Historical Data Sources Research Articles

Mining multiple sources of historical data: The example of a standardized dataset of medieval monasteries and convents in France

Abstract. In this paper, we present a dataset of medieval monasteries and convents on the territory of today’s France and discuss the workflow of its integration. Spatial historical data are usually dispersed and stored in various forms – encyclopedias and catalogues, websites, online databases, and printed maps. In order to cope with this heterogeneity and proceed to computational analysis, we have devised a method that includes the creation of a data model, data mining from sources, data transformation, geocoding, editing, and conflicts solving. The resulting dataset is probably the most comprehensive collection of records on medieval monasteries within the borders of today’s France. It can be used for understanding the spatial patterns of medieval Christian monasticism and the implantation of the official Church infrastructure, as well as the relation between this official infrastructure and phenomena covered in other datasets. We open this dataset, as well as scripts for mining, to the public (https://github.com/adammertel/dissinet.monasteries) and provide a map tool to visualize, filter, and download the records (http://hde.geogr.muni.cz/monasteries).

The role of monitoring, documentary and archival records for coastal shallow lake management

The effective management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems rely on the establishment of “reference conditions,” defined as the conditions expected in the absence of anthropogenic impacts, and require a thorough understanding of the natural variability within a system. However, at least in Europe, most systematic surveys post‐date the onset of human‐induced pressures on aquatic ecosystems, and thus fail to capture earlier degradation to water chemistry and flora and fauna, which were already advanced. Paleolimnological methods can be used to assess a range of anthropogenic stressors, but variability within a system is often smoothed to give long‐term patterns. Here, we compile monitoring, documentary, and archival records from a range of sources to extend our understanding of centennial‐scale lake ecosystem change and recovery from increasing salinity. We use a case study of the Thurne Broads shallow lake coastal wetland system (Broads National Park, UK), which has been subjected to multiple pressures of anthropogenic land drainage and North Sea storm surges (primarily in 1938 and 1953 CE) that have influenced salinity. Although there are still periods with significant data gaps and the interactions with eutrophication remain unclear, we demonstrate that historical data sources can be used in combination to observe seasonal patterns and extend knowledge on past salinity change and macrophyte community structure back to the 1800s. A demonstrable change in the ecosystem is observed after the sea flood of 1938 CE, when salinity levels in parts of the Thurne Broads were close, or equivalent, to seawater. With the added anthropogenic pressures of the late 1900s, the system has failed to fully recover. Future management, whilst balancing the needs of multiple users, should focus on the current large seasonal fluctuations in salinity and the vulnerability of the system to future large salinity increases.

Native American Land-Use Impacts on a Temperate Forested Ecosystem, West Central New York State

Land survey records (LSRs) describing forest species composition prior to extensive European American settlement are critical sources of information on past environmental controls of forest dynamics in eastern North America. Embedded within these historical data sources is evidence of prior Native American land use. This study expands on previous LSR-based analyses of Seneca and Iroquoian populations’ impacts on the temperate forests of west central New York State. We use an enhanced array of geospatial LSR vegetation data beyond conventional bearing tree data and implement, for the first time, combined indirect ordination of vegetation data along major environmental gradients and numerical classification of discrete upland vegetation communities. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling revealed three main drivers of vegetation dynamics in the study area: (1) fire frequency (53.7 percent of total variance); (2) soil productivity (22.6 percent variance); and (3) Native American land use (15.9 percent variance). Agglomerative hierarchical clustering reinforced the primacy of these gradients by delineating two major forest types differentiated primarily by fire frequency and secondarily by soil productivity. Seneca and Iroquoian agricultural villages were preferentially concentrated within fire-tolerant dry upland forests on high-productivity soils within the interior portion of the Lake Ontario Lowland. Fire-tolerant, dry upland forests on low-productivity soils were situated on the adjacent Appalachian Plateau, which was likely used by indigenous populations for silvicultural land-use activities. Native American disturbance of temperate forested ecosystems likely varied across the diverse culture areas of eastern North America, with the Seneca and Iroquois representing an extreme end-member within a broad continuum of anthropogenic disturbance. Key Words: forest composition, land survey records, land-use history, Native Americans, vegetation disturbance.

