Evolution of pelvic incidence and lumbar lordosis during growth: MRI-based evaluation from fetal stage to early childhood.

Purpose: Upstanding posture depends on the balance between the pelvis and spine, with minimal energy expenditure when spinal segments are aligned. Pelvic incidence (PI), a key measure of sagittal balance, is a constant individual characteristic that correlates with lumbar lordosis (LL) in adults. While sagittal balance has been widely studied in adults, there is limited research on the pediatric population, particularly pre-walking children and fetuses.

Test of a new method in the distinction between falls and blows on a postmortem CT-scans sample.

The discrimination between falls and blows is an important task in forensic anthropology and pathology. This research aimed to test a discrimination method between falls and blows. This method was created from the quotation of 549 types of fractures for 57 bones and 12 anatomical regions.

Sex estimation from patellar measurements in a contemporary Italian population: a machine learning approach.

Biological sex estimation in forensic anthropology is a crucial topic, and the patella has shown promise in this regard due to its sexual dimorphism. This study uses 12 machine learning models for sex estimation based on three patellar measurements (maximum height, breadth, and thickness). Data was collected from 180 skeletons of a contemporary Italian population (83 males and 97 females) as well as from an independent sample of 21 forensic cases (13 males and 8 females).

Forensic International Dental Database (FIDBv2) for adult age-at-death estimation in multiple forensic contexts: Strengthening the operationalization of the Lamendin criteria in a global scope model.

The aim of this study is to validate the FIDBv2 online procedure for adult age-at-death estimation using root dentine translucency (RDT) and periodontal retraction (PR) of single-rooted teeth in a worldwide sample. The sample includes 4810 teeth of 2559 individuals from 16 countries of America, Europe and Asia. Bias and inaccuracy between documented (DA) and estimated ages (EA) were calculated.

Age assessment in unaccompanied minors: assessing uniformity of protocols across Europe.

Age assessment of migrants is crucial, particularly for unaccompanied foreign minors, a population facing legal, social, and humanitarian challenges. Despite existing guidelines, there is no unified protocol in Europe for age assessment.The Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE) conducted a comprehensive questionnaire to understand age estimation practices in Europe.

Hair analysis in postmortem investigations: Case of a skeletonized body.

Analysis of hair collected from putrefied or skeletal bodies is always complex and must take into account several pitfalls, such as external contamination and contamination by biological fluids. This work presents a case of particular complexity. A skeletonized body was discovered on a country road.

Technical note: Interest of focused fields in post-mortem computed tomography using photorealistic images for age at death estimation from the pubic symphysis.

Introduction: The morphological assessment of the pubic symphysis using the Suchey-Brooks method is considered a reliable age at death indicator. Age at death estimation methods can be adapted to the images obtained from post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT). The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of pubic symphysis photorealistic images obtained through Global illumination rendering (GIR) for age at death estimation from whole-body PMCT and from focused PMCT on the pubic bone.

Sex estimation from long bones: a machine learning approach.

Sex estimation from skeletal remains is one of the crucial issues in forensic anthropology. Long bones can be a valid alternative to skeletal remains for sex estimation when more dimorphic bones are absent or degraded, preventing any estimation from the first intention methods. The purpose of this study was to generate and compare classification models for sex estimation based on combined measurement of long bones using machine learning classifiers.

Sex determination by linear measurements of the bony labyrinth in cone-beam and computed tomography: a practical method.

Purpose: The determinism of the sex is of most importance for reconstruction of the biological profile of deceased individuals. In this study, we aim to implement a technique to improve the accessibility of sex determination by the study of the bony labyrinth on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and computed tomography (CT) scans.

Methods: CBCT and CT scans of temporal bones performed between 2014 and 2022 were collected with demographic information.

Discrimination between falls and blows from the localization and the number of fractures on computed tomography scans of the skull and the trunk.

The distinction between falls and blows is a common and difficult task in forensic sciences. One of the most often used criteria to address this issue is the hat brim line (HBL) rule, which states that fall-related injuries do not lie above the HBL. Some studies, however, have found that the use of HBL rule is not so relevant.

Blows or Falls? Distinction by Random Forest Classification.

In this study, we propose a classification method between falls and blows using random forests. In total, 400 anonymized patients presenting with fractures from falls or blows aged between 20 and 49 years old were used. There were 549 types of fractures for 57 bones and 12 anatomical regions observed.

