A POPULATION STUDY TO IDENTIFY FRACTURE RISK IN LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND

BACKGROUND: Fractures are in most cases treated by Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments and they have a substantial financial impact on health budgets. The epidemiology of fractures in the Liverpool city region has not been systematically investigated in recent years. This study aims to address this issue by providing valuable data that could aid in the design of fracture prevention strategies. METHODS: Population fracture data was collected by the Liverpool Primary Care Trust between February 2009 and July 2010, accounting for the majority of fractures registered in the city. The data was sorted by type, age, sex and upper/lower body in order to observe patterns in different groups. RESULTS: The data highlighted a significant difference between the sexes where anatomical sites varied greatly. Females suffer from fractures of the femur and the arm bones in a higher frequency, while males exhibit their highest fracture rates in the femur, lower arm and hand and craniofacial regions. Women also tend to have fractures later in life while most men fracture bones earlier. CONCLUSION: This finding corresponds with numerous sources in the medical literature. The present work supports the development of strategies designed to reduce fractures in specific age groups

An anthropometric method for sex determination from the mandible: test on British Medieval skeletal collections

Sex determination is a vital part of the analysis of skeletal remains and the creation of biological profiles that aid in identification. The pelvis and skull are the regions usually employed by anthropologists and produce very good results. However, the mandible, being a very durable bone and frequently preserved has not received the attention that other skeletal elements have. There are some morphological methods for sexing the mandible, however metrics are considered to be more objective and easier to replicate. This study uses the measurements of the bimental breadth and the corpus thickness of the mandible. Univariate and multivariate analysis was carried out to create discriminant function equations. These equations can be used to sex a mandible with overall accuracy rates as high as 77.3%. The results of the present research are similar to those of other studies and indicate that mandibular metrics can be relied upon for sex determination, especially in cases where other elements are not preserved

Metric Methods of Skeletal Sex Determination using the Arm Bones of Two British Medieval Populations

Several studies have stated the importance of devising population-specific metric methods for sex determination. The long bones of the arm have been previously reported as having a high reliability. This paper explores the degree of sexual dimorphism in adult arm bones displayed in two Medieval British populations, one urban and one rural. The urban Gloucester population sample consists of 45 individuals (19 female and 26 male) and the rural Poulton sample of 27 individuals (13 female and 14 male) and were selected from collections housed at Liverpool John Moores University. Measurements of the proximal and distal epiphyses along with maximum length were used on the humerus, radius and ulna. These populations showed sexual dimorphism in every measurement taken. Discriminant function analysis found that all arm bones had very high discriminant accuracies in both populations reaching 91.2% (Gloucester radii) and 95.5% (Poulton radii). It was found that some of the values were significantly different between the populations supporting the necessity for population-specific metric standards.

Exploring sex differences in diets and activity patterns through dental and skeletal studies in populations from ancient Corinth, Greece.

Sex and temporal differences are assessed in relation to dietary habits and activity patterns in three ancient populations from Corinth, Greece. The skeletal sample spans time from the Geometric to the Early Byzantine Period (9th c. BCE-5th c. CE). Dental caries and tooth wear have been proven to be reliable dietary indicators. Similarly, spinal osteoarthritis, spinal facet remodeling and Schmorl's nodes, have been used to infer activity patterns

Assessing Size and Strength of the Clavicle for its usefulness for Sex Estimation in a British Medieval Sample.

The construction of the biological profile from human skeletal remains is the foundation of anthropological examination. However, remains may be fragmentary and the elements usually employed, such as the pelvis and skull, are not available. The clavicle has been successfully used for sex estimation in samples from Iran and Greece. In the present study the aim was to test the suitability of the measurements used in those previous studies on a British Medieval population. In addition, the project tested whether discrimination between sexes was due to size or clavicular strength. The sample consisted of 23 females and 25 males of pre-determined sex from two medieval collections: Poulton and Gloucester. Six measurements were taken using an osteometric board, sliding callipers and graduate tape. In addition, putty rings and bi-planar radiographs were made and robusticity measures calculated. The resulting variables were used in stepwise discriminant analyses. The linear measurements allowed correct sex classification in 89.6% of all individuals. This demonstrates the applicability of the clavicle for sex estimation in British populations. The most powerful discriminant factor was maximum clavicular length and the best combination of factors was maximum clavicular length and circumference. This result is similar to that obtained by other studies. To further investigate the extent of sexual dimorphism of the clavicle, the biomechanical properties of the polar second moment of area J and the ratio of maximum to minimum bending rigidity are included in the analysis. These were found to have little influence when entered into the discriminant function analysis

