INTRODUCTIONTo the best of our knowledge, the sexually dimorphic characteristics of the craniofacial region among the South Indian population are not available in the current literature. We aimed to determine these characteristics using discriminant function analysis.

METHODSA total of 80 recent skulls (40 male, 40 female) from the Department of Anatomy, Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya University, Karnataka, India, were analysed. Ten craniofacial parameters were measured and subjected to univariate and multivariate statistical analyses using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 13.0.

RESULTSStatistical analyses revealed that the differences in the bizygomatic, orbital and biorbital breadths of males and females were significant (p < 0.05). Direct method gave an accuracy of 68.8% for sex determination. In stepwise analysis, bizygomatic breadth and upper facial height were selected, giving a 65.0% accuracy for sex prediction.

CONCLUSIONCraniofacial parameters are sexually dimorphic. The present study established several features of craniofacial morphometry that can be used for sex determination among the South Indian population. The findings of the present study serve as a foundation for future studies that aim to compare craniofacial parameters among various ethnic groups in South India.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; India ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sex Characteristics ; Sex Determination by Skeleton ; methods ; Skull ; anatomy & histology

Burned bones have their unique characteristics in investigation of fire disaster/crimes, airplane disaster, explosion and other accidents. To study the morphological changes of skeletal tissue and DNA changes at different incinerating temperature might provide precise standard means to determine genera, sex, and age. Genetic locus was also applied in the above fields. The techniques to extract and detect of DNA in burning bones have been improved in recent years. In this article investigation advancement of analysis of burned bones with the morphology, histology, and molecular biology as well as the latest methods and techniques were reviewed. These results provide a new approach for further research and practice in forensic medicine.
Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Animals ; Bone and Bones/pathology* ; Burns/pathology* ; DNA/analysis* ; Forensic Anthropology/methods* ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Sex Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Time Factors

Individual identification by measuring the human skeleton is an important research in the field of forensic anthropology. Computed tomography （CT） technology can provide high-resolution image of skeleton. Skeleton image can be reformed by software in the post-processing workstation. Different skeleton measurement indexes of anthropology, such as diameter, angle, area and volume, can be measured on section and reformative images. Measurement process is barely affected by human factors. This paper reviews the literatures at home and abroad about the application of measuring skeleton by CT in forensic anthropology research for individual identification in four aspects, including sex determination, height infer, facial soft tissue thickness measurement and age estimation. The major technology and the application of CT in forensic anthropology research are compared and discussed, respectively.
Age Determination by Skeleton ; Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Forensic Anthropology/trends* ; Humans ; Sex Determination Analysis ; Software ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*

Sex estimation is one of the crucial procedures in the biological profile identification of human skeletal remains. Knowing sex of unknown case can lead to accurate and appropriate methods for predicting age, stature, ancestry, or even personal identification. Skull is one of the most reliable one among other skeletons and it is usually retained for both archaeological and forensic contexts. Although many morphological features and metric measurements of skull have been studied for sexing, but to the best of our knowledge is no study on maxillary suture length for sex estimation. Therefore, this study aims to develop a new sex estimation method for a Thai population by determining three maxillary suture lengths: anterior, transverse, and posterior maxillary suture, by computerizing amount of pixel obtained from photographs of these sutures. The present study was conducted on 190 Thai bone samples of which 96 were males and 94 were females. Independent t test revealed statistically significant difference (P < 0.01) between males and females in all maxillary suture measurements. Equations derived from prediction model, which required three maxillary suture lengths gave 76.8421% accuracy from the leave-one-out cross validation in estimating sex percentage accuracies in predicting sex from these equations, which were relatively moderate. This study provides a novel and objective sex estimation method for Thais. It suggests that maxillary suture length can be applied for sex estimation. The new computerized technique will contribute basis knowledge and method for sex estimation, especially when only base of skull is available in forensic circumstance.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Cranial Sutures ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Methods* ; Sex Determination Analysis ; Skeleton ; Skull ; Skull Base ; Sutures* ; Thailand

OBJECTIVE: Five measurements of the calcaneus taken on digital radiography (DR) of adults of Han Population of Sichuan Province were selected to determine sex by multivariate discriminant analysis. METHODS: Lateral radiographs of calcaneus taken from 393 subjects were collected. The samples were randomly divided into the experimental group (148 males and 186 females) and the examined group (26 males and 33 females). Five measurements were taken from the radiography. The analysis of variance (AVON) was carried out to determine if there was significant difference between the male and female. The discriminant functions were drawn by Fisher discriminant analysis. The effects of all obtained functions were evaluated with the examined samples. RESULTS: There was statistically significant difference in the five measurements between the males and the females (P<0.05). Six groups of discriminant functions were obtained with an accuracy ranged from 78.4% to 88.9%. When applied on the examined samples, the sex discriminant accuracy varied from 79.7% to 86.4%. CONCLUSION These five measurements acquired from the lateral radiographs of calcaneus could be used for sex assessment during forensic identification of individuals.
Calcaneus/diagnostic imaging* ; Discriminant Analysis ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology/methods* ; Humans ; Male ; Radiographic Image Enhancement ; Sex Determination by Skeleton ; Young Adult

