Tsunami mortality and displacement in Aceh province, Indonesia

A survey of 388 Indonesian households displaced by the December 2004 tsunami was conducted in Aceh province in February 2005. Of tsunami-displaced households in Aceh Barat and Nagan Raya districts, 61.8 per cent reported one or more family members as dead or missing due to the tsunami, with an overall mortality rate of 13.9 per cent (95% confidence interval (CI): 12.4-15.4). Risk of death was greatest in the youngest and oldest age groups, and among females. Overall, 36 per cent of tsunami-displaced households indicated an intention to return to their original community within three months, and displaced households residing in host communities were 2.2 (95% CI: 1.2-2.8) times more likely to state an intention to return to their original villages or another community as those residing in camps. The tsunami recovery effort should focus on strategies that facilitate either prompt return or permanent, voluntary relocation for those displaced.     

Evaluation of a population mobility,mortality, and birth surveillance system in South Kivu,Democratic Republic of the Congo

Prospective, community-based surveillance systems for measuring birth, death, and population movement rates may have advantages over the ‘gold-standard’ retrospective household survey in humanitarian contexts. A community-based, monthly surveillance system was established in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in partnership with a local implementing partner and the national ministry of health. Data were collected on the occurrence of births, deaths, arrivals, and departures over the course of one year, and a retrospective survey was conducted at the end of the period to validate the information. Discrepancies between the two approaches were resolved by a third visit to the households with discordant records. The study found that the surveillance system was superior in terms of its specificity and sensitivity in measuring crude mortality and birth rates as compared to the survey, demonstrating the method's potential to measure accurately important population-level health metrics in an insecure setting in a timely, community-acceptable manner.     

Resilience of Southwestern Amazon Forests to Anthropogenic Edge Effects

Abstract:  Anthropogenic edge effects can compromise the conservation value of mature tropical forests. To date most edge-effect research in Amazonia has concentrated on forests in relatively seasonal locations or with poor soils in the east of the basin. We present the first evaluation from the relatively richer soils of far western Amazonia on the extent to which mature forest biomass, diversity, and composition are affected by edges. In a southwestern Amazonian landscape we surveyed woody plant diversity, species composition, and biomass in 88 × 0.1 ha samples of unflooded forest that spanned a wide range in soil properties and included samples as close as 50 m and as distant as >10 km from anthropogenic edges. We applied Mantel tests, multiple regression on distance matrices, and other multivariate techniques to identify anthropogenic effects before and after accounting for soil factors and spatial autocorrelation. The distance to the nearest edge, access point, and the geographical center of the nearest community ("anthropogenic-distance effects") all had no detectable effect on tree biomass or species diversity. Anthropogenic-distance effects on tree species composition were also below the limits of detection and were negligible in comparison with natural environmental and spatial factors. Analysis of the data set's capacity to detect anthropogenic effects confirmed that the forests were not severely affected by edges, although because our study had few plots within 100 m of forest edges, our confidence in patterns in the immediate vicinity of edges is limited. It therefore appears that the conservation value of most "edge" forests in this region has not yet been compromised substantially. We caution that because this is one case study it should not be overinterpreted, but one explanation for our findings may be that western Amazonian tree species are naturally faster growing and more disturbance adapted than those farther east.     

Statistical inference on patch-specific survival and movement rates from marked animals

Empirical estimates of patch-specific survival and movement rates are needed to parametrize spatially explicit population models, and for inference on the effects of habitat quality and fragmentation on populations. Data from radio-marked animals, in which both the fates and habitat locations of animals are known over time, can be used in conjunction with continuous-time proportional hazards models to obtain inferences on survival rates. Discrete-time conditional logistic models may provide inference on both survival and movement rates. We use Monte Carlo simulation to investigate accuracy of estimates of survival from both approaches, and movement rates from conditional logistic regression, for two habitats. Bias was low (relative bias < 0.04) and interval coverage accurate (close to the nominal 0.95) for estimates of habitat effect on survival based on proportional hazards. Bias was high ( relative bias 0.60) and interval coverage poor ( = 0.26 vs. nominal 0.95) for estimates of habitat effect based on conditional logistic regression; bias was especially influenced by heterogeneity in survival and the shape of the hazard function, whereas both bias and coverage were affected by ‘memory’ effects in movement patterns. Bias estimates of movement rate was low ( relative bias < 0.05), but interval coverage was poor ( = 0.48–0.80), possibly as a result of poor performance of a Taylor series estimate of variance. An example is provided from a radio-telemetry study of 47 wintering American woodcock (Scolopax minor), illustrating practical difficulties in field studies to parametrize these models. We also discuss extensions of continuous-time models to explicitly include a movement process, and further examine tradeoffs between continuous and discrete models.     