Sexual Dimorphism of the Fovea Capitis Femoris in a Medieval Population from Gloucester, England

Attempts to develop new methods of sex determination in forensic anthropology are constantly being made by researchers in the field. This paper investigates the potential of using an index of the fovea capitis femoris shape as a method of sex determination. The currently held belief is that variation within the fovea capitis is purely idiosyncratic. The study was carried out on a sample of 19 males and 19 females from the Gloucester skeletal collection housed at Liverpool John Moores University. Measurements of the maximum fovea capitis height and breadth were taken from both the left and right femora and converted into an index. It was found that while there was no significant difference in dimensions alone, there was a significant difference in index values between males and females for both the left (t(34) = 4.294, p < 0.001) and right (t(32) = 3.046. p = 0.05) fovea capitis. This method was found to have 78.1% accuracy in determining the sex of an individual. Therefore, we may now be able to state that variation of the fovea capitis is sexuallydimorphic and not exclusively idiosyncratic as first thought

Metric Methods of Skeletal Sex Determination using the Arm Bones

Several studies have stated the importance of devising population-specific metric methods for sex determination. The long bones of the arm have been previously reported as having a high reliability. This paper explores the degree of sexual dimorphism in adult arm bones displayed in two Medieval British populations, one urban and one rural. The urban Gloucester population sample consists of 45 individuals (19 female and 26 male) and the rural Poulton sample of 27 individuals (13 female and 14 male) and were selected from collections housed at Liverpool John Moores University. Measurements of the proximal and distal epiphyses along with maximum length were used on the humerus, radius and ulna. These populations showed sexual dimorphism in every measurement taken. Discriminant function analysis found that all arm bones had very high discriminant accuracies in both populations reaching 91.2% (Gloucester radii) and 95.5% (Poulton radii). It was found that some of the values were significantly different between the populations supporting the necessity for population-specific metric standards

Sharp Force Trauma Death in a Young Individual From Medieval Gloucester.

The authors of the present work evaluate the trauma observed on the skeletal remains of an individual from medieval Gloucester and reconstruct the events that led to his death. The almost complete skeleton was recovered from the cemetery of St Owen and dates to the late medieval period. Several methods were used to determine the sex and age of the individual. The anthropological examination showed that the remains belonged to a young male, between the ages of 17 and 19 years. The young man also had antemortem pathologies that were related to his diet and lifestyle, as he appears to have had iron-deficiency anemia and Schmorl nodes. The trauma observed on the remains consisted of 3 cut marks located on the cranium, left radius, and right scapula. The cuts seem to have been inflicted by a heavy weapon, such as a sword. The trauma pattern observed is consistent with defensive action, and the fact that this skeleton was the only one in the collection that has evidence of trauma suggests that this was a case of interpersonal violence

A Splicing Mutation in the Novel Mitochondrial Protein DNAJC11 Causes Motor Neuron Pathology Associated with Cristae Disorganization, and Lymphoid Abnormalities in Mice

Mitochondrial structure and function is emerging as a major contributor to neuromuscular disease, highlighting the need for the complete elucidation of the underlying molecular and pathophysiological mechanisms. Following a forward genetics approach with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-mediated random mutagenesis, we identified a novel mouse model of autosomal recessive neuromuscular disease caused by a splice-site hypomorphic mutation in a novel gene of unknown function, DnaJC11. Recent findings have demonstrated that DNAJC11 protein co-immunoprecipitates with proteins of the mitochondrial contact site (MICOS) complex involved in the formation of mitochondrial cristae and cristae junctions. Homozygous mutant mice developed locomotion defects, muscle weakness, spasticity, limb tremor, leucopenia, thymic and splenic hypoplasia, general wasting and early lethality. Neuropathological analysis showed severe vacuolation of the motor neurons in the spinal cord, originating from dilatations of the endoplasmic reticulum and notably from mitochondria that had lost their proper inner membrane organization. The causal role of the identified mutation in DnaJC11 was verified in rescue experiments by overexpressing the human ortholog. The full length 63 kDa isoform of human DNAJC11 was shown to localize in the periphery of the mitochondrial outer membrane whereas putative additional isoforms displayed differential submitochondrial localization. Moreover, we showed that DNAJC11 is assembled in a high molecular weight complex, similarly to mitofilin and that downregulation of mitofilin or SAM50 affected the levels of DNAJC11 in HeLa cells. Our findings provide the first mouse mutant for a putative MICOS protein and establish a link between DNAJC11 and neuromuscular diseases