Spatial Analysis of 1991 Gulf War Troop Locations in Relationship with Postwar Health Symptom Reports Using GIS Techniques

Spatial autocorrelation analysis was used to identify spatial patterns of 1991 Gulf War (GW) troop locations in relationship to subsequent postwar diagnosis of chronic multisymptom illness (CMI). Criteria for the diagnosis of CMI include reporting from at least two of three symptom clusters: fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and mood and cognition. A GIS‐based methodology was used to examine associations between potential hazardous exposures or deployment situations and postwar health outcomes using troop location data as a surrogate. GW veterans from the Devens Cohort Study were queried about specific symptoms approximately four years after the 1991 deployment to the Persian Gulf. Global and local statistics were calculated using the Moran's I and G statistics for six selected date periods chosen a priori to mark important GW‐service events or exposure scenarios among 173 members of the cohort. Global Moran's I statistics did not detect global spatial patterns at any of the six specified data periods, thus, indicating there is no significant spatial autocorrelation of locations over the entire Gulf region for veterans meeting criteria for severe postwar CMI. However, when applying local G* and local Moran's I statistics, significant spatial clusters (primarily in the coastal Dammam/Dharhan and the central inland areas of Saudi Arabia) were identified for several of the selected time periods. Further study using GIS techniques, coupled with epidemiological methods, to examine spatial and temporal patterns with larger sample sizes of GW veterans is warranted to ascertain if the observed spatial patterns can be confirmed.     

Innovative monitoring tools for the complex spatial dynamics of river chemistry: case study for the Alpine region

Chemical reactions in aqueous geochemical systems are driven by nonequilibrium conditions, and their dynamics can be deduced through the distributional analysis (identification of probability laws) of complex compositional indices. In this perspective, compositional data analysis offers the possibility to investigate the behavior of the composition as a whole instead of isolated chemical species, with the awareness that multispecies systems are characterized by the simultaneous interactions among all their parts. We addressed this problem using D???1 isometric log-ratio coordinates describing the D compositional dataset of the river chemistry of the Alpine region (D number of variables), thus working in the \({{\mathbb{R}}^{D - 1}}\) statistical sample space. The D???1 coordinates were chosen using the decreasing variance criterion so that each one could provide information about different space–time properties for the investigated geochemical system. Coordinates dominated by heterogeneity appear to be able to capture regime shifts only on a long-time period and monitor processes on a very wide scale. On the other hand, coordinates characterized by lower variability present multimodality, thus capturing the presence of alternative states in the analyzed spatial domain also for the current time. Further developments are needed to determine the ranges of conditions for which variability and other statistics can be useful indicators of regime shifts on different time–space scales in geochemical systems.     

Biological targets of neurotoxic pesticides analysed by alteration of developmental events in the Mediterranean sea urchin,Paracentrotus lividus

Biological effects of neurotoxic insecticides widely used for agricultural purposes were studied using the early development of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus as a model. These compounds, dispersed as aerosols or powders in agricultural regions near to the coast, may affect the health of organisms in the marine environment. The biological effects of Basudin (an organophosphate compound containing 20% Diazinon), Diazinon (Dzn, a thionophosphate), Carbaryl and Pirimicarb (carbamates) on the early phases of sea urchin development were thus investigated. Morphological, biochemical, histochemical and immuno histochemical analyses were performed both during embryo and larval development. For the morphological effects on fertilisation and first cleavages, the effective concentration of insecticides was found to be 10(-4) M, while for further stages concentrations between 10(-5) and 10(-7) M were effective: 10(-3) M of any of these insecticides totally arrested development. During embryonic development, the treatment with organophosphates slowed the rate of early mitotic cycles down, affected nuclear and cytoskeletal status as well as DNA synthesis. From the gastrulation stage onwards, the main effects were exerted on the rate of primary mesenchyme cells migration, larval size, perioral arm length, and acetylcholinesterase activity distribution, thus deregulating the cholinergic system, which modulates cell-to-cell communication mediated by the signal molecule acetylcholine.     

Gender and Water in Mongolia

Global institutions, academics, and practitioners have long acknowledged the need to consider gender in creating sustainable water management plans. However, for most countries a dearth of context-specific information on gender and water relations hinders gender-sensitive plan development. Mongolia is particularly poorly represented in the gender and water literature. This article presents fieldwork revealing distinctive gendered practices around water use, decision making, and management including an unusually high degree of men's participation in water collection. This research adds new context-specific data to the understanding of actual gender and water relations and underscores the need for further investigation into the Mongolian context.     

“Enough Wandering Around!”: Life Trajectories,Mobility, and Place Making in Neoliberal Academia

This article analyzes the life trajectories of twelve early-career geographers in relation to their life–work experiences in an increasingly neoliberal academia and its constant demands of hypermobility. Using (auto)ethnographic research methods, it delves into the manifestations and effects of the pervasive myth of the detached, always ready-to-move scholar. We analyze the role of mobility in imaginaries and practices of academia and its close relationship with privilege and precarity. Our findings show how academic work is inescapably located despite the systematic erasure of the bodies, places, and networks that scholars are part of. By taking into account the centrality of place making in academic experience, our conclusions point to more comprehensive ways in which academic mobility can be understood, reflected on as part of geographers’ professional training, and transformed.     

