Edinburgh Unit for Forensic Anthropology, School of History Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Musculoskeletal & Medicolegal Research Group, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Defence Academy of the UK, Shrivenham, UK.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 22;11(1):2086. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-81342-0.
Forensic anthropology includes, amongst other applications, the positive identification of unknown human skeletal remains. The first step in this process is an assessment of the biological profile, that is: sex, age, stature and ancestry. In forensic contexts, age estimation is one of the main challenges in the process of identification. Recently established admissibility criteria are driving researchers towards standardisation of methodological procedures. Despite these changes, experience still plays a central role in anthropological examinations. In order to avoid this issue, age estimation procedures (i) must be presented to the scientific community and published in peer reviewed journals, (ii) accurately explained in terms of procedure and (iii) present clear information about the accuracy of the estimation and possible error rates. In order to fulfil all these requirements, a number of methods based on physiological processes which result in biochemical changes in various tissue structures at the molecular level, such as modifications in DNA-methylation and telomere shortening, racemization of proteins and stable isotopes analysis, have been developed. The current work proposes a new systematic approach in age estimation based on tracing physicochemical and mechanical degeneration of the rib cortical bone matrix. This study used autopsy material from 113 rib specimens. A set of 33 parameters were measured by standard bio-mechanical (nanoindentation and microindentation), physical (TGA/DSC, XRD and FTIR) and histomorphometry (porosity-ImageJ) methods. Stepwise regressions were used to create equations that would produce the best 'estimates of age at death' vs real age of the cadavers. Five equations were produced; in the best of cases an equation counting 7 parameters had an R = 0.863 and mean absolute error of 4.64 years. The present method meets all the admissibility criteria previously described. Furthermore, the method is experience-independent and as such can be performed without previous expert knowledge of forensic anthropology and human anatomy.
法医人类学包括但不限于对未知人类骨骼遗骸的明确识别。这一过程的第一步是评估生物特征，即：性别、年龄、身高和种族。在法医学中，年龄估计是识别过程中的主要挑战之一。最近确立的可接受性标准促使研究人员朝着方法程序标准化的方向发展。尽管发生了这些变化，经验在人类学检查中仍起着核心作用。为避免这一问题，年龄估计程序 (i) 必须呈现给科学界并在同行评审期刊上发表，(ii) 准确说明程序，以及 (iii) 提供关于估计准确性和可能误差率的明确信息。为了满足所有这些要求，已经开发了许多基于生理过程的方法，这些过程导致分子水平上各种组织结构的生化变化，例如 DNA 甲基化和端粒缩短、蛋白质外消旋和稳定同位素分析的修饰。目前的工作提出了一种基于追踪肋骨皮质骨基质的物理化学和机械退化的新的年龄估计系统方法。这项研究使用了 113 个肋骨标本的尸检材料。通过标准生物力学（纳米压痕和微压痕）、物理（TGA/DSC、XRD 和 FTIR）和组织形态计量学（孔隙度-ImageJ）方法测量了一组 33 个参数。逐步回归用于创建产生最佳“死亡时年龄估计”与尸体实际年龄的方程。生成了五个方程；在最好的情况下，一个计数 7 个参数的方程的 R 值为 0.863，平均绝对误差为 4.64 年。目前的方法满足之前描述的所有可接受性标准。此外，该方法是经验独立的，因此可以在没有法医学和人体解剖学先前专业知识的情况下进行。
