Sex estimation from the hyoid bone measurements in an adult Eastern Turkish population using 3D CT images, discriminant function analysis, support vector machines, and artificial neural networks☆.

The hyoid bone is one of the bones in the human body that shows sexual dimorphism. The anthropological and anthropometric characteristics that determine sexual dimorphism are influenced by demographic differences. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of sexual dimorphism of the hyoid bone in the adult Eastern Turkish population from the examination of the 3D computed tomography images of 240 patients, using discriminant function analysis (DFA), support vector machines (SVM), and artificial neural networks (ANN). These evaluations were based on eight hyoid measurements that have been frequently used in previous CT studies. The results showed that all eight measurements were higher in males than in females (p = 0.000). It was determined that sex could be estimated accurately at up to 93.3 % using DFA, 93.8 % using SVM and 95.4 % using ANN. The maximum accuracy rate achieved to 94.2 % in males using SVM, and 95.8 % in females using ANN. These high rates of sexual dimorphism found using DFA, SVM, and ANN in this study indicate that characteristics of the hyoid bone can be utilized to determine sex in the Eastern Turkish population.

Non-traumatic ecchymoses: A literature review from a medico-legal perspective.

Ecchymosis, as a general term, refers to discoloration of the skin due to the presence of extravasated blood into the dermis and/or subcutaneous tissue. However, it can occasionally be observed without any trauma, as a symptom of disease, a clinical condition, or even during the course of treating a disease. It is extremely important that these non-traumatic lesions are known and recognized and can be distinguished from traumatic ecchymoses by both clinicians and forensic scientists. This review of the literature includes detailed descriptions of non-traumatic periorbital ecchymosis, Slapped Cheek Syndrome, Cullen's Sign, Grey Turner's Sign, Stabler's Sign, Ransohoff Sign, Bryant's Sign, postsacral ecchymosis, perianal ecchymosis, Fox's Sign, other lower leg ecchymosis, and ecchymosis on various body regions. In this article, it is emphasized that failure to correctly identify these findings may subject practitioners to malpractice lawsuits, and failure to correctly identify findings by forensic experts may result in unjust legal judgments against people or loss of rights. It is also this review encourages accurate diagnosis of non-traumatic ecchymoses.

An investigation of the effect of the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic on occupational accidents (Tokat-Turkey).

The aims of this study were to compare the incidence of occupational accidents during one-year periods of the COVID-19 Pandemic and before the COVID-19 Pandemic, and to determine in which sectors occupational accidents occurred and what types of injuries were sustained in the population of Tokat, Turkey. A retrospective review was made of the records of Tokat State Hospital of patients injured in occupational accidents between 12.03.2019 and 11.03.2021. The patients injured in occupational accidents were classified according to age, gender, sector, accident type, trauma localization and type, time of the accident, and outcome of the injuries. Of 608 patients injured in occupational accidents, 384 (63.2%) were injured in the period before the pandemic and 224 (36.8%) were injured in the period during the pandemic (p < 0.001). Most work-related injuries occurred in the industry sector (n = 287; 47.2%; p < 0.001). Occupational accidents increased in the service sector (p < 0.001), but decreased in other sectors. The increase in occupational accidents in the health sector (p < 0.001) and transportation sector (p < 0.05) within the service sector caused a general increase despite the decrease in other service sectors (p > 0.05). In current study, the increase in the number of injuries in the transportation sector due to the increase of motor courier accidents, in health sector, and in pandemic quarantines were remarkable. It was evaluated that this narrow-scoped study pioneered comprehensive studies on the measures that can be taken to prevent occupational accidents in such pandemics in the future.

Sex estimation using foramen magnum measurements, discriminant analyses and artificial neural networks on an eastern Turkish population sample.

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have been conducted using the foramen magnum for sex estimation, recent findings have indicated that the discriminant and regression models obtained from the foramen magnum may not be reliable. Artificial Neural Networks, was used as a classification technique in sex estimation studies on some other bones, did not used in sex estimation studies on the foramen magnum until now. The aim of this study was sex estimation on an Eastern Turkish population sample using foramen magnum measurements, discriminant analyses and Artificial Neural Networks. METHODOLOGY: The study was performed on the CT images of a total of 720 cases, comprising 360 males and 360 females. For sex estimation, discriminant analysis and Artificial Neural Networks were used. RESULTS: The accuracy rate was 86.7% with discriminant analysis and when sex estimation accuracy was determined according to cases with posterior probabilities above 95%, the accuracy ranged from 0% to 33.3%. With the use of the discriminant formulas of 2 other studies, obtained from different Turkish samples, sex could be determined at a rate of 84.6%. Some formulas were found to be unsuccessful in sex estimation. Sex estimation accuracy of 88.2% was achieved with Artificial Neural Networks. CONCLUSION: In this study, it was found that sex could be determined to some extent with discriminant formulas from other samples from the same population, although some formulas were unsuccessful. With the use of image processing techniques and machine learning algorithms, better results can be obtained in sex estimation.

