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18
Materials Proling
18.1 CRIMINALISTICS COMPARISONS
In conventional forensic science for criminalistics applications, the assessment of
l
atent
h
uman
(
dermatoglyphic)
ngermarks
a
nd
p
alm
p
rints
i
s
a l
ong-standing
a
nd
v
aluable
i
nvestigative
t
echnique
[
1].
I
t
i
s
f
undamentally
a
n
e
xercise
i
n
p
attern
r
ec-
ognition,
w
here
t
he
p
rint/mark
r
idge
c
haracteristics
o
f
a qu
estioned
s
pecimen
a
re
c
ompared
t
o
t
hose
o
f
o
ne
o
r
mo
re
s
uspects
o
r
t
o
t
hose
o
f
a l
arger
s
ubject
p
opulation
within a searchable database. A computer is often used to narrow the number of
c
omparison
p
ossibilities,
b
ut
t
he
u
ltimate
d
etermination
o
f
m
atch
qu
ality
i
s
m
ade
b
y
a p
rofessiona ...