Effect on skin hydration of using baby wipes to clean the napkin area of newborn babies: assessor-blinded randomised controlled equivalence trial

Background Some national guidelines recommend the use of water alone for napkin cleansing. Yet, there is a readiness, amongst many parents, to use baby wipes. Evidence from randomised controlled trials, of the effect of baby wipes on newborn skin integrity is lacking. We conducted a study to examine the hypothesis that the use of a specifically formulated cleansing wipe on the napkin area of newborn infants (<1 month) has an equivalent effect on skin hydration when compared with using cotton wool and water (usual care). Methods A prospective, assessor-blinded, randomised controlled equivalence trial was conducted during 2010. Healthy, term babies (n = 280), recruited within 48 hours of birth, were randomly assigned to have their napkin area cleansed with an alcohol-free baby wipe (140 babies) or cotton wool and water (140 babies). Primary outcome was change in hydration from within 48 hours of birth to 4 weeks post-birth. Secondary outcomes comprised changes in trans-epidermal water loss, skin surface pH and erythema, presence of microbial skin contaminants/irritants at 4 weeks and napkin dermatitis reported by midwife at 4 weeks and mother during the 4 weeks. Results Complete hydration data were obtained for 254 (90.7 %) babies. Wipes were shown to be equivalent to water and cotton wool in terms of skin hydration (intention-to-treat analysis: wipes 65.4 (SD 12.4) vs. water 63.5 (14.2), p = 0.47, 95 % CI -2.5 to 4.2; per protocol analysis: wipes 64.6 (12.4) vs. water 63.6 (14.3), p = 0.53, 95 % CI -2.4 to 4.2). No significant differences were found in the secondary outcomes, except for maternal-reported napkin dermatitis, which was higher in the water group (p = 0.025 for complete responses). Conclusions Baby wipes had an equivalent effect on skin hydration when compared with cotton wool and water. We found no evidence of any adverse effects of using these wipes. These findings offer reassurance to parents who choose to use baby wipes and to health professionals who support their use. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN8620701

Spectral estimation

We review spectral analysis and its application in inference for stationary processes. As can be seen from the list of references, the practice of spectral analysis is widespread in diverse scientific and engineering fields, particularly in signal processing and communications. One of the most striking characteristics of time series is their oscillatory behavior. This behavior is manifested, for example, in electroencephalogram (EEG) records, weekly sales, monthly environmental data, hourly financial indices, and in numerous economic data observed periodically in time. When observing such data the intuitive notion of periodicity is inescapable, and this led to the statistical problem of estimation of ‘hidden periodicities’ in time series. Schuster [47] was among the first who studied the problem seriously, and is credited with the invention of the so‐called periodogram, a tool for discovering periodicities in oscillatory data. Consequently, spectral analysis and its ramification was further advanced by the pioneering works of Slutsky, Yule, Khintchine, Wiener, Cramer, Kolmogorov, Bartlett, Tukey, Parzen, Rosenblatt, Grenander, Koopmans, Brillinger, and Hannan. The goal of this communication is to introduce the reader to the topic of spectral analysis, and to review some state‐of‐the‐art developments. It is of course not possible to give a full account of the literature on spectral analysis within this limited space. The selection of the references has been influenced by my own personal research interests

The agribusiness cycle and its wavelets

Agribusiness cycle, Exchange rates, Farmer terms of trade, Risk management, Wavelets, E32, C22, C49, C53, Q13, Q17,

Wavelet-based Fuzzy Clustering of Time Series

Stationary and non stationary time series, Switching time series, Wavelet variance, Crisp clustering, Fuzzy clustering, Developed and emerging markets,