The SpotLight

Photo of Junko Furuta  For one to score high marks in a Forensic Case Study, one must  adhere to the following: Background of the case: This section contains details about the crime. It includes; the reasons for committing the offense, the conditions which the crime was committed, the circumstances of the crime scene and clear identification of the suspect(s) and the victim(s). One should ensure that the information in this part gives a precise idea of what the case is all about.   Pick and Write an article on Iwriter Website Evidence: This encompasses the piece of evidence found at the crime scene. The evidence should be described in details, that is, ways in which the evidence was collected, processed and preserved.   Forensic Tests: The tests should be two or more that were used to analyze the evidence. The science or theory of instrumentation used must be described fully.   Results: This consists of a detailed explanation of the forensic ...

A chemist set-up two conical flasks A and B and placed the balloon on the top of each flask to be self-inflated by hydrogen gas being produced during the reaction in the flasks.  In flask A, chemist reacted 5.10g Magnesium with 0.0447 moles of hydrochloric acid. In flask B, the scientist reacted 24.12 grams of Magnesium with 0.998 moles of hydrochloric acid. Which balloon will inflate the most? Explain your answers in details indicating all the calculations.       To answer this question, one must determine the amount of hydrogen gas produced in each flask. The calculations and conclusion are shown below: Flask A Molecular mass of magnesium= 24.30g/mol Given mass of magnesium = 5.10g Molecular mass of hydrogen gas= 2.02g/mol 5.10g Mg *(1mole/24.30g)*(1mole H 2 /1 mole Mg)*(2.02g H 2 / 1mole H 2 ) = 0.42 g H 2 Given HCl= 0.447 mol 0.447 mol HCl *(1 mol H 2 /2 mol HCl)*(2.02 g H2/1 mol H 2 ) = 0.45g H 2 Magnesium is a limiting reactant. 5.1...

Alcohol abuse  is one of the biggest problems affecting people in the community. Its effects are evidenced in our families, workplaces, public, etc.  Alcohol has enslaved and reduced many people to undesirable conditions. Why are some people more addicted to alcohol than others? This article addresses the biochemical reasons to help you understand what you may become if you start drinking alcohol.  Recommendation :  Drug and Alcohol Rehab Resources The isozymes and genetics determine whether one will be an alcoholic or not. What are isozymes? Isozymes are enzymes that catalyze the same reaction though they migrate differently on the electrophoresis . Electrophoresis is a technique used to separate charged particles based on their charges and weight. The mechanism for the formation of the isozymes encompasses the arrangement of the subunits arising from two genetic loci (ADH 1 and ALDH 2) in various arrangements to form an active polymeric enz...

Most criminals wear gloves during their illegal activities. What are the reasons behind this? Sometimes one may think they do not want to touch their victims with their bare hands. They are wearing gloves since they do not want their fingerprints to remain on the crime scenes. In this post, you will learn about fingerprints, types, locations of fingerprints, and the formation, of fingerprints and fingerprint processing and how the thieves can be identified by fingerprints at the crime scene. Fingerprint The fingerprint is the imprint left by the human finger friction ridges on object surfaces.  Fingerprints are essential in forensic science for the identification of a person at a crime scene. They are readily deposited on appropriate surfaces such as porous (paper, wood, and cloth) and non-porous (metals, plastic, polished stone surface and plastic) surfaces.  Fingerprints occur when secreted sweat from the eccrine glands existing on the finger epidermal ridg...

What is a fake tan, which is scientifically known as dihydroxyacetone? In one of my articles I described how fake tan could be synthesized from glucose, you can check it here FAKE TAN , but DHA applied in self-tanner are manufactured from the fermentation of glycerine in the presence of Acetobacter suboxydans . Dihydroxyacetone is a cosmetic product some people use to tan the appearance of their skin. When fake tan is applied on the body, it interacts with the amino acids thereby forming a permanent color on the skin. However, the color wears off within a week since the skin continuously shades off.  How the tanning (brown effect of dihydroxyacetone) was discovered? In the research published by C and EN  states that the brown effect of DHA was found at the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital when Eva Wittgenstein was investigating the result of dihydroxyacetone large doses in children who were suffering from glycogen storage disease. It was reported that th...

