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The cemetery of Gladebeck is placed in the South of Niedersachsen and dated from the 8th till the early 9th century. The 55 individual findings consist of 17 men, 16 women, 11 undeterminables and 11 children. The mean death rate of the whole population is 29 years. The age-distribution shows a deficiency of small infants.
BACKGROUND: To calculate all causes weekly baseline mortality and an alarm threshold using Fourier analysis. To analyse the largest outlier detected in our series. METHODS: Madrid Undertaker database from October 1988 to September 1993, was used in the analysis. Orthogonal components were detected using Fourier analysis. Expected deaths and confidence limits were fitted using Serfling method. Alarm threshold was placed at a distance of 1.96 standard deviations above baseline. RESULTS: orthogonal frequencies with significant amplitudes corresponding to periods 26, 52, 104 and 156 weeks were detected. The second was the fundamental and its multiples were harmonics. In the time domain, baseline mortality showed a winter peak, declined to a summer plateau and presented its lowest level at the end of August. 21 weeks exceeded the alarm threshold. Of these 17 were related to influenza epidemics. The largest outlier corresponded to a heat wave in July 1991. CONCLUSIONS: A procedure similar to that proposed by R. E. Serfling (1963) to calculate baseline mortality, an alarm threshold and short term extrapolation using Madrid Undertaker database (C. Borrell, 1991) is presented. Madrid Undertaker database provide accurate and timely information about all causes mortality excess in Madrid.
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Cadavers may pose infection hazards to people who handle them. None of the organisms that caused mass death in the past--for example, plague, cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, anthrax, smallpox--is likely to survive long in buried human remains. Items such as mould spores or lead dust are much greater risks to those involved in exhumations. Infectious conditions and pathogens in the recently deceased that present particular risks include tuberculosis, group A streptococcal infection, gastrointestinal organisms, the agents that cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), hepatitis B and C viruses, HIV, and possibly meningitis and septicaemia (especially meningococcal). The use of appropriate protective clothing and the observance of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations, will protect all who handle cadavers against infectious hazards.
Funeral directors, control of infection officers, chief environmental health officers, and consultants in communicable disease control were surveyed to identify the sources and nature of advice about infectious hazards from the deceased available to undertakers. They were asked about management responsibilities, policies, particular activities (viewing, hygienic preparation, bagging, embalming, and final disposal by burial or cremation), specific diseases (hepatitis B, HIV infection, tuberculosis, meningitis, septicaemia, and salmonellosis), and repatriation. A wide range of opinions and advice was received on each topic. Medical personnel need a greater understanding of the work of funeral directors. Policies based on a realistic assessment of risk should be agreed.
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Mercury in dental amalgam filling is released into the atmosphere by cremation and is a suspected source of mercury pollution. The amount of mercury released was measured at three crematoriums. First, mercury levels in the atmosphere were measured. Mercury existed mainly in the gaseous form in ambient air. The concentration of atmospheric mercury at the three crematoriums (S, T and M) ranged from 4.3 to 19.7ng/m3, which was nearly identical to levels in our university surveyed as the control area and also to the levels of atmospheric mercury in general in Japan. Secondly, the amount of mercury release from T crematorium was estimated using official published statistical data in Japan and calculated as follows: sigma[(age specific number of dead that were cremated) x (the number of restored teeth by age category) x (mercury content per amalgam filling (0.6 g))] x (prevalence rate of restoration with amalgam). The amount of mercury released from this crematorium was estimated to be approximately 9.4 kg per year, or a daily release of 26 g into the ambient air. These results indicate that mercury release by cremation is similar to that from other man-made sources.
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In Japan, at the old ports of the whaling industry, at all 365 slaughterhouses of the country, at some of the more than 90 wholesale markets of marine products, and at most of the about 170 testing facilities using laboratory animals, there are memorial stones for the souls of the animals killed for human welfare. Except at the whaling ports, where the memorials often can be dated back to the 17. century, all stones have been erected in the 20. century, most of them during the last 2 decades. The roots of this Japanese folk custom are probably in the prehistoric times of Shintoism. With the introduction of Buddhism in the 6. century, the killing of animals was considered sinful. Following the opening of the country in 1860, slaughterhouses were established.
With the recent increase in the number of lawsuits questioning the possible commingling of cremains, recognition of nonosseous artifacts may aid in the circumstantial identification of a decedent. The remains of a cremated individual were analyzed both macroscopically and microscopically. Examination of material ranging in size from 1.5 cm x 1.0 cm to less than 0.5 cm yielded evidence of numerous nonosseous artifacts. Of primary interest were several fragmentary ceramic objects located in the material, which were pieced together under a microscope and photographed to reveal the imprint of circuitry suggesting a computer chip, subsequently identified from a pacemaker. Although this particular ceramic substrate did not have the necessary markings to facilitate identification of the manufacturer, the pacemaker brand may aid in identification.
The effect of low-level exposure to formaldehyde on oral, nasal, and lymphoycte biological markers was studied prospectively in a group of 29 mortician students who were about to take a course in embalming. During the 85-day study period, the subjects performed an average of 6.9 embalmings and had average cumulative formaldehyde exposures of 14.8 ppm-h, with an average air concentration of 1.4 ppm during embalming. Since the average time spent embalming was 125 min, formaldehyde exposures calculated as an 8-h time-weighted average were 0.33 ppm on days when embalmings were done, which was less than the Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit of 0.75 ppm. Epithelial cells from the buccal area of the mouth showed a 12-fold increase in micronucleus frequency during the study period, from 0.046 +/- 0.17/1000 cells preexposure to 0.60 +/- 1.27/1000 cells at the end of the course (P < 0.05). Nasal epithelial micronuclei increased 22%, from 0.41 +/- 0.52/1000 cells to 0.50 +/- 0.67/1000 cells (P = 0.26). In blood cells, the frequency of micronucleated lymphocytes increased 28%, from 4.95 +/- 1.72/1000 cells to 6.36 +/- 2.03/1000 cells (P < 0.05), while sister chromatid exchanges decreased 7.5% (P < 0.05). A dose-response relationship was observed between cumulative exposure to formaldehyde and increases in buccal micronuclei in the 22 male subjects but not in the 7 female subjects. We conclude that low-level exposure to formaldehyde is associated with cytogenetic changes in epithelial cells of the mouth and in blood lymphocytes. These cytogenetic effects may be useful as markers of biologically effective dose.
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Cremation as a method of body disposition has increased over the last two decades. Mishandling of the remains is bringing the analysis of cremains to the attention of forensic anthropologists. The destruction of skeletal components by heat, and mechanical reduction, make the analysis of cremains difficult. Three years after receiving cremains believed to be that of their mother, a family received a second set of cremains that were also purported to be those of their mother. Questioning whether which, if either, set of remains were the decedent, the family initiated an anthropological analysis of both sets of remains. The investigation focused on both osseous and nonosseous characteristics of each set. Total weight of the material and differences in both the osseous and nonosseous characteristics indicate that the cremains represent two individuals. These differences include the degree of color change due to heat, the amount of bone fragments vs. ash, and the lead and calcium content remaining in the fragments from each set. Differences in the nonosseous components of each set are related to coffin hardware, and medical and dental artifacts.