Alexandre Raphael Deitos’s research while affiliated with National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology and other places

A Antropologia Forense é um meio auxiliar de identificação muito importante para a estimativa da idade em casos de esqueletos em elevado grau de decomposição, mutilação, esqueletização ou fragmentação. Objetivo: Avaliar a aplicabilidade de métodos qualitativos para estimativa de idade em uma amostra brasileira moderna. As análises morfológicas das sínfises púbicas e das epífises mediais da clavícula foram feitas por meio de tomadas fotográficas (câmera digital Canon® e com uso da escala n° 2 da ABFO). Os dados coletados abrangeram informações como sexo, idade, ancestralidade e causa da morte. Os critérios de seleção da amostra consideraram a integridade dos esqueletos, a qualidade de preservação e a faixa etária entre 17 e 65 anos. A análise estatística incluiu testes qui-quadrado para avaliar a associação entre as fases morfológicas e as faixas etárias, além de intervalos de confiança, sensibilidade e especificidade. A amostra foi composta por 15 esqueletos femininos (22 a 65 anos) e 40 masculinos (17 a 65 anos), com média e mediana de idade de 37 anos. Os testes estatísticos apontaram significância apenas na amostra masculina referente à análise da sínfise púbica. Os resultados foram promissores, embora apenas a amostra masculina na análise da sínfise púbica tenha apresentado significância estatística. Este estudo ressalta a importância de validações regionais e da aplicação de metodologias específicas para amostras populacionais diversificadas.

The Yanomami population, residing in Brazil's largest indigenous reserve in the Amazon Rainforest, face significant health challenges exacerbated by external threats such as infectious diseases, malnutrition, and mercury contamination from illegal mining. These issues, coupled with inadequate healthcare provision, have led to an alarming increase in mortality rates and potentially threaten the long-term survival of the Yanomami community. This ecological study utilized demographic data from the Special Secretariat of Indigenous Health to explore the demographic evolution and natural increase of the Yanomami Indigenous population in Brazil from 2003 to 2022. Employing population pyramids, crude rates of natural increase, the Mann-Kendall test for trend analysis, and linear regression modeling, the study analyzed vital statistics to forecast demographic trends, with analysis conducted using the R statistical software. Our findings showed a substantial growth of the Yanomami population, yet with a decreasing natural increase rate (τ = -0.33; p = 0.047), suggesting a shift toward population stagnation or decline within the next century. These results call for urgent, coordinated actions to address the complex demographic trends and health challenges faced by Yanomami Indigenous people, ensuring their demographic sustainability and the preservation of their traditional ways of life amidst ongoing environmental and health crises.

Forensic anthropologists perform specialised analysis, mainly involving skeletonised human remains, cadavers in advanced stages of decomposition, disassociated elements from the human body, and human remains in extreme carbonisation. The main objectives of the forensic anthropology expertise are human identification and assisting in determining the cause and manner of death. Estimating the time since death is also a priority for some cases, especially ones involving missing persons. This science works on individual cases, violent deaths, missing persons, mass disasters, suspected violations of human rights, and crimes against humanity. Forensic anthropological evidence is, in general, very sensitive. Thus, it is important to detail aspects relevant to the maintenance of the chain of custody at all phases of the investigation, as well as standardise the actions of the individuals involved. This aims to preserve the evidence integrity and sameness (Sameness: free translation of the Portuguese word "mesmidade", derived from a Spanish word that does not possess a translation to Portuguese. Sameness of evidence is understood as the guarantee that the evidence under valuation (or under analysis of its probative value) is exactly and integrally the same one which was collected, corresponding, therefore, to "the same" (and not "part of", "derived from"), safeguarding its value. Brazil Law No. 13.964 of 14 December 2019 establishes and lists 10 phases related to the evidence chain of custody that must be followed. These newly introduced requirements resulted in the need for adaptation of the forensic, investigative, and legal actors involved in an investigation, and in the detailed description of the procedures for the different areas related to criminalistics, including forensic anthropology. The information provided in this article should be interpreted as recommendations, even though their non-compliance may weaken the investigative and forensic analysis processes in whole or in part.

The missing and unidentified persons problem affects every country in the world differently. In Brazil, aspects of the investigation and identification of persons are deficient and, among other things, need better policies and integrated procedures. This article focus on the initial steps taken starting in 2019, with the Law 13.812, that established de National Policy on the Search for Missing Persons and created the National Registry for Missing Persons, and the first efforts made by the experts involved in understanding the issue in a holistic manner and developing the basis for a multidisciplinary response.

