Forensic science international
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In a number of recent cases in the UK, convictions have been quashed by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the jury had been misdirected as to the factual significance of random occurrence statistics. The mathematical basis on which those statistics are calculated was reviewed and recent appeal cases involving DNA evidence in the UK and the US were examined. It was found that a widespread misconception exists regarding the random occurrence ratio and its relationship with probability of guilt. It is in fact impossible to relate the two with any degree of accuracy without consideration of social and demographic factors particular to a case as well as any non-DNA evidence obtained.
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The population of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles (133,000) shows a very high prevalence of end-stage renal disease (approximately 1 per 1,000). These patients are often treated chronically with haemodialysis. As the drinking water on the island is prepared by distillation of sea water, the haemodialysis fluid used to be prepared with tap water without further treatment. ⋯ Investigations of the tap water supply revealed that a few weeks before the onset of the symptoms, a water conduit pipe to the dialysis unit had been replaced, which was lined with Al- and Ca-rich cement mortar. These ions leached into the distilled water and caused both Ca- and Al-intoxication through uptake from the dialysate into the patients' circulation. The symptoms of the latter were initially not recognized as they were masked by the symptoms of hypercalcaemia.