Geographical Ties To Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cases Among 1991 Gulf War Veterans July 23, 2008
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Is there a geographical pattern to help explain why 1991 Gulf War veterans contracted the fatal neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS - Also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) at twice the normal rate during the decade after the conflict? This is what researchers are trying to find out. Using geographic information systems (GIS) to study environmental health problems researchers have made a break through in the case. By layering military records of troop locations onto Gulf-area maps, it was found that there were some areas of service where there appears to be an elevated risk.
Another study has also found that the risk for developing ALS has now decreased among 1991 Gulf War vets. That suggests that the cause or causes of the ALS had something to do with their deployment in the region between August 1990 and July 1991.
Of the 135 cases diagnosed among the vets within 11 years after the war, only three had a family history of the disease. The small numbers might indicate that there is an environmental cause for ALS.
For more information on this story, please read the full article here.
Mapping to the next level July 22, 2008
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GIS-mapping is now being used for very local surveillance all over the world. This idea was the inspiration for WhoIsSick.org, a private project by California software engineer PT Lee that aggregates personal reports of illness into “crowd sourced” snapshots of local disease trends.
It was also used recently by the Toronto Star, whose “Map of the Week” project plotted the vaccination-exemption rates of local schools to suggest where an ongoing measles outbreak might strike next. And in the July/August issue of Public Health Reports, researchers from Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx map the location and quality of food sources and exercise areas to illuminate local rates of diabetes and obesity.
For more information on the revolution of GIS-mapping, please read the full article here.
Mapping out airbase management July 21, 2008
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The UK is providing airbase managers with a single computerised view of the entire airfield, encompassing all infrastructure, maintenance and operations. How are they doing all of this? By using GIS technology; ESRI supplies geographic information systems (GIS) that bring together maps and other information into a single computer-based model. With GIS usage, an airbase can be managed more effectively with greater control and co-ordination of resources.
For more information in this technological advancement, please read the full article here.
Cumberland County’s new technology July 20, 2008
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A new computer imaging tool called pictometry is changing how Cumberland County assessors conduct property reviews. Integrated with county mapping and geographic information system (GIS) databases, the pictometry system provides oblique, or angled, high-resolution aerial photographs, assessors can check against property records for the county’s 2010 reassessment.
For more information, please read the full article here.
Mapping It All Out: FEMA’s GIS Program Has Positive Impact On Moss Point Recovery July 17, 2008
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GIS is playing a key role in helping Moss Point. GIS technology is being used to aid the recovering communities by providing the means to gather, analyze and utilize a broad spectrum of data - from topography to political and governmental boundaries as well as population and demographics.
One example is Moss Point in south Mississippi who has taken full advantage of the GIS program as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina. Moss Point is now focusing on new and improved housing and promotion of the business district through downtown development and the creation of a riverfront district. The goal is to increase the city’s tax base by attracting new industry, commercial development and, most importantly, a thriving, diverse population. Moss Point is utilizing GIS to successfully execute the overall recovery plan.For more information about the effort of FEMA to use GIS to help Moss Point, please read the full article here.
GIS maps Rwandan health July 16, 2008
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GIS usage has once again been recognized as something needed for the future of our country’s health. Rwanda recently recognized how the digital mapping can be used to help their country best utilize their limited resources. Rwanda intends to use GIS for such purposes as to find health service locations, find electricity supplies and drinking water, as well as to digitize roads, power lines and buildings. Rwanda especially wants to record how many cases of illnesses such as malaria have occurred in different parts of the country.
For more information on Rwanda and their GIS usage, please read the full article here.
Hippocrates in New Jersey July 16, 2008
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GIS collaborations often start with a public health or safety threat. What began as New Jersey’s response to the anthrax scare of 2001 has developed into Hippocrates, a Web-based situational awareness tool shared by the state’s public health community. Although Hippocrates includes features such as automated e-mail messaging, GIS is at its heart.Hippocrates fuses fixed geographic data elements with dynamic data that brings maps to life. Health-specific layers include the locations of long-term care facilities and a module for mapping chemical facilities. Users can also see real-time displays of weather and traffic and the movements of ambulances via Global Positioning System devices mounted on the vehicles. Because Hippocrates is Web-based it is easy to connect all components of the state’s health system and its partners in the state emergency operations center and at the federal level.
For more information on Hippocrates in NJ, please read the full article here.
Dead Birds and the West Nile Virus in Atlanta July 15, 2008
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For more information on the GIS improvements in Atlanta, please read the article here.
Salmonella in S.C. July 15, 2008
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In South Carolina, GIS is improving collaboration between systems that don’t talk to each other.
Public health officials are tracking Salmonella infections by using GIS to combine data from two sources. The state has a database of licensed food service facilities and a separate lab database of reported Salmonella cases. Mapping the overlay of the two databases gives officials a place to start to look for a cause. Because information is automatically pulled together, an epidemiologist, for example, with no GIS training can see the locations of Salmonella cases overlaid with licensed food service establishments, census data and street maps. The system has proven to be a simple way to put health data at users’ fingertips.
For more information on the GIS improvements in South Carolina, please read the article here.
Money Will Be Sought to Streamline 9-1-1 Addressing July 14, 2008
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LEBANON’s County’s information technology director wants to purchase a $200,000 software program that will speed up getting mapping addresses for local emergency agencies. The reason for this is because it is believed that inadequate maps delayed response to a recent house fire in Walker Farms, leaving the home destroyed. A map of Walker Farms could not be found on an Internet search engine, nor did FedEx, UPS or the U.S. Postal Service have street maps of the subdivision on Whitestown’s south side. A Google maps search for “Walker Farms Whitestown Indiana ,” however, listed the subdivision’s sales office as the first hit.
With the new system, a map will be automatically displayed if the address is filed in the county’s GIS system. Also wanted is a push for the county GIS system to have an addressing layer, which will better help the cause.
For more information on this GIS system for Lebanon , please read the full article here.







