Comparing population distributions from bin-aggregated sample data: an application to historical height data from France

This paper develops a methodology to estimate the entire population distributions from bin-aggregated sample data. We do this through the estimation of the parameters of mixtures of distributions that allow for maximal parametric flexibility. The statistical approach we develop enables comparisons of the full distributions of height data from potential army conscripts across France's 88 departments for most of the nineteenth century. These comparisons are made by testing for differences-of-means stochastic dominance. Corrections for possible measurement errors are also devised by taking advantage of the richness of the data sets. Our methodology is of interest to researchers working on historical as well as contemporary bin-aggregated or histogram-type data, something that is still widely done since much of the information that is publicly available is in that form, often due to restrictions due to political sensitivity and/or confidentiality concerns.

Child sun protection in New Zealand: parental view and societal responsibilities

Issue addressed: Cutaneous melanoma is a significant health problem in New Zealand. Excessive sun exposure in early life increases subsequent risk. This study investigated parental opinions, understanding and practices concerning the sun protection of young children. The study aimed to identify areas where improvements in sun protection may be most needed. Methods: Parents were recruited through licensed childcare centres and kindergartens in Dunedin to take part in semi-structured focus groups. Feedback was obtained from participants in response to summary reports based on audiotapes. Results: Parents noted increased social acceptability of sun protective behaviours and child sunburn was now unacceptable. Past media campaigns were well recalled. The 'time to burn' used in media weather reports was easier to understand than the Ultra Violet Index (UVI), about which more information was wanted. Protective messages were expected to be straightforward, consistent and readily and regularly available. Local radio may provide the most timely, relevant information. There was a perceived lack of authoritative information about sunscreens and sunglasses and a shortage of acceptable protective clothing. Fuller information on sunscreen containers and greater use of UV Protection Factor (UPF) ratings for clothing and Eye Protection Factor (EPF) for sunglasses would assist. The use of shade and rescheduling of activities were scarcely mentioned. Conclusions: Parents were aware of the need for child sun protection but lacked confidence about how best to achieve this. Future health promotion programs should emphasise how optimal protection can be achieved more than why sun protection is needed. Programs should include a repertoire of strategies targeted towards individuals through the education of children and caregivers. They should also aim at achieving modifications in physical and social environments, including appropriate product design and promotion. So what?: The development of a balanced, comprehensive program with environmental components that reinforce protective behaviours has the potential to sustain sun protection among the largest number of children in the longer term.

L'hystérie : une entité historique, un trouble psychiatrique ou une maladie neurologique? [Hysteria : an historical entity, a psychiatric condition or a neurological disease?]

Il a été suggéré que l'hystérie avait disparu et n'était qu'un concept ancien, stigmatisant et péjoratif, voire erroné, reflétant l'incapacité de la communauté médicale à établir parfois un diagnostic. Actuellement ces troubles, appelés troubles dissociatifs ou de conversion, restent pourtant une réalité clinique fréquente et invalidante pour les patients. Plusieurs études et revues ont tenté de mieux décrire la présentation clinique, mais également de mieux comprendre les mécanismes neurobiologiques impliqués dans ces troubles grâce au développement de certaines techniques d'imagerie cérébrale. Si les corrélats neurobiologiques sont mieux compris, des traitements efficaces manquent encore et seule une prise en charge multidisciplinaire (généralistes, neurologues et psychiatres) et individualisée peut apporter un bénéfice au patient. It has been suggested that hysteria had waned and was an old-fashioned, stigmatizing and false concept, reflecting the incapacity of the medical community to establish a diagnosis in certain situations. Nowadays, however, those disturbances, now referred to as conversion or dissociative disorders, still remain a frequent and incapacitating condition that every clinician faces. These past decades, several studies have tried to better describe their clinical presentation and their neurobiological mechanisms, with the help of the development of new neuroimaging techniques. If the neurobiological correlates are now better understood, efficient treatments are still lacking and only a multidisciplinary (general practitioners, neurologists and psychiatrists) and individually-tailored therapy might be beneficial to the patients.

Toward partial reorientation of land management for sustainability in view of material circulation: biophysical and historical analysis

This paper explores two major issues, from biophysical and historical viewpoints. We examine land management, which we define as the long-term fertility maintenance of land in relation to agriculture, fishery and forestry. We also explore humans’ positive role as agents aiming to reinforce harmonious materials circulation within the land. Liebig’s view on nature, agriculture and land, emphasizes the maintenance of long-term land fertility based on his agronomical thought that the circulation of matter in agricultural fields must be maintained with manure as much as possible. The thoughts of several classical economists, on nature, agriculture and land are reassessed from Liebig’s view point. Then, the land management problem is discussed at a much more fundamental level, to understand the necessary conditions for life in relation to land management. This point is analyzed in terms of two mechanisms: entropy disposal on the earth, and material circulation against gravitational field. Finally from the historical example of the metropolis of Edo, it is shown that there is yet another necessary condition for the sustainable management of land based on the creation of harmonious material cycles among cities, farm land, forests and surrounding sea areas in which humans play a vital role as agent.