Epistolary Liveness: Narrative Presence and the Victorian Actress in Letters

In an influential essay on the place of autobiography in theatre history, Thomas Postlewait puts Fanny Kemble's memoirs at the crux of a historiographical problem. The literary sensibility of Kemble's work appears to Postlewait an instance of both the theatrical memoir's cultural richness and its limitations as biographical evidence: although Kemble's “epistolary mode of self-representation” gives her autobiography Records of a Girlhood “a documentary quality,” for example, even her “earliest letters reveal a calculated literary style” that signals her awareness of the “traits and conventions” of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels. In her consciousness of narrative trends, Kemble stands out as a particularly clear example of a general tendency in theatrical autobiographies of the period. As the nineteenth century's booming print market expanded the audience for stories about theatregoing, it also drew readers who were increasingly familiar with novelistic experiments in plotting, characterization, and point of view. This shared audience encouraged an exchange of discursive conventions across fictional and historical narratives, which makes memoirs a compelling but complicated source of historical data about nineteenth-century theatre. Indeed, the two-way influence between genres is so strong that Postlewait argues scholars “need to ask to what extent these autobiographies exist not only as historical records but as epistolary fictions.”

A medical records and data capture and management system for Lassa fever in Sierra Leone: Approach, implementation, and challenges.

Situated in southeastern Sierra Leone, Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) maintains one of the world’s only Lassa fever isolation wards and was a strategic Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment facility during the 2014 EVD outbreak. Since 2006, the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium (VHFC) has carried out research activities at KGH, capturing clinical and laboratory data for suspected cases of Lassa fever. Here we describe the approach, progress, and challenges in designing and maintaining a data capture and management system (DCMS) at KGH to assist infectious disease researchers in building and sustaining DCMS in low-resource environments. Results on screening patterns and case-fatality rates are provided to illustrate the context and scope of the DCMS covered in this study. A medical records system and DCMS was designed and implemented between 2010 and 2016 linking historical and prospective Lassa fever data sources across KGH Lassa fever units and its peripheral health units. Data were captured using a case report form (CRF) system, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) plate readers, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines, blood chemistry analyzers, and data auditing procedures. Between 2008 and 2016, blood samples for 4,229 suspected Lassa fever cases were screened at KGH, ranging from 219 samples in 2008 to a peak of 760 samples in 2011. Lassa fever case-fatality rates before and following the Ebola outbreak were 65.5% (148/226) and 89.5% (17/19), respectively, suggesting that fewer, but more seriously ill subjects with Lassa fever presented to KGH following the 2014 EVD outbreak (p = .040). DCMS challenges included weak specificity of the Lassa fever suspected case definition, limited capture of patient survival outcome data, internet costs, lapses in internet connectivity, low bandwidth, equipment and software maintenance, lack of computer teaching laboratories, and workload fluctuations due to variable screening activity. DCMS are the backbone of international research efforts and additional literature is needed on the topic for establishing benchmarks and driving goal-based approaches for its advancement in developing countries.

Web archives as a data resource for digital scholars

The aim of this article is to provide an exploratory analysis of the landscape of web archiving activities in Europe. Our contribution, based on desk research, and complemented with data from interviews with representatives of European heritage institutions, provides a descriptive overview of the state-of-the-art of national web archiving in Europe. It is written for a broad interdisciplinary audience, including cultural heritage professionals, IT specialists and managers, and humanities and social science researchers. The legal, technical and operational aspects of web archiving and the value of web archives as born-digital primary research resources are both explored. In addition to investigating the organisations involved and the scope of their web archiving programmes, the curatorial aspects of the web archiving process, such as selection of web content, the tools used and the provision of access and discovery services are also considered. Furthermore, general policies related to web archiving programmes are analysed. The article concludes by offering four important issues that digital scholars should consider when using web archives as a historical data source. Whilst recognising that this study was limited to a sample of only nine web archives, this article can nevertheless offer some useful insights into the technical, legal, curatorial and policy-related aspects of web archiving. Finally, this paper could function as a stepping stone for more extensive and qualitative research.

Use of Artificial Neural Networks and Arima to Forecasting Consumption Sawnwood of Pinus sp. in Brazil

The objective of this study was to analyze the application of an artificial neural networks model and an ARIMA model to predict the consumption of sawnwood of pine. For this, we use real and secondary data collected and obtained from a historical data source, corresponding to the period from 1997 to 2016, which were later tested to generate the forecast models. Based on economic and statistical criteria, six explanatory variables were used to fit the best model. The choice of the model was made based on Mean Squared Error, Mean Absolute Error, Theil U metric, Percentage Error of Forecast and Akaike value information criterion. The results indicated that the models generated through the ARIMA model presented better performance when compared to the artificial neural network. The best adjusted model estimated a reduction of 1.33% in consumption of sawnwood of pine in Brazil for the period between 2017 and 2020.

