Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXXXIX. The influence of weather on suicide in Hong Kong

Summer peaks in suicide for both sexes and ages groups (> or = 55 years) in Hong Kong were ascertained. Barometric pressure had a very weak negative relation with suicide rate.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXVIII. Group health-care-seeking behavior and meteorological variables

Outpatient visits to a "subtropical" military medical clinic (group health-care-seeking behavior) were correlated to weather variables via stepwise linear regression. Despite several significant sets of correlations, quantitative (r, r2, multiple R, multiple R2 and x2) and qualitative (matrix) analyses did not support the existence of lag/causal relationships between weather and behavior. The largest amount of variance (r2) attributable to an individual weather variable was 3% for lower (minimum) daily mean wind speed per month. No regression accommodated more than 36% of variance. Thus, 64% of variance was due to unidentified variables. A winter "seasonal effect" (December and January) was tentatively identified. Group influenza immunizations and 3-day holidays preceded increased visits.     

The Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis: variation in European suicide rates by latitude and longitude

The marked variation regarding the suicide rate in 34 European countries is well described by regressing the national suicide rate on the capital cities' latitudes and on an interaction term of squared latitude multiplied with longitude. The interaction term explains 40.8% and 29.1% of men's and women's suicide rate, respectively, and latitude explains a further significant increment of 10.9% and 10.6% variance of men's and women's suicide rate, respectively. This regression model quantifies the Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis of Kondrichin and of Marusic and Farmer. The European countries highest in suicide rate constitute a contiguous, J-shaped belt, spanning from Finland to Austria. This area maps onto the second principal component identified for European gene distribution, representing ancestral adaptation to cold climates and the Uralic language dispersion. Thus, population differences in genetic risk factors may account for the spatial pattern in European suicide rates.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXI. Geomagnetic variation as possible enhancement stimuli for UFO reports preceding earthtremors

The contribution of geomagnetic variation to the occurrence of UFORs (reports of UFOs) within the New Madrid States during the 6-mo. increments before increases in the numbers of IV-V or less intensity earthquakes within the central USA was determined. Although statistically significant zero-order correlations existed between measures of earthquakes, UFORs and geomagnetic variability, the association between the latter two deteriorated markedly when their shared variance with earthquakes was held constant. These outcomes are compatible with the hypothesis that geomagnetic variability (or phenomena associated with it) may enhance UFORs but only if tectonic stress and strain are increasing within the region.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXII. The tectonogenic strain continuum of unusual events

Transient and very localized geophysical forces are hypothesized to be a major source of phenomena that have been traditionally labelled as haunts and poltergeists. They would be generated by increasing tectonic stresses and would display electromagnetic and gravitational characteristics. Materials would be influenced according to their physical properties. Dielectric materials would respond differently from conductors. Organic semiconductors, of which the human being is an important subcategory, would be affected as well. The conspicuous overlaps between (non-convulsive) complex partial epilepsy and many episodes of poltergeists and haunts are expected in light of the direct stimulation of the observer's brain by the transient, intense magnetic fields and the liability of temporal lobe structures. Implications and some general predictions for the distribution of these phenomena in time and space are discussed.     

Temporal variation in Irish suicide rates

Using Irish suicide data for the period 1990-1998, the independent effects of month and day adjusting for age, gender, and calendar year effects and distinguishing between holiday and working Mondays were assessed. The male suicide rate was significantly higher on working Mondays (+31%) and Saturdays (+14%), and during April, June, and August (+17%), after adjustment for the other variables. In contrast, female suicide rates were higher only in August (+35%) and exhibited no day effect. Teenage men had a greater elevation of risk on Saturdays, Sundays, and both working and holiday Mondays than any other group. The study findings should be taken into account in the planning of specialized health care services and helplines for suicidal people. Furthermore, the findings provide support for Gabennesch's (1988) broken promise theory and the relationship between dysfunctions of the serotonergic system and suicidal behavior.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXVIII. Distal and lunar variables and traffic accidents in Saskatchewan 1984-1989.

