DNA recovery potential in simulated fire debris evidence

It is not uncommon for criminals to start a fire at a crime scene to conceal evidence of the initial crime. The rationale for this can be attributed to the belief that a fire will destroy all physical evidence. It has been shown in previous research that physical evidence in the form of ignitable liquid residues, fingerprints and even DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence can still be recovered from the scene of a fire. However, testing of fire debris evidence for multiple forms of evidence has no universally accepted protocol or order of testing. The purpose of this study is two-fold. DNA recovered from simulated fire debris evidence exposed to various ignitable liquids and burn conditions was compared to determine under what scene conditions it could be feasible to recover DNA evidence and generate usable profiles. Additionally, DNA recovered from samples subjected to different time and temperature conditions of heated passive headspace concentration (HPHC) were compared to determine if it was advisable to perform HPHC in an attempt to recover volatile ignitable liquid evidence prior to testing for DNA. The HPHC overall had no significant effect on the degradation or recovered quantities of DNA, and, under the conditions tested, this would not preclude testing for ignitable liquids prior to testing for DNA. The presence of ignitable liquids did not affect the ability to recover DNA or result in degraded DNA, while burning samples prevented DNA from being recovered in all but a few samples, primarily semen samples

Biodiverzitet riba u reci Krušnici

Ribe su rasprostranjene u vodama širom svijeta i većina ih se upotrebljava u ljudskoj ishrani. Osim toga, ribe se sve intenzivnije danas izučavaju sa različitih aspekata biologije i drugih primjenjenih nauka, ali i rekreativnog sporta i turizma. Zbog sve intenzivnijeg antropološkog uticaja na životnu sredinu, monitoring ribljih populacija je neizostavan iz više praktičnih razloga: razumjevanja mehanizama zagađenja, prikupljanja podataka o prirastu ribljih vrsta koje se koriste u uzgoju i akvakulturi, procjenu stanja vodenih biotopa i dr. Sposbnosti osjetljivih ribljih vrsta za bioakumulaciju zagađenja, koje nastaje kao posljedica ljudskih aktivnosti, danas je veoma primjenljivo u zaštiti i unaprijeđenju životne sredine onih biotopa koji su se našli na udaru raznih hemijskih i drugih polutanata. Polazne osnove za bilo kakvo fiziološko, genetičko, ekološko ili bilo koje drugo stanovište proučavanja populacija određenih vrsta jeste određivanje biodiverziteta nekog užeg ili šireg područja vodenog staništa. Ihtiofauna Bosne i Hercegovine je relativno dobro proučena, o čemu svjedoči veliki broj objavljenih radova, što se ne može reći za sliv rijeke Une, pogotovo njene manje pritoke, u kojim inventarizacija ihtiofaune ni do danas nije u potpunosti urađena. Uzevši u obzir činjenicu da je ihtiološko ispitivanje ribljih populacija u rijeci Krušnici, desnoj pritoci rijeke Une, važno za ovaj predio Bosne i Hercegovine gledajući iz različitih uglova, provedna su istraživanja tokom perioda jesen-zima 2001. godine i proljeće-ljeto 2002. godine. Praćena su kvantitativna i kvalitativna obilježja izlovljenih ihtiopopulacija u ovom vodenom biotopu sa ciljem registrovanja prisutnih i najbrojnijih vrsta riba. Dio izlovljenog materijala se direktno analizirao na terenu, kratko odmah nakon izlova, a veći dio je fiksiran i prenesen u laboratorij Biotehničkog fakulteta, Univerziteta u Bihaću, gdje su nastavljena morfološko-anatomska istraživanja. Ispitivanja osnovnih pokazatelja kvalitativnog i kvantitativnog sastava ihtiofaune rijeke Krušnice provedena su na tri lokaliteta, izvorištu rijeke, na srednjem toku i u području ušća. Pri tome praćene su fizičko-hemijske karakteristike vode, temperatura, pH, tvrdoća vode, prisustvo otopljenih soli, količina kisika, količina ugljične kiseline, osnovne osobine režima vode, mikroklimatske karakteristike područja, prikupljeni su uzorci fitobentosa i zoobentosa koji su također važni za određeni ekosistem, jer od sastava planktonskih vrsta i bentosa ovisi i sastav ribljih vrsta. Izlovljeno je ukupno 108 jedinki, osam različitih vrsta riba koje su klasifikovane prema standardizovanim ključevima za određivanje slatkovodnih vrsta riba u pet familija: Salmonidae, Thymallidae, Cyprinidae, Esocidae i Cottidae. U radu su primijenjene standardne statističke metode obrade podataka. Kod svih ulovljenih vrsta riba, njihova relativna brojnost, morfološke, ekološke i druge karakteristike, unatoč evidentnim inavazivnim uticajima ponajviše nezakonitog ribolova, predstavljaju zadovoljavajuće rezultate do kojih se došlo ovim radom

High frequency impedance based fault location in distribution system with DGs

Distributed generations (DGs) in the distribution systems are connected into the buses using power electronic converters. During fault, it is challenging to provide a constant impedance model for DGs in the system frequency due to the variable converter control strategies. System frequency impedance measurement based fault locations can be influenced by the converters’ fault behaviour. This study addresses this problem by proposing a wide-area high-frequency impedance comparison based fault location technique. The high-frequency impedance model of DG is provided. Based on the constant DG impedance model in high-frequency range, the faulted line sections can be distinguished by comparing the measured impedance differences without requiring the exact distribution system parameters. Simulation results show that the proposed wide-area transient measurements based fault location method can provide accurate faulted sections in the distribution systems with DGs regardless of the load and DG output variations, measurement noise, unbalanced loads and islanding operations

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Diagnosis and Follow-Up of Gliomas: State-of-the-Art

