Background Human identification is of a paramount forensic concern. It includes sex determination which becomes extremely complex and tricky especially in fragmentary remains. Purpose of the study We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of ten dimensions of foramen magnum (FM) and occipital condyles in determination of sex among 367 subjects (204 females and 163 males), their ages ranged between 18-75 years. Multislice Computed Tomography images of skulls of the studied patients were obtained from the Radiology Department. Ten different anatomical variables of the FM were measured by two independent experienced radiologists blinded to the study. Results FM dimensions are unique and show significant sexual dimorphism in the studied Egyptian population especially with application of discriminant function analysis. These landmarks include foramen magnum length and width (FML, FMW), FM index, FM area, length of the right and left occipital condyles (LROC, LLOC), width of the right occipital condyle (WROC), maximum bicondylar distance (MBD) and minimum intercondylar distance (MnICD). LROC and FMW are highly significant discriminating variables predicting sex. Conclusions It is concluded that all the studied FM parameters showed significant differences between males and females except the left occipital condylar width with higher male values when compared to females. Additionally, the right occipital condylar length and FM width are highly significant discriminating variables which are strongly beneficial in prediction of sex. FM dimensions would provide a reliable additional tool for identification of sex among adult population and could be specific for Egyptians in case of fragmentary remains or damaged skulls.

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Nowadays, exposures to some environmental chemicals may contribute to obesity in children. The aim of the current work is to assess the association between the environmental pollutants cadmium, malaoxon and malathion dicarboxylic acid (MDCA) and obesity in children. Authors conducted a case-control study on 80 children. We recruited 40 obese children and 40 normalweight children. For each child, we measured urinary concentrations of cadmium (by ICP), malaoxon (by LC/MS/MS), and MDCA (by LC/MS/MS). Results: Malaoxon concentrations were slightly higher among non-obese group B children (median ¼ 0, IQR 0 to 10.29 mg/g) than in obese group A children (median ¼ 0, IQR ¼ 0 to 2.14). There were no significant differences in creatinine-adjusted MDCA or Cadmium.