Role of Forensic Anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)

DNA profiling is one of the most dependable and well-organized methods for recognizing bodies or losing body parts in disaster victim identification (DVI). This necessitates the collection of a post-mortem DNA sample and an antemortem DNA sample from the alleged victim or a biological related people. Collecting an acceptable ante mortem sample is usually effortless, but because of the varying degree of preservation of the human remains after any disaster and very high risk of cross-contamination of DNA, obtaining an adequate standard post mortem sample under cold DVI conditions is difficult. Various post mortem DNA samples from a deceased person in DVI can be obtained from muscle, bone including femur and ribs, teeth, and bone marrow with the slightest possibility of contamination. DVI (disaster victim identification) has been used to identify deceased people in various famous disasters like the 9/11 attack of the terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on 17 July 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed; the 26/11 attack on Mumbai in 2008 led by terrorist organizations caused 166 deaths, excluding nine terrorists. According to Interpol protocol, four steps for identification are given importance: 1 – Site examination, which lasts for days to weeks. 2 – Post-mortem data include fingerprints, odontology, DNA profiling and physical indication. 3 – Ante-mortem data collected from victim houses. 4 – Reconciliation where specialists identify the victim from the data collected.

The Physical Aura of Person during Life and after Death in Physics with Real Magnetic Charges

The discovery and study of real magnetic charges, as well as true anti-electrons in the structures of substance and their inclusion in basic physical concepts, allowed the author to establish that two physical images correspond to a person: a real human body, i.e., his mass composition (atoms, nucleons, etc.) and the spinor image in the form of its biofield, displayed in the Energo-medium (Energo-ether) that and is the physical Aura. The spinor image or Aura of person is not a simple “photograph” but represents a system of real physical states or fractals in the Energo-medium, which, at the cellular level, are connected with the human body and interact with it at all stages of its existence. It is the physical Aura that is responsible for all the power reactions manifested by the body, providing, for example, “force service” of the activity of the central and autonomic nervous system. The article shows the conditions for the transformation of the Aura into a dead state after the death of a person, and also notes some fractals in its composition that are able to maintain former vital reactions for some time. The external manifestations of such “long-lived” fractals of the Aura, meeting the conditions of identity with a deceased person, can be perceived by some sensitive people. It is the last circumstance that can explain the numerous observations of ghosts and images of deceased people, emerging both in a dream and in reality. At the same time, the ability to form the marked fractals is not an exclusive property of the Aura of dying or deceased people. Such fractals capable of emitting and the quite healthy people in some of life situations. These latter fractals in the surrounding space can be perceived by some people and showing in ordinary dreams.

Communication surrounding initiation and withdrawal of non-invasive ventilation in adults with Motor Neuron(e) Disease: clinicians’ and family members’ perspectives

Introduction International guidelines recommend that health care clinicians communicate with people with MND and their family members about non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and percutaneous gastrostomy tube (PEG) prior to or at the onset of respiratory symptoms. This study sought to discover the degree to which these recommendations are followed in practice. Methods Interpretive Description methodology was employed. Nineteen clinicians experienced in caring for people with MND, six relatives of recently deceased people with MND and one person with MND participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Clinicians’ accounts of NIV and PEG related communications were compared to family member participants’ recollections of their own discussions with clinicians. Data were analysed thematically. Results Six major themes emerged that together capture the factors that impact practitioner-patient-family communications about NIV and PEG. Some clinicians were unaware of MND guidelines particularly communicating the burdens or possible withdrawal of NIV or found them challenging to implement. Consequently, family participants reported that they and their relatives with MND found clinicians’ communication on these topics inadequate. This led to them ‘topping up’ their knowledge from less authoritative sources, predominantly the internet. Discussion Clinicians’ lack of awareness of the international guidelines and discomfort about discussing the benefits and burdens of NIV and PEGs means some people with MND and their families may be unprepared for the consequences of using and ceasing NIV.

