OSAC Lexicon

A device placed on the canine's face to prevent the canine from biting other animals or people, or consuming material.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which is a national repositoryfor missing persons and unidentified decedent records. It is operated by the NationalInstitute of Justice. See www.namus.gov.

Medical definition: A drug (as opium or morphine) that at moderate doses dulls the senses, relieves pain. Operational usage: An illicit drug (such as marijuana or cocaine) subject to restriction similar to that of addictive narcotics whether physiologically addictive and narcotic or not [1].

A dog trained to detect illicit drugs.

The nostrils.

The nostrils.

The upper part of the pharynx connecting with the nasal cavity above the soft palate.

The upper part of the pharynx connecting with the nasal cavity above the soft palate.

International professional organization of physician medical examiners, medicolegal death investigators, and death investigation system administrators that promulgates education and professionalism in medicolegal death investigation and has established and publishes a set of forensic autopsy performance standards. NAME offers a voluntary inspection and accreditation program for medicolegal death investigation offices (see: www.thename.org).

The U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information is located in Bethesda, Maryland and is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (a branch of the National Institutes of Health). NCBI houses a series of databases relevant to biotechnology and biomedicine and provides several bioinformatics tools for searching and analyzing the housed data.

A systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work together seamlessly and manage incidents involving all threats and hazardsregardless of cause, size, location or complexityin order to reduce the loss of life, property and harm to the environment.

A non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST's mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life. The Dogs and Sensors Subcommittee of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (managed by NIST) focuses on standards and guidelines related to performance of deployed canines, canine handlers and canine teams, and optimization of their integration with electronic detection devices.

The scanning resolution used by a specific AFIS, live-scan reader, or other image capturedevice and supported by the originator of the transmission.

Death due solely to natural disease.

Distractor odors that are naturally occurring in the search environment that are not placed by evaluators, observers or participants. Animal remains that were not placed by someone, holes that were dug by wild animals, feces from other animals, etc. (See white noise.)

Distractor odor(s)/scent(s) that are naturally occurring in the search environment that are not placed by evaluators, observers or participants. Animal remains that were not placed by someone, holes that were dug by wild animals, feces from other animals, etc.

Distractor odor(s)/scent(s) that are naturally occurring in the search environment that are not placed by evaluators, observers or participants. Animal remains that were not placed by someone, holes that were dug by wild animals, feces from other animals, etc.

National Crime Information Center of the FBI.See www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm

A known odor/scent sample that is used to assess the canine's proficiency in a non-matching odor/scent scenario. The canine is expected to give a negative response.

A test sample similar to the case sample(s) that does not contain the analyte(s) of interest at a reportable concentration. If an internal standard is used in the procedure, it shall be included in the negative control

A known scent sample that is used to assess the canine's proficiency in a non-associated scent scenario. The canine is expected to give a negative response.

A known scent sample that is used to assess the canine's proficiency in a non-associated scent scenario. The canine is expected to give a negative response.

An analytical control that consists of the reagents used in various stages of testing without the introduction of sample; no results are expected from a negative control. 

NOTE For DNA testing, negative controls include extraction blanks/reagent blanks and amplification blanks. A negative control in DNA testing is used to detect contamination introduced into the assay during the testing process via reagents, disposables, or handling errors (which may impact the results observed from samples tested at the same time).

An analytical control that consists of the reagents used in various stages of testing without the introduction of sample; no results are expected from a negative control. For DNA testing, negative controls include extraction blanks, reagent blanks, and amplification blanks. A negative control in DNA testing is used to detect contamination introduced into the assay during the testing process via reagents, disposables or handling errors (which may impact the results observed from samples tested at the same time).

A type of site check in which no existing scent matches the human scent on the article presented to the canine.

A type of site check in which there is no existing scent associated to the human scent on the article presented to the canine.

An alert/indication given by a canine showing no match to odor/scent, i.e., no matching trail, no substance present, etc.

A behavior exhibited by a canine showing no association to target scent, i.e., no associated target trail. This may be a specifically trained behavior or the absence of a positive response

A behavior exhibited by a canine showing no association to target scent, i.e., no associated target trail. This may be a specifically trained behavior or the absence of a positive response

Checking to confirm that incorrect or inverse inputs yield the expected output (e.g., inputting a letter when a number is required, and observing an error message).

A trained final response by a canine to a non-matching odor/scent

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

To remove the canine's reproductive organs.

To remove the canine's reproductive organs.

Any stimulus that has no effect on behavior before conditioning.

A procedure that is new to the BPA community and has not been validated via publication in a peer reviewed journal or documented through an agency’s internal validation Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

A biometric repository managed and operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) that enhances identification services by providing an incremental replacement of the former system, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Considered one of the largest biometric databases in the world, NGI stores individual fingerprint records and other biometric data for criminal and civil matters. Advanced identification technology provides rapid, efficient, and accurate fingerprint processing.

The person(s) who stand(s) in the closest legally recognized relationship to a deceased individual.

NIST Fingerprint Image Quality. See www.nist.gov/itl/iad/ig/bio_quality.cfm.