Evidence for Lack of Change in Seasonality of Suicide from Timiş County, Romania

2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1071-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Mona Vintilã ◽  
Maryanne L. Fisher ◽  
Paul S. F. Yip
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Marked Decrease ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Shifts

Evidence from politically and socially stable countries in Northern Europe and the Southern Hemisphere indicates a marked decrease in the seasonality of suicide over the past two decades. Generalizability of this trend to societies in transition has not yet been investigated. Data for suicide by hanging in Timiş County of Romania show both a nondecrease in seasonality of suicide for the current transitional period (1990–98), relative to the last decade of the Communist regime (1980–89) and shifts in location for suicide peak and trough months. Recent decreases in the seasonality of suicide might not generalize to societies in transition, and research would improve from focusing on the “natural laboratories” these societies represent.

scholarly journals Improved estimates of preindustrial biomass burning reduce the magnitude of aerosol climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (22) ◽  
pp. eabc1379
Author(s):  
Pengfei Liu ◽  
Jed O. Kaplan ◽  
Loretta J. Mickley ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Nathan J. Chellman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fire Activity

Fire plays a pivotal role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems and the chemical composition of the atmosphere and thus influences Earth’s climate. The trend and magnitude of fire activity over the past few centuries are controversial, which hinders understanding of preindustrial to present-day aerosol radiative forcing. Here, we present evidence from records of 14 Antarctic ice cores and 1 central Andean ice core, suggesting that historical fire activity in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) exceeded present-day levels. To understand this observation, we use a global fire model to show that overall SH fire emissions could have declined by 30% over the 20th century, possibly because of the rapid expansion of land use for agriculture and animal production in middle to high latitudes. Radiative forcing calculations suggest that the decreasing trend in SH fire emissions over the past century largely compensates for the cooling effect of increasing aerosols from fossil fuel and biofuel sources.

scholarly journals Centennial-scale variability of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt in the eastern Pacific over the past two millennia

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1125-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Koffman ◽  
K. J. Kreutz ◽  
D. J. Breton ◽  
E. J. Kane ◽  
D. A. Winski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Eastern Pacific ◽  
The Past ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Lower Elevation

Abstract. We present the first high-resolution (sub-annual) dust particle data set from West Antarctica, developed from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide deep ice core (79.468° S, 112.086° W), and use it to reconstruct changes in atmospheric circulation over the past 2400 years. We find a background dust flux of ~4 mg m−2 year−1 and a mode particle size of 5–8 μm diameter. Through comparing the WAIS Divide record with other Antarctic ice core particle records, we observe that coastal and lower-elevation sites have higher dust fluxes and coarser particle size distributions (PSDs) than sites on the East Antarctic plateau, suggesting input from local dust sources at these lower-elevation sites. In order to explore the use of the WAIS Divide dust PSD as a proxy for past atmospheric circulation, we make quantitative comparisons between both mid-latitude zonal wind speed and West Antarctic meridional wind speed and the dust size record, finding significant positive interannual relationships. We find that the dust PSD is related to mid-latitude zonal wind speed via cyclonic activity in the Amundsen Sea region. Using our PSD record, and through comparison with spatially distributed climate reconstructions from the Southern Hemisphere (SH) middle and high latitudes, we infer that the SH westerlies occupied a more southerly position from circa 1050 to 1400 CE (Common Era), coinciding with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). Subsequently, at ca. 1430 CE, the wind belt shifted equatorward, where it remained until the mid-to-late twentieth century. We find covariability between reconstructions of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the mid-latitude westerly winds in the eastern Pacific, suggesting that centennial-scale circulation changes in this region are strongly influenced by the tropical Pacific. Further, we observe increased coarse particle deposition over the past 50 years, consistent with observations that the SH westerlies have been shifting southward and intensifying in recent decades.