Sedimentation is the process where solid substances such as sand, stones, organic materials etcetera are carried to the bottom of the liquid in question (water, sugar juice, milk and so on) where they accumulate and lead to the formation of the solid layer. There are three important methods of sedimentation. They include; centrifugal sedimentation, electrostatic precipitation, and gravity sedimentation or settling out. This article discusses a type of the gravity sedimentation, which is the separation of materials by the use of the earth gravity. It separates dust, emulsions, and suspension. It is often employed in the partial separation of  homogeneous  systems. Gravity sedimentation involves placing a feed that composed of substances (dust, suspension or emulsion) to be separated in a vessel or a tank, and the separated materials are given appropriate time to settle at the bottom. The industrial settlers are grouped into three classes, that is, settlers for; suspe...

The pentose phosphate pathway reconnects with glycolysis pathway since the two end products of Pentose Pathway are gluose-6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, which are the intermediate products in the glycolytic pathway at step number two and four respectively.  The reconnection of pentose phosphate pathway and glycolytic pathway is the reason why the pentose phosphate pathway is always referred to as a shunt.  The diagram below shows the reconnection between pentose phosphate and glycolytic pathway.  The Pentose Phosphate Pathway is a shunt 

The characteristic eye shine produced by most animals originates from the tupetum lucidium, which a tissue layer in or behind the eye retina of some vertebrates. Animal eye retina traps all the light that goes through the eye. However, it permits some amount of light to pass through. On the other hand, the tupetum lucidium reflects the light that passed through back to the retina, hence, increasing the quantity of light existing for photoreceptors. Not all the amount of light that enters the animal eye is absorbed, some passes through as noted by  StudyMode Research . Animals increase the amount of reflected light, therefore, increase the amount of light accessible for their eyes to perceive what is seen as darkness by human eyes. The tupetum lucidium is known as the transparent sphere retroreflector. This characteristic of tupetum lucidium enables it to bounce light directly along its light path.  The retroreflector matches the reflected light, and incident light...

School chaos has been an issue for a long time. Principals and stakeholders think the primary cause of this is the immoral behaviors in our society. Studies indicate the reasons for the school unrest and early pregnancies among high school students could be a result of the alleged use of paraffin in their foods. It has been claimed that school heads are using paraffin to reduce the libido of students, but, studies show there is no relationship between paraffin and libido reduction.  Contrary to the perception of the ability of paraffin to reduce libido, researchers indicated that crude paraffin supplementation is likely to increase the testosterone hormone in the human body.  The research which was done to determine the relationship between testosterone hormone levels and sex drive among teenagers indicated that boys who possessed high levels of testosterone hormone reported high sexual activity and aggressiveness. The testosterone hormone is a chemical molecule that is ...

Polylactic acid (PLA) products are polymers (plastics) manufactured from lactic acid. Lactic acid is an organic molecule which occurs naturally in living organisms. Lactic acid is synthesized from glucose through anaerobic fermentation (fermentation without oxygen). It is commercially manufactured from starchy plant materials such as corn or potatoes. Lactic acid is capable of polymerizing to form PLA (polylactic acid) products. PLA is one of the most bioplastics receiving more attention in different parts of the world. The process commences with first reacting starch derived from corn and water enzymatically. The process breaks the glycosidic linkages of starch to yield glucose (a monomer). Glucose is then converted to lactic acid via anaerobic fermentation. A three carbon atoms compound (pyruvate) is produced in the process as in the glycolysis process step number ten (10).  Lactic acid released in the process is enantiomerically enhanced with 99.5% in L form (Fig...