Color separation in forensic image processing

In forensic image processing, it is often important to be able to separate a feature from an interfering background or foreground, or to demonstrate colors within an image to be different from each other. In this study, a color deconvolution algorithm that could accomplish this task is described, and it is applied to color separation problems in document and fingerprint examination. Subtle color differences (sometimes invisible to the naked eye) are found to be sufficient, which is demonstrated successfully for several cases where color differences were shown to exist, or where colors were removed from the foreground or background. The software is available for free in the form of an Adobe Photoshop-compatible plug-in.     

A lesson in bureaucratic persistence: the provision of rehabilitation and resource management services in the Maritimes, 1943–81

Abstract One of the most interesting yet seldom analysed organizational phenomena concerns ‘bureaucratic persistence.’ It speaks to the uncanny capacity of some organizations to meet the requirements of survival over long periods of time. They do so typically through adaptive adjustments in their internal and external relations. This paper provides one of the first analyses of bureaucratic persistence in the Canadian system. It records the staying power of a Nova Scotia-based agency, the Maritime Marshlands Rehabilitation Administration (MMRA). Conceived in 1943 as an emergency repair project on one dyke in Amherst, it survived, grew and eventually underwent a metamorphosis to become the Maritime Resource Management Service (MSMS), providing sophisticated interdisciplinary resource management and information services to private and public users. As such, the MMRA-MRMS experience provides a convincing confirmation of bureaucratic persistence in Canada. It does more, however. The analysis shows that the specific dynamics of bureaucratic persistence owe much to the particular character of the regime within which it is found. In the case of MMRA-MRMK, the pre-eminence of cabinet in the legislative process and regional dynamics within the federal system were central. What is more, it becomes apparent that the continuation of a valid or a politically salient function must be a core element in bureaucratic persistence. Sommaire. La persistance bureaucratique est l'un des phénomènes organisationnels les plus fascinants mais il a pourtant été rarement analysé. II s'agit de l'étrange pouvoir qu'ont certaines organisations de satisfaire am exigences de survie pendant de longues périodes. Elles y arrivent habituellement grâce à des adaptations dans Ieurs relations internes et externes. Cet article présente l'une des premières analyses de persistance bureaucratique dans le système canadien. Il décrit comment s'est perpétuée une agence de Amherst en Nouvelle-Ecosse, connue sous le nom de Maritime Marshlands Rehabilitation Administration (MMRA). Conçu en 1943 comme un projet de réparation d'urgence d'une digue, cet organisme a surVécu, s'est élargi et s'est finalement transformé en Maritime Resource Management Service (MRMS); il a procuré au secteur public et privé d'excellents services interdisciplinaires d'information et de gestion de ressources. Le cas MMRA-MRMS foumit donc une confirmation convaincante de la persistance bureaucratique au Canada. Mais il ne s'arrête pas là. L'analyse démontre que la dynamique particulière de persistance bureaucratique dépend beaucoup du caractère spécifique du régime dans lequel elle se développe. Dans le cas du MMRA-MRMS, la prééminence du cabinet dans le processus légidatif et la dynamique régionale au sein du système fédéral étaient très importantes. Par ailleurs, il va sans dire qu'il est indispensable au phénomène de persistance bureaucratique que la fonction soit valide et politiquement importante.     

Violence and trauma: the past 20 and next 10 years

The issues of violence and trauma over the past 20 years have generated a significant amount of research. However, the development of each field has remained, for the most part, exclusive from the other. Therefore, the goal of this article is to address this shortcoming within the literature by responding to three important questions: (a) What is the most important thing we have learned about violence and trauma in the past 20 years? (b) What is the most important thing we need to learn in the next 10 years? and (c) What is the most promising methodological innovation in the past 20 years for the study or treatment of trauma or interpersonal violence? This article concludes that by increasing the discourse between the two fields, both research fields may be better able to develop conceptually, methodologically, and empirically.     

Evaluation of Purkait's triangle method for determining sexual dimorphism

The identification of sex from the skeleton is an important demographic assessment in medicolegal investigations. Rama Purkait developed a method for estimating sex using measurements from a triangle defined by three points on the proximal end of the femur using skeletal material from Bhopal, India. This method was tested with measurements on 200 Indo-European and African American adult femora from the Terry collection using discriminant function analysis to determine if Purkait's method was valuable for determining sex in Americans. A side-by-side analysis was conducted of Purkait's "triangle method" and the maximum diameter of the femoral head to determine their relative value in assessing sexual dimorphism. In the study sample a single variable from Purkait's method provided 85.5% prediction accuracy, similar to 87% for the head diameter. Combining threshold values for a single variable from Purkait's method and the femoral head diameter raised the predictability to greater than 90% for both sexes.     

