Application of atomic force microscopy in the analysis of time since deposition (TSD) of red blood cells in bloodstains: A forensic analysis

Cavalcanti, Desirée Rosa; Silva, Luciano

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.05.048

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The difference in the peaks of interest could be attributed to the rehydration of bloodstains, which has demonstrated a reversible effect on the conformational changes between metHb and HC [5,9,29]. The difference could also be attributed to the substrate used for bloodstains, confirming the hypothesis of Cavalcanti et al [30], who previously suggested that substrates have a significant effect in the accurate determination of TSD [30]. Our findings are also supported by Sun et al [18] who used chemometric models to determine the TSD of human bloodstains on glass slides.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Monitoring the solid-state VIS profiles of degrading bloodstains

Rampete

Elliott

Stotesbury

2022

Preprint

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Determining the time since deposition (TSD) of bloodstained evidence can be an important process in forensic investigations. Hemoglobin is often targeted as a biomolecule of interest for these purposes due to the known ex vivo oxidative changes to its structure. These time-dependent oxidative processes have previously been probed using UV-VIS spectroscopy following the resuspension of bloodstains. Our study investigated the solid-state VIS spectra of degrading bloodstains without sample pre-treatment, effectively bypassing the need for resuspension. A total of 128 bloodstains from eight biological replicates were created and stored on glass slides in four temperature conditions: -20°C, 4°C, 22°C, and 45°C. Spectra were acquired from 380 -800 nm at five time points spanning 96 hours. The peak area of the methemoglobin (metHb) band displayed the largest time and temperature differences, an interesting contrast to previous literature using the Soret band for TSD. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated that storage temperature delineated the data, with the metHb band showing the greatest contributions to PC1. Linear mixed models from the PCA data with time showed clear TSD relationships with temperature, and with minimal inter-donor variability. Overall, this work complements the UV-VIS analysis of bloodstains for TSD estimation, with the importance of nothing clear differences between phases and sample preparation methods.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Monitoring the solid-state VIS profiles of degrading bloodstains

Rampete

Elliott

Stotesbury

2022

Preprint

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“…This has necessitated studies using force spectroscopy (FS) to estimate the age bloodstain at a crime scene, from the time of deposition in order to estimate the time of occurrence of the incident (Smijs et al, 2016). Likewise, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used in estimating the time since death (TSD) of red blood cells in bloodstains (Cavalcanti and Silva, 2019). Questioned documents: The sophistication of crime does not exclude the forgery of documents for criminal purposes.…”

Section: Nanotechnology In Forensic Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on the role of emerging revolutionary nanotechnology in forensic investigations

Tambo

Ablateye

2020

JANS

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Due to the unique properties of nanoparticles, it has gained prominence in lots of fields with extensive research being carried around it. With lots of novel applications arising from this field, Forensic science seems to be one of the fast-growing fields in nano research applications. The growing and extensive use of nanotechnology being applied in forensic investigations is promising and could soon be the tipping point in the discipline. Applications mainly have been related to evidence identification and analysis in the broad major fields in Forensic Science such as single-crystalline semiconductor CdS nano slabs for explosives detection, functionalized TiO2 nanorods for organophosphorus chemical warfare agents in Forensic Chemistry, the use of Nanopowders for latent print visualization in Forensic physics and Gold nanoparticle protein nanopore for detection of single-stranded DNA in Forensic biology. Nanotechnology has also been employed in illegal drug detection in recent times. These and other applications of Nanotechnology provides prompt and precise results with reduced methods due to the limited instruments used for analyzing evidence as well as providing sensitive and selective ways of detecting evidence. As evidence is notable in forensic investigations, nanotechnology’s use in identifying and detecting these has potential in enhancing and providing efficient and rapid means for investigations and unravelling leads into crimes. This review emphasizes some disciplines in forensic sciences in which nanotechnology is having an impact, novel methods and newly developed instruments and also takes into account its challenges as well as perspectives into the future.

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“…Photography 13,14,44 and hyperspectral imaging [45][46][47] have measured the colour changes in blood while electron spin resonance and electrochemistry analyzed the conformational changes of the heme groups [48][49][50] . Atomic force microscopy has investigated the changes in RBC physiology over time [51][52][53] while mass-spectrometry 54,55 , chromatography [56][57][58][59][60] and fluorescence spectroscopy [61][62][63] have measured changes in metabolites and protein composition of deposited bloodstains. DNA 38,39,[64][65][66][67] , total RNA, mRNA and miRNA [10][11][12][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80] degradation have also been targeted in longer time series.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A variety of environmental conditions have been studied in bloodstain TSD research; this includes exposure to outdoor environments 12,30,71,72,82 , varying temperatures (-20 to 61 °C) and a wide range of humidity values (10 to 99% RH) 9,39,[71][72][73]79 . Statistical analyses also differ between studies; regressions are common, but the type of fit varies (linear 78 , polynomial 51 , logarithmic 28 , exponential 88 , multivariate 39 ) depending upon the observed time-series trends. A number of studies used dimensionality-reduction tools for their analyses 24,36 while others incorporated cross-validation to obtain prediction accuracies 33,45 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The crux of time: A meta-analysis of ex vivo whole blood degradation

Elliott

Shafer

Stotesbury

2022

Preprint

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Estimating the time since deposition (TSD) of a bloodstain can provide important medico-legal information for crime scene investigation. Research in this area primarily investigates the degradation of either hemoglobin or genetic material over time. In this work, we present a comprehensive meta-analysis on bloodstain TSD research. Our results are interpreted from 25 quantitative studies used to probe the effect of biomolecule studied, analytical technique used, substrate porosity, environmental conditions, and blood source on TSD estimates. There was an overall strong effect of time across studies (Fisher’s Zr = 1.66, r = 0.93), and generally, we found that the type of biomolecule studied (e.g., hemoglobin, DNA) had equal effect sizes for TSD estimation. Differences in the mean TSD effect size were also observed between substrate porosity. Interestingly, the blood source does not significantly influence the magnitude of the effect sizes in TSD estimation. Despite the clear effect of time, forensically relevant prediction of bloodstain TSD remains complicated by inter-donor variability, type of substrate and environmental conditions. We recommend that future bloodstain TSD research increase sample size, include summary statistics and standardize experimental methodologies so that we can develop a quantitative understanding of the physicochemical processes involved in whole blood degradation in ex vivo conditions.

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Application of atomic force microscopy in the analysis of time since deposition (TSD) of red blood cells in bloodstains: A forensic analysis

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Monitoring the solid-state VIS profiles of degrading bloodstains

Monitoring the solid-state VIS profiles of degrading bloodstains

A review on the role of emerging revolutionary nanotechnology in forensic investigations

The crux of time: A meta-analysis of ex vivo whole blood degradation

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