A Comparison of US and Japanese Dental Restorative Care Present on Service Members Recovered from the WWII Era

The documentation of dental materials used in the USA during the WWII era is readily available, while references for the Japanese are minimal. It was therefore important to build a photographic database of Japanese restorative care which could be utilized as a comparison tool for the deployed odontologist. The dental restorative care of approximately 400 US and 100 Japanese sets of remains was evaluated. Both countries share many similar restorative techniques to include collared crowns, full‐coverage restorations, cantilever bridge/pontics to close spaces; restorative materials such as amalgam, gold, and zinc phosphate (temporary) restorations; and removable prostheses. The dental restorative materials most commonly used by US dentists include the amalgam and silicate cement, while the full‐coverage crown was the type of restoration most frequently seen on the Japanese remains. Silicates, porcelain and replaceable crowns, and partial‐coverage prepared crowns were not observed on the recovered Japanese remains.     

Hyperostosis frontalis interna as an age-related phenomenon – Differences between males and females and possible use in identification

Hyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) is a condition manifested by thickening of the inner surface of the frontal bone and it could be useful when dealing with the identification of human remains in various anthropological and forensic investigations. We compared the macroscopic appearance and morphologic (metric) features of the skulls in cases with and without HFI, in both sexes, and wanted to establish whether age determined occurrence of HFI. To achieve this aim, we performed prospective autopsy study, covering ten-year period (2007–2016). Study group consisted of southeast Europe Caucasian subjects, with determined age and sex. The severity of HFI was classified by two forensic pathologists independently, according to the four types (A–D) proposed by Hershkovitz et al. Thicknesses of the frontal and temporal bones, as well as the longitudinal and frontal diameters of the skulls were measured. The sample consisted of 35 males and 112 females with HFI, and 55 males and 202 females without HFI (404 individuals in total). Type B was the most common type of HFI among males (45%) and type C among females (41%). HFI type D was almost four times more common in females than in males (OR?=?3.73). Frontal and temporal bones were thicker in all subjects who have HFI. Thickness of the skull was not age-dependent, in the entire sample, or in subjects with HFI, or in the control group (in all the cases Spearman's Rho was <0.3). Age seemed to be a predicting factor for HFI occurrence only in females. Females younger than 55?years have similar risk for HFI occurrence as males. An unidentified skull with the general markers of old age and severe form HFI is most probably from a female decedent.     

Normative challenges of identification in the Internet of Things: Privacy,profiling, discrimination,and the GDPR

In the Internet of Things (IoT), identification and access control technologies provide essential infrastructure to link data between a user's devices with unique identities, and provide seamless and linked up services. At the same time, profiling methods based on linked records can reveal unexpected details about users' identity and private life, which can conflict with privacy rights and lead to economic, social, and other forms of discriminatory treatment. A balance must be struck between identification and access control required for the IoT to function and user rights to privacy and identity. Striking this balance is not an easy task because of weaknesses in cybersecurity and anonymisation techniques. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), set to come into force in May 2018, may provide essential guidance to achieve a fair balance between the interests of IoT providers and users. Through a review of academic and policy literature, this paper maps the inherent tension between privacy and identifiability in the IoT. It focuses on four challenges: (1) profiling, inference, and discrimination; (2) control and context-sensitive sharing of identity; (3) consent and uncertainty; and (4) honesty, trust, and transparency. The paper will then examine the extent to which several standards defined in the GDPR will provide meaningful protection for privacy and control over identity for users of IoT. The paper concludes that in order to minimise the privacy impact of the conflicts between data protection principles and identification in the IoT, GDPR standards urgently require further specification and implementation into the design and deployment of IoT technologies.     

GC和GC/MS技术在毒品来源推断中的应用

目的应用气相色谱(GC)和气相色谱/质谱联用(GC/MS)技术,定性、定量分析毒品案例,推断毒品来源。方法采用GC/MS法定性分析毒品样品中的主成分、痕量杂质、掺假剂和稀释剂,并选择GC/FID和外标法定量分析上述各组分,通过定性和定量数据的统计比对,并用SPSS10.0数据统计分析软件对分组结果进行验证,推断毒品样品之间来源的区别与联系。结果用GC/MS定性分析、GC/FID定量分析和SPSS10.0数据统计分析软件将12个案件的毒品按来源分成7组,其中1、6、7、11号样品和10A、10B样品分成两组,2、3、5、9号样品各成一组,4号和8号样品分成一组。上述12起案件的毒品来源分析和比对结果,经送检部门反馈的破案信息证明,与案件的真实情况十分吻合。结论应用GC/MS、GC/FID技术分析毒品,可准确推断毒品来源。     

制备抗人精液特异蛋白P30血清的研究

作者以精浆特异蛋白P30为抗原免疫新西兰白兔、豚鼠和鸡三种实验动物,制备了抗P30血清。用双向琼脂扩散法检测兔和豚鼠的抗 P30血清,其特异性和敏感性均达到目前国外同类产品的水平。抗 P30血清与阴道分泌物,血清、唾液、尿液、初乳以及羊精液、鸡精液均不出现交叉反应。用抗 P30血清检测混合的人精浆,其抗原效价为1:160;P30含量可测到12.5ug/ml。在三种动物的抗血清中,豚鼠抗 P30血清的抗体效价最高。以不同浓度的 P30测豚鼠、兔和鸡抗 P30血清抗体效价豚鼠平均滴度可达52.50,兔次之,鸡的抗 P30血清最差。经作者制备的抗 P30血清可用来确证精液。     

