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La déformation artificielle du crâne est une pratique ubiquitaire qui consiste à utiliser des dispositifs externes pour modifier la forme de la tête des nouveau-nés. Les deux principaux types de déformation sont les déformations antéropostérieures (« têtes plates ») et les déformations circonférentielles (« têtes longues »). Les outils de déformation exercent principalement des forces mécaniques sur le front et l'occiput. La forme du front est ainsi au premier plan dans le diagnostic, la classification et la compréhension des motifs culturels motivant ces pratiques. Les déformations intentionnelles du crâne ont aujourd'hui disparu mais elles ont persisté jusqu'au début du vingtième siècle, notamment en France. De nombreuses données anthropologiques et historiques sont disponibles et permettent d'explorer l'origine, la nature, les motivations et les conséquences de ces pratiques dans notre pays. Artificial skull deformations were performed in all cultures since Prehistoric times using external devices, to permanently modify the shape of the head of newborns. Two types of deformations are reported: (1) antero-posterior deformations ("flat heads") and (2) circumferential deformations ("long heads"). Deformation devices exert mechanical forces on the forehead and the occiput: forehead shape is thus a major source of information for diagnosis, classification and on the culture significance of artificial skull deformations. France was the major European country for artificial skull deformations, and Toulouse was the epicenter of this practice. Numerous dry skulls and exceptional historical data are available to explore the origins, the mechanisms, the motivations, and the consequences of "Toulouse" artificial skull deformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "In Memoriam: Michael H. Crawford (1939–2024)" published in the American Journal of Human Biology pays tribute to Dr. Michael H. Crawford, a pioneer in the fields of human biology and biological anthropology. Dr. Crawford's groundbreaking work over a career spanning more than 50 years significantly impacted our understanding of human diversity and origins. His research, mentorship, and leadership within the Human Biology Association left a lasting legacy in the field. Born in Shanghai to Russian and Scottish American expatriates, Dr. Crawford's life journey and scholarly contributions reflect a remarkable breadth of scholarship and a commitment to training the next generation of scholars in anthropological genetics and human biology. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the history of bioarchaeology from the beginning of the twentieth century, proxied by representation in publications as reported annually by the editors-in-chief of the American Journal of Physical/Biological Anthropology. Embedded within this history is the career trajectory of Jane E. Buikstra, who coined the term in relationship to the study of archaeologically recovered human remains in 1976. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The osteological paradox recognizes that the presence of lesions is not always directly related with increased mortality. When combined with the clinical, historical, and epidemiological literature on scurvy, survivorship analysis, a form of statistical analysis to assess the relationship between the presence of diseases in the archeological record and survival, helps determine the overall burden of the disease both in terms of morbidity and mortality. This article explores the relationship between scurvy and survivorship in 26 adults from Man Bac, a Neolithic site from northern Vietnam together with prepublished evidence of scurvy in the nonadult population (n = 44). Methods: Diagnosis of scurvy included differential diagnosis combined with the Snoddy, A. M. E., Buckley, H. R., Elliott, G. E., Standen, V. G., Arriaza, B. T., & Halcrow, S. E. (2018). Macroscopic features of scurvy in human skeletal remains: A literature synthesis and diagnostic guide. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 167(4), 876–895. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23699 threshold criteria and the Brickley, M. B., & Morgan, B. (2023). Assessing diagnostic certainty for scurvy and rickets in human skeletal remains. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 181, 637–645 diagnostic certainty approaches. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were produced to assess the relationship between the presence of probable scurvy and age‐at‐death. Results: The prevalence of probable scurvy in adults (35%) was considerably lower than reported for the nonadults (80%). Almost all lesions observed in the adults were in a mixed stage of healing. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated no difference in survivorship between infants and children (<15 years) with or without probable scurvy, whereas a meaningful difference was observed for the adults and adolescents (15+ years). Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that scurvy considerably decreased survivorship to older age categories. The degree of lesion remodeling, however, indicates that scurvy was not necessarily the direct cause of death but contributed to an overall disease burden that was ultimately fatal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although ethical reforms in biological anthropology have gained ground in recent years, there is still a scarcity of ethical standards for work involving historical documented collections (HDCs) at US museums and universities. These collections of deceased individuals were created in the late 19th to mid‐20th centuries under anatomy laws that targeted socially marginalized communities and allowed for the dissection of these individuals without their consent. Due to the extensive information associated with the individuals and made available to researchers, these collections have served as foundational resources for theory and methods development in biological anthropology into the 21st century. Recognizing the need for ethical guidelines for research, teaching and training, community engagement, and curation involving HDCs, we held a workshop called "Ethical Futures for Curation, Research, and Teaching in Biological Anthropology" on November 15–17, 2021. Here we summarize the conversations and major points of consensus among the workshop participants on these topics in order to advance these ethical considerations more broadly across the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to reduce subjectivity bias in scoring dental macrowear quantity and direction using the Brabant index, which previously relied solely on written descriptions. To achieve this, we present a new, optimized visual guide incorporating buccal and lingual scores. The optimization process involved conceptualizing and illustrating a visual guide using Holocene southern African hunter‐gatherer and herder teeth, featuring both buccal and lingual scores for multicuspid teeth. The guide was hand‐drawn using a stippling technique and digitized to depict surface details for each wear stage and tooth type. We conducted intra‐ and inter‐observer assessments to evaluate the optimized method using both the original and optimized Brabant indices. Statistical analysis was performed in R using Cohen's kappa for direction and Cohen's weighted kappa for quantity. Intra‐observer results for the original method yielded kappa values of 0.84 for direction and 0.94 for quantity, while the optimized version both resulted in improved values of 0.99. Inter‐observer results revealed some differences between an inexperienced and an experienced observer. The inexperienced observer achieved kappa scores of 0.20 for direction and 0.86 for quantity with the original method, and 0.17 and 0.80, respectively, with the optimized version. The experienced observer's results using the original index were 0.66 for direction and 0.89 for quantity, and 0.75 and 0.96, respectively, with the optimized version. These findings demonstrate that the optimized method enhances data reliability for experienced observers, highlighting the value of a published visual guide and multicuspid scoring adjustments. However, reduced or unappreciable changes in accuracies for the inexperienced observer illustrate the need for dental expertise when scoring for dental wear, even with a modified method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Age at death estimation is a key element to many research questions in biological anthropology, archeology, and forensic science. Dental cementum is a tissue of choice for the estimation of age at death in adult individuals as it continues deposition for the entirety of an individual's life. Previous works have devised regression formulas correlating cementum thickness to age at death. However, interpopulation variances are unknown, and it is therefore not clear whether regressions based on a single population are applicable to individuals with different ancestries. Materials and Methods: Here, we use a sample (n = 52) of teeth from individuals with known age at tooth extraction/death of European, African, and East Asian ancestry to assess whether there are interpopulations differences in cementum growth rate. We measured growth rate in four different areas (2nd and 5th decile of both the lingual and buccal aspect of the root) of each tooth and used nonparametric tests to evaluate population differences in growth rate between homologous regions of the teeth. Results: The results of the analyses show that, even after controlling for tooth size, individuals of European ancestry have significantly lower growth rates than those of both African and East Asian ancestry across all four tooth areas. Discussion: These results call into question the applicability of the regression formulas derived from European ancestry individuals to individuals of other ancestries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craniofacial development is a critical aspect of pediatric growth, influencing fields such as physical anthropology, pediatrics, forensic sciences, and clinical practice. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the trends in craniofacial measurements and indices in Latvian children aged 1–15. Methods: The anthropometrical measurements (head circumference, length, width, facial length, and width) were conducted on 375 children according to the guidelines by R. Martin, K. Saller, and J. Prīmanis at the Anthropology laboratory at the Institute of Anatomy and Anthropology, Rīga Stradiņš University. The cephalic index (CI) and the facial or prosopic index (PI) were calculated, allowing for a detailed examination of cranial and facial proportions. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including the Pearson Chi-square test and the Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: The findings revealed a consistent increase in head circumference with age, with boys generally having slightly larger heads than girls. The boys and girls exhibited growth in head length and width, particularly noticeable between 1 and 2 years of age. Facial length and width increased with age, with boys typically having longer facial lengths and broader faces than girls. The most common cephalic index category is mesocephaly, which accounts for 52.85% of the population, followed by dolichocephaly at 32.94%. Brachycephaly and hyperbrachycephaly are less prevalent, representing 11.36% and 2.86% of the population. Regarding the facial index categories, hypereuryprosopic is the most prevalent, representing 45.54% of the population, closely followed by euryprosopic at 43.74%. Mesoprosopic is significantly less common, representing only 9.95%. The least common categories are leptoprosopic and hyperleptoprosopic, with prevalences of 0.64% and 0.12%, respectively. The indices analysis showed variations across age groups, with dolichocephaly being more common at younger ages and decreasing over time. Brachycephaly and hyperbrachycephaly remained relatively stable or decreased slightly with age, while mesocephaly displayed less variation. The relationship between the FI and CI in younger age groups was typically weak to moderate and inverse, with a significance level of p < 0.001 or p < 0.01. However, no meaningful correlation was observed in older children aged 14–15. Conclusions: This study provides valuable insights into the craniofacial development of Latvian children, highlighting the measurements, cranial and facial types, and their variations across age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

