SEASONAL VARIATION OF BIRTHS IN RURAL WEST BENGAL: MAGNITUDE, DIRECTION AND CORRELATES

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
UMA CHATTERJEE ◽  
RAJIB ACHARYA

This paper examines seasonal variation of births in a rural community of West Bengal, India, by exploring data from the 1992–93 National Family Health Survey. Suitable time series analyses were used to determine the seasonal pattern of births and to estimate peaks. The trigonometric regression technique was used to carry out this objective. The study attempted to link the results of the regression analysis to the atmospheric temperature of the region during 1987–91, the distribution of respondents’ husbands’ occupations and the marriage pattern of the community. It was found that, in the study population, conceptions were numerous in the first quarter of a calendar year and the distribution of conceptions over calendar months was negatively associated with the average monthly temperature. In addition, the marriage pattern of the community and the occupational distribution of the fathers also had a significant effect on the distribution of births over calendar months. It is hoped that the findings will boost the development of needs-based maternal and child health (MCH) and family planning programmes in the community.

Twin Research ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Fellman ◽  
Aldur W Eriksson

AbstractThere have been few secular analyses of the seasonal variation in human twinning and the results are conflicting. One reason for this is that the seasonal pattern of twinning varies in different populations and at different periods. Another reason is that the statistical methods used are different. The changing pattern of seasonal variation in twinning rates and total maternities in Denmark was traced for three periods (1855–69, 1870–94, and 1937–84). Two alternative methods of analysis are considered. The method of Walter and Elwood and a trigonometric regression model give closely similar results. The seasonal distribution of twin maternities for the periods in the 19th century showed highly significant departures. For both twin and general maternities, the main peaks can be seen from March to June and a local peak in September. During the spring– summer season the twinning rates were higher than the total birth rates, indicating a stronger seasonal variation for the twin maternities than for the general maternities. For 1937–84, there was a similar, but less accentuated, pattern. Studies of other populations are compared with the Danish results. The more accentuated seasonal variation of twinning in the past indicate that some factors in the past affected women during summer–autumn and around Christmas time, making them more fecund and particularly to be more prone to polyovulation and/or more able to complete a gestation with multiple embryos.


1972 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Stoeckel ◽  
A. K. M. Alauddin Choudhury

SummaryAn analysis of the monthly distribution of births in two areas of Matlab Thana, East Pakistan, indicates that there is a seasonal variation in births different from what would be expected by chance. The highest proportion of births occur in the last three months of a year and the lowest proportion between May and July. Investigation into some of the environmental and social factors which might contribute to the seasonal pattern revealed the following: mean minimum monthly temperature 9 months before birth was inversely related to the number of births; all occupations had seasonal patterns different from what would be expected by chance and the business and mill-and-office occupations had distributions significantly different from each other; the distribution of births for all pregnancy orders was different from chance and the distribution for first order pregnancies was significantly different from those for third and fourth or higher orders.


Author(s):  
Belén Mora Garijo ◽  
Jonathan E. Katz ◽  
Aubrey Greer ◽  
Mia Gonzalgo ◽  
Alejandro García López ◽  
...  

AbstractSeveral diseases associated with erectile dysfunction (ED), such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD), are known to have seasonal variation, with increased incidence during winter months. However, no literature exists on whether this chronological-seasonal evolution is also present within ED symptomatology. We hypothesized ED would follow the seasonal pattern of its lifestyle-influenced comorbid conditions and exhibit increased incidence during winter months. In order to investigate the seasonal variation of ED in the United States between 2009 and 2019, Internet search query data were obtained using Google Trends. Normalized search volume was determined during the winter and summer seasons for ED, other diseases known to be significantly associated with ED (T2DM and CAD), kidney stones (positive control), and prostate cancer (negative control). There were significantly more internet search queries for ED during the winter than during the summer (p = 0.001). CAD and T2DM also had significantly increased search volume during winter months compared to summer months (p < 0.001 and p = 0.011, respectively). By contrast, searches for kidney stones were significantly increased in the summer than in the winter (p < 0.001). There was no significant seasonal variation in the relative search frequency for prostate cancer (p = 0.75). In conclusion, Google Trends internet search data across a ten-year period in the United States suggested a seasonal variation in ED, which implies an increase in ED during winter. This novel finding in ED epidemiology may help increase awareness of ED’s associated lifestyle risk factors, which may facilitate early medical evaluation and treatment for those at risk of both ED and cardiovascular disease.


