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© 2018 Elsevier B.V. This study aims at exploring the way paper samples may impact the performance of Single-Metal Deposition (SMD II), a fingermark detection technique known for its versatility of application as well as its sensitivity regarding porous substrates. To get a broader view on how porous substrates may impact the SMD II performances, 74 North American and European papers types were collected, characterized (UV–visible and infrared spectroscopy, roughness, porosity, and surface pH), and processed as substrates bearing fingermarks. This part of the study represented a first valuable outcome by the number of samples considered. After processing with SMD II, the samples were characterized again with the techniques mentioned above, background staining and fingermark quality were assessed and associated with a quality score. Overall, no positive nor negative trend was observed between the paper characteristics and the SMD II performance. As a consequence, it is currently still not possible to predict if a paper sample will behave well or bad with SMD II. Of all the monitored parameters, the chemical composition of the surface coating (i.e., silica or calcium carbonate) may be worth exploring further, as it has been observed that some coatings undergo partial degradation during the SMD II process. As a result, secretion residue may be damaged by the chemical solubilization of the support layer if they failed to penetrate deeper into the substrate.

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. The application of nanoparticles for latent fingermark detection has been reported in the literature over the past two decades. One of the nanoparticles that shows promise to become a routine technique is functionalised silicon oxide nanoparticles (SiO 2 NPs). In a recent optimisation of the technique, the use of carboxyl-functionalised SiO 2 NPs doped with luminescent ruthenium complex was proposed as a breakthrough for latent fingermark detection. In this study, the aforementioned functionalised SiO 2 NPs were extensively evaluated. Modification and optimisation of the original detection parameters were performed to enhance detection quality and improve applicability. Various detection parameters were evaluated and assessed. A lower concentration of the functionalised nanoparticles used in the colloidal dispersion was determined to offer improved detection effectiveness. A combination of increased bath temperature and reduced immersion time was found to produce good overall results. A set of modified detection parameters was suggested for the use of the functionalised SiO 2 NPs to detect latent fingermarks. Performance of the modified detection parameters was compared against that of the published detection method. Comparison experiments were carried out on fingermark specimens deposited on aluminium foil, transparent polypropylene plastic and green polyethylene plastic. Three donors (weak, average and strong) and two age intervals (ten days and three months) were considered in the comparison study. Evaluation of the results suggested that the overall performance of the modified method for latent fingermark detection was superior to that obtained using the previously published detection parameters.

© 2018, © 2018 Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences. Chemical reagents for serial number restoration are designed to exploit the plastic deformation zone below the obliterated serial number. Most techniques in operational use are variants of Fry’s Reagent. This technique uses toxic, corrosive chemicals and requires a skilful operator in the laboratory. Fry’s Reagent can also be destructive of the firearm due to rusting. In an attempt to find a non-toxic, non-destructive alternative to Fry’s Reagent, this project tested the use of liquid dye penetrants (LDPs), a non-destructive examination technique to detect cracks and imperfections used in the welding industry, for the restoration of obliterated serial numbers. Steel plates bearing an obliterated serial number with a range of obliteration depths were subjected to LDP treatment under various treatment conditions. The results using LDPs were negative for all obliteration depths and all test conditions attempted. Some of the serial numbers were subsequently restored successfully with Fry’s reagent, proving that the plastic deformation zone was present on the steel plates below the obliteration. Further work to develop a non-toxic, non-destructive serial number restoration process will be undertaken.

© 2018, © 2018 Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences. Physical Developer (PD) is an underutilized technique for the development of latent marks on porous surfaces that have been wet, or as a subsequent technique in a development sequence. It is a multistep technique that works by selectively reducing silver ions to silver metal at nucleating sites in fingermark residue. Its use is associated with a plethora of issues, largely surrounding the inherent instability of the working solution. Recently, one of the components of the working solution, Synperonic N, has ceased production, and the recommended replacement is Tween 20. This article addresses factors during PD processing using Tween 20, other than reagent formulations that should be considered when using the technique.

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Fingermarks can be exploited for both their ridge detail and touch DNA. One-step luminescent cyanoacrylate (CA) fuming techniques used for fingermark enhancement, such as PolyCyano UV (Foster + Freeman Ltd) and Lumicyano™ (Crime Science Technology), claim to be compatible with DNA analysis as they reduce the need for post‐staining to increase contrast of the developed fingermark. The aim of this study was to determine the impact that these one-step luminescent cyanoacrylates have on DNA analysis and how they compare to conventional CA techniques. Four donors each deposited five sets of natural fingermarks, to which a known amount of washed saliva cells was dispensed onto half of each set of fingermarks. Each set was treated with either a conventional CA technique or a one‐step luminescent CA technique prior to collection and processing of DNA, with one set left as a non-fumed control. It was found that DNA was still recoverable and detectable following each of the treatments. Lumicyano™ had a similar impact on DNA profiles as conventional CA fuming and with post‐stain, however, the degradation effect of PolyCyano UV on DNA was greater than the conventional treatments. For quantities of DNA such as that from touch DNA, the use of PolyCyano UV to enhance fingermarks may impact subsequent DNA analysis by causing allele drop out at larger fragment sizes.

