The impact of breastfeeding patterns on regional differences in infant mortality in Germany, 1910

This paper examines the impact of breastfeeding practices on the large regional differences in infant mortality in Germany around 1910. Breastfeeding is strongly negatively associated with infant mortality and remains so after controlling for public health measures and for demographic, economic, and social factors that also affect infant mortality. But it contributes much less to regional differences in infant mortality than do access to medical care, percentage illegitimate and marital fertility. Breastfeeding is less important than these other factors because it affects fewer causes of death and has a smaller impact on cause-specific infant mortality rates. L'auteur étudie l'impact des pratiques d'allaitement sur les grandes différences régionales de mortalité infantile observées en Allemagne aux alentours de 1910. Il existe une association fortement négative entre l'allaitement et la mortalité infantile, même quand on contrôle les facteurs démographiques, économiques, sociaux et de politique sanitaire, qui, eux aussi, affectent la mortalité infantile. Mais les différences régionales de mortalité infantile s'expliquent nettement moins par l'allaitement que par l'accessibilité des soins médicaux, le taux d'illégitimité des naissances et la fécondité légitime. L'allaitement est un facteur de moindre importance que ceux-ci parce qu'il n'a d'impact que sur un petit nombre de causes de décès, et un faible impact sur les taux de mortalité infantile par cause.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42730/1/10680_2005_Article_BF01796777.pd

Iterative reconstruction incorporating background correction improves quantification of [18F]-NaF PET/CT images of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm

Background A confounding issue in [18F]-NaF PET/CT imaging of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is the spill in contamination from the bone into the aneurysm. This study investigates and corrects for this spill in contamination using the background correction (BC) technique without the need to manually exclude the part of the AAA region close to the bone. Methods Seventy-two (72) datasets of patients with AAA were reconstructed with the standard ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm incorporating point spread function (PSF) modelling. The spill in effect in the aneurysm was investigated using two target regions of interest (ROIs): one covering the entire aneurysm (AAA), and the other covering the aneurysm but excluding the part close to the bone (AAAexc). ROI analysis was performed by comparing the maximum SUV in the target ROI (SUVmax(T)), the corrected cSUVmax (SUVmax(T) − SUVmean(B)) and the target-to-blood ratio (TBR = SUVmax(T)/SUVmean(B)) with respect to the mean SUV in the right atrium region. Results There is a statistically significant higher [18F]-NaF uptake in the aneurysm than normal aorta and this is not correlated with the aneurysm size. There is also a significant difference in aneurysm uptake for OSEM and OSEM + PSF (but not OSEM + PSF + BC) when quantifying with AAA and AAAexc due to the spill in from the bone. This spill in effect depends on proximity of the aneurysms to the bone as close aneurysms suffer more from spill in than farther ones. Conclusion The background correction (OSEM + PSF + BC) technique provided more robust AAA quantitative assessments regardless of the AAA ROI delineation method, and thus it can be considered as an effective spill in correction method for [18F]-NaF AAA studies

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema