Unusual sources of Sn in GSR. An experimental study by SEM and IBA

Gunshot Residue (GSR) produced by the discharge of a firearm often provides very useful information in criminal investigations in cases involving the use of firearms. Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) is typically used worldwide to visualize micrometric particles constituting GSR and to analyse their elemental composition. The 2017 ASTM Standard guide for gunshot residue analysis by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy specifies that “Particles classified as characteristic of GSR will have one of the following elemental compositions: Lead, antimony, barium; Lead, barium, calcium, silicon, tin”. For the first time, the presence of an additional element, such as Sn, plays a key role in ASTM particle classification. It is known that some ammunitions, used for pistols, revolvers and rifles, contain tin foil discs for sealing the primer mixture into the cup, resulting in GSR particles containing Sn. The authors faced some cases in which Sn was unexpectedly found in GSR particles from a 0.22 Long Rifle derringer and from some 12 gauge shotguns. No tin foil discs are used in rimfire ammunitions and there is no published evidence of tin foil discs in shotshell ammunitions. Following a “case by case” approach, experimental research has been carried out to explain how Sn can be present in GSR particles when the last discharged cartridge also does not contain any Sn either in components and in the explosive charges.Moreover, the use of Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) showed the capability to overcome overlap ambiguity of Sb and Sn peaks in the X-ray spectra, being a possible key issue in real shooting cases if Sn quantities are below the lower limit of SEM detection, especially when Sb is also present.     

In silico toxicity as a tool for harm reduction: A study of new psychoactive amphetamines and cathinones in the context of criminal science

The emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has raised many issues in the context of law enforcement and public drug policies. In this scenario, interdisciplinary studies are crucial to the decision-making process in the field of criminal science. Unfortunately, information about how NPS affect people's health is lacking even though knowledge about the toxic potential of these substances is essential: the more information about these drugs, the greater the possibility of avoiding damage within the scope of a harm reduction policy. Traditional analytical methods may be inaccessible in the field of forensic science because they are relatively expensive and time-consuming. In this sense, less costly and faster in silico methodologies can be useful strategies. In this work, we submitted computer-calculated toxicity values of various amphetamines and cathinones to an unsupervised multivariate analysis, namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and to the supervised techniques Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy and Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (SIMCA and PLS-DA) to evaluate how these two NPS groups behave. We studied how theoretical and experimental values are correlated by PLS regression. Although experimental data was available for a small amount of molecules, correlation values reproduced literature values. The in silico method efficiently provided information about the drugs. On the basis of our findings, the technical information presented here can be used in decision-making regarding harm reduction policies and help to fulfill the objectives of criminal science.     

‘Language of lies’: Urgent issues and prospects in verbal lie detection research

Since its introduction into the field of deception detection, the verbal channel has become a rapidly growing area of research. The basic assumption is that liars differ from truth tellers in their verbal behaviour, making it possible to classify them by inspecting their verbal accounts. However, as noted in conferences and in private communication between researchers, the field of verbal lie detection faces several challenges that merit focused attention. The first author therefore proposed a workshop with the mission of promoting solutions for urgent issues in the field. Nine researchers and three practitioners with experience in credibility assessments gathered for 3 days of discussion at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) in the first international verbal lie detection workshop. The primary session of the workshop took place the morning of the first day. In this session, each of the participants had up to 10 min to deliver a brief message, using just one slide. Researchers were asked to answer the question: ‘In your view, what is the most urgent, unsolved question/issue in verbal lie detection?’ Similarly, practitioners were asked: ‘As a practitioner, what question/issue do you wish verbal lie detection research would address?’ The issues raised served as the basis for the discussions that were held throughout the workshop. The current paper first presents the urgent, unsolved issues raised by the workshop group members in the main session, followed by a message to researchers in the field, designed to deliver the insights, decisions, and conclusions resulting from the discussions.     

宪政法律秩序的概念分析

本文立足语义分析和一般社会视角透视 ,揭示了秩序和法律秩序的基本要素 ,即主观、客观和形式要素 ,并分析了这些参数定义宪政法律秩序的合理性和可行性 ,进而结合宪政本质科学地界定了宪政法律秩序。     

构建警察公共关系策略探析

警察公共关系是提高公安机关自身影响力,获得最佳组织效益和社会效益的一种管理职能和活动过程。在社会转型时期,明确警察公共关系的界定,分析影响警察公共关系的主要因素,提升建立警察公共关系的必要性和紧迫性,探析构建警察公共关系的措施与策略,对提高公安工作实效和树立良好的警察形象具有积极的指导和推动作用。     

云南德宏州吸毒人员及戒毒所现状的调研分析

目前,德宏州吸毒群体及艾滋病病毒感染率居高不下,毒品危害日趋严重,是全省乃至全国吸毒危害最为严重的地区。应从完善法律、合理配置资源,加强职能部门的协调和提高教育培训等方面入手,逐步解决存在的问题。     

上海市社区矫正对象物质支持状况的社会学分析——以社会网络分析为视角

本文以社会学的网络分析为视角,在实地调研的基础上,对社区矫正对象的物质支持网络的现状与特征进行了分析,指出了矫正对象的物质支持普遍较弱,家庭是其主要的支持源。针对物质支持存在的问题,提出了建立中途宿舍的建议。     

警察腐败行为治理博弈分析

警察腐败是当今世界各国警界共同面临的一个问题,其存在具有普遍性。我们首先分析了　　警察腐败行为的权力基础,接着应用博弈论的思想对警察腐败行为形成进行了分析,并分析了目前所采　　取的治理对策的合理性。     

马歇尔-勒纳条件对中国适用吗？——基于2000年中国社会核算矩阵的实证分析

马歇尔勒纳条件认为,若一国的出口弹性与进口弹性的绝对值之和大于1,则本币贬值可改善本国国际收支。自1995年以来,无论是按照CPI还是EPI计算的人民币实际有效汇率,人民币币值一直被低估,升值压力确实存在;中国出口和进口弹性的绝对值之和大于1,满足马歇尔勒纳条件的前提条件。但对2000年SAM冲击分析的计算结果表明,不能得到按照实际有效汇率计算的人民币贬值有助于中国贸易平衡项得到改善的结论,即马歇尔勒纳条件在中国不适用。研究结论:第一,应该慎重对待人民币升值问题,通过温和、缓慢的升值对社会、经济的影响较小;第二,人民币升值将有利于改善中国贸易平衡项;最后,人民币升值所产生的国内就业压力将有可能对资本形成、个人所得税和政府对企业的转移支付产生一定的消极影响。     

Empirical Modeling of Policy Diffusion in Federal States: The Dyadic Approach

Policy diffusion is a common phenomenon in federal states: indeed, one of the normative justifications of decentralized policy making is that it permits the development and spread of best practices. Following Berry and Berry (1990), event‐history analysis has been the method of choice for the quantitative investigation of policy diffusion, but Volden (2006) has recently introduced a dyadic variant of this method in which units of analysis are not states but, instead, pairs of states. This article discusses the dyadic approach with a particular focus on the diffusion of policies in Switzerland. The goal is not to introduce a new method, but rather to provide a practical overview for researchers interested in using it. The article shows how the method has migrated from the international relations literature to the policy‐diffusion literature, describes the typical structure of a dyadic dataset in a diffusion context, and discusses several modeling issues. The usefulness of the dyadic approach is illustrated empirically with the example of health‐insurance subsidy policies in Swiss cantons.