This report presents the highlights of the 7th European Meeting on Molecular Diagnostics held in Scheveningen, The Hague, The Netherlands, 12-14 October 2011. The areas covered included molecular diagnostics applications in medical microbiology, virology, pathology, hemato-oncology,clinical genetics and forensics. Novel real-time amplification approaches, novel diagnostic applications and new technologies, such as next-generation sequencing, PCR lectrospray-ionization TOF mass spectrometry and techniques based on the detection of proteins or other molecules, were discussed. Furthermore, diagnostic companies presented their future visions for molecular diagnostics in human healthcare.
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Mensen laten in het dagelijks leven steeds meer digitale sporen achter in computers, tablets en smartphones die waardevol kunnen zijn voor de opsporing en voor de bewijsvoering in strafzaken. Naast sporen die we bewust achterlaten, zoals berichten, foto’s en video’s, laten onze handelingen ook allerlei sporen na waarvan we ons veelal niet bewust zijn. Tezamen bieden al deze sporen een kijkje in het dagelijks activiteitenpatroon van een gebruiker. Het digitaal forensisch onderzoek dat zich hierop richt, wordt aangeduid als pattern-of-life forensics. Dit onderzoek is een waardevolle aanvulling voor het toetsen en opstellen van scenario’s, maar tegelijkertijd is het ook een complex onderzoeksgebied vanwege de snelle ontwikkelingen in hardware en software.In dit artikel geven we een aantal voorbeelden van pattern-of-life forensics aan de hand van rechterlijke uitspraken, experimenten die zijn uitgevoerd met smartphones en onderzoek dat is gepubliceerd in de literatuur. In het bijzonder hebben we ons daarbij gericht op het aantonen of een handeling met voorbedachte raad is verricht, op het aantonen van eigenaarschap van een smartphone en op de betrouwbaarheid van digitale sporen als die worden betwist. Juist het dagelijkse patroon van activiteiten dat door middel van pattern-of-life forensics wordt vastgesteld, kan bij uitstek vergeleken worden met observaties uit andere bronnen zoals beveiligingscamera’s, andere inbeslaggenomen bewijsstukken en/of getuigenverklaringen.
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Already for some decades lateral flow assays (LFAs) are ‘common use’ devices in our daily life. Also, for forensic use LFAs are developed, such as for the analysis of illicit drugs and DNA, but also for the detection of explosives and body fluid identification. Despite their advantages, including ease-of-use, LFAs are not yet frequently applied at a crime scene. This review describes (academic) developments of LFAs for forensic applications, focusing on biological and chemical applications, whereby the main advantages and disadvantages of LFAs for the different forensic applications are summarized. Additionally, a critical review is provided, discussing why LFAs are not frequently applied within the forensic field and highlighting the steps that are needed to bring LFAs to the forensic market.
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With the current growth of data in digital investigations, one solution for forensic investigators is to visualise the data for the detection of suspicious activity. However, this process can be complex and difficult to achieve, as there few tools available that are simple and can handle a wide variety of data types. This paper describes the development of a flexible platform, capable of visualising many different types of related data. The platform's back and front end can efficiently deal with large datasets, and supporta wide range of MIME types that can be easily extended. The paper also describes the development of the visualisation front end, which offers flexible, easily understandable visualisations of many different kinds of data and data relationships.
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The age estimation of biological traces is one of the holy grails in forensic investigations. We developed a method for the age estimation of semen stains using fluorescence spectroscopy in conjunction with a stoichiometric ageing model. The model describes the degradation and generation rate of proteins and fluorescent oxidation products (FOX) over time. The previously used fluorimeter is a large benchtop device and requires system optimization for forensic applications. In situ applications have the advantage that measurements can be performed directly at the crime scene, without additional sampling or storage steps. Therefore, a portable fiber-based fluorimeter was developed, consisting of two optimized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and two spectrometers to allow the fluorescence protein and FOX measurements. The handheld fiber can be used without touching the traces, avoiding the destruction or contamination of the trace. In this study, we have measured the ageing kinetics of semen stains over time using both our portable fluorimeter and a laboratory benchtop fluorimeter and compared their accuracies for the age estimation of semen stains. Successful age estimation was possible up to 11 days, with a mean absolute error of 1.0 days and 0.9 days for the portable and the benchtop fluorimeters, respectively. These results demonstrate the potential of using the portable fluorimeter for in situ applications.
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Van Hall Larenstein start begin 2018 met een nieuwe minor genaamd 'Food forensics & toxicology', als onderdeel van de opleiding Biotechnologie, waar studenten geleerd wordt wat voedselfraude inhoudt en op welke wijze het kan worden opgespoord. Interview met Marije Strikwold, associate-lector 'Veiligheid in de voedselketen' bij Van Hall Larenstein in Leeuwarden.
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Adversarial thinking is essential when dealing with cyber incidents and for finding security vulnerabilities. Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions are used all around the world to stimulate adversarial thinking. Jeopardy-style CTFs, given their challenge-and-answer based nature, are used more and more in cybersecurity education as a fun and engaging way to inspire students. Just like traditional written exams, Jeopardy-style CTFs can be used as summative assessment. Did a student provide the correct answer, yes or no. Did the participant in the CTF competition solve the challenge, yes or no. This research project provides a framework for measuring the learning outcomes of a Jeopardy-style CTF and applies this framework to two CTF events as case studies. During these case studies, participants were tested on their knowledge and skills in the field of cybersecurity and queried on their attitude towards CTF education. Results show that the main difference between traditional written exam and a Jeopardy-style CTF is the way in which questions a re formulated. CTF education is stated to be challenging and fun because questions are formulated as puzzles that need to be solved in a gamified and competitive environment. Just like traditional written exams, no additional insight into why the participant thinks the correct answer is the correct answer has been observed or if the participant really did learn anything new by participating. Given that the main difference between a traditional written exam and a Jeopardy-style CTF is the way in which questions are formulated, learning outcomes can be measured in the same way. We can ask ourselves how many participants solved which challenge and to which measurable statements about “knowledge, skill and attitude” in the field of cybersecurity each challenge is related. However, when mapping the descriptions of the quiz-questions and challenges from the two CTF events as case studies to the NICE framework on Knowledge, Skills and Abilities in cybersecurity, the NICE framework did not provide us with detailed measurable statements that could be used in education. Where the descriptions of the quiz-questions and challenges were specific, the learning outcomes of the NICE framework are only formulated in a quite general matter. Finally, some evidence for Csíkszentmihályi’s theory of Flow has been observed. Following the theory of Flow, a person can become fully immersed in performing a task, also known as “being in the zone” if the “challenge level” of the task is in line with the person’s “skill level”. The persons mental state towards a task will be different depending on the challenge level of the task and required skill level for completing it. Results show that participants state that some challenges were difficult and fun, where other challenges were easy and boring. As a result of this9 project, a guide / checklist is provided for those intending to use CTF in education.
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Worldwide there is a lack of well-educated and experienced information security specialists. The first step to address this issue is arranging enough people with a well-known and acceptable basic level of information security competences. However, there might be a lot of information security education and training, but there is anything but a well-defined outflow level with a known and acceptable basic level of information security competences. There exists a chaotic situation in respect of the qualification of information security professionals, with the emergence of a large number of difficult to compare certificates and job titles. Apparently the information security field requires uniform qualifications that are internationally recognized. Such qualifications could be an excellent way of unambiguously clarifying the knowledge and skills of information security professionals. Furthermore it gives educational institutions a framework which facilitates the development of appropriate information security education and training.
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