Casey Anthony Trial: Forensic Evidence Questioned for Validity

Casey Anthony's defense lawyers are questioning the validity of the forensic evidence that suggests Anthony killed her two-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Prosecutors attempted to prove that Anthony hid her daughter’s body body in her car’s trunk based on decomposition odor analysis, the study of chemicals released when a body decomposes. Dr. Arpad Vass, a scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, testified early in the trial that the presence of certain chemicals proves that there was a decomposing body in the trunk of the car.

Some experts questioned the validity of Dr. Arpad’s methods and whether this can be of valuable use in court. Dr. Kenneth Furton, studying the chemistry of human decomposition, directly contested Vass's techniques. Furton said, "It's my expert opinion that there's currently no instrumental method that has been scientifically validated to the level that it could be used to identify the presence or absence of human decomposition."

Source: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/27/casey-anthony-trial-forensic-evidence-comes-under-fire/?xid=rss-topstories

HIV Testing Day

HIV tests are used to detect the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), in serum, saliva, or urine. Such tests may detect antibodies, antigens, or RNA.

Monday is National HIV Testing Day and the Illinois Department of Public Health is sponsoring numerous events around the state to help people get tested for the virus that causes AIDS. The said state is the seventh-highest number of AIDS cases in the nation, with more than 41,000 reported cases since 1981.

This event encourages people to be tested for HIV because many people infected with the virus don't know they have it. Testing and counseling are some of the activities to be held around the state.

HIV can be acquired in many ways.  It can be transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk but not through saliva, tears, sweat, feces, urine, hugging, kissing, massage, shaking hands, insect bites, living in the same house with someone who has HIV or sharing showers or toilets with them.

Source: http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/hiv?page=basics-00-05

http://www.ksdk.com/rss/article/264720/3/National-HIV-Testing-Day