2015 Hellenic ACFE Anti-Fraud Symposium Cancellation.

Unfortunately due to the recent developments in Greece, the hellenic ACFE decided to cancel the 2015 Symposium.

Read more in detail here in Greek or here in English.

Ελληνικό Public Survey 012014

Ερωτηματολόγιο: Γενικές Ερωτήσεις Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας

Το παρόν αποτελεί ένα ανοιχτό ερωτηματολόγιο για θέματα Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας, το οποίο σκοπεύει στην ανάγνωση της αντίληψης του κοινού για σχετικά θέματα. Το ερωτηματολόγιο εντάσσεται σε έρευνα που διεξάγεται από το Εργαστήριο Μελετών Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας "Ο Χαρτουλάριος" Ι.Κ.Ε. σε συνεργασία με το πανεπιστήμιο Staffordshire University.

Public Survey on Questioned Document Examination

This is a public questionnaire aimed at recording public's perception of complexity of signatures & fraud detection.
This study is being run by Nikolaos Kalantzis, Forensic Document Examiner in a reserach collaboration between CHARTOULARIOS P.C. Laboratory of Questioned Document Studies and Staffordshire University.

Εργαστήριο Μελετών Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας "Ο Χαρτουλάριος" Ι.Κ.Ε.

• Το Εργαστήριο Μελετών Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας "Ο Χαρτουλάριος" παρέχει υπηρεσίες Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας, ήτοι εξέταση γνησιότητας γραφής, υπογραφής & εγγράφων, διερεύνηση αλλοιώσεων κλπ., υποστηριζόμενες από ένα πλήρως εξοπλισμένο σύγχρονο εργαστήριο, και εφαρμόζοντας την επιστημονική αρχή των τεσσάρων-ματιών (four eye principle) & της διπλής αξιολόγησης (peer review system) για κάθε υπόθεση χωρίς επιπλέον επιβάρυνση.


• Κάθε υπόθεση που χειρίζεται ο Χαρτουλάριος ανατίθεται ταυτόχρονα σε δύο ειδικευμένους Δικαστικούς Γραφολόγους, οι οποίοι δρουν ανεξάρτητα ο ένας από τον άλλο. Στη συνέχεια με την ολοκλήρωση της έρευνας από τους δύο εξεταστές διαμορφώνεται ένα ενιαίο συμπέρασμα και συντάσσεται η Έκθεση Γνωμοδότησης Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας με συνυπογραφή και των δύο εξεταστών. Η εμπλοκή του δεύτερου εξεταστή δεν επιφέρει επιπλέον επιβάρυνση αλλά απευθύνεται στην απαραίτητη διαχείριση ποιότητας (Quality Management) που επιβάλλεται πλέον σε διεθνές επίπεδο σε εργαστήρια εγκληματολογικών υπηρεσιών.

• Ο Χαρτουλάριος στελεχώνεται από πέντε (5) Ειδικευμένους Δικαστικούς Γραφολόγους εξεταστές γραφής και εγγράφων, και κάθε υπόθεση διεκπεραιώνεται σύμφωνα με τα διεθνή πρότυπα (ENFSI - ENFHEX, SWGDOC) με πλήρη εφαρμογή εργαστηριακών ελέγχων όπου αυτό είναι εφικτό.

Η εταιρική ταυτότητα του Εργαστηρίου Μελετών Δικαστικής Γραφολογίας “Ο Χαρτουλάριος” Ι.Κ.Ε. είναι διαθέσιμη με τη μορφή PDF στον ακόλουθο σύνδεσμο: ΕΤΑΙΡΙΚΗ ΤΑΥΤΟΤΗΤΑ

Forensic Handwriting & Document Examination Workshop: Current Trends & Problems 7-9 September 2011

Staffordshire University’s Forensic and Crime Science Department is organising an International Workshop on Forensic Handwriting & Document Examination to be held at Staffordshire University (Stoke-on-Trent Campus) on 7-9 September 2011. This will provide an opportunity for Trained Professionals, Academics and Researchers in Questioned Documents to improve their understanding of current issues in document examination and to receive training on specific fields of the science.

The workshop will be delivered by Mike Allen, Dr. Bryan Found, Dr. Jur. Dr. Habil. Manfred Hecker, Nikolaos Kalantzis FSSoc Dip and Dr. Andy Platt.

Please Click Here for full details of the workshop (DOC, file size: 781.5KB) , including an outline timetable.

