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Introduction: Forensic dental age estimation plays a vital role in determining the identity of a deceased individual. There are numerous dental age estimation methods available to estimate dental age using radiographs based on tooth maturation. Aim: To compare Nolla’s method, Cameriere’s Indian-specific method, and Acharya’s Indian-specific regression formula in estimating dental age in the Puducherry and Cuddalore populations of South India. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Puducherry, India, between January 2021 and October 2022. The study included 448 panoramic radiographs (202 males and 246 females) of individuals aged between six and 17 years. Chronological age was recorded based on the subject’s date of birth. Dental age was estimated using Nolla’s method, Acharya’s Indian-specific regression formula, and Cameriere’s Indian-specific method. Two qualified and experienced oral radiologists evaluated all the samples to assess their reliability. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and Student’s t-test. Results: Nolla’s method (excluding the third molar) revealed a mean age of 13.52±3.15 years, while Nolla’s method (including the third molar) revealed a mean age of 12.81±2.84 years. Acharya’s Indian-specific method revealed a mean age of 15.08±2.92 years, and Cameriere’s Indian-specific regression formula revealed a mean age of 11.51±2.19 years. The results showed that the age estimated by Nolla’s method (including the third molar) had a p-value of 0.93 (>0.05), indicating no significant differences between the estimated dental age and chronological age. The r-values for Acharya’s Indian-specific regression formula, Nolla’s method (excluding the third molar), Nolla’s method (including the third molar), and Cameriere’s Indian-specific method were found to be 0.682, 0.885, 0.847, and 0.849, respectively, indicating a strong positive correlation among the age estimation methods. Conclusion: Nolla’s method (including the third molar) was found to be the most accurate method for dental age estimation when compared with the other three methods in the Puducherry and Cuddalore populations.

Climate has changed sufficiently over the last 150 years and forced out upper treeline advance at the most studied sites around the world. The rate of advance has been extremely variable – from tens to hundreds meters in altitude. This is because the degree at which tree frontal populations respond to climate change depends on the complex interaction of biological and physical factors. The resulting stand pattern is the consequence of the interaction between dispersal and survival functions. A few publications have addressed the question of how this pattern is generated. In order to understand how the spatial structure of tree stands was formed at the upper limit of their distribution in the Ural Mountains, we assessed the distance and direction of dispersal of offspring from maternal individuals. We found that in frontal Larix sibirica Ledeb. populations, ‘effective’ dispersal of offspring ranges from 3 to 758 ​m (with a median of 20–33 ​m in open forest and 219 ​m in single-tree tundra in the Polar Urals and 107 ​m in open forest in the Northern Urals). We revealed that most of the offspring effectively dispersed not only in the direction of the prevailing winds, but also in the opposite direction up the slope, and the distance can reach 500–760 ​m. The data obtained can be used to develop an individual-based model which is capable of simulating in detail the dynamics of tree stands at the upper limit of their growth and reliably predicting the future position and pattern of treeline ecotone as growth conditions continue to improve in the face of observed climate change.

This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of an age estimation method based on the pulp⁄tooth area ratio by assessing intra- and inter-examiner agreement across five observers at different intervals. Using the same X-ray device and technical parameters, 96 digital periapical X-ray images of upper and lower canines were obtained from 28 deceased people in Central America, whose age at death ranged from 19 to 49 years. Excellent and good agreement of results were achieved, and there were no statistically significant differences. The R2 value for upper teeth (54.0%) was higher than the R2 value for lower teeth (45.7%). The highest intraclass correlation coefficient value was 0.995 (0.993–0.997) and the lowest 0.798 (0.545–0.895). Inter-examiner agreement was high with values of 0.975 (0.965–0.983) and 0.927 (0.879–0.955). This method is adequate for assessing age in missing and unidentified people, including victims of mass disasters.

Automatic Speaker Profiling (ASP), is concerned with estimating the physical traits of a person from their voice. These traits include gender, age, ethnicity, and physical parameters. Reliable ASP has a wide range of applications such as mobile shopping, customer service, robotics, forensics, security, and surveillance systems. Research in ASP has gained interest in the last decade, however, it was focused on different tasks individually, such as age, height, or gender. In this work, a review of existing studies on different tasks of speaker profiling is performed. These tasks include age estimation and classification, gender detection, height, and weight estimation This study aims to provide insight into the work of ASP, available datasets, feature extraction techniques, and learning models. Further, the performance of current speaker profiling systems is investigated. Finally, the challenges of speaker profiling are presented at the end of this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Stomatologica Croatica is the property of Acta Stomatologica Croatica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To utilize standardized clinical veterinary methods to analyze dental health in a series of Roman dog maxillae and mandibles and to compare results to modern clinical data. 28 skulls of juvenile and adult dogs from three archaeological sites in Switzerland and Germany dating to the Roman period. Standardized examination was carried out, which included metric radiographic assessment to diagnose oral pathology and estimate age at death. In one case, CT analysis was undertaken. The estimated average age at death was between three and four years old. Tooth fracture, periodontal disease, the presence of non-vital teeth, and brachycephalic skull form were found in the sample. Tooth resorption was unexpectedly noted. The study provides valuable insights into the dental health of dogs in the Roman era. Compared to modern dogs, Roman dogs examined in this study appear to have a shorter lifespan but display a high rate of pathological dental disease, while disease patterns were very similar to those of modern dogs. Dogs with pronounced brachycephalic features were found. This pilot study is the first to use standardized clinical examination and recording techniques to assess dental health in dogs from archaeological contexts. It provides insight into the dental health of Roman era dogs and offers data upon which cross-populational studies can be initiated. The sample size and geographic location of the archaeological sites were limited. Subsequent standardized studies, preferably in as many different Roman Empire regions as possible, are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Accurate methods of