The paper technology of confinement: evolving criteria in admission forms (1850-73).

This paper investigates the role of admission forms in the regulation of asylum confinement in the second half of the nineteenth century. Taking the Toronto Lunatic Asylum as a case study it traces the evolution of the forms' content and structure during the first decades of this institution. Admission forms provide important material for understanding the medico-legal assessment of lunacy in a certain jurisdiction. First, they show how the description of insanity depended on a plurality of actors. Second, doctors were not necessarily required to indicate symptoms of derangement. Third, patients' relatives played a fundamental role in providing clinical information. From an historiographical perspective, this paper invites scholars to consider the function of standardized documents in shaping the written identity of patients.

Electronic health records and clinician burnout: A story of three eras.

OBJECTIVE: The study sought to provide physicians, informaticians, and institutional policymakers with an introductory tutorial about the history of medical documentation, sources of clinician burnout, and opportunities to improve electronic health records (EHRs). We now have unprecedented opportunities in health care, with the promise of new cures, improved equity, greater sensitivity to social and behavioral determinants of health, and data-driven precision medicine all on the horizon. EHRs have succeeded in making many aspects of care safer and more reliable. Unfortunately, current limitations in EHR usability and problems with clinician burnout distract from these successes. A complex interplay of technology, policy, and healthcare delivery has contributed to our current frustrations with EHRs. Fortunately, there are opportunities to improve the EHR and health system. A stronger emphasis on improving the clinician's experience through close collaboration by informaticians, clinicians, and vendors can combine with specific policy changes to address the causes of burnout. TARGET AUDIENCE: This tutorial is intended for clinicians, informaticians, policymakers, and regulators, who are essential participants in discussions focused on improving clinician burnout. Learners in biomedicine, regardless of clinical discipline, also may benefit from this primer and review. SCOPE: We include (1) an overview of medical documentation from a historical perspective; (2) a summary of the forces converging over the past 20 years to develop and disseminate the modern EHR; and (3) future opportunities to improve EHR structure, function, user base, and time required to collect and extract information.

[The potato in hospital nutrition as an approach to its introduction in the urban diet: the case of Vitoria (Alava, Spain)]. / La patata en la nutrición hospitalaria como aproximación a su introducción en la dieta urbana: el caso de Vitoria (Álava, España).

INTRODUCTION: Introduction: given the lack of historical documentary sources about the beginning of potato effective consumption in Vitoria (Alava, Spain), its introduction in the urban diet is estimated from cultivation and production data. This only allows asserting the introduction of the cultivation at the end of the 18th century, the recognition of two quantitative jumps during the Independence and First Carlist Wars, and that it was the second cultivation in quantity by 1857. Objective/method: from the hypothesis of a good correspondence between hospital diet and ordinary urban diet, evidenced in other studies for Vitoria, it is proposed to document the chronology of potato introduction in the urban diet from its analysis in the city hospital, as well as to contextualize concurrent historical events, through the review and analysis of primary and secondary documentary sources. Results: the hospital keeps a record of food acquisitions since 1743. The first purchase of potatoes was paid on September 17, 1834. Acquisitions continue in very variable quantities and dates, which are normalized from 1844. Contextually, there is a major subsistence crisis with cholera as the most immediate and necessary cause in synergy with the first carlist war and the devastation of crops in a summer storm. In 1854 the potato was established in the urban diet. Conclusions: the first acquisition of potatoes was made in September 1834 in the immediate context of cholera together with the carlist war and catastrophic weather effects.