New models to estimate fetal and young infant age with the pars basilaris biometry.

The pars basilaris of the occipital bone is often found intact when fetal or infant bones are discovered. In the literature, several methods use measurements of this bone for juvenile's age-at-death estimation, but it has already been demonstrated that they can come along methodological and statistical biases. In this study, new age prediction formulas were created from a learning sample of 208 CT scans of fetuses and infants from Marseilles (France) with normal development.

Age-at-Death Estimation of Fetuses and Infants in Forensic Anthropology: A New "Coupling" Method to Detect Biases Due to Altered Growth Trajectories.

The coupling between maturation and growth in the age estimation of young individuals with altered growth processes was analyzed in this study, whereby the age was determined using a geometric morphometrics method. A medical sample comprising 223 fetuses and infants was used to establish the method. The shapes, quantified by elliptic Fourier analysis, were grouped into consensus stages to characterize the maturation process along increasing age groups.

How low can we go? A skeletal maturity threshold for probabilistic visual sex estimation from immature human os coxae.

Objectives: The appearance of sexually dimorphic traits varies depending on the type of bone, age, environmental and genetic factors and is closely linked to skeletal maturation sequence. Subadult sex estimation currently shows inconsistent accuracy and methods do not incorporate indicators of maturation. The goal of this study is to apply the Santos et al.

Intra-Individual Aging of the Facial Skeleton.

Background: Midface skeletal changes through aging have been conceptualized as a clockwise rotation relative to the cranial base. This finding is mainly supported by cross-sectional population studies based on comparisons between groups of individuals in different age ranges. Few papers have evaluated the intra-individual evolution of the facial skeleton, and those that have included only a limited number of patients.

Using histomorphometry for human and nonhuman distinction: A test of four methods on fresh and archaeological fragmented bones.

Positive identification of human remains is the very first step in anthropological analysis, and the task may be particularly difficult in the case of fragmented bones. Histomorphometry methods have been developed to discriminate human from nonhuman bones, based on differences in the size and shape of Haversian systems between the two groups. Those methods all focus on a very specific type of bone, section, and zone.

Sub-adult aging method selection (SAMS): A decisional tool for selecting and evaluating sub-adult age estimation methods based on standardized methodological parameters.

Objectives: A decisional tool was developed to select sub-adult age estimation methods referenced in a centralized database. Through a freely accessible webpage interface, this tool allows users to evaluate how much the sampling and statistical protocols of these referenced methods comply with methodological recommendations published for building and applying methods in forensic anthropology.

Materials And Methods: 261 publications on sub-adult age estimation were collected.

Maturation of the human foetal basioccipital: quantifying shape changes in second and third trimesters using elliptic Fourier analysis.

During prenatal development, the brain is considered the best maturation criterion for the estimation of foetal physiological age, regardless of the conditions of pregnancy. Unfortunately, the brain lyses very quickly after death, but fortunately, the brain also has a major influence over osseous structures of the cranial base during development. Therefore, we considered the osseous structures of the cranial base potential indirect maturation indicators of foetal age.

Geometric morphometric contribution to septal deviation analysis.

Purpose: The nasal septum presents inter-individual conformational variations. The objectives of this study were to establish a validated protocol for nasal septum analysis using geometric morphometrics (GM) to establish a classification of septal deviations (SD).

Methods: This was a retrospective study including two groups of patients: patients operated on by septoplasty (SD group) and patients without nasal obstruction (control group).

When a lost "Petit Prince" meets Antoine de Saint Exupéry: An anthropological case report.

This case study reports the anthropological analysis of bones remains discovered on Riou Island (Marseille, France) and the story of two World War II fighter pilots. The discovery of bones on "The Fountain of the Greeks" square on Riou Island occurred in the 1960's and a first anthropological study described a 35-year-old man, about 1.77 m tall, buried since an estimated period between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Testing the accuracy of a new histomorphometric method for age-at-death estimation.

Histomorphometric methods for age-at-death estimation constitute alternatives to macroscopic ones in the forensic context. However, all new methods must be tested on independent samples to justify their use and assure their accuracy. The main goal of this study was to test a new age-at-death method presented by Goliath et al.