Geocoding health data with Geographic Information Systems: a pilot study in northeast Italy for developing a standardized data-acquiring format

Introduction. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an innovative and somewhat crucial tool for analyzing relationships between public health data and environment. This study, though focusing on a Local Health Unit of northeastern Italy, could be taken as a benchmark for developing a standardized national data-acquiring format, providing a step-by-step instructions on the manipulation of address elements specific for Italian language and traditions. Methods. Geocoding analysis was carried out on a health database comprising 268,517 records of the Local Health Unit of Rovigo in the Veneto region, covering a period of 10 years, starting from 2001 up to 2010. The Map Service provided by the Environmental Research System Institute (ESRI, Redlands, CA), and ArcMap 10.0 by ESRI\uae were, respectively, the reference data and the GIS software, employed in the geocoding process. Results. The first attempt of geocoding produced a poor quality result, having about 40% of the addresses matched. A procedure of manual standardization was performed in order to enhance the quality of the results, consequently a set of guiding principle were expounded which should be pursued for geocoding health data. High-level geocoding detail will provide a more precise geographic representation of health related events. Conclusions. The main achievement of this study was to outline some of the difficulties encountered during the geocoding of health data and to put forward a set of guidelines, which could be useful to facilitate the process and enhance the quality of the results. Public health informatics represents an emerging specialty that highlights on the application of information science and technology to public health practice and research. Therefore, this study could draw the attention of the National Health Service to the underestimated problem of geocoding accuracy in health related data for environmental risk assessment

Fire and climate: Biomass burning recorded in ice and lake cores

Human activities including fossil fuel burning are currently altering the global climate system at rates faster than ever recorded in geologic time. Biomass burning causes carbon dioxide emissions equal to 50% of those from fossil-fuel combustion and so are highly likely to influence future climate change. However, aerosols continue to be one of the least understood aspects of the modern climate system and even less is known about their past influence. Ice and lake core proxy records provide quantifiable data on past fire regimes across most spatial and temporal scales. Some monosaccharide anhydrides such as levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan are used as specific molecular markers for biomass burning as they can only be produced by combustion processes at temperatures greater than 300 °C and are present in both ice and lake cores. Other paleofire tracers such as microcharcoal, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pollen records augment the fire history derived at single sites or across regions. As both pyrochemical and climate parameters are determined from the same depth and time within the ice or sediment matrix, the multi-proxy nature of ice and lake cores presents an ideal material to investigate the links between fires and climate change

2,4-Dimethoxy­benzaldehyde azine

The title mol­ecule, C18H20N2O4, is located on a crystallographic centre of symmetry. The meth­oxy groups are coplanar with the benzene ring [interplanar angles of 14.4 (2) and 3.1 (3)°], indicating a conjugation effect

The contradictory effect of the methoxy-substituent in palladium-catalyzed ethylene/methyl acrylate cooligomerization

Two new nonsymmetric bis(aryl-imino)acenaphthene ligands (Ar,Ar'-BIAN) and one symmetric Ar2-BIAN were studied. The three ligands share the presence of at least one methoxy group on one of the two aryl rings. These ligands were used for the synthesis of neutral and monocationic palladium(II) complexes of general formula [Pd(CH3)Cl(N-N)] and [Pd(CH3)(L)(N-N)][PF6] (N-N = Ar,Ar'-BIAN, Ar2-BIAN; L = CH3CN, dmso). Due to the nonsymmetric nature of the ligands and their coordination to palladium in a nonsymmetric chemical environment, cis and trans isomers are possible for the three series of complexes with Ar,Ar'-BIANs. Both a detailed NMR investigation in solution and the X-ray characterization in solid state point out that the trans isomer is the preferred species for the neutral derivatives, whereas for the cationic compounds a decrease in the stereoselectivity of the coordination is observed. One of the new Ar,Ar'-BIANs differs from an already reported nonsymmetric \uf061-diimine for the replacement, on one aryl ring, of a methyl group with a methoxy susbtituent, thus allowing a comparison of the structural features of the relevant complexes. The monocationic complexes were tested as precatalysts for the ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymerization under mild reaction conditions. Despite the structural similarities observed in solution with the already known precatalysts, the present compounds demonstrated a remarkable decrease in the productivity values associated to a higher affinity for the polar monomer