Suicides in Turkey: 25-year trend (1995-2019).

The assessment of national suicide risks is considered critical in many countries for the establishment of suicide prevention initiatives aimed at considerably lowering suicide rates. The aim of this study is to identify at-risk suicide populations by reviewing the suicides in Turkey over a 25-year period. The Turkish Statistical Institute's suicide statistics for 1995-2019 in Turkey was retrospectively reviewed in current article. The data collected in the study was statistically analyzed using the MINITAB vn 14 software. Between 1995 and 2019, the total number of suicides in Turkey was 66,819, and suicide rates, especially in males, showed an increasing trend in this period. Males comprised 68.3% of the total cases, and most (27.2%) were aged 15-24 years. Suicides mostly occurred between May and July (27.7%), of individuals with a primary school level of education (51.7%) and who were married (6.0 per 100,000). Illness was most important risk factor for suicide (36.8%) and hanging (47.5%) was the leading suicide method in all age groups and in both genders. Despite the fact that Turkey's suicide rate is lower than many other countries, the growth in male suicide rates is concerning. Suicides are likely to become a severe problem in Turkey in the near future unless measures like education, psychiatric evaluations, the reactivation of psychological counseling service phone lines, and the establishment of youth counseling centers, as described in this paper, are taken.

Sex estimation from the clavicle using 3D reconstruction, discriminant analyses, and neural networks in an Eastern Turkish population.

Sex estimation of skeletal remains is an important aspect of forensic anthropology. The clavicle is a bone with relatively high accuracy in sex determination. In this study, 7 clavicular parameters were obtained using the CT images and 3D reconstruction of 360 cases equally distributed as 180 males and 180 females. Sex determination was made using univariate, linear, and stepwise discriminant analyses, and multilayer perceptron neural networks. Maximum sex determination accuracy of 85.3% was achieved with univariate analysis, 89.4% with linear discriminant analysis, 90.0% with stepwise discriminant analysis, and 91.4% with multilayer perceptron neural networks. Significant changes were observed in the MLC, APMD-R and CDC parameters according to age, and these were determined to affect the accuracy of sex determination in different age groups. In forensic anthropological studies, more reliable results can be obtained by considering the confounding factors during sampling. Although high accuracy rates can be achieved with neural networks, the results should be approached with caution.

Neck vascular lesions in hanging cases: A literature review.

The aim of this review was to investigate the types and rates of vascular lesions occurring in cases of completed hanging and near-hanging, defined in literature. In the literature to date, 6 specific types of vascular injuries have been defined in cases of death as a result of hanging. These are Amussat's sign, Etienne Martin's sign, Dominguez-Paez sign, Friedberg-Lesser sign, Ziemke-Otto's sign, and Lupascu sign. As a result of this study, it was determined that the most defined finding was the Amussat sign, and it was concluded that the other findings were not sufficiently recognized. Likewise, considering that the proportional differences are due to the differences in the rates of autopsy practice and autopsy protocols between countries, it can be suggested that international joint autopsy protocols should be developed at the meetings in which national professional associations participate.

