Violence against children: A review of cases at a forensic anthropology unit, Johannesburg, South Africa.

South Africa is experiencing a scourge of violence against women and children, with alarming levels of violence, and as such, juvenile cases are sometimes encountered in a forensic anthropological setting. The aim of this research was to assess the cases of juveniles (under 20 years) presenting at the Human Variation and Identification Research Unit (HVIRU) for a 6-year period (2016-2022), in order to assess patterns and types of cases referred. A total of 19 cases were assessed, of which 10 were 16-20 years old, 3 between the ages of 5 and 15 years and 6 less than 5 years old at the time of death. Of the 14 children with known sex, 12 were female with features suggesting that they fell prey to sexual violence. Many of the individuals were either known (and referred for trauma analysis) or identified following investigation. Of the 19 juveniles, 11 (58 %) had evidence of perimortem trauma (sharp and/or blunt), attesting to the violent nature of their deaths. Two cases had both sharp and blunt force trauma, of which one is a possible case of dismemberment. The remains of two individuals showed signs of perimortem burning, which may or may not be related to the cause of death. Three individuals had signs of antemortem (healed) trauma, which may suggest a longer period of abuse. Five of the individuals showed signs of disease - two had cribra orbitalia, while two others had various porous lesions indicative of chronic disease or malnutrition. One individual had advanced osteomyelitis, suggesting a natural cause of death. Some of these cases had unusual trauma and pathology, highlighting the contribution of forensic anthropologists.

Animal scavenging on pig cadavers in the Lowveld of South Africa.

Scavenging animals often scatter skeletal remains of forensic interest and leave bite marks. This study aimed to identify scavenging animals in the rural Lowveld of South Africa and to describe their scattering pattern and bite marks on bone. Ten pig cadavers (Sus scrofa domesticus) (40-80 kg) were placed at the Wits Rural Facility, Limpopo, South Africa during the summer and winter seasons. Motion activated cameras recorded the scavenging. Scavenger species were identified and their behaviors, scattering pattern, and bite marks were described. Scavenging was primarily by vultures (hooded, white-backed, and lappet-faced). Marabou stork, slender and banded mongoose, genet, civet, warthog and honey badger also actively scavenged. Vultures began to scavenge the pig cadavers after 18hrs in summer and between 26 and 28 h in winter and skeletonized pig cadavers rapidly between 5 and 98 min. Skeletonization occurred more rapidly and diffusely in summer while winter cases were densely scattered. Overall the scattered remains were within an area of 157.9 m2/1705.5 ft2 with a radius of 7.09 m/23.3 ft. Vultures cleaned bones thoroughly with very minimal markings - primarily nonspecific scores. The described scattering pattern and bite marks will assist in the recovery and analysis of scavenged remains.

Scavenger activity in a peri-urban agricultural setting in the Highveld of South Africa.

Scavenging animals often scatter skeletal remains of forensic interest and cause scavenging damage. This study aimed to identify scavenging animals in the peri-urban agricultural Highveld of South Africa, describe their scattering patterns, and the damage they cause to bone. Ten pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus) (40-80 kg) were placed at the University of Pretoria's Mierjie Le Roux Experimental Farm (Highveld) in summer and winter. Motion-activated cameras recorded the scavenging. Scavenger species were identified and their behaviors, scattering pattern, and the damage they cause to bone were described. Scavenging was primarily by black-backed jackals; however, mongooses (slender, yellow, and water mongoose), Cape porcupine, and honey badger were also active. Remains were commonly scattered in two directions by jackals. The distance of scattering was heavily influenced by fencing. The remains were scattered within a maximum radius of 73.7 m. The remains were scavenged and skeletonized faster in summer. Jackals caused minimal damage to bone, isolated to superficial, nonspecific scores, furrows, and punctures. A few mongoose bone alterations were present as jagged gnaw marks on the angle of the mandible and gnawing of the vertebral spinous process. Cape porcupine bone damage included gnaw marks on the condyle of a femur and head of humerus, and destruction of the proximal and distal ends of a tibia. The described scattering pattern and bone modification patterns will assist in the recovery and analysis of scavenged remains found in peri-urban agricultural areas in South Africa.

Taphonomic bone trauma caused by Southern African scavengers.

Forensic anthropologists in Southern Africa are often confronted with post-mortem modifications of human skeletal remains caused by animal scavenging. This is troublesome as the post-mortem pseudo-trauma could be misinterpreted. This study aimed to describe the skeletal trauma caused by Southern African scavengers which are of forensic interest. The scavenging animals selected for this study included wild dog, spotted hyena, lion, leopard, black-backed jackal, caracal, and porcupine housed at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa. Sparsely fleshed and articulated bovine front and hind limbs as well as ribs were placed in each animal enclosure and collected after 2 days for cleaning and analysis. Felids (lion, leopard, and caracal) gnawed away the greater trochanter of the humerus leaving deep, parallel furrows. Hyena caused massive trauma to bone with one-third of the tibia shaft surviving with jagged fracture edges. Porcupines left distinctive fan-like parallel scores and large, oval depressions with an eroded, polished appearance. Wild dogs and jackals did not leave any distinctive patterns. Light scavenging trauma is distinct from other bone taphonomy but cannot be used to determine the species. Heavy scavenging trauma patterns can be used to determine the general type of perpetrating animal; however, the exact taxa or species cannot be determined.

