Persistent millennial-scale shifts in moisture regimes in western Canada during the past six millennia. (33/345)

Inferences of past climatic conditions from a sedimentary record from Big Lake, British Columbia, Canada, over the past 5,500 years show strong millennial-scale patterns, which oscillate between periods of wet and drier climatic conditions. Higher frequency decadal- to centennial-scale fluctuations also occur within the dominant millennial-scale patterns. These changes in climatic conditions are based on estimates of changes in lake depth and salinity inferred from diatom assemblages in a well dated sediment core. After periods of relative stability, abrupt shifts in diatom assemblages and inferred climatic conditions occur approximately every 1,220 years. The correspondence of these shifts to millennial-scale variations in records of glacial expansionrecession and ice-rafting events in the Atlantic suggest that abrupt millennial-scale shifts are important to understanding climatic variability in North America during the mid- to late Holocene. Unfortunately, the spatial patterns and mechanisms behind these large and abrupt swings are poorly understood. Similar abrupt and prolonged changes in climatic conditions today could pose major societal challenges for many regions.  (+info)

Visible signs of illness from the 14th to the 20th century: systematic review of portraits. (34/345)

OBJECTIVES: To see whether a collection of portraits depicting inhabitants of a defined geographical region and covering several centuries is a useful source for studying the sociocultural significance and epidemiology of particular visible diseases, such as goitre, which is known to have been common in this region. DESIGN: Systematic review of portraits and description of visible signs of illness. SETTING: The Burgerbibliothek (archives of the burghers' community) in Berne, Switzerland. DATA SOURCES: 3615 portraits; 2989 of individuals whose identity is known and 626 of individuals whose identity is unknown. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visible signs of illness evaluated by means of a standardised visual assessment. RESULTS: Visible signs of illness in portraits were common and appeared in up to 82% (451/553) of paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The most common findings were signs of goitre in women and overweight in men. In only the portraits where the neck region could be evaluated, 41% of women with known identities (139/343) had goitre compared with 24% of men with known identities (21/86). The prevalence of goitre was even higher in sitters whose identities were unknown: 63% in men (5/8) and 68% in women (82/121). Overweight in people with known identities was more common in men than in women (30%, 346/1145 v 44%, 811/1844). Overweight was most common in sitters aged >40 than in those aged 40 or younger. Other conditions, such as missing teeth, amputated limbs, or osteoarthritic deformations were surprisingly rare in the portraits under evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Goitre and other diseases are under-represented in the people depicted in these portraits. Artistic idealisation is a likely explanation for this observation: what was reproduced depended on what was considered pathological or shameful at the time, and therefore depended on age and sex. Stigmatising details may have been omitted. Further, artistic skills and contemporary fashion may have influenced the way in which people were reproduced. People depicted are possibly not representative of the general Bernese population as they constituted a socioeconomically advantaged group.  (+info)

The first descriptions of therapeutic arthrocentesis: a historical note. (35/345)

The existence of synovial fluid has been known since Hippocratic times. The abnormal accumulation of liquid inside the joints has been recognized as the proximal cause of rheumatic diseases since humoral theory was the dominant paradigm in Occidental medical culture. Although evacuating the excess of the abnormal humour was the target of all therapeutic measures taken during this era, no mention of arthrocentesis is found in Occidental medical texts until 1652. We present two earlier indications of arthrocentesis to treat abnormal accumulation of liquid inside the joints. One in the Codex Badianus, an Aztec manuscript written in the 16th century, and the other in the Tractado breve de medicina, published in Mexico in 1592.  (+info)

Experimental therapeutics in the Renaissance. (36/345)

Detailed accounts of therapeutics at the time of the European Renaissance written by the participants have not survived in large numbers. One manuscript, dated 1562, was written by friars in a religious order in Italy dedicated to the care of the sick. Their remedies, methods of preparation, and uses were detailed by the friars and offer a glimpse into the beginnings of experimentation with drugs and rejection of tradition and authority in determining the effectiveness of a remedy. These developing concepts were combined in the manuscript with traditional treatments dating back through the Middle Ages to the medical methods of Greece and Rome.  (+info)