2005 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. AL-AJAM ◽  
A. R. BIZRI ◽  
J. MOKHBAT ◽  
J. WEEDON ◽  
L. LUTWICK

Mucormycosis is a fairly rare fungal infection caused by ubiquitous fungi of the order Mucorales and primarily affects immunocompromised hosts. A series of 16 cases of invasive mucormycosis admitted to three referral centres in Beirut, Lebanon between 1981 and 1999 is described. It includes 12 patients with rhinocerebral, three with cutaneous, and one with pulmonary infection. Onset of symptoms occurred in the summer and autumn in 15 out of 16 patients, showing a statistically significant seasonal variation (P=0·007) A recent report of 19 patients from Tel Aviv describes a strikingly similar seasonal pattern. Studies on atmospheric concentration of Mucorales spores in the Eastern Mediterranean are lacking. Weather pattern analysis in Beirut revealed clustering of onset of invasive mucormycosis at the end of a dry, warm period, which begins around May and ends in October. Mucormycosis incidence appears to be seasonal in the Eastern Mediterranean.


1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 408-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Retamal C. ◽  
Derek Humphreys

OBJECTIVE: To review the estimated suicide rates for the Region Metropolitan, the main socio-political center in Chile, for the period 1979-1994, and to determine whether they follow a seasonal pattern. METHOD: Data available for the period 1979-94 at the Forensic Services in Chile was analyzed using ANOVA. RESULTS: It was register 5.386 suicides. While the "warm" months (October, November, December & January) concentrated 39.0% of cases, the so called "cold" months reported 28,7%. This contrast is made even clearer by the month-to-month analysis, showing the highest suicide rate in December (10.9%) against the lowest rate in June (7.0%). Further statistical analysis revealed these differences to be significant. CONCLUSION: The study shows that in Chile, representing as it does the Southern Hemisphere, the suicide rates tend to present a seasonal variation as has elsewhere been determined for in the North Hemisphere.


Author(s):  
T J Hine ◽  
N B Roberts

The seasonal variation of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D has been investigated. Blood was taken from 27 healthy volunteers, aged 21–44 years old at 3 monthly intervals over a period of 1 year. A scrolling monthly programme with 12 quarterly (3 month) time periods was developed. A summer associated increase in 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 was significantly correlated with but lagged behind by 2 months, the increase in recorded sunlight hours. However, four individuals showed no seasonal rise but maintained constant concentrations throughout the year within the established reference range. Serum 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D showed marked intra-individual variability with no seasonal pattern although the highest concentration (180 pmol/L) was observed in the winter and no concentration greater than 108 pmol/L in the summer.


Author(s):  
Anant Parasher ◽  
Kunal Ranjan

Background: Gastroesophageal Reflux (GER) is the regurgitation of gastric contents and acid into the esophagus. Frequent and abnormal amounts of reflux leads to Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which causes symptoms like heartburn, regurgitation, and /or other complications. In view of absence of any data on the prevalence of GERD from this part of India, the current population based study was conducted to study the prevalence of GERD and its association with various risk factors.Methods: In this community based prospective cross-sectional observational study, 500 patients from rural and urban areas of West Bengal were included during the one year period from July 2014 to June 2015.Results: Out of a total of 500 patients studied, the percentage of patients with GERD in our study population was found to be 31.3%. Out of 292 males enrolled for the study, number of patients with GERD was 66 (22.6%) as compare to females where the same was found to be 43.26% (90/208). The majority (68.2%) of patients had mild GERD, 18.5% had moderate GERD whereas only 13.3% of patients had severe GERD.Conclusions: The percentage of patients with GERD in our study population was found to be 31.3%. It was observed to be significantly associated with increasing Body Mass Index (B.M.I), smoking, the female gender, a sedentary lifestyle, dinner to bed-time interval of ≤2 hours, chronic NSAID use, and a past history of abdominal surgery.


