Anthro kids give the best presents!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Graduation
Graduation tomorrow and now I need a job until August when I move my happy butt to New York and start this all over again. Huzzah.
(image borrowed from http://www.upstatenyroads.com/assets/oldi-81.jpg)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Metric Sex
I've never been particularly good at math, in fact the reason I had to take the GRE so many times was because I couldn't get my math score up to a competitive level. Embarrassing, but true. So color me surprised when I find myself preferring and appreciating metric analysis to determine sex and ancestry. If only metrics could give a better idea about aging, but I think there we are stuck with morphological characteristics for awhile.
Morpho traits have been the main determinant in sex and ancestry estimation. Some of these can be incredibly easy to discern especially when they deal with the pelvis; the presence or lack of a subpubic angle, the depth and breadth of the greater sciatic notch, the shape of the ventral face of the pubic bone.
(Image borrowed from http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/)
But people are variable and geographic groups differ in their amount of sexual dimorphism. Even within the most studied groups in America (European and African descent groups), there can be individuals who are extreme outliers. My favorite story concerning this issue comes from my undergrad forensics professor who attended a conference where one presenter laid out several skulls and asked participants to attribute sex and ancestry. One skull was consistently scored as European-American female based on morphological traits. Then the known determinations were revealed. The European-American female turned out to be an African-American male. This is a pretty big discrepancy to have missed on both counts.
This is why in the forensics class I took in my final semester of grad school, I appreciated the encouragement to try out new ways of determining the biological profile. Around mid-semester someone found a JFS (Journal of Forensic Sciences) article using a scapula metric calculation for sex (Dabbs et al. 55(1) 2010).
This article has become my new favorite method of double-checking my morpho assessment. There are two different methods described in the article. The 5-measurement method uses non-standard measurements from a 1928 article that I couldn't get my hands on, which was a shame because there are no pictures of the exact measurement method and the descriptions could have been more detailed. I was left approximating what I thought was probably the right way to do them. So basically, guessing. The 2-measurement method was much better, standard measurements (breadth and length) that are part of the usual measurements you would do for a case anyway.
This method correctly determined sex for African- and European-American cases, and most importantly, for Hispanic individuals, which have had less skeletal assessment for modern populations and are becoming a bigger presence in forensic cases. The only down side was that the cases were all male, so I can't vouch for the female side of things, though Dabbs et al. had an overall accuracy of 91% for the 2-measurement method. As always, more research is needed.
Morpho traits have been the main determinant in sex and ancestry estimation. Some of these can be incredibly easy to discern especially when they deal with the pelvis; the presence or lack of a subpubic angle, the depth and breadth of the greater sciatic notch, the shape of the ventral face of the pubic bone.
(Image borrowed from http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/)
But people are variable and geographic groups differ in their amount of sexual dimorphism. Even within the most studied groups in America (European and African descent groups), there can be individuals who are extreme outliers. My favorite story concerning this issue comes from my undergrad forensics professor who attended a conference where one presenter laid out several skulls and asked participants to attribute sex and ancestry. One skull was consistently scored as European-American female based on morphological traits. Then the known determinations were revealed. The European-American female turned out to be an African-American male. This is a pretty big discrepancy to have missed on both counts.
This is why in the forensics class I took in my final semester of grad school, I appreciated the encouragement to try out new ways of determining the biological profile. Around mid-semester someone found a JFS (Journal of Forensic Sciences) article using a scapula metric calculation for sex (Dabbs et al. 55(1) 2010).
This article has become my new favorite method of double-checking my morpho assessment. There are two different methods described in the article. The 5-measurement method uses non-standard measurements from a 1928 article that I couldn't get my hands on, which was a shame because there are no pictures of the exact measurement method and the descriptions could have been more detailed. I was left approximating what I thought was probably the right way to do them. So basically, guessing. The 2-measurement method was much better, standard measurements (breadth and length) that are part of the usual measurements you would do for a case anyway.
This method correctly determined sex for African- and European-American cases, and most importantly, for Hispanic individuals, which have had less skeletal assessment for modern populations and are becoming a bigger presence in forensic cases. The only down side was that the cases were all male, so I can't vouch for the female side of things, though Dabbs et al. had an overall accuracy of 91% for the 2-measurement method. As always, more research is needed.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Long time no see
Yes, again, I was a horrible blog writer person. I apologize. But the good news is that my hard work and ignoring my blog paid off and I get to graduate. Huzzah! One week from today I will be officially a master's person...or a person with a masters. Sadly, it doesn't have the same ring as being officially a doctor or officially a bartender or welder. And also seems a little unhelpful at times, at least with those programs you end up qualified to go do something, make money, get a real job. With the masters, happy though I am that I survived, I am qualified only to go get my doctorate, oh well.
