Evaluating the Short-Run Benefits of Six Department of Energy R&;D Projects

This paper evaluates the short-run benefits of research and development (R&D) projects funded by the Automotive Lightweighting Materials (ALM) Program of the Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The six ALM projects evaluated—using qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods—yielded numerous benefits in the short-run. From the qualitative assessment, all met their technical goals, increased intellectual knowledge among the research teams, and led to increased collaboration among DOE, the auto industry, its suppliers, and national laboratories. Moreover, U.S. competitiveness appeared to have increased as a result of each R&D effort. One interesting finding, however, is that most of the participants indicated their firms would not have engaged in the research efforts without DOE funding. If they had engaged in the effort, it would have been with considerably less person time and financial commitment. With respect to quantitative measures, several graduate students were supported by the projects and numerous publications and presentations resulted, although these metrics varied across the ALM R&D projects.     

MALTREATED CHILDREN'S ABILITY TO ESTIMATE TEMPORAL LOCATION AND NUMEROSITY OF PLACEMENT CHANGES AND COURT VISITS

Research examining children's temporal knowledge has tended to utilize brief temporal intervals and singular, neutral events, and is not readily generalizable to legal settings in which maltreated children are asked temporal questions about salient, repeated abuse that often occurred in the distant past. To understand how well maltreated children can describe temporal location and numerosity of documented, personal experiences, we assessed 167 6- to 10-year-old maltreated children's temporal memory for changes in their living arrangements and prior visits to court. Small percentages of children were capable of providing exact temporal location information (age, month, or season) regarding their first or last placement or court experience, or numerosities for placements or court visits. Greater knowledge of current temporal locations did not predict better performance. However, older children's performance for several temporal judgments was better than chance, and their reports were not largely discrepant from the truth. Findings suggest caution when questioning maltreated children about when and how many times prior events occurred.     

Forensic Analysis of mtDNA Haplotypes from Two Rural Communities in Haiti Reflects Their Population History

Abstract: Very little genetic data exist on Haitians, an estimated 1.2 million of whom, not including illegal immigrants, reside in the United States. The absence of genetic data on a population of this size reduces the discriminatory power of criminal and missing‐person DNA databases in the United States and Caribbean. We present a forensic population study that provides the first genetic data set for Haiti. This study uses hypervariable segment one (HVS‐1) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) nucleotide sequences from 291 subjects primarily from rural areas of northern and southern Haiti, where admixture would be minimal. Our results showed that the African maternal genetic component of Haitians had slightly higher West‐Central African admixture than African‐Americans and Dominicans, but considerably less than Afro‐Brazilians. These results lay the foundation for further forensic genetics studies in the Haitian population and serve as a model for forensic mtDNA identification of individuals in other isolated or rural communities.     

An inconclusive digital audio authenticity examination: a unique case

This case report sets forth an authenticity examination of 35 encrypted, proprietary-format digital audio files containing recorded telephone conversations between two codefendants in a criminal matter. The codefendant who recorded the conversations did so on a recording system he developed; additionally, he was both a forensic audio authenticity examiner, who had published and presented in the field, and was the head of a professional audio society's writing group for authenticity standards. The authors conducted the examination of the recordings following nine laboratory steps of the peer-reviewed and published 11-step digital audio authenticity protocol. Based considerably on the codefendant's direct involvement with the development of the encrypted audio format, his experience in the field of forensic audio authenticity analysis, and the ease with which the audio files could be accessed, converted, edited in the gap areas, and reconstructed in such a way that the processes were undetected, the authors concluded that the recordings could not be scientifically authenticated through accepted forensic practices.     

Personal identification of cold case remains through combined contribution from anthropological, mtDNA, and bomb-pulse dating analyses

In 1968, a child's cranium was recovered from the banks of a northern Canadian river and held in a trust until the "cold case" was reopened in 2005. The cranium underwent reanalysis at the Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, using recently developed anthropological analysis, "bomb-pulse" radiocarbon analysis, and forensic DNA techniques. Craniometrics, skeletal ossification, and dental formation indicated an age-at-death of 4.4 ± 1 year. Radiocarbon analysis of enamel from two teeth indicated a year of birth between 1958 and 1962. Forensic DNA analysis indicated the child was a male, and the obtained mitochondrial profile matched a living maternal relative to the presumed missing child. These multidisciplinary analyses resulted in a legal identification 41 years after the discovery of the remains, highlighting the enormous potential of combining radiocarbon analysis with anthropological and mtDNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications for forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years.     