age estimation are more essential than ever due to the rise in undocumented individuals without proper identification, often linked to illegal immigration and criminal activities. This absence of reliable records presents challenges within the legal systems, where age thresholds in the context of children's rights vary across countries. Age 14 has global significance, as established by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the EU for administrative purposes. Accurate age estimation is crucial in medical decisions, reproductive health, and forensics. This study focuses on age estimation via dental radiographs, proposing a method for estimating the likelihood of having attained the age of 14. Orthopantomograms were analyzed from two samples, 191 Italian children (aged 5–15) and 822 Chilean subjects (aged 11–22), using dental maturity indices. These indices evaluated open tooth apices and complete root development. Statistical analysis confirmed the method's reliability in identifying individuals aged 14 or older, with sex-specific cut-offs. The proposed method particularly advocates an approach based on dental mineralization, which could surpass those relying on bone growth. The collaboration between medical experts, including pediatricians and diagnostic imaging specialists, is vital for standardized age estimation strategies. Ethical concerns regarding radiation exposure and accountability are recognized, although the method's low radiation doses are deemed acceptable. The proposed method will help health professionals to accurately predict whether or not the 14-year threshold has been reached, opening up new avenues of medico-legal interest and laying the foundations for a legal framework that would allow the pediatrician, when involved, to use a valid and recognized diagnostic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European countries have become host countries for migrants and unaccompanied minors. However, many migrants arrive without identity documents. Many methods exist to estimate age; among them, several methods using dental age have been proposed. Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy of biological age determination in a multiethnic sample using dental age estimated using three methods: Nolla, Demirjian, and the London Atlas. Orthopantomograms collected for 324 patients of various ethnicities aged from 4 to 20 years old were included. Then, for each orthopantomogram, a blind trained examiner used the three methods of age estimation. For each method, the estimated mean age was greater than the real mean age (p < 0.0001). The accuracy after 18 years old with a 1-year margin was under 50%. Demirjian's method gave a less accurate estimated age than Nolla's method (p < 0.0001) or the London Atlas (p < 0.001). The most accurate methods were those of Nolla and the London Atlas, with average absolute deviations of 1.3 and 1.2 years, respectively. Demirjian's method was much less accurate, with a deviation of around 2 years. The evaluated methods are unable to provide reliable information to determine if an individual is a minor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation based on tissues or body fluids is an important task in forensic science. The changes of DNA methylation status with age have certain rules, which can be used to estimate the age of the individuals. Therefore, it is of great significance to discover specific DNA methylation sites and develop new age estimation models. At present, statistical models for age estimation have been developed based on the rule that DNA methylation status changes with age. The commonly used models include multiple linear regression model, multiple quantile regression model, support vector machine model, artificial neural network model, random forest model, etc. In addition, there are many factors that affect the level of DNA methylation, such as the tissue specificity of methylation. This paper reviews these modeling methods and influencing factors for age estimation based on DNA methylation, with a view to provide reference for the establishment of age estimation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This communication reports the relationship between skeletal age estimates based on the sternal rib ends (using the phase method of İşcan and colleagues, later revised by Hartnett) and the chronological age at the death of 221 U.S. military casualties processed by the Scientific Analysis section of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and its predecessor laboratories from 2000 to the present. Previously published age ranges for each phase do not provide accurate estimates for a sufficient proportion of the cases for forensic use; as an example, the age ranges that accompany reference cast sets proved accurate for 55% of CIL cases. Combining the published age ranges of İşcan and Hartnett, on the other hand, proved accurate in 99% of the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The aim of the study was to develop a method for assessing the eruption of mandibular wisdom teeth based on measurements, rather than using fixed stages within the framework of the forensic age assessment. A total of 423 dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) from individuals aged 15 to 25 were examined, and measurements were taken by two independent examiners. It was possible to develop a method comparing the distances between certain dental landmarks and a simplified radiological occlusal plane. The results revealed moderate correlations between these measurements and individuals' chronological ages. Intra- and inter-rater reliability for the new method were excellent. In conclusion, this study proposes a novel and promising method for assessing the eruption status of mandibular wisdom teeth in forensic age assessment using DPRs. Further research is needed to validate these findings through reference studies. The evaluation of third molar eruption in dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) constitutes an evidence-based approach for forensic age assessment in living individuals. Existing methodologies involve staging morphological radiographic findings and comparing them to reference populations. Conversely, the existing literature presents an alternative method where the distance between third molars and the occlusal plane is measured on dental plaster models. The aim of this study was to adapt this measurement principle for DPRs and to determine correlation between eruption and chronological age. A total of 423 DPRs, encompassing 220 females and 203 males aged 15 to 25 years, were examined, including teeth 38 [FDI] and 48. Two independent examiners conducted the measurements, with one examiner providing dual assessments. Ultimately, a quotient was derived by comparing orthogonal distances from the mesial cementoenamel junctions of the second and third molars to a simplified radiological occlusal plane. This quotient was subsequently correlated with the individual's age. We estimated correlations between age and quotients, as well as inter- and intra-rater reliability. Correlation coefficients (Spearman's rho) between measurements and individuals' ages ranged from 0.555 to 0.597, conditional on sex and tooth. Intra-rater agreement (Krippendorf's alpha) ranged from 0.932 to 0.991, varying according to the tooth and sex. Inter-rater agreement ranged from 0.984 to 0.992, with distinctions drawn for different teeth and sex. Notably, all observer