Diachronic Reconstruction and Visualization of Lost Cultural Heritage Sites

Cultural heritage (CH) documentation is essential for the study and promotion of CH assets/sites, and provides a way of transmitting knowledge about heritage to future generations. The integration of the fourth dimension into geospatial datasets enables generating a diachronic model of CH elements, namely, a set of three-dimensional (3D) models to represent their evolution in various historical phases. The enhanced four-dimensional (4D) modeling (3D plus time) pursues a better understanding of the CH scenario, enriching historical hypotheses as well as contributing to the conservation and decision-making process. Although new geomatic techniques have reduced the amount of fieldwork, when put together, the geometric and temporal dimensions imply the interpretation of heterogeneous historical information sources and their integration. However, this situation could reach a critical point when the study elements are no longer present. The main challenge is to harmonize the different historical and archaeological data sources that are available with the current remains in order to graphically rebuild and model the lost CH assets with a high degree of reliability. Moreover, 4D web visualization is a great way to disclose the CH information and cultural identity. Additionally, it will serve as a basis to perform simulations of possible future risks or changes that can happen during planned or hypothetical restoration processes. This paper aims to examine the study case of a diachronic reconstruction by means of a mobile laser system (MLS) and reverse modeling techniques for a lost urban CH element: the citadel or Alcázar gate of Ávila. Within this aim, the final model is evaluated in terms of the consistency of the historical sources to assess its suitability considering the constructive interpretations that are required to integrate heterogenous data sources. Moreover, geometric modeling is evaluated regarding the current remains and its surroundings. Finally, a web 4D viewer is presented for its dissemination and publicity. This paper is an extended and improved version of our paper that was published in the 2018 ISPRS Technical Commission II Symposium, Riva del Garda, Italy, 3–7 June 2018.

Bringing historical British Population Census records into the 21st century: A method for geocoding households and individuals at their early‐20th‐century addresses

AbstractIncreased use of geographical information systems (GISs) for social scientific research has highlighted the analytical possibilities offered by unlocking historical data sources that are impractical with contemporary data. Genealogists and social scientific researchers have used information relating to individuals, households, and their addresses contained in the British historical census records for a number of years. This article takes geographical exploration of these a stage further by developing a method of attaching grid references to the census addresses, thereby opening up new research possibilities including spatial analysis. The resultant geocoded census data enable address‐, household‐, and individual‐level historical research and aggregation to contemporary and historical spatial units for exploration of demographic and socio‐economic change. The paper focuses on the development of a method of geocoding 1901 and 1911 Census data in respect of six study areas in the historical counties of London and Middlesex with over 260,000 individuals within some 60,000 households or communal establishments in both 1901 and 1911. Successful semi‐automated matching of historical census addresses with a contemporary address database is related to population density, change from property naming to numbering, residential development, thoroughfare name changes, and transcription error. Complete geocoding was completed by manual digitising with the aid of ancillary information sources and geographical information embedded in census records. The method outlined has the potential to be replicated in other areas and be adapted to use with other contemporary address databases that contain grid references. The paper outlines the factors that would influence transferability of the geocoding method.

Еврейская тема в дневниках и путевых заметках христианских паломников, посетивших Палестину в конце XIX — начале ХХ веков

Travel notes and diaries of Christian pilgrims who visited Palestine in the late 19 th - early 20 th centuries are studied. Text fragments containing references to Jews are analyzed. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that ego-documents are considered not as a source of historical data about the pilgrimage, but as written evidence of ideas about other ethnic / religious groups that existed in the specified period. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the mechanisms of differentiation of “own” and “other” are revealed. It is proved that the Jews are those actors in relation to whom self-identity of Christian pilgrims from the Russian Empire is strengthened if not built. The content analysis is carried out according to the thematic blocks and motives identified in those fragments of diaries and travel notes that contain references to Jews. The author comes to the conclusion that for Christian pilgrims who went to Palestine, Jews played the role of “generalized others.” Significant symptoms of alienation were the distinctive features of the Jews: the attitude to money and the occupied space, the manner of behaviour in public places. It is revealed that religious differences were less important for pilgrims.

