Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Suture age'

The estimation of age is an important aspect in osteoarchaeological analysis. In order to understand people and their fates in past societies, researchers must turn to palaeodemography. Therefore, it is vital that the methods of age estimation, which the foundations of palaeodemographic reconstructions rest upon, are as accurate and reliable as possible. In current Swedish cremation-osteoarchaeology, two methods of age estimation are commonly used: suture closure and relative thickness of the diploë. However, no substantial evaluation of these two methods have been undertaken. This study aims to evaluate the two methods of age estimation of cremated remains, suture closure and relative thickness of the diploë. This was done by testing the two methods on two unburnt populations, Mediaeval city-dwellers from Helgeandsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden, and Middle-Neolithic hunter-gatherers from Ajvide, Gotland, Sweden. Suture closure and proportion of diploë was observed in comparison with age-related changes of the auricular surface of the ilium and the pubic symphysis. Based on the results of the study, possible courses of action were proposed and then applied on cremated remains from a Late Iron Age burial ground on Lovö, Stockholm, Sweden. The results showed significant moderate correlation with age for both methods (0.61 for suture closure and 0.58 for proportion of diploë). However, early stage of suture closure could identify a group consisting of juveniles and young adults, while advanced suture closure could identify a group consisting of middle adults and old adults. These results, which proved to be more reliable than existing methods, can, hopefully, lead to improvements of the assessment of age in cremated remains, and increase our understanding of the fates of people of the past.

Cranial suture closure has long been recognized as a character of human development related to aging. For this reason, it has been utilized for forensic and archaeological studies to determine the age at death of unidentified and skeletonized individuals. Despite remaining a popular age indicator today, studies dating back to the 19th Century have published contradictory results on the nature of this relationship. Many authors have concluded that cranial suture closure exhibits, at most, a sketchy relationship with age and should not be used as an age indicator, whereas others have supported its inclusion despite a wide range of variability. Traditional methods for assessing cranial suture closure all defined degrees of obliteration and assigned discrete scores. However, with the development of technology, new techniques may be capable of better assessing the association of cranial suture closure in age. The current study is an attempt to address cranial suture closure with a new quantitative method that utilizes laser technology. 196 black male crania from the Hamann-Todd Collection were observed. The suture landmarks established by Meindl and Lovejoy were recorded standard scores and were also scanned with the laser device, which quantifies the amount of reflected light off of a surface. The results showed that the laser device accurately and consistently quantifies light reflected through a suture joint, especially when calibrated to the surrounding bone. A general trend for the laser measurements to decrease with age was observed. It was concluded that a relationship between suture closure and age does exist, but other factors affecting suture closure should not be overlooked. Further application of the laser method, through the refinement of data collection techniques and the device used, may increase what is known on the structure and development of the skull, and may be able to more precisely elucidate the tenuous relationship between suture closure and age.
Thesis [M.A]: Wichita State University, College of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Anthropology
"December 2007."

