Using brain MERMER testing to detect knowledge despite efforts to conceal

This experiment examined the accuracy and reliability of the memory and encoding related multifaceted electroencephalographic response (MERMER) technique for detecting information related to events subjects have experienced, despite subjects' efforts to conceal that knowledge. Information obtained through interviews was used to develop stimulus sets consisting of words and phrases presented to subjects visually by computer. Sets were composed of three types of stimuli: life experience-related (Probes), stimuli the subject was asked to memorize and respond to (Targets), and irrelevant information (Irrelevants). Each set of stimuli was tested on two individuals: (1) one individual who had participated in the event in question--and thus had the relevant information stored in his/her brain, and (2) one who had not. Six subjects were tested. Electrical brain responses to the stimuli were recorded non-invasively from the scalp and analyzed. MERMERs, (memory and encoding related multifaceted electroencephalographic responses), of which the P300 is a sub-component, were used to determine whether the subject had the relevant information stored in his brain (information present) or not (information absent), thus indicating whether or not each subject had participated in the real-life event in question. Bootstrapping was used to analyze and compare the responses to the three types of stimuli. As predicted, MERMERs were elicited by Probe stimuli only in the subjects who had participated in the investigated event, by Target stimuli in all subjects, and in no case by Irrelevant stimuli. For each of the six subjects, brain MERMER testing correctly determined whether the subject had participated in and consequently knew about the event in question (information present) or had not participated (information absent). The statistical confidence for this determination was 99.9% in five cases and 90.0% in one case. The article concludes with a discussion of areas of future research and the potential for using this new technology as an investigative tool in criminal cases.     

The role of DNA in criminal indictments in Israel

In their investigations of criminal cases, law enforcement agencies rely heavily on forensic evidence. Numerous studies have examined the scientific and technological advancements of DNA testing, but little evidence exists on how the availability of DNA evidence influences prosecutors' decisions to move cases forward in the criminal justice system. We created a new database by juxtaposing data from the Forensics Division of the Israel Police, which recorded the presence (or not) of DNA profiles in criminal cases (n = 9862), and data on the indictment decision for each case (2008–2019). Rates of indictments are computed for each case, and trend lines are used to present variations in the rates of indictment decisions with and without DNA profiles. Approximately 15% of all criminal cases without DNA presented to the prosecutor's office are subsequently prosecuted, compared with nearly 55% of cases with DNA profiles. The presence of DNA evidence influences the prosecutor's decision to move a case forward in the criminal justice system. Utilizing a scientific approach to prosecute offenders is a welcome development; however, DNA evidence is not infallible, and caution must be exercised in regard to DNA's overuse in the legal system.     

Accuracy of comparison decisions by forensic firearms examiners

This black box study assessed the performance of forensic firearms examiners in the United States. It involved three different types of firearms and 173 volunteers who performed a total of 8640 comparisons of both bullets and cartridge cases. The overall false-positive error rate was estimated as 0.656% and 0.933% for bullets and cartridge cases, respectively, while the rate of false negatives was estimated as 2.87% and 1.87% for bullets and cartridge cases, respectively. The majority of errors were made by a limited number of examiners. Because chi-square tests of independence strongly suggest that error probabilities are not the same for each examiner, these are maximum-likelihood estimates based on the beta-binomial probability model and do not depend on an assumption of equal examiner-specific error rates. Corresponding 95% confidence intervals are (0.305%, 1.42%) and (0.548%, 1.57%) for false positives for bullets and cartridge cases, respectively, and (1.89%, 4.26%) and (1.16%, 2.99%) for false negatives for bullets and cartridge cases, respectively. The results of this study are consistent with prior studies, despite its comprehensive design and challenging specimens.     

