Owen Beattie

Assessment of soft tissue facial asymmetry in medically normal and syndrome‐affected individuals by analysis of landmarks and measurements

We investigated soft tissue facial asymmetry in normal and syndrome-affected individuals ranging in age from 1 year to adulthood. The purposes of our study were to determine if facial asymmetry was greater in syndrome-affected individuals than in normal individuals and, if true, to distinguish those measurements that could be used in routine screening to identify the presence of syndromes in uncertain patients and, lastly, to investigate the causes of measurement asymmetry at the level of the landmarks. The last purpose was possible because we used a stereophotogrammetric method with which the three-dimensional (3D) landmark positions were obtained. In the statistically significantly different measurements, those from the right side were dominant, with one exception in each group, except normal males. In all groups the landmark analyses demonstrated the same trends, and while there was far less patterning in the 3D coordinates, these results were also consistent between the four groups. We compared the statistical findings of the 3D coordinates and measurements and found that there was no predictable relationship between significant findings in the landmarks and the measurements. In particular, we noted that statistical differences in measurements did not infer significant differences in the positions of the landmarks between the right and left sides of the face. Both the normal and syndrome-affected groups appeared to be equally canalized and similarly affected by developmental noise: When the bilateral measurement differences of each syndrome-affected subject were compared to the limits of normal asymmetry, less than 10% of the comparisons exceeded the norms.

Technical note: Different techniques, different results—a comparison of photogrammetric and caliper‐derived measurements

The primary goal of our study was to compare photogrammetric measurements with caliper-derived measurements. We also looked at the difference between caliper-derived measurements that were taken with and without the landmarks marked. Thirteen facial measurements were repeated ten times on two adult subjects as follows: 1) Calipers were used to take the measurements before the landmarks were marked on each subjects face; 2) the landmarks were then marked with a black pencil, and the calipers were used to take the measurements again; and 3) images were taken of each subject with the markings left on the face, and the measurements were extracted from these images. Compared with the caliper-derived data taken with the landmarks marked, the photogrammetric means and standard deviations were typically larger, leading us to conclude that there was a systematic difference between the data. The generally greater variation in the photogrammetric measurements was ascribed to poor conditions, such as shadows, oblique markings, and unmarked landmarks. When the data gathered by caliper with and without the landmarks marked were compared, a systematic difference was suggested by the number of statistically significant t-test probabilities. Marking the landmarks reduced the standard deviations in some measurements by controlling two sources of variation: differing pressure on the skin and slippage of the calipers. Anthropologists, medical geneticists, and others who use measurements for diagnostic or classificatory purposes should be aware that data gathered by different techniques may yield different results.

Source identification of lead found in tissues of sailors from the Franklin Arctic Expedition of 1845

Abstract Atomic absorption analysis of recently discovered human remains from a 19 century British Arctic expedition indicates lead levels consistent with lead intoxication. Levels up to 30 times higher than those found in modern exposed individuals indicate that the effects of lead may have contributed to the loss of the entire expedition. Lead isotope ratio analysis by mass spectrometry demonstrates that the lead found in the human tissues originated from soldered food cans supplied to the expedition.

Lead Levels in Human Tissues from the Franklin Forensic Project

Abstract Elemental analyses of bone samples from members of the 1845 Franklin Arctic Expedition revealed the presence of high levels of lead. Initial studies using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) on one bone indicated a level of 125 μg/g and prompted a more detailed analysis of lead levels by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry in hair, tissues, and bone from various anatomical regions. Results of lead analysis in 27 bone samples from sailors who succumbed on King William Island in 1848 ranged from 87–223 μg/g. Lead levels in bones taken from Inuit (Eskimo) of the same time period with the same geographical area ranged from 1–14 μg/g suggesting that environmental lead levels were not a contributing factor in the high bone lead levels in the British sailors. This is also confirmed by bone lead in two caribou samples found with one of the British sailors which had a lead level of 2 μg/g. Lead levels in bone of a modern population range from 18–50 μg/g. The prese...

Postmortem Insect Activity May Mimic Perimortem Sexual Assault Clothing Patterns

Determination of perimortem sexual assault can be confounded in homicide cases in which only badly decomposed or skeletal remains are recovered. One indicator of assault is a characteristic pattern of clothing disarray, including tearing, removal, or displacement of clothing. Preliminary findings from two studies of clothed pig carrion of approximate human size (59 to 162 kg) reveal that postmortem insect activity, particularly maggot masses, and natural decompositional changes such as bloating can produce changes to clothing which mirror those seen in cases of sexual assault.

Scavenging activity can produce predictable patterns in surface skeletal remains scattering: Observations and comments from two experiments

In forensic contexts, surface deposited remains are frequently found that have been scattered by various taphonomic processes. In an effort to develop strategies to improve recovery rates, this study evaluates whether patterns can be detected in the scattering of remains due to scavenger activity. In two experiments, 24 human analogues (pig carcasses) were placed in two adjacent but differing environmental contexts: 12 in wooded and 12 in open grassland. Six carcasses in each of these contexts were dressed in human clothing. Elapsed time and direction of movement information for each carcass and its parts were collected and analyzed. Unclothed carcasses and carcasses in open contexts exhibited scavenger activity sooner than the others. Scattering of remains occurred along game trails and was directed away from human population and activity. Due to the highly variable nature of scavenger activity, daily observations during a research project are the key leading to a better understanding of the development of these patterns.

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchì, the first ancient body of a man from a North American glacier: reconstructing his last days by intestinal and biomolecular analyses

We report on scientific analyses of the only well-preserved ancient human body ever recovered from a North American glacier. The body was found high in the mountains of northwest British Columbia at about 80 km from the nearest point of the strongly indented coast of southern Alaska. The geographical location suggests that the young man, aged about 20 years, could have lived either on the mild coast or in the continental interior. Preliminary environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and light microscope studies of the contents of the digestive tract reveal pollen of an intertidal salt-marsh plant and pieces of a marine crustacean. Remains of coastal zone plants (a fruit of a flowering plant and a needle of a coniferous tree) had adhered to the deceaseds robe. Stable isotope analyses of bone and muscle show that more than 90% of the dietary protein was from marine sources. We conclude that this individual had strong coastal connections during his life and had been on the coast shortly before he died about 550 to 600 years ago.

Discovery of human remains from Sir John Franklin’s last expedition

A survey of the south coast of King William Island in the south-central Arctic has revealed new information on the last Sir John Franklin expedition (1845–1848) in search of a Northwest Passage. The undisturbed skeletal remains of an expedition member were discovered and are here described. In addition, two graves previously related to the Franklin expedition in the same area are shown to be of 19th century Inuit origin.