Eleni Zorba

Combined chemical and optical methods for monitoring the early decay stages of surrogate human models.

As the body decays shortly after death, a variety of gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constantly emanate. Ethical and practical reasons limit the use of human corpses in controlled, time-dependent, intervening experiments for monitoring the chemistry of body decay. Therefore the utilization of pig carcasses serves as a potential surrogate to human models. The aim of this work was to study buried body decay in conditions of entrapment in collapsed buildings. Six domestic pigs were used to study carcass decay. They were enclosed in plastic body bags after being partially buried with rubbles, resembling entrapment in collapsed buildings. Three experimental cycles were performed, employing two pig carcasses in each cycle; VOCs and inorganic gases were measured daily, along with daily visible and thermal images. VOCs were collected in standard sorbent tubes and subsequently analyzed using a Thermal Desorption/Gas Chromatograph/high sensitivity bench-top Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TD/GC/TOF-MS). A comprehensive, stage by stage, detailed information on the decay process is being presented based on the experimental macroscopic observations, justifying thus the use of pig carcasses as surrogate material. A variety of VOCs were identified including almost all chemical classes: sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen compounds (aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, acids and esters), hydrocarbons, fluorides and chlorides. Carcasses obtained from a pig farm resulted in more sulfur and nitrogen cadaveric volatiles. Carbon dioxide was by far the most abundant inorganic gas identified along with carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. Visual monitoring was based on video captured images allowing for macroscopic observations, while thermal camera monitoring which is mostly temperature dependent, resulted in highlighting the local micro-changes on the carcasses, as a result of the intense microbial activity. The combination of chemical and optical methods proved very useful and informative, uncovering hidden aspects of the early stages of decay and also guiding in the development of combined chemical and imaging methods for the detection of dead bodies.

Sex determination in modern Greeks using diagonal measurements of molar teeth

Sex determination is a necessary step in the investigation of unidentified human remains from a forensic context. Teeth, as one of the strongest tissues in the human body, can be used for this purpose. Most studies of sexual dimorphism in teeth are based on the traditional mesiodistal and buccolingual crown measurements. The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of sexual dimorphism in permanent molars of modern Greeks using crown and cervical diagonal diameters, and to evaluate their applicability in sex determination. A total of 344 permanent molars in 107 individuals (53 male and 54 female) from the Athens Collection were examined. Crown and cervical diagonal diameters of both maxillary and mandibular molars were measured. It was found that males have larger molars than females and in 19 out of 24 dimensions measured male molars exceeded female molars significantly (P<0.05). The most dimorphic molars are the maxillary second molar, and the mandibular second and first molars. Although other molars were also sexually dimorphic they did not have a statistically significant difference in all dimensions. Cervical diagonal diameters have found to be more sexually diamorphic than crown diagonal diameters. In discriminant function analysis the variables entered more frequently were the cervical diagonal diameters mainly of mandibular molars. Classification accuracy was found to be 93% for the total sample, 77.4% for upper jaw, and 88.4% for the lower jaw. Accuracy rates were higher for cervical than crown diagonal diameters. The data generated from the present study suggest that this metric method can be useful and reliable for sex determination, especially when the traditional dental measurements are not applicable.

A Test of the Revised Auricular Surface Aging Method on a Modern European Population

The accurate age estimation of adults is an important step in the construction of the biological profile of skeletonized remains. The auricular surface of the ilium as it was developed in 1985 by Lovejoy et al., is one of the methods employed for age estimation. This study presents the results of a blind test of the revised auricular surface aging method developed by Buckberry and Chamberlain. A sample of 120 individuals from the Athens Collection was used to test this revised aging technique. Almost all features and composite score were positively correlated with known age‐at‐death. The calculation of bias demonstrated no obvious trend for either overestimation or underestimation of age when all individuals were pooled together. Inaccuracy showed that absolute errors of estimated ages against known ages are substantial. The data generated from this study suggest that the revised method can be reliable for age estimation on a modern European population.

Physiology and biochemistry of human subjects during entrapment.

A classification of various categories of entrapped people under the ruins of collapsed buildings after earthquakes, technical failures or explosions is proposed. Type and degree of injury at the moment of building collapse and duration of entrapment are the two basic parameters in this classification. The aim is to provide sources and types of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be used for establishing a new method for locating entrapped victims based on human chemical signatures. Potential target compounds, among others, are ammonia, acetone, isoprene, dimethylsulfide, dimethyldisulfide and trimethylamine. In this context, the possible neuroendocrine, metabolic and physical responses of potential victims during the different types of entrapment are correlated with the sources of VOCs such as expired air, urine, blood and sweat. The proposed classification scheme was developed as part of an integrated research project which investigates the use of combined audio, video and chemical methods for the early location of entrapped people under the ruins of collapsed buildings.