La suture palatine médiane provient, embryologiquement d'une part du bourgeon médian qui va donner notamment le palais primaire (5ème semaine) et d'autre part des processus palatins latéraux, issus de la face profonde des bourgeons maxillaires qui vont réaliser le palais secondaire (6ème - 12ème semaine). Ainsi, les zones de fusion, de type synfibrose, des différents éléments vont donner la suture palatine médiane. L'enjeu de ce travail est de connaître l'évolution de la synfibrose de la suture palatine médiane. L'étude est composée de deux parties : radiologique, surtout, examens de scanners des sinus maxillaires chez l'enfant et l'adulte et histologique, étude de pièces anatomiques de palais chez le foetus, l'embryon, l'adulte et l'animal. Les résultats montrent qu'il n'existe pas d'âge de fermeture complète de la suture palatine médiane. Egalement, ils révèlent que les palais primaire et secondaire évoluent séparément : selon l'axe antéropostérieur, le secondaire se ferme d'avant en arrière et généralement après la fermeture du primaire et selon l'axe vertical, le palais primaire se ferme de bas en haut tandis que le palais secondaire de haut en bas. Il est difficile de transposer ces résultats en orthopédie dentofaciale puisque la disjonction de la suture palatine médiane est essentiellement orthodontique et rarement chirurgicale (après l'âge de 14-16 ans). Mais, deux explications peuvent être avancées : l'existence au niveau de la suture d'un tissu osseux "" jeune et lâche""permettant une disjonction orthodontique ou ""âgé et dense"" obligeant un acte chirurgical, plus ou moins associée à une absence de fermeture de la suture non visible radiologiquement. Néanmoins, un scanner peut être utile en cas de disjonction chirurgicale afin de guider le chirurgien sur la profondeur de l'ostéotomie
In embryology, the mid palatal suture comes from the median bud which will give, including, the primary palate (5th week) and the lateral palatine process, issued from the deep surface of the maxillary buds which will create the secondary palate (6th ?€? 12th week). Thus, the areas of mergers, type synfibrosis, different elements will give the mid palatal suture. The challenge of this study is to know the development of the synfibrosis of this suture. The work is composed of two parts : radiologic, especially, reviews of CT scanners of maxillary sinus in children and adults and histologic, study anatomical parts of palates in the fetus, embryo, adult and animal. The results show that there is no age for a complete closure of the mid palatal suture. Also, they show that the primary and secondary palates evolve separately : for anterior-posterior axis, the secondary closes from front to back and usually after the closure of the primary and for vertical axis, the primary palate closes from bottom to top, whereas the secondary palate, from top to bottom. It is difficult to translate these results in dentofacial orthopedic since the disjunction is mainly orthodontic and rarely surgical (after the age of 14-16). But, two explications can be explained : the existence at the suture, a bone tissue "young and low" which allows a orthodontic separation or "old and dense" requiring surgical procedure, more or less with a lack closure of the suture not visible radioactively. Nevertheless, a scanner can be useful in a surgical disjunction to guide the surgeon on the depth of the osteotomy

The elucidation of the geologic processes that led to the creation of the Tibetan Plateau, a large area of thick crust and high elevation, is a fundamental question in geology. This study provides new data and insight on the geologic history of central Tibet in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, prior to the Indo-Asian collision, as well as the Gondwanan history of the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes of the plateau. This investigation is centered on the Bangong suture zone near the town of Amdo and I present new geochronology, thermochronology, thermobarometry and structural data of the Amdo basement, an exposure of high-grade gneisses and intrusive granitoids. Using a range of thermochronometers, I show there were two periods of cooling, one in the Middle-Late Jurassic after high-grade metamorphism and a second in the Early Cretaceous. I attribute Middle-Late Jurassic metamorphism, magmatism, and initial cooling of the Amdo basement to arc related tectonism that resulted in tectonic or sedimentary burial of the magmatic arc. I propose that a second period of cooling, nonmarine, clastic sedimment deposition and thrust faulting in the Early Cretaceous is related to the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision. The thermochronology reveals limited denudation between the Cretaceous and the present, indicating the existence of thickened crust when India collided with Asia in the early Tertiary. U-Pb geochronology of the orthogneisses and detrital zircon geochronology of metasedimentary rocks suggests that the Lhasa and Qiangtang terrane were located farther west along Gondwanan's northern margin than most reconstructions depict.

The intention with this thesis is to improve the method to assess dental wear as an age indicator by examining its correlation with the closure of cranial suture and the influence diet has on dental wear. This thesis explores this correlation through a comparative study between a collection of skulls with unknown context and a control group with known context. Age assessment of cranial sutures is one of the oldest and most questionable methods of physical anthropology. The studies that were carried out in the beginning of the 21st century have shown a useful correlation between the cranial sutures closure and age assessment. Research on food is essential for understanding a society, and dental health has always been important for wellbeing. A difference between populations today and historical populations is the dental wear that causes infections. All these premises make this research interesting to explore further, to learn more about what the teeth can tell us about historic populations.

Les sutures crâniennes ont été régulièrement étudiées au fil des siècles puisque déjà Vésale établissait une relation entre l’âge et la synostose suturale.

Leur imprécision a quelque peu confiné l’observation de ces sutures dans un certain oubli, justifié en partie.