The Commemorative Ritual in the Ethnocultural Landscape of an Udmurt Village

В статье на основе полевых материалов автора рассматривается узколокальный обряд поминовения покойных, умерших на чужбине и неестественной смертью, - чекан, который по сей день проводится жителями двух родственных деревень - Калашур (удм. Вуж Тӥгырмен) и Дубровский (удм. Выль Тӥгырмен) Киясовского района Удмуртской Республики. В церемонии участвуют представители только этих деревень, приезжают уехавшие в другие районы односельчане. Он совершается раз в четыре года в июне високосного года. Место проведения обряда находится ниже по течению реки Шехостанка (удм. Миёл) относительно д. Калашур, местные жители называют его «чекан/чекаськон иньты». От номинации обряда получили название и все прилегающие объекты окружающего пространства (родник, луг, жертвенная ель и т. д.), которые не утратили своего сакрального значения и в настоящее время. Неоднократное участие в ритуале и наблюдения позволили сделать следующие выводы: 1) традиционное место проведения обряда каждый раз смещается ближе к д. Калашур; 2) уменьшается количество участников церемонии, в том числе приезжих односельчан; 3) сокращается обрядовый сценарий, упрощаются его структурные элементы. Таким образом, трансформируется первоначальный религиозно-культурный ландшафт деревни. Based on fieldwork, this article examines a local Udmurt commemoration ritual called Chekan, which is strictly associated with one of the summer months of leap years and included in the cycle of commemorative rituals dedicated to a particular category of deceased - people having died abroad and by non-natural causes. The participants in this ritual are only the inhabitants of two related villages, Kalashur (in Udmurt Vuzh Tigyrmen) and Dubrovskiy (in Udmurt Vyl’ Tigyrmen) in the Kiyasovo District of the Udmurt Republic, as well as people who had left these villages but came back on purpose to attend. The ceremony takes place downstream of the Shekhostanka River (in Udmurt Miyol) relative to the village of Kalashur; locals call it “chekan/chekas’kon in’ty” (“the place of the Chekan/Chekas’kon”). Everything in the surrounding space (the spring, meadow, sacrificial spruce, etc.), includes “Chekan” - the name of the ceremony - in their designation and continues to preserve a sacred significance. Repeated participation in the ritual has allowed the author to reconstruct its diachrony, to describe its synchronic forms and to follow the evolution of the ritual scenario. The infrequency of the ritual has led to the reduction and simplification of its structure, a decrease in both in quantitative participation and in its diversity, as well as to a change of place. In general, the waning of this tradition has entailed a significant transformation of the cultural and religious landscape of the village.

Covid-19 deaths in Africa: prospective systematic postmortem surveillance study

Objective To directly measure the fatal impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) in an urban African population. Design Prospective systematic postmortem surveillance study. Setting Zambia’s largest tertiary care referral hospital. Participants Deceased people of all ages at the University Teaching Hospital morgue in Lusaka, Zambia, enrolled within 48 hours of death. Main outcome measure Postmortem nasopharyngeal swabs were tested via reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Deaths were stratified by covis-19 status, location, age, sex, and underlying risk factors. Results 372 participants were enrolled between June and September 2020; PCR results were available for 364 (97.8%). SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 58/364 (15.9%) according to the recommended cycle threshold value of <40 and in 70/364 (19.2%) when expanded to any level of PCR detection. The median age at death among people with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 was 48 (interquartile range 36-72) years, and 69% (n=48) were male. Most deaths in people with covid-19 (51/70; 73%) occurred in the community; none had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 before death. Among the 19/70 people who died in hospital, six were tested before death. Among the 52/70 people with data on symptoms, 44/52 had typical symptoms of covid-19 (cough, fever, shortness of breath), of whom only five were tested before death. Covid-19 was identified in seven children, only one of whom had been tested before death. The proportion of deaths with covid-19 increased with age, but 76% (n=53) of people who died were aged under 60 years. The five most common comorbidities among people who died with covid-19 were tuberculosis (22; 31%), hypertension (19; 27%), HIV/AIDS (16; 23%), alcohol misuse (12; 17%), and diabetes (9; 13%). Conclusions Contrary to expectations, deaths with covid-19 were common in Lusaka. Most occurred in the community, where testing capacity is lacking. However, few people who died at facilities were tested, despite presenting with typical symptoms of covid-19. Therefore, cases of covid-19 were under-reported because testing was rarely done not because covid-19 was rare. If these data are generalizable, the impact of covid-19 in Africa has been vastly underestimated.

