Heavy Metals in Soils around the Cement Factory inRockfort, Kingston, Jamaica

This study deals with the distribution of heavy metals in soils around one of the most important industries in Kingston, Jamaica i.e. the Carib Cement factory at Rockfort. The dust emitted from the Caribbean Cement Company Limited (Carib Cement), located in Rockfort, Kingston, gets deposited in course of time over the soil, leaves and forms a grey cover on the surrounding soils. Geochemical analysis of the top soil, collected from the present study area has been undertaken to assess the impact of the dust emitted from the cement factory and its effect on the surrounding ecosystem. A total of seventeen top soil samples of 0-10 cm depth were collected from the close vicinity of the Rockfort and the Harbour view area and analysed by INAA, AAS, XRF for major, minor and trace elements. Results show that the top soils of the study area are enriched in Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, V, Pb, and Hg which are released into the air from the cement kilns. Results show that the soils are enriched in Ca with a maximum value of 18% followed by Al, Fe and Na. Heavy metals in the soils of the study area shows relatively high concentrations of zinc with a maximum of 132 ppm followed by Cr (57) ppm and Pb (32) ppm. Maximum concentrations were found in soils sampled at a distance of 2-3 m from the cement factory as opposed to samples collected much further ie from the Harbour View area. High concentrations of the heavy metals in the soils near the cement factory as opposed to those further away can be due to the emissions from the factory. A significant contribution can also come from traffic emissions as the study area is located along one of the busiest street of Kingston, Jamaica.

Socio-demographic determinants of health status of elderly with self-reported diagnosed chronic medical conditions in Jamaica

Objectives: The aim of the current study is to examine the health status of elderly in rural, peri-urban and urban areas of residence in Ja-maica, and to propose a model to predict the social determinants of poor health status of elderly Jamaicans with at least one chronic disease. Methods: A sub-sample of 287 re-spondents 60 years and older was extracted from a larger nationally cross-sectional survey of 6783 respondents. The stratified multistage probability sampling technique was used to draw the survey respondents. A self-adminis-tered questionnaire was used to collect the data from the sample. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the demographic characteris-tics of the sample;chi-square was used to in-vestigate non-metric variables, and logistic re-gression was the multivariate technique chosen to determine predictors of poor health status. Results: Almost thirty six percent of the sam-ples had poor health status. Majority (43.2%) of the sample reported hypertension, 25.4% dia-betes mellitus and 13.2% rheumatoid arthritis. Only 35.4% of those who indicated that they had at least one chronic illness reported poor health status and there was a statistical relation be-tween health status and area of residence [χ2 (df = 4) = 11.569, P = 0.021, n = 287]. Rural residents reported the highest poor health status (44.2%) compared to other town (27.3%) and urban area residents (23.7%). Conclusions: Majority of the respondents in the sample had good health, and those with poor health status were more likely to report having hypertension followed by dia-betes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis. Poor health status was more prevalent among those of lower economic status in rural areas who re- ported greater medical health care expenditure. The prevalence of chronic diseases and levels of disability in older people can be reduced with appropriate health promotion and strategies to prevent non-communicable diseases.

Determinants of self-rated private health insurance coverage in Jamaica

The purpose of the current study was to model the health insurance coverage of Jamaicans;and to identify the determinants, strength and predictive power of the model in order to aid clinicians and other health practitioners in understanding those who have health insurance coverage. This study utilized secondary data taken from the dataset of the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions which was collected between July and October 2002. It was a nationally representative stratified random sample survey of 25,018 respondents, with 50.7% females and 49.3% males. The data was collected by way of a self-administered questionnaire. The non-response rate for the survey was 29.7% with 20.5% not responding to particular questions, 9.0% not participating in the survey and another 0.2% being rejected due to data cleaning. The current research extracted 16,118 people 15 years and older from the survey sample of 25,018 respondents in order to model the determinants of private health insurance coverage in Jamaica. Data were stored, retrieved and analyzed using SPSS for Windows 15.0. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used to establish statistical significance. Descriptive analysis was used to provide baseline information on the sample, and cross-tabulations were used to examine some non-metric variables. Logistic regression was used to identify, determine and establish those factors that influence private health insurance coverage in Jamaica. This study found that approximately 12% of Jamaicans had private health insurance coverage, of which the least health insurance was owned by rural residents (7.5%). Using logistic regression, the findings revealed that twelve variables emerged as statistically significant determinants of health insurance coverage in this sample. These variables are social standing (two weal- thiest quintile: OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.23 – 2.30), income (OR = 1.00, 95%CI = 1.00 – 1.00), durable goods (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.12 – 1.19), marital status (married: OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.61 – 2.42), area of residence (Peri-urban: OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.199 – 1.75;urban: OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.40 – 2.40), education (secondary: OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.20 – 2.06;tertiary: OR = 9.03, 95% CI = 6.47 – 12.59), social support (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.53 – 0.76), crowding (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.02 – 1.28), psychological conditions (negative affective: OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.94 – 1.00;positive affective: OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.06 – 1.16), number of males in household (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77 – 0.93), living arrangements (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.41 – 0.92) and retirement benefits (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.03 – 2.35). This study highlighted the need to address preventative care for the wealthiest, rural residents and the fact that social support is crucial to health care, as well as the fact that medical care costs are borne by the extended family and other social groups in which the individual is (or was) a member, which explains the low demand for health insurance in Jamaica. Private health care in Jamaica is substantially determined by affordability and education rather than illness, and it is a poor measure of the health care- seeking behaviour of Jamaicans.

