About Christophe Champod

Posts by Christophe Champod:

“Fingerprinting in the Modern World” by Prof. Daniel Asen

Dear FORSI members,

Prof. Daniel Asen published recently in the history and usage of fingerprinting:

Asen, D. (2018). “Dermatoglyphics” and race after the Second World War: the view from East Asia. In P. Manning & M. Savelli (Eds.), Global Transformations in the Life Sciences, 1945–1980 (pp. 61–77). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Asen, D. (2019). Fingerprints and paternity testing: a study of genetics and probability in pre-DNA forensic science. Law, Probability & Risk, 18, 177–199. 

I am very happy to let you know that a dedicated website is now available: https://sites.rutgers.edu/fingerprinting/

For you all to enjoy.
As Daniel describes:
This website provides resources for teaching the history of fingerprinting in secondary and college-level humanities, life sciences, and forensic science classes. It provides the following materials:
—-Modules: Short narratives (approximately 1-2 single-spaced pages each) that discuss particular historical and conceptual themes in the history of fingerprinting and its use today. The modules address the following themes:
1. Introduction: What are Fingerprints?
2. Making Modern Fingerprinting
3. “No Two Finger Prints Are Alike”
4. Fingerprints and Science
5. Fingerprints, Race, and Population
6. Fingerprinting and Science Today
—Video lectures: Short video lectures, composed of slides and voiceover, that provide additional detail about particular issues that are raised in the modules. The video lectures address the following themes:
1. Introduction: What are Fingerprints?
2. Colonial Beginnings
3. Fingerprint Cards and the “Henry System”
4. “Bertillonage” and Identification by Body Measurements
5. New Developments
6. Dermatoglyphics: The Scientific Study of Fingerprints
7. Fingerprints and the Study of Human Genetics
8. Fingerprints and Race
9. Fingerprinting in the 21st Century
A detailed description of these resources is available here: https://sites.rutgers.edu/fingerprinting/for-teachers-how-to-use-this-website/
For more information, feel free to contact Prof. Daniel Asen, Associate Professor, Department of History, Rutgers University-Newark (daniel.asen@rutgers.edu)
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New Tutorials for PiAnoS with ESLR and LR (English and French)

We have finished a series of small tutorials associated with PiAnoS.

To complement the material on FORSI itself, we did two quick recording for our workshop dedicated only to fingerprints and probabilities (during the EAFS meeting in Lyon and during the ENFSI fingerprint working group meeting in Lausanne). They can be accessed on:

PFWS_2018_Analysis: https://www.screencast.com/t/fj0sOzlkA
PFWS_2018_comparison: https://www.screencast.com/t/upogtnZ390x

All FORSI users with a PiAnoS account have now access to the cases we have used for these workshops. To recall, all subscribers to this blog can ask for a personal account on PiAnoS by sending a request for an account at forsi@unil.ch

Pour les lecteurs francophones, vous trouverez quatre enregistrements pour toutes les phases d’utilisation de PiAnoS:

PiAnoS_Analyse_FR: https://www.screencast.com/t/4e6wiiUUgAV
PiAnoS_ESLR_FR: https://www.screencast.com/t/JgpWo6Sx5Np
PiAnoS_Comparaison_FR: https://www.screencast.com/t/nmZwePIaAp
PiAnoS_EvaluationLR_FR: https://www.screencast.com/t/hgNiSKeNd8

Pour rappel, les lecteurs de FORSI peuvent demander un compte personnel sur PiAnoS en envoyant une demande à forsi@unil.ch

Shiny App to illustrate the concepts of Decision Theory

On the following link (https://cchampod.shinyapps.io/DecisionID/) you will access to a web application allowing you to explore the interaction between prior odds, likelihood ratio, posterior odds and decision making, It encapsulate the notion covered in the following papers:

  • The case with three outcome (ID, EXC and INC): Biedermann, A., et al. (2008). “Decision Theoretic Properties of Forensic Identification: Underlying Logic and Argumentative Implications.” Forensic Science International 177(2-3): 120-132.
  • The case only two outcome (ID and non-ID):  Biedermann, A., et al. (2016). “The decisionalization of individualization.” Forensic Science International 266: 29-38.

A small video linking the Bayesian network for decisions in chapter 2 and this app can be found in FORSI as well: https://esc-app.unil.ch/blogs/forsi/chapter-ii/ (select the tab on Decision Theory).

A quick reminder sheet is here: Decision_ID

Whorl Patterns and Axis Slant – Brazelle & Brazelle 2018 in a Bayesian Network with tutorial video

In their recent paper [1], Brazelle and Brazelle published data in relation to the distribution of the axis slant of whorls (a right slant example is shown below from [1]).

They show that the axis of the slant is a good indicator of the hand (right or left). They presents their counts (for two examiners A and B) in two tables:

 

 

It can be cumbersome to use these data directly. If you are told that the whorl has a right slant, you would go first for a right hand by how strong is that evidence. In the short video below, we show how to put Brazelle and Brazelle’s data in a Bayesian Network in the spirit of the development in chapter 2.

The Bayesian network file (in Hugin) can be downloaded directly here (Whorl_axis_Brazelle_JFI_2018.oobn). Just unzip the file to get the .oobn file that can be opened by Hugin.

Enjoy.

[1] Brazelle, M. and S. Brazelle (2018). “Hand Determination of Whorl Patterns Using Axis Slant.” Journal of Forensic Identification 68(1): 77-86.

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