Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

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SEM-EDX Analysis of Gunshot Residue on Pig Cranial Bone Following Decomposition and Maceration

Description
Distinguishing between projectile and blunt force or sharp force trauma can be complicated by processes that result in fragmentation or loss of skeletal features. Postmortem processes that obscure skeletal features may result in the inability to properly determine the mechanism of trauma using morphology alone. The presence of gunshot residue…

Distinguishing between projectile and blunt force or sharp force trauma can be complicated by processes that result in fragmentation or loss of skeletal features. Postmortem processes that obscure skeletal features may result in the inability to properly determine the mechanism of trauma using morphology alone. The presence of gunshot residue (GSR) is indicative of a gunshot event and can be used to differentiate between etiologies of skeletal trauma. Primer GSR is composed of barium (Ba), antimony (Sb), and lead (Pb), which are vaporized during the firearm discharge and can be deposited in small quantities on surfaces within proximity of a gunshot event. Scanning Electron Microscopes with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) have been used in the past to detect GSR on a variety of surfaces including bone. The purpose of this study is to determine the ability to detect GSR on bone tissue using SEM-EDX following warm-water maceration or decomposition.
ContributorsSweeney, Kaylin (Co-author) / Boyd, Derek A. (Co-author) / Cheek, Kimber G. (Co-author) / Ehlers, Blake (Co-author) / Falsetti, Anthony B. (Co-author) / Langley, Natalie R. (Co-author) / Lasala, AmberCherie (Co-author) / Pittman, Bethany (Co-author) / Sweat, Ken (Thesis director) / Falsetti, Anthony (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Soil Microbial DNA Analysis of Two Relocated Sus Burials

Description
The use of DNA testing has been focused primarily on biological samples such as blood or saliva found at crime scenes. These types of evidence in the forensic field are sometimes difficult to come by, especially when there is no body to find to verify things such as identity or…

The use of DNA testing has been focused primarily on biological samples such as blood or saliva found at crime scenes. These types of evidence in the forensic field are sometimes difficult to come by, especially when there is no body to find to verify things such as identity or status of a person. In the case of the burial of a body, they can be remote and relocated multiple times depending on each situation. Clandestine burials are not uncommon especially in the Arizona desert by the United States and Mexico border. Since there is no physical body to find the next best avenue to finding a clandestine burial is through search teams which can take weeks to months or other expensive technology such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). A new more interesting avenue to search for bodies is using the most found material–soil. Technology has allowed the possibility of using soil DNA microbiome testing initially to study the varieties of microbes that compose in soil. Microbiomes are unique and plentiful and essentially inescapable as humans are hosts of millions of them. The idea of a microbiome footprint at a crime scene seems out of reach considering the millions of species that can be found in various areas. Yet it is not impossible to get a list of varieties of species that could indicate there was a body in the soil as microbiomes seep through from decomposition. This study determines the viability of using soil microbial DNA as a method of locating clandestine graves by testing 6 different locations of a previous pig decomposition simulation. These two locations give two different scenarios that a body may be found either exposed to the sun in an open field or hidden under foliage such as a tree in the Sonoran Desert. The experiment will also determine more factors that could contribute to a correlation of microbiome specific groups associated with decomposition in soil such as firmicutes. The use of soil microbial DNA testing could open the doors to more interpretation of information to eventually be on par with the forensic use of biological DNA testing which could potentially supplement testimonies on assumed burial locations that occurs frequently in criminal cases of body relocation and reburial.
ContributorsMata Salinas, Jennifer (Author) / Marshall, Pamela (Thesis director) / Bolhofner , Katelyn (Committee member) / Wang, Yue (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor)
Created2022-05