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PubMed1986

Psychiatric cases in community studies: how important an issue?

Over the last 15 years the use of standardized clinical-type psychiatric interviews has been extended to the general population and we have a much better understanding of the extent of affective disorder and factors of aetiological importance. The surveys have revealed a worrying amount of affective disorder, of much the same order of severity as those treated in out-patient clinics, particularly among working-class women in inner-city areas. Relatively few are seen at any point by psychiatric services although half the conditions at any one point in time are chronic. Despite the increasing interest in this work relatively few studies have yet been published. The scientific status of the instruments and the generalizability of the current findings and some of their implications are discussed.

Community Mental Health Services↗
PubMed2001

Starting, spacing and stopping in the reproductive histories of outer Hebridean families.

Maternal ages at the first maternity (starting), at the last maternity (stopping) and the lengths of intervals between maternities (spacing) have been studied in the Outer Hebridean islands of Harris and Barra for births between the years of 1855 and 1990, a period during which a considerable 'fertility transition' occurred. There was a tendency in each island for increases with time in the ages at starting among less-fecund women (although after 1936 starting ages declined), and highly significant heterogeneity of covariance: adjusted means dependent on the total numbers of maternities experienced. The same result was seen for the ages at stopping. Lengths of reproductive life (the difference between ages at starting and stopping) rose to 1876-1895, and then fell, apart from a short-lived rise in Barra during 1956-1975, possibly due to the papal encyclical Humaneae Vitae. Intervals between marriage and first maternity and between successive maternities were studied by hazard function survival analysis. The marriage first birth interval remained very constant, unaffected by total maternities. The father's occupation and the mother's age at first maternity showed no significant relationships. In Barra there was a weak negative relationship with the date of the marriage. For intervals between maternities in both islands, total maternities and the death of a previous infant were associated with shorter, and birth order with longer intervals. In Harris, there were tendencies for intervals to be consistently long or short in families, and for the age of the mother and date at first maternity to be negatively related to the length of the interval. In Barra, a previous multiple birth was followed by a longer interval. The date of the previous maternity, father's occupation, maternal age at the previous maternity, the sex of the previous child, and the duration of the marriage appeared to have no influence on maternity intervals. Evidence for an effect of economic deprivation during the 19th century on the variables considered was equivocal. During the 20th century, it is suggested that economic depression during the inter-war years, the spread of contraception, and improvements in health care may have acted 'synergistically' to produce the lower ages of childbearing and the shortening of maternity intervals and reproductive lives.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Probabilities of marriage in two outer Hebridean islands, 1861-1990.

A study has been made of the probabilities of marriage of females and males aged 15-49 (either as a whole or in 5-year age groups) in two Outer Hebridean islands, Harris and Barra. The results were compared with ages of marriage and with the frequencies of permanent celibacy. The marriages took place between 1861 and 1990. Median ages of marriage rose to maxima in the 1930s and 1940s, then fell steeply, levelling out latterly. Permanent celibacy was consistently high among females, but rose from much lower levels in males to maxima in the 1970s and 1980s. It is concluded that in these populations age at marriage and the extent of permanent celibacy are largely independent of one another. In both islands the overall probabilities of females marrying fell until the 1920s, and then rose. The last decades showed stability (Barra) and a fall (Harris). Males showed only slight falls to about 1910; data were absent for between 1911 and 1960, but subsequently there was little rise in probability. These overall changes seemed to be associated with reciprocal variations in probabilities in the younger and older age groups. Declining overall probabilities were associated with declines in younger and increases in older age-group probabilities, and vice versa. Non-parametric correlations between median ages of marriage and probability of marriage were negative and generally significant for the 15-19 age group. Among the older age groups coefficients were generally positive. There was some evidence of an association between probability of marriage and sex ratio in any group of potential mates. The effect appeared more marked among 15- to 19-year-old females. Local factors which might explain at least part of the decline in nuptiality for the greater part of the period under study include the decline in the fishing industry and the 'land hunger' which existed until the late 1920s. This decline is interpreted as a 'Malthusian' response to economic and social conditions, but it coexisted with a 'neo-Malthusian' strategy, in the shape of declining marital fertility. The 'Malthusian' strategy seems to have been largely abandoned around the 1950s, but it may have reappeared during the 1980s.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1972

Bacteriuria in a Scottish island community. A comparison of chemical and cultural tests for bacteriuria applied in remote surroundings.

Four hundred and thirty-eight overtly healthy adults on Tiree were screened for bacteriuria by dip-inoculum culture and a tetrazolium reductase test.Dip-inoculum culture affords a simple and effective means of providing a service in quantitative urine bacteriology for communities remote from a laboratory.The pattern of bacteriuria on Tiree is much the same as in other communities surveyed. Criteria are discussed for assessing the sensitivity of the tetrazolium test in terms of quantitative urine culture.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Hydatid disease in the Western Isles.

