Anatomical Sciences

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    The Diagenetic Alterations of Historic Skeletons from the Crown Mines Cemetery, South Africa
    (2023) Stacey L. Lander; Desiré Brits; Margot Hosie
    Abstract: Human skeletons associated with early gold mining in Johannesburg, South Africa are investigated. An unmarked cemetery was buried beneath a mine dump which resulted in macroscop ically stained and poorly preserved bones. Histological assessments were conducted to understand the postmortem treatment of the remains, determine the extent of bone degradation, and understand how this environment affected the bone’s microstructure. Various diagenetic alterations and the general histological index were assessed using normal and polarized light microscopy of thin ante rior midshaft femur sections (n = 50). Degradation was identified in the periosteal and endosteal regions, while the intra-cortical region remained well-preserved. Bacterial bioerosion, microcracks, infiltrations, inclusions, and staining were found throughout the sample. Numerous non-Wedl micro-foci of destruction were observed, filled with exogenous material. The degradation suggested that the remains were buried in neutral soil that was subsequently covered by acidic mine dumps which resulted in a corrosive environment. Although the skeletons were poorly preserved, their histological integrity was more promising, especially the intra-cortical area. This is important for future investigations of archaeological bone, as this area can lead to more accurate descriptions of skeletal assemblages. Targeted sampling of this region could produce promising estimates of age, descriptions of pathology, and biomolecular results, which require further study
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    The Dynamics of Pathology Dataset Creation Using Urine Cytology as an Example
    Ewen McAlpine; Pamela Michelow; Turgay Celik
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    Forensic facial comparison: current status, limitations, and future directions.
    (MDPI, 2021-12-03) Bacci, Nicholas; Davimes, Joshua G.; Steyn, Maryna; Briers, Nanette
    Global escalation of crime has necessitated the use of digital imagery to aid the identification of perpetrators. Forensic facial comparison (FFC) is increasingly employed, often relying on poorquality images. In the absence of standardized criteria, especially in terms of video recordings, verification of the methodology is needed. This paper addresses aspects of FFC, discussing relevant terminology, investigating the validity and reliability of the FISWG morphological feature list using a new South African database, and advising on standards for CCTV equipment. Suboptimal conditions, including poor resolution, unfavorable angle of incidence, color, and lighting, affected the accuracy of FFC. Morphological analysis of photographs, standard CCTV, and eye-level CCTV showed improved performance in a strict iteration analysis, but not when using analogue CCTV images. Therefore, both strict and lenient iterations should be conducted, but FFC must be abandoned when a strict iteration performs worse than a lenient one. This threshold ought to be applied to the specific CCTV equipment to determine its utility. Chance-corrected accuracy was the most representative measure of accuracy, as opposed to the commonly used hit rate. While the use of automated systems is increasing, trained human observer-based morphological analysis, using the FISWG feature list and an Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification (ACE-V) approach, should be the primary method of facial comparison.
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    Development of the Wits Face Database: an African database of high-resolution facial photographs and multimodal closedcircuit television (CCTV) recordings [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
    (2021) Bacci, Nicholas; Davimes, Joshua; Steyn, Maryna; Briers, Nanette
    Forensic facial comparison is a commonly used, yet under-evaluated method employed in medicolegal contexts across the world. Testing the accuracy and reliability of facial comparisons requires large scale controlled and matching facial image databases. Databases that contain images of individuals on closed-circuit television (CCTV), with matching formal and informal photographs are needed for this type of research. Although many databases are available, the majority if not all are developed in order to improve facial recognition and face detection algorithms through machine learning, with very limited if any measure of standardisation. This paper aims to review the available databases and describe the development of a high resolution, standardised facial photograph and CCTV recording database of male Africans. The database is composed of a total of 6220 standardised and uncontrolled suboptimal facial photographs of 622 matching individuals in five different views, as well as corresponding CCTV footage of 334 individuals recorded under different realistic conditions. A detailed description of the composition and acquisition process of the database as well as its subdivisions and possible uses are provided. The challenges and limitations of developing this database are also highlighted, particularly with regard to obtaining CCTV video recordings and ethics for a database of faces. The application process to access the database is also briefly described.