Review: The safe handling of a corpse (suspected) with COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: Countries around the world are confronted with a rising count of patients that die from COVID-19. Up to this date, there is no scientific evidence that proves that a COVID-19 corpse is still infectious. Different guidelines are being followed worldwide on how to deal with a COVID-19 positive corpse. The aim of this review is to compare different guidelines and literature on best practice for handling a COVID-19 positive corpse. RESULTS: The guidelines vary greatly in the use of PPE's and other safety measures especially during autopsy. There is great variation in the use of disinfectant and its concentration. Also recommended funeral services and contact with relatives vary greatly. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, there is very limited scientific evidence on which the researched guidelines are based. It is unclear why some guidelines propose a "business as usual" attitude and others a "code-red" attitude. More scientific evidence is needed to substantiate the handling of COVID-19 positive corpses to make an educated decision on how to safely handle a COVID-19 positive corpse.

Current status of memorial services for laboratory animals in Japan: a questionnaire survey.

In this study, we found that almost all institutions conducting animal experiments, such as universities, corporations, and research laboratories, also conducted memorial services for the animals sacrificed during animal experimentation. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 120 institutions. A total of 83 (69.1%) valid responses were obtained from the participating institutions. Memorial services were held at 79 institutions (95.1%). Memorial services for laboratory animals have been mainly conducted to show appreciation, comfort the spirit, and console the souls.

Extremities: thresholds of human embodiment.

Emergent conditions of life at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century create new opportunities and challenges for medical anthropology. The articles included in this special issue of Medical Anthropology suggest four areas that call out for more attention: the changing scientific and philosophical status of the human, including definitions of life and biology more broadly; the material consequences of anticipatory fictions; the expanding and intensifying forces invested in the production of bodies; and the emergent and historical conditions shaping expectations and experiences of bodies as they are managed and lived. In elaborating the significance of these issues, we provide an introduction to the articles included in this special issue and point to how the contributions to this collection offer models for approaching emergent forms of life.

Forensic anthropology and mortuary archaeology in Lithuania.

Forensic anthropology (in Lithuania, as everywhere in Eastern Europe, traditionally considered as a narrower field--forensic osteology) has a long history, experience being gained both during exhumations of mass killings during the Second World War and the subsequent totalitarian regime, investigations of historical mass graves, identification of historical personalities and routine forensic work. Experts of this field (usually a branch of forensic medicine) routinely are solving "technical" questions of crime investigation, particularly identification of (usually dead) individuals. Practical implementation of the mission of forensic anthropology is not an easy task due to interdisciplinary character of the field. On one hand, physical anthropology has in its disposition numerous scientifically tested methods, however, their practical value in particular legal processes is limited. Reasons for these discrepancies can be related both to insufficient understanding of possibilities and limitations of forensic anthropology and archaeology by officials representing legal institutions that perform investigations, and sometimes too "academic" research, that is conducted at anthropological laboratories, when methods developed are not completely relevant to practical needs. Besides of answering to direct questions (number of individuals, sex, age, stature, population affinity, individual traits, evidence of violence), important humanitarian aspects--the individual's right for identity, the right of the relatives to know the fate of their beloved ones--should not be neglected. Practical use of other identification methods faces difficulties of their own (e.g., odontology--lack of regular dental registration system and compatible database). Two examples of forensic anthropological work of mass graves, even when the results were much influenced by the questions raised by investigators, can serve as an illustration of the above-mentioned issues.

Grief and burial in the American Southwest: the role of evolutionary theory in the interpretation of mortuary remains.

Evolutionary theory, in consort with Marxism and processualism, provides new insights into the interpretation of grave-good variation. Processual interpretations of burial sites in the American Southwest cite age, sex, or social rank as the main determinants of burial-good variation. Marxist theorists suggest that mortuary ritual mediates social tension between an egalitarian mindset and an existing social inequality. Evolutionary theory provides a supplementary explanatory framework. Recent studies guided by kin-selection theory suggest that humans grieve more for individuals of high reproductive value and genetic relatedness. Ethnographic examples also show that individuals mourn more intensively and, thus, place more social emphasis on burials of individuals of highest reproductive value (young adults). Analysis of grave goods from La Ciudad, a Hohokam site in the American Southwest, supports the hypothesis that labor value, reproductive value, and grief contributed to grave-good differentiation. At La Ciudad, individuals between the ages of 10 and 20 possessed more and higher-quality grave goods on average than any other age group. Grief at the loss of a young adult of high reproductive and labor value may facilitate explanation of mortuary variation at La Ciudad, as well as other sites in the greater Southwest and beyond.

[Cemeteries and crematoriums for animals? Social and emotional aspects of the changed human-animal relationship and the resulting needs and risks]. / Friedhöfe und Krematorien für Tiere? Gesellschaftliche und emotionale Aspekte der veränderten Mensch-Tier-Beziehung und daraus resultierende Bedürfnisse und Risiken.

The man-animal-relationship in the modern society is characterized by a ambivalent attitude towards animals. On the one hand man distincts sharply between himself and animals but on the other hand he longs to nearness and familiarity with animals. He recognized himself in animal. Housing conditions of animals range from extensive anonymous to individual over protected. Also the death of animals mainly happens anonymous. In contrast companion animal owners wish to bury their pets in a dignified manner on a cemetery for animals and recently we even have to consider the growing demand for pet crematories. Based on the relevant legislation cemetaries for pets could be authorized and corps of single animals could be cremated in licensed waste facilities. The authorization of crematories for pets depends on the fulfillment of environment regulations and the interpretation of the concerning law. No special risks are seen if the principles written down in the referred regulations are preserved.

The anthropometry of contemporary commercial cremation.

This study establishes baseline parameters and examines those variables thought to influence cremains weights. Data were collected during the cremation of 100 individuals. A series of measurements was taken to determine relative skeletal robusticity. The weight, stature, sex, and age of each cadaver was recorded prior to cremation. The average cremains weight for the fully developed adults (n = 91) was 2430 g and ranged from 876 g to 3784 g. Male and female means were separated by 1053 g, but there was considerable overlap in the distribution. All cremains weights above 2750 g were male and all cremains weights below 1887 g were female. Five amputees and one long bone donor produced cremains weights below the means for their respective groups, reflecting the relative contribution of the thick cortical bone of the limbs to total skeletal weight, and thus to total cremains weight. Cremains weight represented approximately 3.5% of total body weight in adults, 2.5% of total body weight in children, and approximately 1% of total body weight in fetuses. The most accurate predictor of cremains weight was cadaver stature (r = .8473; p < .01). Calculated skeletal weight was also highly correlated with cremains weight (r = .7986; p < .01). Cadaveric weight was least correlated with cremains weight (r = .5470; p < .01). Regression formulae were calculated for each of the variables.