В статье представлены результаты исследования мужского черепа со следами трепанации. Погребение, где обнаружен краниум, относится к Ходжалы-Кедабекской археологической культуре эпохи поздней бронзы-раннего железа и было выявлено в ходе археологических раскопок Я.И. Гуммеля в Гёйгёльском районе. Трепанационное отверстие, общими размерами 2,4 × 2 см, округлой формы, расположено на венечном шве, на соединении лобной и левой теменной кости. Краниотомия была совершена методом скобления и прорезывания. На черепе присутствуют следы воспалительной реакции и заживления кости. Пациент прожил определённое время после операции. Манипуляция была осуществлена, вероятно, в медицинских целях. На черепе отмечены также дискретные признаки и маркеры физиологического стресса. В настоящее время известно 8 случаев трепанации, датируемых концом II — началом I тыс. до н.э. с территории Азербайджана: из них два (мужчины) совершены прижизненно в медицинских целях методом скобления и прорезывания (один успешно, второй — окончился смертью пациента); шесть в ритуально-символических целях, из них четыре — прижизненно выполнены методом прижигания (мужчина, женщина, два взрослых индивидуума) и два — посмертно (женщина и мужчина), методом прорезывания.

Estimating the biological sex is one of the key objectives in a forensic investigation involving unidentified human skeletal remains. The femur is sexually dimorphic and has been extensively employed for the assessment of sex in different populations. The purposes of this article include a detailed macroanatomical characterization of the femur in a modern reference sample of the Spanish population (N = 226; Cemetery of San José in Granada, housed in the Physical Anthropology Laboratory of the University of Granada), based on 15 measurements of the proximal, distal and diaphyseal regions, and the development of univariable and multivariable models that enable the prediction of sex from complete or fragmentary femora. Univariable models were developed with C4.5, a decision-tree algorithm. Furthermore, univariable and multivariable models were generated through logistic regression (LR) with stepwise selection procedures. The models were able to correctly estimate sex in up to 91.2% of the individuals, providing high classification accuracy and low bias under cross-validation. Logistic regression models provide a probabilistic estimate of sex, that acknowledges both the Daubert standard and the fact that biological sex is not strictly dichotomous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, first-year lectures in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) and Mississauga (UTM) were offered via online asynchronous delivery, which challenged the ability of instructors to interact with students and gauge levels of understanding, interest, and engagement. This teaching brief describes one approach used to connect with students and build community in a remote-learning environment. In a low-stakes assessment, students introduced themselves, specified from where in the world they were learning, and were invited to submit photographs from home. Photos were submitted from all over Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and were integrated into lectures with short discussions on the evolutionary history and significance of these places. This exercise was successful in creating community by integrating student experience directly into course material, emphasizing geographic and cultural diversity, and showcasing this diversity for all students, whether learning on campus or abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The topic of osseous variations of the craniocervical junction is a complex morphological and embryological chapter of human anatomy, with a possible impact on neurogical and vascular functionality in this morphological variable region. Material & methods: An until now undescribed anatomical variation of the exoccipital part of the occipital bone has been observed after maceration at the outer skull base of a West-European 68-year-old male body donor. Results: On both sites of the foramen magnum accessory osseous processes were observed that arise from the jugular process and point towards the lateral margin of the foramen magnum. On the left site this process forms a full arc that bridges the condylar fossa completely. Conclusion: The observed osseous bridge over the condylar fossa has not been reported on before and can be explained by the partial persistence of a primordial vertebra between atlas and occipital bone: the Proatlas. The resulting accessory structure may affect due to its topographic conditions the V3-Segment of the vertebral artery and its accompanying nerves, and thus, play a role in diagnosis and therapy of vascular and/or neurological symptoms of head and neck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern physical anthropology increasingly employs non-invasive methods that use 3D models representing the human body. Frequently, these are 3D models of a person's