The workshop will cover the following topics :

Blind Testing (self assessed), Development of Handwriting in Children, Error Rates, Forgery & Disguise, Methodological Rules, Models of Handwriting Production, Psychophysiology of Handwriting Production, Raman Spectroscopy application in ink comparison, Problems & interference in Raman Spectrocopy, Signing Behaviour.

The cost of participation is allocated to £450 GBP.

Those interested in participating or receiving more information on the workshop
are requested to complete the following form and hit the send button.

For any question please do not hesitate to contact us at the following email:

Nikolaos D. Kalantzis n.kalantzis@staffs.ac.uk ; or tel: +30 6936774257; Fax: +30 210 9849 459

Document Examination - More than just handwriting analysis- Date: 4 April 2011- Date: 4 April 2011-Birmingham;

Date: 4 April 2011; Document Examination - More than just handwriting analysis

Venue: Menzies Strathallan Hotel, Birmingham;

Convenors: Andy Manns, Dr Kate Barr and Dr Steve Cosslett;

General topics include:

Simple Signatures

Linguistic Approaches to Authorship Attribution

Sequencing handwriting and impressions

Identity Documents Diploma

**This conference is eligible for 7 CPD Points

Programme

09:30 am Registration and Coffee

09.45 am Welcome

Dr Ann Priston, OBE, JP, FFSSoc, President Forensic Science

Society

10.00 am Limitations of Forensic Ink Examination via Raman

Spectroscopy and S.E.R.R.S

Nikolaos Kalantzis, University of Staffordshire

10.30 am ESDA Validation for ISO17025

Oliver Thorne, LGC Forensics

11.00 am Tea/Coffee Break

11.15 am Florentis Signature Scope: An Aid to Handwriting Analysis

Nick Mettyear

11.45 am Is it Worth the Paper it is written on

Claire Williamson, UCLAN

12.15 pm Simple Signatures

Dr Audrey Giles, Giles Document Laboratory

12.45 pm Lunch

13.45 pm Linguistic Approaches to Authorship Attribution

Professor Malcolm Coulthard, Aston University

14.15 pm Shades of Grey

Jennifer Lord, LGC Forensics

14.25 pm “I swear I received it in the post Guv”

Kamaljit Mesuria, LGC Forensics

14.45 pm Sequencing Handwriting and Impressions by ESDA

Robert Radley

15.15 pm Tea/Coffee Break

15.30 pm New Developments: The Forensic Science Society Register -

The Assessment Process

Mike Allen, Consultant

15.45 pm New Developments: Launch of the Identity Documents

Diploma

Mike Allen, Consultant

16.00 pm The Register of Experts in the Netherlands

Michel Smithuis, Nederlands Register Gerechtelijk Deskundigen

16:15 pm Close of Conference

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for forensic document

examiners working in the UK to meet to discuss issues that affect the sector

and to provide an opportunity for learning through the consideration of

individual case studies.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees at the conference will have the opportunity to expand their

knowledge base through the discussion of case studies, to learn about cutting

edge areas of research and to network with the leading practitioners in the field.

Conference Location

Venue: Mezies Strathallan Hotel, Birmingham

225 Hagley Road

Edgbaston

Birmingham

B16 9RY

Location: The hotel is located centrally in Birmingham.

By rail: Birmingham New Street Railway Station is 1.9 miles from

Menzies Strathallan. Taxis are available at the station.

By air: Birmingham International Airport is 12 miles from the hotel.

By bus: The bus stop is directly outside the hotel. All buses are

approximately every 10 minutes during the day and every 30

minutes during the evening.

More information can be found in the following links:

http://www.forensic-science-society.org.uk/Conferences/2011/DocumentEvidence

• Spring Conference Programme
• Special Student Rate

FORENSIC SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL: Volume 180, Issue 1, Pages 1-60

Κυκλοφόρησε το νέο τεύχος του FORENSIC SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL: Volume 180, Issue 1, Pages 1-60, το οποίο έχει πολλά άρθρα σχετικά με την Δικαστική Γραφολογία:


The potential of artificial aging for modelling of natural aging processes of ballpoint ink

Pages 23-31

Céline Weyermann, Bernhard Spengler

Identification and dating of the fountain pen ink entries on documents by ion-pairing high-performance liquid chromatography
Pages 43-49
Xiang-Feng Wang, Jing Yu, Meng-Xia Xie, Ya-Tong Yao, Jie Han

Are expert penmen better than lay people at producing simulations of a model signature?
Pages 50-53
Tahnee Dewhurst, Bryan Found, Doug Rogers

Είναι τα καινούργια ψηφιακά διαβατήρια τρωτά; / Are the new digital passports vulnerable?

