The relationship between bone and ash weight to body weight and body length of Thai corpses in Bangkok and central part of Thailand after cremation.

BACKGROUND: Although information about bone and ash weight compare to body weight and body length of Thai people exists, it was based on a few samples. OBJECTIVE: Collect data of the bone and ash weight after cremation and find out the relationship between bone and ash weight, body weight, body length, and age. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two hundred and twenty three corpses, 97 females and 126 males were collected from four temples, three temples from Bangkok and one temple from Angtong province. The crematoria used in the present study created a temperature between 850 degrees C and 1,200 degrees C. Each cremation took about 1-1.5 hours. RESULTS: The average with SD of bone and ash weight of males was 2.44 kg +/- 0.9 Kg, while the weight of females was 2.07 +/- 0.89 Kg, and the average of bone and ash weight of total subjects was 2.28 +/- 0.95. There was negative correlation between age and bone & ash weight, while there was positive correlation between body length and body weight, body length and bone & ash weight, and body weight and bone & ash weight. The results of the present study indicated that age and body weight affected the bone and ash weight. The fitted linear equation was Log (bone & ash weight +1) = 0.413 - 0.001 (age) + 0.003 (body weight). CONCLUSION: Age and body weight affect bone and ash weight. Moreover, the age, body weight, and body length could be estimated by using the bone and ash weight.

Relationship between bone and ash weight to age, body weight and body length of thai adults after cremation.

BACKGROUND: Cremation is the most common Thai funeral mode. In Thailand, there have not been any previous reports of bone and ash weight after cremation. OBJECTIVE: Collect the bone and ash weight after the cremation and find the variables that affected the bone and ash weight. MATERIAL AND METHOD: One hundred and ten samples, including fifty-five males and fifty-five females, were collected from the Thai population. A Thai crematorium (Series Tiger 1) that could produce a temperature of approximately 850 degrees C - 1200 degrees C was employed. It took about 1-1.5 hours to complete the incineration. RESULTS: The average bone and ash weight of the males was 2.68 kg with SD 1.41; female was 2.12 with SD 1.25; and total was 2.40 with SD 1.36. The present study supported that age and body weight affected the bone and ash weight while the body length (height) did not. The fitted equation was y = 1.969 - 0.01846 (age) + 0.03087 (body weight), where y = predicted bone and ash weight. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that age and body weight affected the bone and ash weight. From this information, the authors could find the predicted value of either age or body weight. If the authors would like to find the age, the authors can employ the fittest equation y = 76.097 - 3.219 (Bone and ash weight) where y = predicted age. Additionally, if the authors would like tofind the body weight, we can employ thefittest equation = 51.930 + 1.673 (Bone and ash weight) where y = predicted body weight.

Normal internal organ weight of Thai adults correlated to body length and body weight.

OBJECTIVE: Examine the relationship between the internal organ weight with body weight and body length. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Analysis of data from 250 autopsies from the Ramathibodi Hospital from August 2003 to February 2005. The cases were from sudden unnatural death including accident, homicide and suicide and excluded decomposed bodies, fire related deaths and cases where medical treatment had been given. The age ranged from 15 to 88 years and there were 51 females and 199 males. Parson's correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the internal organ weight with body weight and body length. RESULTS: The mean+/-standard deviation (SD) were represented by males and females respectively; Brain 1339+/-160/1165+/-184 gm, heart 311+/-66/278+/-160 gm, lung 910+/-347/675+/-255 gm, liver 1439+/-365/ 1214+/-275 gm, spleen 103+/-46/92.9+/-48 gm, kidney 260+/-68/230+/-42 gm. CONCLUSION: The relationship between internal organ weight and body weight showed each internal organ significantly correlated with body weight in males at p-value < 0.05, whereas in females it only correlated to liver, kidney and spleen at p-value < 0.05. For the correlation between internal organ weight and body length, it showed only brain, lung, liver and kidney correlated to the body length in males at p-value < 0. 05, but not in females.

Application of log-linear models to cancer patients: a case study of data from the National Cancer Institute.

Cancer is a noninfectious disease which is on the increase throughout the world and has become a serious problem for public health in many countries, including Thailand. In Thailand, cancer has risen significantly to become a leading cause of death and most patients are admitted to the National Cancer Institute. The objective of this study is to identify the associated factors between personal, cancer/clinical variables of cancer patients using log-linear models. Tests of independence are used (chi-square and Cramer's V-value tests) to find out the relationships between any two variables. In addition two- and three-dimensional log-linear models are used to obtain estimated parameters and expected frequencies for these models. Amongst the models fitted, the best are chosen based on the analysis of deviance. The results of this study show that most paired variables of personal, cancer/clinical variables are significantly related at p-value <0.05. For both male and female patients, the variable site of the cancer is highly related to marital status, diagnostic evidence and treatment, which provide the highest Cramer's V value. Moreover, the site of cancer also affects the method of diagnostic evidence and treatment. Since the site of cancer in each sex is different, prevention for various sites of cancer should be considered for each specific sex. In addition, for male and female patients, treatment is related to the site of cancer. Consequently, physicians may consider these factors before selecting the appropriate method of treatment.

