There is a vast amount of information that the bones can offer and this can be on a macroscopic level, a microscopic level, or both. Understanding the changes in bone morphology can provide an understanding the broader picture of an individual’s life. The natural progression of changes in bone follows the natural progression of life. On the macroscopic level, morphological changes occur to skeletal elements such as the pubic symphysis and the sternal rib ends. These characteristics are used when determining the age of an individual. On the microscopic level, histological methods have been developed to determine the age of an individual based on changes in the microstructure of an element. While age at death estimations are based on a known sequence of change over time, time is not the only variable that effects bone morphology. Different pathologies and trauma can also alter skeletal elements. Just as disease processes and trauma act of signaling pathways in the body that cause changes in bone to occur, drug use also acts on the brain and can affect the same signaling pathways that are involved in bone regulation. It is hypothesized here that chronic cocaine use will have a detectable effect on bone morphology. The study sample used consisted of rats, some exposed to cocaine and others not. The experimental groups consisted of eleven Male Wistar Rats (Rattus norvegicus) from the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. The rat’s self-administered cocaine at a 0.3 mg/kg dosage and the concentration of the IV solution was 1.6 mg/ml of cocaine. The control group includes five female Sprague Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus) from the Boston University Animal Science Center in Boston, Massachusetts. These rats were exposed to a training protocol but were not given any drugs prior. All samples went through a dissection and maceration process to obtain the femora and humeri. Mass, volume, and length measurements were taken for each element to be used for later analysis. One femur was chosen at random from each rodent to be used for histological analysis. Femora were embedded in a 2-part epoxy resin and then cut in half using a diamond band saw. A Buehler IsoMet Low Speed Saw was used to obtain thinner sections and a Buehler MetaServ 250 grinder was used to achieve a thickness of 100-120 μm. India ink was used for staining and all stained sections were put onto slides, covered with Permount and a cover slip, and labeled. Upon microscopic examination, it was determined that the outer circumferential lamellar bone thickness would be measured and compared between the experimental and control groups. Photographs were taken of each cross-section at 1x and 4x magnification through the NIS-element software. The ImageJ image-processing program was used for analysis. The thickness of the outer circumferential lamellar bone and the thickness of the total cross-section was taken at four random locations of each 4x magnification photograph. The ratio of the thicknesses and the outer circumferential lamellar bone thickness alone were compared. When comparing density values calculated from the original mass and volume measurements, a significant difference was found between the control and experimental groups. Samples that had been exposed to cocaine had lower density values than those not exposed to any drugs. The control group mean density equaled 1.492 g/mL and the experimental group mean density equaled 1.082 g/mL. A significant difference was found between the ratio of the thicknesses and between the outer circumferential lamellar bone thickness alone. The experimental group had ratio values significantly higher than the control group. The control groups mean ratio equaled 0.2686 while the experimental groups mean ratio equaled 0.4427. This indicates that in the control group, the outer circumferential lamellar bone thickness, on average, covered about 25% of the total cross-section, and the experimental groups outer circumferential lamellar bone thickness, on average, covered almost 50% of the total cross-section. These results were similar when comparing the outer circumferential lamellar bone thickness alone. The control groups thickness was significantly lower than the experimental groups thickness. The control group’s thickness measurements had a mean of 189.7674 μm and he experimental group’s thickness measurements had a mean of 343.2753 μm. These results are just the preliminary data that shows that chronic cocaine use does have an effect on bone morphology on a microscopic level. Only on histological characteristic was analyzed but there are many more traits that can be analyzed.

