Illicit drugs in Canadian municipal wastewater and estimates of community drug use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Metcalfe, Chris, E-mail: cmetcalfe@trentu.c [Worsfold Water Quality Centre, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8 (Canada); Tindale, Kathryn [Worsfold Water Quality Centre, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8 (Canada); Li, Hongxia, E-mail: lihongxia@trentu.c [Worsfold Water Quality Centre, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8 (Canada); Rodayan, Angela [Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B2 (Canada); Yargeau, Viviane, E-mail: viviane.yargeau@mcgill.c [Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B2 (Canada)

2010-10-15

In this study of wastewater treatment plants in three Canadian cities, selected illicit drugs, including cocaine and its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine (BE), amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy (i.e. MDMA) were detected in untreated wastewater. Cocaine was the most widely used illicit drug at a median level for the 3 cities of 15.7 doses per day per 1000 people. For the other drugs, the median doses per day per 1000 people were 1.8 for amphetamine, 4.5 for methamphetamine and 0.4 for ecstasy. Methamphetamine use was highest in the largest city and cocaine use was lowest in the smallest city. Removal of the illicit drugs by wastewater treatment was generally >50%, except in a WWTP that uses primary treatment. The community consumption estimate for ecstasy in the present study is far below published estimates of the prevalence of ecstasy use among the Canadian population, which may be due to only occasional use of ecstasy. - Cocaine and amphetamines were detected in untreated and treated sewage in the wastewater treatment plants of three Canadian cities, and community consumption patterns estimated from the concentrations of the drugs in untreated wastewater were consistent with estimates of the use of illicit drugs in Canada.

Illicit drugs in Canadian municipal wastewater and estimates of community drug use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metcalfe, Chris; Tindale, Kathryn; Li, Hongxia; Rodayan, Angela; Yargeau, Viviane

2010-01-01

In this study of wastewater treatment plants in three Canadian cities, selected illicit drugs, including cocaine and its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine (BE), amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy (i.e. MDMA) were detected in untreated wastewater. Cocaine was the most widely used illicit drug at a median level for the 3 cities of 15.7 doses per day per 1000 people. For the other drugs, the median doses per day per 1000 people were 1.8 for amphetamine, 4.5 for methamphetamine and 0.4 for ecstasy. Methamphetamine use was highest in the largest city and cocaine use was lowest in the smallest city. Removal of the illicit drugs by wastewater treatment was generally >50%, except in a WWTP that uses primary treatment. The community consumption estimate for ecstasy in the present study is far below published estimates of the prevalence of ecstasy use among the Canadian population, which may be due to only occasional use of ecstasy. - Cocaine and amphetamines were detected in untreated and treated sewage in the wastewater treatment plants of three Canadian cities, and community consumption patterns estimated from the concentrations of the drugs in untreated wastewater were consistent with estimates of the use of illicit drugs in Canada.

State-Level Community Benefit Regulation and Nonprofit Hospitals' Provision of Community Benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Simone R; Young, Gary J; Loomer, Lacey; Madison, Kristin

2018-04-01

Do nonprofit hospitals provide enough community benefits to justify their tax exemptions? States have sought to enhance nonprofit hospitals' accountability and oversight through regulation, including requirements to report community benefits, conduct community health needs assessments, provide minimum levels of community benefits, and adhere to minimum income eligibility standards for charity care. However, little research has assessed these regulations' impact on community benefits. Using 2009-11 Internal Revenue Service data on community benefit spending for more than eighteen hundred hospitals and the Hilltop Institute's data on community benefit regulation, we investigated the relationship between these four types of regulation and the level and types of hospital-provided community benefits. Our multivariate regression analyses showed that only community health needs assessments were consistently associated with greater community benefit spending. The results for reporting and minimum spending requirements were mixed, while minimum income eligibility standards for charity care were unrelated to community benefit spending. State adoption of multiple types of regulation was consistently associated with higher levels of hospital-provided community benefits, possibly because regulatory intensity conveys a strong signal to the hospital community that more spending is expected. This study can inform efforts to design regulations that will encourage hospitals to provide community benefits consistent with policy makers' goals. Copyright © 2018 by Duke University Press.

Community Engagement in a Graduate-Level Community Literacy Course

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall Bowen, Lauren; Arko, Kirsti; Beatty, Joel; Delaney, Cindy; Dorpenyo, Isidore; Moeller, Laura; Roberts, Elsa; Velat, John

2014-01-01

A case study of a graduate-level community literacy seminar that involved a tutoring project with adult digital literacy learners, this essay illustrates the value of community outreach and service-learning for graduate students in writing studies. Presenting multiple perspectives through critical reflection, student authors describe how their…

Community-level microalgal toxicity assessment by multiwavelength-excitation PAM fluorometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmitt-Jansen, Mechthild; Altenburger, Rolf

2008-01-01

In ecotoxicological studies involving community-level investigations, rapid and multiparametric fluorescence-based methods may provide substantial advantages over traditional methods used for structural and functional community analysis. Therefore, multiwavelength-excitation pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry was applied in this study to assess long-term changes in periphyton community structure, short-term effects on periphyton functioning (photosynthesis) and pollution induced community tolerance (PICT). For inter-calibration, periphyton structure was evaluated by chemotaxonomic analysis of accessory pigments and a four-wavelength-excitation PAM fluorometer. Short-term effects of herbicides were evaluated by fluorescence quenching analysis and 14 C-incorporation as a proxy of primary production. Subsequently, the method was applied to assess structural and functional changes in periphyton communities after isoproturon exposure for 14 and 26 days, respectively. Results showed good correlation of the PAM fluorescence-based measurements with traditional methods for biofilms in the initial colonisation phase for structural and functional parameters. However, for biofilms older than 9 weeks PAM fluorescence may underestimate biomass. Multiwavelength-excitation PAM fluorometry showed good correlation with marker pigment concentrations indicating that this method provides a reliable estimate of the community structure. PAM fluorometry was able to quantify changes of biomass and follow relative shifts in class composition of biofilms under exposure of isoproturon. Short-term tests based on the quantification of the inhibition of the effective quantum yield revealed a concentration-dependent increase of PICT. The observation of two succession phases of the biofilms after 14 and 26 days of growth, respectively, revealed that sensitivity of biofilms decreased with increasing age and biomass, respectively, but PICT remained a characteristic parameter of exposed

Community-level microalgal toxicity assessment by multiwavelength-excitation PAM fluorometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmitt-Jansen, Mechthild [UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany)], E-mail: Mechthild.Schmitt@ufz.de; Altenburger, Rolf [UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany)

2008-01-20

In ecotoxicological studies involving community-level investigations, rapid and multiparametric fluorescence-based methods may provide substantial advantages over traditional methods used for structural and functional community analysis. Therefore, multiwavelength-excitation pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry was applied in this study to assess long-term changes in periphyton community structure, short-term effects on periphyton functioning (photosynthesis) and pollution induced community tolerance (PICT). For inter-calibration, periphyton structure was evaluated by chemotaxonomic analysis of accessory pigments and a four-wavelength-excitation PAM fluorometer. Short-term effects of herbicides were evaluated by fluorescence quenching analysis and {sup 14}C-incorporation as a proxy of primary production. Subsequently, the method was applied to assess structural and functional changes in periphyton communities after isoproturon exposure for 14 and 26 days, respectively. Results showed good correlation of the PAM fluorescence-based measurements with traditional methods for biofilms in the initial colonisation phase for structural and functional parameters. However, for biofilms older than 9 weeks PAM fluorescence may underestimate biomass. Multiwavelength-excitation PAM fluorometry showed good correlation with marker pigment concentrations indicating that this method provides a reliable estimate of the community structure. PAM fluorometry was able to quantify changes of biomass and follow relative shifts in class composition of biofilms under exposure of isoproturon. Short-term tests based on the quantification of the inhibition of the effective quantum yield revealed a concentration-dependent increase of PICT. The observation of two succession phases of the biofilms after 14 and 26 days of growth, respectively, revealed that sensitivity of biofilms decreased with increasing age and biomass, respectively, but PICT remained a characteristic parameter of exposed

Assessment and application of national environmental databases and mapping tools at the local level to two community case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammond, Davyda; Conlon, Kathryn; Barzyk, Timothy; Chahine, Teresa; Zartarian, Valerie; Schultz, Brad

2011-03-01

Communities are concerned over pollution levels and seek methods to systematically identify and prioritize the environmental stressors in their communities. Geographic information system (GIS) maps of environmental information can be useful tools for communities in their assessment of environmental-pollution-related risks. Databases and mapping tools that supply community-level estimates of ambient concentrations of hazardous pollutants, risk, and potential health impacts can provide relevant information for communities to understand, identify, and prioritize potential exposures and risk from multiple sources. An assessment of existing databases and mapping tools was conducted as part of this study to explore the utility of publicly available databases, and three of these databases were selected for use in a community-level GIS mapping application. Queried data from the U.S. EPA's National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment, Air Quality System, and National Emissions Inventory were mapped at the appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions for identifying risks of exposure to air pollutants in two communities. The maps combine monitored and model-simulated pollutant and health risk estimates, along with local survey results, to assist communities with the identification of potential exposure sources and pollution hot spots. Findings from this case study analysis will provide information to advance the development of new tools to assist communities with environmental risk assessments and hazard prioritization. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

ARK: Aggregation of Reads by K-Means for Estimation of Bacterial Community Composition.

Science.gov (United States)

Koslicki, David; Chatterjee, Saikat; Shahrivar, Damon; Walker, Alan W; Francis, Suzanna C; Fraser, Louise J; Vehkaperä, Mikko; Lan, Yueheng; Corander, Jukka

2015-01-01

Estimation of bacterial community composition from high-throughput sequenced 16S rRNA gene amplicons is a key task in microbial ecology. Since the sequence data from each sample typically consist of a large number of reads and are adversely impacted by different levels of biological and technical noise, accurate analysis of such large datasets is challenging. There has been a recent surge of interest in using compressed sensing inspired and convex-optimization based methods to solve the estimation problem for bacterial community composition. These methods typically rely on summarizing the sequence data by frequencies of low-order k-mers and matching this information statistically with a taxonomically structured database. Here we show that the accuracy of the resulting community composition estimates can be substantially improved by aggregating the reads from a sample with an unsupervised machine learning approach prior to the estimation phase. The aggregation of reads is a pre-processing approach where we use a standard K-means clustering algorithm that partitions a large set of reads into subsets with reasonable computational cost to provide several vectors of first order statistics instead of only single statistical summarization in terms of k-mer frequencies. The output of the clustering is then processed further to obtain the final estimate for each sample. The resulting method is called Aggregation of Reads by K-means (ARK), and it is based on a statistical argument via mixture density formulation. ARK is found to improve the fidelity and robustness of several recently introduced methods, with only a modest increase in computational complexity. An open source, platform-independent implementation of the method in the Julia programming language is freely available at https://github.com/dkoslicki/ARK. A Matlab implementation is available at http://www.ee.kth.se/ctsoftware.

Occupancy in community-level studies

Science.gov (United States)

MacKenzie, Darryl I.; Nichols, James; Royle, Andy; Pollock, Kenneth H.; Bailey, Larissa L.; Hines, James

2018-01-01

Another type of multi-species studies, are those focused on community-level metrics such as species richness. In this chapter we detail how some of the single-species occupancy models described in earlier chapters have been applied, or extended, for use in such studies, while accounting for imperfect detection. We highlight how Bayesian methods using MCMC are particularly useful in such settings to easily calculate relevant community-level summaries based on presence/absence data. These modeling approaches can be used to assess richness at a single point in time, or to investigate changes in the species pool over time.

Estimated lead (Pb) exposures for a population of urban community gardeners.

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Spliethoff, Henry M; Mitchell, Rebecca G; Shayler, Hannah; Marquez-Bravo, Lydia G; Russell-Anelli, Jonathan; Ferenz, Gretchen; McBride, Murray

2016-08-01

Urban community gardens provide affordable, locally grown, healthy foods and many other benefits. However, urban garden soils can contain lead (Pb) that may pose risks to human health. To help evaluate these risks, we measured Pb concentrations in soil, vegetables, and chicken eggs from New York City community gardens, and we asked gardeners about vegetable consumption and time spent in the garden. We then estimated Pb intakes deterministically and probabilistically for adult gardeners, children who spend time in the garden, and adult (non-gardener) household members. Most central tendency Pb intakes were below provisional total tolerable intake (PTTI) levels. High contact intakes generally exceeded PTTIs. Probabilistic estimates showed approximately 40 % of children and 10 % of gardeners exceeding PTTIs. Children's exposure came primarily from dust ingestion and exposure to higher Pb soil between beds. Gardeners' Pb intakes were comparable to children's (in µg/day) but were dominated by vegetable consumption. Adult household members ate less garden-grown produce than gardeners and had the lowest Pb intakes. Our results suggest that healthy gardening practices to reduce Pb exposure in urban community gardens should focus on encouraging cultivation of lower Pb vegetables (i.e., fruits) for adult gardeners and on covering higher Pb non-bed soils accessible to young children. However, the common practice of replacement of root-zone bed soil with clean soil (e.g., in raised beds) has many benefits and should also continue to be encouraged.

Species richness and occupancy estimation in communities subject to temporary emigration

Science.gov (United States)

Kery, M.; Royle, J. Andrew; Plattner, M.; Dorazio, R.M.

2009-01-01

Species richness is the most common biodiversity metric, although typically some species remain unobserved. Therefore, estimates of species richness and related quantities should account for imperfect detectability. Community dynamics can often be represented as superposition of species-specific phenologies (e. g., in taxa with well-defined flight [insects], activity [rodents], or vegetation periods [plants]). We develop a model for such predictably open communities wherein species richness is expressed as the sum over observed and unobserved species of estimated species-specific and site-specific occurrence indicators and where seasonal occurrence is modeled as a species-specific function of time. Our model is a multispecies extension of a multistate model with one unobservable state and represents a parsimonious way of dealing with a widespread form of 'temporary emigration.'' For illustration we use Swiss butterfly monitoring data collected under a robust design (RD); species were recorded on 13 transects during two secondary periods within data, where secondary samples are pooled. The latter model yielded unrealistically high estimates of total community size of 274 species. In contrast, estimates were similar under models applied to RD data with constant (122) or seasonally varying (126) detectability for each species, but the former was more parsimonious and therefore used for inference. Per transect, 6 44 (mean 21.1) species were detected. Species richness estimates averaged 29.3; therefore only 71% (range 32-92%) of all species present were ever detected. In any primary period, 0.4-5.6 species present were overlooked. Detectability varied by species and averaged 0.88 per primary sampling period. Our modeling framework is extremely flexible; extensions such as covariates for the occurrence or detectability of individual species are easy. It should be useful for communities with a predictable form of temporary emigration where rigorous estimation of community

Advancing the Science of Community-Level Interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Beehler, Sarah; Deutsch, Charles; Green, Lawrence W.; Hawe, Penelope; McLeroy, Kenneth; Miller, Robin Lin; Rapkin, Bruce D.; Schensul, Jean J.; Schulz, Amy J.; Trimble, Joseph E.

2011-01-01

Community interventions are complex social processes that need to move beyond single interventions and outcomes at individual levels of short-term change. A scientific paradigm is emerging that supports collaborative, multilevel, culturally situated community interventions aimed at creating sustainable community-level impact. This paradigm is rooted in a deep history of ecological and collaborative thinking across public health, psychology, anthropology, and other fields of social science. The new paradigm makes a number of primary assertions that affect conceptualization of health issues, intervention design, and intervention evaluation. To elaborate the paradigm and advance the science of community intervention, we offer suggestions for promoting a scientific agenda, developing collaborations among professionals and communities, and examining the culture of science. PMID:21680923

Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Community-level ...

Science.gov (United States)

EPA’s Office of Research and Development’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program is developing tools and approaches to incorporate ecosystem goods and services concepts into community-level decision-making. The San Juan Community Study is one of a series of coordinated community studies, which also include Mobile Bay, AL, Great Lakes Areas of Concern, and the Pacific Northwest. Common elements across the community studies include a focus on watershed management and national estuary programs (National Estuary Program, National Estuarine Research Reserve System). San Juan, Puerto Rico, is unique from the other community studies in that it is located in a highly urbanized watershed integrated with a number of freshwater and coastal ecosystems. The San Juan Community Study will explore linkages between watershed management decisions (e.g., dredging canals, restoration of mangrove buffers, sewage discharge interventions, climate adaptive strategies) targeting priority stressors (e.g., nutrients, contaminants, and pathogens; aquatic debris; habitat loss; modified hydrology and water circulation; sea level rise; storm intensity and frequency) effecting the condition of ecosystems (e.g., estuarine habitats and fish, as well as the connected terrestrial and coastal ecosystems), associated ecosystem goods and services (e.g., tourism and recreation, fishing, nutrient & sediment retention, contaminant processing, carbon sequestration, flood protection),

The Effectiveness of Distance Education across Virginia's Community Colleges: Evidence from Introductory College-Level Math and English Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Di; Jaggars, Shanna Smith

2011-01-01

Although online learning is rapidly expanding in the community college setting, there is little evidence regarding its effectiveness among community college students. In the current study, the authors used a statewide administrative data set to estimate the effects of taking one's first college-level math or English course online rather than face…

Using groundwater levels to estimate recharge

Science.gov (United States)

Healy, R.W.; Cook, P.G.

2002-01-01

Accurate estimation of groundwater recharge is extremely important for proper management of groundwater systems. Many different approaches exist for estimating recharge. This paper presents a review of methods that are based on groundwater-level data. The water-table fluctuation method may be the most widely used technique for estimating recharge; it requires knowledge of specific yield and changes in water levels over time. Advantages of this approach include its simplicity and an insensitivity to the mechanism by which water moves through the unsaturated zone. Uncertainty in estimates generated by this method relate to the limited accuracy with which specific yield can be determined and to the extent to which assumptions inherent in the method are valid. Other methods that use water levels (mostly based on the Darcy equation) are also described. The theory underlying the methods is explained. Examples from the literature are used to illustrate applications of the different methods.

More than 9,000,000 unique genes in human gut bacterial community: estimating gene numbers inside a human body.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xing; Xie, Lu; Li, Yixue; Wei, Chaochun

2009-06-29

Estimating the number of genes in human genome has been long an important problem in computational biology. With the new conception of considering human as a super-organism, it is also interesting to estimate the number of genes in this human super-organism. We presented our estimation of gene numbers in the human gut bacterial community, the largest microbial community inside the human super-organism. We got 552,700 unique genes from 202 complete human gut bacteria genomes. Then, a novel gene counting model was built to check the total number of genes by combining culture-independent sequence data and those complete genomes. 16S rRNAs were used to construct a three-level tree and different counting methods were introduced for the three levels: strain-to-species, species-to-genus, and genus-and-up. The model estimates that the total number of genes is about 9,000,000 after those with identity percentage of 97% or up were merged. By combining completed genomes currently available and culture-independent sequencing data, we built a model to estimate the number of genes in human gut bacterial community. The total number of genes is estimated to be about 9 million. Although this number is huge, we believe it is underestimated. This is an initial step to tackle this gene counting problem for the human super-organism. It will still be an open problem in the near future. The list of genomes used in this paper can be found in the supplementary table.

Identification of overlapping communities and their hierarchy by locally calculating community-changing resolution levels

OpenAIRE

Havemann, Frank; Heinz, Michael; Struck, Alexander; Gläser, Jochen

2010-01-01

We propose a new local, deterministic and parameter-free algorithm that detects fuzzy and crisp overlapping communities in a weighted network and simultaneously reveals their hierarchy. Using a local fitness function, the algorithm greedily expands natural communities of seeds until the whole graph is covered. The hierarchy of communities is obtained analytically by calculating resolution levels at which communities grow rather than numerically by testing different resolution levels. This ana...

Individual-level socioeconomic status and community-level inequality as determinants of stigma towards persons living with HIV who inject drugs in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Travis; Zelaya, Carla; Latkin, Carl; Quan, Vu Minh; Frangakis, Constantine; Ha, Tran Viet; Minh, Nguyen Le; Go, Vivian

2013-01-01

Introduction HIV infection may be affected by multiple complex socioeconomic status (SES) factors, especially individual socioeconomic disadvantage and community-level inequality. At the same time, stigma towards HIV and marginalized groups has exacerbated persistent concentrated epidemics among key populations, such as persons who inject drugs (PWID) in Vietnam. Stigma researchers argue that stigma fundamentally depends on the existence of economic power differences in a community. In rapidly growing economies like Vietnam, the increasing gap in income and education levels, as well as an individual's absolute income and education, may create social conditions that facilitate stigma related to injecting drug use and HIV. Methods A cross-sectional baseline survey assessing different types of stigma and key socioeconomic characteristics was administered to 1674 PWID and 1349 community members living in physical proximity throughout the 32 communes in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam. We created four stigma scales, including HIV-related and drug-related stigma reported by both PWID and community members. We then used ecologic Spearman's correlation, ordinary least-squares regression and multi-level generalized estimating equations to examine community-level inequality associations, individual-level SES associations and multi-level SES associations with different types of stigma, respectively. Results There was little urban–rural difference in stigma among communes. Higher income inequality was marginally associated with drug-related stigma reported by community members (p=0.087), and higher education inequality was significantly associated with higher HIV-related stigma reported by both PWID and community members (pstigma (HIV and drug related) reported by both PWID and community members. Part-time employed PWID reported more experiences and perceptions of drug-related stigma, while conversely unemployed community members reported enacting lower drug-related stigma

Uncertainties in estimating working level months

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, J.R.

1978-11-01

A statistical procedure is presented that can be used to estimate the number of Working Level (WL) measurements that are required to calculate the average WL to any required precision, at given confidence levels. The procedure assumes that the WL measurements have a normal distribution. WL measurement from Canadian Uranium mines are used to illustrate a procedure of insuring that estimated Working Level Months can be calculated to the required precision. An addendum reports the results of tests of normality of the WL data using the W-test and the Kolmagornov-Smirnov test. (author)

Individual-level socioeconomic status and community-level inequality as determinants of stigma towards persons living with HIV who inject drugs in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Travis; Zelaya, Carla; Latkin, Carl; Quan, Vu Minh; Frangakis, Constantine; Ha, Tran Viet; Minh, Nguyen Le; Go, Vivian

2013-11-13

HIV infection may be affected by multiple complex socioeconomic status (SES) factors, especially individual socioeconomic disadvantage and community-level inequality. At the same time, stigma towards HIV and marginalized groups has exacerbated persistent concentrated epidemics among key populations, such as persons who inject drugs (PWID) in Vietnam. Stigma researchers argue that stigma fundamentally depends on the existence of economic power differences in a community. In rapidly growing economies like Vietnam, the increasing gap in income and education levels, as well as an individual's absolute income and education, may create social conditions that facilitate stigma related to injecting drug use and HIV. A cross-sectional baseline survey assessing different types of stigma and key socioeconomic characteristics was administered to 1674 PWID and 1349 community members living in physical proximity throughout the 32 communes in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam. We created four stigma scales, including HIV-related and drug-related stigma reported by both PWID and community members. We then used ecologic Spearman's correlation, ordinary least-squares regression and multi-level generalized estimating equations to examine community-level inequality associations, individual-level SES associations and multi-level SES associations with different types of stigma, respectively. There was little urban-rural difference in stigma among communes. Higher income inequality was marginally associated with drug-related stigma reported by community members (p=0.087), and higher education inequality was significantly associated with higher HIV-related stigma reported by both PWID and community members (pinequality and HIV-related stigma is superseded by the effect of individual-level education. The results of the study confirm that socioeconomic factors at both the individual level and community level affect different types of stigma in different ways. Attention should be paid to these

SAMPLING ADAPTIVE STRATEGY AND SPATIAL ORGANISATION ESTIMATION OF SOIL ANIMAL COMMUNITIES AT VARIOUS HIERARCHICAL LEVELS OF URBANISED TERRITORIES

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Baljuk J.A.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In work the algorithm of adaptive strategy of optimum spatial sampling for studying of the spatial organisation of communities of soil animals in the conditions of an urbanization have been presented. As operating variables the principal components obtained as a result of the analysis of the field data on soil penetration resistance, soils electrical conductivity and density of a forest stand, collected on a quasiregular grid have been used. The locations of experimental polygons have been stated by means of program ESAP. The sampling has been made on a regular grid within experimental polygons. The biogeocoenological estimation of experimental polygons have been made on a basis of A.L.Belgard's ecomorphic analysis. The spatial configuration of biogeocoenosis types has been established on the basis of the data of earth remote sensing and the analysis of digital elevation model. The algorithm was suggested which allows to reveal the spatial organisation of soil animal communities at investigated point, biogeocoenosis, and landscape.

The association between estimated average glucose levels and fasting plasma glucose levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giray Bozkaya

2010-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The level of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, also known as glycated hemoglobin, determines how well a patient's blood glucose level has been controlled over the previous 8-12 weeks. HbA1c levels help patients and doctors understand whether a particular diabetes treatment is working and whether adjustments need to be made to the treatment. Because the HbA1c level is a marker of blood glucose for the previous 120 days, average blood glucose levels can be estimated using HbA1c levels. Our aim in the present study was to investigate the relationship between estimated average glucose levels, as calculated by HbA1c levels, and fasting plasma glucose levels. METHODS: The fasting plasma glucose levels of 3891 diabetic patient samples (1497 male, 2394 female were obtained from the laboratory information system used for HbA1c testing by the Department of Internal Medicine at the Izmir Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital in Turkey. These samples were selected from patient samples that had hemoglobin levels between 12 and 16 g/dL. The estimated glucose levels were calculated using the following formula: 28.7 x HbA1c - 46.7. Glucose and HbA1c levels were determined using hexokinase and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC methods, respectively. RESULTS: A strong positive correlation between fasting plasma glucose levels and estimated average blood glucose levels (r=0.757, p<0.05 was observed. The difference was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Reporting the estimated average glucose level together with the HbA1c level is believed to assist patients and doctors determine the effectiveness of blood glucose control measures.

Looking Ahead Toward Community-Level Strategies to Prevent Sexual Violence

Science.gov (United States)

DeGue, Sarah; Holt, Melissa K.; Massetti, Greta M.; Matjasko, Jennifer L.; Tharp, Andra Teten; Valle, Linda Anne

2018-01-01

The Division of Violence Prevention within CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control recently undertook a systematic review of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence (SV) perpetration. This review identified the lack of community-level strategies to prevent SV as a critical gap in the literature. Community-level strategies function by modifying the characteristics of settings (e.g., schools, workplaces, neighborhoods) that increase the risk for violence victimization and perpetration. Identification of evidence-based strategies at the community level would allow implementation of ecologic approaches to SV prevention with a greater potential for reducing the prevalence of SV perpetration. The field will face several challenges in identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of promising community-level strategies to prevent SV. These challenges include limited knowledge of community-level and societal-level risk factors for SV, a lack of theoretical or empirical guidance in the SV literature for identification of promising community-level approaches, and challenges in evaluating SV outcomes at the community level. Recognition of these challenges should guide future research and foster dialogue within the SV prevention field. The development and evaluation of community-level approaches to SV prevention represent a vital and logical next step toward the implementation of effective, multilevel prevention efforts and a population-level reduction in the prevalence of SV. PMID:22185587

Community Vitality: The Role of Community-Level Resilience Adaptation and Innovation in Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lenore Newman

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Community level action towards sustainable development has emerged as a key scale of intervention in the effort to address our many serious environmental issues. This is hindered by the large-scale destruction of both urban neighbourhoods and rural villages in the second half of the twentieth century. Communities, whether they are small or large, hubs of experimentation or loci of traditional techniques and methods, can be said to have a level of community vitality that acts as a site of resilience, adaptation and innovation in the face of environmental challenges. This paper outlines how community vitality acts as a cornerstone of sustainable development and suggests some courses for future research. A meta-case analysis of thirty-five Canadian communities reveals the characteristics of community vitality emerging from sustainable development experiments and its relationship to resilience, applied specifically to community development.

Identification of overlapping communities and their hierarchy by locally calculating community-changing resolution levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Havemann, Frank; Heinz, Michael; Struck, Alexander; Gläser, Jochen

2011-01-01

We propose a new local, deterministic and parameter-free algorithm that detects fuzzy and crisp overlapping communities in a weighted network and simultaneously reveals their hierarchy. Using a local fitness function, the algorithm greedily expands natural communities of seeds until the whole graph is covered. The hierarchy of communities is obtained analytically by calculating resolution levels at which communities grow rather than numerically by testing different resolution levels. This analytic procedure is not only more exact than its numerical alternatives such as LFM and GCE but also much faster. Critical resolution levels can be identified by searching for intervals in which large changes of the resolution do not lead to growth of communities. We tested our algorithm on benchmark graphs and on a network of 492 papers in information science. Combined with a specific post-processing, the algorithm gives much more precise results on LFR benchmarks with high overlap compared to other algorithms and performs very similarly to GCE

Identification of overlapping communities and their hierarchy by locally calculating community-changing resolution levels

Science.gov (United States)

Havemann, Frank; Heinz, Michael; Struck, Alexander; Gläser, Jochen

2011-01-01

We propose a new local, deterministic and parameter-free algorithm that detects fuzzy and crisp overlapping communities in a weighted network and simultaneously reveals their hierarchy. Using a local fitness function, the algorithm greedily expands natural communities of seeds until the whole graph is covered. The hierarchy of communities is obtained analytically by calculating resolution levels at which communities grow rather than numerically by testing different resolution levels. This analytic procedure is not only more exact than its numerical alternatives such as LFM and GCE but also much faster. Critical resolution levels can be identified by searching for intervals in which large changes of the resolution do not lead to growth of communities. We tested our algorithm on benchmark graphs and on a network of 492 papers in information science. Combined with a specific post-processing, the algorithm gives much more precise results on LFR benchmarks with high overlap compared to other algorithms and performs very similarly to GCE.

Effects of pesticides on community composition and activity of sediment microbes - responses at various levels of microbial community organization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widenfalk, Anneli; Bertilsson, Stefan; Sundh, Ingvar; Goedkoop, Willem

2008-01-01

A freshwater sediment was exposed to the pesticides captan, glyphosate, isoproturon, and pirimicarb at environmentally relevant and high concentrations. Effects on sediment microorganisms were studied by measuring bacterial activity, fungal and total microbial biomass as community-level endpoints. At the sub-community level, microbial community structure was analysed (PLFA composition and bacterial 16S rRNA genotyping, T-RFLP). Community-level endpoints were not affected by pesticide exposure. At lower levels of microbial community organization, however, molecular methods revealed treatment-induced changes in community composition. Captan and glyphosate exposure caused significant shifts in bacterial community composition (as T-RFLP) at environmentally relevant concentrations. Furthermore, differences in microbial community composition among pesticide treatments were found, indicating that test compounds and exposure concentrations induced multidirectional shifts. Our study showed that community-level end points failed to detect these changes, underpinning the need for application of molecular techniques in aquatic ecotoxicology. - Molecular techniques revealed pesticide-induced changes at lower levels of microbial community organization that were not detected by community-level end points

Effects of pesticides on community composition and activity of sediment microbes - responses at various levels of microbial community organization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Widenfalk, Anneli [Department of Environmental Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala (Sweden)], E-mail: anneli.widenfalk@kemi.se; Bertilsson, Stefan [Limnology/Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvaegen 20, SE-752 36 Uppsala (Sweden); Sundh, Ingvar [Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7025, SE-750 07 Uppsala (Sweden); Goedkoop, Willem [Department of Environmental Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala (Sweden)

2008-04-15

A freshwater sediment was exposed to the pesticides captan, glyphosate, isoproturon, and pirimicarb at environmentally relevant and high concentrations. Effects on sediment microorganisms were studied by measuring bacterial activity, fungal and total microbial biomass as community-level endpoints. At the sub-community level, microbial community structure was analysed (PLFA composition and bacterial 16S rRNA genotyping, T-RFLP). Community-level endpoints were not affected by pesticide exposure. At lower levels of microbial community organization, however, molecular methods revealed treatment-induced changes in community composition. Captan and glyphosate exposure caused significant shifts in bacterial community composition (as T-RFLP) at environmentally relevant concentrations. Furthermore, differences in microbial community composition among pesticide treatments were found, indicating that test compounds and exposure concentrations induced multidirectional shifts. Our study showed that community-level end points failed to detect these changes, underpinning the need for application of molecular techniques in aquatic ecotoxicology. - Molecular techniques revealed pesticide-induced changes at lower levels of microbial community organization that were not detected by community-level end points.

Community Level Risk Factors for Maternal Mortality in Madagascar ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Previous work in this area uses individual or cross-country data to study maternal mortality, however, studying maternal mortality at the community level is imperative because this is the level at which most policy is implemented. The results show that longer travel time from the community to the hospital leads to a high level ...

Content validity and nursing sensitivity of community-level outcomes from the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC).

Science.gov (United States)

Head, Barbara J; Aquilino, Mary Lober; Johnson, Marion; Reed, David; Maas, Meridean; Moorhead, Sue

2004-01-01

To evaluate the content validity and nursing sensitivity of six community-level outcomes from the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC; Johnson, Maas, & Moorhead, 2000). A survey research design was used. Questionnaires were mailed to 300 public health nursing experts; 102 nurses responded. Experts evaluated between 11 and 30 indicators for each of the six outcomes for: (a) importance of the indicators for measuring the outcome, and (b) influence of nursing on the indicators. Content validity and nursing sensitivity of the outcomes were estimated with a modified Fehring technique. All outcomes were deemed important; only Community Competence had an outcome content validity score < .80. The outcome sensitivity score for Community Health: Immunity was .80; other outcome scores ranged from .62-.70. Indicator ratios for all 102 indicators met the study criterion for importance, with 87% designated as critical and 13% as supplemental. Sensitivity ratios reflected judgments that 45% of the indicators were sensitive to nursing intervention. The study provided evidence of outcome content validity and nursing sensitivity of the study outcomes; further validation research is recommended, followed by testing of the study outcomes in clinical practice. Community-level nursing-sensitive outcomes will potentially enable study of the efficacy and effectiveness of public health interventions focused on improving health of populations and communities.

Ebola-related stigma in Ghana: Individual and community level determinants.

Science.gov (United States)

Tenkorang, Eric Y

2017-06-01

Although Ebola-related stigmatization continues to undermine efforts to re-integrate survivors, few studies have examined what influences such stigmatizing attitudes. This paper explores the effects of both individual- and community-level factors on Ebola-related stigma in Ghana. Data were collected from a cross-section of 800 respondents, nested within 40 communities in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Multi-level modelling was employed for analysis. Both individual- and community-level factors were significant determinants of stigma. Respondents who endorsed myths about Ebola were significantly more likely to also endorse Ebola-related stigma. Similarly, those who were worried about a potential outbreak of Ebola in the future, had moderate risk perceptions of contracting Ebola, had primary and secondary education, and were not confident of the quality of health care in the event of an outbreak, were more likely to endorse Ebola-related stigma. Knowledge of Ebola was significant at the community level, but not at the individual level. Communities with more knowledge were less likely to endorse Ebola-related stigma. These findings underscore the need to increase the knowledge base while countering myths that undermine preventive behaviours to fight Ebola-related stigma. It is equally important to adopt multi-level interventions that emphasize community-based strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community-level impact of the reproductive health vouchers programme on service utilization in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Obare, Francis; Warren, Charlotte; Njuki, Rebecca; Abuya, Timothy; Sunday, Joseph; Askew, Ian; Bellows, Ben

2013-03-01

This paper examines community-level association between exposure to the reproductive health vouchers programme in Kenya and utilization of services. The data are from a household survey conducted among 2527 women (15-49 years) from voucher and comparable non-voucher sites. Analysis entails cross-tabulations with Chi-square tests and significant tests of proportions as well as estimation of multi-level logit models to predict service utilization by exposure to the programme. The results show that for births occurring after the voucher programme began, women from communities that had been exposed to the programme since 2006 were significantly more likely to have delivered at a health facility and to have received skilled care during delivery compared with those from communities that had not been exposed to the programme at all. There were, however, no significant differences in the timing of first trimester utilization of antenatal care (ANC) and making four or more ANC visits by exposure to the programme. In addition, poor women were significantly less likely to have used safe motherhood services (health facility delivery, skilled delivery care and postnatal care) compared with their non-poor counterparts regardless of exposure to the programme. Nonetheless, a significantly higher proportion of poor women from communities that had been exposed to the programme since 2006 used the services compared with their poor counterparts from communities that had not been exposed to the programme at all. The findings suggest that the programme is associated with increased health facility deliveries and skilled delivery care especially among poor women. However, it has had limited community-level impact on the first trimester timing of antenatal care use and making four or more visits, which remain a challenge despite the high proportion of women in the country that make at least one antenatal care visit during pregnancy.

Medium Range Ensembles Flood Forecasts for Community Level Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Fakhruddin, S.; Kawasaki, A.; Babel, M. S.; AIT

2013-05-01

Early warning is a key element for disaster risk reduction. In recent decades, there has been a major advancement in medium range and seasonal forecasting. These could provide a great opportunity to improve early warning systems and advisories for early action for strategic and long term planning. This could result in increasing emphasis on proactive rather than reactive management of adverse consequences of flood events. This can be also very helpful for the agricultural sector by providing a diversity of options to farmers (e.g. changing cropping pattern, planting timing, etc.). An experimental medium range (1-10 days) flood forecasting model has been developed for Bangladesh which provides 51 set of discharge ensembles forecasts of one to ten days with significant persistence and high certainty. This could help communities (i.e. farmer) for gain/lost estimation as well as crop savings. This paper describe the application of ensembles probabilistic flood forecast at the community level for differential decision making focused on agriculture. The framework allows users to interactively specify the objectives and criteria that are germane to a particular situation, and obtain the management options that are possible, and the exogenous influences that should be taken into account before planning and decision making. risk and vulnerability assessment was conducted through community consultation. The forecast lead time requirement, users' needs, impact and management options for crops, livestock and fisheries sectors were identified through focus group discussions, informal interviews and questionnaire survey.

Estimating the Threshold Level of Inflation for Thailand

OpenAIRE

Jiranyakul, Komain

2017-01-01

Abstract. This paper analyzes the relationship between inflation and economic growth in Thailand using annual dataset during 1990 and 2015. The threshold model is estimated for different levels of threshold inflation rate. The results suggest that the threshold level of inflation above which inflation significantly slow growth is estimated at 3 percent. The negative relationship between inflation and growth is apparent above this threshold level of inflation. In other words, the inflation rat...

A new approach to hierarchical data analysis: Targeted maximum likelihood estimation for the causal effect of a cluster-level exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Balzer, Laura B; Zheng, Wenjing; van der Laan, Mark J; Petersen, Maya L

2018-01-01

We often seek to estimate the impact of an exposure naturally occurring or randomly assigned at the cluster-level. For example, the literature on neighborhood determinants of health continues to grow. Likewise, community randomized trials are applied to learn about real-world implementation, sustainability, and population effects of interventions with proven individual-level efficacy. In these settings, individual-level outcomes are correlated due to shared cluster-level factors, including the exposure, as well as social or biological interactions between individuals. To flexibly and efficiently estimate the effect of a cluster-level exposure, we present two targeted maximum likelihood estimators (TMLEs). The first TMLE is developed under a non-parametric causal model, which allows for arbitrary interactions between individuals within a cluster. These interactions include direct transmission of the outcome (i.e. contagion) and influence of one individual's covariates on another's outcome (i.e. covariate interference). The second TMLE is developed under a causal sub-model assuming the cluster-level and individual-specific covariates are sufficient to control for confounding. Simulations compare the alternative estimators and illustrate the potential gains from pairing individual-level risk factors and outcomes during estimation, while avoiding unwarranted assumptions. Our results suggest that estimation under the sub-model can result in bias and misleading inference in an observational setting. Incorporating working assumptions during estimation is more robust than assuming they hold in the underlying causal model. We illustrate our approach with an application to HIV prevention and treatment.

State-Level Estimates of Cancer-Related Absenteeism Costs

Science.gov (United States)

Tangka, Florence K.; Trogdon, Justin G.; Nwaise, Isaac; Ekwueme, Donatus U.; Guy, Gery P.; Orenstein, Diane

2016-01-01

Background Cancer is one of the top five most costly diseases in the United States and leads to substantial work loss. Nevertheless, limited state-level estimates of cancer absenteeism costs have been published. Methods In analyses of data from the 2004–2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for 2008, and the 2009 Current Population Survey, we used regression modeling to estimate annual state-level absenteeism costs attributable to cancer from 2004 to 2008. Results We estimated that the state-level median number of days of absenteeism per year among employed cancer patients was 6.1 days and that annual state-level cancer absenteeism costs ranged from $14.9 million to $915.9 million (median = $115.9 million) across states in 2010 dollars. Absenteeism costs are approximately 6.5% of the costs of premature cancer mortality. Conclusions The results from this study suggest that lost productivity attributable to cancer is a substantial cost to employees and employers and contributes to estimates of the overall impact of cancer in a state population. PMID:23969498

Patterns of birth weight at a community level

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

identified a one-year live birth cohort of 8,273 in Jimma, Illubabor and Keffa ... METHODS: This was a community-based longitudinal study, which attempts to ... RESULTS: The results of the study found an estimated low birth weight rate ... mothers' experience of previous child deaths. ... births occur at home. ..... assessment.

Place, health, and community attachment: Is community capacity associated with self-rated health at the individual level?

Science.gov (United States)

Lovell, Sarah A; Gray, Andrew R; Boucher, Sara E

2017-12-01

Community-level interventions dominate contemporary public health responses to health inequalities as a lack of political will has discouraged action at a structural level. Health promoters commonly leverage community capacity to achieve programme goals, yet the health implications of low community capacity are unknown. In this study, we analyse perceptions of community capacity at the individual-level to explore how place-based understandings of identity and connectedness are associated with self-rated health. We examine associations between individual community capacity, self-rated health and income using a cross-sectional survey that was disseminated to 303 residents of four small (populations 1500-2000) New Zealand towns. Evidence indicating a relationship between individual community capacity and self-reported health was unconvincing once the effects of income were incorporated. That is, people who rated their community's capacity higher did not have better self-rated health. Much stronger evidence supported the relationship between income and both higher individual community capacity and higher self-rated health. We conclude that individual community capacity may mediate the positive association between income and health, however, overall we find no evidence suggesting that intervening to enhance individual community capacity is likely to improve health outcomes.

Adolescent alcohol use reflects community-level alcohol consumption irrespective of parental drinking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendtsen, Pernille; Damsgaard, Mogens Trab; Tolstrup, Janne Schurmann

2013-01-01

Risk factors for adolescent alcohol use are typically conceptualized at the individual level, and school- and community-level risk factors have received little attention. Based on the theoretical understanding of youth alcohol consumption as a reflection of community social practice, we analyzed...... whether adolescent drunkenness was related to community-level adult alcohol use (AAC), when taking individual and school-level risk factors for drunkenness into account. Furthermore, we investigated whether the association between community-level AAC and adolescent drunkenness was attenuated after...

Optimizing community-level surveillance data for pediatric asthma management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wande O. Benka-Coker

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Community-level approaches for pediatric asthma management rely on locally collected information derived primarily from two sources: claims records and school-based surveys. We combined claims and school-based surveillance data, and examined the asthma-related risk patterns among adolescent students.Symptom data collected from school-based asthma surveys conducted in Oakland, CA were used for case identification and determination of severity levels for students (high and low. Survey data were matched to Medicaid claims data for all asthma-related health care encounters for the year prior to the survey. We then employed recursive partitioning to develop classification trees that identified patterns of demographics and healthcare utilization associated with severity.A total of 561 students had complete matched data; 86.1% were classified as high-severity, and 13.9% as low-severity asthma. The classification tree consisted of eight subsets: three indicating high severity and five indicating low severity. The risk subsets highlighted varying combinations of non-specific demographic and socioeconomic predictors of asthma prevalence, morbidity and severity. For example, the subset with the highest class-prior probability (92.1% predicted high-severity asthma and consisted of students without prescribed rescue medication, but with at least one in-clinic nebulizer treatment. The predictive accuracy of the tree-based model was approximately 66.7%, with an estimated 91.1% of high-severity cases and 42.3% of low-severity cases correctly predicted.Our analysis draws on the strengths of two complementary datasets to provide community-level information on children with asthma, and demonstrates the utility of recursive partitioning methods to explore a combination of features that convey asthma severity. Keywords: Asthma, Classification, Risk stratification, Statistical data analysis, Disease management

Spatial predictions at the community level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

D'Amen, Manuela; Rahbek, Carsten; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.

2017-01-01

of communities, with a particular focus on species richness, composition, relative abundance and related attributes. We first briefly describe the concepts and theories that span the different drivers of species assembly. A combination of abiotic processes and biotic mechanisms are thought to influence...... the community assembly process. In this review, we describe four categories of drivers: (i) historical and evolutionary, (ii) environmental, (iii) biotic, and (iv) stochastic. We discuss the different modelling approaches proposed or applied at the community level and examine them from different standpoints, i......A fundamental goal of ecological research is to understand and model how processes generate patterns so that if conditions change, changes in the patterns can be predicted. Different approaches have been proposed for modelling species assemblage, but their use to predict spatial patterns of species...

Sense of community in Hong Kong: relations with community-level characteristics and residents' well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Mak, Winnie W S; Cheung, Rebecca Y M; Law, Lawrence S C

2009-09-01

Sense of community (SOC) has been one of the most studied topics in community psychology. However, no empirical study to date has investigated SOC in Hong Kong and its relations with community characteristics and residents' psychological well-being. A representative sample of 941 Hong Kong Chinese based on a randomized household survey was conducted in all 18 districts in Hong Kong. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that SOC was not associated with sociodemographic indicators on both the individual-level (i.e., gender, age, family income, education level, type of residence, and area-to-capita ratio of residence) and the community-level (i.e., proportion of individuals with tertiary education, median family income, ownership of residence, population density, and resident stability). SOC was negatively related to daily hassles and positively with social support and quality of life. Conceptualization of SOC in Hong Kong was discussed.

Tidally adjusted estimates of topographic vulnerability to sea level rise and flooding for the contiguous United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strauss, Benjamin H; Ziemlinski, Remik; Weiss, Jeremy L; Overpeck, Jonathan T

2012-01-01

Because sea level could rise 1 m or more during the next century, it is important to understand what land, communities and assets may be most at risk from increased flooding and eventual submersion. Employing a recent high-resolution edition of the National Elevation Dataset and using VDatum, a newly available tidal model covering the contiguous US, together with data from the 2010 Census, we quantify low-lying coastal land, housing and population relative to local mean high tide levels, which range from ∼0 to 3 m in elevation (North American Vertical Datum of 1988). Previous work at regional to national scales has sometimes equated elevation with the amount of sea level rise, leading to underestimated risk anywhere where the mean high tide elevation exceeds 0 m, and compromising comparisons across regions with different tidal levels. Using our tidally adjusted approach, we estimate the contiguous US population living on land within 1 m of high tide to be 3.7 million. In 544 municipalities and 38 counties, we find that over 10% of the population lives below this line; all told, some 2150 towns and cities have some degree of exposure. At the state level, Florida, Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey have the largest sub-meter populations. We assess topographic susceptibility of land, housing and population to sea level rise for all coastal states, counties and municipalities, from 0 to 6 m above mean high tide, and find important threat levels for widely distributed communities of every size. We estimate that over 22.9 million Americans live on land within 6 m of local mean high tide. (letter)

Place, health, and community attachment: Is community capacity associated with self-rated health at the individual level?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah A. Lovell

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Community-level interventions dominate contemporary public health responses to health inequalities as a lack of political will has discouraged action at a structural level. Health promoters commonly leverage community capacity to achieve programme goals, yet the health implications of low community capacity are unknown. In this study, we analyse perceptions of community capacity at the individual-level to explore how place-based understandings of identity and connectedness are associated with self-rated health. We examine associations between individual community capacity, self-rated health and income using a cross-sectional survey that was disseminated to 303 residents of four small (populations 1500–2000 New Zealand towns. Evidence indicating a relationship between individual community capacity and self-reported health was unconvincing once the effects of income were incorporated. That is, people who rated their community's capacity higher did not have better self-rated health. Much stronger evidence supported the relationship between income and both higher individual community capacity and higher self-rated health. We conclude that individual community capacity may mediate the positive association between income and health, however, overall we find no evidence suggesting that intervening to enhance individual community capacity is likely to improve health outcomes.

Novel serologic biomarkers provide accurate estimates of recent Plasmodium falciparum exposure for individuals and communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Helb, Danica A; Tetteh, Kevin K A; Felgner, Philip L; Skinner, Jeff; Hubbard, Alan; Arinaitwe, Emmanuel; Mayanja-Kizza, Harriet; Ssewanyana, Isaac; Kamya, Moses R; Beeson, James G; Tappero, Jordan; Smith, David L; Crompton, Peter D; Rosenthal, Philip J; Dorsey, Grant; Drakeley, Christopher J; Greenhouse, Bryan

2015-08-11

Tools to reliably measure Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) exposure in individuals and communities are needed to guide and evaluate malaria control interventions. Serologic assays can potentially produce precise exposure estimates at low cost; however, current approaches based on responses to a few characterized antigens are not designed to estimate exposure in individuals. Pf-specific antibody responses differ by antigen, suggesting that selection of antigens with defined kinetic profiles will improve estimates of Pf exposure. To identify novel serologic biomarkers of malaria exposure, we evaluated responses to 856 Pf antigens by protein microarray in 186 Ugandan children, for whom detailed Pf exposure data were available. Using data-adaptive statistical methods, we identified combinations of antibody responses that maximized information on an individual's recent exposure. Responses to three novel Pf antigens accurately classified whether an individual had been infected within the last 30, 90, or 365 d (cross-validated area under the curve = 0.86-0.93), whereas responses to six antigens accurately estimated an individual's malaria incidence in the prior year. Cross-validated incidence predictions for individuals in different communities provided accurate stratification of exposure between populations and suggest that precise estimates of community exposure can be obtained from sampling a small subset of that community. In addition, serologic incidence predictions from cross-sectional samples characterized heterogeneity within a community similarly to 1 y of continuous passive surveillance. Development of simple ELISA-based assays derived from the successful selection strategy outlined here offers the potential to generate rich epidemiologic surveillance data that will be widely accessible to malaria control programs.

A local-community-level, physically-based model of end-use energy consumption by Australian housing stock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Zhengen; Paevere, Phillip; McNamara, Cheryl

2012-01-01

We developed a physics based bottom-up model to estimate annual housing stock energy consumption at a local community level (Census Collection District—CCD) with an hourly resolution. Total energy consumption, including space heating and cooling, water heating, lighting and other household appliances, was simulated by considering building construction and materials, equipment and appliances, local climates and occupancy patterns. The model was used to analyse energy use by private dwellings in more than five thousand CCDs in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The predicted results focus on electricity consumption (natural gas and other fuel sources were excluded as the data are not available) and track the actual electricity consumption at CCD level with an error of 9.2% when summed to state level. For NSW and Victoria 2006, the predicted state electricity consumption is close to the published model (within 6%) and statistical data (within 10%). A key feature of the model is that it can be used to predict hourly electricity consumption and peak demand at fine geographic scales, which is important for grid planning and designing local energy efficiency or demand response strategies. - Highlights: ► We developed a physics-based model to estimate housing stock energy consumption. ► House type and vintage, family type and occupancy time were considered. ► The model results are close to actual energy consumption at local community level. ► Its’ results agree well with the published model and statistical data at state level. ► It shows the model could provide from hourly to annual residential energy consumption.

Application of Bayesian approach to estimate average level spacing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Zhongfu; Zhao Zhixiang

1991-01-01

A method to estimate average level spacing from a set of resolved resonance parameters by using Bayesian approach is given. Using the information given in the distributions of both levels spacing and neutron width, the level missing in measured sample can be corrected more precisely so that better estimate for average level spacing can be obtained by this method. The calculation of s-wave resonance has been done and comparison with other work was carried out

Estimating microcystin levels at recreational sites in western Lake Erie and Ohio

Science.gov (United States)

Francy, Donna S.; Brady, Amie M. G.; Ecker, Christopher D.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Stelzer, Erin A.; Struffolino, Pamela; Loftin, Keith A.

