ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6285-3226
Current Organisation
Flinders University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.FORSCIINT.2013.12.038
Abstract: Person identification from images is an important task in many security applications and forensic investigations. The essence of the problem comes down to measuring key observable anatomical features which can help describing similarities or differences between two or more in iduals. In this paper, we examine how different types of garments affect the placement of body markers that enable precise anatomical human description. We focus in particular on landmark positioning errors on the upper limb. Closed-form formulae are provided to compute the maximum likelihood estimate of upper limb length from an image. Subject stature is then predicted from the limb length through a regression model and used as identification criterion. Following initial laboratory experiments, the technique is demonstrated to be invariant to posture and applicable to uninformed subjects in unconstrained environments. Seven technical errors of measurement and statistical tests are quantified empirically from statures obtained by three assessors. Results show that thicker garments produce higher inaccuracies in landmark localisation but errors decrease as placement is repeated, as expected. Overall, comparison to truth reveals that on average statures are predicted with accuracy in excess of 96% for the worst assessor.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-02-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S00414-017-1561-2
Abstract: The use and distribution of child pornography is an increasing problem. Forensic anthropologists are often asked to estimate a child's age from a photograph. Previous studies have attempted to estimate the age of children from photographs using ratios of the face. Here, we propose to include body measurement ratios into age estimates. A total of 1603 boys and 1833 girls aged 5-16 years were measured over a 10-year period. They are 'Cape Coloured' children from South Africa. Their age was regressed on ratios derived from anthropometric measurements of the head as well as the body. Multiple regression equations including four ratios for each sex (head height to shoulder and hip width, knee width, leg length and trunk length) have a standard error of 1.6-1.7 years. The error is of the same order as variation of differences between biological and chronological ages of the children. Thus, the error cannot be minimised any further as it is a direct reflection of a naturally occurring phenomenon.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-12-2013
DOI: 10.1002/AJHB.22494
Abstract: The obesity epidemic is impacting both developed and undeveloped countries worldwide. It has only been recently that wide scale public c aigning has focused on prevention rather than intervention. In idual variations in food metabolism and energy expenditure may be responsible for much of the adiposity present amongst in iduals. This article studies in idual variation in relationship between lean trunk size and adiposity. A mixed longitudinal growth study was conducted between 1986 and 1995 among urban and rural "Cape Coloured" schoolchildren from the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The s le consists of 127 females and 130 males between the ages of 6 and 20 years measured 6-9 times each. Correlations between age-standardized triceps, subscapular and abdominal skinfold thicknesses and quotient indices obtained by expressing trunk length, lower limb, and upper limb lengths and bi-acromial and bi-iliocristal diameters as percentages of body height were explored for each year of growth. Significant correlation coefficients (P < 0.05) between 0.087 and 0.511 were found in both males and females, between bi-acromial and bi-iliocristal indices and three skinfold thicknesses, but not between trunk and limb lengths and skinfolds. Skeletal frame width and amount of adiposity are correlated. The correlation persists longitudinally throughout childhood and adolescence in in iduals living in very poor, as well as, in good environmental conditions.
Publisher: Schweizerbart
Date: 06-2014
DOI: 10.1127/0003-5548/2014/0381
Abstract: Closed circuit television (CCTV) systems are being widely used in crime surveillance. The images produced are of poor quality often face details are not visible, however expert witnesses in the field of biological anthropology use morphological descriptions of body shapes in an attempt to identify persons of interest. These methods can be applied to in idual images when other cues such as gait, are not present. Criminals commonly disguise their faces, but body shape characteristics can be used to distinguish a person of interest from others. Garments may distort the body shape appearance, thus this study was undertaken to investigate the effects of garments on the description of body shape from CCTV images. Twelve adult males representing a wide body shape range of Sheldonian somatotypes were photographed in identical garments comprising of tight fitting black shirt, horizontally striped shirt, padded leather jacket and in naked torso. These photographs were assessed by 51 males and females aged 18-50 years, with varying levels of education, and different experience in use of CCTV images for identification of people, to identify the 12 participants. The effect of assessors was not significant. They correctly distinguished 88.6% of in iduals wearing the same wear, but could not match the same in iduals wearing different wear above the random expectations. However, they matched somatotypes above random expectation. Type of clothing produced little bias in somatotype matching ectomorphic component of in iduals wearing black shirts and padded jackets was overestimated and underestimated, respectively. In conclusion, type of the wear had little effect in the description of in iduals from CCTV images using the body shapes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/ZO17040
Abstract: Endocranial volume was measured in a large s le (n = 128) of free-ranging dingoes (Canis dingo) where body size was known. The brain/body size relationship in the dingoes was compared with populations of wild (Family Canidae) and domestic canids (Canis familiaris). Despite a great deal of variation among wild and domestic canids, the brain/body size of dingoes forms a tight cluster within the variation of domestic dogs. Like dogs, free-ranging dingoes have paedomorphic crania however, dingoes have a larger brain and are more encephalised than most domestic breeds of dog. The dingo’s brain/body size relationship was similar to those of other mesopredators (medium-sized predators that typically prey on smaller animals), including the dhole (Cuon alpinus) and the coyote (Canis latrans). These findings have implications for the antiquity and classification of the dingo, as well as the impact of feralisation on brain size. At the same time, it highlights the difficulty in using brain/body size to distinguish wild and domestic canids.