Single-cell DNA analysis is not routinely carried out in a forensic setting as it is considered unreliable due to challenges associated with DNA amplification, contamination and profile interpretation. In light of the development of increasingly sensitive techniques, the question of the reliability of single-cell DNA analysis in terms of both processing and interpretation is addressed in the first part of this thesis. Optimising all stages of the DNA analysis process has provided a sensitive method which facilitates the successful outcome of a useable profile from single-cells. Although no consensus profile can be generated for this sample type, interpretation guidelines have been set to enable the robust analysis of single cells. It has been concluded that single-cells can be reliably amplified and profiled for forensic purposes. Both DNA and textile fibres have a proven track record in forensic casework yet their analysis is rarely combined. As an application of the aforementioned single-cell DNA analysis, this project explores the possibility that when fibres are transferred from one surface to another, they could also be acting as a vector for the wearer’s own DNA, through cells that have adhered to the fibre surfaces. Fluorescent staining and microscopy is used to detect the cells in situ on the fibre surface, which are then recovered and processed for DNA using the previously optimised single-cell analysis methods, along with a newly developed DNA assay designed for the amplification of low DNA template samples. The results of this study have demonstrated that cells can be visualised in situ on the fibre surface and that there is potential for cell transfer to occur. It has been concluded however, that from a casework point of view, targeting transferred fibres for cells may not be the best approach as it is time consuming and has not been shown to be effective in this study. The final part of this thesis is focused on the efficacy of massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology for samples that are expected to be severely degraded due to age or exposure to a hostile environment. The ability of both the recently launched Illumina ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit for nuclear DNA markers and an in-house method for the sequencing of degraded mitochondrial DNA, have been tested to determine if MPS offers a more comprehensive evaluation of degraded material than the traditional PCR-CE methods. The results of the ForenSeq kit have demonstrated the effectiveness of its low molecular weight STR and SNP markers for amplifying low template, degraded DNA samples, with alleles amplified using less than 20 pg total DNA input. This kit has also therefore shown application in the field of bioarchaeology, as it can provide the biological sex of the sample, biogeographic ancestry information and also aids detection of sample/control contamination. The in-house mitochondrial DNA assay resulted in the successful amplification and sequencing of samples for which no nuclear DNA was amplified. The high depth of read coverage in these samples, average of 18,000, allowed for the identification of even low level variants.

The thesis "Analysis of current cryptocurrency with focus on Bitcoin, securing the proceeds of crime." deals with the securing of cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The thesis describes selected current cryptocurrencies and their differences from Bitcoin. The thesis is focused on the issue of finding and securing cryptocurrencies in investigated devices detained in criminal activity. Based on the results of the research, optimal procedures for the provision and forensic analysis of cryptocurrencies are suggested.

The aim of this research paper is to evaluate the techniques used to collect latent prints from documents in Addis Ababa Police Commission and give some recommendations on how to cope with the problem. The researcher started off by looking at the general orientation of the research and how the research has been done. Then in the next chapter, the meaning and objective of Forensic Investigation, right or mandate to investigate, the meaning of physical evidence and the prints and techniques used internationally to collect latent prints are discussed. In the third chapter, the best method of collecting latent prints from documents and the method and practice of collecting latent prints from documents at Addis Ababa Police Commission Forensic Evidence Collection Department were discussed. Finally, the finding of the research and some critical recommendations were given. Latent prints from documents are very crucial to identifying the suspects and for legal proceedings or the court process. Even if it is known by the police officers, the techniques and the materials they are using to collect latent prints are with powders which are less effective. According to the research, the Ninhydrin chemical is the best technique recommended to collect latent prints from documents This research paper gives a truly unique perspective on how latent prints should be collected from documents.

Attitudes towards sexual offenders have been widely studied in forensic psychology and criminology research over the past 25 years. At present, however, studies examining these views are predominantly descriptive in nature. That is, self-report questionnaire measures are typically distributed to different groups (e.g., general public samples, and members of different occupational categories), with the resultant between-groups differences being reported in research papers. While these studies have provided some interesting findings, the results gained from them fail to inform researchers about the psychological mechanisms that underpin views about this offending population. The overarching aim of this thesis was to begin to fill this knowledge gap. That is, a range of studies were designed to use robust experimental methods, within validated theoretical paradigms, in order to examine some of the potential constructs that influence people’s attitudes towards sexual offenders. Chapter 1 presents a review of the current state of the field in relation to attitudes towards sexual offenders, with gaps in current knowledge being identified. In Chapter 2, the theoretical framework within which the empirical aspects of the thesis operate is set out. Key constructs in this section include dual-process cognition, and our reliance on implicit (i.e., non-conscious) mental processes when making decisions. Chapter 3 builds upon criticisms of one measure of attitudes towards sexual offenders in order to reconceptualise its use into one of an outcome measure. This is then used throughout Chapters 4, 5, and 6 as a measure of sentencing and risk judgements, in order to examine the effects of various experimental manipulations. Studies presented in Chapter 4 found that heuristic-based processes based around the principles of availability appear to influence decision-making about sexual offenders at the macro (political) level, but not at the micro (individual) level. Instead, individual participants’ attitudes and judgements about sexual offenders were dependent on different primes relating to the representativeness (Chapter 5) and affect (Chapter 6) heuristics. Chapter 7 offers a discussion of the empirical findings presented at earlier points of the thesis, and outlines opportunities to develop further work into the heuristic-based nature of attitudes towards sexual offenders. The work contained within this thesis is original, in that well-validated theoretical models are used to begin to examine the psychological mechanisms that may underpin attitudes iii towards sexual offenders. The apparent dual-process nature of such views calls into question some previously-expressed calls within the literature that presenting fact-based information about sexual offenders may lead to improvements in societal attitudes. Instead, it may be that more indirect and emotional methods may be required to achieve such aims. Towards the end of the thesis, clear opportunities for further work are set out, as are some of the potential implications of this research.

Introduction: Poor insight is included as a risk factor for violence in risk assessment tools such as the Historical Clinical Risk-Management-20 version 3 (HCR-20v3) yet there is a lack of consensus around the relationship between poor insight and violence in individuals with psychosis. A systematic literature review was therefore carried out to clarify this relationship. Relatedly, a research project aimed to outline the predictive validity of the HCR-20v3 total and sub-scale scores to violence in forensic inpatients. A secondary aim was to understand the predictive ability of 2 dynamic risk factors within the HCR-20v3 clinical sub-scale; insight and positive symptoms, alongside age and history of violence in relation to violence in psychosis. Method: A systematic search of studies investigating insight and violence in patients with psychosis, published between 1980 and 2016 was carried out on relevant databases.17 articles from combined search results of 5694, met the inclusion criteria. These were selected for full-text review and quality grading which was subject to inter-rater reliability. In the research project, the predictive validity of the HCR-20v3 to violence was assessed in N=167 forensic inpatients. A sub-sample of N=135 was then used to investigate insight, positive symptoms, age and history of violence in relation to violence. Data was extracted from case files, with the exception of violence data which was collected prospectively from date of HCR-20v3 publication via DATIX. Results: The systematic review found 8 studies in support of a positive relationship between poor insight and violence, whilst 9 studies did not support this relationship. The majority of better quality studies measured the clinical insight dimension which tended to demonstrate a positive relationship between poor insight and violence. Methodological limitations were apparent across studies. The research project found HCR-20v3 total and clinical and risk-management sub-scale scores to predict violence. The clinical sub-scale was the strongest predictor of violence and physical violence specifically. Sub-sample analysis found positive symptoms and history of violence to significantly predict violence generally whilst only positive symptoms demonstrated prediction of physical violence. Insight and age were not significantly associated with either violence type. Discussion: The systematic review found partial support for a positive relationship between poor insight and violence in psychosis. Future good quality research is required to develop a fuller understanding of this issue. Research project results support the use of the HCR-20v3 in the risk assessment and management of forensic inpatients. They reinforce the usefulness of dynamic risk factors within the clinical sub-scale in particular. In line with the majority of studies within the systematic review however, a relationship between insight and violence in a sub-sample of patients with psychosis was not found. Recommendations are made for the regular re-assessment of dynamic risk factors within the HCR-20v3 clinical sub-scale in order to support patients to reduce their level of risk, with the caveat that future research is still required to support a relationship between insight and violence in this patient group.

