Physical Traces Research Articles

Preservation of forensic traces by health professionals in a hospital in Northeast Brazil

BackgroundHealth professionals who work in emergency services must be prepared for the recognition, collection, storage, preservation and documentation of all physical traces related to injuries or crime, because failures in these processes may compromise any forensic analysis. We, therefore, investigated emergency health professionals’ levels of knowledge about these processes and their abilities to implement them in practice during the care of victims of violence in an emergency unit of a specialized trauma hospital. MethodsThis was a survey to describe the knowledge of professionals working in the emergency department of the Sergipe Urgent Care Hospital (HUSE) in Sergipe state, Northeast Brazil about the preservation of forensic traces and their ability to implement the necessary related processes in practice. Their knowledge of the preservation of forensic materials and their abilities to implement the processes related to their preservation were assessed using the Portuguese version of the Questionnaire on the Preservation of Forensic Traces in Victim Assistance. ResultsA total of 144 health professionals completed the questionnaire, of whom 23 (16 %) were physicians, 33 (22.9 %) nurses and 88 (61.1 %) nursing technicians. Most physicians (15/65.2 %) reported knowing between 50 and 70 % of the required procedures, and the majority of nurses and nursing technicians knew less than 50 % (15/45.5 % and 72/81.8 %, respectively). Regarding their actual implementation, most physicians and nurses reported performing between 50 % and 70 % of the procedures (22/95.7 % and 15/45.5 %, respectively), while nursing technicians reported performing less than 50 % (55/62.5 %). ConclusionMost professionals in the three professions (physician, nurse and nursing technician) knew less than 50 % of the required procedures for the documentation, collection and preservation of forensic traces, which explains the low implementation of most of the actions, particularly those related to the collection and preservation of traces.

Decoding signatures of structure, bulk thermodynamics, and solvation in three-body angle distributions of rigid water models

A tetrahedral structure resulting from hydrogen bonding is a hallmark of liquid water and plays a significant role in determining its unique thermophysical properties. This water feature has helped understand anomalous properties and physically interpret and model hydrophobic solvation thermodynamics. Tetrahedrality is well described by the geometric relationship of any central water molecule with two of its nearest neighbors in the first coordination shell, as defined by the corresponding "three-body" angle. While order parameters and even full water models have been developed using specific or average features of the three-body angle distribution, here we examine the distribution holistically, tracking its response to changes in temperature, density, and the presence of model solutes. Surprisingly, we find that the three-body distribution responds by varying primarily along a single degree of freedom, suggesting a remarkably simplified view of water structure. We characterize three-body angle distributions across temperature and density space and identify principal components of the variations with state conditions. We show that these principal components embed physical significance and trace out transitions between tetrahedral and simple-fluid-like behavior. Moreover, we find that the ways three-body angles vary within the hydration shells of model colloids of different types and sizes are nearly identical to the variations seen in bulk water across density and temperature. Importantly, through the principal directions of these variations, we find that perturbations to the hydration-water distributions well predict the thermodynamics associated with colloid solvation, in particular, the relative entropy of this process that captures indirect, solvent-mediated contributions to the hydration free energy.

Relics, Collections, and Memory

The article begins with an analysis of a modern relic and of relics in general. This leads to a twofold conclusion: we do not know of a society without relics; and the cult of relics is a cult of individuals, groups, or events these relics are believed to be related to. Relics therefore preserve the memories of those of whom they are relics. As such, they are tools of memorising, but not the only ones. Images, written texts, and recordings are also tools of memorising. Images and written texts belong to the class of objects called semiophors which contains all objects included in collections, the meaning of which depends upon the collection they are part of. It is therefore important to distinguish different types of collections: treasuries, private collections, museums (as well as libraries and archives), protected historical monuments, etc. The history of collections seen from this perspective appears to be tantamount to the history of the tools of memorisation, i.e. to the history of external memory preserved and contained in the objects. Recordings are not semiophors. They form a different class of objects because their meanings cannot be disclosed without special apparatuses which transform the physical traces left on them into images or sounds. Hence one may say they form a second belt of external memory, the first being formed by semiophors. The last and most recent belt is composed of all computers with their servers interconnected into the World Wide Web. This is a completely new type of tool of memorising, which duplicates all the previous ones and enables the user to retrieve an incomparably greater quantity of data, to do it much quicker, and to give virtual access to it to almost everybody.