Uncertainty of hydrologic processes caused by bias-corrected CMIP5 climate change projections with alternative historical data sources

Uncertainty in simulating hydrologic response to future climate is generally assumed to result from the combined uncertainties of the General Circulation Model (GCM), representative concentration pathway (RCP), downscaling method, and hydrologic model used. However, another source of uncertainty, the observed climate data source used to statistically downscale and bias-correct GCM projections, has largely been overlooked. This study assessed the shifts, variability, and uncertainty in streamflow simulation from three downscaling data sources (NCDC land-based weather stations, NEXRAD spatial grid, and PRISM spatial grid) relative to those introduced by six GCMs and three RCPs in west-central Kansas, U.S. Streamflow simulated by the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model was found to be more sensitive to future precipitation than to maximum and minimum temperatures. The greatest uncertainty in simulated streamflow was associated with selection of the GCM. Uncertainty in simulated streamflow associated with the observed bias-correction data source (NCDC, PRISM, NEXRAD) was greater than with RCPs and was primarily related to uncertainty in precipitation. This study highlighted the importance of recognizing uncertainty from bias-correction data sources in representing future climate scenarios in hydrologic simulations.

Resistance to Rhynchosporium commune in a collection of European spring barley germplasm

Association analyses of resistance to Rhynchosporium commune in a collection of European spring barley germplasm detected 17 significant resistance quantitative trait loci. The most significant association was confirmed as Rrs1. Rhynchosporium commune is a fungal pathogen of barley which causes a highly destructive and economically important disease known as rhynchosporium. Genome-wide association mapping was used to investigate the genetic control of host resistance to R. commune in a collection of predominantly European spring barley accessions. Multi-year disease nursery field trials revealed 8 significant resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL), whilst a separate association mapping analysis using historical data from UK national and recommended list trials identified 9 significant associations. The most significant association identified in both current and historical data sources, collocated with the known position of the major resistance gene Rrs1. Seedling assays with R. commune single-spore isolates expressing the corresponding avirulence protein NIP1 confirmed that this locus is Rrs1. These results highlight the significant and continuing contribution of Rrs1 to host resistance in current elite spring barley germplasm. Varietal height was shown to be negatively correlated with disease severity, and a resistance QTL was identified that co-localised with the semi-dwarfing gene sdw1, previously shown to contribute to disease escape. The remaining QTL represent novel resistances that are present within European spring barley accessions. Associated markers to Rrs1 and other resistance loci, identified in this study, represent a set of tools that can be exploited by breeders for the sustainable deployment of varietal resistance in new cultivars.

Informal Archives: Historical Narratives and the Preservation of Paper in India’s Urban Slums

Historical research is challenging when studying informal spaces like urban slums, where extant scholarship is limited, government data are sparse or absent, and populations change rapidly due to eviction, environmental shocks, and the everyday churn of migration. Moreover, written materials and political ephemera generated within slums are rarely preserved in accessible state archives, limiting the usefulness of conventional archival research. In such contexts, the discovery of informal archives—unmapped, non-systematized collections of materials kept by individuals and groups in the spaces under study—can contribute to the reconstruction of local histories. This article draws on 20 months of fieldwork in India’s urban slums to offer insights on the collection and use of informal archival materials. These materials afford an intimate look at how the urban poor organize and make claims on the state. Their analysis, however, involves inferential challenges. Researchers must consider how processes of production, preservation, and provision shape the content of gathered historical materials and thus the inferences that can be drawn from them. Beyond urban slums, informal archives are likely to be useful sources of historical data for a range of studies in comparative politics, especially those that focus on informal institutions and local quotidian politics.

On the Biogeographical Significance of Protected Forest Areas in Southern Romania

The current study is seeking to highlight the biogeographical significance of the protected areas located in southern Romania, a territory continuously exposed to strong human pressure since early times (e.g., extensive/intensive agricultural use, industrialization, urbanization/suburbanization processes). As a result, the primeval vegetation has been massively transformed and forests have been significantly fragmented and reduced to even smaller surfaces (e.g., Călăraşi County has the smallest forest-covered area in Romania). Under these conditions, the current forest patches have suffered important floristic and faunistic structural changes. Some forest remnants have been assigned protected areas status of biogeographical significance, as they host and preserve valuable southern arboreta species and xerothermal associations, secular and multi-secular arboreta (even some virgin arboreta), relict, endemic or unique species, or having their world biological limit. To stress the biogeographical significance of the forest protected areas, the authors carried out in-depth investigations of the ecosystem structure focusing on the spatial and statistical changes occurring over recent centuries and the key phyto- and zoological elements relied on the cross-referencing the biological, biogeographical, and geographical scientific literature and on the reviewing of the historical data sources. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the biogeographical elements based on selected indicative taxa (Quercus species) and witness species considered important for southern Romania, which were able to reconstruct the original ecosystems to explain and understand their significance for the preservation of the current ecosystems.

