Rapid socio-cultural change and health in the Arctic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerregaard, P

2001-01-01

The colonization of the circumpolar peoples has had a profound influence on their health. History tells about devastating epidemics and the introduction of alcohol. The last 50 years have witnessed an unprecedented societal development in Greenland and a rapid epidemiological transition. Physical...... health and survival have improved but at the expense of mental health. The incidence of tuberculosis and the infant mortality rate have decreased because of improved socioeconomic conditions and health care. Mental health has deteriorated parallel to the rapid modernization of Greenlandic society...

The Health Penalty of China's Rapid Urbanization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E. Van de Poel (Ellen); O.A. O'Donnell (Owen); E.K.A. van Doorslaer (Eddy)

2009-01-01

textabstractRapid urbanization could have positive and negative health effects, such that the net impact on population health is not obvious. It is, however, highly pertinent to the human welfare consequences of development. This paper uses community and individual level longitudinal data from the

Accidents Preventive Practice for High-Rise Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goh Kai Chen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The demand of high-rise projects continues to grow due to the reducing of usable land area in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The rapidly development of high-rise projects has leaded to the rise of fatalities and accidents. An accident that happened in a construction site can cause serious physical injury. The accidents such as people falling from height and struck by falling object were the most frequent accidents happened in Malaysian construction industry. The continuous growth of high-rise buildings indicates that there is a need of an effective safety and health management. Hence, this research aims to identify the causes of accidents and the ways to prevent accidents that occur at high-rise building construction site. Qualitative method was employed in this research. Interview surveying with safety officers who are involved in highrise building project in Kuala Lumpur were conducted in this research. Accidents were caused by man-made factors, environment factors or machinery factors. The accidents prevention methods were provide sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE, have a good housekeeping, execute safety inspection, provide safety training and execute accidents investigation. In the meanwhile, interviewees have suggested the new prevention methods that were develop a proper site layout planning and de-merit and merit system among sub-contractors, suppliers and even employees regarding safety at workplace matters. This research helps in explaining the causes of accidents and identifying area where prevention action should be implemented, so that workers and top management will increase awareness in preventing site accidents.

Rising workload or rising work pressure in general practice in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, D.H. de; Hutten, J.B.F.; Steultjens, M.; Schellevis, F.

2002-01-01

Background: General practice in the Netherlands seems to be in a crisis. Worries about shortages of GP's, the first strike of general practitioners in 2001 and the rapid increase of triage systems in out of hours care are signs that work pressure and/or workload are rising. But systematic evidence

Health care prices, the federal budget, and economic growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Monaco, R M; Phelps, J H

1995-01-01

Rising health care spending, led by rising prices, has had an enormous impact on the economy, especially on the federal budget. Our work shows that if rapid growth in health care prices continues, under current institutional arrangements, real economic growth and employment will be lower during the next two decades than if health price inflation were somehow reduced. How big the losses are and which sectors bear the brunt of the costs vary depending on how society chooses to fund the federal budget deficit that stems from the rising cost of federal health care programs.

Rapid assessment of infrastructure of primary health care facilities - a relevant instrument for health care systems management.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholz, Stefan; Ngoli, Baltazar; Flessa, Steffen

2015-05-01

Health care infrastructure constitutes a major component of the structural quality of a health system. Infrastructural deficiencies of health services are reported in literature and research. A number of instruments exist for the assessment of infrastructure. However, no easy-to-use instruments to assess health facility infrastructure in developing countries are available. Present tools are not applicable for a rapid assessment by health facility staff. Therefore, health information systems lack data on facility infrastructure. A rapid assessment tool for the infrastructure of primary health care facilities was developed by the authors and pilot-tested in Tanzania. The tool measures the quality of all infrastructural components comprehensively and with high standardization. Ratings use a 2-1-0 scheme which is frequently used in Tanzanian health care services. Infrastructural indicators and indices are obtained from the assessment and serve for reporting and tracing of interventions. The tool was pilot-tested in Tanga Region (Tanzania). The pilot test covered seven primary care facilities in the range between dispensary and district hospital. The assessment encompassed the facilities as entities as well as 42 facility buildings and 80 pieces of technical medical equipment. A full assessment of facility infrastructure was undertaken by health care professionals while the rapid assessment was performed by facility staff. Serious infrastructural deficiencies were revealed. The rapid assessment tool proved a reliable instrument of routine data collection by health facility staff. The authors recommend integrating the rapid assessment tool in the health information systems of developing countries. Health authorities in a decentralized health system are thus enabled to detect infrastructural deficiencies and trace the effects of interventions. The tool can lay the data foundation for district facility infrastructure management.

Rapid Health and Needs assessments after disasters: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yzermans CJ

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Publichealth care providers, stakeholders and policy makers request a rapid insight into health status and needs of the affected population after disasters. To our knowledge, there is no standardized rapid assessment tool for European countries. The aim of this article is to describe existing tools used internationally and analyze them for the development of a workable rapid assessment. Methods A review was conducted, including original studies concerning a rapid health and/or needs assessment. The studies used were published between 1980 and 2009. The electronic databasesof Medline, Embase, SciSearch and Psychinfo were used. Results Thirty-three studies were included for this review. The majority of the studies was of US origin and in most cases related to natural disasters, especially concerning the weather. In eighteen studies an assessment was conducted using a structured questionnaire, eleven studies used registries and four used both methods. Questionnaires were primarily used to asses the health needs, while data records were used to assess the health status of disaster victims. Conclusions Methods most commonly used were face to face interviews and data extracted from existing registries. Ideally, a rapid assessment tool is needed which does not add to the burden of disaster victims. In this perspective, the use of existing medical registries in combination with a brief questionnaire in the aftermath of disasters is the most promising. Since there is an increasing need for such a tool this approach needs further examination.

Mental health issues from rising sea level in a remote coastal region of the Solomon Islands: current and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Asugeni, James; MacLaren, David; Massey, Peter D; Speare, Rick

2015-12-01

There is little published research about mental health and climate change in the Pacific, including Solomon Islands. Solomon Islands has one of the highest rates of sea-level rise globally. The aim of this research was to document mental health issues related to sea-level rise for people in East Malaita, Solomon Islands. A cross-sectional study was carried out in six low-lying villages in East Malaita, Solomon Islands. The researcher travelled to villages by dugout canoe. In addition to quantitative, closed-ended questions, open-ended questions with villagers explored individual and community responses to rising sea level. Of 60 people asked, 57 completed the questionnaire. Of these, 90% reported having seen a change in the weather patterns. Nearly all participants reported that sea-level rise is affecting them and their family and is causing fear and worry on a personal and community level. Four themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: experience of physical impacts of climate change; worry about the future; adaptation to climate change; government response needed. Given predictions of ongoing sea-level rise in the Pacific it is essential that more research is conducted to further understand the human impact of climate change for small island states which will inform local, provincial and national-level mental health responses. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Finland: Scandinavia's top gas user sees demand rising rapidly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielsen, H.H.

1992-01-01

The rising demand for natural gas in Finland which already uses more gas than any other Nordic country is noted. The natural gas market which is based on sales to large industries and for heating is compared to the market in Denmark which is geared to small private heating customers. Imports of Norwegian gas allowing increased sales for power generation in Finland, and the influence of the impending Finnish application for membership of the EC on the gas market are considered. (UK)

Unequal ‘Partners’. AIDS, Academia, and the Rise of Global Health

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Johanna T. Crane

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The last decade has seen the proliferation of “global health” departments, centers, programs, and majors across top research universities in North America and Europe. This trend has been particularly pronounced in the United States, where it is connected to America′s new role as a major sponsor of HIV treatment in Africa. This paper describes the rise of “global health” as a research, funding, and training priority within U.S. academic medicine, and the increasing desirability of “global health partnerships” with institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. Leading spokespersons emphasize that “partnership” with poor nations is central to the mission of global health, an ethic that distinguishes it from older, more paternalistic traditions of international health and tropical medicine. However, at the same time, the field of academic global health depends on steep inequalities for its very existence, as it is the opportunity to work in impoverished, low-tech settings with high disease burdens that draws North American researchers and clinicians to global health programs and ensures their continued funding. This paradox – in which inequality is both a form of suffering to be redressed and a professional, knowledge-generating, opportunity to be exploited – makes the partnerships to which global health aspires particularly challenging.

Planetary health: protecting human health on a rapidly changing planet.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Samuel S

2018-12-23

The impact of human activities on our planet's natural systems has been intensifying rapidly in the past several decades, leading to disruption and transformation of most natural systems. These disruptions in the atmosphere, oceans, and across the terrestrial land surface are not only driving species to extinction, they pose serious threats to human health and wellbeing. Characterising and addressing these threats requires a paradigm shift. In a lecture delivered to the Academy of Medical Sciences on Nov 13, 2017, I describe the scale of human impacts on natural systems and the extensive associated health effects across nearly every dimension of human health. I highlight several overarching themes that emerge from planetary health and suggest advances in the way we train, reward, promote, and fund the generation of health scientists who will be tasked with breaking out of their disciplinary silos to address this urgent constellation of health threats. I propose that protecting the health of future generations requires taking better care of Earth's natural systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coastal sea level rise with warming above 2 °C.

Science.gov (United States)

Jevrejeva, Svetlana; Jackson, Luke P; Riva, Riccardo E M; Grinsted, Aslak; Moore, John C

2016-11-22

Two degrees of global warming above the preindustrial level is widely suggested as an appropriate threshold beyond which climate change risks become unacceptably high. This "2 °C" threshold is likely to be reached between 2040 and 2050 for both Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 and 4.5. Resulting sea level rises will not be globally uniform, due to ocean dynamical processes and changes in gravity associated with water mass redistribution. Here we provide probabilistic sea level rise projections for the global coastline with warming above the 2 °C goal. By 2040, with a 2 °C warming under the RCP8.5 scenario, more than 90% of coastal areas will experience sea level rise exceeding the global estimate of 0.2 m, with up to 0.4 m expected along the Atlantic coast of North America and Norway. With a 5 °C rise by 2100, sea level will rise rapidly, reaching 0.9 m (median), and 80% of the coastline will exceed the global sea level rise at the 95th percentile upper limit of 1.8 m. Under RCP8.5, by 2100, New York may expect rises of 1.09 m, Guangzhou may expect rises of 0.91 m, and Lagos may expect rises of 0.90 m, with the 95th percentile upper limit of 2.24 m, 1.93 m, and 1.92 m, respectively. The coastal communities of rapidly expanding cities in the developing world, and vulnerable tropical coastal ecosystems, will have a very limited time after midcentury to adapt to sea level rises unprecedented since the dawn of the Bronze Age.

Does rapid urbanization aggravate health disparities? Reflections on the epidemiological transition in Pune, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mareike Kroll

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Rapid urbanization in low- and middle-income countries reinforces risk and epidemiological transition in urban societies, which are characterized by high socioeconomic gradients. Limited availability of disaggregated morbidity data in these settings impedes research on epidemiological profiles of different population subgroups. Objective: The study aimed to analyze the epidemiological transition in the emerging megacity of Pune with respect to changing morbidity and mortality patterns, also taking into consideration health disparities among different socioeconomic groups. Design: A mixed-methods approach was used, comprising secondary analysis of mortality data, a survey among 900 households in six neighborhoods with different socioeconomic profiles, 46 in-depth interviews with laypeople, and expert interviews with 37 health care providers and 22 other health care workers. Results: The mortality data account for an epidemiological transition with an increasing number of deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs in Pune. The share of deaths due to infectious and parasitic diseases remained nearly constant, though the cause of deaths changed considerably within this group. The survey data and expert interviews indicated a slightly higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among higher socioeconomic groups, but a higher incidence and more frequent complications and comorbidities in lower socioeconomic groups. Although the self-reported morbidity for malaria, gastroenteritis, and tuberculosis did not show a socioeconomic pattern, experts estimated the prevalence in lower socioeconomic groups to be higher, though all groups in Pune would be affected. Conclusions: The rising burden of NCDs among all socioeconomic groups and the concurrent persistence of communicable diseases pose a major challenge for public health. Improvement of urban health requires a stronger focus on health promotion and disease prevention for all

The Rise of Mental Health Nursing : A History of Psychiatric Care in Dutch Asylums, 1890-1920

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boschma, Geertje

2003-01-01

The Rise of Mental Health Nursing onderzoekt de tegenstrijdigheden in de op het ziekenhuis georiënteerde inrichtingszorg, die rond 1900 opkwam. Bovendien illustreert het boek de sociale complexiteit van de psychiatrische zorg. Op basis van archiefmateriaal uit vier Nederlandse psychiatrische

Rising to the challenge of health care reform with entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial nursing initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Anne; Whitaker, Nancy; Whitford, Deirdre

2012-05-31

Health reform worldwide is required due to the largely aging population, increase in chronic diseases, and rising costs. To meet these needs, nurses are being encouraged to practice to the full extent of their skills and take significant leadership roles in health policy, planning, and provision. This can involve entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial roles. Although nurses form the largest group of health professionals, they are frequently restricted in their scope of practice. Nurses can help to improve health services in a cost effective way, but to do so, they must be seen as equal partners in health service provision. This article provides a global perspective on evolving nursing roles for innovation in health care. A historical overview of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship is offered. Included also is discussion of a social entrepreneurship approach for nursing, settings for nurse entre/intrapreneurship, and implications for research and practice.

Rising U.S. income inequality, gender and individual self-rated health, 1972-2004.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Hui

2009-11-01

The effect of income inequality on health has been a contested topic among social scientists. Most previous research is based on cross-sectional comparisons rather than temporal comparisons. Using data from the General Social Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau, this study examines how rising income inequality affects individual self-rated health in the U.S. from 1972 to 2004. Data are analyzed using hierarchical generalized linear models. The findings suggest a significant association between income inequality and individual self-rated health. The dramatic increase in income inequality from 1972 to 2004 increases the odds of worse self-rated health by 9.4 percent. These findings hold for three measures of income inequality: the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson Index, and the Theil entropy index. Results also suggest that overall income inequality and gender-specific income inequality harm men's, but not women's, self-rated health. These findings also hold for the three measures of income inequality. These findings suggest that inattention to gender composition may explain apparent discrepancies across previous studies.

The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Speed, Ewen; Mannion, Russell

2017-01-01

Recent years have witnessed the rise of populism and populist leaders, movements and policies in many pluralist liberal democracies, with Brexit and the election of Trump the two most recent high profile examples of this backlash against established political elites and the institutions that support them. This new populism is underpinned by a post-truth politics which is using social media as a mouthpiece for ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ with the intention of inciting fear and hatred of ‘the other’ and thereby helping to justify discriminatory health policies for marginalised groups. In this article, we explore what is meant by populism and highlight some of the challenges for health and health policy posed by the new wave of post-truth populism. PMID:28812811

Reducing health risks from indoor exposures in rapidly developing urban China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yinping; Mo, Jinhan; Weschler, Charles J

2013-07-01

Over the past two decades there has been a large migration of China's population from rural to urban regions. At the same time, residences in cities have changed in character from single-story or low-rise buildings to high-rise structures constructed and furnished with many synthetic materials. As a consequence, indoor exposures (to pollutants with outdoor and indoor sources) have changed significantly. We briefly discuss the inferred impact that urbanization and modernization have had on indoor exposures and public health in China. We argue that growing adverse health costs associated with these changes are not inevitable, and we present steps that could be taken to reduce indoor exposures to harmful pollutants. As documented by China's Ministry of Health, there have been significant increases in morbidity and mortality among urban residents over the past 20 years. Evidence suggests that the population's exposure to air pollutants has contributed to increases in lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and birth defects. Whether a pollutant has an outdoor or an indoor source, most exposure to the pollutant occurs indoors. Going forward, indoor exposures can be reduced by limiting the ingress of outdoor pollutants (while providing adequate ventilation with clean air), minimizing indoor sources of pollutants, updating government policies related to indoor pollution, and addressing indoor air quality during a building's initial design. Taking the suggested steps could lead to significant reductions in morbidity and mortality, greatly reducing the societal costs associated with pollutant derived ill health.

Rising statin use and effect on ischemic stroke outcome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haymore Joseph

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors have neuroprotective effects in experimental stroke models and are commonly prescribed in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine if patients taking statins before hospital admission for stroke had an improved clinical outcome. Methods This was an observational study of 436 patients admitted to the National Institutes of Health Suburban Hospital Stroke Program between July 2000 and December 2002. Self-reported risk factors for stroke were obtained on admission. Stroke severity was determined by the admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. Good outcome was defined as a Rankin score Results There were 436 patients with a final diagnosis of ischemic stroke; statin data were available for 433 of them. A total of 95/433 (22% of patients were taking a statin when they were admitted, rising from 16% in 2000 to 26% in 2002. Fifty-one percent of patients taking statins had a good outcome compared to 38% of patients not taking statins (p = 0.03. After adjustment for confounding factors, statin pretreatment was associated with a 2.9 odds (95% CI: 1.2–6.7 of a good outcome at the time of hospital discharge. Conclusions The proportion of patients taking statins when they are admitted with stroke is rising rapidly. Statin pretreatment was significantly associated with an improved functional outcome at discharge. This finding could support the early initiation of statin therapy after stroke.

The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewen Speed

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Recent years have witnessed the rise of populism and populist leaders, movements and policies in many pluralist liberal democracies, with Brexit and the election of Trump the two most recent high profile examples of this backlash against established political elites and the institutions that support them. This new populism is underpinned by a post-truth politics which is using social media as a mouthpiece for ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ with the intention of inciting fear and hatred of ‘the other’ and thereby helping to justify discriminatory health policies for marginalised groups. In this article, we explore what is meant by populism and highlight some of the challenges for health and health policy posed by the new wave of post-truth populism.

Strengthening health professions regulation in Cambodia: a rapid assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, David; Duke, Jan; Wuliji, Tana; Smith, Alyson; Phuong, Keat; San, Un

2016-03-10

This paper describes a rapid assessment of Cambodia's current system for regulating its health professions. The assessment forms part of a co-design process to set strategic priorities for strengthening health profession regulation to improve the quality and safety of health services. A health system approach for strengthening health professions' regulation is underway and aims to support the Government of Cambodia's plans for scaling up its health workforce, improving health services' safety and quality, and meeting its Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) obligations to facilitate trade in health care services. The assessment used a mixed methods approach including: A desktop review of key laws, plans, reports and other documents relating to the regulation of the health professions in Cambodia (medicine, dentistry, midwifery, nursing and pharmacy); Key informant interviews with stakeholders in Cambodia (The term "stakeholders" refers to government officials, people working on health professional regulation, people working for the various health worker training institutions and health workers at the national and provincial level); Surveys and questionnaires to assess Cambodian stakeholder knowledge of regulation; Self-assessments by members of the five Cambodian regulatory councils regarding key capacities and activities of high-performing regulatory bodies; and A rapid literature review to identify: The key functions of health professional regulation; The key issues affecting the Cambodian health sector (including relevant developments in the wider ASEAN region); and "Smart" health profession regulation practices of possible relevance to Cambodia. We found that the current regulatory system only partially meets Cambodia's needs. A number of key regulatory functions are being performed, but overall, the current system was not designed with Cambodia's specific needs in mind. The existing system is also overly complex, with considerable duplication and

Rise, stagnation, and rise of Danish women's life expectancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindahl-Jacobsen, Rune; Rau, Roland; Jeune, Bernard

2016-01-01

Health conditions change from year to year, with a general tendency in many countries for improvement. These conditions also change from one birth cohort to another: some generations suffer more adverse events in childhood, smoke more heavily, eat poorer diets, etc., than generations born earlier...... favor forecasts that hinge on cohort differences. We use a combination of age decomposition and exchange of survival probabilities between countries to study the remarkable recent history of female life expectancy in Denmark, a saga of rising, stagnating, and now again rising lifespans. The gap between...... female life expectancy in Denmark vs. Sweden grew to 3.5 y in the period 1975-2000. When we assumed that Danish women born 1915-1945 had the same survival probabilities as Swedish women, the gap remained small and roughly constant. Hence, the lower Danish life expectancy is caused by these cohorts...