Data by Proxy - Material Traces as Autographic Visualizations.

Information visualization limits itself, per definition, to the domain of symbolic information. This paper discusses arguments why the field should also consider forms of data that are not symbolically encoded, including physical traces and material indicators. Continuing a provocation presented by Pat Hanrahan in his 2004 IEEE Vis capstone address, this paper compares physical traces to visualizations and describes the techniques and visual practices for producing, revealing, and interpreting them. By contrasting information visualization with a speculative counter model of autographic visualization, this paper examines the design principles for material data. Autographic visualization addresses limitations of information visualization, such as the inability to directly reflect the material circumstances of data generation. The comparison between the two models allows probing the epistemic assumptions behind information visualization and uncovers linkages with the rich history of scientific visualization and trace reading. The paper begins by discussing the gap between data visualizations and their corresponding phenomena and proceeds by investigating how material visualizations can bridge this gap. It contextualizes autographic visualization with paradigms such as data physicalization and indexical visualization and grounds it in the broader theoretical literature of semiotics, science and technology studies (STS), and the history of scientific representation. The main section of the paper proposes a foundational design vocabulary for autographic visualization and offers examples of how citizen scientists already use autographic principles in their displays, which seem to violate the canonical principles of information visualization but succeed at fulfilling other rhetorical purposes in evidence construction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of autographic visualization, a roadmap for the empirical investigation of trace perception, and thoughts about how information visualization and autographic visualization techniques can contribute to each other.

Health at the writing desk of John Ruskin: a study of handwriting and illness

Though John Ruskin (1819–1900) is remembered principally for his work as a theorist, art critic and historian of visual culture, he wrote exhaustively about his health in his correspondence and...

Trace evidence? The term trace from adjective to noun

AbstractUnfortunate inconsistency and confusion exists with respect to the term trace evidence. With the term trace evidence, “trace” is commonly used as an adjective to connote the small size of materials (often microscopic) that can be used to aid in an investigation by providing linkages, or associations, between potential suspects, victims, and scenes. This article proposes a resolution of the conflicting definitions of trace evidence. Rather than the widely held view of trace evidence having only associative value, we advocate for the historic and broader conceptualization of the physical traces produced during an event. In this concept, the term trace is a noun. Such traces address interrogatives to develop an understanding of the physical record and a reconstruction of the activities taking place during events under investigation. Additionally, it must be recognized that adherence to the scientific method during an investigation is imperative for the understanding of traces, and, at a minimum, input by educated and experienced scientists is required to maximize the value that traces contribute to investigations.This article is categorized under: Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > Epistemology and Method Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > Crime Scene Reconstruction Forensic Chemistry and Trace Evidence > Trace Evidence

The Minimalist Program and the Origin of Language: A View From Paleoanthropology.

In arguing that articulate language is underpinned by an algorithmically simple neural operation, the Minimalist Program (MP) retrodicts that language emerged in a short-term event. Because spoken language leaves no physical traces, its ancient use must be inferred from archeological proxies. These strongly suggest that modern symbolic human behavior patterns – and, by extension, cognition – emerged both abruptly and late in time (subsequent to the appearance of Homo sapiens as an anatomical entity some 200 thousand years kyr ago). Because the evidence is compelling that language is an integral component of modern symbolic thought, the archeological evidence clearly supports the basic tenet of the MP. But the associated proposition, that language was externalized in an independent event that followed its initial appearance as a conduit to internal thought, is much more debatable.

HEALTH SURVEY OF BOREAL CARIBOU (RANGIFER TARANDUS CARIBOU) IN NORTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

Boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are listed as threatened across Canada, and a basic understanding of their health status is lacking. From December 2012 to April 2013, we investigated multiple health indices for adult female boreal caribou (n=163) captured from seven herds in NE British Columbia, Canada. Health indices included physical characteristics, physiologic and trace mineral status, exposure to or infection with selected pathogens, and measures of chronic stress and inflammation, including serum amyloid A, haptoglobin, and hair cortisol concentration. Key findings were exposure to the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae in 14% of individuals, mild to severe hair loss associated with winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) infestations in 76% of caribou from December to early February and 81% from late February to early April, and evidence of trace mineral deficiencies with 99% and 34% of individuals deficient in copper and selenium, respectively. Seroprevalence for exposure to selected pathogens was: alphaherpesvirus (63%), pestivirus (1%), Besnoitia spp. (60%), and Neospora caninum (2%). All animals were seronegative to Brucella spp. and Toxoplasma gondii. Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis was not detected in any fecal samples. Parasite eggs or larvae, including Parelaphostrongylus andersoni (36%), Skrjabinema spp. (1%), Strongyle-type eggs (11%), Moniezia-type eggs (8%), and nematodirines (3%), were detected on fecal examination, but at low intensity. Blood biochemistry values and hair cortisol concentrations were within ranges previously reported in Rangifer tarandus sspp. Some significant differences among herds were noted, including antler morphology, exposure to Besnoitia spp., and concentrations of serum amyloid A, copper, cobalt, manganese, and iron.