Il est clair que leur fiabilité quant à l’estimation de l’âge au décès reste discutable et ce, pour diverses raisons.

Leur observation est difficile et dès lors sujette à subjectivité dans l’appréciation de leurs stades de fusion.

De plus, leur apparence sur le crâne sec peut être altérée par divers artéfacts de conservation (cire, vernis…).

Outre l’observation des classiques sutures ectocrâniennes de voûte et l’utilisation des méthodes habituelles en la matière (méthode de Acsádi et Nemeskéri, méthode de Masset), nous avons orienté notre étude vers des sutures peu voire pas exploitées, à savoir les sutures palatines, les sutures fronto-naso-maxillaires et les sutures de l’os zygomatique.

Ces trois groupes suturaux ont la particularité d’évoluer de manière très lente vers la fusion, à tel point que peu d’individus en présentent une oblitération complète.

Face au vieillissement de la population et de par notre expérience médico-légale et anthropologique d’étude de pièces osseuses de personnes âgées, nous avons estimé qu’il était utile de se pencher sur des collections particulières de sujets d’âge avancé, afin d’apprécier l’évolution morphologique de ces sutures faciales.

Si certaines personnes fort âgées gardent malgré tout des caractéristiques suturales peu évoluées, il existe dans l’ensemble, une progression suturale quasiment constante en fonction de l’âge.

Nous avons tenté de la cerner, en attribuant à ces sutures, des degrés bien définis de cette progressive fusion et par là, l’aboutissement à un coefficient moyen d’oblitération suturale, se traduisant aisément en pourcentage d’oblitération ou pouvant être introduit dans des équations de régression.

Tout en connaissant les limites de cette approche, nous pouvons estimer qu’elle peut rendre des services lors de l’étude de restes humains squelettisés, notamment s’ils appartiennent à des personnes fort âgées, dès lors qu’à ces stades de vieillissement, peu de méthodes restent encore applicables. D’autre part, l’approche en pourcentage d’oblitération suturale rend également des services lorsque les crânes étudiés sont fragmentés. C’est la situation que nous rencontrons actuellement lors de l’étude d’une très importante collection anthropologique à l’Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique.

Cette observation suturale pourra également – à l’avenir – trouver un terrain d’approche fort utile par l’étude des sutures en CT-Scan ou en micro-CT.

Enfin, grâce à ces techniques modernes d’imagerie médicale, les sutures trouvent un regain d’intérêt dans une application toute particulière, qui est celle de l’identification comparative, puisqu’il apparaît que le « dessin sutural » s’avère tout à fait propre à chaque individu.

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Cranial sutures were regularly studied during centuries since Vésale already established a relationship between age at death and sutural fusion.

Their inaccuracy somewhat confined the observation of these joints in a certain lapse of memory, partly justified.

Various reasons clearly indicate that their reliability for age at death estimation remains debatable.

Their observation is difficult and consequently prone to subjectivity in the appreciation of their stages of fusion.

Moreover, their appearance on dry cranium can be modified by various artefacts from preserving methods (wax, varnished…).

In addition to the traditional observation of ectocranial sutures (with the usual methods such as Acsádi and Nemeskéri method and Masset method), we have directed our study towards not much exploited sutures, namely the palatine sutures, the fronto-naso-zygomatic sutures and the sutures of the zygomatic bone.

These three sutural groups are characteristic by evolving very slowly to fusion, and than, only few individuals present a complete obliteration of the latter.

Because of general population ageing and our medicolegal and anthropological experience of skeletal remains in elderly, we estimated the usefulness in studying particular collections of old people, in order to appreciate the morphological evolution of these facial joints.

Despite some very old people who present little evolved sutural characteristics, we consider as a whole, an almost constant sutural progression according to age.

We tried to define degrees of this progressive fusion and by the way, the result with a sutural obliteration average coefficient, can be easily translate as a percentage obliteration or able to be introduced into regression equations.