Regeneration and health: a structured, rapid literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

McCartney, G; Hearty, W; Taulbut, M; Mitchell, R; Dryden, R; Collins, C

2017-07-01

To identify and synthesise what is known about the impacts of regeneration on health, health inequalities and their socio-economic determinants. Rapid, structured literature review. A rapid, structured approach was undertaken to identifying relevant studies involving a search of peer-reviewed literature databases, an Internet search to identify relevant grey literature, and a review of articles citing two key systematic reviews. The identified citations were screened, critically appraised according to the research design and narratively synthesised. Of the 1382 identified citations, 46 were screened as relevant to the review and included in the synthesis. Fifteen citations were reviews but most of the evidence identified or included within the reviews was of medium or low quality due to a lack of longitudinal follow-up, low response rates or attrition. The evidence base on the impacts of regeneration is generally not of high quality and is prone to bias. However, it is theorised as being an important means of addressing the socio-economic determinants of health. Housing refurbishment (generally, and for specific improvements) seems likely to lead to small improvements in health, whereas rehousing and mixed-tenure approaches have less clear impacts on health and carry risks of disruption to social networks and higher rents. Changes in the social composition of communities (gentrification) is a common outcome of regeneration and some 'partnership' approaches to regeneration have been shown to have caused difficulties within communities. The evidence base for regeneration activities is limited but they have substantial potential to contribute to improving population health. Better quality evidence is available for there being positive health impacts from housing-led regeneration programmes involving refurbishment and specific housing improvements. There is also some evidence of the potential harms of regeneration activities, including social stratification

Gasoline Prices and Their Relationship to Rising Motorcycle Fatalities, 1990–2007

Science.gov (United States)

Stimpson, Jim P.; Hilsenrath, Peter E.

2009-01-01

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among young adults. Although automobile fatalities have declined in recent years, motorcycle fatalities are rapidly increasing. The purpose of our research was to quantify the relationship between changing fuel prices and motorcycle fatalities. Our findings suggest that people increasingly rely on motorcycles to reduce their fuel costs in response to rising gasoline prices. We estimate that use of motorcycles and scooters instead of 4-wheeled vehicles results in over 1500 additional motorcycle fatalities annually for each dollar increase in gas prices. Motorcycle safety should receive more attention as a leading public health issue. PMID:19696374

Public Health and Mental Health Implications of Environmentally Induced Forced Migration.

Science.gov (United States)

Shultz, James M; Rechkemmer, Andreas; Rai, Abha; McManus, Katherine T

2018-03-28

ABSTRACTClimate change is increasingly forcing population displacement, better described by the phrase environmentally induced forced migration. Rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, and progressive depletion of life-sustaining resources are among the drivers that stimulate population mobility. Projections forecast that current trends will rapidly accelerate. This will lead to an estimated 200 million climate migrants by the year 2050 and create dangerous tipping points for public health and security.Among the public health consequences of climate change, environmentally induced forced migration is one of the harshest and most harmful outcomes, always involving a multiplicity of profound resource and social losses and frequently exposing migrants to trauma and violence. Therefore, one particular aspect of forced migration, the effects of population displacement on mental health and psychosocial functioning, deserves dedicated focus. Multiple case examples are provided to elucidate this theme. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;page 1 of 7).

Developmental origins of health and disease--global public health implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, M A; Gluckman, P D

2015-01-01

The rapidly rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represents a major challenge to public health and clinical medicine globally. NCDs are increasing rapidly in high-income countries, but even more rapidly in some low-middle-income countries with insufficient resources to meet the challenge. Whilst not identified in the Millennium Development Goals, there is much attention paid to NCDs in the discussions at many levels on the Sustainable Development Goals, as they underpin economic, social and environmental development in the post-2015 era. In this article, we discuss how a life-course approach to health, commencing of necessity in early development, can provide new opportunities for addressing this challenge. The approach can leverage human health capital throughout life and across generations. New insights into mechanisms, especially those processes by which the developmental environment affects epigenetic processes in the developing offspring, offer the prospect of identifying biomarkers of future risks. New interventions to promote health literacy, lifestyle and physical fitness in adolescents, young adults and their children hold great promise. In this respect, health-care professionals concerned with preconceptional, pregnancy and newborn care will have a vital role to play. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rise of Health Consumerism in China and Its Effects on Physicians' Professional Identity and the Physician-Patient Relationship and Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Lu; Guan, Mengfei

2018-05-01

The physician-patient relationship in China is highly strained. This study examined the professional identity of physicians and their perceptions of the physician-patient relationship against the backdrop of the rise of health consumerism in China. Structured interviews with 29 physicians found that the marketization of medical care and the rise of health consumerism caused physicians to have a conflicted professional identity. The traditional bureaucratic relationship between physicians and patients based on implicit trust was gradually replaced by an arm's length relationship characterized by self-interest, opportunism, and mistrust. In addition, the transition from physician-centered communication to patient-centered communication in China was tenacious. Theoretical and practical implications of the current study are discussed.

Risk of tuberculosis in high-rise and high density dwellings: An exploratory spatial analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, Poh-Chin; Low, Chien-Tat; Tse, Wing-Sze Cindy; Tsui, Chun-Kan; Lee, Herman; Hui, Pak-Kwan

2013-01-01

Studies have shown that socioeconomic and environmental factors have direct/indirect influences on TB. This research focuses on TB prevalence of Hong Kong in relation to its compact urban development comprising of high-rise and high-density residential dwellings caused by rapid population growth and limited land resources. It has been postulated that occupants living on higher levels of a building would benefit from better ventilation and direct sunlight and thus less likely to contract infectious respiratory diseases. On the contrary, those on lower floors amid the dense clusters of high-rises are more susceptible to TB infection because of poorer air quality from street-level pollution and lesser exposure to direct sunlight. However, there have not been published studies to support these claims. As TB continues to threaten public health in Hong Kong, this study seeks to understand the effects of housing development on TB occurrences in an urban setting. -- Highlights: ► We examined association between TB prevalence and floor levels using sky view factor. ► TB is more prevalent on lower floors and relationship manifested in taller buildings. ► Floor level and building height jointly affect sky view factors at diseased locations. ► GIS framework is effective in associating disease prevalence in an urban setting. -- Research on TB prevalence of Hong Kong and its compact urban development with public health implications for Asian cities in pursuit of high-rise urban living

Population health in an era of rising income inequality: USA, 1980-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Bor, Jacob; Cohen, Gregory H; Galea, Sandro

2017-04-08

Income inequality in the USA has increased over the past four decades. Socioeconomic gaps in survival have also increased. Life expectancy has risen among middle-income and high-income Americans whereas it has stagnated among poor Americans and even declined in some demographic groups. Although the increase in income inequality since 1980 has been driven largely by soaring top incomes, the widening of survival inequalities has occurred lower in the distribution-ie, between the poor and upper-middle class. Growing survival gaps across income percentiles since 2001 reflect falling real incomes among poor Americans as well as an increasingly strong association between low income and poor health. Changes in individual risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and substance abuse play a part but do not fully explain the steeper gradient. Distal factors correlated with rising inequality including unequal access to technological innovations, increased geographical segregation by income, reduced economic mobility, mass incarceration, and increased exposure to the costs of medical care might have reduced access to salutary determinants of health among low-income Americans. Having missed out on decades of income growth and longevity gains, low-income Americans are increasingly left behind. Without interventions to decouple income and health, or to reduce inequalities in income, we might see the emergence of a 21st century health-poverty trap and the further widening and hardening of socioeconomic inequalities in health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wikis and collaborative writing applications in health care: a scoping review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Archambault, P.M.; Belt, T.H. van de; Grajales, F.J., 3rd; Faber, M.J.; Kuziemsky, C.E.; Gagnon, S.; Bilodeau, A.; Rioux, S.; Nelen, W.L.D.M.; Gagnon, M.P.; Turgeon, A.F.; Aubin, K.; Gold, I.; Poitras, J.; Eysenbach, G.; Kremer, J.A.M.; Legare, F.

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Collaborative writing applications (eg, wikis and Google Documents) hold the potential to improve the use of evidence in both public health and health care. The rapid rise in their use has created the need for a systematic synthesis of the evidence of their impact as knowledge

Rising labor costs, earnings management, and financial performance of health care providers around the world.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Gang Nathan

2015-01-01

Amid increasing interest in how government regulation and market competition affect the cost and financial sustainability in health care sector, it remains unclear whether health care providers behave similarly to their counterparts in other industries. The goal of this chapter is to study the degree to which health care providers manipulate accruals in periods of financial difficulties caused, in part, by the rising costs of labor. We collected the financial information of health care provider in 43 countries from 1984 to 2013 and conducted a pooled cross-sectional study with country and year fixed-effects. The empirical evidence shows that health care providers with higher wage costs are more likely to smooth their earnings in order to maintain financial sustainability. The finding of this study not only informs regulators that earnings management is pervasive in health care organizations around the world, but also contributes to the studies of financial booktax reporting alignment, given the existing empirical evidence linking earnings management to corporate tax avoidance in this very sector.

Temperature and humidity based projections of a rapid rise in global heat stress exposure during the 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Coffel, Ethan D.; Horton, Radley M.; de Sherbinin, Alex

2018-01-01

As a result of global increases in both temperature and specific humidity, heat stress is projected to intensify throughout the 21st century. Some of the regions most susceptible to dangerous heat and humidity combinations are also among the most densely populated. Consequently, there is the potential for widespread exposure to wet bulb temperatures that approach and in some cases exceed postulated theoretical limits of human tolerance by mid- to late-century. We project that by 2080 the relative frequency of present-day extreme wet bulb temperature events could rise by a factor of 100-250 (approximately double the frequency change projected for temperature alone) in the tropics and parts of the mid-latitudes, areas which are projected to contain approximately half the world’s population. In addition, population exposure to wet bulb temperatures that exceed recent deadly heat waves may increase by a factor of five to ten, with 150-750 million person-days of exposure to wet bulb temperatures above those seen in today’s most severe heat waves by 2070-2080. Under RCP 8.5, exposure to wet bulb temperatures above 35 °C—the theoretical limit for human tolerance—could exceed a million person-days per year by 2080. Limiting emissions to follow RCP 4.5 entirely eliminates exposure to that extreme threshold. Some of the most affected regions, especially Northeast India and coastal West Africa, currently have scarce cooling infrastructure, relatively low adaptive capacity, and rapidly growing populations. In the coming decades heat stress may prove to be one of the most widely experienced and directly dangerous aspects of climate change, posing a severe threat to human health, energy infrastructure, and outdoor activities ranging from agricultural production to military training.

Eliciting a policy response for the rising epidemic of overweight-obesity in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Khandelwal, S; Reddy, K S

2013-11-01

India is experiencing multiple transitions with respect to nutrition patterns, epidemiology and demography. Along with staggering childhood undernutrition, a rapid rise in chronic diseases and their risk factors including overweight-obesity (O-O), among all sections of society, is compounding India's health challenges. We present an overview of the O-O scenario (prevalence, determinants) and profile existing initiatives to address this modifiable risk factor in India. Urgent attention from all sectors, committed resources, policy support and targeted actions are warranted to combat the dual burden of malnutrition. The health systems should be reoriented and strengthened, in addition to enabling actions in other sectors, to address prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and associated risk factors like O-O. © 2013 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

HiRISE: The People's Camera

Science.gov (United States)

McEwen, A. S.; Eliason, E.; Gulick, V. C.; Spinoza, Y.; Beyer, R. A.; HiRISE Team

2010-12-01

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, orbiting Mars since 2006 on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), has returned more than 17,000 large images with scales as small as 25 cm/pixel. From it’s beginning, the HiRISE team has followed “The People’s Camera” concept, with rapid release of useful images, explanations, and tools, and facilitating public image suggestions. The camera includes 14 CCDs, each read out into 2 data channels, so compressed images are returned from MRO as 28 long (up to 120,000 line) images that are 1024 pixels wide (or binned 2x2 to 512 pixels, etc.). This raw data is very difficult to use, especially for the public. At the HiRISE operations center the raw data are calibrated and processed into a series of B&W and color products, including browse images and JPEG2000-compressed images and tools to make it easy for everyone to explore these enormous images (see http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/). Automated pipelines do all of this processing, so we can keep up with the high data rate; images go directly to the format of the Planetary Data System (PDS). After students visually check each image product for errors, they are fully released just 1 month after receipt; captioned images (written by science team members) may be released sooner. These processed HiRISE images have been incorporated into tools such as Google Mars and World Wide Telescope for even greater accessibility. 51 Digital Terrain Models derived from HiRISE stereo pairs have been released, resulting in some spectacular flyover movies produced by members of the public and viewed up to 50,000 times according to YouTube. Public targeting began in 2007 via NASA Quest (http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/HiRISE/quest/) and more than 200 images have been acquired, mostly by students and educators. At the beginning of 2010 we released HiWish (http://www.uahirise.org/hiwish/), opening HiRISE targeting to anyone in the world with Internet access, and already more

Managing health care organizations in an age of rapid change.

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin, S; al-Alaiwat, S

1998-03-01

Health care managers find their work increasingly difficult, due in part to rapid environmental change that plagues organizational life. Management practices and attitudes that may have been appropriate in previous eras are ineffective today. A study was conducted among managers in the Ministry of Health, State of Bahrain, seeking information about current trends in the macro or external environment that affect the Ministry of Health, as well as internal environmental pressures that may be similar or different. This article provides a clear picture of the context in which managers perform their work and offers recommendations for coping with change in dynamic, complex organizations.

Using Rapid Ethnography to Support the Design and Implementation of Health Information Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, Sara; Gleason, Nathaniel; Gonzales, Ralph

2015-01-01

Ethnography is the defining practice - and art - of anthropology. Among health information technology (IT) developers, however, ethnography remains a little used and undervalued mode of inquiry and representation. In this chapter we demonstrate that ethnography can make important contributions to the design and implementation of more user-oriented health IT devices and systems. In particular, we propose 'rapid ethnography' as a pragmatic strategy that draws on classic ethnographic methods, but emphasizes shorter periods of fieldwork and quick turnaround of findings to inform (re)design, programming and implementation efforts. Rapid ethnography is theoretically and empirically situated in science and technology studies' explorations of a) the entanglement of social and technical dimensions of technology use; b) how getting tools to 'work' requires aligning interests across a wide range of human and non-human actors; and c) the ways in which humans and technology transform each other as they interact. We provide two detailed case studies to illustrate the evolution and uses of rapid ethnography at a U.S. academic medical center. By providing deeper insights into the experiences of users, and the contexts and communities in which new tools are introduced, rapid ethnography can serve as a valuable component of Techno-Anthropology and health IT innovation.

The rise of neglected tropical diseases in the "new Texas".

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter J Hotez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Within the last five years, the State of Texas has experienced either transmission or outbreaks of Ebola, chikungunya, West Nile, and Zika virus infections. Autochthonous transmission of neglected parasitic and bacterial diseases has also become increasingly reported. The rise of such emerging and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs has not occurred by accident but instead reflects rapidly evolving changes and shifts in a "new" Texas beset by modern and globalizing forces that include rapid expansions in population together with urbanization and human migrations, altered transportation patterns, climate change, steeply declining vaccination rates, and a new paradigm of poverty known as "blue marble health." Summarized here are the major NTDs now affecting Texas. In addition to the vector-borne viral diseases highlighted above, there also is a high level of parasitic infections, including Chagas disease, trichomoniasis, and possibly leishmaniasis and toxocariasis, as well as typhus-group rickettsiosis, a vector-borne bacterial infection. I also highlight some of the key shifts in emerging and neglected disease patterns, partly due to an altered and evolving economic and ecological landscape in the new Texas, and provide some preliminary disease burden estimates for the major prevalent and incident NTDs.

The rise of neglected tropical diseases in the "new Texas"

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Within the last five years, the State of Texas has experienced either transmission or outbreaks of Ebola, chikungunya, West Nile, and Zika virus infections. Autochthonous transmission of neglected parasitic and bacterial diseases has also become increasingly reported. The rise of such emerging and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has not occurred by accident but instead reflects rapidly evolving changes and shifts in a “new” Texas beset by modern and globalizing forces that include rapid expansions in population together with urbanization and human migrations, altered transportation patterns, climate change, steeply declining vaccination rates, and a new paradigm of poverty known as “blue marble health.” Summarized here are the major NTDs now affecting Texas. In addition to the vector-borne viral diseases highlighted above, there also is a high level of parasitic infections, including Chagas disease, trichomoniasis, and possibly leishmaniasis and toxocariasis, as well as typhus-group rickettsiosis, a vector-borne bacterial infection. I also highlight some of the key shifts in emerging and neglected disease patterns, partly due to an altered and evolving economic and ecological landscape in the new Texas, and provide some preliminary disease burden estimates for the major prevalent and incident NTDs. PMID:29346369

Sedimentary Evidence for a Rapid Sea Level Rise at 7,600 cal yr BP from North-Central Cuba

Science.gov (United States)

Peros, M. C.; Agosta G'meiner, A. M.; Collins, S.

2016-12-01

A lack of high-resolution relative sea level (RSL) proxy data has meant that the pattern of early Holocene RSL change in the Caribbean is poorly understood. A RSL curve published by Toscano and Macintyre (2003) using inter-tidal mangrove peats and submerged corals suggests RSL underwent a relatively fast and `smooth' curvilinear increase during the Holocene. However, others, such as Blanchon and Shaw (1995), suggest that RSL increased rapidly at around 7600 cal yr BP, in response to the final stages of the melting of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (melt water pulse 1C or catastrophic rise event 3). We investigated this question using multi-proxy data from a flooded sinkhole (Cenote Jennifer) on the north coast of central Cuba. Cenote Jennifer is located 7 m above mean sea level and 2 km from the Bahamas Channel and appears to have a high degree of connectivity with the ocean through a network of underground caverns. The water depth is 13 m and the bottommost 5 m is anoxic. A sediment core collected from Cenote Jennifer was studied using loss-on-ignition, pollen analysis, high-resolution XRF core-scanning, and grain size analysis. An age-depth model was generated for the core by AMS dating. The results show that the bottommost stratigraphic unit ( 9000 to 7600 cal yr BP) is a fine-grained carbonate-rich mud (i.e., marl). This unit abruptly transitions into finely laminated organic-rich sediment from 7600 cal yr BP to the present. The pollen analysis shows that the sinkhole supported a cattail (Typha) community until 7600 cal yr BP, indicating low water levels ( 1 m). At 7600 cal yr BP, the cattail community disappeared and the vegetation of the surrounding bedrock became dominated by a thorny coastal scrubland. In addition, a 3 cm thick fining-upward siliciclastic unit is present immediately above the marl-organic contact, suggesting: 1) a marine sediment source given the limestone-dominated nature of the region, and 2) the presence of a short-duration, high

Lung Cancer in a Rural Area of China: Rapid Rise in Incidence and Poor Improvement in Survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Juan; Zhu, Jian; Zhang, Yong-Hui; Chen, Yong-Sheng; Ding, Lu-Lu; Kensler, Thomas W; Chen, Jian-Guo

2015-01-01

Lung cancer has been a major health problem in developed countries for several decades, and has emerged recently as the leading cause of cancer death in many developing countries. The incidence of lung cancer appears to be increasing more rapidly in rural than in urban areas of China. This paper presents the trends of lung cancer incidence and survival derived from a 40-year population-based cancer monitoring program in a rural area, Qidong, China. The Qidong cancer registration data of 1972- 2011 were used to calculate the crude rate, age-standardized rate by Chinese population (CASR) and by world population (WASR), birth cohort rates, and other descriptive features. Active and passive methods were used to construct the data set, with a deadline of the latest follow-up of April 30, 2012. The total number of lung cancer cases was 15,340, accounting for 16.5% of all sites combined. The crude incidence rate, CASR and WASR of this cancer were 34.1, 15.7 and 25.4 per 100,000, respectively. Males had higher crude rates than females (49.7 vs 19.0). Rapidly increasing trends were found in annual percent change resulting in lung cancer being a number one cancer site after year 2010 in Qidong. Birth cohort analysis showed incidence rates have increased for all age groups over 24 years old. The 5 year observed survival rates were 3.55% in 1973-1977, 3.92 in 1983-1987, 3.69% in 1993-1997, and 6.32% in 2003-2007. Males experienced poorer survival than did females. Lung cancer has become a major cancer-related health problem in this rural area. The rapid increases in incidence likely result from an increased cigarette smoking rate and evolving environmental risk factors. Lung cancer survival, while showing some improvement in prognosis, still remains well below that observed in the developed areas of the world.

