Context Of Forensic Anthropology Research Articles

A violent structure. Southern perspective on the practice of forensic anthropology as a public service

Global South perspective rarely reaches the academic vanguard. While they represent over 80% of the world population, the voices from less developed regions often are ignored in academic debate. This fact produces an important disequilibrium in relation to the dissemination of knowledge, sharing of expe­riences and exchange of thoughts and, consequently, undermines and hinders the development of scientific disciplines. Forensic anthropology is no exception in this trend. The present article brings up the subject of the context of forensic anthropology in Brazil to demon­strate the interconnection of the professional situation of this discipline, its structural and bureaucratic limitations and their effect on the perpetuation of human rights violation. Various aspects of daily practice of forensic anthropology in a context devoid of basic resources generate a setting that affects both the vic­tims and their families. Despite an outstanding performance and dedication of professionals, structural limitations often substantially affect the effectiveness of their service. The present article discusses these aspects in a conceptual framework of the relation between the practice of forensic anthropology and human rights violation. In this research, Brazil serves as a case-study, an intensively studied subject that brings interpretations that can be applied in a broader context. The article aims at opening a broader, international debate that would increase the visibility of the relationship between the practice of forensic anthropology and the structure generating and/or maintaining violence in a specific economic and legislative context especially present in the countries of the so-called global South.

A Novel Ensemble Machine Learning Approach for Bioarchaeological Sex Prediction

I present a novel machine learning approach to predict sex in the bioarchaeological record. Eighteen cranial interlandmark distances and five maxillary dental metric distances were recorded from n = 420 human skeletons from the necropolises at Alfedena (600–400 BCE) and Campovalano (750–200 BCE and 9–11th Centuries CE) in central Italy. A generalized low rank model (GLRM) was used to impute missing data and Area under the Curve—Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUC-ROC) with 20-fold stratified cross-validation was used to evaluate predictive performance of eight machine learning algorithms on different subsets of the data. Additional perspectives such as this one show strong potential for sex prediction in bioarchaeological and forensic anthropological contexts. Furthermore, GLRMs have the potential to handle missing data in ways previously unexplored in the discipline. Although results of this study look promising (highest AUC-ROC = 0.9722 for predicting binary male/female sex), the main limitation is that the sexes of the individuals included were not known but were estimated using standard macroscopic bioarchaeological methods. However, future research should apply this machine learning approach to known-sex reference samples in order to better understand its value, along with the more general contributions that machine learning can make to the reconstruction of past human lifeways.

Fetal sex determination in light of interdisciplinary current studies: a forensic anthropological approach

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to highlight the situation and importance of fetal sex determination in the context of forensic anthropology. Suggestions have been made about the development of this subject with current approaches and interdisciplinary perspectives.Materials and Methods: Fetal osteology is one of the topics that needs to be developed within forensic anthropology. New techniques are needed both due to lack of sample and to the limited methods that can be applied to this age group. In this respect, a literature review was conducted within the scope of studies on fetal sex determination. It has been revealed how the applications of different disciplines in this field can be adapted to forensic anthropology.Results: The vast majority of current studies emphasize that ilium gives reliable results in fetal sex determination. Often evaluated in both clinical applications and forensic anthropological studies, this bone is subjected to morphological and morphometric analyses. Conclusion: Perspectives of interdisciplinary approaches will enable the development of fetal sex determination studies within forensic anthropology and will play an important role in identification studies. The use of technological tools such as ultrasound for fetal sex determination is thought to be useful for the development of forensic anthropological techniques as in clinical applications. Testing new techniques on fetal sex prediction is expected to contribute to many areas such as growth - development, genetics, embryology, neonatology and endocrinology.

A Case of Split-Line Research Specimens Submitted for Forensic Anthropological Analysis

A case is reviewed in which skeletal specimens presenting with uniformly distributed black markings were submitted for forensic anthropological examination. The specimens were recovered in connection with an FBI investigation involving the international black market in human body parts. These specimens, however, were distinctive in presentation, and were determined to have likely been previously used in a research study using the “split-line” technique, a method of assessing grain direction in biological tissues which involves the application of ink to decalcified bone resulting in elongate ink-marked split-lines. It is not uncommon for former anatomical teaching specimens to be received in forensic anthropological contexts, but the receipt of former research specimens is considerably rarer.