INTRODUCCIÓN: Introducción: dada la carencia de fuentes documentales históricas sobre el inicio del consumo efectivo de patata en Vitoria (Álava, España), su introducción en la dieta urbana se estima a partir de los datos de cultivo y producción. Ello solo permite aseverar la introducción del cultivo a finales del siglo XVIII, el reconocimiento de dos saltos cuantitativos durante las guerras de independencia y primera carlista, y que era el segundo cultivo en cantidad en 1857. Objetivo/método: desde la hipótesis de una buena correspondencia entre la dieta hospitalaria y la dieta ordinaria urbana, evidenciada en otros estudios para Vitoria, se propone documentar la cronología de la introducción de la patata en la dieta urbana a partir de su análisis en el hospital de la ciudad, así como contextualizar los acontecimientos históricos concurrentes mediante la revisión y el análisis de fuentes documentales primarias y secundarias. Resultados: el hospital conserva el registro de alimentos adquiridos desde 1743. La primera compra de patatas se abona el 17 de septiembre de 1834. Se continúa con adquisiciones en cantidades y fechas muy variables que se normalizan a partir de 1844. Contextualmente, existe una crisis mayor de subsistencia con el cólera como causa más inmediata y necesaria en sinergia con la primera guerra carlista y la devastación de cultivos en una tormenta veraniega. En 1854 la patata está asentada en la dieta urbana. Conclusiones: la primera adquisición de patatas se realizó en septiembre de 1834 en el contexto inmediato del cólera junto a la guerra carlista y efectos catastróficos meteorológicos.

Forensic document examination and algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judahite biblical period inscriptions reveal significant literacy level.

Arad is a well preserved desert fort on the southern frontier of the biblical kingdom of Judah. Excavation of the site yielded over 100 Hebrew ostraca (ink inscriptions on potsherds) dated to ca. 600 BCE, the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. Due to the site's isolation, small size and texts that were written in a short time span, the Arad corpus holds important keys to understanding dissemination of literacy in Judah. Here we present the handwriting analysis of 18 Arad inscriptions, including more than 150 pair-wise assessments of writer's identity. The examination was performed by two new algorithmic handwriting analysis methods and independently by a professional forensic document examiner. To the best of our knowledge, no such large-scale pair-wise assessments of ancient documents by a forensic expert has previously been published. Comparison of forensic examination with algorithmic analysis is also unique. Our study demonstrates substantial agreement between the results of these independent methods of investigation. Remarkably, the forensic examination reveals a high probability of at least 12 writers within the analyzed corpus. This is a major increment over the previously published algorithmic estimations, which revealed 4-7 writers for the same assemblage. The high literacy rate detected within the small Arad stronghold, estimated (using broadly-accepted paleo-demographic coefficients) to have accommodated 20-30 soldiers, demonstrates widespread literacy in the late 7th century BCE Judahite military and administration apparatuses, with the ability to compose biblical texts during this period a possible by-product.

A First World War example of forensic archaeology.

Between 1919 and 1921, the First World War battlefields of France and Belgium were searched by the British Army for the single graves and small cemeteries containing the bodies of British and Commonwealth soldiers. This process was called "concentration". When found, these graves were exhumed, the bodies within were examined to try and establish or confirm identification, and were subsequently reburied in newly built. Imperial War Grave Commission cemeteries. This task was carried out by military staff working for the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquiries. They had no forensic or medical experience and yet in less than three years they moved hundreds of thousands of graves, on a scale never seen before or since. Written records were issued for the soldiers working on exhumation in 1919 giving detailed instructions on how to search for buried or unburied individuals, the method to follow for excavating these graves and directions for the examination of bodies. These instructions are very similar to those used in modern forensic archaeology when excavating single or mass graves, or when dealing with multiple bodies following mass disasters. They show an awareness of the effects of human burials on the surrounding environment and address search and excavation problems that are still experienced. The example given here in France and Belgium is one of the earliest examples of Forensic Archaeology for humanitarian purposes, and the instructions issued are probably the earliest written instructions for a Forensic Archaeological excavation.

The American and Canadian wartime godmothers of Belgian soldiers. Joseph de Dorlodot's Correspondence and Documentation Office (1915-1919).

Lieutenant Joseph de Dorlodot (1871-1941), a Belgian aristocrat and philanthropist, was the Director of the Belgian Correspondence and Documentation Office in Folkestone, England. This article uses the 'Joseph de Dorlodot' archive collection (Archives Générales du Royaume de Belgique, Bruxelles) to investigate the emotional support provided by the Correspondence Office during the First World War. Throughout the conflict, its mission was to facilitate the sending of mail between Belgians, to provide them with legal advice and to offer humanitarian assistance to those who were in material and emotional distress. This was particularly the case of soldiers at the front. In the spring of 1916, the Office set up a mail system between Belgian soldiers and wartime godmothers - 'marraines' - from Canada and the USA. Lieutenant de Dorlodot imposed a precise moral and political framework for correspondence, where an intimate space was created in order to strengthen patriotic sentiment on the one hand, and control masculinities and femininities on the other. Through their letter exchanges with soldiers, godmothers participated in the war effort by bringing emotional reinforcement to the front line, from their homes, through a type of caring work often ignored or at least disconnected from any notion of work in the history of the Great War.