physical appearance, i.e., face or body. A traditional approach to analyse these records is to process discrete points (landmarks, feature points) collected manually on the model surface. The digitization of landmarks and associated errors have been sufficiently studied in the context of the human face, due to its functional and aesthetic importance. However, other parts of the human body have not received the same level of attention. The aim of the present study was to quantify the error of body landmarks when collected in 3D fullbody models and to explore how it relates to other model properties, such as a demographic and somatic indicators. The study tested two datasets of 10 body landmarks acquired in 60 models (32 males and 28 females). The data acquisition was carried out during the time span of 14 days. The magnitude of the digitization error for each point was acquired and tested between groups defined according to their anatomical location (shoulders, arms, legs; torso and limbs or body side), sex, age, height and body type. The results of this study showed that the error of digitising landmarks in a 3D model was greater compared to the error reported in the literature when acquiring landmarks on the human body. The digitization error was independent of participants' age, sex, height, and body type but was correlated with the anatomical location, where the upper chest, neck, and back on the knee yielded the highest digitization errors. In addition, this study showed that landmarks located on the shoulders and arms exhibited an error which was correlated negatively with the volume of the lower and upper half of the body and positively with the body depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preferred tool for conceptualizing, determining, and claiming relations of kinship, ancestry, and descent among humans are diagrams. For this reason, and at the same time to avoid a reduction to biology as transported by terms such as kinship, ancestry, and descent, we introduce the expression diagrammatics of relatedness. We seek to understand the enormous influence that especially tree diagrams have had as a way to express and engage with human relatedness, but hold that this success can only be adequately understood by attending to what in fact are broader diagrammatic practices. These practices bring to light that diagrams of relatedness do not simply make visible natural connections, but create or deny relations in particular ways and for particular reasons. In this special section, contributors investigate diagrams of relatedness in genealogy, heredity, as well as biological and social anthropology. Conceiving of diagrams as techniques that transcend such binaries as 'thought and action' and 'image and text', we aim at an understanding of how they were constructed and how they functioned in particular epistemic, cultural, and political contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eastern Tianshan Mountain (ETS) region in Xinjiang, China, has played a crucial role as a major highway for large‐scale human migrations and technological exchanges across Eurasia throughout history. Understanding the genetic makeup of past populations holds significant importance in comprehending human mobility in this region. Here, we report genome‐wide ancient DNA for the two individuals whose origins remain uncertain, found at the Dahe ancient city site in the ETS region. Our results indicate that although both individuals display a higher genetic affinity to Asian populations, one individual shows some genetic sharing with South Asians, while the other shares more affinity with populations from Northeastern Asia. Radiocarbon dating shows that the two human remains were not deposited simultaneously. Overall, the combined genetic, physical anthropology and radiocarbon evidence strongly suggests that the ETS region, situated at the heart of the Silk Road, has been a crossroads of diverse populations coexisting between the 8th and 11th centuries. Additionally, the genetic ancestry sharing with the Bronze Age Tarim mummies suggested a long‐term residual of indigenous ancestry in Xinjiang and showed that autochthonous deep Asian ancestry had left their genetic legacy into the historical populations of Xinjiang despite a spanning of over three millennia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age estimation methods through the metric study of bones in non-adult individuals are a frequently used tool in Biological and Forensic Anthropology; however, few methodological validation studies are available, given the limited number of adequate samples for their study. In this context, the aim of this work is to test the effectiveness of the methods of Fazekas and Kósa (1978), Saunders et al. (1993), Rissech and Black (2007) and Cardoso et al. (2017), for age estimation through the measurements of the scapula, in the non-adult osteological collection of the Anthropology Laboratory of the University of Granada (Spain), one of the most representative identified non-adult collections internationally. For this purpose, nine different measurements of the scapula were taken from a total of 149 non-adult individuals, applying the regression formulae proposed by the different authors and verifying their accuracy. Results have shown the existence of significant differences between the real age and the estimated age in almost all the tested methods, with degrees of error that differ from those obtained in the original study populations. Based on the obtained results, it is recommended to use the method of Cardoso et al. in postnatal individuals, always adjusting the degrees of error with those obtained in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forensic anthropology, osteological sex estimation methods are continuously reevaluated and updated to improve classification accuracies. Therefore, to gain a