Despite the vast scientific evidence obtained from the genomic sequencing of COVID-19, controversy regarding its origin has been created in the mass media. This could potentially have a long-term influence on the behavior among individuals, such as failure to comply with proposed social distancing measures, leading to a consequent rise in the morbidity and mortality rates from COVID-19 infection. Several studies have collected information about knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19; however, very little is known about the relationship of the perceptions of the individuals regarding the origin of the virus with the knowledge and perception about social distancing. This study aimed at ascertaining this relationship. For such purpose, a web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample population from five provinces of the Dominican Republic from June to July of 2020. The data collection instrument exploited in the study was a self-designed questionnaire distributed throughout different social media platforms. A purposive sampling strategy was implemented and a total of 1195 respondents completed the questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, stepwise multiple linear regression, and one-way multivariate analysis were implemented to test the hypotheses. The level of education was significantly associated (P = .017) with individuals’ perception about the origin of COVID-19, whilst only age (P = .032) and education level (P < .001) statistically significantly predicted ‘knowledge about social distancing’. Perception of COVID-19 origin was statistically significant associated (P = < .001) with the measures of the dependent variables (knowledge and perception on social distancing). The present study has established a possible link between the ‘perception of COVID-19 origin’ and ‘the perception and knowledge about social distancing’.
Lip print (LP) evidence can be an essential tool for human forensics. LPs have conventionally been developed using substances such as lysochrome dyes, fluorescent dyes, indigo dye, aluminium powder, and silver metallic powder. However, techniques for LP enhancement from various substrates are currently inconsistent and lack standardisation in practice. This review summarises current knowledge on the physical and chemical techniques of LP enhancement, identifies limitations, and provides suggestions for future research on practical applications of cheiloscopy as a forensic tool in criminal justice. Key points The grooves and wrinkles of the human lip establish unique patterns that persist throughout life. Cheiloscopic patterns exhibit discriminatory individual characteristics that may constitute circumstantial forensic evidence. Enhancement techniques for latent lip prints on porous and nonporous substrates can be classified as physical or chemical. Unlike fingerprint, there is a current lack of consistency and/or standardisation on latent lip print enhancement methods in frontline forensic practice.
Background The determination of the shooting distance using gunshot residue (GSR) analysis is crucial in the investigation and reconstruction of firearm-related crimes. However, the conventional chemographic method for GSR analysis is destructive and has limited sensitivity and selectivity. While the spectroscopic method has potential in GSR analysis for crime investigation, there is a current lack of consistency in the spectroscopic results obtained for shooting distance estimation via GSR analysis. Addressing such limitations will enhance the forensic capabilities of law enforcement and provide an added advantage to crime laboratories during an investigation. It will also reinforce the use of such spectroscopic data in a criminal investigation. Main text We obtained all peer-reviewed articles relevant to shooting distance estimation from searching Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. We specifically searched the databases using the keywords “shooting distance,” “range of fire,” “gunshot residue,” “firearm discharge residue,” and “firearm-related crime” and obtained 3811 records. We further filtered these records using a combination of two basic keywords “gunshot residue” and “shooting distance estimations” yielding 108 papers. Following a careful evaluation of the titles, abstracts, and full texts, 40 original peer-reviewed articles on shooting distance estimation via GSR analysis were included in the study. The forgoing included additional sources (n = 5) we obtained from looking through the reference lists of the forensic articles we found. Short conclusion This paper discusses the current scope of research concerning the chemographic and spectroscopic analysis of GSR for shooting distance estimation. It also examines the challenges of these techniques and provides recommendations for future research.
Despite the vast scientific evidence obtained from the genomic sequencing of COVID-19, a controversy regarding its origin has been created in the mass media. This could potentially have a long-term influence on the behavior among individuals, such as failure to comply with proposed social distancing measures, leading to a consequent rise in the morbidity and mortality rates from COVID-19 infection. Several studies have collected information about knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19; however, very little is known about the relationship of the perceptions of the individuals regarding the origin of the virus with the knowledge and perception about social distancing. This study aimed at ascertaining this relationship. For such purpose, a web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample population from five provinces of the Dominican Republic within the period of June to July of 2020. The data collection instrument exploited in the study was a self-designed questionnaire distributed throughout different social media platforms. A purposive sampling strategy was implemented and a total of 1195 respondents completed the questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, stepwise multiple linear regression and one-way multivariate analysis were implemented to test the hypotheses. The level of education was significantly associated (P = 0.017) with individuals' perception about the origin of COVID-19, whilst only age (P = 0.032) and education level (P < 0.001) statistically significantly predicted 'knowledge about social distancing'. Perception of COVID-19 origin was statistically significant associated (P = < 0.001) with the measures of the dependent variables (knowledge and perception on social distancing). The present study has established a possible link between the 'perception of COVID-19 origin' and the 'perception and knowledge about social distancing'.
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