agreement values fell within the "very good" range. In summary, assessing the distance of third molars from a simplified occlusal plane in DPRs emerges as a new and promising method for evaluating eruption status in forensic age assessment. Subsequent reference studies should validate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional dental age estimation relies on destructive methods such as sectioning and staining, which are unpreferable when the tooth is required for evidential or archeological preservation. MicroCT is a non‐destructive, high‐resolution imaging technique that allows for accurate morphometrical measurement. Although microCT technology has been applied in a variety of dental studies, studies focusing on dental age‐related change and dental age estimation based on microCT imaging remain lacking. Based on the question: "How has microCT technology been applied in studying human age‐related tooth morphological change and dental age estimation studies?", the authors conducted a scoping review in accordance with the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) and the PRISMA‐ScR guidelines. A literature search using five major scientific databases identified 452 articles, with 11 full‐text articles being eligible to be included in the scoping review. Furthermore, 6 out of the 11 studies performed dental age estimation modeling. An overview of the parameters used in the selected articles revealed a variety of tooth characteristics, such as pulp cavity to whole tooth volume ratio, secondary dentin, as well as the diameter of root canal orifice. The findings of this scoping review highlight the extent microCT is used in studying dental age‐related changes, as well as the effectiveness of microCT in dental age estimation studies. This review serves as a guide for future forensic odontology age estimation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forensic anthropology, age estimation is one of the most important aspects of analysis. The use of radiographic data for age estimation based on the epiphyseal union is a scientifically approved and widely accepted method. X-ray images of the right wrist joint of 281 patients (143 males and 138 females) aged 12–22 years were retrospectively examined and the stages of union at the distal epiphyses of radius and ulna were assessed, to estimate age in a Qassim population, Saudi Arabia. The distal epiphyses of radius and ulna fused completely at 18–19 years in females and 19–20 years in males. Mean age gradually increased and varied with each stage of union, with a statistically significant difference of the females' and males' comparable means. Females experienced epiphyseal union one year earlier than males. The ROC curve showed 90.9% accuracy in males and 90.6% in females. The findings of this study indicate that radiographic analysis of the union at distal epiphyses of radius and ulna is a helpful technique for estimation of chronological age. When compared to other studies, the results showed limited variance among different population groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation of living or deceased individuals can be done for ethical, social and legal purposes and is of paramount importance in forensic medicine. Teeth play a crucial role in age estimation. Third molars can be used for dental age estimation as they are the only teeth still developing at the legal age of 18 years. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of Cameriere's third molar maturation index method when used with panoramic, periapical and cone beam computed tomography imaging techniques and to test its applicability. The study sample included 101 panoramic radiographs, 101 periapical radiographs and 100 CBCT images from 302 individuals aged 14–24 years. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of Cameriere's third molar maturation index method were 71%, 97% and 83.1% for panoramic radiographs, 75%, 87.2% and 81.1% for periapical radiographs, and 61.9%, 100% and 72.7% for CBCT images, respectively. Although the cut-off value of 0.08 was applicable for both sexes, it provided more accurate results in males. Although all three imaging methods were acceptable, Cameriere's third molar maturation index method provided the most accurate results on panoramic images in the Turkish population studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forensic practice, the age of suspects or victims is crucial information that aids in the resolution of cases. In recent years, age estimation based on DNA methylation has gained significant attention in forensic science. DNA methylation, an epigenetic marker, undergoes specific changes with age, making it a valuable tool for inferring the age of samples left at crime scenes. Therefore, the identification of age-related DNA methylation markers and the development of novel age estimation models are of great importance in forensic medicine. Numerous studies in the past decade have successfully established age estimation models based on DNA methylation, demonstrating excellent sensitivity and accuracy. To provide a comprehensive review, the authors of this paper conducted a systematic review of relevant articles published from 2012 to the present. We used keywords such as "forensic," "DNA methylation," and "age estimation" to retrieve pertinent articles from the Web of Science database. The review covers various aspects, including the sources of sample tissues used for age estimation, DNA methylation conversion methods, and different techniques for DNA methylation detection. In addition, the paper reviews the modeling methods for age estimation based on DNA methylation and factors that can influence DNA methylation. Overall, this review serves as a valuable reference for forensic genetics, offering insights into the latest advancements in age estimation using DNA methylation. As the field of forensic science continues to evolve, the integration of DNA methylation-based age estimation into practice is expected to enhance the accuracy and reliability of age determination in criminal investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental anthropology is a subdiscipline of biological anthropology that is concerned with the nonclinical study of teeth. As such, the discipline is distinct from that of forensic odontology, yet still of relevance within forensic anthropology and a medicolegal context. This review of dental anthropology differentiates it as a distinct field of study and highlights its role within medicolegal death investigations, particularly the role of the dentition in estimating parameters of the biological profile. The development and history of dental anthropology in relation to forensic anthropology are outlined. The differentiation of the roles of the dental/forensic anthropologist and the forensic odontologist is discussed. The potential role of the dentition in estimating parameters of the biological profile is discussed, as are the relevant biological processes. Finally, the need for advanced training in dental anthropology is emphasized, as is the potential for future research within this emerging field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• DNA methylation allows for cell-type deconvolution and biological age estimation. • Cell-type deconvolution reveals NK cell deficiency in hepatocellular carcinoma. • Increased senescence and age acceleration corresponds with NK cell deficiency. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been an approved indication for the administration of immunotherapy since 2017, but biomarkers that predict therapeutic response have remained limited. Understanding and characterizing the tumor immune microenvironment enables better classification of these tumors and may reveal biomarkers that predict immunotherapeutic efficacy. In this paper, we applied a cell-type deconvolution algorithm using DNA methylation array data to investigate the composition of the tumor microenvironment in HCC. Using publicly available and in-house datasets with a total cohort size of 57 patients, each with tumor and matched normal tissue samples, we identified key differences in immune cell composition. We found that NK cell abundance was significantly decreased in HCC tumors compared to adjacent normal tissue. We also applied DNA methylation "clocks" which estimate phenotypic aging and compared these findings to expression-based determinations of cellular senescence. Senescence and epigenetic aging were significantly increased in HCC tumors, and the degree of age acceleration and senescence was strongly associated with decreased NK cell abundance. In summary, we found that NK cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment is significantly diminished, and that this loss of NK abundance is strongly associated with increased senescence and age-related phenotype. These findings point to key interactions between NK cells and the senescent tumor microenvironment and offer insights into the pathogenesis of HCC as well as potential biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation of wounds in veterinary forensic investigations is based on the presence and amount of granulation tissue. However, accurate age assessment is challenging and new time-dependent markers are warranted to support and improve the current procedure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the expression of CD31-positive blood vessels and α-smooth muscle action (α-SMA)-positive myofibroblasts in granulation tissue in order to evaluate their value as markers for porcine wound age estimation in a veterinary forensic context. Immunohistochemical expression of CD31 and α-SMA in 14 experimental porcine skin wounds of different ages (4, 6, 8, 10, 18, 27 and 35 days) and 11 forensic porcine wound specimens (of unknown age) were evaluated. CD31-positive blood vessels and α-SMA-positive myofibroblasts were present in the granulation tissue in the experimental wounds at all time points. A significant decrease in the mean blood vessel counts was found in wounds aged 18, 27 and 35 days compared with wounds aged 6 days (P < 0.001), when assessing both the superficial and deep part of the wound bed. α-SMA expression was lower at 27 and 35 days post wounding compared with 6–18 days post wounding. Combined assessment of three parameters (mean blood vessel counts in the superficial and deep wound beds and α-SMA expression) could approximately specify the age of the wounds as either 6–18 days or ≥27 days. In two of the forensic cases a combination of the three parameters yielded results that were similar to the experimental wounds, indicating a wound age of 6–18 days or ≥27 days, respectively. In the remaining forensic cases a combination of the three parameters did not show the same expression pattern as in the experimental wounds. The results indicate that in some forensic cases the application of CD31 and α- SMA markers appeared to support the current procedure for porcine wound age estimation, but this must be combined with pathological characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic estimation of speaker characteristics, such as height, age, and gender, has various applications in forensics, surveillance, customer service, and many human-robot interaction applications. These applications are often required to produce a response promptly. This work proposes a novel approach to speaker profiling by combining filter bank initializations, such as continuous wavelets and gammatone filter banks, with one-dimensional (1D) convolutional neural networks (CNN) and residual blocks. The proposed end-to-end model goes from the raw waveform to an estimated height, age, and gender of the speaker by learning speaker representation directly from the audio signal without relying on handcrafted and pre-computed acoustic features. The conducted experiments on the TIMIT dataset show that the proposed approach outperforms many previous studies on speaker profiling with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 5.18 and 4.91 cm in height estimation and MAE of 5.36 and 6.07 years in age estimation for males and females, respectively, and achieving an accuracy of 99.98% in gender prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Age estimation is one of the prime requisites in forensic human identification cases and the criminal justice system. There are several age estimation methods using dental parameters. A method proposed by Mincer et al. which uses the mineralization stages of third molars based on Demirjian's developmental stages is less tested in the Indian population. Aim: The present study aimed to assess the developmental status of the third molars and to apply and validate Mincer et al.'s method on the Western India population. Methods and Material: A total of 306 orthopantomograms (OPGs) from 128 males and 178 females with a mean age of 16.89 years ± 3.68 were analysed. Demirjian's A-H staging was applied to record the developmental stages of 1100 third molars. Mincer et al.'s mean age of attainment was applied based on the American Whites (Caucasian) population for males and females separately using stages of #18 and #38. Results: There was a slight overestimation of the chronological age (CA) in both #18 and #38. The females showed more accurate estimated age (EA) than males. Conclusions: Mincer et al.'s method is a convenient age estimation method using the third molar's developmental stage. The mean age of attainment mentioned in the original Mincer et al.'s study can be used in the Western Indian population, with a residual value ranging from 0.21 to 0.25 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation is an important tool in the identification of the person in different civil & criminal scenarios like eligibilityforjobs, property inheritance, and sportsselection, attainment of majorityand examination of decomposed & mutilated bodies, fragmentary remains & bones. Narrowing down the age determination in simple methods will help all sections of society and majorly law competent authorities for better execution of law. In our study, majority of people got full eruption of permanent 3rd molar teeth in less than 22 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Forensic Medicine / Fayixue Zazhi is the property of Journal of Forensic Medicine Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Population irruptions of crown-of-thorns seastar (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) represent a perennial threat to Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Age determination of CoTS is challenging, thereby hindering understanding and management of this nuisance species. Telomeres, which are protective DNA structure found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes that shorten at each cell division, have been used to estimate age in wild animals. To investigate the use of telomeres in CoTS, we optimized a quantitative PCR protocol to measure relative