comprehensive understanding of recent trends in sex estimation research in forensic anthropology, a content analysis of articles published between 2000 and 2022 in Forensic Science International, the Journal of Forensic Sciences, the International Journal of Legal Medicine, the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, and Forensic Anthropology, was performed. The main goals of this content analysis were to (1) examine trends in metric versus morphological research, (2) examine which areas of the skeleton have been explored, (3) examine which skeletal collections and population affinities have been most frequently utilized, and (4) determine which statistical methods were commonly implemented. A total of 440 articles were coded utilizing MAXQDA and the resulting codes were exported for analysis. Statistical analyses were conducted utilizing the Cochran‐Armitage and Jonckheere‐Terpstra tests for trends, as well as Fisher–Freeman–Halton tests. The results demonstrate that sex estimation research published in these journals has prioritized metric over morphological methods. Further, the most utilized skeletal regions continue to be the skull and pelvis, while the most popular classification statistics continue to be discriminant function analysis and logistic regression. This study also demonstrates that a substantial portion of research has been conducted utilizing U.S. and Europe‐based collections and limited populations. Based on these results, future sex estimation research must continue exploring the use of long bones and other postcranial elements, testing newer methods of analysis, as well as developing population‐inclusive methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africania: Inonu University Journal of African Studies is the property of Africania 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.)

Copyright of Arkeoloji Dergisi is the property of Ege University 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.)

Objectives: Over the past few years, several methods have been proposed to improve the accuracy of age estimation in infants with a focus on dental development as a reliable marker. However, traditional approaches have limitations in efficiently combining information from different teeth and features. In order to address these challenges, this article presents a study on age estimation in infants with Machine Learning (ML) techniques, using deciduous teeth. Materials and Methods: The involved dataset comprises 114 infant skeletons from the Granada osteological collection of identified infants, aged between 5 months of gestation and 3 years of age. The samples consist of features such as the maximum length and mineralization and alveolar stages of teeth. For the purpose of designing a method capable of combining all the information available from each individual, a Multilayer Perceptron model is proposed, one of the most popular artificial neural networks. This model has been validated using the leave‐one‐out experimental validation protocol. Through different groups of experiments, the study examines the informativeness of the aforementioned features, individually and in combination. Results: The results indicate that the fusion of different variables allows for more accurate age estimates (RMSE = 66 days) than when variables are analyzed separately (RMSE = 101 days). Additionally, the study demonstrates the benefits of involving multiple teeth, which significantly reduces the RMSE compared to a single tooth. Discussion: This article underlines the clear advantages of ML‐based methods, emphasizing their potential to improve the accuracy and robustness when estimating the age of infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Special Education in Mexico has neglected the human body in the educational process, the body of the people it serves, the body of the teacher in training, and the body of the trained teacher; with this carelessness go those biological attributes that the human body has to interact with the instability of the real, such as experience. The present work presents a characterization of the experiential human body to explore its explicit presence in the Study Plan of the Bachelor's Degree in Special Education 2022, proposed by the New Mexican School which has integrated the 2004 and 2018 Study Plans. The experiential body is a theoretical construction from physical anthropology and other disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, social anthropology, history, and pedagogy, it recovers experience as a biological attribute of the human body in order to show that the human body is indispensable in the production of knowledge and therefore is not alien to education and particularly Special Education; by working with it implicity, as is the case with the 2022 curriculum, we neglect the most important element with which teachers in Special Education work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the mid 1930’s, Dr. Luis Sandoval Smart joined the “Dirección de Investigaciones, Identificación y Pasaportes” of Chile as a biochemist physician, and from this position he started several lines of research about blood types and their properties, which put him on the cutting edge of these studies on a Latin American level, which derived in a career on university physical anthropology. It is notable that through Sandoval Smart’s figure the police laboratory created in 1935 went ahead of the curve on the areas of forensic hematology and seroanthropology. On the other hand, Sandoval Smart’s scientific writings reintroduce a layer of racism to criminalistics and anthropology. Finally, it is worthy of notice that Sandoval Smart is a relatively ignored figure on the disciplinary memory of chilean anthropology, situation about which this work shares some thoughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of a classic physical