Can computer forensic tools be trusted in digital investigations?

This paper investigates whether computer forensic tools (CFTs) can extract complete and credible digital evidence from digital crime scenes in the presence of file system anti-forensic (AF) attacks. The study uses a well-established six stage forensic tool testing methodology based on black-box testing principles to carry out experiments that evaluate four leading CFTs for their potential to combat eleven different file system AF attacks. Results suggest that only a few AF attacks are identified by all the evaluated CFTs, while as most of the attacks considered by the study go unnoticed. These AF attacks exploit basic file system features, can be executed using simple tools, and even attack CFTs to accomplish their task. These results imply that evidences collected by CFTs in digital investigations are not complete and credible in the presence of AF attacks. The study suggests that practitioners and academicians should not absolutely rely on CFTs for evidence extraction from a digital crime scene, highlights the implications of doing so, and makes many recommendations in this regard. The study also points towards immediate and aggressive research efforts that are required in the area of computer forensics to address the pitfalls of CFTs.     

The 2011 presidential election in Peru: a thorny moral and political dilemma

The 2011 presidential elections in Peru was the third one held in the post-Fujimori era. A perusal of the campaign's political dynamics reveals pervasive anti-democratic behaviours, attitudes and rhetoric on the part of key political actors, showcasing the degree to which Peru remains an unconsolidated, precarious democracy. The second round presented a moral and political dilemma insofar as two unsavoury candidates of highly dubious democratic credentials vied for the presidency: Ollanta Humala, a former army lieutenant burdened by accusations of human rights violations who, additionally, led or supported two military uprisings; and Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of a convicted and jailed dictator who unabashedly touted the legacy of her father's authoritarian regime and surrounded herself with tainted fujimoristas. The paradox of this undesirable electoral outcome, which can be read as a popular rebuke of the status quo, is that it took place in the Latin American country posting the fastest economic growth over the past decade.     

Estimating relative prevalence of competing issue voting rules in multiparty elections using finite mixture modeling

How do citizens of democratic polities translate their policy preferences into voting choices? Proximity and directional theories of issue voting offer different answers to this question that have strong implications for parties’ strategies. Controlled scenarios in imaginary two-candidate contests have gained popularity as a method to estimate proportions of proximity and directional voters in the population. However, this method is not always applicable in comparative research where scholars often have to study multiparty elections with observational data. In the present paper, I demonstrate how relative prevalence of different issue voting rules can be estimated using finite mixture modeling. Using both a paradigmatic and a recent case, I demonstrate that the mixture model predicts observed voting choices better than the alternatives. I also show how finite mixture modeling can be used to study individual-level characteristics of proximity and directional voters using education as an example.     

Developing a Spatial-Temporal Method for the Geographic Investigation of Shoeprint Evidence

Abstract:  This article examines the potential of a spatial-temporal method for analysis of forensic shoeprint data. The large volume of shoeprint evidence recovered at crime scenes results in varied success in matching a print to a known shoe type and subsequently linking sets of matched prints to suspected offenders. Unlike DNA and fingerprint data, a major challenge is to reduce the uncertainty in linking sets of matched shoeprints to a suspected serial offender. Shoeprint data for 2004 were imported from the Greater London Metropolitan Area Bigfoot database into a geographic information system, and a spatial-temporal algorithm developed for this project. The results show that by using distance and time constraints interactively, the number of candidate shoeprints that can implicate one or few suspects can be substantially reduced. It concludes that the use of space-time and other ancillary information within a geographic information system can be quite helpful for forensic investigation.     

Validation of the Short Amplicon Multiplex Q8 Including the German DNA Database Systems*

Abstract: We have developed a concept to enable the analyzing of degraded stains with limited DNA template quantity. Therefore we have constructed a short tandem repeat (STR) multiplex including the German DNA database systems (Q8). The amplicon lengths are smaller than 280 bp. For the validation of Q8 over 50 degraded samples were investigated. Amplifications were performed with “low copy number” PCR, the number of PCR cycles was increased to 33 and the reaction volume was decreased to 12.5 μL. Compared with the MPX2 and Nonaplex kit, the average success rate was increased using the Q8 kit by approximately 20% and 30%, respectively. The efficiency of a sensitive STR multiplex with reduced amplicon lengths was confirmed in comparing the success rates of Q8 for typing degraded samples and samples with limited amount of DNA template while partial profiles were observed with the majority of the samples using commercially available kits.     

复杂产品系统创新能力的构成与管理策略

本文简要回顾了技术创新能力以及构成要素的研究文献,结合复杂产品系统创新过程的特性,界定了复杂产品系统创新能力的概念,分析了复杂产品系统创新能力的构成要素。并提出了管理策略。     

再论"法律至上"

中共十六大政治报告中,再次把依法治国,建立社会主义法治国家作为中国共产党人在新的历史时期治国的基本方针加以确认。依法治国的理念已深入人心。而要确立依法治国的治国理念,就必须树立起法律至上的观念,它是实现现代法治的观念基础,也是评价现代民主政治国家的基本准则。对于法律至上观念的理解,不仅要从法律自身来理解,而且要从社会关系的层次上,从人们的理性选择等角度进行深层次的考虑。正试图从现代法治的理性选择的角度论证这一问题。     

In Praise of the Commons: Another Case Study

Common-pool allocation systems do not have the best of reputations in economic literature, since they are normally connected with the dissipation of rents. The present case study argues that in the case of procurement and allocation of human organ transplants a reciprocal common-pool allocation system is superior other systems, including market allocation.     

多系统联合分析在复杂亲缘关系鉴定中的应用评估

目的 对公安部物证鉴定中心自主研发的4种DNA扩增试剂盒在复杂亲缘关系鉴定中的联合应用评估.方法 使用公安部物证鉴定中心自主研发的DNATyperTM19C试剂盒、DNATyper TMY29试剂盒、DNATyper TMX19试剂盒和DNATyper TM25试剂盒检测收集的302份复杂亲缘关系样本,并将结果与使用市...