Moments of Inertia in the Evaluation of Bone Functional Adaptation of the Lower Limbs: A study on historical and modern populations

Cross section geometric (CSG) properties of the diaphysis of bones enable quantitative evaluations of bone functional adaptation. Several studies have previously analysed the effects of the division of labour, nutritional aspects, the ruggedness of the terrain, sexual dimorphism and of other factors affecting bone modelling and remodelling. The aim of this study is to evaluate the bone functional adaptation of the lower limbs through the analysis of the moments of inertia along the three axes x, y, z of bone cylindroids, and to compare the outcomes with the average values of the CSG properties (areas and second moments of area)

Moments of Inertia in the Evaluation of Bone Functional Adaptation of the Lower Limbs: A study on historical and modern populations

Cross section geometric (CSG) properties of the diaphysis of bones enable quantitative evaluations of bone functional adaptation. Several studies have previously analysed the effects of the division of labour, nutritional aspects, the ruggedness of the terrain, sexual dimorphism and of other factors affecting bone modelling and remodelling. The aim of this study is to evaluate the bone functional adaptation of the lower limbs through the analysis of the moments of inertia along the three axes x, y, z of bone cylindroids, and to compare the outcomes with the average values of the CSG properties (areas and second moments of area)

Study on the criteria for assessing skull-face correspondence in craniofacial superimposition

Craniofacial superimposition has the potential to be used as an identification method when other traditional biological techniques are not applicable due to insufficient quality or absence of ante-mortem and post-mortem data. Despite having been used in many countries as a method of inclusion and exclusion for over a century it lacks standards. Thus, the purpose of this research is to provide forensic practitioners with standard criteria for analysing skull-face relationships. Thirty-seven experts from 16 different institutions participated in this study, which consisted of evaluating 65 criteria for assessing skull-face anatomical consistency on a sample of 24 different skull-face superimpositions. An unbiased statistical analysis established the most objective and discriminative criteria. Results did not show strong associations, however, important insights to address lack of standards were provided. In addition, a novel methodology for understanding and standardizing identification methods based on the observation of morphological patterns has been proposed