Körper | Kultur | Konflikt

Society's view of dying and death no longer corresponds to the fixed images with which the corresponding areas of knowledge were associated until a few years ago. For a long time, the supposedly ›unambiguous‹ levels of meaning of this complex issue were stable enough to paralyse social scientific research. For some time now, however, discourses have been emerging that (re)question the normative elements of funeral culture, the treatment of dead bodies and cremation ashes, the labelling of medical diagnoses, and the determination of the boundary between life and death. Today, there is a—quite productive—tension between real practices and cultural guidelines.

Pengendalian Bedah Siasat Mayat Semasa Penularan Wabak Penyakit Berjangkit di Malaysia: Kajian Kes tentang COVID-19

Kematian pemeriksa perubatan di Thailand akibat jangkitan koronavirus daripada mayat telah mengejutkan dan membimbangkan semua pihak. Kes ini menunjukkan bahawa semua pihak mempunyai risiko untuk mendapat jangkitan virus, seperti COVID-19. Dalam aspek ini, ahli patologi turut mempunyai risiko untuk mendapat jangkitan kerana mereka terlibat secara langsung dalam pengendalian bedah siasat pada setiap masa, termasuklah semasa penularan wabak penyakit berjangkit seperti, COVID-19. Bagi tujuan pengendalian bedah siasat semasa COVID-19, Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) telah membangunkan Guidelines for Handling Dead Bodies of Suspected/Probable/Confirmed COVID-19. Walaupun Garis Panduan ini dapat menjadi panduan kepada semua pihak yang terlibat secara amnya, namun Garis panduan ini dilihat tidak komprehensif dan mempunyai kekurangan. Antaranya, Garis Panduan ini tidak selari dengan garis panduan yang dikeluarkan oleh Institut Perubatan Forensik Negara. Tambahan pula, definisi kes COVID-19 yang diberikan juga tidak merangkumi semua jenis kes. Hanya kes-kes yang tergolong dalam definisi kes COVID-19 yang boleh dijalankan ujian. Jika tidak tergolong dalam definisi tersebut, maka ujian tidak boleh dijalankan. Malahan, Garis Panduan tersebut juga tidak menjelaskan pemakaian autopsi maya. Oleh itu, artikel ini bertujuan untuk menilai kerangka undang-undang yang sedia ada di Malaysia berkaitan dengan pengendalian bedah siasat dalam menangani isu-isu yang berbangkit tentang pengendalian bedah siasat semasa penularan wabak penyakit berjangkit, seperti COVID-19. Artikel ini mendapati bahawa undang-undang dan garis panduan tentang pengendalian bedah siasat mayat semasa penularan wabak penyakit berjangkit di Malaysia, khususnya COVID-19 tidak menyeluruh. Sesungguhnya, undang-undang dan garis panduan berhubung dengan pengendalian bedah siasat semasa penularan wabak penyakit berjangkit seperti COVID-19 di Malaysia haruslah ditambah baik di samping penggubalan tatacara pengendalian piawai dari segi amalan untuk membantu semua pihak yang terlibat.

The death of infants in Early Iron Age Cyprus. A jar burial from Kition-Bamboula

During recent excavations of the French Archaeological Mission at Kition-Bamboula, in modern day Larnaka, Cyprus, an infant jar burial was discovered. It was found under a floor layer in a domestic context, and is dated to the beginning of the Late Cypriot IIIB period (end of the 12th– early 11th century BC). This jar burial is part of a series which seems to be attested, at least in the present state of documentation, only in eastern Cyprus (Enkomi, Salamis and, on a lesser scale, Kition) during a period that spans the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age. The Kition-Bamboula jar burial is notable for its wealth (jewellery, vase offerings, and food deposit). This article proposes a detailed and multidisciplinary study of the burial, as well as a comprehensive consideration of the treatment of infants’ dead bodies in Early Iron Age Cyprus.

Ethical and sociocultural challenges in managing dead bodies during epidemics and natural disasters

BackgroundCatastrophic natural disasters and epidemics claim thousands of lives and have severe and lasting consequences, accompanied by human suffering. The Ebola epidemic of 2014–2016 and the current COVID-19 pandemic have revealed some of the practical and ethical complexities relating to the management of dead bodies. While frontline staff are tasked with saving lives, managing the bodies of those who die remains an under-resourced and overlooked issue, with numerous ethical and practical problems globally.MethodsThis scoping review of literature examines the management of dead bodies during epidemics and natural disasters. 82 articles were reviewed, of which only a small number were empirical studies focusing on ethical or sociocultural issues that emerge in the management of dead bodies.ResultsWe have identified a wide range of ethical and sociocultural challenges, such as ensuring dignity for the deceased while protecting the living, honouring the cultural and religious rituals surrounding death, alleviating the suffering that accompanies grieving for the survivors and mitigating inequalities of resource allocation. It was revealed that several ethical and sociocultural issues arise at all stages of body management: notification, retrieving, identification, storage and burial of dead bodies.ConclusionWhile practical issues with managing dead bodies have been discussed in the global health literature and the ethical and sociocultural facets of handling the dead have been recognised, they are nonetheless not given adequate attention. Further research is needed to ensure care for the dead in epidemics and that natural disasters are informed by ethical best practice.

The role of soil in saving human race from COVID-19 pandemic

Soil is the most complex part of land as its contents are made of all the other key components of land namely geology (soil minerals), hydrology (soil water), atmosphere (soil air), and organisms including man (soil organic matter including dead bodies). This is why the functions of the soil are not only numerous but also indispensable. Among the functions, the role of the soil in sustaining human life remains unimaginable. Over 3.8 million people have been killed by COVID-19 by June 15, 2021 in the world and more are still dying. Some unrecorded millions died of hunger as a result of the lockdown during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic. Where are these dead bodies and materials associated with those that died of COVID-19? Where did all the food palliatives (rice, maize, wheat, yam, gari, vegetable oil, etc.) come from? The human body is composed of approximately 64% water, 20% protein, 10% fat, 1% carbohydrate, 5% minerals. When decomposed these various components result to various gaseous compounds and residues that are harmful to human life and environment. When dead bodies are buried human health and environment are saved. The dead bodies, the wastes and their contents are in the soil providing “palliatives” to soil microorganisms while protecting the remaining human population and the environment. Cremation products also end up in the soil. The soil also provided and still provides the food palliatives. Thus, the soil is our number one saviour against COVID-19 pandemic and can be adjudged as the saviour of the human race to date. Coincidentally man was made from the soil and must return to the soil. Key words: soil functions, burial, cremation, palliatives, COVID-19

Studying the Activity of Leaf-Litter Fauna: A Small World to Discover

Hundreds of thousands of little creatures live in soils. Some eat live plants, live animals, or both. Others, called decomposers, consume dead plants, and the waste of other living beings (their feces and their dead bodies), and transform them into food for plants. The health of soils depends largely on the presence of decomposers, and thus it is necessary to study how these creatures may be affected by climate change. To this end, we built a new type of traps to catch live soil animals, which we called cul-de-sac and basket traps. Here, we show how these traps are better for studying animal activity (how much they move in the soil) compared to the most used devices to date, pitfall traps. Comparatively, our traps capture more active animals and prevent predators from killing prey inside, which will improve the accuracy of future studies all over the world.