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Ahmad MAB, Lee LC, Mohd Rosdi NAN, Abd Hamid NB, Ishak AA, Sino H. Comparing baseline correction algorithms in discriminating brownish soils from five proximity locations based on UPLC and PLS-DA methods. Forensic Sci Res 2023; 8:313-320. [PMID: 38405627 PMCID: PMC10894064 DOI: 10.1093/fsr/owad045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Soil is commonly collected from an outdoor crime scene, and thus it is helpful in linking a suspect and a victim to a crime scene. The chemical profiles of soils can be acquired via chemical instruments such as Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC). However, the UPLC chromatogram often interferes with an unstable baseline. In this paper, we compared the performance of five baseline correction (BC) algorithms, i.e. asymmetric least squares (AsLS), fill peak, iterative restricted least squares, median window (MW), and modified polynomial fitting, in discriminating 30 chromatograms of brownish soils by five locations of origin, i.e. PP, HK, KU, BL, and KB. The performances of the preprocessed sub-datasets were first visually inspected through the mean chromatograms and then further explored via scores plots of principal component analysis (PCA). Eventually, the predictive performances of the partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models estimated from 1 000 pairs of training and testing samples (i.e. prepared via iterative random resampling split at 75:25) were studied to identify the best BC method. Mean raw chromatograms of the 10 soil samples were different from each other, with evident fluctuated baselines. AsLS and MW corrected chromatograms demonstrated the most significant improvement compared with the raw counterpart. Meanwhile, the scores plot of PCA revealed that most of the sub-datasets produced three separate clusters. Then, the sub-datasets were modelled via the PLS-DA technique. MW emerged as the excellent BC method based on the mean prediction accuracy estimated using 1 000 pairs of training and testing samples. In conclusion, MW outperformed the other BC methods in correcting the UPLC data of soil. Key points UPLC data of soil interfere with baseline drifts.BC can improve the quality of the pixel-level UPLC data.MW emerges as the most desired algorithm in improving the quality of UPLC data of soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhamad Adib bin Ahmad
- Forensic Science Program, CODTIS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Loong Chuen Lee
- Forensic Science Program, CODTIS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
- Institute of IR 4.0, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Nur Ain Najihah Mohd Rosdi
- Forensic Science Program, CODTIS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Nadirah Binti Abd Hamid
- Forensic Science Program, CODTIS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Ab Aziz Ishak
- Forensic Science Program, CODTIS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Hukil Sino
- Forensic Science Program, CODTIS, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
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Feng Wang Y, Bing Zhao Y, Wang X, Ting Liu Z. Exploration of coarse-to-fine FTIR feature extraction for handlebar grip materials: A common path for forensic examination of microtraces. Microchem J 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2023.108399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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The cyclic nature of soil chemistry: Forensic analysis with the aid of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. TALANTA OPEN 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.talo.2022.100126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Testoni SA, Prandel LV, Melo VF, Dawson LA, da Silva Salvador FA. Conjunctive use of synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement in Fe-oxide clays for forensic applications. J Forensic Sci 2022; 67:2020-2031. [PMID: 35821593 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Soils have distinctive chemical, physical, mineralogical and biological properties, which make it possible to differentiate them in different environments and also to test for an association of a particular questioned item with a crime scene. Mineral compositions and structures in the soil clay fraction can reflect a distinct characteristic when analyzed by powerful techniques. In this way, the aim of this study was to compare the discriminative power of Fe-oxides concentrated clay samples from the same soil class with and without differences in parent material when analyzed using the Rietveld method and two sources of X-ray diffraction: conventional and high-resolution synchrotron radiations. Clay samples were Fe concentrated (kaolinite and gibbsite removal) to clarify mineralogical composition of 12 samples from three simulated crime scenes, developed under claystone and granite. By Rietveld refinement, detailed crystallographic data were obtained to discriminate samples according their provenance. By synchrotron radiation, mineral data demonstrated the power of quantitative (crystallite size and minerals contents) and qualitative (identification of majoritarian and accessory minerals) analysis by Rietveld refinement, which provides well-resolved data able to discriminate samples from different and same geology. The techniques can be applied in other criminal investigations given their potential of discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samara Alves Testoni
- Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Luis Valerio Prandel
- Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Vander Freitas Melo
- Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Lorna Anne Dawson
- Environmental and Biochemical Sciences Group, The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, UK
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Newland TG, Pitts K, Lewis SW. Multimodal spectroscopy with chemometrics for the forensic analysis of Western Australian sandy soils. Forensic Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forc.2022.100412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Lee LC, Ishak AA, Nai Eyan AA, Zakaria AF, Kharudin N, Noor NAM. Forensic profiling of non-volatile organic compounds in soil using ultra-performance liquid chromatography: a pilot study. Forensic Sci Res 2021; 7:761-773. [PMID: 36817254 PMCID: PMC9930814 DOI: 10.1080/20961790.2021.1899407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Soil is of particular interest to the forensic community because it can be used as valuable associative evidence to link a suspect to a victim or a crime scene. Liquid chromatography is a powerful analytical tool for organic compound analysis. Recently, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has proven to be an efficient method for forensic soil analysis, especially in discriminating soils from proximity locations. However, ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), which is much more sensitive than HPLC, has never been explored in this context. This study proposed a UPLC method for profiling non-volatile organic compounds in three Malaysian soils (red, brown and yellowish-brown soils). The three soils were analysed separately to assess the effects of individual chromatographic parameters: (a) elution programme (isocratic vs. two gradient programmes); (b) flow rate (0.1 vs. 0.2 mL/min); (c) extraction solvent (acetonitrile vs. methanol) and (d) detection wavelength (230 vs. 254 nm). The injection volume and total run time were set to 5 µL and 35 min, respectively. Consequently, each soil sample gave 24 different chromatograms. Results showed that the most desirable chromatographic parameters were (a) isocratic elution; (b) flow rate at 0.2 mL/min and (c) acetonitrile extraction solvent. The proposed UPLC system is expected to be a feasible method for profiling non-volatile organic compounds in soil, and is more chemical-efficient than a comparable HPLC system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loong Chuen Lee
- Program of Forensic Sciences, Centre for Diagnostic, Therapeutic & Investigative Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia,Institute of IR 4.0, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia,CONTACT Loong Chuen
| | - Ab Aziz Ishak
- Program of Forensic Sciences, Centre for Diagnostic, Therapeutic & Investigative Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
| | - Ameeta A/P Nai Eyan
- Program of Forensic Sciences, Centre for Diagnostic, Therapeutic & Investigative Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
| | - Anas Fahmi Zakaria
- Program of Forensic Sciences, Centre for Diagnostic, Therapeutic & Investigative Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
| | - Nurul Syahiera Kharudin
- Program of Forensic Sciences, Centre for Diagnostic, Therapeutic & Investigative Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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Melo VF, Testoni SA, Dawson L, de Lara AG, da Silva Salvador FA. Can analysis of a small clod of soil help to solve a murder case? Sci Justice 2019; 59:667-677. [PMID: 31606105 DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2019.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Soil forensics utilizes extensive soil information to answer legal questions and test hypotheses. The main difficulty often is the determination of different variables from a small amount of soil sample collected on the suspect. We developed a sequential mineralogical and chemical analyses to assess a limited quantity of soil vestiges (0.5 g) from a suspect's vehicle (adhered to the outside rear-view mirror and to the left front fender) involved in a murder case and compared them with the surface samples found at the victim's body disposal site at the Graciosa Road, Paraná State, Brazil. All results affirm that the suspect's vehicle could have been in contact with the edge of the Graciosa Road, approximately the place where the victim's body was located. As a result of the soil analysis and comparison, the results support the likely contact of the suspect's vehicle with the crime scene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vander Freitas Melo
- Soil Science Department, Federal University of Paraná, Funcionários St. 1540, 80035-050 Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
| | - Samara Alves Testoni
- Soil Science Department, Federal University of Paraná, Funcionários St. 1540, 80035-050 Curitiba, PR, Brazil
| | - Lorna Dawson
- The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler Aberdeen AB15 8QH, United Kingdom
| | - Alexandre Guilherme de Lara
- Technical and Scientific Sector, Federal Police Department, Professora Sandalia Monzon St. 210, 82640-040 Curitiba, PR, Brazil
| | - Fábio Augusto da Silva Salvador
- Technical and Scientific Sector, Federal Police Department, Professora Sandalia Monzon St. 210, 82640-040 Curitiba, PR, Brazil
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