The tripartite mechanism as the basis for a biochemical memory engram

In this paper, we address the enigma of the memory engram, the physical trace of memory in terms of its composition, processes, and location. A neurochemical approach assumes that neural processes hinge on the same terms used to describe the biochemical functioning of other biological tissues and organs. We define a biochemical process, a tripartite mechanism involving the interactions of neurons with their neural extracellular matrix, trace metals, and neurotransmitters as the basis of a biochemical memory engram. The latter inextricably link physiological responses, including sensations with affective states, such as emotions.

The outdoor urban space vocation for temporariness between past and present

The temporariness vocation in the open urban spaces use is an element that strongly characterizes the pre-contemporary city. Even if we have lost evident physical traces, various kinds of temporary devices have always qualified the streets and squares of the cities, being placed side by side with a permanent supporting framework. This paper investigates the potentialities that temporary devices might offer, highlighting the capability that these structures have in adapting to demands of a specific historic period. Finally, it identifies a common thread between present and past, illustrating adaptation scenarios, declining the role of temporariness in those urban areas that most use it.

How to recognise the traces left on a crime scene by a 3D-printed Liberator? Part 2. Elements of ammunition, marks on the weapons and polymer fragments

The Liberator is a firearm that can be manufactured from its blueprints by the means of a 3D-printer. This handgun is composed of nineteen pieces: eighteen made of printed polymer and one metallic nail. This study focuses on the physical traces which can be found and exploited from a forensic point of view after the discharging of such types of pistols. Two main aspects have been investigated: (1) whether it can be inferred that a 3D-printed handgun was used when investigating a scene; (2) when presuming the use of a 3D-printed Liberator on a scene.Six Liberators were manufactured, assembled and discharged. The discharge occurred under controlled conditions to allow the collection of ballistics data and traces produced by the shooting. Elements of ammunition – cartridge cases and projectiles – that were fired during an experimental campaign appeared to carry polymeric materials (flakes, melted polymer or both). Besides, we observed that the fired ammunition elements lacked traditional marks left by the metal pieces of a conventional firearm. Indeed, the projectiles did not carry rifling marks and the cartridge cases were found torn or swollen. Fragments or larger pieces of polymer were found, mostly on the ground, near the location of the discharge, up to nine metres away. The impression of the cartridge case head stamp was also found on a part of the Liberator called the “hammer body”.This study showed that the discharge of a 3D-printed Liberator is expected to produce traces that can be transferred onto and recovered from the printed firearm, the cartridge case, the projectile, the target, and the environment of the discharge. These traces are different from those left by conventional firearms. When found on investigation scenes, some of these traces can inform on the use of a 3D-printed handgun and contribute to the reconstruction of a shooting event involving such a weapon. This study suggests that the approach adopted when investigating a scene must be adapted in terms of traceology when the use of such firearm is suspected.

The Institute of Archaeology Field Course at Downley Park, Singleton, West Sussex, UK. Multi Period Excavations Around the Hunting Lodge of the Earls of Arundel

This paper details and considers the results of excavations and research at Downley between 2015 and 2018. The primary aim of the project was to locate and prove the site of a late medieval – Tudor period hunting lodge that was mentioned in extant and archival literature but for which no physical trace existed. Four years of excavation, after an initial test pit survey, have revealed Tudor demolition debris; sub-Chalk surface intrusive features; a stone built tower with associated undercrofts; and additionally, evidence for Iron Age and Roman occupation within and without the curtilage of the lodge. The excavation and research will continue into 2019.

Activating Whiteness: Racializing the Ordinary in US American Postmodern Dance

“Activating Whiteness: Racializing the Ordinary in US American Postmodern Dance” explores how the choreographic turn to postmodernism twisted the trope of racial exclusion from a focus on trained bodies to a focus on ordinary bodies. Analyses of Yvonne Rainer's Trio A (1966) and Trisha Brown's Locus (1975) demonstrate how ordinary bodies shape racially exclusive spaces and activate the biopolitical mechanisms of normalization that their choreography allegedly contests. This essay argues that the spaces activated by the bodies that shaped them carry the physical trace of the performers’ race through the enduring invisibility of whiteness.

Introduction to the French GEOTRACES North Atlantic Transect (GA01): GEOVIDE cruise

Abstract. The GEOVIDE cruise, a collaborative project within the framework of the international GEOTRACES programme, was conducted along the French-led section in the North Atlantic Ocean (Section GA01), between 15 May and 30 June 2014. In this special issue (https://www.biogeosciences.net/special_issue900.html), results from GEOVIDE, including physical oceanography and trace element and isotope cyclings, are presented among 18 articles. Here, the scientific context, project objectives, and scientific strategy of GEOVIDE are provided, along with an overview of the main results from the articles published in the special issue.

Memories reach the cortex rapidly

Neuroscience How fast do learning-induced anatomical changes occur in the brain? The traditional view postulates that neocortical memory representations reflect reinstatement processes initiated by the hippocampus and that a genuine physical trace develops only through reactivation over extended periods. Brodt et al. combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted MRI during an associative declarative learning task to examine experience-dependent structural brain plasticity in human subjects (see the Perspective by Assaf). This plasticity was rapidly induced after learning, persisted for more than 12 hours, drove behavior, and was localized in areas displaying memory-related functional brain activity. These plastic changes in the posterior parietal cortex, and their fast temporal dynamics, challenge traditional views of systems memory consolidation. Science , this issue p. [1045][1]; see also p. [994][2] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aau2528 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aav7357

Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a Crisis Shelter Garden and Application of Findings Through the Use of a Participatory Design Process.

This study concerned optimization of an evidence-based crisis shelter garden as a setting for everyday activities and nature-based therapy. The study hereby tested the design guidelines that the garden is based on. Design guidelines for gardens intended to support health are becoming increasingly specialized, targeting different user groups. This study contributes to the knowledge concerning health-supporting garden design at crisis shelters for women and children who are exposed to domestic violence. The study included a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) consisting of landscape analyses, observation of physical traces, and interviews as well as a subsequent participatory design process. The landscape analyses and the observation of physical traces indicated a minimal level of maintenance and recurrent use being limited to a few areas of the garden. The interviews added nuance and new issues to these results, resulting in the following themes: maintenance, accessibility, safety, therapeutic setting and free space, many ways to play, and social and private spheres. The participatory design process led to an optimization of the garden, including changes to its physical design related to making the garden safer, positively distractive, and more versatile in terms of activities. Improvements were also made regarding policy for use, maintenance, and informing users. The design guidelines were tested, and the evidence was strengthened, adding nuance and new issues to consider during further development of the guidelines. Both the POE and the participatory design process were confirmed as crucial aspects of evidence-based health design.

A randomized trial to assess retention rates using mobile phone reminders versus physical contact tracing in a potential HIV vaccine efficacy population of fishing communities around Lake Victoria, Uganda

