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PubMed1983

The offerings from the Hyperboreans.

The ancient Greeks believed that the fruits of agriculture could be harvested only if one first appeased the spirit of the primitive avatars from which the edible crop had been evolved over the centuries through hybridization and cultivation. On occasion, this appeasement was secured through the sacrifice of a human victim, a person who for various reasons could be considered to represent a similar primitivism. By the classical age, this extreme form of sacrificial appeasement appears to have been reserved for times of unusual crisis, such as pestilence or natural disaster, for at such times, the resurgent forces of primitivism seemed to threaten the entire civilization with regression back to its wilder origins. Other forms of appeasement were ordinarily substituted for the actual offering of a human victim. Amongst these was the enactment of puberty rites, for the natural growth and maturation of an individual could be thought to symbolize this same evolutionary process. Each infant is born as a wild creature who must develop into a socialized adult through the metaphoric death of its former self as it assumes the responsibilities of civilized life in crossing the threshold to sexual maturity. A similar symbolic victim was customarily represented by the offering of first fruits. A portion of the cultivated crop was prematurely cut and consecrated to redeem and release the ripening harvest from the dangerous contamination with the spirits of its pre-agricultural precedents. On the island of Delos, a special version of this consecration was performed. Each year, the various Greek cities would send a sheaf of unripened grain to the sanctuary of the god Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. Amongst these annual offerings, there was one that was supposed to have originated from the Hyperboreans, a mythical people who were thought to live in the original homeland of the two gods. This special Hyperborean offering differed from the others, for it was said to contain a secret item hidden within the sheaf. The mythical traditions about these Hyperboreans recalled the Hellenic peoples' Indo-European origins, back in the time before the tribal migrations that brought them eventually into the Mediterranean lands, and the secret offering pertained to Apollo's more ancient religion in that pre-Greek Hyperborean context.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Basidiomycota↗
PubMed2000

Posttraumatic stress and lifestyles are associated with natural killer cell activity in victims of the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The relationships among mental health status, lifestyle, and natural killer (NK) cell activity, which plays important roles in the immune surveillance of tumors and viral infections, were investigated in victims of the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. METHODS: About 1 and 1/3 years after the earthquake, 155 male workers who experienced the event were administered questionnaires concerning their unhealthy mental status, such as symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), lifestyles, and demographic variables. Peripheral blood was taken from all of them to measure NK cell activity. RESULTS: Subjects who had PTSD symptoms showed lower NK cell activity than those without symptoms. Subjects with positive lifestyles showed higher NK cell activity than those with poor or moderate lifestyles. When subjects were divided into four groups by lifestyle and PTSD symptoms, subjects with positive lifestyles and few or no PTSD symptoms showed the highest NK cell activity among the four groups. The other three groups were subjects with positive lifestyles but many PTSD symptoms; subjects with poor or moderate lifestyles and many PTSD symptoms; and subjects with poor or moderate lifestyles and few or no PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSION: PTSD symptoms and lifestyles were associated with NK cell activity in the earthquake victims.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Demographic consequences of the 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine.

This article analyzes demographic responses to the 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine and compares them with Bongaarts and Cain's (1982) hypothesized responses. After briefly describing the data collection, I estimate the age distribution and the age-specific mortality and fertility rates of Ethiopian famine victims in a resettlement area and compare these with mortality estimates for the 1972-1973 Bangladesh famine and with fertility estimates from the 1981 Ethiopian demographic survey. The results show that the mortality rate among Ethiopian famine victims was about seven times higher than the rate among the Bangladesh victims and that the Ethiopian famine-related mortality was general and not a function of household socioeconomic variables. The data also show a 26 percent lower total fertility rate among famine victims.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Probability of dying in an avalanche].

Of 1,036 people caught in an avalanche and completely buried the burial time and whether they were recovered dead or alive is recorded. The data are used to calculate the likelihood to die in the avalanche as a function of the burial time, using Turnbull's non-parametric method. The result is compared with Brugger's et al for 332 cases. Furthermore the influence on the likelihood of mortality is investigated using further indications to reduce the time interval during which the victim has died.

Accidents↗
PubMed2002

Psychiatric disorders in rescue workers after the Oklahoma City bombing.

OBJECTIVE: Psychiatric disorders were studied in a volunteer group of 181 firefighters who served as rescue/recovery workers after the Oklahoma City bombing. METHOD: Approximately 34 months after the disaster, the authors retrospectively assessed psychopathology both before and after the bombing with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Findings for male rescue workers were compared with those of male primary victims who had been in the direct path of the blast and who had been assessed with the same instrument. RESULTS: The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder related to the bombing was significantly lower in male rescue workers (13%) than in male primary victims (23%). High rates of alcohol disorders (postdisaster: 24%; lifetime: 47%) were seen among all rescue workers, with virtually no new cases occurring after the bombing. CONCLUSIONS: The resilience seen in firefighters may be related to their career selection, their preparedness and experience, the fewer injuries they suffered, and postdisaster mental health interventions. However, alcohol disorders were endemic before the disaster, indicating a need for ongoing programs targeting this problem.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Development under extreme conditions: forensic bioinformatics in the wake of the World Trade Center disaster.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 resulted in death and devastation in three locations, and extraordinary efforts have been exerted to identify the remains of all victims. As mass fatalities go, this one has been unusual at a policy level because the goal has been not merely to identify remains for every decedent, but to identify every bit of remains found so that even small pieces of tissue can be returned to families for burial. While the human impact at the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA was horrific, the World Trade Center site presented a particularly complex challenge for forensic DNA matching and data handling. A complete and definitive list of all those killed is still elusive, and human remains were crushed and co-mingled by the falling towers. Software tools had never been considered for a problem of this scale and scope. New data handling systems had to be created under extreme software development conditions characterized by incomplete requirements specifications, chaotically changing priorities, truly impossible deadlines and rapidly rolling production releases. Partly because of the company's experience with mtDNA tools built for the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab starting in 1997, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner [OCME] contacted Gene Codes Corporation in late September as existing data-handling tools began to fail. We began work on the project in mid-October, 2001. Our approach to the problem included: Extreme Programming [XP] methodology for functional software development, On-site time and motion analysis at the OCME for user interface design, Evidentiary references between STR, SNP and mtDNA analysis results, and Separate data Quality Control [QC] and software Quality Assurance [QA] initiatives. A substantial software suite was developed called M-FISys, an acronym for Mass-Fatality Identification System.

