A Prototype of Mathematical Treatment of Pen Pressure Data for Signature Verification

A prototype using simple mathematical treatment of the pen pressure data recorded by a digital pen movement recording device was derived. In this study, a total of 48 sets of signature and initial specimens were collected. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to compare the data of the pen pressure patterns. From the 820 pair comparisons of the 48 sets of genuine signatures, a high degree of matching was found in which 95.4% (782 pairs) and 80% (656 pairs) had rPA > 0.7 and rPA > 0.8, respectively. In the comparison of the 23 forged signatures with their corresponding control signatures, 20 of them (89.2% of pairs) had rPA values < 0.6, showing a lower degree of matching when compared with the results of the genuine signatures. The prototype could be used as a complementary technique to improve the objectivity of signature examination and also has a good potential to be developed as a tool for automated signature identification.     

Exploitation of the Ultraviolet Properties and Machine Cut Edges of Paper to Associate and Sequence Sheets in a Ream

Previously unreported line patterns visible under ultraviolet light were observed on a proportion of plain white A4 printer/copier paper from different manufacturers. These Ultraviolet Line Patterns (UVLPs) usually appear as stripes down the vertical length of the paper. Typically, the UVLPs were found to “repeat” through the ream in a predictable way, while also changing. It is postulated that the repeating nature of the UVLPs is a result of the way that paper is manufactured. This leads to the ability to sequence the sheets compared to their original source paper. Even in the absence of UVLPs, it is possible to use our observation of the manufacturing process to anticipate the order of several sheets of paper and conclusively associate them, in some cases, by physically fitting their machine cut edges and crossing paper fibers. Such a novel approach to examining questioned documents would be highly useful in forensic casework.     

Cranial Backspatter Pattern Production Utilizing Human Cadavers

A backspatter pattern results from blood drops that travel retrograde to an applied external force. Historically, an array of animals and nonhuman objects have been used to create and study backspatter patterns. In this study, backspatter patterns captured on foam core targets that were placed 45.72 cm (18 in) behind the impact site (occipital area of the skull) were produced by cranial gunshots to human cadavers that were reinfused with fresh defibrinated bovine blood. These patterns were compared to the backspatter patterns produced by shooting blood‐soaked sponges, a typical simulant used in controlled studies of backspatter pattern production and characteristics. The backspatter pattern produced by shooting an actual human head was found to be different than those of blood‐soaked sponges in the number of stains produced, the size and size range of the stains, and the stain dispersion patterns.     

Controversial Suicide Case Using a Submachine Gun with a Sound Suppressor—The Need of Team Work of Forensic Chemistry and Firearm Examiners

Evidence materials in a presumed suicide case were studied by a firearm examiner and a forensic chemist. The victim's body with double gunshot wounding in his forehead, a machine gun in the sustained fire mode with a silencer, and four cartridge cases were found. Examinations of the evidence, the case file studies, and experiments dedicated to the case were carried out. Relationships between the placement of cartridge cases and the gun were established using a fast camera. The distributions of gunshot residues on the evidence materials and within the comparative gunshot patterns were studied by means of optical and electron microscopy, X‐ray microanalysis, and infrared spectroscopy. The shooting distance was assessed to be 30 cm or more, whereas the greatest distance that could have been achieved by the victim himself was about 11–13 cm. The obtained results supported the version of homicide rather than suicide.     

Contextual information management: An example of independent-checking in the review of laboratory-based bloodstain pattern analysis

This article describes a New Zealand forensic agency's contextual information management protocol for bloodstain pattern evidence examined in the laboratory. In an effort to create a protocol that would have minimal impact on current work-flow, while still effectively removing task-irrelevant contextual information, the protocol was designed following an in-depth consultation with management and forensic staff. The resulting design was for a protocol of independent-checking (i.e. blind peer-review) where the checker's interpretation of the evidence is conducted in the absence of case information and the original examiner's notes or interpretation(s). At the conclusion of a ten-case trial period, there was widespread agreement that the protocol had minimal impact on the number of people required, the cost, or the time to complete an item examination. The agency is now looking to adopt the protocol into standard operating procedures and in some cases the protocol has been extended to cover other laboratory-based examinations (e.g. fabric damage, shoeprint examination, and physical fits). The protocol developed during this trial provides a useful example for agencies seeking to adopt contextual information management into their workflow.     