Intoxicated eyewitnesses: Better than their reputation?

According to law enforcement, many witnesses are intoxicated either at the time of the crime, the interview, or both (Evans et al., Public Policy Law 15(3):194-221, 2009). However, no study to date has examined whether intoxicated witnesses' recall is different from sober witnesses' and whether they are more vulnerable to misinformation using an ecologically valid experimental design. Intoxicated, placebo, and sober witnesses observed a live, staged theft, overheard subsequent misinformation about the theft, and took part in an investigative interview. Participants generally believed they witnessed a real crime and experienced a real interview. Intoxicated witnesses were not different from placebo or sober witnesses in the number of accurate details, inaccurate details, or "don't know" answers reported. All the participants demonstrated a misinformation effect, but there were no differences between intoxication levels: Intoxicated participants were not more susceptible to misinformation than sober or placebo participants. Results are discussed in the light of their theoretical and applied relevance.     

Who Is the Client and Who Controls Release of Records in a Forensic Evaluation? A Review of Ethics Codes and Practice Guidelines

Forensic psychologists often refuse to release evaluation records, especially to the evaluee. One justification for this practice is based on the ethical positions that the referral source “is the client” and “controls release of records” (also found in the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology). To determine whether these ethical positions are shared by the field of forensic mental health, official documents from forensic mental health organizations were used as a proxy for these views. Thirty-four supporting arguments for either position were identified from the literature; it was postulated that official documents would support both positions and utilize supporting arguments. Fifty-four official documents were discovered, and qualitative analysis was used to construct a 17-category model of official views. Neither position was supported by a majority of documents, and few of the supporting arguments were utilized by supportive documents. The positions are unsupported because official documents espouse a wide diversity of views, there are a number of logical flaws in supporting arguments, and even official APA documents hold conflicting views. Ethical arguments are advanced for contrary positions, and the referral-source-control of records release is contrary to law. A more ethical view is that the psychologist may have multiple, possibly conflicting responsibilities to multiple entities; the psychologist’s roles and responsibilities should be clarified with each entity using an informed consent process. Psychologists should release records at the behest of the evaluee, lest they be subject to licensing discipline, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) complaints, and/or civil sanctions. Recommendations are offered for psychologists, future ethics codes and professional practice guidelines, and test security practices.     

Fatal intoxication involving 2-methyl AP-237

Novel synthetic opioids contribute considerably to the opioid epidemic, especially with the frequent emergence of structurally similar compounds. This case report describes a fatal intoxication involving 2-methyl AP-237. A 54-year-old Caucasian male was found deceased from an apparent drug overdose. A plastic container labeled “2MAP” and a cut straw were found in the decedent's backpack at the scene. A white substance found in the container tested positive for fentanyl by field testing. According to his medical history, the decedent was treated for a drug overdose 3 years prior to his death. With no diagnostic findings at autopsy, the case was submitted for toxicological analysis. An unknown substance was detected in peripheral blood and urine using gas chromatography with nitrogen phosphorous detection (GC-NPD). Further testing was conducted using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) which confirmed the presence of 2-methyl AP-237 and potential metabolites in blood and urine. Quantitation by GC-NPD revealed concentrations of 2-methyl AP-237 in blood and urine at 480 ng/mL and 4200 ng/mL, respectively. The toxicological analysis also identified and quantitated alprazolam in the blood at 55 ng/mL. Additionally, the metabolism of 2-methyl AP-237 was investigated and three hydroxylated metabolites were identified in peripheral blood and urine. Limited literature is available for the detection and quantitation of 2-methyl AP-237 in postmortem specimens. Given the toxicological findings with unremarkable autopsy findings, this case is an example of a fatal intoxication involving 2-methyl AP-237.