Establishing Identity: How Direct‐to‐Consumer Genetic Testing Challenges the Assumption of Donor Anonymity

The rise of direct‐to‐consumer genetic testing is challenging the rules and expectations of the fertility industry concerning donor anonymity. While ethicists debate whose rights should prevail, many donor conceived people, recipient parents and donors are currently sharing their genetic information, along with methods to identify genetic links, in vast online communities, invalidating donor anonymity and providing a platform for those who advocate globally for legislative change to support donor‐linking practices. This article looks at why it is important to access this information in relation to identity and kinship formation and how the Family Court Community can apply this knowledge in order to achieve better outcomes for children and families.     

Financial performance studies of university spin-off companies (USOs) in the West Midlands

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Doubts remain over the true impact of university spin-offs (USOs), particularly those created outside elite research universities. This paper examines the...     

Mid Staffordshire: a Case Study of Failed Governance and Leadership?

The public inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC into failings of care at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust made 290 recommendations about matters including: standards of patient care in the National Health Service (NHS); organisational culture and leadership; the use of data and information; the need for greater openness; and compassionate and committed nursing. In this paper, we argue that Mid Staffordshire represented a profound failure of governance and leadership. We use findings from a national research study to analyse the response made by the boards and leadership of NHS hospitals to the inquiry recommendations, setting out the repertoire of board roles and behaviours required for the governance of safe and effective care.     

Early Voting Changes and Voter Turnout: North Carolina in the 2016 General Election

North Carolina offers its residents the opportunity to cast early in-person (EIP) ballots prior to Election Day, a practice known locally as “One-Stop” voting. Following a successful legal challenge to the state’s controversial 2013 Voter Information and Verification Act, North Carolina’s 100 counties were given wide discretion over the hours and locations of EIP voting for the 2016 General Election. This discretion yielded a patchwork of election practices across the state, providing us with a set of natural experiments to study the effect of changes in early voting hours on voter turnout. Drawing on individual-level voting records from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, our research design matches voters on race, party, and geography. We find little evidence that changes to early opportunities in North Carolina had uniform effects on voter turnout. Nonetheless, we do identify areas in the presidential battleground state where voters appear to have reacted to local changes in early voting availability, albeit not always in directions consistent with the existing literature. We suspect that effects of changes to early voting rules are conditional on local conditions, and future research on the effects of election law changes on turnout should explore these conditions in detail.

     

If Immigrants Could Vote in the UK: A Thought Experiment with Data from the 2015 General Election

The distribution of voting rights in the UK is an artefact of history rather than a product of clear legal or philosophical principles. Consequently, some resident aliens (i.e. immigrants) have the right to vote in all UK elections; others can vote in local elections but are excluded from national elections; still others are excluded from all elections. In England and Wales alone, roughly 2.3 million immigrants are excluded from voting in national elections. This exclusion is inconsistent with the founding principle of democracy and distorts political discourse. What if all immigrants could vote in national elections? We estimate that up to ninety‐five parliamentary seats could have been won by a different party in the 2015 general election. More substantially, enfranchising all immigrants would require re‐drawing UK constituency boundaries. The new electoral map would increase the relative power of urban constituencies and would incentivise some political entrepreneurs and parties to temper anti‐immigration rhetoric.     

The Motivational Effects of Mission Matching: A Lab‐Experimental Test of a Moderated Mediation Model

Scholarly literature finds positive motivational effects of matching workers and missions. However, the psychological mechanisms behind this matching effect have not been explored. This article develops and tests a moderated mediation model of mission matching in which meaningfulness serves as an intervening mechanism that explains the association between mission matching and effort. It also considers how individual differences in prosocial motivation influence the intervening role of meaningfulness. Using a real‐effort laboratory experiment with monetary incentives, the article shows that matched subjects exert more effort than mismatched subjects, that this effect is mediated by increases in meaningfulness, that prosociality moderates the effect of a match on meaningfulness, and that the indirect effect of a match on effort through increases in meaningfulness varies as a function of prosociality. These results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of mission matching and suggest that matching may be particularly important for certain types of workers.