How Valid Are Assumptions About Re-emerging Smallpox? A Systematic Review of Parameters Used in Smallpox Mathematical Models.

Globally eradicated in 1980, smallpox is listed as a category A bioterrorism agent. If smallpox were to re-emerge, it may be due to an act of bioterrorism or a laboratory accident, and the impact is likely to be severe. Preparedness against smallpox is subject to more uncertainty than other infectious diseases because it is eradicated, there is uncertainty about population immunity, and the current global health workforce has no practical experience or living memory of smallpox. In the event of re-emergence of smallpox, mathematical modeling plays a crucial role in improving the evidence base to inform preparedness, mitigation, and response activities. However, the predictions of mathematical models about outbreak magnitude and impact depend critically on the assumptions and disease parameters used. We aimed to identify modeling studies that would be applicable to re-emerging smallpox and to evaluate consistency and the certainty of the evidence published about the key parameters used. We conducted a systematic review using PRISMA criteria, of assumptions used in modeling studies on duration of latent, prodromal, and infectious period, as well as the choice of the basic reproduction number (R0) for re-emerging smallpox. We performed a literature search using PubMED, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE and included peer-reviewed articles that focused on smallpox models, stated at least three of the aforementioned parameters and published in English. A total of 42 studies were selected for inclusion. There was general agreement on the duration of latent and prodromal periods, being 11-12 d (88%) and 3 d (59%), respectively. The duration of the infectious period varied from 4 to 20 d. Most models assumed 16 d (19%), 12 d (16.7%), and 8.6 d (12%) of infectiousness. In 25/34 studies, R0 ranged between 3 and 5, generally lower than the R0 calculated from past outbreaks. Models of smallpox re-emergence also tend to use the same limited available historical data sources but assume a wide range of different estimates for key parameters. Models use very optimistic assumptions of decreased population immunity, despite high uncertainty about duration and magnitude of post-vaccination immunity. This review reveals a paradox. A substantial proportion of the modern population is unvaccinated, never exposed to boosting from wild-type smallpox, or immunocompromised; furthermore, vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time. Failure to consider these factors in a model will lead to underestimating the true impact of a re-emergent smallpox epidemic in the contemporary population.

Specimens, Databases, and Accession Books: Using TaxonWorks to Integrate Multiple Sources of Modern and Historical Data in the INHS Insect Collection

Grant-supported digitization projects over the past 20 years at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) have yielded over 1,000,000 occurrence records (representing over 2.7 million specimens), one of the most successful digitization efforts within the United States. However, receiving multiple grants at the cutting edge has led to numerous projects left at various stages of completeness, several relational databases, orphaned data, and specimens at various stages of curation. TaxonWorks (taxonworks.org), an integrated web-based workbench developed by the Species File Group and supported by the INHS and the National Science Foundation, has provided the digital infrastructure to unify multiple workflows, projects, databases, and even historical accession books into one easy to access, open-source platform. We demonstrate the practical utility of this platform and summarize past, present, and future efforts at the INHS towards integrating all our data within TaxonWorks.

DIACHRONIC RECONSTRUCTION OF LOST CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES. STUDY CASE OF THE MEDIEVAL WALL OF AVILA (SPAIN)

Abstract. The integration of the fourth dimension into the geospatial data allows to generate a diachronic model of Cultural Heritage (CH) assets, namely, a set of 3D models to represent it in various historical phases. This kind of reconstruction pursues a better understanding of the CH site/scenario, enriching the historical hypotheses as well as contributing to the conservation and decisionmaking process. Although the new geotechnologies have reduced the amount of fieldwork, the generation of 4D model implies the interpretation of heterogeneous historical information sources and their integration. However, this situation could reach a critical point when the study elements are no longer present. Their reconstruction will allow the digital preservation and maintenance of our culture. The main challenge is to harmonize the different historical and archaeological data sources available in relation with the current remains, to recover the lost CH assets with a high degree of reliability. This manuscript aims to examine the study case of a diachronic reconstruction by means of the use of the geotechnology Mobile Laser System (MLS) and reverse engineering techniques for a lost urban CH element, the citadel or Alcázar Gate of Ávila. Within this aim, the derived product is evaluated in terms of the achieved accuracy to assess its suitability on the basis of constructive interpretations required to integrate the historical sources in relation to current remains and the surrounding.

