Evaluating the role and impact of forensic DNA profiling on key areas of the criminal justice system

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Science.The advent of the modem technique of forensic DNA profiling has resulted in a lively union between one of the more advanced and dynamic disciplines of modern science and what is, arguably, society's most revered, influential and complex institution, the criminal justice system (CJS). The alliance, begun over 20 years ago, has been fruitful in obvious ways. There has been profound technological advancement, and astonishing policing outcomes. But the years have also brought strains, evidenced in the on-going, and sometimes bitter, socio-legal controversy. The sheer pace of the developments surrounding DNA profiling, and the scope of its impact, have meant that the forensic and legal agencies associated with its use have often been able to do little more than fight a rearguard action when it came to handling the pressures and complexities they faced. This has been particularly the case since the use of forensic DNA databases began expanding so notably around the globe. Managing the demand for the forensic technology, and its remarkable potential has required an unprecedented commitment of public funds. Both forensic and police operational practices have had to be modified. And very close attention has been called for on the part of judicial and legislative bodies in states and countries everywhere. Given the circumstances in which this substantial progress has occurred, the capacity of the forensic community to undertake reasoned strategic assessment of the future implications of change has been severely restricted. In fact, there has been a lack of reflection, and far too little evaluation of the outcomes of developmental efforts and achievements. The focus of the forensic community has been consumed with meeting the immediate demands and implementing the next generation of technology. No matter how understandable it might be, this situation is unfortunate. Over recent years the field of forensic DNA profiling has matured from being an obscure, niche discipline to become a mainstream, public-good science. The technological platform for it and its operational scope have both broadened notably; and the socio-legal ramifications of its use have intensified. This vast increase in the scale and complexity of the operational context of the forensic DNA discipline makes it imperative that the forensic community understand its role in a more holistic sense so as to have a greater level of influence over its future impact. Achieving this requires developing a deeper awareness of the contextual environment within which forensic DNA profiling is applied. This research sets out to undertake such an evaluation. Its aim is to take a system-wide view of the role and impact of forensic DNA profiling on key areas of the CJS

A Technical Focus on Antegrade Dissection and Re-entry for Coronary Chronic Total Occlusions: a Practice Update for 2019.

Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTOs) are a commonly encountered lesion. These present in a diverse patient population with variable anatomy. Technical success rates of ~90% are achievable for CTO lesions in centers with appropriate expertise. Many lesions can be crossed with wire-based techniques. However, the most anatomically complex and technically challenging lesions will often require more advanced approaches such as retrograde access and/or the application of blunt dissection techniques in the vessel to safely navigate long and/or ambiguous CTO segments. Retrograde dissection and re-entry (RDR) and antegrade dissection and re-entry (ADR) strategies are often needed to treat such lesions. In many circumstances, ADR offers a safe and efficient means to successfully cross a CTO lesion. Therefore, operators must remain cognizant of the risks and benefits of differing technical approaches during CTO percutaneous coronary intervention, particularly when both ADR and RDR are feasible. This article provides an overview of the ADR technique in addition to updated approaches in contemporary clinical practice

Remission vs low disease activity: function, quality of life and structural outcomes in the Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Study and Network

Objectives To examine associations between function, quality of life and structural outcomes in patients achieving remission vs low disease activity in early RA. Methods Demographic, clinical and radiographic variables were collected at baseline and then annually from the Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Study (ERAS) and Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Network (ERAN) inception cohorts in routine care from 1986 to 2012. Disease activity was categorized: mean DAS28 score between years 1 and 5: remission [mean remission DAS (mRDAS) <2.6] or low [mean low DAS (mLDAS) 2.6–3.2]; sustained low/remission DAS28 (sLDAS/sRDAS) at years 1 and 2; and sustained Boolean remission (sBR) at years 1 and 2. Changes in HAQ and Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire [SF-36; physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component score]) and total Sharp van der Heijde (SvdH) scores for each disease activity category were modelled using multi-level models. Covariates included year of onset, age, gender and DMARD use at first visit. Results Of 2701 patients, 562 (21%) were categorized mRDAS, 330 (12%) mLDAS, 279 (10%) sRDAS, 203 (7.5%) sLDAS and 93 (3%) sBR. Patients categorized as mRDAS had increasingly divergent improved HAQ, SF-36 PCS, MCS and total SvdH scores compared with mLDAS (P-values 0.001 to <0.0001, all time points). Patients categorized as sRDAS had better HAQ, SF-36 PCS and MCS scores (P-values 0.05 to <0.0001, all time points) and SvdH scores (P = 0.05, years 3–5) over sLDAS. sBR was associated with better HAQ, and SF-36 PCS and MCS scores over sLDAS (P-values 0.002 to <0.0001, all time points). Conclusion These findings from routine care support ACR/EULAR guidelines that remission is a preferable goal over low disease activity in early RA.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Experimental Testing of Door Panel Boundary Conditions to Determine NVH Variability