Age estimation accuracies from black South African os coxae.

The accurate estimation of age is considered important from an ethical, legal and archaeological perspective. Among the numerous methods based on macroscopic skeletal studies for age estimation, the Brooks and Suchey (1990) method for aging from the pubic symphysis and the Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002) method for aging from the auricular surface are considered more reliable. However, both these methods have been derived from American populations. Therefore, the following study aimed to assess the accuracy of the estimation of age-at-death from morphological age related changes seen on the pubic symphysis and the auricular surface in a black South African population. A total of 197 individuals of known age of both sexes using both left and right ossa coxae were investigated. Age was estimated using descriptions stipulated by Brooks and Suchey (1990) and Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002). Correlation coefficients, inaccuracies and bias were calculated for both skeletal elements for both sexes and sides. Inaccuracies and bias were lower in the pubic symphysis than in the auricular surface thus making the pubic symphysis a more reliable age estimator. Similarly, males indicated lower inaccuracies and bias than did females. Overall, the pubic symphysis outperformed the auricular surface, even though the method described by Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002) is considered more reliable. It is advised that these two methods be improved to produce better accuracies, particularly when applying the methods to a black South African population.

The effects of freezing, boiling and degreasing on the microstructure of bone.

The histology of bone has been a useful tool in research. It is commonly used to estimate the age of an individual at death, to assess if the bone is of human or non-human origin and in trauma analysis. Factors that affect the histology of bone include age, sex, population affinity and burning to name but a few. Other factors expected to affect bone histology are freezing, boiling and degreasing but very little information is available for freezing and the effect thereof, and it is unknown if boiling and degreasing affects bone histology. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of freezing, freezing and boiling, and freezing, boiling and degreasing on the histological structure of compact bone. Five cadaver tibiae were frozen at -20°C for 21 days followed by segments being boiled in water for three days and degreased in trichloroethylene at 82°C for three days. Anterior midshaft sections were prepared as ground sections and for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Quantitatively, there were no significant differences between freezing, boiling and degreasing; however, qualitative differences were observed using SEM. After being frozen the bone displayed cracks and after boiling the bones displayed erosion pits on the surface. It is suggested that further research, using different durations and temperatures for boiling and freezing be undertaken on bone samples representing different ages and various skeletal elements.

Has the character of gastric cancer changed? A descriptive study of a 10-year period.

Over the 10-year period January 1976-December 1985, 446 patients with histologically verified adenocarcinoma of the stomach were treated at Tygerberg Hospital. Coloured patients made up 63.4% of the study population and a significant increase in the annual proportion of this group was observed. Coloured men comprised 47.6% of the total group. The mean age of white and coloured patients differed significantly (68.9 v. 56.5; P less than 0.001). The symptom complex was essentially similar in the two racial groups and in general the character of the symptoms had no bearing on the prevalence of resection. Although antral tumours were most common in whites and in coloureds, there was a significant increase in tumours located in the fundus in whites. The resection rate remained unchanged over the 10-year period. Only 4 cases of early gastric cancer were detected during this period without any signs of an increased yield of early lesions over time. This audit revealed no beneficial changes over time, which is in stark contrast with reports from Japan regarding the proportion of curable lesions.

Serum gentamicin assay: an assessment of two different Syva EMIT and Abbot TDx instruments.

The accuracy and reproducibility of two different Syva EMIT and Abbot TDx instruments for the determination of gentamicin were assessed. A series of spiked standard serum samples containing gentamicin in concentrations ranging from 0.88-17.82 mg/l were used for this purpose. Both TDx systems evaluated had excellent reproducibility but overestimated gentamicin levels in the clinically important concentration range in an apparent concentration-dependent way by at least 5 and 10%, respectively. In addition both these systems exhibited considerable carryover effects when high concentration gentamicin samples (17.82 mg/l) were alternated with serum blanks. Average gentamicin levels determined by the EMIT systems were much closer to the target values, especially those of EMIT-A, than those measured by the TDx-systems. The reproducibility, as measured by the coefficient of variation (CV), of the semi-automated EMIT systems over the entire concentration range investigated was about half that of the TDx-systems. No carryover effects were observed with the two EMIT-systems. This study has shown that the accuracy and reproducibility of both assay methods vary considerably over the clinically important gentamicin concentration range. In addition there may be a large variation between instruments of the same system especially in the critical trough region for gentamicin.