The bourgeois‐pichat's biometric method and the influence of climate: New evidences from late 19th‐century Italy

Abstract

This paper examines to which extent seasonal and climatic conditions might affect the reliability of the Bourgeois‐Pichat's method. Other scholars have already argued on this issue, but although climate has often been claimed to explain part of the differentials in mortality figures among Italian regions, to date its impact has not actually been recognized and quantitatively evaluated. To test such hypothesis data at the regional level from late 19^th‐century Italy have been analyzed.

Our analysis of the biometric components revealed a strong bias in the estimates of the endogenous and exogenous components in the first month of life. Variations in infant mortality among Italian regions correlated with variations in the endogenous levels rather than in the exogenous levels of infant (neonatal) mortality, as it was expected owing to the infective nature of the diseases climate might induce. Specifically, Northern and colder regions featured high figures for both neonatal mortality and the endogenous component, while the opposite scheme applied to the Southern, more temperate regions.

Finally, the reasons for such misleading results were investigated. It emerged that the model's assumption of a constant and invariant proportion of neonatal exogenous deaths to the total amount of exogenous deaths was not matched by the Italian data. This situation caused the excess neonatal exogenous mortality, especially that induced by cold climate in Northern regions, to be wrongly counted in the endogenous component.     

Heat-stress-related mortality in five cities in Southern Ontario: 1980–1996

The Toronto–Windsor corridor of Southern Ontario, Canada, experiences hot and humid weather conditions in summer, thus exposing the population to heat stress and a greater risk of mortality. In the event of a climate change, heat-stress conditions may become more frequent and severe in Southern Ontario. To assess the impact of summer weather on health, we analyzed heat-related mortality in the elderly (older than 64 years) in the metropolitan areas of Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, Hamilton, and Toronto for a 17-year period. Demographic, socioeconomic, and housing factors were also evaluated to assess their effect on the potential of the population to adapt and their vulnerability to heat stress. Heat-stress days were defined as those with an apparent temperature (heat index) above 32°C. Mortality among the elderly was significantly higher on heat-stress days than on non-heat-stress days in all cities except Windsor. The strongest relationships occurred in Toronto and London, followed by Hamilton. Cities with the greatest heat-related mortality have relatively high levels of urbanization and high costs of living. Even without the warming induced by a climate change, (1) vulnerability is likely to increase as the population ages, and (2) ongoing urban development and sprawl are expected to intensify heat-stress conditions in Southern Ontario. Actions should be taken to reduce vulnerability to heat stress conditions, and to develop a comprehensive hot weather watch/warning system for the region. Received: 9 August 1999 / Revised: 9 March 2000 / Accepted: 1 May 2000     

Reproductive success and occupational class in eighteenth‐century lancashire,England

Abstract

Data from parish registers on 182 couples married between 1754 and 1772 in Lancashire, England, were used to compare lifetime reproductive success of farmers and craftsmen. Farmers were expected to be of higher average status and wealth than craftsmen; thus, these data were used to test the hypothesis that status and reproductive success were positively correlated in this society. Fanners raised a significantly higher mean number of children to age 21 than did craftsmen, although mean numbers of children bom to farmers and craftsmen were not significantly different. The proportion of children surviving to age 21 was significantly higher for fanners than for craftsmen.     

Determinants of the risk and timing of alcohol and illicit drug use onset among natives and non‐natives: Similarities and differences in family attachment processes

Abstract

This study examines data from Native Ontario reserve residents (Embree, 1993) and a sample from the Ontario Health Survey Supplement (1990–91) in order to compare and contrast the importance of family attributes such as parent‐child attachment to Native and Non‐native patterns of drug and alcohol use onset. Proportional Hazards modeling (Cox, 1972) was employed to identify factors associated with the risk and timing of onset of alcohol and illicit drugs for both cultural groups. For both Natives and Non‐natives alike, and considering both drinking and drug use onset together, age cohort predominates as a risk factor, with youngest groups at greatest risk, and especially in the case of drug use other than alcohol. For the model of drug use timing, age of alcohol use onset is the second best predictor for Natives, although its effect is still apparent, albeit weaker, in the case of Non‐natives. As for family characteristics, a number of factors emerge as determinants of risk and depend, in part, on the cultural group and the substance under consideration. Consistent with attachment theory's prediction about the universal applicability of the need for close parent‐child relations (Bowlby, 1969), the findings for both Natives and Non‐natives alike point to the salience of psychosocial attachment and other indicators of family functioning in affecting early onset drinking and drug use, behaviors well‐recognized to lead to potentially adverse mental and physical health consequences as well as to negative social outcomes.     

