Health profiles of Hamilton: Spatial characterisation of neighbourhoods for health investigations

This paper is part of a larger research program which employs a mixed-methods approach to study the determinants of health at the local level using specific neighborhoods in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In this paper, multivariate, spatial statistical techniques and geographic information systems are used to address questions about the characterization of neighbourhoods, based on socioeconomic determinants of health and risk factors such as smoking. While neighbourhood characterization has been a component of public health surveillance for some time, geostatistical techniques can now be used to derive more accurate representation of neighbourhoods for use in subsequent analysis. We utilize principal components analysis to reduce the data and extract the components that represent the underlying local processes. Principal components are also overlayed on comparative mortality figures to visualize where the socio-demographic determinants of health correspond spatially with mortality patterns. Predicted values from the components are then analysed for spatial clustering using local indicators of spatial association. The findings reveal a pattern of distinct neighbourhoods that will be used in subsequent quantitative and qualitative stages in the larger research programme. The results can also be used to inform public health policy and to target public health interventions.     

The braided Milk River, northern Montana, fails the Leopold–Wolman discharge-gradient test

The Milk River, the northernmost tributary to the Missouri–Mississippi River system, exhibits an anomalous sand-bed braiding reach in an otherwise meandering system. Shortly after leaving Alberta and entering Montana the river suddenly changes to braiding and maintains this pattern for 47 km before entering Fresno Reservoir. Measured stream gradient and bankfull discharge in the braiding reach severely fail the Leopold and Wolman [U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 282B (1957) 39] slope–discharge test for differentiating channel patterns. While channel slope has long been regarded as one of the primary variables associated with braiding, our data from the sand-bed Milk River do not support this relationship. Instead, the data show that the braiding reach has a lower channel slope (0.00047) than the meandering reach (0.00055). Coupled with a constant discharge the unit length stream power is comparable between the two reaches. At the morphologic transition between meandering and braiding, a dramatic reduction in channel bank strength occurs where the sampled silt–clay content declines from 65% in the meandering reach to 18% in the braiding. This enables channel widening which is reflected in a 60% reduction in unit area stream power in the braiding reach. Thus, sediment transport capacity declines and channel bars are deposited. During waning flows, these bars are dissected, producing a braiding morphology. We suggest that for sand-bed braiding rivers the silt–clay percentage in the channel banks may be more important than slope. A review of the original Leopold and Wolman [U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 282B (1957) 39] dataset, and many subsequent analyses, reveals that most braided rivers studied were gravel-bed. As a result, causal variables associated with braiding in sand-bed environments may need a thorough evaluation.     

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of the Mesozoic anorogenic complexes of Damaraland,northwest Namibia: evidence for crustal contamination and its effect on silica saturation

 Fifty-six new oxygen isotope analyses of minerals separated from nine Mesozoic anorogenic complexes of Damaraland in northwest Namibia have been used to estimate the δ¹⁸O values of the original magmas (δ_magma). These complexes range in composition from nepheline syenite to alkaline and peraluminous granites, often with a variety of rock types present at a single centre. The silica-undersaturated rock types show a relatively small spread of values of δ_magma from 6.0 to 7.0‰ (mean 6.6‰), which is consistent with their derivation from the mantle with little or no subsequent crustal contamination. The silica-oversaturated rocks show a wide range of δ_magma values from 4.9 to 12.0‰, with a mean value of 8.3‰. The high values of δ_magma in the silica-oversaturated rocks can only be explained with considerable involvement of the continental crust in their petrogenesis, and those rocks with δ_magma>10‰ are interpreted as essentially crustal melts. It is generally accepted that the Damaraland complexes were generated as a result of rifting across the Tristan plume, with the plume providing both mantle-derived magma and with it the heat required for crustal melting. In addition to their mantle-like oxygen isotope ratios, the undersaturated rocks of the Damaraland complexes possess the trace element characteristics (e.g. low Zr/Nb ratios) of ocean island basalt, suggesting that their parental magmas were produced from the plume itself. In contrast, the oversaturated complexes generally have higher Zr/Nb ratios that are consistent with a larger crustal input. The highest values of δ_magma in the Damaraland complexes are found in granitic rocks that intrude the central zone of the Pan-African Damara Orogen where presumably there is a substantial component of sedimentary origin in the lower to middle crust. Received: 3 April 1995/Accepted: 24 July 1995     

Ion balance,acid-base regulation,and chloride cell function in the common killifish,Fundulus heteroclitus—a euryhaline estuarine teleost

The common killifish,Fundulus heteroclitus, is a euryhaline teleost common throughout estuaries of eastern North America. This symposium paper reviews the important contributions of the killifish to our present understanding of ionoregulation in seawater (SW) fish and their mechanisms of euryhalinity, and presents new data developing the killifish as a freshwater (FW) model system. Experiments on killifish have characterized (i) drinking in SW and its reduction in FW; (ii) the adaptive roles of the kidney to SW and FW conditions; (iii) the instantaneous (Phase I) and delayed (Phase II) reductions in Na⁺ outflux that occur upon transfer from SW to FW; (iv) the importance of prolactin secretion in the Phase II effect; (v) the cortisol-stimulated induction of branchial Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase that occurs upon transfer from FW to SW; (vi) the accompanying changes in morphology of the mitochondria-rich (MR) or “chloride cells” on the gills; (vii) the localization of this Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase activity to the basolateral membrane of chloride cells; and (viii) the NaCl-secretory function of these cells in SW. The opercular epithelium, which is rich in chloride cells, has been used as an in vitro model to characterize the mechanisms and control of NaCl secretion in SW fish. Much less is known about gill function in fresh water (inward NaCl transport), primarily due to the absence of a comparable freshwater model. Here we show that killifish acclimated to dilute FW ([NaCl] = 1 mmol I^?1) possess large numbers of MR cells on the opercular epithelium. When mounted in vitro with FW on the outside, the preparation develops a large inside negative transepithelial potential (TEP) that is a Na⁺ diffusion potential. By the Ussing flux ratio criterion, Na⁺ fluxes are passive, but a small active influx of Cl^? occurs, an observation that supports the involvement of MR cells in active Cl^? uptake. This FW opercular epithelium if bathed with isotonic saline on both sides does not secrete Cl^?, indicating that the MR cells indeed are of the FW type. In vivo, the fish exhibits a high rate of Na⁺ influx and outflux; Cl^? outflux is much lower, and there is no detectable Cl^? influx. Experimental variation of FW [NaCl] reveals a saturable, low affinity Na⁺ uptake mechanism, a Cl^? influx mechanism that is activated only at much higher concentrations, and no evidence of exchange diffusion. Acid-base disturbance appears to be corrected by differential regulation of the outflux components only. Hence, the FW killifish ionoregulates somewhat differently from the few other FW teleosts that have been examined, and its opercular epithelium will serve as a very useful model system.     

Geographical Dimensions of Environmental Restructuring in New Zealand*

During the 1980s, New Zealand underwent a period of dramatic economic, social, and administrative restructuring. The reform extended to the administrative arrangements for environmental management. A geographic restructuring model is used in this paper to establish the context in which the reforms were carried out. A combination of economic, environmental, and social influences operating at different geographic scales can be identified. These influences are subsequently illustrated through reference to three aspects of the restructuring that have distinct geographical dimensions: the definition of human-environment relations, the spatial definition of planning regions, and the implications of spatial differentiation for resource management policy and practice.