2016-01-01

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) and associated toxins, such as microcystin, are a major global water-quality issue. Water-resource managers need tools to quickly predict when and where toxin-producing cyanoHABs will occur. This could be done by using site-specific models that estimate the potential for elevated toxin concentrations that cause public health concerns. With this study, samples were collected at three Ohio lakes to identify environmental and water-quality factors to develop linear-regression models to estimate microcystin levels. Measures of the algal community (phycocyanin, cyanobacterial biovolume, and cyanobacterial gene concentrations) and pH were most strongly correlated with microcystin concentrations. Cyanobacterial genes were quantified for general cyanobacteria, general Microcystis and Dolichospermum, and for microcystin synthetase (mcyE) for Microcystis, Dolichospermum, and Planktothrix. For phycocyanin, the relations were different between sites and were different between hand-held measurements on-site and nearby continuous monitor measurements for the same site. Continuous measurements of parameters such as phycocyanin, pH, and temperature over multiple days showed the highest correlations to microcystin concentrations. The development of models with high R2values (0.81–0.90), sensitivities (92%), and specificities (100%) for estimating microcystin concentrations above or below the Ohio Recreational Public Health Advisory level of 6 μg L−1 was demonstrated for one site; these statistics may change as more data are collected in subsequent years. This study showed that models could be developed for estimates of exceeding a microcystin threshold concentration at a recreational freshwater lake site, with potential to expand their use to provide relevant public health information to water resource managers and the public for both recreational and drinking waters.

BWR level estimation using Kalman Filtering approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garner, G.; Divakaruni, S.M.; Meyer, J.E.

1986-01-01

Work is in progress on development of a system for Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) vessel level validation and failure detection. The levels validated include the liquid level both inside and outside the core shroud. This work is a major part of a larger effort to develop a complete system for BWR signal validation. The demonstration plant is the Oyster Creek BWR. Liquid level inside the core shroud is not directly measured during full power operation. This level must be validated using measurements of other quantities and analytic models. Given the available sensors, analytic models for level that are based on mass and energy balances can contain open integrators. When such a model is driven by noisy measurements, the model predicted level will deviate from the true level over time. To validate the level properly and to avoid false alarms, the open integrator must be stabilized. In addition, plant parameters will change slowly with time. The respective model must either account for these plant changes or be insensitive to them to avoid false alarms and maintain sensitivity to true failures of level instrumentation. Problems are addressed here by combining the extended Kalman Filter and Parity Space Decision/Estimator. The open integrator is stabilized by integrating from the validated estimate at the beginning of each sampling interval, rather than from the model predicted value. The model is adapted to slow plant/sensor changes by updating model parameters on-line

Estimating the cost of referral and willingness to pay for referral to higher-level health facilities: a case series study from an integrated community case management programme in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanyonjo, Agnes; Bagorogoza, Benson; Kasteng, Frida; Ayebale, Godfrey; Makumbi, Fredrick; Tomson, Göran; Källander, Karin

2015-08-28

Integrated community case management (iCCM) relies on community health workers (CHWs) managing children with malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and referring children when management is not possible. This study sought to establish the cost per sick child referred to seek care from a higher-level health facility by a CHW and to estimate caregivers' willingness to pay (WTP) for referral. Caregivers of 203 randomly selected children referred to higher-level health facilities by CHWs were interviewed in four Midwestern Uganda districts. Questionnaires and document reviews were used to capture direct, indirect and opportunity costs incurred by caregivers, CHWs and health facilities managing referred children. WTP for referral was assessed through the 'bidding game' approach followed by an open-ended question on maximum WTP. Descriptive analysis was conducted for factors associated with referral completion and WTP using logistic and linear regression methods, respectively. The cost per case referred to higher-level health facilities was computed from a societal perspective. Reasons for referral included having fever with a negative malaria test (46.8%), danger signs (29.6%) and drug shortage (37.4%). Among the referred, less than half completed referral (45.8%). Referral completion was 2.8 times higher among children with danger signs (p = 0.004) relative to those without danger signs, and 0.27 times lower among children who received pre-referral treatment (p average cost per case referred was US$ 4.89 and US$7.35 per case completing referral. For each unit cost per case referred, caregiver out of pocket expenditure contributed 33.7%, caregivers' and CHWs' opportunity costs contributed 29.2% and 5.1% respectively and health facility costs contributed 39.6%. The mean (SD) out of pocket expenditure was US$1.65 (3.25). The mean WTP for referral was US$8.25 (14.70) and was positively associated with having received pre-referral treatment, completing referral and increasing

Physical activity level and fall risk among community-dwelling older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Low, Sok Teng; Balaraman, Thirumalaya

2017-07-01

[Purpose] To find the physical activity level and fall risk among the community-dwelling Malaysian older adults and determine the correlation between them. [Subjects and Methods] A cross-sectional study was conducted in which, the physical activity level was evaluated using the Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity questionnaire and fall risk with Fall Risk Assessment Tool. Subjects recruited were 132 community-dwelling Malaysian older adults using the convenience sampling method. [Results] The majority of the participants were under the category of under-active regular light-activities and most of them reported low fall risk. The statistical analysis using Fisher's exact test did not show a significant correlation between physical activity level and fall risk. [Conclusion] The majority of community-dwelling Malaysian older adults are performing some form of physical activity and in low fall risk category. But this study did not find any significant correlation between physical activity level and fall risk among community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia.

Community-based population-level interventions for promoting child oral health.

OpenAIRE

de Silva, AM; Hegde, S; Akudo Nwagbara, B; Calache, H; Gussy, MG; Nasser, M; Morrice, HR; Riggs, E; Leong, PM; Meyenn, LK; Yousefi-Nooraie, R

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Dental caries and gingival and periodontal disease are commonly occurring, preventable chronic conditions. Even though much is known about how to treat oral disease, currently we do not know which community-based population-level interventions are most effective and equitable in preventing poor oral health. OBJECTIVES: Primary • To determine the effectiveness of community-based population-level oral health promotion interventions in preventing dental caries and gingival and period...

Structure of a microbial community in soil after prolonged addition of low levels of simulated acid rain

Science.gov (United States)

Pennanen; Fritze; Vanhala; Kiikkila; Neuvonen; Baath

1998-06-01

Humus samples were collected 12 growing seasons after the start of a simulated acid rain experiment situated in the subarctic environment. The acid rain was simulated with H2SO4, a combination of H2SO4 and HNO3, and HNO3 at two levels of moderate acidic loads close to the natural anthropogenic pollution levels of southern Scandinavia. The higher levels of acid applications resulted in acidification, as defined by humus chemistry. The concentrations of base cations decreased, while the concentrations of exchangeable H+, Al, and Fe increased. Humus pH decreased from 3.83 to 3.65. Basal respiration decreased with decreasing humus pH, and total microbial biomass, measured by substrate-induced respiration and total amount of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), decreased slightly. An altered PLFA pattern indicated a change in the microbial community structure at the higher levels of acid applications. In general, branched fatty acids, typical of gram-positive bacteria, increased in the acid plots. PLFA analysis performed on the bacterial community growing on agar plates also showed that the relative amount of PLFA specific for gram-positive bacteria increased due to the acidification. The changed bacterial community was adapted to the more acidic environment in the acid-treated plots, even though bacterial growth rates, estimated by thymidine and leucine incorporation, decreased with pH. Fungal activity (measured as acetate incorporation into ergosterol) was not affected. This result indicates that bacteria were more affected than fungi by the acidification. The capacity of the bacterial community to utilize 95 different carbon sources was variable and only showed weak correlations to pH. Differences in the toxicities of H2SO4 and HNO3 for the microbial community were not found.

The Domestic Violence Fatality Review: Can It Mobilize Community-Level Change?

Science.gov (United States)

Storer, Heather L.; Lindhorst, Taryn; Starr, Kelly

2015-01-01

Domestic Violence Fatality Review (DVFR) teams are a means of identifying systems’ gaps in the coordinated response to domestic violence. While the number of homicide reviews has grown, little is known about whether DVFRs facilitate change in the community-level response to domestic violence. This research evaluated whether the recommendations made by one state-level DVFR had an effect on community and organizational priorities and practices. The results indicate that the recommendations influence countywide priorities, but less was done to implement the recommendations. DVFRs have the capacity to influence community-level change agendas; however, organizations need support moving from issue prioritization to implementation. PMID:25741174

Association between individual-level and community-level socio-economic status and blood pressure among Inuit in Greenland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mylène Riva

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Despite abundant evidence that socio-economic status (SES is a fundamental determinant of health, there is a dearth of research examining association between SES, measured at the individual and community levels, and cardiovascular risk factors and morbidity among indigenous populations. Objectives: To examine the influence of individual-level and community-level SES on systolic and diastolic blood pressure among Greenlandic Inuit. Methods: Multilevel analysis of cross-sectional data from the Inuit Health in Transition – Greenland Survey, to which 3,108 Greenlandic Inuit aged 18 years and older participated. Blood pressure is measured using an automatic device, according to standardized protocol. Individual SES is measured by education. Community socio-economic conditions are measured using combined information on average disposable household income and settlement type. Results: Education was not significantly associated with blood pressure. There was an inverse U-shape association between community socio-economic conditions and blood pressure with significantly lower SBP and DBP among participants living in remote traditional villages characterized by lower average disposable household income and in affluent more urbanized towns. Sex-stratified analyses demonstrate the salience of community conditions for men. Conclusions: The association observed between blood pressure and community-level socio-economic conditions suggests that public health and social policies, programmes and interventions aiming to improve living conditions might improve cardiovascular health in Greenland. Studies are required to further examine social gradients in cardiovascular risk factors and morbidity among indigenous populations using different measures of SES.

Association between individual-level and community-level socio-economic status and blood pressure among Inuit in Greenland.

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, Mylène; Larsen, Christina Viskum Lytken; Bjerregaard, Peter

2016-01-01

Despite abundant evidence that socio-economic status (SES) is a fundamental determinant of health, there is a dearth of research examining association between SES, measured at the individual and community levels, and cardiovascular risk factors and morbidity among indigenous populations. To examine the influence of individual-level and community-level SES on systolic and diastolic blood pressure among Greenlandic Inuit. Multilevel analysis of cross-sectional data from the Inuit Health in Transition - Greenland Survey, to which 3,108 Greenlandic Inuit aged 18 years and older participated. Blood pressure is measured using an automatic device, according to standardized protocol. Individual SES is measured by education. Community socio-economic conditions are measured using combined information on average disposable household income and settlement type. Education was not significantly associated with blood pressure. There was an inverse U-shape association between community socio-economic conditions and blood pressure with significantly lower SBP and DBP among participants living in remote traditional villages characterized by lower average disposable household income and in affluent more urbanized towns. Sex-stratified analyses demonstrate the salience of community conditions for men. The association observed between blood pressure and community-level socio-economic conditions suggests that public health and social policies, programmes and interventions aiming to improve living conditions might improve cardiovascular health in Greenland. Studies are required to further examine social gradients in cardiovascular risk factors and morbidity among indigenous populations using different measures of SES.

Does global progress on sanitation really lag behind water? An analysis of global progress on community- and household-level access to safe water and sanitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cumming, Oliver; Elliott, Mark; Overbo, Alycia; Bartram, Jamie

2014-01-01

Safe drinking water and sanitation are important determinants of human health and wellbeing and have recently been declared human rights by the international community. Increased access to both were included in the Millennium Development Goals under a single dedicated target for 2015. This target was reached in 2010 for water but sanitation will fall short; however, there is an important difference in the benchmarks used for assessing global access. For drinking water the benchmark is community-level access whilst for sanitation it is household-level access, so a pit latrine shared between households does not count toward the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target. We estimated global progress for water and sanitation under two scenarios: with equivalent household- and community-level benchmarks. Our results demonstrate that the "sanitation deficit" is apparent only when household-level sanitation access is contrasted with community-level water access. When equivalent benchmarks are used for water and sanitation, the global deficit is as great for water as it is for sanitation, and sanitation progress in the MDG-period (1990-2015) outstrips that in water. As both drinking water and sanitation access yield greater benefits at the household-level than at the community-level, we conclude that any post-2015 goals should consider a household-level benchmark for both.

Increasing Resilience Through Engagement In Sea Level Rise Community Science Initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Chilton, L. A.; Rindge, H.

2017-12-01

Science literate and engaged members of the public, including students, are critical to building climate resilient communities. USC Sea Grant facilitates programs that work to build and strengthen these connections. The Urban Tides Community Science Initiative (Urban Tides) and the Youth Exploring Sea Level Rise Science Program (YESS) engage communities across the boundaries of public engagement, K-12 education, and informal education. YESS is an experiential sea level rise education program that combines classroom learning, field investigations and public presentations. Students explore sea level rise using a new curricula, collect their own data on sea level rise, develop communication products, and present their findings to city governments, researchers, and others. Urban Tides engages community members, informal education centers, K-12 students, and local government leaders in a citizen science program photo- documenting extreme high tides, erosion and coastal flooding in Southern California. Images provide critical information to help calibrate scientific models used to identify locations vulnerable to damage from future sea level rise. These tools and information enable community leaders and local governments to set priorities, guidelines, and update policies as they plan strategies that will help the region adapt. The program includes a mobile app for data collection, an open database to view photos, a lesson plan, and community beach walks. Urban Tides has led to an increase in data and data-gathering capacity for regional scientists, an increase in public participation in science, and an increase in ocean and climate literacy among initiative participants. Both of these programs bring informed and diverse voices into the discussion of how to adapt and build climate resilient communities. USC Sea Grant will share impacts and lessons learned from these two unique programs.

Individual and community level socioeconomic inequalities in contraceptive use in 10 Newly Independent States: a multilevel cross-sectional analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Janevic, Teresa; Sarah, Pallas W; Leyla, Ismayilova; Elizabeth, Bradley H

2012-11-16

Little is known regarding the association between socioeconomic factors and contraceptive use in the Newly Independent States (NIS), countries that have experienced profound changes in reproductive health services during the transition from socialism to a market economy. Using 2005-2006 data from Demographic Health Surveys (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan), we examined associations between individual and community socioeconomic status with current modern contraceptive use (MCU) among N = 55,204 women aged 15-49 married or in a union. Individual socioeconomic status was measured using quintiles of wealth index and education level (higher than secondary school, secondary school or less). Community socioeconomic status was measured as the percentage of households in the poorest quintile of the nationals household wealth index (0%, 0-25%, or greater than 25%). We used multilevel logistic regression to estimate associations adjusted for age, number of children, urban/rural, and socioeconomic variables. MCU varied by country from 14% (in Azerbaijan) to 62% (in Belarus). Overall, women living in the poorest communities were less likely than those in the richest to use modern contraceptives (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.82, 95% Confidence Interval = 0.76, 0.89). Similarly, there was an increasing odds of MCU with increasing individual-level wealth. Women with a lower level of education also had lower odds of MCU than those with a higher level of education (aOR = .75, 95%CI = 0.71, 0.79). In country-specific analyses, community-level socioeconomic inequalities were apparent in 4 of 10 countries; in contrast, inequalities by individual-level wealth were apparent in 7 countries and by education in 8 countries. All countries in which community-level socioeconomic status was associated with MCU were in Central Asia, whereas at the individual-level

A dynamic modelling approach for estimating critical loads of nitrogen based on plant community changes under a changing climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belyazid, Salim; Kurz, Dani; Braun, Sabine; Sverdrup, Harald; Rihm, Beat; Hettelingh, Jean-Paul

2011-01-01

A dynamic model of forest ecosystems was used to investigate the effects of climate change, atmospheric deposition and harvest intensity on 48 forest sites in Sweden (n = 16) and Switzerland (n = 32). The model was used to investigate the feasibility of deriving critical loads for nitrogen (N) deposition based on changes in plant community composition. The simulations show that climate and atmospheric deposition have comparably important effects on N mobilization in the soil, as climate triggers the release of organically bound nitrogen stored in the soil during the elevated deposition period. Climate has the most important effect on plant community composition, underlining the fact that this cannot be ignored in future simulations of vegetation dynamics. Harvest intensity has comparatively little effect on the plant community in the long term, while it may be detrimental in the short term following cutting. This study shows: that critical loads of N deposition can be estimated using the plant community as an indicator; that future climatic changes must be taken into account; and that the definition of the reference deposition is critical for the outcome of this estimate. - Research highlights: → Plant community changes can be used to estimate critical loads of nitrogen. → Climate change is decisive for future changes of geochemistry and plant communities. → Climate change cannot be ignored in estimates of critical loads. → The model ForSAFE-Veg was successfully used to set critical loads of nitrogen. - Plant community composition can be used in dynamic modelling to estimate critical loads of nitrogen deposition, provided the appropriate reference deposition, future climate and target plant communities are defined.

Estimating the role of casual contact from the community in transmission of Bordetella pertussis to young infants

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Poole Charles

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract The proportion of infant pertussis cases due to transmission from casual contact in the community has not been estimated since before the introduction of pertussis vaccines in the 1950s. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of pertussis transmission due to casual contact using demographic and clinical data from a study of 95 infant pertussis cases and their close contacts enrolled at 14 hospitals in France, Germany, Canada, and the U.S. between February 2003 and September 2004. A complete case analysis was conducted as well as multiple imputation (MI to account for missing data for participants and close contacts who did not participate. By considering all possible close contacts, the MI analysis estimated 66% of source cases were close contacts, implying the minimum attributable proportion of infant cases due to transmission from casual contact with community members was 34% (95% CI = 24%, 44%. Estimates from the complete case analysis were comparable but less precise. Results were sensitive to changes in the operational definition of a source case, which broadened the range of MI point estimates of transmission from casual community contact to 20%–47%. We conclude that casual contact appears to be responsible for a substantial proportion of pertussis transmission to young infants. Medical subject headings (MeSH: multiple imputation, pertussis, transmission, casual contact, sensitivity analysis, missing data, community.

Architectural-level power estimation and experimentation

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Wu

With the emergence of a plethora of embedded and portable applications and ever increasing integration levels, power dissipation of integrated circuits has moved to the forefront as a design constraint. Recent years have also seen a significant trend towards designs starting at the architectural (or RT) level. Those demand accurate yet fast RT level power estimation methodologies and tools. This thesis addresses issues and experiments associate with architectural level power estimation. An execution driven, cycle-accurate RT level power simulator, SimplePower, was developed using transition-sensitive energy models. It is based on the architecture of a five-stage pipelined RISC datapath for both 0.35mum and 0.8mum technology and can execute the integer subset of the instruction set of SimpleScalar . SimplePower measures the energy consumed in the datapath, memory and on-chip buses. During the development of SimplePower , a partitioning power modeling technique was proposed to model the energy consumed in complex functional units. The accuracy of this technique was validated with HSPICE simulation results for a register file and a shifter. A novel, selectively gated pipeline register optimization technique was proposed to reduce the datapath energy consumption. It uses the decoded control signals to selectively gate the data fields of the pipeline registers. Simulation results show that this technique can reduce the datapath energy consumption by 18--36% for a set of benchmarks. A low-level back-end compiler optimization, register relabeling, was applied to reduce the on-chip instruction cache data bus switch activities. Its impact was evaluated by SimplePower. Results show that it can reduce the energy consumed in the instruction data buses by 3.55--16.90%. A quantitative evaluation was conducted for the impact of six state-of-art high-level compilation techniques on both datapath and memory energy consumption. The experimental results provide a valuable insight for

Estimating Price Elasticity using Market-Level Appliance Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujita, K. Sydny [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2015-08-04

This report provides and update to and expansion upon our 2008 LBNL report “An Analysis of the Price Elasticity of Demand for Appliances,” in which we estimated an average relative price elasticity of -0.34 for major household appliances (Dale and Fujita 2008). Consumer responsiveness to price change is a key component of energy efficiency policy analysis; these policies influence consumer purchases through price both explicitly and implicitly. However, few studies address appliance demand elasticity in the U.S. market and public data sources are generally insufficient for rigorous estimation. Therefore, analysts have relied on a small set of outdated papers focused on limited appliance types, assuming long-term elasticities estimated for other durables (e.g., vehicles) decades ago are applicable to current and future appliance purchasing behavior. We aim to partially rectify this problem in the context of appliance efficiency standards by revisiting our previous analysis, utilizing data released over the last ten years and identifying additional estimates of durable goods price elasticities in the literature. Reviewing the literature, we find the following ranges of market-level price elasticities: -0.14 to -0.42 for appliances; -0.30 to -1.28 for automobiles; -0.47 to -2.55 for other durable goods. Brand price elasticities are substantially higher for these product groups, with most estimates -2.0 or more elastic. Using market-level shipments, sales value, and efficiency level data for 1989-2009, we run various iterations of a log-log regression model, arriving at a recommended range of short run appliance price elasticity between -0.4 and -0.5, with a default value of -0.45.

Assessing toxic levels of hydrocarbons on microbial degrader communities in vadose zone fill soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoenberg, T.H.; Long, S.C.

1995-01-01

Authentic fill samples were collected from the vadose zone at a highway travel plaza. The contamination at the site is a combination of gasoline, diesel, and waste oil resulting from leaking underground storage tanks. Microbial assessments including plate counts and specific-degrader enumerations were performed to establish the presence of degrader microbial communities, and thus bioremediation potential. Contaminant levels were estimated in samples by quantifying headspace VOCs in collection jars. Physical soil characteristics including soil grain size distribution and moisture content were measured to evaluate the potential ecological variables that would affect implementation of a bioremediation technology. Toxicity screening using the Microtox trademark acute toxicity assay was used to compare the level of toxicity present among samples. These analyses were used to assess the potential for using in situ bioventing remediation to clean-up the leaking underground storage tank spill study site. High contaminant levels appear to have exerted a toxic effect and resulted in smaller total microbial community sizes in highly contaminated areas (thousands of ppmv) of the site. Microtox trademark EC50 results generally corroborated with the trends of the enumeration experiments. Microbial characterization results indicate that in situ bioremediation would be possible at the study site. Soil heterogeneity appears to pose the greatest challenges to the design and implementation of bioremediation at this site

Does Social Capital Explain Community-Level Differences in Organ Donor Designation?

Science.gov (United States)

Ladin, Keren; Wang, Rui; Fleishman, Aaron; Boger, Matthew; Rodrigue, James R

2015-09-01

The growing shortage of life-saving organs has reached unprecedented levels, with more than 120,000 Americans waiting for them. Despite national attempts to increase organ donation and federal laws mandating the equitable allocation of organs, geographic disparities remain. A better understanding of the contextual determinants of organ donor designation, including social capital, may enhance efforts to increase organ donation by raising the probability of collective action and fostering norms of reciprocity and cooperation while increasing costs to defectors. Because community-level factors, including social capital, predict more than half the variation in donor designation, future interventions should tailor strategies to specific communities as the unit of intervention. The growing shortage of organs has reached unprecedented levels. Despite national attempts to increase donation and federal laws mandating the equitable allocation of organs, their availability and waiting times vary significantly nationwide. Organ donor designation is a collective action problem in public health, in which the regional organ supply and average waiting times are determined by the willingness of individuals to be listed as organ donors. Social capital increases the probability of collective action by fostering norms of reciprocity and cooperation while increasing costs to defectors. We examine whether social capital and other community-level factors explain geographic variation in organ donor designation rates in Massachusetts. We obtained a sample of 3,281,532 registered drivers in 2010 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Registry of Motor Vehicles (MassDOT RMV). We then geocoded the registry data, matched them to 4,466 census blocks, and linked them to the 2010 US Census, the American Community Survey (ACS), and other sources to obtain community-level sociodemographic, social capital (residential segregation, voter registration and participation, residential

Inferring uncertainty from interval estimates: Effects of alpha level and numeracy

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Luke F. Rinne

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Interval estimates are commonly used to descriptively communicate the degree of uncertainty in numerical values. Conventionally, low alpha levels (e.g., .05 ensure a high probability of capturing the target value between interval endpoints. Here, we test whether alpha levels and individual differences in numeracy influence distributional inferences. In the reported experiment, participants received prediction intervals for fictitious towns' annual rainfall totals (assuming approximately normal distributions. Then, participants estimated probabilities that future totals would be captured within varying margins about the mean, indicating the approximate shapes of their inferred probability distributions. Results showed that low alpha levels (vs. moderate levels; e.g., .25 more frequently led to inferences of over-dispersed approximately normal distributions or approximately uniform distributions, reducing estimate accuracy. Highly numerate participants made more accurate estimates overall, but were more prone to inferring approximately uniform distributions. These findings have important implications for presenting interval estimates to various audiences.

The association between estimated average glucose levels and fasting plasma glucose levels in a rural tertiary care centre

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Raja Reddy P

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The level of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, also known as glycated hemoglobin, determines how well a patient’s blood glucose level has been controlled over the previous 8-12 weeks. HbA1c levels help patients and doctors understand whether a particular diabetes treatment is working and whether adjustments need to be made to the treatment. Because the HbA1c level is a marker of blood glucose for the previous 60- 90 days, average blood glucose levels can be estimated using HbA1c levels. Aim in the present study was to investigate the relationship between estimated average glucose levels, as calculated by HbA1c levels, and fasting plasma glucose levels. Methods: Type 2 diabetes patients attending medicine outpatient department of RL Jalappa hospital, Kolar between March 2010 and July 2012 were taken. The estimated glucose levels (mg/dl were calculated using the following formula: 28.7 x HbA1c-46.7. Glucose levels were determined using the hexokinase method. HbA1c levels were determined using an HPLC method. Correlation and independent t- test was the test of significance for quantitative data. Results: A strong positive correlation between fasting plasma glucose level and estimated average blood glucose levels (r=0.54, p=0.0001 was observed. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Reporting the estimated average glucose level together with the HbA1c level is believed to assist patients and doctors determine the effectiveness of blood glucose control measures.

The Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project — A Community-Level, Public Health Initiative to Build Community Disaster Resilience

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David Eisenman

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Public health officials need evidence-based methods for improving community disaster resilience and strategies for measuring results. This methods paper describes how one public health department is addressing this problem. This paper provides a detailed description of the theoretical rationale, intervention design and novel evaluation of the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project (LACCDR, a public health program for increasing community disaster resilience. The LACCDR Project utilizes a pretest–posttest method with control group design. Sixteen communities in Los Angeles County were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental community resilience group or the comparison group. Community coalitions in the experimental group receive training from a public health nurse trained in community resilience in a toolkit developed for the project. The toolkit is grounded in theory and uses multiple components to address education, community engagement, community and individual self-sufficiency, and partnerships among community organizations and governmental agencies. The comparison communities receive training in traditional disaster preparedness topics of disaster supplies and emergency communication plans. Outcome indicators include longitudinal changes in inter-organizational linkages among community organizations, community member responses in table-top exercises, and changes in household level community resilience behaviors and attitudes. The LACCDR Project is a significant opportunity and effort to operationalize and meaningfully measure factors and strategies to increase community resilience. This paper is intended to provide public health and academic researchers with new tools to conduct their community resilience programs and evaluation research. Results are not yet available and will be presented in future reports.

Small area estimation of proportions with different levels of auxiliary data.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandra, Hukum; Kumar, Sushil; Aditya, Kaustav

2018-03-01

Binary data are often of interest in many small areas of applications. The use of standard small area estimation methods based on linear mixed models becomes problematic for such data. An empirical plug-in predictor (EPP) under a unit-level generalized linear mixed model with logit link function is often used for the estimation of a small area proportion. However, this EPP requires the availability of unit-level population information for auxiliary data that may not be always accessible. As a consequence, in many practical situations, this EPP approach cannot be applied. Based on the level of auxiliary information available, different small area predictors for estimation of proportions are proposed. Analytic and bootstrap approaches to estimating the mean squared error of the proposed small area predictors are also developed. Monte Carlo simulations based on both simulated and real data show that the proposed small area predictors work well for generating the small area estimates of proportions and represent a practical alternative to the above approach. The developed predictor is applied to generate estimates of the proportions of indebted farm households at district-level using debt investment survey data from India. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Individual and community level socioeconomic inequalities in contraceptive use in 10 Newly Independent States: a multilevel cross-sectional analysis

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Janevic Teresa

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Little is known regarding the association between socioeconomic factors and contraceptive use in the Newly Independent States (NIS, countries that have experienced profound changes in reproductive health services during the transition from socialism to a market economy. Methods Using 2005–2006 data from Demographic Health Surveys (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, we examined associations between individual and community socioeconomic status with current modern contraceptive use (MCU among N = 55,204 women aged 15–49 married or in a union. Individual socioeconomic status was measured using quintiles of wealth index and education level (higher than secondary school, secondary school or less. Community socioeconomic status was measured as the percentage of households in the poorest quintile of the nationals household wealth index (0%, 0–25%, or greater than 25%. We used multilevel logistic regression to estimate associations adjusted for age, number of children, urban/rural, and socioeconomic variables. Results MCU varied by country from 14% (in Azerbaijan to 62% (in Belarus. Overall, women living in the poorest communities were less likely than those in the richest to use modern contraceptives (adjusted odds ratio (aOR = 0.82, 95% Confidence Interval = 0.76, 0.89. Similarly, there was an increasing odds of MCU with increasing individual-level wealth. Women with a lower level of education also had lower odds of MCU than those with a higher level of education (aOR = .75, 95%CI = 0.71, 0.79. In country-specific analyses, community-level socioeconomic inequalities were apparent in 4 of 10 countries; in contrast, inequalities by individual-level wealth were apparent in 7 countries and by education in 8 countries. All countries in which community-level socioeconomic status was associated with

A clustered randomised trial examining the effect of social marketing and community mobilisation on the age of uptake and levels of alcohol consumption by Australian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Bosco; Toumbourou, John Winston; Osborn, Amber; Smith, Rachel; Hall, Jessica Kate; Kremer, Peter; Kelly, Adrian B; Williams, Joanne; Leslie, Eva

2013-01-24

Throughout the world, alcohol consumption is common among adolescents. Adolescent alcohol use and misuse have prognostic significance for several adverse long-term outcomes, including alcohol problems, alcohol dependence, school disengagement and illicit drug use. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether randomisation to a community mobilisation and social marketing intervention reduces the proportion of adolescents who initiate alcohol use before the Australian legal age of 18, and the frequency and amount of underage adolescent alcohol consumption. The study comprises 14 communities matched with 14 non-contiguous communities on socioeconomic status (SES), location and size. One of each pair was randomly allocated to the intervention. Baseline levels of adolescent alcohol use were estimated through school surveys initiated in 2006 (N=8500). Community mobilisation and social marketing interventions were initiated in 2011 to reduce underage alcohol supply and demand. The setting is communities in three Australian states (Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia). Students (N=2576) will complete school surveys in year 8 in 2013 (average age 12). (1) lifetime initiation and (2) monthly frequency of alcohol use. Reports of social marketing and family and community alcohol supply sources will also be assessed. Point estimates with 95% CIs will be compared for student alcohol use in intervention and control communities. Changes from 2006 to 2013 will be examined; multilevel modelling will assess whether random assignment of communities to the intervention reduced 2013 alcohol use, after accounting for community level differences. Analyses will also assess whether exposure to social marketing activities increased the intervention target of reducing alcohol supply by parents and community members. ACTRN12612000384853.

Effective inundation of continental United States communities with 21st century sea level rise

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Kristina A. Dahl

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Recurrent, tidally driven coastal flooding is one of the most visible signs of sea level rise. Recent studies have shown that such flooding will become more frequent and extensive as sea level continues to rise, potentially altering the landscape and livability of coastal communities decades before sea level rise causes coastal land to be permanently inundated. In this study, we identify US communities that will face effective inundation—defined as having 10% or more of livable land area flooded at least 26 times per year—with three localized sea level rise scenarios based on projections for the 3rd US National Climate Assessment. We present these results in a new, online interactive tool that allows users to explore when and how effective inundation will impact their communities. In addition, we identify communities facing effective inundation within the next 30 years that contain areas of high socioeconomic vulnerability today using a previously published vulnerability index. With the Intermediate-High and Highest sea level rise scenarios, 489 and 668 communities, respectively, would face effective inundation by the year 2100. With these two scenarios, more than half of communities facing effective inundation by 2045 contain areas of current high socioeconomic vulnerability. These results highlight the timeframes that US coastal communities have to respond to disruptive future inundation. The results also underscore the importance of limiting future warming and sea level rise: under the Intermediate-Low scenario, used as a proxy for sea level rise under the Paris Climate Agreement, 199 fewer communities would be effectively inundated by 2100.

Sensor data security level estimation scheme for wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Alex; Filho, Raimir Holanda

2015-01-19

Due to their increasing dissemination, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have become the target of more and more sophisticated attacks, even capable of circumventing both attack detection and prevention mechanisms. This may cause WSN users, who totally trust these security mechanisms, to think that a sensor reading is secure, even when an adversary has corrupted it. For that reason, a scheme capable of estimating the security level (SL) that these mechanisms provide to sensor data is needed, so that users can be aware of the actual security state of this data and can make better decisions on its use. However, existing security estimation schemes proposed for WSNs fully ignore detection mechanisms and analyze solely the security provided by prevention mechanisms. In this context, this work presents the sensor data security estimator (SDSE), a new comprehensive security estimation scheme for WSNs. SDSE is designed for estimating the sensor data security level based on security metrics that analyze both attack prevention and detection mechanisms. In order to validate our proposed scheme, we have carried out extensive simulations that show the high accuracy of SDSE estimates.

Store turnover as a predictor of food and beverage provider turnover and associated dietary intake estimates in very remote Indigenous communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wycherley, Thomas; Ferguson, Megan; O'Dea, Kerin; McMahon, Emma; Liberato, Selma; Brimblecombe, Julie

2016-12-01

Determine how very-remote Indigenous community (RIC) food and beverage (F&B) turnover quantities and associated dietary intake estimates derived from only stores, compare with values derived from all community F&B providers. F&B turnover quantity and associated dietary intake estimates (energy, micro/macronutrients and major contributing food types) were derived from 12-months transaction data of all F&B providers in three RICs (NT, Australia). F&B turnover quantities and dietary intake estimates from only stores (plus only the primary store in multiple-store communities) were expressed as a proportion of complete F&B provider turnover values. Food types and macronutrient distribution (%E) estimates were quantitatively compared. Combined stores F&B turnover accounted for the majority of F&B quantity (98.1%) and absolute dietary intake estimates (energy [97.8%], macronutrients [≥96.7%] and micronutrients [≥83.8%]). Macronutrient distribution estimates from combined stores and only the primary store closely aligned complete provider estimates (≤0.9% absolute). Food types were similar using combined stores, primary store or complete provider turnover. Evaluating combined stores F&B turnover represents an efficient method to estimate total F&B turnover quantity and associated dietary intake in RICs. In multiple-store communities, evaluating only primary store F&B turnover provides an efficient estimate of macronutrient distribution and major food types. © 2016 Public Health Association of Australia.

Estimation of the uncertainties considered in NPP PSA level 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalchev, B.; Hristova, R.

2005-01-01

The main approaches of the uncertainties analysis are presented. The sources of uncertainties which should be considered in PSA level 2 for WWER reactor such as: uncertainties propagated from level 1 PSA; uncertainties in input parameters; uncertainties related to the modelling of physical phenomena during the accident progression and uncertainties related to the estimation of source terms are defined. The methods for estimation of the uncertainties are also discussed in this paper

Economic inequality and undernutrition in women: multilevel analysis of individual, household, and community levels in Cambodia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Rathavuth; Hong, Rathmony

2007-03-01

Many people in developing countries are still struggling to emerge from the realm of extreme poverty, where economic improvements tend to benefit a small, affluent group of the population and cause growing inequality in health and nutrition that affects the most vulnerable groups of the population, including women and children. To examine how household and community economic inequality affects nutritional status in women using information on 6,922 nonpregnant women aged 15 to 49 years included in the 2000 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey. Nutritional status is defined with the use of the body-mass index (BMI). BMI less than 18.5 kg/m2 is defined as undernourishment. The household wealth index was calculated from household ownership of durable assets and household characteristics. Community wealth is an average household wealth index at the community level. Household and community economic inequalities were measured by dividing the wealth index into quintiles. The effects of household and community economic inequality were estimated by multilevel analysis. Independently of community economic status and other risk factors, women in the poorest 20% of households are more likely to be undernourished than women in the richest 20% of households (RR = 1.63; p = .008). The results also show variation among communities in the nutritional status of women. Age, occupation, and access to safe sources of drinking water are significantly associated with women's nutritional status. Improving household income and creating employment opportunities for women, in particular poor women, may be a key to improving the nutritional status of women in Cambodia.

Estimating the Effects of Habitat and Biological Interactions in an Avian Community.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert M Dorazio

Full Text Available We used repeated sightings of individual birds encountered in community-level surveys to investigate the relative roles of habitat and biological interactions in determining the distribution and abundance of each species. To analyze these data, we developed a multispecies N-mixture model that allowed estimation of both positive and negative correlations between abundances of different species while also estimating the effects of habitat and the effects of errors in detection of each species. Using a combination of single- and multispecies N-mixture modeling, we examined for each species whether our measures of habitat were sufficient to account for the variation in encounter histories of individual birds or whether other habitat variables or interactions with other species needed to be considered. In the community that we studied, habitat appeared to be more influential than biological interactions in determining the distribution and abundance of most avian species. Our results lend support to the hypothesis that abundances of forest specialists are negatively affected by forest fragmentation. Our results also suggest that many species were associated with particular types of vegetation as measured by structural attributes of the forests. The abundances of 6 of the 73 species observed in our study were strongly correlated. These species included large birds (American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos and Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus that forage on the ground in open habitats and small birds (Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus, House Wren (Troglodytes aedon, Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina, and Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor that are associated with dense shrub cover. Species abundances were positively correlated within each size group and negatively correlated between groups. Except for the American Crow, which preys on eggs and nestlings of small song birds, none of the other 5 species is known to display direct interactions, so we

Macro-level implicit HIV prejudice and the health of community residents with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Carol T; Varni, Susan E; Solomon, Sondra E; DeSarno, Michael J; Bunn, Janice Y

2016-08-01

This study examined how community levels of implicit HIV prejudice are associated with the psychological and physical well-being of people with HIV living in those same communities. It also examined whether community motivation to control prejudice and/or explicit HIV prejudice moderates the relationship of implicit prejudice and well-being. Participants were 206 people with HIV living in 42 different communities in New England who completed measures that assessed psychological distress, thriving, and physical well-being. Telephone surveys of 347 residents of these same communities (selected via random digit dialing) were used to assess community explicit HIV prejudice and motivation to control HIV prejudice. These community residents then completed an online measure of implicit prejudice toward people with HIV, the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). Multilevel analyses showed that higher community implicit HIV prejudice was associated with greater psychological distress among residents with HIV living in that community. The physical well-being of participants with HIV was negatively related to community implicit HIV prejudice in communities in which residents were unmotivated to control HIV prejudice or had high levels of explicit HIV prejudice. These findings indicate that implicit prejudice of residents of real-world communities may create an environment that may impair the well-being of stigmatized people. Implicit prejudice can therefore be considered an element of macro-level or structural stigma. The discussion considered the possible role of implicit HIV prejudice on a community's social capital as a pathway by which it compromises the well-being of residents with HIV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Population-level assessments should be emphasized over community/ecosystem-level assessments. Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 1535

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Winkle, W.

1980-01-01

Arguments are presented in favor of emphasizing population-level assessments over community/ecosystem-level assessments. The two approaches are compared on each of four issues: (1) the nature of entrainment/impingement impacts; (2) the ability to forecast reliably for a single fish population as contrasted to the ability to forecast for an aquatic community or ecosystem; (3) practical considerations involving money, manpower, time, and the need to make decisions; and (4) the nature of societal and economic concerns. The conclusion on each of these four issues is that population-level assessments provide the optimal approach for evaluating the effects of entrainment and impingement mortality

The importance of considering community-level effects when selecting insecticidal malaria vector products

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Coosemans Marc

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Insecticide treatment of nets, curtains or walls and ceilings of houses represent the primary means for malaria prevention worldwide. Direct personal protection of individuals and households arises from deterrent and insecticidal activities which divert or kill mosquitoes before they can feed. However, at high coverage, community-level reductions of mosquito density and survival prevent more transmission exposure than the personal protection acquired by using a net or living in a sprayed house. Methods A process-explicit simulation of malaria transmission was applied to results of 4 recent Phase II experimental hut trials comparing a new mosaic long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN which combines deltamethrin and piperonyl butoxide with another LLIN product by the same manufacturer relying on deltamethrin alone. Results Direct estimates of mean personal protection against insecticide-resistant vectors in Vietnam, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Benin revealed no clear advantage for combination LLINs over deltamethrin-only LLINs (P = 0.973 unless both types of nets were extensively washed (Relative mean entomologic inoculation rate (EIR ± standard error of the mean (SEM for users of combination nets compared to users of deltamethrin only nets = 0.853 ± 0.056, P = 0.008. However, simulations of impact at high coverage (80% use predicted consistently better impact for the combination net across all four sites (Relative mean EIR ± SEM in communities with combination nets, compared with those using deltamethrin only nets = 0.613 ± 0.076, P Conclusion Process-explicit simulations of community-level protection, parameterized using locally-relevant experimental hut studies, should be explicitly considered when choosing vector control products for large-scale epidemiological trials or public health programme procurement, particularly as growing insecticide resistance necessitates the use of multiple active ingredients.

Analysis of area level and unit level models for small area estimation in forest inventories assisted with LiDAR auxiliary information.

Science.gov (United States)

Mauro, Francisco; Monleon, Vicente J; Temesgen, Hailemariam; Ford, Kevin R

2017-01-01

Forest inventories require estimates and measures of uncertainty for subpopulations such as management units. These units often times hold a small sample size, so they should be regarded as small areas. When auxiliary information is available, different small area estimation methods have been proposed to obtain reliable estimates for small areas. Unit level empirical best linear unbiased predictors (EBLUP) based on plot or grid unit level models have been studied more thoroughly than area level EBLUPs, where the modelling occurs at the management unit scale. Area level EBLUPs do not require a precise plot positioning and allow the use of variable radius plots, thus reducing fieldwork costs. However, their performance has not been examined thoroughly. We compared unit level and area level EBLUPs, using LiDAR auxiliary information collected for inventorying 98,104 ha coastal coniferous forest. Unit level models were consistently more accurate than area level EBLUPs, and area level EBLUPs were consistently more accurate than field estimates except for large management units that held a large sample. For stand density, volume, basal area, quadratic mean diameter, mean height and Lorey's height, root mean squared errors (rmses) of estimates obtained using area level EBLUPs were, on average, 1.43, 2.83, 2.09, 1.40, 1.32 and 1.64 times larger than those based on unit level estimates, respectively. Similarly, direct field estimates had rmses that were, on average, 1.37, 1.45, 1.17, 1.17, 1.26, and 1.38 times larger than rmses of area level EBLUPs. Therefore, area level models can lead to substantial gains in accuracy compared to direct estimates, and unit level models lead to very important gains in accuracy compared to area level models, potentially justifying the additional costs of obtaining accurate field plot coordinates.

Estimating the level of dynamical noise in time series by using fractal dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sase, Takumi, E-mail: sase@sat.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Ramírez, Jonatán Peña [CONACYT Research Fellow, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada (CICESE), Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918, Zona Playitas, C.P. 22860, Ensenada, Baja California (Mexico); Kitajo, Keiichi [BSI-Toyota Collaboration Center, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Aihara, Kazuyuki; Hirata, Yoshito [Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan)

2016-03-11

We present a method for estimating the dynamical noise level of a ‘short’ time series even if the dynamical system is unknown. The proposed method estimates the level of dynamical noise by calculating the fractal dimensions of the time series. Additionally, the method is applied to EEG data to demonstrate its possible effectiveness as an indicator of temporal changes in the level of dynamical noise. - Highlights: • A dynamical noise level estimator for time series is proposed. • The estimator does not need any information about the dynamics generating the time series. • The estimator is based on a novel definition of time series dimension (TSD). • It is demonstrated that there exists a monotonic relationship between the • TSD and the level of dynamical noise. • We apply the proposed method to human electroencephalographic data.

Estimating the level of dynamical noise in time series by using fractal dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sase, Takumi; Ramírez, Jonatán Peña; Kitajo, Keiichi; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Hirata, Yoshito

2016-01-01

We present a method for estimating the dynamical noise level of a ‘short’ time series even if the dynamical system is unknown. The proposed method estimates the level of dynamical noise by calculating the fractal dimensions of the time series. Additionally, the method is applied to EEG data to demonstrate its possible effectiveness as an indicator of temporal changes in the level of dynamical noise. - Highlights: • A dynamical noise level estimator for time series is proposed. • The estimator does not need any information about the dynamics generating the time series. • The estimator is based on a novel definition of time series dimension (TSD). • It is demonstrated that there exists a monotonic relationship between the • TSD and the level of dynamical noise. • We apply the proposed method to human electroencephalographic data.

Sensor Data Security Level Estimation Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Alex; Filho, Raimir Holanda

2015-01-01

Due to their increasing dissemination, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have become the target of more and more sophisticated attacks, even capable of circumventing both attack detection and prevention mechanisms. This may cause WSN users, who totally trust these security mechanisms, to think that a sensor reading is secure, even when an adversary has corrupted it. For that reason, a scheme capable of estimating the security level (SL) that these mechanisms provide to sensor data is needed, so that users can be aware of the actual security state of this data and can make better decisions on its use. However, existing security estimation schemes proposed for WSNs fully ignore detection mechanisms and analyze solely the security provided by prevention mechanisms. In this context, this work presents the sensor data security estimator (SDSE), a new comprehensive security estimation scheme for WSNs. SDSE is designed for estimating the sensor data security level based on security metrics that analyze both attack prevention and detection mechanisms. In order to validate our proposed scheme, we have carried out extensive simulations that show the high accuracy of SDSE estimates. PMID:25608215

Sensor Data Security Level Estimation Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex Ramos

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Due to their increasing dissemination, wireless sensor networks (WSNs have become the target of more and more sophisticated attacks, even capable of circumventing both attack detection and prevention mechanisms. This may cause WSN users, who totally trust these security mechanisms, to think that a sensor reading is secure, even when an adversary has corrupted it. For that reason, a scheme capable of estimating the security level (SL that these mechanisms provide to sensor data is needed, so that users can be aware of the actual security state of this data and can make better decisions on its use. However, existing security estimation schemes proposed for WSNs fully ignore detection mechanisms and analyze solely the security provided by prevention mechanisms. In this context, this work presents the sensor data security estimator (SDSE, a new comprehensive security estimation scheme for WSNs. SDSE is designed for estimating the sensor data security level based on security metrics that analyze both attack prevention and detection mechanisms. In order to validate our proposed scheme, we have carried out extensive simulations that show the high accuracy of SDSE estimates.

Identifying individual- and population-level characteristics that influence rates of risky alcohol consumption in regional communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Breen, Courtney; Shakeshaft, Anthony; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; D'Este, Catherine; Mattick, Richard P; Gilmour, Stuart

2014-02-01

To examine the extent to which individual- and community- level characteristics account for differences in risky alcohol consumption. A cross-sectional postal survey of 2,977 randomly selected individuals from 20 regional communities in NSW, Australia. Individuals drinking at harmful levels on the AUDIT and for risk of harm in the short term and long-term were identified. Multi-level modelling of the correlates of risky alcohol consumption at the individual and community level was conducted. There were differences between communities in alcohol consumption patterns. Being male, unmarried and reporting worse health were significant individual-level correlates for drinking at levels for risk of harm in the long term. The number of GPs (+) and police (-) were significant community characteristics. Being younger (≤25), unmarried, Australian born and with a larger income was associated with drinking at levels for risk of harm in the short term and harmful drinking on the AUDIT. The number of hotels and clubs was positively associated with drinking at levels for risk of harm in the short term. Rates of risky drinking vary significantly between communities and both individual and community characteristics are significantly associated with risky alcohol consumption. A combination of individual- and population-level interventions, tailored to the risk profile of individual communities, is most likely to be optimally effective. © 2014 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2014 Public Health Association of Australia.

Evaluating the Impact of Zimbabwe's Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Program: Population-Level Estimates of HIV-Free Infant Survival Pre-Option A.

Science.gov (United States)

Buzdugan, Raluca; McCoy, Sandra I; Watadzaushe, Constancia; Kang Dufour, Mi-Suk; Petersen, Maya; Dirawo, Jeffrey; Mushavi, Angela; Mujuru, Hilda Angela; Mahomva, Agnes; Musarandega, Reuben; Hakobyan, Anna; Mugurungi, Owen; Cowan, Frances M; Padian, Nancy S

2015-01-01

We estimated HIV-free infant survival and mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) rates in Zimbabwe, some of the first community-based estimates from a UNAIDS priority country. In 2012 we surveyed mother-infant pairs residing in the catchment areas of 157 health facilities randomly selected from 5 of 10 provinces in Zimbabwe. Enrolled infants were born 9-18 months before the survey. We collected questionnaires, blood samples for HIV testing, and verbal autopsies for deceased mothers/infants. Estimates were assessed among i) all HIV-exposed infants, as part of an impact evaluation of Option A of the 2010 WHO guidelines (rolled out in Zimbabwe in 2011), and ii) the subgroup of infants unexposed to Option A. We compared province-level MTCT rates measured among women in the community with MTCT rates measured using program monitoring data from facilities serving those communities. Among 8568 women with known HIV serostatus, 1107 (12.9%) were HIV-infected. Among all HIV-exposed infants, HIV-free infant survival was 90.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 88.7-92.7) and MTCT was 8.8% (95% CI: 6.9-11.1). Sixty-six percent of HIV-exposed infants were still breastfeeding. Among the 762 infants born before Option A was implemented, 90.5% (95% CI: 88.1-92.5) were alive and HIV-uninfected at 9-18 months of age, and 9.1% (95%CI: 7.1-11.7) were HIV-infected. In four provinces, the community-based MTCT rate was higher than the facility-based MTCT rate. In Harare, the community and facility-based rates were 6.0% and 9.1%, respectively. By 2012 Zimbabwe had made substantial progress towards the elimination of MTCT. Our HIV-free infant survival and MTCT estimates capture HIV transmissions during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding regardless of whether or not mothers accessed health services. These estimates also provide a baseline against which to measure the impact of Option A guidelines (and subsequently Option B+).

Intraspecific variation shapes community-level behavioral responses to urbanization in spiders.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahirel, Maxime; Dierick, Jasper; De Cock, Maarten; Bonte, Dries

2017-09-01

Urban areas are an extreme example of human-changed environments, exposing organisms to multiple and strong selection pressures. Adaptive behavioral responses are thought to play a major role in animals' success or failure in such new environments. Approaches based on functional traits have proven especially valuable to understand how species communities respond to environmental gradients. Until recently, they have, however, often ignored the potential consequences of intraspecific trait variation (ITV). When ITV is prevalent, it may highly impact ecological processes and resilience against stressors. This may be especially relevant in animals, in which behavioral traits can be altered very flexibly at the individual level to track environmental changes. We investigated how species turnover and ITV influenced community-level behavioral responses in a set of 62 sites of varying levels of urbanization, using orb web spiders and their webs as models of foraging behavior. ITV alone explained around one-third of the total trait variation observed among communities. Spider web structure changed according to urbanization, in ways that increase the capture efficiency of webs in a context of smaller urban prey. These trait shifts were partly mediated by species turnover, but ITV increased their magnitude, potentially helping to buffer the effects of environmental changes on communities. The importance of ITV varied depending on traits and on the spatial scale at which urbanization was considered. Despite being neglected from community-level analyses in animals, our results highlight the importance of accounting for intraspecific trait variation to fully understand trait responses to (human-induced) environmental changes and their impact on ecosystem functioning. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Individual v. community-level measures of women's decision-making ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Individual v. community-level measures of women's decision-making involvement and ... participation for child survival in sub-Saharan Africa is limited. ... Multilevel discrete-time hazard models were employed to investigate the net effect of ...

Effect of phenylurea herbicides on soil microbial communities estimated by analysis of 16S rRNA gene fingerprints and community-level physiological profiles.

Science.gov (United States)

el Fantroussi, S; Verschuere, L; Verstraete, W; Top, E M

1999-03-01

The effect of three phenyl urea herbicides (diuron, linuron, and chlorotoluron) on soil microbial communities was studied by using soil samples with a 10-year history of treatment. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used for the analysis of 16S rRNA genes (16S rDNA). The degree of similarity between the 16S rDNA profiles of the communities was quantified by numerically analysing the DGGE band patterns. Similarity dendrograms showed that the microbial community structures of the herbicide-treated and nontreated soils were significantly different. Moreover, the bacterial diversity seemed to decrease in soils treated with urea herbicides, and sequence determination of several DGGE fragments showed that the most affected species in the soils treated with diuron and linuron belonged to an uncultivated bacterial group. As well as the 16S rDNA fingerprints, the substrate utilization patterns of the microbial communities were compared. Principal-component analysis performed on BIOLOG data showed that the functional abilities of the soil microbial communities were altered by the application of the herbicides. In addition, enrichment cultures of the different soils in medium with the urea herbicides as the sole carbon and nitrogen source showed that there was no difference between treated and nontreated soil in the rate of transformation of diuron and chlorotoluron but that there was a strong difference in the case of linuron. In the enrichment cultures with linuron-treated soil, linuron disappeared completely after 1 week whereas no significant transformation was observed in cultures inoculated with nontreated soil even after 4 weeks. In conclusion, this study showed that both the structure and metabolic potential of soil microbial communities were clearly affected by a long-term application of urea herbicides.

