The Daubert/Kumho Implications of Observer Effects in Forensic Science: Hidden Problems of Expectation and Suggestion

After the Supreme Court's decision in Kumho Tire v. Carmichael and the recent amendment of Federal Rule of Evidence 702, proffers of expert testimony will have to be found reliable for the particular application of the asserted expertise to the "task at hand." That is, expertise which is reliable in some global sense, which might apply to other cases but not to the particular application before the court, does not satisfy the requirements for admission. With that in mind, this article examines the phenomoenon of "observer effects" and the vulnerability of forensic science examinations to such observer effects. Observer effects occur when the results of an examination are distorted by the context and state of the observer, including the observer's expectations and desires. The article reviews the findings and practices of a range of scientific fields concerning such observer effects and their control, with special attention to the relevant research and theory from cognative and social psychology. This literature establishes that in virtually every area of human judgment, such observer effects have a relentless and sometimes dramatic effect on the accuracy of results. The article then examines current forensic science practice in light of that research, concluding that forensic science practice is far behind most scientific fields in controlling for such effects, leaving the reliability and accuracy of many forensic science results in doubt. The article then suggests practical ways in which forensic science practice can be changed to reduce such problems, such as the adoption of blind testing regimes. Finally, the article analyzes the current state of the law under Kumho Tire and Rule 702, concluding that the results of forensic science examinations are in danger of being excluded if their reliability continues to be undermined by the failure to control observer effects.Psycholog

Bayes Wars Redivivus - An Exchange

An electronic exchange among 10 evidence scholars that began with a discussion of the restyled Federal Rules and grew into a significant restatement of debates in evidentiary scholarship over the last 50 years, touching on relevance, probative value, inference, Bayesianism and the foundations of evidence, with an introduction by Michael Risinger

Eco-engineered rock pools: a concrete solution to biodiversity loss and urban sprawl in the marine environment

journal_title: Environmental Research Letters article_type: lett article_title: Eco-engineered rock pools: a concrete solution to biodiversity loss and urban sprawl in the marine environment copyright_information: © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd license_information: cc-by Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. date_received: 2016-05-12 date_accepted: 2016-08-10 date_epub: 2016-09-1

Low frequency of germline E-cadherin mutations in familial and nonfamilial gastric cancer

Little is known about the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to the development of gastric cancer. Mutations in the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin are recognized to be associated with the development of undifferentiated, diffuse and invasive gastric cancers. A recent study of two gastric cancer families has shown that germline mutations in the E-cadherin gene can be causative (Guilford P et al, Nature 1998; 26: 402–405). We have examined the E-cadherin gene for constitutive mutations in a systematic series of 106 gastric cancer patients, 10 with a family history of the disease and 96 sporadic cases. No pathogenic mutations were observed in any of the 106 patients. The results indicate that germline mutations in E-cadherin will not account for more than 3% of gastric cancers. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Applying Sentinel Event Reviews to Policing

A sentinel event review (SER) is a system-based, multistakeholder review of an organizational error. The goal of an SER is to prevent similar errors from recurring in the future rather than identifying and punishing the responsible parties. In this article, we provide a detailed description of one of the first SERs conducted in an American police department—the review of the Lex Street Massacre investigation and prosecution, which resulted in the wrongful incarceration of four innocent men for 18 months. The results of the review suggest that SERs may help identify new systemic reforms for participating police departments and other criminal justice agencies

Phosphorylation of Syntaxin‐1a by casein kinase 2α (CK2α) regulates presynaptic vesicle exocytosis from the reserve pool

The t-soluble NSF-attachment protein receptor protein Syntaxin-1a (Stx-1a) is abundantly expressed at pre-synaptic terminals where it plays a critical role in the exocytosis of neurotransmitter-containing synaptic vesicles. Stx-1a is phosphorylated by Casein kinase 2α (CK2α) at Ser14, which has been proposed to regulate the interaction of Stx-1a and Munc-18 to control of synaptic vesicle priming. However, the role of CK2α in synaptic vesicle dynamics remains unclear. Here, we show that CK2α over-expression reduces evoked synaptic vesicle release. Furthermore, shRNA-mediated knockdown of CK2α in primary hippocampal neurons strongly enhanced vesicle exocytosis from the reserve pool, with no effect on the readily releasable pool of primed vesicles. In neurons in which endogenous Stx-1a was knocked down and replaced with a CK2α phosphorylation-deficient mutant, Stx-1a(D17A), vesicle exocytosis was also increased. These results reveal a previously unsuspected role of CK2α phosphorylation in specifically regulating the reserve synaptic vesicle pool, without changing the kinetics of release from the readily releasable pool

JAK-STAT and AKT pathway-coupled genes in erythroid progenitor cells through ontogeny

Background: It has been reported that the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT signaling pathway regulates erythropoietin (EPO)-induced survival, proliferation, and maturation of early erythroid progenitors. Erythroid cell proliferation and survival have also been related to activation of the JAK-STAT pathway. The goal of this study was to observe the function of EPO activation of JAK-STAT and PI3K/AKT pathways in the development of erythroid progenitors from hematopoietic CD34(+) progenitor cells, as well as to distinguish early EPO target genes in human erythroid progenitors during ontogeny. Methods: Hematopoietic CD34(+) progenitor cells, isolated from fetal and adult hematopoietic tissues, were differentiated into erythroid progenitor cells. We have used microarray analysis to examine JAK-STAT and PI3K/AKT related genes, as well as broad gene expression modulation in these human erythroid progenitor cells. Results: In microarray studies, a total of 1755 genes were expressed in fetal liver, 3844 in cord blood, 1770 in adult bone marrow, and 1325 genes in peripheral blood-derived erythroid progenitor cells. The erythroid progenitor cells shared 1011 common genes. Using the Ingenuity Pathways Analysis software, we evaluated the network pathways of genes linked to hematological system development, cellular growth and proliferation. The KITLG, EPO, GATA1, PIM1 and STAT3 genes represent the major connection points in the hematological system development linked genes. Some JAK-STAT signaling pathway-linked genes were steadily upregulated throughout ontogeny (PIM1, SOCS2, MYC, PTPN11), while others were downregulated (PTPN6, PIAS, SPRED2). In addition, some JAK-STAT pathway related genes are differentially expressed only in some stages of ontogeny (STATs, GRB2, CREBB). Beside the continuously upregulated (AKT1, PPP2CA, CHUK, NFKB1) and downregulated (FOXO1, PDPK1, PIK3CG) genes in the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, we also observed intermittently regulated gene expression (NFKBIA, YWHAH). Conclusions: This broad overview of gene expression in erythropoiesis revealed transcription factors differentially expressed in some stages of ontogenesis. Finally, our results show that EPO-mediated proliferation and survival of erythroid progenitors occurs mainly through modulation of JAK-STAT pathway associated STATs, GRB2 and PIK3 genes, as well as AKT pathway-coupled NFKBIA and YWHAH genes