scholarly journals Blood pattern analysis—a review and new findings

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prashant Singh ◽  
Nandini Gupta ◽  
Ravi Rathi

Abstract Background Blood is one of the most common pieces of evidence encountered at the crime scene. Due to the viscous nature of blood, unique bloodstain patterns are formed which when studied can reveal what might have happened at the scene of the crime. Blood pattern analysis (BPA), i.e., the study of shape, size, and nature of bloodstain. The focus of this paper is to understand blood and BPA. An experimental finding to understand blood stain formation using Awlata dye was conducted within the university premises under laboratory conditions. Awlata (Alta), an Indian dye used for grooming of women, was used to create fake blood stains to understand the formation of bloodstains with respect to varying heights, and their relation with spines and satellite stains was determined. Results When the height of dropping fake blood increased, the distance of satellite stains emerging from the fake blood stains was also increasing. From the experimental finding, it was found that satellite stains were directly proportional to height of blood stain and spines were inversely proportional. Conclusion It can be concluded that blood is a vital source of information and when interpreted correctly it can be used as a source of information that can aid in investigations. Thus, a relation between formation of blood stains with relation to height was established. This finding using fake blood stains can help in carrying out future studies.

Author(s):  
Jan Euteneuer ◽  
Cornelius Courts

AbstractMolecular ballistics combines molecular biological, forensic ballistic, and wound ballistic insights and approaches in the description, collection, objective investigation, and contextualization of the complex patterns of biological evidence that are generated by gunshots at biological targets. Setting out in 2010 with two seminal publications proving the principle that DNA from backspatter collected from inside surfaces of firearms can be retreived and successfully be analyzed, molecular ballistics covered a lot of ground until today. In this review, 10 years later, we begin with a comprehensive description and brief history of the field and lay out its intersections with other forensic disciplines like wound ballistics, forensic molecular biology, blood pattern analysis, and crime scene investigation. In an application guide section, we aim to raise consciousness to backspatter traces and the inside surfaces of firearms as sources of forensic evidence. Covering crime scene practical as well as forensic genetic aspects, we introduce operational requirements and lay out possible procedures, including forensic RNA analysis, when searching for, collecting, analyzing, and contextualizing such trace material. We discuss the intricacies and rationales of ballistic model building, employing different tissue, skin, and bone simulants and the advantages of the “triple-contrast” method in molecular ballistics and give advice on how to stage experimental shootings in molecular ballistic research. Finally, we take a look at future applications and prospects of molecular ballistics.


1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 314-315
Author(s):  
Merrick Posnansky

In October 1968, the University of Ghana commenced an extensive program in African archaeology. Graduate students from overseas are eligible to enroll for courses at the University, though no scholarships are presently available for non-Ghanaians. The Department of Archaeology of the University of Ghana was established in 1951 under the professorship of A. W. Lawrence. It presently has a senior teaching establishment of four together with a curator and two senior research fellows under the chairmanship of Professor Merrick Posnansky. The Department has a small specialist library, a museum, laboratory, dark room, workshops, and a team of trained technical staff. Most of the Department's research work is normally conducted in the dry season from November to May each year. In the past Professor Oliver Davies, author of the Quaternary of the Guinea Coast (1964) and West Africa before the Europeans (1967), conducted extensive fieldwork relating to the Stone Age and neolithic periods of Ghana's past and made large surface collections from all parts of Ghana which provide a rich topographical source of information on archaeology in Ghana. The Department has conducted extensive excavations in Ghana and its research fellows are presently engaged in writing up the results of the Volta Basin Research Project, in which more than thirty sites have been excavated since 1963 in advance of the formation of a large lake consequent upon the construction of the Volta Dam. The majority of the excavated sites have been of Iron Age date. In September 1968, Mr. C. Flight commenced a new season of excavations at “Neolithic” rock shelter sites at Kintampo, where occupations and burials dated to the middle of the second millennium B.C. were uncovered in 1967. Other excavations conducted during 1968 included work by Mr. D. Calvocoressi at the funerary terracotta site of Ahinsan and by Mr. Duncan Mathewson at the seventeenth-century A.D. Gonja site of Jakpasere. In 1969 a training excavation will be conducted at Elmina on the sixteenth- to eighteenth-century A.D. town in the vicinity of the Portuguese castle.


Author(s):  
Helena Karlovic ◽  
Damir Franjic ◽  
Jurica Arapovic

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to determine the factors influencing the decrease of the vaccination rate among children with nonprogressive neurodevelopmental disorders in Bosnia and Herzegovina. METHODS: This study included 149 parents of children with nonprogressive neurodevelopmental disorders. The children were rehabilitated at the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, from October 2017 to February 2019. RESULTS: The vaccination rate of children with nonprogressive neurodevelopmental disorders was 34.9%(P <  0.001). Based on the results of this study, physicians were the most common source of information on vaccines and vaccination procedures for parents (70.3%), whereas the media was rarely used as the source of the information (33%) (P <  0.001). Of the cases, 58.4%accepted the opinion of the pediatrician (P = 0.041). The vaccination of children was postponed on the physician’s recommendation in 87.6%of the cases (P <  0.001). Among healthcare professionals, neuropediatricians or neurophysiatrists (P = 0.023), together with pediatricians (P <  0.001), most often suggested postponing the vaccination. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study showed that the majority of children with nonprogressive neurodevelopmental disorders were unvaccinated. The majority of the parents trusted the physicians’ opinion on vaccination. Neuropediatricians and neurophysiatrists most often postponed the regular vaccination of children.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria de Fátima Morais ◽  
Leandro Da Silva Almeida