Νέες περιπτώσεις παραβίασης και παραποίησης των καινούργιων ψηφιακών διαβατηρίων βγήκαν στην επιφάνεια. Και πάλι τίθεται σε αμφισβήτηση η πολυσυζητημένη ασφάλεια των νέων εγγράφων.

New cases of hacking into the digital chip of the new passport came to light. These events come to question the security features of the new digital passport.

THE TIMES: ‘Fakeproof’ e-passport is cloned in minutes

Engadget: More e-passports hacked within minutes, security questions abound

XIII Scientific Symposium of Handwriting Expertise

Ολοκληρώθηκε το 13ο επιστημονικό συνέδριο που λαμβάνει χώρα κάθε δύο χρόνια στο Μπρέσλαου της Πολωνίας από το 1983.

Πολλές ευχαριστίες στον καθηγητή Kegel και στον Rafal Ciecla για την πρόσκληση και την άψογη διοργάνωση.

Τα πρακτικά θα είναι διαθέσημα το πιθανότερο τον Σεπτέμβριο, ωστόσο κατόπιν συνεννόησης, η παρουσίαση "N.Kalantzis: Paper interference in ink Raman spectra at 685nm: A preliminary report" θα είναι διαθέσημη στον ακόλουθο σύνδεσμο:

http://www.handwriting.gr/index.files/cvgr.htm#wroclaw

The 13th scientific Symposium of Handwriting Expertise, organized by the Department of Forensic Science at the University of Wroclaw has been completed.

Many thanks to professor Kegel and dr. Rafal Ciesla for the invitation and the fabulous organisation.

The proceedings will be available around Septpember, but in agreement with the organisers, the presentation "N.Kalantzis: Paper interference in ink Raman spectra at 685nm: A preliminary report" will be available at the following link: http://www.handwriting.gr/index.files/cvgr.htm#wroclaw

Download: Πρόγραμμα/Program Flyer #1 Flyer #2

Forensic Science Society Conference: Is What You See What You Get?

Forensic Science Society Conference: Is What You See What You Get?

4-6 July 2008
Summer Conference
Derby Renaissance Hotel
Is What You See What You Get?
Convenors: Brian Rankin & Callum Sutherland Programme and Booking Form (.pdf)
Places still available Summer 08 Domestic Arrangements (.pdf)

Friday 4th July 2008
09.00 am Registration
10.30 am Workshops
(a) Role of Crime Scene Manager and Environmental
Experts
Callum Sutherland, La Plante Productions &
John Manlove, Manlove Forensics
(b) Court Room Skills
Ian Stebbings, & Adam Pacifico, BPP Professional
Education
12.30 pm Lunch
14.00 pm Welcome and Open
Brian Rankin, President, The Forensic Science
Society
Supporting the Criminal Justice System – Roles of Various Bodies
14.10 pm Forensic Science Regulator
Forensic Regulator
14.25 pm Skills for Justice
Charles Welsh, Skills for Justice
14.40 pm NPIA
Simon Bramble, Head of Police Science & Forensics
14.55 pm UK Forensic Science Education Group (UKFSEG)
Professor Julie Mennell, Dean, School of Applied
Science, University of Northumbria
15.10 pm Forensic Science Society (FSSoc)
Dr Anya Hunt, Chair of Standards Committee,
Forensic Science Society
15.25 pm Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners
CRFP Representative
15.40 pm Tea/Coffee Break
16.10 pm Question Time – Providing assurance to the Criminal
Justice System and Confident to the Public
17.10 pm Close
19.00 pm Dinner and Quiz
Saturday 5th July 2008
09.00 am Security of Passports and Travel Documents
Paul Giles, National Document Fraud Unit, Border &
Immigration Agency
09.45 am Integration of Soil Fingerprinting Techniques Looking
Beyond the Individual
Lorna Dawson, Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen
10.30 am Tea/Coffee Break – Poster Session Viewing
11.00 am The Prospects for a Nascent Neuroimaging of Lie
Detection
Professor Sean Spence, University of Sheffield
11.45 am When Science Doesn’t Meet the Law
Dr Carole McCartney, University of Leeds
12.15 pm Response to the Omagh Judgement on DNA Profiling
Evidence
Peter Gill, University of Strathclyde
12.45 pm Lunch
13.45 pm You Get What You See!
Pam Hamer
14.15 pm Using Raman Imaging to Determine the Sequence of
Crossed Ink Lines on Questioned Documents
T Smith, Renishaw plc
14.45 pm TBC
Ian Stebbings, & Adam Pacifico, BPP Professional Education
15.30 pm Tea/Coffee Break – Announcement of Poster Winner
16.00 pm Forensic Analytical Services Procurement – The
Informed Customer
Emily Burton, GMP & John Gadd, Dorset Police
16.45 pm ‘Contracts, ‘creditation, Register, Resignation… is our
Profession in Jeopardy?”
Roger Robson, Forensic Access Ltd
17.30 pm Close
19.30 pm Dinner and Entertainment
Sunday 6th July 2008
Handling & Reviewing of High Profile Case
09.30 am Managing High Profile Cases
Dr Angela Gallop, LGC Forensics
10.00 am Damilola Taylor Case – SIO View
TBC
10.30 am Tea/Coffee Break
10.50 am Damilola Taylor Case – SIO View continues
TBC
11.15 am Reviewing High Profile Cases
Professor Brian Caddy
12.00 pm Who Should be Registered?
CRFP Representative
12.30 pm Close