anthropological and paleopathological study of the early medieval human bone material from the Himod-Káposztáskertek site. A smaller part of the graves can be dated to the ninth century but the majority of graves dates to the tenth–eleventh century. Since the possibility of population continuity was raised, the archaeological data related to the question were also reviewed (with special emphasis on the typology of a knife found in Grave 68), with the intent of seeing whether the anthropological data supported this hypothesis. Both samples represent only a small number of cases and the remains are poorly preserved. The ninth century series especially provided very little data, ultimately making comparison impossible. The remains of 25 individuals were found in the Carolingian cemetery section: childburials number 15, the juvenile age group is not represented by any skeletons, there are ten adult burials (4 males, 5 females, 1 of undeterminable sex). The skeletons from 87 individuals were excavated from the tenth–eleventh century section of the cemetery, of which 25 were children, 5 were juveniles, and 57 were adults (29 males, 28 females). For both men and women, people of tall stature form the majority; male skulls are characterized by large absolute dimensions, mainly a broad forehead and a broad face. Fractures, degenerative changes of the spine and extravertebral joints (especially the elbow joint) were common. Tuberculosis infection was suspected in the case of one individual. Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease with bilateral involvement and a rare developmental disorder, congenital scoliosis, occurred in the material as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Writing a First Osteoarchaeology Article: Some Advice for Early Career Researchers" provides guidance for early career researchers on publishing their first journal article in the field of osteoarchaeology. It emphasizes the importance of focusing on key discoveries from research, choosing the right journal, following author guidelines, and ensuring clear aims and conclusions. The article also highlights the significance of coauthorship, abstracts, keywords, results presentation, statistical analysis, and responding to reviewer feedback. It encourages resilience, seeking feedback, and revising submissions to improve writing skills and academic success. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, the number of people who have been disappeared in Mexico has increased, so this article (of a theoretical nature) was carried out with the aim of measuring the impact of this violent practice in the different social circles where it daily transited the missing person. As specific objectives, we propose: 1) return to the category of “absent body” from physical anthropology to validate the experience lived by the close relatives of the disappeared person; 2) to recover the testimonies of the relatives of the disappeared to measure the psychological effects, social, economic and health of these violent events; 3) make visible and reconsider about these practices and their implications for the health of the population. We consider that with the category of “absent body” we give a new meaning to the fact suffered by the family members, to help them process this painful experience in different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As previous research has observed, medical students and physicians alike confront vast amounts of knowledge in their education and practice, such that no one clinician can know everything there is to know about biomedicine. Even before clerkships, medical students learn to cope with this impossibility by prioritizing certain information based on its perceived utility for exams and clinical practice. Many factors can shape this process, including teamwork, wherein individual medical students rely on one another to address gaps in knowledge at the level of the group. This paper will draw on qualitative data from two allopathic medical schools in the American Midwest to demonstrate that peer-to-peer learning, a widely utilized pedagogical modality in North American medical schools, is amongst the earliest places where future physicians learn how to rely on their peers in the profession as they make choices about what to know and what not to know about biomedicine: cultivating a culture of "intraprofessionalism" between students with different knowledges and values, as they prepare to enter the same profession. The paper will also consider how differences in the student populations at two field sites impact intraprofessional development. Drawing on scholarship of peer-based learning strategies and the sociology and anthropology of medical education, the authors argue that peer-to-peer learning is a key site in the professional socialization of medical students toward the effective management of medical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 1910s–1940s, Indian intellectuals developed physical anthropology as a modern nationalist discipline for the subcontinent. Through their contributions, they sought to construct themselves as disciplinary experts. To legitimize their expertise, even while they remained colonized subjects, Indian anthropologists foregrounded their research as more scientific than that of the colonial administrators. This claim of being better equipped to study the subcontinent's anthropological diversity was based on the Indian anthropologists' purported familiarity with the region's culture and history. This essay shows how their sociohistorical position helped them claim scientific expertise and yet also obscured other imaginations of community identities. Indian researchers insisted on keeping ethnicity and race separate. However, their choice of which communities to study and who to analyze racially reveals how ethnicity and race came to be