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), Padua, and the fetal "shunts". (37/345)

Three remarkable medical anatomists working in Padua during the 16th century described the anatomy of the fetal cardiovascular system, thus laying the foundation for William Harvey's discovery and description of the fetal circulation in the following century.  (+info)

Multimedia software to help caregivers cope. (38/345)

OBJECTIVE: This report describes the design and evaluation of a software application to help carers cope when faced with caring problems and emergencies. DESIGN: The design process involved users at each stage to ensure the content of the software application was appropriate, and the research team carefully considered the requirements of disabled and elderly users. MEASUREMENTS: Focus group discussions and individual interviews were conducted in five European countries to ascertain the needs of caregivers in this area. The findings were used to design a three-part multimedia software application to help family caregivers prepare to cope with sudden, unexpected, and difficult situations that may arise during their time as a caregiver. This prototype then was evaluated via user trials and usability questionnaires to consider the usability and acceptance of the application and any changes that may be required. RESULTS: User acceptance of the software application was high, and the key features of usability such as content, appearance, and navigation were highly rated. In general, comments were positive and enthusiastic regarding the content of the software application and relevance to the caring situation. CONCLUSION: The software application has the potential to offer information and support to those who are caring for the elderly and disabled at home and to help them prepare for a crisis.  (+info)

Captain Cook's beer: the antiscorbutic use of malt and beer in late 18th century sea voyages. (39/345)

The custom of allowing British seamen the regular use of fermented liquor is an old one. Ale was a standard article of the sea ration as early as the fourteenth century. By the late eighteenth century, beer was considered to be at once a food (a staple beverage and essential part of the sea diet), a luxury (helping to ameliorate the hardship and irregularity of sea life) and a medicine (conducive to health at sea). In particular, beer and its precursors, wort and malt, were administered with the aim of preventing and curing scurvy. This paper examines the use of malt and beer during late eighteenth century British sea voyages, particularly their use as antiscorbutic agents, focusing on James Cook's three voyages during the period 1768-1780. Cook administered sweet wort (an infusion of malt), beer (prepared from an experimental, concentrated malt extract), and spruce beer (prepared mainly from molasses), among many other items, in his attempts to prevent and to cure scurvy. Despite the inconclusive nature of his own experiments, he reported favourably after his second voyage (1772-1775) on the use of wort as an antiscorbutic sea medicine (for which purpose it is now known to be useless). Cook thereby lent credibility to erroneous medical theories about scurvy, helping to perpetuate the use of ineffective treatments and to delay the discovery of a cure for the disorder.  (+info)

Obstetrical events that shaped Western European history. (40/345)

Taking into account that marriage, the family as a social unit, and concepts of legitimacy developed to ensure the devolution of property and that, when these concepts apply in a society based on hierarchically organized monarchies, they also involve the devolution of power, this essay furnishes examples of dislocations in such devolutions, in terms of familiar incidents in western European history. That Jane Seymour died in childbirth but her son Edward VI survived long enough to ensure the stability of the Church of England is the first example. The infertility of Mary Tudor, when married to Philip II of Spain, prevented the formation of an Anglo-Spanish dynasty that would have been Roman Catholic is the second example of such a dislocation. Likewise, the infertility of Charles II's wife, Catherine of Braganza, led to the succession of James II, a practicing Roman Catholic, whose attempts to undermine the Church of England led to the Glorious Revolution of 1788 and the preservation of English Protestantism. Another example is the death in 1817 of Princess Charlotte, in childbirth, which led to the scramble of George III's aging sons to marry and beget an heir to the throne. The only success led to the birth of the future Queen Victoria, whose dynastic competence remains unquestionable, but who herself had some passing involvement with obstetrical developments. Finally, the delivery of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who sustained a brachial plexus injury that produced Erb's palsy of the left arm, is considered, and the question of intrapartum fetal hypoxia is raised as a hypothesis, in addition to the mechanical trauma and its effect on his personality.  (+info)