Lots of things have happened since the last time I posted. Graduation coming up being one. Moving to NY soon being another. There is a spot at a doctorate program with my name on it and I get to move to a brand new place far from the dear and familiar South to do it. I'm pretty excited.
But while that's exciting for me, it's probably boring for you all. So I do have a fun story to relate, complete with pictures.
I have been collecting data for a project my professor and I have been working on. This has involved me tramping through a field for the better part of a year as pigs we laid out decomposed. It sounds gross, but the NC fall was pretty hot and the decomp part of the study didn't take very long. Our primary objective was the bones - how do they change over time.
I'd initially been worried about snakes, but after months of not having any issues, I got brave and stopped carrying the machete that I had originally used to cut down foliage. This was my first mistake. The snakes seemed to sense my lack of fear and started hunting me down.
By snakes I mean one snake, but the important thing to remember is that I did the requisite stomping of the ground as I moved along, a 'snake scare away' tactic I learned as a child. Unfortunately, I found out later from a rattlesnake expert in Albuquerque, NM that snakes are deaf so won't hear you coming (which I knew) and even as you tramped along sending out specific 'here i come' vibrations, they will just curl up and stay where they are (which I didn't know). So much for my snake preparednes.
But the problem with my snake encounter wasn't that I scared it or snuck up on it. It was that it snuck up on me. Something the so called rattlesnake expert had no answer for. There I was checking on my pig (who was nicely weathering in the sun and vegetation) and when I turned around, there he was, a 5 ft snake waiting for me like some sort of ninja. The bastard. But don't worry I handled the situation like any seasoned anthropological researcher would. And by handled it, I mean I did the running-jumping-screaming thing which is key when evading snakes.
These are the lengths that you must go, dear readers, when you take on anthropological work, so be fore-warned. Our field is not for the feint of heart!
Need further proof? Fast forward a few weeks and my field has suddenly exploded with late spring vegetation. And the machete is back in action to find some of my pigs that have gone missing in the growth.
There is one important thing you need to know for future reference about this particular procedure: machetes are sharp.
Unfortunately, I know this because I mistook my thumb for a clump of grass. Whoops. Luckily my handy-dandy masters education has also qualified me as a green beret level anthropologist! So I was able to stop the bleeding by using a long blade of grass as a makeshift band-aid.
So, kids, join the ranks of anthropologists and you, too, can go on exciting and dangerous data collection expeditions and employ creative field first aid!
Lots of things have happened since the last time I posted. Graduation coming up being one. Moving to NY soon being another. There is a spot at a doctorate program with my name on it and I get to move to a brand new place far from the dear and familiar South to do it. I'm pretty excited.
But while that's exciting for me, it's probably boring for you all. So I do have a fun story to relate, complete with pictures.
I have been collecting data for a project my professor and I have been working on. This has involved me tramping through a field for the better part of a year as pigs we laid out decomposed. It sounds gross, but the NC fall was pretty hot and the decomp part of the study didn't take very long. Our primary objective was the bones - how do they change over time.
I'd initially been worried about snakes, but after months of not having any issues, I got brave and stopped carrying the machete that I had originally used to cut down foliage. This was my first mistake. The snakes seemed to sense my lack of fear and started hunting me down.
By snakes I mean one snake, but the important thing to remember is that I did the requisite stomping of the ground as I moved along, a 'snake scare away' tactic I learned as a child. Unfortunately, I found out later from a rattlesnake expert in Albuquerque, NM that snakes are deaf so won't hear you coming (which I knew) and even as you tramped along sending out specific 'here i come' vibrations, they will just curl up and stay where they are (which I didn't know). So much for my snake preparednes.
But the problem with my snake encounter wasn't that I scared it or snuck up on it. It was that it snuck up on me. Something the so called rattlesnake expert had no answer for. There I was checking on my pig (who was nicely weathering in the sun and vegetation) and when I turned around, there he was, a 5 ft snake waiting for me like some sort of ninja. The bastard. But don't worry I handled the situation like any seasoned anthropological researcher would. And by handled it, I mean I did the running-jumping-screaming thing which is key when evading snakes.
