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Max M Houck

Publications and source records attributed to Max M Houck.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Enhancing security of fingerprints through contextual biometric watermarking.

This paper presents a novel digital watermarking technique using face and demographic text data as multiple watermarks for verifying the chain of custody and protecting the integrity of a fingerprint image. The watermarks are embedded in selected texture regions of a fingerprint image using discrete wavelet transform. Experimental results show that modifications in these locations are visually imperceptible and maintain the minutiae details. The integrity of the fingerprint image is verified through the high matching scores obtained from an automatic fingerprint identification system. There is also a high degree of visual correlation between the embedded images, and the extracted images from the watermarked fingerprint. The degree of similarity is computed using pixel-based metrics and human visual system metrics. The results also show that the proposed watermarked fingerprint and the extracted images are resilient to common attacks such as compression, filtering, and noise.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

CSI: reality.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Crime↗
PubMed2003

Inter-comparison of unrelated fiber evidence.

The foreign textile fibers recovered from one item of evidence from each of 20 unrelated crimes in three categories (bank robbery, kidnapping, and homicide) were cross-compared. The items of evidence were scraped to remove the trace evidence and a sample of the collected fibers was examined using a standard scheme of analysis. The fibers were examined with light microscopy (including polarized light microscopy), fluorescence microscopy, and microspectrophotometry. The fibers were divided into natural and manufactured groups and then categorized by color and generic (polymer) class. Cross-comparing all 2083 fibers resulted in 2,168,403 comparisons, after removing duplicate (same fiber) comparisons. Colorless and denim fibers were excluded from this study. No two fibers were found to exhibit the same microscopic characteristics and analytical properties. Therefore, it is rare to find two unrelated items that have foreign fibers that are analytically indistinguishable. These results corroborate other population studies conducted in Europe and target fiber studies conducted both in the US and in Europe.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Correlation of microscopic and mitochondrial DNA hair comparisons.

Expert opinions regarding the microscopic comparison of human hairs have been accepted routinely in courts for decades. However, with the advent of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing, an assessment can be made of the association by microscopic hair comparisons in casework between a questioned hair and reference hairs from an individual. While each method can be used separately, the two analytical methods can be complementary and together can provide additional information regarding source association. Human hairs submitted to the FBI Laboratory for analysis between 1996 and 2000 were reviewed. Of 170 hair examinations, there were 80 microscopic associations; of these, only nine were excluded by mtDNA. Importantly, 66 hairs that were considered either unsuitable for microscopic examinations or yielded inconclusive microscopic associations provided mtDNA results. Only six hairs did not provide sufficient mtDNA, and only three yielded inconclusive results. Consistency was observed in exculpatory results with the two procedures. This study demonstrates the utility of microscopic hair examinations and the strength of combining microscopic analysis with mtDNA sequencing.

DNA Fingerprinting↗