The Rise of Mobile Technology on the Financial Sector in Zimbabwe

OpenAIRE

Paul Mupfiga; Tafadzwa Padare

2017-01-01

The emergence of technology has revolted the way that the financial industry operates and the increasing use of mobile gadgets has changed the banking system from the traditional brick and mortar building to a virtual system. The sudden rise in use and innovation of smart mobile phones, mobile personal computers, tablets and various other mobile electronic gadgets has resulted in the rise of mobile financial products. Rapid quickening innovative headways are making completely new business sug...

Rapid Spread of Zika Virus in The Americas--Implications for Public Health Preparedness for Mass Gatherings at the 2016 Brazil Olympic Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Eskild; Wilson, Mary E; Touch, Sok; McCloskey, Brian; Mwaba, Peter; Bates, Matthew; Dar, Osman; Mattes, Frank; Kidd, Mike; Ippolito, Giuseppe; Azhar, Esam I; Zumla, Alimuddin

2016-03-01

Mass gatherings at major international sporting events put millions of international travelers and local host-country residents at risk of acquiring infectious diseases, including locally endemic infectious diseases. The mosquito-borne Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently aroused global attention due to its rapid spread since its first detection in May 2015 in Brazil to 22 other countries and other territories in the Americas. The ZIKV outbreak in Brazil, has also been associated with a significant rise in the number of babies born with microcephaly and neurological disorders, and has been declared a 'Global Emergency by the World Health Organization. This explosive spread of ZIKV in Brazil poses challenges for public health preparedness and surveillance for the Olympics and Paralympics which are due to be held in Rio De Janeiro in August, 2016. We review the epidemiology and clinical features of the current ZIKV outbreak in Brazil, highlight knowledge gaps, and review the public health implications of the current ZIKV outbreak in the Americas. We highlight the urgent need for a coordinated collaborative response for prevention and spread of infectious diseases with epidemic potential at mass gatherings events. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Speed, Ewen; Mannion, Russell

2017-02-12

Recent years have witnessed the rise of populism and populist leaders, movements and policies in many pluralist liberal democracies, with Brexit and the election of Trump the two most recent high profile examples of this backlash against established political elites and the institutions that support them. This new populism is underpinned by a post-truth politics which is using social media as a mouthpiece for 'fake news' and 'alternative facts' with the intention of inciting fear and hatred of 'the other' and thereby helping to justify discriminatory health policies for marginalised groups. In this article, we explore what is meant by populism and highlight some of the challenges for health and health policy posed by the new wave of post-truth populism. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Socioecological Aspects of High-rise Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Eichner, Michael; Ivanova, Zinaida

2018-03-01

In this article, the authors consider the socioecological problems that arise in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings. They study different points of view on high-rise construction and note that the approaches to this problem are very different. They also analyse projects of modern architects and which attempts are made to overcome negative impacts on nature and mankind. The article contains materials of sociological research, confirming the ambivalent attitude of urban population to high-rise buildings. In addition, one of the author's sociological survey reveals the level of environmental preparedness of the university students, studying in the field of "Construction of unique buildings and structures", raising the question of how future specialists are ready to take into account socioecological problems. Conclusion of the authors: the construction of high-rise buildings is associated with huge social and environmental risks, negative impact on the biosphere and human health. This requires deepened skills about sustainable design methods and environmental friendly construction technologies of future specialists. Professor M. Eichner presents in the article his case study project results on implementation of holistic eco-sustainable construction principles for mixed-use high-rise building in the metropolis of Cairo.

Statistics of EMIC Rising Tones Observed by the Van Allen Probes

Science.gov (United States)

Sigsbee, K. M.; Kletzing, C.; Smith, C. W.; Santolik, O.

2017-12-01

We will present results from an ongoing statistical study of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) wave rising tones observed by the Van Allen Probes. Using data from the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) fluxgate magnetometer, we have identified orbits by both Van Allen Probes with EMIC wave events from the start of the mission in fall 2012 through fall 2016. Orbits with EMIC wave events were further examined for evidence of rising tones. Most EMIC wave rising tones were found during H+ band EMIC wave events. In Fourier time-frequency power spectrograms of the fluxgate magnetometer data, H+ band rising tones generally took the form of triggered emission type events, where the discrete rising tone structures rapidly rise in frequency out of the main band of observed H+ EMIC waves. A smaller percentage of EMIC wave rising tone events were found in the He+ band, where rising tones may appear as discrete structures with a positive slope embedded within the main band of observed He+ EMIC waves, similar in appearance to whistler-mode chorus elements. Understanding the occurrence rate and properties of rising tone EMIC waves will provide observational context for theoretical studies indicating that EMIC waves exhibiting non-linear behavior, such as rising tones, may be more effective at scattering radiation belt electrons than ordinary EMIC waves.

Updating Maryland's sea-level rise projections

Science.gov (United States)

Boesch, Donald F.; Atkinson, Larry P.; Boicourt, William C.; Boon, John D.; Cahoon, Donald R.; Dalrymple, Robert A.; Ezer, Tal; Horton, Benjamin P.; Johnson, Zoe P.; Kopp, Robert E.; Li, Ming; Moss, Richard H.; Parris, Adam; Sommerfield, Christopher K.

2013-01-01

With its 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and low-lying rural and urban lands, “The Free State” is one of the most vulnerable to sea-level rise. Historically, Marylanders have long had to contend with rising water levels along its Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean and coastal bay shores. Shorelines eroded and low-relief lands and islands, some previously inhabited, were inundated. Prior to the 20th century, this was largely due to the slow sinking of the land since Earth’s crust is still adjusting to the melting of large masses of ice following the last glacial period. Over the 20th century, however, the rate of rise of the average level of tidal waters with respect to land, or relative sea-level rise, has increased, at least partially as a result of global warming. Moreover, the scientific evidence is compelling that Earth’s climate will continue to warm and its oceans will rise even more rapidly. Recognizing the scientific consensus around global climate change, the contribution of human activities to it, and the vulnerability of Maryland’s people, property, public investments, and natural resources, Governor Martin O’Malley established the Maryland Commission on Climate Change on April 20, 2007. The Commission produced a Plan of Action that included a comprehensive climate change impact assessment, a greenhouse gas reduction strategy, and strategies for reducing Maryland’s vulnerability to climate change. The Plan has led to landmark legislation to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and a variety of state policies designed to reduce energy consumption and promote adaptation to climate change.

Rapidly rising incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes in Chinese population: epidemiology in Shanghai during 1997-2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhuhui; Sun, Chengjun; Wang, Chunfang; Li, Pin; Wang, Wei; Ye, Jun; Gu, Xuefan; Wang, Xiaodong; Shen, Shuixian; Zhi, Dijing; Lu, Zhong; Ye, Rong; Cheng, Ruoqian; Xi, Li; Li, Xiaojing; Zheng, Zhangqian; Zhang, Miaoying; Luo, Feihong

2014-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate incidence trend of childhood type 1 diabetes in Shanghai, a megalopolis in east China. We established a population-based retrospective registry for the disease in the city's registered population during 1997-2011 and collected 622 incident type 1 diabetes in children aged 0-14 years. Standardized incidence rates and 95 % CI were estimated by applying the capture-recapture method and assuming Poisson distribution. Incidence trend was analyzed using the Poisson regression model. The mean annual incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes was 3.1 per 100,000 person-years. We did not observe significant difference in incidence between boys and girls. The incidence is unstable and had a mean annual increase 14.2 % per year during the studied period. A faster annual increase was observed in boys, warmer seasons, and in the outer regions of the city. If present trends continue, the number of new type 1 diabetes cases will double from 2016 to 2020, and prevalent cases will sextuple by 2025. Our results showed the incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes was rising rapidly in Shanghai. More studies are needed to analyze incidence changes in other regions of China for appropriate allocation of healthcare resources.

Mind the Gap: Social Media Engagement by Public Health Researchers

OpenAIRE

Keller, Brett; Labrique, Alain; Jain, Kriti M; Pekosz, Andrew; Levine, Orin

2014-01-01

Background The traditional vertical system of sharing information from sources of scientific authority passed down to the public through local health authorities and clinicians risks being made obsolete by emerging technologies that facilitate rapid horizontal information sharing. The rise of Public Health 2.0 requires professional acknowledgment that a new and substantive forum of public discourse about public health exists on social media, such as forums, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Objec...

Rapid evolution of a marsh tidal creek network in response to sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Z. J.; Fitzgerald, D. M.; Mahadevan, A.; Wilson, C. A.; Pennings, S. C.

2008-12-01

In the Santee River Delta (SRD), South Carolina, tidal creeks are extending rapidly onto the marsh platform. A time-series of aerial photographs establishes that these channels were initiated in the 1950's and are headward eroding at a rate of 1.9 m /yr. Short-term trends in sea level show an average relative sea level rise (RSLR) of 4.6 mm/yr over a 20-year tide gauge record from nearby Winyah Bay and Charleston Harbor (1975-1995). Longer-term (85-year) records in Charleston suggest a rate of 3.2 mm/yr. RSLR in the SRD is likely even higher as sediment cores reveal that the marsh is predominantly composed of fine-grained sediment, making it highly susceptible to compaction and subsidence. Furthermore, loss in elevation will have been exacerbated by the decrease in sediment supply due to the damming of the Santee River in 1939. The rapid rate of headward erosion indicates that the marsh platform is in disequilibrium; unable to keep pace with RSLR through accretionary processes and responding to an increased volume and frequency of inundation through the extension of the drainage network. The observed tidal creeks show no sinuosity and a distinctive morphology associated with their young age and biological mediation during their evolution. Feedbacks between tidal flow, vegetation and infauna play a strong role in the morphological development of the creeks. The creek heads are characterized by a region denuded of vegetation, the edges of which are densely populated and burrowed by Uca Pugnax (fiddler crab). Crab burrowing destabilizes sediment, destroys rooting and impacts drainage. Measured infiltration rates are three orders of magnitude higher in the burrowed regions than in a control area (1000 ml/min and 0.6 ml/min respectively). Infiltration of oxygenated water enhances decomposition of organic matter and root biomass is reduced within the creek head (marsh=4.3 kg/m3, head=0.6 kg/m3). These processes lead to the removal and collapse of the soils, producing

Applying Lean principles and Kaizen rapid improvement events in public health practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Gene; Poteat-Godwin, Annah; Harrison, Lisa Macon; Randolph, Greg D

2012-01-01

This case study describes a local home health and hospice agency's effort to implement Lean principles and Kaizen methodology as a rapid improvement approach to quality improvement. The agency created a cross-functional team, followed Lean Kaizen methodology, and made significant improvements in scheduling time for home health nurses that resulted in reduced operational costs, improved working conditions, and multiple organizational efficiencies.

Infant Feeding Practices of Emirati Women in the Rapidly Developing City of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hazel Gardner

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Rapid economic and cultural transition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE has been accompanied by new challenges to public health; most notably a rapid rise in chronic disease. Breastfeeding is known to improve health outcomes in adulthood, is associated with reduced risk of developing chronic disease, and is therefore an important public health issue for this rapidly increasing population. Factors associated with infant feeding practices were examined in a cohort of 125 Emirati women and their infants, with data collected at birth and 3, 6 and 15 months postpartum by questionnaires and interviews. Participants were recruited in the Corniche Hospital, the main maternity hospital in the city of Abu Dhabi. Factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods were investigated using univariate and multivariate statistics. Recommended infant feeding practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and timely introduction of appropriate complementary foods, were poorly adhered to. Factors implicated in early cessation of breastfeeding included: time to first breastfeed, mother’s education level, employment status and early introduction of complementary foods.

Infant Feeding Practices of Emirati Women in the Rapidly Developing City of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Hazel; Green, Katherine; Gardner, Andrew

2015-09-02

Rapid economic and cultural transition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been accompanied by new challenges to public health; most notably a rapid rise in chronic disease. Breastfeeding is known to improve health outcomes in adulthood, is associated with reduced risk of developing chronic disease, and is therefore an important public health issue for this rapidly increasing population. Factors associated with infant feeding practices were examined in a cohort of 125 Emirati women and their infants, with data collected at birth and 3, 6 and 15 months postpartum by questionnaires and interviews. Participants were recruited in the Corniche Hospital, the main maternity hospital in the city of Abu Dhabi. Factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods were investigated using univariate and multivariate statistics. Recommended infant feeding practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and timely introduction of appropriate complementary foods, were poorly adhered to. Factors implicated in early cessation of breastfeeding included: time to first breastfeed, mother's education level, employment status and early introduction of complementary foods.

Rapidity-density patterns for events in a stochastic-field multiparticle theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnold, R.C.

1976-02-01

Typical-event rapidity distributions expected at energies of a few TeV are calculated in a stochastic-field multiparticle production theory. Short range rapidity correlations with characteristics of a Van der Waals fluid give rise to ''domain'' patterns in rapidity density, which have the appearance of clusters separated by rapidity gaps

Consumerism and wellness: rising tide, falling cost.

Science.gov (United States)

Domaszewicz, Alexander

2008-01-01

Annual employer-sponsored health plan cost increases have been slowing incrementally due to slowing health care utilization--a phenomenon very likely tied to the proliferation of health management activities, wellness programs and other consumerism strategies. This article describes the sharp rise in recent years of consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) and explains what developments must happen for genuine consumer-directed health care to realize its full potential. These developments include gathering transparent health care information, increasing consumer demand for that information and creating truly intuitive data solutions that allow consumers to easily access information in order to make better health care decisions.

Coral mass spawning predicted by rapid seasonal rise in ocean temperature

KAUST Repository

Keith, Sally A.

2016-05-11

Coral spawning times have been linked to multiple environmental factors; however, to what extent these factors act as generalized cues across multiple species and large spatial scales is unknown. We used a unique dataset of coral spawning from 34 reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans to test if month of spawning and peak spawning month in assemblages of Acropora spp. can be predicted by sea surface temperature (SST), photosynthetically available radiation, wind speed, current speed, rainfall or sunset time. Contrary to the classic view that high mean SST initiates coral spawning, we found rapid increases in SST to be the best predictor in both cases (month of spawning: R2 = 0.73, peak: R2 = 0.62). Our findings suggest that a rapid increase in SST provides the dominant proximate cue for coral mass spawning over large geographical scales. We hypothesize that coral spawning is ultimately timed to ensure optimal fertilization success.

Coral mass spawning predicted by rapid seasonal rise in ocean temperature

KAUST Repository

Keith, Sally A.; Maynard, Jeffrey A.; Edwards, Alasdair J.; Guest, James R.; Bauman, Andrew G.; van Hooidonk, Ruben; Heron, Scott F.; Berumen, Michael L.; Bouwmeester, Jessica; Piromvaragorn, Srisakul; Rahbek, Carsten; Baird, Andrew H.

2016-01-01

Coral spawning times have been linked to multiple environmental factors; however, to what extent these factors act as generalized cues across multiple species and large spatial scales is unknown. We used a unique dataset of coral spawning from 34 reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans to test if month of spawning and peak spawning month in assemblages of Acropora spp. can be predicted by sea surface temperature (SST), photosynthetically available radiation, wind speed, current speed, rainfall or sunset time. Contrary to the classic view that high mean SST initiates coral spawning, we found rapid increases in SST to be the best predictor in both cases (month of spawning: R2 = 0.73, peak: R2 = 0.62). Our findings suggest that a rapid increase in SST provides the dominant proximate cue for coral mass spawning over large geographical scales. We hypothesize that coral spawning is ultimately timed to ensure optimal fertilization success.

Socioecological Aspects of High-rise Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eichner Michael

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, the authors consider the socioecological problems that arise in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings. They study different points of view on high-rise construction and note that the approaches to this problem are very different. They also analyse projects of modern architects and which attempts are made to overcome negative impacts on nature and mankind. The article contains materials of sociological research, confirming the ambivalent attitude of urban population to high-rise buildings. In addition, one of the author’s sociological survey reveals the level of environmental preparedness of the university students, studying in the field of "Construction of unique buildings and structures", raising the question of how future specialists are ready to take into account socioecological problems. Conclusion of the authors: the construction of high-rise buildings is associated with huge social and environmental risks, negative impact on the biosphere and human health. This requires deepened skills about sustainable design methods and environmental friendly construction technologies of future specialists. Professor M. Eichner presents in the article his case study project results on implementation of holistic eco-sustainable construction principles for mixed-use high-rise building in the metropolis of Cairo.

Innovation in regulation of rapidly changing health markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, Gerald; Henson, Spencer; Peters, David H

2014-06-24

The rapid evolution and spread of health markets across low and middle-income countries (LMICs) has contributed to a significant increase in the availability of health-related goods and services around the world. The support institutions needed to regulate these markets have lagged behind, with regulatory systems that are weak and under-resourced. This paper explores the key issues associated with regulation of health markets in LMICs, and the different goals of regulation, namely quality and safety of care, value for money, social agreement over fair access and financing, and accountability. Licensing, price controls, and other traditional approaches to the regulation of markets for health products and services have played an important role, but they have been of questionable effectiveness in ensuring safety and efficacy at the point of the user in LMICs. The paper proposes a health market systems conceptual framework, using the value chain for the production, distribution and retail of health goods and services, to examine regulation of health markets in the LMIC context. We conclude by exploring the changing context going forwards, laying out implications for future heath market regulation. We argue that the case for new approaches to the regulation of markets for health products and services in LMICs is compelling. Although traditional "command and control" approaches will have a place in the toolkit of regulators, a broader bundle of approaches is needed that is adapted to the national and market-level context of particular LMICs. The implication is that it is not possible to apply standard or single interventions across countries, as approaches proven to work well in one context will not necessarily work well elsewhere.

Large sharing networks and unusual injection practices explain the rapid rise in HIV among IDUs in Sargodha, Pakistan

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Qureshi Salman U

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Of the nearly 100,000 street-based IDUs in Pakistan, 20% have HIV. We investigated the recent rise in HIV prevalence from 12 to 52% among IDUs in Sargodha despite > 70% coverage with syringe exchanges. Methods We interviewed approximately 150 IDUs and 30 outreach workers in focus group discussions. Results We found six rural and 28 urban injecting locations. Urban locations have about 20–30 people at any time and about 100 daily; rural locations have twice as many (national average: 4–15. About half of the IDUs started injecting within the past 2 years and are not proficient at injecting themselves. They use street injectors, who have 15–16 clients daily. Heroin is almost exclusively the drug used. Most inject 5–7 times daily. Nearly all injectors claim to use fresh syringes. However, they load, inject and share using a locally developed method called scale. Most Pakistani IDUs prefer to double pump drug the syringe, which allows mixing of blood with drug in the syringe. The injector injects 3 ml and keeps 2 ml (the scale as injection fee. The injector usually pools all the leftover scale (now with some blood mixed with drug either for his own use or to sell it. Most IDUs backload the scale they buy into their own fresh syringes. Discussion Use of an unprecedented method of injecting drugs that largely bypasses fresh syringes, larger size of sharing networks, higher injection frequency and near universal use of street injectors likely explain for the rapid rise in HIV prevalence among IDUs in Sargodha despite high level provision of fresh syringes. This had been missed by us and the national surveillance, which is quantitative. We have addressed this by hiring injectors as peer outreach workers and increasing syringe supply. Our findings highlight both the importance of qualitative research and operations research to enrich the quality of HIV prevention programs.

Design of a fast-rise slow-fall magnet modulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambiase, R.F.

