The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Chemistry and Physics departments for the seminar "The Use of The Vitreous Humor to Determine Time Since Deaths," presented by Elizabeth Vosburgh, candidate for the master of science degree in forensic science at Buffalo State, on Thursday, November 30, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Science and Mathematics Complex 169. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome.

Determining time since death is a valued aspect of forensic science, and there are many ways to do it. One such way is by searching for certain compounds in the vitreous humor of the victim. This seminar will discuss why it’s possible to use the vitreous humor in estimating postmortem interval, what techniques can be used to do so, and the most accurate compounds. Magnesium, potassium, and tryptophan will be the compounds in question. Three case studies will be used to show how useful this particular analysis is. There was correlation in all three, though not always accurate. For magnesium, 32 bodies were studied, and a correlation coefficient of r = 0.453 was found. For potassium, the study was conducted with 200 bodies, showing very slight positive correlation with a regression coefficient of 4.34. Finally, using tryptophan from 72 bodies, a high correlation coefficient of 0.9590 was found.