Vision-related quality-of-life in Jamaican glaucoma patients at Kingston Public Hospital

AIM: To determine the vision-related quality-of-life of glaucoma patients and the association between clinical and socioeconomic factors, and vision-related quality-of-life.METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Consecutive patients with glaucoma were interviewed using a modified 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire(VFQ-25) by a single interviewer. Statistical analysis was done to find associations between patient variables and vision-related quality-of-life scores. Confidentiality and anonymity were maintained.RESULTS: Ninety-six participants were recruited in the study. There were 44 males and the mean age for males and females was 65.7 and 69.5y, respectively. The mean composite score was 71.2(with a maximum possible score of 100), with the highest mean score in the colour vision subscale(89.8) and the lowest mean score in the driving subscale(34.0). Worse visual acuity(P<0.001), longer duration of glaucoma(P<0.001) and higher number of glaucoma medications(P<0.001) were associated with a worse composite score. Female participants and those who lived in urban areas had significantly better scores than male participants(P=0.002) and those who lived in rural areas(P=0.017), respectively.CONCLUSION: The vision-related quality-of-life in Jamaican glaucoma patients is comparable to that of glaucoma patients in the Barbados Eye Study and other international studies using the VFQ-25 questionnaire. Worse quality-of-life scores are associated with poorer visual acuity, longer duration of glaucoma, more glaucoma medications, and sociodemographic factors such as male gender and rural residence.

Self-evaluated health of married people in Jamaica

Background: In the Caribbean in particular Ja-maica, no study has been done to examine married respondents in order to understand reasons for their greater health status. The ob-jectives of the current study are: 1) examine the sociodemographic characteristics of married people in Jamaica;2) evaluate self-rated health status of married people in Jamaica;3) deter-mine factors that account for good health status of married people and 4) provide public health practitioners with empirical studies that can be used to formulate policies for men in particular non-married men in Jamaica. Materials and me- thods: Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 6,783 respondents. It was a nationally representative sample. Logistic re-gression analysis was used to ascertain the correlates of health status. Results: The mean age for women in marriage in Jamaica was 6 years lower than that of men. The correlates of good health status (including moderate health) of respondents in descending order were self- reported illness (OR = 0.12, 95%CI = 0.01- 0.17);age (OR = 0.94, 95%CI = 0.93-0.96);income (OR = 1.32, 95%CI = 1.05-1.66) and sex of respon-dents (Or = 1.14-2.32)—χ2(df = 4) = 383.2, P < 0.05. The four variables accounted for 44.4% of the explanatory power of the model;with self-reported illness accounting for 32.5% of the explanatory power. Conclusion: Marriage pro-vides greater access to more socioeconomic resources for its participants as well as increase men’s unwillingness to visit medical care prac-titioners.

Erratum to “Heavy Metals in Soils around the Cement Factory in Rockfort, Kingston, Jamaica” [International Journal of Geosciences 2 (2011) 48-54]