Estimates of the Economic Effects of Sea Level Rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darwin, R.F.; Tol, R.S.J.

2001-01-01

Regional estimates of direct cost (DC) are commonly used to measure the economic damages of sea level rise. Such estimates suffer from three limitations: (1) values of threatened endowments are not well known, (2) loss of endowments does not affect consumer prices, and (3) international trade is disregarded. Results in this paper indicate that these limitations can significantly affect economic assessments of sea level rise. Current uncertainty regarding endowment values (as reflected in two alternative data sets), for example, leads to a 17 percent difference in coastal protection, a 36 percent difference in the amount of land protected, and a 36 percent difference in DC globally. Also, global losses in equivalent variation (EV), a welfare measure that accounts for price changes, are 13 percent higher than DC estimates. Regional EV losses may be up to 10 percent lower than regional DC, however, because international trade tends to redistribute losses from regions with relatively high damages to regions with relatively low damages. 43 refs

The Use of Information by Policymakers at the Local Community Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Florio, Evelyn; DeMartini, Joseph R.

1993-01-01

Discussion of decision making focuses on a study that was conducted to examine how policymakers at the local community level use social science information in making decisions. The use of social science information and other information sources in two communities examining health care issues is described. (Contains 18 references.) (LRW)

Estimating Plasmodium falciparum transmission rates in low-endemic settings using a combination of community prevalence and health facility data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Yukich

Full Text Available As some malaria control programs shift focus from disease control to transmission reduction, there is a need for transmission data to monitor progress. At lower levels of transmission, it becomes increasingly more difficult to measure precisely, for example through entomological studies. Many programs conduct regular cross sectional parasite prevalence surveys, and have access to malaria treatment data routinely collected by ministries of health, often in health management information systems. However, by themselves, these data are poor measures of transmission. In this paper, we propose an approach for combining annual parasite incidence and treatment data with cross-sectional parasite prevalence and treatment seeking survey data to estimate the incidence of new infections in the human population, also known as the force of infection. The approach is based on extension of a reversible catalytic model. The accuracy of the estimates from this model appears to be highly dependent on levels of detectability and treatment in the community, indicating the importance of information on private sector treatment seeking and access to effective and appropriate treatment.

Community-level climate change vulnerability research: trends, progress, and future directions

Science.gov (United States)

McDowell, Graham; Ford, James; Jones, Julie

2016-03-01

This study systematically identifies, characterizes, and critically evaluates community-level climate change vulnerability assessments published over the last 25 years (n = 274). We find that while the field has advanced considerably in terms of conceptual framing and methodological approaches, key shortcomings remain in how vulnerability is being studied at the community-level. We argue that vulnerability research needs to more critically engage with the following: methods for evaluating future vulnerability, the relevance of vulnerability research for decision-making, interdependencies between social and ecological systems, attention to researcher / subject power dynamics, critical interpretation of key terms, and consideration of the potentially positive opportunities presented by a changing climate. Addressing these research needs is necessary for generating knowledge that supports climate-affected communities in navigating the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Community- and family-level factors influence care-giver choice to screen blood lead levels of children in a mining community.

Science.gov (United States)

Moodie, S M; Tsui, E K; Silbergeld, E K

2010-07-01

Bunker Hill, in Kellogg, Idaho, formerly a lead mine (1884-1981) and smelter (1917-1981), is now a Superfund site listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Priorities List. Lead contamination from the site is widespread due to past smelter discharges to land, water, and air, placing children at risk for both exposure to lead and resultant health effects of lead. Since 1983, the EPA has used child blood lead levels to inform the clean-up standards for the Bunker Hill Superfund site. This study was undertaken to examine factors that have contributed to the significant fall-off in the rates and numbers of children being screened for blood lead in Kellogg (number screened decreased from 195 to 8 from 2002 to 2007). The goal of this research project was to define community- and family-level factors which influence care-giver choice to screen blood lead levels of their children in this environment. This formative research study used mixed methods and was comprised of three research components: (1) preliminary interviews using community-based participatory research methods to define key research questions of relevance to community members, government and NGOs working in relation to the Bunker Hill clean-up; (2) a quantitative analysis of a cross-sectional household survey conducted with adult care-givers about child blood lead screening in Kellogg; and (3) ethnographic community rapid assessment methods formed the in-depth interview process and qualitative analysis. The survey showed the likelihood of blood lead screening that for children under the age of 18 years increases 34% with each one-year increase in current age of the child (95% CI, 1.08-1.67, p-value=0.009), and decreases 45% with annual household income greater than $10,000 (95% CI, 0.35-0.88, p-value=0.013). Sibling birth order increased the likelihood of blood lead screening by 61% (95% CI, 1.04-2.48, p-value=0.032) for each successive child. Female children were rated by their care

Evaluating uncertainty estimates in hydrologic models: borrowing measures from the forecast verification community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. J. Franz

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The hydrologic community is generally moving towards the use of probabilistic estimates of streamflow, primarily through the implementation of Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP systems, ensemble data assimilation methods, or multi-modeling platforms. However, evaluation of probabilistic outputs has not necessarily kept pace with ensemble generation. Much of the modeling community is still performing model evaluation using standard deterministic measures, such as error, correlation, or bias, typically applied to the ensemble mean or median. Probabilistic forecast verification methods have been well developed, particularly in the atmospheric sciences, yet few have been adopted for evaluating uncertainty estimates in hydrologic model simulations. In the current paper, we overview existing probabilistic forecast verification methods and apply the methods to evaluate and compare model ensembles produced from two different parameter uncertainty estimation methods: the Generalized Uncertainty Likelihood Estimator (GLUE, and the Shuffle Complex Evolution Metropolis (SCEM. Model ensembles are generated for the National Weather Service SACramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA model for 12 forecast basins located in the Southeastern United States. We evaluate the model ensembles using relevant metrics in the following categories: distribution, correlation, accuracy, conditional statistics, and categorical statistics. We show that the presented probabilistic metrics are easily adapted to model simulation ensembles and provide a robust analysis of model performance associated with parameter uncertainty. Application of these methods requires no information in addition to what is already available as part of traditional model validation methodology and considers the entire ensemble or uncertainty range in the approach.

Using community-level metrics to monitor the effects of marine protected areas on biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Soykan, Candan U; Lewison, Rebecca L

2015-06-01

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are used to protect species, communities, and their associated habitats, among other goals. Measuring MPA efficacy can be challenging, however, particularly when considering responses at the community level. We gathered 36 abundance and 14 biomass data sets on fish assemblages and used meta-analysis to evaluate the ability of 22 distinct community diversity metrics to detect differences in community structure between MPAs and nearby control sites. We also considered the effects of 6 covariates-MPA size and age, MPA size and age interaction, latitude, total species richness, and level of protection-on each metric. Some common metrics, such as species richness and Shannon diversity, did not differ consistently between MPA and control sites, whereas other metrics, such as total abundance and biomass, were consistently different across studies. Metric responses derived from the biomass data sets were more consistent than those based on the abundance data sets, suggesting that community-level biomass differs more predictably than abundance between MPA and control sites. Covariate analyses indicated that level of protection, latitude, MPA size, and the interaction between MPA size and age affect metric performance. These results highlight a handful of metrics, several of which are little known, that could be used to meet the increasing demand for community-level indicators of MPA effectiveness. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

A new framework for estimating return levels using regional frequency analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, Hugo; Bernardara, Pietro; Clegg, Georgina

2017-04-01

We propose a new framework for incorporating more spatial and temporal information into the estimation of extreme return levels. Currently, most studies use extreme value models applied to data from a single site; an approach which is inefficient statistically and leads to return level estimates that are less physically realistic. We aim to highlight the benefits that could be obtained by using methodology based upon regional frequency analysis as opposed to classic single site extreme value analysis. This motivates a shift in thinking, which permits the evaluation of local and regional effects and makes use of the wide variety of data that are now available on high temporal and spatial resolutions. The recent winter storms over the UK during the winters of 2013-14 and 2015-16, which have caused wide-ranging disruption and damaged important infrastructure, provide the main motivation for the current work. One of the most impactful natural hazards is flooding, which is often initiated by extreme precipitation. In this presentation, we focus on extreme rainfall, but shall discuss other meteorological variables alongside potentially damaging hazard combinations. To understand the risks posed by extreme precipitation, we need reliable statistical models which can be used to estimate quantities such as the T-year return level, i.e. the level which is expected to be exceeded once every T-years. Extreme value theory provides the main collection of statistical models that can be used to estimate the risks posed by extreme precipitation events. Broadly, at a single site, a statistical model is fitted to exceedances of a high threshold and the model is used to extrapolate to levels beyond the range of the observed data. However, when we have data at many sites over a spatial domain, fitting a separate model for each separate site makes little sense and it would be better if we could incorporate all this information to improve the reliability of return level estimates. Here

Community-level Moderators of a School-Based Childhood Sexual Assault Prevention Program

OpenAIRE

Morris, Matthew C.; Kouros, Chrystyna D.; Janecek, Kim; Freeman, Rachel; Mielock, Alyssa; Garber, Judy

2016-01-01

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly prevalent and associated with a wide variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based CSA education and prevention programs have shown promise, but it is unclear to what extent community-level characteristics are related to their effectiveness. The present cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated community-level moderators of the Safe@Last program compared to a waitlist control condition. Knowledge gains from pre- to post-interv...

Interaction Networks: Generating High Level Hints Based on Network Community Clustering

Science.gov (United States)

Eagle, Michael; Johnson, Matthew; Barnes, Tiffany

2012-01-01

We introduce a novel data structure, the Interaction Network, for representing interaction-data from open problem solving environment tutors. We show how using network community detecting techniques are used to identify sub-goals in problems in a logic tutor. We then use those community structures to generate high level hints between sub-goals.…

Evaluating the Impact of Zimbabwe’s Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Program: Population-Level Estimates of HIV-Free Infant Survival Pre-Option A

Science.gov (United States)

Buzdugan, Raluca; McCoy, Sandra I.; Watadzaushe, Constancia; Kang Dufour, Mi-Suk; Petersen, Maya; Dirawo, Jeffrey; Mushavi, Angela; Mujuru, Hilda Angela; Mahomva, Agnes; Musarandega, Reuben; Hakobyan, Anna; Mugurungi, Owen; Cowan, Frances M.; Padian, Nancy S.

2015-01-01

Objective We estimated HIV-free infant survival and mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) rates in Zimbabwe, some of the first community-based estimates from a UNAIDS priority country. Methods In 2012 we surveyed mother-infant pairs residing in the catchment areas of 157 health facilities randomly selected from 5 of 10 provinces in Zimbabwe. Enrolled infants were born 9–18 months before the survey. We collected questionnaires, blood samples for HIV testing, and verbal autopsies for deceased mothers/infants. Estimates were assessed among i) all HIV-exposed infants, as part of an impact evaluation of Option A of the 2010 WHO guidelines (rolled out in Zimbabwe in 2011), and ii) the subgroup of infants unexposed to Option A. We compared province-level MTCT rates measured among women in the community with MTCT rates measured using program monitoring data from facilities serving those communities. Findings Among 8568 women with known HIV serostatus, 1107 (12.9%) were HIV-infected. Among all HIV-exposed infants, HIV-free infant survival was 90.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 88.7–92.7) and MTCT was 8.8% (95% CI: 6.9–11.1). Sixty-six percent of HIV-exposed infants were still breastfeeding. Among the 762 infants born before Option A was implemented, 90.5% (95% CI: 88.1–92.5) were alive and HIV-uninfected at 9–18 months of age, and 9.1% (95%CI: 7.1–11.7) were HIV-infected. In four provinces, the community-based MTCT rate was higher than the facility-based MTCT rate. In Harare, the community and facility-based rates were 6.0% and 9.1%, respectively. Conclusion By 2012 Zimbabwe had made substantial progress towards the elimination of MTCT. Our HIV-free infant survival and MTCT estimates capture HIV transmissions during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding regardless of whether or not mothers accessed health services. These estimates also provide a baseline against which to measure the impact of Option A guidelines (and subsequently Option B+). PMID:26248197

Individual- and community-level neighbor relationships and physical activity among older Japanese adults living in a metropolitan area: a cross-sectional multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Seino, Satoshi; Kitamura, Akihiko; Nishi, Mariko; Tomine, Yui; Tanaka, Izumi; Taniguchi, Yu; Yokoyama, Yuri; Amano, Hidenori; Narita, Miki; Ikeuchi, Tomoko; Fujiwara, Yoshinori; Shinkai, Shoji

2018-05-25

Informal neighbor relationships (NRs) are considered a structural aspect of social relationships. Although NRs might affect physical activity (PA), no previous study has simultaneously examined compositional and contextual associations of NRs with PA. In this study, we examined whether individual- and community-level NRs were independently associated with PA. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 8592 (4340 men and 4252 women) non-disabled residents aged 65-84 years from all 18 districts of Ota City, Tokyo. PA was assessed by using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form. In addition, we calculated moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), its components (vigorous PA [VPA], moderate PA [MPA], and walking time [WT]), and sitting time (ST). Individual-level NRs were categorized as "visiting each other," "standing and chatting," "exchange of greetings," or "none." Community-level NRs were defined as the proportions of residents with active NRs (i.e., those in the categories visiting each other and standing and chatting) in the 18 districts. Using multilevel regression analyses, we examined independent associations of individual- and community-level NRs with PA variables and adjusted for important confounders. Individual-level NRs were consistently positively associated with MVPA and its components (VPA, MPA [in men], and WT) in both sexes, and the dose-response relationships were significant (all P level NRs (by 1% estimation) were positively associated with individual MVPA (2.1 metabolic equivalent-hours/week, 95% confidence interval: 0.7-3.4), VPA (8.6 min/week, 2.7-14.4), and WT (11.6 min/week, 2.2-20.9), regardless of the degree of individual-level NRs. Significant cross-level interactions of NRs with MVPA and VPA were observed among men, and the dose-response relationships were significant (both P level NRs were associated with ST in either sex. Men and women with inaccessible neighbors engaged in less MVPA, while men living in communities with

Albumin levels and cause-specific mortality in community-dwelling older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chen-Yi; Hu, Hsiao-Yun; Huang, Nicole; Chou, Yi-Chang; Li, Chung-Pin; Chou, Yiing-Jenq

2018-04-09

To investigate the association between serum albumin levels and cause-specific mortality among community-dwelling older adults. This cohort study was based on data obtained from the government-sponsored Annual Geriatric Health Examination Program for the older adults in Taipei City between 2006 and 2010. The study sample consisted of 77,531 community-dwelling Taipei citizens (≥65 years old). Mortality was determined by matching the participants' medical records with national death files. Serum albumin levels were categorized into dwelling older adults had a mean albumin level of 4.3 g/dL, which significantly reduced by age. Compared to albumin levels ≥4.4 g/dL, mildly low albumin levels (4.2-4.3 g/dL) were associated with an increased mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05-1.28 for all-cause mortality), and albumin levels dwelling older adults, and mortality risk increased as the albumin level decreased. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Identifying ozone-sensitive communities of (semi-)natural vegetation suitable for mapping exceedance of critical levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, G.; Hayes, F.; Jones, M.L.M.; Cinderby, S.

2007-01-01

Using published data on the responses of individual species to ozone, 54 EUNIS (European Nature Information System) level 4 communities with six or more ozone-sensitive species (%OS) and c. 20% or more species tested for ozone sensitivity, were identified as potentially ozone-sensitive. The largest number of these communities (23) was associated with Grasslands, with Heathland, scrub and tundra, and Mires, bogs and fens having the next highest representation at 11 and 8 level 4 communities each respectively. Within the grasslands classification, E4 (Alpine and sub-alpine grasslands), E5 (Woodland fringes and clearings) and E1 (Dry grasslands) were the most sensitive with 68.1, 51.6 and 48.6%OS respectively. It is feasible to map the land-cover for these and other communities at level 2, but it may not be currently possible to map the land-cover for all communities identified to be ozone-sensitive at levels 3 and 4. - Grassland communities such as alpine and sub-alpine grasslands have the highest potential sensitivity ozone, based on the responses of their component species

Investigating influences on current community pharmacy practice at micro, meso, and macro levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Hermansyah, Andi; Sainsbury, Erica; Krass, Ines

The nature of Australian community pharmacy is continually evolving, raising the need to explore the current situation in order to understand the potential impact of any changes. Although community pharmacy has the potential to play a greater role in health care, it is currently not meeting this potential. To investigate the nature of the contemporary practice of community pharmacy in Australia and examine the potential missed opportunities for role expansion in health care. In-depth semi-structured interviews with a wide-range of key stakeholders within and beyond community pharmacy circles were conducted. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed for emerging themes. Twenty-seven key informants across Eastern half of Australia were interviewed between December 2014 and August 2015. Several key elements of the current situation representing the social, economic and policy context of community pharmacy have been identified. These elements operate interdependently, influence micro, meso and macro levels of community pharmacy operation and are changing in the current climate. Community pharmacy has untapped potential in primary health care, but it has been slow to change to meet opportunities available in the current situation. As the current situation is complex, interrelated and dynamic with often unintended and unpredictable consequences, this paper suggests that policy makers to consider the micro, meso and macro levels of community pharmacy operation when making significant policy changes. The framework proposed in this study can be a helpful tool to analyze the processes operating at these three levels and their influences on practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teacher community in elementary charter schools.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marisa Cannata

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The organizational context of charter schools may facilitate the formation of a strong teacher community. In particular, a focused school mission and increased control over teacher hiring may lead to stronger teacher professional communities. This paper uses the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey to compare the level of teacher community in charter public and traditional public schools. It also estimates the effect of various charter policy variables and domains of school autonomy on teacher community. Charter school teachers report higher levels of teacher community than traditional public school teachers do, although this effect is less than one-tenth of a standard deviation and is dwarfed by the effect of a supportive principal, teacher decision-making influence, and school size. Charter public schools authorized by universities showed lower levels of teacher community than those authorized by local school districts. Teachers in charter schools that have flexibility over tenure requirements and the school budget report higher levels of teacher community. This study reveals that charter schools do facilitate the formation of strong teacher communities, although the effect is small. The analysis also suggests that the institutional origin of the charter school and specific areas of policy flexibility may influence teacher community.

Stroke survivors’ levels of community reintegration, quality of life, satisfaction with the physiotherapy services and the level of caregiver strain at community health centres within the Johannesburg area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Kusambiza-Kiingi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Stroke survivors are discharged home before they are functionally independent and return home with activity limitations that would not be manageable without a caregiver. Aim: To determine stroke survivors’ levels of community reintegration, quality of life (QOL, satisfaction with the physiotherapy services and the level of caregiver strain at community health centres within the Johannesburg area. Method: This was a cross-sectional study using the following outcome measures: Maleka Stroke Community Reintegration Measure, Stroke-specific quality of life scale, Caregiver strain index and Physical therapy patient satisfaction questionnaire. Results: A total of 108 stroke survivors and 45 caregivers participated in this study. The average age of the stroke survivors was 54 years (standard deviation = 12.73 and 58% (n = 62 had moderate to full community reintegration. They were happy with physiotherapy services but not with parking availability and cost of services. The QOL was poor with the lowest scores for energy and highest scores for vision and language domains. Twenty five (55% caregivers were strained. A positive correlation was found between community reintegration and satisfaction with services (r = 0.27, p < 0.0001 and QOL (r = 0.51, p < 0.0001. A negative correlation was found between community reintegration and caregiver strain (r = -0.37, p < 0.0001. Conclusion: Most stroke survivors are reintegrated into their communities except in the areas of work and education and have poor QOL and most of their caregivers are strained; however, they are satisfied with physiotherapy services.

Estimation of bias shifts in a steam-generator water-level controller

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tylee, J.L.

1983-01-01

A method for detecting and estimating the value of sudden bias shifts in a U-tube steam-generator water-level controller is described and evaluated. Generalized likelihood ratios (GLR) are used to perform both the bias detection and bias estimation. Simulation results using a seventh-order, linear, discrete steam-generator model demonstrate the capabilities of the GLR detection/estimation approach

Is the contribution of community forest users financially efficient? A household level benefit-cost analysis of community forest management in Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh Kumar Rai

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Community forestry in Nepal is considered an exemplary forest management regime. However, the economics behind managing a community forest is not fully studied. This study examines whether the benefits generated from community forest management justify the contributions of forest users. The study is based on a survey of community forest users in Chitwan, Nepal. A household level benefit-cost analysis was performed to quantify and compare the costs and benefits from community forest management. Only direct benefits were included in the analysis. The study shows that older forest user groups derive more benefits to households compared to more recently established ones. The extent of timber harvesting also substantially influences the size of the household benefits. In addition, redistribution of benefits at the household level, in terms of income generating activities and payment for involvement in forest management activities, also enhances household benefits. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the current practice of community forest management enhances the welfare of rural households in this subsistence community. However, this finding is sensitive to assumptions regarding the opportunity cost of time. The study also found that the household costs of community forest management depend upon two factors – the area of community forest and the size of the forest area relative to the number of households.

Observations of the Hawaiian Mesopelagic Boundary Community in Daytime and Nighttime Habitats Using Estimated Backscatter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Comfort CM

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The Hawaiian mesopelagic boundary community is a slope-associated assemblage of micronekton that undergoes diel migrations along the slopes of the islands, residing at greater depths during the day and moving upslope to forage in shallower water at night. The timing of these migrations may be influenced by environmental factors such as moon phase or ambient light. To investigate the movements of this community, we examined echo intensity data from acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs deployed at shallow and deep sites on the southern slope of Oahu, Hawaii. Diel changes in echo intensity (and therefore in estimated backscatter were observed and determined to be caused, at least in part, by the horizontal migration of the mesopelagic boundary community. Generalized additive modeling (GAM was used to assess the impact of environmental factors on the migration timing. Sunset time and lunar illumination were found to be significant factors. Movement speeds of the mesopelagic boundary community were estimated at 1.25–1.99 km h-1 (35–55 cm s-1. The location at which the migrations were observed is the future site of a seawater air conditioning system, which will cause artificial upwelling at our shallow observation site and may cause animal entrainment at the seawater intake near our deep water observation site. This study is the first to observe the diel migration of the mesopelagic boundary community on southern Oahu in both deep and shallow parts of the habitat, and it is also the first to examine migration trends over long time scales, which allows a better assessment of the effects of seasons and lunar illumination on micronekton migrations. Understanding the driving mechanisms of mesopelagic boundary community behavior will increase our ability to assess and manage coastal ecosystems in the face of increasing anthropogenic impacts.

Association between individual-level and community-level socio-economic status and blood pressure among Inuit in Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riva, Mylène; Larsen, C. V. L.; Bjerregaard, Peter

2016-01-01

and older participated. Blood pressure is measured using an automatic device, according to standardized protocol. Individual SES is measured by education. Community socio-economic conditions are measured using combined information on average disposable household income and settlement type. Results....... Education was not significantly associated with blood pressure. There was an inverse U-shape association between community socio-economic conditions and blood pressure with significantly lower SBP and DBP among participants living in remote traditional villages characterized by lower average disposable...... household income and in affluent more urbanized towns. Sex-stratified analyses demonstrate the salience of community conditions for men. Conclusions. The association observed between blood pressure and community-level socio-economic conditions suggests that public health and social policies, programmes...

More Precise Estimation of Lower-Level Interaction Effects in Multilevel Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Loeys, Tom; Josephy, Haeike; Dewitte, Marieke

2018-01-01

In hierarchical data, the effect of a lower-level predictor on a lower-level outcome may often be confounded by an (un)measured upper-level factor. When such confounding is left unaddressed, the effect of the lower-level predictor is estimated with bias. Separating this effect into a within- and between-component removes such bias in a linear random intercept model under a specific set of assumptions for the confounder. When the effect of the lower-level predictor is additionally moderated by another lower-level predictor, an interaction between both lower-level predictors is included into the model. To address unmeasured upper-level confounding, this interaction term ought to be decomposed into a within- and between-component as well. This can be achieved by first multiplying both predictors and centering that product term next, or vice versa. We show that while both approaches, on average, yield the same estimates of the interaction effect in linear models, the former decomposition is much more precise and robust against misspecification of the effects of cross-level and upper-level terms, compared to the latter.

Fast noise level estimation algorithm based on principal component analysis transform and nonlinear rectification

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Shaoping; Zeng, Xiaoxia; Jiang, Yinnan; Tang, Yiling

2018-01-01

We proposed a noniterative principal component analysis (PCA)-based noise level estimation (NLE) algorithm that addresses the problem of estimating the noise level with a two-step scheme. First, we randomly extracted a number of raw patches from a given noisy image and took the smallest eigenvalue of the covariance matrix of the raw patches as the preliminary estimation of the noise level. Next, the final estimation was directly obtained with a nonlinear mapping (rectification) function that was trained on some representative noisy images corrupted with different known noise levels. Compared with the state-of-art NLE algorithms, the experiment results show that the proposed NLE algorithm can reliably infer the noise level and has robust performance over a wide range of image contents and noise levels, showing a good compromise between speed and accuracy in general.

Community Level Risk Factors for Maternal Mortality in Madagascar

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

This paper explores the effect of risk and socioeconomic factors on maternal mortality at the ... to study maternal mortality, however, studying maternal mortality at the community ... causes of maternal mortality at the country level in ... Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar, .... cyclones, and crime can be associated with.

The levels of Community Involvement in Health (CIH: a case of rural and urban communities in KwaZulu-Natal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.G. Mchunu

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to describe the practice of community involvement in health programmes.The study therefore explored the nature and practice of community involvementin health programmes in the two communities in KwaZulu Natal. Thestudy was guided by the conceptual framework adapted from Amstein’s,( 1969 Ladderof Citizen Participation. This framework shows different levels and steps in communityparticipation. A case study method was used to conduct the study. The twocases were one urban based and one rural based community health centers in theIlembe health district, in Kwa Zulu Natal. A sample of 31 persons participated in thestudy. The sample comprised 8 registered nurses, 2 enrolled nurses 13 communitymembers and 8 community health workers. Data was collected using structured individualinterviews and focus group interviews, and was guided by the case protocol.Community involvement in health largely depended on the type of community, withrural community members being in charge of their health projects and urban communitymembers helping each other as neighbours in times of need.

Estimating 3D Object Parameters from 2D Grey-Level Images

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houkes, Z.

2000-01-01

This thesis describes a general framework for parameter estimation, which is suitable for computer vision applications. The approach described combines 3D modelling, animation and estimation tools to determine parameters of objects in a scene from 2D grey-level images. The animation tool predicts

Estimating peer density effects on oral health for community-based older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, Bibhas; Widener, Michael J; Mirzaei Salehabadi, Sedigheh; Northridge, Mary E; Kum, Susan S; Jin, Zhu; Kunzel, Carol; Palmer, Harvey D; Metcalf, Sara S

2017-12-29

As part of a long-standing line of research regarding how peer density affects health, researchers have sought to understand the multifaceted ways that the density of contemporaries living and interacting in proximity to one another influence social networks and knowledge diffusion, and subsequently health and well-being. This study examined peer density effects on oral health for racial/ethnic minority older adults living in northern Manhattan and the Bronx, New York, NY. Peer age-group density was estimated by smoothing US Census data with 4 kernel bandwidths ranging from 0.25 to 1.50 mile. Logistic regression models were developed using these spatial measures and data from the ElderSmile oral and general health screening program that serves predominantly racial/ethnic minority older adults at community centers in northern Manhattan and the Bronx. The oral health outcomes modeled as dependent variables were ordinal dentition status and binary self-rated oral health. After construction of kernel density surfaces and multiple imputation of missing data, logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the effects of peer density and other sociodemographic characteristics on the oral health outcomes of dentition status and self-rated oral health. Overall, higher peer density was associated with better oral health for older adults when estimated using smaller bandwidths (0.25 and 0.50 mile). That is, statistically significant relationships (p density and improved dentition status were found when peer density was measured assuming a more local social network. As with dentition status, a positive significant association was found between peer density and fair or better self-rated oral health when peer density was measured assuming a more local social network. This study provides novel evidence that the oral health of community-based older adults is affected by peer density in an urban environment. To the extent that peer density signifies the potential for

Do Amplitudes of Water Level Fluctuations Affect the Growth and Community Structure of Submerged Macrophytes?

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mo-Zhu; Liu, Zheng-Yuan; Luo, Fang-Li; Lei, Guang-Chun; Li, Hong-Li

2016-01-01

Submerged macrophytes are subjected to potential mechanical stresses associated with fluctuating water levels in natural conditions. However, few experimental studies have been conducted to further understand the effects of water level fluctuating amplitude on submerged macrophyte species and their assemblages or communities. We designed a controlled experiment to investigate the responses of three submerged macrophyte species (Hydrilla verticillata, Ceratophyllum demersum and Elodea nuttallii) and their combinations in communities to three amplitudes (static, ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm) of water level fluctuations. Results showed that water level fluctuating amplitude had little effects on the community performance and the three tested species responded differently. H. verticillata exhibited more growth in static water and it was negatively affected by either of the water level fluctuations amplitude, however, growth parameters of H. verticillata in two fluctuating water level treatments (i.e., ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm) were not significantly different. On the other hand, the growth of C. demersum was not significantly correlated with different amplitude treatments. However, it became more abundant when water levels fluctuated. E. nuttallii was inhibited by the two fluctuating water level treatments, and was less in growth parameters compared to the other species especially in water level fluctuating conditions. The inherent differences in the adaptive capabilities of the tested species indicate that C. demersum or other species with similar responses may be dominant species to restore submerged macrophyte communities with great fluctuating water levels. Otherwise, H. verticillata, E. nuttallii or other species with similar responses could be considered for constructing the community in static water conditions. PMID:26735689

Do Amplitudes of Water Level Fluctuations Affect the Growth and Community Structure of Submerged Macrophytes?

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mo-Zhu; Liu, Zheng-Yuan; Luo, Fang-Li; Lei, Guang-Chun; Li, Hong-Li

2016-01-01

Submerged macrophytes are subjected to potential mechanical stresses associated with fluctuating water levels in natural conditions. However, few experimental studies have been conducted to further understand the effects of water level fluctuating amplitude on submerged macrophyte species and their assemblages or communities. We designed a controlled experiment to investigate the responses of three submerged macrophyte species (Hydrilla verticillata, Ceratophyllum demersum and Elodea nuttallii) and their combinations in communities to three amplitudes (static, ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm) of water level fluctuations. Results showed that water level fluctuating amplitude had little effects on the community performance and the three tested species responded differently. H. verticillata exhibited more growth in static water and it was negatively affected by either of the water level fluctuations amplitude, however, growth parameters of H. verticillata in two fluctuating water level treatments (i.e., ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm) were not significantly different. On the other hand, the growth of C. demersum was not significantly correlated with different amplitude treatments. However, it became more abundant when water levels fluctuated. E. nuttallii was inhibited by the two fluctuating water level treatments, and was less in growth parameters compared to the other species especially in water level fluctuating conditions. The inherent differences in the adaptive capabilities of the tested species indicate that C. demersum or other species with similar responses may be dominant species to restore submerged macrophyte communities with great fluctuating water levels. Otherwise, H. verticillata, E. nuttallii or other species with similar responses could be considered for constructing the community in static water conditions.

Do Amplitudes of Water Level Fluctuations Affect the Growth and Community Structure of Submerged Macrophytes?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mo-Zhu Wang

Full Text Available Submerged macrophytes are subjected to potential mechanical stresses associated with fluctuating water levels in natural conditions. However, few experimental studies have been conducted to further understand the effects of water level fluctuating amplitude on submerged macrophyte species and their assemblages or communities. We designed a controlled experiment to investigate the responses of three submerged macrophyte species (Hydrilla verticillata, Ceratophyllum demersum and Elodea nuttallii and their combinations in communities to three amplitudes (static, ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm of water level fluctuations. Results showed that water level fluctuating amplitude had little effects on the community performance and the three tested species responded differently. H. verticillata exhibited more growth in static water and it was negatively affected by either of the water level fluctuations amplitude, however, growth parameters of H. verticillata in two fluctuating water level treatments (i.e., ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm were not significantly different. On the other hand, the growth of C. demersum was not significantly correlated with different amplitude treatments. However, it became more abundant when water levels fluctuated. E. nuttallii was inhibited by the two fluctuating water level treatments, and was less in growth parameters compared to the other species especially in water level fluctuating conditions. The inherent differences in the adaptive capabilities of the tested species indicate that C. demersum or other species with similar responses may be dominant species to restore submerged macrophyte communities with great fluctuating water levels. Otherwise, H. verticillata, E. nuttallii or other species with similar responses could be considered for constructing the community in static water conditions.

Open-Source Python Modules to Estimate Level Ice Thickness from Ice Charts

Science.gov (United States)

Geiger, C. A.; Deliberty, T. L.; Bernstein, E. R.; Helfrich, S.

2012-12-01

A collaborative research effort between the University of Delaware (UD) and National Ice Center (NIC) addresses the task of providing open-source translations of sea ice stage-of-development into level ice thickness estimates on a 4km grid for the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). The characteristics for stage-of-development are quantified from remote sensing imagery with estimates of level ice thickness categories originating from World Meteorological Organization (WMO) egg coded ice charts codified since the 1970s. Conversions utilize Python scripting modules which transform electronic ice charts with WMO egg code characteristics into five level ice thickness categories, in centimeters, (0-10, 10-30, 30-70, 70-120, >120cm) and five ice types (open water, first year pack ice, fast ice, multiyear ice, and glacial ice with a reserve slot for deformed ice fractions). Both level ice thickness categories and ice concentration fractions are reported with uncertainties propagated based on WMO ice stage ranges which serve as proxy estimates for standard deviation. These products are in preparation for use by NCEP, CMC, and NAVO by 2014 based on their modeling requirements for daily products in near-real time. In addition to development, continuing research tests the value of these estimated products against in situ observations to improve both value and uncertainty estimates.

A Coupled Community-Level Assessment of Social and Physical Vulnerability to Hurricane Disasters

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J. H.; Sutley, E. J.; Chowdhury, A. G.; Hamideh, S.

2017-12-01

A significant portion of the U.S. building inventory exists in hurricane- and flood-prone regions. The accompanying storm surge and rising water levels often result in the inundation of residential homes, particularly those occupied by low income households and forcing displacement. In order to mitigate potential damages, a popular design technique is to elevate the structure using piers or piles to above the base flood elevation. This is observed for single-family and multi-family homes, including manufactured homes and post-disaster temporary housing, albeit at lower elevations. Although this design alleviates potential flood damage, it affects the wind-structure interaction by subjecting the structure to higher wind speeds due to its increased height and also having a path for the wind to pass underneath the structure potentially creating new vulnerabilities to wind loading. The current ASCE 7 Standard (2016) does not include a methodology for addressing the modified aerodynamics and estimating wind loads for elevated structures, and thus the potential vulnerability during high wind events is unaccounted for in design. Using experimentally measured wind pressures on elevated and non-elevated residential building models, tax data, and census data, a coupled vulnerability assessment is performed at the community-level. Galveston, Texas is selected as the case study community. Using the coupled assessment model, a hindcast of 2008 Hurricane Ike is used for predicting physical damage and household dislocation. The predicted results are compared with the actual outcomes of the 2008 hurricane disaster. Recommendations are made (1) for code adoption based on the experimentally measured wind loads, and (2) for mitigation actions and policies that would could decrease population dislocation and promote recovery.

Facility and market factors affecting transitions from nursing home to community.

Science.gov (United States)

Arling, Greg; Abrahamson, Kathleen A; Cooke, Valerie; Kane, Robert L; Lewis, Teresa

2011-09-01

Research into nursing home transitions has given limited attention to the facility or community contexts. To identify facility and market factors affecting transitions of nursing home residents back to the community. Multilevel models were used to estimate effects of facility and market factors on facility-level community discharge rates after controlling for resident demographic, health, and functional conditions. Facility discharge rates were adjusted using Empirical Bayes estimation. Annual cohort of first-time admissions (N=24,648) to 378 Minnesota nursing facilities in 75 nursing home markets from July 2005 to June 2006. Community discharge within 90 days of admission; facility occupancy, payer mix, ownership, case-mix acuity, size, admissions from hospitals, nurse staffing level, and proportion of admissions preferring or having support to return to the community; and nursing market population size, average occupancy, market concentration, and availability of home and community-based services. Rates of community discharge (Empirical Bayes residual) were highest in facilities with more residents preferring community discharge, more Medicare days, higher nurse staffing levels, and higher occupancy. In addition, facilities had higher community discharge rates if they were located in markets with a greater ratio of home and community-based services recipients to nursing home residents and with larger populations. State Medicaid programs should undertake system-level interventions that encourage nursing facilities to reduce unused bed capacity, balance the mix of payers, invest in nurse staffing, and take other steps to promote community discharges. In addition, states should increase home and community-based services, particularly in markets with low community discharge rates.

Community-Level Inequalities in Concussion Education of Youth Football Coaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroshus, Emily; Kerr, Zachary Y; Lee, Joseph G L

2017-04-01

USA Football has made the Heads Up Football (HUF) concussion education program available for coaches of youth football players. Existing evidence about the effectiveness of the HUF coach education program is equivocal. For HUF and other programs, there is growing concern that even effective interventions can increase inequalities if there is different uptake or impact by SES or other demographic factors. Understanding how adoption is patterned along these lines is important for understanding equity issues in youth football. This study tested the hypothesis that there will be lower adoption of HUF among coaches of youth football players in lower-SES communities. The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of the association between community-level characteristics and number of USA Football youth league coaches who have completed HUF. Data were collected in 2014 and analyzed in 2015-2016. Implementation of the HUF program was patterned by community-level socioeconomic characteristics. Leagues located in communities with a higher percentage of families with children aged football, it is important to consider not just the effectiveness of these interventions, but also whether they reduce or exacerbate health inequities. These results suggest that relying on voluntary adoption of coach education may result in inequitable implementation. Further study is required to identify and remedy organizational and contextual barriers to implementation of coach education in youth sport. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimation of Missing Observations in Two-Level Split-Plot Designs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Almimi, Ashraf A.; Kulahci, Murat; Montgomery, Douglas C.

2008-01-01

Inserting estimates for the missing observations from split-plot designs restores their balanced or orthogonal structure and alleviates the difficulties in the statistical analysis. In this article, we extend a method due to Draper and Stoneman to estimate the missing observations from unreplicated...... two-level factorial and fractional factorial split-plot (FSP and FFSP) designs. The missing observations, which can either be from the same whole plot, from different whole plots, or comprise entire whole plots, are estimated by equating to zero a number of specific contrast columns equal...... to the number of the missing observations. These estimates are inserted into the design table and the estimates for the remaining effects (or alias chains of effects as the case with FFSP designs) are plotted on two half-normal plots: one for the whole-plot effects and the other for the subplot effects...

The transition from managed care to consumerism: a community-level status report.

Science.gov (United States)

Christianson, Jon B; Ginsburg, Paul B; Draper, Debra A

2008-01-01

This paper assesses the evolving "facilitated consumerism" model of health care at the community level using data from the Community Tracking Study (CTS). We find that in a relatively short time, large employers and health plans have made notable progress in putting the building blocks in place to support their vision of consumerism. However, developments in the CTS communities suggest that the consumerism strategy evolving in local markets is more nuanced than implied by some descriptions of health care consumerism.

The effect of salinity levels on the structure of zooplankton communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paturej Ewa

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to determine the qualitative and quantitative structure of zooplankton communities in the Vistula Lagoon and to establish whether zooplankton abundance and biodiversity are affected by salinity levels. Samples for biological analyses were collected in the summer (June-September of 2007-2011 at eleven sampling sites. Statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between salinity levels and the number of species (r= -0.2020, abundance (r= 0.1967 and biomass (r= 0.3139 of zooplankton. No significant correlations were found between salinity and the biodiversity of zooplankton. The results of the study suggest that salinity affects the abundance and structure, but not the diversity of zooplankton communities in the Vistula Lagoon.

Community College Estimated Growth: Fall 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Phillippe, Kent; Mullin, Christopher M.

2011-01-01

A survey from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) found that enrollment growth in fall 2010 slowed its pace at community colleges, increasing 3.2% from the previous year. This contrasts with more dramatic increases in recent years: more than 11% between fall 2008 and fall 2009, and nearly 17% between fall 2007 and fall 2009,…

Estimation of zinc levels among children with malnutrition at ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Estimation of zinc levels among children with malnutrition at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Northwestern Nigeria. Asma'u Adamu, Mohammed N. Jiya, Hamidu Ahmed, Paul K. Ibitoye, Modupe O. Ugege, Usman M. Sani, Tahir Yusuf, Fatima B. Jiya, Khadijat O. Isezuo ...

Community-level moderators of a school-based childhood sexual assault prevention program.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Matthew C; Kouros, Chrystyna D; Janecek, Kim; Freeman, Rachel; Mielock, Alyssa; Garber, Judy

2017-01-01

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is highly prevalent and associated with a wide variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based CSA education and prevention programs have shown promise, but it is unclear to what extent community-level characteristics are related to their effectiveness. The present cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated community-level moderators of the Safe@Lastprogramcomparedtoawaitlistcontrolcondition.(*) Knowledge gains from pre- to post-intervention were assessed in 5 domains: safe versus unsafe people; safe choices; problem-solving; clear disclosure; and assertiveness. Participants were 1177 students (46% White, 26% African American, 15% Hispanic, 4% Asian American, 6% Other) in grades 1 through 6 from 14 public schools in Tennessee. Multilevel models accounting for the nesting of children within schools revealed large effect sizes for the intervention versus control across all knowledge domains (d's ranged from 1.56 to 2.13). The effectiveness of the program was moderated by mean per capita income and rates of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in the community. Intervention effects were stronger for youth living in lower as compared to higher income counties, and for youth attending schools in counties with lower as compared to higher abuse/neglect rates. Child characteristics (sex, race) did not moderate intervention effects. This research identified two community-level factors that predicted the effectiveness of a CSA education and prevention program designed to improve children's knowledge of personal safety skills. School-based CSA prevention programs may require modification for communities with higher rates of child abuse and neglect. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community pharmacists' burnout levels and related factors: an example from Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Calgan, Zeynep; Aslan, Dilek; Yegenoglu, Selen

2011-02-01

To determine community pharmacists' burnout levels and prevalences as well as factors associated with burnout. Study was conducted in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, 251 pharmacists were randomly selected from 1,504 community pharmacists registered in Ankara Chamber of Pharmacists. A questionnaire including questions related to pharmacists' individual and professional characteristics and Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered. The data was collected between February 27 and May 25, 2007. Three Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales (emotional exhaustion-EE, depersonalization-D, and personal accomplishment-PA) scores. Pharmacists' mean emotional exhaustion score was found to be 16.84 (SD: 6.25), depersonalization score was 4 (Range: 0-14), and personal accomplishment score was 22 (Range: 9-32). Of the pharmacists, 1.2% had high level of EE, .8% had high level of D, and 71.3% had high level of inefficacy. Age, marital status, work experience, work contentment, workload, time pressure, stress, and satisfaction with customers were found to be related with pharmacists' burnout levels. It can be useful to monitor pharmacists' burnout levels and prevalences periodically. Interventions on individual and organizational basis were needed to cope with burnout, respond to job demands, minimize the level of chronic stress, and increase work contentment and satisfaction.

Estimation of Potential Population Level Effects of Contaminants on Wildlife; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loar, J.M.

2001-01-01

The objective of this project is to provide DOE with improved methods to assess risks from contaminants to wildlife populations. The current approach for wildlife risk assessment consists of comparison of contaminant exposure estimates for individual animals to literature-derived toxicity test endpoints. These test endpoints are assumed to estimate thresholds for population-level effects. Moreover, species sensitivities to contaminants is one of several criteria to be considered when selecting assessment endpoints (EPA 1997 and 1998), yet data on the sensitivities of many birds and mammals are lacking. The uncertainties associated with this approach are considerable. First, because toxicity data are not available for most potential wildlife endpoint species, extrapolation of toxicity data from test species to the species of interest is required. There is no consensus on the most appropriate extrapolation method. Second, toxicity data are represented as statistical measures (e.g., NOAEL s or LOAELs) that provide no information on the nature or magnitude of effects. The level of effect is an artifact of the replication and dosing regime employed, and does not indicate how effects might increase with increasing exposure. Consequently, slight exceedance of a LOAEL is not distinguished from greatly exceeding it. Third, the relationship of toxic effects on individuals to effects on populations is poorly estimated by existing methods. It is assumed that if the exposure of individuals exceeds levels associated with impaired reproduction, then population level effects are likely. Uncertainty associated with this assumption is large because depending on the reproductive strategy of a given species, comparable levels of reproductive impairment may result in dramatically different population-level responses. This project included several tasks to address these problems: (1) investigation of the validity of the current allometric scaling approach for interspecies extrapolation

Prenatal care utilization in Zimbabwe: Examining the role of community-level factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Makate, Marshall; Makate, Clifton

2017-12-01

This paper assesses the importance of community-level factors on prenatal care utilization in Zimbabwe. The analysis is performed using data from the two most recent rounds of the nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey for Zimbabwe conducted in 2005/06 and 2010/11 linked with other community-level data. We use logistic, generalized linear regressions as well as multilevel mixed models to examine the factors associated with the frequency, timing and quality of prenatal care. Our results suggest that contraceptive prevalence, religious composition, density of nurses, health expenditures per capita and availability of government hospitals in communities are important predictors of prenatal care use in Zimbabwe. These findings have important implications for public health policy in Zimbabwe - a country with unfavorable maternal and child health outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multimedia approach to estimating target cleanup levels for soils at hazardous waste sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, S.T.

1990-04-01

Contaminated soils at hazardous and nuclear waste sites pose a potential threat to human health via transport through environmental media and subsequent human intake. To minimize health risks, it is necessary to identify those risks and ensure that appropriate actions are taken to protect public health. The regulatory process may typically include identification of target cleanup levels and evaluation of the effectiveness of remedial alternatives and the corresponding reduction in risks at a site. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that exposure assessments be combined with toxicity information to quantify the health risk posed by a specific site. This recommendation then forms the basis for establishing target cleanup levels. An exposure assessment must first identify the chemical concentration in a specific medium (soil, water, air, or food), estimate the exposure potential based on human intake from that media, and then combined with health criteria to estimate the upperbound health risks for noncarcinogens and carcinogens. Estimation of target cleanup levels involves the use of these same principles but can occur in reverse order. The procedure starts from establishing a permissible health effect level and ends with an estimated target cleanup level through an exposure assessment process. 17 refs

Disparities in Children’s Blood Lead and Mercury Levels According to Community and Individual Socioeconomic Positions

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Sinye; Ha, Mina; Hwang, Seung-Sik; Son, Mia; Kwon, Ho-Jang

2015-01-01

We aimed to examine the associations between blood lead and mercury levels and individual and community level socioeconomic positions (SEPs) in school-aged children. A longitudinal cohort study was performed in 33 elementary schools in 10 cities in Korea. Among a total of 6094 children included at baseline, the final study population, 2281 children followed-up biennially, were analyzed. The geometric mean (GM) levels of blood lead were 1.73 μg/dL (range 0.02–9.26) and 1.56 μg/dL (range 0.02–6.83) for male and female children, respectively. The blood lead levels were significantly higher in males, children living in rural areas, and those with lower individual SEP. The GM levels of blood mercury were 2.07 μg/L (range 0.09–12.67) and 2.06 μg/L (range 0.03–11.74) for males and females, respectively. Increased blood mercury levels were significantly associated with urban areas, higher individual SEP, and more deprived communities. The risk of high blood lead level was significantly higher for the lower individual SEP (odds ratio (OR) 2.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.36–3.50 in the lowest educational attainment of the father), with a significant dose-response relationship observed after adjusting for the community SEP. The association between high blood lead levels and lower individual SEP was much stronger in the more deprived communities (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.27–6.53) than in the less deprived communities (OR 1.40, 95% CI 0.76–2.59), and showed a significant decreasing trend during the follow-up only in the less deprived communities. The risk of high blood mercury levels was higher in higher individual SEP (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.40–1.03 in the lowest educational attainment of the father), with a significant dose-response relationship noted. Significant decreasing trends were observed during the follow-up both in the less and more deprived communities. From a public health point-of-view, community level intervention with different approaches for

Community-level income inequality and HIV prevalence among persons who inject drugs in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Travis W; Frangakis, Constantine; Latkin, Carl; Ha, Tran Viet; Minh, Nguyen Le; Zelaya, Carla; Quan, Vu Minh; Go, Vivian F

2014-01-01

Socioeconomic status has a robust positive relationship with several health outcomes at the individual and population levels, but in the case of HIV prevalence, income inequality may be a better predictor than absolute level of income. Most studies showing a relationship between income inequality and HIV have used entire countries as the unit of analysis. In this study, we examine the association between income inequality at the community level and HIV prevalence in a sample of persons who inject drugs (PWID) in a concentrated epidemic setting. We recruited PWID and non-PWID community participants in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, and administered a cross-sectional questionnaire; PWID were tested for HIV. We used ecologic regression to model HIV burden in our PWID study population on GINI indices of inequality calculated from total reported incomes of non-PWID community members in each commune. We also modeled HIV burden on interaction terms between GINI index and median commune income, and finally used a multi-level model to control for community level inequality and individual level income. HIV burden among PWID was significantly correlated with the commune GINI coefficient (r = 0.53, p = 0.002). HIV burden was also associated with GINI coefficient (β = 0.082, p = 0.008) and with median commune income (β = -0.018, p = 0.023) in ecological regression. In the multi-level model, higher GINI coefficient at the community level was associated with higher odds of individual HIV infection in PWID (OR = 1.46 per 0.01, p = 0.003) while higher personal income was associated with reduced odds of infection (OR = 0.98 per $10, p = 0.022). This study demonstrates a context where income inequality is associated with HIV prevalence at the community level in a concentrated epidemic. It further suggests that community level socioeconomic factors, both contextual and compositional, could be indirect determinants of HIV infection in PWID.

Community-Level Income Inequality and HIV Prevalence among Persons Who Inject Drugs in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Travis W.; Frangakis, Constantine; Latkin, Carl; Ha, Tran Viet; Minh, Nguyen Le; Zelaya, Carla; Quan, Vu Minh; Go, Vivian F.

2014-01-01

Socioeconomic status has a robust positive relationship with several health outcomes at the individual and population levels, but in the case of HIV prevalence, income inequality may be a better predictor than absolute level of income. Most studies showing a relationship between income inequality and HIV have used entire countries as the unit of analysis. In this study, we examine the association between income inequality at the community level and HIV prevalence in a sample of persons who inject drugs (PWID) in a concentrated epidemic setting. We recruited PWID and non-PWID community participants in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, and administered a cross-sectional questionnaire; PWID were tested for HIV. We used ecologic regression to model HIV burden in our PWID study population on GINI indices of inequality calculated from total reported incomes of non-PWID community members in each commune. We also modeled HIV burden on interaction terms between GINI index and median commune income, and finally used a multi-level model to control for community level inequality and individual level income. HIV burden among PWID was significantly correlated with the commune GINI coefficient (r = 0.53, p = 0.002). HIV burden was also associated with GINI coefficient (β = 0.082, p = 0.008) and with median commune income (β = −0.018, p = 0.023) in ecological regression. In the multi-level model, higher GINI coefficient at the community level was associated with higher odds of individual HIV infection in PWID (OR = 1.46 per 0.01, p = 0.003) while higher personal income was associated with reduced odds of infection (OR = 0.98 per $10, p = 0.022). This study demonstrates a context where income inequality is associated with HIV prevalence at the community level in a concentrated epidemic. It further suggests that community level socioeconomic factors, both contextual and compositional, could be indirect determinants of HIV infection in PWID. PMID

Estimation of farm level technical efficiency and its determinants ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

With the difficulties encountered by the farmers in adopting improved technologies, increasing resource use efficiency has become a very significant factor in increasing productivity. Therefore, this study was designed to estimate the farm level technical efficiency and its determinants among male and female sweet potato ...