The daily total number of traffic accidents and traffic accident severity for the years 1984 to 1989 in Saskatchewan were analyzed to estimate relationships with day of the week, season of the year, and various lunar variables (lunar phase, distance of the moon from the earth, and moon-sun tidal index). A regression model with both a linear term and a trigonometric term was fitted to the data. No relationship between lunar cycles and total accidents or severity of accident was found. A larger number of total accidents was found during the winter months and weekends; however, more severe accidents tended to occur during the summer months. A slight linear trend was uncovered for total accidents over the time period under consideration.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXIX. Solar activity and admission of psychiatric patients.

Numbers of first admissions per month for a single psychiatric unit, from 1977 to 1987, were examined for 1829 psychiatric inpatients to assess whether this measure was correlated with 10 parameters of geophysical activity. Four statistically significant values were 0.197 with level of solar radioflux at 2800 MHZ in the corresponding month, -0.274 with sudden magnetic disturbances of the ionosphere, -0.216 with the index of geomagnetic activity, and -0.262 with the number of hours of positive ionization of the ionosphere in the corresponding month. Percentages of variance accounted for were very small.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXIII. Relations between UFO reports within the Uinta Basin and local seismicity

A strong temporal correlation was found between the numbers of reports of UFOs (unidentified flying objects) and nearby seismic activity within the Uinta Basin for the year 1967. The numbers of UFO reports per month during this classic UFO flap were correlated 0.80 with the sum of the earthquake magnitudes per month for events within 150 km of the report area. Numbers of UFO reports were not correlated significantly with earthquake activity at distances greater than 150 km but less than 250 km away. The strongest correlation occurred between UFO reports and nearby seismic activity within the same month but not for previous or consequent months. Close scrutiny of daily shifts in epicenters and reports of UFOs indicate that they occurred when the locus of successive epicenters shifted across the area. These analyses were interpreted as support for the existence of strain fields whose movements generate natural phenomena that are reported as UFOs.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXV. Seasonal changes in mood in opioid addicts on the Addiction Research Center Inventory

Seasonal changes in mood using the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI) were tested in 243 male opioid addicts when they were free of drug and withdrawal effects. No significant changes were found on scales which measure euphoria (MBG), tension-anxiety (LSD), excitement (Ex), or dysphoric effects (SOW). A significant difference between seasons was found for lowered motivation (PCAG) in the summer and spring relative to winter, but these effects were not consistent with a winter seasonal affective disorder. Significant changes were more common for spring-fall and summer seasons relative to winter on items of the inventory.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXXIII. Onsets of historical and contemporary poltergeist episodes occurred with sudden increases in geomagnetic activity

Several researchers have reported that poltergeist episodes frequently begin on the day (+/- 1 day) of a sudden and intense increase in global geomagnetic activity. To test this visual observation, a near-complete account of these episodes for which the inception dates were recorded and verified was examined. Statistical analyses clearly indicated that global geomagnetic activity (aa index) on the day or day after the onset of these episodes was significantly higher than the geomagnetic activity on the days before or afterwards. The same temporal pattern was noted for historical cases and for those that have occurred more recently. The pattern was similar for episodes that occurred in North America and in Europe. The results were statistically significant and suggest that these unusual episodes may be some form of natural phenomena that are associated with geophysical factors.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XCI. Ambulatory behavior in rats following prenatal exposures to complex magnetic fields designed to interact with genetic expression

A total of 45 litters were exposed during their entire prenatal development to one of two complex patterns of magnetic fields whose strengths varied within one of four intensity ranges between 10 nT and 1,000 nT or to sham-field conditions. The litters exposed to the most complex pattern, composed of 50 200-msec. presentations of different pulses for 10 sec. every 50 sec., displayed more ambulation in an open field at 21 days of age than the litters that had been exposed continuously to a repetitive frequency-modulated field or to sham-field conditions. This treatment explained 25% of the variance in the numbers of squares traversed. The results suggest that complexity of the applied magnetic field during prenatal development may be more important than intensity for permanently affecting neuronal organization and behavior.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: LIII. Epidemiological considerations for incidence of cancer and depression in areas of frequent UFO reports