This study deals with the distribution of heavy metals in soils around one of the most important industries in Kingston, Jamaica?i.e.?the Carib Cement factory at Rockfort. The dust emitted from the Caribbean Cement Company Limited (Carib Cement), located in Rockfort, Kingston, gets deposited in course of time over the soil, leaves and forms a grey cover on the surrounding soils. Geochemical analysis of the top soil, collected from the present study area has been undertaken to assess the impact of the dust emitted from the cement factory and its effect on the surrounding ecosystem. A total of seventeen top soil samples of 0-10 cm depth were collected from the close vicinity of the Rockfort and the Harbour view area and analysed by INAA, AAS, XRF for major, minor and trace elements. Results show that the top soils of the study area are enriched in Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, V, Pb, and Hg which are released into the air from the cement kilns. Results show that the soils are enriched in Ca with a maximum value of 18% followed by Al, Fe and Na. Heavy metals in the soils of the study area shows relatively high concentrations of zinc with a maximum of 132 ppm followed by Cr (57) ppm and Pb (32) ppm. Maximum concentrations were found in soils sampled at a distance of 2-3?m from the cement factory as opposed to samples collected much further ie from the Harbour View area. High concentrations of the heavy metals in the soils near the cement factory as opposed to those further away can be due to the emissions from the factory. A significant contribution can also come from traffic emissions as the study area is located along one of the busiest street of Kingston, Jamaica.

Investigating the Apparent Link between Cosmic Ray Muon Flux, Sudden Stratospheric Warming and Dry Season Rainfall over Jamaica

The Jamaican primary dry season extends from November-April with the driest period being January-March each year. Examination of the rainfall records over several decades reveal months that experienced a sharp increase in rainfall while sometimes they are drier than normal. During this dry season, some of the weather systems that impact the island significantly are cold fronts, highs pressure systems and troughs that migrate from the mainland USA. Major Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSW) occur routinely north of 60&#176;N and severely impact weather over the North American continent. The islands of the Greater Antilles also experience inclement weather during this period as weather systems migrate southwards and impact the Caribbean. Severe winter weather due to the increase frequency and intensity of storms related to SSW events over North America is important to the Jamaican economy as tourists escape harsh winters by travelling to the island. Predicting the variability of rainfall during the primary dry season is therefore important as it has significant implications for event planning, tourism and agriculture. Cosmic-ray Muon flux has been found to be positively correlated with the atmospheric effective temperature used to indicate the occurrence of SSW events. Current research investigates the relationship between cosmic-ray Muon flux, SSW events and primary dry season rainfall. Our findings suggest that a significant change in rainfall occur over Jamaica during the primary dry season on average 29 days after the central date or on average 15 days after the SSW events end. Our study also suggests apparent similarities in the behaviour of cosmic-ray Muon flux over Jamaica to those when major SSW occurs at high latitudes. We therefore argue that the Muon detectors at low latitudes have practical use with respect to identifying SSWs and merits further study.

当前国际货币体系新特征与人民币国际化

本文着重探讨了当前牙买加体系的运行状况及新世纪以来表现出的新特征。研究发现,当前国际货币体系除存在软约束的储备货币增长、货币危机的频繁发生和国际收支调节的低效等问题外,还表现出全球通货膨胀不断、美元悖论、新兴市场崛起、外汇储备分配失衡、货币风险高度集中、美元相对地位下降等六大新特征,而这些都源于牙买加体系固有的内在缺陷。因此,本文简要勾勒了当前国际货币体系的发展趋势,并对人民币国际化的现状和路径选择进行了探讨。

从制度经济学角度看牙买加体系的特点与问题

牙买加体系是国际货币体系发展过程中强制性制度变迁和诱致性制度变迁共同作用的结果。本文分析了牙买加体系的形成和发展,指出与此前的国际货币体系相比,牙买加体系的核心制度特征被认为是"无核心特征",即没有法定的定值基础和货币中心国、不再维持法定的汇率波动幅度等;在牙买加体系下,国际储备日益多元化,国际收支调节机制趋于多样化,意识形态色彩减弱,制度安排具有更多非中性特征。在对各制度主体的权利义务关系进行分析的基础上,本文指出,由于牙买加体系在某种程度上是对发达国家尤其是各经济金融大国"自行其是"政策的一种无奈承认,并且该体系也存在着一系列尚未解决的问题,因此自形成以后就不断面临责难。

当前全球性金融危机的来由和发展趋势研究

由次贷危机引发的全球性金融危机,其背后更深层次的原因是牙买加国际货币体系的天然缺陷以及美国持续的内外失衡造成的。从目前的发展形势来看,当前金融危机不仅造成了全球金融市场的剧烈动荡和恐慌、信贷市场的急剧萎缩,严重打击了全球投资者和消费者的信心,延缓了全球实体经济增长的速度,而且提出了改革当前国际货币金融体系、增加国际金融组织在维护全球金融体系稳定的责任等重要课题。

