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Efforts to locate missing persons resulting from conflict often centre of excavation. Although this approach is the only way to definitively confirm the presence of human remains, it can be costly and labour-intensive, particularly when large areas need to be searched. This paper discusses a wide range of emerging non-invasive digital methods implemented with a view to locating burials and mass graves and increase the excavation recovery rate of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP). Aerial and terrestrial survey and subsequent 3D modelling were combined with geophysical survey in order to record sites, two of which were excavated to ground-truth the findings. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of these techniques in defining the search parameters of potential burial sites and prioritizing features for investigation. The nature of the collaboration between archaeologists, digital technologists, and forensic experts allowed mutual trust to be built between all parties, whilst also testing the effectiveness of the methods employed.

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Objetivo: La cefalea postpunción dural (CPPD) y la lumbalgia postpunción se correlacionan con el tipo de punta y el calibre de la aguja utilizada para la punción dural. Nos propusimos averiguar si se puede reducir al mínimo la incidencia de CPPD y de la lumbalgia postpunción utilizando agujas punta de lápiz de calibre fino: Sprotte G27 y G29. También investigamos el incremento de dificultad técnica del uso de estas agujas y si la disminución del calibre repercutía en la calidad anestésica. Pacientes y Método: 389 pacientes, sometidos a cirugía traumatológica o abdominal baja, se distribuyeron aleatoriamente en dos grupos en función del calibre de aguja con el que se realizaba la punción dural: Sprotte G27 o Sprotte G29. Se contabilizó el tiempo de ejecución de la punción, el número de recolocaciones de la aguja, número de abandonos de la técnica y la eficacia anestésica. Al segundo y séptimo día se entrevistó telefónicamente a los pacientes averiguando la presencia de CPPD y su intensidad y de lumbalgia. Resultados: La dificultad técnica fue mayor para Sprotte G29, con diferencias estadísticamente significativas (p<0,05) para el tiempo de punción y número de recolocaciones. La calidad anestésica fue equivalente para ambos grupos: incidencia de fracasos para los dos de 0,5 por ciento. Un 5 por ciento de pacientes para Sp27 y un 3 por ciento para Sp29 presentaron CPPD leve o moderada al segundo día. No hubo ningún caso de cefalea intensa. La lumbalgia se hallaba presente en el 26 por ciento y el 18,5 por ciento de pacientes al segundo día, descendiendo al 4,5 por ciento y 0,5 por ciento al séptimo día para los grupos Sp27 y Sp29 respectivamente, siendo significativa esta diferencia a favor del grupo Sp29.Conclusiones: La utilización de agujas calibre G29 punta de lápiz es recomendable con el fin de disminuir la incidencia de CPPD y de lumbalgias en el postoperatorio, ya que la calidad anestésica está mantenida a pesar de la mayor dificultad técnica que conlleva su uso (AU)

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OBJECTIVE: Post-dural puncture headache and lumbar backache are related to needle gauge and type of point used. We aimed to determine whether the incidence of post-dural puncture headache and lumbar backache could be reduced by using fine gauge pencil-point Sprotte 27G and 29G needles. We also studied increases in technical difficulty with these needles and whether or not reducing needle gauge affected anesthetic quality. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Three hundred eighty-nine patients undergoing orthopedic or lower abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to two groups for dural puncture using two Sprotte needles: 27G or 29G. We recorded time to perform puncture, number of re-insertations of the needle, number of times the technique was abandoned and anesthetic efficacy. On the second and seventh days, the patients were interviewed by telephone to check for the presence and severity of post-dural puncture headache or lumbar backache. RESULTS: The technical difficulty was greater with the Sprotte 29G needle, as shown by significant differences in time taken to perform the puncture and the number of re-insertions (p < 0.05). Anesthetic quality was the same in both groups and the percentage of failures was 0.5% for both. Five percent of patients in the 27G group and 3% in the 29G group experienced slight or moderate headache on the second day. No cases of severe cephalea were reported. Lumbar backache was reported on the second day by 26% and 18.5% of the patients in the 27G and 29G groups, respectively, but the rates decreased to 4.5% and 0.5% on the seventh day. The differences were significant, favoring the 29G needle. CONCLUSIONS: The use of 29G pencil-point needles can be recommended to reduce the incidence of headache and lumbar backache in the postoperative period, in spite of the greater technical difficulty involved, given that quality of anesthesia is maintained.

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A study of the chronological series of mortality due to meningococcal disease in children under one year old, the group of highest incidence during the last epidemy in Cuba, was carried out. Data were collected by doing a survey in an uniform way since 1983 throughout the country. More than 90% of the population between 3 months and 5 years old were vaccinated with VAMENGOC BC since the end of 1988 until April, 1990. The behaviour of this disease was studied in order to identify the influence of this vaccine. It is stressed that the mortality incidence reached its epidemic achme in 1986 and begins a slow descence which is accentuated in 1990 and 1991, with an annual relative decrease of 26.1 and 34.9%, respectively. The highest mortality rate was found in 1984, with a significant reduction in 1990 (-23.8%) and 1991 (-41.8%), after the culmination of the vaccination campaign with VA-MENGOC BC. It was detected that morbimortality, which is lower in children under one month because of the probable protection provided by maternal antibodies, started to increase until the fifth month of life, when it is observed a trend towards the reduction of morbidity and mortality. According to the present immunization chronogram, overall protection in only attained after the sixth mont of life.

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The assessment of the after-licensing efficacy of the Cuban vaccine VA-MENGOC-BC was performed one year after the mass immunization campaign was completed in children under 6 years of age in the Province of Holguín which had the second highest incidence rate of meningococcal disease during 1988 in Cuba. In the design of the study the following aspects were taking into account: case definition; case detection, determination of the state of vaccination, and comparability of exposure. The utilization of 2 case definitions with different sensitivity and specificity is introduced within the methodology, as well as 2 estimation methods. Incidence rates from exposed and nonexposed subjects, as well as the ratio of cases and of the vaccinated population are used. The impact of this prophylactic intervention was determined by the estimation of the percentual preventive population fraction. Among outstanding results, the high efficacy of more than 98% found in both variants of case definition is to be mentioned. It is evidenced that the effect of the vaccine accounts for more than 80% of the observed case reduction. Such reduction in the number of cases was obtained without changing diagnostic criteria since the isolation of the agents was hept at levels similar to the ones from previous years.

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Children less than one year old behave as the group with the highest incidence of meningococcal disease during all the epidemic period in the past '80s decade in Cuba. There were used chronological series of monthly incidence rates between 1983 and 1990, in order to identify the behavior of seasonality, taking into account the clinical form and the insert of years 1989 and 1990 in the series: in both of them a massive antimeningococcal vaccination campaign took place. It is evident that seasonality has a different behavior in accordance with the clinical form: it is like the countries from the northern hemisphere with a moderate climate for the meningoencephalitis, and like the countries of the southern hemisphere with a warm climate for the meningococcal syndrome. Months of the rainy period have the lowest seasonal index. Modifications of these seasonal patterns are not found after executing the vaccination.

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