haiti – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Oso disaster had its roots in earlier landslides

By Guest PostSeptember 7, 2014Environmentbasile luyet, biobanking, diabetesmedikament, earthquakes, evolution of skull, father of cryobiology, field of biobanking, haiti, hazard, helfen, human variation, joanna radin, john considine, julia fitzgerald, kaleb sellers, life on ice, new zealand, peroxychem, phenomenon of biobanking, public cloud infrastructure, risk, roots, sap hana

The disastrous March 22 landslide that killed 43 people in the rural Washington state community of Oso involved the “remobilization” of a 2006 landslide on the same hillside, a new federally sponsored geological study concludes.

The research indicates the landslide, the deadliest in U.S. history, happened in two major stages. The first stage remobilized the 2006 slide, including part of an adjacent forested slope from an ancient slide, and was made up largely or entirely of deposits from previous landslides. The first stage ultimately moved more than six-tenths of a mile across the north fork of the Stillaguamish River and caused nearly all the destruction in the Steelhead Haven neighborhood. (more…)

In conversation: scientist Ruth Blake on life aboard the E/V Nautilus

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2014Environmentatlantic ocean, beauty of politics, belize, court jew, Cuba, dry tortugas, evolution der chlamydien, geophysics, gulf of mexico, haiti, jew suess, joseph suess oppenheimer, many deaths, matthias horn, sattelzeit, scientist, straits of florida, truth in history, yair mintzker

Yale geology and geophysics professor Ruth Blake recently completed a tour of duty as lead scientist aboard the exploration vessel Nautilus, during the Windward Passage leg of the ship’s 2014 exploration season.

The Windward Passage is the body of water between Cuba and Haiti, where the Atlantic Ocean flows into and exchanges water with the Caribbean Sea. Blake’s stint as lead scientist lasted Aug. 18–28.

Blake spoke with YaleNews about the scientific mission at the heart of the journey. (more…)

Haitians Struggle with the Costs Associated with Crime

By Guest PostSeptember 1, 2012General, Politics2010 earthquake, athena kolbe, bribe, burial cost, daniel barker, economic cost, funeral, gonaives, haiti, haitian national police, igarape institute, les cayes, marie puccio, michigan, murder rate, political science, port au prince, property crime, robert muggah, sexual assault, trauma, university, urban community, violent crime

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— As violent crime continues to rise in Haiti, more households are helping their children cope with the trauma as well as deal with burdensome funeral and burial costs, a new University of Michigan report indicated.

Violent crimes were more common in densely packed zones in Haiti’s largest urban communities, including Port-au-Prince, Les Cayes and Gonaives.

Researchers released the new survey that looks at the economic costs of violent crime in Haiti. The report is the second in a monthly series that features longitudinal surveys of 3,000 households from August 2011 and July 2012. (more…)

One Year after Triple Disasters, Japan Continues to Struggle

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2012Environment, Generalbureaucratic red tape, catastrophe, coastal city, coastal communities, earthquake, ethan segal, evacuation zone, fukushima nuclear power plant, haiti, hurricane katrina, Japan, japanese government, japanese history, katsurao, michigan state university, nuclear meltdown, rikuzen takata, tepco, tokyo electric power, triple disasters, tsunami

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A year after Japan was struck by triple disasters – earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown – many citizens cannot find regular work and face the possibility of never returning to their homes and seeing their communities disappear, according to a Michigan State University scholar.

Ethan Segal, associate professor of Japanese history, made two trips to Japan following the March 11, 2011, catastrophe, spending close to two weeks in the northeastern part of the country that was most directly affected. (more…)

Study Assesses Nations’ Vulnerabilities to Reduced Mollusk Harvests from Ocean Acidification

By Guest PostAugust 7, 2011Environmentatmosphere, carbon dioxide emissions, carbonate shells or skeletons, changes in ocean chemistry, CO2, co2 levels, corrosive environment, fossil fuel, gambia, haiti, hauke kite powell, industrial revolution, Madagascar, marine ecosystems, marine environments, marine fisheries, mollusk aquaculture, mollusk harvests, mollusks, mozambique, noelle lucey, ocean acidification, ph, sarah cooley, scott doney, senegal, shellfish, transition decade, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution, world oceans

Changes in ocean chemistry due to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are expected to damage shellfish populations around the world, but some nations will feel the impacts much sooner and more intensely than others, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

As CO2 levels driven by fossil fuel use have increased in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, so has the amount of CO2 absorbed by the world’s oceans, leading to changes in the chemical make-up of seawater. Known as ocean acidification, this decrease in pH creates a corrosive environment for some marine organisms such as corals, marine plankton, and shellfish that build carbonate shells or skeletons. (more…)

Neurosurgeon’s Rare Skills Saved a Haitian Priest’s Life

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2011Healthaneurysm, brain, catheter, endovascular surgery, femoral artery, haiti, ketan bulsara, neuroendovascular and skull-based surgery, neurosurgeons, norbert tibeau, optic nerve, pituitary gland, priesthood, skull based cerebrovascular microsurgery, state of the art technology, yale medical group, yale new haven hospital

On April 26, Dr. Ketan Bulsara, using state-of-the-art technology, threaded a catheter less than one centimeter in width from the femoral artery in Norbert Tibeau’s thigh into an aneurysm in his brain. The aneurysm had grown to a diameter of two centimeters and bordered on such critical structures as the optic nerve and pituitary gland. If left untreated chances were high that within five years it would either kill Tibeau or devastate him neurologically. (more…)

Patient Privacy Should be Respected Abroad and Online

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2011Culture, Healthamerican medical student, developing countries, dominican republic, ecuador, erik black, ethical gray area, Facebook, federal guidelines, haiti, health care providers, lindsay thompson, medical students, patient, patient privacy, reed van deusen, social media, spring break, terry kind, unauthorized photo, united states, web

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Taking an unauthorized photo of a patient and posting it on Facebook is a giant no-no for health-care providers, who follow strict federal guidelines protecting patient privacy.

But what if the patient is a little girl in Ecuador receiving a vaccine from an American medical student, who’s in the country on a medical outreach trip? Although taking photos of patients in developing countries and posting them on the Web may not be illegal, it’s not ethical, say researchers from the University of Florida.

It’s long been a common practice for health care providers to snap photos while volunteering their time in developing countries, generally to bring back evidence of the conditions patients face there. But reporting in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, UF College of Medicine researchers say providers should treat patients’ privacy with the same reverence no matter where the care takes place. (more…)

‘Art and the Unbreakable Spirit of Haiti’ opens Jan. 9 at Fowler Museum at UCLA

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2010Cultureart, artistic, christmas lanterns, deborah sontag, divine revolution, filmmaker, fowler in focus, fowler museum, haiti, haitian arts, haitian experience, historic moments, jonathan demme, madison smartt bell, new york times, paintings, patrick a polk, port au prince, ritual practice, saluting vodou spirits, unbreakable spirit, united states, vodou temples

*Related event Jan. 29 features filmmaker Jonathan Demme, journalists, scholars*

Showcasing a selection of works collected by the Fowler Museum at UCLA over the past five decades, “Fowler in Focus: Art and the Unbreakable Spirit of Haiti” juxtaposes pieces produced for the international art market with those used in Port-au-Prince Vodou temples and nationwide seasonal festivities.

The pieces illustrate how crucial aspects of the Haitian experience — including significant dates and galvanizing events — are made tangible through artistic and ritual practice. (more…)

Tag Archives: haiti