Historical Seismicity of the Rijeka Region (Northwest External Dinarides, Croatia)—Part II: The Klana Earthquakes of 1870

The Klana earthquake sequence with the mainshock on 1 March 1870 (Imax = VIII MSK) is one of the most important events that occurred in the Rijeka (Croatia) epicentral region. It is remarkable not just because of its impact to the local community and its significance for the seismic hazard in the Rijeka area, but also because it provided some of important observations on earthquake phenomena during the infancy of seismology. In particular, D. Stur (1871) seems to have been the first to attempt to explain the observed variation in damage by interaction of different local geological units during shaking ; R. Hoernes (1878) heavily relied on Stur’s data from the Klana epicentral region when he proposed that the vast majority of global earthquakes is related to the mountain-building process, and thus named them tectonic earthquakes. In spite of this, the Klana earthquake so far has escaped any detailed consideration by seismologists. In this study we present the historical data sources consulted to extract useful reports on damage and other observed effects, compile macroseismic maps for the five strongest events, and invert the estimated intensity data to compute macroseismic hypocenters and epicentral intensities for the mainshock and the two strongest aftershocks. We also present an earthquake chronicle with data for 92 identified earthquakes in the area for the period January–August 1870. The mainshock’s macroseismic epicenter is located near the active Rasa fault–Klana-Novi Vinodolski fault system, which we thus propose to be the primary source of the sequence. Macroseismic epicenters of the aftershocks lie close to the surface trace of the nearby Skadanscina-Rijeka reverse fault.

Life course of place: A longitudinal study of mental health and place

A multitude of studies have demonstrated that individual circumstances throughout life influence subsequent health and well‐being outcomes. The life‐course perspective emphasises that health is affected by the accumulation of social and economic (dis)advantages over an individual's life but, importantly, also that there can be critical periods where the effects of exposure can be greater. Yet few researchers have applied a life‐course perspective to the study of health and place, which has resulted in a partial understanding of the dynamics of person–health–place relations. By explicitly recognising that places are spatial‐temporal products, and applying a novel longitudinal life‐course approach, this study examines the opportunities for incorporating aspects of place into a life‐course framework. The focus is the influence of neighbourhood social deprivation and provision of local green space on mental health (particularly anxiety and depression). Historical and contemporary place‐based information from the Lothian region of Scotland is combined with data from a cohort of individuals born in 1936 (the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936) to consider the influence of these environmental factors over the life course on mental health outcomes later in life. The results establish the utility of the life course of place approach, and demonstrate how this concept can be operationalised using historical data sources. The findings suggest that, after adjustment, residing in the most socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods in childhood was detrimental to mental health outcomes at age 70. Further, green space provision in early life environments is related to mental health outcomes in later life, but any effect may be restricted to those residing in socially disadvantaged places, and dependent on the specific mental health outcome being considered. The findings emphasise the potential of the life course of place approach for enhancing the evidence base considering the relationships between health and place.

Land use changes and plantation crop development in selected provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan

Most institutions stated that biofuel will not qualify the standard of GHG emission reduction if it was produced in the plantation associated with the forest conversion. Therefore, knowing previous land use before the development of plantation is very important. In Indonesia, plantation development occurs mainly in Sumatra and Kalimantan. A number of studies had been published showing historical LUCC before plantation development. Objective of this study was to review various studies on LUCC carried out in four selected provinces, namely West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and Riau. The analysis and comparison was based on the different source of historical data including online spatial data sources and various studies published in various journals. Each data source of LUCC shows significant variation on the amount of plantation developed directly from forest and other land use types. But, our review showed that the plantation areas associated with the forest cover changes far less than those claimed by several international journals. But, the debate concerning which plantation developments indirectly contributed to LUCC and which are directly will probably continue until the information on the land ownership and history of plantation development is available publicly.