bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Acid tolerance response and survival by oral bacteria
Authors: Svensäter G. , Larsson U.‐B. , Greif E. C. G. , Cvitkovitch D. G. , Hamilton I. R.
Published: December 2007

Using 21 species of oral bacteria, representing six acidogenic genera, we undertook to determine whether the pH‐limiting exponential growth is related to the ability of the organisms to generate an acid‐tolerance response that results in enhanced survival at low pH. The lower pH limit of exponential growth varied by more than two units with that of Neisseria A182 at pH 6.34; growth of Lacto‐bacillus casel RB1014 stopped at pH 3.81, with species of Actinomyces, Enter ococcus, Prevotella and Streptococcus falling between these limits. The working hypothesis was that the organisms with the higher pH limits for growth are unable to respond to acidic environments in order to survive, whereas the more aciduric organisms would possess or acquire acid tolerance. Adaptation to acid tolerance was tested by determining whether the prior exposure of exponential‐phase cells to a low, sub‐lethal pH would trigger the induction of a mechanism that would enhance survival at a pH killing pH 7.5 control cells. The killing pH varied from pH 4.5 for Prevotella intermedia ATCC 25611 to pH 2.3 for the three Lactobacillus casei strains in the study, with the three Streptococcus mutans strains killed at pH 3.0 for 3 h. The adaptation experiments revealed three groups of organisms: non‐acid‐responders, generally representing strains with the highest terminal pH values; weak acid‐responders in the middle of the pH list, generating low numbers of survivors at one or two pH values, and the aciduric, strong responders generating a high number of survivors at pH values in the range 6.0 to 3.5, but not at pH 7.5. Predominant among the latter group were the S. mutans and Lactobacilli casei strains, with the most significant adaptive response exhibited by S. mutans LT11 and S. mutans Ingbritt, involving a process that required protein synthesis. Time course experiments with the latter organisms indicated that 90–120 min was required after exposure to the triggering pH before the acid response was fully functional. These results indicate that the sudden exposure of strains of oral streptococci and lactobacilli, as well as Enterococcus faecalis, to pH values between 6.0 and 3.5 results in the induction of an acid tolerance response that enhances the survival of these strains at or below pH 3.5.
Natural variation within the principal arginine‐specific protease gene, prpR1, of Porphyromonas gingivalis
Authors: Allaker R.P. , Aduse‐Opoku J. , Batten J.E. , Curtis M.A.
Published: December 2007

RI, one of the major extracellular arginine‐specific proteases of Porphyromonas gingivalis is a heterodimer composed of catalytic (α) and adhesin (β) chains, encoded by the gene prpR1. The distribution of prpR1 and its variation within 43 isolates of P. gingivalis was determined. Chromosomal DNA was digested with Sma I and probed with a 32P‐labeled DNA fragment from within the coding region for the α component of P. gingivalis W50. All isolates gave the expected 3.2 kb band, corresponding to the coding region for the α and β components. The presence of a second locus (prR2) homologous to the α region of (prR1) was also detected. The 1.7‐kb α coding region of prpR1 was amplified for subsequent restriction analysis. Following Taq I restriction all isolates gave identical patterns. With Rsa I, the majority of isolates (77%) could be placed into a single group. In conclusion, the prpR1 and prpR2 loci are maintained in natural populations of P. gingivalis, and only minor polymorphism is detectable within the catalytic domain.
Bone‐resorptive cytokine gene expression in periapical lesions in the rat
Authors: WANG C.‐Y. , Tani‐Ishii N. , Stashenko P.
Published: December 2007

Periapical bone destruction is an important pathogenic sequela of pulpal infection. Recent findings from this laboratory have demonstrated that most bone‐resorbing activity in extracts of rat periapical lesions can be neutralized by an anti‐interleukin (IL‐1α antiserum. To further clarify pathogenic mechanisms, bone‐resorptive cytokine messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was analyzed in developing rat periapical lesions. The molar teeth of 20 Sprague‐Dawley rats were surgically exposed and leftopen to permit infection from the oral environment. Total cell RNA was isolated from periapical granuloma tissue obtained on days 3, 7, 15 and 30 after exposure. mRVA for IL‐1α, IL‐1β and tumor necrosis factor a (TNF‐α) was amplified by revene transcription polymerase chain reaction, and levels were approximated by comparison to the parallel amplification of the housekeeping gene glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase. IL‐1α and TNF‐α mRNA were both highly expressed begining on day 7, increased on day 15, and declined somewhat on day 30. In contras, IL‐1β mRNA was expressed at much lower levels, but with similar kinetics. The kinetics of steady state IL‐1α and TNF‐α mRNA levels were confirmed using the quantitative RNase protection assay, whereas IL‐1β mRNA could not be detected by this technique. IL‐1α mRNA‐expressing cells were identified using in situ hybridization and included infiltrating macrophages, as well as resident fibroblasts, endothelial cells and osteoclasts. These results demonstrate that the IL‐1α and TNF‐α genes are highly expressed in developing periapical lesions in the rat and confirm previous studies at the protein level in this model.
Visualization of an extracellular mucoid layer of Treponema denticola ATCC 35405 and surface sugar lectin analysis of some Treponema species
Authors: Scott D. , Klitorinos A. , Chan E. C. S. , Siboo R.
Published: December 2007

Slime layers and capsules are common amongst medically relevant bacteria. We herein report that Treponema denticola, which has been associated with periodontitis, synthesizes or acquires an extracellular polysaccharide layer that we have observed through electron microscopy using the polysaccharide‐specific dye Alcian blue and phosphotungstate. We have also visualized this extracellular layer by dark‐field microscopy of Alcian blue‐stained spirochete cells. A representative strain of each of the oral spirochete species T. denticola, Treponema vincentii and Treponema socranskii were differentiated by concanavalin A, phaseolus, lotus A and arachis lectins in a microtiter plate immunoassay for the detection of surface sugars.
Effect of low‐molecular‐weight chitosans on the adhesive properties of oral streptococci
Authors: Tarsi R. , Corbin B. , Pruzzo C. , Muzzarelli R. A. A.
Published: December 2007

It was previously shown that a low‐molecular‐weight chitosan and its derivatives N‐carboxymethyl chitosan and imidazolyl chitosan inhibit Streptococcus mutans adsorption to hydroxyapatite. The ability of the same molecules to interfere with adhesive properties of other oral streptococci (Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus gordonii, Streptococcus constellatus, Streptococcus anginosus, Streptococcus intermedius, Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus vestibularis) was tested. When saliva‐coated or ‐uncoated hydroxyapatite beads were treated with N‐carboxymethyl chitosan, a reduction varying from 60% to 98% depending on strains was observed. Low‐molecular‐weight chitosans and imidazolyl chitosan did not have any effect. Growth in N‐carboxymethyl chitosan‐supplemented medium (final concentrations ranging from 20 to 500 μg · ml‐1) caused a dose related reduction in the adsorption of all strains to hydroxyapatite and in their affinity towards xylene. No effect was observed with low‐molecular‐weight chitosans and imidazolyl chitosan. In contrast to what observed with S. mutans, the three polysaccharides did not affect detachment from hydroxyapatite beads and adherence to cheek epithelial cells of the other streptococci. These results suggest that low‐molecular‐weight chitosans and/or imidazolyl chitosan, selectively affecting S. mutans adsorption to hydroxyapatite, may be very interesting as potential anti‐dental caries agents.
Detection of clonotypic changes of T cells after stimulation with Porphyromonas gingivalis
Authors: Nakajima T. , Yamazaki K. , Sakurai K. , Gemmell E. , Seymour G. J. , Hara K.
Published: December 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate whether Porphyromonas gingivalis stimulation would induce a selective activation and expansion of a limited T‐cell receptor Vβ repertoire or T‐cell clonotype. Using samples from patients with chronic inflammatory periodontal diseases, we examined TCRBV gene usage and T‐cell clonotypes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells incubated in the presence or absence of P. gingivalis outer membrane through a combination of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and subsequent single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. There was no difference in the mean expression for most BV families with or without P. gingivalis outer membrane in the culture. However, in individual cases, a few BV gene families did become overexpressed or underexpressed following stimulation, although a consistent pattern did not emerge. SSCP analysis showed that several new distinct bands appeared after stimulation, indicating distinct clonal accumulations, although the number of distinct bands decreased in most cases. These data suggest that clonotypic change occurred following stimulation with P. gingivalis outer membrane. Furthermore, the possibility of superantigen stimulation by P. gingivalis is unlikely to be due to the small change in BV gene usage and clonal T‐cell accumulations with P. gingivalis outer membrane stimulation, as evidenced by SSCP. Thus, RT‐PCR and SSCP analysis is useful in evaluating the host response to periodontopathic antigens.
Soluble Fcγ receptors in periodontal lesions
Authors: Yuan Z.‐N. , Tolo K. , Helgeland K.
Published: December 2007

Soluble Fcγ‐binding components were detected in gingival fluid from periodontal lesions by incubation with biotinylated human Fcγ fragments. FcγIII receptor was identified by incubation of gingival fluid with monoclonal antibody. Sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electophoresis and Western transfer showed that most of the Fcγ‐binding components had minimal mobility in a 4–15% gradient gel under nonreducing conditions. Under reducing conditions, the main band of Fcγ‐binding components in gingival fluid migrated corresponding to protein A of 49 kDa. The pattern of Fcγ‐binding components was similar in serum and gingival fluid except for the observation in gingival fluid of Fcγ‐binding components migrating like standard proteins of 19 to 20 kDa, a size that corresponds to the polypeptide part of FcγII receptor and FcγIII receptor.
Oral immunization with recombinant Salmonella typhimurium expressing a cloned Porphyromonas gingivalis hemagglutinin: effect of boosting on mucosal, systemic and immunoglobulin G subclass response
Authors: Kohler J. J. , Pathangey L. B. , Brown T. A.
Published: December 2007

Live avirulent Salmonella typhimurium are convenient vaccine vectors for the delivery of recombinant antigens for the induction of mucosal and systemic immunity. The hagB gene encodes a hemagglutinin of Porphyromonas gingivalis, a suspected causal agent in human adult periodontal disease. In previous studies, we have shown that hagB can be expressed in avirulent S. typhimurium and is immunogenic when given orally to mice. In this study, we evaluated recall responses in both serum and mucosal secretions after boosting. In addition, we have examined the immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass response in serum to both HagB and the Salmonella carrier. Mice were orally immunized with S. typhimurium expressing the hagB gene and then boosted 14 weeks later. Responses were measured through 27 weeks. Both primary and recall IgG and IgA responses were seen in serum to the purified HagB as well as to the Salmonella carrier. Likewise, mucosal primary and recall responses were seen in saliva, fecal extracts and vaginal washes although the kinetics of the responses differed. The anti‐HagB response in serum was dominated by IgG2a during the peak of primary response, prior to boosting and during the peak of the recall response. The anti‐S. typhimurium response shifted from predominantly IgG3 following primary immunization to IgG2a after boosting. The IgGl response was minimal against each antigen. This pattern of IgG subclass distribution is consistent with a Th1‐type response. These data indicate that avirulent S. typhimurium is capable of delivering a putative virulence factor from P. gingivalis and inducing a primary and recall response in both serum and secretions and provides a means of studying P. gingivalis virulence factors and for the development of a potential vaccine.
Induction of secretory and serum antibody responses following oral administration of antigen with bioadhesive degradable starch microparticles
Authors: Montgomery P. C. , Rafferty D. E.
Published: December 2007

Bioadhesive degradable starch microparticles were used to deliver antigen and immunoglobulin A (IgA)‐enhancing cytokines to the oral mucosa. Degradable starch microparticle immunization groups consisted of rats dosed topically at the sublingual epithelium of the oral cavity, by subcutaneous injection in the vicinity of the major salivary glands or by oral intubation with degradable starch microparticles containing dinitrophenyl‐bovine serum albumin±IL‐5/IL‐6±penetration enhancer (α‐lysophosphatidylcholine). Dinitrophenyl‐bovine serum albumin was also adsorbed onto alum for salivary gland vicinity injection and administered to the oral cavity in soluble form. Animals were subjected to 3 immunization cycles, and sequential samples were assayed by radioimmunoassay for salivary IgA, tear IgA and serum IgG anti‐dinitrophenyl antibodies after secondary and tertiary immunization. Salivary IgA responses were highest in degradable starch microparticle groups receiving penetration enhancer at 71 days post‐secondary immunization and continued in one degradable starch microparticle (oral cavity) and two injected (salivary gland vicinity) groups for up to 88 days post‐tertiary immunization. Long‐term tear responses were also observed in degradable starch microparticle groups receiving penetration enhancer, but they dissipated before the salivary gland‐alum responses following tertiary immunization. Serum IgG responses were most pronounced in salivary gland groups, but long‐term low level responses were detectable in oral cavity groups receiving degradable starch microparticle formulations with penetration enhancer. Inclusion of IL‐5 and IL‐6 in oral cavity‐delivered degradable starch microparticle formulations consistently enhanced tear IgA while only upregulating salivary IgA antibody responses at early time points post immunization. IL‐5 and IL‐6 did not enhance serum IgG antibodies in any group. These data indicate that bioadhesive degradable starch microparticles can be used as a vehicle to deliver antigen and cytokine signals to the oral cavity and, when delivered in combination with a penetration enhancer, can potentiate long‐term salivary IgA responses.
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NEW EPIDEMIC OUTBREAK OF HUMAN LEPTOSPIROSIS IN GREATER RECIFE, BRASIL, IN 1975
Authors: de Oliveira Virgilio José Coutinho , da Rocha José Maria Baracho , da Silva Geraldo Borges , Cabral Carlos Luiz Nepomuceno
Published: December 2007

Abstract—A brief report was presented on a new outbreak of leptospirosis among the population of Greater Recife in 1975 in the wake of the floods that struck the city and its survivors in July of that year. A total of 107 cases were recorded, of which 105 were identified by sero‐agglutination and 2 by hemoculture. Once again the serotype icterohaemorrhagiae was the predominant etiological agent, having been found in 55 cases, followed byballumin 18,grippotyphosain 9, andpyrogenesin 8 cases.
Residents' preparedness and response to the Kalamazoo Tornado
Authors: Hodler Thomas W.
Published: December 2007

A survey was conducted of individuals residing directly in the path of the tornado that hit Kalamazoo, Michigan, on 13th May 1980. The residents' tornado preparedness and response were examined in an effort to evaluate the city's emergency warning system. The system was adequate for people on the east side of the city and lacking for west side residents. Other factors pertaining to the storm event and human response were also evaluated.
Prisoners of armed conflict: Nicaragua an ICRC survey
Authors: Bollag Ueli , Lawson Elaine S.
Published: December 2007

This paper examinee the role of the medical delegate of the ICRC. Part I outlines the diseases and conditions found during a survey of three Nicaraguan rural prisoner of war camps. This information should enable medical delegates to formulate better plans for the treatment of prisoners in future. Part II suggests an alternative health care system which relies on the use of medical kits and manuals In the hands of medical auxiliaries. Dividing responsibility in this way would leave the medical delegate free to perform tasks which make more use of his more sophisticated skills.
Disaster preparedness for farmers: A methodology
Authors: Brammer H.
Published: December 2007

In summary, four elements are considered to be essential for introducing a national system of agricultural disaster preparedness planning:

the initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Agriculture (or its equivalent); within project areas, the initiative should be taken by the project authority, although preferably within a national system;

contingency planning should form part of an annual/ seasonal agricultural production planning; appropriate budgetary allocations should be made at this stage;

regional or district agricultural officers should be given specific responsibility to collect relevant environmental and land use information for disaster‐prone areas and to prepare relevant contingency plans; and

all agricultural officials, from the Ministry down to the lowest field level, should be trained in how to make and use disaster preparedness plans; local government representatives and officials should also be trained.

Training is regarded as the key element. This is a field where international agencies such as FAO and UNDRO could assist governments to improve their state of disaster preparedness. Voluntary agencies could also play an important role in training community leaders in the identification of disaster preparedness needs and possibilities.
A report on the use of agricultural credit for poor disaster victims in India
Authors: Young Lincoln
Published: December 2007

One essential response to disasters is to bring relief aid for the immediate survival of the victims. Another response is often of great importance, although it receives less publicity: that of helping the victims to re‐establish themselves economically. The extension of agricultural credit is one means of achieving this where people have lost crops and/or productive assets. In Orissa, East India, from the mid‐1970's, OXFAM channelled funds through local development organizations for this purpose. In this report, Lincoln Young presents a retrospective review of some of the results of two such projects; the Winter Wheat Project following a drought and the Dalua Project following floods. The emergency nature of such schemes poses considerable problems, placing unusual stress on local administrators in making rapid day‐to‐day decisions and diminishing the possibilities of monitoring which exist in more normal circumstances. The projects described here failed to achieve their original objectives, but lessons may be learned with perhaps greater clarity than from other, somewhat more successful, disaster relief programmes.
Seismological aspects of the Japan Sea earthquake of 1983
Authors: Hirasawa Tomowo
Published: December 2007

The Japan Sea earthquake of 1983 took place at the eastern margin of the Japan Sea, which is a marginal sea situated west of the island are of Japan and the Japan trench in the Pacific Ocean. Its magnitude of 7.7 is the largest among earthquakes which have been known to occur in the seismic belt along the Japan Sea coast of Northeast Honshu, Japan. Since the seismic activity in the belt is not so high, the earthquake is especially important in the geophysical interpretation of tectonic process in the region. The aftershock distribution and the focal mechanism reveals that the earthquake is a thrust fault on a plane dipping eastwards by about 30°. The waveform analysis shows that the earthquake can be regarded as a double shock to a first approximation. Interestingly, there was a 10‐second intermission between the two events. These are preliminary results, and more detailed studies are under development.
Basic health care in El Salvador
Authors: Van der Veen Fred
Published: December 2007

Health care in a conventional war has its own characteristics. Health care in a guerilla war, as exists at present in El Salvador, adds to this some new aspects.
Natural disasters in Australia
Authors: Leivesley Sally
Published: December 2007

The history of natural hazards in Australia and their physical, economic and social consequences are discussed in this paper. The lack of any national programme for hazard mitigation is identified, alongside an overview of Australia as a country where major disasters are accepted as a part of everyday life.
Urban flooding in Australia: Policy development and implementation
Authors: Smith D.I. , Handmer J.W.
Published: December 2007

This paper presents a review of Australian urban riverine flooding. By world standards the Australian flood problem is relatively small, though there are pockets of development subject to regular severe inundation. In the past, government response to flooding was ad hoc and characterized by structural adjustments. The 1970s and 1980s, however, have seen a major shift in approach. The new approach emphasizes resource management rather than construction, and consists of the announcement of policies, enactment of enabling legislation, and the introduction of procedures to help ensure that the widest range of flood damage reduction measures are considered. The changes are evident at both the federal and state levels of government.

Though problems remain, particularly at the local government level, where ultimate responsibility for policy implementation generally rests, the authors feel there are good grounds for optimism. Some suggestions for future policy are offered and the importance of public safety is stressed.
Using computer graphics to reveal temporal changes in urban population density patterns
Authors: Schneider J. B. , Yeh Che‐I , Janarthanan N.
Published: December 2007

Population distributions change substantially over time in major metropolitan areas. Knowledge of these variations by time of day, day of the week and other time periods can be helpful to disaster planners who need to prepare response plans to earthquakes and other disasters that will injure and kill large numbers of people. Computer graphics can display data that describe these changing population patterns in ways that can be more easily comprehended than page after page of printed numbers. Several different illustrations of 3‐D population density maps drawn by the ASPEX computer program are presented. Each illustrates a guideline that can be used to prepare maps that deal with the many ways of looking at urban population density distributions and their temporal changes. Those maps can help disaster planners gain a realistic perception of population density distributions by enabling them to see what cannot be seen from the actual physical structure of a large metropolitan region.
Methods of increasing food self‐sufficiency following disasters in the commonwealth Caribbean*
Authors: Mcintosh Curtis E.
Published: December 2007

In the Caribbean, catastrophic events take their toll on food availability through loss of food crops and livestock, disruption in the channels of distribution and loss of foreign exchange earnings from export crops, which are used to procure imported foodstuffs. Nutritional consequences such as the protein energy malnutrition among children, pregnant and lactating women and hard‐working males and females are likely to follow.

Choice of crops and livestock systems following disasters should be such as to allow for a rapid rehabilitation of the agricultural production and distribution system to eliminate prolonged dependence on food aid. Opportunities should be provided for balanced meal plans including staples, legumes, vegetables, food from animals, fruits, oils and fats. These issues are addressed in this article.
Welfare policy: A review
Authors: Chamberlain E.R. , Leivesley S.
Published: December 2007

This paper reviews the literature on disaster welfare policy. Analysis of the Australian disaster welfare response shows the different functions of government and voluntary welfare agencies.
The development and applications of a Drought Early Warning System in Botswana*
Authors: Morgan Richard
Published: December 2007

This article describes the indicators and data sources used by the Botswana Drought Early Warning System formally established in early 1984, the main uses of the indicators in the assessment of drought conditions and the design of relief programmes are outlined. Limitations of the sources of data available are discussed, as is the feasibility of adding some possible further indicators. In conclusion, the importance of a functioning Early Warning System in a country highly susceptible to repeated droughts is stressed, in the context of die current effort to elaborate a comprehensive National Food Strategy and to establish a Regional Early Warning System for Southern Africa.
Emergency and institutional crisis in Peru during El Nino 1982–1983
Authors: Cavledes César N.
Published: December 2007

From December 1982 through July 1983, Peru was plagued by disastrous consequences of El Nino/Southern Oscillation phenomenon. While the northern part of the country was devastated by torrential rains and floods, central Andean Peru endured landslides and flash floods, the southern Altiplano suffered a severe drought. Hazard preparedness was nonexistent, and official disaster relief uncoordinated and slow in coming. Administrative inefficiency magnified the stress upon the populations under disaster conditions. Provisions of disaster training from specialized international organizations is recommended as a preventive measure and as a policy to improve catastrophe‐coping abilities in developing nations.
Malnutrition among the Akamba of Kenya ‐Problem or response to a problem?
Authors: Brabin Loretta
Published: December 2007

Two recent studies amongst the Kenyan Akamba are contrasted to illustrate how malnutrition can be regarded either as a response to a problem in the local environment, or as the problem itself, arising from general conditions of poverty and ignorance. Differences in methodology are compared and it is shown that nutrition studies often ignore local factors in reaching conclusions on nutritional status. Consequently, nutrition policy recommendations provide general solutions of limited value. It is suggested that factors in the local environment which may cause malnutrition be investigated by hypothesis testing, in order to provide specific information for community‐based action.

The category of the poor is not merely inadequate for evaluative exercises and a nuisance for causal analysis, it can also have distorting effects on policy matters. On the causal side, the lack of discrimination between different circumstances leading to poverty gives rise to a lack of focus in policy choice.
Co‐ordination for disasters
Authors: Taylor Alan J.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared in 1978 on the basis of a review of sociological and anthropological fieldwork conducted up to that time. Although theoretical in presentation its conclusions are formulated in accordance with the author's own extensive observations of organizational response to natural disasters in developing countries, especially those having sudden onset. Practical implications for co‐ordination agencies and pre‐disaster training are drawn.
The Cameroon volcanic gas disaster. An analysis of a makeshift response
Authors: Othman‐Chandev M.
Published: December 2007

The Cameroon Volcanic Gas Disaster has seen yet again a number of burning issues relating to relief management. These relate to the exxasgerantion and indequacy of facts from the field, media amplification of information, inappropriate and abundant intrnational response and lack of logistic considerations.

Disaster relief assessment should continue to be a top priority, no matter who performs it initially. Accurate assessment and immediate and appropriate satisfaction of the needs of victims are imperative if relief actors ar to be hare credibility. For international relief to be effective there is a need to expand existing contacts betwen a stricken government and its foreign counterparts, NGOs and the media. Part of this process includes the participation of resident relief and aid oriented agencies in national relief committees. Greater relief discipline should also outweight donor compassion.
Does nutritional surveillance have a role to play in early warning of food crisis and in the management of relief operations?*
Authors: Shoham Jeremy
Published: December 2007

A major area of investment in data collection in developing countries has been that of nutritional surveillance and monitoring. From recent debate it is clear that there is currently no consensus on the potential role of nutritional status as an early warning indicator.

The author presents a synthesis of the broad spectrum of views on the role nutritional surveillance could or should have in early warning. Conceptual problems and technical difficulties are reviewed in the light of recent experiences in Africa and Asia. The author raises a number of issues for future discussion in this ongoing debate.
Nutritional Status as an Indicator of Impending Food Stress*
Authors: GALVIN KATHLEEN A.
Published: December 2007

Famine early warning systems benefit from a variety of indicators which together signal the initial stages of food stress for particular population groups. Anthropometry has been used as an indicator in early warning systems, but there are inherent problems in its use which should be understood. Using data from Turkana pastoralists of northwest Kenya, this paper discusses the problems of: time lag between food shortages and changes in body size and composition; use of reference points; accurate age assessment; and establishment of baseline data. Diet composition data are suggested to be an additional nutrition‐oriented indicator of impending food stress and one in which problems associated with anthropometry are not inherent. Both measures may be useful in monitoring a population, but their strengths and weaknesses should be appreciated.
Cross‐Border Relief Operations in Eritrea and Tigray
Authors: HENDRIE BARBARA
Published: December 2007

Cross‐border relief operations to non‐government controlled regions of Eritrea and Tigray have been on‐going since before the 1984/85 famine in Ethiopia became international news. Little is officially known about the character and scale of these operations, however, as a result of their politically sensitive nature. The background, assets and limitations of the operations are examined, with a focus on the period 1985–1988. The report also addresses issues arising from the delivery of assistance in the context of so‐called internal wars against the central government.
Social and Ecological Aspects of Resettlement and Villagization among the Konso of Southwestern Ethiopia
Authors: KLOOS HELMUT , ABATE TUFA , HAILU ASRAT , AYELE TEKLEMARIAM
Published: December 2007

TEKLEMARIAM AYELE2

This is a study of the changing settlement and land use patterns of the Konso in three peasant associations in southwestern Ethiopia and an evaluation of their attitudes toward government‐sponsored villagization in the lowlands. Over the years, the Konso have moved spontaneously from the overpopulated highlands toward lower elevations and have recently begun to cultivate on the Yanda plain, but without settling there. Fear of tropical diseases, armed conflict with pastoralists and the Konso perception of lowland living continue to be powerful deterrents to settlement in the lowlands. Major objectives of the government villagization programme are unlikely to be achieved in the Konso area and may instead lead to disaster unless this programme is drastically revised to provide suitable conditions for resettlement and to meet the specific needs of the population.
The Importance of the Social Sciences to the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction
Authors: BATES FREDERICK L. , DYNES RUSSELL R. , QUARANTELLI E.L.
Published: December 2007

The Executive Board of the Research Committee on Disasters of the International Sociological Association endorsed the following statement about the 1DNDR on 14 December, 1990.
Mortality and Morbidity in Refugee Camps in Eastern Sudan: 1985–90
Authors: MERCER ALEX
Published: December 2007

Civil war has disrupted life in Ethiopia since the 1960s and many people have sought refuge in Eastern Sudan, particularly during the famine emergency of 1984–85. UNHCR has provided the main financial support for the refugee programme, but began scaling down operations in 1990. Nearly 300,000 refugees still live in camps and benefit from food and health programmes. Health services are co‐ordinated by the Sudanese Refugee Health Unit which operates a centralised health and nutrition surveillance system with the co‐operation of the NGOs responsible for health care in the camps. A revision of the monthly reporting system and the establishment of a computer database in 1990 provided an opportunity to review the situation in the camps over the five years since the emergency. Child death rates for example, appear to have been reduced to levels below those expected in rural Africa. Patterns of mortality, morbidity, and nutritional status are outlined here and point to the general effectiveness of the health care programme. The surveillance system can, however, be used to identify those camps which have persistent problems, while monthly comparisons with the situation in previous years can provide early warning of deteriorating conditions.
Evacuation Mapping: The Utility of Guidelines
Authors: DYMON UTE J. , WINTER NANCY L.
Published: December 2007

Maps provided to the public for preventive and protective evacuations should be an integral part of emergency plans. The map design criteria contained in the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines for nuclear power plants were examined and compared with the content and design of evacuation maps found in the public information publications of thirteen United States nuclear power plants. Results indicated that the graphic and descriptive content of these maps varied considerably. Four characteristics related chiefly to the FEMA guidelines capture some of the findings from this study: 1) failure to comply with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRQ/FEMA suggestions; 2) failure to comply with FEMA guidelines for map elements; 3) weaknesses present in the FEMA guidelines themselves; and 4) significant omissions in those guidelines.
Famine, Gold and Guns: The Suri of Southwestern Ethiopia, 1985–91
Authors: ABBINK JON
Published: December 2007

Over the past few years, the Suri have lived through a deep ecological and social crisis without substantial external aid from either the Ethiopian government or international aid agencies. They have experienced drought, cattle disease and an increasing level of violent conflict with their neighbours, leading to the severe disruption of their traditional agro‐pastoral subsistence system and settlement pattern. Through migration, the exploitation of gold resources and investment in automatic weapons, however, they have managed virtually a full recovery of their economy and society.
Surveillance of the Health and Nutritional Status of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh
Authors: WIJNROKS MARIJKE , BLOEM MARTIN W. , ISLAM NAEL , RAHMAN HABIB , DAS SWAPAN KUMAR , HYE ABDUL , HALL GILLIAN
Published: December 2007

Early in 1992, Bangladesh experienced an influx of Burmese refugees, reaching a total of 263,000 by May. As the health and nutritional status of the refugee population was reportedly poor, a need was felt to collect dependable data through epidemiological surveillance, on which interventions could be based. The nutritional and health status of children was dramatically poor in all camps surveyed and a deterioration was expected in the coming monsoon. Several problem areas could be identified. Based on these findings it was possible to undertake appropriate action and to avert threatening calamities. Epidemiological surveillance is an important monitoring tool to provide reliable data on the health and nutritional status of refugee populations and to help the organizations involved to prioritize and evaluate their actions.
Military Participation in Emergency Humanitarian Assistance
Authors: GAYDOS JOEL C. , LUZ GEORGE A.
Published: December 2007

Military forces of the United States and other countries possess training, equipment and capabilities that are suited for work in disaster preparedness and assistance. Information on the use of military units in domestic and foreign disaster‐related efforts, particularly by United States forces in the medical area, was obtained by review of the literature and unpublished military reports, and from interviews with people who have been involved with disaster‐related activities. The historical reasons for viewing United States forces as resources in disaster situations are identified. Additionally, issues and problems related to disaster preparedness and assistance in general, and more specifically, to the past and future use of military personnel for this mission are examined. The need for a defined military mission for emergency humanitarian assistance and the need for a military organizational structure to support this mission are identified. Once these two critical issues have been properly addressed, the United States military should participate in the establishment of a disaster institute for joint civilian‐military disaster planning and training, in both domestic and foreign areas.
From Sentiment to Science: Children's Relief Organisations and the Problem of Malnutrition in Inter‐War Europe
Authors: WEINDLING PAUL
Published: December 2007

The transformation of the ethos of children's relief organisations from sentimentalism into science was reflected in the rise of nutritional science, eugenics, child psychology and child guidance. A related transition occurred in the organisational forms of child welfare organisations: with the rise of welfare states, government organisations took an increasing role. Internationally there was a move to expand the scope of charities relieving children in distress to broader strategies promoting child welfare. In this paper I consider these shifts in the case of international measures to relieve child starvation and to promote child welfare between the First and Second World Wars. I examine how health organisations had to move away from relief work and establish programmes seeking to relate the developing scientific understanding of nutrition to a range of factors affecting health.
Innocents Abroad: Western Fantasies of Childhood and the Iconography of Emergencies
Authors: BURMAN ERICA
Published: December 2007

In this paper I explore the emotional interests maintained by the imagery of children used in Third World emergencies. Boundaries between adult and child are reproduced through relations of paternalism between North and South, such that the infantilisation of the South exemplified in imagery of children works to secure the competence and maturity of the Northern donor. Drawing on both analyses of the cultural origins and meanings of concepts of childhood and psychoanalytic perspectives, I suggest that media coverage of disasters arouses both identification and strategies to ward off and protect from the anxiety this brings. The gendered as well as geographical distribution of qualities of children's innocence and experience are discussed, drawing on both general imagery of children and recent coverage of children and child‐saving, particularly in the former Yugoslavia. Developing analyses of ‘disaster pornography’, the paper explores how children appear as the principal focal objects onto which attention is pinned and as the signifiers of distress. This is at the cost of dehumanizing both children, their families and their cultures, and rendering them passive objects of a western gaze which seeks to confirm its own agency and omnipotence to ward off its own insecurities. While aid organisations and campaigns necessarily engage with, and sometimes collude with, these reactions, the paper ends by suggesting that there may be strategies whereby images of children can function to comment on rather than maintain prevailing colonial and paternalistic relations.
Children's Experience of Conflict Related Emergencies: Some Implications for Relief Policy and Practice
Authors: BOYDEN JO
Published: December 2007