NEW TLC VISUALISER από την CAMAG

Κυκλοφόρισε ο καινούργιος TLC VISUALIZER από την CAMAG.

Ένα πολύ καλό εργαλείο για TLC χρωματογραφία.

Τα χαρακτηριστικά του :

Images of highest quality ever in the field

• Powerful linear response high-res CCD camera
• Newly designed multi wavelength illumination unit
• Outstanding CAMAG software features
• Low noise images for best results in qualitative and quantitative chromatogram evaluation

The visual impression provided by a TLC plate showing all samples and standards side-by-side is one of the most convincing arguments to employ Thin-Layer Chromatography. No other chromatographic technique can directly express the result as a color image and make it available for visual evaluation.

A state-of-the-art documentation system is needed to reproducibly acquire and digitally preserve an impression at different wavelengths.

Key features of TLC VISUALIZER documentation and evaluation system:

• Ergonomic, state of the art design
• Enhanced illumination unit: visible/white light, UV254, UV366, visible/white transmitted light.
• Powerful high-resolution 12 bit CCD digital camera with outstanding linearity:
  12 bit = 4095 linear intensity levels.
• Easy and intuitive handling with CAMAG software winCATS
• Fast image transfer rates below 1s
• Automatic image optimization
• Spot amplification tool to locate even smallest fractions on a TLC plate
• Optional Professional Image Enhancement: Automatic background correction to increase image sensitivity
• Optional Image Comparison Viewer for visual comparison of multiple samples on the same screen
• Quantitative evaluation of digitized images with optional VideoScan software
• TLC VISUALIZER and winCATS software compliant with GMP/GLP; IQ/OQ qualification and 21CFR11 are provided.

To προσπέκτους είναι διαθέσημο εδώ: http://www.camag.com/cgi-bin/camag/account/user.pl?file=www.camag.com/downloads/protected/brochures/TLC-Visualizer.pdf

Forensic Science Society Autumn Conference & AGM - Research, Evidence & Evaluation

Forensic Science Society

Autumn Conference & AGM – Research, Evidence & Evaluation

31 October – 2 November 2008

Robinson College Executive Centre, Wyboston

Provisional Programme

Convenor: Dr Niamh Nic Daéid

Friday 31 October Bookings for workshops will be accepted on a first come first served basis. A fee will be charged to attend each workshop – see registration booking form 10.30 – 12.30 Workshops (a) How to Pass the CSI Diploma Graham Thompson, University of Teesside (b) TBC TBC 12.30 Lunch 14:00 Welcome Brian Rankin, President, The Forensic Science Society 14.10 Home Office Research Strategy TBC 14.40 TBC Professor Jim Fraser, University of Strathclyde 15.10 TBC Valerie Bowman, HOSDB 15.30 TBC Sean Doyle, Forensic Explosives Laboratory 15.50 Tea/Coffee Break 16.20 The relevance of experitmental studies for interpretation and evaluation of physical evidence Ruth Morgan, Jill Dando Institute 16.40 Research in Forensic Geology Lorna Dawson, Macauley Institute 17.00 Evaluation of Body Fluid Results Louise McKenna, Forensic Science Lab, Dublin 19.00 Dinner & Awards (Black Tie Optional) Including Presidential Address

