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Forensic science

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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13

DNA Mixture Interpretation: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review

December 18, 2024
Author(s)
John Butler, Hariharan Iyer, Richard Press, Melissa Taylor, Peter Vallone, Sheila Willis
Improvements in DNA testing methods have allowed forensic scientists to reduce the quantity of DNA required for profiling an individual. Today, DNA profiles can be generated from a few skin cells. This increased sensitivity has extended the usefulness of

A collaborative study on the precision of the Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms used for DNA profile interpretation

June 19, 2024
Author(s)
Sarah Riman, Jo-Anne Bright, Kaitlin Huffman, Lilliana Moreno, Sicen Liu, Asmitha Sathya, Peter Vallone
Several fully continuous probabilistic genotyping software (PGS) use Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms (MCMC) to assign weights to different proposed genotype combinations at a locus. Replicate interpretations of the same profile in these software are

Inconclusive Decisions and Error Rates in Forensic Science

May 4, 2024
Author(s)
Henry Swofford, Steven Lund, Hariharan Iyer, John Butler, Johannes Soons, Robert Thompson, Vincent Desiderio, John Jones, Robert Ramotowski
In recent years, there has been discussion and controversy relating to the treatment of inconclusive decisions in forensic feature comparison disciplines when considering the reliability of examination methods and results. In this article, we offer a brief

Automated interpretation of firearm mark comparison results

December 13, 2023
Author(s)
Martin Baiker-Sorensen, Ivo Alberink, Laura Granell, Leen van der Ham, Erwin J.A.T. Mattijssen, Erich Smith, Johannes Soons, Peter Vergeer, Xiaoyu Zheng
In this article an automated approach for interpretation of firearm mark comparison results is presented. First, similarity scores are derived for marks typically encountered on primers of fired cartridge cases: aperture shear striations as well as

Calculation of likelihood ratios in forensic glass comparisons; introduction to a R code and Shiny app applied to existing background glass elemental databases

December 13, 2021
Author(s)
Anuradha Akmeemana, Ruthmara Corzo, Jodi Webb, Emily Haase, Jose Almirall
The use of standardized and robust analytical methods for the quantitative analysis of the elemental composition of glass fragments enables the characterization and comparison of glass as forensic evidence. This paper in- troduces a new R-based Shiny

Likelihood Ratio as Weight of Forensic Evidence: A Closer Look

October 11, 2017
Author(s)
Hariharan Iyer, Steven Lund
The forensic science community has increasingly sought quantitative methods for conveying the weight of evidence. Experts from many forensic laboratories summarize their fndings in terms of a likelihood ratio. Several proponents of this approach have

A comment on the PCAST report: Skip the "match"/"non-match" stage

February 28, 2017
Author(s)
Geoffrey S. Morrison, David H. Kaye, David J. Balding, Duncan Taylor, Phillip Dawid, Colin Aitken, Simone N. Gittelson, Grzegorz Zadora, Bernard Robertson, Sheila Willis, Susan Pope, Martin Neil, Kristy A. Martire, Amanda Hepler, Richard Gill, Allan Jamieson, Jacob de Zoete, R. B. Ostrum, Amke Caliebe
This letter comments on the report "Forensic science in criminal courts: Ensuring scientific validity of feature-comparison methods" recently released by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The report advocates a

DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on the validation of software programs performing biostatistical calculations for forensic genetics applications

September 3, 2016
Author(s)
Michael D. Coble, John S. Buckleton, John Butler, Barbara Guttman
The use of biostatistical software programs to assist in data interpretation and calculate likelihood ratios is essential to forensic geneticists and part of the daily case work flow for both kinship and DNA identification laboratories. Previous
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