title: Comparing discriminant analysis and neural network for the determination of sex using femur head measurements.
abstract: The measurement of the femoral head is usually considered an interesting variable for the sex determination of skeletal remains. To date, there are few published reference measurements of the femoral head in a modern European population for the purpose of sex determination. In this study, 116 femurs from 58 individuals of the South of France (Nice Bone Collection, Nice, France) were studied. Three measurements of the femoral head were taken: the vertical head diameter (VHD), the transversal head diameter (THD) and the head circumference (HC). The results show that: (i) there is no statistical difference between the right and left femurs for each of the three measurements (VHD, THD and HC). Therefore we arbitrarily chose to use the measures from the right femurs (N=58) to pursue our experiments; (ii) the measurements of the femoral head are similar to those of contemporary American populations; (iii) the dimensions of the femoral head place the measurements of the French population somewhere between Germany or Croatia, and Spain; (iv) there is no significant secular trend (in contrast with the femoral neck diameter); (v) the femoral head measurement as a single variable is useful for sex determination: a 96.5% rate of accuracy was obtained using THD and HC measurements with the artificial neural network; and a 94.8% rate of accuracy using VHD, both with the discriminant analysis and the neural network.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Médecine Légale et d'Anthropologie médico-légale, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Faculté de Médecine, 28 Avenue de Valombrose, 06107 Nice cedex 2, France. Electronic address: alunni.v@chu-nice.fr.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alunni
authors.affiliation: Edhec Bussiness School, 393 Promenade des Anglais, BP 3116, 06202 Nice Cedex 3, France. Electronic address: philippe.Dujardin@Edhec.Edu.
authors.forename: Philippe du
authors.initials: Pd
authors.lastname: Jardin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Médecine Légale et d'Anthropologie médico-légale, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Faculté de Médecine, 28 Avenue de Valombrose, 06107 Nice cedex 2, France. Electronic address: luisalulavlp@Hotmail.Com.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.affiliation: CEPAM (Cultures et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Âge), UMR7264-CNRS Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, Campus Saint-Jean d'Angély 3, 24, avenue des Diables Bleus, 06357 Nice Cedex 4, France. Electronic address: luc.Buchet@Cepam.Cnrs.Fr.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Buchet
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Médecine Légale et d'Anthropologie médico-légale, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Faculté de Médecine, 28 Avenue de Valombrose, 06107 Nice cedex 2, France. Electronic address: gquatreh@Unice.Fr.
authors.forename: Gérald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quatrehomme
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005270:Femur Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D054881:Sex Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Artificial neural network; Discriminant analysis; Femoral head diameter; Forensic anthropology; Forensic medicine; Sexual dimorphism