Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 52-78. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 52-78. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

Thesis (PhD.(Anatomy)--Faculty of Health Sciences)-University of Pretoria, 2008.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-208). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-170).

The ability to locate human remains, specifically in a forensic setting, is crucial to investigations. Research in the past two decades has identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as the source of the decomposition odor. The study examined the headspace (area directly above) of decomposing remains, Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO) Pseudo Corpse Scents (formulations one and two), cadaveric blood, and decompositional fluid for target VOCs to which human remains detection (HRD) dogs could indicate. These samples were tested using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS) for the exact odor profile and compared to literature about VOCs present in decomposition. The author hypothesized that a series of seven target chemical compounds (carbon disulfide, hexanal, nonanal, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, styrene, and benzoic acid methyl ester) would be present when the headspace of all samples tested. Ideally, a synthetic compound that will better mimic human decomposition odor profile can be created to aid in the training of HRD dogs. There are some disadvantages to using dogs in the field, and the lack of standardization when training HRD dogs is a major one. By examining VOC profiles of different sources of decomposition, a core set of VOCs of human decomposition may be identified to aid in the standardization of training. Of the eight target compounds chosen from the literature, only two were found in any samples tested for this experiment, hexanal and nonanal found in pig heart, deer liver, as well as human muscle and epidermis. Acetic acid was identified in every sample with the exception of the control. Also, in accordance with the literature, putrescine and cadaverine were not found in any of the samples.

Estimation of the biological profile from as many skeletal elements as possible is a necessity in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts; this includes non-standard aspects of the biological profile, such as body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure that allows for understanding of the composition of an individual and is traditionally divided into four groups: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. BMI estimation incorporates both estimation of stature and body mass. The estimation of stature from skeletal elements is commonly included into the standard biological profile but the estimation of body mass needs to be further statistically validated to be consistently included. The bones of the foot, specifically the first metatarsal, may have the ability to estimate BMI given an allometric relationship to stature and the mechanical relationship to body mass. There are two commonly used methods for stature estimation, the anatomical method and the regression method. The anatomical method takes into account all of the skeletal elements that contribute to stature while the regression method relies on the allometric relationship between a skeletal element and living stature. A correlation between the metrics of the first metatarsal and living stature has been observed, and proposed as a method for valid stature estimation from the boney foot (Byers et al., 1989). Body mass estimation from skeletal elements relies on two theoretical frameworks: the morphometric and the mechanical approaches. The morphometric approach relies on the size relationship of the individual to body mass; the basic relationship between volume, density, and weight allows for body mass estimation. The body is thought of as a cylinder, and in order to understand the volume of this cylinder the diameter is needed. A commonly used proxy for this in the human body is skeletal bi-iliac breadth from rearticulated pelvic girdle. The mechanical method of body mass estimation relies on the ideas of biomechanical bone remodeling; the elements of the skeleton that are under higher forces, including weight, will remodel to minimize stress. A commonly used metric for the mechanical method of body mass estimation is the diameter of the head of the femur. The foot experiences nearly the entire weight force of the individual at any point in the gait cycle and is subject to the biomechanical remodeling that this force would induce. Therefore, the application of the mechanical framework for body mass estimation could stand true for the elements of the foot. The morphometric and mechanical approaches have been validated against one another on a large, geographically disparate population (Auerbach and Ruff, 2004), but have yet to be validated on a sample of known body mass. DeGroote and Humphrey (2011) test the ability of the first metatarsal to estimate femoral head diameter, body mass, and femoral length. The estimated femoral head diameter from the first metatarsal is used to estimate body mass via the morphometric approach and the femoral length is used to estimate living stature. The authors find that body mass and stature estimation methods from more commonly used skeletal elements compared well with the methods developed from the first metatarsal. This study examines 388 `White' individuals from the William M. Bass donated skeletal collection to test the reliability of the body mass estimates from femoral head diameter and bi-iliac breadth, stature from maximum femoral length, and body mass and stature from the metrics of the first metatarsal. This sample included individuals from all four of the BMI classes. This study finds that all of the skeletal indicators compare well with one another; there is no statistical difference in the stature estimates from the first metatarsal and the maximum length of the femur, and there is no statistical between all three of the body mass estimation methods. When compared to the forensic estimates of stature neither of the tested methods had statistical difference. Conversely, when the body mass estimates are compared to forensic body mass there was a statistical difference and when further investigated the most difference in the body mass estimates was in the extremes of body mass (the underweight and obese categories). These findings indicate that the estimation of stature from both the maximum femoral length and the metrics of the metatarsal are accurate methods. Furthermore, the estimation of body mass is accurate when the individual is in the middle range of the BMI spectrum while these methods for outlying individuals are inaccurate. These findings have implications for the application of stature and body mass estimation in the fields of bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology, and paleoanthropology.

In the past few decades, an area of skeletal research focusing on shape analyses has gained popularity in the field of physical anthropology, and subsequently forensic anthropology. Known as geometric morphometrics, this type of analysis allows the researcher to place the morphological shape of bones into a statistical framework to answer questions on a variety of topics, including sexual dimorphism. Sex assessment from the long bones has been traditionally conducted using traditional morphometric methods (Iscan and Miller-Shaivitz 1984; Steyn and Iscan 1997), and as a result, relies mainly on size differences and has not considered how joint morphology and shape affect sex. For this project, a geometric morphometric analysis of the proximal tibia in a modern Caucasian American population was conducted using a sample of 100 male and 100 female tibiae from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The proximal tibia's effectiveness as an indicator of sex in a modern American population was evaluated via generalized Procrustes, principal components, and discriminant function analyses. Principal components revealed a lack of separation between males and females in terms of proximal tibia shape. The discriminant function analysis was successful at discriminating males from females, but cross-validation yielded a low total accuracy rate of 58%. The shape of the proximal tibia contributes to sexual dimorphism in a Caucasian American population, but is only slightly useful in a discriminant function. Further research should be conducted on different populations and using different skeletal landmarks.