Aim: This study aimed to test the applicability of the methods proposed by Olze et al. (2012) and Timme et al. for dental age estimation in Brazilian subadults and adults. Material and methods: Panoramic radiographs of 503 individuals aged between 20 and 70 years were analyzed. The mean chronological age of males and females of the sample was 29.04 and 29.97 years, receptively. Secondary dentin formation, cementum apposition, periodontal recession, and attrition of teeth #34, #35, #44 and #45 teeth were assessed as parameters to be calculated in the formulae designed by Olze et al. and Timme et al. Results: In males, the mean estimated age by the Olze method was 28.97 ± 2.86 years, while in females it was 27.85 ± 2.70 years. The Timme method estimated mean age for males of 32.54 ± 5.32 years and for females 33.09 ± 5.16 years. Low coefficients of determination (r2) for the application of tooth-specific formulae of both methods suggest that estimated and chronological ages were not properly associated. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study indicate that the Olze and Timme methods may be limited for forensic applications in Brazilian subadults and adults. Country-specific statistical adjustments might be useful for improvements in practice.

A compreensão da variação humana é a base para as análises antropológicas forenses, como a estimativa do sexo. A análise de biodistância permite quantificar diferenças morfológicas com o controle da variável tamanho. O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar uma análise morfométrica geométrica aplicada ao dimorfismo sexual da face adulta. Uma amostra de 48 mulheres e 30 homens predominantemente jovens (84,6% com 18-24 anos) e brancos (89,7%) teve suas faces escaneadas em 3D por infravermelho. Os modelos 3D foram recortados e padronizados para 15.000 triângulos cada. Para cada sexo, o grupo de modelos faciais foi alinhado por algoritmo iterativo de ponto mais próximo (ICP), invariavelmente em relação à rotação, translação e escala. Duas faces médias representativas para cada sexo foram extraídas, alinhadas por ICP e uma análise de biodistância (Hausdorff) entre as duas superfícies foi realizada com métrica de raiz quadrática média. Com a variável tamanho controlada, as principais diferenças morfométricas geométricas entre os sexos expressaram-se, das maiores para as menores, no arco supraciliar, mento, masseter (mais protuberantes no homem) e região zigomática (mais pronunciada na mulher), o que é biologicamente compatível com o dimorfismo sexual associado às diferenças hormonais e funcionais a partir da puberdade. Apesar da influência do tamanho na expressão do dimorfismo sexual, a análise de biodistância demonstrou que as maiores diferenças morfológicas faciais entre os sexos estão, em ordem decrescente, no arco supraciliar, mento, masseteres e zigomáticos.

This study aimed to test the discriminant power of the photoanthropometric analysis of the human face for distinguishing females and males aged below or above 14 and 18. The sample consisted of 1354 photographs taken in frontal view of the Brazilian females and males aged between 10 and 22 years. Using SAFF-2D ® software (Department of Federal Police, Brasília, Brazil), fourteen examiners positioned 35 landmarks in each of the photographs. The landmark positioning led to the quantification of 110 indices and 51 iridian ratios. These variables were tested into logistic regression models designed to distinguish females and males older or not than 14 and 18 years. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves were used to assess the distinctive power of the models and the inherent Area Under the Curve (AUC) founded inferences about accuracy. The model was able to distinguish females that were not older than 14 in 129 cases (64.5%) and females that were older than 14 in 359 cases (75.42%). The females that were not older than 18 years were distinguished in 250 cases (60.83%), while the females older than 18 years were distinguished in 199 cases (74.53%). Males that were not older than 14 were distinguished in 175 cases (84.95%) and males that were older than 14 were distinguished in 381 cases (81.06%). Males that were not older than 18 years were distinguished in 280 cases (68.97%), while males older than 18 years were distinguished in 224 cases (83.58%). The female model reached 76% and 73% of distinctive accuracy for the thresholds of 14 and 18 years, respectively. The male model reached 90% and 83% for the same thresholds, respectively. Facial photoanthropometry is a useful tool for age estimation in criminal cases that involve the legal age thresholds of 14 and 18 years.

Background: Understanding the morphologic alterations of the human face over the time is an essential step towards optimal simulations of facial age progression. In practice, these simulations contribute to the forensic routine by tracking and recognizing missing persons. Objective: This study aimed to assess the morphometric facial alterations with aging - concerning specifically the development of ear, nose and lip in relation to other facial structures. Material and methods: The sample consisted of 700 photographs taken standardly in frontal view from male and female Caucasian subjects aged from 20 to 80 years old. The sample was divided in 7 age groups (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 years old), in which 50 males and 50 females were distributed homogenously. Photoanthropometric analysis was applied with SAFF 2D® 2.0.05 (SEPAEL/INC, Federal Police, Brazil) software package considering 36 facial landmarks. A single examiner analyzed the sample aided by two other examiners for the assessment of intra-/inter-rater reliability. Results: The most evident alterations found in the facial structures consisted of the enlargement of the nose and ears with aging, as well the reduction in size of the lip thickness. These alterations varied considerably in the specific age ranges studied in this research being different between males and females. Conclusion: The present outcomes indicated the possibility of quantifying morphometric alterations observed in the human face with aging. These alterations may support the forensic practice providing tools for age estimation based on photographic analyses.