1982-01-01

Brookhaven National Laboratory is now in the process of expanding the capability of the AGS to include the acceleration of polarized protons. One of the requirements to accomplish this is to pulse twelve quadrupole magnets to rapidly cross depolarizing resonances. Having crossed the resonance, the field in the magnet must be maintained so as not to re-cross the resonance. The problem is addressed with two mirror image circuits, one to produce positive pulses, and the other negative. Each of these circuits are further divided into two sections, one to cause the rapid rise, and the other to maintain the slow fall

Residential High-Rise Clusters as a Contemporary Planning Challenge in Manama

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Florian Wiedmann

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the different roots of current residential high-rise clusters emerging in new city districts along the coast of Bahrain’s capital city Manama, and the resulting urban planning and design challenges. Since the local real-estate markets were liberalized in Bahrain in 2003, the population grew rapidly to more than one million inhabitants. Consequently, the housing demand increased rapidly due to extensive immigration. Many residential developments were however constructed for the upper spectrum of the real-estate market, due to speculative tendencies causing a raise in land value. The emerging high-rise clusters are developed along the various waterfronts of Manama on newly reclaimed land. This paper explores the spatial consequences of the recent boom in construction boom and the various challenges for architects and urban planners to enhance urban qualities.

The Application of the Real Options Method for the Evaluation of High-Rise Construction Projects

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Izotov, Aleksandr; Rostova, Olga; Dubgorn, Alissa

2018-03-01

The paper is devoted to the problem of evaluation of high-rise construction projects in a rapidly changing environment. The authors proposed an algorithm for constructing and embedding real options in high-rise construction projects, which makes it possible to increase the flexibility of managing multi-stage projects that have the ability to adapt to changing conditions of implementation.

Rapid assessment of assignments using plagiarism detection software.

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Bischoff, Whitney R; Abrego, Patricia C

2011-01-01

Faculty members most often use plagiarism detection software to detect portions of students' written work that have been copied and/or not attributed to their authors. The rise in plagiarism has led to a parallel rise in software products designed to detect plagiarism. Some of these products are configurable for rapid assessment and teaching, as well as for plagiarism detection.

Projections of rapidly rising surface temperatures over Africa under low mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engelbrecht, Francois; Bopape, Mary-Jane; Naidoo, Mogesh; Garland, Rebecca; Adegoke, Jimmy; Thatcher, Marcus; McGregor, John; Katzfey, Jack; Werner, Micha; Ichoku, Charles; Gatebe, Charles

2015-01-01

An analysis of observed trends in African annual-average near-surface temperatures over the last five decades reveals drastic increases, particularly over parts of the subtropics and central tropical Africa. Over these regions, temperatures have been rising at more than twice the global rate of temperature increase. An ensemble of high-resolution downscalings, obtained using a single regional climate model forced with the sea-surface temperatures and sea-ice fields of an ensemble of global circulation model (GCM) simulations, is shown to realistically represent the relatively strong temperature increases observed in subtropical southern and northern Africa. The amplitudes of warming are generally underestimated, however. Further warming is projected to occur during the 21st century, with plausible increases of 4–6 °C over the subtropics and 3–5 °C over the tropics by the end of the century relative to present-day climate under the A2 (a low mitigation) scenario of the Special Report on Emission Scenarios. High impact climate events such as heat-wave days and high fire-danger days are consistently projected to increase drastically in their frequency of occurrence. General decreases in soil-moisture availability are projected, even for regions where increases in rainfall are plausible, due to enhanced levels of evaporation. The regional dowscalings presented here, and recent GCM projections obtained for Africa, indicate that African annual-averaged temperatures may plausibly rise at about 1.5 times the global rate of temperature increase in the subtropics, and at a somewhat lower rate in the tropics. These projected increases although drastic, may be conservative given the model underestimations of observed temperature trends. The relatively strong rate of warming over Africa, in combination with the associated increases in extreme temperature events, may be key factors to consider when interpreting the suitability of global mitigation targets in terms of

Health impacts of rapid economic changes in Thailand.

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Tangcharoensathien, V; Harnvoravongchai, P; Pitayarangsarit, S; Kasemsup, V

2000-09-01

The economic crisis in Thailand in July 1997 had major social implications for unemployment, under employment, household income contraction, changing expenditure patterns, and child abandonment. The crisis increased poverty incidence by 1 million, of whom 54% were the ultra-poor. This paper explores and explains the short-term health impact of the crisis, using existing data and some special surveys and interviews for 2 years during 1998-99. The health impacts of the crisis are mixed, some being negative and some being positive. Household health expenditure reduced by 24% in real terms; among the poorer households, institutional care was replaced by self-medication. The pre-crisis rising trend in expenditure on alcohol and tobacco consumption was reversed. Immunization spending and coverage were sustained at a very high level after the crisis, but reports of increases in diphtheria and pertussis indicate declining programme quality. An increase in malaria, despite budget increases, had many causes but was mainly due to reduced programme effectiveness. STD incidence continued the pre-crisis downward trend. Rates of HIV risky sexual behaviour were higher among conscripts than other male workers, but in both groups there was lower condom use with casual partners. HIV serosurveillance showed a continuation of the pre-crisis downward trend among commercial sex workers (CSW, both brothel and non-brothel based), pregnant women and donated blood; this trend was slightly reversed among male STD patients and more among intravenous drug users. Condom coverage among brothel based CSW continued to increase to 97.5%, despite a 72% budget cut in free condom distribution. Poverty and lack of insurance coverage are two major determinants of absence of or inadequate antenatal care, and low birthweight. The Low Income Scheme could not adequately cover the poor but the voluntary Health Card Scheme played a health safety net role for maternal and child health. Low birthweight and

A rapid evidence review on the effectiveness of institutional health partnerships.

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Kelly, Ema; Doyle, Vicki; Weakliam, David; Schönemann, Yvonne

2015-12-14

Institutional Health Partnerships are long-term, institution to institution partnerships between high income and low and middle income countries which seek to build capacity and strengthen health institutions in order to improve health service delivery and outcomes. Funding for Institutional Health Partnerships has increased in recent years. This paper outlines a rapid evidence review on the effectiveness of this modality. A rapid evidence review of published and grey literature was conducted. Content relating to the effectiveness of working in partnership and methods and frameworks used were extracted and analysed. The results of this analysis were used to structure a discussion regarding the next steps to strengthen the evidence base for the effectiveness of institutional health partnerships. The evidence review, including citation mapping, returned 27 published papers and 17 grey literature documents that met all of the inclusion criteria. Most of the literature did not meet the high standards of formal academic rigour and there was no original research amongst this literature that specifically addressed the effectiveness of institutional health partnerships. This was not surprising given institutional health partnerships do not lend themselves easily to case control studies and randomised control trials due to their high level of diversity and operation in complex social systems. There was, however, a body of practice based knowledge and experience. Evidence for the effectiveness of Institutional Health Partnerships is thin both in terms of quantity and academic rigour. There is a need to better define and differentiate Institutional Health Partnerships in order to measure and compare effectiveness across such a diverse group. Effectiveness needs to be measured at the level of individual partnerships, the bodies that facilitate partnership programmes and the level of health service delivery. There is a need to develop indicators and frameworks that specifically

Limits on the adaptability of coastal marshes to rising sea level

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Kirwan, Matthew L.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; D'Alpaos, Andrea; Morris, James T.; Mudd, Simon M.; Temmerman, Stijn

2010-01-01

Assumptions of a static landscape inspire predictions that about half of the world's coastal wetlands will submerge during this century in response to sea-level acceleration. In contrast, we use simulations from five numerical models to quantify the conditions under which ecogeomorphic feedbacks allow coastal wetlands to adapt to projected changes in sea level. In contrast to previous sea-level assessments, we find that non-linear feedbacks among inundation, plant growth, organic matter accretion, and sediment deposition, allow marshes to survive conservative projections of sea-level rise where suspended sediment concentrations are greater than ~20 mg/L. Under scenarios of more rapid sea-level rise (e.g., those that include ice sheet melting), marshes will likely submerge near the end of the 21st century. Our results emphasize that in areas of rapid geomorphic change, predicting the response of ecosystems to climate change requires consideration of the ability of biological processes to modify their physical environment.

Rapid qualitative research methods during complex health emergencies: A systematic review of the literature.

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Johnson, Ginger A; Vindrola-Padros, Cecilia

2017-09-01

The 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa highlighted both the successes and limitations of social science contributions to emergency response operations. An important limitation was the rapid and effective communication of study findings. A systematic review was carried out to explore how rapid qualitative methods have been used during global heath emergencies to understand which methods are commonly used, how they are applied, and the difficulties faced by social science researchers in the field. We also asses their value and benefit for health emergencies. The review findings are used to propose recommendations for qualitative research in this context. Peer-reviewed articles and grey literature were identified through six online databases. An initial search was carried out in July 2016 and updated in February 2017. The PRISMA checklist was used to guide the reporting of methods and findings. The articles were assessed for quality using the MMAT and AACODS checklist. From an initial search yielding 1444 articles, 22 articles met the criteria for inclusion. Thirteen of the articles were qualitative studies and nine used a mixed-methods design. The purpose of the rapid studies included: the identification of causes of the outbreak, and assessment of infrastructure, control strategies, health needs and health facility use. The studies varied in duration (from 4 days to 1 month). The main limitations identified by the authors were: the low quality of the collected data, small sample sizes, and little time for cross-checking facts with other data sources to reduce bias. Rapid qualitative methods were seen as beneficial in highlighting context-specific issues that need to be addressed locally, population-level behaviors influencing health service use, and organizational challenges in response planning and implementation. Recommendations for carrying out rapid qualitative research in this context included the early designation of community leaders as a point of

International School Children's Health Needs: School Nurses' Views in Europe

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Hansson, Annika; Clausson, Eva; Janlov, Ann-Christin

2012-01-01

Rapid globalization and the integration of national economies have contributed to the sharp rise in enrollment in international schools. How does this global nomadism affect international school children and their individual health needs? This study attempts to find an answer by interviewing 10 school nurses, with varying degrees of experience in…

CHINA RISE SYNDROMES? DRAFTING NATIONAL SCHOOLS OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN ASIA

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Chih-Yu Shih

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The rise of China is now one of the primary issues in IR literature. However, this development promotes also changes in the structure of the discipline itself, as it fosters self-reflection in the rapid expansion of the Chinese IR school. Moreover, the quest for Chinese theory of IR provokes other Asian countries to conceptualize their place in the world, in order not to be intellectually submerged by the rising neighbour. This theorizing is enlightened by the national traditions of thinking about international politics, largely overseen in the West. This trend promotes genuine liberalization of the discipline. 

Monitoring and evaluation of disaster response efforts undertaken by local health departments: a rapid realist review.

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Gossip, Kate; Gouda, Hebe; Lee, Yong Yi; Firth, Sonja; Bermejo, Raoul; Zeck, Willibald; Jimenez Soto, Eliana

2017-06-29

Local health departments are often at the forefront of a disaster response, attending to the immediate trauma inflicted by the disaster and also the long term health consequences. As the frequency and severity of disasters are projected to rise, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) efforts are critical to help local health departments consolidate past experiences and improve future response efforts. Local health departments often conduct M&E work post disaster, however, many of these efforts fail to improve response procedures. We undertook a rapid realist review (RRR) to examine why M&E efforts undertaken by local health departments do not always result in improved disaster response efforts. We aimed to complement existing frameworks by focusing on the most basic and pragmatic steps of a M&E cycle targeted towards continuous system improvements. For these purposes, we developed a theoretical framework that draws on the quality improvement literature to 'frame' the steps in the M&E cycle. This framework encompassed a M&E cycle involving three stages (i.e., document and assess, disseminate and implement) that must be sequentially completed to learn from past experiences and improve future disaster response efforts. We used this framework to guide our examination of the literature and to identify any context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations which describe how M&E may be constrained or enabled at each stage of the M&E cycle. This RRR found a number of explanatory CMO configurations that provide valuable insights into some of the considerations that should be made when using M&E to improve future disaster response efforts. Firstly, to support the accurate documentation and assessment of a disaster response, local health departments should consider how they can: establish a culture of learning within health departments; use embedded training methods; or facilitate external partnerships. Secondly, to enhance the widespread dissemination of lessons learned and facilitate

The Development of Innovative Online Problem-Based Learning: A Leadership Course for Leaders in European Public Health

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de Jong, Nynke; Könings, Karen D.; Czabanowska, Katarzyna

2014-01-01

The shift to a knowledge information society has given rise to a need for lifelong learning programmes. Such programmes are especially relevant for public health professionals, whose dynamic field of practice is subject to changes due to rapidly developing technologies, evolving expectations of the labour market and new health treats. Lifelong…

Factors associated with high-rise evacuation: qualitative results from the World Trade Center Evacuation Study.

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Gershon, Robyn R M; Qureshi, Kristine A; Rubin, Marcie S; Raveis, Victoria H

2007-01-01

Due to the fact that most high-rise structures (i.e., >75 feet high, or eight to ten stories) are constructed with extensive and redundant fire safety features, current fire safety procedures typically only involve limited evacuation during minor to moderate fire emergencies. Therefore, full-scale evacuation of high-rise buildings is highly unusual and consequently, little is known about how readily and rapidly high-rise structures can be evacuated fully. Factors that either facilitate or inhibit the evacuation process remain under-studied. This paper presents results from the qualitative phase of the World Trade Center Evacuation Study, a three-year, five-phase study designed to improve our understanding of the individual, organizational, and environmental factors that helped or hindered evacuation from the World Trade Center (WTC) Towers 1 and 2, on 11 September 2001. Qualitative data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews and focus groups involving WTC evacuees were collected and analyzed. On the individual level, factors that affected evacuation included perception of risk (formed largely by sensory cues), preparedness training, degree of familiarity with the building, physical condition, health status, and footwear. Individual behavior also was affected by group behavior and leadership. At the organizational level, evacuation was affected by worksite preparedness planning, including the training and education of building occupants, and risk communication. The environmental conditions affecting evacuation included smoke, flames, debris, general condition and degree of crowdedness on staircases, and communication infrastructure systems (e.g., public address, landline, cellular and fire warden's telephones). Various factors at the individual, organizational, and environmental levels were identified that affected evacuation. Interventions that address the barriers to evacuation may improve the full-scale evacuation of other high-rise buildings under extreme

Travel health prevention.

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Korzeniewski, Krzysztof

All around the world there has been a rapid growth in the number of international travels. According to the World Tourism Organisation the number of international tourist arrivals reached 1,235 billion in 2016 and continues to grow at a high rate. This has been much due to the development of air transport (including low-cost airlines), increasingly common economic migration, a growing number of travellers visiting friends and relatives, and an increase in medical tourism. With tropical destinations becoming increasingly popular among travellers, doctors have seen a rising number of patients who seek medical advice on health risks prevalent in hot countries and health prevention measures to be taken in tropical destinations, especially where sanitation is poor. The risk for developing a medical condition while staying abroad depends on a variety of factors, including the traveller's general health condition, health prevention measures taken before or during travel (vaccinations, antimalarial chemoprophylaxis, health precautions during air, road and sea travel, proper acclimatisation, prevention of heat injuries, protection against local flora and fauna, personal hygiene, water, food and feeding hygiene), as well as the prevalence of health risk factors in a given location. Health prevention is a precondition for safe travel and maintaining good physical health; in the era of a rapid growth in international tourism it has become of key importance for all travellers.

The rise of angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras: Insights from Ranunculaceae.

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Wang, Wei; Lin, Li; Xiang, Xiao-Guo; Ortiz, Rosa Del C; Liu, Yang; Xiang, Kun-Li; Yu, Sheng-Xiang; Xing, Yao-Wu; Chen, Zhi-Duan

2016-06-02

The rise of angiosperms has been regarded as a trigger for the Cretaceous revolution of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the timeframe of the rise angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras (ADHFs) is lacking. Here, we used the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) as a proxy to provide insights into the rise of ADHFs. An integration of phylogenetic, molecular dating, ancestral state inferring, and diversification analytical methods was used to infer the early evolutionary history of Ranunculaceae. We found that Ranunculaceae became differentiated in forests between about 108-90 Ma. Diversification rates markedly elevated during the Campanian, mainly resulted from the rapid divergence of the non-forest lineages, but did not change across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Our data for Ranunculaceae indicate that forest-dwelling ADHFs may have appeared almost simultaneously with angiosperm-dominated forests during the mid-Cretaceous, whereas non-forest ADHFs arose later, by the end of the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Furthermore, ADHFs were relatively unaffected by the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction.

Bangladesh’s dynamic coastal regions and sea-level rise

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Hugh Brammer

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The physical geography of Bangladesh’s coastal area is more diverse and dynamic than is generally recognised. Failure to recognise this has led to serious misconceptions about the potential impacts of a rising sea-level on Bangladesh with global warming. This situation has been aggravated by accounts giving incorrect information on current rates of coastal erosion and land subsidence. This paper describes physical conditions within individual physiographic regions in Bangladesh’s coastal area based on ground-surveyed information, and it reviews possible area-specific mitigation measures to counter predicted rates of sea-level rise in the 21st century. Two important conclusions are drawn: the adoption of appropriate measures based on knowledge of the physical geography of potentially-affected areas could significantly reduce the currently-predicted displacement of many millions of people; and the impacts of a slowly-rising sea-level are currently much less than those generated by rapidly increasing population pressure on Bangladesh’s available land and water resources and by exposure to existing environmental hazards, and the latter problems need priority attention.

DECISION-MAKING ALIGNED WITH RAPID-CYCLE EVALUATION IN HEALTH CARE.

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Schneeweiss, Sebastian; Shrank, William H; Ruhl, Michael; Maclure, Malcolm

2015-01-01

Availability of real-time electronic healthcare data provides new opportunities for rapid-cycle evaluation (RCE) of health technologies, including healthcare delivery and payment programs. We aim to align decision-making processes with stages of RCE to optimize the usefulness and impact of rapid results. Rational decisions about program adoption depend on program effect size in relation to externalities, including implementation cost, sustainability, and likelihood of broad adoption. Drawing on case studies and experience from drug safety monitoring, we examine how decision makers have used scientific evidence on complex interventions in the past. We clarify how RCE alters the nature of policy decisions; develop the RAPID framework for synchronizing decision-maker activities with stages of RCE; and provide guidelines on evidence thresholds for incremental decision-making. In contrast to traditional evaluations, RCE provides early evidence on effectiveness and facilitates a stepped approach to decision making in expectation of future regularly updated evidence. RCE allows for identification of trends in adjusted effect size. It supports adapting a program in midstream in response to interim findings, or adapting the evaluation strategy to identify true improvements earlier. The 5-step RAPID approach that utilizes the cumulating evidence of program effectiveness over time could increase policy-makers' confidence in expediting decisions. RCE enables a step-wise approach to HTA decision-making, based on gradually emerging evidence, reducing delays in decision-making processes after traditional one-time evaluations.

State trends in premiums and deductibles, 2003-2009: how building on the Affordable Care Act will help stem the tide of rising costs and eroding benefits.

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Schoen, Cathy; Stremikis, Kristof; How, Sabrina K H; Collins, Sara R

2010-12-01

Rapidly rising health insurance costs have strained U.S. families and employers in recent years. This issue brief examines data for all states on changes in private employer premiums and deductibles for 2003 and 2009. The analysis finds that premiums for businesses and their employees increased 41 percent across states from 2003 to 2009, while per-person deductibles jumped 77 percent in large as well as small firms. If these trends continue at the rate prior to enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the average premium for family coverage will rise 79 percent by 2020, to more than $23,000. The authors describe how health reform offers the potential to reduce insurance cost growth while improving value and protection. If reforms succeed in slowing premium growth by 1 percentage point annually in all states, by 2020 employers and families together will save $2,323 annually for family coverage, compared with projected trends.

Plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokines rise rapidly during ECMO-related SIRS due to the release of preformed stores in the intestine.