The effect of the presence or absence of skull fractures on intracranial lesion development in road traffic accidents.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the presence or absence of skull fractures on the development of intracranial lesions in cases of head trauma associated with traffic accidents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was made of the medico-legal reports of 774 cases with injuries sustained in a traffic accident and which applied for expert examination as forensic cases at the Department of Forensic Medicine of our University between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2019. A total of 162 cases (20.1%) were identified which were radiologically diagnosed with at least one skull fracture or intracranial lesion. These cases were evaluated in terms of age, gender, type of accident, and localization of skull fractures and/or intracranial lesions, and they were compared statistically to determine whether the presence or absence of skull fractures affected the development of intracranial lesions. RESULTS: The 162 cases evaluated comprised 120 males and 42 females with a mean age of 25.1 ± 16.4 years. Intracranial lesions were accompanied by skull fractures in 77 cases, skull fracture alone was determined in 18 cases, and intracranial lesion alone in 67 cases. Skull fractures were mostly (64.5%) seen in the 1-20 years age group, and the intracranial lesions (90%) were mostly seen in the ≥41 years age group. Linear and diastatic fracture rates were highest in the temporal and frontal regions. The intracranial lesion/case ratio was 1.5/1 in cases without skull fracture, and 1.2/1 in cases with skull fracture. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the rate of linear or diastatic fractures was higher in females, which was associated with skull thickness. Skull fractures were found to occur most between the ages of 1 and 20 years, and the presence of skull fractures was determined to reduce the incidence of intracranial lesions by decreasing intracranial pressure.

The effect of altitude and climate on the suicide rates in Turkey.

Suicide is one of the most important public health problems. There was an association between suicide and several factors such as psychiatric diseases and psychological characteristics, somatic illness, cultural, socioeconomic, familial, occupational and individual risk factors. Also, high altitude and climatic factors including high temperature, cloudiness, more sunshine and low rainfalls were defined as some of these risk factors in the literature. In this study, we aimed to investigate correlation between suicide rates and altitudes of all cities in Turkey and between suicide rates and climatic factors including Rainfall Activity Index, Winter Mean Temperatures, Summer Mean Temperatures and Temperature Difference between January and July previously defined by several authors in the broad series in Turkey. In Turkey, 29865 suicidal deaths occurred in 10 years period between 2006 and 2015. Of them, 21020 (70.4%) were males and 8845 (29.6%) were females. In this study, we found that high altitude above 1500 m, winter median temperature lower than -10 °C and hard temperature changes above 25 °C between winter and summer of settlements were important factors that affected on female suicide rates appropriate to knowledge which defined in previous studies. In conclusion, we suggested that the associations among suicide rates with altitudes and climate should be studied in wider series obtained from different countries for reaching more reliable results.

The possible effects of altitude and climate on the development of the frontal sinus in adults / Los posibles efectos de la altitud y el clima sobre el desarrollo del seno frontal en adultos

Climatic and altitude features of living region may affect human body. Many changes in several tissues and organs and several health problems due to climatic and altitude effects were defined in the literature. However, there were limited number of studies which evaluated correlation between development of frontal sinus and climatic/altitude effect. In this study, widths, heights, AP lengths and volumes of frontal sinus were compared by Paranasal CT scans in populations living in Van which has colder climate and higher altitude and Manisa which has milder climate and lower altitude. It was found that widths, antero-posterior lengths and volumes of frontal sinus were higher in populations living in colder climate and higher altitude according to populations living in milder climate and lower altitude. Heights of frontal sinuses were on the contrary of this. These results were found appropriate to increasing of cephalic index in cold climate according to Allen's Rule. We suggest that larger population study should be made with peoples having the same or similar race and genetic structure in different climate and altitude regions and the proportional comparison of frontal sinus measurements with cephalic index should be considered in future studies.

Las características climáticas y de altitud de una región pueden afectar al cuerpo humano. En la literatura se han identificado muchos cambios en varios tejidos y órganos, como así también numerosos problemas de salud debido a los efectos climáticos y de altitud. Sin embargo, existe un número limitado de estudios que han evaluado la correlación entre el desarrollo del seno frontal y el efecto climático / altitud. En este estudio, los anchos, alturas, longitudes antero-posteriores y volúmenes de seno frontal se compararon mediante tomografía computarizada paranasal en poblaciones que viven en Van, que tiene un clima más frío y mayor altitud, y Manisa, que tiene un clima más suave y menor altitud. Se encontró que los anchos, las longitudes antero-posteriores y los volúmenes de los senos frontales eran mayores en poblaciones que vivían en un clima más frío y de mayor altitud respecto a poblaciones que vivían en clima más suave y con menor altitud. En relación a la altura de los senos frontales, se dio la situación contraria a lo anterior. Estos resultados se encontraron adecuados con el aumento del índice cefálico en la región de clima frío, de acuerdo con la Regla de Allen. Sugerimos que se realice un estudio poblacional más amplio con poblaciones de raza y estructura genética iguales o similares en diferentes regiones climáticas y de altitud. La comparación proporcional de las mediciones de los senos frontales con índice cefálico debería considerarse en futuros estudios.