Vitamin D status in post-medieval Northern England: Insights from dental histology and enamel peptide analysis at Coach Lane, North Shields (AD 1711-1857).

Objectives: The post-medieval period in Europe saw a dramatic increase in metabolic bone disease related to vitamin D deficiency (VDD). Recent paleopathological work has utilized interglobular dentin (IGD) as a proxy for poor vitamin D status during development, while enamel peptide analysis allows the identification of chromosomal sex in non-adult remains. Here we explore the relationship between sex, the presence of IGD, and macroscopic markers of VDD in an industrial era assemblage from Northeast England.

The expendables: Bioarchaeological evidence for pauper apprentices in 19th century England and the health consequences of child labour.

Child labour is the most common form of child abuse in the world today, with almost half of child workers employed in hazardous industries. The large-scale employment of children during the rapid industrialisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England is well documented. During this period, the removal of pauper children from workhouses in cities to work as apprentices in rural mills in the North of England was commonplace.

Robert Allen Gardner (1930-2021).

Memorializes Robert Allen Gardner (1930-2021). Gardner and his late wife and research partner, Beatrix "Trixie" Gardner, are best known for their ground-breaking cross-fostering project with the chimpanzee Washoe, the first nonhuman to learn a human language (American Sign Language). Between 1972 and 198, Allen and Trixie replicated their success with four additional infant chimpanzees.

Sex estimation of teeth at different developmental stages using dimorphic enamel peptide analysis.

Objectives: This study tests, for the first time, the applicability of a new method of sex estimation utilizing enamel peptides on a sample of deciduous and permanent teeth at different stages of mineralization, from nonadults of unknown sex, including perinates.

Materials And Methods: A total of 43 teeth from 29 nonadult individuals aged from 40 gestational weeks to 19 years old were analyzed. The sample included pairs of fully mineralized and just developing teeth from the same individual.

More examples of chimpanzees teaching.

Darwinism is a principle of biological continuity. This commentary argues against any claim of discontinuity between humans and other animals that must be based on absence of evidence. Instead, we offer additional examples of active teaching by chimpanzees.

Pygmalion in the laboratory.

Testers and bystanders can inadvertently lead subjects to answers in laboratories and in classrooms, in face-to-face tests of human beings and other animals. Many modern investigators avoid leading by using blind tests scrupulously. This article shows how to design blind tests and illustrates common methodological errors that allow leading to confound experimental results.

Randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a primary health care liaison worker in promoting shared care for opiate users.

Background: Recent national guidelines emphasize the requirement for all general practitioners to manage drug users within a shared care scheme and suggest that a primary health care liaison worker (PHCLW) may facilitate these arrangements. We undertook a group-randomized, randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a PHCLW in promoting shared care.

Methods: Primary health care teams in Stockport Health Authority, North West England, were randomly allocated to either an intervention arm, who were offered the services of a PHCLW, or to a control arm, who were offered standard support from the community drug team (CDT).