Screening for diabetic retinopathy in rural area using single-field, digital fundus images.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the practicability of using single-field, 2.3 million-pixel, digital fundus images for screening of diabetic retinopathy in rural areas. MATERIAL AND METHOD: All diabetic patients who regularly attended the diabetic clinic at Kabcheang Community Hospital, located at 15 kilometers from the Thailand-Cambodia border, were appointed to the hospital for a 3-day diabetic retinopathy screening programme. The fundi of all patients were captured in single-field, 45 degrees, 2.3 million-pixel images using nonmydriatic digital fundus camera and then sent to a reading center in Bangkok. The fundi were also examined through dilated pupils by a retinal specialist at this hospital. The grading of diabetic retinopathy from two methods was compared for an exact agreement. RESULTS: The average duration of single digital fundus image capture was 2 minutes. The average file size of each image was 750 kilobytes. The average duration of single image transmission to a reading center in Bangkok via satellite was 3 minutes; via a conventional telephone line was 8 minutes. Of all 150 patients, 130 were assessed for an agreement between dilated fundus examination and digital fundus images in diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. The exact agreement was 0.87, the weighted kappa statistics was 0.74. The sensitivity of digital fundus images in detecting diabetic retinopathy was 80%, the specificity was 96%. For diabetic macular edema the exact agreement was 0.97, the weighted kappa was 0.43, the sensitivity was 43%, and the specificity was 100%. CONCLUSION: The image capture of the nonmydriatic digital fundus camera is suitable for screening of diabetic retinopathy and single-field digital fundus images are potentially acceptable tools for the screening. The real-time image transmission via telephone lines to remote reading center, however, may not be practical for routine diabetic retinopathy screening in rural areas.

Water quality and breeding habitats of anopheline mosquito in northwestern Thailand.

Malaria transmission is dependent upon many hydrology-driven ecological factors that directly affect the vectorial competence, including the presence of suitable habitats for the development of anopheline larvae. Larval habitats were identified and characterized at three malaria endemic villages (Ban Khun Huay, Ban Pa Dae, and Ban Tham Seau) in Mae Sot district, Tak Province, in northwestern Thailand between July 2002 and June 2003. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to provide precise locational data for the spatial distribution of anopheline mosquito larvae and their habitats. Ten habitat categories were identified. Eighteen adult Anopheles species were identified from larvae in all the surveyed habitats. An. minimus was the most common species throughout the year. The relationship between eight abiotic variables (temperature, hardness, carbon dioxide, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, silica and pH) and the abundance of four major species of malaria vectors (An. (Cel.) dirus, An. (Cel.) minimus, An. (Cel.) maculatus, and An. (Cel.) sawadwongporni), and six species of non-vectors (An. (Cel.) kochi, An. (Cel.) jamesii, An. (Ano.) peditaeniatus, An. (Ano.) barbirostris, An. (Ano.) campestris, and An (Cel.) vagus) larvae was investigated. The results from the multiple regression models suggest that hardness, water temperature and carbon dioxide are the best predictor variables associated with the abundance of An. minimus larvae (p < 0.001); water pH for An. dirus larvae (p < 0.001); temperature and pH for An. kochi larvae (p < 0.01); temperature and silica concentration for An. jamesii larvae (p < 0.001); dissolved oxygen and silica concentration for An. campestris larvae (p < 0.001); and pH and silica concentration for An. vagus larvae (p < 0.001). We could not identify key environmental variables for An. maculatus, An. sawadwongporni, An. peditaeniatus, and An. barbirostris.

The Thai logarithmic visual acuity chart.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate visual acuity scores from the Thai and the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart. DESIGN: Comparative non-randomized clinical study. PARTICIPANTS AND METHOD: 153 subjects, calculated from sample size estimation, without any ocular disease and aged between 18 and 80 years old who could read English and at least 3 out of 5 letters of the largest line of both charts were enrolled to use only their right eyes to read the Thai and the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart without any refractive correction. 27 subjects came back for second measurements of visual acuity in the same manner as the first a week later. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: The visual acuity scores were divided into the Snellen or the whole line score and the ETDRS or the letter-by-letter score. The former was compared by weighted Kappa and the latter was compared by the paired t-test. RESULTS: There was high agreement in weighted Kappa between the Snellen scores from the Thai and standard chart (k = 0.7375). There was also high agreement in weighted Kappa between the Snellen scores from the first and second reading of the Thai chart (k = 0.7304) and the standard chart (k = 0.7282). A high correlation was observed between the ETDRS scores from the Thai and standard charts (r = 0.947). Also there was a high correlation between the ETDRS scores of the first and second reading of both the Thai chart (r = 0.962) and the standard chart (r = 0.952). There was a significant difference between the ETDRS scores from the Thai and standard chart (p<0.0001). There was no significant difference between the ETDRS scores from the first and second reading of either the Thai chart (p = 0.794) or the standard chart (p = 0.62). CONCLUSION: The Snellen visual acuity score from the Thai chart is comparable to the standard chart. Although the ETDRS score from the Thai chart is different statistically from the standard chart, its test-retest variability tends to be low. This suggests the possibility of using the Thai chart for monitoring of the ETDRS score in research studies.