MY FRIEND DAHMER

Cleveland's own Derf Backderf has penned a new graphic novel which is certain to draw the interest of those fascinated by psychology and serial killers alike. My Friend Dahmer reflects upon Derf's own interactions with an adolescent Jeffrey Dahmer, the latter's growing pains, and the horrific consequences of human frailty. 

"MY FRIEND DAHMER is the haunting, new graphic novel by Derf Backderf, an award-winning cartoonist and comix creator. In these pages, Backderf tries to make sense of the iconic monster who he shared the same school hallways, cafeterias, libraries, and compulsive car rides. What emerges is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a disturbed young man struggling helplessly against the ghastly urges bubbling up from the deep recesses of his psyche. The Dahmer recounted here, universally regarded as an inhuman monster by the rest of the world, is a lonely oddball who, in reality, is all too human. A shy kid who is sucked inexorably into madness while the adults in his life fail to notice. 

 We all know what Dahmer did, but in MY FRIEND DAHMER, Backderf provides, from his unique vantage point, profound (and at times, even strangely comic) insight into how, and more importantly, why Jeffrey Dahmer transformed from a high school nerd into a depraved fiend as notorious as Jack the Ripper. 

In MY FRIEND DAHMER, Derf comes as close as anyone yet has to explaining the seemingly unexplainable phenomenon of one Jeffrey Dahmer, Revere High School, Class of 1978."

You can pre-order a copy HERE.

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SALIVA AS A PREDICTOR OF AGE

Promising research now shows that DNA Methylation of human saliva can be utilized to predict a person's age with a modest degree of accuracy. No doubt the technique will improve with refinement and ongoing technological advances. Inferential methods like this are invaluable, because they allow forensic investigators to build a suspect's profile without having to rely on database matches (as is the case with fingerprints, DNA, etc.).

Read a summary of the research here:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-06/saliva-science-new-forensics-tool-can-determine-age-suspects-spit

Then check out the genuine research publication on PLoS ONE:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0014821

ABSTRACT:

From the moment of conception, we begin to age. A decay of cellular structures, gene regulation, and DNA sequence ages cells and organisms. DNA methylation patterns change with increasing age and contribute to age related disease. Here we identify 88 sites in or near 80 genes for which the degree of cytosine methylation is significantly correlated with age in saliva of 34 male identical twin pairs between 21 and 55 years of age. Furthermore, we validated sites in the promoters of three genes and replicated our results in a general population sample of 31 males and 29 females between 18 and 70 years of age. The methylation of three sites—in the promoters of the EDARADD, TOM1L1, and NPTX2 genes—is linear with age over a range of five decades. Using just two cytosines from these loci, we built a regression model that explained 73% of the variance in age, and is able to predict the age of an individual with an average accuracy of 5.2 years. In forensic science, such a model could estimate the age of a person, based on a biological sample alone. Furthermore, a measurement of relevant sites in the genome could be a tool in routine medical screening to predict the risk of age-related diseases and to tailor interventions based on the epigenetic bio-age instead of the chronological age.

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HERE WE GO AGAIN

Visitors to Flesh and Bones will no doubt have noticed that the author has been on lengthy hiatus; Alas, life waits for no man. Pending graduation and a fairly easy final semester now leave me with some much-appreciated spare time, and new posts will be arriving in short order. 

I'll be simultaneously authoring my other latest blogging endeavor, Olio / Etcetera, and I encourage anyone interested to check it out and subscribe. The blog is an eclectic collection of my researches and clippings, mental blurbs, book excerpts, academic work, essays, and photography. The underlying theme, if any, is "man the animal." Special emphasis will be placed on history, anthropology and language systems, but any subject is fair game. Enjoy, and thank you for your interest!

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A VIKING MYSTERY

Quite an interesting find on the Oxford grounds. It's fortunate when such archaeological discoveries can be corroborated by written historical accounts.

A Viking Mystery


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ADIPOCERE

From Lerner [1]:

Also known as "grave wax," adipocere (from the Latin, adipo for fat and cera for wax) is a grayish-white postmortem (after death) matter caused by fat decomposition, which results from hydrolysis and hydrogenation of the lipids (fatty cells) that compose subcutaneous (under the skin) fat tissues.

Although decomposition of fatty tissues starts almost immediately after death, adipocere formation time may vary from two weeks to one or two months, on average, due to several factors, such as temperature, embalming and burial conditions, and materials surrounding the corpse. For instance, the subcutaneous adipose (fatty) tissue of corpses immersed in cold water or kept in plastic bags may undergo a uniform adipocere formation with the superficial layers of skin slipping off.

Several studies have been conducted in the last ten years to understand and determine the rate of adipocere formation under different conditions. Other studies also investigated the influence of some bacteria and chemicals, present in grave soils, in adipocere decomposition. Although this issue remains a challenging one, the purpose of such studies is to establish standard parameters for possible application in forensic analysis, such as the estimation of time elapsed since death when insect activity is not present. In forensics, adipocere is also important because preserved body remains may offer other clues associated either with the circumstances surrounding or the cause of death. The ability of adipocere to preserve a body has been well illustrated in exhumed corpses, even after a century.

Adipose cells are rich in glycerol molecules and are formed by triglycerols (or triglycerides). Bacterial activity releases enzymes that break these triglycerides into a mixture of saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids, a process known as hydrolysis. In the presence of enough water and enzymes, triglycerol hydrolysis will proceed until all molecules are reduced to free fatty acids. Unsaturated free fatty acids, such as palmitoleic and linoleic acids, react with hydrogen to form hydroxystearic, hydroxypalmitic acids and other stearic compounds, a process known as saponification, or turning into soap.

This final product of fat decomposition, or adipocere, can be stable for long periods of time due to its considerable resistance to bacterial action. This resistance allows for slower decomposition of those areas of a corpse where adipose tissues are present, such as cheeks, thighs, and buttocks. When a corpse is exposed to insects, however, adipocere probably will not be formed, as body decomposition will be much faster because of the insects' action. Animal scavenging of a dead body will also prevent adipocere formation.

Also worth a read is Ruttan and Marshall's 1917 piece,

The Composition of Adipocere.




NOTES:


1. "Adipocere." World of Forensic Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Gale Cengage, 2006. eNotes.com. 2006. 16 Sep, 2010
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