Query: "R. Cameriere"

title: Validation of the Third Molar Maturation Index (I3M) to assess the legal adult age in the Portuguese population
abstract: Age estimation is a major step in forensic and legal procedures. Its relevance has been increasing due to growing society issues, such as identification of missing people, crimes against minors or lack of valid identification papers from locals or foreigners. Evaluation of the cut off value of the Third Molar Maturation Index (I3M) 0.08 for discriminating minors from adults in the Portuguese population. The left lower third molars were analysed by applying a specific cut off value of 0.08 determined by Cameriere et al. in 2008. A sample of 778 digital panoramic radiographs of a representative Portuguese sample (442 females and 336 males) in the age range of 12 24 years (mean age 17.7 2.98 years in females and 18.1 3.0 years in males) was retrospectively evaluated. I3M decreased as the real age gradually increased in both sexes. The 0.08 cut off score was valuable in discriminating adults from minors. According to the pooled results, the accuracy, by means of area under the curve, was 92.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 91.0 94.6% The proportion of correctly classified subjects (sensitivity) was 90.7% (95% CI 88.7 92.8% and the specificity was 94.9% (95% CI 93.3 96.4% The results show that I3M is a valuable method to differentiate minors from adults in the Portuguese population.

title: Analysis of Frontal Sinuses for Personal Identification in a Chinese Sample Using a New Code Number
abstract: The study of frontal sinuses for personal identification is a considered approach in the forensic field. In Yoshino's system, the frontal sinus patterns of a given person were formulated as a code number (codY) obtained by arranging the class numbers in each classification item. The aim of this work was to use a new code number (codC) with eight digits that includes other two continuous variables obtained as ratios SOR1 (left frontal sinus area/left orbit area) and SOR2 (right frontal sinus area/right orbit area) comparing the results with that of Yoshino. Digital radiographic images of the skulls of 150 Chinese people were analyzed. Spearman's partial correlation coefficients were evaluated between variables characterizing frontal sinus patterns. We used a maximum weight dependence tree for statistical analysis. Results demonstrated that codC significantly reduced the probability of having the same personal code number compared with codY. Our scientific approach results valid for personal identification purposes.

title: Assessment of second (I2M) and third (I3M) molar indices for establishing 14 and 16 legal ages and validation of the Cameriere's I3M cut off for 18 years old in Chilean population.
abstract: This retrospective cross sectional study has two fold aims: the first is to assess new cut offs at the legal age thresholds (LATs) of 14 and 16 years old and the second is to validate the cut off of third molar index I3M=0.08 for 18 years of age in Chilean people. Orthopantomographs from 822 Chilean children aged from 11 to 22 (472 girls and 350 boys) were analysed. For LAT of 14 years, cut offs were found using the ROC curves singly for boys and girls. The cut offs for boys were I2M=0.16 and I3M=0.73 while for girls we obtained I2M=0.10 and I3M=0.77. For LAT of 16 years we obtained the same cut offs regardless of gender, which were 0.06 and 0.36 for I2M and I3M respectively. Concerning the validity of I3M cut off for 18 years old in Chilean population, the proportion of correctly classified individuals was 83% and estimated post test probability, PPV, was 93.2% with a 95% confidence interval equals to 91.3% 94.6% Hence, the probability that a subject positive on the test was 18 years of age or older was 93.2% confirming the validation of the I3M cut off for Chilean population.

title: Correction: Age Estimation of African Lions Panthera leo by Ratio of Tooth Areas
abstract: [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153648.

title: Validation of third molar maturity index (I3M) for discrimination of juvenile/adult status in South Indian population.
abstract: Deliberate falsification of age was considered to be one of the main reasons for forensic age estimation of the living individuals. This posed to be a challenging task during criminal and legal proceedings, and ultimate care must be taken not to classify juveniles as adults. Third molars are the only developing teeth during late adolescence and early adulthood. Our study was designed to analyze the usefulness of the third molar maturity index (I3M) specific cut off value (I3M 0.08) to discriminate adults =18 years) and juveniles <18 years) in South Indian children. 216 panoramic radiographs (114 females and 102 males) of living subjects aged between 14 and 21 years were analyzed. Our results demonstrated high sensitivity (83.3% and 90.2% and specificity (98.3% and 95.1% for females and males respectively. The positive likelihood ratios of being adult were 50.00 and 18.35 while the negative likelihood ratios were 0.17 and 0.10 in females and males respectively. The estimated posttest probability was 98.0% in females and 94.8% in males. The obtained results showed that the specific cut off value of I3M 0.08 may be a useful additional tool in discrimination of individuals who are around 18 years of age.

