scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Beatrix Dudzik

Bio: Beatrix Dudzik is an academic researcher from College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Medicine. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 13 publications receiving 113 citations. Previous affiliations of Beatrix Dudzik include Lincoln Memorial University & University of Tennessee.

Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study uses five well‐documented cranial nonmetric traits (glabella, mastoid process, mental eminence, supraorbital margin, and nuchal crest) and one additional trait (zygomatic extension) to develop a validated decision tree for sex assessment.
Abstract: This study uses five well-documented cranial nonmetric traits (glabella, mastoid process, mental eminence, supraorbital margin, and nuchal crest) and one additional trait (zygomatic extension) to develop a validated decision tree for sex assessment. The decision tree was built and cross-validated on a sample of 293 U.S. White individuals from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. Ordinal scores from the six traits were analyzed using the partition modeling option in JMP Pro 12. A holdout sample of 50 skulls was used to test the model. The most accurate decision tree includes three variables: glabella, zygomatic extension, and mastoid process. This decision tree yielded 93.5% accuracy on the training sample, 94% on the cross-validated sample, and 96% on a holdout validation sample. Linear weighted kappa statistics indicate acceptable agreement among observers for these variables. Mental eminence should be avoided, and definitions and figures should be referenced carefully to score nonmetric traits.

40 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study identifies patterns of growth and maturation in the pubic symphysis to derive more precise age estimates for individuals under 40 years of age and indicates that the method has the potential to deliver precise and accurate age estimates of individuals prior to the onset of advanced degenerative changes.

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results of this study confirm frequent rates of misclassification among Hispanic and Japanese groups and identify a close morphological relationship that may stem from similar population histories reflected in ancestral Native American and East Asian populations.
Abstract: It has been brought to the attention of the authors of Fordisc 3.1 that Hispanic samples will often misclassify as Japanese when Asian population samples are included. This study examined this problem in an effort to better document the occurrence and deduce possible causes via comparative analyses. Asian and Hispanic samples were first compared utilizing the existing samples from the University of Tennessee's Forensic Data Bank. Additional modern Japanese, Thai, and Korean samples collected by the first author that have previously not been utilized in analyses were subsequently included. Results of this study confirm frequent rates of misclassification among Hispanic and Japanese groups. Furthermore, a close morphological relationship is identified through further group comparisons and the addition of data used in conjunction with Fordisc samples. Similarities identified among Hispanic and Japanese crania may stem from similar population histories reflected in ancestral Native American and East Asian populations.

23 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship among ancestry, geography, and Fordisc 3.1 misclassification of Latinos using canonical variate analysis and unsupervised model-based clustering of craniometrics.
Abstract: Assigning correct population affinity to a skeleton can contribute important information to an investigation-yet recent work highlights high error rates when classifying Latinos with a traditional tool, Fordisc 3.1 (FD3). Our study examines whether misclassification trends exist, and whether these can be used to infer population affinity. We examine the relationships among ancestry, geography, and FD3 misclassifications of Latinos using canonical variate analysis and unsupervised model-based clustering of craniometrics. Northern Mexicans appear more strongly associated with FD3 references samples with elevated amounts of European ancestry (e.g., American Blacks and Whites), while Southern Mexicans are more strongly associated with FD3 reference samples with reduced amounts of European ancestry (e.g., Guatemalans and Native Americans). FD3 classifications revealed that Latinos exhibited lower posterior probabilities when compared to other common case demographics (Whites and African Americas), even when the classification was "correct." We make recommendations for practitioner interpretation of FD3 reports for casework.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a more detailed analysis of the morphological similarities between Asian and Hispanic craniometrics is warranted using geometric morphometric approaches, showing that variation among samples can be better identified to describe which dimensions of the cranium exhibit the most overlap across populations.
Abstract: Poor classification trends of Hispanic individuals have been shown when using the statistical software Fordisc 3.1 (FD3), which is commonly used by practitioners to estimate ancestry for unidentified skeletal cases (Jantz & Ousley 2005; Ousley & Jantz 2012). Similarities in craniometric dimensions were identified between Asian and Hispanic groups when performing discriminant function and canonical variate analysis using FD3 (Dudzik & Jantz 2016; Jantz & Ousley 2005). Hispanic cases were shown to often classify as Asian and showed a particularly close relationship with Japanese individuals, as illustrated by small Mahalanobis distances. This study further explores these misclassification trend findings by comparing craniometric analyses with geometric morphometric approaches to better identify morphological overlap between Asian and Hispanic populations. Geometric morphometric analyses have become increasingly useful for studies of cranial shape, and inter-landmark distances have been shown to more accurately estimate population affinity than standard cranial measurements (Spradley & Jantz 2016). Based on this evidence, a more detailed analysis of the morphological similarities between Asian and Hispanic craniometrics is warranted using geometric morphometric approaches. Data sets used include coordinate data of a subset of the Hispanic sample included in FD3 as well as individuals from Japan, Thailand, Korea, and China. Results show that variation among samples can be better identified to describe which dimensions of the cranium exhibit the most overlap across populations. Specifically, comparisons between the Asian and Hispanic data showed that the position of landmarks mainly representing dimensions of the neurocranium are useful for accurately predicting group membership.