Screening practices for adolescent dating violence

This study sought to determine the screening practices of child and adolescent psychiatrists regarding adolescent dating violence (DV). A questionnaire regarding screening practices for DV and other risk behaviors was administered to 817 child and adolescent psychiatrists via the Internet and mail. Twenty-one percent of clinicians screened for DV "more than 90% of the time," and 65% had identified it in the past year. Multiple logistic regression analyses found that screening for DV was associated with consistent screening for either substance use or interparental violence (OR=3.0 and 6.3, respectively). Despite the prevalence of DV, only a minority of psychiatrists screen their adolescent patients for this type of risk. These data suggest that screening for DV is associated with consistent screening practices for other risk behaviors. Screening rates may be improved with training and adherence to specific protocols.     

A validated SPME-GC-MS method for simultaneous quantification of club drugs in human urine

A solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (SPME-GC-MS) method has been developed and validated for measuring four club drugs in human urine. These drugs include gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), ketamine (KET), methamphetamine (MAMP), and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). These drugs are referred to as 'club drugs' because of their prevalence at parties and raves. Deuterium labeled internal standards for each of the four drugs was included in the assay to aid in quantitation. The drugs were spiked into human urine and derivatized using pyridine and hexylchloroformate to make them suitable for GC-MS analysis. The SPME conditions of extraction time/temperature and desorption time/temperature were optimized to yield the highest peak area for each of the four drugs. The final SPME parameters included a 90 degrees C extraction for 20min with a 1min desorption in the GC injector at 225 degrees C using a splitless injection. All SPME work was done using a 100microm PDMS fiber by Supelco. The ratio of pyridine to hexylchloroformate for derivatization was also optimized. The GC separation was carried out on a VF-5ht column by Varian (30m, 0.25mm i.d., 0.10microm film thickness) using a temperature program of 150-270 degrees C at 10 degrees C/min. The instrument used was a ThermoFinnigan Trace GC-Polaris Q interfaced with a LEAP CombiPal autosampler. The data was collected by using extracted ion chromatograms of marker m/z values for each drug from the total ion chromatograms (TIC) (full scan mode). Calibration curves with R(2)>0.99 were generated each day using the peak area ratios (peak area drug/peak area internal standard) versus concentration. The validated method resulted in intra-day and inter-day precision (% R.S.D.) of less than 15% and a % error of less than 15% for four concentrations in the range of 0.05-20microg/mL (MAMP) and 0.10-20microg/mL (GHB, KET, and MDMA). This method has the advantage of an easy sample preparation with acceptable accuracy and precision for the simultaneous quantification of these four drugs of abuse and shows no interference from the urine matrix.     

The Importance of Contract Design

This article examines the contract design decisions of three federal agencies—the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Homeland Security—using five years of data from the Federal Procurement Data System. Three basic contract design elements are charted—type (fixed price versus cost reimbursement), length, and value—across simple to complex products. All three agencies use short‐term, fixed‐price contracts for the majority of the purchases that they make. This basic contract design allows agencies to tap the benefits of competition: innovation and cost‐efficiency. However, the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security often dramatically increase the length and value of contracts through modifications to initial agreements. This approach forgoes the benefits of competition and may expose the agency to the risk of cost overruns, delivery delays, and diminished product quality.     

Using the level of service inventory-revised to improve assessment and treatment in drug court

More than 2,000 drug courts in the United States provide supervision and substance-abuse treatment to thousands of offenders. Yet the treatment continuum from assessment to aftercare is underexplored. The effectiveness of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) as a risk assessment tool is well established. However, fewer studies have considered its use in guiding treatment strategies. In using the LSI-R, the drug court program relied on the structured interview protocol (not the risk classification scores) to identify criminogenic needs that then helped determine placement in a high- or low-needs treatment track. To evaluate the effectiveness of these treatment placement decisions, this research used the LSI-R scores to examine individual and group differences (N = 182). Significant and substantive differences at the individual and group levels were found thus providing empirical support for using the LSI-R as a link between assessment and treatment. Implications for developing standards and practice protocols for drug courts are discussed.