Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dna Recovery From Handwritten Documents Using A Novel Vacuum Technique, Patrick M. Mclaughlin

Student Theses

Investigations of many crimes such as robberies, kidnappings, and terrorism are often associated with the recovery of a paper document which has been written by the perpetrator. Paper can provide a variety of forensic evidence such as DNA, latent fingermarks, and indented writing. The focus of this study was the collection of probative DNA profiles from the text region of a handwritten note through a vacuum suction device without altering or destroying the document. Collection of DNA evidence was carried out in two separate groups. The first group involved 11 volunteers providing a handwritten note sample with unwashed hands. The …

An Exploration Of Protein And Dna Components In Fingerprint Residue, Ashley Borrego

Student Theses

The main focus of this project was to investigate the protein and DNA components in both sebaceous and eccrine fingerprints. This study investigated the relative content of DNA and proteins in eccrine fingerprints to sebaceous fingerprints. All volunteers were instructed to wash and dry their hands prior to depositing parallel thumbprints. Twenty volunteers were instructed to touch their face to produce sebaceous prints, and 5 volunteers were instructed to wear gloves over a heat source to produce sweaty or eccrine prints. Microscopy was used to score the cellular debris of the right fingerprint on a scale of 1-4 based on …

Development Of A Screening Method For Drugs Of Abuse By Direct Analysis Of Dried Urine Spots Coupled To Mass Spectrometry, Melanie Goldstein

Student Theses

Fast and easy screening procedures are essential in any forensic toxicology laboratory to differentiate negative samples from presumptive positive cases. Immunoassay techniques, such as enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT), are routinely employed as screening procedures. However, these techniques lack specificity (only differentiate group of drugs and not individual compounds) and it is difficult to add new compounds to the panel. Direct analysis of dried urine spots (DUS) by mass spectrometry (MS) offers a novel strategy to overcome these issues. DUS offer an improved storage alternative for biological samples, reducing costs and space requirements. In this work, an original method to …

The Forensic Analysis Of Children's Temporary Tattoos, Erika Bravo

Student Theses

While children’s temporary tattoos have been produced since the 20th century, there are few scientific studies that have evaluated their physical and chemical characteristics. Therefore, this thesis is a preliminary study done to evaluate the composition of children’s temporary tattoos and consider the importance of such traces in a forensic content.

Colored regions in children’s temporary tattoos, such as red, pink, yellow and orange, were found to fluoresce with the use of an alternative light source while the use of microscopy led to the identification of different printing patterns between temporary tattoos. However, limitations in the ability to determine the …

The Forensic Analysis Of Adult Temporary Tattoos, Paige Cooper

Student Theses

Adult temporary tattoos have become more popular, yet there is very little research on them, especially regarding their use in forensics. This poses a problem because forensic investigators may not be able to distinguish a temporary tattoo from a real tattoo, possibly hindering their investigation. In this study, various types of adult temporary tattoos were examined and analyzed in attempts to identify and distinguish them, both from each other and from permanent tattoos. Infrared spectroscopy, specifically attenuated total reflection (ATR), proved to be more useful than ultra-violet visible light spectroscopy in terms of analyzing the samples. The natural adult temporary …

Determination Of Anxiolytic And Antidepressant Medicines In New York City Wastewater Samples, Jasmine J. Gayle

Student Theses

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) provides information about a population’s exposure to certain chemical agents, such as drugs of abuse and medicines, by the analysis of human biomarkers, also known as excretion products, in wastewater samples. Although this is a growing field worldwide, mainly in Europe, Oceania, and Asia, limited data from the US are currently available. We developed and validated an analytical method to quantitatively and qualitatively determine the presence of commonly prescribed drugs to treat anxiety (alprazolam, buspirone, clonazepam, lorazepam, and propranolol) and depression (bupropion, citalopram, clomipramine, duloxetine, fluoxetine, imipramine, paroxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine) in wastewater using liquid chromatography tandem …

The Forensic Analysis Of Skin-Safe Stamp Pad Inks, Swetha Rajagopal

Student Theses

Skin-safe stamp pad inks are currently being used at locations such as clubs, zoos and other events with the purpose of stamping individuals that visit the location. This is done in an attempt to monitor the number and activity of visitors. Ink manufacturing companies generally tend to experiment with a number of different combinations of the different components of ink, in order to obtain desirable properties. The combinations are usually proprietary and that very nature of the inks ends up making them, possibly unique and individual. The analysis, identification and possible individualization of the chemical composition of these inks could …