Geoarchaeological and Paleohydrological Evidence for a Clovis-Age Drought in North America and Its Bearing on Extinction

1991 ◽  
Vol 35 (3-Part1) ◽  
pp. 438-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Vance Haynes
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Marked Decrease ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
Human Predation ◽  
Water Table Rise ◽  
Algal Mat ◽  
Game Animals

AbstractAt the Murray Springs Clovis site in southeastern Arizona, stratigraphic and geomorphic evidence indicates that an abnormally low water table 10,900 yr B.P. was followed soon thereafter by a water-table rise accompanied by the deposition of an algal mat (the “black mat”) that buried mammoth tracks, Clovis artifacts, and a well. This water-table fluctuation correlates with pluvial lake fluctuations in the Great Basin during and immediately following Clovis occupation of that region. Many elements of Pleistocene megafauna in North America became extinct during the dry period. Oxygen isotope records show a marked decrease in δ18O correlated with the Younger Dryas cold-dry event of northern Europe which ended 10,750 yr B.P., essentially the same time as the water table began to rise in southeastern Arizona. Clovis hunters may have found large game animals easier prey when concentrated at water holes and under stress. If so, both climate and human predation contributed to Pleistocene extinction in America.

Patient Age Distribution in Thalassemia Major: Changes From 1973 to 1985

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Howard A. Pearson ◽  
Dorothy K. Guiliotis ◽  
Linda Rink ◽  
James A. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Marked Decrease ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Thalassemia Major ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Programs ◽  
Affected Child ◽  
The Past ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Thalassemia Trait

Major advances have occurred in the treatment and prevention of thalassemia major, but their impact on incidence and survival have not been well assessed. In 1973, a survey was done of the ages of 243 living patients with thalassemia major followed at 12 centers in the United States and Canada. Twenty-two percent were younger than 5 years and 2.1% were older than 25 years of age (mean 11.4 ± 6.7 [SD] years). In 1985, there were 303 patients at the same centers; 11% were younger than 5 years and 7.9% were older than 25 years (mean 14.2 ± 7.3 years). A similar pattern was found in Connecticut, characterized by a marked decrease of new cases of thalassemia major during the past 15 years. This was not a result of fewer persons at genetic risk or a change in marital ethnic choices. Eleven of 14 families who had a child with thalassemia major assured that another affected child would not be born by having no more children, using prenatal diagnosis, or having therapeutic abortions. Extensive community programs of education and testing for thalassemia trait in Connecticut may also have contributed to the observed reduction in new cases.

Childhood images and visual representations: Romanian post-communist cultural configuration of the past

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-260
Author(s):  
Simona Mitroiu
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Childhood Memories ◽  
Cultural Productions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Communist Past

The literary and visual representations of the Romanian recent past have helped recollect the world of childhood and its contextual frames, contributing to the process of coming to terms with the communist past. Focusing on the treatment of childhood memories in the post-communist Romanian cultural productions, the research reveals the changes under-gone by the childhood images and representations in the visual memory discourse. The image of the pioneer children offering flowers to the communist leaders was well instilled in the Romanian collective memory by the communist documentaries picturing the Romani-an life during the “Golden Age.” What followed was the image of the abandoned children: from the Romanian orphanages, immediately after the 1989 political regime change, to their immigrant parents, especially during the transitional years. Are these images recol-lected by the New Romanian Cinema productions and are they correlated with the abun-dant literary autobiographical works? The present study focuses on this topic of child images and childhood memories in connection with the remembrance of the communist past, pursuing an in-depth analysis of these post-communist Romanian cultural produc-tions. It argues that despite the insufficient interest in exploring the topic of childhood during the communist regime and the lack of significant collaborative projects reuniting literary figures and cinema directors, the cinema representations of childhood can consid-erably widen the narratives of the past, suggesting new directions in the post-communist exploration of the alternative memories of the past.

scholarly journals Rapid climate change results in long-lasting spatial homogenization of phylogenetic diversity