telomere length (rTL) in CoTS for the first time. Comparing rTL among four age groups (4, 7, 16, > 24 months post-settlement), we found that adult CoTS generally exhibit shorter rTL than juveniles, which is the first evidence of age-related telomere attrition in CoTS. However, there was large within-age class variation, and no significant relationships were found between adult CoTS rTL and potential age-indicating external features. Furthermore, we found accelerated telomere attrition under sub-optimal diet, where individuals that were fed crustose coralline algae for 16 months exhibited shorter rTL than their counterparts fed on coral. A positive correlation was found between rTL of tube feet and pyloric caeca, suggesting synchronization of telomere dynamics across somatic tissues in CoTS. Overall, our results suggest that rTL could be used to classify CoTS into broad age groups, though individual variation constrains the ability to resolve specific cohorts. The present study contributes to the understanding of telomere dynamics in marine invertebrates, while laying the groundwork for future research into rTL as biomarker for age and potentially stress for CoTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under extreme conditions postmortem, dental radiography examinations can play an essential role in individual identification. In forensic odontology, individual identification traditionally compares antemortem dental records radiographs with those obtained on postmortem examination. As such, these traditional methods are vulnerable to oversights or mistakes in the individual identification of unidentified bodies. Digital technology can develop forensic odontology well. An automatic individual identification system is needed to support the forensic odontology process more easily and quickly because there are still opportunities to be created. We aimed to review the complete range of recent developments in identifying individuals from panoramic radiographs. We study methods in gender identification, age estimation, radiographic segmentation, performance analysis, and promising future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the status of human trafficking in India will be presented. Human trafficking is one of the speediest expanding and profitable types of offence not only in India but Internationally too. This form of modern-day slavery contains miscellaneous exercises of human exploitation such as sex trafficking, forced labour, marriage, begging, and illegal organ transplantation. On the other hand, central reasons or vulnerability components of trafficking such as structural inequality, culturally sanctioned traditions, deprivation or financial insecurity, bonded labour, and gender violence, which are outlying and aggravated by disintegration, have stuck around unrecognised in intellectual and policy provinces. The significance of Human trafficking impacts all nations and destroys sufferers and society while affecting social, economic, and health costs. This paper argues that the focus is required to be conveyed to such underlying sources and manners by which this corruption is expanding. There is high need to look out for the laws made for crimes related to human trafficking, to protect the human of the trafficked persons in India. Hence, it furnishes some preventive actions to restrain and deal with the nuisance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of established mathematical regression models for estimating the age of Egyptian children, develop new models that would better match this population and to evaluate the validity and reliability of these new models. Results One thousand one hundred fifteen children ranging in age between 6–14 years participated in the study. Group I consisted of 1000 children; 513 (51.3%) children were of the age group 6–

Abstract Aiming at the problem of long time‐consuming and low accuracy of existing age estimation approaches, a new age estimation method using Gabor feature fusion, and an improved atomic search algorithm for feature selection is proposed. Firstly, texture features of five scales and eight directions in the face region are extracted by Gabor wavelet transform. The statistical histogram is introduced to encode and fuse the directional index with the largest feature value on Gabor scales. Secondly, a new hybrid feature selection algorithm chaotic improved atom search optimisation with simulated annealing (CIASO‐SA) is presented, which is based on an improved atomic search algorithm and the simulated annealing algorithm. Besides, the CIASO‐SA algorithm introduces a chaos mechanism during atomic initialisation, significantly improving the convergence speed and accuracy of the algorithm. Finally, a support vector machine (SVM) is used to get classification results of the age group. To verify the performance of the proposed algorithm, face images with three resolutions in the Adience dataset are tested. Using the Gabor real part fusion feature at 48 × 48 resolution, the average accuracy and 1‐off accuracy of age classification exhibit a maximum of 60.4% and 85.9%, respectively. Obtained results prove the superiority of the proposed algorithm over the state‐of‐the‐art methods, which is of great referential value for application to the mobile terminals.

Age estimation from face images is one of the significant topics in the field of machine vision, which is of great interest to controlling age access and targeted marketing. In this article, there are two main stages for human age estimation; the first stage consists of extracting features from the face areas by using Pseudo Zernike Moments (PZM), Active Appearance Model (AAM), and Bio-Inspired Features (BIF). In the second step, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Support Vector Regression (SVR) algorithms are used to predict the age range of face images. The proposed method has been assessed utilizing the renowned databases of IMDB-WIKI and WIT-DB. In general, from all results obtained in the experiments, we have concluded that the proposed method can be chosen as the best method for Age estimation from face images.

Abstract Background Age estimation has paramount importance for the forensic practitioner. Depending on the timing of fusion, the spheno-occipital synchondrosis will be open during childhood and then later fuse during adulthood. Since there have been a lot of inconsistencies in terms of fusion degree, that can be attributed to variability in population or methodology. The aim of the present study was to determine the age of beginning of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis in the South Indian population using computed tomography. Results The study reported a mean age of 8.38 ± 1.21 for males and 8.2 ± 1.16 for females in the stage 0 (completely open) category. Spheno-occipital synchondrosis began to fuse (stage 1) at the mean age of 11.64 ± 1.19 for males and 10.21 ± 1.19 for females. Conclusions Spheno-occipital synchondrosis begins to close at the age of less than 15 years in males. Similarly, for females, the spheno-occipital synchondrosis begins to close at the age of less than 14 years. Also, a strong sexual dimorphism is seen as each stage of synchondrosis and starts earlier in females compared to males. In addition, the study also showed the degree of fusion increasing with age. This estimation will not only help in forensic and anthropological studies but also in assessing craniofacial growth in orthodontics.