The traditional costicartilage analysis inspection is limited to morphological inspection. In recent years, with the development of forensic radiology and molecular genetics, the costicartilage analysis inspection technology has been further enriched and developed. At present, the costicartilage analysis inspection technology have been able to be used in the practice of forensic medicine. This paper reviews the research advances about the costicartilage analysis inspection technology in the identification of human gender, age and so on in order to provide the references for forensic appraisers.
Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Age Factors ; Calcification, Physiologic ; Cartilage/physiology* ; DNA/isolation & purification* ; DNA Fingerprinting/methods* ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Ribs/physiology* ; Sex Characteristics ; Sex Determination Analysis/methods*

OBJECTIVES: To examine the reliability and accuracy of Walker's model for estimating the sex of Han adults in western China by using cranium three-dimensional (3D) CT reconstruction, and to study the suitable cranial sex estimation model for Han people in western China. METHODS: A total of 576 cranial CT 3D reconstructed images from Hanzhong Hospital in Shaanxi Province from 2017 to 2021 were collected. These images were divided into the experimental group with 486 samples and the validation group with 90 samples. Walker's model was used by observer 1 to estimate the sex of experimental group samples. The logistic function applicable to Han people in western China was corrected by observer 1. The 90 samples in the validation group were scored and substituted into the modified logistic function to complete the back substitution test by observer 1, 2 and 3. RESULTS: The accuracy of sex estimation of Han adults in western China was 63.2%-77.2% by applying Walker's model. The accuracy of modified logistic function was 82.9%. The accuracy of sex estimation through back substitution test by 3 observers was 75.6%-91.1%, with a Kappa value of 0.689 (P<0.05) for inter-observer consistency and 0.874 (P<0.05) for intra-observer consistency. CONCLUSIONS There are great differences in bone characteristics among people from different regions. The modified logistic function can achieve higher accuracy in Han adults in western China.
Humans ; Adult ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sex Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Forensic Anthropology ; Skull/anatomy & histology* ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; China ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective Logistic regression method was used to establish a multiple regression sex discriminant function to discriminate the complete skull model and the incomplete skull model without frontal bone, occipital bone and mandible of Uygur adults in Turpan, Xinjiang. Methods A total of 117 （60 male and 57 female） three-dimensional skull models were collected by CT. Sixteen cranial measurement indexes were measured and calculated by computer software. The multivariate regression sex discriminant function was established with Logistic regression method and retrospectively tested. Results Among the 16 measurement indexes, except for nose width （x₇） and maximum frontal breadth （x₁₃）, the remaining 14 indexes had statistical significance of differences between male and female （P<0.05）. For the discriminant function of complete skull established by eyebrow arch convexity （x₄）, mastoid width （x₆）, maximum cranial length （x₁₂）, cranial base length （x₁₅）, cranial circumference （x₁₆）, the male and female discrimination accuracy was 90.0% and 94.7%, respectively. For the sex discriminant function of incomplete skull without frontal bone established by mandibular angle width （x₁₀）, mandibular height （x₁₁） and cranial circumference （x₁₆）, the discrimination accuracy of male and female was 85.0% and 84.2%, respectively. For the sex discriminant function of incomplete skull without occipital bone established by the index of eyebrow arch convexity （x₄）, the discrimination accuracy of male and female was 80.0% and 73.7%, respectively. For the sex discriminant function of incomplete skull without mandible established by frontal chord （x₅） and occipital protrusion angle （x₉）, the discrimination accuracy of male and female was 85.0% and 78.9%, respectively. Conclusion The computer software and system developed in our study can achieve sex discrimination of complete skulls and incomplete skulls without frontal bone, occipital bone or mandible.
Adult ; China ; Discriminant Analysis ; Ethnicity ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Jaw/diagnostic imaging* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Characteristics ; Sex Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Skull/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the growth status of epiphysis of sternal end of clavicle using thin-section computed tomography (CT) and to study the relationship between the status and the chronological age of Sichuan Han nationality youth. METHODS: According to the Schmeling's report and the age range of our samples, the ossification status of medial clavicle epiphysis was classified as four stages. CT films of 565 patients between 15 and 25 years were studied based on the classification and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference between the sexes (P > 0.05). The calculated empiric distribution function showed that 100% of stage 1 patients were under 18 years, 75% of stage 2 patients were under 18 years, 94.5% of stage 3 patients were over 18 years, and 100% of the stage 4 patients were over 20 years, respectively. CONCLUSION The ossification of medial epiphysis of the clavicle for those around 18 years has certain regular. These characteristics can be used for forensic identification of the skeletal age, especially 18 years, which is the criminal responsibility age.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Age Factors ; Asian People/ethnology* ; China/ethnology* ; Clavicle/growth & development* ; Epiphyses/growth & development* ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology/methods* ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Male ; Osteogenesis ; Sex Characteristics ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To explore the methods for sex determination on head CT film. METHODS: To establish the sex determination equations by binary regression analysis of cranial skeletal indices obtained on head CT film. RESULTS: A single element equation by applying the index of the width of ansa capitis and a multi-element equation by applying multitude indices were established. CONCLUSION The equations for sex determination on head CT film were established.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Algorithms ; Facial Bones/anatomy & histology* ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology ; Head/diagnostic imaging* ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Sex Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Zygoma/anatomy & histology*