汇率制度选择理论的形成和发展历史回顾

文章对汇率制度理论的形成和发展做了较为详尽的历史回顾。结果发现,人们对汇率制度理论的研究是从第一次世界大战之后,就要不要恢复金本位制度的争论开始的,而汇率制度选择理论的发展轨迹潜藏于固定汇率制和浮动汇率制优劣的争论之中,并伴随着国际货币制度的历史变迁和国际金融市场的发展而不断完善;每个阶段所产生的有关汇率制度选择理论,都对当时汇率制度选择的实践起到了一定的指导作用,但是,其结论对于汇率制度的选择并不具有一般性指导作用;汇率制度决定理论还需要随着世界经济的发展而不断补充和完善。

美元危机与国际货币体系共同演进的递推分析

自1960年以来,美元危机就与国际货币体系构成了相互递推演进的格局,共同的演变必将导致美元危机的消失和国际储备货币的多样化,最终形成一种超主权合成货币——特别提款权。只有这样,国际货币体系才能达成一种动态均衡,世界经济才会持续、稳定地向前发展。

国际储备货币制度:内在缺陷及改革——2008年全球金融危机引发的思考

现行的牙买加体系是以多元化的储备货币制度和浮动汇率制为主要特征。由于未建立储备货币的约束机制与协调制度,这种国际货币体系蕴含着掠夺性、风险性和不平衡性的内在缺陷。为建立公正合理的国际货币体系,国际社会应充分发挥特别提款权(SDR)的作用。SDR制度设计的合理性及其赖以运行的国际货币基金组织,可为国际货币体系的完善提供坚实的理论基础和组织保障,从而能从根本上克服少数主权国家货币充当世界货币的"特里芬难题"。

国际经济政策协调理论、方案与当前制度安排

经济全球化背景下,世界各国的宏观经济政策更容易互相影响,因此,宏观经济政策的国际协调是十分必要的。在经济存在相互依存性的条件下,一国实现内外均衡目标必须进行政策的国际协调,以避免分散决策带来的损失。在国际间政策协调实践过程中,经济学者设计了很多具有特定规则的国际间协调方案,产生了很大影响,对国际政策协调及其制度安排具有重要意义。

牙买加体系下的东亚货币合作

牙买加体系具有内在的不稳定性、不平等性,区域货币合作是东亚国家化解不稳定性、减少不平等性的必由之路。通过影响东亚国家在区域货币合作博弈中的支付结构,牙买加体系的内生特征给东亚货币合作注入了持久的、外生的结构性激励,东亚货币合作由此得到维护和推进。东亚货币合作在受到牙买加体系力量塑造的同时,也对牙买加体系产生一定的影响。

Health of children less than 5 years old in an upper middle income country: parents' views

Health literature in the Caribbean, and in particular Jamaica, has continued to use objective indices such as mortality and morbidity to examine children’s health. The current study uses subjective indices such as parent-reported health conditions and health status to evaluate the health of children instead of traditional objective indices. The study seeks 1) to examine the health and health care-seeking behaviour of the sample from the parents’ viewpoints;and 2) to compute the mean age of the sample with a particular illness and describe whether there is an epidemiological shift in these conditions. Two nationally representative cross-sectional surveys were used for this study (2002 and 2007). The sample for the current study is 3,062 respondents aged less than 5 years. For 2002, the study extracted a sample of 2,448 under 5 year olds from the national survey of 25,018 respondents, and 614 under 5 year olds were extracted from the 2007 survey of 6,728 respondents. Parents-reported information was used to measure issues on children under 5 years old. In 2007, 43.4% of the sample had very good health status;46.7% good health status;2.5% poor health and 0.3% very poor health status. Almost 15% of children had illnesses in 2002, and 6% more had illnesses in 2007 over 2002. In 2002, the percentage of the sample with particular chronic illnesses was: diabetes mellitus (0.6%);hypertension (0.3%) and arthritis (0.3%). However, none was recorded in 2007. The mean age of children less than 5 years old with acute health conditions (i.e. diarrhoea, respiratory diseases and influenza) increased over 2002. In 2007, 43.4% of children less than 5 years old had very good health status;46.7% good health status;7.1% fair health status;2.5% poor and 0.3% very poor health status. The association between health status and parent- reported illness was –x2 (df = 4) = 57.494, P< 0.001-with the relationship being a weak one, correlation coefficient=0.297. A cross-tabulation between health status and parent-reported diagnosed illness found that a significant statistical correlation existed between the two variables –x2 (df = 16) = 26.621, P < 0.05, cc = 0.422, – with the association being a moderate one, correlation coefficient = 0.422. A cross tabulation between health status and health care- seeking behaviour found a significant statistical association between the two variables –x2 (df = 4) = 10.513, P < 0.033-with the correlation being a weak one-correlation coefficient = 0.281. Rural children had the least health status. The health disparity that existed between rural and urban less than 5 year olds showed that this will not be removed simply because of the abolition of health care utilization fees.