Mineralogical and spectroscopic investigation of the Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrite by X‐ray diffraction and infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Abstract– We have carried out a sample‐correlated spectroscopic and mineralogical investigation of samples from seven different collection sites of the Tagish Lake C2 chondrite. Rietveld refinement of high‐resolution powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) data was used to determine quantitative major mineral abundances. Thermal infrared (400–4500 cm⁻¹, 2.2–25.0 μm) spectra of the same samples were obtained using diffuse (biconical) reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). Our results are in good agreement with previous studies of the mineralogy of the Tagish Lake meteorite; we find however that Tagish Lake is more varied in major mineralogy than has previously been reported. In particular, we observed two new distinct lithologies, an inclusion‐poor magnetite‐ and sulfide‐rich lithology, and a carbonate‐rich, siderite‐dominated lithology in addition to the previously documented carbonate‐rich and carbonate‐poor lithologies. Grain density for each Tagish Lake sample was calculated from the measured mineral modal abundances and known mineral densities. For powders from three originally intact inclusion‐rich samples, the calculated grain density is 2.77 ± 0.05 g cm⁻³, in excellent agreement with those reported in the literature for other intact inclusion‐rich Tagish Lake samples. Tagish Lake disaggregated samples have a significantly higher calculated grain density due to their lower saponite‐serpentine content, likely a result of mineral separation in the meltwater holes from which they were collected; the disaggregated samples may not therefore adequately represent bulk samples of the Tagish Lake meteorite. The predominance of very fine‐grained material in the Tagish Lake samples investigated in this study is expected to produce infrared spectra representative of asteroidal regolith. Gypsum and talc have been found by XRD in powders from the inclusion‐rich, intact Tagish Lake samples in this study, and may have been present in the parent body; if present, these hydrous sulfates would complicate the interpretation of possible hydrated mineral features in asteroid infrared spectra.     

Late Neolithic vegetation history at the pile‐dwelling site of Palù di Livenza (northeastern Italy

The Late Neolithic pile‐dwelling of Palù di Livenza yielded archaeological remains typical of the Square Mouth Pottery and Lagozza Cultures. A palynological investigation reveals important changes in the vegetation due to anthropogenic pressure. Between ca. 6590 and 5960 cal. yr BP, dense oak wood forests with deciduous Quercus, Fagus and Corylus extended around the mire, with no signs of human impact. The establishment of the pile‐dwelling, dated to ca. 5960 cal. yr BP, led to a strong reduction of forests, reclamation of wetlands, and expansion of herbaceous communities, with cultivated species, infestant weeds, nitrophilous and ruderal herbs, pastures and meadows. According to AMS dates and previous archaeological chronologies, the pile‐dwelling persisted for about 700 years (from ca. 5960 to 5260 cal. yr BP). The history of the pile‐dwelling after ca. 5260 cal. yr BP cannot be reconstructed because of recent contamination of the top part of the section. Rarefaction analysis was applied to estimate changes of palynological richness through time: the highest E(T_n) (between 56 and 69 taxa) are contemporaneous with the local development of the pile‐dwelling. The comparison of pollen data with archaeobotanical evidence indicates that Fragaria vesca, Malus sylvestris, Papaver somniferum and Physalis alkekengi were gathered at some distance from the site and that Linum usitatissimum is strongly under‐represented in pollen samples. Crop cultivation can be estimated for a radius of several hundred metres around the mire. Palù di Livenza is significant in the context of Neolithic archaeobotany of northern Italy and neighbouring countries. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of organic-rich mineral debris revealed by rapid glacier retreat,Indren Glacier,European Alps

In the summer of 2003 and 2004, characterized by a rapid glacier retreat, a stony surface covered by well-structured organic-rich mineral debris was observed very close to the Indren glacier terminus(Monte Rosa Massif, NW Italy, 3100 m ASL), on an area covered by the glacier tongue till the year before. The origin and type of this organicrich material were investigated, in order to detect their characteristics, potential sources and fate within the foreland system. The deposits were dated using Carbon-14 and analyzed for the chemical characteristics of the organic component, the elemental composition of the mineral fraction and presence of microbial markers. The material, granular and dark in color, had a total organic carbon(TOC) content ranging between 17.4 ± 0.39 and 28.1 ± 0.63 g kg-1 dry weight(dw), significantly higher than the surrounding glacial till(～ 1.4 g kg-1 dw), although only 0.33% of it was in water soluble form. Microbial carbon(C) and nitrogen(N) accounted for 10.6% and 3.13% of TOC and total N, respectively. Dissolved nitrogen(N), mainly present as ammonium, represented 2.40% of the total N. The low aromatic component and large presence of nitrogen(N)-derived compounds suggested that most of the organic carbon(OC) in these organic-rich mineral deposits was derived from microbial cells, although the high average radiocarbon age of about 2900 years may also point to the contribution of aeolian depositions of anthropogenic or natural origin. Elemental composition and the crustal enrichment factor of trace elements in the mineral fraction of the aggregates corroborated the hypothesis that most part of the accumulated material derived from ice meltwater. Some indicators of the colonization of these deposits by microbial communities were also reported, from the abundance of DNA and phylogenetic markers, to the presence of bacterial taxa commonly able to thrive in similar habitats. All these elements suggested that such kind of deposits may have a potential role as energy and nutrient sources in recently deglaciated areas, highlighting the necessity to better understand the processes underlying their formation and their evolution.