The limits of this approach are well known but we estimate that it is possible to help the examination of human skeletal remains in elderly, although at these stages of ageing, some methods remain still applicable. In addition, the approach expressed as a percentage of sutural obliteration is also very helpful when craniums are fragmented. This situation is currently observed on the anthropological collections at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

Furthemore in the future, the sutural observation will find an interesting and useful approach by the study of the joints in CT-Scan or micro-CT.

At least, thanks to these modern techniques of medical imagery, the sutures find a renewed interest in a very particular application, such as comparative identification. It appears that the "sutural drawing" proves completely specific to each individual.

Doctorat en sciences médicales
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Transition analysis transforms skeletal traits with an invariant, unidirectional series of stages into a likelihood function with a maximum likelihood value and a 95% confidence interval. Boldsen et al. used transition analysis to develop an adult age estimation method employing components of the cranial sutures, pubic symphysis and ilial portion of the sacroiliac joint, used either in combination or individually. This validation study aimed to use the 36 transition analysis numerical, categorical scores for the anatomical features in conjunction with the ADBOU computer program to assess the accuracy and precision of the age estimates for 149 black individuals from the Pretoria Bone Collection. In addition, the effect of observer variability in scoring of these traits was assessed. Six age estimations were generated by the ADBOU computer program using 1) the cranial sutures only, 2) the pubic symphysis only, 3) the auricular surface of the ilium only, 4) all three features combined, 5) all three features combined and modified by a forensic prior distribution and 6) all three features combined and modified by an archaeological prior distribution. The six point estimate categories, calculated from the maximum likelihood values, were evaluated for accuracy using mean absolute values. The 95% confidence intervals were evaluated for range width and accuracy. Cohen’s Kappa statistics were used to analyse repeatability of the scoring procedure through inter- and intra-observer agreement and Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA statistics to determine the effect of observer differences on the final age estimates. The usefulness of the age ranges were diminished by large widths encompassing up to 95 years. The accuracy for the point estimates fared better for the combined skeletal indicators and overall accuracy was improved by using the archaeological prior distribution. The archaeological prior distribution was also responsible for narrowing the age ranges, especially in the older ages (over 70 years). Age estimates did not differ significantly when using inter- and intra-observer scores, but experience with the method did seem to improve results. Overall, age ranges were too wide, but accuracy could potentially be improved by adding more skeletal components to the method and using a population-specific prior distribution. The method would need considerable adjustments to make it usable in a South African setting.
Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
tm2015
Anatomy
MSc
Unrestricted

Culex mosquitoes are known for carrying several harmful viruses in the United States. Culex tarsalis is found in rural as well as some residential areas in the Western United States, so they are under insecticide pressure from both agricultural spraying and vector control. In response to insecticide pressure, mosquitoes can evolve two primary resistance mechanisms: target site insensitivity, as a result of DNA mutation, and elevated levels of detoxifying enzymes (GST, alpha and beta esterases, and P450 oxidases). The two types of target site insensitivity studied here in Cx. tarsalis are kdr, which is a mutation in the para-type voltage gated sodium channel and ace-1, which is a mutation in acetylcholinesterase gene. This study focused on a population of Cx. tarsalis in Sutter County, where insecticide use shifted from sumithrin to Naled over the course of the summer. The goal of this study was to determine if there was resistance to insecticides and characterize the mechanisms of resistance. Mosquitoes were separated into resistance levels based on CDC bottle bioassay results using Naled, sumithrin, and permethrin insecticides. Mosquitoes were used to test for elevated levels of detoxifying enzymes and genetic qPCR testing for either kdr and ace-1 mutations. Bottle bioassay results suggest Cx. tarsalis populations from Sutter County are mostly resistant to pyrethroids while not being resistant to organophosphates. Enzymatic assays suggest high concentrations or activities of detoxifying enzymes are commonly seen in resistant individuals, occasionally elevated levels of multiple enzymes within an individual. The ace-1 mutation was seen in a single susceptible individual (0.036%). Either one or two kdr alleles were present in every single semi-resistant or resistant mosquito tested.

