From left-skewness to symmetry: how body-height distribution among Swiss conscripts has changed shape since the late 19th century

<div><p></p><p><i>Background</i>: It is generally accepted that height distribution in modern populations is nearly symmetrical. However, it may deviate from symmetry when nutritional status is inadequate.</p><p><i>Aim and subjects</i>: This study provides an analysis of changes in the shape of the height distributions among Swiss conscripts (<i>n</i> = 267 829) over the past 130 years based on a highly representative, standardized and unchanged data source.</p><p><i>Results</i>: The analysed distributions from the 1870s–1890s conscription years are markedly left-skewed (−0.76 to −0.82), with short and very short men significantly over-represented. Standard deviation is 7.7 cm. In particular, the left tails of the late-19th- and early-20th-century distributions are very heavy. In the first half of the 20th century the first signs of a diminution of the heavy left tail are observable, by the 1970s the phenomenon disappears and height distribution becomes symmetrical; standard deviation is now 6.5 cm.</p><p><i>Conclusion</i>: The relatively strong left-skewness during the late 19th and early 20th centuries may have been due to the interaction of a number of causes, chiefly malnutrition, a wider range in physical development at age 19 and widespread iodine deficiency.</p></div

Fonctions de l'image et vecteurs temporels : la régression iconoclaste

Cette étude tente de comprendre la violence d’actes iconoclastes récents à partir d’une analyse structurale de notre civilisation iconophile, où les fonctions de l’image (connotative, dénotative, signalétique) correspondent à des vecteurs temporels (théologico-politique, économico-rationnel, cyber-technicien) où le choix d’une régression vers le connotatif apparaît comme une tentative pathétique de retrouver une temporalité perdue

Autopsy Number: 793, Autopsy Year: 1936, Age: 78, Sex: Female.

<p>Autopsy Number: 793, Autopsy Year: 1936, Age: 78, Sex: Female.</p

Autopsy Number: 779, Autopsy Year: 1953, Age: 50, Sex: Female.

<p>Autopsy Number: 779, Autopsy Year: 1953, Age: 50, Sex: Female.</p

Correlation Matrix for radiological data.

<p>Correlation Matrix for radiological data.</p

Examples of categories of spinal lesions due to tuberculosis used in this study.

<p>All cases presented here are from the Galler Collection and are fully described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0062798#pone.0062798.s015" target="_blank">Appendix S1</a>. A) Autopsy Number: 1645, Autopsy Year: 1957, No evidence of “healing.” B) Autopsy Number: 411, Autopsy Year: 1955, fusion of vertebrae has occurred. C) Autopsy Number: 2461, Autopsy Year: 1969, bone has been deposited on the anterior bodies of affected vertebrae. D) Autopsy Number: 785, Autopsy Year: 1963, posterior elements (as well as vertebral bodies) have fused. Scale bar represents 10 mm.</p

Autopsy Number: 325, Autopsy Year: 1936, Age: 16, Sex: Male.

<p>Autopsy Number: 325, Autopsy Year: 1936, Age: 16, Sex: Male.</p

Autopsy Number: 304, Autopsy Year: 1947, Age: 37, Sex: Male.

<p>Autopsy Number: 304, Autopsy Year: 1947, Age: 37, Sex: Male.</p

Correlation Matrix for unadjusted osteological data.

<p>Correlation Matrix for unadjusted osteological data.</p

Autopsy Number: 751, Autopsy Year: 1939, Age: 35, Sex: Male.

<p>Autopsy Number: 751, Autopsy Year: 1939, Age: 35, Sex: Male.</p