Chydorid Ephippia as Indicators of Past Environmental Changes – A New Method

I present a new method, ephippium analysis, to investigate past environmental changes which may have affected chydorid Cladocera (Anomopoda, Chydoridae). I studied chydorid ephippia from sediments of two small lakes (Kaksoislammi and Rutikka) in southern Finland. The relative adundance of chydorid ephippia periodically increased during the Holocene. Ephippia were abundant during the late Pleistocene/early Holocene transition, reflecting the severe climate (short open-water season) that existed prior to the onset of rapid postglacial warming. Both lakes experienced an environmental change in the late Holocene. In Kaksoislammi there was a dramatic change in predator–prey relationships following a decline in pH. All chydorids responded with increased gamogenesis. Prehistoric anthropogenic activities caused a rise in the trophic state in Rutikka and probably caused changes in the predator/food web. One chydorid, Alona affinis, reacted first with increased gamogenesis and then almost disappeared. These first results of ephippium analysis indicate that the method has a great potential in detecting periods of environmental change during the Holocene.     

The Special Orthopedic Hospital—Past and Present

Pioneer orthopedic institutions established in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and in the U.S.A. in the second half of the 19th and the first decade of the 20th century, can trace their ancestry in ideas back to the practice and teachings of Hippocrates. Experience in treatment of great numbers of injured soldiers in the First World War opened a new era in reconstructive surgery of the locomotor system.After the Second World War, in advanced nations the pattern of crippling diseases showed a spectacular change. Problems that justify the existence of large special orthopedic hospitals are, in children, the more complex congenital deformities, cerebral palsies, and the increasing number of injuries due to hazards of modern life; in the adult, the reconstructive surgery of trauma and of arthritis.In modern orthopedic hospitals physicians have joined orthopedic surgeons in the study of the natural history of the various forms of arthritis. These centres provide facilities for biomechanical research and postgraduate training which acute general hospitals cannot offer.     

MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS—The Role of the Health Officer

Traditionally the treatment of mental illness has been a responsibility of state governments, but they have been unable to solve the problem with any degree of success.In spite of rationalizations as to why a health department should not become involved in this field, more and more local health departments in California and across the nation are initiating various services in mental health.With the widespread interest in mental health at national and state levels and in local citizens'' groups, local health officers must involve themselves in this most difficult effort.While the treatment of the emotionally disturbed and the psychotic is demanded most aggressively by the public which seeks outpatient, inpatient, and rehabilitation services on the local level, two services—consultation and education-information services—offer more hope in the promotion of mental health as contrasted with the treatment of mental illness.     

The Changing Alaskan Experience—Health Care Services and Cultural Identity

Before Western contact, Alaskan Native populations were self-sufficient in their health practices. Slowly, the Native health care system was replaced by a Western one which was highly effective in treating infectious diseases. As infectious diseases were brought under control by the Indian Health Service, the emergent leading health problems were related to violence, attributed in part to cultural disintegration. New types of Native health providers and new Native-controlled institutions evolved to provide culturally appropriate health and mental health services and to promote a stronger cultural identity.