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline structures, currently used as sensors, separation membranes, and as catalysts. Due to their physicochemical and optical properties, they have been recently proposed for fingermark detection. This study further explored their potential for fingermark detection. Natural fingermarks, as well as charged and protein-enriched marks, were used to test the efficiency of the technique. Various parameters, such as precursor concentration, pH, immersion time and detection protocols, were investigated and optimised. The performance of the optimised MOF-based method was then compared to that of routinely used techniques. The results obtained indicated that MOFs can effectively detect fingermarks, especially protein-rich marks such as marks contaminated with body fluids. However, after comparison and evaluation against benchmark techniques, results were judged to be inferior to those from currently employed detection methods. However, with further research and optimisation MOFs may be promising as an alternative to current powder suspension techniques.

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. The primary aims of fingermark detection research are to improve the quality and increase the rate of detection of identifiable impressions. This is usually performed through the development of new methods and technologies to provide alternatives to or improve current procedures. While research of this nature is important to pursue, it fails to address the underlying question related to the factors that affect the detection of a latent fingermark. There has been significant research that has examined the differences between techniques, donors and fingermark age, as well as the composition of latent fingermarks. However, they tend not to focus on determining how these factors influence the quality of the developed mark. This study involved the development and evaluation of over 14,000 natural fingermarks deposited on a variety of surfaces to examine the effect of substrate, age, donor variability (both inter- and intra-), depletions and type of finger on fingermark development. Fingermarks were deposited on four substrates (two non-porous and two porous) and developed with either indanedione-zinc (IND-Zn) or cyanoacrylate followed by rhodamine 6G staining (CA + R6G). Three independent assessors graded each mark on the quality of development using an absolute scale proposed by the UK Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST). The data generated from these assessments were then analysed for trends or other useful insights. The results from this work reaffirm that individual substrate characteristics (and the choice of development technique) play a significant role in determining the number and quality of marks developed. It was found that fingermarks were more likely to be detected on porous substrates and to also be of a higher quality than on non-porous. The effect of fingermark donor variability was also explored, with significant differences observed between donors and within donors. This research shows that current detection techniques

© 2017 The Authors The data presented here is related to the article titled, “Using handwriting to infer a writer's country of origin for forensic intelligence purposes” (Agius et al., 2017) [1]. This article reports original writer, spatial and construction characteristic data for thirty-seven English Australian1 writers and thirty-seven Vietnamese writers. All of these characteristics were coded and recorded in Microsoft Excel 2013 (version 15.31). The construction characteristics coded were only extracted from seven characters, which were: ‘g’ ‘h’ ‘th’ ‘M’ ‘0’ ‘7’ and ‘9’. The coded format of the writer, spatial and construction characteristics is made available in this Data in Brief in order to allow others to perform statistical analyses and modelling to investigate whether there is a relationship between the handwriting features and the nationality of the writer, and whether the two nationalities can be differentiated. Furthermore, to employ mathematical techniques that are capable of characterising the extracted features from each participant.

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Forensic science has traditionally focused the majority of its resources and objectives towards addressing Court-related questions. However, this view restricts the contribution of forensic science to one process and results in a loss of information as the investigative and intelligence roles are largely neglected. A forensic science discipline suffering from this imbalance is handwriting examination, which may be characterised as a time consuming and subjective process that is mostly carried out towards the end of the investigation for the purpose of judicial proceedings. Individual and habitual characteristics are the major handwriting features exploited, however alternate information concerning the author's native language could potentially be used as a key element in an intelligence framework. This research focussed on the detection of characteristics that differentiate Vietnamese and English Australian writers based on their English handwriting. The study began with the extraction of handwriting characteristics from the writing of people from the two populations. The data was analysed using a logistic regression model and a classification and regression tree (CRT). Each recognised four class characteristics that were capable of distinguishing between the two nationalities. The logistic regression and CRT models were both capable of correctly predicting 93% of cases. Their predictive capabilities were then tested and supported using blind exemplars in order to mirror casework settings. It appeared that when using their respective class characteristics, the two models were capable of differentiating English Australians from Vietnamese in the data set. This proof of concept research demonstrated the plausibility of exploiting this additional information from a handwriting trace and taking advantage of it in an intelligence-led framework.

