RESUMEN
@#Introduction: Accelerants and fabrics are commonly used to spread fire attributable to their highly flammable properties. Hence, having the ability to discriminate the different types of accelerants on various types of fabrics after fire and/or arson using the non-destructive Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with chemometric techniques appears forensically relevant. Methods: Six types of fabrics viz. cotton, wool, silk, rayon, satin, and polyester, were burnt completely with RON95 and RON97 gasoline as well as diesel. Subsequently, the samples were analyzed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy followed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) for discriminating the different types of accelerants on such burned fabrics. Results: RON95 showed the fastest rate of burning on all fabric types. Results also revealed that while wool had the slowest burning rate for all the three different accelerants, polyester, cotton, and satin demonstrated the highest rate of burning in RON95, RON97, and diesel, respectively. FTIR spectra revealed the presence of alkane, alcohol, alkene, alkyne, aromatic, and amine compounds for all fabrics. The two dimensional PCA (PC1 versus PC2) demonstrated 71% of variance and it was improved by cross-validation through the three dimensional LDA technique with correct classification of 77.8%. Conclusion: ATR-FTIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometric techniques had enabled identification of the functional groups, as well as statistically supported discrimination of the different accelerants, a matter of relevance in forensic fire and arson investigations.
RESUMEN
Fire was perhaps, man’s first double-edged sword, for throughout history, it has served as well destroyed mankind.¹ Burns have tremendous medicolegal importance as they may be considered to be the commonest cause of unnatural death in India. Often, the circumstances of burns are enveloped in mystery, obscurity and unreliable statements. The reason behind this action may be personal, domestic, occupational or social tragedy, and more recently dowry death.² The district of Aligarh is situated in the mid of Doab – the land between the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, at a distance of 130 km southeast of Delhi-Howarh rail route and Grand Trunk Road. The latitude is 27º 54’ N and longitude is 78º 05’ E. The population of Aligarh is 3 million (657 people/km). Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital attracts mainly rural patients from 1706 villages and 6 tehsils in and around Aligarh. This prospective study was carried out on victims admitted to Burn Unit, Department of Plastic Surgery, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The objective was to analyze the epidemiological features, etiological factors and mortality of burn victims admitted to the unit.