PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Computer program could help solve arson cases

2014-04-24
(Press-News.org) Sifting through the chemical clues left behind by arson is delicate, time-consuming work, but University of Alberta researchers teaming with RCMP scientists in Canada, have found a way to speed the process.

A computer program developed by University of Alberta chemistry professor James Harynuk, his team of graduate and undergraduate researchers and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Forensic Laboratory Services, can cut the need for extra levels of human analysis, reducing the waiting time to find out the cause of a deliberately set fire.

That means quicker turnaround on answers for fire investigators, said Mark Sandercock, manager of trace evidence program support for the RCMP's National Forensic Laboratory Services, and a co-author on the research.

"Having results back in a timely way on physical evidence can only improve an investigation," Sandercock said. "By getting the laboratory results back quickly, investigators can use this information to ask the right questions when interviewing people or evaluating other evidence, which will help them resolve the case more quickly by pointing them in the right direction."

The U of A study, published recently in Forensic Science International, is the first to use a mathematical model to successfully classify debris pulled from suspected arson scenes, going beyond research based solely on simulated debris.

Harynuk's team began working with the RCMP's forensic lab in 2008, looking to develop tools for interpreting chemical data. Arson investigation was a logical fit.

"Arson debris provides an interesting set of samples because it is uncontrolled," Harynuk said. "You never know what is going to be in the fire, or how it started. Paint thinners, gasoline, kerosene are all very complex mixtures, and we wanted to develop a tool that would be able to pick a complex signature out of an equally complex background."

Volatile compounds released in a fire can mask the vital chemical data that RCMP scientists need to pinpoint, Sandercock noted. "It can be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Currently, an RCMP forensic scientist examines data from a sample, which is then re-examined by a second scientist to see whether they agree on the findings—a process that can take hours per sample. The average arson investigation yields three or four samples.

The technology developed at the University of Alberta would allow the first scientist to run findings through the computer program, getting an answer in seconds. Only if the computer gave a result different from that of the scientist would the debris sample go to a second human analyst.

For their work, Harynuk and his team focused on gasoline, the most commonly used ignitable liquid in arsons. They analyzed data from 232 chemical samples provided by the RCMP's lab services, drawn from fire debris in cases under investigation across Canada. From chemical profiles taken from burned carpet, wood and cloth, they were able to develop a computer filter that isolated the signature of gasoline in the data. This signature was then used to indicate whether or not gasoline was present in the debris sample, a possible indicator of it being used to start a fire.

"It's a system that is quite accurate and goes down a similar investigative path that a human would when looking at the data," Harynuk said.

INFORMATION:

The research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures and the U of A's Department of Chemistry.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

'Horsing around' reduces stress hormones in youth

2014-04-24
PULLMAN, Wash. – New research from Washington State University reveals how youth who work with horses experience a substantial reduction in stress – and the evidence lies in kids' saliva. The results are published in the American Psychological Association's Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin this month. Pendry-80"We were coming at this from a prevention perspective," said Patricia Pendry, a developmental psychologist at WSU who studies how stress "gets under the skin" and the effects of prevention programs on human development. "We are especially interested in optimizing ...

JCI online ahead of print table of contents for April 24, 2014

2014-04-24
Ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood Compared to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) isolated from adults, HSCs isolated from cord blood (CB) have enhanced proliferative potential and can lead to hematological reconstitution when engrafted in children with hematological malignancies or genetic defects. Unfortunately, small numbers of HSCs are present in single CB collections, limiting their use as grafts for adults. For several decades investigators have used a variety of strategies to expand the numbers of CB HSC ex vivo with limited success. Evidence ...

Microscopic organism plays a big role in ocean carbon cycling, Scripps scientists discover

2014-04-24
It's broadly understood that the world's oceans play a crucial role in the global-scale cycling and exchange of carbon between Earth's ecosystems and atmosphere. Now scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have taken a leap forward in understanding the microscopic underpinnings of these processes. When phytoplankton use carbon dioxide to make new cells, a substantial portion of that cellular material is released into the sea as a buffet of edible molecules collectively called "dissolved organic carbon." The majority of these molecules are eventually ...

What makes psychotic teens more at risk for suicide than other groups with psychosis?

2014-04-24
Suicide is a general risk for people with psychosis. According to the Journal of Psychiatry, 20 percent to 40 percent of those diagnosed with psychosis attempt suicide, and up to 10 percent succeed. And teens with psychotic symptoms are nearly 70 times more likely to attempt suicide than adolescents in the general population, according to a 2013 study in JAMA Psychiatry. But what contributes to such high numbers? Jane Timmons-Mitchell, PhD, from Case Western Reserve University's social work school, and Tatiana Falcone, MD, from the Cleveland Clinic, reviewed studies ...