These are the lengths that you must go, dear readers, when you take on anthropological work, so be fore-warned. Our field is not for the feint of heart!
Need further proof? Fast forward a few weeks and my field has suddenly exploded with late spring vegetation. And the machete is back in action to find some of my pigs that have gone missing in the growth.
There is one important thing you need to know for future reference about this particular procedure: machetes are sharp.
Unfortunately, I know this because I mistook my thumb for a clump of grass. Whoops. Luckily my handy-dandy masters education has also qualified me as a green beret level anthropologist! So I was able to stop the bleeding by using a long blade of grass as a makeshift band-aid.
So, kids, join the ranks of anthropologists and you, too, can go on exciting and dangerous data collection expeditions and employ creative field first aid!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ways to procrastinate thesis statistics #28: Post on your blog about how you don't want to do thesis
So, I'm back, again..I'm down to a week to get three major projects done including my thesis, so it seems like a perfectly good time to update the blog.
I'm still waiting on a decision from my school in NY and I've started looking for alternative plans. This has caused somewhat of a conundrum because now I'm kind of excited about those plans and would be a little disappointed if I got into my phd program and couldn't do them. I'm officially tired of this application cycle. When you reach the point where you would be disappointed no matter what the response is, there is no way to be excited about anything. No excitement = lots of worrying and thinking and planning. And at this point, I just want to take a nap. Ugh. So, purgatory continues.
In other news, I'm pretty good at my forensic cases. I'm especially excited about the current one, where for the past two weeks I've been looking at the femoral heads of one individual thinking there had to be something wrong. It just looks weird, kind of flattened on one side with a little groove. This is not normal. My anthropology buddy, who is much more experienced, kept saying it was within the range of normality. Until low and behold, I find this: Poirier's facet!
(The groove and bone growth between the ball and the neck, Mann and Hunt 2005)
Insert 'happy, competent physical anthropologist' dance here.
I found the answer flipping through my copy of Mann and Hunt. I love this book!
I've been sharing my copy with the group and we have all found exactly what we were looking for as we have flipped through at random. It seems to be kind of magical. You open it up thinking 'this femur is weird' and then it flips to a picture of a weird femur looking exactly like the one sitting in front of you! Magic!
So if anyone is a bone student looking for a good guide, I would highly recommend buying a copy, especially when it's half the cost of so many others.
I'm still waiting on a decision from my school in NY and I've started looking for alternative plans. This has caused somewhat of a conundrum because now I'm kind of excited about those plans and would be a little disappointed if I got into my phd program and couldn't do them. I'm officially tired of this application cycle. When you reach the point where you would be disappointed no matter what the response is, there is no way to be excited about anything. No excitement = lots of worrying and thinking and planning. And at this point, I just want to take a nap. Ugh. So, purgatory continues.
In other news, I'm pretty good at my forensic cases. I'm especially excited about the current one, where for the past two weeks I've been looking at the femoral heads of one individual thinking there had to be something wrong. It just looks weird, kind of flattened on one side with a little groove. This is not normal. My anthropology buddy, who is much more experienced, kept saying it was within the range of normality. Until low and behold, I find this: Poirier's facet!
(The groove and bone growth between the ball and the neck, Mann and Hunt 2005)Insert 'happy, competent physical anthropologist' dance here.
I found the answer flipping through my copy of Mann and Hunt. I love this book!
I've been sharing my copy with the group and we have all found exactly what we were looking for as we have flipped through at random. It seems to be kind of magical. You open it up thinking 'this femur is weird' and then it flips to a picture of a weird femur looking exactly like the one sitting in front of you! Magic!
So if anyone is a bone student looking for a good guide, I would highly recommend buying a copy, especially when it's half the cost of so many others.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
And deep breath and stretch...
It's over! Sort of...still, whoot! Now there are edits to do and some new interesting stats to run (like sexual dimorphism indexes which I will use to compare possible changes in sexual dimorphism between my two time periods), all within two weeks. Ha! So, my master's career has essentially come down to a fun race to see how fast I can type. Hilarious.