[Fifty years of services of biomedical information in health documentation centers in Puebla, Mexico]. / Cincuenta años de los servicios de información biomédica en centros de documentación en salud de Puebla.

Librarian and information services focused on supporting research, teaching, and health care are vital for the generation of new knowledge and its application in health care, both by staff and students, helps to improve the quality of medical care. Therefore, in this article we expose an historical and social tour of 50 years of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social's library services in Puebla. From 1964 to 2014 occurred many events in the development of these services in our area, from the creation of a small space in the basement, to the implementation of spaces created deliberately to provide dignified service to all users, which is why this historical sketch is here as an acknowledgement to the first librarians who contributed to the training of specialists in Mexico.

Los servicios bibliotecarios y de información enfocados a apoyar la investigación, la docencia y la atención médica son de vital importancia para la generación de nuevos conocimientos y su aplicación en la atención médica por el personal del área de la salud, y los alumnos en proceso de formación, contribuye a mejorar la calidad de la atención médica. Por ello, en el presente artículo exponemos un recorrido histórico y social de 50 años de los servicios bibliotecarios del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social en Puebla. De 1964 a 2014 ocurrieron muchos sucesos en el desarrollo de estos servicios en nuestro medio, desde la creación de un espacio pequeño ubicado en el sótano, hasta un espacio establecido ex profeso para otorgar servicio digno a todos los usuarios, por lo que se muestra este bosquejo histórico como reconocimiento a aquellos primeros bibliotecarios que contribuyeron a la formación de especialistas en México.

Improving the use of historical written sources in paleopathology.

The texts written by the people of past societies can provide key information that enhances our understanding of disease in the past. Written sources and art can describe cultural contexts that not only help us interpret lesions in excavated human remains, but also provide evidence for past disease events themselves. However, in recent decades many biohistorical articles have been published that claim to diagnose diseases present in past celebrities or well known individuals, often using less than scholarly methodology. This article aims to help researchers use historical written sources and artwork responsibly, thus improving our understanding of health and disease in the past. It explores a broad range of historical sources, from medical texts and histories to legal documents and tax records, and it highlights how the key to interpreting any past text is to understand who wrote it, when it was written, and why it was written. Case studies of plague epidemics, crucifixion, and the spinal deformity of King Richard III are then used to highlight how we might better integrate archaeological and historical evidence. When done well, integrating evidence from both archaeological and historical sources increases the probability of a complete and well-balanced understanding of disease in past societies.

Age verification of the longest lived man in the world.

Identifying the correct length of life for long-lived individuals is highly important for the social and natural sciences, as well as for policymaking. The purposes of this paper are to propose a standardized age verification procedure and to report on the age verification case of Jiroemon Kimura (J.K.), who is assumed to be the longest lived man in the world. We propose two verification processes that we have named face validity and concurrent validity of age verification. We collected official documents, and non-official records to check face validity. We also gathered life episodes told by J.K. and historical records to evaluate concurrent validity. Although we found several date inconsistencies among documents and mismatches between told episodes and actual dates of events, no critical discordances were discovered. In conclusion, we could verify that J.K. was born on April 19, 1897 and passed away on June 12, 2013 at the age of 116years and 54days.

Multispectral imaging reveals biblical-period inscription unnoticed for half a century.

Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca-ink-on-clay texts. They are poorly preserved and once unearthed, fade rapidly. Therefore, proper and timely documentation of ostraca is essential. Here we show a striking example of a hitherto invisible text on the back side of an ostracon revealed via multispectral imaging. This ostracon, found at the desert fortress of Arad and dated to ca. 600 BCE (the eve of Judah's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar), has been on display for half a century. Its front side has been thoroughly studied, while its back side was considered blank. Our research revealed three lines of text on the supposedly blank side and four "new" lines on the front side. Our results demonstrate the need for multispectral image acquisition for both sides of all ancient ink ostraca. Moreover, in certain cases we recommend employing multispectral techniques for screening newly unearthed ceramic potsherds prior to disposal.