Luminous phenomena and anomalous physical forces have been hypothesized to be generated by focal tectonic strain fields that precede earthquakes. If these geophysical processes exist, then their spatial and temporal density should be greatest during periods of protracted, localized UFO reports; they might be used as dosimetric indicators. Contemporary epidemiological data concerning the health risks of power frequency electromagnetic fields and radon gas levels (expected correlates of certain tectonic strain fields), suggest that increased incidence (odds ratios greater 1:3) of brain tumors and leukemia should be evident within "flap" areas. In addition the frequency of variants of temporal lobe lability, psychological depression and posttraumatic stress should be significantly elevated. UFO field investigators, because they have repeated, intermittent close proximity to these fields, are considered to be a particularly high risk population for these disorders.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XC. What people consider strange: change in proportions of reports of Fortean phenomena over time

The proportions of 3,667 reports classified as unusual or odd events within eight major categories for four contiguous blocks of time between 1770 and 1970 were compared for disconcordance. The major source of the disconcordance (phi = .52) of reports between the major categories and time was due to the decrease in the numbers of reports of falls of ice, rocks, and animals but increased numbers of reports of odd luminosities, labelled as unidentified flying objects, after the mid 1930s. One hypothesis to explain this result is that cultural changes in attributions for causes of natural phenomena may affect their designation as strange rather than mundane.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXVI. A response to Rutkowski's critique of the tectonic strain hypothesis for UFO phenomena

The tectonic strain hypothesis for many reports of UFOs (UFORs), primarily odd luminosities and metallic-looking phenomena, has been criticized on the basis of inadequate data. This reply begins with the distinction between the empirical basis for the association between UFORs and seismic activity, the hypothesis, and laboratory experiments. It is emphasized that criticisms of data should be based upon empirical criteria rather than value judgments about scientific credibility. Multivariate and bivariate analyses have indicated systematic relationships between UFORs and earthquake measures within several different areas and for different historical periods. However, the physical mechanisms for the generation of individual UFO events and their relationship to UFORs require closer examination.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: XXIX. Impact of atmospheric conditions on occurrences of individual violence among Canadian penitentiary populations

This project studied the effects of weather variables and size of the population on minor and major violence rates within six prisons in the Kingston, Ontario, Canada area from January, 1980 through December, 1983. While weather variables have been studied in relation to mood changes within the general population, this study was the first to analyze the impact of weather variables on rates of violence within the prison setting using forward inclusion multiple regression. Analysis showed that population size consistently appeared positively correlated with assaults on other inmates among the male medium-security prisoners during the summer months. In the summer months, temperature tended to be positively related to some minor kinds of offenses, but in the winter months the relationship was negative. Humidity, rain, sunshine hours, snow, and snow on the ground were not consistently related to incidences of minor and major violence. Indices of geomagnetic disturbances had statistically significant inverse relationships with attempted suicide/self-inflicted injury rates among the male prisoners during the summer months. Over 12 months, wind was generally negatively correlated with incidences of major and minor violence among the male inmates. For 6-mo. periods, wind was generally positively correlated with violence rates during the winter months and negatively correlated during the summer months among the male inmates. The findings relating weather variables to violence rates in the women's prison were consistently in opposition to those found for male prisoners during the 4-yr. period.     

Geophysical variables and behavior: LIV. Zeitoun (Egypt) apparitions of the Virgin Mary as tectonic strain-induced luminosities

Temporal analyses were completed between the occurrence of intense displays of exotic luminous phenomena over a church in Zeitoun (Egypt) during the years 1968 through 1969 and regional seismicity. These phenomena, viewed by thousands of onlookers, began one year before an unprecedented increase (factor of 10) in seismic activity about 400 km to the southeast. Monthly analyses also demonstrated a moderate (0.56) correlation between increases in seismicity and the occurrence of luminous phenomena during the same or previous month. These results were interpreted as further support for the hypothesis that most anomalous (terrain-related) luminous phenomena are generated by factors associated with tectonic strain.