Estimation of stature from radiographically determined lower limb bone length in modern Chinese.

To develop population - specific stature prediction equations from measurements of the lower limb bone in a contemporary Chinese. 303 individuals of Han group in Western China, including 201 females and 102 males were collected. The study sample was randomly divided into two subgroups. A calibration sample, which consisted of 171 females and 87 males, was used to develop the regression formula. A validation sample comprising the remaining 30 female and 15 male individuals was then used to test the predictive accuracy of the established formula. The regression equations were developed from intact bones and fragments of the femur, tibia and fibula, the maximum lengths of femur, tibia, and fibula were highly correlated with the stature. The maximum length of femur provide the most accurate result with the prediction accuracy of 3.84 cm for unknown sex, 4.00 cm in the male group, 3.45 cm in the female group, 3.61 cm in the group with age no more than 45, 3.45 cm in the group with age above 45. Moreover, the multiple regression equations were developed, and they portray a more accurate stature in instances in which the femur, tibia and fibula are available. This paper provides indications that the femur, tibia and fibula are important bones for stature estimation and they could be effectively used in forensic cases.

Estimation of stature and sex from skull measurements by multidetector computed tomography in Chinese.

The present study is an attempt to estimation of stature and sex from skull measurements by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in contemporary Chinese. In the present study, fifteen measurements for every skull were taken from CT image of 382 Chinese. The sample was composed of 200 males and 182 females with an average age of 47 and 46 years, respectively. Discriminant function was used in sex determination and regression analysis was used in stature estimation from skull measurements. The stepwise analysis of all measurements yielded a sex classification accuracy rate of 89.3%. The classification accuracy rates of the univariate discriminant function analyses were from 50.5% to 84.8%. For stature estimation, the standard error of estimate (SEE) ranged from 5.072 to 6.355 cm for male, from 5.090 to 5.829 cm for female, respectively. This study is the first to provide a metric and statistical characterization of the skull in contemporary Chinese, and indicates that it is feasible to sex estimation by skull measurement. Furthermore, the equations presented for stature estimation in this study may be used as alternatives in forensic cases, particularly in cases where better predictors such as the long bones are not available.

Stature estimation from the combination of clavicle, scapula, and sternum from 3D-VRT images in Chinese population.

The objective of the present study was to generate multiple regression models for stature estimation on the basis the combination of the clavicle, scapula and sternum derived from 3D-VRT images in Chinese population. The study sample comprised 363 individuals from China, including 159 females and 204 males, with documented ages between 19 and 82 years. Separate multiple linear regression equations for estimating stature on the basis of the measurements from the clavicle, scapula and sternum were then devised for males and females. For assessing the correlation between the stature and measurements of the clavicle, scapula and sternum, the Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated and its significance was tested by Students t test. Finally, the multiple regression equations calculated from the measurements of the clavicle, scapula and sternum in relation to stature for each sex were established in the present study. The accuracy of stature prediction ranged from 4.777 to 5.313 cm for male and from 4.388 to 4.658 cm for female. In conclusion, the present results provide indications that the combination of the clavicle, scapula and sternum should be used as alternatives for stature estimation, and the multiple equations presented for stature estimation seem to be a more accurate than the equations from single bone.

The role of multislice computed tomography of the costal cartilage in adult age estimation.

To establish population-specific age estimation models in adults from costal cartilage for contemporary Chinese by using three-dimensional volume-rendering technique. Five hundred and twelve individuals (254 females and 258 males) with documented ages between 20 and 85 years were retrospectively included. Their clinical CT examinations (1 mm slice thickness) were used to develop the sex-specific age prediction model. A validation sample comprising 26 female and 24 male individuals was then used to test the predictive accuracy of the established models. Simple linear regression (SLR), multiple linear regression (MLR), gradient boosting regression (GBR), support vector machine (SVM), and decision tree regression (DTR) were utilized to build the age diagnosis models from calibration samples. By comparison, the decision tree regression was the relatively more accurate age prediction model for male, with mean absolute error = 5.31 years, least absolute error = 0.10 years, correct percentage within 5 years = 54%, and the correct percentage within 10 years = 88%. The stepwise multiple linear regression equations was the relatively more accurate one for female, with mean absolute error = 6.72 years, least absolute error = 0.68 years, correct percentage within 5 years = 42%, and correct percentage within 10 years = 77%. Our results indicated that the present established age estimation model can be applied as an additional guidance for age estimation in adults.

