ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1486-1894
Current Organisation
Centre of Forensic Sciences
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHROMA.2012.06.070
Abstract: Alkyl phosphate based gellants used as viscosity builders for fracturing fluids used in the process of hydraulic fracturing have been implicated in numerous refinery-fouling incidents in North America. In response, industry developed an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) based method for the analysis of total volatile phosphorus in distillate fractions of crude oil however, this method is plagued by poor precision and a high limit of detection (0.5±1μg phosphorus mL(-1)). Furthermore this method cannot provide speciation information, which is critical for developing an understanding of the challenge of alkyl phosphates at a molecular level. An approach using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with nitrogen phosphorus detection (GC×GC-NPD) and post-column Deans switching is presented. This method provides qualitative and quantitative profiles of alkyl phosphates in industrial petroleum s les with increased precision and at levels comparable to or below those achievable by ICP-OES. A recovery study in a fracturing fluid s le and a profiling study of alkyl phosphates in four recovered fracturing fluid/crude oil mixtures (flowback) are also presented.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 27-02-2018
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-09-2018
DOI: 10.3390/SEPARATIONS5030046
Abstract: In cases of suspected arson, a body may be intentionally burnt to cause loss of life, dispose of remains, or conceal identification. A primary focus of a fire investigation, particularly involving human remains, is to establish the cause of the fire this often includes the forensic analysis of fire debris for the detection of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs). Commercial containers for the collection of fire debris evidence include metal cans, glass jars, and polymer/nylon bags of limited size. This presents a complication in cases where the fire debris consists of an intact, or partially intact, human cadaver. This study proposed the use of a body bag as an alternative s ling container. A method was developed and tested for the collection and analysis of ILRs from burnt porcine remains contained within a body bag using dynamic headspace s ling (using an Easy-VOC™ hand-held manually operated grab-s ler and stainless steel sorbent tubes containing Tenax TA) followed by thermal desorption comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC×GC-TOFMS). The results demonstrated that a body bag containing remains burnt with gasoline tested positive for the presence of gasoline, while blank body bag controls and a body bag containing remains burnt without gasoline tested negative. The proposed method permits the collection of headspace s les from burnt remains before the remains are removed from the crime scene, limiting the potential for contamination and the loss of volatiles during transit and storage.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-07-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S00216-016-9748-9
Abstract: Cadaver-detection dogs are a preferred search tool utilised by law enforcement agencies for the purposes of locating victim remains due to their efficiency and minimal disturbance to the crime scene. In Australia, a specific group of these canines are blood-detection dogs, which are trained to detect and locate blood evidence and search potential crime scenes in cases where a cadaver may not be present. Their role sometimes requires searches to be carried out after considerable time has passed since the crime occurred, and this is important for developing effective training protocols. This study aimed to investigate the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced from fresh and aged human blood on various surfaces. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) was used to extract VOCs from the headspace of dried blood s les aged and s led periodically over 12 months from a non-porous (i.e. aluminium) and porous (i.e. cotton) surface. S les were analysed using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS). Fresh blood produced distinctively different VOC patterns compared to blood aged longer than 1 week with the overall profile differing between the two surface types, and a large subset of the VOC profile found to be responsible for these differences. When analysing the various functional groups present in the s les, a common pattern between ages and surface types was observed with no specific chemical class dominating the overall profile. The results highlight the importance of evaluating training aids for scent-detection canines to ensure the greatest efficacy during training and subsequently at crime scene searches.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCIJUS.2017.11.006
Abstract: At outdoor crime scenes, cadaver-detection and blood-detection dogs may be tasked with locating blood that is days, weeks or months old. Although it is known that the odour profile of blood will change during this time, it is currently unknown how the profile changes when exposed to the environment. Such variables must be studied in order to understand when the odour profile is no longer detectable by the scent-detection dogs and other crime scene tools should be implemented. In this study, blood was deposited onto concrete and varnished wood surfaces and weathered in an outdoor environment over a three-month period. Headspace s les were collected using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and analysed using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS). The chemical odour profiles were compared with the behavioural responses of cadaver-detection and blood-detection dogs during training. Data interpretation using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) established that the blood odour could no longer be detected using SPME-GC×GC-TOFMS after two months of weathering on both surfaces. Conversely, the blood-detection dogs had difficulty locating the blood s les after one month of weathering on concrete and after one week of weathering on varnished wood. The scent-detection dogs evaluated herein had not been previously exposed to environmentally weathered blood s les during training. Given that this study was conducted to test the dogs' baseline abilities, it is expected that with repeated exposure, the dogs' capabilities would likely improve. The knowledge gained from this study can assist in providing law enforcement with more accurate training aids for blood-detection dogs and can improve their efficiency when deployed to outdoor crime scenes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHROMA.2012.01.078
