Publications by authors named "Jorn Chi Chung Yu"

Due to the complex nature of the chemical compositions of ignitable liquids (IL) and the interferences from fire debris matrices, interpreting chromatographic data poses challenges to analysts. In this work, artificial intelligence (AI) was developed by transfer learning in a convolutional neural network (CNN), GoogLeNet. The image classification AI was fine-tuned to create intelligent classification systems to discriminate samples containing gasoline residues from burned substrates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gasoline is one of the most encountered ignitable liquids (IL) in fire debris analysis. The extraction of gasoline from fire debris samples presents challenges due to the complicated nature of multicomponent mixtures. This research work proposed a novel carbon nanotube-assisted solid phase microextraction (CNT-SPME) fiber coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to determine gasoline residues for fire debris analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

With tightening enforcement and restrictions amid the opioid epidemic, poppy seed tea is consumed as an alternative to mitigate the withdrawal symptoms or as a home remedy to relieve pain and stress. Previously published studies suggested the potential danger of consuming tea brewed with a moderate to a large amount of poppy seed. In this study, the effects of small quantity and repeat brewing on opiate concentrations were evaluated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The classification of ignitable liquids, such as gasoline, is critical crime scene intelligence to assist arson investigations. Rapid field gasoline classification is challenging because the current forensic testing standard requires gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of evidence in an accredited laboratory. In this work, we reported a new intelligent analytical platform for field identification and classification of gasoline evidence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

2-aminothiazoline-4-carboxylic acid (ATCA) is a minor metabolite of cyanide and is suggested to be a promising biomarker for cyanide exposure due to its specificity to cyanide metabolism and its excellent short- and long-term stability during storage. In this study, magnetic carbon nanotubes, including magnetic multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Mag-MWCNT) and magnetic single-walled carbon nanotubes (Mag-SWCNT) were synthesized as a novel sorbent for dispersive micro solid phase extraction (d-μSPE) to extract ATCA from biological matrices. ATCA spiked deionized water samples with the addition of the isotopic internal standard (ATCA - C, N) were subjected to Mag-CNT/d-μSPE to confirm extraction efficiency of this new technique.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Detection of ethyl and methyl centralites in gunshot residues is important in forensic science due to their limited contamination from environmental sources compared to other organic residues. However, the vibrational frequencies of centralites are little explored and their frequency assignments are incomplete. Herein, we investigated vibrational frequencies of centralites based on Density functional theory (DFT) to understand their vibrations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report stamping surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (S-SERS) for label-free, multiplexed, molecular sensing and large-area, high-resolution molecular imaging on a flexible, nonplasmonic surface without solution-phase molecule transfer. In this technique, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin film and nanoporous gold disk SERS substrate play the roles as molecule carrier and Raman signal enhancer, respectively. After stamping the SERS substrate onto the PDMS film, SERS measurements can be directly taken from the "sandwiched" target molecules.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An imaging technique that is capable of reducing glare, reflection, and shadows can greatly assist the process of toolmarks comparison. In this work, a camera with near-infrared (near-IR) photographic capabilities was fitted with an IR filter, mounted to a stereomicroscope, and used to capture images of toolmarks on fired bullets and cartridge cases. Fluorescent, white light-emitting diode (LED), and halogen light sources were compared for use with the camera.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF