刑事诉讼的物证鉴定制度新探

物证鉴定,就是指在诉讼活动中(此处主要是刑事诉讼的活动),遇到专门问题时,依照刑事诉讼法的规定委托具有专门知识的人,根据鉴定的资料和要求,运用勘验、分析、比较、综合评断等方法解决专门性问题并作出判断的一种科学技术活动。通过物证鉴定法律制度的完善,能发挥物证证明作用,促其成为科学的定罪处罚证据。     

Evaluation of Lip Prints on Different Supports Using a Batch Image Processing Algorithm and Image Superimposition

This study aimed to develop and to assess an algorithm to facilitate lip print visualization, and to digitally analyze lip prints on different supports, by superimposition. It also aimed to classify lip prints according to sex. A batch image processing algorithm was developed, which facilitated the identification and extraction of information about lip grooves. However, it performed better for lip print images with a uniform background. Paper and glass slab allowed more correct identifications than glass and the both sides of compact disks. There was no significant difference between the type of support and the amount of matching structures located in the middle area of the lower lip. There was no evidence of association between types of lip grooves and sex. Lip groove patterns of type III and type I were the most common for both sexes. The development of systems for lip print analysis is necessary, mainly concerning digital methods.     

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.     

Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease‐II: Visual Pattern Perception and Diagnostic Accuracy

Previously, we reviewed how general cognitive processes might be susceptible to bias across both forensic and clinical fields, and how interdisciplinary comparisons could reduce error. We discuss several examples of clinical tasks which are heavily dependent on visual processing, comparing them to eyewitness identification (EI). We review the “constructive” nature of visual processing, and how contextual factors influence both medical experts and witnesses in decision making and recall. Overall, studies suggest common cognitive factors uniting these visual tasks, in both their strengths and shortcomings. Recently forensic sciences have advocated reducing errors by identifying and controlling nonrelevant information. Such efforts could effectively assist medical diagnosis. We suggest potential remedies for cognitive bias in these tasks. These can generalize across the clinical and forensic domains, including controlling the sequencing of contextual factors. One solution is an agnostic primary reading before incorporation of a complete history and interpretation.     

Doubling Down: Inequality in Responsiveness and the Policy Preferences of Elected Officials

Is bias in responsiveness to constituents conditional on the policy preferences of elected officials? The scholarly conventional wisdom is that constituency groups who do not receive policy representation still obtain some level of responsiveness by legislators outside of the policy realm. In contrast, we present a theory of preference‐induced responsiveness bias where constituency responsiveness by legislators is associated with legislator policy preferences. Elected officials who favor laws that could disproportionately impact minority groups are also less likely to engage in nonpolicy responsiveness to minority groups. We conducted a field experiment in 28 US legislative chambers. Legislators were randomly assigned to receive messages from Latino and white constituents. If legislators supported voter identification laws, Latino constituents were less likely to receive constituency communications from their legislators. There are significant implications regarding fairness in the democratic process when elected officials fail to represent disadvantaged constituency groups in both policy and nonpolicy realms.     

抗人SMCY抗原胶体金试纸条的研制

目的建立一种快速检测SMCY抗原的方法。方法采用胶体金免疫层析技术双抗体夹心检测法,在金标垫上包被胶体金标记的SMCY兔多抗,制成胶体金试纸条,用于检测12份猪、牛、狗、鸡和小鼠等动物血清以及50份人血清。结果制作的胶体金试纸条检测人和常见动物血清具有明显的种属特异性,能够区分男女血清。结论该方法可尝试用于鉴别男女血清,并具有一定种属特异性,其为法医学快速鉴别人类样本性别提供了研究方向。     

法医遗传学研究新进展

法医遗传学经过近30年发展,已经形成了一套系统的理论和技术体系,相关技术和方法在实际工作中发挥着重要作用。随着实际应用需求的变化和相关基础学科研究的进展,法医遗传学的研究也出现了新变化。本文针对法医遗传学领域的研究进展和发展趋势进行综述,希望能对相关研究和实践提供参考和借鉴。     

Messenger RNA Profiling for Forensic Body Fluid Identification： Research and Applications

Identifying the origin of body fluids left at a crime scene can give a significant insight into crime scene reconstruction by supporting a link betw een sample donors and actual criminal acts. How ev-er, the conventional body fluid identification methods are prone to various limitations, such as time con-sumption, intensive labor, nonparallel manner, varying degrees of sensitivity and limited specificity. Re-cently, the analysis of cell-specific messenger RNA expression （mRNA profiling） has been proposed to supplant conventional methods for body fluid identification. Since 2011, the collaborative exercises have been organized by the European DNA Profiling Group （EDNAP ） in order to evaluate the robustness and reproducibility of mRNA profiling for body fluid identification. The major advantages of mRNA profil-ing, compared to the conventional methods, include higher sensitivity, greater specificity, the ability of detecting several body fluids in one multiplex reaction, and compatibilitywith current DNA extraction and analysis procedure. In the current review ,we provided an overview of the present know ledge and detection methodologies of mRNA profiling for forensic body fluid identification and discussed its possi-ble practical application to forensic casew ork.     

Non-biased lineup instructions do matter – a problem for older witnesses

Abstract

From the limited literature on older witnesses’ identification performance it is known that they are less accurate on lineups compared to younger witnesses. What is less certain is why they show this age deficit and what can be done to aid their performance. Witnesses forgot being given non-biased lineup instructions informing witnesses that the perpetrator may or may not be present. More older witnesses than younger witnesses forgot and witnesses who failed to report remembering these instructions were significantly less accurate on the lineups. In addition, the current study investigated the use of sequential lineup presentation and stringent decision criteria to aid the performance of older witnesses. Sequential presentation was beneficial to both younger and older adults when the lineup was target absent (TA) but was detrimental when the lineup was target present (TP). Stringent decision criteria had no significant beneficial effect. Future directions for aiding older witnesses’ performance are discussed.