Angel Desmarais | Boston University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Angel Desmarais
Nubian Archaeology in the XXIst Century, 2018
International Journal of Legal Medicine
Sex estimation is an integral aspect of a forensic biological profile. The pelvis, being the most... more Sex estimation is an integral aspect of a forensic biological profile. The pelvis, being the most dimorphic part of the skeleton, has been studied in considerable detail relative to morphological and metric variation. However, empirical data on the effect of age on pelvic morphology relative to sex-specific morphological variation is limited, especially in regard to the estimation of skeletal sex. This study assesses whether there are age-related differences in the distribution of the Walker (2005) morphological scores for the greater sciatic notch (GSN) in an Australian population. Three-dimensional volumetric reconstructions derived from multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of 567 pelves of 258 females and 309 males aged 18 to 96 years were scored following Walker (2005). Differences in score distributions and means by sex and age group were tested using Pearson’s chi-squared test and ANOVA, respectively. The accuracy of sex estimates derived from logistic regression eq...
This study was conducted to determine whether thermal imaging (TI) could be useful in locating hu... more This study was conducted to determine whether thermal imaging (TI) could be useful in locating human remains. Cadavers of seven Sus scrofa domesticus were used during the autumn season in a wooded area of southern New England. Temperatures of the cadavers (core and external), insect larval mass, and ambient air were taken twice daily; TI was performed once weekly. The control subject was saturated with insect repellant to differentiate decompositional temperature f luctuations from insect larval temperature f luctuations. A significant temperature difference was found between larval masses and environmental temperatures. TI was successful in detecting thermal emissions from all insect larval masses and differentiating the remains from the surrounding environment.
Nubian Archaeology in the XXIst Century, 2018
International Journal of Legal Medicine
Sex estimation is an integral aspect of a forensic biological profile. The pelvis, being the most... more Sex estimation is an integral aspect of a forensic biological profile. The pelvis, being the most dimorphic part of the skeleton, has been studied in considerable detail relative to morphological and metric variation. However, empirical data on the effect of age on pelvic morphology relative to sex-specific morphological variation is limited, especially in regard to the estimation of skeletal sex. This study assesses whether there are age-related differences in the distribution of the Walker (2005) morphological scores for the greater sciatic notch (GSN) in an Australian population. Three-dimensional volumetric reconstructions derived from multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of 567 pelves of 258 females and 309 males aged 18 to 96 years were scored following Walker (2005). Differences in score distributions and means by sex and age group were tested using Pearson’s chi-squared test and ANOVA, respectively. The accuracy of sex estimates derived from logistic regression eq...
This study was conducted to determine whether thermal imaging (TI) could be useful in locating hu... more This study was conducted to determine whether thermal imaging (TI) could be useful in locating human remains. Cadavers of seven Sus scrofa domesticus were used during the autumn season in a wooded area of southern New England. Temperatures of the cadavers (core and external), insect larval mass, and ambient air were taken twice daily; TI was performed once weekly. The control subject was saturated with insect repellant to differentiate decompositional temperature f luctuations from insect larval temperature f luctuations. A significant temperature difference was found between larval masses and environmental temperatures. TI was successful in detecting thermal emissions from all insect larval masses and differentiating the remains from the surrounding environment.