No  mundo  atual,  a  universidade  tem  um  papel  crucial  na  formação  de cidadãos capazes de inovar. A criatividade surge, assim, como um conceito a valorizar  no  ensino  superior,  mas  tal  valorização  implica  alterações  no quotidiano  educativo.  Uma  fonte  de  informação  relevante  para  a rentabilizações  das  competências  criativas  nos  alunos  universitários  é auscultar  o  que  estes  pensam  sobre  elas.  Neste  sentido,  a  partir  do questionário  "Universidade  e  Competências  Criativas",  foram  analisadas perceções de 582 estudantes de uma universidade portuguesa acerca da conceituação e da valorização de criatividade no contexto académico. As percepções foram analisadas em função da área curricular de formação e do género, encontrando-se diferenças estatisticamente significativas para ambas as  variáveis.  Os  resultados  permitem  reflexões  no  sentido  de aprofundamentos futuros deste estudo, assim como apontam direções para cuidados e reforços a ter nas práticas educativas neste nível de ensino.Palavras-chave: Criatividade; Ensino Superior; Estudantes universitários; Perceções ABSTRACTIn today's world, the University has a crucial role in the education of citizens in order to innovate. Creativity is thus a concept to value in higher education, but that valuation implies changes in the educational practices. A relevant source of information in order to promote creative skills in college students is to gather what they think about those skills. Through the questionnaire "University and Creative Skills" the perceptions of 582 Portuguese university students about the conceptualization and valorization of creativity in the academic contexts were analyzed. The perceptions were analyzed according to the students curriculum area and gender. Data suggest significant statistical differences in function  of  both  variables.  The  results  allow  reflections  towards  further developments of this study but also point directions to reinforce deliberate educational practices in this level of education.Keywords:Creativity; Higher Education; College students; Perceptions


10.3823/2626 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviane Moura Leite ◽  
Caroline Freitas de Souza Plácido ◽  
Carolina Lucena Veloso Gusmão ◽  
Evelyne Pessoa Soriano ◽  
Adriana Conrado Almeida ◽  
...  

Background The aim of this study was to analyze the extent and uniqueness of anatomical variations of the sternum bone, to assess its applicability for forensic analysis, especially for individual human identification. Methods and Findings Evaluations involved 501 computer tomography scans performed at the Medical Radiology Center, Manaus city, Amazonas, Brazil, and 427 skeletons belonging to the Collection of Identified Human Skeletons of the Center for Studies in Forensic Anthropology (CEAF), of the University of Pernambuco (UPE), Pernambuco, Brazil.  Forms of morphological variations were evaluated, including the presence of foramina, fissures, and incomplete total or partial fusions, as well as forms of xiphoid process termination, and the presence of surgical sutures. Overall, summing computed tomographic images and skeletons, the sternal foramen was present in some 23% of samples, with a greater proportion in males (14%), while in females the frequency was 8.6%. Conclusions The qualitative analysis of the sternum bone is simple to apply and represents an important potential source of information in a human identification process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (12) ◽  
pp. S21-S23
Author(s):  
Ross Mckenzie ◽  
John Mcphee

This article presents an overview of the research and educational programs for connected and autonomous vehicles at the University of Waterloo (UWaterloo). UWaterloo is Canada’s largest engineering school, with 9,500 engineering students and 309 engineering faculty. The University of Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR) for faculty, staff and students is contributing to the development of in-vehicle systems education programs for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) at Waterloo. Over 130 Waterloo faculty, 110 from engineering, are engaged in WatCAR’s automotive and transportation systems research programs. The school’s CAV efforts leverage WatCAR research expertise from five areas: (1) Connected and Autonomous; (2) Software and Data; (3) Lightweighting and Fabrication; (4) Structure and Safety; and (5) Advanced Powertrain and Emissions. Foundational and operational artificial intelligence expertise from the University of Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute complements the autonomous driving efforts, in disciplines that include neural networks, pattern analysis and machine learning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 302 ◽  
pp. 54-62
Author(s):  
Magdalena Zubańska ◽  

The contribution of forensics to the effective fight against crime must be significant. Since its inception, it has been inspired by scientific achievements, which, in turn, entailed the systematic development of forensic research, the effects of which improve the activities on the crime scene, which is the richest source of information about the crime and the offender. The role of the scene examination is very important. Its course and results are documented in a protocol of examination, technical documentation is prepared if necessary. It is this type of documentation that constitutes an indispensable reference material for the investigative authority. The catalogue of technical solutions and devices for the recording of scene examination activities continues to expand. It has already been proven that the use of 3D scanning technology to capture the appearance of the scene brings numerous benefits.


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