Abstract：
The addition of information regarding obesity status to the forensic anthropological biological profile could significantly contribute to the identification of human skeletal remains since over 40% of the U.S. adult population is currently obese. This study examines the differences in talar shape and trabecular bone structure between obese and non-obese individuals. A sample of 20 obese and 20 non-obese divided evenly by sex was selected from the Texas State University Donated Skeletal Collection. Tali were imaged using x-ray computed tomography (voxel size: 28-38.7 μm). Image stacks were processed to produce binary images as well as trabecular thickness and spacing maps. Landmark-based geometric morphometric analyses were conducted to quantify shape variation. Shape coordinates were used to locate 100 geometrically homologous volumes of interest within each talus. Bone volume fraction, trabecular thickness, and trabecular spacing were extracted at each volume of interest. Within each sex, a one-way ANCOVA was used to determine if significant differences exist between obese and non-obese individuals in trabecular bone after controlling for age. The size of the talus as well as subtle aspects of shape were found to distinguish the sexes. The results further indicate that bone volume fraction significantly differs between obese and non-obese males. In females, bone volume fraction is correlated with age but does not differ between obese and non-obese. The study demonstrates that bone microstructure is a promising approach to estimating body mass or body mass index category but age effects diminish the potential for the talus to be used alone.
摘要：
由于目前超过40％的美国成年人肥胖，因此在法医人类学生物学特征中增加有关肥胖状况的信息可能会大大有助于识别人类骨骼遗骸。这项研究检查了肥胖和非肥胖个体之间距骨形状和骨小梁结构的差异。从德克萨斯州立大学捐赠骨骼收藏中选择了按性别平均划分的20个肥胖和20个非肥胖的样本。使用X射线计算机断层扫描对Tali进行成像（体素大小：28-38.7μm）。处理图像堆栈以产生二进制图像以及小梁厚度和间距图。进行基于地标的几何形态测量分析以量化形状变化。使用形状坐标在每个距骨内定位100个几何同源的感兴趣体积。骨体积分数,小梁厚度,在每个感兴趣的体积处提取小梁间距。在每个性别中，单向ANCOVA用于确定控制年龄后肥胖和非肥胖个体在骨小梁方面是否存在显著差异.发现距骨的大小以及形状的微妙方面可以区分性别。结果进一步表明，肥胖和非肥胖男性之间的骨体积分数显着不同。在女性中，骨体积分数与年龄相关,但肥胖和非肥胖之间无差异.研究表明，骨骼微观结构是估计体重或体重指数类别的一种有前途的方法，但年龄影响会降低距骨单独使用的可能性。