Novas evidências documentais para a história da homeopatia na América Latina: um estudo de caso sobre os vínculos entre Rio de Janeiro e Buenos Aires / New documental evidence on the history of homeopathy in Latin America: a case study of links between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires

Resumo A homeopatia começou a propagar-se logo após sua formulação por Samuel Hahnemann, nos primeiros anos do século XIX, chegando ao Cone Sul na década de 1830. Esse processo é tradicionalmente vinculado à figura de um “introdutor”, por vezes alcançando estatuto mítico. No entanto, pouco se sabe acerca da chegada da homeopatia à Argentina nesse período. Com base em trabalho de arquivo, identificamos uma clara circulação de homeopatas médicos e leigos no eixo Rio de Janeiro-Buenos Aires. Dada a conhecida atividade proselitista desenvolvida nos círculos ligados aos homeopatas leigos B. Mure e J.V. Martins no Rio de Janeiro, a documentação disponível aponta para a possível extensão desse movimento também na Argentina, o que não tinha sido evidenciado até o presente.

Abstract Homeopathy began to spread soon after it was formulated by Samuel Hahnemann in the early 1800s, reaching the Southern Cone in the 1830s. In processes of this kind, one figure is often cited as being responsible for introducing it, often attaining quasi-mythical status. Little is known, however, about how homeopathy reached Argentina at that time. Through archival research, we discovered that medical and lay homeopaths circulated between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Given the well-known proselytizing of the circles gravitating around lay homeopaths B. Mure and J.V. Martins in Rio de Janeiro, the documents indicate that this movement actually went as far as Argentina, which had not been confirmed until now.

La historia por escribir en los Colegios Oficiales de Enfermería provinciales, los archivos como fuentes de investigación / A história por escrito às Faculdades Provinciais de Profissionais de Enfermagem, arquivos como fontes de pesquisa / The story by writing to the provincial Colleges of Nursing, archives and research sources

La investigación en historia de la enfermería cuenta con un amplio número de fuentes. Aún por explorar está la documentación existente en los colegios profesionales, fiel reflejo de los cuidados y cuidadores en la etapa de la profesionalización y el desarrollo científico de la disciplina. Con este artículo pretendemos describir, por un lado, el proceso de organización que estamos llevando a cabo en el archivo del colegio de enfermería de Huelva; y por otro, la situación que ofrecen en cuanto a organización de sus archivos el resto de estas instituciones provinciales españolas. La clasificación de esos fondos se realiza para el servicio de la administración colegial que es el órgano que la genera, para los profesionales y sobre todo para la investigación, la difusión cultural y la construcción de ese periodo de la historia de enfermería (AU)

Research on Nursery History has a wide range of sources at its disposal. We must still investigate documents kept in professional colleges, as they are an accurate reflection of care and caregiver in the period of scientific development of the discipline. In this paper we shall describe the process of reorganization in the archive of the Nursery College in Huelva, as well as the situation of most Spanish nursery archives. Their classification aims to serve the College administration, which generates them, as well as the professionals and research, cultural diffusion and the reconstruction of this period of Nursery History (AU)

Pesquisas em história da enfermagem temum grande número de fontes. Inexplorada é a documentação existente nas escolas profissionais, um verdadeiro reflexo de cuidados e cuidadores na fase do desenvolvimento profissional e científica da disciplina. Com esta comunicação pretende-se descrever, por um lado, o processo de organização que estamos realizando no arquivocom o Huelva enfermeira da escola; e em segundo lugar, a situação oferecido em organização de seus arquivos o restante deste instituições provinciais espanhóis. A classificação destes fundos é feito para o serviço da administração da faculdade é o corpo que gera, para os profissionais e, especialmente, para a pesquisa, difusão cultural e construção desse período na história da enfermagem (AU)

[New documental evidence on the history of homeopathy in Latin America: a case study of links between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires]. / Novas evidências documentais para a história da homeopatia na América Latina: um estudo de caso sobre os vínculos entre Rio de Janeiro e Buenos Aires.

