Publications by authors named "Roberto C Parra"

Article Synopsis
  • - Age estimation is vital for identifying deceased individuals, and this study focuses on using dental characteristics to improve age estimation methods in Brazil, particularly by validating the Forensic International Dental Database (FIDB).
  • - Researchers conducted a study with 230 dental samples to compare the FIDB Bayesian model against Lamendin's simplified technique, ensuring the reliability of their data through thorough examiner training and statistical analysis.
  • - The final analysis included 200 dental elements, revealing no significant differences in age estimation between sexes, and overall accuracy showed comparable results between the Bayesian model and Lamendin's technique.
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The aim of this study is to validate the FIDBv2 online procedure for adult age-at-death estimation using root dentine translucency (RDT) and periodontal retraction (PR) of single-rooted teeth in a worldwide sample. The sample includes 4810 teeth of 2559 individuals from 16 countries of America, Europe and Asia. Bias and inaccuracy between documented (DA) and estimated ages (EA) were calculated.

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Skeletal evidence usually constitutes the only source of information to interpret lesion patterns that help to clarify the circumstances surrounding death. The examination and interpretation of bone trauma are essential to the application and utility of anthropology as a forensic science. When discussing the effect of gunshot wounds in bone, it becomes imperative to differentiate between short and long-distance injuries based on clear, distinct, and observable signs.

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Since the publication of Lamendin's age estimation technique, the root dentin translucency has received increasing attention as an important indicator of age. Recently, Parra and colleagues presented the Forensic International Dental Database (FIDB), a proposal to estimate age at death in adults based on Bayes theorem by applying the criteria of Lamendin's technique. The present study aims to update the procedure and to evaluate a new version of the method (named FIDBv2) using two control samples from Colombia and Greece.

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In forensic science, the information that teeth provide to the age estimation process is very important. In adults, one of the most widely used indicators of skeletal age is the Root Dentin Translucency (RDT), mainly through the Lamendin technique, which is used in various Latin American contexts. Recently, Parra et al.

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International protocols for forensic investigations are often created by committee and in isolation. When field tested, the results of such tests are rarely reported to the wider forensic community. This study presents a comparative study of one such protocol, the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict: Best Practice in the Documentation of Sexual Violence as a Crime or Violation of International Law.

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Estimation of the age-at-death in adults is essential when the identification of deceased persons with unknown identity is required in both humanitarian and judicial contexts. However, the methodologies and the results obtained can be questioned. Various efforts have been developed to adjust procedures to specific populations, always seeking the precision and accuracy of the methodologies.

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The impetus to begin a legal investigation or prosecution of the crime of genocide is a "trigger mechanism," which serves as the prima facie case against the accused state or actor. Unlike domestic cases of homicide, the trigger mechanisms for international genocide investigations to date have not included any forensic evidence nor have they sought input from forensic scientists. The jurists tasked with addressing the trigger mechanisms were fully capable of assessing forensic evidence but unable to generate it.

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Radiocarbon analysis was conducted on dental enamel, cortical bone and trabecular bone from four human adults from Andean Peru with known birth dates and death dates, the latter all falling within the modern bomb-curve period. Radiocarbon results were compared with known tropospheric values from the southern hemisphere. The results demonstrate that dental enamel can provide useful information regarding birth dates in consideration of known formation times of the specific teeth examined if the radiocarbon values fall within the modern bomb-curve period.

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Methods of estimating adult age at death from such dental features as root translucency, root length, and the extent of periodontosis in intact single rooted teeth have proven useful in studies of modern individuals, especially in estimating age in older adults. Questions remain however, concerning the impact of regional and population variation on accuracy. To examine this issue, three approaches to age estimation were applied to a diverse sample of 100 individuals from Peru.

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