Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene sites in the montane forests of New Guinea yield early record of cassowary hunting and egg harvesting.

How early human foragers impacted insular forests is a topic with implications across multiple disciplines, including resource management. Paradoxically, terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene impacts of foraging communities have been characterized as both extreme-as in debates over human-driven faunal extinctions-and minimal compared to later landscape transformations by farmers and herders. We investigated how rainforest hunter-gatherers managed resources in montane New Guinea and present some of the earliest documentation of Late Pleistocene through mid-Holocene exploitation of cassowaries (Aves: Casuariidae). Worldwide, most insular ratites were extirpated by the Late Holocene, following human arrivals, including elephant birds of Madagascar (Aepyornithidae) and moa of Aotearoa/New Zealand (Dinornithiformes)-icons of anthropogenic island devastation. Cassowaries are exceptional, however, with populations persisting in New Guinea and Australia. Little is known of past human exploitation and what factors contributed to their survival. We present a method for inferring past human interaction with mega-avifauna via analysis of microstructural features of archaeological eggshell. We then contextualize cassowary hunting and egg harvesting by montane foragers and discuss the implications of human exploitation. Our data suggest cassowary egg harvesting may have been more common than the harvesting of adults. Furthermore, our analysis of cassowary eggshell microstructural variation reveals a distinct pattern of harvesting eggs in late ontogenetic stages. Harvesting eggs in later stages of embryonic growth may reflect human dietary preferences and foraging seasonality, but the observed pattern also supports the possibility that-as early as the Late Pleistocene-people were collecting eggs in order to hatch and rear cassowary chicks.

Is there a Hispanic Health Paradox in Sensitivity to Air Pollution? Hospital Admissions for Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Congestive Heart Failure Associated with NO2 and PM2.5 in El Paso, TX, 2005-2010.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Linkages between pollution and morbidity have been observed in numerous studies. But race/ethnicity has been underemphasized as a modifier of that association, and few studies have tested for a Hispanic Health Paradox in sensitivity to air pollution. METHODS: Daily asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF) hospital admissions in El Paso, Texas were studied in age groups and insurance groups. Daily PM2.5 and NO2 were calculated from pollution monitors and all models adjusted for apparent temperature and wind speed. Conditional logistic regression for the case-crossover design was used for a between-group comparison and for a within-group comparison for Hispanics. RESULTS: Hispanics were at lower risk than non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanics of other races for NO2-associated admissions, but at greater risk for PM2.5-associated admissions. While Hispanics were generally protected with regards to NO2, Hispanic children (vs. elderly) faced increased risk for asthma and uninsured Hispanics (vs. Private) faced increased risk for COPD admissions. While Hispanics were at increased risk of PM2.5-associated admissions, certain characteristics heightened their risks: being a Hispanic child (vs. Elderly) for asthma; being a Hispanic with Medicare (vs. Private) for asthma; and being a Hispanic with private insurance (vs. all other insurance types) for CHF. The main effect of pollution on admissions was more significant for asthma and CHF than for COPD, which had the fewest cases. CONCLUSIONS: There was heterogeneity in sensitivity to air pollution based on social characteristics and moderate evidence for a Hispanic Health Paradox in sensitivity to NO2.

Hospital admissions for asthma and acute bronchitis in El Paso, Texas: do age, sex, and insurance status modify the effects of dust and low wind events?

BACKGROUND: El Paso County (Texas) is prone to still air inversions and is one of the dust "hot spots" in North America. In this context, we examined the sub-lethal effects of airborne dust and low wind events on human respiratory health (i.e., asthma and acute bronchitis) between 2000 and 2003, when 110 dust and 157 low wind events occurred. Because environmental conditions may not affect everyone the same, we explored the effects of dust and low wind within three age groups (children, adults, and the elderly), testing for effect modifications by sex and insurance status, while controlling for weather and air pollutants. METHODS: We used a case-crossover design using events matched with referent days on the same day-of-the-week, month, and year with conditional logistic regression to estimate the probability of hospital admission, while controlling for apparent temperature (lag 1), nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter of 2.5µm or less. RESULTS: Children (aged 1-17) were 1.19 (95% confidence interval: 1.00-1.41) times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma three days after a low wind event, and 1.33 (95% CI: 1.01-1.75) times more likely to be hospitalized for acute bronchitis one day after a dust event than on a clear day. Girls were more sensitive to acute bronchitis hospitalizations after dust events (1.83, 95% CI: 1.09-3.08) than boys, but less sensitive than boys to acute bronchitis hospitalizations after low wind events (0.68, 95% CI: 0.46-1.00). We found general trends with regard to dust and low wind events being associated with increased odds of hospitalization for asthma and bronchitis amongst all ages and adults (aged 18-64). Adults covered by Medicaid and adults without health insurance had higher risks of hospitalization for asthma and acute bronchitis after both low wind and dust events. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that there were respiratory health effects associated with dust and low wind events in El Paso, with stronger impacts among children and poor adults. Girls and boys with acute bronchitis were differentially sensitive to dust and low wind events.