Hidden lesions: a case of burnt remains.

One of the many challenging cases that forensic pathologists, anthropologists, and forensic imaging experts have to face are burnt human remains. Perpetrators frequently attempt to hide/destroy evidence and make the body unidentifiable by exposing it to fire. We present a case of a partially burnt body found in an apartment after an explosion. First, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) images and the following autopsy revealed several lesions on the cranium. Forensic anthropologists were involved in order to specify the aetiology of the lesions observed on the cranium. Through an interdisciplinary approach bringing together MDCT scans, 3D surface scans, and anthropological analysis, it was possible to answer the questions raised during the autopsy. Analyses demonstrated that there were signs of blunt force trauma on the cranium vault that the perpetrator likely attempted to hide by exposing the body to fire. This case demonstrates the importance of close collaboration between forensic anthropologists, imaging experts, and forensic pathologists. This multidisciplinary approach allows for a better, more complete reconstitution of forensic cases. The analyses of burnt human remains are one of the many challenging tasks that forensic pathologists and anthropologists have to face.We present an occurrence of a partially burnt body after an explosion and forensic anthropologists were asked whether the nature of the lesions observed on the cranium could be further specified.Anthropological analyses of the skull were consistent with the radiological and autopsy report. It was possible to reconstruct the various lesions on the dry bone.The case demonstrates the importance of an interdisciplinary approach and the close collaboration between forensic anthropologists, imaging experts, and forensic pathologists

Older fathers' children have lower evolutionary fitness across four centuries and in four populations

Peer reviewe

Relaxed selection and mutation accumulation are best studied empirically : reply to Woodley of Menie et al.

Correction to: replay to Woodley of Menie et al. 10.1098/rspb.2018.1427.Peer reviewe

Middleborns disadvantaged? testing birth-order effects on fitness in pre-industrial finns

Parental investment is a limited resource for which offspring compete in order to increase their own survival and reproductive success. However, parents might be selected to influence the outcome of sibling competition through differential investment. While evidence for this is widespread in egg-laying species, whether or not this may also be the case in viviparous species is more difficult to determine. We use pre-industrial Finns as our model system and an equal investment model as our null hypothesis, which predicts that (all else being equal) middleborns should be disadvantaged through competition. We found no overall evidence to suggest that middleborns in a family are disadvantaged in terms of their survival, age at first reproduction or lifetime reproductive success. However, when considering birth-order only among same-sexed siblings, first-, middle-and lastborn sons significantly differed in the number of offspring they were able to rear to adulthood, although there was no similar effect among females. Middleborn sons appeared to produce significantly less offspring than first-or lastborn sons, but they did not significantly differ from lastborn sons in the number of offspring reared to adulthood. Our results thus show that taking sex differences into account is important when modelling birth-order effects. We found clear evidence of firstborn sons being advantaged over other sons in the family, and over firstborn daughters. Therefore, our results suggest that parents invest differentially in their offspring in order to both preferentially favour particular offspring or reduce offspring inequalities arising from sibling competition

The Role of Race and Economic Characteristics in the Presentation and Survival of Patients With Surgically Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: Little is understood regarding the inter-relation between economic, marital, and racial/ethnic differences in presentation and survival of surgically resected lung cancer patients. Our investigation will assess these differences in addition to known therapeutic, patient, and histopathologic factors. Methods: A retrospective review of the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Reporting database was conducted through the years 2007-2012. The population was split into nine different ethnic groups. Population differences were assessed via chi-square testing. Multivariable analysis (MVA) were used to detect overall survival (OS) differences in the total surgical population (TS, N = 35,689) in an ear (T1-T2 \u3c 4 cm N0) surgical population [early-stage resectable (ESR), N = 17,931]. Lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS) was assessed in the ESR. Results: In the TS population, as compared to Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics presented with younger age, more adenocarcinomas, lower rates of marriage, lower rates of insurance, less stage I tumors, and had less nodes examined, but their type of surgical procedures and OS/LCSS were the same. MVA demonstrated that lower OS and LCSS were associated with males, single/divorced/widowed partnership, lower income (TS only), and Medicaid insurance. MVA also found that Blacks and Hispanics had a similar OS/LCSS to Whites and that all ethnic groups were associated with a similar or better outcomes. The 90-day mortality and positive nodes were correlated with not having insurance and not being married, but they were not associated with ethnicity. Conclusion: In TS and ESR groups, OS was not different in the two largest ethnic groups (Black and Hispanic) as compared to Whites, but was related to single/widowed/divorced status, Medicaid insurance, and income (TS group only). Nodal positivity was associated with patients who did not have a married partner or insurance suggesting that these factors may impact disease biology. Economic and psychosocial variables may play a role in survival of ear lung cancer in addition to standard histopathologic and treatment variables

