Irradiation d'une grossesse méconnue : revue à court terme de 17 cas

Irradiation of unknown pregnancy: review of 17 cases. The article summarizes the analysis of 47 cases of pregnant women who did not know their pregnancy and had undergone one or more diagnostic radiological examinations. We distinguished two groups. The first group G1 consisting of 12 women whose exposure to radiation had been focused under diaphragmatic region and occurred during the critical period of organogenesis with a gonadal dose estimated to range 12 to 52 mGy. A therapeutic abortion had been recommended to these women. The second group G2 consisting of 35 women whose exposure to radiation interested directly or indirectly the above diaphragmatic region with dose lower than 10 mGy. To these women, a recommendation to continue their pregnancy had been given. We investigated only 17 pregnant women issues; 7 from G1 et 10 from G2. We noted that there were no spontaneous abortion or major abnormalities or malignant diseases. However, 4 minor abnormalities were identified among the examined children sample: facial dysmorphism, anus atresia, hypospadias and harelip. These anomalies could not be attributed to the irradiation effects because the conceptus received very low doses during the minimal risk gestation period. We believe that the malformations observed may be attributed to congenital malformation risk

Optimal investment in markets with over and under-reaction to Information

In this paper we introduce a jump-diffusion model of shot-noise type for stock prices, taking into account over and under-reaction of the market to incoming news. We work in a partial information setting, by supposing that standard investors do not have access to the market direction, the drift, (modeled via a random variable) after a jump. We focus on the expected (logarithmic) utility maximization problem by providing the optimal investment strategy in explicit form, both under full (i.e., from the insider point of view, aware of the right kind of market reaction at any time) and under partial information (i.e., from the standard investor viewpoint, who needs to infer the kind of market reaction from data). We test our results on market data relative to Enron and Ahold. The three main contributions of this paper are: the introduction of a new market model dealing with over and under-reaction to news, the explicit computation of the optimal filter dynamics using an original approach combining enlargement of filtrations with Innovation Theory and the application of the optimal portfolio allocation rule to market data

Aetiological factors and perception of anaemia in Tunisian women of reproductive age

OBJECTIVES: To identify aetiological factors in anaemia and to explore knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards anaemia. DESIGN: Two cross-sectional surveys and sixteen focus group discussions. SETTING: The two regions with the highest prevalence of anaemia in Tunisia, Greater Tunis (GT) and the South West (SW). SUBJECTS: Two representative samples of 687 (GT) and 729 (SW) women of reproductive age; 108 women were included in focus group discussions. RESULTS: Among anaemic women, 63.4% in the GT region and 80.2% in the SW displayed iron deficiency (ID). Genetic haemoglobinopathies accounted for 10.0% and 3.6% of the cases of anaemia in the two regions, respectively. After adjustment for confounders, the major factors for iron-deficiency anaemia were low dietary Fe intake (OR = 5.0, 95% CI 3.0, 8.4), drinking tea after eating (OR = 3.4, 95% CI 2.0, 5.7) and pica (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.1, 3.9). Most of the women related anaemia to the following causes: malnutrition, lack of hygiene, and their heavy workload and responsibilities in the household. Many women connected anaemia with hypotension. Few established a relationship between ID and anaemia. They had confidence in their doctor for treatment, but many complained they were not given sufficient information. Low dietary Fe intake, inappropriate food practices and inadequate perceptions contribute to the aetiology of anaemia in women. CONCLUSIONS: These results point out to the need for a strategy combining food fortification, Fe supplementation for pregnant women, nutritional education for the general public and at-risk specific target groups, and training of health professionals

Change in nutritional status of adult women in Tunisia from 1996 to 2005: effect of living environment and socio-economic factors

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