La mortalidad violenta en el partido judicial de Cambados, (1989-1998)

Tesis de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, leída el 06-07-2001La tesis doctoral "La mortalidad violenta en el Partido Judicial de Cambados, 1989-1998." pretende un estudio epidemiológico sobre las muertes objeto de intervención judicial, y por tanto médico forense, en dicho partido, y a lo largo de una década. El método de estudio es el estadístico, en sus facetas descriptiva (distribución de frecuencias, representación gráfica, medidas de dispersión y centralización), inferencial. Se ha utilizado la prueba Chi-cuadrado al tratarse de variables mayoritariamente cualitativas, y se ha considerado unos límites de confianza para el 95%, sin bien cuando el resultado ha sido significativo se ha ampliado también el 99%. Se estudia un número amplio de variables relativas a la filiación, a los hechos de interés, a la actividad autópsia, e intrínsecas a la etiología y mecanismo de la muerte. Se realiza primero un estudio general conjunto de la mortalidad judicial, y seguidamente en dos apartados, las muertes violentas y las naturales.Posteriormente se analiza cada forma de muerte violenta (homicida, suicida y accidental) con un estudio diferenciado de los accidentes pro tráfico o sumersión y de ls suicidios por ahorcadura. La discusión se realiza sobre cada uno de los capítulos reseñados, y se contrastan los resultados con los de otras poblaciones españolas y extranjeras. Entre las priemras, fundamentalmente los partidos judiciales de Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Badajoz, Granada, Palma de Mallorca, Cartagena, Alcalá de Henares, Lliria , San Sebastián, Elda y VillenaFac. de MedicinaTRUEpu

Classification of Signals by Means of Genetic Programming

[Abstract] This paper describes a new technique for signal classification by means of Genetic Programming (GP). The novelty of this technique is that no prior knowledge of the signals is needed to extract the features. Instead of it, GP is able to extract the most relevant features needed for classification. This technique has been applied for the solution of a well-known problem: the classification of EEG signals in epileptic and healthy patients. In this problem, signals obtained from EEG recordings must be correctly classified into their corresponding class. The aim is to show that the technique described here, with the automatic extraction of features, can return better results than the classical techniques based on manual extraction of features. For this purpose, a final comparison between the results obtained with this technique and other results found in the literature with the same database can be found. This comparison shows how this technique can improve the ones found.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD07/0067/0005Xunta de Galicia; 10SIN105004P

Random Forest Classification Based on Star Graph Topological Indices for Antioxidant Proteins

[Abstract] Aging and life quality is an important research topic nowadays in areas such as life sciences, chemistry, pharmacology, etc. People live longer, and, thus, they want to spend that extra time with a better quality of life. At this regard, there exists a tiny subset of molecules in nature, named antioxidant proteins that may influence the aging process. However, testing every single protein in order to identify its properties is quite expensive and inefficient. For this reason, this work proposes a model, in which the primary structure of the protein is represented using complex network graphs that can be used to reduce the number of proteins to be tested for antioxidant biological activity. The graph obtained as a representation will help us describe the complex system by using topological indices. More specifically, in this work, Randić’s Star Networks have been used as well as the associated indices, calculated with the S2SNet tool. In order to simulate the existing proportion of antioxidant proteins in nature, a dataset containing 1999 proteins, of which 324 are antioxidant proteins, was created. Using this data as input, Star Graph Topological Indices were calculated with the S2SNet tool. These indices were then used as input to several classification techniques. Among the techniques utilised, the Random Forest has shown the best performance, achieving a score of 94% correctly classified instances. Although the target class (antioxidant proteins) represents a tiny subset inside the dataset, the proposed model is able to achieve a percentage of 81.8% correctly classified instances for this class, with a precision of 81.3%.Galicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; 10SIN105004PRGalicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria; O9SIN010105PRMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN-2009-0770

Improving Enzyme Regulatory Protein Classification by Means of SVM-RFE Feature Selection

[Abstract] Enzyme regulation proteins are very important due to their involvement in many biological processes that sustain life. The complexity of these proteins, the impossibility of identifying direct quantification molecular properties associated with the regulation of enzymatic activities, and their structural diversity creates the necessity for new theoretical methods that can predict the enzyme regulatory function of new proteins. The current work presents the first classification model that predicts protein enzyme regulators using the Markov mean properties. These protein descriptors encode the topological information of the amino acid into contact networks based on amino acid distances and physicochemical properties. MInD-Prot software calculated these molecular descriptors for 2415 protein chains (350 enzyme regulators) using five atom physicochemical properties (Mulliken electronegativity, Kang–Jhon polarizability, vdW area, atom contribution to P) and the protein 3D regions. The best classification models to predict enzyme regulators have been obtained with machine learning algorithms from Weka using 18 features. K* has been demonstrated to be the most accurate algorithm for this protein function classification. Wrapper Subset Evaluator and SVM-RFE approaches were used to perform a feature subset selection with the best results obtained from SVM-RFE. Classification performance employing all the available features can be reached using only the 8 most relevant features selected by SVM-RFE. Thus, the current work has demonstrated the possibility of predicting new molecular targets involved in enzyme regulation using fast theoretical algorithms.Galicia. Consellería de Economía e Industria, 10SIN105004PRInstituto de Salud Carlos III , PI13/0028

Automatic Seizure Detection Based on Star Graph Topological Indices

[Abstract] The recognition of seizures is very important for the diagnosis of patients with epilepsy. The seizure is a process of rhythmic discharge in brain and occurs rarely and unpredictably. This behavior generates a need of an automatic detection of seizures by using the signals of long-term electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. Due to the non-stationary character of EEG signals, the conventional methods of frequency analysis are not the best alternative to obtain good results in diagnostic purpose. The present work proposes a method of EEG signal analysis based on star graph topological indices (SGTIs) for the first time. The signal information, such as amplitude and time occurrence, is codified into invariant SGTIs which are the basis for the classification models that can discriminate the epileptic EEG records from the non-epileptic ones. The method with SGTIs and the simplest linear discriminant methods provide similar results to those previously published, which are based on the time-frequency analysis and artificial neural networks. Thus, this work proposes a simpler and faster alternative for automatic detection of seizures from the EEG recordings.Xunta de Galicia; 2007/127Xunta de Galicia; 2007/144Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PIO52048Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD07/0067/0005Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; TIN2009—07707

Crossbow injuries: a case of suicide

6 p.We are reporting the case of a 65 year-old man who suffered a severe depression and committed suicide using a crossbow. The death happened at his home. The suicide victim was on his knees, with of a crossbow leveled at his thorax and located facing him on the sofa. He shot it by pulling the trigger with the bended end of a ramrod. The arrow entered between the third and the fourth rib on the left side, with a downwards and slightly outwards direction. It went through the lung and the tip of the arrow came out the back. The arrow was removed when the body was lifted, and the wounds had a three-pointed star shape which corresponded to the head of the arrow crossbow. Police enquiry and forensic investigation confirmed a suicidal manner of death. This paper presents different issues of the case, such as the attestation of tears in clothing, the morphology of the wounds or the arrow track. The case is compared with other cases in the medical forensic literature involving the use of crossbows. Finally, it is highlighted how easy it is to purchase these weapons despite their obvious power and accuracy, factors that seriously recommend legislative regulation to be increased and its use more restricted

A case of cholesteatoma in a medieval Hispano-Mudejar population (13th-14th centuries AD)

The case presented includes a left temporal bone from an individual exhumed from the Hispano-Mudejar necropolis in Uceda (Guadalajara, Spain) dated between the 13th and 14th centuries BC. External examination and computed tomography images show lesions in the external acoustic canal, in the form of diffuse widening, suggestive of a cholesteatoma originating in this canal, with invasion of the middle ear through the tympanic membrane. The difficulties with examining the internal elements of the ear are discussed, which causes the underestimation of these diseases in paleopathology studies

The assessment of aesthetic injury by scars by different groups

La valoración del daño o perjuicio estético que ocasionan las cicatrices resultantes de accidentes de tráfico es una tarea no exenta de un gran componente de subjetividad. Presentamos un estudio de la valoración que de cuatro cicatrices, resultantes de sendos accidentes de tráfico, siguiendo las reglas de utilización de la tabla VI del Sistema para la valoración de los daños y perjuicios causados a las personas en accidentes de circulación (RD Legislativo 8/2004), han efectuado tres colectivos encuestados de diferentes procedencias: “jurídico” (Magistrados-Jueces y Jueces, Fiscales, abogados con ejercicio profesional en el ámbito de compañías de seguros o en el ámbito privado y estudiantes de la Escuela de Práctica Jurídica), “peritos médicos” (médicos forenses y médicos valoradores del daño corporal) y “resto de población” (estudiantes universitarios de Bellas Artes, sanitarios no médicos y otros estudiantes universitarios). Se han recogido 448 encuestas procedentes de estos tres colectivos en las que puntuaban el daño estético siguiendo la tabla VI. Se ha utilizado una metodología descriptiva y un análisis estadístico con pruebas no paramétricas. Se han encontrado diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las valoraciones del perjuicio estético realizadas por los tres colectivos profesionales sometidos a encuesta: jurídico, peritos médicos y resto de población, al nivel de significación de α = 0.05. Los peritos médicos (médicos forenses y médicos valoradores del daño corporal) han valorado las cicatrices muy por debajo del colectivo jurídico, y éste a su vez, algo por debajo del resto de población.The assessment of damage or disfigurement caused by scars resulting from accidents is a task that inevitably involves a certain degree of subjectivity. We present a study of the assessment of four scars resulting from traffic accidents, according to the rules of use of Table VI of the system for the assessment of damages caused to people in traffic accidents (RDL 8/2004). The assessment was carried out by three groups of different origins: "legal professionals" (Judges, prosecutors, lawyers from the area of insurance companies or the private sector and students of the School of Legal Practice), "medical experts" (forensic doctors and doctors of the assessment of bodily harm) and other members of the population (students of fine art, other healthcare staff who are not doctors and other university students). 448 surveys were collected in from the three groups in which they gave a numerical value to the aesthetic damage based on Table VI. We used a descriptive methodology and statistical analysis using nonparametric tests. Significant statistical differences between the assessments of aesthetic damage carried out by the three professional groups in the survey were found: legal, medical experts and other members of the population, were found with a level of significance of α = 0.05. The medical experts (forensic doctors and medical assessors of bodily harm) rated the scars well below the level of the legal experts and at the same time they rated them below the level of the rest of the population