co-constituted. Identities based on caste, regions, languages, and religion came to be ascribed with racial-biological meaning, often reinforcing existing social hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the immediate effects of acute postural exercises on the stature of seniors, focusing on changes in both upright and supine stature measurements. A within-subject design with repeated measures was applied, involving seniors participating in continuous exercises aimed at enhancing core musculature strength and promoting muscle relaxation. Stature measurements were recorded pre- and post-exercise in both upright and supine positions, alongside assessments of body mass index (BMI) category classifications. The results revealed a post-exercise increase in stature ranging from 0.9 to 6.0 cm and from 0.2 to 7.2 cm in upright and supine positions, respectively, with an average increase of approximately 3.5 cm in both upright and supine positions. Statistically significant and clinically relevant changes were observed (p < 0.05), including a modification of BMI by approximately two units, reclassifying 55% of participants from overweight or obese to normal weight or overweight. Furthermore, the similarity between post-exercise upright stature and pre-exercise supine stature suggested that the supine position might provide a more accurate measure of stature in seniors. Conclusively, acute postural exercises have an immediate positive impact on the stature of seniors, suggesting their potential utility in clinical settings for accurate stature measurement. However, BMI results should be interpreted with caution because they are only related to the acute change in stature and therefore may lead to the misinterpretation of the study findings, so future studies focused on evaluating the chronic effect of postural exercises integration on the health outcomes of older adults are needed to demonstrate their potential utility in clinical settings to improve postural health and general well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors present preliminary data of the skeletal remains from the 11th burial of the CXLIX excavation in Bolgar fortified settlement. Unusual for medieval Bolgar burial rite attracted attention to this burial during the excavations in 2010. The authors provide the characteristics of the individual features of human remains according to the results of cranial- and osteoscopy, their description in accordance with the lifetime changes and postmotem preservation. In the course of research, it was found that the individual was male, age from 35 to 45 years old, the reconstructed body length was 158–163 cm in various methods. Paleopathological research and medical and forensic reconstruction revealed signs of ankylosing spondylitis and the fracture of the sub-language bone. Graphic and plastic reconstructions of the appearance by the M.M. Gerasimov’s method were performed, the non-metric traits of the skull of the studied individual were recorded.

To estimate the age at death of archaeological individuals through a radiographic analysis of the pulp/tooth area ratio in canines, according to Cameriere et al.'s method (2007) and its corresponding version adapted and validated for the contemporary Brazilian population. Sixty canines recovered from 30 individuals in five pre-colonial archaeological sites (Buracão, Piaçaguera, Tenório, Moraes, and Capelinha) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, were examined. The specimens are under the custody of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at the University of São Paulo (MAE-USP). Pulp and tooth radiographic areas were measured by two examiners in the free software ImageJ®. The data were applied to formulas to obtain age estimates. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC, p=0.05) was calculated to analyze intra- and inter-examiner agreement. The estimates were compared against those previously cataloged by the MAE-USP using other anthropological methods. There was a significant intra-examiner (ICC = 0.888 to 0.99) and inter-examiner (ICC = 0.842 to 0.908) reproducibility regarding the estimated ages. Our data indicated that the accuracy of age estimates obtained through the analysis of pulp/tooth area ratio were similar to, or greater than, those previously determined by techniques commonly used in bioarchaeology. The method described herein can be accurately applied to individuals from a Brazilian archaeological collection, with the possibility of estimating their age based on the examination of a single tooth. However, this method should be ideally combined with other techniques and further studies should be performed using sample populations from different archaeological sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between vertebral margins at individual vertebral levels between T12‐L5 vertebra and chronological age and develop predictive models. Three hundred and nineteen CT scans from a medical imaging database in North America were randomly selected. Three superior and inferior vertebral margin sites were scored based on observable age‐related changes. All individual vertebral margin site scores significantly correlated with age at death with Pearson r values ranging from 0.47 to 0.77. Totaling the individual vertebral margin site scores for L1‐L5 improved Pearson r to 0.92. All resulting predictive models were significant, and the best models predicted age at death within 10 years 70%–76% of the time for males, females, and combined male and females. In conclusion, this study produced accurate and reliable models to predict age at death using age‐related changes in the spine for a North American population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kronika is the property of Kronika, Casopis za Slovensko Krajevno Zgodovino 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.)