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McILwain, R Britt; Timpa, Joseph G; Kurundkar, Ashish R; Holt, David W; Kelly, David R; Hartman, Yolanda E; Neel, Mary Lauren; Karnatak, Rajendra K; Schelonka, Robert L; Anantharamaiah, G M; Killingsworth, Cheryl R; Maheshwari, Akhil

2010-01-01

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving support system used in neonates and young children with severe cardiorespiratory failure. Although ECMO has reduced mortality in these critically ill patients, almost all patients treated with ECMO develop a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) characterized by a 'cytokine storm', leukocyte activation, and multisystem organ dysfunction. We used a neonatal porcine model of ECMO to investigate whether rising plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokines during ECMO reflect de novo synthesis of these mediators in inflamed tissues, and therefore, can be used to assess the severity of ECMO-related SIRS. Previously healthy piglets (3-week-old) were subjected to venoarterial ECMO for up to 8 h. SIRS was assessed by histopathological analysis, measurement of neutrophil activation (flow cytometry), plasma cytokine concentrations (enzyme immunoassays), and tissue expression of inflammatory genes (PCR/western blots). Mast cell degranulation was investigated by measurement of plasma tryptase activity. Porcine neonatal ECMO was associated with systemic inflammatory changes similar to those seen in human neonates. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) concentrations rose rapidly during the first 2 h of ECMO, faster than the tissue expression of these cytokines. ECMO was associated with increased plasma mast cell tryptase activity, indicating that increased plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokines during ECMO may result from mast cell degranulation and associated release of preformed cytokines stored in mast cells. TNF-alpha and IL-8 concentrations rose faster in plasma than in the peripheral tissues during ECMO, indicating that rising plasma levels of these cytokines immediately after the initiation of ECMO may not reflect increasing tissue synthesis of these cytokines. Mobilization of preformed cellular stores of inflammatory cytokines such as in mucosal mast cells may have

Mental health in the island nations of the Western Pacific: a rapid review of the literature.

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Hunter, Ernest; Thusanth, Sneha; McCalman, Janya; Gopalkrishnan, Narayan

2015-12-01

The aim of the study was to identify mental-health-relevant literature accessible to policy makers and healthcare workers in the island nations of the Western Pacific. Material collated to support the inaugural Leadership in Mental Health: Island Nations course held in Cairns in May 2015 was used as the basis of a "rapid review". The rapid review considered 303 documents identified by a search carried out using James Cook University's OneSearch, Google Scholar, and the authors' knowledge. Search terms included mental health and the like, and terms with Pacific and current Pacific island country names. Findings were classified by region/country, year of release/publication, mental health issue addressed, peer-reviewed or grey literature, and type of study. Almost half of the findings had been released in the previous five years. However, only 36% were peer-reviewed publications and only 3.6% of the findings were intervention studies. There is limited easily accessible documentation to confidently direct practice or policies regarding which strategies are likely to be effective in responding to the high rates of mental ill-health experienced in the Pacific island nations, or to plan for increases as a consequence of rapid social and demographic changes that are transforming Pacific island societies. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Health and health-care systems in southeast Asia: diversity and transitions.

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Chongsuvivatwong, Virasakdi; Phua, Kai Hong; Yap, Mui Teng; Pocock, Nicola S; Hashim, Jamal H; Chhem, Rethy; Wilopo, Siswanto Agus; Lopez, Alan D

2011-01-29

Southeast Asia is a region of enormous social, economic, and political diversity, both across and within countries, shaped by its history, geography, and position as a major crossroad of trade and the movement of goods and services. These factors have not only contributed to the disparate health status of the region's diverse populations, but also to the diverse nature of its health systems, which are at varying stages of evolution. Rapid but inequitable socioeconomic development, coupled with differing rates of demographic and epidemiological transitions, have accentuated health disparities and posed great public health challenges for national health systems, particularly the control of emerging infectious diseases and the rise of non-communicable diseases within ageing populations. While novel forms of health care are evolving in the region, such as corporatised public health-care systems (government owned, but operating according to corporate principles and with private-sector participation) and financing mechanisms to achieve universal coverage, there are key lessons for health reforms and decentralisation. New challenges have emerged with rising trade in health services, migration of the health workforce, and medical tourism. Juxtaposed between the emerging giant economies of China and India, countries of the region are attempting to forge a common regional identity, despite their diversity, to seek mutually acceptable and effective solutions to key regional health challenges. In this first paper in the Lancet Series on health in southeast Asia, we present an overview of key demographic and epidemiological changes in the region, explore challenges facing health systems, and draw attention to the potential for regional collaboration in health. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Chinese experience of rapid modernization: sociocultural changes, psychological consequences?

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Jiahong eSun

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Mainland China has undergone profound changes dating back to the nineteenth century, including a contemporary period of rapid modernization that began in the 1980s. The result has been dramatic social, cultural, and economic shifts impacting the daily lives of Chinese people. In this paper, we explore the psychological implications of sociocultural transformation in China, emphasizing two central themes. First, rising individualism: findings from social and developmental psychology suggest that China’s rapid development has been accompanied by ever-increasing adherence to individualistic values. Second, rising rates of depression: findings from psychiatric epidemiology point to increasing prevalence of depression over this same time period, particularly in rural settings. We argue that links between sociocultural and psychological shifts in China can be usefully studied through a cultural psychology lens, emphasizing the mutual constitution of culture, mind, and brain. In particular, we note that the link between social change, individualism, and rising mental illness deserves careful attention. Our review suggests that shifting values and socialization practices shape emotion norms of concealment and display, with implications for depressive symptom presentation. The challenge comes with interpretation. Increasing prevalence rates of depression may indeed be a general response to the rapidity of sociocultural change, or a specific consequence of rising individualism—but may also result from increasingly ‘Western’ patterns of symptom presentation, or improvements in diagnostic practice. We conclude by considering the challenges posed to standard universal models of psychological phenomena.

The Chinese Experience of Rapid Modernization: Sociocultural Changes, Psychological Consequences?

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Sun, Jiahong; Ryder, Andrew G.

2016-01-01

Mainland China has undergone profound changes dating back to the nineteenth century, including a contemporary period of rapid modernization that began in the 1980s. The result has been dramatic social, cultural, and economic shifts impacting the daily lives of Chinese people. In this paper, we explore the psychological implications of sociocultural transformation in China, emphasizing two central themes. First, rising individualism: findings from social and developmental psychology suggest that China’s rapid development has been accompanied by ever-increasing adherence to individualistic values. Second, rising rates of depression: findings from psychiatric epidemiology point to increasing prevalence of depression over this same time period, particularly in rural settings. We argue that links between sociocultural and psychological shifts in China can be usefully studied through a cultural psychology lens, emphasizing the mutual constitution of culture, mind, and brain. In particular, we note that the link between social change, individualism, and rising mental illness deserves careful attention. Our review suggests that shifting values and socialization practices shape emotion norms of concealment and display, with implications for depressive symptom presentation. The challenge comes with interpretation. Increasing prevalence rates of depression may indeed be a general response to the rapidity of sociocultural change, or a specific consequence of rising individualism—but may also result from increasingly ‘Western’ patterns of symptom presentation, or improvements in diagnostic practice. We conclude by considering the challenges posed to standard universal models of psychological phenomena. PMID:27092093

Rapid assessment of health needs in mass emergencies: review of current concepts and methods.

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Guha-Sapir, D

1991-01-01

The increase in the number of natural disasters and their impact on population is of growing concern to countries at risk and agencies involved in health and humanitarian action. The numbers of persons killed or disabled as a result of earthquakes, cyclones, floods and famines have reached record levels in the last decade. Population density, rampant urbanization and climatic changes have brought about risk patterns that are exposing larger and larger sections of populations in developing countries to life-threatening natural disasters. Despite substantial spending on emergency relief, the approaches to relief remain largely ad hoc and amateurish, resulting generally in inappropriate and/or delayed action. In recent years, mass emergencies of the kind experienced in Bangladesh or the Sahelian countries have highlighted the importance of rapid assessment of health needs for better allocation of resources and relief management. As a result, the development of techniques for rapid assessment of health needs has been identified as a priority for effective emergency action. This article sketches the health context of disasters in terms of mortality and morbidity patterns; it describes initial assessment techniques currently used and their methodological biases and constraints; it also discusses assessment needs which vary between different types of disasters and the time frame within which assessments are undertaken. Earthquakes, cyclones, famines, epidemics or refugees all have specific risk profiles and emergency conditions which differ for each situation. Vulnerability to mortality changes according to age and occupation, for earthquakes and famines. These risk factors then have significant implications for the design of rapid assessment protocols and checklists. Experiences from the field in rapid survey techniques and estimation of death rates are discussed, with emphasis on the need for a reliable denominator even for the roughest assessment. Finally, the

Doubling of coastal flooding frequency within decades due to sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Vitousek, Sean; Barnard, Patrick L.; Fletcher, Charles H.; Frazer, Neil; Erikson, Li; Storlazzi, Curt D.

2017-01-01

Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding. In most coastal regions, the amount of sea-level rise occurring over years to decades is significantly smaller than normal ocean-level fluctuations caused by tides, waves, and storm surge. However, even gradual sea-level rise can rapidly increase the frequency and severity of coastal flooding. So far, global-scale estimates of increased coastal flooding due to sea-level rise have not considered elevated water levels due to waves, and thus underestimate the potential impact. Here we use extreme value theory to combine sea-level projections with wave, tide, and storm surge models to estimate increases in coastal flooding on a continuous global scale. We find that regions with limited water-level variability, i.e., short-tailed flood-level distributions, located mainly in the Tropics, will experience the largest increases in flooding frequency. The 10 to 20 cm of sea-level rise expected no later than 2050 will more than double the frequency of extreme water-level events in the Tropics, impairing the developing economies of equatorial coastal cities and the habitability of low-lying Pacific island nations.

Doubling of coastal flooding frequency within decades due to sea-level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitousek, Sean; Barnard, Patrick L; Fletcher, Charles H; Frazer, Neil; Erikson, Li; Storlazzi, Curt D

2017-05-18

Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding. In most coastal regions, the amount of sea-level rise occurring over years to decades is significantly smaller than normal ocean-level fluctuations caused by tides, waves, and storm surge. However, even gradual sea-level rise can rapidly increase the frequency and severity of coastal flooding. So far, global-scale estimates of increased coastal flooding due to sea-level rise have not considered elevated water levels due to waves, and thus underestimate the potential impact. Here we use extreme value theory to combine sea-level projections with wave, tide, and storm surge models to estimate increases in coastal flooding on a continuous global scale. We find that regions with limited water-level variability, i.e., short-tailed flood-level distributions, located mainly in the Tropics, will experience the largest increases in flooding frequency. The 10 to 20 cm of sea-level rise expected no later than 2050 will more than double the frequency of extreme water-level events in the Tropics, impairing the developing economies of equatorial coastal cities and the habitability of low-lying Pacific island nations.

Opportunities and challenges within urban health and sustainable development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fisher, Jack E.; Andersen, Zorana J.; Loft, Steffen

2017-01-01

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals mark aunique window of opportunity for both human and planetaryhealth. With rising life expectancy and rapidly expanding urbanpopulations exposed to pollution and sedentary lifestyles, thereis a greater focus on reducing the gap between life...... expectancyand number of healthy years lived, whilst limiting anthropogenicactivities contributing to pollution and climate change. Thus,urban development and policies, which can create win–winsituations for our planet and human health, falls into the realmand expertise of public health. However, some...

Vertical cities - the new form of high-rise construction evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Akristiniy, Vera A.; Boriskina, Yulia I.

2018-03-01

The article considers the basic principles of the vertical cities formation for the creation of a comfortable urban environment in conditions of rapid population growth and limited territories. As urban growth increases, there is a need for new concepts and approaches to urban space planning through the massive introduction of high-rise construction. The authors analyzed and systematized the list of high-tech solutions for arrangement the space of vertical cities, which are an integral part of the creation of the methodology for forming a high-rise buildings. Their concept differs in scale, presence of the big areas of public spaces, tendencies to self-sufficiency and sustainability, opportunity to offer the new unique comfortable environment to the population living in them.

Infrared and X-ray bursts from the rapid burster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apparao, K.M.V.; Chitre, S.M.

1979-01-01

Studies on sudden bursts from the cosmic X-ray sources are reported. The processes occuring from the rise in luminosity of an x-ray source to its collapse are described. Records of the x-ray burst from the globular cluster NGC 6624 and the 'Rapid Burster' are shown. The Infra-red bursts from the Rapid Burster are also explained. (A.K.)

The rise and fall of the ridge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sorensen, Paul [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 (United States)

2011-04-01

Recent data from heavy ion collisions at RHIC show unexpectedly large near-angle correlations that broaden longitudinally with centrality. The amplitude of this ridge-like correlation rises rapidly with centrality, reaches a maximum, and then falls in the most central collisions. In this talk we explain how this behavior can be easily understood in a picture where final momentum-space correlations are driven by initial coordinate space density fluctuations. We propose {nu}{sub n}{sup 2}/{epsilon}{sub n,part}{sup 2} as a useful way to study these effects and explain what it tells us about the collision dynamics.

What drives health care expenditure?--Baumol's model of 'unbalanced growth' revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartwig, Jochen

2008-05-01

The share of health care expenditure in GDP rises rapidly in virtually all OECD countries, causing increasing concern among politicians and the general public. Yet, economists have to date failed to reach an agreement on what the main determinants of this development are. This paper revisits Baumol's [Baumol, W.J., 1967. Macroeconomics of unbalanced growth: the anatomy of urban crisis. American Economic Review 57 (3), 415-426] model of 'unbalanced growth', showing that the latter offers a ready explanation for the observed inexorable rise in health care expenditure. The main implication of Baumol's model in this context is that health care expenditure is driven by wage increases in excess of productivity growth. This hypothesis is tested empirically using data from a panel of 19 OECD countries. Our tests yield robust evidence in favor of Baumol's theory.

Influence of the Gilbert damping constant on the flux rise time of write head fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ertl, Othmar; Schrefl, Thomas; Suess, Dieter; Schabes, Manfred E.

2005-01-01

Magnetic recording at fast data rates requires write heads with rapid rise times of the magnetic flux during the write process. We present three-dimensional (3D) micromagnetic finite element calculations of an entire ring head including 3D coil geometry during the writing of magnetic bits in granular media. The simulations demonstrate how input current profiles translate into magnetization processes in the head and which in turn generate the write head field. The flux rise time significantly depends on the Gilbert damping constant of the head material. Low damping causes incoherent magnetization processes, leading to long rise times and low head fields. High damping leads to coherent reversal of the magnetization in the head. As a consequence, the gap region can be quickly saturated which causes high head fields with short rise times

Building China’s soft power for a peaceful rise

OpenAIRE

Li, Xin; Worm, Verner

2009-01-01

With China’s rapid economic progress and steady increase in its international influence, China has gradually embarked on the soft power idea and has made developing its soft power as its national strategy. We argue that China’s soft power strategy is in accordance to Chinese Confucian culture and political value and fits well with its grand strategy of peaceful rise. Based on existing conceptualizations of soft power, we expanded the sources of soft power to six pillars: cul...

Climate change, sea-level rise, and conservation: keeping island biodiversity afloat.

Science.gov (United States)

Courchamp, Franck; Hoffmann, Benjamin D; Russell, James C; Leclerc, Camille; Bellard, Céline

2014-03-01

Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially sea-level rise and loss of suitable climatic conditions, should be rapidly integrated into island biodiversity research and management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Rise of Mobile Technology on the Financial Sector in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Mupfiga

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The emergence of technology has revolted the way that the financial industry operates and the increasing use of mobile gadgets has changed the banking system from the traditional brick and mortar building to a virtual system. The sudden rise in use and innovation of smart mobile phones, mobile personal computers, tablets and various other mobile electronic gadgets has resulted in the rise of mobile financial products. Rapid quickening innovative headways are making completely new business suggestions, for example, crowd financing, shared loaning, advanced monetary forms, versatile managing an account, online speculation and new instalment frameworks. Zimbabwe's mobile technology use is currently on the rise too as mobile service providers like Econet are enabling the connection between consumers and financial related products. Despite the fact that innovation without a doubt brings benefits, prominent specialized disappointments in the money related part lately are disturbing and several negative factors are to some extent affecting production. Drawbacks like cybercrime, resistance to change, and compatibility of mobile gadgets are affecting the information technology environment. This paper highlights the rise of mobile technology in the financial sector in Zimbabwe.

Mantle hydration along outer-rise faults inferred from serpentinite permeability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatakeyama, Kohei; Katayama, Ikuo; Hirauchi, Ken-Ichi; Michibayashi, Katsuyoshi

2017-10-24

Recent geophysical surveys indicate that hydration (serpentinization) of oceanic mantle is related to outer-rise faulting prior to subduction. The serpentinization of oceanic mantle influences the generation of intermediate-depth earthquakes and subduction water flux, thereby promoting arc volcanism. Since the chemical reactions that produce serpentinite are geologically rapid at low temperatures, the flux of water delivery to the reaction front appears to control the lateral extent of serpentinization. In this study, we measured the permeability of low-temperature serpentinites composed of lizardite and chrysotile, and calculated the lateral extent of serpentinization along an outer-rise fault based on Darcy's law. The experimental results indicate that serpentinization extends to a region several hundred meters wide in the direction normal to the outer-rise fault in the uppermost oceanic mantle. We calculated the global water flux carried by serpentinized oceanic mantle ranging from 1.7 × 10 11 to 2.4 × 10 12  kg/year, which is comparable or even higher than the water flux of hydrated oceanic crust.

The development of a model of psychological first aid for non-mental health trained public health personnel: the Johns Hopkins RAPID-PFA.

Science.gov (United States)

Everly, George S; Lee McCabe, O; Semon, Natalie L; Thompson, Carol B; Links, Jonathan M

2014-01-01

The Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness, which houses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center, has been addressing the challenge of disaster-caused behavioral health surge by conducting training programs in psychological first aid (PFA) for public health professionals. This report describes our approach, named RAPID-PFA, and summarizes training evaluation data to determine if relevant knowledge, skills, and attitudes are imparted to trainees to support effective PFA delivery. In the wake of disasters, there is an increase in psychological distress and dysfunction among survivors and first responders. To meet the challenges posed by this surge, a professional workforce trained in PFA is imperative. More than 1500 participants received a 1-day RAPID-PFA training. Pre-/postassessments were conducted to measure (a) required knowledge to apply PFA; (b) perceived self-efficacy, that is, belief in one's own ability, to apply PFA techniques; and (c) confidence in one's own resilience in a crisis context. Statistical techniques were used to validate the extent to which the survey successfully measured individual PFA constructs, that is, unidimensionality, and to quantify the reliability of the assessment tool. Statistically significant pre-/postimprovements were observed in (a) knowledge items supportive of PFA delivery, (b) perceived self-efficacy to apply PFA interventions, and (c) confidence about being a resilient PFA provider. Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from 0.87 to 0.90 suggested that the self-reported measures possessed sufficient internal consistency. Findings were consistent with our pilot work, and with our complementary research initiatives validating a variant of RAPID-PFA with faith communities. The RAPID-PFA model promises to be a broadly applicable approach to extending community behavioral health surge capacity. Relevant next steps include evaluating the effectiveness

Temporal variation of accumulation rates on a natural salt marsh in the 20th century determined by 137Cs chronologies – the impact of sea level rise and increased inundation frequency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest; Svinth, Steffen; Pejrup, Morten

2011-01-01

Salt marshes are potentially threatened by sea level rise if sediment supply is unable to balance the rising sea. A rapid sea level rise is one of the pronounced effects of global warming and global sea level is at present rising at an elevated rate of about 3.4 mm y-1 on average. This increasing...... in sediment deposition is significant and gives reason for concern as it may be the first sign of a sedimentation deficiency which could be threatening this and other salt marshes in the case of a rapidly rising sea level. Our work demonstrates that the assumption of a constant relationship between salt marsh...... with salt marsh accretion is most probably not valid in the present case study and it may well be that this is also the case for many other salt marshes, especially if sea level continues to rise rapidly as indicated by some climate change scenarios....

The rise and fall of democratic universalism: health care reform in Italy, 1978-1994.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrera, M

1995-01-01

In 1978, a sweeping reform created the first national health service of continental Europe: Italy's Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. This new scheme was based on the principle of "full democratic universalism": The state would provide free and equal benefits to every citizen and the organization of public health would subject to popular control, essentially through political parties. However, the severe problems encountered in implementing the reform design and rapidly increasing health expenditures soon eroded any consensus on this principle. Thus the 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a gradual shift to "conditional and well managed universalism." These latter principles stress the need to differentiate access to care according to some criterion to regulate demand and the need for efficient use of scarce resources through adequate valorization of managerial skills and the use of "market-type" incentives. An elaborated system of user copayments was introduced gradually, and in 1992 a "reform of the reform" profoundly changed the organizational framework of the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. The new government elected in the spring of 1994 announced ambitious plans to partially dismantle public universal insurance. Although these plans may prove difficult, the potential to form an anti-universalistic coalition seems strong in the contemporary Italian health care arena.