Saturday 1 November 09.00 Vein Mapping in Identification Helen Meadows, University of Dundee 09.20 EFIT-V Chris Soloman, University of Kent 09.40 Synthesising the appearance of faces under arbitrary illumination & camera geometrics from 3D face data Marie Petrou, Imperial College London 10.00 The Interpretation of Trace Mass Spectral Evidence & the use of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Richard Sleeman, Mass Spec Analytical 10.20 Antibody-Functionalised Nanoparticles Sue Jickells, Kings College London 10.40 Forensic Mycology Patricia Wiltshire, University of Aberdeen & University of Gloucestershire 11.00 Tea/Coffee Break 11.30 CAI: what does it mean? Why is it so important? Ian Evett 12.10 TBC Phil Jones, Forensic Science Service 12.50 Lunch 14.10 Evaluating DNA Evidence Sue Pope, Forensic Science Service 14.50 Evaluating Fingerprint Evidence Christophe Champod, UNIL, Universite de Lausanne 15.30 Tea/Coffee Break 16.00 The Interpretation Odyssey of a Mathematically Challenged Forensic Scientist Claude Roux, UTS, Sydney, Australia 16.40 Panel Discussion 17.00 AGM (members only) 19.30 Dinner followed by Entertainment

Sunday 2 November 09.30 How Research Can Help Opinions Graham Jackson, Advance Forensic Science 10.10 Evaluation of Fibres – A Case Study Gareth Booth, Forensic Science Service 10.50 Tea/Coffee Break 11.20 The Australian Experience, the Bennet Case Claude Roux, UTS Sydney, Australia 12.00 Case Study - TBC Ian Evett & Christophe Champod 12.40 Close - Brian Rankin, President, The Forensic Science Society

If you book before 25 July 2008 you are entitled to Early Booking Discounted Prices – details overleaf. To be

eligible for this discount payment must be made in full with the booking or within 30 days with a quoted purchase

order number provided with the booking form.

Flyer: http://www.forensic-science-society.org.uk/pdf/311008.pdf

Quantitative evaluation of europium in blue ballpoint pen inks/offset printing inks tagged with europium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate by spectrofluoromet

Στο καινούργιο τέυχος του Science & Justice (Volume 48, Issue 2, June 2008, Pages 61-66) S.D. Maind, N. Chattopadhyay, Ch. Gandhi, S.C. Kumar και M. Sudersanan παρουσιάζουν μελέτη τους με τίτλο "Quantitative evaluation of europium in blue ballpoint pen inks/offset printing inks tagged with europium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate by spectrofluoromet".
In the new issue of Science & Justice (Volume 48, Issue 2, June 2008, Pages 61-66) S.D. Maind, N. Chattopadhyay, Ch. Gandhi, S.C. Kumar & M. Sudersanan present a paper with the title "Quantitative evaluation of europium in blue ballpoint pen inks/offset printing inks tagged with europium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate by spectrofluoromet".

Περίληξη/Abstract: Tagging of writing/printing inks with suitable inorganic taggants such as rare-earth chelates has the potential to help document examiners identify fraud in sensitive written/printed documents. Selection of rare-earth chelates as taggants primarily depends on the satisfactory sensitivity of analytical determination and the absence of the taggants in normal varieties of inks used for document writing/printing. Spectrofluorometric determination of trace amounts of europium in blue ballpoint pen inks and offset printing inks tagged with europium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate was carried out with sodium tungstate solution. Sodium tungstate acts as a specific reagent that enhances the fluorescence intensity of the Eu³⁺ ion. The excitation and emission wavelengths are 270 nm and 605 nm respectively. The results were compared with the data obtained with ICP-AES. Satisfactory recoveries were observed with precision better than 5% RSD and comparable accuracy. Under the optimized experimental conditions, detection limits and quantitation limits were determined. The detection limits obtained by spectrofluorometry and ICP-AES were 0.01 μg/mL and 0.006 μg/mL respectively whereas the limits of quantitation were about 0.03 μg/mL and 0.018 μg/mL respectively. The spectrofluorometric method is rapid, selective, sensitive and accurate for the determination of europium in blue ballpoint pen ink and offset printing inks and may be suitable for application in the examination of sensitive documents to aid in document related crime investigation. The advantages and limitations of the tagging approach and proposed analytical techniques are discussed.


