Calcified structures associated with human skeletal remains: Possible atherosclerosis affecting the population buried at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC)

Today, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis, the thickening of the artery wall due to accumulating lipids, is one of the major causes. Generally assumed to be a disease of modern life-style related factors (smoking, obesity, hypertension), its history and epidemiology in the past are virtually unknown. Research on mummies from various geographic locations, time periods and socioeconomic backgrounds has revealed conclusive, albeit scant, evidence that atherosclerosis also affected past human populations. Little is known about the morphology of calcified atherosclerotic plaques that may be associated with human skeletal remains. Therefore, direct evidence of atherosclerosis from skeletal remains is largely absent. This paper presents five possible examples of calcified blood vessels which may represent atherosclerosis recovered from burials at Amara West, Sudan (1300–800 BC) and reviews other potential causes of arterial calcification. Calcifications were recovered from the chest area of three middle-adult individuals as well as from the abdominal area and alongside the femur of two more. Based on morphology, anatomical location, scanning electron microscopy and radiography, they are probably calcified arterial plaques. These findings are unique in the bioarchaeological record and indicate that people have experienced atherosclerosis for at least 3000 years

Tuberculosis: a biosocial study of admissions to a children’s sanatorium (1936-1954) in Stannington, Northumberland, England

This study considers the biosocial profile of children admitted to the Philipson Children's Sanatorium at Stannington, Morpeth, Northumberland, England (1936–1954). The objective was to understand the differential impact of TB on male and female admissions at Stannington, according to a number of variables. A total of 1987 medical files were analysed. More females than males were admitted, peaks of admission at age six and 13 were documented, and the majority of children derived from poor urban areas. Over 60% (1199, 63.5%) of children had pulmonary TB, and 12% (230) had bone or joint involvement. The implementation of chemotherapy (streptomycin) at Stannington (1946), the end of the 2nd World War (1945), and the founding of the National Health Service (1948) did not have any great effect on the biosocial profile of children admitted to the sanatorium and treated (age, sex, origin, type of TB suffered, and socioeconomic status). Reasons for these finding are discussed

A macronutrient bulletin for the prairies

Non-Peer ReviewedThis paper briefly highlights some of the contents of a recently completed bulletin, which provides an up-to-date record of the status of our knowledge with regards to crop responses to, and impact on the environment of N, P, K and s, on the Canadian prairies. This 12 Chapter, 527 page book presents information on nutrient balances, trends in fertility levels of soils, nitrogen use efficiency, N, P, K and S cycles, fertilizer N practices, the influence of nutrients on soil organic matter, response of. forages to nutrients, biotechnology and crop nutrition, and the impact of nutrients on the environment. This manuscript, which was prepared through funding provided under the Canada-Saskatchewan Environmental Sustainability Initiative (ESI), should be of considerable assistance to students, educators, scientists and agricultural extensionists in the three prairie provinces

Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: Presence of environmental bacteria in human archaeological remains

There are many reports of ancient DNA from bacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) being present in skeletons with and without osteological indications of tuberculosis. A possible complication in these studies is that extracts might also contain DNA from the microbiome of the individual whose remains are being analysed and/or from environmental bacteria that have colonised the skeleton after death. These contaminants might include ‘mycobacteria other than tuberculosis’ (MOTT), which are common in the environment, but which are not normally associated with clinical cases of tuberculosis. In this paper we show that MOTT of various types, as well as bacteria of related genera, are present in most if not all archaeological remains. Our results emphasise the complications inherent in the biomolecular study of archaeological human tuberculosis. The specificity of any polymerase chain reaction directed at the MTBC cannot be assumed and, to confirm that an amplification is authentic, a sequencing strategy must be applied that allows characterisation of the PCR product. Any variations from the reference MTBC sequence must then be checked against sequence data for MOTT and other species to ensure that the product does actually derive from MTBC. Our results also illustrate the challenges faced when assembling MTBC genome sequences from ancient DNA samples, as misidentification of MOTT sequence reads as MTBC would lead to errors in the assembly. Identifying such errors would be particularly difficult, if not impossible, if the MOTT DNA content is greater than that of the authentic MTBC. The difficulty in identifying and excluding MOTT sequences is exacerbated by the fact that many MOTT are still uncharacterized and hence their sequence features are unknown

The Development of a Common Investment Appraisal for Urban Transport Projects.

In December 1990 we were invited by Birmingham City Council and Centro to submit a proposal for an introductory study of the development of a common investment appraisal for urban transport projects. Many of the issues had arisen during the Birmingham Integrated Transport Study (BITS) in which we were involved, and in the subsequent assessment of light rail schemes of which we have considerable experience. In subsequent discussion, the objectives were identified as being:- (i) to identify, briefly, the weaknesses with existing appraisal techniques; (ii) to develop proposals for common methods for the social cost-benefit appraisal of both urban road and rail schemes which overcome these weaknesses; (iii) to develop complementary and consistent proposals for common methods of financial appraisal of such projects; (iv) to develop proposals for variants of the methods in (ii) and (iii) which are appropriate to schemes of differing complexity and cost; (v) to consider briefly methods of treating externalities, and performance against other public sector goals, which are consistent with those developed under (ii) to (iv) above; (vi) to recommend work to be done in the second phase of the study (beyond March 1991) on the provision of input to such evaluation methods from strategic and mode-specific models, and on the testing of the proposed evaluation methods. Such issues are particularly topical at present, and we have been able to draw, in our study, on experience of:- (i) evaluation methods developed for BITS and subsequent integrated transport studies (MVA) (ii) evaluation of individual light rail and heavy rail investment projects (ITS,MVA); (iii) the recommendations of AMA in "Changing Gear" (iv) advice to IPPR on appraisal methodology (ITS); (v) submissions to the House of Commons enquiry into "Roads for the Future" (ITS); (vi) advice to the National Audit Office (ITS) (vii) involvement in the SACTRA study of urban road appraisal (MVA, ITS

Continuity or colonization in Anglo-Saxon England? Isotope evidence for mobility, subsistence practice, and status at West Heslerton

The adventus Saxonum is a crucial event in English protohistory. Scholars from a range of disciplines dispute the scale and demographic profile of the purported colonizing population. The 5th-7th century burial ground at West Heslerton, North Yorkshire, is one of the few Anglian cemeteries where an associated settlement site has been identified and subjected to extensive multidisciplinary postexcavation study. Skeletal and grave good evidence has been used to indicate the presence of Scandinavian settlers. A small, preliminary study using lead and strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel, mineralized in early childhood, from Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (n = 8), Iron Age (n = 2), and Early Anglo-Saxon (n = 32) skeletons, was carried out to directly investigate this hypothesis. Results suggest that lead provides dissimilar types of information in different time periods. In post-Roman England, it appears to reflect the level of exposure to circulated anthropogenic rather than natural geological lead, thus being a cultural rather than geographical marker. Consequently, only strontium provides mobility evidence among the Anglian population, whereas both isotope systems do so in pre-Roman periods. Strontium data imply the presence of two groups: one of local and one of nonlocal origin, but more work is required to define the limits of local variation and identify immigrants with confidence. Correlations with traditional archaeological evidence are inconclusive. While the majority of juveniles and prehistoric individuals fall within the local group, both groups contain juveniles, and adults of both sexes. There is thus no clear support for the exclusively male, military-elite invasion model at this site