The rise of neoliberalism: how bad economics imperils health and what to do about it.

Science.gov (United States)

Labonté, Ronald; Stuckler, David

2016-03-01

The 2008 global financial crisis, precipitated by high-risk, under-regulated financial practices, is often seen as a singular event. The crisis, its recessionary consequences, bank bailouts and the adoption of 'austerity' measures can be seen as a continuation of a 40-year uncontrolled experiment in neoliberal economics. Although public spending and recapitalisation of failing banks helped prevent a 1930s-style Great Depression, the deep austerity measures that followed have stifled a meaningful recovery for the majority of populations. In the short term, these austerity measures, especially cuts to health and social protection systems, pose major health risks in those countries under its sway. Meanwhile structural changes to the global labour market, increasing under-employment in high-income countries and economic insecurity elsewhere, are likely to widen health inequities in the longer term. We call for four policy reforms to reverse rising inequalities and their harms to public health. First is re-regulating global finance. Second is rejecting austerity as an empirically and ethically unjustified policy, especially given now clear evidence of its deleterious health consequences. Third, there is a need to restore progressive taxation at national and global scales. Fourth is a fundamental shift away from the fossil fuel economy and policies that promote economic growth in ways that imperil environmental sustainability. This involves redistributing work and promoting fairer pay. We do not suggest these reforms will be politically feasible or even achievable in the short term. They nonetheless constitute an evidence-based agenda for strong, public health advocacy and practice. 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/

Late Post-glacial Sea Level Rise and Its Effects On Human Activity In Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Oppenheimer, S. J.

Three rapid post-glacial sea-level rises flooded coastlines with large continental shelves. The last of these, shortly before the interglacial optimum c.7,500BP, not only changed coastal Neolithic societies, but may also have stimulated maritime skills. Two Asian examples explore these aspects. First, during the Mid-Holocene, the Arabian Gulf transgressed as far inland as Ur probably laying down Woolley's famous Ur Flood silt layer between 7,000-5,500 BP. Stratigraphy and dating suggests the phase of rapid sea level rise immediately preceded the start of the 'Ubaid pottery period. Red-slipped Uruk pottery and copper items then appear from about 6,000BP, but above Woolley's silt layer. The Sumerian King Lists also record a major upheaval and dynastic change after 'the Flood'. Second, the final flooding of the Sunda shelf in Southeast Asia was followed by a maritime extension of human occupation from Northern Melanesia south into the Solomon Islands 6,000 years ago. Simultaneously, further west on the north coast of New Guinea, new archaeological assemblages ap- pear beneath a silt layer left by a pro-grading 6,000 year-old inland sea. The presence of arboriculture items such as betel nuts and the contemporary arrival of dogs and pigs in the same region suggests intrusion from Southeast Asia. This supports Solheim's suggestion that rapid sea-level rise on the eastern edge of the Sunda Shelf stimulated maritime skills and invention in Southeast Asia. This may have provided the initial stimulus to the first maritime expansion that was later to colonise the whole Pacific.

Risks of rapid decline renal function in patients with type 2 diabetes

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yi-Jing; Sheen; Wayne; HH; Sheu

2014-01-01

Progressive rising population of diabetes and related nephropathy, namely, diabetic kidney disease and associated end stage renal disease has become a major global public health issue. Results of observational studies indicate that most diabetic kidney disease progresses over decades; however, certain diabetes patients display a rapid decline in renal function, which may lead to renal failure within months. Although the definition of rapid renal function decline remained speculative, in general,it is defined by the decrease of estimated glomerular filtration rate(e GFR) in absolute rate of loss or percent change. Based on the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes 2012 clinical practice guidelines, a rapid decline in renal function is defined as a sustained declinein e GFR of > 5 m L/min per 1.73 m2 per year. It has been reported that potential factors contributing to a rapid decline in renal function include ethnic/genetic and demographic causes, smoking habits, increased glycated hemoglobin levels, obesity, albuminuria, anemia, low serum magnesium levels, high serum phosphate levels, vitamin D deficiency, elevated systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity values, retinopathy, and cardiac autonomic neuropathy. This article reviews current literatures in this area and provides insight on the early detection of diabetic subjects who are at risk of a rapid decline in renal function in order to develop a more aggressive approach to renal and cardiovascular protection.

Crustal structure of Shatsky Rise from joint refraction and reflection seismic tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Korenaga, J.; Sager, W. W.

2011-12-01

Shatsky Rise in the western Pacific is one of a few gigantic oceanic plateaus in the world, with a surface area of ˜ 4.8 ± 105~km2 (about the same size as California). In contrast to other large oceanic plateaus formed during the Cretaceous Quite Period, Shatsky Rise formed during the frequent reversals of magnetic polarity, allowing its tectonic environment to be resolved in detail. It was formed at a rapidly spreading ridge-ridge-ridge triple junction, so the effect of lithospheric lid on magma migration is expected to be minimal, thereby facilitating the petrological interpretation of its seismic structure in terms of parental mantle processes. In the summer of 2010, a seismic refraction survey combined with multichannel seismic profiling was conducted across Shatsky Rise. Twenty eight ocean-bottom seismometers were deployed along two crossing perpendicular lines, and all of the instruments were recovered successfully, yielding a large volume of high-quality wide-angle refraction and reflection data, with the source-receiver distance often exceeding 200~km. In this contribution, we present the P-wave velocity structure of the Shatsky Rise crust, which is constructed by joint refraction and reflection travel time tomography, and also discuss its implications for the origin of Shatsky Rise.

Rapid psychological assessment of depression and its relationship with physical health among urban elderly

OpenAIRE

Pavithra Cheluvaraj; Mangesh Balu Nanaware; Surya Prakasa Rao

2016-01-01

Background Old age is associated with increased occurrence of a wide array of Psychological impairments or losses, which might contribute to physical disabilities. As Depression has been identified as the most common aberration its rapid assessment would be able to identify the quality of individual and family life of the elderly. Aims To assess psychological health status with respect to depression among geriatric urban community, and the relationship of depression with health perce...

The Health Halo Trend in UK Television Food Advertising Viewed by Children: The Rise of Implicit and Explicit Health Messaging in the Promotion of Unhealthy Foods

Science.gov (United States)

Harrold, Joanne; Halford, Jason; Boyland, Emma

2018-01-01

Monitoring the creative content within food marketing to children is strongly advocated by public health authorities, but few studies address the prevalence of health-related messaging in television adverts. Food and beverage adverts (n = 18,888 in 2008, n = 6664 in 2010) from UK television channels popular with children were coded and analyzed. Physical-activity depiction displayed an 18.8 percentage point increase from 2008 (4.4%) to 2010 (23.2%). Of the food adverts containing physical-activity depiction in 2010, 81.1% were for non-core foods. The appearance of health claims in food adverts in 2010 increased 4.1 percentage points from 2008 levels (20.7% to 24.8%) where the majority of food adverts featuring health and nutrition claims were for non-core foods (58.3%). Health-related (e.g., health/nutrition, weight loss/diet) appeals were used in 17.1% of food adverts during peak child-viewing times, rising to 33.0% of adverts shown on dedicated children’s channels in 2010. Implicit (physical activity) and explicit (health claims) health messages are increasingly prevalent in UK television food advertising viewed by children, and are frequently used to promote unhealthy foods. Policy makers in the UK should consider amendments to the existing statutory approach in order to address this issue. PMID:29558457

The Health Halo Trend in UK Television Food Advertising Viewed by Children: The Rise of Implicit and Explicit Health Messaging in the Promotion of Unhealthy Foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Whalen, Rosa; Harrold, Joanne; Child, Simon; Halford, Jason; Boyland, Emma

2018-03-20

Monitoring the creative content within food marketing to children is strongly advocated by public health authorities, but few studies address the prevalence of health-related messaging in television adverts. Food and beverage adverts ( n = 18,888 in 2008, n = 6664 in 2010) from UK television channels popular with children were coded and analyzed. Physical-activity depiction displayed an 18.8 percentage point increase from 2008 (4.4%) to 2010 (23.2%). Of the food adverts containing physical-activity depiction in 2010, 81.1% were for non-core foods. The appearance of health claims in food adverts in 2010 increased 4.1 percentage points from 2008 levels (20.7% to 24.8%) where the majority of food adverts featuring health and nutrition claims were for non-core foods (58.3%). Health-related (e.g., health/nutrition, weight loss/diet) appeals were used in 17.1% of food adverts during peak child-viewing times, rising to 33.0% of adverts shown on dedicated children's channels in 2010. Implicit (physical activity) and explicit (health claims) health messages are increasingly prevalent in UK television food advertising viewed by children, and are frequently used to promote unhealthy foods. Policy makers in the UK should consider amendments to the existing statutory approach in order to address this issue.

Salt marsh persistence is threatened by predicted sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Crosby, Sarah C.; Sax, Dov F.; Palmer, Megan E.; Booth, Harriet S.; Deegan, Linda A.; Bertness, Mark D.; Leslie, Heather M.

2016-11-01

Salt marshes buffer coastlines and provide critical ecosystem services from storm protection to food provision. Worldwide, these ecosystems are in danger of disappearing if they cannot increase elevation at rates that match sea-level rise. However, the magnitude of loss to be expected is not known. A synthesis of existing records of salt marsh elevation change was conducted in order to consider the likelihood of their future persistence. This analysis indicates that many salt marshes did not keep pace with sea-level rise in the past century and kept pace even less well over the past two decades. Salt marshes experiencing higher local sea-level rise rates were less likely to be keeping pace. These results suggest that sea-level rise will overwhelm most salt marshes' capacity to maintain elevation. Under the most optimistic IPCC emissions pathway, 60% of the salt marshes studied will be gaining elevation at a rate insufficient to keep pace with sea-level rise by 2100. Without mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions this potential loss could exceed 90%, which will have substantial ecological, economic, and human health consequences.

Taming the EHR (Electronic Health Record) - There is Hope

Science.gov (United States)

DiAngi, YT; Longhurst, CA; Payne, TH

2016-01-01

With increasing diffusion of EHR technology over the last half decade, clinician burnout is rising. As healthcare is a complex and highly regulated field, the rapid and mass adoption of EHR technology has created disruption for highly skilled workers such as clinicians. Although, much has been written about dissatisfaction with the EHR (electronic health record), a paucity of immediate solutions exists in the literature. This article suggests three actionable steps health systems and clinicians can make to expedite gains from and mitigate the effect of the EHR on clinical practice. PMID:27830215

Structural health monitoring on medium rise reinforced concrete building using ambient vibration method

Science.gov (United States)

Kamarudin, A. F.; Mokhatar, S. N.; Zainal Abidin, M. H.; Daud, M. E.; Rosli, M. S.; Ibrahim, A.; Ibrahim, Z.; Noh, M. S. Md

2018-04-01

Monitoring of structural health from initial stage of building construction to its serviceability is an ideal practise to assess for any structural defects or damages. Structural integrity could be intruded by natural destruction or structural deterioration, and worse if without remedy action on monitoring, building re-assessment or maintenance is taken. In this study the application of ambient vibration (AV) testing is utilized to evaluate the health of eighth stories medium rise reinforced concrete building in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), based comparison made between the predominant frequency, fo, determined in year 2012 and 2017. For determination of fo, popular method of Fourier Amplitude Spectra (FAS) was used to transform the ambient vibration time series by using 1 Hz tri-axial seismometer sensors and City SharkII data recorder. From the results, it shows the first mode frequencies from FAS curves indicate at 2.04 Hz in 2012 and 1.97 Hz in 2017 with only 3.14% of frequency reduction. However, steady state frequencies shown at the second and third modes frequencies of 2.42 Hz and 3.31 Hz by both years. Two translation mode shapes were found at the first and second mode frequencies in the North-South (NS-parallel to building transverse axis) and East-West (EsW-parallel to building longitudinal axis) components, and the torsional mode shape shows as the third mode frequency in both years. No excessive deformation amplitude was found at any selective floors based on comparison made between three mode shapes produced, that could bring to potential feature of structural deterioration. Low percentages of natural frequency disparity within five years of duration interval shown by the first mode frequencies under ambient vibration technique was considered in good health state, according to previous researchers recommendation at acceptable percentages below 5 to 10% over the years.

Chance findings about early holocene tidal marshes of Grays Harbor, Washington, in relation to rapidly rising seas and great subduction earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Phipps, James B.; Hemphill-Haley, Eileen; Atwater, Brian F.

2015-06-18

Tidal marshes commonly build upward apace with gradual rise in the level of the sea. It is expected, however, that few tidal marshes will keep up with accelerated sea-level rise later in this century. Tidal marshes have been drowned, moreover, after subsiding during earthquakes.

On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Livingstone, Sonia; Brake, David R

2010-01-01

Social networking sites have been rapidly adopted by children and, especially, teenagers and young people worldwide, enabling new opportunities for the presentation of the self, learning, construction of a wide circle of relationships, and the management of privacy and intimacy. On the other hand, there are also concerns that social networking…

A rapid review of consumer health information needs and preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsey, Imogen; Corsini, Nadia; Peters, Micah D J; Eckert, Marion

2017-09-01

This rapid review summarizes best available evidence on consumers' needs and preferences for information about healthcare, with a focus on the Australian context. Three questions are addressed: 1) Where do consumers find and what platform do they use to access information about healthcare? 2) How do consumers use the healthcare information that they find? 3) About which topics or subjects do consumers need healthcare information? A hierarchical approach was adopted with evidence first sought from reviews then high quality studies using Medline (via PubMed), CINAHL, Embase, the JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, the Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews, EPPI-Centre, and Epistemonikos. Twenty-eight articles were included; four systematic reviews, three literature reviews, thirteen quantitative studies, six qualitative studies, and two mixed methods studies. Consumers seek health information at varying times along the healthcare journey and through various modes of delivery. Complacency with historical health information modes is no longer appropriate and flexibility is essential to suit growing consumer demands. Health information should be readily available in different formats and not exclusive to any single medium. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Rosid radiation and the rapid rise of angiosperm-dominated forests

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hengchang; Moore, Michael J.; Soltis, Pamela S.; Bell, Charles D.; Brockington, Samuel F.; Alexandre, Roolse; Davis, Charles C.; Latvis, Maribeth; Manchester, Steven R.; Soltis, Douglas E.

2009-01-01

The rosid clade (70,000 species) contains more than one-fourth of all angiosperm species and includes most lineages of extant temperate and tropical forest trees. Despite progress in elucidating relationships within the angiosperms, rosids remain the largest poorly resolved major clade; deep relationships within the rosids are particularly enigmatic. Based on parsimony and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of separate and combined 12-gene (10 plastid genes, 2 nuclear; >18,000 bp) and plastid inverted repeat (IR; 24 genes and intervening spacers; >25,000 bp) datasets for >100 rosid species, we provide a greatly improved understanding of rosid phylogeny. Vitaceae are sister to all other rosids, which in turn form 2 large clades, each with a ML bootstrap value of 100%: (i) eurosids I (Fabidae) include the nitrogen-fixing clade, Celastrales, Huaceae, Zygophyllales, Malpighiales, and Oxalidales; and (ii) eurosids II (Malvidae) include Tapisciaceae, Brassicales, Malvales, Sapindales, Geraniales, Myrtales, Crossosomatales, and Picramniaceae. The rosid clade diversified rapidly into these major lineages, possibly over a period of ferns. PMID:19223592

Observations on the health of infants at a time of rapid societal change: a longitudinal study from birth to fifteen months in Abu Dhabi.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Hazel; Green, Katherine; Gardner, Andrew S; Geddes, Donna

2018-02-07

Rapid economic and cultural transition in the United Arab Emirates has been accompanied by a rise in chronic disease. Early childhood is known to affect health outcomes in adulthood. This prospective longitudinal study examined the general health of Emirati infants born in a government maternity hospital in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in October 2002. One hundred twenty-five women, who had recently given birth, were interviewed as part of a larger study encompassing a wide range of cultural, social, and behavioural aspects of health. They were then re-interviewed at three (n = 94), six (n = 59) and 15 months postpartum (n = 52). Data are presented using univariate statistics. In this study seven infants (6%) were born prematurely and four infants (3%) were classified as small for gestational age, while 11 (9%) of the infants weighed less than 2500 g. Low birth weight infants (LBW) were significantly more likely to require treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (OR = 30.83, p = 0.00). Iron supplementation during pregnancy was associated with fewer underweight infants (OR = 3.92, p = 0.042). No associations were found between infant birth weight and maternal age, age at marriage, consanguinity, education level, current maternal employment, parity, pre-existing anaemia or anaemia in pregnancy, diabetes, folic acid intake, multivitamin intake or infant gender. Maternally-reported infant health issues, vaccination, medication, breast-feeding and infant nutrition, and use of secure car seats are also reported. The health of infants at birth in this UAE sample showed improvements compared to previous studies. The proportion of LBW infants is decreasing and continuing improvements in health care in the UAE are having a positive impact on infant health.

Taking Her Breath Away: The Rise of COPD in Women

Science.gov (United States)

... Disparities Taking Her Breath Away: The Rise of COPD in Women Disparities in Lung Health Series More ... the U.S. live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Millions more ...

The Health Halo Trend in UK Television Food Advertising Viewed by Children: The Rise of Implicit and Explicit Health Messaging in the Promotion of Unhealthy Foods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosa Whalen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Monitoring the creative content within food marketing to children is strongly advocated by public health authorities, but few studies address the prevalence of health-related messaging in television adverts. Food and beverage adverts (n = 18,888 in 2008, n = 6664 in 2010 from UK television channels popular with children were coded and analyzed. Physical-activity depiction displayed an 18.8 percentage point increase from 2008 (4.4% to 2010 (23.2%. Of the food adverts containing physical-activity depiction in 2010, 81.1% were for non-core foods. The appearance of health claims in food adverts in 2010 increased 4.1 percentage points from 2008 levels (20.7% to 24.8% where the majority of food adverts featuring health and nutrition claims were for non-core foods (58.3%. Health-related (e.g., health/nutrition, weight loss/diet appeals were used in 17.1% of food adverts during peak child-viewing times, rising to 33.0% of adverts shown on dedicated children’s channels in 2010. Implicit (physical activity and explicit (health claims health messages are increasingly prevalent in UK television food advertising viewed by children, and are frequently used to promote unhealthy foods. Policy makers in the UK should consider amendments to the existing statutory approach in order to address this issue.