Σύνδεσμος στο άρθρο/ Link to article

Συνεργασία της Wacom και της E-Ink Corp

Η εταιρία που κατασκευάζει ταμπλέτες (tamblets) Wacom και η εταιρία που κατασκευάζει το "ψηφιακό χαρτί" που χρησιμοποιούν τα περισσότερα ηλεκτρονικά βιβλία (ereaders), E Ink ανακοίνωσαν στις 19 Μαϊου την στενή τους συνεργασία προκειμένου να συνδιαστούν η τεχνογνωσία & τεχνολογία των δύο εταιριών στην παραγωγή ηλεκτρονικών βιβλίων/ τετραδίων νέας γενιάς.

http://www.eink.com/press/releases/Wacom_E_Ink_051908.pdf

Η τεχνολογία και των δύο εταιριών ήδη έχει συγκεραστεί στα προϊόντα της iRex (π.χ. iLiad).

The probative character of Forensic Handwriting Examiners’ identification and elimination opinions on questioned signatures

Στο καινούργιο τευχος του Forensic Science International (Volume 178, Issue 1, Pages 1-82 (10 June 2008)), οι Bryan Found και Doug Rogers παρουσιάζει μια εργασία με τίτλο: " The probative character of Forensic Handwriting Examiners’ identification and elimination opinions on questioned signatures "

In the new Issue of Forensic Science International (Volume 178, Issue 1, Pages 1-82 (10 June 2008)), Bryan Found and Doug Rogers present a paper titled:" The probative character of Forensic Handwriting Examiners’ identification and elimination opinions on questioned signatures "

Περίληψη/Abstract: Τhis 5-year study investigated the character of Forensic Handwriting Examiners’ (FHEs) authorship opinions on questioned signatures through the medium of blind validation trials. Twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and eleven authorship opinions were expressed by FHEs on trial kits comprising randomized questioned genuine signatures (written by the specimen writer), disguised signatures (written by the specimen writer) and simulated signatures (not written by the specimen writer). Results showed that, as a group, FHEs were significantly more confident at identifying writers’ genuine signatures than identifying writers’ disguised signatures or eliminating specimen writers from having authored simulated signatures. It is proposed that the difference in FHE confidence arises from the difficulty they have in deciding which alternative authorship explanation accounts for perceived combinations of similar and dissimilar features between specimen and questioned signatures.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.02.004

Passport examination by a confocal-type laser profile microscope

Στο καινούργιο τευχος του Forensic Science International (Volume 178, Issue 1, Pages 1-82 (10 June 2008)), ο Shigeru Sugawara παρουσιάζει μια εργασία με τίτλο: "Passport examination by a confocal-type laser profile microscope "

In the new Issue of Forensic Science International (Volume 178, Issue 1, Pages 1-82 (10 June 2008)), Shigeru Sugawara present a paper titled:"Passport examination by a confocal-type laser profile microscope "

Περίληψη/Abstract: The author proposes a nondestructive and highly precise method of measuring the thickness of a film pasted on a passport using a confocal-type laser profile microscope. The effectiveness of this method in passport examination is demonstrated. A confocal-type laser profile microscope is used to create profiles of the film surface and film–paper interface; these profiles are used to calculate the film thickness by employing an algorithm developed by the author. The film thicknesses of the passport samples—35 genuine and 80 counterfeit Japanese passports—are measured nondestructively. The intra-sample standard deviation of the film thicknesses of the genuine and counterfeit Japanese passports was of the order of 1 μm The intersample standard deviations of the film thicknesses of passports forged using the same tools and techniques are expected to be of the order of 1 μm. The thickness values of the films on the machine-readable genuine passports ranged between 31.95 μm and 36.95 μm. The likelihood ratio of this method in the authentication of machine-readable Japanese genuine passports is 11.7. Therefore, this method is effective for the authentification of genuine passports. Since the distribution of the film thickness of all forged passports was considerably larger than the accuracy of this method, this method is considered effective also for revealing the relation among the forged passports and acquiring proof of the crime.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.02.004

Micro-Raman analysis for the identification of pigments from 19th and 20th century paintings

Στο καινούργιο τευχος του Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (May 2008), οι Cristina L. Aibéo, Stien Goffin, Olivier Schalm, Geert van der Snickt, Nathalie Laquière, Peter Eyskens & Koen Janssens παρουσιάζουν μια εργασία με τίτλο: "Μικροσκοπική φασματοσκοπία Raman για την ταυτοποίηση βαφών σε έργα τέχνης του 19ου και 20ου αιώνα/ Micro-Raman analysis for the identification of pigments from 19th and 20th century paintings ".

