青少年肩关节X线片的骨龄研究

目的探讨青少年肩关节X线影像与年龄间的关系。方法对太原地区267名年龄在12～22岁的青少年拍摄肩关节X线片,根据X线片上的不同年龄特征,筛选出5个与年龄变化密切相关的影像标志点,进行分级评分,提出了肩关节X线片判定年龄的观察指标及分级标准,并使用SPSS包进行数据处理,建立了利用肩关节X线片判定青少年年龄的判别方程。结果判别方程y=9.517+0.518x1+0.913x2+0.465x3+0.436x4经方差分析,F>0.01,回归高度显著。将全部样本进行计算机方程回代检验,符合率为±1S72.01%,±2S96.3%,其结果达到了设计与统计学要求。方程具有实用价值。结论本项研究证实了青少年肩关节X线影像与年龄之间存在相关关系,并为司法鉴定时根据肩关节X线片判断年龄提供依据,同时也为人类学研究积累了资料。     

Volatile Organic Compounds,Spectral Characterization and Morphology of Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO) Samples

Ammonium nitrate fuel oil is an explosive mixture found in most antipersonnel landmines (APL) buried throughout the Colombian territory. During more than 50 years of internal conflict, the Colombian government has found that trained dogs are the most effective method to detect APL. However, the olfactive signature in ANFO is unknown and also if there are differences in detection related to the explosive manufacturing origin. Therefore, this work begins with the analytical validation of the method used to determine ammonia, in its derivatized form as carbamate, released by home-made ANFO using HS-SPME-GC-FID. Once validated, the method was used to identify ammonia and other organic volatile compounds present in ANFO, under laboratory and simulated field conditions. The validation process includes the evaluation of the optimum conditions for the derivation and extraction of butylcarbamate, the determination of the working ranges with linear response in FID, the limits of detection and quantification, the sensitivity, and the precision. The results of the validation established linearity and sensitivity in a concentration between 20 and 120 mg/L, as well as low limits of detection and quantification of 6.4 and 21.4 mg/L, respectively. Also, an intermediate precision of 11% for butylcarbamate with a repeatability of 8%. The validated method showed in real samples of home-made ANFO besides ammonia, the presence of low molecular methylamines, and also exhibited differences in volatile compositions according to the origin. The objective of this work is to offer a reliable analytical methodology for the extraction and analysis of volatile compounds from ANFO.     

Examination of Hacking and Blunt Force Skeletal Trauma

Hacking trauma is prevalent in forensic cases involving genocide and dismemberment, but research into the identification of this type of trauma is lacking. The present study examines characteristics of hacking and blunt force skeletal trauma in order to determine if there is a point at which blunt force trauma becomes distinguishable from hacking trauma. Ten implements with a range of blade angles (i.e., the striking surface of the implement) were used in conjunction with a controlled-force hacking device to impact 100 limb bones of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Observations of the trauma included the occurrence and degree of fragmentation, the entrance widths of the impacts, and composite scores of six hacking characteristics, especially the distinctive V-shaped kerf. ANOVA tests and regression analyses were used to assess the relationships between these characteristics and the blade angles. A significant relationship (p-value = 0.011) was found between the composite hacking scores and the blade angles, indicating that blunt force and hacking trauma can be distinguished. The entrance widths of the impacts exhibited a significant relationship with the blade angles (p-value = 0.037). There was also a significant relationship between the visibility of a V-shaped kerf in the bones (p-value = 0.003), with visibility decreasing around the 60° blade angle. These data should assist in establishing guidelines to differentiate hacking and blunt force skeletal trauma in cases where the implement is on a spectrum between sharp and blunt.     

Performance of the supervised learning algorithms in sex estimation of the proximal femur: A comparative study in contemporary Egyptian and Turkish samples

Sex estimation standards are population specific however, we argue that machine learning techniques (ML) may enhance the biological sex determination on trans-population application. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) versus nine ML including quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), support vector machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Gaussian process (GPC), Naïve Bayesian (NBC), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Random Forest (RFM) and Adaptive boosting (Adaboost) were compared. The experiments involve two contemporary populations: Turkish (n = 300) and Egyptian populations (n = 100) for training and validation, respectively. Base models were calibrated using isotonic and sigmoid calibration schemes. Results were analyzed at posterior probabilities (pp) thresholds >0.95 and >0.80. At pp = 0.5, ML algorithms yielded comparable accuracies in the training (90% to 97%) and test sets (81% to 88%) which are not modified after employing the calibration techniques. At pp >0.95, the raw RFM, LDA, QDA, and SVM models have shown the best performance however, calibration techniques improved the performance of various classifier especially NBC and Adaboost. By contrast, the performance of GPC, KNN, QDA models worsened by calibration. RFM has shown the best performance among all models at both thresholds whereas LDA benefited the best from using both calibration methods at pp >0.80. Complex ML models are not necessarily achieving better performance metrics. LDA and QDA remain the fastest and simplest classifiers. We demonstrated the capability of enhancing sex estimation using ML on an independent population sample however, differences in the underlying probability distribution generated by models were detected which warranted more cautious application by forensic practitioners.     

猪和兔附红细胞体的形态学及生殖方式观察

应用光镜和电镜对猪和兔附红细胞体的显微和超微结构进行了观察。结果表明,猪和兔附红细胞体在光镜和电镜下的形态结构、大小以及在红细胞上的附着方式等均无显著差别,其形态多为球形、卵圆形,直径0.2～2.5μm,在红细胞表面以一根或数根纤丝连接成串珠状或单个寄生。在透射电镜下,首次观察到附红细胞体边缘有一段20～30nm厚的光亮区域,并且在扫描和透射电镜下同时观察到附红细胞体的出芽生殖现象。由此推测,附红细胞体的发育方式为成熟的附红细胞体以出芽的方式产生1个未成熟形态的附红细胞体,随着未成熟形态附红细胞体的发育,逐渐从成熟附红细胞体体内脱离出来,最后以纤丝与成熟附红细胞体相连接;脱离出来的未成熟形态的附红细胞体黏附到同一红细胞或临近红细胞的膜上,最终发育成1个成熟的附红细胞体。     

东方蝾螈的形态观察和解剖学研究

采用解剖学方法对8尾东方蝾螈的外形和内脏进行了系统研究。结果表明,东方蝾螈的口裂很宽,口咽腔底壁的前方有不发达的舌。食管短,黏膜上有纵行皱襞;胃呈纺锤形的长囊,肌层发达,贲门口较大;直肠粗大;肝较为发达,有胆囊;胰独立,不与肝混合,但胰管与胆管合并。肺为2个锥形的薄壁长囊,构造简单,囊壁形成蜂窝状。输尿管不直接通膀胱,尿液先到泄殖腔,然后再到膀胱。雄性大鲵无专门的输精管,而是借助于输尿管输精。雌性大鲵有卵巢1对,呈带形的囊状卵巢。     

Comparison of the Columnar‐Thin‐Film and Vacuum‐Metal‐Deposition Techniques to Develop Sebaceous Fingermarks on Nonporous Substrates,

Both the columnar‐thin‐film (CTF) and the vacuum‐metal‐deposition (VMD) techniques for visualizing sebaceous fingermarks require the deposition of a material thereon in a vacuum chamber. Despite that similarity, there are many differences between the two techniques. The film deposited with the CTF technique has a columnar morphology, but the film deposited with the VMD technique comprises discrete islands. A split‐print methodology on a variety of fingermarked substrates was used to determine that the CTF technique is superior for developing fingermarks on clear sandwich bags and partial bloody fingermarks on stainless steel. Both techniques are similar in their ability to develop fingermarks on glass but the CTF technique yields higher contrast. The VMD technique is superior for developing fingermarks on white grocery bags and the smooth side of Gloss Finish Scotch Multitask^? tape. Neither technique worked well for fingermarks on black garbage bags.     

Sex Determination by Discriminant Function Analysis of Lumbar Vertebrae

Sex determination is critical for developing the biological profile of unidentified skeletal remains. When more commonly used elements (os coxa, cranium) for sexing are not available, methods utilizing other skeletal elements are needed. This study aims to assess the degree of sexual dimorphism of the lumbar vertebrae and develop discriminant functions for sex determination from them, using a sample of South African blacks from the Raymond A. Dart Collection (47 males, 51 females). Eleven variables at each lumbar level were subjected to univariate and multivariate discriminant function analyses. Univariate equations produced classification rates ranging from 57.7% to 83.5%, with the highest accuracies associated with dimensions of the vertebral body. Multivariate stepwise analysis generated classification rates ranging from 75.9% to 88.7%. These results are comparable to other methods for sexing the skeleton and indicate that measures of the lumbar vertebrae can be used as an effective tool for sex determination.     

Identification of Missing Norwegian World War II Soldiers,in Karelia Russia

This article presents the multidisciplinary effort in trying to identify the skeletal remains of 100 Norwegian soldiers serving in the German army, killed in Karelia Russia in 1944, from the recovery of the remains through the final identification using DNA. Of the 150 bone samples sent for DNA testing, 93 DNA profiles were obtained relating to 57 unique individuals. The relatives could not be directly contacted as the soldiers were considered as traitors to Norway; therefore, only 45 reference samples, relating to 42 cases of the missing, were donated. DNA matches for 14 soldiers and 12 additional body part re‐associations for these individuals were found. Another 24 bone samples were re‐associated with 16 individuals, but no familial match was found. More than six decades after the end of WWII, DNA analysis can significantly contribute to the identification of the remains.