Preoperative grade prediction is important in diagnostics of glioma. Even more important can be follow-up after chemotherapy and radiotherapy of high grade gliomas. In this review we provide an overview of MR-spectroscopy (MRS), technical aspects, and different clinical scenarios in the diagnostics and follow-up of gliomas in pediatric and adult populations. Furthermore, we provide a recap of the current research utility and possible future strategies regarding proton- and phosphorous-MRS in glioma research

Kan förstadagsavkastningen efter börsintroduktioner förutses? En multipel linjär regressionanalys

During the last three years the Swedish stock market has showed a strong upwards movement from the lows of 2016. At the same time the IPO activity has been large and a lot of the offerings have had a positive return during the first day of trading in the market. The goal of this study is to analyze if there is any particular IPO specific data that has a correlation with the first day return and if it can be used to predict the first day return for future IPO’s. If any regressors were shown to have correlation with the first day return, the goal is also to find a subset of regressors with even higher predictability. Then to classify which regressors show the highest correlation with a large positive return. The method which has been used is a multiple linear regression with IPO-data from the period 2017-2018. The results from the study imply that none of the chosen regressors show any significant correlation with the first day return. It is a complicated process which might be difficult to simplify and quantify into a regression model, but further studies are needed to draw a conclusion if there are any other qualitative factors which correlate with the first day return.Under de senaste tre åren har den svenska aktiemarknaden visat en kraftigt uppåtgående rörelse från de låga nivåerna 2016. Samtidigt har det varit hög IPO-aktivitet, där många noteringar har haft en positiv avkastning under den första handelsdagen. Målet med denna studie är att analysera om det finns särskilda IPO-specifika faktorer som påvisar samband med avkastningen från första handelsdagen och om det kan användas för att förutsäga utvecklingen under första handelsdagen för framtida noteringar. Om regressorerna visade korrelation är målet sedan att ta fram de bästa av dessa för att se om det ökar modellens säkerhet. Vidare var det av intresse att visa vilka regressorer som korrelerar med en positiv avkastning. Metoden som användes var en multipel linjär regression med historisk data från perioden 2017-2018. Studiens resultat visar att ingen av de valda regressorerna har någon signifikant korrelation med avkastningen under första handelsdagen. Börsintroduktioner är komplicerade processer som kan vara svåra att förenkla och kvantifiera i en regressionsmodell, men ytterligare studier behövs för att dra en slutsats om det finns andra kvalitativa faktorer som kan förklara utvecklingen under första handelsdagen

Efficient content distribution in IPTV environments

Existing VoD solutions often rely on unicast to distribute content, which leads to a higher load on the VoD server as more nodes become interested in the content. In such case, P2P is an alternative way of distributing content since it makes better use of available resources in the network. In this report, several P2P structures are evaluated from an operators point of view. We believe BitTorrent is the most adequate protocol for a P2P solution in IPTV environments. Two BitTorrent clients have been implemented on an IP-STB as proof of concept to find out whether P2P is suited for IPTV environments. Several tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of both clients and to see if they were able to reach a sufficient throughput on the IP-STB. Based upon the tests and the overall impressions, we are convinced that this particular P2P protocol is well suited for IPTV environments. Hopefully, a client developed from scratch for the IP-STB will offer even greater characteristics. Further, we have studied how to share recorded content among IP-STBs. Such a design would probably have many similarities to BitTorrent since a central node needs to keep track of content; the IP-STBs take care of the rest. The report also brings up whether BitTorrent is suitable for streaming. We believe that the necessary changes required to obtain such functionality will disrupt the strengths of BitTorrent. Some alternative solutions are presented where BitTorrent has been extended with additional modules, such as a server

Kan förstadagsavkastningen efter börsintroduktioner förutses? En multipel linjär regressionanalys

During the last three years the Swedish stock market has showed a strong upwards movement from the lows of 2016. At the same time the IPO activity has been large and a lot of the offerings have had a positive return during the first day of trading in the market. The goal of this study is to analyze if there is any particular IPO specific data that has a correlation with the first day return and if it can be used to predict the first day return for future IPO’s. If any regressors were shown to have correlation with the first day return, the goal is also to find a subset of regressors with even higher predictability. Then to classify which regressors show the highest correlation with a large positive return. The method which has been used is a multiple linear regression with IPO-data from the period 2017-2018. The results from the study imply that none of the chosen regressors show any significant correlation with the first day return. It is a complicated process which might be difficult to simplify and quantify into a regression model, but further studies are needed to draw a conclusion if there are any other qualitative factors which correlate with the first day return.Under de senaste tre åren har den svenska aktiemarknaden visat en kraftigt uppåtgående rörelse från de låga nivåerna 2016. Samtidigt har det varit hög IPO-aktivitet, där många noteringar har haft en positiv avkastning under den första handelsdagen. Målet med denna studie är att analysera om det finns särskilda IPO-specifika faktorer som påvisar samband med avkastningen från första handelsdagen och om det kan användas för att förutsäga utvecklingen under första handelsdagen för framtida noteringar. Om regressorerna visade korrelation är målet sedan att ta fram de bästa av dessa för att se om det ökar modellens säkerhet. Vidare var det av intresse att visa vilka regressorer som korrelerar med en positiv avkastning. Metoden som användes var en multipel linjär regression med historisk data från perioden 2017-2018. Studiens resultat visar att ingen av de valda regressorerna har någon signifikant korrelation med avkastningen under första handelsdagen. Börsintroduktioner är komplicerade processer som kan vara svåra att förenkla och kvantifiera i en regressionsmodell, men ytterligare studier behövs för att dra en slutsats om det finns andra kvalitativa faktorer som kan förklara utvecklingen under första handelsdagen