Selective migration from Samoa: A longitudinal study of pre‐migration differences in social and psychological characteristics

Abstract

In 1981 extensive questionnaire and interview data were collected on some 100 young Samoan adults. Five years later in 1986 we determined their whereabouts and divided the data in accordance with migration status. The answers of the 35 who had migrated in the intervening period were contrasted to those 65 who remained in Samoa. The migrants differed in several distinct areas. Migrants reported a higher degree of peer‐reliance as a personal adaptive strategy. Migrants also reported larger numbers of individuals in social support networks, a higher quality of support and more community involvement. They also report less expressive display of anger. Those who did not migrate reported a slightly better view of life in Samoa and abroad, as well as better relations with their friends and neighbors. These findings support a hypothesis that migrants are pre‐selected to fit into migrant communities and do not appear to be misfits who are unhappy with life in Samoa.     

Convincing the “Herd” of immunity: Lessons from smallpox vaccination in 19th century Germany

Although vaccination is a cost-effective way to control infectious diseases, it is often met with popular resistance. Studying smallpox in 19th century Germany, this paper explores how economic incentives contribute to this phenomenon. The paper adds to the literature by combining mathematical epidemiology and unpublished archival evidence from two German states - Baden and Wurttemberg. The two states are an intriguing case because their initial conditions and vaccination laws were similar. Despite this, Baden experienced lower smallpox prevalence and higher vaccination uptake than Wurttemberg. The epidemiological model predicts that incentives to vaccinate decline rapidly when immunization reduces prevalence. The archival evidence reveals that Baden offset this decline by creating a public vaccination system which reduced costs for vaccinees and vaccinators alike. This suggests that the high fixed costs of centralized immunization policies can be compensated by economies of scale and popular acceptance.     

Reservation and non‐reservation American Indian mortality in 1970 and 1978

Abstract

Mortality rates by age and sex of American Indians living in reservation and non‐reservation counties were compared for 1970 and 1978. An apparent overcount in the 1980 census enumeration of American Indians curtails rigorous comparisons, but broad differences can be delineated. The main improvement in American Indian mortality during the decade was in age group 0–4. In 1970, non‐reservation death rates were not different from reservation rates. By the end of the decade, non‐reservation death rates had diverged downward from reservation deaths. An analysis of 1978 death rates by poverty status showed that non‐reservation death rates are sensitive to county poverty level, whereas reservation death rates are not.     

Child mortality in Goa: A cross‐sectional analysis

Abstract

This paper is a study of the determinants of child mortality in the relatively developed Indian state of Goa. Data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 1992–93) conducted in the state of Goa have been used to examine the child mortality experiences of 1,331 women who were within a marriage lasting 15 years. An aggregated index of child mortality, which summarizes the mortality experiences of a woman with exposure adjustment, is the study variable. Maternal education and longer birth spacing were found to lower child mortality risks significantly.     

Naming and Necessity: Sherborn’s Context in the 19th Century

By the late 19^th Century, storms plaguing early Victorian systematics and nomenclature seemed to have abated. Vociferous disputes over radical renaming, the world-shaking clash of all-encompassing procrustean systems, struggles over centres of authority, and the issues of language and meaning had now been settled by the institution of a stable imperial museum and its catalogues, a set of rules for the naming of zoological objects, and a new professional class of zoologists. Yet, for all that tranquillity, the disputes simmered below the surface, re-emerging as bitter struggles over synonyms, trinomials, the subspecies category, the looming issues of the philosophy of scientific language, and the aggressive new American style of field biology – all pressed in upon the received practice of naming and classifying organisms and the threat of anarchy. In the midst rose an index. This paper will explore the context of CD Sherborn’s Index Animalium and those looming problems and issues which a laborious and comprehensive “index of nature” was meant to solve.     

Differential mortality by ethnicity and nativity: Foreign‐ and native‐born Irish,Italians, and Jews in New York City, 1979–1981

Abstract

This paper compares the mortality experience of foreign‐ and native‐born Irish, Italians, and Jews in New York City in 1979–81. In most cases, denominator data were not available, so proportional mortality analysis was used. An estimation procedure was undertaken to show the degree to which standardized proportional mortality ratios approximate relative standardized mortality measures. Major and lifestyle‐related causes of death were examined, as were specific sites of cancer. While no consistent pattern merged which related nativity or ethnicity to the relative distribution of mortality, it does appear that the intra‐ethnic patterns of the Irish group were unique relative to those of the Italian and Jewish groups. Overall, this study suggests a number of interesting relationships between ethnicity, nativity, and the distribution of mortality by cause.     

Migrants in the Mediterranean: Do's and Don’ts in Maritime Interdiction

Mediterranean European Union member states have to deal with thousands of migrants arriving by sea every year. Frontex (the EU external borders agency) organizes joint surveillance operations at sea to interdict these migrant boats, helping states to cope with the problem. This article discusses the legality of these maritime interdictions done by Frontex according to the international law of the sea as well as the conformity of the operations with the nonrefoulement principle.     