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Forensic science and its influence on policing and the criminal justice system have increased since the beginning of the twentieth century. While the philosophies of the forensic science pioneers remain the pillar of modern practice, rapid advances in technology and the underpinning sciences have seen an explosion in the number of disciplines and tools. Consequently, the way in which we exploit and interpret the remnant of criminal activity are adapting to this changing environment. In order to best exploit the trace, an interdisciplinary approach to both research and investigation is required. In this paper, nine postdoctoral research fellows from a multidisciplinary team discuss their vision for the future of forensic science at the crime scene, in the laboratory and beyond. This paper does not pretend to be exhaustive of all fields of forensic science, but describes a portion of the postdoctoral fellows’ interests and skills.

© 2017 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences Traditionally, forensic science has predominantly focused its resources and objectives on addressing court related questions. However, this view restricts the contribution of forensic science to one function and results in lost opportunities as investigative and intelligence roles are often overlooked. A change of perspective and expansion of the contributions of forensic science is required to take advantage of the benefits of abductive and inductive thought processes throughout the investigative and intelligence functions. One forensic discipline that has the potential to broaden its traditional focus is handwriting examination. Typically used in investigations that are focused on both criminal and civil cases, the examination procedure and outcome are time consuming and subjective, requiring a detailed study of the features of the handwriting in question. Traditionally, the major handwriting features exploited are characteristics that are often considered individual (or at least highly polymorphic) and habitual. However, handwriting can be considered as an information vector in an intelligence framework. One such example is the recognition of key elements related to the author's native language. This paper discusses the traditional method generally used around the world and proposes a theoretical approach to expand the application of handwriting examination towards gaining additional information for intelligence purposes. This concept will be designed and tested in a future research project.

© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Over the past decade, the use of nanotechnology for fingermark detection has been attracting a lot of attention. A substantial number of nanoparticle types has thus been studied and applied with varying success. However, despite all efforts, few publications present clear supporting evidence of their superiority over standard and commonly used techniques. This paper focuses on a rarely studied type of nanoparticles that regroups all desired properties for effective fingermark detection: silicon oxide. These nanoparticles offer optical and surface properties that can be tuned to provide optimal detection. This study explores their potential as a new method for fingermark detection.Detection conditions, outer functionalisations and optical properties were optimised and a first evaluation of the technique is presented. Dye-doped silicon oxide nanoparticles were assessed against a one-step luminescent cyanoacrylate. Both techniques were compared on natural fingermarks from three donors collected on four different non-porous substrates. On average, the two techniques performed similarly but silicon oxide detected marks with a better homogeneity and was less affected by donor inter-variability. The technique remains to be further optimised and yet silicon oxide nanoparticles already show great promises for effective fingermark detection.

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd Single metal deposition (SMD II), a recently proposed method for the development of latent fingermarks, was investigated by systematically altering aspects of the procedure to assess their effect on the level of development and contrast achieved. Gold nanoparticle size, temperature of the deposition solution bath, and orbital shaking during detection were shown to affect the levels of development and contrast obtained. Gold nanoparticles of diameter 15–21 nm were found to be most effective for satisfactory visualisation of latent fingermarks, while solutions that were applied at room temperature were found to adequately balance the ratio between the contrast of the fingermark ridge detail and the level of background staining achieved. Finally, optimum levels of development and contrast were obtained through constant agitation of both solution baths at approximately 50 RPM throughout the submersion time. SMD II was also tested on a large variety of substrate types and shown to be effective on a range of porous, non-porous, and semi-porous surfaces; however, the detection quality can be significantly influenced by the substrate nature. This resulted in the production of dark grey, white, or gold coloured fingermarks on different surfaces, as well as reversed detection on certain types of plastic, similarly seen through the use of vacuum metal deposition.

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. One-step luminescent cyanoacrylates have recently been introduced as an alternative to the conventional cyanoacrylate fuming methods. These new techniques do not require the application of a luminescent post-treatment in order to enhance cyanoacrylate-developed fingermarks. In this study, three one-step polymer cyanoacrylates: CN Yellow Crystals (Aneval Inc.), PolyCyano UV (Foster + Freeman Ltd.) and PECA Multiband (BVDA), and one monomer cyanoacrylate: Lumikit™ (Crime Scene Technology), were evaluated against a conventional two-step cyanoacrylate fuming method (Cyanobloom (Foster + Freeman Ltd.) with rhodamine 6G stain). The manufacturers' recommended conditions or conditions compatible with the MVC™ 1000/D (Foster + Freeman Ltd.) were assessed with fingermarks aged for up to 8 weeks on non-porous and semi-porous substrates. Under white light, Cyanobloom generally gave better development than the one-step treatments across the substrates. Similarly when viewed under the respective luminescent conditions, Cyanobloom with rhodamine 6G stain resulted in improved contrast against the one-step treatments except on polystyrene, where PolyCyano UV and PECA Multiband gave better visualisation. Rhodamine 6G post-treatment of one-step samples did not significantly enhance the contrast of any of the one-step treatments against Cyanobloom/rhodamine 6G-treated samples.