The positive pharmacy care law: an area-level analysis of the relationship between community pharmacy distribution, urbanity and social deprivation in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Todd, Adam; Copeland, Alison; Husband, Andy; Kasim, Adetayo; Bambra, Clare

2014-08-12

To: (1) determine the percentage of the population in England that have access to a community pharmacy within 20 min walk; (2) explore any relationship between the walking distance and urbanity; (3) explore any relationship between the walking distance and social deprivation; and (4) explore any interactions between urbanity, social deprivation and community pharmacy access. This area level analysis spatial study used postcodes for all community pharmacies in England. Each postcode was assigned to a population lookup table and lower super output area (LSOA). The LSOA was then matched to urbanity (urban, town and fringe or village, hamlet and isolated dwellings) and deprivation decile (using the Index of Multiple Deprivation score). Access to a community pharmacy within 20 min walk. Overall, 89.2% of the population is estimated to have access to a community pharmacy within 20 min walk. For urban areas, that is 98.3% of the population, for town and fringe, 79.9% of the population, while for rural areas, 18.9% of the population. For areas of lowest deprivation (deprivation decile 1) 90.2% of the population have access to a community pharmacy within 20 min walk, compared to 99.8% in areas of highest deprivation (deprivation decile 10), a percentage difference of 9.6% (8.2, 10.9). Our study shows that the majority of the population can access a community pharmacy within 20 min walk and crucially, access is greater in areas of highest deprivation--a positive pharmacy care law. More research is needed to explore the perceptions and experiences of people--from various levels of deprivation--around the accessibility of community pharmacy services. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Probabilistic Graphical Framework for Estimating Collaboration Levels in Cloud Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilseung Ahn

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Cloud manufacturing (CM is an emerging manufacturing model based on collaboration among manufacturing enterprises in a cloud computing environment. Naturally, collaboration is one of main factors that impacts performance in a variety of ways such as quality, lead time, and cost. Therefore, collaboration levels should be considered when solving operational issues in CM. However, there has been no attempt to estimate these levels between enterprises participating in CM. The collaboration level among enterprises in CM is defined as the ability to produce a manufacturing service that satisfies a customer by means of collaborative production amongst enterprises. We measure it as the conditional probability that collaborative performances are high given collaborative performance factors (e.g., resource sharing, information sharing, etc.. In this paper, we propose a framework for estimating collaboration levels. We adopt a probabilistic graphical model (PGM to develop the framework, since the framework includes a lot of random variables and complex dependencies among them. The framework yields conditional probabilities that two enterprises will reduce the total cost, improve resource utilization or quality through collaboration between them given each enterprise’s features, collaboration possibility, and collaboration activities. The collaboration levels the proposed framework yields will help to handle diverse operational problems in CM.

Systematic review of effect of community-level interventions to reduce maternal mortality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deeks Jonathan J

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The objective was to provide a systematic review of the effectiveness of community-level interventions to reduce maternal mortality. Methods We searched published papers using Medline, Embase, Cochrane library, CINAHL, BNI, CAB ABSTRACTS, IBSS, Web of Science, LILACS and African Index Medicus from inception or at least 1982 to June 2006; searched unpublished works using National Research Register website, metaRegister and the WHO International Trial Registry portal. We hand searched major references. Selection criteria were maternity or childbearing age women, comparative study designs with concurrent controls, community-level interventions and maternal death as an outcome. We carried out study selection, data abstraction and quality assessment independently in duplicate. Results We found five cluster randomised controlled trials (RCT and eight cohort studies of community-level interventions. We summarised results as odds ratios (OR and confidence intervals (CI, combined using the Peto method for meta-analysis. Two high quality cluster RCTs, aimed at improving perinatal care practices, showed a reduction in maternal mortality reaching statistical significance (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.98. Three equivalence RCTs of minimal goal-oriented versus usual antenatal care showed no difference in maternal mortality (1.09, 95% CI 0.53 to 2.25. The cohort studies were of low quality and did not contribute further evidence. Conclusion Community-level interventions of improved perinatal care practices can bring about a reduction in maternal mortality. This challenges the view that investment in such interventions is not worthwhile. Programmes to improve maternal mortality should be evaluated using randomised controlled techniques to generate further evidence.

Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy L. Vaughn

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Coordinated dual-tracer, aircraft-based, and direct component-level measurements were made at midstream natural gas gathering and boosting stations in the Fayetteville shale (Arkansas, USA. On-site component-level measurements were combined with engineering estimates to generate comprehensive facility-level methane emission rate estimates (“study on-site estimates (SOE” comparable to tracer and aircraft measurements. Combustion slip (unburned fuel entrained in compressor engine exhaust, which was calculated based on 111 recent measurements of representative compressor engines, accounts for an estimated 75% of cumulative SOEs at gathering stations included in comparisons. Measured methane emissions from regenerator vents on glycol dehydrator units were substantially larger than predicted by modelling software; the contribution of dehydrator regenerator vents to the cumulative SOE would increase from 1% to 10% if based on direct measurements. Concurrent measurements at 14 normally-operating facilities show relative agreement between tracer and SOE, but indicate that tracer measurements estimate lower emissions (regression of tracer to SOE = 0.91 (95% CI = 0.83–0.99, R2 = 0.89. Tracer and SOE 95% confidence intervals overlap at 11/14 facilities. Contemporaneous measurements at six facilities suggest that aircraft measurements estimate higher emissions than SOE. Aircraft and study on-site estimate 95% confidence intervals overlap at 3/6 facilities. The average facility level emission rate (FLER estimated by tracer measurements in this study is 17–73% higher than a prior national study by Marchese et al.

Evaluating model simulations of 20th century sea-level rise. Part 1: global mean sea-level change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slangen, A.B.A.; Meyssignac, B.; Agosta, C.; Champollion, N.; Church, J.A.; Fettweis, X.; Ligtenberg, S.R.M.; Marzeion, B.; Melet, A.; Palmer, M.D.; Richter, K.; Roberts, C.D.; Spada, G.

2017-01-01

Sea level change is one of the major consequences of climate change and is projected to affect coastal communities around the world. Here, global mean sea level (GMSL) change estimated by 12 climate models from phase 5 of the World Climate Research Programme’s Climate Model Intercomparison Project

Positioning and number of nutritional levels in dose-response trials to estimate the optimal-level and the adjustment of the models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Augusto de Souza

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of the number and position of nutrient levels used in dose-response trials in the estimation of the optimal-level (OL and the goodness of fit on the models: quadratic polynomial (QP, exponential (EXP, linear response plateau (LRP and quadratic response plateau (QRP. It was used data from dose-response trials realized in FCAV-Unesp Jaboticabal considering the homogeneity of variances and normal distribution. The fit of the models were evaluated considered the following statistics: adjusted coefficient of determination (R²adj, coefficient of variation (CV and the sum of the squares of deviations (SSD.It was verified in QP and EXP models that small changes on the placement and distribution of the levels caused great changes in the estimation of the OL. The LRP model was deeply influenced by the absence or presence of the level between the response and stabilization phases (change in the straight to plateau. The QRP needed more levels on the response phase and the last level on stabilization phase to estimate correctly the plateau. It was concluded that the OL and the adjust of the models are dependent on the positioning and the number of the levels and the specific characteristics of each model, but levels defined near to the true requirement and not so spaced are better to estimate the OL.

Comparison of adult physical activity levels in three Swiss alpine communities with varying access to motorized transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dombois, Oliver Thommen; Braun-Fahrländer, Charlotte; Martin-Diener, Eva

2007-09-01

To compare physical activity levels of residents of three Swiss alpine communities with varying access to motorized transport and to investigate whether socio-demographic factors, the settlement structure or means of transport affect these levels. Between January and February 2004 a computer assisted telephone interview was conducted with 901 randomly selected adults aged 18 years or older living in three Swiss alpine communities. In particular, information on moderate and vigorous intensity physical activities and on transport behaviour was collected. Respondents were categorized as 'sufficiently active' or 'insufficiently active' according to self-reported physical activity. People living in community 1 without access to motorized traffic were significantly more likely to be sufficiently active (Sex- and age-adjusted prevalences of sufficient total physical activity, 43.9% 95% CI: 38.3%-49.8%) compared to individuals living in the other two communities (community 2: 35.9%, 95% CI: 30.6%-41.6%, community 3: 32.7%, 95% CI: 27.5%-38.3%). The differences were due to higher levels of moderate physical activities. Vigorous physical activity levels did not differ between the communities. Community differences were explained by passive means of transport to work and for leisure time activities. Although the environment encountered in the three alpine communities is generally conducive to physical activity the majority of the participants did not achieve recommended activity levels. Passive mode of transport to work and during leisure time was strongly associated with insufficient total physical activity. Walking and cycling for transportation is thus a promising approach to promote health enhancing physical activity.

Borderline features are associated with inaccurate trait self-estimations.

Science.gov (United States)

Morey, Leslie C

2014-01-01

Many treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are based upon the hypothesis that gross distortion in perceptions and attributions related to self and others represent a core mechanism for the enduring difficulties displayed by such patients. However, available experimental evidence of such distortions provides equivocal results, with some studies suggesting that BPD is related to inaccuracy in such perceptions and others indicative of enhanced accuracy in some judgments. The current study uses a novel methodology to explore whether individuals with BPD features are less accurate in estimating their levels of universal personality characteristics as compared to community norms. One hundred and four students received course instruction on the Five Factor Model of personality, and then were asked to estimate their levels of these five traits relative to community norms. They then completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and the Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features scale (PAI-BOR). Accuracy of estimates was calculated by computing squared differences between self-estimated trait levels and norm-referenced standardized scores in the NEO-FFI. There was a moderately strong relationship between PAI-BOR score and inaccuracy of trait level estimates. In particular, high BOR individuals dramatically overestimated their levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, estimating themselves to be slightly above average on each of these characteristics but actually scoring well below average on both. The accuracy of estimates of levels of Neuroticism were unrelated to BOR scores, despite the fact that BOR scores were highly correlated with Neuroticism. These findings support the hypothesis that a key feature of BPD involves marked perceptual distortions of various aspects of self in relationship to others. However, the results also indicate that this is not a global perceptual deficit, as high BOR scorers accurately estimated that their emotional

Low level estimation of 1,4-dioxane in ambient air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandit, G.G.; Sahu, S.K.; Puranik, V.D.

2007-05-01

The chemical, 1,4-dioxane does have much relevance with respect to Indian Nuclear Power Programme for counting of Tritium, which is mainly generated during the operation of nuclear research reactors and power reactors which use heavy water. Tritium analysis is routinely carried out at BARC. The scintillation solutions which are used for tritium counting, consist of mainly 1,4 dioxane and naphthalene along with minor concentration of PPO/POPOP. Each sample analysis generates about 10 ml of tritium contaminated spent scintillation liquid waste. Total generation rate of the waste in a typical PHWR reactor is about 2-3 m 3 /year. Controlled incineration of scintillation liquids has been opted at BARC for the treatment of radioactive organic waste. Now that 1,4-dioxane has shown threat to human health and environment, it is important and necessary to know its levels (concentrations) in different environmental compartments to evaluate the risks associated with it. Standard methods are available for the measurement of 1,4-dioxane in air. Higher concentration can be estimated by direct analysis but estimation at lower levels (parts per billion-ppb) requires pre concentration prior to its analysis. Here an improved method that offers increased sensitivity has been used for determining lower levels of 1,4-dioxane. This report presents (1) the development of the methodology for the estimation of 1,4-dioxane at ppb levels using cryogenic pre-concentration and subsequent analysis by Gas Chromatograph with Electron Capture detector (GC-ECD) (2) techniques to check the incineration efficiency and release of 1,4-dioxane to the environment. The data generated by this study could be further used in the evaluation of risk. (author)

The role of the neonatal nurse practitioner in the community hospital level I nursery.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatch, Julie

2012-01-01

Neonatal nurse practitioners (NNPs) have played a significant role in providing medical coverage to many of the country's Level III neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Extensive education and experience are required for a nurse practitioner (NP) to become competent in caring for these critically ill newborns. The NNP can take this competence and experience and expand her role out into the community Level I nurseries. Clinical care of the infants and close communication with parents, pediatricians, and the area tertiary center provide a community service with the goal of keeping parents and babies together in the community hospital without compromising the health of the baby. The NNP service, with 24-hour nursery and delivery coverage, supports an ongoing obstetric service to the community hospital. The NNP's experience enables her to provide a neonatal service that encompasses a multitude of advanced practice nursing roles.

Observation-Driven Estimation of the Spatial Variability of 20th Century Sea Level Rise

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlington, B. D.; Burgos, A.; Thompson, P. R.; Landerer, F. W.; Piecuch, C. G.; Adhikari, S.; Caron, L.; Reager, J. T.; Ivins, E. R.

2018-03-01

Over the past two decades, sea level measurements made by satellites have given clear indications of both global and regional sea level rise. Numerous studies have sought to leverage the modern satellite record and available historic sea level data provided by tide gauges to estimate past sea level rise, leading to several estimates for the 20th century trend in global mean sea level in the range between 1 and 2 mm/yr. On regional scales, few attempts have been made to estimate trends over the same time period. This is due largely to the inhomogeneity and quality of the tide gauge network through the 20th century, which render commonly used reconstruction techniques inadequate. Here, a new approach is adopted, integrating data from a select set of tide gauges with prior estimates of spatial structure based on historical sea level forcing information from the major contributing processes over the past century. The resulting map of 20th century regional sea level rise is optimized to agree with the tide gauge-measured trends, and provides an indication of the likely contributions of different sources to regional patterns. Of equal importance, this study demonstrates the sensitivities of this regional trend map to current knowledge and uncertainty of the contributing processes.

Performance of small cluster surveys and the clustered LQAS design to estimate local-level vaccination coverage in Mali.

Science.gov (United States)

Minetti, Andrea; Riera-Montes, Margarita; Nackers, Fabienne; Roederer, Thomas; Koudika, Marie Hortense; Sekkenes, Johanne; Taconet, Aurore; Fermon, Florence; Touré, Albouhary; Grais, Rebecca F; Checchi, Francesco

2012-10-12

Estimation of vaccination coverage at the local level is essential to identify communities that may require additional support. Cluster surveys can be used in resource-poor settings, when population figures are inaccurate. To be feasible, cluster samples need to be small, without losing robustness of results. The clustered LQAS (CLQAS) approach has been proposed as an alternative, as smaller sample sizes are required. We explored (i) the efficiency of cluster surveys of decreasing sample size through bootstrapping analysis and (ii) the performance of CLQAS under three alternative sampling plans to classify local VC, using data from a survey carried out in Mali after mass vaccination against meningococcal meningitis group A. VC estimates provided by a 10 × 15 cluster survey design were reasonably robust. We used them to classify health areas in three categories and guide mop-up activities: i) health areas not requiring supplemental activities; ii) health areas requiring additional vaccination; iii) health areas requiring further evaluation. As sample size decreased (from 10 × 15 to 10 × 3), standard error of VC and ICC estimates were increasingly unstable. Results of CLQAS simulations were not accurate for most health areas, with an overall risk of misclassification greater than 0.25 in one health area out of three. It was greater than 0.50 in one health area out of two under two of the three sampling plans. Small sample cluster surveys (10 × 15) are acceptably robust for classification of VC at local level. We do not recommend the CLQAS method as currently formulated for evaluating vaccination programmes.

Low Power Design with High-Level Power Estimation and Power-Aware Synthesis

CERN Document Server

Ahuja, Sumit; Shukla, Sandeep Kumar

2012-01-01

Low-power ASIC/FPGA based designs are important due to the need for extended battery life, reduced form factor, and lower packaging and cooling costs for electronic devices. These products require fast turnaround time because of the increasing demand for handheld electronic devices such as cell-phones, PDAs and high performance machines for data centers. To achieve short time to market, design flows must facilitate a much shortened time-to-product requirement. High-level modeling, architectural exploration and direct synthesis of design from high level description enable this design process. This book presents novel research techniques, algorithms,methodologies and experimental results for high level power estimation and power aware high-level synthesis. Readers will learn to apply such techniques to enable design flows resulting in shorter time to market and successful low power ASIC/FPGA design. Integrates power estimation and reduction for high level synthesis, with low-power, high-level design; Shows spec...

Relationships between Community Level Functional Traits of Trees and Seedlings during Secondary Succession in a Tropical Lowland Rainforest.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, XingHui; Zang, RunGuo; Huang, JiHong

2015-01-01

Most of the previous studies on functional traits focus exclusively on either seedlings or trees. Little knowledge exists on the relationships between community level functional traits of trees and seedlings during succession. Here, we examine variations of the community-level functional traits for trees and seedlings and their correlations along a secondary successional and environmental gradient in a tropical lowland rainforest after shifting cultivation. The results showed that the dynamic patterns in community level functional traits of seedlings were generally consistent with those of the trees during secondary succession. Compared with seedlings, community level traits for trees were less affected by abiotic factors during secondary succession. Correlations between community level functional traits of trees and seedlings were significant for: leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen concentration in the 18-year-old fallow; leaf chlorophyll content in the 30-year-old fallow; specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen concentration in the 60-year-old fallow; and leaf nitrogen concentration in old growth. However, these traits except specific leaf area for the tree and seedling communities were all significantly correlated if all the successional stages were combined. Our results suggest that the correlations between community level functional traits of trees and those of seedlings depend on the actual traits and the successional stages examined. However, if all the four successional stages are combined, then four out of five of the community level functional traits for trees could be well predicted by those of the seedlings in the tropical lowland rain forest.

Community-level Language Planning for Chinese Heritage Language Maintenance in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

An Chung Cheng

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the development of Chinese heritage language in the United States from the perspective of language policy and planning. The case study examines the Chinese heritage language maintenance through community-based Chinese schools (CHS, and CHS’s relationships with Chinese American community, as well as governments and non-government organizations in China, Taiwan, and the United States. The paper starts with a theoretical discussion on the definition of language policy and planning, and then describes the history and heritage language education of Chinese Americans in the United States. The paper also presents micro-level planning activities initiated by CHSs in the Chinese American community and non-government organizations. Special focus is placed on the interaction between non-government organizations in the US and governmental bodies in Taiwan and mainland China and in the United States. This paper suggests that micro planning of heritage language maintenance is beneficial when initiated in the community, but it can only be developed and sustained within the wider scope of macro-level planning from governments

Two-Level Designs to Estimate All Main Effects and Two-Factor Interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eendebak, P.T.; Schoen, E.D.

2017-01-01

We study the design of two-level experiments with N runs and n factors large enough to estimate the interaction model, which contains all the main effects and all the two-factor interactions. Yet, an effect hierarchy assumption suggests that main effect estimation should be given more prominence

Climate Change Adaptation Tools at the Community Level: An Integrated Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elvis Modikela Nkoana

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The negative impacts of climate change are experienced at the global, regional and local levels. However, rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa face additional socio-political, cultural and economic challenges in addition to climate change. Decision support tools have been developed and applied to assist rural communities to cope with and adapt to climate change. However, poorly planned participatory processes and the lack of context-specific approaches in these tools are obstacles when aiming at strengthening the resilience of these rural communities. This paper uses an integrated literature review to identify best practices for involving rural communities in climate change adaptation efforts through the application of context-specific and culturally-sensitive climate change adaptation tools. These best practices include the use of a livelihoods approach to engage communities; the explicit acknowledgement of the local cultural do’s and don’ts; the recognition of local champions appointed from within the local community; the identification and prioritisation of vulnerable stakeholders; and the implementation of a two-way climate change risk communication instead of a one-sided information sharing approach.

Adaptation of copper community tolerance levels after biofilm transplantation in an urban river.

Science.gov (United States)

Fechner, Lise C; Versace, François; Gourlay-Francé, Catherine; Tusseau-Vuillemin, Marie-Hélène

2012-01-15

The Water Framework Directive requires the development of biological tools which can act as early-warning indicators of a sudden increase (accidental pollution) or decrease (recovery due to prevention) of the chemical status of aquatic systems. River biofilms, which respond quickly to modifications of environmental parameters and also play a key part in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, are therefore good candidates to monitor an increase or a decrease of water pollution. In the present study, we investigated the biological response of biofilms transplanted either upstream (recovery) or downstream (deterioration of exposure levels) the urban area of Paris (France). Both modifications of Cu community tolerance levels and of global bacterial and eukaryotic community structure using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) fingerprints were examined 15 and 30 days after the transplantation. Cu tolerance levels of the heterotrophic component of biofilms were assessed using a short-term toxicity test based on β-glucosidase (heterotrophic) activity. Cu tolerance increased for biofilms transplanted upstream to downstream Paris (5-fold increase on day 30) and conversely decreased for biofilms transplanted downstream to upstream (8-fold decrease on day 30). ARISA fingerprints revealed that bacterial and eukaryotic community structures of transplanted biofilms were closer to the structures of biofilms from the transplantation sites (or sites with similar contamination levels) than to biofilms from their sites of origin. Statistical analysis of the data confirmed that the key factor explaining biofilm Cu tolerance levels is the sampling site and not the site of origin. It also showed that Cu tolerance levels are related to the global urban contamination (both metals and nutrients). The study shows that biofilms adapt fast to modifications of their surroundings. In particular, community tolerance varies quickly and reflects the new exposure levels only 15

Controlled comparison of species- and community-level models across novel climates and communities

Science.gov (United States)

Maguire, Kaitlin C.; Blois, Jessica L.; Fitzpatrick, Matthew C.; Williams, John W.; Ferrier, Simon; Lorenz, David J.

2016-01-01

Species distribution models (SDMs) assume species exist in isolation and do not influence one another's distributions, thus potentially limiting their ability to predict biodiversity patterns. Community-level models (CLMs) capitalize on species co-occurrences to fit shared environmental responses of species and communities, and therefore may result in more robust and transferable models. Here, we conduct a controlled comparison of five paired SDMs and CLMs across changing climates, using palaeoclimatic simulations and fossil-pollen records of eastern North America for the past 21 000 years. Both SDMs and CLMs performed poorly when projected to time periods that are temporally distant and climatically dissimilar from those in which they were fit; however, CLMs generally outperformed SDMs in these instances, especially when models were fit with sparse calibration datasets. Additionally, CLMs did not over-fit training data, unlike SDMs. The expected emergence of novel climates presents a major forecasting challenge for all models, but CLMs may better rise to this challenge by borrowing information from co-occurring taxa. PMID:26962143

Multi-Level Interval Estimation for Locating damage in Structures by Using Artificial Neural Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Danguang; Gao Yanhua; Song Junlei

2010-01-01

A new analysis technique, called multi-level interval estimation method, is developed for locating damage in structures. In this method, the artificial neural networks (ANN) analysis method is combined with the statistics theory to estimate the range of damage location. The ANN is multilayer perceptron trained by back-propagation. Natural frequencies and modal shape at a few selected points are used as input to identify the location and severity of damage. Considering the large-scale structures which have lots of elements, multi-level interval estimation method is developed to reduce the estimation range of damage location step-by-step. Every step, estimation range of damage location is obtained from the output of ANN by using the method of interval estimation. The next ANN training cases are selected from the estimation range after linear transform, and the output of new ANN estimation range of damage location will gained a reduced estimation range. Two numerical example analyses on 10-bar truss and 100-bar truss are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A reconciled estimate of glacier contributions to sea level rise: 2003 to 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Alex S; Moholdt, Geir; Cogley, J Graham; Wouters, Bert; Arendt, Anthony A; Wahr, John; Berthier, Etienne; Hock, Regine; Pfeffer, W Tad; Kaser, Georg; Ligtenberg, Stefan R M; Bolch, Tobias; Sharp, Martin J; Hagen, Jon Ove; van den Broeke, Michiel R; Paul, Frank

2013-05-17

Glaciers distinct from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are losing large amounts of water to the world's oceans. However, estimates of their contribution to sea level rise disagree. We provide a consensus estimate by standardizing existing, and creating new, mass-budget estimates from satellite gravimetry and altimetry and from local glaciological records. In many regions, local measurements are more negative than satellite-based estimates. All regions lost mass during 2003-2009, with the largest losses from Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes, and high-mountain Asia, but there was little loss from glaciers in Antarctica. Over this period, the global mass budget was -259 ± 28 gigatons per year, equivalent to the combined loss from both ice sheets and accounting for 29 ± 13% of the observed sea level rise.

Power estimation on functional level for programmable processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schneider

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Verlustleistungsschätzung von programmierbaren Prozessoren vorgestellt und bezüglich ihrer Übertragbarkeit auf moderne Prozessor-Architekturen wie beispielsweise Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW-Architekturen bewertet. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt hierbei auf dem Konzept der sogenannten Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA. Dieser Ansatz basiert auf der Einteilung der Prozessor-Architektur in funktionale Blöcke wie beispielsweise Processing-Unit, Clock-Netzwerk, interner Speicher und andere. Die Verlustleistungsaufnahme dieser Bl¨ocke wird parameterabhängig durch arithmetische Modellfunktionen beschrieben. Durch automatisierte Analyse von Assemblercodes des zu schätzenden Systems mittels eines Parsers können die Eingangsparameter wie beispielsweise der erzielte Parallelitätsgrad oder die Art des Speicherzugriffs gewonnen werden. Dieser Ansatz wird am Beispiel zweier moderner digitaler Signalprozessoren durch eine Vielzahl von Basis-Algorithmen der digitalen Signalverarbeitung evaluiert. Die ermittelten Schätzwerte für die einzelnen Algorithmen werden dabei mit physikalisch gemessenen Werten verglichen. Es ergibt sich ein sehr kleiner maximaler Schätzfehler von 3%. In this contribution different approaches for power estimation for programmable processors are presented and evaluated concerning their capability to be applied to modern digital signal processor architectures like e.g. Very Long InstructionWord (VLIW -architectures. Special emphasis will be laid on the concept of so-called Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA. This approach is based on the separation of the processor architecture into functional blocks like e.g. processing unit, clock network, internal memory and others. The power consumption of these blocks is described by parameter dependent arithmetic model functions. By application of a parser based automized analysis of assembler codes of the systems to be estimated

Power estimation on functional level for programmable processors

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, M.; Blume, H.; Noll, T. G.

2004-05-01

In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Verlustleistungsschätzung von programmierbaren Prozessoren vorgestellt und bezüglich ihrer Übertragbarkeit auf moderne Prozessor-Architekturen wie beispielsweise Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW)-Architekturen bewertet. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt hierbei auf dem Konzept der sogenannten Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA). Dieser Ansatz basiert auf der Einteilung der Prozessor-Architektur in funktionale Blöcke wie beispielsweise Processing-Unit, Clock-Netzwerk, interner Speicher und andere. Die Verlustleistungsaufnahme dieser Bl¨ocke wird parameterabhängig durch arithmetische Modellfunktionen beschrieben. Durch automatisierte Analyse von Assemblercodes des zu schätzenden Systems mittels eines Parsers können die Eingangsparameter wie beispielsweise der erzielte Parallelitätsgrad oder die Art des Speicherzugriffs gewonnen werden. Dieser Ansatz wird am Beispiel zweier moderner digitaler Signalprozessoren durch eine Vielzahl von Basis-Algorithmen der digitalen Signalverarbeitung evaluiert. Die ermittelten Schätzwerte für die einzelnen Algorithmen werden dabei mit physikalisch gemessenen Werten verglichen. Es ergibt sich ein sehr kleiner maximaler Schätzfehler von 3%. In this contribution different approaches for power estimation for programmable processors are presented and evaluated concerning their capability to be applied to modern digital signal processor architectures like e.g. Very Long InstructionWord (VLIW) -architectures. Special emphasis will be laid on the concept of so-called Functional-Level Power Analysis (FLPA). This approach is based on the separation of the processor architecture into functional blocks like e.g. processing unit, clock network, internal memory and others. The power consumption of these blocks is described by parameter dependent arithmetic model functions. By application of a parser based automized analysis of assembler codes of the systems to be estimated the input

Community-Level Characteristics Associated With Variation in Rates of Homelessness Among Families and Single Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Fargo, Jamison D.; Munley, Ellen A.; Byrne, Thomas H.; Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth; Culhane, Dennis P.

2013-01-01

Objectives. We modeled rates of family and single-adult homelessness in the United States in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions and as a function of community-level demographic, behavioral, health, economic, and safety net characteristics. Methods. We entered community-level characteristics and US Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time counts for a single night in January 2009 into separate mixed-effects statistical analyses that modeled homelessness rates for 4 subpopulations: families and single adults in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions. Results. Community-level factors accounted for 25% to 50% of the variance in homelessness rates across models. In metropolitan regions, alcohol consumption, social support, and several economic indicators were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and drug use and homicide were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. In nonmetropolitan regions, life expectancy, religious adherence, unemployment, and rent burden were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and health care access, crime, several economic indicators, and receipt of Supplemental Security Income were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. Conclusions. Considering homeless families and single adults separately enabled more precise modeling of associations between homelessness rates and community-level characteristics, indicating targets for interventions to reduce homelessness among these subpopulations. PMID:24148057

Community-level characteristics associated with variation in rates of homelessness among families and single adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Fargo, Jamison D; Munley, Ellen A; Byrne, Thomas H; Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth; Culhane, Dennis P

2013-12-01

We modeled rates of family and single-adult homelessness in the United States in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions and as a function of community-level demographic, behavioral, health, economic, and safety net characteristics. We entered community-level characteristics and US Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time counts for a single night in January 2009 into separate mixed-effects statistical analyses that modeled homelessness rates for 4 subpopulations: families and single adults in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions. Community-level factors accounted for 25% to 50% of the variance in homelessness rates across models. In metropolitan regions, alcohol consumption, social support, and several economic indicators were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and drug use and homicide were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. In nonmetropolitan regions, life expectancy, religious adherence, unemployment, and rent burden were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and health care access, crime, several economic indicators, and receipt of Supplemental Security Income were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. Considering homeless families and single adults separately enabled more precise modeling of associations between homelessness rates and community-level characteristics, indicating targets for interventions to reduce homelessness among these subpopulations.

Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) study protocol: a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach to measuring community-level factors influencing early child development in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldfeld, Sharon; Villanueva, Karen; Tanton, Robert; Katz, Ilan; Brinkman, Sally; Woolcock, Geoffrey; Giles-Corti, Billie

2017-03-13

Healthy childhood development in the early years is critical for later adult health and well-being. Early childhood development (ECD) research has focused primarily on individual, family and school factors, but largely ignored community factors. The Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) will test and investigate community-level influences on child development across Australia. Cross-sectional mixed-methods study exploring community-level effects in 25 Australian local communities; selection based on community socioeconomic status (SES) and ECD using the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), a population measure of child development, to create a local community 'diagonality type', that is, those performing better or worse (off-diagonal), or as expected (on-diagonal) on the AEDC relative to their SES. Data collection includes stakeholder interviews, parent and service provider focus groups, and surveys with general community residents and service providers, mapping of neighbourhood design and local amenities and services, analysis of policy documents, and the use of existing sociodemographic and early childhood education and care data. Quantitative data will be used to test associations between local community diagonality type, and ECD based on AEDC scores. Qualitative data will provide complementary and deeper exploration of these same associations. The Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study protocol (#30016). Further ethics approvals were obtained from State Education and Health departments and Catholic archdioceses where required. ECD community-level indicators will eventually be derived and made publically available. Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, community reports, websites and policy briefs to disseminate results to researchers, and key stakeholders including policymakers, practitioners and (most importantly) the communities involved. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to

Estimates of state-level health-care expenditures associated with disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Wayne L; Armour, Brian S; Finkelstein, Eric A; Wiener, Joshua M

2010-01-01

We estimated state-level disability-associated health-care expenditures (DAHE) for the U.S. adult population. We used a two-part model to estimate DAHE for the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian adult population using data from the 2002-2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and state-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Administrative data for people in institutions were added to generate estimates for the total adult noninstitutionalized population. Individual-level data on total health-care expenditures along with demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, and payer characteristics were used in the models. The DAHE for all U.S. adults totaled $397.8 billion in 2006, with state expenditures ranging from $598 million in Wyoming to $40.1 billion in New York. Of the national total, the DAHE were $118.9 billion for the Medicare population, $161.1 billion for Medicaid recipients, and $117.8 billion for the privately insured and uninsured populations. For the total U.S. adult population, 26.7% of health-care expenditures were associated with disability, with proportions by state ranging from 16.9% in Hawaii to 32.8% in New York. This proportion varied greatly by payer, with 38.1% for Medicare expenditures, 68.7% for Medicaid expenditures, and 12.5% for nonpublic health-care expenditures associated with disability. DAHE vary greatly by state and are borne largely by the public sector, and particularly by Medicaid. Policy makers need to consider initiatives that will help reduce the prevalence of disabilities and disability-related health disparities, as well as improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Estimating pharmacy level prescription drug acquisition costs for third-party reimbursement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreling, D H; Kirk, K W

1986-07-01

Accurate payment for the acquisition costs of drug products dispensed is an important consideration in a third-party prescription drug program. Two alternative methods of estimating these costs among pharmacies were derived and compared. First, pharmacists were surveyed to determine the purchase discounts offered to them by wholesalers. A 10.00% modal and 11.35% mean discount resulted for 73 responding pharmacists. Second, cost-plus percents derived from gross profit margins of wholesalers were calculated and applied to wholesaler product costs to estimate pharmacy level acquisition costs. Cost-plus percents derived from National Median and Southwestern Region wholesaler figures were 9.27% and 10.10%, respectively. A comparison showed the two methods of estimating acquisition costs would result in similar acquisition cost estimates. Adopting a cost-plus estimating approach is recommended because it avoids potential pricing manipulations by wholesalers and manufacturers that would negate improvements in drug product reimbursement accuracy.

Development of a matrix approach to estimate soil clean-up levels for BTEX compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erbas-White, I.; San Juan, C.

1993-01-01

A draft state-of-the-art matrix approach has been developed for the State of Washington to estimate clean-up levels for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) in deep soils based on an endangerment approach to groundwater. Derived soil clean-up levels are estimated using a combination of two computer models, MULTIMED and VLEACH. The matrix uses a simple scoring system that is used to assign a score at a given site based on the parameters such as depth to groundwater, mean annual precipitation, type of soil, distance to potential groundwater receptor and the volume of contaminated soil. The total score is then used to obtain a soil clean-up level from a table. The general approach used involves the utilization of computer models to back-calculate soil contaminant levels in the vadose zone that would create that particular contaminant concentration in groundwater at a given receptor. This usually takes a few iterations of trial runs to estimate the clean-up levels since the models use the soil clean-up levels as ''input'' and the groundwater levels as ''output.'' The selected contaminant levels in groundwater are Model Toxic control Act (MTCA) values used in the State of Washington

Global, regional and national levels and trends of preterm birth rates for 1990 to 2014: protocol for development of World Health Organization estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Joshua P; Chawanpaiboon, Saifon; Watananirun, Kanokwaroon; Lumbiganon, Pisake; Petzold, Max; Moller, Ann-Beth; Thinkhamrop, Jadsada; Laopaiboon, Malinee; Seuc, Armando H; Hogan, Daniel; Tunçalp, Ozge; Allanson, Emma; Betrán, Ana Pilar; Bonet, Mercedes; Oladapo, Olufemi T; Gülmezoglu, A Metin

2016-06-17

The official WHO estimates of preterm birth are an essential global resource for assessing the burden of preterm birth and developing public health programmes and policies. This protocol describes the methods that will be used to identify, critically appraise and analyse all eligible preterm birth data, in order to develop global, regional and national level estimates of levels and trends in preterm birth rates for the period 1990 - 2014. We will conduct a systematic review of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) data on preterm birth for all WHO Member States, via national Ministries of Health and Statistics Offices. For Member States with absent, limited or lower-quality CRVS data, a systematic review of surveys and/or research studies will be conducted. Modelling will be used to develop country, regional and global rates for 2014, with time trends for Member States where sufficient data are available. Member States will be invited to review the methodology and provide additional eligible data via a country consultation before final estimates are developed and disseminated. This research will be used to generate estimates on the burden of preterm birth globally for 1990 to 2014. We invite feedback on the methodology described, and call on the public health community to submit pertinent data for consideration. Registered at PROSPERO CRD42015027439 CONTACT: pretermbirth@who.int.

Analytical model for real time, noninvasive estimation of blood glucose level.

Science.gov (United States)

Adhyapak, Anoop; Sidley, Matthew; Venkataraman, Jayanti

2014-01-01

The paper presents an analytical model to estimate blood glucose level from measurements made non-invasively and in real time by an antenna strapped to a patient's wrist. Some promising success has been shown by the RIT ETA Lab research group that an antenna's resonant frequency can track, in real time, changes in glucose concentration. Based on an in-vitro study of blood samples of diabetic patients, the paper presents a modified Cole-Cole model that incorporates a factor to represent the change in glucose level. A calibration technique using the input impedance technique is discussed and the results show a good estimation as compared to the glucose meter readings. An alternate calibration methodology has been developed that is based on the shift in the antenna resonant frequency using an equivalent circuit model containing a shunt capacitor to represent the shift in resonant frequency with changing glucose levels. Work under progress is the optimization of the technique with a larger sample of patients.

Estimating absolute sea level variations by combining GNSS and Tide gauge data

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Bos, M.S.; Fernandes, R.M.S; Vethamony, P.; Mehra, P.

Indian tide gauges can be used to estimate sea level rise. To separate relative sea level rise from vertical land motion at the tide gauges, various GNSS stations have been installed in the last years at, or nearby, tide gauges. Using the PSMSL...

An individual-level meta-analysis assessing the impact of community-level sanitation access on child stunting, anemia, and diarrhea: Evidence from DHS and MICS surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, David A; Grisham, Thomas; Slawsky, Erik; Narine, Lutchmie

2017-06-01

A lack of access to sanitation is an important risk factor child health, facilitating fecal-oral transmission of pathogens including soil-transmitted helminthes and various causes of diarrheal disease. We conducted a meta-analysis of cross-sectional surveys to determine the impact that community-level sanitation access has on child health for children with and without household sanitation access. Using 301 two-stage demographic health surveys and multiple indicator cluster surveys conducted between 1990 and 2015 we calculated the sanitation access in the community as the proportion of households in the sampled cluster that had household access to any type of sanitation facility. We then conducted exact matching of children based on various predictors of living in a community with high access to sanitation. Using logistic regression with the matched group as a random intercept we examined the association between the child health outcomes of stunted growth, any anemia, moderate or severe anemia, and diarrhea in the previous two weeks and the exposure of living in a community with varying degrees of community-level sanitation access. For children with household-level sanitation access, living in a community with 100% sanitation access was associated with lowered odds of stunting (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.97, 95%; confidence interval (CI) = 0.94-1.00; n = 14,153 matched groups, 1,175,167 children), any anemia (AOR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.67-0.78; n = 5,319 matched groups, 299,033 children), moderate or severe anemia (AOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.68-0.77; n = 5,319 matched groups, 299,033 children) and diarrhea (AOR = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.91-0.97); n = 16,379 matched groups, 1,603,731 children) compared to living in a community with sanitation access. For children without household-level sanitation access, living in communities with 0% sanitation access was associated with higher odds of stunting (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02-1.06; n = 14,153 matched groups, 1,175,167 children), any

Mercury content in Chilean fish and estimated intake levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortes, Sandra; Fortt, Antonia

2007-09-01

The intake of fish products is a major public health concern due to possible methyl mercury exposure, which is especially toxic to the human nervous system. This pilot study (n = 46) was designed to determine mercury concentrations in fish products for national consumption (Chilean jack mackerel, hake, Chilean mussel, tuna) and for export (salmon, Patagonian toothfish, swordfish, southern hake), and to estimate the exposure of the general population. The fish products were collected from markets in Talcahuano, Puerto Montt and Santiago. Samples were analyzed at the National Environmental Center by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Mercury levels in swordfish and one canned tuna sample exceeded levels prescribed by national and international standards. The remaining two export products (Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, and salmon) complied with international limits, which are more demanding than Chilean regulations. Theoretical estimates of mercury intake varied from 0.08 to 3.8 microg kg(-1) bw day(-1) for high fish consumers, exceeding the provisional tolerable intake for tuna, Chilean seabass, Chilean jack mackerel and swordfish. This group appears to be at the greatest risk from mercury contamination among the Chilean population.

Assessment of Damage and Adaptation Strategies for Structures and Infrastructure from Storm Surge and Sea Level Rise for a Coastal Community in Rhode Island, United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Small

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an evaluation of inundation, erosion, and wave damage for a coastal community in Rhode Island, USA. A methodology called the Coastal Environmental Risk Index (CERI was used that incorporates levels of inundation including sea level rise, wave heights using STWAVE, and detailed information about individual structures from an E911 database. This information was input into damage functions developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following Hurricane Sandy. Damage from erosion was evaluated separately from local published erosion rates. Using CERI, two different adaptation strategies were evaluated that included a combination of dune restoration, protective berms, and a tide gate. A total of 151 out of 708 structures were estimated to be protected from inundation and wave action by the combined measures. More importantly, the use of CERI allowed for the assessment of the impact of different adaptation strategies on both individual structures and an entire community in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS environment. This tool shows promise for use by coastal managers to assess damage and mitigate risk to coastal communities.

Urinary fumonisin B1 and estimated fumonisin intake in women from high- and low-exposure communities in Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Olga; Matute, Jorge; Gelineau-van Waes, Janee; Maddox, Joyce R; Gregory, Simon G; Ashley-Koch, Allison E; Showker, Jency L; Zitomer, Nicholas C; Voss, Kenneth A; Riley, Ronald T

2014-05-01

Fumonisin (FB) intake can be high when maize is a dietary staple. We determined (i) urinary FB (UFB) in women consuming maize in high- and low-exposure communities in Guatemala, (ii) the FB levels in maize, (iii) the relationship between UFB and FB intake, and (iv) the relative excretion of UFB1 , UFB2 , and UFB3 . Urine and maize were analyzed for FB for 1 year in three departments. Maize consumption was estimated by an interview questionnaire. Fumonisin B1 , B2 , and B3 (FB1 , FB2 and FB3 ), were detected in 100% of maize samples. FB1 in maize and urine was significantly higher in Jutiapa compared to Chimaltenango or Escuintla. The FB intake paralleled UFB1 in a dose-dependent manner but UFB1 was present in much higher levels than UFB2 or UFB3 compared to maize. In Jutiapa, agroecological conditions favored FB production. UFB1 mirrored the estimated FB intake. UFB1 > 0.1 ng/mL resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the risk of exceeding FB intake of 2 μg/kg b.w./day compared to women with no detectable UFB1 . More than 50% exceeded 2 μg/kg b.w./day when UFB1 was >0.5 ng/mL. UFB2 and UFB3 were rarely detected confirming that FB1 is either absorbed better or preferentially excreted in urine. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Performance of small cluster surveys and the clustered LQAS design to estimate local-level vaccination coverage in Mali

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Minetti Andrea

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Estimation of vaccination coverage at the local level is essential to identify communities that may require additional support. Cluster surveys can be used in resource-poor settings, when population figures are inaccurate. To be feasible, cluster samples need to be small, without losing robustness of results. The clustered LQAS (CLQAS approach has been proposed as an alternative, as smaller sample sizes are required. Methods We explored (i the efficiency of cluster surveys of decreasing sample size through bootstrapping analysis and (ii the performance of CLQAS under three alternative sampling plans to classify local VC, using data from a survey carried out in Mali after mass vaccination against meningococcal meningitis group A. Results VC estimates provided by a 10 × 15 cluster survey design were reasonably robust. We used them to classify health areas in three categories and guide mop-up activities: i health areas not requiring supplemental activities; ii health areas requiring additional vaccination; iii health areas requiring further evaluation. As sample size decreased (from 10 × 15 to 10 × 3, standard error of VC and ICC estimates were increasingly unstable. Results of CLQAS simulations were not accurate for most health areas, with an overall risk of misclassification greater than 0.25 in one health area out of three. It was greater than 0.50 in one health area out of two under two of the three sampling plans. Conclusions Small sample cluster surveys (10 × 15 are acceptably robust for classification of VC at local level. We do not recommend the CLQAS method as currently formulated for evaluating vaccination programmes.

Bacterial Communities in Malagasy Soils with Differing Levels of Disturbance Affecting Botanical Diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Blasiak, Leah C.; Schmidt, Alex W.; Andriamiarinoro, Honoré; Mulaw, Temesgen; Rasolomampianina, Rado; Applequist, Wendy L.; Birkinshaw, Chris; Rejo-Fienena, Félicitée; Lowry, Porter P.; Schmidt, Thomas M.; Hill, Russell T.

2014-01-01

Madagascar is well-known for the exceptional biodiversity of its macro-flora and fauna, but the biodiversity of Malagasy microbial communities remains relatively unexplored. Understanding patterns of bacterial diversity in soil and their correlations with above-ground botanical diversity could influence conservation planning as well as sampling strategies to maximize access to bacterially derived natural products. We present the first detailed description of Malagasy soil bacterial communities from a targeted 16S rRNA gene survey of greater than 290,000 sequences generated using 454 pyrosequencing. Two sampling plots in each of three forest conservation areas were established to represent different levels of disturbance resulting from human impact through agriculture and selective exploitation of trees, as well as from natural impacts of cyclones. In parallel, we performed an in-depth characterization of the total vascular plant morphospecies richness within each plot. The plots representing different levels of disturbance within each forest did not differ significantly in bacterial diversity or richness. Changes in bacterial community composition were largest between forests rather than between different levels of impact within a forest. The largest difference in bacterial community composition with disturbance was observed at the Vohibe forest conservation area, and this difference was correlated with changes in both vascular plant richness and soil pH. These results provide the first survey of Malagasy soil bacterial diversity and establish a baseline of botanical diversity within important conservation areas. PMID:24465484

Observations and estimates of wave-driven water level extremes at the Marshall Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Merrifield, M. A.; Becker, J. M.; Ford, M.; Yao, Y.

2014-10-01

Wave-driven extreme water levels are examined for coastlines protected by fringing reefs using field observations obtained in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The 2% exceedence water level near the shoreline due to waves is estimated empirically for the study sites from breaking wave height at the outer reef and by combining separate contributions from setup, sea and swell, and infragravity waves, which are estimated based on breaking wave height and water level over the reef flat. Although each component exhibits a tidal dependence, they sum to yield a 2% exceedence level that does not. A hindcast based on the breaking wave height parameterization is used to assess factors leading to flooding at Roi-Namur caused by an energetic swell event during December 2008. Extreme water levels similar to December 2008 are projected to increase significantly with rising sea level as more wave and tide events combine to exceed inundation threshold levels.

Molecular pathology and age estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Meissner, Christoph; Ritz-Timme, Stefanie

2010-12-15

Over the course of our lifetime a stochastic process leads to gradual alterations of biomolecules on the molecular level, a process that is called ageing. Important changes are observed on the DNA-level as well as on the protein level and are the cause and/or consequence of our 'molecular clock', influenced by genetic as well as environmental parameters. These alterations on the molecular level may aid in forensic medicine to estimate the age of a living person, a dead body or even skeletal remains for identification purposes. Four such important alterations have become the focus of molecular age estimation in the forensic community over the last two decades. The age-dependent accumulation of the 4977bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA and the attrition of telomeres along with ageing are two important processes at the DNA-level. Among a variety of protein alterations, the racemisation of aspartic acid and advanced glycation endproducs have already been tested for forensic applications. At the moment the racemisation of aspartic acid represents the pinnacle of molecular age estimation for three reasons: an excellent standardization of sampling and methods, an evaluation of different variables in many published studies and highest accuracy of results. The three other mentioned alterations often lack standardized procedures, published data are sparse and often have the character of pilot studies. Nevertheless it is important to evaluate molecular methods for their suitability in forensic age estimation, because supplementary methods will help to extend and refine accuracy and reliability of such estimates. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Making sense of climate change risks and responses at the community level: A cultural-political lens

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Ainka A. Granderson

2014-01-01

Full Text Available How to better assess, communicate and respond to risks from climate change at the community level have emerged as key questions within climate risk management. Recent research to address these questions centres largely on psychological factors, exploring how cognition and emotion lead to biases in risk assessment. Yet, making sense of climate change and its responses at the community level demands attention to the cultural and political processes that shape how risk is conceived, prioritized and managed. I review the emergent literature on risk perceptions and responses to climate change using a cultural-political lens. This lens highlights how knowledge, meaning and power are produced and negotiated across multiple stakeholders at the community level. It draws attention to the different ways of constructing climate change risks and suggests an array of responses at the community level. It further illustrates how different constructions of risk intersect with agency and power to shape the capacity for response and collective action. What matters are whose constructions of risk, and whose responses, count in decision-making. I argue for greater engagement with the interpretive social sciences in research, practice and policy. The interpretive social sciences offer theories and tools for capturing and problematising the ways of knowing, sense-making and mobilising around risks from climate change. I also highlight the importance of participatory approaches in incorporating the multiplicity of interests at the community level into climate risk management in fair, transparent and culturally appropriate ways.

Quantifying human response capabilities towards tsunami threats at community level

Science.gov (United States)

Post, J.; Mück, M.; Zosseder, K.; Wegscheider, S.; Taubenböck, H.; Strunz, G.; Muhari, A.; Anwar, H. Z.; Birkmann, J.; Gebert, N.

2009-04-01

Decision makers at the community level need detailed information on tsunami risks in their area. Knowledge on potential hazard impact, exposed elements such as people, critical facilities and lifelines, people's coping capacity and recovery potential are crucial to plan precautionary measures for adaptation and to mitigate potential impacts of tsunamis on society and the environment. A crucial point within a people-centred tsunami risk assessment is to quantify the human response capabilities towards tsunami threats. Based on this quantification and spatial representation in maps tsunami affected and safe areas, difficult-to-evacuate areas, evacuation target points and evacuation routes can be assigned and used as an important contribution to e.g. community level evacuation planning. Major component in the quantification of human response capabilities towards tsunami impacts is the factor time. The human response capabilities depend on the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a tsunami, the time until technical or natural warning signs (ToNW) can be received, the reaction time (RT) of the population (human understanding of a tsunami warning and the decision to take appropriate action), the evacuation time (ET, time people need to reach a safe area) and the actual available response time (RsT = ETA - ToNW - RT). If RsT is larger than ET, people in the respective areas are able to reach a safe area and rescue themselves. Critical areas possess RsT values equal or even smaller ET and hence people whin these areas will be directly affected by a tsunami. Quantifying the factor time is challenging and an attempt to this is presented here. The ETA can be derived by analyzing pre-computed tsunami scenarios for a respective area. For ToNW we assume that the early warning center is able to fulfil the Indonesian presidential decree to issue a warning within 5 minutes. RT is difficult as here human intrinsic factors as educational level, believe, tsunami knowledge and experience

Simultaneous estimation of lithospheric uplift rates and absolute sea level change in southwest Scandinavia from inversion of sea level data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Lars; Hansen, Jens Morten; Hede, Mikkel Ulfeldt

2014-01-01

the relative sea level data. Similar independent data do not exist for ancient times. The purpose of this study is to test two simple inversion approaches for simultaneous estimation of lithospheric uplift rates and absolute sea level change rates for ancient times in areas where a dense coverage of relative...... sea level data exists and well-constrained average lithospheric movement values are known from, for example glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models. The inversion approaches are tested and used for simultaneous estimation of lithospheric uplift rates and absolute sea level change rates in southwest...... Scandinavia from modern relative sea level data series that cover the period from 1900 to 2000. In both approaches, a priori information is required to solve the inverse problem. A priori information about the average vertical lithospheric movement in the area of interest is critical for the quality...

Noise level estimation in weakly nonlinear slowly time-varying systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aerts, J R M; Dirckx, J J J; Lataire, J; Pintelon, R

2008-01-01

Recently, a method using multisine excitation was proposed for estimating the frequency response, the nonlinear distortions and the disturbing noise of weakly nonlinear time-invariant systems. This method has been demonstrated on the measurement of nonlinear distortions in the vibration of acoustically driven systems such as a latex membrane, which is a good example of a time-invariant system [1]. However, not all systems are perfectly time invariant, e.g. biomechanical systems. This time variation can be misinterpreted as an elevated noise floor, and the classical noise estimation method gives a wrong result. Two improved methods to retrieve the correct noise information from the measurements are presented. Both of them make use of multisine excitations. First, it is demonstrated that the improved methods give the same result as the classical noise estimation method when applied to a time-invariant system (high-quality microphone membrane). Next, it is demonstrated that the new methods clearly give an improved estimate of the noise level on time-varying systems. As an application example results for the vibration response of an eardrum are shown

Evaluation of noise pollution level based upon community exposure and response data

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Edmiston, R. D.

1972-01-01

The results and procedures are reported from an evaluation of noise pollution level as a predictor of annoyance, based on aircraft noise exposure and community response data. The measures of noise exposure presented include composite noise rating, noise exposure forecast, noise and number index. A proposed measure as a universal noise exposure measure for noise pollution level (L sub NP) is discussed.

Natural Length Scales of Ecological Systems: Applications at Community and Ecosystem Levels

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Craig R. Johnson

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The characteristic, or natural, length scales of a spatially dynamic ecological landscape are the spatial scales at which the deterministic trends in the dynamic are most sharply in focus. Given recent development of techniques to determine the characteristic length scales (CLSs of real ecological systems, I explore the potential for using CLSs to address three important and vexing issues in applied ecology, viz. (i determining the optimum scales to monitor ecological systems, (ii interpreting change in ecological communities, and (iii ascertaining connectivity between species in complex ecologies. In summarizing the concept of characteristic length scales as system-level scaling thresholds, I emphasize that the primary CLS is, by definition, the optimum scale at which to monitor a system if the objective is to observe its deterministic dynamics at a system level. Using several different spatially explicit individual-based models, I then explore predictions of the underlying theory of CLSs in the context of interpreting change and ascertaining connectivity among species in ecological systems. Analysis of these models support predictions that systems with strongly fluctuating community structure, but an otherwise stable long-term dynamic defined by a stationary attractor, indicate an invariant length scale irrespective of community structure at the time of analysis, and irrespective of the species analyzed. In contrast, if changes in the underlying dynamic are forcibly induced, the shift in dynamics is reflected by a change in the primary length scale. Thus, consideration of the magnitude of the CLS through time enables distinguishing between circumstances where there are temporal changes in community structure but not in the long-term dynamic, from that where changes in community structure reflect some kind of fundamental shift in dynamics. In this context, CLSs emerge as a diagnostic tool to identify phase shifts to alternative stable states

Community-wide intervention and population-level physical activity: a 5-year cluster randomized trial

Science.gov (United States)

Kamada, Masamitsu; Kitayuguchi, Jun; Abe, Takafumi; Taguri, Masataka; Inoue, Shigeru; Ishikawa, Yoshiki; Bauman, Adrian; Lee, I-Min; Miyachi, Motohiko; Kawachi, Ichiro

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Evidence from a limited number of short-term trials indicates the difficulty in achieving population-level improvements in physical activity (PA) through community-wide interventions (CWIs). We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a 5-year CWI for promoting PA in middle-aged and older adults using a cluster randomized design. Methods We randomized 12 communities in Unnan, Japan, to either intervention (9) or control (3). Additionally, intervention communities were randomly allocated to three subgroups by different PA types promoted. Randomly sampled residents aged 40–79 years responded to the baseline survey (n = 4414; 74%) and were followed at 1, 3 and 5 years (78–83% response rate). The intervention was a 5-year CWI using social marketing to promote PA. The primary outcome was a change in recommended levels of PA. Results Compared with control communities, adults achieving recommended levels of PA increased in intervention communities [adjusted change difference = 4.6 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 0.4, 8.8)]. The intervention was effective for promoting all types of recommended PAs, i.e. aerobic (walking, 6.4%), flexibility (6.1%) and muscle-strengthening activities (5.7%). However, a bundled approach, which attempted to promote all forms of PAs above simultaneously, was not effective (1.3–3.4%, P ≥ 0.138). Linear dose–response relationships between the CWI awareness and changes in PA were observed (P ≤ 0.02). Pain intensity decreased in shoulder (intervention and control) and lower back (intervention only) but there was little change difference in all musculoskeletal pain outcomes between the groups. Conclusions The 5-year CWI using the focused social marketing strategy increased the population-level of PA. PMID:29228255

Bracken: estimating species abundance in metagenomics data

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Jennifer Lu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Metagenomic experiments attempt to characterize microbial communities using high-throughput DNA sequencing. Identification of the microorganisms in a sample provides information about the genetic profile, population structure, and role of microorganisms within an environment. Until recently, most metagenomics studies focused on high-level characterization at the level of phyla, or alternatively sequenced the 16S ribosomal RNA gene that is present in bacterial species. As the cost of sequencing has fallen, though, metagenomics experiments have increasingly used unbiased shotgun sequencing to capture all the organisms in a sample. This approach requires a method for estimating abundance directly from the raw read data. Here we describe a fast, accurate new method that computes the abundance at the species level using the reads collected in a metagenomics experiment. Bracken (Bayesian Reestimation of Abundance after Classification with KrakEN uses the taxonomic assignments made by Kraken, a very fast read-level classifier, along with information about the genomes themselves to estimate abundance at the species level, the genus level, or above. We demonstrate that Bracken can produce accurate species- and genus-level abundance estimates even when a sample contains multiple near-identical species.

Consistent estimate of ocean warming, land ice melt and sea level rise from Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Blazquez, Alejandro; Meyssignac, Benoît; Lemoine, Jean Michel

2016-04-01

Based on the sea level budget closure approach, this study investigates the consistency of observed Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) estimates from satellite altimetry, observed Ocean Thermal Expansion (OTE) estimates from in-situ hydrographic data (based on Argo for depth above 2000m and oceanic cruises below) and GRACE observations of land water storage and land ice melt for the period January 2004 to December 2014. The consistency between these datasets is a key issue if we want to constrain missing contributions to sea level rise such as the deep ocean contribution. Numerous previous studies have addressed this question by summing up the different contributions to sea level rise and comparing it to satellite altimetry observations (see for example Llovel et al. 2015, Dieng et al. 2015). Here we propose a novel approach which consists in correcting GRACE solutions over the ocean (essentially corrections of stripes and leakage from ice caps) with mass observations deduced from the difference between satellite altimetry GMSL and in-situ hydrographic data OTE estimates. We check that the resulting GRACE corrected solutions are consistent with original GRACE estimates of the geoid spherical harmonic coefficients within error bars and we compare the resulting GRACE estimates of land water storage and land ice melt with independent results from the literature. This method provides a new mass redistribution from GRACE consistent with observations from Altimetry and OTE. We test the sensibility of this method to the deep ocean contribution and the GIA models and propose best estimates.

Bias in estimating the cross-sectional smoking, alcohol, obesity and diabetes associations with moderate-severe periodontitis in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study: comparison of full versus partial-mouth estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Akinkugbe, Aderonke A; Saraiya, Veeral M; Preisser, John S; Offenbacher, Steven; Beck, James D

2015-07-01

To assess whether partial-mouth protocols (PRPs) result in biased estimates of the associations between smoking, alcohol, obesity and diabetes with periodontitis. Using a sample (n = 6129) of the 1996-1998 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, we used measures of probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level to identify moderate-severe periodontitis. Adjusting for confounders, unconditional binary logistic regression estimated prevalence odds ratios (POR) and 95% confidence limits. Specifically, we compared POR for smoking, alcohol, obesity and diabetes with periodontitis derived from full-mouth to those derived from 4-PRPs (Ramfjörd, National Health and Nutrition Examination survey-III, modified-NHANES-IV and 42-site-Random-site selection-method). Finally, we conducted a simple sensitivity analysis of periodontitis misclassification by changing the case definition threshold for each PRP. In comparison to full-mouth PORs, PRP PORs were biased in terms of magnitude and direction. Holding the full-mouth case definition at moderate-severe periodontitis and setting it at mild-moderate-severe for the PRPs did not consistently produce POR estimates that were either biased towards or away from the null in comparison to full-mouth estimates. Partial-mouth protocols result in misclassification of periodontitis and may bias epidemiologic measures of association. The magnitude and direction of this bias depends on choice of PRP and case definition threshold used. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Estimating the Health and Economic Impacts of Changes in Local Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Carvour, Martha L.; Hughes, Amy E.; Fann, Neal

2018-01-01

Objectives. To demonstrate the benefits-mapping software Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition (BenMAP-CE), which integrates local air quality data with previously published concentration–response and health–economic valuation functions to estimate the health effects of changes in air pollution levels and their economic consequences. Methods. We illustrate a local health impact assessment of ozone changes in the 10-county nonattainment area of the Dallas–Fort Worth region of Texas, estimating the short-term effects on mortality predicted by 2 scenarios for 3 years (2008, 2011, and 2013): an incremental rollback of the daily 8-hour maximum ozone levels of all area monitors by 10 parts per billion and a rollback-to-a-standard ambient level of 65 parts per billion at only monitors above that level. Results. Estimates of preventable premature deaths attributable to ozone air pollution obtained by the incremental rollback method varied little by year, whereas those obtained by the rollback-to-a-standard method varied by year and were sensitive to the choice of ordinality and the use of preloaded or imported data. Conclusions. BenMAP-CE allows local and regional public health analysts to generate timely, evidence-based estimates of the health impacts and economic consequences of potential policy options in their communities. PMID:29698094

Estimating Survival Rates in Engineering for Community College Transfer Students Using Grades in Calculus and Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Laugerman, Marcia; Shelley, Mack; Rover, Diane; Mickelson, Steve

2015-01-01

This study uses a unique synthesized set of data for community college students transferring to engineering by combining several cohorts of longitudinal data along with transcript-level data, from both the Community College and the University, to measure success rates in engineering. The success rates are calculated by developing Kaplan-Meier…

How community-level social and economic developments have changed the patterns of substance use in a transition economy?

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaozhao Y

2017-07-01

Most social changes take place at the community level before indirectly affecting individuals. Although the contextual effect is far-reaching, few studies have investigated the important questions of: how do community-level developments affect drinking and smoking, and how do they change the existing gender and income patterns of drinking and smoking, particularly in transition economies? In this study, I used a Chinese panel dataset between 1991 and 2011 to reveal the moderating effects of community developments. Through multilevel growth curve modeling that controls for age, period, and cohort effects, as well as individual- and community-level covariates, I found that community-level economic development and social development are negatively associated with drinking and smoking. Moreover, economic and social developments also moderate the important influences of income and gender: women start to drink more in communities with higher economic development; the traditionally positive association between income and smoking/drinking is also reversed, i.e. the rich start to smoke and drink less in communities with higher social development. This study concludes that the rapid changes in communal social and economic structures have created new health disparities based on the gender and socioeconomic hierarchy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring of Level of Radiation Hazards to the Community in the Settlement Around the Incandescent Gas Mantle Factory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suryawati

2000-01-01

The analyze of radiation internal hazards level of thoron (Rn-220) and its daughter to the community settlement around the incandescent gas mantle factory. The radiation hazard level can be indicated in the form of working level (WL) and sffsctive dose lungs received by the community. The working level and effective dose lungs is got from the measurement of radioactivity level of thoron (Rn-220) and its daugther and by using the mathematical formula calculation. The measurement of thoron radioactive concentration and its daughter. The value of woking level obtained, performance level for community range from 0,001-0,013 WL, equivalent with dose range from 0,014- 0,467 mSv. From the research result, it can be identified that the radiation hazard, because exceed the mean value of threshold thorium radioactive nuclide and its daughter product of natural radiation in back ground per year for word mean i.e. 0,336 mSv, but the value of this research result is far below the allowed value limit for the community is 0,12 WL and 1 mSv/year

Estimating receiver functions on dense arrays: application to the IRIS Community Wavefield Experiment in Oklahoma

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, M.; Zhan, Z.

2017-12-01

Receiver functions (RF) estimated on dense arrays have been widely used for studies of Earth structures at different scales. However, there are still challenges in estimating and interpreting RF images due to non-uniqueness of deconvolution, noise in data, and lack of uncertainty. Here, we develop a dense-array-based RF method towards robust and high-resolution RF images. We cast RF images as the models in a sparsity-promoted inverse problem, in which waveforms from multiple events recorded by neighboring stations are jointly inverted. We use the Neighborhood Algorithm to find the optimal model (i.e., RF image) as well as an ensemble of models for further uncertainty quantification. Synthetic tests and application to the IRIS Community Wavefield Experiment in Oklahoma demonstrate that the new method is able to deal with challenging dataset, retrieve reliable high-resolution RF images, and provide realistic uncertainty estimates.

Randomised and non-randomised studies to estimate the effect of community-level public health interventions: definitions and methodological considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Wolf-Peter

2017-01-01

The preferred method to evaluate public health interventions delivered at the level of whole communities is the cluster randomised trial (CRT). The practical limitations of CRTs and the need for alternative methods continue to be debated. There is no consensus on how to classify study designs to evaluate interventions, and how different design features are related to the strength of evidence. This article proposes that most study designs for the evaluation of cluster-level interventions fall into four broad categories: the CRT, the non-randomised cluster trial (NCT), the controlled before-and-after study (CBA), and the before-and-after study without control (BA). A CRT needs to fulfil two basic criteria: (1) the intervention is allocated at random; (2) there are sufficient clusters to allow a statistical between-arm comparison. In a NCT, statistical comparison is made across trial arms as in a CRT, but treatment allocation is not random. The defining feature of a CBA is that intervention and control arms are not compared directly, usually because there are insufficient clusters in each arm to allow a statistical comparison. Rather, baseline and follow-up measures of the outcome of interest are compared in the intervention arm, and separately in the control arm. A BA is a CBA without a control group. Each design may provide useful or misleading evidence. A precise baseline measurement of the outcome of interest is critical for causal inference in all studies except CRTs. Apart from statistical considerations the exploration of pre/post trends in the outcome allows a more transparent discussion of study weaknesses than is possible in non-randomised studies without a baseline measure.

A level playing field-obtaining consistent cost estimates for advanced reactor designs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hudson, C.R.; Rohm, H.H.; Humphreys, J.R.

1987-01-01

A level playing field in sports is necessary to avoid a situation in which a team has an unfair advantage over its competition. Similarly, rules and guidelines for developing cost estimates can be established which, in effect, provide a level playing field whereby cost estimates for advanced power plant concepts can be presented on a consistent and equitable basis. As an example, consider the capital costs shown in Table 1. Both sets of cost are for the exact same power plant; Estimate 1 is expressed in constant dollars while Estimate 2 is presented in nominal or as-spent dollars. As shown, the costs in Table 1 are not directly comparable. Similar problems can be introduced as a result of differing assumptions in any number of parameters including the scope of the cost estimate, inflation/escalation and interest rates, contingency costs, and site location. Of course, the motivation for having consistent cost estimates is to permit comparison among various concepts. As the U.S. Department of Energy sponsors research and development work on several advanced reactor concepts in which expected cost is a key evaluation parameter, the emphasis in this particular endeavor has been in promoting the comparability of advanced reactor cost estimates among themselves and to existing power plant types. To continue with the analogy, the idea is to lay out the playing field and the rules of the contest such that each team participates in the match on an equal basis with the final score being solely determined by the inherent strengths and abilities of the teams. A description of the playing field and some of the more important rules will now be provided

Individual and school level effects of perceived harm, perceived availability, and community size on marijuana use among 12th-grade students: a random effects model.

Science.gov (United States)

Swaim, Randall C

2003-06-01

A hierarchical linear model was used to estimate the individual and school level effects for marijuana use among a national sample of 12th-grade students. School effects were small in comparison to individual level effects, accounting for 2.9% of the variance in marijuana use. At the individual level, perceived harm, perceived availability, and their interaction were significant predictors, each of which varied randomly across schools. Among two school-level predictors, the normative environment for perceived harm was not significant, but normative perceived availability predicted level of marijuana use. The effect of perceived availability on marijuana use was stronger in larger, compared to smaller communities. Results are discussed in light of the use of random regression methods for identifying school-specific patterns of risk and protection for prevention planning.

Using communities of practice towards the next level of knowledge-management maturity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lameshnee Chetty

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Effective communities of practice undoubtedly impact organisations’ knowledgemanagement and contribute towards building a learning-organisation culture. Communitiesof practice represent an environment conducive to learning and for exchanging ideas, andthey are a formal learning forum. However, the level of organisational learning to whichcommunities of practice contribute is difficult to measure.Objectives: The research was conducted to analyse the impact of communities of practiceon building a learning organisation. The organisational system, culture and people offerthe key towards leveraging knowledge as a strategic resource in a learning organisation.The awareness of the organisation concerning knowledge management was measured on areplicated knowledge-management maturity model.Method: The organisational knowledge base was analysed prior to the implementation of thecommunities of practice and was compared to the situation three years later. The research wasbased on experiential learning cycles that consisted of five consequential but perpetual stages,namely reflect, plan, act, observe and reflect again.Results: The results indicated that communities of practice were instrumental in leveraging theorganisation to the next level in the knowledge-management maturity model. A collaborationframework was developed for each business unit to work towards a common goal byharnessing the knowledge that was shared.Conclusion: Although a positive impact by communities of practice is visible, an instrumentfor the measurement of intellectual capital is necessary. It is recommended that the monetaryvalue of knowledge as an asset is determined so that the value of the potential intellectualcapital can be measured.

Estimated Prestroke Peak VO2 Is Related to Circulating IGF-1 Levels During Acute Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattlage, Anna E; Rippee, Michael A; Abraham, Michael G; Sandt, Janice; Billinger, Sandra A

2017-01-01

Background Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is neuroprotective after stroke and is regulated by insulin-like binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3). In healthy individuals, exercise and improved aerobic fitness (peak oxygen uptake; peak VO 2 ) increases IGF-1 in circulation. Understanding the relationship between estimated prestroke aerobic fitness and IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 after stroke may provide insight into the benefits of exercise and aerobic fitness on stroke recovery. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 to estimated prestroke peak VO 2 in individuals with acute stroke. We hypothesized that (1) estimated prestroke peak VO 2 would be related to IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 and (2) individuals with higher than median IGF-1 levels will have higher estimated prestroke peak VO 2 compared to those with lower than median levels. Methods Fifteen individuals with acute stroke had blood sampled within 72 hours of hospital admission. Prestroke peak VO 2 was estimated using a nonexercise prediction equation. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were quantified using enzyme-linked immunoassay. Results Estimated prestroke peak VO 2 was significantly related to circulating IGF-1 levels (r = .60; P = .02) but not IGFBP-3. Individuals with higher than median IGF-1 (117.9 ng/mL) had significantly better estimated aerobic fitness (32.4 ± 6.9 mL kg -1 min -1 ) than those with lower than median IGF-1 (20.7 ± 7.8 mL kg -1 min -1 ; P = .03). Conclusions Improving aerobic fitness prior to stroke may be beneficial by increasing baseline IGF-1 levels. These results set the groundwork for future clinical trials to determine whether high IGF-1 and aerobic fitness are beneficial to stroke recovery by providing neuroprotection and improving function. © The Author(s) 2016.

Estimating the Population-Level Effectiveness of Vaccination Programs in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Wijhe, Maarten; McDonald, Scott A; de Melker, Hester E; Postma, Maarten J; Wallinga, Jacco

There are few estimates of the effectiveness of long-standing vaccination programs in developed countries. To fill this gap, we investigate the direct and indirect effectiveness of childhood vaccination programs on mortality at the population level in the Netherlands.

Host tree phenology affects vascular epiphytes at the physiological, demographic and community level

Science.gov (United States)

Einzmann, Helena J. R.; Beyschlag, Joachim; Hofhansl, Florian; Wanek, Wolfgang; Zotz, Gerhard

2015-01-01

The processes that govern diverse tropical plant communities have rarely been studied in life forms other than trees. Structurally dependent vascular epiphytes, a major part of tropical biodiversity, grow in a three-dimensional matrix defined by their hosts, but trees differ in their architecture, bark structure/chemistry and leaf phenology. We hypothesized that the resulting seasonal differences in microclimatic conditions in evergreen vs. deciduous trees would affect epiphytes at different levels, from organ physiology to community structure. We studied the influence of tree leaf phenology on vascular epiphytes on the Island of Barro Colorado, Panama. Five tree species were selected, which were deciduous, semi-deciduous or evergreen. The crowns of drought-deciduous trees, characterized by sunnier and drier microclimates, hosted fewer individuals and less diverse epiphyte assemblages. Differences were also observed at a functional level, e.g. epiphyte assemblages in deciduous trees had larger proportions of Crassulacean acid metabolism species and individuals. At the population level a drier microclimate was associated with lower individual growth and survival in a xerophytic fern. Some species also showed, as expected, lower specific leaf area and higher δ13C values when growing in deciduous trees compared with evergreen trees. As hypothesized, host tree leaf phenology influences vascular epiphytes at different levels. Our results suggest a cascading effect of tree composition and associated differences in tree phenology on the diversity and functioning of epiphyte communities in tropical lowland forests. PMID:25392188

Community level composting in a developing country: case study of KIWODET, Tanzania

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oberlin, A.S.; Szanto, G.L.

2011-01-01

Environmentally sustainable waste management practices have a limited relevance and viability in developing countries. Despite a technological potential, composting initiatives often share this fate. Little is known about the functioning of community level composting, which is reportedly the optimal

Drug use and AIDS: estimating injection prevalence in a rural state.

Science.gov (United States)

Leukefeld, Carl G; Logan, T K; Farabee, David; Clayton, Richard

2002-01-01

This paper presents approaches used in one rural U.S. state to describe the level of injecting drug use and to estimate the number of injectors not receiving drug-user treatment. The focus is on two broad areas of estimation that were used to present the prevalence of injecting drug use in Kentucky. The first estimation approach uses available data from secondary data sources. The second approach involves three small community studies.

Prediction for the high-level alpha-active waste to be generated by nuclear power stations in the Member States of the European Communities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, E.

1977-04-01

Starting with a forecast for the nuclear power generating capacity to be installed in the Member States of the European Communities before the end of this century, a prediction is made of the annual production of high-level alpha-active waste from reprocessing plants and the corresponding accumulation up to the year 2000. The isotopic composition of the alpha-active waste from individual reactor types was calculated and an estimation of the influence of recycling plutonium through light water reactors on the produced quantity of higher actinides is made

Projected contributions of future wind farm development to community noise and annoyance levels in Ontario, Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitfield Aslund, Melissa L.; Ollson, Christopher A.; Knopper, Loren D.

2013-01-01

Wind turbines produce sound during their operation; therefore, jurisdictions around the world have developed regulations regarding the placement of electricity generating wind farms with the intent of preventing unacceptable levels of ‘community noise’ in their vicinity. However, as survey results indicate that the relationship between wind turbine noise and annoyance may differ from noise-annoyance relationships for other common noise sources (e.g., rail, traffic), there are concerns that the application of general noise guidelines for wind turbines may lead to unacceptably high levels of annoyance in communities. In this study, previously published survey results that quantified wind turbine noise and self-reported annoyance were applied to the predicted noise levels (from turbines and transformers) for over 8000 receptors in the vicinity of 13 planned wind power developments in the province of Ontario, Canada. The results of this analysis indicate that the current wind turbine noise restrictions in Ontario will limit community exposure to wind turbine related noise such that levels of annoyance are unlikely to exceed previously established background levels of noise-related annoyance from other common noise sources. This provides valuable context that should be considered by policy-makers when evaluating the potential impacts of wind turbine noise on the community. -- highlights: •Wind turbine noise-annoyance relationship used to predict annoyance in Ontario. •Noise annoyance predicted to be <8% for non-participants <1 km from turbines. •Predicted levels of wind turbine noise annoyance similar to that from traffic noise. •Wind turbine noise annoyance not expected to exceed existing background levels

Prevalence estimates of depression in elderly community-dwelling African Americans in Indianapolis and Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Baiyewu, Olusegun; Smith-Gamble, Valerie; Lane, Kathleen A; Gureje, Oye; Gao, Sujuan; Ogunniyi, Adesola; Unverzagt, Frederick W; Hall, Kathleen S; Hendrie, Hugh C

2007-08-01

This is a community-based longitudinal epidemiological comparative study of elderly African Americans in Indianapolis and elderly Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria. A two-stage study was designed in which community-based individuals were first screened using the Community Screening Interview for Dementia. The second stage was a full clinical assessment, which included use of the Geriatric Depression Scale, of a smaller sub-sample of individuals selected on the basis of their performance in the screening interview. Prevalence of depression was estimated using sampling weights according to the sampling stratification scheme for clinical assessment. Some 2627 individuals were evaluated at the first stage in Indianapolis and 2806 in Ibadan. All were aged 69 years and over. Of these, 451 (17.2%) underwent clinical assessment in Indianapolis, while 605 (21.6%) were assessed in Ibadan. The prevalence estimates of both mild and severe depression were similar for the two sites (p=0.1273 and p=0.7093): 12.3% (mild depression) and 2.2% (severe depression) in Indianapolis and 19.8% and 1.6% respectively in Ibadan. Some differences were identified in association with demographic characteristics; for example, Ibadan men had a significantly higher prevalence of mild depression than Indianapolis men (pYoruba (p=0.0039). Prevalence of depression was similar for elderly African Americans and Yoruba despite considerable socioeconomic and cultural differences between these populations.

Comparison of different statistical methods for estimation of extreme sea levels with wave set-up contribution

Science.gov (United States)

Kergadallan, Xavier; Bernardara, Pietro; Benoit, Michel; Andreewsky, Marc; Weiss, Jérôme

2013-04-01

Estimating the probability of occurrence of extreme sea levels is a central issue for the protection of the coast. Return periods of sea level with wave set-up contribution are estimated here in one site : Cherbourg in France in the English Channel. The methodology follows two steps : the first one is computation of joint probability of simultaneous wave height and still sea level, the second one is interpretation of that joint probabilities to assess a sea level for a given return period. Two different approaches were evaluated to compute joint probability of simultaneous wave height and still sea level : the first one is multivariate extreme values distributions of logistic type in which all components of the variables become large simultaneously, the second one is conditional approach for multivariate extreme values in which only one component of the variables have to be large. Two different methods were applied to estimate sea level with wave set-up contribution for a given return period : Monte-Carlo simulation in which estimation is more accurate but needs higher calculation time and classical ocean engineering design contours of type inverse-FORM in which the method is simpler and allows more complex estimation of wave setup part (wave propagation to the coast for example). We compare results from the two different approaches with the two different methods. To be able to use both Monte-Carlo simulation and design contours methods, wave setup is estimated with an simple empirical formula. We show advantages of the conditional approach compared to the multivariate extreme values approach when extreme sea-level occurs when either surge or wave height is large. We discuss the validity of the ocean engineering design contours method which is an alternative when computation of sea levels is too complex to use Monte-Carlo simulation method.

Louisiana's Coastal Crisis: Characterizing Household and Community-Level Impacts and Responses

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, D. E.

2017-12-01

Rich in natural resources and critical ecosystems, the Mississippi delta also is the site of numerous human communities, from sparsely populated towns to dense urban neighborhoods. People who live and work within the delta face major challenges as they confront land loss, subsidence, and storms. This presentation outlines key household and community-level impacts of these environmental changes and both individual and collective responses to them. Based on two decades of applied ethnographic research in the region, as well as the author's participation as an advisor to federal, state, and local organizations, the presentation considers historical and contemporary processes and practices, social organization, and cultural dynamics to analyze proposed policies for addressing the impacts.

Delinquency Level Classification Via the HEW Community Program Youth Impact Scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Truckenmiller, James L.

The former HEW National Strategy for Youth Development (NSYD) model was created as a community-based planning and procedural tool to promote youth development and prevent delinquency. To assess the predictive power of NSYD Impact Scales in classifying youths into low, medium, and high delinquency levels, male and female students aged 10-19 years…

Estimating the prevalence of 26 health-related indicators at neighbourhood level in the Netherlands using structured additive regression.

Science.gov (United States)

van de Kassteele, Jan; Zwakhals, Laurens; Breugelmans, Oscar; Ameling, Caroline; van den Brink, Carolien

2017-07-01

Local policy makers increasingly need information on health-related indicators at smaller geographic levels like districts or neighbourhoods. Although more large data sources have become available, direct estimates of the prevalence of a health-related indicator cannot be produced for neighbourhoods for which only small samples or no samples are available. Small area estimation provides a solution, but unit-level models for binary-valued outcomes that can handle both non-linear effects of the predictors and spatially correlated random effects in a unified framework are rarely encountered. We used data on 26 binary-valued health-related indicators collected on 387,195 persons in the Netherlands. We associated the health-related indicators at the individual level with a set of 12 predictors obtained from national registry data. We formulated a structured additive regression model for small area estimation. The model captured potential non-linear relations between the predictors and the outcome through additive terms in a functional form using penalized splines and included a term that accounted for spatially correlated heterogeneity between neighbourhoods. The registry data were used to predict individual outcomes which in turn are aggregated into higher geographical levels, i.e. neighbourhoods. We validated our method by comparing the estimated prevalences with observed prevalences at the individual level and by comparing the estimated prevalences with direct estimates obtained by weighting methods at municipality level. We estimated the prevalence of the 26 health-related indicators for 415 municipalities, 2599 districts and 11,432 neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. We illustrate our method on overweight data and show that there are distinct geographic patterns in the overweight prevalence. Calibration plots show that the estimated prevalences agree very well with observed prevalences at the individual level. The estimated prevalences agree reasonably well with the

Increasing advance personal planning: the need for action at the community level.

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, Amy; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Ries, Nola; Bryant, Jamie

2018-05-09

Advance personal planning is the process by which people consider, document and communicate their preferences for personal, financial and health matters in case they lose the ability to make decisions or express their wishes in the future. Advance personal planning is most often undertaken by individuals who are seriously ill, often in the context of a medical crisis and/or at the time of admission to hospital. However, the clinical utility and legal validity of the planning process may be compromised in these circumstances. Patients may lack sufficient capacity to meaningfully engage in advance personal planning; there may be insufficient time to adequately reflect on and discuss wishes with key others; and there may also be limited opportunity for inter-professional input and collaboration in the process. Here, we propose an agenda for research to advance the science of advance personal planning by promoting a 'whole community' approach. Adoption of advance personal planning at a community level may be achieved using a variety of strategies including public media campaigns, intervening with professionals across a range of health care and legal settings, and mobilising support from influential groups and local government. One potentially promising method for encouraging earlier adoption of advance personal planning among a broader population involves a community action approach, whereby multiple evidence-based strategies are integrated across multiple access points. Community action involves calling on community members, professionals, community and/or government organisations to work collaboratively to design and systematically implement intervention strategies with the aim of bringing about desired behaviour change. An example of a community action trial to improving uptake and quality of advance personal planning is described. While promising, there is a need for rigorous evidence to demonstrate whether a community action approach is effective in

Estimating the impact of Medicare part D on the profitability of independent community pharmacies.

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Norman V

2008-10-01

Medicare Part D provides insurance coverage for prescription drugs to elderly and disabled consumers. Part D accounted for 24% of prescriptions dispensed by independent pharmacies in the first year of the program (2006). To date, the impact of Part D on independent pharmacies has been explored only in small, qualitative, or non-peer-reviewed studies. To develop preliminary estimates of the impact of Part D on independent pharmacies' profitability. A financial model was built to examine the impact of Part D on pharmacy profitability. A key input value was the gross margin percentage for Part D; the midpoint of estimates reported in the literature was used as the base-case input value. The remaining model inputs were derived from 2 non-peer-reviewed published sources: (a) the National Community Pharmacist Association (NCPA)'s survey of independent pharmacies, which provided financial data for the year prior to Part D implementation (2005); and (b) IMS Health national market research data, which provided information about changes in prescription drug utilization from 2005 to 2006. Model estimates represented a "typical" independent pharmacy, defined using mean values for financial measures in 2005 as reported by NCPA. The model examined the impact of Part D on the proportion of prescriptions reimbursed by other sources (private third-party insurance, Medicaid, and cash payments by patients); pharmacies' overall prescription gross margin; the number of Part D-induced prescriptions; the number of prescriptions lost to mail-order pharmacies; and net income before taxes. Key values and assumptions were subjected to one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. The model indicated that implementation of Part D resulted in a mean (SD) 22% (4%) decrease in net income before taxes. This change was primarily the result of an absolute 0.7% decline in the gross margin for all prescriptions. The lower overall gross margin resulted from lower reimbursement on Part D

State-Level Estimates of Obesity-Attributable Costs of Absenteeism

Science.gov (United States)

Andreyeva, Tatiana; Luedicke, Joerg; Wang, Y. Claire

2014-01-01

Objective To provide state-level estimates of obesity-attributable costs of absenteeism among working adults in the U.S. Methods Nationally-representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 1998–2008 and from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for 2012 are examined. The outcome is obesity-attributable workdays missed in the previous year due to health, and their costs to states. Results Obesity, but not overweight, is associated with a significant increase in workdays absent, from 1.1 to 1.7 extra days missed annually compared to normal weight employees. Obesity-attributable absenteeism among American workers costs the nation an estimated $8.65 billion per year. Conclusion Obesity imposes a considerable financial burden on states, accounting for 6.5%–12.6% of total absenteeism costs in the workplace. State legislature and employers should seek effective ways to reduce these costs. PMID:25376405

Improved estimation of subject-level functional connectivity using full and partial correlation with empirical Bayes shrinkage.

Science.gov (United States)

Mejia, Amanda F; Nebel, Mary Beth; Barber, Anita D; Choe, Ann S; Pekar, James J; Caffo, Brian S; Lindquist, Martin A

2018-05-15

Reliability of subject-level resting-state functional connectivity (FC) is determined in part by the statistical techniques employed in its estimation. Methods that pool information across subjects to inform estimation of subject-level effects (e.g., Bayesian approaches) have been shown to enhance reliability of subject-level FC. However, fully Bayesian approaches are computationally demanding, while empirical Bayesian approaches typically rely on using repeated measures to estimate the variance components in the model. Here, we avoid the need for repeated measures by proposing a novel measurement error model for FC describing the different sources of variance and error, which we use to perform empirical Bayes shrinkage of subject-level FC towards the group average. In addition, since the traditional intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) is inappropriate for biased estimates, we propose a new reliability measure denoted the mean squared error intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC MSE ) to properly assess the reliability of the resulting (biased) estimates. We apply the proposed techniques to test-retest resting-state fMRI data on 461 subjects from the Human Connectome Project to estimate connectivity between 100 regions identified through independent components analysis (ICA). We consider both correlation and partial correlation as the measure of FC and assess the benefit of shrinkage for each measure, as well as the effects of scan duration. We find that shrinkage estimates of subject-level FC exhibit substantially greater reliability than traditional estimates across various scan durations, even for the most reliable connections and regardless of connectivity measure. Additionally, we find partial correlation reliability to be highly sensitive to the choice of penalty term, and to be generally worse than that of full correlations except for certain connections and a narrow range of penalty values. This suggests that the penalty needs to be chosen carefully

Facilitating learning and action for food sovereignty on family and community levels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaarst, Mette

2014-01-01

This paper focuses on strengthening local communities in West Uganda, where an approach focusing on building up social capital and sharing responsibilities for own development within and between families. We see it as an approach to reach food sovereignty because it takes its roots within...... in reaching food sovereignty, - Building social capital in local communities is a key to control over food, - Context-specific learning and knowledge in combination with an organizational and institutional capacity in local CBOs or NGOs all are paramount for strengthening food sovereignty on a local level...... the family itself, where the responsibility for both family food and cash crops exists and is not always shared equally. When families start working together and use the resources in a group of both men and women, elders and youth, a local community becomes stronger and can match the capacities within...

Estimated levels of gluten incidentally present in a Canadian gluten-free diet.

Science.gov (United States)

La Vieille, Sébastien; Dubois, Sheila; Hayward, Stephen; Koerner, Terence B

2014-02-21

Avoiding exposure to gluten is currently the only effective treatment for celiac disease. However, the evidence suggests that for most affected individuals, exposure to less than 10 mg/day is unlikely to cause histological changes to the intestinal mucosa. The daily diet of people with celiac disease does not rely solely on gluten-free pre-packaged foods, but also on naturally gluten-free grains (e.g., rice, buckwheat, ...) and foods with grain-derived ingredients (i.e., flour and starches) used for cooking and baking at home. The objective of this study was to estimate the level of incidental gluten potentially present in gluten-free diets from a Canadian perspective. We have conducted gluten exposure estimations from grain-containing foods and foods with grain-derived ingredients, taking into consideration the various rates of food consumption by different sex and age groups. These estimates have concluded that if gluten was present at levels not exceeding 20 ppm, exposure to gluten would remain below 10 mg per day for all age groups studied. However, in reality the level of gluten found in naturally gluten-free ingredients is not static and there may be some concerns related to the flours made from naturally gluten-free cereal grains. It was found that those containing a higher level of fiber and that are frequently used to prepare daily foods by individuals with celiac disease could be a concern. For this category of products, only the flours and starches labelled "gluten-free" should be used for home-made preparations.

Estimated Levels of Gluten Incidentally Present in a Canadian Gluten-Free Diet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien La Vieille

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Avoiding exposure to gluten is currently the only effective treatment for celiac disease. However, the evidence suggests that for most affected individuals, exposure to less than 10 mg/day is unlikely to cause histological changes to the intestinal mucosa. The daily diet of people with celiac disease does not rely solely on gluten-free pre-packaged foods, but also on naturally gluten-free grains (e.g., rice, buckwheat, ... and foods with grain-derived ingredients (i.e., flour and starches used for cooking and baking at home. The objective of this study was to estimate the level of incidental gluten potentially present in gluten-free diets from a Canadian perspective. We have conducted gluten exposure estimations from grain-containing foods and foods with grain-derived ingredients, taking into consideration the various rates of food consumption by different sex and age groups. These estimates have concluded that if gluten was present at levels not exceeding 20 ppm, exposure to gluten would remain below 10 mg per day for all age groups studied. However, in reality the level of gluten found in naturally gluten-free ingredients is not static and there may be some concerns related to the flours made from naturally gluten-free cereal grains. It was found that those containing a higher level of fiber and that are frequently used to prepare daily foods by individuals with celiac disease could be a concern. For this category of products, only the flours and starches labelled “gluten-free” should be used for home-made preparations.

Community-Level Measures of Stroke Knowledge among Children: Findings from Hip Hop Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, Cailey; Noble, James M; Leighton-Herrmann, Ellyn; Hecht, Mindy F; Williams, Olajide

2017-01-01

Community-level determinants of stroke knowledge among children are unknown but could meaningfully impact public stroke education campaigns. We explored for associations between community- and school-level quality measures relative to baseline stroke knowledge among children participating in the Hip Hop Stroke program. Baseline stroke knowledge assessments were performed in 2839 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students (ages 9-11 years) from November 2005 to April 2014. Knowledge was assessed relative to school performance grade (SPG, graded A-F; a school-level measure determined by the New York City [NYC] Department of Education) and economic need index (ENI, range: 0-2; a community-level, within-school measure of subsidized housing and meals with higher scores indicating more socioeconomic distress). Schools studied included those with SPG = B (n = 196), SPG = C (n = 1590), and SPG = D (n = 1053) and mean ENI = .85 (standard deviation: .23). A composite assessment of knowledge, including 4 stroke symptoms (blurred vision, facial droop, sudden headache, and slurred speech), was conducted consistently since 2006. Overall, students correctly identified a mean of 1.74 stroke symptoms (95% confidence interval: 1.70-1.79; possible range: 0-4, expected value of chance response alone or no knowledge = 2). For quartiles of ENI, mean knowledge scores are as follows: ENI Q1  = 2.00, ENI Q2  = 2.09, ENI Q3  = 1.46, and ENI Q4  = 1.56 (ENI Q3 and ENI Q4 versus ENI Q1 , P < .001). For SPG, SPG = B schools: 2.09, SPG = C: 1.83, and SPG = D: 1.56 (SPG = C and SPG = D versus SPG = B schools, P ≤ .05). Children's stroke knowledge was lowest in NYC communities with greater economic need and lower school performance. These findings could guide stroke education campaign implementation strategies. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Together We STRIDE: A quasi-experimental trial testing the effectiveness of a multi-level obesity intervention for Hispanic children in rural communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Linda K; Rillamas-Sun, Eileen; Bishop, Sonia; Cisneros, Oralia; Holte, Sarah; Thompson, Beti

2018-04-01

Hispanic children are disproportionally overweight and obese compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts in the US. Community-wide, multi-level interventions have been successful to promote healthier nutrition, increased physical activity (PA), and weight loss. Using community-based participatory approach (CBPR) that engages community members in rural Hispanic communities is a promising way to promote behavior change, and ultimately weight loss among Hispanic children. Led by a community-academic partnership, the Together We STRIDE (Strategizing Together Relevant Interventions for Diet and Exercise) aims to test the effectiveness of a community-wide, multi-level intervention to promote healthier diets, increased PA, and weight loss among Hispanic children. The Together We STRIDE is a parallel quasi-experimental trial with a goal of recruiting 900 children aged 8-12 years nested within two communities (one intervention and one comparison). Children will be recruited from their respective elementary schools. Components of the 2-year multi-level intervention include comic books (individual-level), multi-generational nutrition and PA classes (family-level), teacher-led PA breaks and media literacy education (school-level), family nights, a farmer's market and a community PA event (known as ciclovia) at the community-level. Children from the comparison community will receive two newsletters. Height and weight measures will be collected from children in both communities at three time points (baseline, 6-months, and 18-months). The Together We STRIDE study aims to promote healthier diet and increased PA to produce healthy weight among Hispanic children. The use of CBPR approach and the engagement of the community will springboard strategies for intervention' sustainability. Clinical Trials Registration Number: NCT02982759 Retrospectively registered. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High throughput octal alpha/gamma spectrometer for low level bioassay estimations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhasin, B.D.; Shirke, S.H.; Suri, M.M.; Vaidya, P.P.; Ghodgaonkar, M.D.

1995-01-01

The present paper describes the development of a high throughput octal alpha spectrometry system specially developed for the estimation of low levels of actinides in bioassay and environmental samples. The system processes simultaneously the outputs coming from eight independent detectors. It can be configured to simultaneously record low level alpha and gamma spectra. The high throughput is achieved by using a prioritised multiplexer router. The prioritised multiplexing and routing coupled with fast 8K ADC (conversion time 20 μsec) allow simultaneous acquisition of multiple spectra without any significant loss in counts. The dual (8K, 24bit) port memory facilitates easy online viewing of spectrum buildup. A menu driven user friendly software makes the operating system convenient to use. A specially developed software provides built-in routines for processing the spectra and estimating the isotopic activity. The interactive mode of software provides easy identification of isotopes compatible with the separation chemistry of different actinides. (author). 6 refs., 2 figs

Effects of different levels of UV-B radiation on marine epilithic communities: a short-term microcosm study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. A. Danilov

2000-12-01

Full Text Available Epilithic communities from brackish coastal water of the east coast of Sweden were studied in order to reveal their responses to different levels of UV-B radiation. The experiment was conducted for seven days in an indoor microcosm system. The epilithic communities were exposed daily to different doses of UV-B radiation: 1, 3, 5 and 7 hours, respectively. The intensity of the UV-B radiation used was similar to that in natural environments. After seven days clear shifts both in species composition and community structure were observed. All species of diatoms showed negative correlation with enhanced levels of UV-B. On the other hand, abundance of cyanobacteria was positively correlated with enhanced levels of UV-B (Calothrix aeruginea, R=0.49;Oscillatoria amphibia, R=0.93; Pseudanabaena mucicola, R=0.26. Communities dominated by diatoms and green algae at the initial stage of the experiment did show a drastic decrease in diatom abundance under UV-B stress and finally became dominated by cyanobacteria. Among green algae the abundance of Cladophora sericea correlated positively (R=0.33 with enhanced exposure to UV-B, while Monoraphidium-species exhibited negative correlation to UV-B. Otherwise, no significant correlation between other green algae species identified and UV-B stress could be detected. We conclude that UV-B radiation, even at lower levels, is capable to induce severe changes to marine epilithic communities. The trends revealed in the present study predict a shift from communities dominated by diatoms and green algae to those dominated by cyanobacteria.

Intra-class correlation estimates for assessment of vitamin A intake in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Girdhar G; Awasthi, Shally; Walter, Stephen D

2005-03-01

In many community-based surveys, multi-level sampling is inherent in the design. In the design of these studies, especially to calculate the appropriate sample size, investigators need good estimates of intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), along with the cluster size, to adjust for variation inflation due to clustering at each level. The present study used data on the assessment of clinical vitamin A deficiency and intake of vitamin A-rich food in children in a district in India. For the survey, 16 households were sampled from 200 villages nested within eight randomly-selected blocks of the district. ICCs and components of variances were estimated from a three-level hierarchical random effects analysis of variance model. Estimates of ICCs and variance components were obtained at village and block levels. Between-cluster variation was evident at each level of clustering. In these estimates, ICCs were inversely related to cluster size, but the design effect could be substantial for large clusters. At the block level, most ICC estimates were below 0.07. At the village level, many ICC estimates ranged from 0.014 to 0.45. These estimates may provide useful information for the design of epidemiological studies in which the sampled (or allocated) units range in size from households to large administrative zones.

Power monitors: A framework for system-level power estimation using heterogeneous power models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bansal, N.; Lahiri, K.; Raghunathan, A.; Chakradhar, S.T.

2005-01-01

Paper analysis early in the design cycle is critical for the design of low-power systems. With the move to system-level specifications and design methodologies, there has been significant research interest in system-level power estimation. However, as demonstrated in this paper, the addition of

Estimation of the terrestrial gamma-ray levels from car-borne measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badran, H.M.

1998-01-01

A place to place variation of the gamma-radiation has been measured. The terrestrial gamma-ray levels were obtained with a portable Nal(Tl) detector. Gamma-ray levels were measured inside a car for a distance of about 220 km, from Norman up to Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Simultaneous measurements have also been carried out outside the vehicle and at distances 1 m and 5 m from the car. A series of data was collected every 1 mile (∼ 1.6 km). The measurements were also repeated different time under different conditions. The measured car-borne levels were correlated with the outdoor equivalent levels at 1 m above flat ground. The result permits a good estimation of the outdoor gamma-ray levels from the car measurements after the correction due to the vehicle shielding

Potential of neuro-fuzzy methodology to estimate noise level of wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolić, Vlastimir; Petković, Dalibor; Por, Lip Yee; Shamshirband, Shahaboddin; Zamani, Mazdak; Ćojbašić, Žarko; Motamedi, Shervin

2016-01-01

Wind turbines noise effect became large problem because of increasing of wind farms numbers since renewable energy becomes the most influential energy sources. However, wind turbine noise generation and propagation is not understandable in all aspects. Mechanical noise of wind turbines can be ignored since aerodynamic noise of wind turbine blades is the main source of the noise generation. Numerical simulations of the noise effects of the wind turbine can be very challenging task. Therefore in this article soft computing method is used to evaluate noise level of wind turbines. The main goal of the study is to estimate wind turbine noise in regard of wind speed at different heights and for different sound frequency. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used to estimate the wind turbine noise levels.

Community-level intimate partner violence and the circumstances of first sex among young women from five African countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Speizer Ilene S

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gender-based violence is an important risk factor for adverse reproductive health (RH. Community-level violence may inhibit young women's ability to engage in safer sexual behaviors due to a lack of control over sexual encounters. Few studies examine violence as a contextual risk factor. Methods Using nationally representative data from five African countries, the association between community-level physical or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV and the circumstances of first sex (premarital or marital among young women (ages 20-29 was examined. Results In Mali, and Kenya bivariate analyses showed that young women who had premarital first sex were from communities where a significantly higher percentage of women reported IPV experience compared to young women who had marital first sex. Multivariate analyses confirmed the findings for these two countries; young women from communities with higher IPV were significantly more likely to have had premarital first sex compared to first sex in union. In Liberia, community-level IPV was associated with a lower risk of premarital sex as compared to first sex in union at a marginal significance level. There was no significant relationship between community-level IPV and the circumstances of first sex in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Zimbabwe. Conclusion These findings indicate that context matters for RH. Individualized efforts to improve RH may be limited in their effectiveness if they do not acknowledge the context of young women's lives. Programs should target prevention of violence to improve RH outcomes of youth.

Estimation Of Height Of Oil -Water Contact Above Free Water Level ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An estimate of oil-water contact (OWC) and the understanding of the capillary behaviour of hydrocarbon reservoirs are vital for optimum reservoir characterization, hydrocarbon exploration and production. Hence, the height of oil-water contact above free water level for different rock types from some Niger Delta reservoirs ...

Satellite-based Estimates of Ambient Air Pollution and Global Variations in Childhood Asthma Prevalence

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, H. Ross; Butland, Barbara K.; Donkelaar, Aaron Matthew Van; Brauer, Michael; Strachan, David P.; Clayton, Tadd; van Dingenen, Rita; Amann, Marcus; Brunekreef, Bert; Cohen, Aaron;

Analysis of Knowledge Level and Perception on Singkawang City Community towards Generic Medicines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Forid Morison

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Survey data show that the use of generic medicines in Indonesia is relatively very small, which only amounted 7%. This is due to lack of knowledge and poor perceptions towards generic medicines. Knowledge level and perceptions towards generic medicines are inflenced by community characteristics and information resource regarding generic medicines. The aim of this study was to determine the association between community characteristic and information resources with knowledge level and perception towards generic medicines. This study was an analytical survey with cross-sectional descriptive approach on 142 selected respondents who were fulfi inclusion and exclusion criteria. This study was conducted in June 2014 at several randomly selected locations on Singkawang City. The study show that 76 respondents (53.5% had inadequate knowledge and 123 respondents (86.6% had a good perception towards generic medicines. There is signifiant relationship between ethnicity (p=0.000 and information resources (p=0.009 with knowledge level regarding generic medicines at signifiance level of p<0.05. Although good perceptions were noted among the respondents, widespread dissemination of information regarding generic medicines should be continued to increase generic medicines used.

Sanitary and hygienic state estimation of population determined by cancer morbidity level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coretchi, L.; Cucereanu, A.

2009-01-01

The European recommendations of Cancer Register elaboration are presented in this paper. A short literature review about sanitary and hygienic estimation status of population thru determination of cancer morbidity level also has been performed. (authors)

Valuing Our Communities: Ethical Considerations for Economic Evaluation of Community-Based Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowley, Max; Jones, Damon

2017-12-01

Restricted public budgets and increasing efforts to link the impact of community interventions to public savings have increased the use of economic evaluation. While this type of evaluation can be important for program planning, it also raises important ethical issues about how we value the time of local stakeholders who support community interventions. In particular, researchers navigate issues of scientific accuracy, institutional inequality, and research utility in their pursuit of even basic cost estimates. We provide an example of how we confronted these issues when estimating the costs of a large-scale community-based intervention. Principles for valuing community members' time and conducting economic evaluations of community programs are discussed. © Society for Community Research and Action 2017.

Management intensity at field and landscape levels affects the structure of generalist predator communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Rusch, Adrien; Birkhofer, Klaus; Bommarco, Riccardo; Smith, Henrik G; Ekbom, Barbara

2014-07-01

Agricultural intensification is recognised as a major driver of biodiversity loss in human-modified landscapes. Several agro-environmental measures at different spatial scales have been suggested to mitigate the negative impact of intensification on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The effect of these measures on the functional structure of service-providing communities remains, however, largely unexplored. Using two distinct landscape designs, we examined how the management options of organic farming at the field scale and crop diversification at the landscape level affect the taxonomic and functional structure of generalist predator communities and how these effects vary along a landscape complexity gradient. Organic farming as well as landscapes with longer and more diversified crop rotations enhanced the activity-density of spiders and rove beetles, but not the species richness or evenness. Our results indicate that the two management options affected the functional composition of communities, as they primarily enhanced the activity-density of functionally similar species. The two management options increased the functional similarity between spider species in regards to hunting mode and habitat preference. Organic farming enhanced the functional similarity of rove beetles. Management options at field and landscape levels were generally more important predictors of community structure when compared to landscape complexity. Our study highlights the importance of considering the functional composition of generalist predators in order to understand how agro-environmental measures at various scales shape community assemblages and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes.

Community-level Adult Daily Smoking Prevalence Moderates the Association between Adolescents’ Cigarette Smoking and Perceived Smoking by Friends

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Thrul, Johannes; Lipperman-Kreda, Sharon; Grube, Joel W.; Friend, Karen B.