This article traces contemporary patterns of housing and homelessness to colonial geographies as race-place schemata: historic and ongoing relationships to territory that articulate and impose white supremacy while stimulating resistance to it. These phenomena are approached through the four fields of anthropology, placing a contemporary ethnography of gentrification/displacement in Oakland in conversation with the archeological record of colonization. The demographic tracking of human populations through census instruments and discourses of biological distancing suggest implications for biological anthropology, and socio-linguistic analysis is applied to colonial naming practice. Intended as an essay-length land acknowledgement and critical interrogation of contemporary white spatial entitlement, this research centers the capacity of territorial aesthetics and the geographic organization of the Spanish imperial project to produce continuing place-based dominance over colonized peoples through dispossession of their lands, containment of their populations, assimilation and erasure of their life ways, and surveillance over and defense against their resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Praxis Filosófica is the property of Universidad del Valle 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.)

Previous research on the stigma associated with cutaneous leishmaniasis, a vector-transmitted parasitic disease, focuses on aesthetic appearance affectation as the leading cause of stigmatisation. However, Indigenous populations in the hinterland of Amazonian Ecuador trigger stigma expressions by recognising (muco)cutaneous leishmaniasis, primarily through atypical smell, followed by the odd voice sound, appearance and taste. This empirical way of recognising symptoms relies on embodied forms of identifying a disease, contrasting the Western supremacy of visuality and demanding to be understood via multi-sensorial anthropology. Through ethnographic research and data retrieved from eighty-three semistructured interviews and fifteen focus groups in seven Ecuadorian ethnic groups – including six Indigenous groups in the Amazon region – this paper analyses how the sensorium is a health thermometer. Findings reveal that differentiated cultural responses to a sense of peril, contagion and social (self)rejection, understood as stigma expressions, are linked to the holistic approach to health (or well-being) shared by Indigenous populations. In forest societies, well-being is explained through successful (non-)human relationships, and disease permeates through bodies that lack balanced relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health scientists have claimed that urban transit workers suffer from higher rates of stress-related disease than workers in most other occupations. This paper examines how a network of scientists and labor organizers constructed the problem of transit worker stress as a global phenomenon. According to study participants, transit workers worldwide are subject to a similar set of stress-related risks, which can serve as a basis for worker solidarity. This paper analyzes how the concept of stress has been used to identify pathogenic environments and considers anthropological claims that the concept often abstracts and depoliticizes harmful arrangements. The findings show that scientists and labor organizers use the stress concept to construct a figure of a universally at-risk transit worker that serves the ends of transnational labor organizing. At the same time, by focusing on the case of San Francisco's transit workers, this analysis shows that a persistent association between stress and 'hard work'—in both lay and scientific discourses—may block recognition of stress-related harms for transit workers who are accused of being lazy and overpaid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of biological anthropology in understanding infectious diseases and pandemics, using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. It emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the field and its ability to shed light on the evolutionary, ecological, and sociopolitical dynamics of pandemics. The article highlights the contributions of various subfields within biological anthropology, such as evolutionary anthropology, bioarcheology, primatology, and human biology, in studying infectious diseases and pandemics. It stresses the importance of taking a holistic approach and integrating different perspectives to analyze the complex dynamics of pandemics throughout history. However, it also acknowledges that the literature on pandemics in biological anthropology is relatively limited compared to the broader study of infectious diseases. The article concludes by discussing the impact of pandemics on marginalized communities and the need to address health inequities. Overall, biological anthropology offers valuable insights into the causes, spread, and effects of pandemics, which are crucial for preparing for future outbreaks. [Extracted from the article]