This paper challenges the limited models of childhood, conflict and relief which determine most humanitarian interventions targeting children in conflict related emergencies. In particular, it notes the tendency of relief programmes to focus on “spectacular” groups of children (orphans, child combatants and refugees) at the expense of larger child populations indirectly affected by conflict. This relief bias is attributed to an inappropriate ‘apocalypse model’ of conflict which sees relief interventions only as repair. The bias also lies in a mistakenly universalist model of childhood and a medical paradigm which pathologizes children's experience in conflict and characterizes children as passive victims rather than active survivors. The paper argues for greater recognition of the wider social experience of children in conflict, and for relief practice which takes account of childhood resilience and children's different roles and capacities in coping with conflict. Appropriate interventions must engage with the wide variety of indigenous coping mechanisms involving children and not simply replicate a standard package of relief interventions in every emergency, based on simplistic and universalist interpretations of children's experience of conflict.
The Association between El Niño/Southern Oscillation Events and Typhoons in the Marshall Islands
Authors: SPENNEMANN DIRK H.R. , MARSCHNER IAN C.
Published: December 2007

An analysis of the historic record of typhoons in the Marshall Islands has identified a significant association between the occurrence of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon (ENSO) and the occurrence of typhoons in the Marshall Islands. Whilst typhoons normally occur further to the east, the warming of the ocean waters around the Marshall Islands, as part of the ENSO phenomenon, generates typhoons further to the west. The results suggest that typhoons are 2.6 times more likely to occur during ENSO years, with a 71 per cent chance of a typhoon striking during an ENSO year, and only a 26 per cent chance of one happening during a non‐ENSO year. This has implications for planning and public safety, which the relevant authorities may wish to take note of.
The Role of the Zairian Health Services in the Rwandan Refugee Crisis
Authors: PORIGNON DENIS , NOTERMAN JEAN‐PIERRE , HENNART PHILLIPE , TONGLET RENÉ , SORON'GANE ETIENNE MUGISHO , LOKOMBE TARCISSE ELONGO , CEMUBAC
Published: December 2007

In July 1994, a stream of Rwandan refugees entered the southern part of North Kivu Region, Zaire. The public health consequences of this crisis for the host population and health services have not been analysed up to now. The lack of human and financial resources did not prevent Zairian health structures and personnel from taking care of the many refugees settled outside the camps, following their arrival. The public health consequences of the crisis for the local population should be considered an integral part of the disaster.
Nutrition, Disease and Death in Times of Famine
Authors: YOUNG HELEN , JASPARS SUSANNE
Published: December 2007

In this article we review the relationship between malnutrition and mortality, and the interaction of morbidity, with the aim of clarifying the health risks of malnutrition in situations of famine and food insecurity. Apart from reviewing what is known about this relationship, we highlight areas where further research is needed. Among refugee and famine affected populations living in camps, there appears to be a close association between high rates of malnutrition and excess mortality. Results from communitybased prospective studies of malnutrition and mortality among individuals conclude that as nutritional status declines the risk of death increases, although the discriminating power of different nutritional indices and the strength of the association varies considerably in different locations and at different times. These differences are attributed mainly to the different prevailing patterns of morbidity and growth failure, which are influenced by both environmental and social factors. In situations of famine and population displacement, the deterioration in the health environment increases exposure to infection and is likely to raise the threshold of nutritional status which corresponds to an increased risk of mortality. This has important implications for nutritional assessments and interventions.
Decentralized Data Management in Nutritional Surveillance for Timely Warning and Intervention
Authors: MULDER‐SIBANDA MENNO , CHOWDHURY RAFIQUEL ISLAM
Published: December 2007

In this paper we describe a theoretical approach for decentralized data management in sentinel community nutritional surveillance systems for timely warning and intervention, by using customized computer programs. By making the data available at lower levels first, the decentralized data management system builds the institutional capacity at regional, level and allows rapid and appropriate action by decision‐makers. In addition, it facilitates the flow of information and strengthens the involvement of field staff. Reports from field experiences should further demonstrate the feasibility, efficacy, costs and benefits of customized data management computer programs.
Neoliberalism and Criticisms of Earthquake Insurance Arrangements in New Zealand
Authors: HAY IAIN
Published: December 2007

Global collapse of the Fordist–Keynesian regime of accumulation and an attendant philosophical shift in New Zealand politics to neoliberalism have prompted criticisms of, and changes to, the Earthquake and War Damage Commission. Earthquake insurance arrangements made 50 years ago in an era of collectivist, welfarist political action are now set in an environment in which emphasis is given to competitive relations and individualism. Six specific criticisms of the Commission are identified, each of which is founded in the rhetoric and ideology of a neoliberal political project which has underpinned radical social and economic changes in New Zealand since the early 1980s. On the basis of those criticisms, and in terms of the Earthquake Commission Act 1993, the Commission has been restructured. The new Commission is withdrawing from its primary position as the nation's non‐residential property hazards insurer and is restricting its coverage of residential properties.