Reconciling projections of the Antarctic contribution to sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Tamsin; Holden, Philip; Edwards, Neil; Wernecke, Andreas

2017-04-01

Two recent studies of the Antarctic contribution to sea level rise this century had best estimates that differed by an order of magnitude (around 10 cm and 1 m by 2100). The first, Ritz et al. (2015), used a model calibrated with satellite data, giving a 5% probability of exceeding 30cm by 2100 for sea level rise due to Antarctic instability. The second, DeConto and Pollard (2016), used a model evaluated with reconstructions of palaeo-sea level. They did not estimate probabilities, but using a simple assumption here about the distribution shape gives up to a 5% chance of Antarctic contribution exceeding 2.3 m this century with total sea level rise approaching 3 m. If robust, this would have very substantial implications for global adaptation to climate change. How are we to make sense of this apparent inconsistency? How much is down to the data - does the past tell us we will face widespread and rapid Antarctic ice losses in the future? How much is due to the mechanism of rapid ice loss ('cliff failure') proposed in the latter paper, or other parameterisation choices in these low resolution models (GRISLI and PISM, respectively)? How much is due to choices made in the ensemble design and calibration? How do these projections compare with high resolution, grounding line resolving models such as BISICLES? Could we reduce the huge uncertainties in the palaeo-study? Emulation provides a powerful tool for understanding these questions and reconciling the projections. By describing the three numerical ice sheet models with statistical models, we can re-analyse the ensembles and re-do the calibrations under a common statistical framework. This reduces uncertainty in the PISM study because it allows massive sampling of the parameter space, which reduces the sensitivity to reconstructed palaeo-sea level values and also narrows the probability intervals because the simple assumption about distribution shape above is no longer needed. We present reconciled probabilistic

Rapid determination of antibiotic resistance in E. coli using dielectrophoresis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoettges, Kai F; Dale, Jeremy W; Hughes, Michael P

2007-01-01

In recent years, infections due to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria such as methillicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli are on the rise, and with them the demand for rapid antibiotic testing is also rising. Conventional tests, such as disc diffusion testing, require a primary sample to be tested in the presence of a number of antibiotics to verify which antibiotics suppress growth, which take approximately 24 h to complete and potentially place the patient at severe risk. In this paper we describe the use of dielectrophoresis as a rapid marker of cell death, by detecting changes in the electrophysiology of the cell caused by the administration of an antibiotic. In contrast to other markers, the electrophysiology of the cell changes rapidly during cell death allowing live cells to be distinguished from dead (or dying) cells without the need for culturing. Using polymyxin B as an example antibiotic, our studies indicate that significant changes in cell characteristics can be observed as soon as 1 h passes after isolating a culture from nutrient broth

Scaling up success to improve health: Towards a rapid assessment guide for decision makers

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Jason Paltzer

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction Evidence-based health interventions exist and are effectively implemented throughout resource-limited settings. The literature regarding scale-up strategies and frameworks is growing. The purpose of this paper is to identify and systematically document the variation in scale-up strategies to develop a rapid assessment tool for decision-makers looking to identify the most appropriate strategy for their organizational and environmental contexts. Methods A list of scale-up strategies and frameworks were identified through an in-depth literature review and conversations with scale-up and quality improvement leaders. The literature search included a broad range of terms that might be used interchangeably with scale-up of best practices. Terms included: implementation research, knowledge translation, translational research, quality improvement research, health systems improvement, scale-up, best practices, improvement collaborative, and community based research. Based on this research, 18 strategies and frameworks were identified, and nine met our inclusion criteria for scale-up of health-related strategies. We interviewed the key contact for four of the nine strategies to obtain additional information regarding the strategy’s scale-up components, targets, underlying theories, evaluation efforts, facilitating factors, and barriers. A comparative analysis of common elements and strategy characteristics was completed by two of the authors on the nine selected strategies. Key strategy characteristics and common factors that facilitate or hinder the strategy’s success in scaling up health-related interventions were identified. Results Common features of scale-up strategies include: 1 the development of context-specific evidence; 2 collaborative partnerships; 3 iterative processes; and 4 shared decision-making. Facilitating factors include strong leadership, community engagement, communication, government collaboration, and a focus on

POPULATION HEALTH AND THE RISE OF CONSUMERISM.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

Earlier this summer, we convened a panel of health care executives and industry experts to consider how hospitals can balance the demands of high-value, more efficient care with the emergence of the savvy health care consumer. Their insights and words of advice are eye-opening.

Classification of High-Rise Residential Building Facilities: A Descriptive Survey on 170 Housing Scheme in Klang Valley

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Abd Wahab Siti Rashidah Hanum

2016-01-01

Full Text Available High-rise residential building is a type of housing that has multi-dwelling units built on the same land. This type of housing has become popular each year in urban area due to the increasing cost of land. There are several common facilities provided in high-rise residential building. For example playground, swimming pool, gymnasium, 24 hours security system such as CCTV, access card and so on. Thus, maintenance works of the common facilities must be well organised. The purpose of this paper is to identify the classification of facilities provided at high rise residential building. The survey was done on 170 high-rise residential schemes by using stratified random sampling technique. The scope of this research is within Klang Valley area. This area is rapidly developed with high-rise residential building. The objective of this survey is to list down all the facilities provided in each sample of the schemes. The result, there are nine classification of facilities provided for high-rise residential building.

Controlling cost escalation of healthcare: making universal health coverage sustainable in China

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

An increasingly number of low- and middle-income countries have developed and implemented a national policy towards universal coverage of healthcare for their citizens over the past decade. Among them is China which has expanded its population coverage by health insurance from around 29.7% in 2003 to over 90% at the end of 2010. While both central and local governments in China have significantly increased financial inputs into the two newly established health insurance schemes: new cooperative medical scheme (NCMS) for the rural population, and urban resident basic health insurance (URBMI), the cost of healthcare in China has also been rising rapidly at the annual rate of 17.0%% over the period of the past two decades years. The total health expenditure increased from 74.7 billion Chinese yuan in 1990 to 1998 billion Chinese yuan in 2010, while average health expenditure per capital reached the level of 1490.1 Chinese yuan per person in 2010, rising from 65.4 Chinese yuan per person in 1990. The repaid increased population coverage by government supported health insurance schemes has stimulated a rising use of healthcare, and thus given rise to more pressure on cost control in China. There are many effective measures of supply-side and demand-side cost control in healthcare available. Over the past three decades China had introduced many measures to control demand for health care, via a series of co-payment mechanisms. The paper introduces and discusses new initiatives and measures employed to control cost escalation of healthcare in China, including alternative provider payment methods, reforming drug procurement systems, and strengthening the application of standard clinical paths in treating patients at hospitals, and analyses the impacts of these initiatives and measures. The paper finally proposes ways forward to make universal health coverage in China more sustainable. PMID:22992484

Can sea level rise cause large submarine landslides on continental slopes?

Science.gov (United States)

Urlaub, Morelia

2014-05-01

Submarine landslides are one of the volumetrically most important sediment transport processes at continental margins. Moreover, these landslides are a major geohazard as they can cause damaging tsunamis and destroy seabed infrastructure. Due to their inaccessibility our understanding of what causes these landslides is limited and based on hypotheses that are difficult to test. Some of the largest submarine landslides, such as the Storegga Slide off Norway, occurred during times of eustatic sea level rise. It has been suggested that this global sea level rise was implicated in triggering of the landslides by causing an increase in excess pore pressure in the subseafloor. However, in a homogeneous slope a change in the thickness of the overlying water mass is not expected to affect its stability, as only the hydrostatic pressure component will change, whereas pore pressures in excess of hydrostatic will remain unaltered. Whether sufficiently rapid sea level rise, aided by rather impermeable sediment and complex layering, could cause excess pore pressures that may destabilise a continental slope is more difficult to answer and has not yet been tested. I use Finite Element Modelling to explore and quantify the direct effect of changes in the thickness of the overlying water mass on the stability of a generic sediment column with different stratigraphic conditions and hydro-mechanical properties. The results show that the direct effect of sea level rise on continental slope stability is minimal. Nevertheless, sea level rise may foster other processes, such as lithospheric stress changes resulting in increased seismicity, that could potentially cause large submarine landslides on continental slopes.

Evaluation of sea level rise in Bohai Bay and associated responses

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Ke-Xiu LIU

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Tide gauge data from 1950 to 2015 are used to analyze sea level change, tidal change, return levels, and design tide levels under rising sea level scenarios in Bohai Bay. Results show the following: 1 Since 1950 sea levels in Bohai Bay show a significant rising trend of 3.3 mm per year. The speed has been particularly rapid in 1980–2015 at a rate of 4.7 mm per year. 2 Astronomical tides showed a clear long-term trend in 1950–2015. The amplitude and phase lag of the M2 tide constituent decreased at a rate of 0.21 cm per year and 0.11° per year, respectively and the phase lag of K1 decreased at a rate of 0.09° per year, whereas there was little change in its amplitude. The mean high and low tides increased at a rate of 0.08 and 0.52 cm per year, respectively, whereas the mean tidal range decreased at a rate of 0.44 cm per year. Results from numerical experiments show that local sea level rise plays an important role in the tidal dynamics change in Bohai Bay. 3 It is considered that the sea level return periods will decrease owing to the influence of sea level rise and land subsidence, therefore design tide level will change in relation to sea level rise. Therefore, the ability of seawalls to withstand water will diminish, and storm surge disasters will become more serious in the future.

The health and wellbeing needs of veterans: a rapid review.

Science.gov (United States)

Oster, Candice; Morello, Andrea; Venning, Anthony; Redpath, Paula; Lawn, Sharon

2017-12-29

For the majority of serving members, life in the military has a positive effect on wellbeing. However, the type, intensity and duration of service, along with the transition from fulltime military to civilian life, may have a negative effect on veterans' wellbeing. Such negative consequences, alongside the growing veteran population, indicate the need for greater exploration of veterans' physical, mental and social wellbeing. The current paper reports on the findings of a rapid review of the literature on the health and wellbeing needs of veterans, commissioned by the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs to inform future programs and services. The databases Embase, Medline, Cinahl, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Database were searched for systematic reviews reporting on veterans' physical, mental and social wellbeing published in English in peer-reviewed journals. A total of 21 systematic reviews were included. The reviews reported on a range of mental, physical and social health problems affecting veterans. While there was limited information on prevalence rates of physical, mental and social health problems in veterans compared to civilian populations, the reviews demonstrated the interconnection between these domains and the effect of demographic and military service factors. A key finding of the review is the interconnection of the mental, physical, and social health of veterans, highlighting the importance that an integrated approach to veterans' wellbeing is adopted. It is suggested that understanding key factors, such as demographic factors and factors relating to military service, can support improved service provision for veterans.

Calculation of high-rise construction limitations for non-resident housing fund in megacities

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Iliashenko Oksana

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to topical issues of urban planning in terms of high-rise construction of a non-resident housing stock in relation to megacities. We consider this issue taking into account the limitations of natural, communal and social resources. The problem is especially acute for the overwhelming majority of the state capitals, as well as cities with historical heritage that are of great interest due to the rapid development of tourism and the high mobility of the population in the world. The growth of the population of many states capitals led to the use of high-rise buildings as a non-resident housing stock. However, there are a number of restrictions on the high-rise construction of non-resident housing stock in megacities. The authors formalize the problem of determining the optimal ratio of the volume of urban buildings belonging to the high-rise buildings types and intended for non-residents to a common housing fund. We conduct economic calculations to determine the quantitative indicators. It can be used as the basis for administrative measures aimed at limiting the people flow arriving with the intention of temporarily deploying in megacities.

Calculation of high-rise construction limitations for non-resident housing fund in megacities

Science.gov (United States)

Iliashenko, Oksana; Krasnov, Sergey; Sergeev, Sergey

2018-03-01

The paper is devoted to topical issues of urban planning in terms of high-rise construction of a non-resident housing stock in relation to megacities. We consider this issue taking into account the limitations of natural, communal and social resources. The problem is especially acute for the overwhelming majority of the state capitals, as well as cities with historical heritage that are of great interest due to the rapid development of tourism and the high mobility of the population in the world. The growth of the population of many states capitals led to the use of high-rise buildings as a non-resident housing stock. However, there are a number of restrictions on the high-rise construction of non-resident housing stock in megacities. The authors formalize the problem of determining the optimal ratio of the volume of urban buildings belonging to the high-rise buildings types and intended for non-residents to a common housing fund. We conduct economic calculations to determine the quantitative indicators. It can be used as the basis for administrative measures aimed at limiting the people flow arriving with the intention of temporarily deploying in megacities.

Rising tides, rising gates: The complex ecogeomorphic response of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise and human interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Sandi, Steven G.; Rodríguez, José F.; Saintilan, Neil; Riccardi, Gerardo; Saco, Patricia M.

2018-04-01

Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to submergence due to sea-level rise, as shown by predictions of up to 80% of global wetland loss by the end of the century. Coastal wetlands with mixed mangrove-saltmarsh vegetation are particularly vulnerable because sea-level rise can promote mangrove encroachment on saltmarsh, reducing overall wetland biodiversity. Here we use an ecogeomorphic framework that incorporates hydrodynamic effects, mangrove-saltmarsh dynamics, and soil accretion processes to assess the effects of control structures on wetland evolution. Migration and accretion patterns of mangrove and saltmarsh are heavily dependent on topography and control structures. We find that current management practices that incorporate a fixed gate for the control of mangrove encroachment are useful initially, but soon become ineffective due to sea-level rise. Raising the gate, to counteract the effects of sea level rise and promote suitable hydrodynamic conditions, excludes mangrove and maintains saltmarsh over the entire simulation period of 100 years

ATR-FTIR for rapid detection and quantification of counterfeit medicines

OpenAIRE

Ogwu, John; Lawson, Graham; Tanna, Sangeeta

2015-01-01

From therapeutic to lifestyle medicines, the counterfeiting of medicines has been on the rise in recent times [1]. Estimates indicate that about 10% of medicines worldwide are counterfeits with much higher figures in developing countries [2]. Currently, the rapid screening of medicines is a challenge leaving many patients at risk [1]. This study considered the potential use of Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) for rapid quantitative analysis of ta...

Comparing Young Adults to Older Adults in E-Cigarette Perceptions and Motivations for Use: Implications for Health Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Maria; Harrell, Melissa B.; Perry, Cheryl L.

2016-01-01

Purpose: Use of electronic cigarettes ("e-cigarettes" is rapidly rising, and is especially prevalent among young adults. A better understanding of e-cigarette perceptions and motivations for use is needed to inform health communication and educational efforts. This study aims to explore these aspects of use with a focus on comparing…

Mapping the contribution of Allied Health Professions to the wider public health workforce: a rapid review of evidence-based interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, S Fowler; Enderby, P; Harrop, D; Hindle, L

2017-03-01

The objective was to identify a selection of the best examples of the public health contributions by Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) in order to encourage a wider awareness and participation from that workforce to public health practice. A mapping exercise was used to identify evidence-based interventions that could lead to health improvements across a population. A rapid review was undertaken to identify evidence, followed by a survey of Allied Health Profession (AHP) practitioners and an expert panel consensus method to select the examples of AHP public health interventions. Nine evidence-based interventions are identified and selected as examples of current AHP good practice. These examples represent a contribution to public health and include screening interventions, secondary prevention and risk management. This study contributes to a strategy for AHPs in public health by appraising the effectiveness and impact of some exemplar AHP practices that contribute to health improvement. There is a need for AHPs to measure the impact of their interventions and to demonstrate evidence of outcomes at population level. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

World medical schools: The sum also rises.

Science.gov (United States)

Rigby, Perry G; Gururaja, Ramnarayan P

2017-06-01

There is a worldwide shortage of doctors, which is true in most countries and on most continents. To enumerate the number of medical schools in the world at two different times, showing the trends and relating this to population is a beginning. The number is actually going up and has done so for some time; this has increased the supply of physicians and broadened healthcare delivery. The number to count for geographic and regional information about the medical schools relates directly to the supply of doctors. Regions were chosen from WHO and Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research data to illustrate geographic distributions, physicians per patient and kinetics. The number of medical schools has consistently been rising around the world. However, world order is reverting to disorder, considering wars, disease and beleaguered stand-offs. None. Eight countries contain 40% of medical schools; however, several locations are rising faster than the rest. Some regions are stable, but sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia and South America have increased the most in percentage recently, but not uniformly. Medical schools are related not only by geography, political boundaries and population but are concentrated in some regions. Graduate Medical Education positions appear to be short on a worldwide basis, as well as in some regions and countries. The number of medical schools is increasing worldwide and the identification of rapidly rising geographic areas is useful in exploring, planning and comparing regions. Controversy continues in a variety of locations, especially concerning Graduate Medical Education. In addition to funding, faculty candidates and accreditation, new schools are confronting a variety of choices in standards and quality, sizing and regional concerns.

Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) for High Rise Construction: Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Gharehbaghi, Koorosh; Chenery, Rhea

2017-12-01

Due to its material element, Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) could be stronger than traditional Concrete. This is due to FRC internal material compounds and elements. Furthermore, FRC can also significantly improve flexural strength when compared to traditional Concrete. This improvement in flexural strength can be varied depending on the actual fibers used. Although not new, FRC is gradually gaining popularity in the construction industry, in particular for high rise structures. This is due to its flexural strength, especially for high seismic zones, as it will provide a better solution then reinforced Concrete. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the structural importance of FRC for the high rise construction. Although there has been numerous studies and literature in justifying the FRC for general construction; this paper will consider its use specifically for high rise construction. Moreover, this paper will closely investigate eight case studies from Australian and United States as a part of the FRC validation for high rise construction. In doing so, this paper will examine their Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) to determine their overall structural performance.

Rate of rise in diastolic blood pressure influences vascular sympathetic response to mental stress.

Science.gov (United States)

El Sayed, Khadigeh; Macefield, Vaughan G; Hissen, Sarah L; Joyner, Michael J; Taylor, Chloe E

2016-12-15

Research indicates that individuals may experience a rise (positive responders) or fall (negative responders) in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during mental stress. In this study, we examined the early blood pressure responses (including the peak, time of peak and rate of rise in blood pressure) to mental stress in positive and negative responders. Negative MSNA responders to mental stress exhibit a more rapid rise in diastolic pressure at the onset of the stressor, suggesting a baroreflex-mediated suppression of MSNA. In positive responders there is a more sluggish rise in blood pressure during mental stress, which appears to be MSNA-driven. This study suggests that whether MSNA has a role in the pressor response is dependent upon the reactivity of blood pressure early in the task. Research indicates that individuals may experience a rise (positive responders) or fall (negative responders) in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during mental stress. The aim was to examine the early blood pressure response to stress in positive and negative responders and thus its influence on the direction of change in MSNA. Blood pressure and MSNA were recorded continuously in 21 healthy young males during 2 min mental stressors (mental arithmetic, Stroop test) and physical stressors (cold pressor, handgrip exercise, post-exercise ischaemia). Participants were classified as negative or positive responders according to the direction of the mean change in MSNA during the stressor tasks. The peak changes, time of peak and rate of changes in blood pressure were compared between groups. During mental arithmetic negative responders experienced a significantly greater rate of rise in diastolic blood pressure in the first minute of the task (1.3 ± 0.5 mmHg s -1 ) compared with positive responders (0.4 ± 0.1 mmHg s -1 ; P = 0.03). Similar results were found for the Stroop test. Physical tasks elicited robust parallel increases in blood pressure and MSNA across

Linking the rise of atmospheric oxygen to growth in the continental phosphorus inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Grant M.; Lyons, Timothy W.; Mitchell, Ross N.; Hasterok, Derrick; Gard, Matthew

2018-05-01

The concentration of atmospheric oxygen (pO2) is thought to have increased throughout Earth history, punctuated by rapid increases ca. 2.4 and 0.8 billion years ago near the beginning and end of the Proterozoic Eon. As photosynthesis is the largest source of free O2, the reigning paradigm of rising O2 levels centres around biologic metabolism. Here we show that the phosphorus content of igneous rocks correlates, in a first-order sense, with secular increases in O2 through time, suggesting that rising O2 levels are affected by long-term mantle cooling and its effect on the continental phosphorus inventory. Because phosphorus is the limiting nutrient for primary productivity, its availability has fundamental control over the efficiency of oxygenic photosynthesis, pointing to a previously unrecognized role of the solid Earth in biologic and atmospheric evolution. Furthermore, as many bio-essential elements are effectively incompatible in the mantle, this relationship has implications for any terrestrial planet. All planets will cool, and those with efficient plate tectonic convection will cool more rapidly. We are left concluding that the speed of such cooling may affect pattern of biological evolution on any habitable planet.

Reactive rise in blood pressure upon cuff inflation: cuff inflation at the arm causes a greater rise in pressure than at the wrist in hypertensive patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Charmoy, Alexia; Würzner, Grégoire; Ruffieux, Christiane; Hasler, Christopher; Cachat, François; Waeber, Bernard; Burnier, Michel

2007-10-01

Cuff inflation at the arm is known to cause an instantaneous rise in blood pressure, which might be due to the discomfort of the procedure and might interfere with the precision of the blood pressure measurement. In this study, we compared the reactive rise in blood pressure induced by cuff inflation when the cuff was placed at the upper arm level and at the wrist. The reactive rise in systolic and diastolic blood pressure to cuff inflation was measured in 34 normotensive participants and 34 hypertensive patients. Each participant was equipped with two cuffs, one around the right upper arm (OMRON HEM-CR19, 22-32 cm) and one around the right wrist (OMRON HEM-CS 19, 17-22 cm; Omron Health Care Europe BV, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands). The cuffs were inflated in a double random order (maximal cuff pressure and position of the cuff) with two maximal cuff pressures: 180 and 240 mmHg. The cuffs were linked to an oscillometric device (OMRON HEM 907; Omron Health Care). Simultaneously, blood pressure was measured continuously at the middle finger of the left hand using photoplethysmography. Three measurements were made at each level of blood pressure at the arm and at the wrist, and the sequence of measurements was randomized. In normotensive participants, no significant difference was observed in the reactive rise in blood pressure when the cuff was inflated either at the arm or at the wrist irrespective of the level of cuff inflation. Inflating a cuff at the arm, however, induced a significantly greater rise in blood pressure than inflating it at the wrist in hypertensive participants for both systolic and diastolic pressures (Pblood pressure response to cuff inflation was independent of baseline blood pressure. The results show that in hypertensive patients, cuff inflation at the wrist produces a smaller reactive rise in blood pressure. The difference between the arm and the wrist is independent of the patient's level of blood pressure.

