1,721,015 research outputs found
Nieuwe Inzichten in Y-chromosomale Variatie voor Familial Searching binnen Forensisch DNA-onderzoek
No full textForensic DNA analysis has become the gold standard in the justice system to identify the perpetrator from biological traces found at the crime scene. Nevertheless, offender identification through standard DNA analysis can be challenging in mixed biological samples from sexual assault or murder cases. With a male perpetrator, as in the majority of the cases, it is possible to genotype for the male specific Y-chromosome (chrY). This analysis ignores any female victim DNA in mixed stains, facilitates exclusion of other male suspects from complicity and detects multiple male contributors. Due to the lack of chrY databases in most countries, other identification strategies have to be applied. Familial searching is a forensic method where chrY helps to find potential leads to identify the male offender through the search for relatives. ChrY acts as a unique tool since the majority is inherited from father to son in a relative conserved manner. The only source of genetic variation between men is the occurrence of mutations on Y-markers. ChrY analysis provides thus the opportunity to discriminate between families and to find distant or close biological relatives who share a most recent common ancestor (MRCA) with the perpetrator. However, in order to use familial searching as a more general tool in forensic casework, there are some important gaps in the knowledge concerning paternally transferred chrY variation. In this PhD dissertation, new insights into the patrilineal chrY transmission were gained to improve familial searching in forensic casework. First, the knowledge concerning Y-markers and their mutation rates was expanded by exploring chrY variation in deep-rooted family pedigrees. Second, hidden mutations between paternal relatives were investigated and analyzed in order to reveal all chrY variations. Third, the obtained detailed chrY mutability characteristics were used to develop an improved MRCA calculator (the 'YMrCA') to estimate the time between an offender and his relative. Fourth, as chrY is co-inherited with surnames in many populations, it was possible to gain insights into the strengths and factors influencing this correlation and to create a surname prediction model (the 'Ysurnames') for its possible use in familial searching. And finally, a chrY-specific panel (the 'CSYseq') was designed to enhance current Y-marker analysis resolution to sequence level, targeting a large number of interesting Y-markers with high discrimination power and easy interpretation in order to analyze many samples in a single assay.status: Publishe
De paleodemografische en paleopathologische studie van het St. Romboutskerkhof, Mechelen
No full textContextual archaeo-anthropological studies – whereby skeletal and archaeological analyses are treated as one whole – are still uncommon. The detailed study of a sub-sample of 400 individuals from the excavation of St. Rombout’s cemetery in Mechelen, Belgium (10th-18th centuries AD) nevertheless demonstrates its enormous potential. A macroscopic study of mortality patterns and age and sex composition (palaeodemography) and the investigation of disease (palaeopathology) was combined with the study of funerary practices. This allowed the exploration of ‘who’ was buried in the churchyard, different socio-economic groups, burial customs and the physical health and lifestyle of the parish population. It also offered suggestions for circumstances of death in the case of several unusual burials.
The excavation, carried out between 2009 and 2011, resulted in the largest skeletal assemblage so far in Belgium, with over 4,000 individuals still in anatomical position, spread across more than eight centuries of continuous burial. Detailed on-site registration, extensive sampling for future biochemical analyses and archival documentation add to the exceptional nature of this collection and its potential for the study of patterns between groups and over time. The burials showed variation in the use of a coffin, the position and orientation of the body, the presence of a layer of lime, ash or loam and the number of individuals in the grave with indications for single, collective and multiple burial. This variation was used to explore patterns in the skeletal data. It offered interpretations on the socio-economic background, health and lifestyle of individuals and also documented the influence of sex and particularly age on social roles. Various skeletal changes were studied to explore wider patterns, including disturbances in the growth of individuals due to malnutrition or disease, lesions related to injury and physical stress, dental health and disease.
Chronological changes in demographic and palaeopathological data were observed from the late medieval to post-medieval period and the presence of different social groups was established. The main change was the appearance of a large group of adolescents (12-17 years) and young adults (18-25 years), mostly males, from the 15th-16th century layer onwards. Their less expensive and more unusual burials – including plain earth and collective burial, unusual positions and orientations – point towards a poorer and dependent social position. The individuals showed higher frequencies of growth disturbances, evidence of physical stress and disease. They may be servants, apprentices and immigrants and, considering the much higher proportion of males, may reflect the ‘extended male adolescence’ known from medieval historical sources. A Spanish military hospital (1585-1715 AD) near the cemetery may also have affected the age and sex composition. For individuals over 25 years of age single graves and coffins were more common. They showed fewer indications for growth disturbances and lesions related to disease, which were more commonly healed, indicating these were stronger, surviving, individuals. Wealth and social position may have depended on age or social position could have affected the probability of reaching old age.
Although females were generally more commonly associated with coffin burial, over 50 years of age males were more frequently buried in coffins. Males showed a large presence in the young adult category, while females showed a larger presence in the over 50 year category. Young adult males were also associated with growth disturbances, a high degree of physical stress and disease, while young adult females only showed higher levels of injury. Patterns of physical stress varied between sexes and between age categories. Overall males showed more pronounced differences as they got older and seem to have achieved more evident changes in social position around 25 years of age. Females showed less marked differences, with an apparently lower impact of lifestyle on health.
The multiple burials, which indicate episodes of unusual or elevated mortality, showed a large proportion of adolescents and young adults, who were almost all male. The high probability of death between 15-29 years of age was different from the single depositions and a natural mortality pattern. However, it also does not illustrate a catastrophic mortality, where all age categories would have been equally affected. The age and sex composition implies a selection and the inclusion of individuals was likely related to both circumstances of death and socio-economic background, with higher numbers of poor and dependent individuals. The palaeopathological patterns are similar to those in the plain earth burials, but with more pronounced evidence for growth disturbances, physical stress and disease. A background with high levels of stress may have made these individuals more likely to succumb to mortality crises such as epidemics or famines. There is no macroscopic evidence for a specific cause of death, although the lack of trauma inflicted around the time of death argues against violence. Differences in the organisation of the graves between the two studied groups of multiple burials (labelled as groups A and B), which date to different periods and showed differences in age and sex composition, suggest that they result from different circumstances of death and burial. Group A, with one phase of deposition (second half 15th century–early 17th century), reflects more abrupt mortality crises, such as epidemics or famines, in the parish population. Group B, where individuals were buried in different phases (second half 17th century–18th century), may possibly be connected to the Spanish military hospital.
Other unusual graves included lime burials. Physico-chemical analyses confirmed the presence of lime and the contextual analysis indicated the possibility of different motives and variable practices. Disease could however be proposed for several burials, where lime may have been included for disinfection. The contextual study of a mass grave with the remains of 41 executed brigands (1798 AD), also underlined the importance of detailed excavation and the combination of archaeological, historical and skeletal information. The execution could be reconstructed and compared to historical descriptions, some of which could be contradicted.
Using the differences in funerary practices to explore patterns in the skeletal data resulted in detailed and nuanced interpretations. The assemblage does not directly represent the original parish population and includes different social groups from the lower and middle classes. Gender and particularly age influenced the meaning of social roles and affected physical health and lifestyle. The results could be compared to other late medieval and post-medieval studies in North-Western Europe. This showed similarities as well as regional variation and emphasised the influence of population background on patterns in the skeletal data.
The study demonstrates the importance of contextual analyses for the interpretation of patterns in archaeological skeletal collections. Hopefully this approach will become more common, with an increased cooperation between archaeologists and archaeo-anthropologists.status: Publishe
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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