Response to novel objects and foraging tasks by common marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus) female Pairs

Many studies have shown that environmental enrichment can significantly improve the psychological well-being of captive primates, increasing the occurrence of explorative behavior and thus reducing boredom. The response of primates to enrichment devices may be affected by many factors such as species, sex, age, personality and social context. Environmental enrichment is particularly important for social primates living in unnatural social groupings (i.e. same-sex pairs or singly housed animals), who have very few, or no, benefits from the presence of social companions in addition to all the problems related to captivity (e.g. increased inactivity). This study analyses the effects of enrichment devices (i.e. novel objects and foraging tasks) on the behavior of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) female pairs, a species that usually lives in family groups. It aims to determine which aspects of an enrichment device are more likely to elicit explorative behaviors, and how aggressive and stress-related behaviors are affected by its presence. Overall, the marmosets explored foraging tasks significantly longer than novel objects. The type of object, which varied in size, shape and aural responsiveness (i.e. they made a noise when the monkey touched them), did not affect the response of the monkeys, but they explored objects that were placed higher in the enclosure more than those placed lower down.Younger monkeys were more attracted to the enrichment devices than the older ones. Finally, stress-related behavior (i.e. scratching) significantly decreased when the monkeys were presented with the objects; aggressive behavior as unaffected. This study supports the importance of environmental enrichment for captive primates and shows that in marmosets its effectiveness strongly depends upon the height of the device in the enclosure and the presence of hidden food. The findings can be explained ifone considers the foraging behavior of wild common marmosets. Broader applications for the research findings are suggested in relation to enrichment

Increased Mortality Exposure within the Family Rather than Individual Mortality Experiences Triggers Faster Life-History Strategies in Historic Human Populations

Life History Theory predicts that extrinsic mortality risk is one of the most important factors shaping (human) life histories. Evidence from contemporary populations suggests that individuals confronted with high mortality environments show characteristic traits of fast life-history strategies: they marry and reproduce earlier, have shorter birth intervals and invest less in their offspring. However, little is known of the impact of mortality experiences on the speed of life histories in historical human populations with generally higher mortality risk, and on male life histories in particular. Furthermore, it remains unknown whether individual-level mortality experiences within the family have a greater effect on life-history decisions or family membership explains life-history variation. In a comparative approach using event history analyses, we study the impact of family versus individual-level effects of mortality exposure on two central life-history parameters, ages at first marriage and first birth, in three historical human populations (Germany, Finland, Canada). Mortality experience is measured as the confrontation with sibling deaths within the natal family up to an individual's age of 15. Results show that the speed of life histories is not adjusted according to individual-level mortality experiences but is due to family-level effects. The general finding of lower ages at marriage/reproduction after exposure to higher mortality in the family holds for both females and males. This study provides evidence for the importance of the family environment for reproductive timing while individual-level mortality experiences seem to play only a minor role in reproductive life history decisions in humans

Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals

To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women’s fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species—including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms

Meeting the expectation of industry: an integrated approach for the teaching of mechanics and electronics to design students

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Engineering Education on 19th January 2015, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2014.1001813This paper examines the traditional engineering-based provision delivered to Product Design and Technology (B.Sc.) undergraduates at the Loughborough Design School and questions its relevancy against the increasing expectations of industry. The paper reviews final-year design projects to understand the level of transference of engineering-based knowledge into design practice and highlights areas of opportunity for improved teaching and learning. The paper discusses the development and implementation of an integrated approach to the teaching of Mechanics and Electronics to formalise and reinforce the key learning process of transference within the design context. The paper concludes with observations from the delivery of this integrated teaching and offers insights from student and academic perspectives for the further improvement of engineering-based teaching and learning