RESUMO
SUMMARY: Although molecular techniques evolved considerably in last years, anthropological methods of assessing skeletal remains, continues to be an important tool in the identification process in medico legal investigations. The objective of this study was to develop a discriminant function equation for estimating sex and stature using several measurements of lumbar vertebrae in a Thai population. We studied 150 lumbar columns (75 male and 75 female) age range of 22 to 89 years from the Forensic Osteology Research Center, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The quantitative variables with sex were analyzed by the discriminant function analysis and that with stature were calculated using linear regression. The pixel density of the major axis of the trabecular surface of superior endplate of the first lumbar vertebra had the most accuracy in sex determination. The regression equation with quantitative variables in stature estimation described 32.3 % of the total variance with standard error of estimate of 7.736 cm. Lumbar vertebrae can be used as part of the stature and sex quantitatively and qualitatively estimating in Thais incomplete skeletal remains.
RESUMEN: Los métodos antropológicos de evaluación del esqueleto siguen siendo una herramienta importante en el proceso de identificación en las investigaciones médico-legales. El objetivo de este estudio fue desarrollar una ecuación de función discriminante para estimar el sexo y la estatura utilizando varias medidas de las vértebras lumbares en una población tailandesa. Se estudiaron 150 columnas lumbares (75 hombres y 75 mujeres) con un rango etario de 22 a 89 años del Centro de Investigación de Osteología Forense, Universidad de Chiang Mai, Tailandia. Las variables cuantitativas de sexo se analizaron mediante el análisis de función discriminante y la estatura fue calculada mediante regresión lineal. En cuanto a la determinación de sexo, la densidad de píxeles del eje mayor de superficie trabecular de la placa terminal superior de la primera vértebra lumbar fue de mayor precisión. La ecuación de regresión con variables cuantitativas en la estimación de la estatura describió el 32,3 % de la varianza total con el error estándar de estimación de 7,736 cm. Las vértebras lumbares se pueden utilizar como parte de la estatura y el sexo, estimando cuantitativa y cualitativamente los restos esqueléticos incompletos en sujetos tailandeses.
Assuntos
Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Adulto Jovem , Estatura , Determinação do Sexo pelo Esqueleto/métodos , Vértebras Lombares/diagnóstico por imagem , Tailândia , Análise Discriminante , Modelos Lineares , Antropologia Forense , Vértebras Lombares/anatomia & histologiaRESUMO
To elucidate compositional changes of the cerebral arteries with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of elements in the cerebral arteries by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). After an ordinary dissection by medical students at Chiang Mai University was finished, the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries and the anterior and posterior communicating arteries were resected from the subjects. The subjects consisted of six men and seven women, ranging in age from 34 to 86 yr. The element content was determined by ICP-AES. It was found that the Mg content increased progressively with aging in all of the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries, but the Ca and P content did not increase significantly with aging in the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries, with the one exception being that the P content increased significantly in the posterior cerebral arteries with aging. The average content of Ca was higher in the order of the anterior communicating, anterior cerebral, posterior communicating, posterior cerebral, and middle cerebral arteries.
