“Blood, Bucks and Bias”: Reliability and biasability of crime scene investigators’ selection and prioritization of blood traces

When crime scene investigators (CSIs) encounter crime scenes with large volumes of blood, some selection and prioritization is often needed, and this will impact on what blood is and is not available for forensic analysis. What factors influence CSIs decision making process is largely unknown. This study examines the effects of awareness of limited resources and irrelevant contextual case information indicating either a homicide or a suicide on CSIs collection of blood traces. To this end, two scenario-based experiments with CSIs and novices were conducted. Overall, the results suggest that even when CSIs decisions are made under identical conditions, their trace selection varies both when it comes to numbers and locations. Furthermore, awareness of limited resources made CSIs collect fewer traces and their selections also varied following the contextual case information, showing similarities and differences with novices. Since blood traces can be used to establish both activity and identity the findings can have important implications for the subsequent investigation as well as trial

Operational amplifiers revisited for low field magnetic resonance relaxation time measurement electronics

Advances in permanent magnet technology has seen more reports of sensor applications of low field magnetic resonance. Whilst most are either in the 10–20 MHz range or in the earth’s field, measurements at below 1 MHz are beginning to become more widespread. This range is below the need for careful radio frequency electronics design but above the audio domain and represents an interesting cross over. Many commercial spectrometers do not include the pulse power amplifier, duplexer and preamplifier as these depend on the frequency range used. In this work we demonstrate that, with the current specifications of the humble operational amplifier, the most simple form of an inverting design using only two resistors and decoupling, can effectively provide this ‘front end’ electronics. The low powers used mean crossed Ge diodes provide an excellent duplexer and it is suitable for battery powered applications

A method to induce stress in human subjects in online research environments

This paper presents a method to induce stress in human subjects during online participation in research studies without the presence of researchers. In this study, participants in the stress-inducing condition (N = 52, 44%) were asked to answer general knowledge and mathematical questions which people often get wrong, and did so under time pressure as well as receiving feedback. In contrast, participants in the control condition (N = 66, 56%) did not have time pressure or receive feedback. The stress manipulation was found to be effective, as the reported state anxiety and visual analog scale on stress scores were higher for the stress group than for the non-stress group (both findings, p < 0.001). Consistent findings were found when accounting for trait anxiety as a moderator, with the exception of the state anxiety levels in high trait anxiety group. This stressing method combines the established stress conditions of uncontrollability (such as time pressures) and social evaluative threats (such as negative feedback). In addition, the method contains specific measures (such as a commitment statement and attention check questions) to enhance the internal validity by preventing and detecting cheating or random responses. This method can be deployed through any commonly available online software. It offers a simple and cost-effective way to collect data online - which fits the increasing need to carry out research in virtual and online environments

Crime reconstruction and the role of trace materials from crime scene to court

Crime reconstruction takes place in a complex ecosystem and needs to be responsive to the context of each case. For accurate, reproducible and transparent crime reconstructions to take place, a holistic approach is needed that considers the different stakeholders, different types of trace material, integral human decision‐making and interconnected nature of the forensic science process. For robust reconstruction, there needs to be a consideration of both the distinctive types of trace material that can contribute to the reconstruction, and an understanding of the interplay of human decision‐making within reconstruction approaches. In addition, it is also necessary to consider source attribution of a trace material in addition to the activities that led to the generation, identification, transfer, and persistence of the trace. This requires explicit and tacit forms of knowledge, and an incorporation of the inherent uncertainty and risk in the reconstruction approach. The communication of conclusions reached in a crime reconstruction that address what the evidence means is also an important consideration given the different requirements of intelligence and evidence. Therefore, undertaking a crime reconstruction within a holistic framework that seeks to incorporate the complexity of the forensic science ecosystem is valuable for achieving a problem solving approach that offers reproducible, transparent reconstructions with a clear articulation of risk and uncertainty that can be of value to investigators and the courts. This article is categorized under: Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > Crime Scene Reconstruction Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > From Traces to Intelligence and Evidenc

The state of HRM in the Middle East:Challenges and future research agenda

Based on a robust structured literature analysis, this paper highlights the key developments in the field of human resource management (HRM) in the Middle East. Utilizing the institutional perspective, the analysis contributes to the literature on HRM in the Middle East by focusing on four key themes. First, it highlights the topical need to analyze the context-specific nature of HRM in the region. Second, via the adoption of a systematic review, it highlights state of development in HRM in the research analysis set-up. Third, the analysis also helps to reveal the challenges facing the HRM function in the Middle East. Fourth, it presents an agenda for future research in the form of research directions. While doing the above, it revisits the notions of “universalistic” and “best practice” HRM (convergence) versus “best-fit” or context distinctive (divergence) and also alternate models/diffusion of HRM (crossvergence) in the Middle Eastern context. The analysis, based on the framework of cross-national HRM comparisons, helps to make both theoretical and practical implications

The possible impact of stress on forensic decision-making: An exploratory study

Stress has been shown to have an impact on the quality of decisions made by professionals in a variety of domains. However, there is lack of research examining the impact of stress on forensic decision-making contexts, where experts can face various levels of stress. This exploratory study examines fingerprint decisions made under stress, by novices (N = 115) and fingerprint experts (N = 34). Findings suggested a potentially complex relationship between stress and expert performance. On the one hand, in this study stress seemed to improve the performance of both novices and experts on fingerprint assessments, but mainly for same-source evidence. In contrast, the induced stress appeared to have an impact on risk-taking. When the same-source prints were difficult, a trend emerged with stressed experts taking less risk and reported more inconclusive conclusions with higher confidence than the control group. Furthermore, stress had a significant impact on the overall confidence levels and response times of novices, but not experts. These findings suggest that stress and decision-making tasks are important factors that should be considered when considering optimal working environments for increasing decision quality

Exopolysaccharide produced by the potential probiotic Lactococcus garvieae C47: Structural characteristics, rheological properties, bioactivities and impact on fermented camel milk

Fermented camel milk possesses a weak (liquid-like) gel structure. We aimed to 1) investigate the characteristics, bioactivities and rheological properties of the exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by Lactococcus garvieae-C47 (exopolysaccharide-C47 product), a potential probiotic bacterium, on milk extracted from camels and 2) examine the rheological properties of the fermented camel milk produced by L. garvieae-C47. Exopolysaccharide-C47 product (molecular weight: 7.3 7 106 Da) was composed of the following monosaccharides: glucose (82.51%), arabinose (5.32%) and xylose (12.17%). The antioxidant, antitumor and \u3b1-amylase inhibitory activities of exopolysaccharide-C47 product reached up to 67.52, 59.35 and 91.0%, respectively. The apparent viscosity of exopolysaccharide-C47 product decreased with the increase in shear rate and declined by increasing the temperature up to 50 \ub0C. The rheological properties of exopolysaccharide-C47 product are influenced by the salt type and pH value. The exopolysaccharide product produced by L. garvieae C47 possesses valuable health benefits and has the ability to improve the weak structure of fermented camel milk

Clinical characteristics of Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients represented as Mean± SD, frequency or percentages.

Clinical characteristics of Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients represented as Mean± SD, frequency or percentages.</p

Sociodemographic characteristics of Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients (n = 134).

Sociodemographic characteristics of Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients (n = 134).</p