Survivor needs or logistical convenience? Factors shaping decisions to deliver relief to earthquake‐affected communities,Pakistan 2005–06

In Bureaucratizing the Good Samaritan , Waters (2001) argues that bureaucratic rationality distracts humanitarian agencies from the needs of the people they are supposed to assist, in favour of other values that their institutional frameworks dictate. We test his claim by investigating the response to the Pakistan 2005 earthquake. One of us (Dittemore) worked with the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre in the theatre, managing a relief cargo shipment database. The response, known as 'Operation Winter Race', was hampered by extreme logistical challenges, but ultimately succeeded in averting a second disaster resulting from cold and starvation. We use statistical models to probe whether survivor needs significantly guided decisions to deliver relief to affected communities. Needs assessments remained incomplete and incoherent. We measure needs through proxy indicators and integrate them, on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform, with logistics and relief delivery data. We find that, despite strong logistics effects, needs orientations were significant. However, the strength of decision factors varies between commodity types (food versus clothing and shelter versus reconstruction materials) as well as over the different phases of the response. This study confirms Thomas's observation that logistics databases are rich 'repositories of data that can be analyzed to provide post-event learning' (Thomas, 2003, p. 4). This article is an invitation for others to engage in creative humanitarian data management.     

A review of vulnerability indicators for deltaic social–ecological systems

The sustainability of deltas worldwide is under threat due to the consequences of global environmental change (including climate change) and human interventions in deltaic landscapes. Understanding these systems is becoming increasingly important to assess threats to and opportunities for long-term sustainable development. Here, we propose a simplified, yet inclusive social–ecological system (SES)-centered risk and vulnerability framework and a list of indicators proven to be useful in past delta assessments. In total, 236 indicators were identified through a structured review of peer-reviewed literature performed for three globally relevant deltas—the Mekong, the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and the Amazon. These are meant to serve as a preliminary “library” of potential indicators to be used for future vulnerability assessments. Based on the reviewed studies, we identified disparities in the availability of indicators to populate some of the vulnerability domains of the proposed framework, as comprehensive social–ecological assessments were seldom implemented in the past. Even in assessments explicitly aiming to capture both the social and the ecological system, there were many more indicators for social susceptibility and coping/adaptive capacities as compared to those relevant for characterizing ecosystem susceptibility or robustness. Moreover, there is a lack of multi-hazard approaches accounting for the specific vulnerability profile of sub-delta areas. We advocate for more comprehensive, truly social–ecological assessments which respond to multi-hazard settings and recognize within-delta differences in vulnerability and risk. Such assessments could make use of the proposed framework and list of indicators as a starting point and amend it with new indicators that would allow capturing the complexity as well as the multi-hazard exposure in a typical delta SES.     

Unravelling the association between the impact of natural hazards and household poverty: evidence from the Indian Sundarban delta

Coastal regions have long been settled by humans due to their abundant resources for livelihoods, including agriculture, transportation, and rich biodiversity. However, natural and anthropogenic factors, such as climate change and sea-level rise, and land subsidence, population pressure, developmental activities, pose threats to coastal sustainability. Natural hazards, such as fluvial or coastal floods, impact poorer and more vulnerable communities greater than more affluent communities. Quantitative assessments of how natural hazards affect vulnerable communities in deltaic regions are still limited, hampering the design of effective management strategies to increase household and community resilience. Drawing from Driving Forces–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR), we quantify the associations between household poverty and the likelihood of material and human loss following a natural hazard using new survey data from 783 households within Indian Sundarban Delta community. The results suggest that the poorest households are significantly more likely to endure material and human losses following a natural hazard and repeated losses of livelihood make them more vulnerable to future risk. The results further suggest that salinization, tidal surge, erosion, and household location are also significant predictors of economic and human losses. Given the current and projected impact of climate change and importance of delta regions as the world’s food baskets, poverty reduction and increase societal resilience should be a primary pathway to strengthen the resilience of the poorest populations inhabiting deltas.     

Behavior of pesticide residues in agricultural soil and adjacent River Kuywa sediment and water samples from Nzoia sugarcane belt in Kenya

