ethics and Law

Rawls says that public reason is the reason of the citizens of a democratic state and takes the Supreme Court in the USA as the exemplar of public reason. It differs from non public reason, which is used e.g., in universities and academic institutions. Rawls contrasts with Kant, which opposes the public reason of the scholar??or the philosopher??, who speaks before the world, to the private reason of state or church officials. The later, once they accept an authority, cannot think by themselves (selbst denken). A closer examination shows that Rawls is not so far from Kant as it seems, because he takes the constitutional judges not as they are, but as they should be. However Rawls still apparently refuses Kant??s unity of reason. Further investigation of the relations between ethical reason, democratic reason and legal reason is needed. Democratic reason is tantamount both to public reason and to legal reason in a modern constitutional state. It is a requirement of ethics but still not identical with ethical reason, since it is possible to accept democratic reason and to argue against it from an ethical point of view. There is just one good way of reasoning, in spite of the constraints that the sources of law and the rules of procedure impose on legal reasoning, compared with ethics. Such constraints are based on the democratic principle, which is again based on ethical reason, which at last both grounds and limits the constraints that law imposes on reason.     

Developmental validation of the AmpFℓSTR® Identifiler® Plus PCR Amplification Kit: an established multiplex assay with improved performance

Abstract: Analysis of length polymorphism at short tandem repeat (STR) loci utilizing multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) remains the primary method for genotyping forensic samples. The AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® Plus PCR Amplification Kit is an improved version of the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® PCR Amplification Kit and amplifies the core CODIS loci: D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, CSF1PO, FGA, TH01, TPOX, and vWA. Additional loci amplified in the multiplex reaction are the sex‐determinant, amelogenin, and two internationally accepted loci, D2S1338 and D19S433. While the primer sequences and dye configurations were unchanged, the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® Plus PCR Amplification Kit features an enhanced buffer formulation and an optimized PCR cycling protocol that increases sensitivity, provides better tolerance to PCR inhibitors, and improves performance on mixture samples. The AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® Plus PCR Amplification Kit has been validated according to the FBI/National Standards and Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) guidelines. The validation results support the use of the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® Plus PCR Amplification Kit for human identity and parentage testing.     

Trust in the proposed EU regulation on trust services?

A few months after ICRI's 20th anniversary conference the European Commission adopted on 4 June 2012 a draft regulation “on electronic identification and trusted services for electronic transactions in the internal market”. The proposed legal framework is intended to give legal effect and mutual recognition to trust services including enhancing current rules on e-signatures and providing a legal framework for electronic seals, time stamping, electronic document acceptability, electronic delivery and website authentication. Yet, this draft Regulation provokes many questions with regard to the implicit “trust” concept on which it is based. Starting from their experience in the EU FP7 uTRUSTit project (Usable Trust in the Internet of Things: www.utrustit.eu) and in other ICRI research projects, Jos Dumortier and Niels Vandezande have analyzed the proposed legislative text of the European Commission and wrote a few critical observations. Although obviously not presented at the conference in November 2011, it seemed worthwhile to add this contribution to its proceedings.     

Medical responsibility in the operating room: the example of an amniotic fluid embolism

Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) continues to be one of the most feared complications of pregnancy. A healthy 32-year-old woman died during delivery after a normal 39-week third pregnancy. The family filed a complaint with a criminal court as the causes of death appeared unclear. No risk factor associated with AFE was identified. Clinical presentation was typical, including sudden onset of cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms. Autopsy confirmed the histological diagnosis of amniotic embolism and excluded an iatrogenic cause of death or anesthetic malpractice. This article highlights the value of both antemortem records and histological features in establishing the diagnosis of AFE and demonstrates the fundamental importance of autopsy in an unexpected death related directly or indirectly to a medical procedure.