An investigation into the incidence of hydatid disease was carried out in the Hebridean islands of Lewis and Skye. The results showed that 20% of the sheep were infected and 10% of the dogs harboured Echinococcus granulosus. Sporadic human cases continue to occur but using serological tests we were unable to show evidence of subclinical infection in the population sampled.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Epidemiology of nematode infections of Soay sheep (Ovis aries L.) on St Kilda.

The epidemiology of nematode infections of Soay sheep on the island of St Kilda over a period of 2 years (August 1988-August 1990) spanning a host population crash is described. Infective larvae (L3) levels on pasture were high (2422 +/- 365 L3/kg D.M. grass in midsummer 1988) when host population density was high, decreasing after the sheep population declined by 70% in early 1989 (601 +/- 14 L3/kg D.M. in midsummer 1989). The availability of infective larvae to sheep increased during the winter of 1988-1989, probably as a result of concentration of existing larvae on grass as vegetation was destroyed by bad weather and overgrazing. Increased availability of pre-parasitic stages was accompanied by a marked increased in faecal egg counts from sheep of all ages and both sexes. Prevalence and intensity of infection (faecal egg counts) were higher in males than females throughout the 2-year study (chi 2 = 208.3, P < 0.005 and F1, 2000 = 304, P < 0.001 respectively), except during the lambing periods, and decreased with age in both sexes. Changes in prevalence and intensity of strongyle infections were associated with changes in host population density. Prevalence and intensity of Dictyocaulus filaria larvae in faeces increased during the host population crash. Infection intensity decreased with age (F1, 203 = 44.02, P < 0.001) and was higher in males than females (F1, 203 = 13.45, P < 0.001).

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1992

The role of nematode parasites in Soay sheep (Ovis aries L.) mortality during a population crash.

In early 1989, two-thirds of the Soay sheep population on St Kilda died over 12 weeks. Post-mortem examinations revealed emaciated carcasses and considerable nematode burdens, with protein-energy malnutrition as the probable cause of death. Haematological and blood biochemical changes in the sheep, as well as fecundity of gastrointestinal nematodes, suggested the hosts were immunosuppressed. In parallel, laboratory experiments in which Soay sheep on a high plane of nutrition were artificially infected with Ostertagia circumcincta, showed no clinical signs or mortality when supporting worm burdens similar to those recorded in dead sheep on St Kilda. Anthelmintic treatment of a group of animals increased daily survival rates in ewes and male lambs, although treated animals became re-infected as the 'crash' progressed. It is suggested that parasites contribute to mortality in malnourished hosts, exacerbating the effects of food shortage.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1995

Alcohol in Hebridean culture: 16th-20th century.

This paper sets out to document certain cultural antecedents to alcohol use in a British community. In order to demonstrate the extent to which patterns of alcohol consumption arise within broader social and cultural contexts, drinking practices on the Western Isles of Scotland are examined in light of specific social, economic and religious changes which have taken place between the 16th and 20th centuries. This paper thus seeks to argue that drinking practices are historical in that they arise within the context of the social and material conditions of a given epoch.

