Visualisation of fingermarks and grab impressions on fabrics. Part 1: gold/zinc vacuum metal deposition

Vacuum metal deposition (VMD) is a highly sensitive technique originally introduced for detecting latent fingermarks on smooth non-porous surfaces such as carrier bags, plastics and glass. The current study explores whether VMD can be used in the examination of clothing from physical and sexual assault cases in order to visualise identifiable fingermark ridge detail and/or palmar flexion crease detail, thus allowing potential areas to be indicated for DNA swabbing and/or to determine the sequence of events. Four different fabrics were utilised during this study – nylon, polyester, polycotton and cotton, along with 15 donors who ranged in their age and propensity to leave fingermarks, from good to medium to poor as determined by results obtained from test runs using paper and plastic carrier bags processed with VMD. Once samples were collected they were kept for a determined time (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21 or 28 days) and then treated using the gold/zinc metal VMD process. From the results, it appears that greater ridge detail is visible on the smoother non-porous fabrics, such as nylon whereas on rougher porous fabrics, such as cotton, only empty prints and impressions, rather than any ridge details, were visible. All fabrics did however allow the development of touch marks that could be targeted for DNA taping thus potentially leading to a DNA profile and possible identification of a suspect

Preference and Motivation Testing

Since the early 1970s, scientists have used preference tests (tests that require animals to choose between two or more different options or environments) as a means of answering questions about animal welfare. Preference tests have been used to establish animals\u27 preferences for common housing options such as ambient temperature, illumination and preferred types of bedding and flooring; to improve the effectiveness of devices such as loading ramps and nest boxes; and to clarify how strongly animals avoid various aspects of confinement and methods of restraint. To use preference research to answer questions about animal welfare, three issues need to be addressed. First, we must ensure that experiments do adequately reflect the animals\u27 preferences. The preferences of an animal are likely to vary with the animal\u27s age and experience, the time of day, environmental conditions, and the animal\u27s on-going behaviour; therefore, preference experiments must be comprehensive enough to identify the relevant sources of variation. Experiments must also avoid confounding preference with familiarity, and avoid spurious results arising from the use of particular testing procedures and response measures. Second, to draw inferences about animal welfare from preference research requires that we establish how strongly an animal prefers a chosen option, avoids an unpref erred one, or is motivated to perform a certain behaviour (nest-building, exploration) that is prevented in some environments. Various methods to assess preference and motivation strength have been proposed. Third, the environments preferred by an animal will often, but not always, promote its welfare in the sense of health and psychological well-being. However, preferences may not correspond to welfare if the choices fall outside the animals\u27 sensory, cognitive and affective capacities, or if animals are required to choose between short- and long-term benefits. Future priorities for preference testing include more emphasis on identifying the factors underlying animals\u27 preferences, greater integration of preference research with other indicators of animal well-being, more reliance on the natural history of the species as a source of hypotheses about environmental preferences, and greater use of preference research in the design of animal environments

Visualisation of fingermarks and grab impressions on dark fabrics using silver vacuum metal deposition

Vacuum metal deposition (VMD) involves the thermal evaporation of metal (silver) in a vacuum, resulting in a uniform layer being deposited on the specimen being treated. This paper examines the use of silver on dark fabrics, thus offering a simpler operation and more obvious colouration to that of the traditional use of gold and zinc metals which must be evaporated separately. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fabric type, donor, mark age and method of fingermark deposition on the quality of marks visualised using silver VMD. This was achieved by collecting fingermark deposits from fifteen donors, of both sexes and various ages, by a grab or a press method. Four different fabrics: satin, polyester, polycotton and cotton were studied over a 10 day timeline of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21 and 28 + days. It was found that satin and polyester gave the most positive results, with polyester often producing excellent ridge detail. Cotton and polycotton were less successful with no ridge detail being observed. The donors also had an observable effect on the results obtained probably due to variations in secretions produced or pressures applied during specimen collection. The age of the mark or the method of mark deposition had little influence on the results obtained. Silver VMD is a viable process for visualising marks on certain dark fabrics and has the advantage over gold/zinc VMD in that the marks visualised are light in colour which contrasts well against the dark background

Evaluating Multiple Arthropod Taxa as Indicators of Invertebrate Diversity in Old Fields