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to obtain a highly accurate and objective sex and age estimation by using the parameters of maxillary molar and canine teeth obtained from cone beam computed tomography images in the input of machine learning algorithms. Cone beam computed tomography images of 240 people aged between 25 and 54 were randomly selected from the archive systems of the hospital and transferred to Horos Medikal. 3D curved multiplanar reconstruction was applied to these images and a 3D image was obtained. The resulting image was brought to the orthogonal plane and the measurements were made by superimposing them. Results The results were grouped in four different age groups (25–30, 31–36, 37–49, 50–54) and recorded. As a result of our study, the highest accuracy rate was found as 0.81 in sex estimation with ADA Boost Classifier algorithm, while in age estimation, the highest accuracy rate was found as 0.84 between 25–30 and 31–36 age groups with random forest algorithm, as 0.74 between 25–30 and 37–49 age groups with random forest and ADA Boost Classifier algorithms and as 0.85 between 25–30 and 50–54 age groups with random forest algorithm. Conclusions Our study differs from other studies in two aspects; the first is the selection of a sensitive method such as cone beam computed tomography, and the second is the selection of machine learning algorithms. As a result of our study, the highest accuracy rate was found as 0.81 in sex estimation and as 0.85 in age estimation with parameters of maxillary canine and molar teeth.

Automatic age estimation has garnered significant interest among researchers because of its potential practical uses. The current systematic review was undertaken to critically appraise developments and performance of AI models designed for automated estimation using dento-maxillofacial radiographic images. In order to ensure consistency in their approach, the researchers followed the diagnostic test accuracy guidelines outlined in PRISMA-DTA for this systematic review. They conducted an electronic search across various databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the Saudi Digital Library to identify relevant articles published between the years 2000 and 2024. A total of 26 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria were subjected to a risk of bias assessment using QUADAS-2, which revealed a flawless risk of bias in both arms for the patient-selection domain. Additionally, the certainty of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach. AI technology has primarily been utilized for automated age estimation through tooth development stages, tooth and bone parameters, bone age measurements, and pulp–tooth ratio. The AI models employed in the studies achieved a remarkably high precision of 99.05% and accuracy of 99.98% in the age estimation for models using tooth development stages and bone age measurements, respectively. The application of AI as an additional diagnostic tool within the realm of age estimation demonstrates significant promise.

The mastoid, bi-mastoid and occipital triangles at the base of the skull are known to be good indicators of sexual dimorphism. However, few studies assess age and sex in the subadult group. Therefore, the aim was to determine the age and sex of the human crania from a South African (KZN) Black population utilizing the triangles of the base of the skull of individuals between 0 and 18 years. The sample consisted of 64 computed tomography (CT) scans (32 male and 32 female) between 0 and 18 years of age. Three-dimensional reconstructed images and CT images were analysed using SLICER 3D. The following linear parameters were measured: the mastoidale - porion; porion - asterion; mastoidale - asterion; left mastoidale - opisthion; right mastoidale - opisthion; right mastoidale - left mastoidale; left asterion - lambda; right asterion - lambda; left asterion - right asterion. The study found that the mastoid, bi-mastoid and occipital triangles are good indicators for sexual dimorphism between the ages of 0–18 years. However, the mean values of the total area were higher in males than females. When comparing laterality, the right side of the mastoid triangle was more significant than the left (p-value=0.016), with the length of the mastoidale-porion being the only significant linear measurement. Results show that the linear measurement mastoidale-porion is highly correlated to age, with mean values of r = 0.87 and 0.88 for the left and right sides, respectively. Age is a confounding factor in sexual dimorphism. Additionally, the mastoid triangle is more accurate in age estimation.

Estimating the age-at-death of unidentified human skeletal remains is essential in medico-legal cases. Currently, the pubic symphyseal face and iliac auricular surface provide noteworthy indicators of adult ageing. However, as the pelvis may not always be available in some medico-legal cases, a need exists for substitute methods derived from other skeletal components. This study was conducted to derive a new method of estimating age-at-death using patellar morphology. The study sampled 104 paired patellae of known age-at-death and sex. Each patella was scored based on the severity of bone lipping at the base and the development of auricular marginal osteophytes. A composite scoring system was used to integrate the two scores and produce a representative score for each patella (0, 1, 2, 3). The relationship between patellar morphological changes and age-at-death was evaluated using a Spearman ranked correlation test (rho). Additionally, one-way ANOVA was used to assess age-at-death differences between composite scores. In both sex groups, age-at-death displayed a very strong, positive monotonic relationship with bone lipping (rho = 0.777 in males, rho = 0.752 in females) and auricular marginal osteophytes (rho = 0.622 in males, rho = 0.859 in females). In addition, patellar composite scores showed a stronger age-at-death correlation (rho = 0.888 in females, rho = 0.873 in males, p

Age estimation in adults is a complicated task because of various external factors occur concurrently with increasing age. The geometric morphometric method (GMM) is an approach that focuses on shape analysis and is widely recognized for its high reliability and reproducibility. The aim of this study was to explore the variation of cervical vertebrae among different age groups of the Malaysian population by GMM. Lateral skull radiographs of 432 subjects comprising four adult age groups; young adult age group (20–30 years old), early middle age group (31–40 years old), late middle age group (41–50 years old) and, elder adult age group (51–60 years old) were selected. Fifty-three 2-dimensional (2D) landmarks were applied to the digitalized radiographs by TPSDig2 (Version 2.31) software. Geometric morphometric analysis was performed by MorphoJ software. Results showed that the first three principal components (PC) contributed to 47.71 % of the cervical vertebrae variation and were shown in both lollipop and wireframe graphs. Procrustes ANOVA indicated that the shape was significantly different among different age groups. Canonical variate analysis revealed significant differences of both mahalanobis and procrustes distances among age groups with substantial individual overlap within groups. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) showed a correct classification rate for 61.5 % of cases respective to age groups. In conclusion, this study found significant differences in the shape of cervical vertebrae among different age groups of the Malaysian population using the GMM.