政府购买居家养老服务:模式分析与战略设计——基于比较研究的视角

政府购买居家养老服务不仅是我国应对"银色化浪潮"的重要战略选择,也是完善养老制度的重要组成部分。我国老龄化日益严重,具有"未富先老"的特点。在比较分析相关研究的基础上,总结我国政府购买居家养老服务的迫切性,概括国外政府购买居家养老服务的实践,并从我国现有的法律和文件、购买模式及面临的问题归纳现阶段政府购买居家养老服务的现状。为政府购买居家养老服务提出对策建议,以期新养老方式不断得以完善与推广,更好地满足老龄化社会的需求。     

How reliable are eyewitness memories? Effects of retention interval,violence of act,and gender stereotypes on observers' judgments of their own memory regarding witnessed act and perpetrator

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of (i) stimulus person's gender, (ii) type of act (neutral or violent), and (iii) retention interval (short or long) on observers' memory of a stimulus person. Participants were presented with one of two acts: neutral (walking around in a store) or violent (robbing a store). The retention interval was 10 minutes or one–three weeks. The dependent variables were questionnaire items concerning the participants' memory of (1) the stimulus person's appearance and (2) the event, and (3) rating scales where the participants were asked to evaluate the stimulus person's aggressiveness, insensitivity, and other personality traits as well as characteristics of the act. Results showed that when the act was violent, and a long retention interval was used, a female, but not a male, stimulus person was evaluated less harshly than with a short retention interval (enhancement of gender stereotype); a stimulus person was seen as behaving in a more masculine way when performing a violent rather than a neutral act; witnessing the violent act resulted in better self-rated memory of the stimulus person; and with increasing retention interval, the violent act was seen as less negative and the neutral act as more negative (regression toward the mean).     

Social structure of the Jewish quarter in Vienna during the liberal era (1850–1900)

The article examines the nature of residential and coresidential patterns in the second half of the 19th century in a district of Vienna known as Leopoldstadt, which had a large Jewish population. Analysis of a database from this district, paying attention to occupation and class variables, suggests that the Jewish population therein was more mixed than traditional interpretations suggest, and that the concentration of Jews there can plausibly be explained mainly by reference to residential choices made by Jews to live near an economic infrastructure that catered to their religious and cultural needs. The patterns identified in the data suggest further that in interpreting the residential patterns of the city it is necessary to conceptualize the problem as one of interaction between religion, economics, and residential choice.     

Frequency,timing and intensity of remarriage in 19th century Flanders

The article addresses the belief that the Early Modern period and the early 19th century were characterized by “many” remarriages. The confusion in the analysis, however, between proportion and intensity has led much research down the wrong track. The evolution in remarriage intensity and in some other sociodemographic remarriage characteristics was measured for the period 1800–1913 in Leuven, Aalst, and Bierbeek—three areas with different socioeconomic structures and cultural climates. Comparison of the age-specific ratios shows that the remarriage probability of widowed people was often lower than first-marriage probability of those not previously married, even in the first half of the 19th century. In so far as our data are representative of the Early Modern period, the claim that “many” remarriages took place then must be put into perspective. In fact—with the exception of young widowers—fewer remarriages than first marriages often occurred. The proportion of remarriages fell from 20–25% in the first half of the 19th century to 10–15% by the end of the century. The most frequently occurring remarriage type was that between a widower and an unmarried woman; the least common was between a widower and a widow. An additional cultural factor was that from approximately the mid-19th century on, first marriage was so central to the development of a private social environment and was so highly valued that a watered-down version, in the form of remarriage, was held in low esteem and even rejected.     

论债的科学性与统一性

在我国的债法研究和立法过程中,存在着一种与科学性及统一性对立的趋势,甚至是以法典化的形式体现出来的解法典化趋势.法学既然是一门科学(即使是人文科学)就应当首先注重逻辑判断,然后才是价值判断,不能以主观价值判断替代客观的逻辑论证.同时,应当坚持债的统一性.统一性的前提应该是坚持“物权二分”及其必然的逻辑后果,即物权行为与债权行为的独立性与抽象性.坚持债的客体的统一性,即债的客体是行为而非现在通说的“债的客体可以是物也可以是行为”,否则物权与债权的区分就要发生模糊;坚持用“请求权”统一债法,无论是合同、侵权、无因管理还是不当得利,后果都产生请求权;坚持物权救济措施与债权的救济措施相区分,坚持债权救济措施的统一性.