[For the Abstract, please see the PDF files below, namely "front.pdf"] CONTENTS. Chapter 1 Introduction. Chapter 2 Gross and microscopic visceral anatomy of the male Cape fur seal with reference to organ size and growth. Chapter 3 Age determination and growth in the male Cape fur seal: part one, external body. Chapter 4 Age determination and growth in the male Cape fur seal: part two, skull. Chapter 5 Age determination and growth in the male Cape fur seal: part three, baculum. Chapter 6 Suture age as an indicator of physiological age in the male Cape fur seal. Chapter 7 Sexual dimorphism in the adult Cape fur seal: standard body length and skull morphology. Chapter 8 Reproduction in the male Cape fur seal: age at puberty and annual cycle of the testis. Chapter 9 Diet and foraging behaviour of the Cape fur seal. Chapter 10(a) The Impact of the fur seal industry on the distribution and abundance of Cape fur seals. Chapter 10(b) South African Airforce wildlife rescue: Cape fur seal pups washed from Black Rocks, Algoa Bay, during heavy seas, December 1976. Chapter 11(a) Operational interactions between Cape fur seals and fisheries: part one, trawl fishing. Chapter 11(b) Operational interactions between Cape fur seals and fisheries: part two, squid jigging and line fishing. Chapter 11(c) Operational interactions between Cape fur seals and fisheries: part three, entanglement in man-made debris. Chapter 12 Concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni & Zn) and organochlorine contaminants (PCBs, DDT, DDE & DDD) in the blubber of Cape fur seals. Chapter 13 Endoparasites of the Cape fur seal. Chapter 14(a) Preliminary investigations of shark predation on Cape fur seals. Chapter 14(b) Aggressive behaviour of an adult male Cape fur seal towards a great white shark Carcharodon carcharias. Chapter 15 Conclusions and future directions.

Für die Versorgung intraligamentärer vorderer Kreuzbandrupturen wurde bei Patienten im Wachstumsalter, aufgrund der Sorge vor dauerhaften Wachstumsstörungen durch eine Schädigung der Wachstumsfugen, eine Vielzahl verschiedener operativer Techniken entwickelt. Noch hat sich keines der praktizierten Therapieverfahren eindeutig etablieren können. In dieser Arbeit wurden verschiedene aktuell angewandte Operationsverfahren hinsichtlich ihrer klinischen Ergebnisse und Risiken bei Patienten bis zu einem Alter von zwölf Jahren und vergleichend für alle Patienten im Wachstumsalter, untersucht. Hierfür wurden zum einen in einer retrospektiven nationalen Multicenterstudie Patienten im Alter von bis zu zwölf Jahren, die mit einer vorderen Kreuzbandoperation versorgt worden waren, nachuntersucht. Zum anderen wurden im Rahmen einer systematischen Literaturanalyse die Literaturdatenbanken Medline und Embase, die Cochrane Library sowie die Springer- und die Thieme-Verlagsdatenbank durchsucht und operative Versorgungen von Patienten im Wachstumsalter mit einer vorderen Kreuzbandruptur erfasst. In den zehn Kliniken, die in die Multicenterstudie eingeschlossen waren, wurden 25 Patienten nachuntersucht. In der systematischen Literaturanalyse wurden insgesamt 59 Artikel mit 860 operativen Versorgungen von Patienten im Wachstumsalter erfasst. Die Kreuzbandnaht zeigte insgesamt schlechtere klinische Ergebnisse als die Kreuzbandersatzplastik. Fugenkreuzende und fugenschonende Operationstechniken führten zu ähnlich guten klinischen Ergebnissen. Die Rate an Beinlängendifferenzen oder Achsenabweichungen war jedoch bei den fugenschonenden Techniken deutlich höher. Zwischen den verwendeten Transplantaten (Patellasehne, Hamstring, Quadrizepssehne, Fascia lata und Allograft) und auch zwischen gelenknaher und gelenkferner Transplantatfixierung wurden keine wesentlichen Unterschiede in den Ergebnissen festgestellt. Hinsichtlich der Technik zur Bohrung des femoralen Knochenkanals war der anteromediale Zugangsweg nicht mit einer höheren Rate an Beinlängendifferenzen oder Achsenabweichungen assoziiert als der transtibiale Zugang. Insgesamt lassen sich für Patienten im Alter von bis zu zwölf Jahren mit einer Kreuzbandplastik gute bis sehr gute klinische Ergebnisse erzielen. Die Gefahr mit der Operation eine irreversible Beinlängendifferenz oder Achsenabweichung zu verursachen ist jedoch beachtlich und bei Patienten bis zu zwölf Jahren vermutlich größer als bei älteren Patienten, die sich kurz vor Abschluss ihres Wachstums befinden.