Homeopathy began to spread soon after it was formulated by Samuel Hahnemann in the early 1800s, reaching the Southern Cone in the 1830s. In processes of this kind, one figure is often cited as being responsible for introducing it, often attaining quasi-mythical status. Little is known, however, about how homeopathy reached Argentina at that time. Through archival research, we discovered that medical and lay homeopaths circulated between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Given the well-known proselytizing of the circles gravitating around lay homeopaths B. Mure and J.V. Martins in Rio de Janeiro, the documents indicate that this movement actually went as far as Argentina, which had not been confirmed until now.

Did Emperor Moctezuma II's head injury and subsequent death hasten the fall of the Aztec nation?

This article analyzes the head injury of Emperor Moctezuma as one of those injuries that affected the course of history. The Emperor's death arguably changed the fate of an entire nation and led to the destruction of the Aztec civilization. Moctezuma died in the evening hours of June 30, 1520, in his palace in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, while a prisoner of the Spanish conquistadors. The Emperor had been speaking to his people in an effort to persuade them to cease hostilities against Hernán Cortés, his Spanish soldiers, and Indian allies. Both Spanish and Indian contemporary sources document that he sustained a severe head injury when one of his own warriors hit him with a rock thrown from a sling. However, after the Conquest of Mexico some of the information collected by Spanish friars from Indian stories, songs, and pictorial representations raised the possibility that Moctezuma died of strangulation or stabbing at the hands of the Spaniards. There is even a suggestion of suicide. This issue remains unresolved and emotionally charged. The historical and clinical analysis of the events surrounding Moctezuma's death indicates that the Emperor most likely died as a consequence of head injury. The author has attempted to present a neutral analysis but agrees with Benjamin Keen that neutrality may be unattainable, no matter how remote the subject of historical inquiry is from the present.

Sugar industry influence on the scientific agenda of the National Institute of Dental Research's 1971 National Caries Program: a historical analysis of internal documents.

BACKGROUND: In 1966, the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) began planning a targeted research program to identify interventions for widespread application to eradicate dental caries (tooth decay) within a decade. In 1971, the NIDR launched the National Caries Program (NCP). The objective of this paper is to explore the sugar industry's interaction with the NIDR to alter the research priorities of the NIDR NCP. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used internal cane and beet sugar industry documents from 1959 to 1971 to analyze industry actions related to setting research priorities for the NCP. The sugar industry could not deny the role of sucrose in dental caries given the scientific evidence. They therefore adopted a strategy to deflect attention to public health interventions that would reduce the harms of sugar consumption rather than restricting intake. Industry tactics included the following: funding research in collaboration with allied food industries on enzymes to break up dental plaque and a vaccine against tooth decay with questionable potential for widespread application, cultivation of relationships with the NIDR leadership, consulting of members on an NIDR expert panel, and submission of a report to the NIDR that became the foundation of the first request for proposals issued for the NCP. Seventy-eight percent of the sugar industry submission was incorporated into the NIDR's call for research applications. Research that could have been harmful to sugar industry interests was omitted from priorities identified at the launch of the NCP. Limitations are that this analysis relies on one source of sugar industry documents and that we could not interview key actors. CONCLUSIONS: The NCP was a missed opportunity to develop a scientific understanding of how to restrict sugar consumption to prevent tooth decay. A key factor was the alignment of research agendas between the NIDR and the sugar industry. This historical example illustrates how industry protects itself from potentially damaging research, which can inform policy makers today. Industry opposition to current policy proposals-including a World Health Organization guideline on sugars proposed in 2014 and changes to the nutrition facts panel on packaged food in the US proposed in 2014 by the US Food and Drug Administration-should be carefully scrutinized to ensure that industry interests do not supersede public health goals.

Ancient administrative handwritten documents: X-ray analysis and imaging.

Handwritten characters in administrative antique documents from three centuries have been detected using different synchrotron X-ray imaging techniques. Heavy elements in ancient inks, present even for everyday administrative manuscripts as shown by X-ray fluorescence spectra, produce attenuation contrast. In most cases the image quality is good enough for tomography reconstruction in view of future applications to virtual page-by-page `reading'. When attenuation is too low, differential phase contrast imaging can reveal the characters from refractive index effects. The results are potentially important for new information harvesting strategies, for example from the huge Archivio di Stato collection, objective of the Venice Time Machine project.