Map silences and chronic humanitarian crises: Spatial patterns of migrant mortality in South Texas, 2009-2020.

Forensic and humanitarian interventions deployed to address migrant death in US southwestern border states have become increasingly prevalent over the past four decades. In this paper we address two persistent issues specific to the Texas-Mexico border context. First, we present the first comprehensive geospatial analysis of migrant deaths in South Texas, establishing a twelve-year (2009-2020) mortality profile. And second, we introduce the concept of necrosilences and its implications to both forensic and humanitarian work and usage of geospatial tools. We applied ANOVA, spatial statistics, and cluster analysis to test the relationships of migrant mortality point locations throughout South Texas, an area comprised of ten counties with some of the highest reported migrant deaths in the state. Our findings demonstrated that unidentified human remains that corresponded to migrants were found most consistently in jurisdictions inland from the Mexican border. Further, the map visualizations highlighted vast areas seemingly devoid of migrant deaths. These "empty" areas are emblematic of necrosilences. That is, instances where there is a lack of access or accounting rather than no death incidences. We conclude by discussing the importance of visualizing necrosilences.

Two novel HLA class I alleles HLA-A*03:409 and -B*49:72 and the extension of the -B*40:19 allele sequence.

Two novel HLA class I alleles, HLA-A*03:409 and -B*49:72 were characterized by next generation sequencing.

Phase II spatial patterning of vulture scavenged human remains.

This project expands on a pilot study by Spradley, Hamilton, and Giordano (2012) that investigated the patterns and effect of vulture scavenging of human remains, with special focus on the effect of microenvironments. Five donated bodies from the Willed Body Donation Program at Texas State University were placed in various locations at the university's Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF). The bodies were monitored by motion capture cameras and after each vulture scavenging event the dispersal and location of the bodies' skeletal elements were mapped with a high accuracy GPS unit. The degree and direction of dispersal by vultures were then analyzed with GIS. Phase II revealed that vultures will begin scavenging at variable times, will continue to return to and move remains after a body has been skeletonized, and tend to move remains from higher elevations to lower elevations. The data also suggested that vultures may scavenge in larger groups (n > 20) in cooler temperatures, but in warm to hot temperatures they may scavenge more frequently in smaller groups (n ≈ 5). Future directions for vulture scavenging profiles are briefly discussed.

Migrant deaths at the Arizona-Mexico border: Spatial trends of a mass disaster.

Geographic Information Science (GIScience) technology has been used to document, investigate, and predict patterns that may be of utility in both forensic academic research and applied practice. In examining spatial and temporal trends of the mass disaster that is occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border, other researchers have highlighted predictive patterns for search and recovery efforts as well as water station placement. The purpose of this paper is to use previously collected spatial data of migrant deaths from Arizona to address issues of data uncertainty and data accuracy that affect our understanding of this phenomenon, including local and federal policies that impact the U.S.-Mexico border. The main objective of our study was to explore how the locations of migrant deaths have varied over time. Our results confirm patterns such as a lack of relationship between Border Patrol apprehensions and migrant deaths, as well as highlight new patterns such as the increased positional accuracy of migrant deaths recorded closer to the border. This paper highlights the importance of using positionally accurate data to detect spatio-temporal trends in forensic investigations of mass disasters: without qualitative and quantitative information concerning the accuracy of the data collected, the reliability of the results obtained remains questionable. We conclude by providing a set of guidelines for standardizing the collection and documentation of migrant remains at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Spatial patterning of vulture scavenged human remains.

This article presents the results of a pilot study on the effects of vulture modification to human remains. A donated body from the Willed Body Donation Program was placed at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF), an outdoor human decomposition laboratory located at Texas State University-San Marcos. The effects of vulture scavenging on the timing and sequence, and the rate of skeletonization, disarticulation, and dispersal were observed via a motion sensing camera and direct observation. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and GPS (Global Positioning System) technologies and spatial analytical methods, the transport of skeletal elements was mapped in order to analyze dispersal and terrain-influenced patterns of active vulture scavenging. Results showed that the initial scavenging took place 37 days after placement at FARF. This delay in scavenging differs from previous research. After the initial appearance of the vultures, the body was reduced from a fully-fleshed individual to a skeleton within only 5h. This underscores the potential for errors in postmortem interval estimations made at vulture scavenged scenes. Additionally, spatial analysis showed that skeletal elements were dispersed by vultures to lower elevations, and that the disarticulation and dispersal of the skeletal elements occurs early in the scavenging sequence.

Chagas disease in Texas: recognizing the significance and implications of evidence in the literature.

Chagas disease is endemic and is recognized as a major health problem in many Latin American countries. Despite the parallels between socio-economic and environmental conditions in Texas and much of Latin America, Chagas disease is not a notifiable human disease in Texas. Based on extensive review of related literature, this paper seeks to recognize the evidence that Chagas Disease is endemic to Texas but the epidemiological, parasitological and entomological patterns of Chagas disease in Texas are both different from and parallel to other endemic regions. We find that with a growing immigrant human reservoir, the epidemiological differences may be reduced and result in increasing incidence of the disease. Chagas disease should be recognized as an emerging disease among both immigrant and indigenous populations. Without proper actions, Chagas disease will place increasing burden on the health care system. Current medical treatments consist of chemotherapies that carry the risk of serious side effects; curing the potentially fatal disease remains equivocal. Therefore, as shown in South America, prevention is paramount and can be successfully achieved through intervention and education. We conclude that biogeographical research is needed to (1) distinguish the dynamic evolution of the agent-vector-host system, (2) document locations with greater risk and identify mechanisms responsible for observed changes in risk, and (3) assist in developing a model for Triatomid vector-borne disease in states like Texas where the disease is both endemic and may be carried by a sizeable immigrant population. Tracking of Chagas disease and planning for appropriate health care services would also be aided by including Chagas disease on the list of reportable diseases for humans.