Abstract: Petroleum analysis presents many unique challenges as a result of the overwhelming number of compounds present in petroleum s les. Consequently the use of multidimensional separation techniques will almost invariably be required in order to overcome these challenges. Within this paper we review recent developments in the application of comprehensive multidimensional techniques for petroleum analysis focusing on more recent applications. Basic instrumentation for various comprehensive multidimensional techniques is outlined along with an overview of a broad range of applications in both group-type and target molecule analyses for petroleum and biofuel analysis. In addition, strategies for data interpretation and chemometric analysis of multidimensional data are also reviewed.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-09-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.FORSCIINT.2015.12.038
Abstract: Human remains detection (HRD) dogs are recognised as a valuable and non-invasive search method for remains concealed in many different environments, including clandestine graves. However, the search for buried remains can be a challenging task as minimal odour may be available at the grave surface for detection by the dogs. Handlers often use a soil probe during these searches in an attempt to increase the amount of odour available for detection, but soil probing is considered an invasive search technique. The aim of this study was to determine whether the soil probe assists with increasing the abundance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) available at the grave surface. A proof-of-concept method was developed using porcine remains to collect VOCs within the grave without disturbing the burial environment, and to compare their abundance at the grave surface before and after probing. Detection and identification of the VOC profiles required the use of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) due to its superior sensitivity and selectivity for decomposition odour profiling. The abundance of decomposition VOCs was consistently higher within the grave environment compared to the grave surface, except when the grave surface had been disturbed, confirming the reduced availability of odour at the grave surface. Although probing appeared to increase the abundance of VOCs at the grave surface on many of the s ling days, there were no clear trends identified across the study and no direct relationships with the environmental variables measured. Typically, the decomposition VOCs that were most prevalent in the grave soil were the same VOCs detected at the grave surface, whereas the trace VOCs detected in these environments varied throughout the post-burial period. This study highlighted that probing the soil can assist with releasing decomposition VOCs but is likely correlated to environmental and burial variables which require further study. The use of a soil probe to assist HRD dogs should not be disregarded but should only follow the use of non-invasive methods if deemed appropriate.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 05-12-2013
DOI: 10.1021/EF4019756
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.FORSCIINT.2015.05.029
Abstract: Textiles are a commonly encountered source of evidence in forensic cases. In the past, most research has been focused on how textiles affect the decomposition process while little attention has been paid to how the decomposition products interact with the textiles. While some studies have shown that the presence of remains will have an effect on the degradation of clothing associated with a decaying body, very little work has been carried out on the specific mechanisms that prevent or delay textile degradation when in contact with decomposing remains. In order to investigate the effect of decomposition fluid on textile degradation, three clothed domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) carcasses were placed on a soil surface, textile specimens were collected over a period of a year and were then analysed using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and GC-MS. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to analyse the data. Cotton specimens not associated with remains degraded markedly, whereas the s les exposed to decomposition fluids remained relatively intact over the same time frame. An investigation of the decomposition by-products found that the protein-related bands remained stable and unchanged throughout the experiment. Lipid components, on the other hand, demonstrated a significant change this was confirmed with the use of both ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and GC-MS. Through an advanced statistical approach, information about the decomposition by-products and their characteristics was obtained. There is potential that the lipid profile in a textile specimen could be a valuable tool used in the examination of clothing located at a crime scene.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-11-2014
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 02-02-2011
DOI: 10.1021/IE101734H
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHROMA.2012.02.044
Abstract: Quantification of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic (GC×GC) data in a commercial software package is examined. ChromaTOF(®) (Leco Instruments) includes a smoothing step prior to data integration. Improper choice of integration parameters can introduce errors in excess of ±10% and as high as 60% in the total peak area. Herein we demonstrate the critical nature of the smoothing parameters in this software, particularly the expected peak width in the second dimension ((2)w) which should be verified as part of a QA/QC protocol.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-06-2015
No related grants have been discovered for Katie Nizio.