Insect cell-based impedance biosensors: a novel technique to monitor the toxicity of environmental pollutants

Cell biosensors are currently emerging as novel, sensitive techniques to monitor the toxicity of environmental pollutants. Here, we have developed electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) for on-line monitoring of the behavior of insect cells. Cells were cultured on a microarray of eight small gold electrodes, deposited on the bottom of tissue culture wells. Upon inoculation, cells showed a tendency to drift downward and attached to the gold surface precoated with the protein Concanavalin A to accelerate the cell attachment. The impedance increased because the cells acted as insulating particles to restrict the current flow. The resulting impedance, a coordination of many biological reactions within the cell, was continuously monitored in real-time to reveal information about cell spreading and micromotion. As the cell behavior was sensitive to external chemicals, the applicability of ECIS for inhibition assays was demonstrated with HgCl₂, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2-amino 4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT) and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB). Electronic Publication     

"十一五"脱硫计划实施前后长三角地区的硫沉降变化

采用RAINS ASIA模型研究了"十一五"期间长三角地区实施脱硫措施前后硫沉降超临界负荷的变化.结果表明,在90%保证率下,长三角地区硫沉降的临界负荷(以S计,下同)总值为78.38万t/a;2005年该地区硫沉降的超临界负荷总值为27.98万t/a,有45.6%区域面积的硫沉降超过临界负荷;如果不实施脱硫措施,到2010年长三角地区硫沉降超临界负荷的情景将急剧恶化,硫沉降超临界负荷总值将增长18.4%,超临界负荷的区域面积将增加到48.7%;"十一五"脱硫计划如期实施后,2010年长三角地区硫沉降超临界负荷总值将在2005年的基础上下降27.4%,但仍有39.1%的区域面积超过临界负荷,须采取更严格的措施控制硫沉降量.     

Trends in occupational injuries and fatality in Turkey

Introduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trend of occupational injuries in Turkey using epidemiologic criteria such as incidence mortality and fatality/all injuries recorded – rates. Materials and methods. Safety and health data were obtained from the Annual Statistic Books of the Social Insurance Institution (1988–2006) and Social Security Institution (2007–2011) of Turkey. Results. The results from the official data showed that although total employment is increasing the number of occupational injuries and incidence and mortality rates are decreasing. The results also demonstrate that occupational fatality/all injuries recorded – rate is increasing. The fatality/all injuries recorded – rate per 1000 injuries increased to 25.5 in 2011 from 8.6 in 1988. Each work day an average of five people died because of occupational injuries. Discussion and conclusions. The fatality/all injuries recorded – rate (the number of fatal cases per 1000 occupational injuries) is an important indicator of the injury rate for a country. Systems of occupational injury and illness surveillance constitute a critical resource for the management and reduction of occupational injuries and illness.     

Estimated trends and patterns of road traffic fatalities in China, 2002–2012

Objective: This study examined the time trends and age distribution patterns of estimated road traffic fatalities (RTFs) in China over the period 2002–2012. Methods: Data on age-, sex-, and region-specific RTF rates were provided by the Chinese Ministry of Health. The crude rates were standardized and the Mann-Kendall test was used to test the significance of time trends. Annual number of RTFs was calculated. To minimize the effect of yearly variations, magnitude of changes in and age distribution patterns of the RTFs were examined using mean values of 2 years. Results: RTFs increased significantly in China during the study period. Several features were identified for the RTFs in China. First, RTF rates skyrocketed in rural areas including towns and counties. Second, a significant increase in RTFs was also observed in cities even though the change in RTF rates was not statistically significant there. Third, individuals aged 20–24, 40–49, and 55–64, especially in rural areas, were particularly at risk for RTFs in recent years. Finally, RTFs became more common among middle-aged and older adults than young Chinese, with roughly 57% of all RTFs occurring among individuals aged 45 and above during 2011–2012. Conclusions: RTFs increased dramatically in China during the past decade, especially in rural areas. Age distribution patterns of RTFs have changed there. Community-based public health education and intervention programs are warranted.     

浙江龙游某食道癌高发区的地质环境分析

本研究采用排除法、对比法和追源法,在对浙江龙游某食道癌高发区的癌症发病情况系统调查的基础上,开展了涵盖地质背景、土壤理化条件、土壤地球化学以及饮用水源等多方面的调查研究工作.经调查发现,病区土壤母质为白垩纪模环凹陷湖沼相沉积物,与低发区相比,高发区土壤质地粘重,有机质含量高,饮用水中亚硝酸盆、氨氮、硝酸盐超标率达80%...     

镉、汞、铅和石油烃复合污染对渤海湾常见渔业资源生物的影响初探(Effects of the Combined Pollution of Cd, Hg, Pb and Petroleum Hydrocarbons on Common Fishery Species in the Bohai Bay)

通过对1996～2005年渤海湾近岸海域海水镉、汞、铅和石油烃浓度变化的分析,发现海水中镉浓度呈明显上升趋势,汞、铅和石油烃则无明显变化趋势.加速生命试验法模型(Accelerated Life Testing model)的研究显示,1996～2005年渤海湾近岸海域海水镉、汞和铅平均浓度均已超过其对渤海湾常见渔业资源生物的安全浓度.镉、汞、铅和石油烃对生物的长期致死率鱼类分别为4.5%、16.3%、0.0%和12.0%,甲壳类为0.4%、7.9%、0.3%和6.6%,双壳类为10.5%、0.2%、0.2%和2.3%.效应加和模型(Independence Action model)的估算表明,在镉、汞、铅和石油烃组成的复合污染条件下,渤海湾常见鱼类、甲壳类和双壳类的长期死亡率分别为29.7%、14.6%和12.9%,其种群增长率分别降低约6.4%、14.6%和12.9%.与镉、汞、铅和石油烃单种污染物暴露相比,其复合污染导致的渤海湾常见渔业资源生物种群(鱼类、甲壳类和双壳类)增长率的降低更明显.因此,复合污染是导致渤海湾渔业资源衰退的重要因素。