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Copyright of Occupational Medicine / Pracovní Lékarství is the property of Czech Medical Association of JE Purkyne and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Nanomaterials are virtually ubiquitous as they are created by both natural processes and human activities. The amount of occupational exposure to unintentionally released nanoparticles can, therefore, be substantial. The aim of the study was to determine the concentrations of incidental nanoparticles that workers can be exposed to during welding operations and to assess related health risks. The specific focus on welding operations was determined based on the fact that other case studies on the manufacturing industry confirm significant exposure to incidental nanoparticles during welding. In the Czech Republic, 92% of all industrial workers are employed in the manufacturing industry, where welding operations are amply represented., Material and Methods: The particle number concentrations of particles in the size range of 20-1000 nm and particle mass concentrations of inhalable and PM 1 fractions were determined via measurements carried out at 15-minute intervals for each welding operation by static sampling in close proximity to the worker. Measurements were obtained using the following instruments: NanoScan SMPS 3910, Optical Particle Sizer OPS 3330, P-TRAK 8525 and DustTrak DRX 8534. The assessed operations were manual arc welding and automatic welding., Results: The observed average particle number concentrations for electric arc welders ranged 84×10 3 -176×10 3 #/cm 3 , for welding machine operators 96×10 3 -147×10 3 #/cm 3 , and for a welding locksmith the obtained average concentration was 179×10 3 #/cm 3 . The determined average mass concentration of PM 1 particles ranged 0.45-1.4 mg/m 3 ., Conclusions: Based on the conducted measurements, it was confirmed that there is a significant number of incidental nanoparticles released during welding operations in the manufacturing industry as a part of production and processing of metal products. The recommended occupational exposure limits for nanoparticle number concentrations were exceeded approximately 4-8 times for all assessed welding operations. The use of local exhaust ventilation in conjunction with personal protective equipment, including FFP2 or FFP3 particle filters, for welding is, therefore, recommended. Med Pr. 2021;72(3):219-30., (This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.)

Helminth infections are among the World Health Organization's top neglected diseases with significant impact in many Less Economically Developed Countries. Despite no longer being endemic in Europe, the widespread presence of helminth eggs in archaeological deposits indicates that helminths represented a considerable burden in past European populations. Prevalence of infection is a key epidemiological feature that would influence the elimination of endemic intestinal helminths, for example, low prevalence rates may have made it easier to eliminate these infections in Europe without the use of modern anthelminthic drugs. To determine historical prevalence rates we analysed 589 grave samples from 7 European sites dated between 680 and 1700 CE, identifying two soil transmitted nematodes (Ascaris spp. and Trichuris trichiura) at all locations, and two food derived cestodes (Diphyllobothrium latum and Taenia spp.) at 4 sites. The rates of nematode infection in the medieval populations (1.5 to 25.6% for T. trichiura; 9.3-42.9% for Ascaris spp.) were comparable to those reported within modern endemically infected populations. There was some evidence of higher levels of nematode infection in younger individuals but not at all sites. The genetic diversity of T. trichiura ITS-1 in single graves was variable but much lower than with communal medieval latrine deposits. The prevalence of food derived cestodes was much lower (1.0-9.9%) than the prevalence of nematodes. Interestingly, sites that contained Taenia spp. eggs also contained D. latum which may reflect local culinary practices. These data demonstrate the importance of helminth infections in Medieval Europe and provide a baseline for studies on the epidemiology of infection in historical and modern contexts. Since the prevalence of medieval STH infections mirror those in modern endemic countries the factors affecting STH decline in Europe may also inform modern intervention campaigns., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The skeletal remains of the young female (20-24 years) from Grave JP/106, discovered in the Southern Suburb of the Břeclav - Pohansko Stronghold (Early Middle Ages, 9th century-beginning of the 10 th century, present day Czech Republic) display several noteworthy pathologies. The first is deformation of the mandible, which was most probably caused by a fracture of the ramus in combination with a subcondylar fracture. The spine of this young woman also exhibits a probable traumatic injury of the cervical spine in combination with a slowly growing structure situated inside the spinal canal, which caused deformation centered upon C7. The cervical and thoracic spine together with internal surfaces of several ribs exhibit infectious changes of advanced stage, in all likelihood of tuberculous origin, but osteomyelitis cannot be excluded. Histological analysis of the new bone formation in the ribs confirmed infectious origin, as does Micro CT of C5 and C6. Analyses conducted by two different departments with different methods (PCR amplification of 123 bp long section from IS6110 and Next Generation shotgun sequencing) failed to identify DNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the first rib., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Throughout history, humans have been afflicted by parasitic worms, and eggs are readily detected in archaeological deposits. This study integrated parasitological and ancient DNA methods with a large sample set dating between Neolithic and Early Modern periods to explore the utility of molecular archaeoparasitology as a new approach to study the past. Molecular analyses provided unequivocal species-level parasite identification and revealed location-specific epidemiological signatures. Faecal-oral transmitted nematodes ( Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura ) were ubiquitous across time and space. By contrast, high numbers of food-associated cestodes ( Diphyllobothrium latum and Taenia saginata ) were restricted to medieval Lübeck. The presence of these cestodes and changes in their prevalence at approximately 1300 CE indicate substantial alterations in diet or parasite availability. Trichuris trichiura ITS-1 sequences grouped into two clades; one ubiquitous and one restricted to medieval Lübeck and Bristol. The high sequence diversity of T.t ITS-1 detected in Lübeck is consistent with its importance as a Hanseatic trading centre. Collectively, these results introduce molecular archaeoparasitology as an artefact-independent source of historical evidence., (© 2018 The Authors.)