In the new Issue of Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (May 2008), Cristina L. Aibéo, Stien Goffin, Olivier Schalm, Geert van der Snickt, Nathalie Laquière, Peter Eyskens & Koen Janssens present a paper titled: "Micro-Raman analysis for the identification of pigments from 19th and 20th century paintings".

Περίληψη/Abstract: In this article, results using confocal µ-Raman to analyse the cross-section of paint samples are presented. Results obtained with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with an energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and micro-X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) are mentioned and compared to the ones obtained with confocal (MRS). In some cases, pigment identification was possible only by combining analytical results from different techniques.The samples were drawn from five paintings belonging to the Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp, which are part of a collection of 34 paintings made by students from the Academy between 1819 and 1920. Since, on the one hand, the painting techniques and materials, especially pigments, used in this period are still not completely known, and on the other hand, this collection constitutes a very important and reliable resource of information, these paintings were chosen for a systematic investigation. They represent the evolution of painting in Belgium over approximately a century.

Article

Raman spectroscopy of synthetic organic pigments used in 20th century works of art

Στο καινούργιο τευχος του Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (May 2008), οι Franziska Schulte, Klaus-Werner Brzezinka, Karin Lutzenberger, Heike Stege & Ulrich Panne παρουσιάζουν μια εργασία με τίτλο: "Φασματοσκοπία Raman συνθετικών οργανικών βαφών που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν σε έργα τέχνης του 20ου αιώνα / Raman spectroscopy of synthetic organic pigments used in 20th century works of art ".

In the new Issue of Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (May 2008), Franziska Schulte, Klaus-Werner Brzezinka, Karin Lutzenberger, Heike Stege & Ulrich Panne present a paper titled: "Raman spectroscopy of synthetic organic pigments used in 20th century works of art".

Περίληψη/Abstract: Raman microscopy allows a non-destructive characterisation of inorganic and organic painting materials such as pigments and organic dyestuffs. The objectives of this study are the more recent organic pigments typically present in paintings and other art works from the 20th century. More than 20 organic synthetic pigments from different chemical classes could be identified by Raman spectroscopy using different excitation wavelengths (457.9, 476.5, 487.9, 514.5, 632.8, and 1064 nm). To evaluate the performance for real paint samples, varying paint mixtures of the Hansa Yellow pigment PY 3 and the binding medium Mowilith, a polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) compound, were characterised; PY 3 was determined at a 1 wt% level in the binder. In addition, commercial tube paints containing the quinacridone violet PV 19 were studied. The pigment was clearly identified in all of these more complex oil and acrylic paints. Finally, alizarin (PR 83) and a green copper phthalocyanine pigment (PG 7) could unambiguously be identified by Raman microscopy in the painting Woman with mandolin in yellow and red of Max Beckmann dating 1950. The discovery of a red naphthol AS pigment by Raman spectroscopy in a sample from the Three field workers by Georg Baselitz (1964/1965) demonstrated that in some cases complementary chromatographic methods are needed for a comprehensive identification of the organic pigments.

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Ηλεκτρονικό Διαβατήριο από την Samsung / ePassport from Samsung

Σύμφωνα με τον ιστότοπο http://www.securitydocumentworld.com η Samsung σε συνεργασία με την γερμανική Bundesdruckerei παρουσίασαν ένα εύκαμπτο διαβατήριο με ηλεκτρονική LED οθόνη.
Από το securitydocumentworld.com:
Tommorow’s ID documents will work without contact and without internal batteries. The integration of a display makes electronic ID documents even more difficult to forge and opens up the way for new security applications, they claim.

Samsung SDI developed the display to be just 300µm thick. However, even with the integrated colour display, the data page of the ePassport is still only 700µm thick, the companies claim.

The display comprises an active matrix display with organic light emitting diodes (AMOLED). This means that located behind every pixel of the display is an active electronic circuit with low power consumption. AMOLED displays are said to provide excellent colour images and can be produced in much thinner formats that conventional LCDs.

The materials used for the display are heat-resistant, so that the passport card can be laminated and hence protected against manipulation.