Technical Note: Intra-pane refractive index variability and adequate sample sizes in forensic glass analysis.

A vital aspect for the forensic analysis of glass using refractive index (RI) is the determination of adequate sample size, or how many glass fragments are needed to sufficiently characterize the RI from a source of glass, such as a side window of an automobile. The number of fragments required is inversely related to the variance of the RI across the source of glass. Previous literature indicates decreased variability across tempered glass panes over time of manufacture; however, the most recent work is over two decades old and may not reflect potential increased homogeneity in more modern glass.

Soil survey laboratory grain count data to substantiate the rarity of mineral grains in forensic soil reports of examination.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service-Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory has a large publicly available database of laboratory analyses of soil horizons collected from soil profiles largely from the United States. Among these soil properties are mineral grain counts from selected sand and silt fractions of soil horizons, performed by polarized light microscopy (PLM). These grain counts of over 20,000 fractions from 7534 sites provide a substantial reference that a forensic soil examiner could use to substantiate the rarity or commonness of a mineral species.

Strengths, Limitations, and Recommendations for Instrumental Color Measurement in Forensic Soil Characterization.

Color determination of soil evidence is often done by visual comparison to soil color charts. A handheld spectrophotometer was tested with representative materials for its suitability for forensic soil characterization. Instrumental colorimetry provides accurate colorimetry with ~10-fold better precision than a soil color chart.

Mammography image quality and evidence based practice: Analysis of the demonstration of the inframammary angle in the digital setting.

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the clinical rates of the demonstration of the inframammary angle (IMA) on the mediolateral oblique (MLO) view of the breast on digital mammograms and to compare the outcomes with current accreditation standards for compliance. Relationships between the IMA, age, the posterior nipple line (PNL) and compressed breast thickness will be identified and the study outcomes validated using appropriate analyses of inter-reader and inter-rater reliability and variability. Differences in left versus right data were also investigated.