Anthropometric History of Brazil, 1850–1950:Insights from Military and Passport Records

f historical evidence. Although quantitative scholars have revealed the efficacy of the First Republic (1889–1930) in fomenting economic progress, the extent to which Brazil’s early economic growth fostered improvements in health remains unclear. This paper fills this void in scholarship by relying on hitherto untapped archival sources with data on human stature—a reliable metric for health and nutritional status. My analysis centres heavily on a large (n ≈ 16,000), geographically-comprehensive series compiled from military inscription files, supplemented by an ancillary dataset drawn from passport records (n ≈ 6,000). I document inferior heights in the North and Northeast that predated the advent of industrialisation. At the national level, my findings reveal an increase in stature of over 2.5 cm between soldiers born in the 1880s and those born in the 1910s. In the South and Southeast, I argue that increased real income and public-health interventions explain the earlier upward trend in heights, while rural sanitary reforms were most important in the North and Northeast, where heights remained stagnant until the 1910 decade and diseases such as hookworm and malaria were most rampan

Opposing and following responses in sensorimotor speech control : why responses go both ways

When talking, speakers continuously monitor and use the auditory feedback of their own voice to control and inform speech production processes. When speakers are provided with auditory feedback that is perturbed in real time, most of them compensate for this by opposing the feedback perturbation. But some speakers follow the perturbation. In the current study, we investigated whether the state of the speech production system at perturbation onset may determine what type of response (opposing or following) is given. The results suggest that whether a perturbation-related response is opposing or following depends on ongoing fluctuations of the production system: It initially responds by doing the opposite of what it was doing. This effect and the non-trivial proportion of following responses suggest that current production models are inadequate: They need to account for why responses to unexpected sensory feedback depend on the production-system’s state at the time of perturbation

Office-based sperm concentration: A simplified method for intrauterine insemination therapy

Background. Intrauterine insemination (IUI) could become preferred to more invasive and expensive techniques of assisted reproduction therapy (ART) and should be offered as the first choice in cases with no female factors and mild male factor subfertility. However, developing countries and especially their rural areas often lack the necessary equipment and laboratory facilities.Objective. To describe a simplified one-step method to determine the sperm concentration range for IUI therapy.Methods. Semen samples from 51 sperm donors were used. Following swim-up separation, the sperm concentration of the retrieved motile fraction was counted, as well as progressive motile sperm using a standardised wet preparation. The number of sperm in a 10 µL droplet covered with a 22 × 22 mm coverslip was counted under 400 × total magnification. The observed numbers of retrieved motile sperm were divided into three groups: <40, 40 - 100 and >101 spermatozoa as recorded per intial estimation on the wet preparation.Results. The mean (standard deviation) estimated sperm concentration for each group compared with actual counts per Neubauer counting chamber were: estimated <40 sperm (n=14), mean 20 (8), Neubauer count 2.5 × 106/mL; estimated 40 - 100 sperm (n=14), mean 71 (15), Neubauer count 16 × 106/mL; and estimated >100 sperm (n=23), Neubauer count 48.3 (21.7) × 106/mL.Conclusion. The results with IUI in male subfertility cases reported by Ombelet et al. in 1995 support the concept of first-line treatment of infertility by three to four cycles of IUI therapy in selected cases

The role of comparative city policy data in assessing progress toward the urban SDG targets

As part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, all countries have agreed to“make cities and human set-tlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. We argue that there is a critical need for large-scale com-parative city policy data that, when linked with outcome data, could be used to identify where policies areworking and where they could be improved. In an assessment of the landscape of existing city policy data, basedon a comprehensive scoping review, wefind that existing databases are insufficient for the purposes of com-parative analysis. We then describe what an“ideal”city policy database would look like, where it could behoused, and how it could be developed. Such a database could be a key tool for achieving SDG 11, the urbanSustainable Development Go

Consistency influences altered auditory feedback processing

Previous research on the effect of perturbed auditory feedback in speech production has focused on two types of responses. In the short term, speakers generate compensatory motor commands in response to unexpected perturbations. In the longer term, speakers adapt feedforward motor programs in response to feedback perturbations, in order to avoid future errors. The current study investigated the relation between these two types of responses to altered auditory feedback. Specifically, it was hypothesized that consistency in previous feedback perturbations would influence whether speakers adapt their feedforward motor programs. In an altered auditory feedback paradigm, formant perturbations were applied either across all trials (the consistent condition) or only to some trials while the others remained unperturbed (the inconsistent condition). The results showed that speakers’ responses were affected by feedback consistency, with stronger speech changes in the consistent condition compared to the inconsistent condition. Current models of speech-motor control can explain this consistency effect. However, the data also suggest compensation and adaptation are distinct processes, which is not in line with all current models

PyPSA-GB: An open-source model of Great Britain’s power system for simulating future energy scenarios