2014-01-01

Few studies have investigated the complex interactions among the individual- and community-level social risk factors that underlie adolescents’ smoking behaviors. This study investigated whether community-level adult daily smoking prevalence is associated with adolescents’ smoking and whether it moderates the associations between perceived friends’ smoking approval and smoking behavior and adolescents’ own smoking. Self-reported data from 1,190 youths (50.3% female; 13–18 years old) in 50 midsized Californian cities were obtained through telephone interviews. Community characteristics were obtained from 2010 GeoLytics data. Community adult daily smoking prevalence was ascertained from telephone interviews with 8,918 adults conducted in the same 50 cities. Multilevel analyses, controlling for individual and city characteristics, were used to predict adolescents’ past 12-month smoking from perceived friends’ smoking approval and smoking behavior and from community adult daily smoking prevalence. Results showed that perceived friends’ smoking approval and behavior were associated positively with adolescents’ smoking, as was the community-level prevalence of adult daily smoking. Furthermore, the association between perceived friends’ smoking behavior and adolescents’ own smoking was moderated by the prevalence of adult daily smokers in the community. Specifically, the association was stronger in cities with higher prevalence of adult smokers. These results suggest that adult community norms that are more supportive of smoking may enhance the influence of friends’ smoking behavior. Therefore, interventions designed to prevent or reduce youths’ smoking should also focus on reducing smoking by adults. PMID:24241785

Estimating Water Supply Arsenic Levels in the New England Bladder Cancer Study

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Laura E. Beane; Lubin, Jay H.; Airola, Matthew S.; Baris, Dalsu; Ayotte, Joseph D.; Taylor, Anne; Paulu, Chris; Karagas, Margaret R.; Colt, Joanne; Ward, Mary H.; Huang, An-Tsun; Bress, William; Cherala, Sai; Silverman, Debra T.; Cantor, Kenneth P.

2011-01-01

Background: Ingestion of inorganic arsenic in drinking water is recognized as a cause of bladder cancer when levels are relatively high (≥ 150 µg/L). The epidemiologic evidence is less clear at the low-to-moderate concentrations typically observed in the United States. Accurate retrospective exposure assessment over a long time period is a major challenge in conducting epidemiologic studies of environmental factors and diseases with long latency, such as cancer. Objective: We estimated arsenic concentrations in the water supplies of 2,611 participants in a population-based case–control study in northern New England. Methods: Estimates covered the lifetimes of most study participants and were based on a combination of arsenic measurements at the homes of the participants and statistical modeling of arsenic concentrations in the water supply of both past and current homes. We assigned a residential water supply arsenic concentration for 165,138 (95%) of the total 173,361 lifetime exposure years (EYs) and a workplace water supply arsenic level for 85,195 EYs (86% of reported occupational years). Results: Three methods accounted for 93% of the residential estimates of arsenic concentration: direct measurement of water samples (27%; median, 0.3 µg/L; range, 0.1–11.5), statistical models of water utility measurement data (49%; median, 0.4 µg/L; range, 0.3–3.3), and statistical models of arsenic concentrations in wells using aquifers in New England (17%; median, 1.6 µg/L; range, 0.6–22.4). Conclusions: We used a different validation procedure for each of the three methods, and found our estimated levels to be comparable with available measured concentrations. This methodology allowed us to calculate potential drinking water exposure over long periods. PMID:21421449

Sunlight-exposed biofilm microbial communities are naturally resistant to chernobyl ionizing-radiation levels.

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Marie Ragon

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The Chernobyl accident represents a long-term experiment on the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation at the ecosystem level. Though studies of these effects on plants and animals are abundant, the study of how Chernobyl radiation levels affect prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities is practically non-existent, except for a few reports on human pathogens or soil microorganisms. Environments enduring extreme desiccation and UV radiation, such as sunlight exposed biofilms could in principle select for organisms highly resistant to ionizing radiation as well. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To test this hypothesis, we explored the diversity of microorganisms belonging to the three domains of life by cultivation-independent approaches in biofilms developing on concrete walls or pillars in the Chernobyl area exposed to different levels of radiation, and we compared them with a similar biofilm from a non-irradiated site in Northern Ireland. Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Deinococcales were the most consistently detected bacterial groups, whereas green algae (Chlorophyta and ascomycete fungi (Ascomycota dominated within the eukaryotes. Close relatives to the most radio-resistant organisms known, including Rubrobacter species, Deinococcales and melanized ascomycete fungi were always detected. The diversity of bacteria and eukaryotes found in the most highly irradiated samples was comparable to that of less irradiated Chernobyl sites and Northern Ireland. However, the study of mutation frequencies in non-coding ITS regions versus SSU rRNA genes in members of a same actinobacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU present in Chernobyl samples and Northern Ireland showed a positive correlation between increased radiation and mutation rates. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that biofilm microbial communities in the most irradiated samples are comparable to non-irradiated samples in

Sunlight-exposed biofilm microbial communities are naturally resistant to chernobyl ionizing-radiation levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Ragon, Marie; Restoux, Gwendal; Moreira, David; Møller, Anders Pape; López-García, Purificación

2011-01-01

The Chernobyl accident represents a long-term experiment on the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation at the ecosystem level. Though studies of these effects on plants and animals are abundant, the study of how Chernobyl radiation levels affect prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities is practically non-existent, except for a few reports on human pathogens or soil microorganisms. Environments enduring extreme desiccation and UV radiation, such as sunlight exposed biofilms could in principle select for organisms highly resistant to ionizing radiation as well. To test this hypothesis, we explored the diversity of microorganisms belonging to the three domains of life by cultivation-independent approaches in biofilms developing on concrete walls or pillars in the Chernobyl area exposed to different levels of radiation, and we compared them with a similar biofilm from a non-irradiated site in Northern Ireland. Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Deinococcales were the most consistently detected bacterial groups, whereas green algae (Chlorophyta) and ascomycete fungi (Ascomycota) dominated within the eukaryotes. Close relatives to the most radio-resistant organisms known, including Rubrobacter species, Deinococcales and melanized ascomycete fungi were always detected. The diversity of bacteria and eukaryotes found in the most highly irradiated samples was comparable to that of less irradiated Chernobyl sites and Northern Ireland. However, the study of mutation frequencies in non-coding ITS regions versus SSU rRNA genes in members of a same actinobacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU) present in Chernobyl samples and Northern Ireland showed a positive correlation between increased radiation and mutation rates. Our results show that biofilm microbial communities in the most irradiated samples are comparable to non-irradiated samples in terms of general diversity patterns, despite increased mutation levels at the single

Sunlight-Exposed Biofilm Microbial Communities Are Naturally Resistant to Chernobyl Ionizing-Radiation Levels

Science.gov (United States)

Ragon, Marie; Restoux, Gwendal; Moreira, David; Møller, Anders Pape; López-García, Purificación

2011-01-01

Background The Chernobyl accident represents a long-term experiment on the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation at the ecosystem level. Though studies of these effects on plants and animals are abundant, the study of how Chernobyl radiation levels affect prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities is practically non-existent, except for a few reports on human pathogens or soil microorganisms. Environments enduring extreme desiccation and UV radiation, such as sunlight exposed biofilms could in principle select for organisms highly resistant to ionizing radiation as well. Methodology/Principal Findings To test this hypothesis, we explored the diversity of microorganisms belonging to the three domains of life by cultivation-independent approaches in biofilms developing on concrete walls or pillars in the Chernobyl area exposed to different levels of radiation, and we compared them with a similar biofilm from a non-irradiated site in Northern Ireland. Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Deinococcales were the most consistently detected bacterial groups, whereas green algae (Chlorophyta) and ascomycete fungi (Ascomycota) dominated within the eukaryotes. Close relatives to the most radio-resistant organisms known, including Rubrobacter species, Deinococcales and melanized ascomycete fungi were always detected. The diversity of bacteria and eukaryotes found in the most highly irradiated samples was comparable to that of less irradiated Chernobyl sites and Northern Ireland. However, the study of mutation frequencies in non-coding ITS regions versus SSU rRNA genes in members of a same actinobacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU) present in Chernobyl samples and Northern Ireland showed a positive correlation between increased radiation and mutation rates. Conclusions/Significance Our results show that biofilm microbial communities in the most irradiated samples are comparable to non-irradiated samples in terms of general

Community Energy: Analysis of Hydrogen Distributed Energy Systems with Photovoltaics for Load Leveling and Vehicle Refueling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steward, D.; Zuboy, J.

2014-10-01

Energy storage could complement PV electricity generation at the community level. Because PV generation is intermittent, strategies must be implemented to integrate it into the electricity system. Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies offer possible PV integration strategies, including the community-level approaches analyzed in this report: (1) using hydrogen production, storage, and reconversion to electricity to level PV generation and grid loads (reconversion scenario); (2) using hydrogen production and storage to capture peak PV generation and refuel hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) (hydrogen fueling scenario); and (3) a comparison scenario using a battery system to store electricity for EV nighttime charging (electric charging scenario).

Using communities of practice towards the next level of knowledge-management maturity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lameshnee Chetty

2012-07-01

Objectives: The research was conducted to analyse the impact of communities of practice on building a learning organisation. The organisational system, culture and people offer the key towards leveraging knowledge as a strategic resource in a learning organisation. The awareness of the organisation concerning knowledge management was measured on a replicated knowledge management maturity model. Method: The organisational knowledge base was analysed prior to the implementation of the communities of practice and was compared to the situation three years later. The research was based on experiential learning cycles that consisted of five consequential but perpetual stages,namely reflect, plan, act, observe and reflect again. Results: The results indicated that communities of practice were instrumental in leveraging the organisation to the next level in the knowledge-management maturity model. A collaboration framework was developed for each business unit to work towards a common goal by harnessing the knowledge that was shared. Conclusion: Although a positive impact by communities of practice is visible, an instrument for the measurement of intellectual capital is necessary. It is recommended that the monetary value of knowledge as an asset is determined so that the value of the potential intellectual capital can be measured.

Innovation in health service delivery: integrating community health assistants into the health system at district level in Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zulu, Joseph Mumba; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Kinsman, John; Michelo, Charles

2015-01-28

To address the huge human resources for health gap in Zambia, the Ministry of Health launched the National Community Health Assistant Strategy in 2010. The strategy aims to integrate community-based health workers into the health system by creating a new group of workers, called community health assistants (CHAs). However, literature suggests that the integration process of national community-based health worker programmes into health systems has not been optimal. Conceptually informed by the diffusion of innovations theory, this paper qualitatively aimed to explore the factors that shaped the acceptability and adoption of CHAs into the health system at district level in Zambia during the pilot phase. Data gathered through review of documents, 6 focus group discussions with community leaders, and 12 key informant interviews with CHA trainers, supervisors and members of the District Health Management Team were analysed using thematic analysis. The perceived relative advantage of CHAs over existing community-based health workers in terms of their quality of training and scope of responsibilities, and the perceived compatibility of CHAs with existing groups of health workers and community healthcare expectations positively facilitated the integration process. However, limited integration of CHAs in the district health governance system hindered effective programme trialability, simplicity and observability at district level. Specific challenges at this level included a limited information flow and sense of programme ownership, and insufficient documentation of outcomes. The district also had difficulties in responding to emergent challenges such as delayed or non-payment of CHA incentives, as well as inadequate supervision and involvement of CHAs in the health posts where they are supposed to be working. Furthermore, failure of the health system to secure regular drug supplies affected health service delivery and acceptability of CHA services at community level. The

Joint sparsity based heterogeneous data-level fusion for target detection and estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Ruixin; Zulch, Peter; Distasio, Marcello; Blasch, Erik; Shen, Dan; Chen, Genshe

2017-05-01

Typical surveillance systems employ decision- or feature-level fusion approaches to integrate heterogeneous sensor data, which are sub-optimal and incur information loss. In this paper, we investigate data-level heterogeneous sensor fusion. Since the sensors monitor the common targets of interest, whose states can be determined by only a few parameters, it is reasonable to assume that the measurement domain has a low intrinsic dimensionality. For heterogeneous sensor data, we develop a joint-sparse data-level fusion (JSDLF) approach based on the emerging joint sparse signal recovery techniques by discretizing the target state space. This approach is applied to fuse signals from multiple distributed radio frequency (RF) signal sensors and a video camera for joint target detection and state estimation. The JSDLF approach is data-driven and requires minimum prior information, since there is no need to know the time-varying RF signal amplitudes, or the image intensity of the targets. It can handle non-linearity in the sensor data due to state space discretization and the use of frequency/pixel selection matrices. Furthermore, for a multi-target case with J targets, the JSDLF approach only requires discretization in a single-target state space, instead of discretization in a J-target state space, as in the case of the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) or the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate that the proposed JSDLF approach achieves excellent performance with near real-time accurate target position and velocity estimates.

Partial-Interval Estimation of Count: Uncorrected and Poisson-Corrected Error Levels

Science.gov (United States)

Yoder, Paul J.; Ledford, Jennifer R.; Harbison, Amy L.; Tapp, Jon T.

2018-01-01

A simulation study that used 3,000 computer-generated event streams with known behavior rates, interval durations, and session durations was conducted to test whether the main and interaction effects of true rate and interval duration affect the error level of uncorrected and Poisson-transformed (i.e., "corrected") count as estimated by…

Estimation of genetic variability level in inbred CF1 mouse lines ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

To estimate the genetic variability levels maintained by inbred lines selected for body weight and to compare them with a nonselected population from which the lines were derived, we calculated the per cent polymorphic loci (P) and marker diversity (MD) index from data on 43 putative loci of inter simple sequence repeats ...

COREDAR: COmmunicating Risk of sea level rise and Engaging stakeholDers in framing community based Adaptation stRategies

Science.gov (United States)

Amsad Ibrahim Khan, S. K.; Chen, R. S.; de Sherbinin, A. M.; Andimuthu, R.; Kandasamy, P.

2015-12-01

Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) is a major long term outcome of climate change leading to increased inundation of low-lying areas. Particularly, global cities that are located on or near the coasts are often situated in low lying areas and these locations put global cities at greater risk to SLR. Localized flooding will profoundly impact vulnerable communities located in high-risk urban areas. Building community resilience and adapting to SLR is increasingly a high priority for cities. On the other hand, Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change addresses the importance of climate change communication and engaging stakeholders in decision making process. Importantly, Community Based Adaptation (CBA) experiences emphasize that it is important to understand a community's unique perceptions of their adaptive capacities to identify useful solutions and that scientific and technical information on anticipated coastal climate impacts needs to be translated into a suitable language and format that allows people to be able to participate in adaptation planning. To address this challenge, this study has put forth three research questions from the lens of urban community engagement in SLR adaptation, (1) What, if any, community engagement in addressing SLR occurring in urban areas; (2) What information do communities need and how does it need to be communicated, in order to be better prepared and have a greater sense of agency? and (3) How can government agencies from city to federal levels facilitate community engagement and action?. To answer these questions this study has evolved a framework "COREDAR" (COmmunicating Risk of sea level rise and Engaging stakeholDers in framing community based Adaptation StRategies) to communicate and transfer complex climate data and information such as projected SLR under different scenarios of IPCC AR5, predicted impact of SLR, prioritizing vulnerability, etc. to concerned stakeholders and local communities

Community-level Distribution of Misoprostol to Prevent Postpartum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In Nigeria, most deaths due to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) occur in the absence of skilled birth attendants. A study using community mobilization and the training of community drug keepers to increase access to misoprostol for PPH prevention was conducted in five communities around Zaria in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Review of methods for level density estimation from resonance parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froehner, F.H.

1983-01-01

A number of methods are available for statistical analysis of resonance parameter sets, i.e. for estimation of level densities and average widths with account of missing levels. The main categories are (i) methods based on theories of level spacings (orthogonal-ensemble theory, Dyson-Mehta statistics), (ii) methods based on comparison with simulated cross section curves (Monte Carlo simulation, Garrison's autocorrelation method), (iii) methods exploiting the observed neutron width distribution by means of Bayesian or more approximate procedures such as maximum-likelihood, least-squares or moment methods, with various recipes for the treatment of detection thresholds and resolution effects. The present review will concentrate on (iii) with the aim of clarifying the basic mathematical concepts and the relationship between the various techniques. Recent theoretical progress in the treatment of resolution effects, detectability thresholds and p-wave admixture is described. (Auth.)

Fatigue Level Estimation of Bill Based on Acoustic Signal Feature by Supervised SOM

Science.gov (United States)

Teranishi, Masaru; Omatu, Sigeru; Kosaka, Toshihisa

Fatigued bills have harmful influence on daily operation of Automated Teller Machine(ATM). To make the fatigued bills classification more efficient, development of an automatic fatigued bill classification method is desired. We propose a new method to estimate bending rigidity of bill from acoustic signal feature of banking machines. The estimated bending rigidities are used as continuous fatigue level for classification of fatigued bill. By using the supervised Self-Organizing Map(supervised SOM), we estimate the bending rigidity from only the acoustic energy pattern effectively. The experimental result with real bill samples shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Harmonizing estimates of forest land area from national-level forest inventory and satellite imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnie Ruefenacht; Mark D. Nelson; Mark Finco

2009-01-01

Estimates of forest land area are derived both from national-level forest inventories and satellite image-based map products. These estimates can differ substantially within subregional extents (e.g., states or provinces) primarily due to differences in definitions of forest land between inventory- and image-based approaches. We present a geospatial modeling approach...

Normal Theory Two-Stage ML Estimator When Data Are Missing at the Item Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Savalei, Victoria; Rhemtulla, Mijke

2017-08-01

In many modeling contexts, the variables in the model are linear composites of the raw items measured for each participant; for instance, regression and path analysis models rely on scale scores, and structural equation models often use parcels as indicators of latent constructs. Currently, no analytic estimation method exists to appropriately handle missing data at the item level. Item-level multiple imputation (MI), however, can handle such missing data straightforwardly. In this article, we develop an analytic approach for dealing with item-level missing data-that is, one that obtains a unique set of parameter estimates directly from the incomplete data set and does not require imputations. The proposed approach is a variant of the two-stage maximum likelihood (TSML) methodology, and it is the analytic equivalent of item-level MI. We compare the new TSML approach to three existing alternatives for handling item-level missing data: scale-level full information maximum likelihood, available-case maximum likelihood, and item-level MI. We find that the TSML approach is the best analytic approach, and its performance is similar to item-level MI. We recommend its implementation in popular software and its further study.

Modeling vegetation community responses to sea-level rise on Barrier Island systems: A case study on the Cape Canaveral Barrier Island complex, Florida, USA.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tammy E Foster

Full Text Available Society needs information about how vegetation communities in coastal regions will be impacted by hydrologic changes associated with climate change, particularly sea level rise. Due to anthropogenic influences which have significantly decreased natural coastal vegetation communities, it is important for us to understand how remaining natural communities will respond to sea level rise. The Cape Canaveral Barrier Island complex (CCBIC on the east central coast of Florida is within one of the most biologically diverse estuarine systems in North America and has the largest number of threatened and endangered species on federal property in the contiguous United States. The high level of biodiversity is susceptible to sea level rise. Our objective was to model how vegetation communities along a gradient ranging from hydric to upland xeric on CCBIC will respond to three sea level rise scenarios (0.2 m, 0.4 m, and 1.2 m. We used a probabilistic model of the current relationship between elevation and vegetation community to determine the impact sea level rise would have on these communities. Our model correctly predicted the current proportions of vegetation communities on CCBIC based on elevation. Under all sea level rise scenarios the model predicted decreases in mesic and xeric communities, with the greatest losses occurring in the most xeric communities. Increases in total area of salt marsh were predicted with a 0.2 and 0.4 m rise in sea level. With a 1.2 m rise in sea level approximately half of CCBIC's land area was predicted to transition to open water. On the remaining land, the proportions of most of the vegetation communities were predicted to remain similar to that of current proportions, but there was a decrease in proportion of the most xeric community (oak scrub and an increase in the most hydric community (salt marsh. Our approach provides a first approximation of the impacts of sea level rise on terrestrial vegetation communities

Modeling vegetation community responses to sea-level rise on Barrier Island systems: A case study on the Cape Canaveral Barrier Island complex, Florida, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Tammy E; Stolen, Eric D; Hall, Carlton R; Schaub, Ronald; Duncan, Brean W; Hunt, Danny K; Drese, John H

2017-01-01

Society needs information about how vegetation communities in coastal regions will be impacted by hydrologic changes associated with climate change, particularly sea level rise. Due to anthropogenic influences which have significantly decreased natural coastal vegetation communities, it is important for us to understand how remaining natural communities will respond to sea level rise. The Cape Canaveral Barrier Island complex (CCBIC) on the east central coast of Florida is within one of the most biologically diverse estuarine systems in North America and has the largest number of threatened and endangered species on federal property in the contiguous United States. The high level of biodiversity is susceptible to sea level rise. Our objective was to model how vegetation communities along a gradient ranging from hydric to upland xeric on CCBIC will respond to three sea level rise scenarios (0.2 m, 0.4 m, and 1.2 m). We used a probabilistic model of the current relationship between elevation and vegetation community to determine the impact sea level rise would have on these communities. Our model correctly predicted the current proportions of vegetation communities on CCBIC based on elevation. Under all sea level rise scenarios the model predicted decreases in mesic and xeric communities, with the greatest losses occurring in the most xeric communities. Increases in total area of salt marsh were predicted with a 0.2 and 0.4 m rise in sea level. With a 1.2 m rise in sea level approximately half of CCBIC's land area was predicted to transition to open water. On the remaining land, the proportions of most of the vegetation communities were predicted to remain similar to that of current proportions, but there was a decrease in proportion of the most xeric community (oak scrub) and an increase in the most hydric community (salt marsh). Our approach provides a first approximation of the impacts of sea level rise on terrestrial vegetation communities, including important

Does community capacity influence self-rated health? Multilevel contextual effects in Seoul, Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Minsoo; Viswanath, K

2013-01-01

This study examined the relationship between community-level contextual effects and self-rated health (SRH) based on the perspective of community capacity rather than social capital. Community capacity for mobilization is broad cooperation for networking among indigenous social agents and grassroots organizations that may serve as potential resources. The idea of community capacity is rooted in the philosophy that a community not only faces problems but also possesses the necessary resources to solve its problems. We used nationally representative data from South Korea, 2010, drawing on 14,228 residents in 404 communities. Community capacity was measured at two levels: an individual-level indicator of community satisfaction, and community-level indicators of participation rate in community organizations, number of community-based organizations (CBOs), and number of volunteer work camps (VWCs). The outcome variable was SRH, which was categorized into two groups: the low-SRH and high-SRH groups. Confounders included gender, age, and income at the individual level, and aggregate length of residency, financial independence ratio, and aggregate income at the community level. We estimated the effects of community capacity on SRH using hierarchical generalized linear models. The likelihood of belonging to the group having low-SRH is significantly high among those respondents living in places with lower community capacity at the community level, that report lower community satisfaction, and that have lower income at the individual level. After controlling for socio-economic confounders, the odds ratios were attenuated but remained significant in the final model, which included the gender-specific model. This study revealed that SRH is related to the level of community capacity for mobilization. It is probably because CBOs and VWCs not only provide necessary information and complementary services but also play an active role in identifying and resolving health problems

Training Methods for Image Noise Level Estimation on Wavelet Components

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. De Stefano

2004-12-01

Full Text Available The estimation of the standard deviation of noise contaminating an image is a fundamental step in wavelet-based noise reduction techniques. The method widely used is based on the mean absolute deviation (MAD. This model-based method assumes specific characteristics of the noise-contaminated image component. Three novel and alternative methods for estimating the noise standard deviation are proposed in this work and compared with the MAD method. Two of these methods rely on a preliminary training stage in order to extract parameters which are then used in the application stage. The sets used for training and testing, 13 and 5 images, respectively, are fully disjoint. The third method assumes specific statistical distributions for image and noise components. Results showed the prevalence of the training-based methods for the images and the range of noise levels considered.

Songbird Community Variation Among Five Levels of Overstory Retention in Northern Alabama

Science.gov (United States)

Adrian A. Lesak; Yong Wang; Callie Jo Schweitzer

2004-01-01

We compared songbird communities among varying degrees of overstory tree retention in the oak-hickory forest of the southern Mid-Cumberland Plateau region. Three 20-ha complete block replicates of 5 experimental treatments (15 treatment units, 4 ha per unit) were used. The five treatments were operational shelterwood stands with target overstory retention levels of...

Estimates of diagnostic reference levels for common radiographic x-ray examinations in some sudanese hospitals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awad, Ezdehar Mohammed Satti.

2016-03-01

The objective of this study were to estimate patient dose in some common diagnostic x-ray examinations in Sudan with the aim to propose national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). Radiation doses were estimated for the patients in 23 public hospitals in different town in Sudan (Wad-Madani, Kasala, Atbara Al obaid, Al nhod, Khartoum). Entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) was estimated in a three steps protocol: First, x-ray unit output Y (d) was measured at a distance at a distance (d) for different peak tube voltages and tube loading (mAs). Next, incident air kerma (k) was calculated from Y (d) using inverse square law combined with patient exposure factors. ESAK was calculated from k using backscatter factor, B. Mean ESAK values were comparable to those reported in other countries and are below reference dose levels. The estimated mean ESAK values were: 0.4, 1.9, 1.8, 3.2, 2.4, 3.5, and 8.4 mGy for chests . The estimated mean ESAK values were 0.4, 1.9, 1.8, 3.2, 2.4, 3,5, and 8.4 mGy for chest PA, Skull AP/PA, Skull LAT, Abdomen Pelvis AP, Lumber Spine AP and Lumber Spine LAT examination respectively. The results are used for dose optimization and to propose national diagnostic reference levels. (Author)

Mechanisms of migration development at the community level: Migrant networks and types of links

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mónica Serban

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The paper approaches the problem of the development mechanism of international migration at community level.Some empirical observations cumulated during several researches,at origin and destination area, regarding Romanian migration to Spain constitute the starting points. Appealing to the distinction introduced by Mark Granovetter in 1976 between weak and strongties, we find that, if initially migration develops almost exclusively based on social relations that could be assimilated to strong ties,there is a moment in the process of development when the departures on the base of weak ties, with important consequences on the migrant’s situation at destination, increase.The paper tries to clarify, preponderantly invoking theoretical arguments,in what measure the departures based on weak ties between migrant and non migrant are normal in the process of international migration development at community level. The study concludes that, because of cumulative effects, migration evolution to a phase when the departure is possible based on weak ties is explainable.Two mechanisms mainly contribute to this result: enhancement of incentives to migrate (because of quantitative and qualitative information increase; visibility of migration effects in the origin area;changes of relative deprivation at community level and migration costs and risk lowering, with the consequence of reduction of effective support that a non-migrant needs from one migrant in order to migrate.

Community-level sensitivity of a calcifying ecosystem to acute in situ CO2 enrichment

KAUST Repository

Burdett, HL

2017-11-23

The rate of change in ocean carbonate chemistry is a vital determinant in the magnitude of effects observed. Benthic marine ecosystems are facing an increasing risk of acute CO2 exposure that may be natural or anthropogenically derived (e.g. engineering and industrial activities). However, our understanding of how acute CO2 events impact marine life is restricted to individual organisms, with little understanding for how this manifests at the community level. Here, we investigated in situ the effect of acute CO2 enrichment on the coralline algal ecosystem—a globally ubiquitous, ecologically and economically important habitat, but one which is likely to be sensitive to CO2 enrichment due to its highly calcified reef-like structures engineered by coralline algae. Most notably, we observed a rapid community-level shift to favour net dissolution rather than net calcification. Smaller changes from net respiration to net photosynthesis were also observed. There was no effect on the net flux of DMS/DMSP (algal secondary metabolites), nor on the nutrients nitrate and phosphate. Following return to ambient CO2 levels, only a partial recovery was seen within the monitoring timeframe. This study highlights the sensitivity of biogenic carbonate marine communities to acute CO2 enrichment and raises concerns over the capacity for the system to ‘bounce back’ if subjected to repeated acute high-CO2 events.

Estimation of sea level variations with GPS/GLONASS-reflectometry technique

Science.gov (United States)

Padokhin, A. M.; Kurbatov, G. A.; Andreeva, E. S.; Nesterov, I. A.; Nazarenko, M. O.; Berbeneva, N. A.; Karlysheva, A. V.

2017-11-01

In the present paper we study GNSS - reflectometry methods for estimation of sea level variations using a single GNSSreceiver, which are based on the multipath propagation effects caused by the reflection of navigational signals from the sea surface. Such multipath propagation results in the appearance of the interference pattern in the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of GNSS signals at small satellite elevation angles, which parameters are determined by the wavelength of the navigational signal and height of the antenna phase center above the reflecting sea surface. In current work we used GPS and GLONASS signals and measurements at two working frequencies of both systems to study sea level variations which almost doubles the amount of observations compared to GPS-only tide gauge. For UNAVCO sc02 station and collocated Friday Harbor NOAA tide gauge we show good agreement between GNSS-reflectometry and traditional mareograph sea level data.

Assessing dietary exposure to cadmium in a metal recycling community in Vietnam: Age and gender aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minh, Ngo Duc; Hough, Rupert Lloyd; Thuy, Le Thi; Nyberg, Ylva; Mai, Le Bach; Vinh, Nguyen Cong; Khai, Nguyen Manh; Öborn, Ingrid

2012-01-01

This study estimates the dietary exposure to cadmium (Cd), and associated potential health risks, for individuals living and working in a metal recycling community (n = 132) in Vietnam in comparison to an agricultural (reference) community (n = 130). Individual-level exposure to Cd was estimated through analysis of staple foodstuffs combined with information from a food frequency questionnaire. Individual-level exposure estimates were compared with published ‘safe’ doses to derive a Hazard Quotient (HQ) for each member of the study population. Looking at the populations as a whole, there were no significant differences in the diets of the two villages. However, significantly more rice was consumed by working age adults (18–60 years) in the recycling village compared to the reference village (p 3), while 20% of adult participants from the reference village had an HQ > 1. We found an elevated health risk from dietary exposure to Cd in the metal recycling village compared to the reference community. WHO standard of 0.4 mg Cd/kg rice may not be protective where people consume large amounts of rice/have relatively low body weight. - Highlights: ► First individual-level risk assessment of cadmium in recycling villages of Vietnam. ► Dietary analysis undertaken for a recycling community and an agricultural community. ► No significant differences were found between the diets of the two populations. ► 87% of people in the recycling community had elevated health risk. ► WHO standard (0.4 mg Cd/kg rice) may not be protective for rice-based cultures.

Estimation of ultratrace level of uranium in sea water by laser fluorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahoo, S.K.; Tripathi, R.M.; Mohapatra, S.; Patra, A.C.; Lenka, P.; Puranik, V.D.

2010-01-01

Full text: Uranium, a naturally occurring primordial radionuclide, is imperative in the present Indian Nuclear Power Programme. Seawater may be an alternate source of uranium to meet the future demand. The total estimated quantity of uranium in seawater is around four and a half billion tonnes. Estimation of uranium in sea water is cumbersome and tedious because of ultra-trace concentration of uranium with high salt content and other interfering elements of sea water. Mainly chloride interferes in sea water analysis for estimation of nanogram level uranium because the ion at high concentration in sea water depresses uranyl complex fluorescence. At 500 ppm of chloride, the fluorescence response from a given uranium level is reduced by nearly 50%. Dilution method may be used in order to minimize the interference effect but it can't be implemented in this case as sea water contains 19000 ppm chloride but only 2-3 ppb of uranium. Thus, the separation of the interfering elements is necessary to analyze nanogram level of uranium in sea water. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze uranium in sea water by laser fluorimeter. Sample was treated with potassium persulphate to remove chloride ion and subsequent measurement was carried out after pH adjustment. The method was used for analysis of uranium content in 23 seawater samples ranged from 0.2 ± 0.1 μg/l to 2.2 ± 0.4 μg/l with a mean value of 1.01 ± 0.11 μg/l

Traumatic physical health consequences of intimate partner violence against women: what is the role of community-level factors?

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Antai Diddy

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV against women is a serious public health issue with recognizable direct health consequences. This study assessed the association between IPV and traumatic physical health consequences on women in Nigeria, given that communities exert significant influence on the individuals that are embedded within them, with the nature of influence varying between communities. Methods Cross-sectional nationally-representative data of women aged 15 - 49 years in the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey was used in this study. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between IPV and several forms of physical health consequences. Results Bruises were the most common form of traumatic physical health consequences. In the adjusted models, the likelihood of sustaining bruises (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.05 - 3.46, wounds (OR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.31 - 4.95, and severe burns (OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 1.63 - 6.28 was significantly higher for women exposed to IPV compared to those not exposed to IPV. However, after adjusting for individual- and community-level factors, women with husbands/partners with controlling behavior, those with primary or no education, and those resident in communities with high tolerance for wife beating had a higher likelihood of experiencing IPV, whilst mean community-level education and women 24 years or younger were at lower likelihood of experiencing IPV. Conclusions Evidence from this study shows that exposure to IPV is associated with increased likelihood of traumatic physical consequences for women in Nigeria. Education and justification of wife beating were significant community-level factors associated with traumatic physical consequences, suggesting the importance of increasing women's levels of education and changing community norms that justify controlling behavior and IPV.

Examination of Conservatism in Early/Latent Fatality Estimation in Level 3 PRA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sung-yeop; Lee, Haneol; Yim, Man-Sung

2014-01-01

Due to the computational model driven-nature of the work, there exist various sources of uncertainty in level 3 PRA. They are related with source release, environmental transport and deposition, human behavior involved in dosimetry, health effect and risk assessment. For instance, a total of 376 parameters have been considered in Probabilistic Accident Consequence Uncertainty Assessment Using COSYMA and the details on the number of parameters in each analysis are listed in Table 1. In 2012, the report of NPP accident consequence simulation was distributed by the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM). They insisted that Kori Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident would lead to 48,000 early fatalities and 850,000 cancer fatalities in Busan and Hanbit NPP accident would lead to 550,000 cancer fatalities in Seoul. This report exemplifies the misuse of collective dose, that is effective dose multiplied by population and time. Even though very low effective dose is considered, collective dose could give over-conservative estimate when high population and long time period is multiplied. International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) forewarned about the misuse of collective dose, in their ICRP Publication 103, such as applying it to simplified calculation of fatality and risk. As part of investigation of conservatism in early and latent fatality estimation, the existing methods of early and latent fatality calculation was reviewed and the results from the use of the existing methodology were examined in this study. The method of early and latent fatality estimation in level 3 PRA was investigated and the conservatism in the result was examined in this study. For the purpose of estimating both early and latent fatality, appropriate dose distributions among the affected population are found to be important. This study showed that large conservatism may be involved in the estimated fatality if the distribution of population dose as a function of

Examination of Conservatism in Early/Latent Fatality Estimation in Level 3 PRA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sung-yeop; Lee, Haneol; Yim, Man-Sung [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

Due to the computational model driven-nature of the work, there exist various sources of uncertainty in level 3 PRA. They are related with source release, environmental transport and deposition, human behavior involved in dosimetry, health effect and risk assessment. For instance, a total of 376 parameters have been considered in Probabilistic Accident Consequence Uncertainty Assessment Using COSYMA and the details on the number of parameters in each analysis are listed in Table 1. In 2012, the report of NPP accident consequence simulation was distributed by the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM). They insisted that Kori Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident would lead to 48,000 early fatalities and 850,000 cancer fatalities in Busan and Hanbit NPP accident would lead to 550,000 cancer fatalities in Seoul. This report exemplifies the misuse of collective dose, that is effective dose multiplied by population and time. Even though very low effective dose is considered, collective dose could give over-conservative estimate when high population and long time period is multiplied. International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) forewarned about the misuse of collective dose, in their ICRP Publication 103, such as applying it to simplified calculation of fatality and risk. As part of investigation of conservatism in early and latent fatality estimation, the existing methods of early and latent fatality calculation was reviewed and the results from the use of the existing methodology were examined in this study. The method of early and latent fatality estimation in level 3 PRA was investigated and the conservatism in the result was examined in this study. For the purpose of estimating both early and latent fatality, appropriate dose distributions among the affected population are found to be important. This study showed that large conservatism may be involved in the estimated fatality if the distribution of population dose as a function of

Estimating and coping with public response to radioactive waste repository siting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Payne, B.A.

1984-01-01

The siting and construction of a radioactive waste disposal operation is likely to be controversial in the communities being considered, and at the state and national levels as well. Public response can be conceptualized at two levels: individual, and group or organizational. At the individual level, public response is the behavior of people motivated by their attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of radioactive waste and its hazards and risks. On the group or organizational level, public response is the organized activity of individuals. Organizations provide the ability to pool resources and talents, set up a division of labor, hire experts, develop a skilled leadership, take legal action, and so on. A broad range of organizations is possible: ad hoc, existing community groups with an added purpose, nationally-recognized organizations, or government offices and agencies. Two cases of response to radioactive waste disposal sites illustrate these sources and kinds of response and lead to indicators to estimate the nature and level of response. Finally, drawing from the theoretical discussion of the sources and levels of public response, on the estimation techniques, and on the examples, specific coping strategies are developed. These strategies take different forms, based on the nature and level of response (either supporting or opposing) to the proposed siting, and the past experience of the community members with similar projects, with other federal requirements, and with citizens' action groups, as well as sources and accuracy of information individuals and groups have. However, all strategies are based on a policy of honesty and straight-forwardness, with a sincere effort on the part of site evaluators and decision-makers to be attentive and responsive to the public's concerns. 10 references

Estimation of fluoride levels in various commercially available carbonated soft drinks in Chandigarh city, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohit Bansal

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Fluoride has a preventive action on dental caries. However, Excessive ingestion of fluoride from different sources can lead to the development of dental fluorosis. Aim: To estimate fluoride levels in various commercially available carbonated soft drinks available in Chandigarh city. Materials and Methods: Twelve different brands of commercially available soft drinks were purchased from three different places and divided into three groups. Fluoride levels were estimated using fluoride test strips Quantofix 37211 Fluka; Sigma-Aldrich. Results: Fluoride levels ranged from 0.12 to 0.42 mg/dl F with the maximum level in Thumbs up and least in Diet Pepsi. Conclusion: The levels of fluoride varied in various carbonated soft drinks analyzed. This could contribute significantly to the total fluoride intake from all sources and thus be an important risk factor for the development of dental fluorosis.

Multi-level restricted maximum likelihood covariance estimation and kriging for large non-gridded spatial datasets

KAUST Repository

Castrillon, Julio

2015-11-10

We develop a multi-level restricted Gaussian maximum likelihood method for estimating the covariance function parameters and computing the best unbiased predictor. Our approach produces a new set of multi-level contrasts where the deterministic parameters of the model are filtered out thus enabling the estimation of the covariance parameters to be decoupled from the deterministic component. Moreover, the multi-level covariance matrix of the contrasts exhibit fast decay that is dependent on the smoothness of the covariance function. Due to the fast decay of the multi-level covariance matrix coefficients only a small set is computed with a level dependent criterion. We demonstrate our approach on problems of up to 512,000 observations with a Matérn covariance function and highly irregular placements of the observations. In addition, these problems are numerically unstable and hard to solve with traditional methods.

Psychological resilience after Hurricane Sandy: the influence of individual- and community-level factors on mental health after a large-scale natural disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Sarah R; Sampson, Laura; Gruebner, Oliver; Galea, Sandro

2015-01-01

Several individual-level factors are known to promote psychological resilience in the aftermath of disasters. Far less is known about the role of community-level factors in shaping postdisaster mental health. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of both individual- and community-level factors on resilience after Hurricane Sandy. A representative sample of household residents (N = 418) from 293 New York City census tracts that were most heavily affected by the storm completed telephone interviews approximately 13-16 months postdisaster. Multilevel multivariable models explored the independent and interactive contributions of individual- and community-level factors to posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms. At the individual-level, having experienced or witnessed any lifetime traumatic event was significantly associated with higher depression and posttraumatic stress, whereas demographic characteristics (e.g., older age, non-Hispanic Black race) and more disaster-related stressors were significantly associated with higher posttraumatic stress only. At the community-level, living in an area with higher social capital was significantly associated with higher posttraumatic stress. Additionally, higher community economic development was associated with lower risk of depression only among participants who did not experience any disaster-related stressors. These results provide evidence that individual- and community-level resources and exposure operate in tandem to shape postdisaster resilience.

Relations of serum phosphorus and calcium levels to the incidence of cardiovascular disease in the community.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhingra, Ravi; Sullivan, Lisa M; Fox, Caroline S; Wang, Thomas J; D'Agostino, Ralph B; Gaziano, J Michael; Vasan, Ramachandran S

2007-05-14

Higher levels of serum phosphorus and the calcium-phosphorus product are associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or prior CVD. However, it is unknown if serum phosphorus levels influence vascular risk in individuals without CKD or CVD. We prospectively evaluated 3368 Framingham Offspring study participants (mean age, 44 years; 51% were women) free of CVD and CKD. We used multivariable Cox models to relate serum phosphorus and calcium levels to CVD incidence. On follow-up (mean duration, 16.1 years), there were 524 incident CVD events (159 in women). In multivariable analyses and adjusting for established risk factors and additionally for glomerular filtration rate and for hemoglobin, serum albumin, proteinuria, and C-reactive protein levels, a higher level of serum phosphorus was associated with an increased CVD risk in a continuous fashion (adjusted hazard ratio per increment of milligrams per deciliter, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.63; P=.02; P value for trend across quartiles = .004). Individuals in the highest serum phosphorus quartile experienced a multivariable-adjusted 1.55-fold CVD risk (95% confidence interval, 1.16%-2.07%; P=.004) compared with those in the lowest quartile. These findings remained robust in time-dependent models that updated CVD risk factors every 4 years and in analyses restricted to individuals without proteinuria and an estimated glomerular filtration rate greater than 90 mL/min per 1.73 m(2). Serum calcium was not related to CVD risk. Higher serum phosphorus levels are associated with an increased CVD risk in individuals free of CKD and CVD in the community. These observations emphasize the need for additional research to elucidate the potential link between phosphorus homeostasis and vascular risk.

Estimation of natural radiation background level and population dose in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Ziqiang

1992-01-01

The authors describe in general the natural radiation background level in China, and based on available data present an estimated annual effective dose equivalent of the population to natural radiation that is some 2.3 mSv, of which about 0.54 mSv is from original γ radiation and about 0.8 mSv from radon and its short-lived daughters

Community-level policy responses to state marijuana legalization in Washington State.

Science.gov (United States)

Dilley, Julia A; Hitchcock, Laura; McGroder, Nancy; Greto, Lindsey A; Richardson, Susan M

2017-04-01

Washington State (WA) legalized a recreational marijuana market - including growing, processing and retail sales - through voter initiative 502 in November 2012. Legalized recreational marijuana retail sales began in July 2014. In response to state legalization of recreational marijuana, some cities and counties within the state have passed local ordinances that either further regulated marijuana markets, or banned them completely. The purpose of this study is to describe local-level marijuana regulations on recreational retail sales within the context of a state that had legalized a recreational marijuana market. Marijuana-related ordinances were collected from all 142 cities in the state with more than 3000 residents and from all 39 counties. Policies that were in place as of June 30, 2016 - two years after the state's recreational market opening - to regulate recreational marijuana retail sales within communities were systematically coded. A total of 125 cities and 30 counties had passed local ordinances to address recreational marijuana retail sales. Multiple communities implemented retail market bans, including some temporary bans (moratoria) while studying whether to pursue other policy options. As of June 30, 2016, 30% of the state population lived in places that had temporarily or permanently banned retail sales. Communities most frequently enacted zoning policies explicitly regulating where marijuana businesses could be established. Other policies included in ordinances placed limits on business hours and distance requirements (buffers) between marijuana businesses and youth-related land use types or other sensitive areas. State legalization does not necessarily result in uniform community environments that regulate recreational marijuana markets. Local ordinances vary among communities within Washington following statewide legalization. Further study is needed to describe how such local policies affect variation in public health and social outcomes

Proyecto MercadoFRESCO: a multi-level, community-engaged corner store intervention in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega, Alexander N; Albert, Stephanie L; Sharif, Mienah Z; Langellier, Brent A; Garcia, Rosa Elena; Glik, Deborah C; Brookmeyer, Ron; Chan-Golston, Alec M; Friedlander, Scott; Prelip, Michael L

2015-04-01

Urban food swamps are typically situated in low-income, minority communities and contribute to overweight and obesity. Changing the food landscape in low income and underserved communities is one strategy to combat the negative health consequences associated with the lack of access to healthy food resources and an abundance of unhealthy food venues. In this paper, we describe Proyecto MercadoFRESCO (Fresh Market Project), a corner store intervention project in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights in California that used a multi-level approach with a broad range of community, business, and academic partners. These are two neighboring, predominantly Latino communities that have high rates of overweight and obesity. Located in these two communities are approximately 150 corner stores. The project used a community-engaged approach to select, recruit, and convert four corner stores, so that they could become healthy community assets in order to improve residents' access to and awareness of fresh and affordable fruits and vegetables in their immediate neighborhoods. We describe the study framework for the multi-level intervention, which includes having multiple stakeholders, expertise in corner store operations, community and youth engagement strategies, and social marketing campaigns. We also describe the evaluation and survey methodology to determine community and patron impact of the intervention. This paper provides a framework useful to a variety of public health stakeholders for implementing a community-engaged corner store conversion, particularly in an urban food swamp.

Spatial vulnerability assessment : methodology for the community and district level applied to floods in Buzi, Mozambique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kienberger, S.

2010-01-01

Within this thesis a conceptual model is presented which allows for the definition of a vulnerability assessment according to its time and spatial scale and within a multi-dimensional framework, which should help to design and develop appropriate methodologies and adaptation of concepts for the required scale of implementation. Building on past experiences with participatory approaches in community mapping in the District of Buzi in Mozambique, the relevance of such approaches for a community-based disaster risk reduction framework is analysed. Finally, methodologies are introduced which allow the assessment of vulnerability and the prioritisation of vulnerability factors at the community level. At the district level, homogenous vulnerability regions are identified through the application of integrated modelling approaches which build on expert knowledge and weightings. A set of indicators is proposed, which allow the modelling of vulnerability in a data-scarce environment. In developing these different methodologies for the community and district levels, it has been identified that the monitoring of vulnerability and the identification of trends is essential to addressing the objective of a continuous and improved disaster risk management. In addition to the technical and methodological challenges discussed in this thesis, the commitment from different stakeholders and the availability of capacity in different domains is essential for the successful, practical implementation of the developed approaches. (author)

Submerged macrophyte communities in the Forsmark area. Building of a GIS application as a tool for biomass estimations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fredriksson, Ronny

2005-12-01

The aim of this study was to compile the information from previous studies to produce a GIS application that both illustrates the distribution of different vegetation communities and also makes it possible to estimate the total biomass of the different vegetation communities and its associated fauna. The GIS application was created by means of the software Arc View 3.3 by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Distribution readings and quantitative data of submerged macrophyte communities and its associated fauna was obtained from studies by Kautsky et al. and by Borgiel. Information about the macrophyte distribution in Laangoersviken, located in the northern parts of Kallrigafjaerden, was obtained from a report by Upplandsstiftelsen. Information about water depth and bottom substrate was available as USGS DEM file, produced by Geological Survey of Sweden. Complementary data of the covering degree of submerged vegetation was obtained from a study using an under water video camera by Tobiasson. Quantitative data on macrophyte and faunal biomass were either obtained from the primary SKB data base SICADA or directly from reports. Samples were compiled and analysed according to dominating vegetation. The work was carried out as follows: Where information about the bottom substrate was available polygons were created by means of the substrate shape file and depth grid from Geological Survey of Sweden. The vegetation community and the covering degree on a certain depth and substrate combination were determined by compiled information from studies by Kautsky and by Borgiel. All observations from a certain bottom substrate were analysed to find the dominating vegetation within different depth ranges. After determining the dominating vegetation, the covering degrees of different macrophyte classes within each depth range were calculated as a mean of all readings. Areas without information about the bottom substrate, but still adjacent to areas included in the

Submerged macrophyte communities in the Forsmark area. Building of a GIS application as a tool for biomass estimations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fredriksson, Ronny [Univ. of Kalmar (Sweden)

2005-12-15

The aim of this study was to compile the information from previous studies to produce a GIS application that both illustrates the distribution of different vegetation communities and also makes it possible to estimate the total biomass of the different vegetation communities and its associated fauna. The GIS application was created by means of the software Arc View 3.3 by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Distribution readings and quantitative data of submerged macrophyte communities and its associated fauna was obtained from studies by Kautsky et al. and by Borgiel. Information about the macrophyte distribution in Laangoersviken, located in the northern parts of Kallrigafjaerden, was obtained from a report by Upplandsstiftelsen. Information about water depth and bottom substrate was available as USGS DEM file, produced by Geological Survey of Sweden. Complementary data of the covering degree of submerged vegetation was obtained from a study using an under water video camera by Tobiasson. Quantitative data on macrophyte and faunal biomass were either obtained from the primary SKB data base SICADA or directly from reports. Samples were compiled and analysed according to dominating vegetation. The work was carried out as follows: Where information about the bottom substrate was available polygons were created by means of the substrate shape file and depth grid from Geological Survey of Sweden. The vegetation community and the covering degree on a certain depth and substrate combination were determined by compiled information from studies by Kautsky and by Borgiel. All observations from a certain bottom substrate were analysed to find the dominating vegetation within different depth ranges. After determining the dominating vegetation, the covering degrees of different macrophyte classes within each depth range were calculated as a mean of all readings. Areas without information about the bottom substrate, but still adjacent to areas included in the

Multi-level restricted maximum likelihood covariance estimation and kriging for large non-gridded spatial datasets

KAUST Repository

Castrillon, Julio; Genton, Marc G.; Yokota, Rio

2015-01-01

We develop a multi-level restricted Gaussian maximum likelihood method for estimating the covariance function parameters and computing the best unbiased predictor. Our approach produces a new set of multi-level contrasts where the deterministic

Individual- and community-level determinants of social acceptance of people living with HIV in Kenya: results from a national population-based survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiao, Chi; Mishra, Vinod; Sambisa, William

2009-09-01

Using the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, we investigated the influence of individual- and community-level factors on accepting attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLHIV) using three outcomes: (1) willingness to care for an infected household member, (2) willingness to buy vegetables from an infected vendor, and (3) willingness to allow an infected female teacher to continue teaching. In multilevel logistic regression models, we found that individuals who expressed greater acceptance of PLHIV were more likely to be male, older, more educated, high AIDS knowledge, and exposed to mass media. At the community level, differences in accepting attitudes were associated with community AIDS knowledge, community education, and community AIDS experience, but not for region, or place of residence. The findings suggest the important role of community factors in determining social acceptance of PLHIV. Programmatic strategies aimed at increasing these accepting attitudes should consider both individual- and community-level factors.

Estimating aquifer properties from the water level response to Earth tides.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutillo, Paula A; Bredehoeft, John D

2011-01-01

Water level fluctuations induced by tidal strains can be analyzed to estimate the elastic properties, porosity, and transmissivity of the surrounding aquifer material. We review underutilized methods for estimating aquifer properties from the confined response to earth tides. The earth tide analyses are applied to an open well penetrating a confined carbonate aquifer. The resulting range of elastic and hydraulic aquifer properties are in general agreement with that determined by other investigators for the area of the well. The analyses indicate that passive monitoring data from wells completed in sufficiently stiff, low porosity formations can provide useful information on the properties of the surrounding formation. Journal compilation © 2010 National Ground Water Association. No claim to original US government works.

Poster abstract: Water level estimation in urban ultrasonic/passive infrared flash flood sensor networks using supervised learning

KAUST Repository

Mousa, Mustafa

2014-04-01

This article describes a machine learning approach to water level estimation in a dual ultrasonic/passive infrared urban flood sensor system. We first show that an ultrasonic rangefinder alone is unable to accurately measure the level of water on a road due to thermal effects. Using additional passive infrared sensors, we show that ground temperature and local sensor temperature measurements are sufficient to correct the rangefinder readings and improve the flood detection performance. Since floods occur very rarely, we use a supervised learning approach to estimate the correction to the ultrasonic rangefinder caused by temperature fluctuations. Preliminary data shows that water level can be estimated with an absolute error of less than 2 cm. © 2014 IEEE.

Condition Number Regularized Covariance Estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Joong-Ho; Lim, Johan; Kim, Seung-Jean; Rajaratnam, Bala

2013-06-01

Estimation of high-dimensional covariance matrices is known to be a difficult problem, has many applications, and is of current interest to the larger statistics community. In many applications including so-called the "large p small n " setting, the estimate of the covariance matrix is required to be not only invertible, but also well-conditioned. Although many regularization schemes attempt to do this, none of them address the ill-conditioning problem directly. In this paper, we propose a maximum likelihood approach, with the direct goal of obtaining a well-conditioned estimator. No sparsity assumption on either the covariance matrix or its inverse are are imposed, thus making our procedure more widely applicable. We demonstrate that the proposed regularization scheme is computationally efficient, yields a type of Steinian shrinkage estimator, and has a natural Bayesian interpretation. We investigate the theoretical properties of the regularized covariance estimator comprehensively, including its regularization path, and proceed to develop an approach that adaptively determines the level of regularization that is required. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of the regularized estimator in decision-theoretic comparisons and in the financial portfolio optimization setting. The proposed approach has desirable properties, and can serve as a competitive procedure, especially when the sample size is small and when a well-conditioned estimator is required.