The allele combinations of three loci based on, liver, stomach cancers, hematencephalon, COPD and normal population: A preliminary study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the specific allele combinations of three loci connected with the liver cancers, stomach cancers, hematencephalon and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to explore the feasibility of the research methods. We explored different mathematical methods for statistical analyses to assess the association between the genotype and phenotype. At the same time we still analyses the statistical results of allele combinations of three loci by difference value method and ratio method. All the DNA blood samples were collected from patients with 50 liver cancers, 75 stomach cancers, 50 hematencephalon, 72 COPD and 200 normal populations. All the samples were from Chinese. Alleles from short tandem repeat (STR) loci were determined using the STR Profiler plus PCR amplification kit (15 STR loci). Previous research was based on combinations of single-locus alleles, and combinations of cross-loci (two loci) alleles. Allele combinations of three loci were obtained by computer counting and stronger genetic signal was obtained. The methods of allele combinations of three loci can help to identify the statistically significant differences of allele combinations between liver cancers, stomach cancers, patients with hematencephalon, COPD and the normal population. The probability of illness followed different rules and had apparent specificity. This method can be extended to other diseases and provide reference for early clinical diagnosis.

Forensic age estimation of living persons from the knee: Comparison of MRI with radiographs.

To perform a study to clarify how strong the chronological age relates to ossification of the knee in Chinese on X-rays and the MRI when a similar four-stage grading system was used. 322 individuals with conventional radiographs and MRI were collected from routine medical investigations and evaluated retrospectively. Bland Altman plots were performed to reveal the agreement of grading of MRI and radiograph. Regression analysis was conducted to establish a mathematical model for age estimation. The ossification process of the knee occurs earlier in females than in males for about 1-2 years. The process on X-ray grading is consistently higher than that of MRI. The chronological age is well correlated with both grading of MRI and radiograph (all p values were less than 0.001). By comparison, the R-square of grading of MRI were relatively higher than that of radiograph. Finally, the chronological age is well correlated with the ossification of the knee when both grading of MRI and radiograph were used, with the R-square for MRI were relatively higher than that of radiograph. Furthermore, the use of MRI will reduce exposure to X-ray radiation as much as possible.

Estimation of stature and sex from scapular measurements by three-dimensional volume-rendering technique using in Chinese.

In order to develop population - specific discriminant function equations and stature prediction equations for predicting sex and stature from measurements of the scapula in a contemporary Chinese, 414 individual 3D CT images were collected from participants undergoing routine examination. Sex differences for the variables were tested by Student's t-test. Fisher's method has been followed for discriminant analysis. Regression analysis was applied to match the six linear parameters against stature. The stepwise analysis of all measurements yielded a sex classification accuracy rate of 86.7% and a sex bias of 3.1%. All the classification accuracy rates of the univariate discriminant function analyses are of more than 80%. For stature estimation, the accuracy of stature prediction ranged from 5.252 to 7.210cm for male, from 4.630 to 6.484cm for female, respectively. This paper provides indications that the scapula is an important bone for sex diagnosis and it could be effectively used as alternatives in forensic cases. Furthermore, the equations presented for stature estimation in this study should be used as alternatives in forensic cases when long bones were unavailable for stature estimation.

Mitochondrial D310 instability in Chinese lung cancer patients.

To characterize the somatic mutation spectrum of mitochondrial DNA at D310 in Chinese lung cancer patients and evaluate its potential significance in Chinese lung cancer diagnosis, in this study, 237 samples, including lung tumor, adjacent normal tissue and blood samples of 79 lung cancer patients were analyzed. By comparing sequences of D310 between lung cancer tissues, adjacent normal tissue and blood samples, the somatic mutations at D310 were detected in 17.72% (14/79) of Chinese lung cancer patients; this implied that somatic mutations at D310 could be served as valuable biomarker for diagnostic of Chinese lung cancer. Further analyses indicated that deletion and heterogeneity were the predominant characters for somatic mutations detected at D310 of Chinese lung cancer patients.

Distributions of allele combination in single and cross loci among patients with several kinds of chronic diseases and the normal population.

Genetic research has progressed along with scientific and technological developments. However, it is difficult to identify frequency differences in a particular allele distribution at a single locus. Such differences can be identified by examining the allele combination distribution. We explored different mathematical methods for statistical analyses to assess the association between the genotype and phenotype. We investigated the frequency distributions of alleles, combinations of single-locus genes, and combinations of cross-loci genes at 15 loci using 447 blood samples of 200 normal subjects, 72 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary resistance, 50 liver cancers, 75 stomach cancers and 50 hematencephalon and identified each population as having a unique gene distribution and that the distribution followed certain rules. The probability of illness followed different rules and had apparent specificity. Differences obtained using statistics of combinations of cross-loci genes are superior to single-locus gene statistics, and combinations of single-locus gene statistics are better than allelic statistics.