Computational Biology↗
PubMed2003

Four major disasters in Aquitaine, France: use of odontologic techniques for identification.

The 4 mass disasters that have affected the Aquitaine region (France) in the previous 15 years are related through the specificity and the efficiency of dental methodology in identifying the victims. The results point to the decisive influence and the efficiency of dental methodology for identification of bodies that are burned or disfigured after an accident or a prolonged period in water.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2006

Solving certain dental records problems with technology--the Canadian solution in the Thailand tsunami response.

Each natural or man-made disaster presents a different set of circumstances and, as a consequence, each event results in new challenges for response teams. The very large number of deceased victims in recent tragic events is certainly one of the enormous challenges that can tax many different resources for identification specialists. But there are other significant challenges. And during the response, some of these seem insurmountable. They can be solved if we embrace technologies outside the customary disciplines. The Canadian identification effort following the December 2004 tsunami involved responders from several disciplines. Each discipline faced challenges in many different and special areas that were difficult and in some cases previously unseen. This paper presents examples of the ways the Canadian identification team used Internet technology to solve problems that were encountered when it became necessary to duplicate victims' dental, medical and personal records, and transport these records halfway around the world. Digital images of the records were saved at high resolution in multi-page PDF files. These images were made available to on-site personnel using an encrypted, password-secured website.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed1996

Molecular biological studies on teeth, and inquests.

Reviewed here are three dental approaches to identification work. One is that using racemization of amino acids. Age estimation of a high correlation of 0.99 was achieved from using the whole dentine from the central vertical section. The highest correlation was also seen when soluble peptide from dentine was used, suggesting its usefulness for age estimation. The racemization rate was highest for Asp, followed by Glu and Ala in that order. The other approach reviewed in DNA typing. DNA is extracted from dental pulp for DNA fingerprinting with Y-specific probe. DNA typing is especially useful for sex determination, allowing valid determination from teeth extracted up to 21 months before the examination. A 3-cycle repetition of PCR provided an accurate sex determination from a considerably degraded DNA specimen, comparable to one freshly sampled. The other approach discussed is the content and scope of the inquests performed by dentists who participate in the identification work in mass disasters etc. In this context, the antemortem dental information including dental records and radiological records provided by families of the victims, play a major role in speedy identification.

Age Determination by Teeth↗
PubMed2025

Mediators of the Association Between a Parent's Experience of Trauma and Their Children's Well-Being: A Systematic Review.

At present, our understanding of trauma's complexity is underdeveloped, particularly with regard to intergenerational effects. In this paper, we review peer-reviewed literature on parental trauma and child well-being, focusing on mediating factors. We conducted a global systematic review of longitudinal, observational studies assessing mediators between a parent's traumatic exposure and their children's well-being. The primary outcome of the review was quantitative measures of child well-being (physical and psycho-social) assessed when the child was 18 years or under. We considered the following experiences as trauma exposures: intimate partner violence, rape, sexual assault, victimization during violent crime, childhood abuse, and exposure to direct, immediate threats to personal survival during war, political unrest, natural disasters, and sudden, critical injury/illness. Thirty-two studies met our inclusion criteria. The two most common mediator categories were caregiver mental health (n = 13) and parenting behavior (n = 10). Other studies measured aspects of the parent-child relationship (n = 9), maternal stress factors (n = 5), parental physical health (n = 2), and child-level factors (n = 6) as mediators. Almost all included studies (n = 28) detected a mediation effect. The majority of studies (n = 21) cited robust theoretical frameworks to support their mediator and outcome choices. Studies varied in quality, but most used appropriate, formal mediation analyses. Several study designs could be enhanced by methods to improve precision and reduce bias. Currently, there is little consistency in how similar constructs are measured between mediation studies. We did not locate any studies in low-income countries, and few studies examined aspects of family dynamics, physical health, environmental characteristics, or paternal factors.

Humans↗
PubMed1999

Therapeutic approaches for survivors of disaster.

Common psychiatric responses to disasters include depression, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, substance-abuse disorder, and somatization disorder. These symptom complexes may arise because of the various types of trauma experienced, including terror or horror, bereavement, and disruption of lifestyle. Because different types of disaster produce different patterns of trauma, clinical response should address the special characteristics of those affected. Traumatized individuals are typically resistant to seeking treatment, so treatment must be taken to the survivors, at locations within their communities. Most helpful is to train and support mental health workers from the affected communities. Interventions in groups have been found to be effective to promote catharsis, support, and a sense of identification with the group. Special groups to be considered include children, injured victims, people with pre-existing psychiatric histories, and relief workers.

Counseling↗