Alcoholic Beverages↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Infectious disease mortality in two Outer Hebridean islands: 1. measles, pertussis and influenza.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to examine changes in mortality from measles, pertussis (whooping cough) and influenza (all epidemic diseases) in Harris and Barra, two Outer Hebridean islands, from 1855 to 1990, and to compare the findings with those from Scotland as a whole over the same period. It was also intended to relate changes in mortality to those in social and economic factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ages and causes of death in Harris and Barra were ascertained from copies of death certificates held at the General Register Office, Edinburgh, and for Scotland as a whole from the Annual Reports of the Registrars General for Scotland. Data were standardized by calculating the Proportionate Mortality Ratio (PMR), the proportion of deaths due to a particular cause to all deaths over a given period. Spectral analysis was employed to examine the durations of epidemic cycles. RESULTS: Ages at death increased slightly over the period of the study. For measles and pertussis, other than for the former in Harris, there were significant relationships between numbers of deaths per decade, and numbers of new susceptibles, estimated as the numbers of births. Epidemics of measles and pertussis in the islands occurred at intervals, usually separated by years of no mortality. The highest PMRs were generally during the later decades of the 19th and first decade of the 20th centuries; this may have been related to the economic problems of agriculture and fishing, and to increasing population density. Influenza epidemics were more frequent than those of the other two diseases. For all three diseases in both islands, there were significant negative power relationships between epidemic size and frequency of occurrence; those in Harris were the stronger. The relationships between length and frequency were significant only in Harris. Generally, epidemic lengths seemed less variable than sizes, possibly because of the rather 'coarse' units of length (quarters) employed. Spectral analysis of the 'detrended' data for the period before the introduction of specific immunoprophylaxis revealed that for measles the main epidemic cycle in all three populations was between 7.3 and 7.8 years' duration. Barra and Scotland had additional 2.5- and 2-year cycles, respectively. For pertussis, Harris and Barra had main cycles of 7.4 years. Harris had an additional cycle of 3.2 years. Scotland had cycles of 4 and 2 years. For influenza, Harris had a main cycle length of 7.4 years, and a less-defined one of about 2.6 years. Barra had a main cycle of 6.9 years, and a subsidiary one of 2 years. Scotland has a single cycle of 8 years. Cubic regressions of the spectral densities on cycle frequencies showed large coefficients for Harris and Barra, but small ones for Scotland. Measles coefficients were closely similar in the two islands, but not those for pertussis. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate the episodic occurrence of epidemics of these three diseases in the two islands, as against their continual presence in the much larger population of Scotland. They reveal also the decreasing importance of these causes of death in all three populations. The data from Harris and Barra suggest that measles is a more epidemiologically 'stable' disease than pertussis. Both islands appear to obey Hamer's law of 'mass action'. The relatively long intervals between epidemics in the islands may be due partly to their isolation, and partly to the slow accumulation of sufficient numbers of susceptibles to enable an epidemic to occur.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Blood groups and reproduction in Hebridean women.

The distribution of ABO and RH blood groups was studied in 910 fertile women from the Isles of Lewis and Harris. The frequencies of group O mothers fell and of RH-mothers rose with increasing parity, but there were no significant changes in the ABO and RH blood group distributions among their offspring when they were subdivided according to their mothers' parity. When mother-offspring pairs classified according to their ABO and RH compatibility status it was found that RH incompatibility was associated with greater number of previous pregnancies and of abortions. Regression coefficients of birth weight on maternal stature and maternal age were significant only for doubly compatible female offspring and on number of previous pregnancies only for doubly compatible offspring of both sexes. When offspring were classified according to their own and their mothers' ABO blood groups, considerable variations in sex ratio were found. However, the only statistically significant finding was a deficit of A females among the offspring of O mothers. It is suggested that for the ABO blood groups system incompatibility selection, which favours homozygotes rather than heterozygotes, can be counterbalanced by selection for greater maternal tolerance of incompatible offspring with increasing parity. Hence the loss of heterozygotes in lower parity mothers may be compensated by an increase production in higher parity mothers. For the Rh system the same mechanism may occur, but there is evidence additionally of reproductive compensation.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Contamination and compensation: Gruinard as a 'menace to the mainland'.

The decades-long contamination of Gruinard Island by anthrax is now a well-known part of the history of biological weapons (BW) development, as well as that of military encroachments in the Scottish Highlands and Islands (and the authorities' rather less persistent efforts at damage limitation). Some accounts have included the related episode, reportedly well-remembered by local people, of anthrax contamination on the mainland close to Gruinard. This occurred in 1942--43, when BW experiments were conducted on the island as part of the war effort by scientists from Porton Down under the auspices of the British government. After much top-level discussion, payments were made to the owners of animals that had died as a result of the contamination. The episode had a bearing on discussions about the future of the island and on subsequent policy with regard to the siting, conduct and secrecy of BW experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Comparative ungulate dynamics: the devil is in the detail.

Attempts to relate species differences in population dynamics to variation in life histories rely on the assumption that the causes of contrasts in demography are sufficiently simple to be derived from first principles. Here, we investigate the causes of contrasts in dynamics between two ungulate populations on Hebridean islands (red deer and Soay sheep) and show that differences in stability, as well as in the effects of variation in density and climate, are related to differences in timing of reproduction relative to seasonal variation in resource abundance. In both populations, attempts to predict changes in population size sufficiently accurately for the results to be useful for management purposes require a knowledge of the responses of different age and sex categories to changes in density and climate, as well as of population structure.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Genetic variation of the sixth component of complement (C6) in the Manx shearwater (Puffinus p. puffinus).

A polymorphism in the sixth complement component (C6) has been investigated by isoelectric focusing. The results indicate that C6 is coded by genes at a single autosomal locus. Six structural alleles have been identified, a null allele is also postulated. Five island colonies of Shearwater were investigated, two alleles C6 A and C6 B predominate in all sites. The ability of rabbit C5 and C7 to combine successfully with avian C6 indicates the functional sites of these molecules are highly conserved.

Animals↗