Biodiversity, often quantified by species richness, is commonly used to evaluate and monitor the health of ecosystems and as a tool for conservation planning. The use of one or more focal taxa as surrogates or indicators of larger taxonomic diversity can greatly expedite the process of biodiversity measurement. This is especially true when studying diverse and abundant invertebrate fauna. Before indicator taxa are employed, however, research into their suitability as indicators of greater taxonomic diversity in an area is needed. We sampled invertebrate diversity in old fields in southern Michigan using pitfall trapping and morphospecies designations after identification to order or family. Correlation analysis was used to assess species richness relationships between focal arthropod taxa and general invertebrate diversity. Relationships were assessed at two fine spatial scales: within sampling patches, and locally across four sampling patches. Cumulative richness of all assessed taxa increased proportionately with cumulative invertebrate richness as sampling intensity increased within patches. At the among-patch scale, we tentatively identified Hemiptera and Coleoptera as effective indicator taxa of greater invertebrate richness. Although Hymenoptera, Araneae and Diptera exhibited high species richness, their total richness within patches was not associated with overall invertebrate richness among patches. Increased sampling throughout the active season and across a greater number of habitat patches should be conducted before adopting Hemiptera and Coleoptera as definitive indicators of general invertebrate richness in the Great Lakes region. Multiple sampling techniques, in addition to pitfall trapping, should also be added to overcome capture biases associated with each technique

Operational Metrics for an Offshore Wind Farm & Their Relation to Turbine Access Restrictions and Position in the Array

Abstract: This study explores operations & maintenance requirements for offshore wind turbines. It does so by calculating performance, reliability and maintenance metrics from an operational database provided by a large offshore wind farm. Distributions of number of repairs and repair times per turbine are shared, as well as number of visits. A focus is placed on the effect of tidal access restrictions and position in the array by comparing clusters of turbines within the wind farm. It was found that tidal access restrictions lead to an increase in mean time to repair of 16%, and 0.22% decrease in technical availability. Turbines in the first few rows with reference to the prominent wind direction experience more minor failures on average, while those constantly operating in the wake of others are characterised by more major failures, and therefore a higher mean time to repair

Estimating the Social Welfare Effects of New Zealand Apple Imports

This paper provides a demonstration of how a comprehensive economic framework, which takes into account both the gains from trade and the costs of invasive species outbreaks, can inform decision-makers when making quarantine decisions. Using the theoretical framework developed in Cook and Fraser (2008) an empirical estimation is made of the economic welfare consequences for Australia of allowing quarantine-restricted trade in New Zealand apples to take place. The results suggest the returns to Australian society from importing New Zealand apples are likely to be negative. The price differential between the landed product with SPS measures in place and the autarkic price is insufficient to outweigh the increase in expected damage resulting from increased fire blight risk. As a consequence, this empirical analysis suggests the net benefits created by opening up this trade are marginal.International Relations/Trade,

Enhanced Attraction to Blood by Pigs with Inadequate Dietary Protein Supplementation

In two experiments, 60 individually penned growing pigs were exposed daily to two sections of cotton cord, one of which had been soaked with pigs\u27 blood and subsequently dried, while the other was plain. The animals\u27 preference for chewing-on the blood-impregnated cord was quantified by direct observation. When fed a standard control diet of corn, barley, and soybean meal with mineral and vitamin supplements, the pigs had a clear but modest preference for chewing the blood-impregnated cord. Omission of the protein supplement (soybean meal) from the diet for 4 wk led to a major increase in attraction to blood and a significant reduction in body weight gain. In the second experiment, supplementation of this negative diet with (a) synthetic lysine, or (b) synthetic lysine and other synthetic amino acids, led to weight gains that were intermediate between those seen with the control and negative diets. Attraction to blood was also intermediate on average, although not significantly lower than that seen with the negative diet. Pigs on the diets supplemented with amino acids had highly variable weight gains. Those that gained as rapidly as the controls had relatively low attraction to blood, while those showing clear depression of gain tended to (but did not always) have enhanced attraction to blood. It is hypothesized that the depression of growth caused by inadequate protein nutrition predisposed the animals to enhanced attraction to blood, and that such a relationship may help to explain the widely reported link between dietary inadequacies and tail-biting

Monitoring LMXBs with the Faulkes Telescopes

We have been undertaking a monitoring project of 13 low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) using FT North since early 2006. The introduction of FT South has allowed us to extend this monitoring to include 15 southern hemisphere LMXBs. With new instrumentation, we also intend to expand this monitoring to include both infrared wavelengths and spectroscopy.Comment: Conference proceedings from 'A Population Explosion: The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments', 28 Oct - 2 Nov, St. Petersburg Beach, FL. 3 pages, 3 figure