Assessing the impact of sea-level rise on a vulnerable coastal community in Accra, Ghana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwasi Appeaning Addo

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Climate change and its associated sea-level rise are expected to significantly affect vulnerable coastal communities. Although the extent of the impact will be localised, its assessment will adopt a monitoring approach that applies globally. The topography of the beach, the type of geological material and the level of human intervention will determine the extent of the area to be flooded and the rate at which the shoreline will move inland. Gleefe, a coastal community in Ghana, has experienced frequent flooding in recent times due to the increasing occurrence of storm surge and sea-level rise. This study used available geospatial data and field measurements to determine how the beach topography has contributed to the incidence of flooding at Gleefe. The topography is generally low-lying. Sections of the beach have elevations of around 1 m, which allows seawater to move inland during very high tide. Accelerated sea-level rise as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC will destroy homes of the inhabitants and inundate the Densu wetlands behind the beach. Destruction of infrastructure will render the inhabitants homeless, whilst flooding of the wetlands will destroy the habitats of migratory birds and some endangered wildlife species such as marine turtle. Effective adaptation measures should be adopted to protect this very important coastal environment, the ecology of the wetlands and the livelihoods of the community dwellers.

Validating Community-Led Forest Biomass Assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Venter, Michelle; Venter, Oscar; Edwards, Will; Bird, Michael I

2015-01-01

The lack of capacity to monitor forest carbon stocks in developing countries is undermining global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Involving local people in monitoring forest carbon stocks could potentially address this capacity gap. This study conducts a complete expert remeasurement of community-led biomass inventories in remote tropical forests of Papua New Guinea. By fully remeasuring and isolating the effects of 4,481 field measurements, we demonstrate that programmes employing local people (non-experts) can produce forest monitoring data as reliable as those produced by scientists (experts). Overall, non-experts reported lower biomass estimates by an average of 9.1%, equivalent to 55.2 fewer tonnes of biomass ha(-1), which could have important financial implications for communities. However, there were no significant differences between forest biomass estimates of expert and non-expert, nor were there significant differences in some of the components used to calculate these estimates, such as tree diameter at breast height (DBH), tree counts and plot surface area, but were significant differences between tree heights. At the landscape level, the greatest biomass discrepancies resulted from height measurements (41%) and, unexpectedly, a few large missing trees contributing to a third of the overall discrepancies. We show that 85% of the biomass discrepancies at the tree level were caused by measurement taken on large trees (DBH ≥50 cm), even though they consisted of only 14% of the stems. We demonstrate that programmes that engage local people can provide high-quality forest carbon data that could help overcome barriers to reducing forest carbon emissions in developing countries. Nonetheless, community-based monitoring programmes should prioritise reducing errors in the field that lead to the most important discrepancies, notably; overcoming challenges to accurately measure large trees.

Hierarchical Bayes Small Area Estimation under a Unit Level Model with Applications in Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nageena Nazir

2016-09-01

Full Text Available To studied Bayesian aspect of small area estimation using Unit level model. In this paper we proposed and evaluated new prior distribution for the ratio of variance components in unit level model rather than uniform prior. To approximate the posterior moments of small area means, Laplace approximation method is applied. This choice of prior avoids the extreme skewness, usually present in the posterior distribution of variance components. This property leads to more accurate Laplace approximation. We apply the proposed model to the analysis of horticultural data and results from the model are compared with frequestist approach and with Bayesian model of uniform prior in terms of average relative bias, average squared relative bias and average absolute bias. The numerical results obtained highlighted the superiority of using the proposed prior over the uniform prior. Thus Bayes estimators (with new prior of small area means have good frequentist properties such as MSE and ARB as compared to other traditional methods viz., Direct, Synthetic and Composite estimators.

Preliminary estimates of cost savings for defense high level waste vitrification options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merrill, R.A.; Chapman, C.C.

1993-09-01

The potential for realizing cost savings in the disposal of defense high-level waste through process and design modificatins has been considered. Proposed modifications range from simple changes in the canister design to development of an advanced melter capable of processing glass with a higher waste loading. Preliminary calculations estimate the total disposal cost (not including capital or operating costs) for defense high-level waste to be about $7.9 billion dollars for the reference conditions described in this paper, while projected savings resulting from the proposed process and design changes could reduce the disposal cost of defense high-level waste by up to $5.2 billion

Development of an instrument for community-level health related social capital among Japanese older people: The JAGES Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Masashige; Kondo, Naoki; Aida, Jun; Kawachi, Ichiro; Koyama, Shihoko; Ojima, Toshiyuki; Kondo, Katsunori

2017-05-01

We developed and validated an instrument to measure community-level social capital based on data derived from older community dwellers in Japan. We used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a nationwide survey involving 123,760 functionally independent older people nested within 702 communities (i.e., school districts). We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on survey items to determine the items in a multi-dimensional scale to measure community social capital. Internal consistency was checked with Cronbach's alpha. Convergent construct validity was assessed via correlating the scale with health outcomes. From 53 candidate variables, 11 community-level variables were extracted: participation in volunteer groups, sports groups, hobby activities, study or cultural groups, and activities for teaching specific skills; trust, norms of reciprocity, and attachment to one's community; received emotional support; provided emotional support; and received instrumental support. Using factor analysis, these variables were determined to belong to three sub-scales: civic participation (eigenvalue = 3.317, α = 0.797), social cohesion (eigenvalue = 2.633, α = 0.853), and reciprocity (eigenvalue = 1.424, α = 0.732). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the goodness of fit of this model. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis revealed that civic participation score was robustly associated with individual subjective health (Self-Rated Health: prevalence ratio [PR] 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-0.98; Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]: PR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93-0.97). Reciprocity score was also associated with individual GDS (PR 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.00). Social cohesion score was not consistently associated with individual health indicators. Our scale for measuring social capital at the community level might be useful for future studies of older community dwellers. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Production and

Development of an instrument for community-level health related social capital among Japanese older people: The JAGES Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masashige Saito

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background: We developed and validated an instrument to measure community-level social capital based on data derived from older community dwellers in Japan. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a nationwide survey involving 123,760 functionally independent older people nested within 702 communities (i.e., school districts. We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on survey items to determine the items in a multi-dimensional scale to measure community social capital. Internal consistency was checked with Cronbach's alpha. Convergent construct validity was assessed via correlating the scale with health outcomes. Results: From 53 candidate variables, 11 community-level variables were extracted: participation in volunteer groups, sports groups, hobby activities, study or cultural groups, and activities for teaching specific skills; trust, norms of reciprocity, and attachment to one's community; received emotional support; provided emotional support; and received instrumental support. Using factor analysis, these variables were determined to belong to three sub-scales: civic participation (eigenvalue = 3.317, α = 0.797, social cohesion (eigenvalue = 2.633, α = 0.853, and reciprocity (eigenvalue = 1.424, α = 0.732. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the goodness of fit of this model. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis revealed that civic participation score was robustly associated with individual subjective health (Self-Rated Health: prevalence ratio [PR] 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94–0.98; Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]: PR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93–0.97. Reciprocity score was also associated with individual GDS (PR 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96–1.00. Social cohesion score was not consistently associated with individual health indicators. Conclusions: Our scale for measuring social capital at the community level might be useful for future studies of older community dwellers.

The relative importance of community forests, government forests, and private forests for household-level incomes in the Middle Hills of Nepal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oli, Bishwa Nath; Treue, Thorsten; Smith-Hall, Carsten

2016-01-01

To investigate the household-level economic importance of income from forests under different tenure arrangements, data were collected from 304 stratified randomly sampled households within 10 villages with community forest user groups in Tanahun District, Western Nepal. We observed that forest...... realisation of community forestry's poverty reduction and income equalizing potential requires modifications of rules that govern forest extraction and pricing at community forest user group level....

Estimating survival probabilities by exposure levels: utilizing vital statistics and complex survey data with mortality follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Landsman, V; Lou, W Y W; Graubard, B I

2015-05-20

We present a two-step approach for estimating hazard rates and, consequently, survival probabilities, by levels of general categorical exposure. The resulting estimator utilizes three sources of data: vital statistics data and census data are used at the first step to estimate the overall hazard rate for a given combination of gender and age group, and cohort data constructed from a nationally representative complex survey with linked mortality records, are used at the second step to divide the overall hazard rate by exposure levels. We present an explicit expression for the resulting estimator and consider two methods for variance estimation that account for complex multistage sample design: (1) the leaving-one-out jackknife method, and (2) the Taylor linearization method, which provides an analytic formula for the variance estimator. The methods are illustrated with smoking and all-cause mortality data from the US National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files, and the proposed estimator is compared with a previously studied crude hazard rate estimator that uses survey data only. The advantages of a two-step approach and possible extensions of the proposed estimator are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Community-level Adult Daily Smoking Prevalence Moderates the Association between Adolescents’ Cigarette Smoking and Perceived Smoking by Friends

OpenAIRE

Thrul, Johannes; Lipperman-Kreda, Sharon; Grube, Joel W.; Friend, Karen B.

2013-01-01

Few studies have investigated the complex interactions among the individual- and community-level social risk factors that underlie adolescents’ smoking behaviors. This study investigated whether community-level adult daily smoking prevalence is associated with adolescents’ smoking and whether it moderates the associations between perceived friends’ smoking approval and smoking behavior and adolescents’ own smoking. Self-reported data from 1,190 youths (50.3% female; 13–18 years old) in 50 mid...

Low-level radiation: a review of current estimates of hazards to human populations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, D.K.

1977-12-01

Mankind has always lived with low levels of ionizing radiation from natural sources. This ionizing radiation may induce cancers in irradiated persons and genetic defects in the descendents of irradiated persons. The internationally accepted estimates of risks suggest that the numbers of cancers and genetic defects induced in the general population by natural background radiation are not more than about 1% of the numbers of cancers and genetic defects normally present in the general population. The added risks to the general public due to any prospective nuclear power program are minute compared to those from background radiation. At the maximum permissible levels of radiation exposures for occupational workers, the predicted number of fatal cancers induced would lead to a reduction in average life-span from 73.0 years to about 72.7 years. Since occupational exposures are usually much less than maximum permissible levels, the risks are correspondingly reduced. These occupational risks are comparable to those in most other industries and occupations. Some areas of uncertainty in the accepted risk estimates are discussed in detail in this review. (author)

Does Community Context Have an Important Impact on Divorce Risk? A Fixed-Effects Study of Twenty Norwegian First-Marriage Cohorts

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

The decision to divorce may be affected by the characteristics of the local community. Community characteristics may be barriers to divorce, or they may increase the attractiveness of divorcing (e.g., access to a good remarriage market), but our knowledge of such influences is sparse. This study examines two such community-level factors: socio-economic conditions and the local marriage market. In this study, discrete-time hazard models with community-level fixed effects are estimated using register-based data on Norwegian first marriages during the period from 1980 to 1999, with longitudinal information on both the community and couple levels (N = 283,493). The results show that there are important community-level influences on couples’ divorce risk, but these change dramatically when fixed effects are introduced. PMID:21350587

Estimation of maternal and neonatal mortality at the subnational level in Liberia.

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Moseson, Heidi; Massaquoi, Moses; Bawo, Luke; Birch, Linda; Dahn, Bernice; Zolia, Yah; Barreix, Maria; Gerdts, Caitlin

2014-11-01

To establish representative local-area baseline estimates of maternal and neonatal mortality using a novel adjusted sisterhood method. The status of maternal and neonatal health in Bomi County, Liberia, was investigated in June 2013 using a population-based survey (n=1985). The standard direct sisterhood method was modified to account for place and time of maternal death to enable calculation of subnational estimates. The modified method of measuring maternal mortality successfully enabled the calculation of area-specific estimates. Of 71 reported deaths of sisters, 18 (25.4%) were due to pregnancy-related causes and had occurred in the past 3 years in Bomi County. The estimated maternal mortality ratio was 890 maternal deaths for every 100 000 live births (95% CI, 497-1301]. The neonatal mortality rate was estimated to be 47 deaths for every 1000 live births (95% CI, 42-52). In total, 322 (16.9%) of 1900 women with accurate age data reported having had a stillbirth. The modified direct sisterhood method may be useful to other countries seeking a more regionally nuanced understanding of areas in which neonatal and maternal mortality levels still need to be reduced to meet Millennium Development Goals. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community-level sensitivity of a calcifying ecosystem to acute in situ CO2 enrichment

KAUST Repository

Burdett, HL; Perna, Gabriela; McKay, L; Broomhead, G; Kamenos, NA

2017-01-01

by coralline algae. Most notably, we observed a rapid community-level shift to favour net dissolution rather than net calcification. Smaller changes from net respiration to net photosynthesis were also observed. There was no effect on the net flux of DMS

Non-destructive lichen biomass estimation in northwestern Alaska: a comparison of methods.

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Abbey Rosso

Full Text Available Terrestrial lichen biomass is an important indicator of forage availability for caribou in northern regions, and can indicate vegetation shifts due to climate change, air pollution or changes in vascular plant community structure. Techniques for estimating lichen biomass have traditionally required destructive harvesting that is painstaking and impractical, so we developed models to estimate biomass from relatively simple cover and height measurements. We measured cover and height of forage lichens (including single-taxon and multi-taxa "community" samples, n = 144 at 73 sites on the Seward Peninsula of northwestern Alaska, and harvested lichen biomass from the same plots. We assessed biomass-to-volume relationships using zero-intercept regressions, and compared differences among two non-destructive cover estimation methods (ocular vs. point count, among four landcover types in two ecoregions, and among single-taxon vs. multi-taxa samples. Additionally, we explored the feasibility of using lichen height (instead of volume as a predictor of stand-level biomass. Although lichen taxa exhibited unique biomass and bulk density responses that varied significantly by growth form, we found that single-taxon sampling consistently under-estimated true biomass and was constrained by the need for taxonomic experts. We also found that the point count method provided little to no improvement over ocular methods, despite increased effort. Estimated biomass of lichen-dominated communities (mean lichen cover: 84.9±1.4% using multi-taxa, ocular methods differed only nominally among landcover types within ecoregions (range: 822 to 1418 g m-2. Height alone was a poor predictor of lichen biomass and should always be weighted by cover abundance. We conclude that the multi-taxa (whole-community approach, when paired with ocular estimates, is the most reasonable and practical method for estimating lichen biomass at landscape scales in northwest Alaska.

Non-destructive lichen biomass estimation in northwestern Alaska: a comparison of methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosso, Abbey; Neitlich, Peter; Smith, Robert J

2014-01-01

Terrestrial lichen biomass is an important indicator of forage availability for caribou in northern regions, and can indicate vegetation shifts due to climate change, air pollution or changes in vascular plant community structure. Techniques for estimating lichen biomass have traditionally required destructive harvesting that is painstaking and impractical, so we developed models to estimate biomass from relatively simple cover and height measurements. We measured cover and height of forage lichens (including single-taxon and multi-taxa "community" samples, n = 144) at 73 sites on the Seward Peninsula of northwestern Alaska, and harvested lichen biomass from the same plots. We assessed biomass-to-volume relationships using zero-intercept regressions, and compared differences among two non-destructive cover estimation methods (ocular vs. point count), among four landcover types in two ecoregions, and among single-taxon vs. multi-taxa samples. Additionally, we explored the feasibility of using lichen height (instead of volume) as a predictor of stand-level biomass. Although lichen taxa exhibited unique biomass and bulk density responses that varied significantly by growth form, we found that single-taxon sampling consistently under-estimated true biomass and was constrained by the need for taxonomic experts. We also found that the point count method provided little to no improvement over ocular methods, despite increased effort. Estimated biomass of lichen-dominated communities (mean lichen cover: 84.9±1.4%) using multi-taxa, ocular methods differed only nominally among landcover types within ecoregions (range: 822 to 1418 g m-2). Height alone was a poor predictor of lichen biomass and should always be weighted by cover abundance. We conclude that the multi-taxa (whole-community) approach, when paired with ocular estimates, is the most reasonable and practical method for estimating lichen biomass at landscape scales in northwest Alaska.

Using inferential sensors for quality control of Everglades Depth Estimation Network water-level data

Science.gov (United States)

Petkewich, Matthew D.; Daamen, Ruby C.; Roehl, Edwin A.; Conrads, Paul

2016-09-29

The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN), with over 240 real-time gaging stations, provides hydrologic data for freshwater and tidal areas of the Everglades. These data are used to generate daily water-level and water-depth maps of the Everglades that are used to assess biotic responses to hydrologic change resulting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The generation of EDEN daily water-level and water-depth maps is dependent on high quality real-time data from water-level stations. Real-time data are automatically checked for outliers by assigning minimum and maximum thresholds for each station. Small errors in the real-time data, such as gradual drift of malfunctioning pressure transducers, are more difficult to immediately identify with visual inspection of time-series plots and may only be identified during on-site inspections of the stations. Correcting these small errors in the data often is time consuming and water-level data may not be finalized for several months. To provide daily water-level and water-depth maps on a near real-time basis, EDEN needed an automated process to identify errors in water-level data and to provide estimates for missing or erroneous water-level data.The Automated Data Assurance and Management (ADAM) software uses inferential sensor technology often used in industrial applications. Rather than installing a redundant sensor to measure a process, such as an additional water-level station, inferential sensors, or virtual sensors, were developed for each station that make accurate estimates of the process measured by the hard sensor (water-level gaging station). The inferential sensors in the ADAM software are empirical models that use inputs from one or more proximal stations. The advantage of ADAM is that it provides a redundant signal to the sensor in the field without the environmental threats associated with field conditions at stations (flood or hurricane, for example). In the

Designs for Evaluating the Community-Level Impact of Comprehensive Prevention Programs: Examples from the CDC Centers of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Albert D; Henry, David; Bradshaw, Catherine; Reischl, Thomas

2016-04-01

This article discusses the opportunities and challenges of developing research designs to evaluate the impact of community-level prevention efforts. To illustrate examples of evaluation designs, we describe six projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate multifaceted approaches to reduce youth violence in high-risk communities. Each of these projects was designed to evaluate the community-level impact of multiple intervention strategies to address individual and contextual factors that place youth at risk for violent behavior. Communities differed across projects in their setting, size, and how their boundaries were defined. Each project is using multiple approaches to compare outcomes in one or more intervention communities to those in comparison communities. Five of the projects are using comparative interrupted time-series designs to compare outcomes in an intervention community to matched comparison communities. A sixth project is using a multiple baseline design in which the order and timing of intervention activities is randomized across three communities. All six projects are also using regression point displacement designs to compare outcomes within intervention communities to those within broader sets of similar communities. Projects are using a variety of approaches to assess outcomes including archival records, surveys, and direct observations. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the designs of these projects and illustrate the challenges of designing high-quality evaluations of comprehensive prevention approaches implemented at the community level.

Estimation of quantitative levels of diesel exhaust exposure and the health impact in the contemporary Australian mining industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Susan; de Klerk, Nicholas; Reid, Alison; Fritschi, Lin; Musk, Aw Bill; Vermeulen, Roel

2017-03-01

To estimate quantitative levels of exposure to diesel exhaust expressed by elemental carbon (EC) in the contemporary mining industry and to describe the excess risk of lung cancer that may result from those levels. EC exposure has been monitored in Western Australian miners since 2003. Mixed-effects models were used to estimate EC levels for five surface and five underground occupation groups (as a fixed effect) and specific jobs within each group (as a random effect). Further fixed effects included sampling year and duration, and mineral mined. On the basis of published risk functions, we estimated excess lifetime risk of lung cancer mortality for several employment scenarios. Personal EC measurements (n=8614) were available for 146 different jobs at 124 mine sites. The mean estimated EC exposure level for surface occupations in 2011 was 14 µg/m 3 for 12 hour shifts. Levels for underground occupation groups ranged from 18 to 44 µg/m 3 . Underground diesel loader operators had the highest exposed specific job: 59 µg/m 3 . A lifetime career (45 years) as a surface worker or underground miner, experiencing exposure levels as estimated for 2011 (14 and 44 µg/m 3 EC), was associated with 5.5 and 38 extra lung cancer deaths per 1000 males, respectively. EC exposure levels in the contemporary Australian mining industry are still substantial, particularly for underground workers. The estimated excess numbers of lung cancer deaths associated with these exposures support the need for implementation of stringent occupational exposure limits for diesel exhaust. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

[Arsenic levels in drinking water supplies from underground sources in the community of Madrid].

Science.gov (United States)

Aragonés Sanz, N; Palacios Diez, M; Avello de Miguel, A; Gómez Rodríguez, P; Martínez Cortés, M; Rodríguez Bernabeu, M J

2001-01-01

In 1998, arsenic concentrations of more than 50 micrograms/l were detected in some drinking water supplies from underground sources in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, which is the maximum permissible concentration for drinking water in Spain. These two facts have meant the getting under way of a specific plan for monitoring arsenic in the drinking water in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. The results of the first two sampling processes conducted in the arsenic level monitoring plan set out are presented. In the initial phase, water samples from 353 water supplies comprised within the census of the Public Health Administration of the Autonomous Community of Madrid were analyzed. A water supply risk classification was made based on these initial results. In a second phase, six months later, the analyses were repeated on those 35 water supplies which were considered to possibly pose a risk to public health. Seventy-four percent (74%) of the water supplies studied in the initial phase were revealed to have an arsenic concentration of less than 10 micrograms/l, 22.6% containing levels of 10 micrograms/l-50 micrograms/l, and 3.7% over 50 micrograms/l. Most of the water supplies showing arsenic levels of more than 10 micrograms/l are located in the same geographical area. In the second sampling process (six months later), the 35 water supplies classified as posing a risk were included. Twenty-six (26) of these supplies were revealed to have the same arsenic level ((10-50 micrograms/l), and nine changed category, six of which had less than 10 micrograms/l and three more than 50 micrograms/l. In the Autonomous Community of Madrid, less than 2% of the population drinks water coming from supplies which are from underground sources. The regular water quality monitoring conducted by the Public Health Administration has led to detecting the presence of more than 50 micrograms/l of arsenic in sixteen drinking water supplies from underground sources, which is the maximum

Estimating Derived Response Levels at the Savannah River Site for Use with Emergency Response Models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simpkins, A.A.

2002-01-01

Emergency response computer models at the Savannah River Site (SRS) are coupled with real-time meteorological data to estimate dose to individuals downwind of accidental radioactive releases. Currently, these models estimate doses for inhalation and shine pathways, but do not consider dose due to ingestion of contaminated food products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed derived intervention levels (DIL) which refer to the radionuclide-specific concentration in food present throughout the relevant period of time, with no intervention, that could lead to an individual receiving a radiation dose equal to the protective action guide. In the event of an emergency, concentrations in various food types are compared with these levels to make interdictions decisions. Prior to monitoring results being available, concentrations in the environmental media (i.e. soil), called derived response levels (DRLs), can be estimated from the DILs and directly compared with computer output to provide preliminary guidance as to whether intervention is necessary. Site-specific derived response levels (DRLs) are developed for ingestion pathways pertinent to SRS: milk, meat, fish, grain, produce, and beverage. This provides decision-makers with an additional tool for use immediately following an accident prior to the acquisition of food monitoring data

Illness Mapping: a time and cost effective method to estimate healthcare data needed to establish community-based health insurance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Binnendijk Erika

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Most healthcare spending in developing countries is private out-of-pocket. One explanation for low penetration of health insurance is that poorer individuals doubt their ability to enforce insurance contracts. Community-based health insurance schemes (CBHI are a solution, but launching CBHI requires obtaining accurate local data on morbidity, healthcare utilization and other details to inform package design and pricing. We developed the “Illness Mapping” method (IM for data collection (faster and cheaper than household surveys. Methods IM is a modification of two non-interactive consensus group methods (Delphi and Nominal Group Technique to operate as interactive methods. We elicited estimates from “Experts” in the target community on morbidity and healthcare utilization. Interaction between facilitator and experts became essential to bridge literacy constraints and to reach consensus. The study was conducted in Gaya District, Bihar (India during April-June 2010. The intervention included the IM and a household survey (HHS. IM included 18 women’s and 17 men’s groups. The HHS was conducted in 50 villages with1,000 randomly selected households (6,656 individuals. Results We found good agreement between the two methods on overall prevalence of illness (IM: 25.9% ±3.6; HHS: 31.4% and on prevalence of acute (IM: 76.9%; HHS: 69.2% and chronic illnesses (IM: 20.1%; HHS: 16.6%. We also found good agreement on incidence of deliveries (IM: 3.9% ±0.4; HHS: 3.9%, and on hospital deliveries (IM: 61.0%. ± 5.4; HHS: 51.4%. For hospitalizations, we obtained a lower estimate from the IM (1.1% than from the HHS (2.6%. The IM required less time and less person-power than a household survey, which translate into reduced costs. Conclusions We have shown that our Illness Mapping method can be carried out at lower financial and human cost for sourcing essential local data, at acceptably accurate levels. In view of the good fit of

Illness Mapping: a time and cost effective method to estimate healthcare data needed to establish community-based health insurance.

Science.gov (United States)

Binnendijk, Erika; Gautham, Meenakshi; Koren, Ruth; Dror, David M

2012-10-09

Most healthcare spending in developing countries is private out-of-pocket. One explanation for low penetration of health insurance is that poorer individuals doubt their ability to enforce insurance contracts. Community-based health insurance schemes (CBHI) are a solution, but launching CBHI requires obtaining accurate local data on morbidity, healthcare utilization and other details to inform package design and pricing. We developed the "Illness Mapping" method (IM) for data collection (faster and cheaper than household surveys). IM is a modification of two non-interactive consensus group methods (Delphi and Nominal Group Technique) to operate as interactive methods. We elicited estimates from "Experts" in the target community on morbidity and healthcare utilization. Interaction between facilitator and experts became essential to bridge literacy constraints and to reach consensus.The study was conducted in Gaya District, Bihar (India) during April-June 2010. The intervention included the IM and a household survey (HHS). IM included 18 women's and 17 men's groups. The HHS was conducted in 50 villages with1,000 randomly selected households (6,656 individuals). We found good agreement between the two methods on overall prevalence of illness (IM: 25.9% ±3.6; HHS: 31.4%) and on prevalence of acute (IM: 76.9%; HHS: 69.2%) and chronic illnesses (IM: 20.1%; HHS: 16.6%). We also found good agreement on incidence of deliveries (IM: 3.9% ±0.4; HHS: 3.9%), and on hospital deliveries (IM: 61.0%. ± 5.4; HHS: 51.4%). For hospitalizations, we obtained a lower estimate from the IM (1.1%) than from the HHS (2.6%). The IM required less time and less person-power than a household survey, which translate into reduced costs. We have shown that our Illness Mapping method can be carried out at lower financial and human cost for sourcing essential local data, at acceptably accurate levels. In view of the good fit of results obtained, we assume that the method could work elsewhere

Ferritin levels and risk of heart failure-the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Silvestre, Odilson M; Gonçalves, Alexandra; Nadruz, Wilson; Claggett, Brian; Couper, David; Eckfeldt, John H; Pankow, James S; Anker, Stefan D; Solomon, Scott D

2017-03-01

Severe iron overload is associated with cardiac damage, while iron deficiency has been related to worse outcomes in subjects with heart failure (HF). This study investigated the relationship between ferritin, a marker of iron status, and the incidence of HF in a community-based cohort. We examined 1063 participants who were free of heart failure from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study in whom ferritin serum levels were measured at baseline (1987-1989). The participants (mean age 52.7 ± 5.5 years, 62% women), were categorized in low (200 ng/mL in women and >300 ng/mL in men; n = 247) ferritin levels. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the relationship between ferritin and incident HF. After 21 ± 4.6 years of follow-up, HF occurred in 144 (13.5%) participants. When compared with participants with normal ferritin levels, participants with low ferritin levels had a higher risk of HF [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-4.35; P = 0.02] as did those with high ferritin levels (HR = 1.81, 95% CI 1.01-3.25; P = 0.04), after adjusting for potential confounders. Notably, low ferritin levels remained associated with incident HF even after excluding subjects with anaemia (HR = 2.28, 95% CI 1.11-4.68; P = 0.03). Derangements in iron metabolism, either low or high ferritin serum levels, were associated with higher risk of incident HF in a general population, even without concurrent anaemia. These findings suggest that iron imbalance might play a role in the development of HF. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure © 2016 European Society of Cardiology.

Community Phylogenetics: Assessing Tree Reconstruction Methods and the Utility of DNA Barcodes

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Elizabeth E.; Adamowicz, Sarah J.

2015-01-01

Studies examining phylogenetic community structure have become increasingly prevalent, yet little attention has been given to the influence of the input phylogeny on metrics that describe phylogenetic patterns of co-occurrence. Here, we examine the influence of branch length, tree reconstruction method, and amount of sequence data on measures of phylogenetic community structure, as well as the phylogenetic signal (Pagel’s λ) in morphological traits, using Trichoptera larval communities from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. We find that model-based tree reconstruction methods and the use of a backbone family-level phylogeny improve estimations of phylogenetic community structure. In addition, trees built using the barcode region of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) alone accurately predict metrics of phylogenetic community structure obtained from a multi-gene phylogeny. Input tree did not alter overall conclusions drawn for phylogenetic signal, as significant phylogenetic structure was detected in two body size traits across input trees. As the discipline of community phylogenetics continues to expand, it is important to investigate the best approaches to accurately estimate patterns. Our results suggest that emerging large datasets of DNA barcode sequences provide a vast resource for studying the structure of biological communities. PMID:26110886

Is the formula of Traub still up to date in antemortem blood glucose level estimation?

Science.gov (United States)

Palmiere, Cristian; Sporkert, Frank; Vaucher, Paul; Werner, Dominique; Bardy, Daniel; Rey, François; Lardi, Christelle; Brunel, Christophe; Augsburger, Marc; Mangin, Patrice

2012-05-01

According to the hypothesis of Traub, also known as the 'formula of Traub', postmortem values of glucose and lactate found in the cerebrospinal fluid or vitreous humor are considered indicators of antemortem blood glucose levels. However, because the lactate concentration increases in the vitreous and cerebrospinal fluid after death, some authors postulated that using the sum value to estimate antemortem blood glucose levels could lead to an overestimation of the cases of glucose metabolic disorders with fatal outcomes, such as diabetic ketoacidosis. The aim of our study, performed on 470 consecutive forensic cases, was to ascertain the advantages of the sum value to estimate antemortem blood glucose concentrations and, consequently, to rule out fatal diabetic ketoacidosis as the cause of death. Other biochemical parameters, such as blood 3-beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, acetone, glycated haemoglobin and urine glucose levels, were also determined. In addition, postmortem native CT scan, autopsy, histology, neuropathology and toxicology were performed to confirm diabetic ketoacidosis as the cause of death. According to our results, the sum value does not add any further information for the estimation of antemortem blood glucose concentration. The vitreous glucose concentration appears to be the most reliable marker to estimate antemortem hyperglycaemia and, along with the determination of other biochemical markers (such as blood acetone and 3-beta-hydroxybutyrate, urine glucose and glycated haemoglobin), to confirm diabetic ketoacidosis as the cause of death.

Reconciling Estimates of Earnings Processes in Growth Rates and Levels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daly, Moira; Hryshko, Dmytro; Manovskii, Iourii

The stochastic process for earnings is the key element of incomplete markets models in modern quantitative macroeconomics. It determines both the equilibrium distributions of endogenous outcomes and the design of optimal policies. Yet, there is no consensus in the literature on the relative...... magnitudes of the permanent and transitory innovations in earnings. When estimation is based on the earnings moments in levels, the variance of transitory shocks is found to be relatively high. When the moments in differences are used, the variance of the permanent component is relatively high instead. We...

Promoting social responsibility for health: health impact assessment and healthy public policy at the community level.

Science.gov (United States)

Mittelmark, M B

2001-09-01

The 1997 Jakarta Declaration on Health Promotion into the 21st Century called for new responses to address the emerging threats to health. The declaration placed a high priority on promoting social responsibility for health, and it identified equity-focused health impact assessment as a high priority for action. This theme was among the foci at the 2000 Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion held in Mexico. This paper, which is an abbreviation of a technical report prepared for the Mexico conference, advances arguments for focusing on health impact assessment at the local level. Health impact assessment identifies negative health impacts that call for policy responses, and identifies and encourages practices and policies that promote health. Health impact assessment may be highly technical and require sophisticated technology and expertise. But it can also be a simple, highly practical process, accessible to ordinary people, and one that helps a community come to grips with local circumstances that need changing for better health. To illustrate the possibilities, this paper presents a case study, the People Assessing Their Health (PATH) project from Eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It places ordinary citizens, rather than community elites, at the very heart of local decision-making. Evidence from PATH demonstrates that low technology health impact assessment, done by and for local people, can shift thinking beyond the illness problems of individuals. It can bring into consideration, instead, how programmes and policies support or weaken community health, and illuminate a community's capacity to improve local circumstances for better health. This stands in contrast to evidence that highly technological approaches to community-level health impact assessment can be self-defeating. Further development of simple, people-centred, low technology approaches to health impact assessment at the local level is called for.

Economic and environmental impacts of community-based residential building energy efficiency investment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jun-Ki; Morrison, Drew; Hallinan, Kevin P.; Brecha, Robert J.

2014-01-01

A systematic framework for evaluating the local economic and environmental impacts of investment in building energy efficiency is developed. Historical residential building energy data, community-wide economic input–output data, and emission intensity data are utilized. The aim of this study is to show the comprehensive insights and connection among achieving variable target reductions for a residential building energy use, economic and environmental impacts. Central to this approach for the building energy reduction goal is the creation of individual energy models for each building based upon historical energy data and available building data. From these models, savings estimates and cost implications can be estimated for various conservation measures. A ‘worst to first’ (WF) energy efficient investment strategy is adopted to optimize the level of various direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts on the local community. This evaluation helps to illumine opportunities to establish specific energy reduction targets having greatest economic impact in the community. From an environmental perspective, short term economy-wide CO 2 emissions increase because of the increased community-wide economic activities spurred by the production and installation of energy efficiency measures, however the resulting energy savings provide continuous CO 2 reduction for various target savings. - Highlights: • WF energy efficient strategy helps to optimize various level of economic impacts. • Greatest community benefits are achieved from specific energy reduction targets. • Community-wide economic impacts vary for different energy conservation measures

PisCES: Pis(cine) Community Estimation Software

Science.gov (United States)

PisCES predicts a fish community for any NHD-Plus stream reach in the conterminous United States. PisCES utilizes HUC-based distributional information for over 1,000 nature and non-native species obtained from NatureServe, the USGS, and Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes o...

Tracking How Science Resources Result in Educator- and Community-Level Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Dusenbery, P.; Harold, J. B.; Fitzhugh, G.; LaConte, K.; Holland, A.

2017-12-01

Learners frequently need to access increasingly complex information to help them understand our changing world. More and more libraries are transforming themselves into places where learners not only access STEM information, but interact with professionals and undertake hands-on learning. Libraries are beginning to position themselves as part of learning ecosystems that contribute to a collective impact on the community. Traveling STEM exhibits are catalyzing these partnerships and engaging students, families, and adults in repeat visits through an accessible venue: their public library. This talk will explore impacts from two STAR Library Network's (STAR_Net) exhibitions (Discover Earth and Discover Tech) on partnerships, the circulation of STEM resources, and the engagement of learners. The STAR_Net project's summative evaluation utilized mixed methods to investigate project implementation and its outcomes. Methods included pre- and post-exhibit surveys administered to staff from each library that hosted the exhibits; interviews with staff from host libraries; patron surveys; exhibit-related circulation records; web metrics regarding the online STAR_Net community of practice; and site visits. The latter provides a more complete view of impacts on the community, including underserved audiences. NASA@ My Library is a new STAR_Net initiative, which provides STEM facilitation kits, training, and other resources to 75 libraries nationwide. Initial results will be presented that show high levels of engagement by librarians and strong response rate from patrons on surveys.

Individual and community level risk-factors for alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected persons in Georgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Bayard; Murphy, Adrianna; Chikovani, Ivdity; Makhashvili, Nino; Patel, Vikram; McKee, Martin

2014-01-01

The evidence on alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected civilian populations remains extremely weak, despite a number of potential risk-factors. The aim of this study is to examine patterns of alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected persons in the Republic of Georgia. A cross-sectional survey of 3600 randomly selected internally displaced persons (IDPs) and former IDPs. Two alcohol use disorder outcomes were measured: (i) having at least hazardous alcohol use (AUDIT score ≥ 8); (ii) episodic heavy drinking (consuming >60 grams of pure alcohol per drinking session at least once a week). Individual level demographic and socio-economic characteristics were also recorded, including mental disorders. Community level alcohol environment characteristics relating to alcohol availability, marketing and pricing were recorded in the respondents' communities and a factor analysis conducted to produce a summary alcohol environment factor score. Logistic regression analyses examined associations between individual and community level factors with the alcohol use disorder outcomes (among men only). Of the total sample, 71% of men and 16% of women were current drinkers. Of the current drinkers (N = 1386), 28% of men and 1% of women were classified as having at least hazardous alcohol use; and 12% of men and 2% of women as episodic heavy drinkers. Individual characteristics significantly associated with both outcomes were age and experiencing a serious injury, while cumulative trauma events and depression were also associated with having at least hazardous alcohol use. For the community level analysis, a one unit increase in the alcohol environment factor was associated with a 1.27 fold increase in episodic heavy drinking among men (no significant association with hazardous alcohol use). The findings suggest potential synergies for treatment responses for alcohol use disorder and depression among conflict-affected populations in Georgia, as well as the need for stronger

Individual and community level risk-factors for alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected persons in Georgia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bayard Roberts

Full Text Available The evidence on alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected civilian populations remains extremely weak, despite a number of potential risk-factors. The aim of this study is to examine patterns of alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected persons in the Republic of Georgia.A cross-sectional survey of 3600 randomly selected internally displaced persons (IDPs and former IDPs. Two alcohol use disorder outcomes were measured: (i having at least hazardous alcohol use (AUDIT score ≥ 8; (ii episodic heavy drinking (consuming >60 grams of pure alcohol per drinking session at least once a week. Individual level demographic and socio-economic characteristics were also recorded, including mental disorders. Community level alcohol environment characteristics relating to alcohol availability, marketing and pricing were recorded in the respondents' communities and a factor analysis conducted to produce a summary alcohol environment factor score. Logistic regression analyses examined associations between individual and community level factors with the alcohol use disorder outcomes (among men only.Of the total sample, 71% of men and 16% of women were current drinkers. Of the current drinkers (N = 1386, 28% of men and 1% of women were classified as having at least hazardous alcohol use; and 12% of men and 2% of women as episodic heavy drinkers. Individual characteristics significantly associated with both outcomes were age and experiencing a serious injury, while cumulative trauma events and depression were also associated with having at least hazardous alcohol use. For the community level analysis, a one unit increase in the alcohol environment factor was associated with a 1.27 fold increase in episodic heavy drinking among men (no significant association with hazardous alcohol use.The findings suggest potential synergies for treatment responses for alcohol use disorder and depression among conflict-affected populations in Georgia, as well as the need for

Risk perception of tsunami in the community of Arauco, Chile - a contribution of risk perception to disaster risk management at local level

Science.gov (United States)

Kubisch, M. Sc. Susanne; Edilia Jaque Castillo, Dra.; Braun, JProf. Andreas Ch., ,, Dr.

2017-04-01

The research was carried out in the city center of the coastal community of Arauco, Central Chile. The community of Arauco was one of the most affected communities of the tsunami in Chile, the 27th of February 2010. For the data evaluation, the affected inhabitants of the community have been surveyed via standardized questionnaires. Furthermore experts of different fields, amongst others, Disaster Risk Management (DRM), risk education, urban and regional planning, as well as geology have been consulted in form of expert interviews. The results revealed a high risk perception part of the affected community and a weakness of DRM especially at local level, which opens a gap between the evaluation and treatment of risk by experts and risk perception of the affected community. The risk perception of the affected community, here, is predominantly determined by ecological vulnerability, expressed in direct and indirect experience of a tsunami and by institutional vulnerability, expressed among others by a weakness of DRM at local level and a mistrust in responsible institutions for DRM. Due to the institutional vulnerability and the mistrust in responsible institutions we recommend a Community Based Approach (CBA) to strengthen DRM at local level and to take advantage of the high risk perception and knowledge of the affected community. Involving the community in DRM, we assume to close the gap between risk evaluation of experts and risk perception of the inhabitants and to come up with the unique necessities and conditions at local level. Especially in centralized countries, DRM is less effective, because at the one hand, decisions are made distant from the affected communities, so that measures often do not come up with the unique conditions and necessities at local level, and on the other hand measures often do not find acceptance by the affected community. Furthermore centralized DRM is often not effective and quick in response in case of emergency. Another obstacle

Water level changes affect carbon turnover and microbial community composition in lake sediments.

Science.gov (United States)

Weise, Lukas; Ulrich, Andreas; Moreano, Matilde; Gessler, Arthur; Kayler, Zachary E; Steger, Kristin; Zeller, Bernd; Rudolph, Kristin; Knezevic-Jaric, Jelena; Premke, Katrin

2016-05-01

Due to climate change, many lakes in Europe will be subject to higher variability of hydrological characteristics in their littoral zones. These different hydrological regimes might affect the use of allochthonous and autochthonous carbon sources. We used sandy sediment microcosms to examine the effects of different hydrological regimes (wet, desiccating, and wet-desiccation cycles) on carbon turnover. (13)C-labelled particulate organic carbon was used to trace and estimate carbon uptake into bacterial biomass (via phospholipid fatty acids) and respiration. Microbial community changes were monitored by combining DNA- and RNA-based real-time PCR quantification and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of 16S rRNA. The shifting hydrological regimes in the sediment primarily caused two linked microbial effects: changes in the use of available organic carbon and community composition changes. Drying sediments yielded the highest CO2 emission rates, whereas hydrological shifts increased the uptake of allochthonous organic carbon for respiration. T-RFLP patterns demonstrated that only the most extreme hydrological changes induced a significant shift in the active and total bacterial communities. As current scenarios of climate change predict an increase of drought events, frequent variations of the hydrological regimes of many lake littoral zones in central Europe are anticipated. Based on the results of our study, this phenomenon may increase the intensity and amplitude in rates of allochthonous organic carbon uptake and CO2 emissions. © FEMS 2016.

Plasma Levels of Middle Molecules to Estimate Residual Kidney Function in Haemodialysis without Urine Collection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enric Vilar

Full Text Available Residual Kidney Function (RKF is associated with survival benefits in haemodialysis (HD but is difficult to measure without urine collection. Middle molecules such as Cystatin C and β2-microglobulin accumulate in renal disease and plasma levels have been used to estimate kidney function early in this condition. We investigated their use to estimate RKF in patients on HD.Cystatin C, β2-microglobulin, urea and creatinine levels were studied in patients on incremental high-flux HD or hemodiafiltration(HDF. Over sequential HD sessions, blood was sampled pre- and post-session 1 and pre-session 2, for estimation of these parameters. Urine was collected during the whole interdialytic interval, for estimation of residual GFR (GFRResidual = mean of urea and creatinine clearance. The relationships of plasma Cystatin C and β2-microglobulin levels to GFRResidual and urea clearance were determined.Of the 341 patients studied, 64% had urine output>100 ml/day, 32.6% were on high-flux HD and 67.4% on HDF. Parameters most closely correlated with GFRResidual were 1/β2-micoglobulin (r2 0.67 and 1/Cystatin C (r2 0.50. Both these relationships were weaker at low GFRResidual. The best regression model for GFRResidual, explaining 67% of the variation, was: GFRResidual = 160.3 · (1/β2m - 4.2. Where β2m is the pre-dialysis β2 microglobulin concentration (mg/L. This model was validated in a separate cohort of 50 patients using Bland-Altman analysis. Areas under the curve in Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis aimed at identifying subjects with urea clearance≥2 ml/min/1.73 m2 was 0.91 for β2-microglobulin and 0.86 for Cystatin C. A plasma β2-microglobulin cut-off of ≤19.2 mg/L allowed identification of patients with urea clearance ≥2 ml/min/1.73 m2 with 90% specificity and 65% sensitivity.Plasma pre-dialysis β2-microglobulin levels can provide estimates of RKF which may have clinical utility and appear superior to cystatin C. Use of cut-off levels

A Coordinated Approach to Communicating Pediatric-Related Information on Pandemic Influenza at the Community Level

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

HCTT CHE

2009-12-16

The purpose of this document is to provide a suggested approach, based on input from pediatric stakeholders, to communicating pediatric-related information on pandemic influenza at the community level in a step-by-step manner.

Antibiotic misuse in the community--a contributor to resistance?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Carey, B

2012-02-03

The problem of antibiotic resistance is associated with the indiscriminate usage of antibiotics. Efforts have been directed at encouraging the rational use of these drugs to reduce the volume of antibiotic consumption and decrease resistance rates. There is evidence to suggest that the misuse of antibiotics by patients may also contribute to the problem. We describe a survey of a random selection of patients attending a General Practitioners\\' surgery over a six week period in an effort to estimate the level of non-compliance to antibiotic therapy in the community. The results suggest that there may be a significant level of antibiotic misuse prevalent in the local community. We discuss these results and present evidence in the literature suggesting how antibiotic misuse may affect resistance in the community. The factors affecting patient compliance to therapy are outlined along with suggested measures to improve compliance among patients.

Global estimates of high-level brain drain and deficit.

Science.gov (United States)

Ioannidis, John P A

2004-06-01

Brain drain, the international migration of scientists in search of better opportunities, has been a long-standing concern, but quantitative measurements are uncommon and limited to specific countries or disciplines. We need to understand brain drain at a global level and estimate the extent to which scientists born in countries with low opportunities never realize their potential. Data on 1523 of the most highly cited scientists for 1981-1999 are analyzed. Overall, 31.9% of these scientists did not reside in the country where they were born (range 18.1-54.6% across 21 different scientific fields). There was great variability across developed countries in the proportions of foreign-born resident scientists and emigrating scientists. Countries without a critical mass of native scientists lost most scientists to migration. This loss occurred in both developed and developing countries. Adjusting for population and using the U.S. as reference, the number of highly cited native-born scientists was at least 75% of the expected number in only 8 countries other than the U.S. It is estimated that approximately 94% of the expected top scientists worldwide have not been able to materialize themselves due to various adverse conditions. Scientific deficit is only likely to help perpetuate these adverse conditions.

Estimation of average hazardous-event-frequency for allocation of safety-integrity levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misumi, Y.; Sato, Y.

1999-01-01

One of the fundamental concepts of the draft international standard, IEC 61508, is target failure measures to be allocated to Electric/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems, i.e. Safety Integrity Levels. The Safety Integrity Levels consist of four discrete probabilistic levels for specifying the safety integrity requirements or the safety functions to be allocated to Electric/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems. In order to select the Safety Integrity Levels the draft standard classifies Electric/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems into two modes of operation using demand frequencies only. It is not clear which modes of operation should be applied to Electric/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems taking into account the demand-state probability and the spurious demand frequency. It is essential for the allocation of Safety Integrity Levels that generic algorithms be derived by involving possible parameters, which make it possible to model the actuality of real systems. The present paper addresses this issue. First of all, the overall system including Electric/Electronic/programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems is described using a simplified fault-tree. Then, the relationships among demands, demand-states and proof-tests are studied. Overall systems are classified into two groups: a non-demand-state-at-proof-test system which includes both repairable and non-repairable demand states and a constant-demand-frequency system. The new ideas such as a demand-state, spurious demand-state, mean time between detections, rates of d-failure and h-failure, and an h/d ratio are introduced in order to make the Safety Integrity Levels and modes of operation generic and comprehensive. Finally, the overall system is simplified and modeled by fault-trees using Priority-AND gates. At the same time the assumptions for modeling are described. Generic algorithms to estimate hazardous

Aerobic carbon-cycle related microbial communities in boreal peatlands: responses to water-level drawdown

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peltoniemi, K

2010-07-01

Boreal peatlands represent a considerable portion of the global carbon (C) pool. Water-level drawdown (WLD) causes peatland drying and induces a vegetation change, which affects the decomposition of soil organic matter and the release of greenhouse gases (CO{sub 2} and CH{sub 4}). The objective of this thesis was to study the microbial communities related to the C cycle and their response to WLD in two boreal peatlands. Both sampling depth and site type had a strong impact on all microbial communities. In general, bacteria dominated the deeper layers of the nutrient-rich fen and the wettest surfaces of the nutrient-poor bog sites, whereas fungi seemed more abundant in the drier surfaces of the bog. WLD clearly affected the microbial communities but the effect was dependent on site type. The fungal and methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) community composition changed at all sites but the actinobacterial community response was apparent only in the fen after WLD. Microbial communities became more similar among sites after long-term WLD. Litter quality had a large impact on community composition, whereas the effects of site type and WLD were relatively minor. The decomposition rate of fresh organic matter was influenced slightly by actinobacteria, but not at all by fungi. Field respiration measurements in the northern fen indicated that WLD accelerates the decomposition of soil organic matter. In addition, a correlation between activity and certain fungal sequences indicated that community composition affects the decomposition of older organic matter in deeper peat layers. WLD had a negative impact on CH{sub 4} oxidation, especially in the oligotrophic fen. Fungal sequences were matched to taxa capable of utilizing a broad range of substrates. Most of the actinobacterial sequences could not be matched to characterized taxa in reference databases. This thesis represents the first investigation of microbial communities and their response to WLD among a variety of boreal

REPRODUCTIVE NUMBERS, EPIDEMIC SPREAD AND CONTROL IN A COMMUNITY OF HOUSEHOLDS

OpenAIRE

Goldstein, E.; Paur, K.; Fraser, C.; Kenah, E.; Wallinga, J.; Lipsitch, M.

2009-01-01

Many of the studies on emerging epidemics (such as SARS and pandemic flu) use mass action models to estimate reproductive numbers and the needed control measures. In reality, transmission patterns are more complex due to the presence of various social networks. One level of complexity can be accommodated by considering a community of households. Our study of transmission dynamics in a community of households emphasizes five types of reproductive numbers for the epidemic spread: household-to-h...