Linear and multiple logistic regression analysis of hand measurements of adolescent boys and girls of Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) for sex determination: A forensic-anthropological study

To establish biological profile of an unknown person is important to narrow down the possibility of identification in forensic anthropological contexts in absence of any other concrete evidence. Present study was designed to collect baseline anthropometric data and established models for sex determination among Ladakh adolescents. Different hands parameters were recorded on 229 adolescents (129) boys and (77) girls age between 14–19 years using standard techniques and instruments. All the subjects were right-handed. Different hands parameters were measured by using sliding callipers. Statistically significant differences were observed between all hand measurements of boys and girls (p<0.001). Male hand dimensions were found larger than the girls. Left hand breadth was found the highest sex predictor variable in linear logistic regression analysis to accurately determine sex of (90%) boy's subjects to their biological sex category whereas right hand breadth accurately predicted sex of (76.2%) girls. Left hand breadth and left hand breadth accurately determines (90.7%) boys and (79.2%) girls, respectively by multiple logistic regression. This study is population specific and useful for forensic and medico-legal experts in formulating biological profile of unknown person.

Forensic Fractography of Bone

Fractography is the study of fracture surface morphology, and it can be used to assess a material’s mechanical properties as well as to determine the underlying mechanisms leading to material failure. Fracture surfaces reveal information about fracture initiation and propagation in bone, yet little consideration has been given to bone fracture surfaces in forensic contexts. Moreover, the science of fractography has never been applied to bone in forensic anthropological contexts. Here we test the application of principles of fractography to the analysis of fractured femoral cortical bone to assess the utility of fractography in the forensic analysis of skeletal trauma. We find that features, which we term bone mirror, arrest ridges, bone hackle, wake features, and cantilever curl, can be used to reliably determine the point of fracture nucleation and direction of fracture propagation. These features can generally be seen with the unaided eye and are further enhanced using oblique lighting, contrast medium application, and low-power microscopy. This approach is reliable and can be easily and inexpensively applied in forensic anthropological examinations. KEYWORDS: forensic anthropology, fractography, bone, trauma analysis

Odontometric sex estimation from clinically extracted molar teeth in a North Indian population sample.

Background:Different dental features have contributed significantly toward sex determination in the forensic anthropological contexts. Population-specific standards (discriminant functions or regression formulae) have been suggested for various population groups to identify the sex of an unknown individual from dental dimensions and other odontometric features. The main purpose of the present investigation was to examine the degree of sexual dimorphism exhibited by the human teeth of North Indians and identify importance as a forensic tool in sex determination.Materials and Methods:The linear and diagonal dimensions were recorded at both crown and cementoenamel junction levels of 58 upper and 72 lower molars of 130 Northwest Indian subjects (73 males and 57 females). The measurements were subjected to appropriate statistical analyses to estimate the sex estimation accuracy from lower and upper molars separately.Results:Univariate analyses revealed that molar teeth had greater dimensions in males than the females and the mesiodistal cervical diameter (MDCV) was found to be the most suitable variable for sex determination of the molars. The classification results were in agreement with the previously conducted studies. The index of sexual dimorphism (ISD) was calculated to be higher in lower molars than the upper molars, and the highest sex differences were observed for MDCV based on the ISD. The overall sex estimation accuracy obtained from multivariate discriminant function analysis and regression analysis of pooled data was 70.0% (74% males, 64.9% females) and 66.9% (78.1% males, 52.6% females), respectively.Conclusions:Odontometrics can play a significant role in establishing the biological identity of an unknown individual even from a single tooth in the absence of other sophisticated molecular or biochemical techniques used for this purpose.

New Method of Age Estimation from Maxillary Sutures Closure in a Thai Population.

Age estimation is one of the major components of forensic identification. Cranial suture closure has long been used as indicator for age estimation. Maxillary sutures have been less studied for estimation of age at death because they vary in their timing of closure with age. The purpose of this study was to estimate age by examining 190 Thai skulls with age ranging between 15-93 years from Forensic Osteology Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, and Chiang Mai University. Four parts of maxillary suture (incisive, anterior, transverse, and posterior sutures) were investigated the suture obliteration of each suture by computerizing from photograph. The suture were measured by pixel counting.The prediction model which based on the support vector machine (SVM) for regression or support vector regression (SVR) was utilized for data analysis. The results showed high correlation (R2 = 0.9086) between the predicted age and actual age. Plot between actual age group and predicted age in seven groups also revealed high correlation (R2 = 0.9434). These can be implied that we are able to use this SVR model to predict age at death using maxillary suture information.The interesting issue is to further apply this model in more cases to ensure the generalization of the finding. This study is the first attempt to estimate age at death using a new method based on novel analysis which considers a characteristic of relationship between maxillary suture closures with age that are not in linear form. The present study may contribute as a basis knowledge and method for further study of age estimation in archaeological and forensic anthropological contexts, especially when only skull or base of skull are found.

