When a body is exposed to a cold environment, the livid colour of livor mortis changes to cherry red. This colour change is due to an increase in the concentration of oxygenated haemoglobin. The chronological course and the extent of haemoglobin re-oxygenation associated with the exposure to low ambient temperatures have not been understood so far. The relations between refrigeration time under a constant ambient temperature (5 degrees C), skin temperature, body mass index (BMI), spectral reflectance curve and O2-Hb concentration in livor mortis were systematically investigated in 84 bodies brought to the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Freiburg University Hospital shortly after death. In the first measurements performed shortly after death, the reflectance curves of the livores of all bodies showed a broad minimum at 555 nm. After a refrigeration time of 44.9 +/- 17.9 h, the spectrum changed to the typical picture of O2-rich blood with 2 minima at 541 and 576 nm and a maximum at 560 nm in between. This qualitative change of the reflectance spectra was observed for a skin temperature of 10.3 +/- 2.7 degrees C. With the help of a physical skin model it was possible to calculate that due to the post-mortem exposure to cold the O2-Hb concentration in the livores rose from 0-1% to a value of up to 89.3%. The change in the reflectance curve was discernible from an oxygen saturation of 25 +/- 13.8%.

As to their optical properties, the components of human skin can be divided into two different categories: the light-scattering components shown as peaks and those absorbing light appearing as dips in the reflectance spectrum. As the post-mortem interval progresses, the concentration of scatterers and absorbers and thus the reflectance spectra change due to post-mortem tissue breakdown and degradation. Based on a total number of 532 reflectance spectrometric measurements in 195 deceased, a characteristic change in the reflectance spectra could be documented in the post-mortem course. Subsequently, an algorithm to calculate the post-mortem interval was developed by analysing the reflectance spectrometric extrema.

The goal of this research is the improvement of browsing voluminous InkML data in two areas: ease of rendering continuous inkflow for replay-browsing, and ease of random access navigation in eLearning domains. The notion of real-time random access navigation in ink documents has not yet been fully exploited. Users of existing eLearning browsers are restricted to viewing static annotated slides that are inferior in quality when compared to actively replaying the same slides with sequenced ink-flow of the annotated freehand writings. We are developing a tool to investigate ways of managing massive InkML data for efficient "active visible scrolling" of recorded freehand writings in ink documents. This work will also develop and evaluate new post-processing techniques that take advantage of the relationship between ink volumes and active-rendering times for real-time random access navigation.

The goal of this research is the improvement of browsing voluminous InkML data in two areas: ease of rendering continuous inkflow for replay-browsing, and ease of random access navigation in eLearning domains. The notion of real-time random access navigation in ink documents has not yet been fully exploited. Users of existing eLearning browsers are restricted to viewing static annotated slides that are inferior in quality when compared to actively replaying the same slides with sequenced ink-flow of the annotated freehand writings. We are developing a tool to investigate ways of managing massive InkML data for efficient "active visible scrolling" of recorded freehand writings in ink documents. This work will also develop and evaluate new post-processing techniques that take advantage of the relationship between ink volumes and active-rendering times for real-time random access navigation.