ENSO and disaster: droughts, floods and El Niño/Southern Oscillation warm events.

The connection between El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and precipitation and temperature variability worldwide is increasingly well understood. ENSO has been linked to droughts and flooding in some regions. This paper uses the disaster history database of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to examine the link between ENSO events and droughts or floods of sufficient magnitude to trigger international disasters. Worldwide, disasters triggered by droughts are twice as frequent during year two of ENSO warm events than during other years. No such relationship is apparent in the case of flood disasters. Drought disasters occur during year two of ENSO warm events significantly more frequently than in other years in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. No regional pattern emerges from a comparable analysis of flood disasters. Those places likely to be affected by ENSO-triggered droughts can take proactive measures to mitigate the impacts.

Hip motion changes in hemophilia.

We reviewed early and late motion changes of the hip in 102 hemophiliacs with a mean follow-up of 7 years. Sixty patients (59%) had at least one hip bleed. Sixty-four hips in 49 patients demonstrated at least a 15 degree change in range of motion (ROM) at some time. At final review, only 34 of these 64 hips (53%) lost motion. Patients whose hips lost motion were just as likely to report hip bleeds as those who lost no motion. Twenty hips examined within 2 months of bleeding lost significant motion, but most motion returned within a year. The relationship between hip girdle bleeding and ROM remains obscure.