CalcTalus: an online decision support system for the estimation of sex with the calcaneus and talus

Curate, Francisco; Coelho, João d’Oliveira; Silva, Ana Maria

doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01327-y

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Others have noted that males and females differ in measures of talar size [50][51][52][53][54][55] including centroid size calculated as part of a GM analysis [56]. Differences in talar size between sexes are not surprising given the known sexual dimorphism among humans with respect to size [56][57][58][59]. Generalizing talar size for the purpose of sex estimation would be challenging, however, because the narrow demographics of this sample do not necessarily reflect the size variation among all living humans.…”

Section: Shapementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of obesity on talar micro‐ and macro‐morphology

Sylvester

Wescott

Cunningham

et al. 2023

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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The addition of information regarding obesity status to the forensic anthropological biological profile could significantly contribute to the identification of human skeletal remains since over 40% of the U.S. adult population is currently obese. This study examines the differences in talar shape and trabecular bone structure between obese and non‐obese individuals. A sample of 20 obese and 20 non‐obese divided evenly by sex was selected from the Texas State University Donated Skeletal Collection. Tali were imaged using x‐ray computed tomography (voxel size: 28–38.7 μm). Image stacks were processed to produce binary images as well as trabecular thickness and spacing maps. Landmark‐based geometric morphometric analyses were conducted to quantify shape variation. Shape coordinates were used to locate 100 geometrically homologous volumes of interest within each talus. Bone volume fraction, trabecular thickness, and trabecular spacing were extracted at each volume of interest. Within each sex, a one‐way ANCOVA was used to determine if significant differences exist between obese and non‐obese individuals in trabecular bone after controlling for age. The size of the talus as well as subtle aspects of shape were found to distinguish the sexes. The results further indicate that bone volume fraction significantly differs between obese and non‐obese males. In females, bone volume fraction is correlated with age but does not differ between obese and non‐obese. The study demonstrates that bone microstructure is a promising approach to estimating body mass or body mass index category but age effects diminish the potential for the talus to be used alone.

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Section: Shapementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of obesity on talar micro‐ and macro‐morphology

Sylvester

Wescott

Cunningham

et al. 2023

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…The increasing availability of various reference skeletal collections (Petaros et al, 2021) has allowed the development of specialized computer software for sex estimation of unidentified remains; usually, such methods and associated software are population-specific. For instance, CADOES estimates sex based on pelvic measurements using a reference sample from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (d'Oliveira Coelho & Curate, 2019). The Ammer-Coelho (Ammer et al, 2019) and the CalcTalus (Curate et al, 2021) software also use the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection for estimating sex based on measurements of the olecranon fossa of the humerus and the talus and calcaneus, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the accuracy of the SexEst software for sex estimation in a modern Greek sample

Nikita,

Garoufi,

Valakos

et al. 2024

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Sex estimation from human skeletal remains is fundamental in osteoarcheology and forensic anthropology. The increasing availability of reference skeletal collections across the world has allowed the development of morphological and metric methods for skeletal sex estimation, some of which may be implemented in specialized computer software. The present study aims to evaluate the freely available SexEst software, which utilizes cranial and postcranial measurements, and different classification models for sex estimation, on a contemporary Greek population comprising of 227 (126 males and 101 females) adult individuals. After the calculation of intra‐observer error to assess the repeatability of the measurements, the proposed variables were tested for classification accuracy individually and in different combinations. Based on the results, the postcranial models outperformed the cranial ones in all cases and can be adequately applied on a Greek population sample. The light gradient boosting (LGB) algorithm yielded the highest correct classification rates when no missing values exist, while the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) models should only be used when dealing with missing data. The highest classification accuracy for a 0.65 posterior probability threshold was reached when utilizing a combination of postcranial variables (89.67%), while the lowest was achieved with the cranial measurement “Glabella‐occipital length” (45.00%). The same models yielded the highest and lowest accuracy for a 0.5 probability threshold, with values of 92.96% and 67.73%, respectively. Combining variables yielded higher accuracies in both skeletal regions, suggesting that the software would be more helpful in cases of intact skeletons. The loss of classification accuracy due to population specificity further corroborates the need to include different ancestries in sex estimation software.

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“…2,9 Morphological methods evaluate sexually dimorphic discrete traits in a bone, and are usually implemented in the pelvis, 10 skull 11 or long bones such as the humerus. 12 Metric methods can be applied in virtually all the skeleton bones, although with variable degrees of accuracy, 13–22 being more objective and easily replicated. 23 Several factors can affect the degree of sexual dimorphism or bone proportions in different populations, such as genetics, climate, physical activity or mobility and nutritional status.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assigned sex estimation with the clavicle and scapula: A study in a Portuguese reference sample

et al. 2023

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The estimation of biological sex is a critical step in the assessment of the biological profile of an anonymous skeletonized individual. In certain recovery circumstances, the most dimorphic skeletal areas, such as the pelvis, are absent or fragmented; in that case, other bones of the skeleton, including the clavicle and scapula, can be used to predict sex. The purpose of this research is to generate new models for the estimation of sex with clavicular and scapular measurements using a study-sample of 129 individuals with clavicle (65 males and 64 females) and 112 individuals with scapula (50 males and 62 females) from the Lisbon Identified Skeletal Collection (Portugal). A decision tree classifier (C4.5) and logistic regression (LR) were employed to create univariable and multivariable sex prediction models. Accuracy under cross-validation of the classification models is high (up to 93.8%), with minimal bias (<5%), particularly in the multivariable models. The proposed LR models facilitate the probabilistic estimation of biological sex, accounting for the significant overlap in the expression of sexual dimorphism.

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CalcTalus: an online decision support system for the estimation of sex with the calcaneus and talus

Cited by 13 publications

References 48 publications

Effects of obesity on talar micro‐ and macro‐morphology

Effects of obesity on talar micro‐ and macro‐morphology

Testing the accuracy of the SexEst software for sex estimation in a modern Greek sample

Assigned sex estimation with the clavicle and scapula: A study in a Portuguese reference sample

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