Profanación, exhumación y violación de los enterramientos: arqueología penal de su regulación en el siglo XIX

Este trabajo tiene como finalidad analizar el tratamiento penal que durante el siglo XIX se dispensó a los actos indebidos para con el cuerpo y memoria de las personas fallecidas. Para ello, este texto se inicia con un recorrido normativo por los Códigos Penales españoles del siglo XIX (1822-1848-1850-1870) con el propósito de analizar la forma en que el Legislador penal fue incorporando esta cuestión en los distintos textos normativos. A continuación, y como forma de continuar este análisis, se estima adecuado detenerse en las razones político criminales subyacentes a la tipificación de estas conductas. De esta forma, se intenta realizar una aproximación a las lógicas punitivas decimonónicas inherentes a una esfera tan particular como el castigo penal a los actos irrespetuosos para con los difuntos. Por último, se incorpora un apartado conclusivo en el que abordar algunas ideas que, por razón de estructura narrativa no encontraban un acomodo idóneo en otras partes del texto pero que igualmente resultan de importancia para esta propuesta de análisis político-criminal histórico.This work aims to analyse the criminal law treatment that during the 19th century is dispensed to wrongdoing with the body and memory of deceased people. For that purpose, this text begins with a normative view of the Spanish Criminal Codes of the 19th century (1822-1848-1850-1870) in order to investigate how the Criminal Legislator incorporated this issue into the various normative texts. Hereunder, as a way to continue this analysis, it is considered appropriate to dwell on the criminal political reasons typification of these conducts. In this way, an attempt is made to approximate the decimonic punitive logics inherent in an area as particular as criminal punishment to disrespectful acts with the deceased. Finally, a concluding section is incorporated in order to address some ideas that, by reasons of narrative structure, did not find an appropriate accommodation in other parts of the text but which are also relevant for this proposal of historical political-criminal analysis.

PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE DECEASED

While the libertarian theory of property rights has been thoroughly studied, there has been minimal research done in regard to a deceased person’s ability to dictate the future of the property he owned in life. In this paper, we attempt to develop a theory of the property rights of deceased people consistent with libertarian principles. We analyze the legitimacy of contracts between two individuals after one individual dies, ownership of the cadaver, the deceased’s right to decide which actions are permissible to perform on the said cadaver, and the status of the deceased property when a will both has and has not been written. While there has been no explicit commentary made regarding these topics, outside from the will, the authors extrapolated current libertarian theories on property rights and applied them accordingly. While the authors of the paper ultimately do not reach a consensus agreement on some of the issues discussed in the paper, this exploratory work on the property rights of the deceased is intended to open further discussion and research on the matter to further contribute to the formulation of a concise libertarian legal theory.

THE KIDNEY AND SKIN DUO IN SARS-COV-2/COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread to a huge number of countries. After viral exposure, 80% of the cases will behave as mild or asymptomatic, around 15% will require a hospital facility and 5% will require Intensive-Care-Unit (ICU) management and the use of mechanical ventilation. Although SARS-CoV-2 is not as lethal as other severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARS) viruses, it has caused more infections, deaths and economic impact than any other worldwide infectious disease. According to initial pandemic reports, acute kidney injury (AKI) has occurred in around 3-9% of COVID-19 patients, however, not only those numbers have increased up to 20-42% in critically-ill cases and in deceased people, but also, patients with renal involvement seem to have an increased risk of mortality. Similarly, cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 have presented in around 8-20% of patients and are also subtle at the beginning, but later on they can progress to more severe skin disease. Common COVID-19 pathogenic features seem to be shared by the kidney and the skin and such cutaneous manifestations might be an alert for the need of early kidney function monitoring in order to initiate supportive interventions that may protect such organ from severe renal dysfunction and end stage disease.

A SURVEY INTO MORTALITY CAUSES IN ADULTS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Introduction:The main objective of the current study was to analyse the causes of death in different ages, genders, and regions in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also, the research aims to identify the prevalence of important risk factors in deceased people. Additionally, it aims to determine the condition of death for the sample. Methods:This is an analytical cross-sectional study which was carried out through a survey of 10 questionnaires conducted on relatives of people who passed away in the last five years, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted from June 29th. 2020 to September 30th. 2020. The sample was randomly selected, through the computer. Results:The authors got responses from 1100 people who fit with the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 64 years. The five leading causes of death were cardiovascular disorders (20%), stroke (10%), cancer (10%), pneumonia (10%), and road traffic accidents (10%). 30% of deceased people had diabetes mellitus, and 40% had obesity. 61.5% of the sample passed away in hospitals. (P-value 0.05). Only 5.5% of people had their relatives known to palliative service. Interpretation and Conclusions:The current research provided an analysis of the causes of death in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2020. The leading causes of death were cardiovascular disorders, stroke, cancer, pneumonia, and road traffic accidents. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and obesity were high among deceased people.