Background: Forensic age estimation using multiple maturity indicators necessitates investigation of correlation between various techniques. This study intended to compare and evaluate the correlation between skeletal age using Greulich-Pyle atlas, dental age by Acharya's modification of Demirjian's technique and London Atlas method of Tooth Development, and age estimated by body developmental index with chronological age. Orthopantomograms and left hand-wrist radiographs of one hundred seventy-four subjects (64 males and 70 females) in the age group of 8–20 years were evaluated by age estimation methods. Physical parameters including height, weight, biacromial breadth, and biliospinale breadth were measured. The data were entered in the SPSS software (Version 27.0). Comparison between age estimation methods was done using Student's t-test for paired samples. Unpaired t-test was utilized for gender-wise comparison of age. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to assess correlation between the various methods. Results: Significant mean differences were noted between the chronological age and all the age estimation methods when Greulich-Pyle atlas method (− 0.43), modified Demirjian's method (− 0.31), London Atlas Method (− 0.62), and body developmental index (− 0.51) were employed respectively. Inter-group comparison between all methods yielded no significant differences except for modified Demirjian's method and London Atlas method (mean difference = 0.31). All the age estimation techniques showed strong correlation with chronological age; the best was provided by the Greulich-Pyle method (r = 0.92). Conclusion: All the assessed age estimation techniques show strong correlation with chronological age. Acharya's modified Demirjian's method (dental age) and Greulich-Pyle atlas method (skeletal age) showed good accuracy and strong correlation with chronological age, suggesting that these methods can be used simultaneously and/or interchangeably for age assessment in children and adolescents of Eastern Indian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current age estimation datasets often have a skewed long-tail distribution with significant data imbalance, rather than an ideal uniform distribution for each category. The existing age estimation algorithms that rely on label distribution do not leverage data density information to address the issue of data imbalance. To solve the aforementioned problem, this paper proposes a novel method based on cost-sensitive learning, namely Data-Imbalance Adaptive Age Regression (DIAAR), for age estimation. DIAAR consists of two main modules: the adaptive soft label (ASL) module and the Data Density Smoothing (DDS) module. The ASL module embeds soft labels in the form of probability in the age regression. It assigns different degrees of soft labels adaptively to head and tail data based on their density, which helps balance the dataset. The DDS module further addresses data imbalance by revising data density through kernel smoothing and reweighting the loss function accordingly. Experiments on two benchmark datasets show that DIAAR can effectively deal with data imbalance and improve the accuracy of age estimation, achieving an average improvement of 8% over the baseline models. Moreover, this approach can be applied to various methods based on convolutional neural network models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between September and October 2021, a total of seven adult specimens (five females and two males) of Umbrina ronchus Valenciennes, 1843 were caught in the waters off Portopalo di Capo Passero and Porto Empedocle (the south-eastern coast of Sicily). This was the first record of this species in the Strait of Sicily and the deepest record of this species within the Mediterranean Sea. Individuals of U. ronchus ranged from 180–240 mm total length and 69–149 g total weight. Gonad stages ranged from maturing to spent/resting. Otoliths sagittae were oval shaped with high rectangular yet complex contour. Counting the growth zones by transverse section, the estimated age ranged from 3 to 5 years. Since sciaenids are considered a high-longevity species, a quite recent settlement of U. ronchus in the Strait of Sicily is suggested. As the biogeographic nature of the Strait of Sicily is the main boundary between the western basin, which is characterized by a high affinity for (sub)tropical Atlantic species such as U. ronchus, and the eastern basin, which has an affinity for the indo-pacific warm waters species, the present records could be the limit to the eastward expansion of the geographic distribution of U. ronchus in the Mediterranean Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate prediction of age older than 18 years in sub-adults using tooth tissue volumes from MRI segmentation of the entire 1st and 2nd molars, and to establish a model for combining information from two different molars. Materials and methods: We acquired T2 weighted MRIs of 99 volunteers with a 1.5-T scanner. Segmentation was performed using SliceOmatic (Tomovision©). Linear regression was used to analyse the association between mathematical transformation outcomes of tissue volumes, age, and sex. Performance of different outcomes and tooth combinations were assessed based on the p-value of the age variable, common, or separate for each sex, depending on the selected model. The predictive probability of being older than 18 years was obtained by a Bayesian approach using information from the 1st and 2nd molars both separately and combined. Results: 1st molars from 87 participants, and 2nd molars from 93 participants were included. The age range was 14-24 years with a median age of 18 years. The transformation outcome (high signal soft tissue + low signal soft tissue)/total had the strongest statistical association with age for the lower right 1st (p= 7.1*10-4 for males) and 2nd molar (p=9.44×10-7 for males and p=7.4×10-10 for females). Combining the lower right 1st and 2nd molar in males did not increase the prediction performance compared to using the best tooth alone. Conclusion: MRI segmentation of the lower right 1st and 2nd molar might prove useful in the prediction of age older than 18 years in sub-adults. We provided a statistical framework to combine the information from two molars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an assessment of the accuracy of the Fazekas and Kósa and Nagaoka methods by measuring the squamosal and petrous portions of the temporal bone, whose application in the Mediterranean population is not recommended. Therefore, our proposal is a new formula to estimate the age of skeletal remains