Dental care of Anne d'Alègre (1565–1619, Laval, France). Between therapeutic reason and aesthetic evidence, the place of the social and the medical in the care in modern period

International audienceAnalysis of the oral cavity of human archaeological remains can provide essential information on the general health status of the person. The objectives of this paper are (i) to highlight an analysis of the oral state of the embalmed body of a 17th century female aristocrat with modern techniques of periodontal diagnosis and (ii) to provide a description of the therapeutic and aesthetic management intended to limit the functional and aesthetic consequences of the loss of teeth related to this periodontal disease. This paper provides the first demonstration of a link between a diagnosis and a therapy on an identified individual using new digital technologies used in modern dentistry. We propose that the objective of the treatment was triple: therapeutic, aesthetic and societal. Beyond the only therapeutic care and far from the only coquetry, this study shows also the importance of the appearance for aristocratic women submitted to strong social constraints (like stress or widowhood), the speech of the disfigured women being could be regarded as depraved

Whole-body post-mortem computed tomography compared with autopsy in the investigation of unexpected death in infants and children

International audienceTo investigate the contribution of whole-body post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) in sudden unexpected death in infants and children.METHODS:Forty-seven cases of sudden unexpected death in children investigated with radiographic skeletal survey, whole-body PMCT and autopsy were enrolled. For imaging interpretation, non-specific post-mortem modifications and abnormal findings related to the presumed cause of death were considered separately. All findings were correlated with autopsy findings.RESULTS:There were 31 boys and 16 girls. Of these, 44 children (93.6 %) were younger than 2 years. The cause of death was found at autopsy in 18 cases (38.3 %), with 4 confirmed as child abuse, 12 as infectious diseases, 1 as metabolic disease and 1 as bowel volvulus. PMCT results were in accordance with autopsy in all but three of these 18 cases. Death remains unexplained in 29 cases (61.7 %) and was correlated with no abnormal findings on PMCT in 27 cases. Major discrepancies between PMCT and autopsy findings concerned pulmonary analysis.CONCLUSIONS:Whole-body PMCT may detect relevant findings that can help to explain sudden unexpected death and is essential for detecting non-accidental injuries. We found broad concordance between autopsy and PMCT, except in a few cases of pneumonia. It is a non-invasive technique acceptable to relatives.KEY POINTS:• Whole-body post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) is an effective non-invasive method. • Whole-body PMCT is essential for detecting child abuse in unexpected death. • There is concordance on cause of death between PMCT and autopsy. • Whole-body PMCT could improve autopsy through dissection and sampling guidance. • PMCT shows findings that may be relevant when parents reject autopsy

A model study of the seasonal mixed layer heat budget in the equatorial Atlantic

In the present study, the physical processes that control the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic Ocean are investigated. A high-resolution ocean general circulation model is used to diagnose the various contributions to the mixed layer heat budget. The simulation reproduces the main features of the circulation and thermal structure of the tropical Atlantic. A close examination of the mixed layer heat budget is then undertaken. At a first order, the mixed layer temperature balance in the equatorial band results from cooling by vertical processes and heating by atmospheric heat fluxes and eddies (mainly tropical instability waves). Cooling by subsurface processes is the strongest in June-August, when easterlies are strong, with a second maximum in December. Heating by the atmosphere is maximum in February-March and September-October, whereas eddies are most active in boreal summer. Unlike previous observational studies, horizontal advection by low-frequency currents plays here only a minor role in the heat budget. Off equator, the sea surface temperature variability is mainly governed by atmospheric forcing all year long, except in the northeastern part of the basin where strong eddies generated at the location of the thermal front significantly contribute to the heat budget in boreal summer. Finally, comparisons with previously published heat budgets calculated from observations show good qualitative agreement, except that subsurface processes dominate the cooling over zonal advection in the present study