Population Growth in Man and Its Consequences

Sociological implications of human population explosion and technological and food productio

The new autonomy and the urban environment : the political and societal implications of globalization for cities

14 p

Spatial and temporal trends and risk factors for intentional carbon monoxide poisoning hospitalizations in England between 2002 and 2016

Introduction Suicide and mental health disorders are a recognized increasing public concern. Most suicide prevention rely on evidence from mortality data, although suicide attempts are a better predictor for completed suicides. Understanding spatio-temporal patterns and demographic profiles of people at risk can improve suicide prevention schemes, including for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, a common method for gas-related suicides. Objective Describe spatio-temporal patterns of intentional CO poisoning hospitalization rates in England between 2002 and 2016, and identify population sub-groups at risk. Methods We used NHS Digital's Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) routinely collected data on hospital admissions for intentional CO poisoning. We estimated age-standardised rates (ASR) by year, gender and residential small-area characteristics, including rural/urban, deprivation and ethnic composition. Temporal trends were assessed through linear regression and joinpoint regression analysis. Regional differences were explored. Results On average, we identified 178 hospital admissions for intentional CO poisoning per year. The ASR decreased substantially over the study period, particularly among males (average annual percent change of −7.8 % (95 % CI: −11.0; −4.6)), in comparison to 3.9 % (95%CI, −6.4; −1.4) among females. Most admissions (81 %) occurred in males. White men aged 35–44 years were particularly at risk. The ASR in London (0.08/100,000) was almost six times lower than in the South-West (0.47/100,000). Conclusions This study provides novel insights into attempted suicides by intentional CO poisoning. Further prevention interventions, targeting sub-groups at risk (i.e. white men in their 30s/40s), need to be developed and implemented to reduce the burden of suicides and of CO poisoning

Cornelius de Pauw and the Degenerate Americas

The journals of travellers, or their reports back home, have always offered fascinating insights into the unknown for those left behind. But they are not the only source about exotic places that have been available to the interested reader. As there have been travel accounts, there also always have been books and analyses by writers who had never left their home country. This chapter will deal with one of these books. First published in two volumes in 1768 and 1769, Les Recherches Philosophiques sur les Américains, ou Mémoires Intéressante pour servir à l’Histoire de l’Espèce Humaine made its formerly unknown author almost instantly into one of the most-discussed writers of his time. The Dutchborn clergyman Cornelius de Pauw was going to be the centre of cultural attention for the rest of his lifetime, to be translated almost immediately into German and Dutch, and to be asked to contribute to the Encyclopédie. His fame was not only due to his early work: two more philosophical dissertations followed, first on the Egyptians and Chinese (1773) and then on the Greek (1787/88). His second work again caused great discussion, which epitomised in Voltaire writing his Lettres chinoises, indiennes et tartares à M. Pauw, par un bénédictin (1776) in defence of the Asian nations against de Pauw’s polemic. Today, however, Cornelius de Pauw is as good as forgotten and in my opinion wrongly so. Despite what one scholar called an “exceedingly uneventful” life (Church, 1936, p.181), the clergyman is a fascinating character, which admittedly is probably revealed more through his writing than his acting. He understood to popularise and polemicise topics that were much debated among scholars and in courts. His writing style was fashioned after the encyclopedists, his tone was characterised by the “leicht geschürzte(n) Plauderton des Friderizianischen Salons” – the “slightly arrogant conversation tone of the Frederickian salon” (Beyerhaus, 1926, p.470). On top of offering an explanation for de Pauw’s great success during his lifetime, all this makes his work still very accessible today. Why he then sank into oblivion so soon after his death, will not be part of this chapter however. Instead, it will focus on his first work, the Recherches sur les Américains, and deal with it in relation to its depiction of the American peoples as well as in relation to the so called “degeneracy theory”, which is the idea that the New World is inferior to the Old – an idea that has prevailed to our days in the form of anti-Americanism

Using non-human culture in conservation requires careful and concerted action

Discussions of how animal culture can aid the conservation crisis are burgeoning. As scientists and conservationists working to protect endangered species, we call for reflection on how the culture concept may be applied in practice. Here, we discuss both the potential benefits and potential shortcomings of applying the animal culture concept, and propose a set of achievable milestones that will help guide and ensure its effective integration existing conservation frameworks, such as Adaptive Management cycles or Open Standards