Methyl 3-[(E,E)-3-phenyl­prop-2-enyl­idene]dithio­carbazate

In the title compound, C11H12N2S2, the dithio­carbazate group adopts an EE configuration with respect to the C=C and C=N bonds of the propenyl­idene group. The atoms of the propenyl­idene and dithio­carbazate unit are essentially co-planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.058 (1) Å; the phenyl ring forms a dihedral angle of 18.3 (1)° with this fragment. In the crystal, mol­ecules form inversion dimers via pairs of N—H⋯S hydrogen bonds involving the terminal S atom

(E)-4-Octyloxybenzaldehyde thio­semicarbazone

In the title compound, C16H25N3OS, the thio­semicarbazone group adopts an E configuration with respect to the C=N bond and is almost coplanar with the benzene ring, forming a dihedral angle of 9.3 (1)°. In the crystal packing, the mol­ecules lie along the a axis in an anti­parallel arrangement and are held in place by van der Waals inter­actions. As a consequence, there is relatively low anisotropic thermal motion in the terminal atoms of the n-octyl chain

Knapping on the hill: A lithic workshop site of hunter-gatherer groups from Tierra del Fuego island

6 páginas, 3 figuras.-- et al.[EN]: This paper provides the initial results obtained from the analysis of a lithic workshop, named Altos del Varela I, located on the top of Petersen hill in Tierra del Fuego Island (Argentina). The site contains distinctive areas entirely composed of a high frequency of flakes made from local metamorphic rhyolite. These results open the debate about the use of mountain landscape between the fuegian hunter-gatherers as well as the interaction between coastal and inland groups.[ES]: En este trabajo se presentan los resultados iniciales obtenidos del análisis de un taller lítico, denominado Altos del Varela I, ubicado en la cima del cerro Petersen en la isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). El sitio presenta diferentes áreas que incluyen, de manera exclusiva, una alta frecuencia de lascas de riolitas metamorfizadas de origen local. Los resultados permiten abrir el debate sobre el uso de los paisajes montañosos por parte de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras fueguinas así como sobre la interacción costa-interior.Este proyecto fue financiado por un subsidio de la Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2071).Peer reviewe

Two-colour generation in a chirped seeded Free-Electron Laser

We present the experimental demonstration of a method for generating two spectrally and temporally separated pulses by an externally seeded, single-pass free-electron laser operating in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range. Our results, collected on the FERMI@Elettra facility and confirmed by numerical simulations, demonstrate the possibility of controlling both the spectral and temporal features of the generated pulses. A free-electron laser operated in this mode becomes a suitable light source for jitter-free, two-colour pump-probe experiments

Exploraciones osteológicas de la salud de las poblaciones humanas del Canal Beagle

Algunas evidencias acerca de la salud de las poblaciones aborígenes han comenzado a ser reportadas en varias regiones de Patagonia Austral. Por el contrario, hasta el momento carecemos de información comparable para la región del canal Beagle. El objetivo de este trabajo es comunicar los resultados de las investigaciones bioarqueológicas y paleopatológicas de los restos humanos recuperados en excavaciones realizadas en la margen norte del canal durante la primera década del siglo XXI. Estos estudios incluyen nuevos fechados radiocarbónicos sobre restos humanos hallados en cinco sitios arqueológicos. Fueron estudiados restos pertenecientes a doce individuos (ocho adultos y cuatro subadultos). Los resultados muestran una tendencia al mayor desarrollo de lesiones articulares de la columna dorsal y en los miembros superiores en periodos posteriores al contacto, al igual que mayor desarrollo de lesiones asociadas a situaciones de estrés sistémico. Al mismo tiempo, se presentan lesiones patológicas no reportadas anteriormente en PatagoniaEvidence concerning the health of aboriginal populations from various regions of Patagonia Austral has started to emerge. On the other hand, up until this moment we lack comparable evidence for the Beagle Channel region. The aim of this article is to reveal the results of bioarchaeological and paleopathological studies on human remains recovered from excavations undertaken along the northern margin of the channel during the first decade of the 21st Century. These studies include new radiocarbon dates on human remains found at five archaeological sites. The remains of twelve individuals were studied (eight adults and four sub-adults). The results reveal a tendency towards the development of articular lesions of the dorsal column and the upper limbs in the post-contact period, as well as the development of lesions associated to systemic stress situations. Concurrently there is evidence for pathological lesions not noted previously in Patagonia.Sociedad Argentina de Antropologí