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Blood Evidence & DNA
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Spatter pattern | one of the 3 main types of bloodstain patterns, the includes all patterns resulting from an external force on an open source of blood |
| Transfer pattern | one of the 3 main types of bloodstain patterns, the includes all patterns resulting from a bloody surface coming into contact with a nonbloody surface |
| Passive pattern | one of the 3 main types of bloodstain patterns, the includes all patterns created without any outside external force except gravity |
| Cast-off Pattern | a type of spatter pattern, this pattern results from blood being flung off of a moving object |
| Void pattern | a type of spatter pattern, this pattern results from an object blocking blood spatter, creating a white space within the spatter |
| Arterial spurt | a type of spatter pattern, this pattern results from an artery being cut and spraying blood in heavy pulses |
| Drip pattern | a type of passive pattern, this pattern results from a blood falling onto a sufrace under the influence of gravity |
| Saturation pattern | a type of passive pattern, this pattern results from a blood accumulating on a surface and soaking into it |
| Pooling pattern | a type of passive pattern, this pattern results from a blood accumulating on a surface and staying on top of the surface |
| Back spatter | a type of spatter pattern, this pattern results from blood moving in the opposite direction of the force applied on the blood source |
| forward spatter | a type of spatter pattern, this pattern results from blood moving in the same direction of the force applied on the blood source |
| Swipe pattern | a type of transfer pattern, this pattern results from a bloody object moving across a nonbloody surface |
| Wipe pattern | a type of transfer pattern, this pattern results from a nonbloody object moving across a bloody surface |
| Flow pattern | a type of passive pattern, this pattern results from a blood moving along a surface under the influence of gravity |
| Satellite stains | tiny bloodstains that have separated from a larger blood stain and are located around the outside of it |
| Serum separation | when the edges of a bloodstain turn more clear due to the plasma in the blood moving to the edges of the stain |
| Direction of blood spatter | This is shown by the "tail" of the bloodstain, which is the part of the bloodstain that thins out and appears to "point" in a certain direction |
| Edge characteristics | These describe what the outside of the bloodstain looks like, and depends on the surface the bloodstain is on. Some examples include "smooth", "scalloped", "spiky", etc |
| Feathering | This effect of movement through blood causes blood to become lighter in color and thinner in width, helping indicate the direction of the movement |
| Red blood cells | These blood components carry respiratory gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide; they make up about 44% of blood |
| White blood cells | These blood components fight disease and foreign elements in the blood; they make up the smallest portion of the blood; antibodies are an example of these |
| Platelets | These blood components aid in blood clotting and help repair damaged blood vessels; they make up the 2nd smallest portion of the blood |
| Plasma | This liquid blood component makes up the majority of blood |
| Blood type | This classification indicates the antigens that are found on a person's red blood cells |
| Antigen | In blood, these "markers" are on red blood cells to help identify what kind of blood type the cells belong to |
| Antibody | This kind of white blood cell is structured in such a way that it binds to a specific antigen to cause an immune response |
| Antigen-antibody response | This is what happens when an antigen and antibody match up and fit together |
| Agglutination | This happens as a result of an antigen-antibody response, and the blood with become clumpy |
| Blood clot | An excessive amount of agglutination can lead to this dangerous occurence |
| area of convergence | the location (in 2D) where blood spatter came from -- it is found by drawing straight lines backward through each droplet and finding where the lines intersect |
| angle of impact | the angle at which the blood hit a surface -- when blood drops straight down on a surface, the angle of impact is 90 degrees. As the angle of impact goes down, droplet gets more like an oval and stretches out more. Rquation is inverse sin (width/length) |
| area of origin | How far away from the surface the wound was that created the bloo spatter. |