This paper presents PyPSA-GB, a dataset and model of Great Britain’s (GB) power system encompassing historical years and the future energy scenarios developed by National Grid. It is the first fully open-source model implementation of the future GB power system with high spatial and temporal resolution, and data for future years up to 2050. Two power dispatch formulations can be optimised: (i) single bus unit commitment problem, and (ii) network constrained linear optimal power flow. The model is showcased through an example analysis of quantifying future wind curtailment in Scotland. PyPSA-GB provides an open-source basis for GB operational and planning studies, e.g., sector coupling and flexibility options

Mobile phone radiation does not induce pro-apoptosis effects in human spermatozoa

Recent reports suggest that mobile phone radiation may diminish male fertility. However, the effects of this radiation on human spermatozoa are largely unknown. The present study examined effects of the radiation on induction of apoptosisrelated properties in human spermatozoa. Ejaculated, densitypurified, highly motile human spermatozoa were exposed to mobile phone radiation at specific absorption rates (SARs) of 2.0 and 5.7 W/kg. At various times after exposure, flow cytometry was used to examine caspase 3 activity, externalization of phosphatidylserine (PS), induction of DNA strand breaks, and generation of reactive oxygen species. Mobile phone radiation had no statistically significant effect on any of the parameters studied. This suggests that the impairment of fertility reported in some studies was not caused by the induction of apoptosis in spermatozoa.This research was funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Pretoria, South Africa (Grant No: 2054206), NRF mobility fund, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Pretoria, South Africa and the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Helsinki, Finland

Mobile phone radiation does not induce pro-apoptosis effects in human spermatozoa

Recent reports suggest that mobile phone radiation may diminish male fertility. However, the effects of this radiation on human spermatozoa are largely unknown. The present study examined effects of the radiation on induction of apoptosisrelated properties in human spermatozoa. Ejaculated, densitypurified, highly motile human spermatozoa were exposed to mobile phone radiation at specific absorption rates (SARs) of 2.0 and 5.7 W/kg. At various times after exposure, flow cytometry was used to examine caspase 3 activity, externalization of phosphatidylserine (PS), induction of DNA strand breaks, and generation of reactive oxygen species. Mobile phone radiation had no statistically significant effect on any of the parameters studied. This suggests that the impairment of fertility reported in some studies was not caused by the induction of apoptosis in spermatozoa.This research was funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Pretoria, South Africa (Grant No: 2054206), NRF mobility fund, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Pretoria, South Africa and the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Helsinki, Finland

The effect of pulsed 900-MHz GSM mobile phone radiation on the acrosome reaction, head morphometry and zona binding of human spermatozoa

Several recent studies have indicated that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RFEMF) have an adverse effect on human sperm quality, which could translate to an effect on fertilization potential. The present study evaluated the effect of RF-EMF on spermspecific characteristics in order to assess the fertilizing competence of sperm. Highly motile human spermatozoa, were exposed for one hour to 900 MHz mobile phone radiation at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 2.0 W/kg and examined at various times after exposure. The acrosome reaction was evaluated using flow cytometry. The radiation did not affect sperm propensity for the acrosome reaction. Morphometric parameters were assessed by computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA). Significant reduction in sperm head area (9.2 ± 0.7 μm2 vs. 18.8 ± 1.4 μm2) and acrosome percentage of the head area (21.5 ± 4% vs. 35.5 ± 11.4%) were reported among exposed sperm compared with unexposed controls. Sperm–zona binding was assessed directly after exposure using the hemizona assay (HZA). The mean number of zona-bound sperm of the test hemizona and controls was 22.8 ± 12.4 and 31.8 ± 12.8 (p<0.05), respectively. This study concludes that while RF-EMF exposure did not adversely affect the acrosome reaction, it had a significant effect on sperm morphometry. In addition a significant decrease in sperm binding to the hemizona was observed. These results could indicate a significant effect of Several recent studies have indicated that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RFEMF) have an adverse effect on human sperm quality, which could translate to an effect on fertilization potential. The present study evaluated the effect of RF-EMF on spermspecific characteristics in order to assess the fertilizing competence of sperm. Highly motile human spermatozoa, were exposed for one hour to 900 MHz mobile phone radiation at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 2.0 W/kg and examined at various times after exposure. The acrosome reaction was evaluated using flow cytometry. The radiation did not affect sperm propensity for the acrosome reaction. Morphometric parameters were assessed by computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA). Significant reduction in sperm head area (9.2 ± 0.7 μm2 vs. 18.8 ± 1.4 μm2) and acrosome percentage of the head area (21.5 ± 4% vs. 35.5 ± 11.4%) were reported among exposed sperm compared with unexposed controls. Sperm–zona binding was assessed directly after exposure using the hemizona assay (HZA). The mean number of zona-bound sperm of the test hemizona and controls was 22.8 ± 12.4 and 31.8 ± 12.8 (p<0.05), respectively. This study concludes that while RF-EMF exposure did not adversely affect the acrosome reaction, it had a significant effect on sperm morphometry. In addition a significant decrease in sperm binding to the hemizona was observed. These results could indicate a significant effect of RF-EMF on sperm fertilisation potential.This Research was funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Pretoria, South Africa (Grant No: 2054206), NRF mobility fund and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).http://www.blackwell-synergy.co