abstract: The field of authorship determination, previously largely falling under the umbrella of literary analysis but recently becoming a large subfield of forensic linguistics, has grown substantially over the last two decades. As its body of research and its record of successful forensic application continue to grow, this growth is paralleled by the demand for its application. However, methods which have undergone rigorous testing to show their reliability and replicability, allowing them to meet the strict Daubert criteria put forth by the US court system, have not truly been established. In this study, I set out to investigate how a list of parameters, many commonly used in the methodologies of previous researchers, would perform when used to test documents of bloggers from a sports blog, Winging It in Motown. Three prolific bloggers were chosen from the site, and a corpus of posts was created for each blogger which was then examined for each of the chosen parameters. One test document for each of the three bloggers which was not included in that blogger’s corpus was then chosen from the blog page, and these documents were examined for each of the parameters via the same methodologies as were used to examine the corpora. Once data for the corpora and all three test documents was obtained, the results were compared for similarity, and an author determination was made for each test document along each parameter. The findings indicated that overall the parameters were quite unsuccessful in determining authorship for these test documents based on the author corpora developed for the study. Only two parameters successfully identified the authors of the test documents at a rate higher than chance, and the possibility exists that other factors may be driving these successful identifications, demanding further research to confirm their validity as parameters for the purpose of authorship work. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2017

Research on crime scene investigation has strongly focused on the technical aspects of the process, while cognitive aspects (searching, reasoning and perception) have often been overlooked. Textbooks on forensic sciences tend to focus on identifying and processing evidence, and the use of equipment while it can be argued that cognitive factors in processing such evidence and using equipment are equally important. This thesis studies the cognitive aspects of crime scene investigation by comparing eye movement patterns in experts and novices. Studies in various domains, including surgery, sports, and chess playing have shown that eye movements differ between experts and novices, providing a tool towards a more objective assessment of skill than is possible with peer assessment. In four experiments eye movements of experts and novices were examined during (1) inspection of photographs of crime scenes on a computer screen (2) a change blindness task on crime and non-crime scene images, (3) active exploration of a simulated crime scene and (4) the assessment of emotional crime and natural scenes. While some trends in eye movement differences, such as a tendency on longer fixation durations and a broader focus on the overall scene and less on the direct evidence could be found in experts compared to novices, differences between experts and novices were considerably smaller than in other domains, despite the broad range of measures extracted from the data. This lack of clear expertise effects may relate to the rather diverse range of perceptual layouts of crime scenes, reducing possible top-down effects of expertise on the deployment of attention. The results will be discussed with a view of possible directions of future research in this domain.

abstract: The legal system relies heavily on the contribution of forensic psychologists. These psychologists give opinions on a defendant’s ability to stand trial, their legal sanity at the time of the crime, their future dangerousness, and their competency to be executed. However, we know little about what extrinsic factors bias these experts. I assessed the influence of gruesome photographs on forensic psychologists’ evaluations of competency and legal sanity. Previous research has demonstrated that these photographs influence lay judgments of guilt. I predicted that gruesome color photographs (versus the same photographs in black-and-white or a textual description of the photographs) would influence forensic psychologists to judge the defendant competent and sane (decisions that might ultimately lead to punishment). I also predicted that this effect would be greater for sanity judgments than for competency judgments. I asked laypeople to make the same decisions in order to compare expert and lay judgments. I predicted that impact of photograph type seen in experts would be greater in the lay sample. No differences in judgments of competence, sanity, or mental illness emerged as a function of the type of visual information, for either expert or lay participants. Experts relied on competency evidence to make competency judgments and insanity evidence to make insanity judgments. In contrast, lay people relied on various types of evidence to make their ultimate judgments. This research suggests that people making competency and sanity judgments might not be biased by gruesome photographs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2018