10 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

320 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: More research is needed to have confidence that under- and overestimations of BA are indicators of aging variability at the level of the individual, as well as to identify correlations and significance of the differences between CA.
Abstract: Objectives This analysis seeks to determine whether differences between real and estimated chronological age (CA) with biological age (BA) in skeletal individuals reflect variability in aging. Material and methods A total of 87 individuals of two samples, ranging from 20 to 94 years old, were analyzed. One, partially documented, belongs to a Mexican skeletal collection dating to the 20th century; the other is an assemblage of prehispanic individuals from different archaeological sites. In all specimens, the tooth annulation method (TCA) was applied to estimate CA, while—excluding individuals older than 80 years—auricular surface (AS) and pubic symphysis (PS) methods were used to estimate BA. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify correlations and significance of the differences between CA vs. TCA, CA vs. AS/PS, TCA vs. AS/PS. Sex of individuals was assessed for its influence in aging. Results The use of TCA to estimate CA was successful for most individuals. A strong correlation was found between CA vs. TCA, CA vs. AS/PS, TCA vs. AS/PS and their differences were significant but variation in these were found when assessed by separate age groups. Sex did not influence such differences. Discussion TCA can be used to estimate CA and its differences with BA, being less than 10 years, are similar to those found in living populations. Differences between CA and BA are due to intra-population variability, which could be the consequence of individual differences in aging. More research is needed to have confidence that under- and overestimations of BA are indicators of aging variability at the level of the individual.

41 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results indicate that the limiting factor of age estimation can be the visual evaluation of age-related changes, with the model using only the PUSx indicator performing the best.

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2020

29 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study focused on sex estimation using the form and shape of the external surface of the frontal bone with or without the inclusion of its sinuses, and found that the whole external frontal surface was significantly different between males and females.
Abstract: Sex estimation is a task of utmost importance in forensic anthropology and bioarcheology. Along with the pelvic bone, the skull is the most important source of sexual dimorphism. On the human skull, the upper third of the face (i.e., the frontal bone) is one of the most significant sexually dimorphic structures useful in anthropological research, especially when studied by methods of virtual anthropology. This study was focused on sex estimation using the form and shape of the external surface of the frontal bone with or without the inclusion of its sinuses. The study sample consisted of 103 cranial CT images from a contemporary Czech population. Three-dimensional virtual models of the frontal bones and sinuses were analyzed using geometric morphometrics and multidimensional statistics: coherent point drift-dense correspondence analysis (CPD-DCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and support vector machine (SVM). The whole external frontal surface was significantly different between males and females both in form and shape. The greatest total success rate of sex estimation based on form was 93.2%, which decreased to 86.41% after crossvalidation, and this model identified females and males with the same accuracy. The best estimation based on shape reached a success rate of 91.26%, with slightly greater accuracy for females. After crossvalidation, however, the success rate decreased to 83.49%. The differences between sexes were significant also in the volume and surface of the frontal sinuses, but the sex estimation had only 64.07% accuracy after crossvalidation. Simultaneous use of the shape of the frontal surface and the frontal sinuses improved the total success rate to 98.05%, which decreased to 84.46% after crossvalidation.

29 citations