Historical Profile of Water Regime in Switzerland (1870-2000).

Analyse comparée de la formation et des effets des régimes institutionnels de ressources naturelles en Suisse. Partant du constat de l'accroissement significatif et généralisé de la consommation des ressources naturelles, le projet a pour ambition d'examiner, dans le cas de la Suisse, quels sont les types de régimes institutionnels -régimes composés de l'ensemble des droits de propriété de disposition et d'usages s'appliquant aux différentes ressources naturelles, de même que des politiques publiques d'exploitation et de protection les régulant- susceptibles de prévenir des processus de surexploitation et de dégradation de ces ressources. Dans le cadre de ce projet de recherche financé par le Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique (FNRS), il s'agit, dans un premier temps, d'analyser les trajectoires historiques d'adaptation et de changements des régimes institutionnels des différentes ressources sur une durée d'environ un siècle (1900-2000). C'est l'objet des différents screenings. Dans un second temps et à l'aide d'études de cas, ces transformations de (ou au sein des) régimes institutionnels sont analysées sous l'angle de leurs effets sur l'état de la ressource. L'ambition finale de cette recherche est de comprendre les conditions l'émergence de "régimes intégrés" capables de prendre en compte un nombre croissant de groupes d'usagers agissant à différents niveaux (géographiques et institutionnels) et ayant des usages de plus en plus hétérogènes et concurrents de ces différentes ressources. Le champ empirique de la recherche porte plus particulièrement sur cinq ressources que sont: l'eau,l'air, le sol, le paysage et la forêt.

Plate tectonics, seaways and climate in the historical biogeography of mammals

The marsupial and placental mammals originated at a time when the pattern of geographical barriers (oceans, shallow seas and mountains) was very different from that of today, and climates were warmer. The sequence of changes in these barriers, and their effects on the dispersal of the mammal families and on the faunas of mammals in the different continents, are reviewed. The mammal fauna of South America changed greatly in the Pliocene/Pleistocene, when the newly-complete Panama Isthmus allowed the North American fauna to enter the continent and replace most of the former South American mammal families. Marsupial, but not placental, mammals reached Australia via Antarctica before Australia became isolated, while rats and bats are the only placentals that dispersed naturally from Asia to Australia in the late Cenozoic. Little is known of the early history of the mammal fauna of India. A few mammal families reached Madagascar from Africa in the early Cenozoic over a chain of islands. Africa was isolated for much of the early Cenozoic, though some groups did succeed in entering from Europe. Before the climate cooled in the mid-Cenozoic, the mammal faunas of the Northern Hemisphere were much richer than those of today.

Temperament in Bach’s Well-tempered clavier: a historical survey and a new evaluation according to dissonance theory

After a historical survey of temperament in Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, an analysis of the work has been made by applying a number of historical good temperaments as well as some recent proposals. The results obtained show that the global dissonance for all preludes and fugues in major keys can be minimized using the Kirnberger II temperament. The method of analysis used for this research is based on the mathematical theories of sensory dissonance, which have been developed by authors such as Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, Harry Partch, Reinier Plomp, Willem J. M. Levelt and William A. Sethares

Is real GDP stationary? Evidence from a panel unit root test with cross-sectional dependence and historical data

We use historical data that cover more than one century on real GDP for industrial countries and employ the Pesaran panel unit root test that allows for cross-sectional dependence to test for a unit root on real GDP. We find strong evidence against the unit root null. Our results are robust to the chosen group of countries and the sample period. Key words: real GDP stationarity, cross-sectional dependence, CIPS test. JEL Classification: C23, E32

High frequency of skin reactions in patients with leishmaniasis treated with meglumine antimoniate contaminated with heavy metals: a comparative approach using historical controls

We analyzed data from historical controls treated with meglumine antimoniate to compare the frequency of adverse events observed in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis treated with the same dose of meglumine antimoniate contaminated with heavy metals in an endemic area of the State of Bahia, Brazil. Group A patients were treated in 2000 with the drug produced by Eurofarma Laboratórios Ltda., São Paulo, Brazil (lot A) and group B patients were treated in 1996 with the reference drug produced by Rhodia Farma Ltda., São Paulo, Brazil (lot B). We observed an unusual higher frequency of skin reactions in group A patients. However, all type of adverse events observed in group A were also observed in group B. The physico-chemical analysis of these lots revealed that lot A had lower pH and higher concentration of total and trivalent antimony, lead, cadmium, and arsenic. Our findings suggest that the skin reactions could be attributed to heavy metal contamination of lot A.

Review of Roles & Responsibilities of the Food Safety Promotion Board (FSPB/SafeFood)

The Department carried out a review during 2012 on FSPB’s work in the food safety, diet and nutrition areas. This review, approved by the Minister on 25 January 2013, provides a summary of the responses received and recommendations made. Click here to download   PDF 63KB