The use of geometric morphometrics (GM) in physical anthropology has increased markedly over the recent years. In current studies of secular change, anthropologists have more frequently turned to this technique as it provides scientists with a powerful tool for shape analysis. Secular change is defined as changes in the skeletal biology, usually seen in a population, resulting from shifts in living standards or exposure to a new environmental factor over a short timeframe (Jantz and Meadows Jantz 2000; Weisensee and Jantz 2011). Studies conducted in Europe, Asia, and the United States have shown significant signs of secular change in craniofacial morphology. This thesis will utilize GM analyses of 57 craniofacial landmarks from 313 individuals to determine secular change in the European male populations of the Raymond A. Dart and Pretoria Skeletal Collections located in Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa, respectively, with birth years ranging from 1850 to 1956. Craniofacial data points were collected using a 3D Microscribe digitizer, upon which the Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA) was used to align all landmarks into one coordinate reference plane. In order to determine the presence of shape change, a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was run on the Procrustes coordinates of all individuals. Then, a multivariate regression of shape score on year of birth was conducted to determine the magnitude of change as explained over time. Following the multivariate regression, various Canonical Variates Analyses (CVA) were performed to determine whether secular change was occurring. In addition to collecting metric data, ultimate and proximate causes are explored to provide a more holistic understanding of the potential reasons for the changing or unchanging nature of the crania in the ancestrally European South African population. This study hypothesizes these collections will exhibit craniofacial secular change resulting from greater exposure to increased nutrition over time, greater access to healthcare, and socioeconomic and political stability. Additionally, genetic factors could be affecting the development of the crania through time. As many studies use the Dart and Pretoria collections in tandem to understand population-specific traits of modern South Africans, the presence of secular change will greatly affect the way researchers utilize samples for their studies. Forensic anthropologists study collections to create better estimations for elements of the biological profile such as stature, age, and sex. However, failure to take into account secular change would provide erroneous results. This study provides answers regarding the need to account for secular change if necessary. This research indicates that there are some changes occurring in the craniofacial morphology as see by the PCA, but the results of the CVA indicate that this is not necessarily due to secular change. The results do not clearly indicate the presence of secular change. There are many possibilities dictating potentially why. The first possibility is that there are small changes occurring in the craniofacial morphology; however, this is not caused by secular change. There are other variables, potentially genetic, that are influencing these slight changes that we see. Despite other nations with similar economic development trajectories experiencing a definite presence of secular change, the unique history and population structure of European South Africans could be contributing to the lack of secular change present. Another possible reason is the lack of passage of time from the industrialization of the nation. Furthermore, there is potentially not enough data tested to warrant a reliable conclusion that secular change is or is not occurring. With the cranium, the possibility exists that a minimum threshold of specimens is needed in order to have a reliable conclusion.

As early as 1883, forensic artists and forensic anthropologists have utilized forensic facial reconstruction in the attempt to identify skulls from decomposed remains. Common knowledge dictates that in order to complete identification from the skull with facial reconstruction, the splanchnocranium (also known as the viscerocranium or facial portion of the skull) needs to still be intact. However, there has been very little research conducted (Colledge 1996; Ismail 2008; Wilkinson and Neave 2001) to determine the minimal amount of intact skull that can be present for a reconstruction to still be possible and accurate. Accordingly, in the present study, the researcher attempted to prove that a skull with significant damage to the splanchnocranium could be repaired and facially reconstructed to bear a likeness to the original skull and face. Utilizing FreeForm Modeling Plus Software, version 11.0 (Geomagic Solutions - Andover, MA), in conjunction with the Phantom Desktop Haptic Device (Geomagic Solutions - Andover, MA), five CT scans of males between 19 and 40 years old and of varying ethnicities (four Caucasian and one Asian) were digitally altered to present significant skull damage to the splanchnocranium. The hard tissue digital images were repaired using the same software mentioned above and template skulls (i.e., superfluous CT scanned skulls of similar age, sex, and ancestry). The soft tissue digital images were facially reconstructed also utilizing the same software mentioned above and by following basic tissue depth charts/placement rules and guidelines for feature reconstruction. The reconstructed images were compared to their original CT scans in a side-by-side comparison. Assessors were given a rating scale rubric to fill out that asked them specific questions pertaining to both certain facial features and overall similarity between the original and reconstructed images. Two of the reconstructions each ranked an overall 29% "close resemblance" to their original counterparts, one was ranked an overall 71% "no resemblance" to its original counterpart, and the other three fell somewhere in the middle ("slight" or "approximate") in the rating scale. The results reflected a number of issues related to this project (i.e., the researcher's lack of artistic skill) and to facial reconstruction in general (i.e., tissue depth measurement charts) and showed that while it is not impossible to reconstruct skulls that had been damaged in some capacity, the accuracy of the resulting facial reconstruction is questionable. Future studies would benefit from using an artist to reconstruct the images rather than someone with little to no experience in the field, a larger sample size consisting of one ancestry to avoid the cross-race effect, a comparison of the original skull to the repaired one utilizing Geomagic Qualify (Geomagic Solutions - Andover, MA) to glean an overall view of the project's accuracy, and utilization of a photo lineup as the method of comparison in addition to a side-by-side comparison to give a more realistic feel to the comparison process.