Orientador: Eduardo Daruge Junior / Dissertação (mestrado)- Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Otontologia de Piraciicba / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T22:02:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Braganca_DanielPereiraParreirasde_M.pdf: 632518 bytes, checksum: eb9c0e76310e5e373a3b3a7c1c5e5d04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Hoje no Brasil cerca de 50 milhões de pessoas têm planos de saúde. Destas, 10 milhões possuem planos exclusivamente Odontológicos. Com essa consolidação dos planos Odontológicos, uma nova carreira foi aberta para o cirurgião-dentista, a do Auditor Odontológico. O fluxo de competitividade econômico-financeiro deste mercado exige do Auditor Odontológico a verificação dos procedimentos que se pagam, evitando abusos por parte do prestador de serviços, sem, contudo, esbarrar em questões éticas que tangenciam esta atividade. Estas avaliações devem ser executadas por profissionais capacitados, que apresentem além do conhecimento técnico-científico, atributos pessoais como imparcialidade, prudência e diplomacia, entre outros. A falta de um protocolo padrão para a realização de auditorias acaba dificultando a atuação destes profissionais, pois ocorrem distorções nas avaliações. Assim a presente pesquisa teve como objetivos relacionar as não conformidades (Glosas) verificadas aos procedimentos odontológicos das diversas áreas da Odontologia (dentística, periodontia, e demais especialidades odontológicas), mostrando em que área (s) de atuação estão concentradas o maior número de glosas; verificar a viabilidade econômica das auditorias clínicas (Presenciais) em todos os tratamentos solicitados, e como último objetivo a pesquisa esclarece a intervenção do estado, por meio da Agência Nacional de Saúde (ANS) no mercado de saúde suplementar, revisando suas normas atuais para as operadoras de planos odontológicos, e a sua responsabilidade na remuneração da classe odontológica. Este trabalho avaliou 2.283 relatórios de auditorias iniciais arquivados em uma cooperativa de trabalho Odontológico no período de 2002 a 2008 nos meses de janeiro a dezembro, selecionadas aleatoriamente, e analisadas por estatística descritiva. Verificou-se que a dentística é a especialidade responsável por mais da metade das glosas verificadas na amostra, que a auditoria clínica é condenável em todos os orçamentos enviados à operadora pelo cirurgião-dentista, que a influência da agência nacional de saúde (ANS) no mercado de saúde suplementar influencia diretamente na manutenção das operadoras de pequeno e médio porte no mercado de saúde suplementar. Concluiu-se que a dentística é a especialidade clínica com a maior quantidade de glosas na amostra; comprovou a inviabilidade da auditoria clínica (presencial) em todos os tratamentos solicitados, devido à disparidade entre os valores pagos aos auditores e aos valores totais das não-conformidades; esclareceu a atuação da ANS no mercado de Odontologia suplementar, e que há um desequilíbrio na relação financeira entre operadoras, usuários e cirurgiões-dentistas / Abstract: Today in Brazil about 50 million people have health insurance. Of these, 10 million are exclusively Dental plans. With this consolidation of Dental Plans, a new career was opened to the dentist, the Dental Auditor. The flow of financial and economic competitiveness of this market requires the Auditor Dental verification procedures that are paying to avoid abuse by the service provider, without, however, run into ethical issues that touch on this activity. These assessments must be performed by trained professionals, Who present beyond the technical and scientific knowledge, personal attributes such as fairness, prudence and diplomacy, among others. This study evaluated 2283 treatments audited and filed in a cooperative working Dentistry during 2002 to 2008, relating to nonconformities (Glosses) requested the types of dental procedures (restorative procedures, Periodontics, Dental and other specialties). Relating the Glosses, too, the number of Service Units (U.S.), which show the real value of these glosses, and how the carrier failed to pay unnecessarily for professionals. The survey also was intended to verify the cost effectiveness of clinical audits (presence) in all treatments requested. As a final objective the research studied the intervention of the state, through the National Health Agency (ANS) in the health plan market, revising its current guidelines for operators of dental plans, and the possible consequences of economic / financial, especially for operators smaller. We observed that dentistry is the specialty responsible for more than half of the glosses found in the sample, clinical audit is wrong on all budgets submitted to the carrier by the surgeon - dentist, the influence of the ANS health plan market, with that agency a direct influence in the maintenance of the operators of small and midsize market health insurance. It was concluded that light-cured resin restoration of a face are the procedures with the greatest number of glosses in the sample; the impracticality of clinical audit (in person) in all treatments requested due to the disparity between the amounts paid to auditors and the total values of the non-conformities; discuss the role of the National Dental Health in the market further / Mestrado / Odontologia Legal e Deontologia / Mestre em Biologia Buco-Dental