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Zedda N, Bramanti B, Gualdi-Russo E, Ceraico E, Rinaldo N. The biological index of frailty: A new index for the assessment of frailty in human skeletal remains. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:459-473. [PMID: 34418072 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Frailty is the physiological stress that individuals suffer during their life. In past populations, frailty is conventionally assessed through the occurrence of different biomarkers of biological stress. Some efforts have been made to propose indexes that combine all biomarkers. However, these indices have some critical limitations: they cannot be used on incomplete skeletons, do not consider the severity and/or healing of lesions, and assign equal importance to different biomarkers. To address these limitations, we propose a new index to assess frailty in skeletal individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS By statistically analyzing a large amount of osteological data available from the Museum of London, and using a Logit model, we were able to define a different weight for each reported biomarker of frailty, based on their importance in increasing the risk of premature death for the individuals. RESULTS The biological index of frailty (BIF) is the weighted mean of all biomarkers scored on the individuals, according to a different degree of importance assigned to each one. It also considers the severity and healing of the biomarkers when this is relevant to diagnose frailty. We applied BIF on a sample of Monastics and Non-Monastics from medieval England and compared it with the skeletal index of frailty (SFI). DISCUSSION BIF is the first frailty index that gives a different weight to each skeletal biomarker of stress, considers both severity and healing of the lesions, and can be applied on partial skeletal remains. The comparison with SFI showed that BIF is applicable to a larger number of skeletal individuals, revealing new differences between the Monastic and the Non-Monastic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicoletta Zedda
- Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Barbara Bramanti
- Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Emanuela Gualdi-Russo
- Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Elena Ceraico
- Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Natascia Rinaldo
- Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
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Charlier P, Froesch P, Prades L, Augias A, Perciaccante A, Appenzeller O, Lippi D, Balloni S, Bianucci R. Further anthropological and pathological arguments related to St Louis’ scurvy and infection signs on the Notre-Dame mandible (Paris, France). JOURNAL OF STOMATOLOGY, ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY 2020; 121:194-197. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jormas.2019.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Aronsen GP, Fehren-Schmitz L, Krigbaum J, Kamenov GD, Conlogue GJ, Warinner C, Ozga AT, Sankaranarayanan K, Griego A, DeLuca DW, Eckels HT, Byczkiewicz RK, Grgurich T, Pelletier NA, Brownlee SA, Marichal A, Williamson K, Tonoike Y, Bellantoni NF. "The dead shall be raised": Multidisciplinary analysis of human skeletons reveals complexity in 19th century immigrant socioeconomic history and identity in New Haven, Connecticut. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0219279. [PMID: 31498793 PMCID: PMC6733446 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In July 2011, renovations to Yale-New Haven Hospital inadvertently exposed the cemetery of Christ Church, New Haven, Connecticut's first Catholic cemetery. While this cemetery was active between 1833 and 1851, both the church and its cemetery disappeared from public records, making the discovery serendipitous. Four relatively well-preserved adult skeletons were recovered with few artifacts. All four individuals show indicators of manual labor, health and disease stressors, and dental health issues. Two show indicators of trauma, with the possibility of judicial hanging in one individual. Musculoskeletal markings are consistent with physical stress, and two individuals have arthritic indicators of repetitive movement/specialized activities. Radiographic analyses show osteopenia, healed trauma, and other pathologies in several individuals. Dental calculus analysis did not identify any tuberculosis indicators, despite osteological markers. Isotopic analyses of teeth indicate that all four were likely recent immigrants to the Northeastern United States. Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA were recovered from three individuals, and these analyses identified ancestry, hair/eye color, and relatedness. Genetic and isotopic results upended our initial ancestry assessment based on burial context alone. These individuals provide biocultural evidence of New Haven's Industrial Revolution and the plasticity of ethnic and religious identity in the immigrant experience. Their recovery and the multifaceted analyses described here illuminate a previously undescribed part of the city's rich history. The collective expertise of biological, geochemical, archaeological, and historical researchers interprets socioeconomic and cultural identity better than any one could alone. Our combined efforts changed our initial assumptions of a poor urban Catholic cemetery's membership, and provide a template for future discoveries and analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary P. Aronsen
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Lars Fehren-Schmitz
- Department of Historical Anthropology and Human Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - John Krigbaum
- Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - George D. Kamenov
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Gerald J. Conlogue
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, United States of America
- Bioanthropology Research Institute, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Christina Warinner
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Andrew T. Ozga
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Anthony Griego
- Independent Scholar, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Daniel W. DeLuca
- Independent Scholar, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Howard T. Eckels
- Independent Scholar, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Romuald K. Byczkiewicz
- Department of History, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Tania Grgurich
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, United States of America
- Bioanthropology Research Institute, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Natalie A. Pelletier
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Sarah A. Brownlee
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Ana Marichal
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Kylie Williamson
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Yukiko Tonoike
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Nicholas F. Bellantoni
- Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America
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