Health, lifestyle and health care utilization among health professionals

Health care workers are responsible for the execution of the health policy of a nation, yet little if any empirical evidence is there on health, lifestyle, health choices, and health conditions of health care workers in the rural parish of Hanover, Jamaica. The current study examines health, lifestyle and health behaviour among health professional in Hanover. The current study has a sample of 212 respondents. A 26- item questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data from the questionnaires were coded and entered into a micro-computer and analysis done using SPSS for Widows Version 15.0 soft- ware. The Chi-square test was used to test association between non-metric variables. A p-value &amp;amp;amp;lt;0.05 (two-tailed) was selected to indicate statistical significance. It was found that 16.0% of respondents had diabetes mellitus (2.8% of males compared to 19.8% females);22.6% had hypertension (25.5% of female and 12.8% of males);0.5% breast cancer;0.5% stomach cancer;1.9% enlarged heart;and 0.5% ischemic heart disease. Forty-three percentage points of the sample was overweight, 33.5% obese and 24.1% had a normal weight. Over 15% of nurses and doctors were obese compared to 38% of ancillary staffers. Twenty percentage points of respondents consume alcohol on a regular basis;15.6% do no regular physical exercise, 42.4% add sweetening to their hot beverages, and 4.7% were smokers. There is a need for public health practitioners to formulate a health intervention programme that will target people in Hanover, but also specific groups such as doctors, nurses, administrative, ancillary staffers and technical staffers.

Studies from Hibiscus sabdariffa(Hibiscus)Plant for Blood Cholesterol Levels Reduction

The species Hibiscus sabdadariffa L. is originally from Africa. It has been distributed all over the world as an ornamental plant and it is consumed in several ways as infusion, salad dressings, marmalades, etc. However, its medical benefits are rarely studied. In this paper we present results from a clinical assay demonstrating the influence of hibiscus effects, presented as dry extracts in gel caps, on a general blood lipidic profile (LDL and HDL Cholesterol and triglycerides). We recruited 20 volunteers, 45 to 64 years old with the compromise of not changing food habits. They were divided into two groups;one of them received two 500 mg hibiscus dry gel caps treatment, three times a day for two months and the other group received same doses of placebo (Fructose) for the same period. Results showed a blood lipidic concentration reduction in those patients under hibiscus treatment statistically different (p 0.05) as compared to control patients.

国际货币体系的改革与人民币国际化探析

牙买加体系自1976年创立至今,一直为世界货币基金组织使用,其自身存在着诸多问题,例如美元在现行国际货币体系中获取的权利与承担的义务不对等,整个货币体系的决策机制偏向于美欧等发达国家和地区,对发展中国家不利等问题。因此,对现有国际货币体系实行改革势在必行,应加快推进建立多元化的国际货币体系,增加发展中国家在国际货币体系中的话语权,大力推进人民币的国际化发展进程。

Health measurement

Jamaicans are not atypical in how they conceptualize health and/or how they address patient care as the antithesis of diseases or dysfunctions (i.e. health conditions). In the 1900s and earlier, Western Societies were using the biomedical model in the measurement and trea- tment of health, health attitudes and the utilization of health services. This approach emphasizes sickness, dysfunction, and the identification of symptomology or medical disorders to evaluate health and health care. Such an approach places significance on the end (i.e. genetic and physical conditions), instead of the multiplicity of factors that are likely to result in the existing state, or issues outside of the space of dysfunctions. Notwithstanding the limitations of the biomedical approach, it is still practiced by many Caribbean societies, and this is fundamentally the case in Jamaica. The current paper is an examination of health measurement, and provides at the same time a rationale for the need to have a more representative model as opposed to the one-dimensional approach of using pathogens in measuring health. Owing to the importance of health in development, patient care and its significance for other areas in society, this paper seeks to broaden more than just the construct, as it goes to the core of modern societies in helping them to understand the constitution of health and how patient care should be treated. Thus, it provides a platform for the adoption of the biopsychosocial model, which integrates biological, social, cultural, psychological and environmental conditions in the assessment of health and the outcome of research, by using observational survey data.