Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

There Must Be Something In The Water: A Comparative Study Of Ground Water Contamination In The U.S.A. And Canada, Kathleen Spooner

Honors Theses

The regions of Nova Scotia and New Hampshire are naturally susceptible to arsenic water contamination due to their geological makeup. These locations are relatively rural, with many of their citizens reporting low incomes and lacking education, the majority of which are unaware of the risk of arsenic poisoning. There is also a high dependency on private wells which are not regulated in terms of water quality under federal law in both countries. Arsenic water pollution is undetectable as it is both odorless and tasteless and potentially very dangerous, and therefore water testing must be performed on wells, which is currently …

Photofading Of Black Dyes In Cotton And Polyester Fibers Resulting From Environmental Exposure To Sunlight, Maggie E. Mahaney

Honors Theses

Color is one of the most important properties analyzed during forensic fiber examinations due to its discriminatory power. Differing colors in fibers are usually sufficient grounds for exclusion, but in cases where a lengthy period has passed between crime commission and evidence recovery, the high probability of environmental degradation having altered the questioned fibers’ properties could lead to false exclusions. Photofading, the loss of color resulting from exposure to light, is a common form of degradation observed in fibers. Although well-known in the dyeing industry, it is not typically factored into forensic fiber examinations. Published photofading research has been limited …

Investigation Of The History Of Fingerprinting, Advancements In The Field, And Development Of Potential Methods That Could Improve The Detection Of Endogenous And Exogenous Drugs In Latent Prints, Kristen Malloy

Honors Theses

When someone thinks of fingerprinting, they are most likely going to picture how a latent print is matched to the fingerprint of a suspect based on ridge pattern analysis. However, there is much more information that can be obtained from a latent print. The work performed in this thesis focuses the detection of exogenous and endogenous drugs in latent prints. The experiments performed analyzed fingerprints from volunteers that were contaminated with one of three common painkillers: acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), and ibuprofen. Three different instruments were tested for this purpose: MALDI-MS, ATR-FTIR, and LC-MS. Based on the results gathered, it …

Small Island Taphonomy In Western Australia, Courtney J. Newberry

Honors Theses

Forensic death investigations rely on postmortem interval estimations to establish a timeline surrounding a decedent’s death. Several methods are used, often together, to make such estimations. One of the main methods is the evaluation of the stage of decomposition; although decomposition follows the same general steps, the length of the process can vary by location and environmental factors. Animal scavenging can also impact decomposition by consuming flesh and impacting insect activity on the remains.

This study investigates the scavenging guilds and rate of decomposition of pig (Sus scrofa) legs on Rottnest Island, Australia. Three sites with unique environments were selected …

Estimating Value-At-Risk Of An Unconventional Portfolio, Elizabeth N. Mejía-Ricart

Honors Theses

Since the 2008 financial crisis, interest rates and bond yields have been low all through the recovery and expansion that followed, and they are still low. As a result, more investors have been attracted to US equities, a space of possibly higher returns. However, these returns come with a potential downside: risk of loss. One of the methods to assess this potential downside is value-at-risk (VaR), which gained momentum in the late 1990s. At the time, the market risk amendment to the 1988 Basle Capital Accord required commercial banks with significant trading activities to put aside capital to cover market …

Internal Migration Of Foreign-Born In Us: Impacts Of Population Concentration And Risk Aversion, Thin Yee Mon Su

Honors Theses

Internal migration in the US has been declining since the 1990s and research has mostly focused on labor market dynamics and aging population to explain the migration trends. This paper analyzes migration patterns of foreign-born groups in the US from 2000 to 2019. Along with the migration determinants such as education and employment, the paper focuses on population concentration as a factor that shapes foreign-born decisions to relocate in the US. Population concertation is defined to be a measure of how geographically concentrated each foreign-born group is across the US. I find that the likelihood of migrating to another state …