Abstract: The aim of the study is to identify possible differences in the prevalence of biological stress markers (cribra orbitalia, linear enammel hypoplasia), dental caries, activity markers (Schmorl's nodes) and markers of violence (traumatic lesions) in populations from a typical graveyard around the first church (9 th -10 th century AD) in the stronghold and from settlement burials in the southern bailey (second half of the 9 th - beginning of the 10 th century AD) of Slavs from Pohansko (Czech Republic). Cribra orbitalia and enamel hypoplasia did not markedly differ in either population. On the other hand, co-occurrence of both markers was statistically different and distinction in higher age categories could indicate diverse living conditions. Lower cariousness in the population from the southern bailey was identified. The nature of postcranial traumatic lesions in both populations indicates rather their accidental origin. However, a higher incidence of cranial injuries points to more violent activities in the population from Pohansko compared to Mikulčice. A high number of healed face injuries in males from the southern bailey could indicate higher intragroup violence in this population.

Objectives: We tested the effect of population-specific linear body proportions on stature estimation., Materials and Methods: We used a skeletal sample of 31 males and 20 females from the Early Medieval site at Pohansko (Břeclav, Central Europe) and a comparative Central European Early Medieval sample of 45 males and 28 females. We developed new population-specific equations for the Pohansko sample using anatomical reconstructions of stature, then compared percentage prediction errors (%PEs) of anatomical stature from limb bone lengths using the derived Pohansko equations with those previously derived from more general European and other Early Medieval samples., Results: Among general European equations, the lowest %PEs for the Pohansko sample were obtained using the equations of Formicola and Franceschi: Am J Phys Anthropol 100 (1996) 83-88 and Ruff et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 148 (2012) 601-617. However, unexpectedly, the choice between tibial latitudinal variants proposed by Ruff et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 148 (2012) 601-617 appeared to be sex-specific, with northern and southern variants producing lower %PEs for males and females, respectively. Equations from Breitinger: Anthropol Anz 14 (1937) 249-274, Bach: Anthropol Anz 29 (1965) 12-21, and Sjøvold: Hum Evol 5 (1990) 431-447 provided poor agreement with anatomical stature. When applied to the comparative Central European Early Medieval sample, our new formulae have generally lower %PE than previously derived formulae based on other European Early Medieval samples (Maijanen and Niskanen: Int J Osteoarchaeol 20 (2010) 472-480; Vercellotti et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 140 (2009) 135-142., Conclusions: The best agreement with anatomical stature among our newly developed equations was obtained using femoral+tibial length, followed by femoral length. Upper limb bone lengths resulted in higher %PEs. Variation in the tibia is likely to contribute most to potential bias in stature estimation. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:312-324, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)