Chemical and forensic analysis of JFK assassination bullet lots: Is a second shooter possible?

The assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) traumatized the nation. In this paper we show that evidence used to rule out a second assassin is fundamentally flawed. This paper discusses new compositional analyses of bullets reportedly to have been derived from the same batch as those used in the assassination. The new analyses show that the bullet fragments involved in the assassination are not nearly as rare as previously reported. In particular, the new test results are compared to key bullet composition testimony presented before the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). Matches of bullets within the same box of bullets are shown to be much more likely than indicated in the House Select Committee on Assassinations' testimony. Additionally, we show that one of the ten test bullets is considered a match to one or more assassination fragments. This finding means that the bullet fragments from the assassination that match could have come from three or more separate bullets. Finally, this paper presents a case for reanalyzing the assassination bullet fragments and conducting the necessary supporting scientific studies. These analyses will shed light on whether the five bullet fragments constitute three or more separate bullets. If the assassination fragments are derived from three or more separate bullets, then a second assassin is likely, as the additional bullet would not easily be attributable to the main suspect, Mr. Oswald, under widely accepted shooting scenarios [see Posner (1993), Case Closed, Bantam, New York].Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-AOAS119 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

The Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Toxic Metals (Cd, Hg and Pb) by Calixarenes

Toxic metals (Cd, Hg and Pb) are mostly present in the environment due to natural phenomenon and human activities as well. Exposure of these non-essential elements in the environment causes severe effects. They are known to cause problems in humans as well as in aquatic life. In this work, we demonstrate various studies regarding liquid-liquid extraction of selected ions with different functionalized calixarenes. This review article briefly discusses several molecular designs of calixarenes for divalent ion (Cd2+, Hg2+ and Pb2+) recognition; as well as the relationship between structure and selectivity of the macrocycles is elaborated. The article does not, however, attempt to cover all of the different approaches to these toxic metal ions extraction

Pyrophosphito-bridged diplatinum chemistry

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ISSN-1996-918X Pak

Abstract The present computational study describes some representative contributions in metal selective sensor development. During the course of study, charge densities have been calculated for a series of methyl (N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl ether and crown ether metal complexes. For the methyl (N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl ether metal complexes the charges on ether oxygen and amine nitrogen have been calculated for both the free methyl (N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl ether and its metal complex. Similar calculations have been carried out for crown ether metal complexes and dimethylamino crown ether metal complexes. The metal ions have been chosen because they cover a wide range of charge densities as well as having strategic significance. Therefore, their extraction, separation, purification and analytical determination are of continuing importance. However, for the crown ether metal complexes the charge on the metal ion and, for the dimethylamino crown ether metal complexes, as well as the charge on metal ion and on the dimethylamino nitrogen in the complex are calculated. The change in charge on the dimethylamino nitrogen after complexation of the ether oxygen(s) is presented and discussed with respect to the combination of a crown receptor and an alkylamine reporter being an effective system for the design of a chemosensor