Estimation of surface UV levels based on Meteor-3/TOMS ozone data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borisov, Y A [Central Aerological Observatory, Moscow (Russian Federation); Geogdzhaev, I V [Moscow Inst. of Physics and Technology, Moscow (Russian Federation); Khattatov, V U [Central Aerological Observatory, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1996-12-31

The major consequence of ozone layer depletion for the environment is an increase of harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the Earth surface and in the upper ocean. This implies the importance of environmental UV monitoring. Since the direct global monitoring is not currently possible, indirect estimations of surface UV levels may be used based on satellite ozone data (Madronich, S. 1992). Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on board the METEOR-3 satellite provided regular set of data for such estimates. During the time of its operation (August, 1991 - December, 1994) the instrument registered several ozone hole events over Antarctica, when ozone levels dropped by as much as 60 % from their unperturbed values. Probably even more alarming ozone depletions were observed over highly populated regions of middle latitudes of northern hemisphere. Radiative transfer modeling was used to convert METEOR-3/TOMS daily ozone values into regional and global maps of biologically active UV. Calculations demonstrate the effect on surface UV levels produced by ozone hole over Antarctica and ozone depletions over the territory of Russia (March, 1994). UV contour lines deviate from the normal appearance which is determined by growing southward solar elevation. UV contour lines are almost perpendicular to the ozone ones in the ozone depletions areas. The 30 % ozone depletion, over Siberia caused more than 30 % increase in noontime erythemal UV levels, which is equivalent to 10-15 degrees southward latitude displacement. Higher UV radiation increases were found in ozone hole over South America (October 1992) equivalent to about 20 degrees southward displacement

Estimation of surface UV levels based on Meteor-3/TOMS ozone data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borisov, Y.A. [Central Aerological Observatory, Moscow (Russian Federation); Geogdzhaev, I.V. [Moscow Inst. of Physics and Technology, Moscow (Russian Federation); Khattatov, V.U. [Central Aerological Observatory, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1995-12-31

The major consequence of ozone layer depletion for the environment is an increase of harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the Earth surface and in the upper ocean. This implies the importance of environmental UV monitoring. Since the direct global monitoring is not currently possible, indirect estimations of surface UV levels may be used based on satellite ozone data (Madronich, S. 1992). Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on board the METEOR-3 satellite provided regular set of data for such estimates. During the time of its operation (August, 1991 - December, 1994) the instrument registered several ozone hole events over Antarctica, when ozone levels dropped by as much as 60 % from their unperturbed values. Probably even more alarming ozone depletions were observed over highly populated regions of middle latitudes of northern hemisphere. Radiative transfer modeling was used to convert METEOR-3/TOMS daily ozone values into regional and global maps of biologically active UV. Calculations demonstrate the effect on surface UV levels produced by ozone hole over Antarctica and ozone depletions over the territory of Russia (March, 1994). UV contour lines deviate from the normal appearance which is determined by growing southward solar elevation. UV contour lines are almost perpendicular to the ozone ones in the ozone depletions areas. The 30 % ozone depletion, over Siberia caused more than 30 % increase in noontime erythemal UV levels, which is equivalent to 10-15 degrees southward latitude displacement. Higher UV radiation increases were found in ozone hole over South America (October 1992) equivalent to about 20 degrees southward displacement

Condition Number Regularized Covariance Estimation*

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Joong-Ho; Lim, Johan; Kim, Seung-Jean; Rajaratnam, Bala

2012-01-01

Estimation of high-dimensional covariance matrices is known to be a difficult problem, has many applications, and is of current interest to the larger statistics community. In many applications including so-called the “large p small n” setting, the estimate of the covariance matrix is required to be not only invertible, but also well-conditioned. Although many regularization schemes attempt to do this, none of them address the ill-conditioning problem directly. In this paper, we propose a maximum likelihood approach, with the direct goal of obtaining a well-conditioned estimator. No sparsity assumption on either the covariance matrix or its inverse are are imposed, thus making our procedure more widely applicable. We demonstrate that the proposed regularization scheme is computationally efficient, yields a type of Steinian shrinkage estimator, and has a natural Bayesian interpretation. We investigate the theoretical properties of the regularized covariance estimator comprehensively, including its regularization path, and proceed to develop an approach that adaptively determines the level of regularization that is required. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of the regularized estimator in decision-theoretic comparisons and in the financial portfolio optimization setting. The proposed approach has desirable properties, and can serve as a competitive procedure, especially when the sample size is small and when a well-conditioned estimator is required. PMID:23730197

Prediction of community mental health service utilization by individual and ecological level socio-economic factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Donisi, Valeria; Tedeschi, Federico; Percudani, Mauro; Fiorillo, Andrea; Confalonieri, Linda; De Rosa, Corrado; Salazzari, Damiano; Tansella, Michele; Thornicroft, Graham; Amaddeo, Francesco

2013-10-30

Individuals with a more deprived socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to have higher rates of psychiatric morbidity and use of psychiatric services. Such service use is also influenced by socioeconomic factors at the ecological level. The aim of this article is to investigate the influence of these variables on service utilization. All patients in contact with three Italian community psychiatric services (CPS) were included. Community and hospital contacts over 6 months were investigated. Socio-economic characteristics were described using a SES Index and two new Resources Accessibility Indexes. Low SES was found to be associated with more community service contacts. When other individual and ecological variables were controlled for, SES was negatively associated only with the number of home visits, which was about half the rate in deprived areas. An association between service utilization and the resources of the catchment area was also detected. The economic crisis in Europe is increasing inequality of access, so paying attention to SES characteristics at both the individual and the ecological levels is likely to become increasingly important in understanding patterns of psychiatric service utilization and planning care accordingly. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching/learning strategies for the essentials of baccalaureate nursing education for entry-level community/public health nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Callen, Bonnie; Smith, Claudia M; Joyce, Barbara; Lutz, Jayne; Brown-Schott, Nancy; Block, Derryl

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe teaching/learning strategies for each of the 15 Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Entry-Level Community/Public Health Nursing (ACHNE, 2009). Carper's ways of knowing serve as foundations for creating classroom and clinical experiences that focus on clinical action with community as client. Each community/public health essential is defined with relevance to community/public health nursing practice. Five teaching/learning strategies have been delineated for each essential with suggestions of teaching resources and/or target population application. Teaching/learning strategies that focus on community as client, population health, and the essential knowledge and competencies of C/PH nursing will help ensure preparation of baccalaureate prepared nurses with knowledge and skills to improve the health of populations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploration of a digital audio processing platform using a compositional system level performance estimation framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tranberg-Hansen, Anders Sejer; Madsen, Jan

2009-01-01

This paper presents the application of a compositional simulation based system-level performance estimation framework on a non-trivial industrial case study. The case study is provided by the Danish company Bang & Olufsen ICEpower a/s and focuses on the exploration of a digital mobile audio...... processing platform. A short overview of the compositional performance estimation framework used is given followed by a presentation of how it is used for performance estimation using an iterative refinement process towards the final implementation. Finally, an evaluation in terms of accuracy and speed...

Estimation of the ripple effects on a regional community of the formation of the nuclear energy science complex in Gyeongju

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Byung-Sik [Dankook Univ., Chungnam (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering; Moon, Joo Hyun [Dongguk Univ. Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Nuclear Energy Engineering

2017-05-15

Korea has developed advanced nuclear technologies, including those for future nuclear energy systems and the safe management of spent nuclear fuel, and is about to make a decision as to whether to make a massive investment in the development R and D for commercialization of them. There is no area large enough to accommodate all the development R and D-related facilities together at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) to perform the development R and Ds. KAERI seeks solutions to the space problem, which includes the construction of a nuclear energy science complex (NESC). Gyeongju is one of the potential sites. This study estimated the ripple effects on the regional community if the NESC is to be formed in Gyeongju using inter-regional input-output analysis. The estimation shows that the ripple effects to the regional community of the formation of the NESC in Gyeongju would be 1,086,633 billion Korean Won (KRW) for regional production inducement, 455,299 billion KRW for value-added inducement, and 9,592 persons for employment inducement.

Visual Estimation of Bacterial Growth Level in Microfluidic Culture Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyukwang; Kim, Seunggyu; Jeon, Jessie S

2018-02-03

Microfluidic devices are an emerging platform for a variety of experiments involving bacterial cell culture, and has advantages including cost and convenience. One inevitable step during bacterial cell culture is the measurement of cell concentration in the channel. The optical density measurement technique is generally used for bacterial growth estimation, but it is not applicable to microfluidic devices due to the small sample volumes in microfluidics. Alternately, cell counting or colony-forming unit methods may be applied, but these do not work in situ; nor do these methods show measurement results immediately. To this end, we present a new vision-based method to estimate the growth level of the bacteria in microfluidic channels. We use Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to detect the frequency level change of the microscopic image, focusing on the fact that the microscopic image becomes rough as the number of cells in the field of view increases, adding high frequencies to the spectrum of the image. Two types of microfluidic devices are used to culture bacteria in liquid and agar gel medium, and time-lapsed images are captured. The images obtained are analyzed using FFT, resulting in an increase in high-frequency noise proportional to the time passed. Furthermore, we apply the developed method in the microfluidic antibiotics susceptibility test by recognizing the regional concentration change of the bacteria that are cultured in the antibiotics gradient. Finally, a deep learning-based data regression is performed on the data obtained by the proposed vision-based method for robust reporting of data.

Visual Estimation of Bacterial Growth Level in Microfluidic Culture Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyukwang Kim

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Microfluidic devices are an emerging platform for a variety of experiments involving bacterial cell culture, and has advantages including cost and convenience. One inevitable step during bacterial cell culture is the measurement of cell concentration in the channel. The optical density measurement technique is generally used for bacterial growth estimation, but it is not applicable to microfluidic devices due to the small sample volumes in microfluidics. Alternately, cell counting or colony-forming unit methods may be applied, but these do not work in situ; nor do these methods show measurement results immediately. To this end, we present a new vision-based method to estimate the growth level of the bacteria in microfluidic channels. We use Fast Fourier transform (FFT to detect the frequency level change of the microscopic image, focusing on the fact that the microscopic image becomes rough as the number of cells in the field of view increases, adding high frequencies to the spectrum of the image. Two types of microfluidic devices are used to culture bacteria in liquid and agar gel medium, and time-lapsed images are captured. The images obtained are analyzed using FFT, resulting in an increase in high-frequency noise proportional to the time passed. Furthermore, we apply the developed method in the microfluidic antibiotics susceptibility test by recognizing the regional concentration change of the bacteria that are cultured in the antibiotics gradient. Finally, a deep learning-based data regression is performed on the data obtained by the proposed vision-based method for robust reporting of data.

Social capital and social inequality in adolescents' health in 601 Flemish communities: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

De Clercq, B; Vyncke, V; Hublet, A; Elgar, F J; Ravens-Sieberer, U; Currie, C; Hooghe, M; Ieven, A; Maes, L

2012-01-01

Although it is widely acknowledged that community social capital plays an important role in young people's health, there is limited evidence on the effect of community social capital on the social gradient in child and adolescent health. Using data from the 2005-2006 Flemish (Belgium) Health Behavior among School-aged Children survey (601 communities, n = 10,915), this study investigated whether community social capital is an independent determinant of adolescents' perceived health and well-being after taking account of individual compositional characteristics (e.g. the gender composition within a certain community). Multilevel statistical procedures were used to estimate neighborhood effects while controlling for individual level effects. Results show that individual level factors (such as family affluence and individual social capital) are positively related to perceived health and well-being and that community level social capital predicted health better than individual social capital. A significant complex interaction effect was found, such that the social gradient in perceived health and well-being (i.e. the slope of family affluence on health) was flattened in communities with a high level of community social capital. Furthermore it seems that socioeconomic status differences in perceived health and well-being substantially narrow in communities where a certain (average) level of community social capital is present. This should mean that individuals living in communities with a low level of community social capital especially benefit from an increase in community social capital. The paper substantiates the need to connect individual health to their meso socioeconomic context and this being intrinsically within a multilevel framework. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community Influences on Married Women's Safer Sex Negotiation Attitudes in Bangladesh: A Multilevel Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jesmin, Syeda S; Cready, Cynthia M

2016-02-01

The influence of disadvantaged or deprived community on individuals' health risk-behaviors is increasingly being documented in a growing body of literature. However, little is known about the effects of community characteristics on women's sexual attitudes and behaviors. To examine community effects on married women's safer sex negotiation attitudes, we analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys on a sample of 15,134 married women in 600 communities. We estimated two multilevel logistic regression models. Model 1, which included only individual-level variables, showed that women's autonomy/empowerment, age, and HIV knowledge had significant associations with their safer sex negotiation attitudes. We did not find any socioeconomic status gradient in safer sex negotiation attitudes at the individual level. Adding community-level variables in Model 2 significantly improved the fit of the model. Strikingly, we found that higher community-level poverty was associated with greater positive safer sex negotiation attitudes. Prevailing gender norms and overall women's empowerment in the community also had significant effects. While research on community influences calls for focusing on disadvantaged communities, our research highlights the importance of not underestimating the challenges that married women in economically privileged communities may face in negotiating safer sex. To have sufficient and equitable impact on married women's sexual and reproductive health, sexual and reproductive health promotion policies and programs need to be directed to women in wealthier communities as well.

Malnutrition among children in Southern Ethiopia: Levels and risk ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Using data collected in the Community and Family Survey of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region, this study estimates the level of child malnutrition and identifies the factors associated with chronic malnutrition among children in the five densely populated zones of the Region. A total of 850 children aged ...

Comparative estimates of risks arising from storage of intermediate level radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, D.

1986-04-01

Estimates are presented of risks arising from accidents occuring during storage of nine types of conditioned intermediate level waste. Additional data are introduced relating to the risks from accidents affecting raw waste, and to risks associated with the occupational doses received during normal operation of a waste store. Risks in all three categories are shown to be extremely small. (author)

Risk estimation and decision making: the health effects on populations of exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabrikant, J.I.

1982-01-01

Presented is a background for an understanding of the potential health effects in populations exposed to low-level radiation. Discussed is the knowledge about the health effects of low-level radiation. Comments on how the risks of radiation-induced cancer and genetically-related ill-health in man may be estimated, the sources of the scientific and epidemiological data, the dose-response models used, and the uncertainties which limit precise estimates of excess risks from radiation. Also discussed are the implications of numerical risk estimation for radiation protection and decision-making for public health policy

Estimating Cyanobacteria Community Dynamics and its Relationship with Environmental Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Wenhuai; Chen, Huirong; Lei, Anping; Lu, Jun; Hu, Zhangli

2014-01-01

The cyanobacteria community dynamics in two eutrophic freshwater bodies (Tiegang Reservoir and Shiyan Reservoir) was studied with both a traditional microscopic counting method and a PCR-DGGE genotyping method. Results showed that cyanobacterium Phormidium tenue was the predominant species; twenty-six cyanobacteria species were identified in water samples collected from the two reservoirs, among which fourteen were identified with the morphological method and sixteen with the PCR-DGGE method. The cyanobacteria community composition analysis showed a seasonal fluctuation from July to December. The cyanobacteria population peaked in August in both reservoirs, with cell abundances of 3.78 × 108 cells L-1 and 1.92 × 108 cells L-1 in the Tiegang and Shiyan reservoirs, respectively. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was applied to further investigate the correlation between cyanobacteria community dynamics and environmental factors. The result indicated that the cyanobacteria community dynamics was mostly correlated with pH, temperature and total nitrogen. This study demonstrated that data obtained from PCR-DGGE combined with a traditional morphological method could reflect cyanobacteria community dynamics and its correlation with environmental factors in eutrophic freshwater bodies. PMID:24448632

Community-level effect of the reproductive health vouchers program on out-of-pocket spending on family planning and safe motherhood services in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Obare, Francis; Warren, Charlotte; Kanya, Lucy; Abuya, Timothy; Bellows, Ben

2015-08-25

Although vouchers can protect individuals in low-income countries from financial catastrophe and impoverishment arising from out-of-pocket expenditures on healthcare, their effectiveness in achieving this goal depends on whether both service and transport costs are subsidized as well as other factors such as service availability in a given locality and community perceptions about the quality of care. This paper examines the community-level effect of the reproductive health vouchers program on out-of-pocket expenditure on family planning, antenatal, delivery and postnatal care services in Kenya. Data are from two rounds of cross-sectional household surveys in voucher and non-voucher sites. The first survey was conducted between May 2010 and July 2011 among 2,933 women aged 15-49 years while the second survey took place between July and October 2012 among 3,094 women of similar age groups. The effect of the program on out-of-pocket expenditure is determined by difference-in-differences estimation. Analysis entails comparison of changes in proportions, means and medians as well as estimation of multivariate linear regression models with interaction terms between indicators for study site (voucher or non-voucher) and period of study (2010-2011 or 2012). There were significantly greater declines in the proportions of women from voucher sites that paid for antenatal, delivery and postnatal care services at health facilities compared to those from non-voucher sites. The changes were also consistent with increased uptake of the safe motherhood voucher in intervention sites over time. There was, however, no significant difference in changes in the proportions of women from voucher and non-voucher sites that paid for family planning services. The results further show that there were significant differences in changes in the amount paid for family planning and antenatal care services by women from voucher compared to those from non-voucher sites. Although there were greater

Cost estimate of high-level radioactive waste containers for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Russell, E.W.; Clarke, W. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Domian, H.A. [Babcock and Wilcox Co., Lynchburg, VA (United States); Madson, A.A. [Kaiser Engineers California Corp., Oakland, CA (United States)

1991-08-01

This report summarizes the bottoms-up cost estimates for fabrication of high-level radioactive waste disposal containers based on the Site Characterization Plan Conceptual Design (SCP-CD). These estimates were acquired by Babcock and Wilcox (B&S) under sub-contract to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP). The estimates were obtained for two leading container candidate materials (Alloy 825 and CDA 715), and from other three vendors who were selected from a list of twenty solicited. Three types of container designs were analyzed that represent containers for spent fuel, and for vitrified high-level waste (HLW). The container internal structures were assumed to be AISI-304 stainless steel in all cases, with an annual production rate of 750 containers. Subjective techniques were used for estimating QA/QC costs based on vendor experience and the specifications derived for the LLNL-YMP Quality Assurance program. In addition, an independent QA/QC analysis is reported which was prepared by Kasier Engineering. Based on the cost estimates developed, LLNL recommends that values of $825K and $62K be used for the 1991 TSLCC for the spent fuel and HLW containers, respectively. These numbers represent the most conservative among the three vendors, and are for the high-nickel anstenitic steel (Alloy 825). 6 refs., 7 figs.

Cost estimate of high-level radioactive waste containers for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, E.W.; Clarke, W.; Domian, H.A.; Madson, A.A.

1991-08-01

This report summarizes the bottoms-up cost estimates for fabrication of high-level radioactive waste disposal containers based on the Site Characterization Plan Conceptual Design (SCP-CD). These estimates were acquired by Babcock and Wilcox (B ampersand S) under sub-contract to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP). The estimates were obtained for two leading container candidate materials (Alloy 825 and CDA 715), and from other three vendors who were selected from a list of twenty solicited. Three types of container designs were analyzed that represent containers for spent fuel, and for vitrified high-level waste (HLW). The container internal structures were assumed to be AISI-304 stainless steel in all cases, with an annual production rate of 750 containers. Subjective techniques were used for estimating QA/QC costs based on vendor experience and the specifications derived for the LLNL-YMP Quality Assurance program. In addition, an independent QA/QC analysis is reported which was prepared by Kasier Engineering. Based on the cost estimates developed, LLNL recommends that values of $825K and $62K be used for the 1991 TSLCC for the spent fuel and HLW containers, respectively. These numbers represent the most conservative among the three vendors, and are for the high-nickel anstenitic steel (Alloy 825). 6 refs., 7 figs

Area-Level Socioeconomic Gradients in Overweight and Obesity in a Community-Derived Cohort of Health Service Users - A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonney, Andrew; Mayne, Darren J; Jones, Bryan D; Bott, Lawrence; Andersen, Stephen E J; Caputi, Peter; Weston, Kathryn M; Iverson, Don C

2015-01-01

Overweight and obesity lead to higher probability of individuals accessing primary care but adiposity estimates are rarely available at regional levels to inform health service planning. This paper analyses a large, community-derived clinical database of objectively measured body mass index (BMI) to explore relationships with area-level socioeconomic disadvantage for informing regional level planning activities. The study included 91776 adults who had BMI objectively measured between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2011 by a single pathology provider. Demographic data and BMI were extracted and matched to 2006 national census socioeconomic data using geocoding. Adjusted odds-ratios for overweight and obesity were calculated using sex-stratified logistic regression models with socioeconomic disadvantage of census collection district of residence as the independent variable. The prevalence of overweight or obesity was 79.2% (males) and 65.8% (females); increased with age to 74 years; and was higher in rural (74%) versus urban areas (71.4%) (pdisadvantage was associated with increasing prevalence of overweight (pdisadvantage was unrelated to overweight (p = 0.2024) and overweight or obesity (p = 0.4896) in males. It is feasible to link routinely-collected clinical data, representative of a discrete population, with geographic distribution of disadvantage, and to obtain meaningful area-level information useful for targeting interventions to improve population health. Our results demonstrate novel area-level socioeconomic gradients in overweight and obesity relevant to regional health service planning.

Education and Synthetic Work-Life Earnings Estimates. American Community Survey Reports. ACS-14

Science.gov (United States)

Julian, Tiffany; Kominski, Robert

2011-01-01

The relationship between education and earnings is a long-analyzed topic of study. Generally, there is a strong belief that achievement of higher levels of education is a well established path to better jobs and better earnings. This report provides one view of the economic value of educational attainment by producing an estimate of the amount of…

Multilevel model to estimate county-level untreated dental caries among US children aged 6-9years using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Mei; Zhang, Xingyou; Holt, James B; Robison, Valerie; Li, Chien-Hsun; Griffin, Susan O

2018-06-01

Because conducting population-based oral health screening is resource intensive, oral health data at small-area levels (e.g., county-level) are not commonly available. We applied the multilevel logistic regression and poststratification method to estimate county-level prevalence of untreated dental caries among children aged 6-9years in the United States using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2010 linked with various area-level data at census tract, county and state levels. We validated model-based national estimates against direct estimates from NHANES. We also compared model-based estimates with direct estimates from select State Oral Health Surveys (SOHS) at state and county levels. The model with individual-level covariates only and the model with individual-, census tract- and county-level covariates explained 7.2% and 96.3% respectively of overall county-level variation in untreated caries. Model-based county-level prevalence estimates ranged from 4.9% to 65.2% with median of 22.1%. The model-based national estimate (19.9%) matched the NHANES direct estimate (19.8%). We found significantly positive correlations between model-based estimates for 8-year-olds and direct estimates from the third-grade State Oral Health Surveys (SOHS) at state level for 34 states (Pearson coefficient: 0.54, P=0.001) and SOHS estimates at county level for 53 New York counties (Pearson coefficient: 0.38, P=0.006). This methodology could be a useful tool to characterize county-level disparities in untreated dental caries among children aged 6-9years and complement oral health surveillance to inform public health programs especially when local-level data are not available although the lack of external validation due to data unavailability should be acknowledged. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A Multi Size-Level Assessment of Benthic Marine Communities in a Coastal Environment: Are They Different Sides of the Same Coin?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vannini, Claudia; Volpi, Marta; Lardicci, Claudio

2015-01-01

Organism body size has been demonstrated to be a discriminating element in shaping the response of living beings to environmental factors, thus playing a fundamental role in community structuring. Despite the importance of studies elucidating relations among communities of different size levels...... have no (or very low) influence on the community composition at other size-levels. Moreover, each community responds in a different way to the environmental parameters and with a degree of sensitivity which seems to increase with organism size. Therefore, our data indicate that the characterization...... in ecosystems, the attempts that have been made in this sense are still very scarce and a reliable approach for these research still has to be defined. We characterized the benthic communities of bacteria, microbial eukaryotes, meiofauna and macrofauna in a coastal environment, encompassing a 10000-fold...

Remote Sensing of Wildland Fire-Induced Risk Assessment at the Community Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, M Razu; Rahaman, Khan Rubayet; Hassan, Quazi K

2018-05-15

Wildland fires are some of the critical natural hazards that pose a significant threat to the communities located in the vicinity of forested/vegetated areas. In this paper, our overall objective was to study the structural damages due to the 2016 Horse River Fire (HRF) that happened in Fort McMurray (Alberta, Canada) by employing primarily very high spatial resolution optical satellite data, i.e., WorldView-2. Thus, our activities included the: (i) estimation of the structural damages; and (ii) delineation of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) and its associated buffers at certain intervals, and their utilization in assessing potential risks. Our proposed method of remote sensing-based estimates of the number of structural damages was compared with the ground-based information available from the Planning and Development Recovery Committee Task Force of Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB); and found a strong linear relationship (i.e., r² value of 0.97 with a slope of 0.97). Upon delineating the WUI and its associated buffer zones at 10 m, 30 m, 50 m, 70 m and 100 m distances; we found existence of vegetation within the 30 m buffers from the WUI for all of the damaged structures. In addition, we noticed that the relevant authorities had removed vegetation in some areas between 30 m and 70 m buffers from the WUI, which was proven to be effective in order to protect the structures in the adjacent communities. Furthermore, we mapped the wildland fire-induced vulnerable areas upon considering the WUI and its associated buffers. Our analysis revealed that approximately 30% of the areas within the buffer zones of 10 m and 30 m were vulnerable due to the presence of vegetation; in which, approximately 7% were burned during the 2016 HRF event that led the structural damages. Consequently, we suggest to remove the existing vegetation within these critical zones and also monitor the region at a regular interval in order to reduce the wildland fire-induced risk.

A Comparison of Individual-Level and Community-Level Predictors of Marijuana and Cocaine Use among a Sample of Newly Arrested Juvenile Offenders

Science.gov (United States)

Childs, Kristina; Dembo, Richard; Belenko, Steven; Wareham, Jennifer; Schmeidler, James

2011-01-01

Variations in drug use have been found across individual-level factors and community characteristics, and by type of drug used. Relatively little research, however, has examined this variation among juvenile offenders. Based on a sample of 924 newly arrested juvenile offenders, two multilevel logistic regression models predicting marijuana test…

Assessment of health community at the level of Health center Rakovica: Goals and opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šćepanović Aleksandar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Assessment of the health status of the population is the foundation for troubleshooting health of the community. For this first step in solving the problems of health need to have adequate data. The basis for the registration of medical information is medical documentation. The aim is to assess the role and place of assessment of the health status of the community according to the literature in this field. We analyzed the available literature in the field of social medicine and health statistics, enlightened assessment of health in the community. The data necessary for determining the state of health can be related to many characteristics. The data can be accessed: review of available medical records and life statistics. Data analysis is performed with respect to the individual, family, group or the entire community. Based on the analysis and evaluation of health status can begin activities in the planning of preventive measures that should be implemented. To evaluate prevention plan is necessary to select and collect the appropriate data for the evaluation. The analysis and evaluation of individuals involved in cooperation with a team of health care health center for the level of Rakovica. Based on the good judgment of health condition can make appropriate plans of action to protect the health of the community.

Poster abstract: Water level estimation in urban ultrasonic/passive infrared flash flood sensor networks using supervised learning

KAUST Repository

Mousa, Mustafa; Claudel, Christian G.

2014-01-01

floods occur very rarely, we use a supervised learning approach to estimate the correction to the ultrasonic rangefinder caused by temperature fluctuations. Preliminary data shows that water level can be estimated with an absolute error of less than 2 cm

Estimation of Community Land Model parameters for an improved assessment of net carbon fluxes at European sites

Science.gov (United States)

Post, Hanna; Vrugt, Jasper A.; Fox, Andrew; Vereecken, Harry; Hendricks Franssen, Harrie-Jan

2017-03-01

The Community Land Model (CLM) contains many parameters whose values are uncertain and thus require careful estimation for model application at individual sites. Here we used Bayesian inference with the DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAM(zs)) algorithm to estimate eight CLM v.4.5 ecosystem parameters using 1 year records of half-hourly net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) observations of four central European sites with different plant functional types (PFTs). The posterior CLM parameter distributions of each site were estimated per individual season and on a yearly basis. These estimates were then evaluated using NEE data from an independent evaluation period and data from "nearby" FLUXNET sites at 600 km distance to the original sites. Latent variables (multipliers) were used to treat explicitly uncertainty in the initial carbon-nitrogen pools. The posterior parameter estimates were superior to their default values in their ability to track and explain the measured NEE data of each site. The seasonal parameter values reduced with more than 50% (averaged over all sites) the bias in the simulated NEE values. The most consistent performance of CLM during the evaluation period was found for the posterior parameter values of the forest PFTs, and contrary to the C3-grass and C3-crop sites, the latent variables of the initial pools further enhanced the quality-of-fit. The carbon sink function of the forest PFTs significantly increased with the posterior parameter estimates. We thus conclude that land surface model predictions of carbon stocks and fluxes require careful consideration of uncertain ecological parameters and initial states.

Estimating synchronous demographic changes across populations using hABC and its application for a herpetological community from northeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Gehara, Marcelo; Garda, Adrian A; Werneck, Fernanda P; Oliveira, Eliana F; da Fonseca, Emanuel M; Camurugi, Felipe; Magalhães, Felipe de M; Lanna, Flávia M; Sites, Jack W; Marques, Ricardo; Silveira-Filho, Ricardo; São Pedro, Vinícius A; Colli, Guarino R; Costa, Gabriel C; Burbrink, Frank T

2017-09-01

Many studies propose that Quaternary climatic cycles contracted and/or expanded the ranges of species and biomes. Strong expansion-contraction dynamics of biomes presume concerted demographic changes of associated fauna. The analysis of temporal concordance of demographic changes can be used to test the influence of Quaternary climate on diversification processes. Hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation (hABC) is a powerful and flexible approach that models genetic data from multiple species, and can be used to estimate the temporal concordance of demographic processes. Using available single-locus data, we can now perform large-scale analyses, both in terms of number of species and geographic scope. Here, we first compared the power of four alternative hABC models for a collection of single-locus data. We found that the model incorporating an a priori hypothesis about the timing of simultaneous demographic change had the best performance. Second, we applied the hABC models to a data set of seven squamate and four amphibian species occurring in the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (Caatinga) in northeastern Brazil, which, according to paleoclimatic evidence, experienced an increase in aridity during the Pleistocene. If this increase was important for the diversification of associated xeric-adapted species, simultaneous population expansions should be evident at the community level. We found a strong signal of synchronous population expansion in the Late Pleistocene, supporting the increase of the Caatinga during this time. This expansion likely enhanced the formation of communities adapted to high aridity and seasonality and caused regional extirpation of taxa adapted to wet forest. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Small-Area Estimation of Spatial Access to Care and Its Implications for Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gentili, Monica; Isett, Kim; Serban, Nicoleta; Swann, Julie

2015-10-01

Local or small-area estimates to capture emerging trends across large geographic regions are critical in identifying and addressing community-level health interventions. However, they are often unavailable due to lack of analytic capabilities in compiling and integrating extensive datasets and complementing them with the knowledge about variations in state-level health policies. This study introduces a modeling approach for small-area estimation of spatial access to pediatric primary care that is data "rich" and mathematically rigorous, integrating data and health policy in a systematic way. We illustrate the sensitivity of the model to policy decision making across large geographic regions by performing a systematic comparison of the estimates at the census tract and county levels for Georgia and California. Our results show the proposed approach is able to overcome limitations of other existing models by capturing patient and provider preferences and by incorporating possible changes in health policies. The primary finding is systematic underestimation of spatial access, and inaccurate estimates of disparities across population and across geography at the county level with respect to those at the census tract level with implications on where to focus and which type of interventions to consider.

A new method to estimate global mass transport and its implication for sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, S.; Heki, K.

2017-12-01

Estimates of changes in global land mass by using GRACE observations can be achieved by two methods, a mascon method and a forward modeling method. However, results from these two methods show inconsistent secular trend. Sea level budget can be adopted to validate the consistency among observations of sea level rise by altimetry, steric change by the Argo project, and mass change by GRACE. Mascon products from JPL, GSFC and CSR are compared here, we find that all these three products cannot achieve a reconciled sea level budget, while this problem can be solved by a new forward modeling method. We further investigate the origin of this difference, and speculate that it is caused by the signal leakage from the ocean mass. Generally, it is well recognized that land signals leak into oceans, but it also happens the other way around. We stress the importance of correction of leakage from the ocean in the estimation of global land masses. Based on a reconciled sea level budget, we confirmed that global sea level rise has been accelerating significantly over 2005-2015, as a result of the ongoing global temperature increase.

Multidimensional Scaling Approach to Evaluate the Level of Community Forestry Sustainability in Babak Watershed, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryke Nandini

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Community forestry in Babak watershed is one of the efforts to reduce critical land area. The aim of this research was to evaluate the level of community forestry sustainability in both of community forest (HKm and private forest in Babak watershed. Multidimensional scaling (MDS was used to analyse the level of community forest sustainability based on the five dimensions of ecology, economy, social, institutional, and technology as well as 29 attributes. Leverage analysis was used to know the sensitive attributes of sustainability, while Monte Carlo analysis and goodness of fit was used to find the accuracy of MDS analysis. The result shows that HKm was in moderate sustainability level (sustainability index 54.08% and private forest was in less sustainability level (sustainability index 48.53%. Furthermore, the ecology and technology in HKm were classified as less sustainable, while the institution and technology in private forest were considered less sustainable. There were 11 sensitive attributes of HKm and 19 sensitive attributes of private forest. The priorities of attribute improvement in HKm include land recovering (the dimension of ecology and cooperative development (the dimension of technology. In private forest, the priorities of attribute improvement include leadership capacity building (the institutional dimension and also the use of silviculture intensive and soil conservation (the dimension of technology.

The use of SSNTDs in the retrospective assessment of radon exposure in high radon rural communities in Yugoslavia

CERN Document Server

Zunic, Z S; Walsh, C; Benderac, R

1999-01-01

A description is given of the field application of a technique using CR-39 and LR 115 detectors to determine alpha recoil implanted sup 2 sup 1 sup 0 Po surface activity on domestic glass artefacts in dwellings. These investigations took place in two small stable rural communities in uraniferous areas of Yugoslavia where between 32% and 74% of contemporary indoor radon levels were found to be above the commonly used Action Level of 200 Bq m sup - sup 3 and individual levels as high as 8700 Bq m sup - sup 3 were measured. The sup 2 sup 1 sup 0 Po data is used to retrospectively estimate radon exposures in these communities. Comparisons between the retrospectively estimated radon exposures and those being received at present are made.

Exploring the Disconnect Between Information Literacy Skills and Self-Estimates of Ability in First-Year Community College Students. A Review of: Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2012). What’s skill got to do with it?: Information literacy skills and self-views of ability among first-year college students. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(3), 574-583.

OpenAIRE

Heather Coates

2013-01-01

Objective – To explore the relationships between information literacy (IL) test scores and self-estimated ability both prior to and after completing the test.Design – Information Literacy Test (ILT) with pre- and post-test surveys of self-estimated ability.Setting – Two community colleges: a small institution in a rural area and a large institution in an urban area.Subjects – First-year community college students enrolled in entry-level English courses.Methods – The authors conducted a replic...

Describing the characteristics, treatment pathways, outcomes, and costs of people with persistent noncancer pain managed by community pain clinics and generating an indicative estimate of cost-effectiveness: feasibility study protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AlAujan S

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Shiekha AlAujan,1 Saja AlMazrou,1 Roger D Knaggs,1,2 Rachel A Elliott11Division for Social Research in Medicines and Health, The School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 2Pharmacy Department and Pain Management Service, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UKBackground: Low back pain (LBP and fibromyalgia (FM, also known as chronic widespread pain (CWP, are highly prevalent chronic painful conditions that have substantial impact on patients, health care systems, and society. Diagnosis is complex and management strategies are associated with various levels of evidence for effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Multidisciplinary pain services have been shown to be effective in some settings and therefore are recommended by clinical practice guidelines as a rational treatment option to manage these patients. Knowing that these services are resource intensive, evidence is needed to demonstrate their cost-effectiveness. This study aims to describe the management of patients with LBP and FM in two community pain clinics to derive an indicative estimate of cost-effectiveness compared with standard practice.Methods: This is a prospective observational multicenter study, using patient-level data. The data from this study will be combined with modelling of the long-term economic impact of community pain clinics in treating people with LBP and FM. Newly referred patients with LBP and FM who provide written consent will be included. We will collect data on functional disability, pain intensity, quality of life, and health resource utilization. Follow-up data at the 3- and 6-month points will be collected by patient-completed questionnaires and health care contact diaries. Health care resource use from diaries will be compared with patient electronic records to assess the agreement between these recording methods. Patient cohort characteristics, treatment pathways, resource use, and outcomes derived from this study will

Effects of Music Aerobic Exercise on Depression and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Community Dwelling Women

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Shu-Hui; Lin, Li-Wei; Chuang, Yu Kuan; Liu, Cheng-Ling; Tsai, Lu-Jen; Tsuei, Feng-Shiou; Lee, Ming-Tsung; Hsiao, Chiu-Yueh; Yang, Kuender D.

2015-01-01

A randomized clinical trial was utilized to compare the improvement of depression and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels between community women with and without music aerobic exercise (MAE) for 12 weeks. The MAE group involved 47 eligible participants, whereas the comparison group had 59 participants. No significant differences were recorded in the demographic characteristics between the participants in the MAE group and the comparison group. Forty-one participants in the MAE group and 26 in the comparison group completed a pre- and posttest. The MAE group displayed significant improvement in depression scores (p = 0.016), decreased depression symptoms in crying (p = 0.03), appetite (p = 0.006), and fatigue (p = 0.011). The BDNF levels of the participants significantly increased after the 12-week MAE (p = 0.042). The parallel comparison group revealed no significant changes in depression scores or BDNF levels. In summary, the 12-week MAE had a significant impact on the enhancement of BDNF levels and improvement of depression symptoms. Middle-aged community women are encouraged to exercise moderately to improve their depression symptoms and BDNF levels. PMID:26075212

Assessing dietary exposure to cadmium in a metal recycling community in Vietnam: Age and gender aspects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minh, Ngo Duc [Vietnamese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Soils and Fertilizers Research Institute (SFRI), Tu Liem, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Hough, Rupert Lloyd, E-mail: rupert.hough@hutton.ac.uk [The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH (United Kingdom); Thuy, Le Thi [Vietnamese Academy of Agriculture Science, Institute of Agricultural Environment (IAE), Tu Liem, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Nyberg, Ylva [Department of Crop Production Ecology, PO Box 7043, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-750 07 Uppsala (Sweden); Mai, Le Bach [National Institute of Nutrition, 48b Tang Bat Ho, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Vinh, Nguyen Cong [Vietnamese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Soils and Fertilizers Research Institute (SFRI), Tu Liem, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Khai, Nguyen Manh [Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Ha Noi University of Science (HUS-VNU), 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Ha Noi (Viet Nam); Oeborn, Ingrid [Department of Crop Production Ecology, PO Box 7043, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-750 07 Uppsala (Sweden)

2012-02-01

This study estimates the dietary exposure to cadmium (Cd), and associated potential health risks, for individuals living and working in a metal recycling community (n = 132) in Vietnam in comparison to an agricultural (reference) community (n = 130). Individual-level exposure to Cd was estimated through analysis of staple foodstuffs combined with information from a food frequency questionnaire. Individual-level exposure estimates were compared with published 'safe' doses to derive a Hazard Quotient (HQ) for each member of the study population. Looking at the populations as a whole, there were no significant differences in the diets of the two villages. However, significantly more rice was consumed by working age adults (18-60 years) in the recycling village compared to the reference village (p < 0.001). Rice was the main staple food with individuals consuming 461 {+-} 162 g/d, followed by water spinach (103 {+-} 51 kg/d). Concentrations of Cd in the studied foodstuffs were elevated in the metal recycling village. Values of HQ exceeded unity for 87% of adult participants of the metal recycling community (39% had a HQ > 3), while 20% of adult participants from the reference village had an HQ > 1. We found an elevated health risk from dietary exposure to Cd in the metal recycling village compared to the reference community. WHO standard of 0.4 mg Cd/kg rice may not be protective where people consume large amounts of rice/have relatively low body weight. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer First individual-level risk assessment of cadmium in recycling villages of Vietnam. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Dietary analysis undertaken for a recycling community and an agricultural community. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer No significant differences were found between the diets of the two populations. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer 87% of people in the recycling community had elevated health risk. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer WHO standard (0.4 mg Cd/kg rice) may

Fatigue level estimation of monetary bills based on frequency band acoustic signals with feature selection by supervised SOM

Science.gov (United States)

Teranishi, Masaru; Omatu, Sigeru; Kosaka, Toshihisa

Fatigued monetary bills adversely affect the daily operation of automated teller machines (ATMs). In order to make the classification of fatigued bills more efficient, the development of an automatic fatigued monetary bill classification method is desirable. We propose a new method by which to estimate the fatigue level of monetary bills from the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern of banking machines. By using a supervised self-organizing map (SOM), we effectively estimate the fatigue level using only the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern. Furthermore, the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern improves the estimation accuracy of the fatigue level of monetary bills by adding frequency domain information to the acoustic energy pattern. The experimental results with real monetary bill samples reveal the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Development of a package program for estimating ground level concentrations of radioactive gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nilkamhang, W.

1986-01-01

A package program for estimating ground level concentration of radioactive gas from elevate release was develop for use on IBM P C microcomputer. The main program, GAMMA PLUME NT10, is based on the well known VALLEY MODEL which is a Fortran computer code intended for mainframe computers. Other two options were added, namely, calculation of radioactive gas ground level concentration in Ci/m 3 and dose equivalent rate in mren/hr. In addition, a menu program and editor program were developed to render the program easier to use since the option could be readily selected and the input data could be easily modified as required through the keyboard. The accuracy and reliability of the program is almost identical to the mainframe. Ground level concentration of radioactive radon gas due to ore program processing in the nuclear chemistry laboratory of the Department of Nuclear Technology was estimated. In processing radioactive ore at a rate of 2 kg/day, about 35 p Ci/s of radioactive gas was released from a 14 m stack. When meteorological data of Don Muang (average for 5 years 1978-1982) were used maximum ground level concentration and the dose equivalent rate were found to be 0.00094 p Ci/m 3 and 5.0 x 10 -10 mrem/hr respectively. The processing time required for the above problem was about 7 minutes for any case of source on IBM P C which was acceptable for a computer of this class

Estimation of prevalence of sarcopenia by using a new bioelectrical impedance analysis in Chinese community-dwelling elderly people.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hui; Hai, Shan; Cao, Li; Zhou, Jianghua; Liu, Ping; Dong, Bi-Rong

2016-12-28

The aim of the present study was to validate the usefulness of the new octapolar multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) for assessment of appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) by comparing it with that of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia in Chinese community-dwelling elderly according to Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) definition. A cross-sectional study was conducted in communities of Chengdu, China. A total of 944 community-dwelling elderly adults aged ≥60 years were included. ASM was measured by using DXA as a criterion method to validate a standing eight-electrode multifrequency BIA (InBody 720), followed by a further estimation of the prevalence of sarcopenia according the AWGS definition. In the Bland-Altman analysis, no significant difference was found between DXA and BIA based on the ASM measurements. The prevalence of AWGS-defined sarcopenia was 12.5% in the elderly women and 8.2% in the elderly men. BIA is suitable for body composition monitoring (ASM) in elderly Chinese as a fast, noninvasive, and convenient method; therefore, it may be a better choice in large epidemiological studies in the Chinese population. The prevalence of AWGS-defined sarcopenia was approximately 10.4% and increased with age in the Chinese community-dwelling elderly in this study.

Estimating return levels from maxima of non-stationary random sequences using the Generalized PWM method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Ribereau

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Since the pioneering work of Landwehr et al. (1979, Hosking et al. (1985 and their collaborators, the Probability Weighted Moments (PWM method has been very popular, simple and efficient to estimate the parameters of the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV distribution when modeling the distribution of maxima (e.g., annual maxima of precipitations in the Identically and Independently Distributed (IID context. When the IID assumption is not satisfied, a flexible alternative, the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE approach offers an elegant way to handle non-stationarities by letting the GEV parameters to be time dependent. Despite its qualities, the MLE applied to the GEV distribution does not always provide accurate return level estimates, especially for small sample sizes or heavy tails. These drawbacks are particularly true in some non-stationary situations. To reduce these negative effects, we propose to extend the PWM method to a more general framework that enables us to model temporal covariates and provide accurate GEV-based return levels. Theoretical properties of our estimators are discussed. Small and moderate sample sizes simulations in a non-stationary context are analyzed and two brief applications to annual maxima of CO₂ and seasonal maxima of cumulated daily precipitations are presented.

Do community- and individual-level social relationships contribute to the mental health of disaster survivors?: A multilevel prospective study after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuyama, Yusuke; Aida, Jun; Hase, Akihiro; Sato, Yukihiro; Koyama, Shihoko; Tsuboya, Toru; Osaka, Ken

2016-02-01

Disasters greatly threaten the health and lives of people all over the world. Japan experienced severe damage following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and some survivors continue to live in prefabricated temporary housing, built collectively in damaged areas. Previous studies have shown that social relationships in such communities have the potential to protect the mental health of disaster survivors. We examined the association between survivors' social support and social participation in 2012 and their psychological distress in 2013 using the K6 scale. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to all 15,979 households in prefabricated temporary housing in eight municipalities in Miyagi prefecture in 2012, and 19,284 adults from 9366 (58.6%) households responded. One year later, 10,880 adults responded to a follow-up survey. Multivariate multilevel linear regression analyses with multiply imputed datasets showed that survivors' psychological distress at follow-up significantly differed between communities (community-level variance [standard error] = 0.38 [0.13]). The variance was reduced to 0.25 [0.09] after considering individual demographic characteristics and psychological distress at baseline. Individual- and community-level social relationships of 7.1% and 15.8%, respectively, explained the difference. After adjusting for covariates including K6 scale at baseline, individual-level social support, community-level social support, and individual-level social participation were significantly associated with low psychological distress at follow-up (coefficients [95% confidence intervals] were: -0.54 [-0.79, -0.30]; -0.43 [-0.72, -0.14]; and -0.22 [-0.40, -0.04], respectively). Community-level social participation was not significantly associated with psychological distress. The present study showed that: 1) survivors' psychological distress varied between temporary housing communities in 2013; 2) individual- and community-level social

Community Options Model): Using Artificial Intelligence for Transportation Planning and Community Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

This paper describes the Community Options Model for Transportation-Related Issues (COMTRI) designed to estimate the social and economic impacts of highway realignments on rural Michigan communities for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT...

Estimation of water level and steam temperature using ensemble Kalman filter square root (EnKF-SR)

Science.gov (United States)

Herlambang, T.; Mufarrikoh, Z.; Karya, D. F.; Rahmalia, D.

2018-04-01

The equipment unit which has the most vital role in the steam-powered electric power plant is boiler. Steam drum boiler is a tank functioning to separate fluida into has phase and liquid phase. The existence in boiler system has a vital role. The controlled variables in the steam drum boiler are water level and the steam temperature. If the water level is higher than the determined level, then the gas phase resulted will contain steam endangering the following process and making the resulted steam going to turbine get less, and the by causing damages to pipes in the boiler. On the contrary, if less than the height of determined water level, the resulted height will result in dry steam likely to endanger steam drum. Thus an error was observed between the determined. This paper studied the implementation of the Ensemble Kalman Filter Square Root (EnKF-SR) method in nonlinear model of the steam drum boiler equation. The computation to estimate the height of water level and the temperature of steam was by simulation using Matlab software. Thus an error was observed between the determined water level and the steam temperature, and that of estimated water level and steam temperature. The result of simulation by Ensemble Kalman Filter Square Root (EnKF-SR) on the nonlinear model of steam drum boiler showed that the error was less than 2%. The implementation of EnKF-SR on the steam drum boiler r model comprises of three simulations, each of which generates 200, 300 and 400 ensembles. The best simulation exhibited the error between the real condition and the estimated result, by generating 400 ensemble. The simulation in water level in order of 0.00002145 m, whereas in the steam temperature was some 0.00002121 kelvin.

Stochastic estimation of nuclear level density in the nuclear shell model: An application to parity-dependent level density in 58Ni

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Noritaka Shimizu

2016-02-01

Full Text Available We introduce a novel method to obtain level densities in large-scale shell-model calculations. Our method is a stochastic estimation of eigenvalue count based on a shifted Krylov-subspace method, which enables us to obtain level densities of huge Hamiltonian matrices. This framework leads to a successful description of both low-lying spectroscopy and the experimentally observed equilibration of Jπ=2+ and 2− states in 58Ni in a unified manner.

Critical level of radionuclides pollution estimation for different soil type of Ukrainian Polessye

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kravets, A.; Pavlenko, Y.

1996-01-01

The successive development and adaptation of general algorithm of calculation of doses from intake 137 Cs and 90 Sr as a function of pollution level and a type of soil as a source of the human trophycal chains and its use in solution of reverse problem, namely- estimation of the critical level of radionuclides pollution for the main type of soil of Ukrainian Polessye has been proposed. Calculation was realized as a combination of dynamic model of migration of radionuclides in soil and spreadsheet form with Quattro Pro, version 4.0. (author)

Survey of State-Level Cost and Benefit Estimates of Renewable Portfolio Standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heeter, J.; Barbose, G.; Bird, L.; Weaver, S.; Flores-Espino, F.; Kuskova-Burns, K.; Wiser, R.

2014-05-01

Most renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have five or more years of implementation experience, enabling an assessment of their costs and benefits. Understanding RPS costs and benefits is essential for policymakers evaluating existing RPS policies, assessing the need for modifications, and considering new policies. This study provides an overview of methods used to estimate RPS compliance costs and benefits, based on available data and estimates issued by utilities and regulators. Over the 2010-2012 period, average incremental RPS compliance costs in the United States were equivalent to 0.8% of retail electricity rates, although substantial variation exists around this average, both from year-to-year and across states. The methods used by utilities and regulators to estimate incremental compliance costs vary considerably from state to state and a number of states are currently engaged in processes to refine and standardize their approaches to RPS cost calculation. The report finds that state assessments of RPS benefits have most commonly attempted to quantitatively assess avoided emissions and human health benefits, economic development impacts, and wholesale electricity price savings. Compared to the summary of RPS costs, the summary of RPS benefits is more limited, as relatively few states have undertaken detailed benefits estimates, and then only for a few types of potential policy impacts. In some cases, the same impacts may be captured in the assessment of incremental costs. For these reasons, and because methodologies and level of rigor vary widely, direct comparisons between the estimates of benefits and costs are challenging.

The ecological competition and grazing reverse the effects of sulfamethoxazole on plankton: a case study on characterizing community-level effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Changyou; Liang, Shengkang; Zhang, Yong

2018-04-12

The toxic effects of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on densities of two algae, Platymonas helgolandica var. tsingtaoensis, Isochrysis galbana, and of a rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis, were tested by the population and community experiments. Two endpoints, the carrying capacity and the densities array of community in steady state (DACS), were used to characterize the toxic effects at a population level and a community one, respectively. The results showed that the carrying capacity of P. helgolandica var. tsingtaoensis and B. plicatilis did not decline significantly in population test when the concentration of SMX was lower than 6.0 mg L -1 and 12.0 mg L -1 , respectively. However, I. galbana was sensitive to SMX and had presented toxic effect at 3.0 mg L -1 . By extrapolation of toxic effect at a population level to a community one, a derived community-NOEC was 3.0 mg L -1 , representing an inference from data of toxic effects at population level. In community experiment, when the customized community was in steady state, the density of I. galbana increased as a whole with SMX concentration in the range of tested concentration (0-144 mg L -1 ), while that of P. helgolandica var. tsingtaoensis assumed the trend of a reversed "v" in this range. Only the density of B. plicatilis decreased with SMX concentration. With the DACS as endpoint, a NOEC for the customized community was determined to be 6.0 mg L -1 . This indicates that interspecific interactions can reverse the toxic effects of SMX on phytoplankton. The DACS was reliable and stable, serving as the endpoints in assessment of the effects of the pollutants on the ecosystems.

The Suitability of Different Nighttime Light Data for GDP Estimation at Different Spatial Scales and Regional Levels

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Zhaoxin Dai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Nighttime light data offer a unique view of the Earth’s surface and can be used to estimate the spatial distribution of gross domestic product (GDP. Historically, using a simple regression function, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS has been used to correlate regional and global GDP values. In early 2013, the first global Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS nighttime light data were released. Compared with DMSP/OLS, they have a higher spatial resolution and a wider radiometric detection range. This paper aims to study the suitability of the two nighttime light data sources for estimating the GDP relationship between the provincial and city levels in Mainland China, as well as of different regression functions. First, NPP/VIIRS nighttime light data for 2014 are corrected with DMSP/OLS data for 2013 to reduce the background noise in the original data. Subsequently, three regression functions are used to estimate the relationship between nighttime light data and GDP statistical data at the provincial and city levels in Mainland China. Then, through the comparison of the relative residual error (RE and the relative root mean square error (RRMSE parameters, a systematical assessment of the suitability of the GDP estimation is provided. The results show that the NPP/VIIRS nighttime light data are better than the DMSP/OLS data for GDP estimation, whether at the provincial or city level, and that the power function and polynomial models are better for GDP estimation than the linear regression model. This study reveals that the accuracy of GDP estimation based on nighttime light data is affected by the resolution of the data and the spatial scale of the study area, as well as by the land cover types and industrial structures of the study area.

Impacts of community-based natural resource management on wealth, food security and child health in Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pailler, Sharon; Naidoo, Robin; Burgess, Neil David

2015-01-01

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a major global strategy for enhancing conservation outcomes while also seeking to improve rural livelihoods; however, little evidence of socioeconomic outcomes exists. We present a national-level analysis that empirically estimates socioecono......Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a major global strategy for enhancing conservation outcomes while also seeking to improve rural livelihoods; however, little evidence of socioeconomic outcomes exists. We present a national-level analysis that empirically estimates...... socioeconomic impacts of CBNRM across Tanzania, while systematically controlling for potential sources of bias. Specifically, we apply a difference-indifferences model to national-scale, cross-sectional data to estimate the impact of three different CBNRM governance regimes on wealth, food security and child...... health, considering differential impacts of CBNRM on wealthy and poor populations. We also explore whether or not longer-standing CBNRM efforts provide more benefits than recently-established CBNRM areas. Our results show significant improvements in household food security in CBNRM areas compared...

Increased body size along urbanization gradients at both community and intraspecific level in macro-moths.