An inventory survey conducted to determine pesticide usage in a sub-catchment of the Nzoia sugarcane belt found a variety of pesticides used in the sub-catchment, which are reported in this paper. Analysis of soil samples from seven fallow experimental field plots left uncultivated for various periods from 3 to 96?months after cultivation with pesticide application indicated persistence of high concentrations of pesticide residues in the soil, with estimated soil half-lives (in years) ranging from 0.72 to 57.75 for organochlorines and from 1.13 to 8.25 for herbicides. The mean water concentrations (in ??g/L) of the pesticide residues in River Kuywa, which flows through the Nzoia Nucleus Estate sugarcane farms, ranged from 0.12 (lindane) to 1.36 (p,p??-DDT) for organochlorines and from 0.14 (atrazine) to 1.75 (diuron) for herbicides during the heavy rains period in August 2008 while the mean sediment concentrations (in ??g/g) ranged from 0.28 (lindane) to 1.87 (endrin) for organochlorines and 0.39 (hexazinone) to 4.61 (alachlor) for herbicides. The mean concentrations of residues in water during the light rain period in December 2008 ranged from 0.17 (p,p??-DDT) to 0.71 (aldrin) for organochlorines and 0.01 (atrazine) to 1.74 (alachlor) for herbicides while the sediment concentrations ranged from 0.38 (p,p??-DDT) to 1.145 (aldrin) for organochlorines and 0.74 (atrazine) to 1.98 (alachlor) for herbicides. Although DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, and endrin were not reported in the survey, their presence in the fallow experimental field plot soils and in River Kuywa water and sediment could indicate previous application, lack of recorded data or illegal usage since 1997 when they were banned. Notably, the concentrations of alachlor, diuron, cypermethrin, and hexazinone in the water column were substantial indicating their extensive usage and residual persistence in the sub-catchment, with subsequent wash-off and leaching into River Kuywa. The concentration levels of some of the individual pesticides exceeded the EU limit requirements for drinking water and indicated potential risk to humans and cattle if the water is used without treatment.     

Cell-free DNA fetal fraction in twin gestations in single-nucleotide polymorphism-based noninvasive prenatal screening

Objectives

The performance of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) for fetal aneuploidy in twin pregnancies is dependent on the amount of placentally derived cell-free DNA, the “fetal fraction (FF),” present in maternal plasma. We report FF values in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) pregnancies.

Methods

We reviewed FF in pregnancies at 10 to 20 completed weeks gestational age based on single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based NIPS where zygosity was routinely established in twin pregnancies. The cohort included 121 446 (96.3%) singleton, 1454 (1.2%) MZ, and 3161 (2.5%) DZ pregnancies. For DZ twins, individual FFs were measured.

Results

Combined FF for DZ and MZ fetuses were 35% and 26% greater than singletons, respectively. The individual FF contributions from each fetus in DZ twins were, on average, 32% less than singletons. FF in DZ twin pairs were moderately correlated (Pearson correlation coefficient.66). When a threshold of 2.8% FF was applied to define uninterpretable results, 1.7% (2102/121 446) of singletons, 0.8% (11/1454) of MZ pairs, and 5.6% (178/3161) of DZ pairs were uninterpretable.

Conclusion

For optimal aneuploidy NIPS in twin pregnancies, zygosity should be established and in DZ twins FF for both fetuses should be determined to identify those cases where results can be reliably interpreted.     

Biodegradation of carbofuran in soils within Nzoia River Basin,Kenya

Carbofuran (2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethylbenzofuran-7-yl methylcarbamate) has been used within the Nzoia River Basin (NRB), especially in Bunyala Rice Irrigation Schemes, in Kenya for the control of pests. In this study, the capacity of native bacteria to degrade carbofuran in soils from NRB was investigated. A gram positive, rod-shaped bacteria capable of degrading carbofuran was isolated through liquid cultures with carbofuran as the only carbon and nitrogen source. The isolate degraded 98% of 100-μg mL^?1 carbofuran within 10 days with the formation of carbofuran phenol as the only detectable metabolite. The degradation of carbofuran was followed by measuring its residues in liquid cultures using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Physical and morphological characteristics as well as molecular characterization confirmed the bacterial isolate to be a member of Bacillus species. The results indicate that this strain of Bacillus sp. could be considered as Bacillus cereus or Bacillus thuringiensis with a bootstrap value of 100% similar to the 16S rRNA gene sequences. The biodegradation capability of the native strains in this study indicates that they have great potential for application in bioremediation of carbofuran-contaminated soil sites.     

INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS TO WATER MARKETING IN THE WEST1

ABSTRACT: Water marketing has been proposed as one means of reallocating water supplies in the western United States. While markets for western water currently exist and may be expected to expand, the institutional constraints within which the markets must operate will limit the ultimate size and efficiency of those markets. Lack of articulation of public interests in the water resource itself leads to incomplete definition of the private rights to use the water, and it is those private rights which are sold or leased in the market. The increase in size and efficiency of any market in water rights will be dependent on the willingness of legislatures to specifically define the nature and extent of public interests in water supplies, and detailed definition is unlikely.     

INTERSTATE AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR WATER RESOURCES1

ABSTRACT: Federal-state relations over the management and regulation of ground water resources have undergone a number of changes in recent years. There are a variety of reasons that the role of the federal government in ground water management may increase in the future. One important reason federal policymakers may become involved concerns the extent of competition for ground water resources that cross state and national borders. This article summarizes reasons that interstate and international competition for ground water resources may provide the impetus for federal intervention in ground water management and presents the results of a survey conducted to determine the extent of that competition.