Single metal deposition (SMD II), a recently proposed method for the development of latent fingermarks, was investigated by systematically altering aspects of the procedure to assess their effect on the level of development and contrast achieved. Gold nanoparticle size, temperature of the deposition solution bath, and orbital shaking during detection were shown to affect the levels of development and contrast obtained. Gold nanoparticles of diameter 15–21 nm were found to be most effective for satisfactory visualisation of latent fingermarks, while solutions that were applied at room temperature were found to adequately balance the ratio between the contrast of the fingermark ridge detail and the level of background staining achieved. Finally, optimum levels of development and contrast were obtained through constant agitation of both solution baths at approximately 50 RPM throughout the submersion time. SMD II was also tested on a large variety of substrate types and shown to be effective on a range of porous, non-porous, and semi-porous surfaces; however, the detection quality can be significantly influenced by the substrate nature. This resulted in the production of dark grey, white, or gold coloured fingermarks on different surfaces, as well as reversed detection on certain types of plastic, similarly seen through the use of vacuum metal deposition. © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Physical developer (PD) is a fingermark development technique that deposits silver onto fingermark ridges. It is the only technique currently in routine operational use that gives results on porous substrates that have been wet. There is a reasonable understanding of the working solution chemistry, but the chemical constituent(s) contained in fingermark residue that are specifically targeted by PD are largely unknown. A better understanding of the PD technique will permit a more informed selection of alternative or complementary detection methods, and greater usage in operational laboratories. Recent research by our group has shown that PD does not selectively target the lipids present in the residue.This research investigated the hypothesis that PD targets the eccrine constituents in fingermark residue. This was tested by comparison of PD and indanedione-zinc (Ind-Zn) treated natural fingermarks that had been deposited successively, and marks that had been deposited with a ten second interval in between depositions. Such an interval allows for the regeneration of secretions from the pores located on the ridges of the fingers. On fingermark depletions with no time interval between depositions, PD and Ind-Zn treated depletions successively (and comparatively) decreased in development intensity as the amount of residue diminished. Short time intervals in between successive depletions resulted in additional secretions from the pores intermittently occurring, the increased development of which was visualised by treatment with both PD and Ind-Zn. The changes in development intensity were seen with both techniques on the same split depletions in a series, comparably and proportionately. These results indicate that the components targeted by PD are contained in the material excreted by the friction ridge pores through its mirrored development with Ind-Zn.Repetition of the experiments on marks that only contained eccrine material showed good Ind

© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Physical developer (PD) is a fingermark development technique that involves the selective reduction of silver onto fingermark residue. PD can develop marks on porous substrates even if they have been wet, leading to the logical, long held belief that the reagent targets the water insoluble constituents in the fingermark residue. The present research has tested this hypothesis as part of a broader study that aims to identify the targets of physical developer. Spot tests of some fatty acids, cholesterol and squalene, treated with PD, showed that only cholesterol produced significant silver deposition. PD is known to be particularly effective on aged marks, however cholesterol degrades over time. These observations indicate that PD reactivity with fingermarks cannot solely be due to the presence of cholesterol.Fingermarks were deposited on paper and washed with various organic solvents before being treated with PD. PD effectiveness was intermittent on both solvent washed and unwashed sides of both natural and groomed marks; however, it was seen to effectively develop groomed samples that had been exposed to common lipid extraction solvents, shown to have removed the lipids by visualisation using the lipid stain Nile red. PD effectiveness was most affected by exposure of samples to solvents that could dissolve water soluble components, showing that the removal of these constituents (by either water, or other solvents) decreases the amount of silver deposited on the fingermark residue by the working solution.Close observation of PD developed samples showed variation in silver deposition uniformity when comparing a developed ridge to a pore site located on that ridge. Some samples showed an absence of silver, and other showed an increase of silver at pore locations. This indicates that the material excreted by the pores on the finger has an effect on silver deposition, suggesting that PD may be specifically targeting eccrine constituents that

© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Despite significant ongoing research, a substantial proportion of latent fingermarks remain undetected in casework. Therefore, to improve existing detection techniques and to allow the development of new approaches, it is important to gain a better understanding of detection mechanisms rather than solely focusing on method formulations. As a starting point, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the fingermark residue itself. Even if the chemical composition is reasonably well understood, little research has been reported on the physical aspects related to the deposition of fingermarks and their interactions with the environment and underlying substrates.This study aimed at exploring various techniques that can be used for the non-destructive visualisation of fingermarks before applying detection techniques. Both light and electron microscopy were investigated. Phase contrast imaging and environmental scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, proved to be essential tools for the study of latent fingermark deposits. These methods can be used to gather fundamental information that will add to our body of knowledge in this field.