Footwear-to-feet examination and analysis: Comparing worn footwear to persons and human remains

Footwear-to-feet examination and analysis refers to the process of examining and analyzing footwear in regard to criminal matters. This examination and analysis has been done to include or exclude an individual as the wearer of the footwear in question and to help associate or disassociate human remains to footwear. This review of the subject describes its investigative applications, the research that underpins the process, and considers its legal admissibility. The process of footwear-to-feet examination and analysis is scientifically valid and has been widely accepted. As a result, law enforcement and forensic scientists should be aware of the use of this process to assist in criminal investigations.     

正常、大声两种说话状态下语音的声学差异及对声纹鉴定的影响

本文主要通过对正常、大声两种说话状态下的普通话中三个单元音[a]、[i]、[u]的声强、时长、基频、谐波振幅差值、共振峰等声学参数的分析,综合比较了各参数的变化规律,发现大声说话时的语音并非正常语音的简单放大,二者不仅在声强上存在差别,同时在频率域上也发生了重要变化。同一人不同状态下发音的频谱特征差异性较大,同种状态下发音的相似性、可比性较强,为此,声纹鉴定中应尽量选取状态相同的语音进行比对。     

New perspectives in the use of ink evidence in forensic science: Part III: Operational applications and evaluation

The research reported in this series of article aimed at (1) automating the search of questioned ink specimens in ink reference collections and (2) at evaluating the strength of ink evidence in a transparent and balanced manner. These aims require that ink samples are analysed in an accurate and reproducible way and that they are compared in an objective and automated way. This latter requirement is due to the large number of comparisons that are necessary in both scenarios. A research programme was designed to (a) develop a standard methodology for analysing ink samples in a reproducible way, (b) comparing automatically and objectively ink samples and (c) evaluate the proposed methodology in forensic contexts.This report focuses on the last of the three stages of the research programme. The calibration and acquisition process and the mathematical comparison algorithms were described in previous papers [C. Neumann, P. Margot, New perspectives in the use of ink evidence in forensic science—Part I: Development of a quality assurance process for forensic ink analysis by HPTLC, Forensic Sci. Int. 185 (2009) 29–37; C. Neumann, P. Margot, New perspectives in the use of ink evidence in forensic science—Part II: Development and testing of mathematical algorithms for the automatic comparison of ink samples analysed by HPTLC, Forensic Sci. Int. 185 (2009) 38–50].In this paper, the benefits and challenges of the proposed concepts are tested in two forensic contexts: (1) ink identification and (2) ink evidential value assessment. The results show that different algorithms are better suited for different tasks. This research shows that it is possible to build digital ink libraries using the most commonly used ink analytical technique, i.e. high-performance thin layer chromatography, despite its reputation of lacking reproducibility. More importantly, it is possible to assign evidential value to ink evidence in a transparent way using a probabilistic model. It is therefore possible to move away from the traditional subjective approach, which is entirely based on experts’ opinion, and which is usually not very informative.While there is room for the improvement, this report demonstrates the significant gains obtained over the traditional subjective approach for the search of ink specimens in ink databases, and the interpretation of their evidential value.     

Species identification of some common necrophagous flies in Guangdong province, southern China based on the rDNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2)

Despite the fact that the differences in epidermal ridge density between men and women have been accepted for some time, they have only been thoroughly demonstrated in a small number of populations. The aim of this study is to determine whether such differences exist in a sample of the Spanish population by counting epidermal ridges within three well-defined fingerprint areas. If significant gender differences do exist, then the likelihood of inferring gender from given ridge densities will be explored. The data used in this study was obtained from all 10 fingerprints of 200 individuals of the Spanish Caucasian population (100 males and 100 females) between the ages of 20 and 30. Results show that women tend to have a significantly higher ridge density than men in the distal region of all 10 fingers (radial and ulnar count areas), but not in the proximal region (lower count area). The application of Bayes' theorem, assuming that prior probabilities known for each sex, indicate a threshold for discrimination of sexes.     

Criminal and alcohol problems among Swedish drunk drivers--predictors of DUI relapse

The prevalence and types of crime offences, as well as predictors of relapse, among drivers suspected of driving under influence (DUI) were investigated. A total of 1830 Swedish DUI drivers responded to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test — AUDIT. Information about previous DUI offences, other traffic offences along with other types of criminal offences was taken from a crime register. A total criminality (including all traffic offences) of 64% in the period of five years before investigation was analyzed. 40% of the sample had other criminality besides traffic violations during that period. 14.3% of the drivers relapsed to DUI in the two-year period after the investigation. In terms of DUI relapse, the following factors were the main predictors: previous traffic violations, previous DUI offences, previous other criminality (frauds or other acts of dishonesty) and detection hours between 12.00 and 19.00. Detection in general traffic controls and high BAC (blood alcohol concentration) when detected were the strongest factors with negative correlation to DUI re-offence.