Ancestral differences in femoral neck axis length: Possible implications for forensic anthropological analyses

In forensic anthropological contexts, very few methods of estimating ancestry from the postcranial skeleton are available. The cranium is widely recognized to show the greatest ancestral variation, and is often regarded by forensic anthropologists as the only reliable bone for estimating ancestry from unidentified skeletal remains. Several studies have demonstrated ancestral variation in aspects of the femur, but none have shown significant predictive power for discriminating multiple groups, and have therefore not gained wide acceptance by forensic anthropologists. Skeletal health experts (particularly bone densitometrists), however, have long recognized a relationship between proximal femur geometry (especially hip axis length) and osteoporosis-related fracture risk. Moreover, fracture risk has been noted to vary between ancestral groups. Here, we investigate whether measurements that are related to fracture risk might also be used to estimate ancestry from unidentified skeletal remains. Specifically, we investigate ancestral differences in femoral neck axis length (FNAL) and find significant differences between European, Asian and African groups in both women and men. FNAL was largest in European groups followed by African and then Asian groups. The greatest discriminating power was found between European and Asian groups, but was also significant between European and African groups. These differences may have utility in estimating ancestry in forensic anthropological contexts.

Determining ‘age at death’ for forensic purposes using human bone by a laboratory-based biomechanical analytical method

Determination of age-at-death (AAD) is an important and frequent requirement in contemporary forensic science and in the reconstruction of past populations and societies from their remains. Its estimation is relatively straightforward and accurate (±3yr) for immature skeletons by using morphological features and reference tables within the context of forensic anthropology. However, after skeletal maturity (>35yr) estimates become inaccurate, particularly in the legal context. In line with the general migration of all the forensic sciences from reliance upon empirical criteria to those which are more evidence-based, AAD determination should rely more-and-more upon more quantitative methods. We explore here whether well-known changes in the biomechanical properties of bone and the properties of bone matrix, which have been seen to change with age even after skeletal maturity in a traceable manner, can be used to provide a reliable estimate of AAD. This method charts a combination of physical characteristics some of which are measured at a macroscopic level (wet & dry apparent density, porosity, organic/mineral/water fractions, collagen thermal degradation properties, ash content) and others at the microscopic level (Ca/P ratios, osteonal and matrix microhardness, image analysis of sections). This method produced successful age estimates on a cohort of 12 donors of age 53–85yr (7 male, 5 female), where the age of the individual could be approximated within less than ±1yr. This represents a vastly improved level of accuracy than currently extant age estimation techniques. It also presents: (1) a greater level of reliability and objectivity as the results are not dependent on the experience and expertise of the observer, as is so often the case in forensic skeletal age estimation methods; (2) it is purely laboratory-based analytical technique which can be carried out by someone with technical skills and not the specialised forensic anthropology experience; (3) it can be applied worldwide following stringent laboratory protocols. As such, this technique contributes significantly to improving age estimation and therefore identification methods for forensic and other purposes.

Detecting an Undiagnosed Case of Nonsyndromic Facial Dysmorphism Using Geometric Morphometrics

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders estimates that 1 in 3,000 children born in the United States is diagnosed with a rare form of craniosynostosis. Although the medical literature has documented numerous descriptions of craniofacial disorders from an anthropometric or genetic perspective, considerably fewer reports of these anomalies have been documented in the context of forensic anthropology. Similar genetic origins of many craniofacial anomalies generate ranges of phenotypic variation between and even within documented cases, producing difficulties in acquiring correct diagnoses. Identical physical characteristics manifested in different disorders create further complications in identifying a craniofacial syndrome in skeletal remains. Reported here is an unusual case of a possibly undiagnosed craniofacial abnormality in a set of identified skeletal remains from a North Carolina homicide case. Traditional metric and geometric morphometric approaches were utilized to further investigate morphological shape differences between the case study and a reference sample. Results show significant differences suggesting a nonsyndromic form of craniosynostosis.