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Saladin ◽  
Loïc Pellissier ◽  
Catherine H. Graham ◽  
Michael P. Nobis ◽  
Nicolas Salamin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Climate Oscillations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Scientific understanding of biodiversity dynamics, resulting from past climate oscillations and projections of future changes in biodiversity, has advanced over the past decade. Little is known about how these responses, past or future, are spatially connected. Analyzing the spatial variability in biodiversity provides insight into how climate change affects the accumulation of diversity across space. Here, we evaluate the spatial variation of phylogenetic diversity of European seed plants among neighboring sites and assess the effects of past rapid climate changes during the Quaternary on these patterns. Our work shows a marked homogenization in phylogenetic diversity across Central and Northern Europe linked to high climate change velocity and large distances to refugia. Our results suggest that the future projected loss in evolutionary heritage may be even more dramatic, as homogenization in response to rapid climate change has occurred among sites across large landscapes, leaving a legacy that has lasted for millennia.

scholarly journals Sustainability in the Canadian Egg Industry—Learning from the Past, Navigating the Present, Planning for the Future

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Pelletier ◽  
Maurice Doyon ◽  
Bruce Muirhead ◽  
Tina Widowski ◽  
Jodey Nurse-Gupta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Face ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Societal Expectations ◽  
Management Changes

Like other livestock sectors, the Canadian egg industry has evolved substantially over time and will likely experience similarly significant change looking forward, with many of these changes determining the sustainability implications of and for the industry. Influencing factors include: technological and management changes at farm level and along the value chain resulting in greater production efficiencies and improved life cycle resource efficiency and environmental performance; a changing policy/regulatory environment; and shifts in societal expectations and associated market dynamics, including increased attention to animal welfare outcomes—especially in regard to changes in housing systems for laying hens. In the face of this change, effective decision-making is needed to ensure the sustainability of the Canadian egg industry. Attention both to lessons from the past and to the emerging challenges that will shape its future is required and multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to understand synergies and potential trade-offs between alternative courses of action across multiple aspects of sustainability. Here, we consider the past, present and potential futures for this industry through the lenses of environmental, institutional (i.e., regulatory), and socio-economic sustainability, with an emphasis on animal welfare as an important emergent social consideration. Our analysis identifies preferred pathways, potential pitfalls, and outstanding cross-disciplinary research questions.

The persistent presence of the dead: recent excavations at the hunter-gatherer cemetery at Zvejnieki (Latvia)

Antiquity ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (338) ◽  
pp. 1016-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liv Nilsson Stutz ◽  
Lars Larsson ◽  
Ilga Zagorska
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Burial Practices ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
The Past ◽  
Large Scale Disturbance ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Specific Identity

The well-known Mesolithic cemeteries of Northern Europe have long been viewed as evidence of developing social complexity in those regions in the centuries immediately before the Neolithic transition. These sites also had important symbolic connotations. This study uses new and more detailed analysis of the burial practices in one of these cemeteries to argue that much more is involved than social differentiation. Repeated burial in the densely packed site of Zvejnieki entailed large-scale disturbance of earlier graves, and would have involved recurrent encounters with the remains of the ancestral dead. The intentional use of older settlement material in the grave fills may also have signified a symbolic link with the past. The specific identity of the dead is highlighted by the evidence for clay face masks and tight body wrappings in some cases.

Relationship between the Southern Oscillation Index and Australian sugarcane yields

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Kuhnel
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Southern Oscillation Index ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Significance Testing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Sugarcane Yield ◽  
The Relationship

This study examines the relationship between the Southern Oscillation Index and the sugarcane yield anomalies at 27 mills in north-eastern Australia (Queensland) for the period 1950-1989. The major results of this work indicate that the SO1 alone seems to have only a limited value as predictor of total sugarcane yields over large areas (i.e. the whole of Queensland). However, on a smaller scale, the SO1 appears to be a useful indicator of yields for the northern sugarcane districts. In these northern areas, the highest correlations with the SO1 are reached during the southern hemisphere spring and summer months 6 to 11 months prior to the harvest. They are negative and explain about 40% of the total variance. They also suggest that a positive SO1 during the spring and summer months tends to be followed by lower-than-normal yields at the following harvest and vice versa. This signal is rather robust and withstands rigorous significance testing. Moreover, it appears that the relationship between the SO1 and the sugarcane yields has been relatively strong and stable for the past 40 years, but weakened substantially during the 1930-1940 period.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document