BackgroundHigh retention (follow-up) rates improve the validity and statistical power of outcomes in longitudinal studies and the effectiveness of programs with prolonged administration of interventions. We assessed participant retention in a potential HIV vaccine trials population of fishing communities along Lake Victoria, Uganda.MethodsIn a community-based individual randomized trial, 662 participants aged 15–49 years were randomized to either mobile phone or physical contact tracing reminders and followed up at months 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 and 18 post-enrolment. The visit schedules aimed at mimicking a vaccine efficacy trial representing an early interval (months 1–6) where most vaccinations would be administered and a later period of post-vaccination follow-up. The primary outcome was retention measured as the proportion of post-baseline follow up visits completed by a participant. Retention was estimated in early and later follow-up intervals, and overall for all the six follow-up visits. Adjusted differences in retention between the study arms were determined by multivariable logistic regression using Stata® 14. One participant was later dropped from the analysis because of age ineligibility discovered after enrolment.ResultsOf the expected total follow up visits of 3966 among 661 participants, 84.1% (3334) were attained; 82.1% (1626/1980) in the phone arm and 86% (1708/1986) in the physical tracing arm (p = 0.001). No statistically significant differences in retention were observed between the study arms in the first 6 months but thereafter, retention was significantly higher for physical contact reminders than mobile phones; 91.5% versus 82.1% (p < 0.0001) at month 12 and 82.8% versus 75.4%, (p = 0.021) at month 18. Controlling for sex, age, education, occupation, community location, length of stay and marital status, the odds of good retention (completing 5 out of 6 follow-up visits) were 1.56 (95% CI;1.08–2.26, p = 0.018) for physical contact tracing compared to mobile phone tracing. Other statistically significant predictors of good retention were residing on islands and having stayed in the fishing communities for 5 or more years.ConclusionsAmong fishing communities of Lake Victoria, Uganda, 84% of follow-up visits can be attained and participant retention is higher using physical contact reminders than mobile phones.Trial registration numberPACTR201311000696101 (http://www.pactr.org/). retrospectively registered on 05 November, 2013.

Physical and chemical parameters and trace metal flux in water, soil and plant samples collected from industrial effluent affected areas in and around Dhaka city

Water and soil samples were collected from five different industrial areas around Dhaka city namely, (i) Powertex Fashion Ltd., Gazipur (Textile), (ii) Shetu Pesticide Ltd., Savar (Pesticide), (iii) Salma Leather Industry, Hazaribagh (Tannery), (iv) Monno Ceramic Industries, Nayarhat, Dhamrai, (Ceramic) and (v) ACME Laboratories Ltd., Tulivita, Dhamrai (Pharmaceutical) where selected for this study. Two plants species viz. Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott and Ipomoea aquatica Forssk. commonly growing in the industrial effluent affected areas were selected to observe the rate of heavy metal uptake. Dissolved oxygen (DO) was found below the permissible limit in all the affected areas (lowest 0.88 mg/l in tannery waste affected areas) indicating high amount of organic wastage discharge from tannery. Eight trace metals viz. arsenic, cadmium, nickel, iron, zinc, chromium, copper and lead were analysed for water, soil and plant samples. Arsenic and cadmium exceeded the permissible limit in water sample collected from all affected areas. Tannery waste affected area was found to be the most vulnerable area in respect to arsenic and chromium contamination. On the other hand, the highest amount of arsenic was found in the soil sample collected from pesticide affected area. The rate of heavy metal uptake in Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott is much higher than Ipomoea aquatica Forssk. More heavy metals were accumulated in edible portion than roots of the plants.

Side-Channel Attacks in a Real Scenario

Existing Side-Channel Attacks (SCAs) have several limitations and, rather than to be real attack methods, can only be considered to be security evaluation methods. Their limitations are mainly related to the sampling conditions, such as the trigger signal embedded in the source code of the encryption device, and the acquisition device that serves as the encryption-device controller. Apart from it being very difficult for an attacker to add a trigger into the original design before making an attack or to control the encryption device, there is a big gap in the capacity of existing SCAs to pose real threats to cipher devices. In this paper, we propose a new method, the sliding window SCA (SW-SCA), which can be applied in scenarios in which the acquisition device is independent of the encryption device and for which the encryption source code requires no trigger signal or modification. First, we describe the main issues in existing SCAs, then we theoretically analyze the effectiveness and complexity of our proposed SW-SCA -a method that can incorporate a sliding-window mechanism into almost all of the existing non-profiled SCAs. The experimental results for both simulated and physical traces verify the effectiveness of the SW-SCA and the appropriateness of its theoretical complexity.

Demanding the city: Traces of the UN 50 protests in San Francisco

Abstract Events of collective action pass into and then fade from the memory of cities, some leaving little trace in the casual historical archive. Do these events haunt the city as memories, imperfect, yellowing with age, long after the physical traces are gone? Using a mix of methods – urban observation, interview, and autoethnography – I returned in 2018 to the site of several of the actions I was a participant in for the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN charter in San Francisco in 1995, interrogating the possibility that my presence would haunt the city of a very different present. The city of July 1995 was there, a spectral presence in the sunny world of capital that relentlessly but incompletely bleaches out the traces of its shadow, resistance. The conditions that produced those resistances have only become more pressing, the need for ghosts more urgent in a city that increasingly looks to its future without engaging its pasts.