The variability of measured frequency response functions (FRFs) from nominally identical structures is a well-known phenomenon and trying to eradicate it increases the design challenge for automotive manufacturers. In this paper a vehicle door is experimentally tested in order to assess the effect of variability in the attachment boundary conditions between the door structure and trim components upon measured FRF data. Plastic clips can be used to hold the trim to the door panel, so individual clips were systematically removed and then replaced in order to generate a set of measured FRFs that demonstrate how individual property changes can influence the global structure. Point and transfer FRFs, with corresponding normalised standard deviations, were measured by exciting the door panel and measuring the response both on the door panel and on the attached trim. The door response was found to vary by up to 10% over all clip combinations, and this is compared to the test variability. A newly developed function that predicts the FRF variability due to measurement test error was also applied. The results of this prediction match closely with the normalised standard deviation calculated from repeat FRF measurements taken on the structure. This will therefore enable test-to-test variability to be separated from structure-to-structure variabilit

A study of vehicle and measurement NVH variability

A range of nominally identical automotive vehicles have been tested for NVH variability by exciting the engine mount with an impact hammer and measuring the responses at different points on the vehicle. Normalised standard deviations were calculated from the mobility, which fell well within the boundaries of previous comparable measurements. The measurement variability was determined by taking repeat measurements on a single vehicle, which were found to be very repeatable, varying by up to 2.9%. A function that uses the coherence to determine the random error was applied to the data to determine the variability due to the measurement taking process. This was compared with repeat measurements taken on a single vehicle and was shown to agree well with one another. A design of experiments has also been created that determines the effect of each variable such as the temperature and angle of impact on the overall vehicle to vehicle variability

Forensic DNA phenotyping: Developing a model privacy impact assessment

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Forensic scientists around the world are adopting new technology platforms capable of efficiently analysing a larger proportion of the human genome. Undertaking this analysis could provide significant operational benefits, particularly in giving investigators more information about the donor of genetic material, a particularly useful investigative lead. Such information could include predicting externally visible characteristics such as eye and hair colour, as well as biogeographical ancestry. This article looks at the adoption of this new technology from a privacy perspective, using this to inform and critique the application of a Privacy Impact Assessment to this emerging technology. Noting the benefits and limitations, the article develops a number of themes that would influence a model Privacy Impact Assessment as a contextual framework for forensic laboratories and law enforcement agencies considering implementing forensic DNA phenotyping for operational use

Julian of Norwich and her children today: Editions, translations and versions of her revelations

The viability of such concepts as "authorial intention," "the original text," "critical edition" and, above all, "scholarly editorial objectivity" is not what it was, and a study of the textual progeny of the revelations of Julian of Norwich--editions, versions, translations and selections--does little to rehabilitate them. Rather it tends to support the view that a history of reading is indeed a history of misreading or, more positively, that texts can have an organic life of their own that allows them to reproduce and evolve quite independently of their author. Julian's texts have had a more robustly continuous life than those of any other Middle English mystic. Their history--in manuscript and print, in editions more or less approximating Middle English and in translations more or less approaching Modern English--is virtually unbroken since the fifteenth century. But on this perilous journey, many and strange are the clutches into which she and her textual progeny have fallen

Circulating endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles mediate the acute phase response and sickness behaviour associated with CNS inflammation.

Brain injury elicits a systemic acute-phase response (APR), which is responsible for co-ordinating the peripheral immunological response to injury. To date, the mechanisms responsible for signalling the presence of injury or disease to selectively activate responses in distant organs were unclear. Circulating endogenous extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increased after brain injury and have the potential to carry targeted injury signals around the body. Here, we examined the potential of EVs, isolated from rats after focal inflammatory brain lesions using IL-1β, to activate a systemic APR in recipient naïve rats, as well as the behavioural consequences of EV transfer. Focal brain lesions increased EV release, and, following isolation and transfer, the EVs were sequestered by the liver where they initiated an APR. Transfer of blood-borne EVs from brain-injured animals was also enough to suppress exploratory behaviours in recipient naïve animals. EVs derived from brain endothelial cell cultures treated with IL-1β also activated an APR and altered behaviour in recipient animals. These experiments reveal that inflammation-induced circulating EVs derived from endothelial cells are able to initiate the APR to brain injury and are sufficient to generate the associated sickness behaviours, and are the first demonstration that EVs are capable of modifying behavioural responses

Does Faux Pas Detection in Adult Autism Reflect Differences in Social Cognition or Decision-Making Abilities?

43 typically-developed adults and 35 adults with ASD performed a cartoon faux pas test. Adults with ASD apparently over-detected faux pas despite good comprehension abilities, and were generally slower at responding. Signal detection analysis demonstrated that the ASD participants had significantly greater difficulty detecting whether a cartoon depicted a faux pas and showed a liberal response bias. Test item analysis demonstrated that the ASD group were not in agreement with a reference control group (n = 69) about which non-faux pas items were most difficult. These results suggest that the participants with ASD had a primary problem with faux pas detection, but that there is another factor at work, possibly compensatory, that relates to their choice of a liberal response criterion