Publisher: Schweizerbart
Date: 08-2017
DOI: 10.1127/ANTHRANZ/2017/0628
Abstract: Anthropometrists attempt to minimise measurement errors, however, errors cannot be eliminated entirely. Currently, measurement errors are simply reported. Measurement errors should be included into analyses of anthropometric data. This study proposes a method which incorporates measurement errors into reported values, replacing metric units with 'units of technical error of measurement (TEM)' by applying these to forensics, industrial anthropometry and biological variation. The USA armed forces anthropometric survey (ANSUR) contains 132 anthropometric dimensions of 3982 in iduals. Concepts of duplication and Euclidean distance calculations were applied to the forensic-style identification of in iduals in this survey. The National Size and Shape Survey of Australia contains 65 anthropometric measurements of 1265 women. This s le was used to show how a woman's body measurements expressed in TEM could be 'matched' to standard clothing sizes. Euclidean distances show that two sets of repeated anthropometric measurements of the same person cannot be matched (> 0) on measurements expressed in millimetres but can in units of TEM (= 0). Only 81 women can fit into any standard clothing size when matched using centimetres, with units of TEM, 1944 women fit. The proposed method can be applied to all fields that use anthropometry. Units of TEM are considered a more reliable unit of measurement for comparisons.
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 26-07-2016
DOI: 10.1155/2016/1760313
Abstract: Ratios have been applied to humans to identify in iduals from images. These attempts have been proven unsuccessful, as camera angle, height, and distortions of the image affected the results. The anharmonic ratio is a ratio of ratios it has proved successful in the identification of objects from images, as it is not affected by any distortions. The anharmonic ratio was applied to the human body and face to identify in iduals from their images. Faces and bodies of twenty South Australian males aged 16–65 years were measured using standard anthropometric techniques. Participants were photographed in high quality images and recorded by standard surveillance camera (low quality images). Ten ratios were calculated from manual measurements and from all images. An Euclidean distance showed ratios incorrectly identified in iduals 64.3% of the time between images of different quality. Variation of ratios between in iduals is low so that standard deviations of ratios are of the magnitude similar to technical errors of measurements. Therefore participants cannot be isolated based on ratios. Ratios are an unreliable method for identification.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Uniwersytet Lodzki (University of Lodz)
Date: 30-06-2019
Abstract: Palmistry or Chiromancy is the art of reading lines on the palm of the hands. Today, many researchers believe that the lines on the palms of the hands can predict the in idual’s future. Computer programs are being designed which can automatically read the lines on the palm of the hand. One popular theory is that the length of the line of life will indicate lifespan. This theory was investigated in 1974 by Wilson and Mather who found no significant correlation between life expectancy and the length of the line of life. In 1990 Newrick and colleagues found a significant correlation as measured on 100 cadavers. These conflicting investigations are the only existing studies which have explored the relationship between palmistry and longevity. Since then no other study has validated nor disproven these claims. A total of 60 cadavers donated to The University of Adelaide were used in this study. Total hand length and the line of life length were measured on all cadavers. The age at and cause of death were also recorded. Linear regressions were used to establish any correlations between longevity and the length of the line of life. No significant correlations were found. There was also no significant difference between males and females or the right or left hands. As no significant correlations were found between longevity and the line of life all efforts at producing more reliable and automatic ways to read the lines are futile. This study puts to rest any debate surrounding the use of the line of life in palmistry as introduced by Newrick and colleagues.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/JOA.13224
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-01-2021
DOI: 10.1111/JOA.13401
Abstract: Approximate location of the 12th meridian in the hand and the forearm in relation to median artery and median nerve.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-02-2015
DOI: 10.1007/S00414-015-1158-6
Abstract: As early as the nineteenth century, measurements of the face and body were used for forensic identification. It was believed that no two in iduals had the exact same measurements. However, this was overtaken by fingerprint analysis because it was considered more reliable in court proceedings as the probabilities of finding matching in iduals could be calculated. With the standardisation of photographs, identification primarily occurs from the face. With the ability to take measurements from photographs, why not use the body? The Army Anthropometry Survey (ANSUR) database contains anthropometric measurements of 3982 in iduals. Eight facial and eight body measurements were compared to investigate whether or not there is enough information on the body to use for identification. Measurements were compared by adding one measurement to the other(s) in a stepwise approach until there were no duplicate cases where two or more in iduals share the same combination of measurements. Results consistently show that less body measurements are needed to find no duplicates when compared to the face. The larger the range of each of the measurements, the less chance there is of finding a duplicate. With the combination of eight body measurements, it is possible to achieve a probability of finding a duplicate to the order of 10(-20) or 1 in a quintillion. These results are comparable with fingerprint analysis. The body is more variable than the face and should be used in identification. An advantage to using the body is that larger dimensions are easier to locate on images and not affected by facial expression.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.FORSCIINT.2015.09.003
Abstract: In the forensic sciences it is inferred that human in iduals are unique and thus can be reliably identified. The concept of in idual uniqueness is claimed to be unprovable because another in idual of same characteristics may exist if population size were infinite. It is proposed to replace "unique" with "singular" defined as a situation when only one in idual in a specific population has a particular set of characteristics. The likelihood that in a population there will be no duplicate in idual with exactly the same set of characteristics can be calculated from datasets of relevant characteristics. To explore singularity, the ANSUR database which contains anthropometric measurements of 3982 in iduals was used. Eight facial metric traits were used to search for duplicates. With the addition of each trait, the chances of finding a duplicate were reduced until singularity was achieved. Singularity was consistently achieved at a combination of the maximum of seven traits. The larger the traits in dimension, the faster singularity was achieved. By exploring how singularity is achieved in subs les of 200, 500, etc. it has been determined that about one trait needs to be added when the size of the target population increases by 1000 in iduals. With the combination of four facial dimensions, it is possible to achieve a probability of finding a duplicate of the order of 10(-7), while, the combination of 8 traits reduces probability to the order of 10(-14), that is less than one in a trillion.
No related grants have been discovered for Teghan Lucas.