A case of acute plastic deformation of the forearm in a medieval Hispano-Mudejar skeleton (13-14th Centuries AD)

9 p.Introduction: Acute plastic deformation refers to a traumatic bending or bowing without a detectable cortical defect.Case Presentation and Discussion: We describe a rare case from an individual that was exhumed from the HispanoMudejar necropolis in Uceda (Guadalajara, Spain) dated between the 13th and 14th centuries AD. The case corresponds to an adult woman, with a bowing involvement of the left ulna and radius. After making the differential diagnosis with various pathologies likely to present with this alteration, we reached the diagnosis of acute plastic deformation of the forearm through external and radiological examination and comparison with the healthy contralateral forearm. Conclusions: Acute plastic deformation is a rare traumatic injury, not described until the last century and only rarely described in palaeopathological contexts. We contribute a new case, the first being sufficiently documented, contributing to the knowledge and diagnosis of this type of trauma in the ancient bone, while deepening the knowledge of the living conditions of the medieval Mudejar population of Uceda.Banco de SantanderUniversidad Complutense de Madri

The Assessment of the Aesthetic Damage of Scars by Various Coroners from Different Institutes of Legal Medicine

Una de las actividades de mayor importancia en la medicina forense práctica es la valoración del daño corporal. Dentro de la misma, en ocasiones, el médico forense se enfrenta a la difícil tarea de tener que valorar el daño o perjuicio estético que ocasionan cicatrices resultantes de agentes externos, valoración no exenta de un gran componente de subjetividad. Presentamos un estudio de la valoración que de cuatro cicatrices, resultantes de sendos accidentes de tráfico, han efectuado médicos forenses de los Institutos de Medicina Legal de Cataluña, Alicante y Galicia siguiendo las reglas de utilización de la tabla VI del Sistema para la valoración de los daños y perjuicios causados a las personas en accidentes de circulación (RD Legislativo 8/2004).Se ha utilizado una metodología descriptiva (medidas de tendencia central, de dispersión y de forma) y un análisis estadístico con pruebas no paramétricas. Se han obtenido puntuaciones medias en el Instituto de Medicina Legal de Cataluña en las cuatro cicatrices sometidas a valoración inferiores a las del Instituto de Medicina Legal de Alicante y del Instituto de Medicina Legal de Galicia. No se han encontrado diferencias entre las medidas de tendencia central en las valoraciones efectuadas por los médicos forenses de los tres Institutos de Medicina Legal al nivel de significación utilizado de a = 0.05 para los casos B y C mientras que para los casos A y D se han hallado diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre las medianas de las valoraciones efectuadas por los médicos forenses de los IML de Cataluña, Alicante y Galicia.One of the most important activities in forensic practice is the assessment of bodily harm. Within this field, the medical examiner sometimes faces the difficult task of having to assess damage or disfigurement resulting from scars caused by external agents. This assessment is not without a large element of subjectivity. We present a study of the assessment of four scars, from two separate traffic accidents, carried out by coroners from the Institute of Legal Medicine of Catalonia, Alicante and Galicia following the rules of Table VI using the System for assessing the damages caused to people in road accidents (RDL 8/2004). We used a descriptive methodology (measures of central tendency, dispersion and form) and statistical analysis with nonparametric tests. Mean scores were obtained at the Institute of Legal Medicine of Catalonia in the four inferior valuation of scars at the Legal Medicine Institute of Alicante and the Institute of Legal Medicine of Galicia. No differences were found between measures of central tendency of assessments by medical examiners of the three Institutes of Legal Medicine at the significance level of a = 0.05 used for cases B and C while for cases A and D statistically significant differences between the medians of the assessments made by the medical examiner of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Catalonia, Alicante and Galicia have been found