Search

Through analysis of written sources, architectural evidence, excavation reports and antiquarian records this paper argues that charnelling of human skeletal remains was more common in medieval England than has hitherto been fully recognized. It became increasingly widespread following formalization of belief in Purgatory in the late 13th century, and charnel houses can be found both at the better-documented greater churches and at parish churches, for which churchwardens' accounts are important sources. Charnel houses are mainly freestanding buildings in churchyards, or crypts within the body of the church, and both forms are often semi-subterranean, with the carefully maintained charnel visible through windows high in the charnel house walls. There was typically a chapel located above the charnel room, in which prayers for the dead were offered, similar to chantries. The paper presents the first detailed exploration of the potential liturgical contexts for charnelling. It is argued that the most likely form of rite to accompany the translation and deposition of charnel would have comprised a re-enactment of the Office of the Dead followed by an adapted version of the burial service, with possible secondary uses of the charnel house in the days leading up to Easter, the most solemn part of the Christian year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The case for restoration of a former marine aggregate dredging site is examined. [•] We identify possible restoration techniques, costs, and the likelihood of success. [•] Justification is assessed in relation to ecosystem services and goods/benefits. [•] A cost/benefit analysis suggests restoration would not be warranted. [•] The need to better define ‘acceptable seabed condition’ post-dredging is stressed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: This study describes the microbiological spectrum of chronic osteomyelitis and so guides the choice of empirical antibiotics for this condition. Methods: We performed a prospective review of a 166 prospective patient series of chronic osteomyelitis from Oxford, UK in which a standardised surgical sampling protocol was used. Results: Staphylococcus aureus was most commonly isolated (32%) amongst a wide range of organisms including gram negative bacilli, anaerobes and coagulase negative staphylococci. Low grade pathogens were not confined to patients with a history of metalwork, a high proportion of cases were polymicrobial (29%) and culture negative cases were common (28%). No clear predictors of causative organism could be established. Many isolates were found to be resistant to commonly used empirical anti-microbial regimens. Conclusions: The wide range of causative organisms and degree of resistance to commonly used anti-microbials supports the importance of extensive intra-operative sampling and provides important information to guide clinicians' choice of empirical antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the retail trade of milk in London, England from 1790 to 1914. After an initial exploration of the development of types of milk retailing and a discussion of problems in interpreting available source material, the expansion of the trade will be considered structurally in terms of the "retailing revolution." The stability of the retailing price will then be shown to have been an important element of associated service provision by dairymen, especially in the doorstep delivery of milk. The modern experience of separation of production and sale of agricultural produce is quite inappropriate for an understanding of the milk trade in London in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The demand for regular doorstep delivery of previously ordered quantities, a key structural feature of the trade after about 1850, was rare before this date outside the wealthiest households. Milk was less of a convenience food than it is today, and contributed little to the average diet. Its purchase was either casual, in quantities small enough to prevent wastage caused by souring, or occasional, as part of the cream teas enjoyed by the frequenters of the pleasure gardens and resorts of peripheral London.

Summary: Sexual transmission of hepatitis C (HCV) between HIV positive men who have sex with men (MSM) is increasingly being reported. There is limited and conflicting data as to whether HIV negative MSM are at increased risk of infection. Local directorate guidelines recommended HCV testing only in MSM having a sexual transmitted infection (STI) screen who disclosed risk factors. In 2007 we introduced unselected screening into routine practice within our sexual health clinics. This report reviews the results of this change in our practice. Over 6 months, 3365 MSM attended for STI screening. Of 2309 MSM who agreed to be screened for HCV (69%) the prevalence of HCV was 0.65% (95% CI 0.36–1.1). This is similar to the prevalence of HCV in the general population within England. We conclude that unselected screening of MSM for HCV within our sexual health services is not currently justified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The European badger (Meles meles) has been identified as a wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis and a source of transmission to cattle in Britain and Ireland. Both behavioural ecology and statistical ecological modelling have indicated the long-term persistence of the disease in some badger communities, and this is postulated to account for the high incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle across large tracts of England and Wales. This paper questions this consensus by using historical cartographic evidence to show that tuberculosis in cattle had a very different spatial distribution before 1960 to the present day. Since few of the badgers collected in road traffic accidents between 1972 and 1990 had tuberculosis in counties such as Cheshire, where the disease had until shortly before that been rife in the cattle population, the role of badgers as reservoirs in spreading disease in similar counties outside the south-west of England has to be questioned.