Mulher, família e reprodução: um estudo de caso sobre o planejamento familiar em periferia do Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil Women, family, and reproductive health: a case study on family planning on the outskirts of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

Este artigo apresenta resultados de um estudo realizado com mulheres de camadas populares em uma comunidade de baixa renda em Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil, procurando entender como são planejadas suas famílias. Tem como eixo orientador os aspectos da reprodução, especificamente as práticas de concepção e contracepção. Nesta análise, argumenta-se que as organizações que prestam serviços de planejamento familiar refletem a política chamada de "intervenção branca" no comportamento reprodutivo da população de camadas populares. Considera-se "intervenção branca" o transporte das decisões sobre ter ou não ter filhos, do âmbito doméstico para o consultório médico e a transferência gradativa do controle do Estado para o campo da saúde.This paper presents the results of a study on women from a low-income community in Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil, focusing on how the women practice their family planning. The study is based on an analysis of reproductive practices by these women, specifically related to conception and contraception. The paper argues that the family planning care provided to these women involves a so-called "low-profile interventionist" policy, meaning that decisions concerning the number and spacing of children is shifted from the family domain to that of attending physicians, with a gradual transfer of control from the public sector to the health field

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved