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In one year 55 patients presented to the casualty department of St Bernard's Hospital, Gibraltar, with a primate bite. The implications of such wounds on the health of these patients is contrasted with the morbidity and mortality associated with primate bites in the African subcontinent.
The British colony of Gibraltar offers an opportunity to compare the infant mortality rates of the civilian and military populations inhabiting a small-scale urban setting from 1870 to 1899. Both groups shared the same poor-quality housing, the same sanitary infrastructure, and the same environmental inseparability. Sufficient water supply, in particular, proved to be a daily struggle for the families living on the Rock. Privilege for the military meant that service families had preferential access to a pure water supply after the installation of a water-condensing plant as well as to a better quality supply of water and milk. The availability of these privileges to one group, and not the other, is associated with a marked decline in infant mortality in the second half of the study period.
In order to assess the effectiveness of patient self-selection, and the value of dedicating surgery time to a specific clinic, attendances at a Well Woman Clinic were compared with attendances for the same reasons at other times. During the nine month audit period the opportunity was also taken to overhaul the Age/Sex Register, and assess the uptake of Cervical Screening at the Garrison Medical Centre. This unit is part of the Royal Naval Training Practice in Gibraltar.
Sangiran hominid 2 (S-2), Gibraltar hominid 1 (G-1), and Shanidar hominid 5 (SH-5) exhibit previously undescribed bilateral, paramedian hyperostosis of the endocranial frontal squama that spares the frontal crest, sagittal sinus, and ectocranial surface. The hyperostosis is localized to the frontal (usually the middle third) and parietal and is consistent with a diagnosis of hyperostosis calvaria interna (HCI), inclusive of hyperostosis frontalis interna. The hyperostosis in these specimens is compared to fossil hominids from Indonesia and Europe and to modern human cases of HCI. The three cases of HCI reported here documented the existence and frequency of HCI in fossil hominids and push the antiquity of the disease back to nearly 1.5 million years. The relatively great incidence of HCI in fossil hominids adds another confounding factor to the problematical issue of the taxonomic significance of cranial vault thickness.
A complete statistical analysis of meteorological and air pollution data was carried out in the 'Campo de Gibraltar' region (in the South of Spain) from 1999 to 2002. This is a heavy industrialized area where, up to date, very few air pollution studies have been made. The main objectives of the study presented here have been the characterization of the meteorological and (gaseous and particulate) air pollution conditions in the area, and the relations between them. Multivariate statistical techniques, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), have been applied to the data. The results show that air quality in the area is highly dependent on meteorological conditions such as wind persistence and direction, dispersion capability of the atmosphere, and humidity content. On average, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide air pollution, mainly caused by fuel-oil combustion and traffic, respectively, is not very high. However, an important number of exceedences of the limits established by the EU Directive 1999 for PM10 (particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 microm) have been observed in some points of the area. A significant percentage of these exceedences (about 22% on average) are likely caused by African dust intrusions, which usually take place from May to August. From gaseous and particulate air correlations, it seems that anthropogenic activities contribute with about 19% on average.
The results of an epidemiologic study undertaken by the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) after commission by the Spanish Parliament indicated that Huelva and Cádiz were the zones in Andalusia with elevated risk of cancer. A 6% (women) and 10% (men) cancer mortality excess was observed with respect to the other six Andalusian provinces. Huelva and Cádiz are located in the south-western region of Spain, and are characterized by a strong industrial activity concentrated in several industrial sites. This situation led to two environmental surveys in these areas, in which the presence of dioxins was studied among other parameters. A PCDD/F assessment in soils of the Campo de Gibraltar (Cádiz) was carried out from June 2003 to June 2004. A total of 20 samples were collected in this study divided in two sampling campaigns. The first 10 samples were taken in locations affected by high industrial activity zones as well as in landfills (hotspots). The rest of the samples were collected in areas that were not expected to be contaminated, such as agricultural zones and forests. I-TEQ values of the samples ranged from 0.26 to 15.08 ng/kg dm. In all, 85% of the samples were below the limit of 5 ng I-TEQ/kg I-TEQ concentrations of three samples only surpassed this limit. These zones corresponded to a landfill, a quarry used for dumping chemical product containers and a sample from the sewage system of the industrial site. These sites were used neither for agricultural nor for public purposes.
A particle-tracking model to simulate the dispersion of contaminants in the Strait of Gibraltar has been developed. The model solves the hydrodynamic equations off-line and tidal analysis is carried out to determine tidal constants for the two main constituents. Tidal constants and residuals are stored in files that are read by the dispersion model. A lagrangian approach is used to solve dispersion; diffusion and decay are simulated by a Monte Carlo method. A method for assessing the areas of the Strait with higher probability of being affected by contamination occurring after an accident in the shipping routes is given. Generally speaking, the fate of a pollutant discharge strongly depends on wind conditions. Winds from the east tend to retain contamination into the Strait. As a consequence, transverse mixing occurs and both Spain and Morocco coasts are affected by contamination. Under calm conditions and west winds, contaminants are flushed out of the Strait faster and transverse mixing does not occur. Thus, only part of Morocco coast has a higher probability of being affected by contamination.
The activity concentrations and fluxes of natural (210Pb, 210Po) and anthropogenic (239,240Pu, 137Cs) radionuclides have been determined in the different water masses crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. New data have been gathered during four multidisciplinary and multinational sampling campaigns, performed between 1997 and 1999 within the framework of the CANIGO-FLUGIST Project. Mean activity concentrations of 210Po (1.53+/-0.34 Bq m(-3), n = 30) and 210Pb (1.16+/-0.50 Bq m(-3), n = 31) in the Atlantic water entering the Mediterranean basin are about double those measured in the Mediterranean outflow, namely 0.84+/-0.34 Bq m(-3) (n = 22) for 210Po and 0.66+/-0.34 Bq m(-3) (n = 22) for 210Pb. The opposite trend is observed for 231,240Pu, with average concentrations of 9.9+/-3.0 mBq m(-3) (n = 29) in the incoming Atlantic flow and 22.0+/-3.0 mBq m(-3) (n = 22) in the outpouring Mediterranean water. In the case of 137Cs, the same concentrations were quantified in the waters moving inwards (2.52+/-0.28 Bq m(-3), n = 27) and outwards (2.14+/-0.52 Bq m(-3), n = 21) from the Mediterranean Sea. On this basis, the Mediterranean basin experiences a net annual input flux of 14 TBq of 210Pb and 19 TBq of 210Po, and a net annual loss of 0.34 TBq of 239,240Pu, while--at present--137Cs input and output fluxes appear to be balanced.
Small and large-size particles were collected in the water column (50-3000 m) of a Northeastern Atlantic area where deep Mediterranean waters, outflowing through the Strait of Gibraltar, are incorporated at mid-depth. Particles collected by water filtration (0.7 micron pore size) and by vertical hauls of a neuston net (50 microns mesh size) were analyzed for organic pollutants, namely aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, and organochlorine compounds. Small-size particles represented the largest bulk of particulate organic carbon as well as of hydrophobic organic pollutants. Surface concentrations of n-alkanes [C14-C35), aromatic hydrocarbons (12 parent compounds), PCBs (7 congeners), and DDTs (DDT + DDE) were, respectively, in the range of 50-63 ng/L, 23-68 pg/L, 8-13 pg/L, and 0.05-1.7 pg/L. These concentrations showed a general decrease with depth, particularly significant in the upper 200 m, consistently with the POC contents. Compositional changes with depth were also evident in small-size particles and included the depletion of low molecular weight n-alkanes and low chlorinated PCB congeners as well as a decrease of the fossil to pyrolytic PAHs ratio. Unusual increases of concentrations were observed at mid-depths (900-1100 m), indicating additional particle inputs, either by in-situ formation or by advective transport from the Mediterranean. The latter was recognized because small-size particles within these water veins exhibited distribution patterns out of the vertical sequence and similar to those of deep Mediterranean waters. An input of 8 and 0.5 tons per year of the above PAH and PCB compounds, respectively, has tentatively been calculated as the contribution of these Mediterranean waters to the Northeastern Atlantic.
The geographic situation of the Iberian Peninsula makes it a natural link between Europe and North Africa. However, it is a matter of debate to what extent African influences via the Straits Gibraltar have affected Iberia's prehistoric development. Because early African pastoralist communities were dedicated to cattle breeding, a possible means to detect prehistoric African-Iberian contacts might be to analyze the origin of cattle breeds on the Iberian Peninsula. Some contemporary Iberian cattle breeds show a mtDNA haplotype, T1, that is characteristic to African breeds, generally explained as being the result of the Muslim expansion of the 8th century A.D., and of modern imports. To test a possible earlier African influence, we analyzed mtDNA of Bronze Age cattle from the Portalón cave at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain. Although the majority of samples showed the haplotype T3 that dominates among European breeds of today, the T1 haplotype was found in one specimen radiocarbon dated 1800 calibrated years B.C. Accepting T1 as being of African origin, this result indicates prehistoric African-Iberian contacts and lends support to archaeological finds linking early African and Iberian cultures. We also found a wild ox haplotype in the Iberian Bronze Age sample, reflecting local hybridization or backcrossing or that aurochs were hunted by these farming cultures.
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