1902 ◽  
Vol 69 (451-458) ◽  
pp. 61-85 ◽  

The following paper is mainly concerned with the analysis of the seasonal variation of temperature of the British Islands into a series of simple harmonic curves. The variation of temperature is so irregular that the use of this method of analysis for the investigation of the subject may seem to he arbitrary and inappropriate, and a few words of introduction are accordingly necessary to indicate the circumstances under which this mode of dealing with the subject showed itself to be specially adapted for the purpose.


1933 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Malcolm

1. Of 21,569 samples of mixed cow's milk taken under fair conditions of cleanliness and examined by means of the coliform test, 48·3 per cent, gave negative results with 1/10, 1/100 and 1/1000 c.c. amounts; 21–4 per cent, gave positive results with only 1/10 c.c.; 14·0 per cent, gave positive results with only 1/10 and 1/100 c.c.; and 16·3 per cent, gave positive results with 1/10, 1/100 and 1/1000 c.c. It is probable that these results are better than those generally obtained.2. The proportion of coliform-positive samples was much higher in summer and early autumn than during the winter and spring. This seasonal variation was largely due to atmospheric temperature, there being a well-marked direct correlation between the proportion of coliform-positive samples and the mean of the minimum and maximum atmospheric temperatures.3. Of 21,857 samples examined, 10,458 were coliform negative and had an average bacterial content of 25,294 per c.c; 11,399 were coliform positive and had an average bacterial content of 160,577 per c.c. The coliform-positive samples contained on an average 6·3 times as many bacteria as the coliform negative.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 2473011418S0017
Author(s):  
Jon-Michael Caldwell ◽  
Harry Lightsey ◽  
Hasani Swindell ◽  
Justin Greisberg ◽  
J. Turner Vosseller

Category: Sports Introduction/Purpose: Achilles tendon ruptures are increasingly common injuries. There are several known risk factors for Achilles tendon rupture, although little is reported on the seasonal variation of the incidence of these injuries. Of the few studies in the literature touching on this question, the results have been varied. We sought to determine if there is any seasonal pattern of Achilles tendon ruptures. Knowledge of such a seasonal pattern could be advantageous for patient education, risk assessment, and ultimately prevention of these injuries. Methods: We queried billing records for CPT codes 27650, 27652, and 27654 as well as ICD diagnosis codes 727.67, 845.09, and S86.01x pertaining to Achilles tendon injury, repair, and reconstruction. Charts were screened and included if the patient suffered an acute Achilles tendon rupture on a known date. Charts were excluded if the patient had a chronic Achilles tear or underwent reconstruction or debridement for tendonitis, Haglunds deformity, tendon laceration, or any other indication aside from acute rupture. Data was analyzed using a chi-squared test for categorical variables, binomial tests for dichotomous variables and Mann-Whitney-U or Welch t-test for continuous variables. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Our search yielded 499 cases with 245 meeting inclusion criteria. Sixty-six percent (66%) of injuries were identified as sports-related while 34% were non-sports related. When stratified by month, significant peaks occurred in April and July (p = .036, .011 respectively) with significantly fewer injuries occurring in October through December (p = 0.049). The highest rate of injury was seen in Spring (p = .015) and the lowest was seen in Fall (p < .001). There was no significant difference between seasons when only the non-sports related injuries were considered. Basketball was the most common sport involved (n=78) accounting for 51% of injuries (p < .001), followed by soccer and tennis. There was no significant variation between seasons in any particular sport. Conclusion: There was significant seasonal variation in the incidence of Achilles tendon ruptures. Both sports and non-sports-related injuries followed a similar pattern, with most injuries occurring during the Spring and Summer and fewer during Fall and Winter. This increase corresponds to the increase in activity in the recreational athlete population in the region which is often preceded by a time of relative inactivity. Our study confirms that the deconditioned athlete is at particularly elevated risk for Achilles tendon rupture during the Spring season when abrupt increases in sporting activity are common. Targeted education and prevention efforts could help mitigate this risk.


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