Automatic forensic analysis of automotive paints using optical microscopy.

The timely identification of vehicles involved in an accident, such as a hit-and-run situation, bears great importance in forensics. To this end, procedures have been defined for analyzing car paint samples that combine techniques such as visual analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This work proposes a new methodology in order to automate the visual analysis using image retrieval. Specifically, color and texture information is extracted from a microscopic image of a recovered paint sample, and this information is then compared with the same features for a database of paint types, resulting in a shortlist of candidate paints. In order to demonstrate the operation of the methodology, a test database has been set up and two retrieval experiments have been performed. The first experiment quantifies the performance of the procedure for retrieving exact matches, while the second experiment emulates the real-life situation of paint samples that experience changes in color and texture over time.

Nylon flocked swab severely reduces Hexagon Obti sensibility.

Hexagon Obti immunological blood test and flocked swab are widely used in forensic laboratories. Nevertheless, up to now, no compatibility tests have been published between sampling with the ethylene oxide treated flocked swab and the Hexagon Obti blood detection strip. In this study, we investigated this compatibility. Our work shows that sampling with ethylene oxide treated flocked swab reduces by a factor of at least 100 the detection threshold of blood using the Hexagon Obti immunological test.

Induction of strong HIV-1-specific CD4+ T-cell responses using an HIV-1 gp120/NefTat vaccine adjuvanted with AS02A in antiretroviral-treated HIV-1-infected individuals.

BACKGROUND: Induction of HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses by therapeutic vaccination represents an attractive intervention to potentially increase immune control of HIV-1. METHODS: We performed a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to determine the safety and immunogenicity of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals' HIV-1 gp120/NefTat subunit protein vaccine formulated with the AS02(A) Adjuvant System in subjects with well-controlled chronic HIV-1 infection on highly active antiretroviral therapy. Ten individuals received the vaccine; whereas adjuvant alone or placebo was given to 5 subjects each. Immunogenicity was monitored by intracellular cytokine flow cytometry and carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester-based proliferation assays. RESULTS: The vaccine was well tolerated with no related serious adverse events. Vaccine recipients had significantly stronger gp120-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses which persisted until week 48 and greater gp120-specific CD4(+) T-cell proliferation activity as compared with controls. In the vaccine group, the number of participants who demonstrated positive responses for both gp120-specific CD4(+) T-cell interleukin-2 production and gp120-specific CD8(+) T-cell proliferation were significantly higher at week 6. CONCLUSIONS: The gp120/NefTat/AS02(A) vaccine induced strong gp120-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses and a higher number of vaccinees developed both HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses and CD8(+) T-cell proliferation. The induction of these responses may be important in enhancing immune-mediated viral control.