Solving the mystery of a superluminous supernova

2014-04-24
This release is available in Japanese. An exceptionally bright supernova reported in 2013 is so luminous, a new study reports, because a lens in the sky amplified its light. The discovery of the lens settles an important controversy in the field of astronomy. In 2010, a team of scientists observed a supernova, PS1-10afx, shining brighter than any other in its class. "PS1-10afx is like nothing we have seen before," said senior author Robert Quimby of the University of Tokyo's Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. Its exceptional glow ...

A scourge of rural Africa, the tsetse fly is genetically deciphered

A scourge of rural Africa, the tsetse fly is genetically deciphered
2014-04-24
New Haven, Conn. – An international team of researchers led by the Yale School of Public Health has successfully sequenced the genetic code of the tsetse fly, opening the door to scientific breakthroughs that could reduce or end the scourge of African sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa. The study is published in the journal Science. It took nearly 10 years and more than 140 scientists from numerous countries to map the genome of the fly, also known as Glossina morsitans. Tsetse flies are the sole insect vectors of a disease that threatens the health of millions ...

Breakthrough harnesses light for controlled chemical reaction

2014-04-24
MADISON – When chemist Tehshik Yoon looks out his office window, he sees a source of energy to drive chemical reactions. Plants "learned" to synthesize chemicals with sunlight eons ago; Yoon came to the field a bit more recently. But this week, in the journal Science, he and three collaborators detail a way to use sunlight and two catalysts to create molecules that are difficult to make with conventional techniques. In chemistry, heat and ultraviolet (UV) light are commonly used to drive reactions. Although light can power reactions that heat cannot, UV has disadvantages, ...

Researchers build new 'off switch' to shut down neural activity

2014-04-24
Nearly a decade ago, the era of optogenetics was ushered in with the development of channelrhodopsins, light-activated ion channels that can, with the flick of a switch, instantaneously turn on neurons in which they are genetically expressed. What has lagged behind, however, is the ability to use light to inactivate neurons with an equal level of reliability and efficiency. Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists have used an analysis of channelrhodopsin's molecular structure to guide a series of genetic mutations to the ion channel that grant the power to ...

You may have billions and billions of good reasons for being unfit

2014-04-24
This news release is available in French. Although our chromosomes are relatively stable within our lifetimes, the genetic material found in our mitochondria is highly variable across individuals and may impact upon human health, say researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital. Genomes are changing, not just from generation to generation, but even and in fact within our individual cells. The researchers are the first to identify the extent to which the editing processes of RNA code can vary across a large number of individuals. ...

Ocean microbes display remarkable genetic diversity

2014-04-24
CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- The smallest, most abundant marine microbe, Prochlorococcus, is a photosynthetic bacteria species essential to the marine ecosystem. An estimated billion billion billion of the single-cell creatures live in the oceans, forming the base of the marine food chain and occupying a range of ecological niches based on temperature, light and chemical preferences, and interactions with other species. But the full extent and characteristics of diversity within this single species remains a puzzle. To probe this question, scientists in MIT's Department of Civil ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study identifies candidates for therapeutic targets in pediatric germ cell tumors

Media alert: The global burden of CVD

Study illuminates contributing factors to blood vessel leakage

What nations around the world can learn from Ukraine

Mixing tree species does not always make forests more drought-resilient

Public confidence in U.S. health agencies slides, fueled by declines among Democrats

“Quantum squeezing” a nanoscale particle for the first time

El Niño spurs extreme daily rain events despite drier monsoons in India

Two studies explore the genomic diversity of deadly mosquito vectors

Zebra finches categorize their vocal calls by meaning

Analysis challenges conventional wisdom about partisan support for US science funding

New model can accurately predict a forest’s future

‘Like talking on the telephone’: Quantum computing engineers get atoms chatting long distance

Genomic evolution of major malaria-transmitting mosquito species uncovered

Overcoming the barriers of hydrogen storage with a low-temperature hydrogen battery

Tuberculosis vulnerability of people with HIV: a viral protein implicated

Partnership with Kenya's Turkana community helps scientists discover genes involved in adaptation to desert living

Decoding the selfish gene, from evolutionary cheaters to disease control

Major review highlights latest evidence on real-time test for blood – clotting in childbirth emergencies

Inspired by bacteria’s defense strategies

Research spotlight: Combination therapy shows promise for overcoming treatment resistance in glioblastoma

University of Houston co-leads $25 million NIH-funded grant to study the delay of nearsightedness in children

NRG Oncology PREDICT-RT study completes patient accrual, tests individualized concurrent therapy and radiation for high-risk prostate cancer

Taking aim at nearsightedness in kids before it’s diagnosed

With no prior training, dogs can infer how similar types of toys work, even when they don’t look alike

Three deadliest risk factors of a common liver disease identified in new study

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

Palaeontology: South American amber deposit ‘abuzz’ with ancient insects

Oral microbes linked to increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition

[Press-News.org] Computer program could help solve arson cases