from individuals at 5 months gestational age to 1.5 postnatal years with the temporal bone. The proposed equation was calculated on a Mediterranean sample identified from the cemetery of San José, Granada (n = 109). The mathematical model used is the exponential regression of the estimated age for each measure and sex, and both in combination, using an inverse calibration and cross-validation model. In addition, the estimation errors and the percentage of individuals within a 95% confidence interval were calculated. The lateral development of the skull, especially the growth of the length of the petrous portion, showed the greatest accuracy, while its counterpart, the width of the pars petrosa, showed the lowest accuracy, so its use is discouraged. The positive results from this paper should be useful in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forensic investigations, age estimation is vital for determining whether a suspect is under or over the legally defined adult age. With breakthroughs in RNA sequencing technology, small noncoding RNAs have provided new ways to solve problems related to the age estimation of trace or aged samples, owing to their small molecular weight and better stability. In our previous study, we had applied miRNAs for the age estimation of bloodstains; however, further improvement of the existing model is needed. PIWI-interacting RNAs (PiRNAs), which are 24–32 nt noncoding small RNA molecules involved in the PIWI-piRNA pathway, play an important role in the aging process. In this study, we explored the possibility of simultaneously analyzing piRNAs and miRNAs for better age estimation purpose. Through massively parallel sequencing, five age-related piRNAs were identified in blood samples that had been stored for eight years. Further real-time PCR analysis revealed that two piRNAs (piR-000753 and piR-020548) showed relatively higher efficiency in age estimation. Additionally, two age-related miRNAs (miR-324-3p and miR-330-5p) were used to build the estimation model. Among all algorithms tested, gradient boosting showed the lowest mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) values (3.171 and 4.403 years, respectively) for the validation dataset (n = 110). The errors of the model were less than 5 years and 10 years for 81.82% and 96.36% of the samples, respectively. The results suggest that the combined use of piRNA and miRNA markers may increase the accuracy of age estimation, and our new model has great potential for application in forensic casework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore the correlation between morphological changes on the surface of the pubic symphysis and age using computed tomography，and to develop an adult bone age estimation model using machine learning algorithms. Methods A total of 649 abdominal CT samples from Chinese Han population in Shaanxi Province aged 10 to 90 years were collected as the training set. After acquiring the 3D reconstructed model of the pubic symphysis，7 morphological features (ventral margin, dorsal margin, lower extremity of symphysial surface, upper extremity of symphysial surface, ventral beveling, pubic tubercle, and ridges and furrows on the symphysial surface) were selected with reference to the existing scoring system in order to establish a new scoring system for the morphological features of the pubic symphysis，and six machine learning regression algorithms were used to establish age estimation models for males and females, respectively. Each model was tested using 85 samples of clinical CT (35 males and 50 females)，96 samples of post-mortem CT (PMCT)(51 males and 45 females), and 82 samples of real pubic symphysis (40 males and 42 females), respectively, to select the optimal age inference model. Results The scores obtained for the features all had a strong correlation with age (r>0.700，P<0.001). The AdaBoost model performed best in the male samples, with lower mean absolute error (MAE) of 5.23, 7.04, and 7.55 years after testing on the clinical CT 3D reconstruction model, PMCT 3D reconstruction model, and real pubic symphysis 3D reconstruction model, respectively. The MAE was less than 10 years in the age interval of 40 to 70 years. The GBR model performed best in the female samples and also yielded lower MAE after examination on the clinical CT 3D reconstruction model, the PMCT 3D reconstruction model, and the real pubic symphysis 3D reconstruction model, which were 5.16，5.02, and 5.71 years, respectively. The MAE was less than 10 years in the age interval of 10 to 70 years. Conclusion The age inference model constructed in this study has a degree of reliability and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contactless biometric technologies such as palm vein recognition have gained more relevance in the present and immediate future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since certain soft biometrics like gender and age can generate variations in the visualization of palm vein patterns, these soft traits can reduce the penetration rate on large-scale databases for mass individual recognition. Due to the limited availability of public databases, few works report on the existing approaches to gender and age classification through vein pattern images. Moreover, soft biometric classification commonly faces the problem of imbalanced data class distributions, representing a limitation of the reported approaches. This paper introduces weighted extreme learning machine (W-ELM) models for gender and age classification based on palm vein images to address imbalanced data problems, improving the classification performance. The highlights of our proposal are that it avoids using a feature extraction process and can incorporate a weight matrix in optimizing the ELM model by exploiting the imbalanced nature of the data, which guarantees its application in realistic scenarios. In addition, we evaluate a new class distribution for soft biometrics on the VERA dataset and a new multi-label scheme identifying gender and age simultaneously. The experimental results demonstrate that both evaluated W-ELM models outperform previous existing approaches and a novel CNN-based method in terms of the accuracy and G-mean metrics, achieving accuracies of 98.91% and 99.53% for gender classification on VERA and PolyU, respectively. In more challenging scenarios for age and gender–age classifications on the VERA dataset, the proposed method reaches accuracies of 97.05% and 96.91%, respectively. The multi-label classification results suggest that further studies can be conducted on multi-task ELM for palm vein recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]