Microbial leaching of zinc concentrate in fresh‐water microcosms: Comparison between aerobic and oxygen‐limited conditions

Microbially mediated leaching and solubilization of zinc ore concentrate by native aquatic microbial communities incubated under aerobic and oxygen‐limited conditions were examined in static microcosms consisting of stream sediment and water. Sterile controls provided information on abiotic sulfide oxidation and leaching of zinc, lead, cadmium, and copper. The flux of these heavy metals from the sediments to the water column was greatest under biotic oxygen‐limited conditions. When calculated as the percentage of total metal available in zinc concentrate‐amended microcosms, the order of metal solubilization under oxygen‐limited conditions was lead, copper, zinc, and cadmium. Under biotic aerobic conditions, the order of solubilization was zinc, lead, cadmium, and copper. This study indicates that aquatic heterotrophs are capable of leaching and solubilizing metallic sulfides under conditions of neutral to slightly acidic pH and are effective in releasing heavy metals to the water column under oxygen‐limited conditions.     

The state,housing policy and Afro‐Caribbean migration to France

France's Afro‐Caribbean population forms a distinctive element in postwar migrant labour recruitment: of French nationality, with an equal balance of men and women, and strongly concentrated in public sector employment, especially in the Paris region. State policy strongly influenced the migration flow from the Caribbean islands, especially from the early 1960s. This article looks at aspects of the migrants’ housing experience, using aggregate statistics to establish general tenure patterns and interviews to recreate biographical histories. Afro‐Caribbean migrants avoided for the most part the worst excesses of the housing crisis of the 1960s and 1970s, though housing conditions ‐ especially for newly‐arriving migrants ‐ were frequently poor. Access to the public housing sector is shown to be crucial, though the role of the state was less direct (specifically aimed at the Caribbean population through the migration agency) than indirect (through the role of employers and the general involvement of the state in housing provision).     

Relationships between pregnancy spacing,sex of infants,maternal age,and birth order,and neonatal and post‐neonatal mortality in Bangladesh

Abstract

The relationships between length of the interpregnancy interval, outcome of the pregnancy preceding the interval, sex of the infants, pregnancy order, maternal age, and maternal history of previous child deaths and neonatal and postneonatal mortality were explored in a rural Bangladeshi population using a multiple regression analysis. Specific interactions between the interpregnancy interval, outcome of the pregnancy preceding the interval, sex of the infants, and history of previous child deaths were examined. An inverse relationship was observed between postneonatal mortality and the length of the interpregnancy interval when the pregnancy preceding the interval was a surviving infant. No such trend was observed for neonatal mortality. Post‐neonatal mortality rates among children whose mothers had experienced two or more previous child deaths were essentially the same as that for infants whose mothers had experienced 0–1 child deaths when the interpregnancy intervals were more than 24 months. Although female infants have a lower neonatal mortality than male infants, the neonatal mortality rate for female infants conceived less than twelve months following a male infant birth was higher than for a male infant conceived less than twelve months following another male infant birth. Post‐neonatal mortality is consistently higher for female compared to male infants in all interval categories.     

Socioeconomic development,medical care,and nutrition as determinants of infant mortality in less‐developed countries

Abstract

Using data for sixty less‐developed countries, we constructed a causal model in which medical care, nutrition, status of women, and socioeconomic development are examined as determinants of infant mortality. Social and economic development are treated as exogenous variables; medical care, nutrition, and status of women are viewed as variables endogenous to the model. The model is tested by maximum likelihood methods. Results indicate that good nutrition and the presence of informally trained health care personnel, i.e., midwives, are more significantly related to low rates of infant mortality than are the employment status of women and the presence of formally trained health care personnel such as physicians and nurses. The general level of social and economic development conditions these relationships.     

Controlled environment soil‐core microcosm unit for investigating fate,migration, and transformation of chemicals in soils

The controlled environment soil‐core microcosm unit (CESMU) methods embody a collection of techniques that began with soil sampling in the field and continued throughout the laboratory investigation of chemical fate, migration, and transformation in site‐specific soils; it was a cost‐effective investigative methodology that could be used to screen chemical materials before initiating high‐cost environmental field studies. Intact soil cores were collected in the field using a hydraulically controlled probe, delivering intact soil‐cores with minimal disturbance directly into high‐density polyethylene pipe (10.3‐cm ID). The inert polyethylene pipe was an effective hydrophobic barrier that remained an integral part of the soil‐core column, obviating subsequent transfers of soil. In the laboratory, each soil column was fitted with a porous ceramic plate and a polyethylene endcap containing fittings for teflon tubing, so that a tension could be applied at the bottom of each soil column (30–35 kPa) to mimic field conditions, thus preventing the undue buildup of water within columns that otherwise would change the chemical, physical, and biological properties of the soil. The intact soil‐cores were housed in the CESMU chamber, a controlled temperature unit with sufficient capacity for maintaining constant temperature within entire soil‐cores. Synthetic rain was added twice a week by peristaltic pump at rates simulating rainfall. Leachates were collected under tension via teflon tubing into flasks in darkness and kept at soil column temperature inside CESMU until harvested for analyses. Soil columns were harvested at intervals for sectioning by depth, extraction, and soil analyses. CESMU methods are applicable to investigations of water movement, soil chemistry, solute transport/transformation, and effects on plants.