But I am pretty excited about the sexual dimorphism indexes. The way it works is this: there is a certain amount of sexual dimorphism in humans (and most animals), which means something that you notice everyday - guys are bigger than girls. Now the ratio may change - for instance, the ratio is less, meaning males and females are closer in size, in certain groups in Asia, for instance. But you find that when a group goes through periods of stress - like they can't get enough nutritious foods or food in general - sexual dimorphism decreases, meaning men and women are closer in height. So this will be interesting to see in the Town Creek population.
I'm going to see "How to train your dragon" on Friday (tomorrow), it looks pretty awesome. I'm especially looking forward to this summer's movies like Iron Man 2. I've never been a Robert Downey, jr. fan, but he did an excellent job in the first film. He is great at being cool and disaffected. I like that, in the same theme as the X-Men, Spiderman, and the Hulk, updated the setting to more current issues. He's an arms dealer and the Global War on Terror is on and he ends up being taken hostage by a warlord or terrorists (I'm not sure which) in Afghanistan. Awesomeness ensues after he builds his suit and makes an escape. But I thought it was poignant when he ends up becoming friends with a fellow prisoner, a local man who talked about trying to get back to his family. I know this was set up as a foil to Ironman's (I forget the character's name) profession as an arms dealer and puts a face to the destruction that comes from that, but I was pretty sad when the guy sacrifices himself so that Ironman can get away. As he runs towards the oncoming bad guys, Ironman tries to stop him reminding him that his family is waiting for him. And the guy remarks that yes they are, they've been dead for some time. Ugh, sad. And then Ironman exacts revenge and it's incredibly fulfilling.
And that's just the beginning. So I can't wait for part dos.
But I am pretty excited about the sexual dimorphism indexes. The way it works is this: there is a certain amount of sexual dimorphism in humans (and most animals), which means something that you notice everyday - guys are bigger than girls. Now the ratio may change - for instance, the ratio is less, meaning males and females are closer in size, in certain groups in Asia, for instance. But you find that when a group goes through periods of stress - like they can't get enough nutritious foods or food in general - sexual dimorphism decreases, meaning men and women are closer in height. So this will be interesting to see in the Town Creek population.
I'm going to see "How to train your dragon" on Friday (tomorrow), it looks pretty awesome. I'm especially looking forward to this summer's movies like Iron Man 2. I've never been a Robert Downey, jr. fan, but he did an excellent job in the first film. He is great at being cool and disaffected. I like that, in the same theme as the X-Men, Spiderman, and the Hulk, updated the setting to more current issues. He's an arms dealer and the Global War on Terror is on and he ends up being taken hostage by a warlord or terrorists (I'm not sure which) in Afghanistan. Awesomeness ensues after he builds his suit and makes an escape. But I thought it was poignant when he ends up becoming friends with a fellow prisoner, a local man who talked about trying to get back to his family. I know this was set up as a foil to Ironman's (I forget the character's name) profession as an arms dealer and puts a face to the destruction that comes from that, but I was pretty sad when the guy sacrifices himself so that Ironman can get away. As he runs towards the oncoming bad guys, Ironman tries to stop him reminding him that his family is waiting for him. And the guy remarks that yes they are, they've been dead for some time. Ugh, sad. And then Ironman exacts revenge and it's incredibly fulfilling.
And that's just the beginning. So I can't wait for part dos.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tomorrow
Tomorrow's the day. And I didn't realize I was so nervous. I ended up having a small panic attack in the dressing room of Old Navy. I have excellent timing ; ) Thank God for friends that can talk you down off the ledge and His good timing.
On the upside I find a nice sweater for cheap and my hands have mostly stopped shaking. Let's hope I can get everything under control by tomorrow at 9 am and that I don't throw up the bagel bribes I'm bringing in for my committee. Maybe I should just stay away from food altogether tomorrow morning.
On the upside, this whole process is mostly over. I'm looking forward to the enormous nap I'm going to take after everything is over tomorrow.
So at 9 am tomorrow, say a little prayer that everything goes smoothly and I don't fuck this whole thing up. ; )
On the upside I find a nice sweater for cheap and my hands have mostly stopped shaking. Let's hope I can get everything under control by tomorrow at 9 am and that I don't throw up the bagel bribes I'm bringing in for my committee. Maybe I should just stay away from food altogether tomorrow morning.
On the upside, this whole process is mostly over. I'm looking forward to the enormous nap I'm going to take after everything is over tomorrow.
So at 9 am tomorrow, say a little prayer that everything goes smoothly and I don't fuck this whole thing up. ; )
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