Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2004. / Supervisors: John F. MacGregor, Theodora Kourti. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-227). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-173). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-121).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Laura M. Stapleton. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.) - University of Queensland, 2007. / Includes bibliography.

The use of cyanoacrylate (CA) as a fuming technique for the development of latent friction ridge skin impressions has been widespread for decades within the forensic lab as well as in the field at crime scenes. Important features of processing latent print impressions using this method include that it makes visible latent print impressions that for the most part cannot be seen with the unaided eye and it preserves latent print impressions for future processing/examination. The superglue fumes "fix" the latent print impression to the substrate making it difficult to wipe away, thereby decreasing the chances of destruction during packaging at the scene, transportation, and processing in the lab. One of the disadvantages to this technique is the lack of contrast between the white polymers that are formed on the latent print impression residue and light colored backgrounds on which the latent print impression may be present. Attempts were made to develop a one-step cyanoacrylate fuming method that would enhance visualization of latent print impressions on light colored backgrounds without the need for an alternative light source, dye staining, or powdering. Latent print impressions were applied to black and white ceramic tiles, white painted wood and white/translucent textured plastic. Protein and hemoglobin stains, commercial colorants, sublimation dyes, hair dye, and printer ink were added to ethyl-CA in an attempt to create a co-polymerization process of the vaporized cyanoacrylate monomers and colorant molecules on latent print residue. Fuming was also attempted using pre-colored commercial glues with the assumption that the attached CA polymers on the latent print impression residue would retain their original color properties. None of these methods proved successful. The practical use of a new fluorescent CA, Lumicyano^TM, was also examined. Following fuming, an ALS is utilized for the excitation of the developed latent print impressions using this technique. Strong fluorescence could not be observed on all substrates. In this particular study, fuming with traditional CA followed by the application of powder or dye stains to latent print impressions currently appears to be the most efficient technique for latent print enhancement on the white or light colored substrates used in this study.

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.

Master of Science / Department of Statistics / Wei-Wen Hsu / BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Alzheimer's disease is currently a neurodegenerative diseases without any effective treatments to slow or reverse the progression. To develop any potential treatments, the need of a good statistical model to assess the progression of Alzheimer's disease is becoming increasingly urgent. This study proposed a latent transition model to monitor the progression of Alzheimer's disease which can help the development of a given proposed treatment. METHOD: A latent transition model was used to assess the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The volume of Hippocampus and fluorodeoxyglucose-PET (FDG) were employed as biomarkers in this model. These two biomarkers are very sensitive to the pathological signs of the Alzheimer's disease. The proposed latent transition model was performed with real data from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), which contain 2,126 participants from 2005 to 2014. RESULTS/FINDINGS: The latent transition model suggested six states of disease progression and two different pathological profiles. One progression profile was mainly determined by the biomarker of FDG and the other by the volume of Hippocampus. CONCLUSION: The results revealed the existence of various progression profiles of Alzheimer's disease, suggesting a new way to evaluate the disease progression.

abstract: Skyline queries are a well-established technique used in multi criteria decision applications. There is a recent interest among the research community to efficiently compute skylines but the problem of presenting the skyline that takes into account the preferences of the user is still open. Each user has varying interests towards each attribute and hence "one size fits all" methodology might not satisfy all the users. True user satisfaction can be obtained only when the skyline is tailored specifically for each user based on his preferences. This research investigates the problem of preference aware skyline processing which consists of inferring the preferences of users and computing a skyline specific to that user, taking into account his preferences. This research proposes a model that transforms the data from a given space to a user preferential space where each attribute represents the preference of the user. This study proposes two techniques "Preferential Skyline Processing" and "Latent Skyline Processing" to efficiently compute preference aware skylines in the user preferential space. Finally, through extensive experiments and performance analysis the correctness of the recommendations and the algorithm's ability to outperform the naïve ones is confirmed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2014

abstract: Animals must learn to ignore stimuli that are irrelevant to survival, which is a process referred to as ‘latent inhibition’. This process has been shown to be genetically heritable (Latshaw JS, Mazade R, Sinakevitch I, Mustard JA, Gadau J, Smith BH (submitted)). The locus containing the AmTYR1 gene has been shown through quantitative trait loci mapping to be linked to strong latent inhibition in honey bees. The Smith lab has been able to show a correlation between learning and the AmTYR1 receptor gene through pharmacological inhibition of the receptor. In order to further confirm this finding, experiments were designed to test how honey bees learn with this receptor knocked out. Here this G-protein coupled receptor for the biogenic amine tyramine is implemented as an important factor underlying latent inhibition in honey bees. It is shown that double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and Dicer-substrate small interfering RNA (dsiRNA) that are targeted to disrupt the tyramine receptors specifically affects latent inhibition but not excitatory associative conditioning. The results therefore identify a distinct reinforcement pathway for latent inhibition in insects. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biology 2017