TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimation of the late postmortem interval using FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics in human skeletal remains
AU - Wang, Qi
AU - Zhang, Yinming
AU - Lin, Hancheng
AU - Zha, Shuai
AU - Fang, Ruoxi
AU - Wei, Xin
AU - Fan, Shuanliang
AU - Wang, Zhenyuan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Due to a lack of reliable and accurate methods, determining the postmortem interval (PMI) of human skeletal remains is one of the most important and challenging tasks in forensic medicine. In this paper, we studied the changes to bone chemistry with increasing PMI in two different experimental conditions using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in conjunction with chemometrics methods Paired bone samples collected from 56 human corpses were buried (placed in soil) and unburied (exposed to the air) for intervals between 76 and 552 days. The results of principle component analysis (PCA) showed the chemical differences of these two cases had a significant influence on the rate of decomposition of the remains. Meanwhile, satisfactory predictions were performed by the genetic algorithm combined with partial least-squares (GA-PLS) with the root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of 50.93 days for buried bones and 71.03 days for unburied bones. Moreover, the amide I region of proteins and the area around 1390 cm−1, which is associated with fatty acids, were identified with regular changes by GA-PLS and played an important role in estimating PMI. This study illustrates the feasibility of utilizing FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics as an attractive alternative for estimating PMI of human remains and the great potential of these techniques in real forensic cases with natural conditions.
AB - Due to a lack of reliable and accurate methods, determining the postmortem interval (PMI) of human skeletal remains is one of the most important and challenging tasks in forensic medicine. In this paper, we studied the changes to bone chemistry with increasing PMI in two different experimental conditions using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in conjunction with chemometrics methods Paired bone samples collected from 56 human corpses were buried (placed in soil) and unburied (exposed to the air) for intervals between 76 and 552 days. The results of principle component analysis (PCA) showed the chemical differences of these two cases had a significant influence on the rate of decomposition of the remains. Meanwhile, satisfactory predictions were performed by the genetic algorithm combined with partial least-squares (GA-PLS) with the root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of 50.93 days for buried bones and 71.03 days for unburied bones. Moreover, the amide I region of proteins and the area around 1390 cm−1, which is associated with fatty acids, were identified with regular changes by GA-PLS and played an important role in estimating PMI. This study illustrates the feasibility of utilizing FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics as an attractive alternative for estimating PMI of human remains and the great potential of these techniques in real forensic cases with natural conditions.
KW - Bones
KW - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
KW - Genetic algorithm
KW - Late postmortem interval
KW - Partial least-squares
KW - Principle component analysis
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85033580894
U2 - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.10.033
DO - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.10.033
M3 - 文章
C2 - 29127892
AN - SCOPUS:85033580894
SN - 0379-0738
VL - 281
SP - 113
EP - 120
JO - Forensic Science International
JF - Forensic Science International
ER -