Chapter 1 Introduction. Chapter 2 Gross and microscopic visceral anatomy of the male Cape fur seal with reference to organ size and growth. Chapter 3 Age determination and growth in the male Cape fur seal: part one, external body. Chapter 4 Age determination and growth in the male Cape fur seal: part two, skull. Chapter 5 Age determination and growth in the male Cape fur seal: part three, baculum. Chapter 6 Suture age as an indicator of physiological age in the male Cape fur seal. Chapter 7 Sexual dimorphism in the adult Cape fur seal: standard body length and skull morphology. Chapter 8 Reproduction in the male Cape fur seal: age at puberty and annual cycle of the testis. Chapter 9 Diet and foraging behaviour of the Cape fur seal. Chapter 10(a) The Impact of the fur seal industry on the distribution and abundance of Cape fur seals. Chapter 10(b) South African Airforce wildlife rescue: Cape fur seal pups washed from Black Rocks, Algoa Bay, during heavy seas, December 1976. Chapter 11(a) Operational interactions between Cape fur seals and fisheries: part one, trawl fishing. Chapter 11(b) Operational interactions between Cape fur seals and fisheries: part two, squid jigging and line fishing. Chapter 11(c) Operational interactions between Cape fur seals and fisheries: part three, entanglement in man-made debris. Chapter 12 Concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni & Zn) and organochlorine contaminants (PCBs, DDT, DDE & DDD) in the blubber of Cape fur seals. Chapter 13 Endoparasites of the Cape fur seal. Chapter 14(a) Preliminary investigations of shark predation on Cape fur seals. Chapter 14(b) Aggressive behaviour of an adult male Cape fur seal towards a great white shark Carcharodon carcharias. Chapter 15 Conclusions and future directions.

The tectonic significance and age of carbonatite intrusions in the western Foreland Belt of the Canadian Cordillera are poorly constrained. Recent 1:5,000 scale field mapping of one of these carbonatite intrusions, the Aley carbonatite (NTS 94 B/5), has demonstrated that it was emplaced as a syn-kinematic sill, coeval with a major nappe-forming tectonic event. Determining the age of the Aley carbonatite therefore provides a means of directly dating tectonism related to carbonatite magmatism. A U-Pb titanite age of 365.9 +/- 2.1 Ma was obtained from the Ospika pipe, an ultramafic diatreme spatially and genetically related to the carbonatite. We interpret the Late Devonian age of the Ospika pipe to be the minimum possible age of the carbonatite and syn-magmatic nappe-forming tectonic event. The maximum possible age of the carbonatite is constrained by the Early Devonian age of the Road River Group (ca. 410 Ma), the youngest strata intruded by carbonatite dykes and involved in the nappe forming event. Our dating results for the Aley carbonatite closely correlate with U-Pb zircon and perovskite ages obtained for the Ice River carbonatite complex in the western Foreland Belt of the southern Canadian Cordillera, and support the interpretation of carbonatite intrusions of the western Foreland Belt as genetically linked components of an alkaline-carbonatitic magmatic province. Structural, stratigraphic, and geochronological data from the Aley area indicate that deformation was similar in style to, and coeval with, structures attributable to the Antler Orogeny, and are consistent with the Antler orogen having extended the length of Cordilleran margin from the southern United States to Alaska. Deformed alkaline-carbonatite intrusions that characterize continental suture zones in Africa and Tibet may provide an analogue for the Aley carbonatite and correlative alkaline-carbonatite complexes in the western Foreland Belt.
Graduate
0372
mcleish@uvic.ca