An evaluation of dental methods by Lamendin and Prince and Ubelaker for estimation of adult age in a sample of modern Greeks

Teeth can be used as accurate tools in age-at-death estimation in forensic cases. No previous data exist on estimating age from teeth in a modern Greek population. The aim of this study was to evaluate Lamendins and Prince and Ubelakers ageing methods on a modern Greek skeletal sample. In total, 1436 single-rooted teeth from 306 adult individuals (161 males and 145 females) were examined. Only measurements of periodontosis and translucency showed positive correlation with age. Results showed a bias - an overestimation for ages under 40 years and an underestimation over this age. However, the use of wider age groups proved to be more appropriate. Low values of error were observed for the group of middle-aged individuals. In conclusion, both methods can be considered accurate in estimating age-at-death of middle-aged individuals. This study provides more information about the accuracy and applicability of these dental methods on modern European populations.

Skeletal evidence of brucellosis in a medicolegal context: A report of two cases

Brucellosis is a zoonosis caused by gram-negative bacteria of the genus Brucella. Osteoarticular complications are the most frequent symptoms of brucellosis occurring in up to 40% of the cases. Two brucellosis cases submitted to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School for forensic anthropological evaluation are reported. The value of the contribution of the brucellar lesions to the location of the most likely geographic origin of two missing individuals is presented. The presence of a pathologic condition, such as brucellosis, in skeletal remains can give significant information about the biological profile of an unidentified victim and greatly enhances the chances of obtaining a positive identification.

Development and validation of a LC/MS method for the determination of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in the larvae of the blowfly Lucilia sericata: Forensic applications

In a number of forensic toxicological cases, Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolite 11-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCA) are frequently considered as contributor factors to the event. To that, a liquid chromatographic mass spectrometric method is described for the identification and quantitation of THC and its metabolite THCA in the forensically important larvae of L. sericata. Larvae of Lucilia sericata were fortified with varying concentrations of THC and THCA covering the calibration range between 10 and 500pg/mg. For the isolation of the analytes from larvae, several extraction techniques were evaluated and finally liquid-liquid extraction under acidic pH was selected using hexane-ethyl acetate (50:50, v/v) as extraction solvent. For the chromatographic separation, a Waters Symmetry® C18 analytical column was used while the mobile phase was acetonitrile-ammonium acetate (2mM) (30:70, v/v). The detection was performed using electrospray ionization source in negative mode (ESI-) and the selected ions monitored were m/z 313 for THC and m/z 343 for THCA. The proposed method which is simple and sufficiently sensitive for the detection of THC and THCA even in a single larva sampling, assisted the investigation of a forensic case.

Comparative Study between Greeks and Albanians with the Use of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms of Apolipoprotein B Gene

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the genetic polymorphisms of apolipoprotein B gene between two different populations, Greeks and Albanians living in Greece and to investigate the possibility of discriminating the two populations by using these polymorphisms. Methodology: Restriction fragment length polymorphisms at codons 2488 (XbaI) and 4154 (EcoRI) of the apolipoprotein B gene were investigated in the above populations, in order to determine if there are differences between them. Two specific DNA regions, each containing the polymorphic site, were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The products were digested and electrophoresis on 2% agarose gel was followed. A total number of 160 unrelated individuals from each population were randomly collected. Results: The allelic frequencies of the samples from Greeks and Albanians showed variability patterns for the XbaI and EcoRI Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms. For Greeks and Original Research Article Ampati et al.; ARRB, 7(2): 75-83, 2015; Article no.ARRB.2015.108 76 Albanians the presence of E+/+ genotype was almost the same (67.5% and 70.6% respectively), without statistical significant differences and the E-/genotype showed low common presence (6.3% and 2.5% respectively). The presence of X-/genotype had almost the same ratio for the two populations (48.1% for Greeks and 39.4% for Albanians) and the presence of X+/+ genotype was low enough for both of them. Conclusion: The study of the two populations (Greeks and Albanians) did not show any statistically significant differences concerning the frequency of the genotypes of XbaI and EcoRI polymorphisms of the APOB gene.