title: Determination of Drugs of Abuse in a Single Sample of Human Teeth by a Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Method.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a gas chromatography mass spectrometry method to detect drugs of abuse in a single sample of tooth. Pulverized samples of dental materials were subjected to acid hydrolysis to detect opiates, cocaine and their metabolites. The residual dental materials from these analyses were subjected to basic extraction to detect cannabis products (D9 tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and cannabinol) The method showed a good linearity between 0.05 and 2 ng/mg for all substances. The limit of detection ranged from 0.02 to 0.03 ng/mg, and the limit of quantification was 0.05 ng/mg. The application of the method to samples of teeth obtained from drug addicts was successful. It can be applied in post mortem cases, especially when limited amounts of sample are available.

title: Third molar maturity index by measurements of open apices in a Libyan sample of living subjects.
abstract: In most countries, forensic age estimation in living subjects has become increasingly important in the last few years. In addition, as the age of legal majority ranges from 14 to 18 in many countries, and in Libya it is 18 years, radiographic assessment of the degree of third molar development is essential for forensic age estimation of adolescents and young adults. The aim of this paper is to assess the accuracy of the cut off value of 0.08, by measurements of third molar index (I3M) in determining if a subject is adult or not in Libyan population. Digital panoramic radiographs of 307 healthy subjects (163 girls, 144 boys) aged between 14 and 22, were analysed. The I3M, the age and the sex of the subjects were used as predictive variable for age estimation. Using a cut off of 0.08, the sensitivity of the test for boys was 90.9% and the specificity 100% The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 95.1% (95% CI: 91.5 98.7% The sensitivity for girls was 90.6% and the specificity 100% The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 94.5% (95% CI: 90.9 98.1% Estimated post test probability in boys and girls was 100% Further analyses, performed using a cut off of 0.09, do not affect the specificity (100% while they improve the sensitivity for both boys and girls.

title: Age Estimation of African Lions Panthera leo by Ratio of Tooth Areas
abstract: Improved age estimation of African lions Panthera leo is needed to address a number of pressing conservation issues. Here we present a formula for estimating lion age to within six months of known age based on measuring the extent of pulp closure from X rays, or Ratio Of tooth AReas (ROAR) Derived from measurements taken from lions aged 3 13 years for which exact ages were known, the formula explains 92% of the total variance. The method of calculating the pulp/tooth area ratio, which has been used extensively in forensic science, is novel in the study of lion aging. As a quantifiable measure, ROAR offers improved lion age estimates for population modeling and investigations of age related mortality, and may assist national and international wildlife authorities in judging compliance with regulatory measures involving age.

title: Erratum to: Reliability of frontal sinus by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for individual identification

title: Dental age estimation in a Brazilian adult population using Cameriere's method.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to develop a specific formula to estimate age in a Brazilian adult population and to compare the original formula from Cameriere to this Brazilian formula. The sample comprised 1,772 periapical radiographs from 443 subjects (219 men, 224 women) that were organized into 12 groups according to sex (men or women) and age (20 29, 30 39, 40 49, 50 59, 60 69, and 70 years and older) The films were analyzed using the criteria described by Cameriere et al. (2004) and Adobe Photoshop(r) We obtained a mean error of 8.56 (SD 5.80) years for tooth 13, 7.99 (SD 5.78) years for tooth 23, 8.38 (SD 6.26) years for tooth 33, and 8.20 (SD 6.54) years for tooth 43. When teeth were combined in the analysis, we observed lower mean errors. The Brazilian formula developed from this sample group was more accurate than Cameriere's formula. However, other factors must be considered to improve age estimates in adults.