Is the global rise of asthma an early impact of anthropogenic climate change?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul John Beggs

Full Text Available The increase in asthma incidence, prevalence, and morbidity over recent decades presents a significant challenge to public health. Pollen is an important trigger of some types of asthma, and both pollen quantity and season depend on climatic and meteorological variables. Over the same period as the global rise in asthma, there have been considerable increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and global average surface temperature. We hypothesize anthropogenic climate change as a plausible contributor to the rise in asthma. Greater concentrations of carbon dioxide and higher temperatures may increase pollen quantity and induce longer pollen seasons. Pollen allergenicity can also increase as a result of these changes in climate. Exposure in early life to a more allergenic environment may also provoke the development of other atopic conditions, such as eczema and allergic rhinitis. Although the etiology of asthma is complex, the recent global rise in asthma could be an early health effect of anthropogenic climate change.

The rise of the Himalaya enforced the diversification of SE Asian ferns by altering the monsoon regimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li; Schneider, Harald; Zhang, Xian-Chun; Xiang, Qiao-Ping

2012-11-09

The rise of high mountain chains is widely seen as one of the factors driving rapid diversification of land plants and the formation of biodiversity hotspots. Supporting evidence was reported for the impact of the rapid rise of the Andean mountains but this hypothesis has so far been less explored for the impact of the "roof of the world". The formation of the Himalaya, and especially the rise of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the recent 20 million years, altered the monsoon regimes that dominate the current climates of South East Asia. Here, we infer the hypothesis that the rise of Himalaya had a strong impact on the plant diversity in the biodiversity hotspot of the Southwest Chinese Mountains. Our analyses of the diversification pattern of the derived fern genus Lepisorus recovered evidence for changes in plant diversity that correlated with the strengthening of South East Asian monsoon. Southwest China or Southwest China and Japan was recovered as the putative area of origin of Lepisorus and enhancing monsoon regime were found to shape the early diversification of the genus as well as subsequent radiations during the late Miocene and Pliocene. We report new evidence for a coincidence of plant diversification and changes of the climate caused by the uplift of the Himalaya. These results are discussed in the context of the impact of incomplete taxon sampling, uncertainty of divergence time estimates, and limitations of current methods used to assess diversification rates.

Consumer Health Informatics: Past, Present, and Future of a Rapidly Evolving Domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Demiris, G

2016-05-20

Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) is a rapidly growing domain within the field of biomedical and health informatics. The objective of this paper is to reflect on the past twenty five years and showcase informatics concepts and applications that led to new models of care and patient empowerment, and to predict future trends and challenges for the next 25 years. We discuss concepts and systems based on a review and analysis of published literature in the consumer health informatics domain in the last 25 years. The field was introduced with the vision that one day patients will be in charge of their own health care using informatics tools and systems. Scientific literature in the field originally focused on ways to assess the quality and validity of available printed health information, only to grow significantly to cover diverse areas such as online communities, social media, and shared decision-making. Concepts such as home telehealth, mHealth, and the quantified-self movement, tools to address transparency of health care organizations, and personal health records and portals provided significant milestones in the field. Consumers are able to actively participate in the decision-making process and to engage in health care processes and decisions. However, challenges such as health literacy and the digital divide have hindered us from maximizing the potential of CHI tools with a significant portion of underserved populations unable to access and utilize them. At the same time, at a global scale consumer tools can increase access to care for underserved populations in developing countries. The field continues to grow and emerging movements such as precision medicine and the sharing economy will introduce new opportunities and challenges.

Wildlife health in a rapidly changing North: focus on avian disease

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hemert, Caroline R.; Pearce, John M.; Handel, Colleen M.

2014-01-01

Climate-related environmental changes have increasingly been linked to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife. The Arctic is facing a major ecological transition that is expected to substantially affect animal and human health. Changes in phenology or environmental conditions that result from climate warming may promote novel species assemblages as host and pathogen ranges expand to previously unoccupied areas. Recent evidence from the Arctic and subarctic suggests an increase in the spread and prevalence of some wildlife diseases, but baseline data necessary to detect and verify such changes are still lacking. Wild birds are undergoing rapid shifts in distribution and have been implicated in the spread of wildlife and zoonotic diseases. Here, we review evidence of current and projected changes in the abundance and distribution of avian diseases and outline strategies for future research. We discuss relevant climatic and environmental factors, emerging host–pathogen contact zones, the relationship between host condition and immune function, and potential wildlife and human health outcomes in northern regions.

Community Psychology as a Process of Citizen Participation in Health Policy Comment on "The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy".

Science.gov (United States)

Taggart, Danny

2017-06-25

This brief commentary discusses a recent paper by Speed and Mannion that explores "The Rise of post truth populism in liberal democracies: challenges for health policy." It considers their assertion that through meaningful democratic engagement in health policy, some of the risks brought about by an exclusionary populist politics can be mediated. With an overview of what participation means in modern healthcare policy and implementation, the field of community psychology is presented as one way to engage marginalized groups at risk of exploitation or exclusion by nativist populist policy. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[The rise and fall of an physician entrepreneur].

Science.gov (United States)

Dörnyei, Sándor

2002-01-01

In 1927 one of the most up-to-date and most beautiful sanatoriums of Central Europe was built on the hills of Buda by László Jakab MD (1875-1940), who at that time had already run - since 1909 - a successful health-resort, the rather popular and successful "Liget-Sanatorium": following a period of expansion and flourishing, his enterprise bankrupted. (The building itself was renewed after World War II - it served first as a hospital for tuberculosis patients and later as a university clinic for internal medicine.) This article tells the story of an entrepreneur physician, including his former and more successful attempts to run a health-care business, and gives detailed account of the rise and fall of private health-resort in prewar Hungary.

Declining poverty, rising inequality | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2011-07-08

Jul 8, 2011 ... In three decades of rapid economic growth, China has lifted hundreds of ... Regional disparities persist, and pockets of deep poverty remain, ... CASE STUDY: Nepal — A cleaner city and better health in Kathmandu ... Young China Scholars Poverty Research Network: A bridge linking China and Canada.

Methods and problems in assessing the impacts of accelerated sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Robert J.; Dennis, Karen C.; Volonte, Claudio R.; Leatherman, Stephen P.

1992-06-01

Accelerated sea-level rise is one of the more certain responses to global warming and presents a major challenge to mankind. However, it is important to note that sea-level rise is only manifest over long timescales (decades to centuries). Coastal scientists are increasingly being called upon to assess the physical, economic and societal impacts of sea-level rise and hence investigate appropriate response strategies. Such assessments are difficult in many developing countries due to a lack of physical, demographic and economic data. In particular, there is a lack of appropriate topographic information for the first (physical) phase of the analysis. To overcome these difficulties we have developed a new rapid and low-cost reconnaissance technique: ``aerial videotape-assisted vulnerability analysis'' (AVA). It involves: 1) videotaping the coastline from a small airplane; 2) limited ground-truth measurements; and 3) archive research. Combining the video record with the ground-truth information characterizes the coastal topography and, with an appropriate land loss model, estimates of the physical impact for different sea-level rise scenarios can be made. However, such land loss estimates raise other important questions such as the appropriate seaward limit of the beach profile. Response options also raise questions such as the long-term costs of seawalls. Therefore, realistic low and high estiimates were developed. To illustrate the method selected results from Senegal, Uruguay and Venezuela are presented.

[Rapid determination of illicit beta2-agonist additives in health foods and traditional Chinese patent medicines with DCBI-MS/MS method].

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Yu-Lan; Wu, Shuang; Wang, Hua; Zhao, Yong; Liao, Peng; Tian, Qing-Qing; Sun, Wen-Jian; Chen, Bo

2013-01-01

A novel rapid method for detection of the illicit beta2-agonist additives in health foods and traditional Chinese patent medicines was developed with the desorption corona beam ionization mass spectrometry (DCBI-MS) technique. The DCBI conditions including temperature and sample volume were optimized according to the resulting mass spectra intensity. Matrix effect on 9 beta2-agonists additives was not significant in the proposed rapid determination procedure. All of the 9 target molecules were detected within 1 min. Quantification was achieved based on the typical fragment ion in MS2 spectra of each analyte. The method showed good linear coefficients in the range of 1-100 mg x L(-1) for all analytes. The relative deviation values were between 14.29% and 25.13%. Ten claimed antitussive and antiasthmatic health foods and traditional Chinese patent medicines from local pharmacies were analyzed. All of them were negative with the proposed DCBI-MS method. Without tedious sample pretreatments, the developed DCBI-MS is simple, rapid and sensitive for rapid qualification and semi-quantification of the illicit beta2-agonist additives in health foods and traditional Chinese patent medicines.

Public health in a rapidly changing world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana I. Andreeva

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Several months in 2013 and 2014 have been a hardly predictable time in Ukraine, and the situation is still far from being stable. This made the editorial team of TCPHEE based in Ukraine postpone publishing consecutive issues. However, while the situation still requires practical steps, many aspects including those related to public health require analysis and debate. Thus we invite opinion pieces and studies addressing all different spheres of how public health should function under changing social circumstances. There might be a wide range of such related topics. The most obvious ones are those linked to changing living conditions. Many studies have been undertaken and published with regard to health threats to refugees, people involved in natural or technical disasters (Noji, 2005. Along with environmental health threats, there might be mental health disturbances (World Health Organization, 1992 resulting from long-term strain, losses et cetera. Another important focus is related to changes in health services provision. Crimea, which is a former Ukrainian territory now occupied by the Russian Federation, was among those in Ukraine highly affected with HIV (Dehne, Khodakevich, Hamers, & Schwartlander, 1999. This was responded by several NGOs actively providing harm reduction services to high-risk groups along with methadone substitution therapy to opiate users and antiretroviral medicines to those HIV-infected (Curtis, 2010. However, there are news reports that Russia is going to stop provision of methadone (kommersant.ru, 2014. As opiate substitution programs have been shown an effective approach towards preventing HIV transmission among people who inject drugs (MacArthur et al., 2012, such change in public health policies might affect not only most at risk populations but their partners and population as a whole as well resulting in a rapid spread of HIV. Yet another related topic is that of how health services can be organized at times of

Preferred ecosystem characteristics: their food and health relevance to China's rapid urbanisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Valerie; Zhu, Yong-Guan; Ge, Rubing; Wahlqvist, Mark L

2015-01-01

For most of its history, China has supported a growing population through food systems which have been mutually inclusive of people and their locality. This trajectory has required adequate ecosystem maintenance or humanised reformulation and a high degree of recyclable nutrient flow. The 'tipping point' in habitat sustainability has come with the size and demographic structure of China's population to one that is ageing, with modernisation of its infrastructure and increased expectations of better livelihoods, standards of living and health. In order to meet these expectations, China has embarked on rapid urbanisation for upwards of 300 million people over the next 15-20 years and to do so taking account of the environmental limitations. The process will radically change rural as well as urban China and the systems which connect them. Chief among these will be ecosystems in number and type along with the food and health systems integral to them. To minimise ecological damage and optimise the benefits to people and place, describing, monitoring and managing the process will be paramount. The present paper is a situational analysis of health as it may be ecologically favoured or disordered (Ecosystem Health Disorders) and of the food systems on which the environment and health depend. An effort is made to enumerate the current situation in China in a way that might enable the optimisation of humanised ecosystems.

Rate of PSA rise predicts metastatic versus local recurrence after definitive radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sartor, C.I.; Strawderman, M.H.; Lin, X.; Kish, K.E.; McLaughlin, P.W.; Lichter, A.S.; Sandler, H.S.

1995-01-01

Objective: A rising PSA following treatment for adenocarcinoma of the prostate indicates eventual clinical failure, but the rate of rise can be quite different from patient to patient, as can the pattern of clinical failure. We sought to determine whether the rate of PSA rise could differentiate future local vs. metastatic failure. Materials and Methods: PSA values from our series of 671 patients treated between 1987 and 1994 with 3-D conformal radiotherapy for localized adenocarcinoma were analyzed. Patients who had a pre-treatment PSA and >4 post-treatment PSA values available, had received no hormonal therapy, and had information detailing clinical outcome were used in this analysis. First site of failure was determined by abnormal DRE or biopsy, abnormal bone scan or radiographic evidence of metastasis as directed by clinical symptoms or follow-up clinical exam. Each patient's PSA pattern was defined by the function PSA(t)=C 1 e - a 1 (t) + C 2 e a 2 (t) where -a 1 relates to the rate of decline and a 2 to the rate of rise, if any. Univariate analysis was used to determine the correlation between initial PSA or rising PSA and clinical failure. Adjacent category logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the rate of rise and pattern of clinical failure. Results: 671 patients were reviewed; 401 patients met the requirements and 2667 PSA values were analyzed. We confirmed the finding of others that pre-treatment PSA is a prognostic indicator: patients presenting with PSA 3-20ng/ml had a relative risk of 9 (p=0.03) and PSA>20ng/ml had a RR of 26 (p=0.002) for clinical failure when compared to presenting PSA 2 >1.5/year predicted metastatic as opposed to local failure when compared to PSA rise with a 2 between 0.5-1.5/yr or 1.5 log(ng/ml)/year vs. 0.5-1.5 log(ng/ml)/yr or <0.5 log(ng/ml)/yr. Conclusions: The rate of rise of PSA following definitive radiotherapy can predict clinical failure patterns, with a rapidly rising PSA indicating metastatic as opposed to

The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Brocks, Jochen J; Jarrett, Amber J M; Sirantoine, Eva; Hallmann, Christian; Hoshino, Yosuke; Liyanage, Tharika

2017-08-31

The transition from dominant bacterial to eukaryotic marine primary productivity was one of the most profound ecological revolutions in the Earth's history, reorganizing the distribution of carbon and nutrients in the water column and increasing energy flow to higher trophic levels. But the causes and geological timing of this transition, as well as possible links with rising atmospheric oxygen levels and the evolution of animals, remain obscure. Here we present a molecular fossil record of eukaryotic steroids demonstrating that bacteria were the only notable primary producers in the oceans before the Cryogenian period (720-635 million years ago). Increasing steroid diversity and abundance marks the rapid rise of marine planktonic algae (Archaeplastida) in the narrow time interval between the Sturtian and Marinoan 'snowball Earth' glaciations, 659-645 million years ago. We propose that the incumbency of cyanobacteria was broken by a surge of nutrients supplied by the Sturtian deglaciation. The 'Rise of Algae' created food webs with more efficient nutrient and energy transfers, driving ecosystems towards larger and increasingly complex organisms. This effect is recorded by the concomitant appearance of biomarkers for sponges and predatory rhizarians, and the subsequent radiation of eumetazoans in the Ediacaran period.

Rising consumption of meat and milk in developing countries has created a new food revolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, Christopher L

2003-11-01

People in developing countries currently consume on average one-third the meat and one-quarter of the milk products per capita compared to the richer North, but this is changing rapidly. The amount of meat consumed in developing countries over the past has grown three times as much as it did in the developed countries. The Livestock Revolution is primarily driven by demand. Poor people everywhere are eating more animal products as their incomes rise above poverty level and as they become urbanized. By 2020, the share of developing countries in total world meat consumption will expand from 52% currently to 63%. By 2020, developing countries will consume 107 million metric tons (mmt) more meat and 177 mmt more milk than they did in 1996/1998, dwarfing developed-country increases of 19 mmt for meat and 32 mmt for milk. The projected increase in livestock production will require annual feed consumption of cereals to rise by nearly 300 mmt by 2020. Nonetheless, the inflation-adjusted prices of livestock and feed commodities are expected to fall marginally by 2020, compared to precipitous declines in the past 20 y. Structural change in the diets of billions of people is a primal force not easily reversed by governments. The incomes and nutrition of millions of rural poor in developing countries are improving. Yet in many cases these dietary changes also create serious environmental and health problems that require active policy involvement to prevent irreversible consequences.

The rise of the Himalaya enforced the diversification of SE Asian ferns by altering the monsoon regimes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Li

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The rise of high mountain chains is widely seen as one of the factors driving rapid diversification of land plants and the formation of biodiversity hotspots. Supporting evidence was reported for the impact of the rapid rise of the Andean mountains but this hypothesis has so far been less explored for the impact of the “roof of the world”. The formation of the Himalaya, and especially the rise of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau in the recent 20 million years, altered the monsoon regimes that dominate the current climates of South East Asia. Here, we infer the hypothesis that the rise of Himalaya had a strong impact on the plant diversity in the biodiversity hotspot of the Southwest Chinese Mountains. Results Our analyses of the diversification pattern of the derived fern genus Lepisorus recovered evidence for changes in plant diversity that correlated with the strengthening of South East Asian monsoon. Southwest China or Southwest China and Japan was recovered as the putative area of origin of Lepisorus and enhancing monsoon regime were found to shape the early diversification of the genus as well as subsequent radiations during the late Miocene and Pliocene. Conclusions We report new evidence for a coincidence of plant diversification and changes of the climate caused by the uplift of the Himalaya. These results are discussed in the context of the impact of incomplete taxon sampling, uncertainty of divergence time estimates, and limitations of current methods used to assess diversification rates.

Rapid fish stock depletion in previously unexploited seamounts: the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rapid fish stock depletion in previously unexploited seamounts: the case of Beryx splendens from the Sierra Leone Rise (Gulf of Guinea) ... A spectral analysis and red-noise spectra procedure (REDFIT) algorithm was used to identify the red-noise spectrum from the gaps in the observed time-series of catch per unit effort by ...

Rising methane emissions from northern wetlands associated with sea ice decline

Science.gov (United States)

Parmentier, Frans-Jan W.; Zhang, Wenxin; Zhu, Xudong; van Huissteden, Jacobus; Hayes, Daniel J.; Zhuang, Qianlai; Christensen, Torben R.; McGuire, A. David

2015-01-01

The Arctic is rapidly transitioning toward a seasonal sea ice-free state, perhaps one of the most apparent examples of climate change in the world. This dramatic change has numerous consequences, including a large increase in air temperatures, which in turn may affect terrestrial methane emissions. Nonetheless, terrestrial and marine environments are seldom jointly analyzed. By comparing satellite observations of Arctic sea ice concentrations to methane emissions simulated by three process-based biogeochemical models, this study shows that rising wetland methane emissions are associated with sea ice retreat. Our analyses indicate that simulated high-latitude emissions for 2005–2010 were, on average, 1.7 Tg CH4 yr−1 higher compared to 1981–1990 due to a sea ice-induced, autumn-focused, warming. Since these results suggest a continued rise in methane emissions with future sea ice decline, observation programs need to include measurements during the autumn to further investigate the impact of this spatial connection on terrestrial methane emissions.

Rapid Assessment of Stakeholder Concerns about Public Health. An Introduction to a Fast and Inexpensive Approach Applied on Health Concerns about Intensive Animal Production Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraaij-Dirkzwager, Marleen; van der Ree, Joost; Lebret, Erik

2017-12-11

To effectively manage environmental health risks, stakeholders often need to act collectively. Stakeholders vary in their desire to act due to many factors, such as knowledge, risk perception, interests, and worldviews. Understanding their perceptions of the issues at stake is crucial to support the risk governance process. Even though concern assessment is a pivotal element of risk governance, few tools for rapid assessment are reported in the literature. We tested a rapid and relatively cheap approach, taking the Dutch debate on Intensive Animal Production Systems (IAPS) and health as an example. Dutch policy-oriented publications on IAPS and health and ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with a variety of stakeholders were analyzed to identify stakeholders and concerns involved in the Dutch debate about IAPS and health. Concerns were mapped and a stakeholder network was derived. Three classes of concerns were recognized in the discussions about IAPS and health: concerns related to health risks, concerns regarding the activity causing the risks (IAPS), and concerns about the process to control the risks. The notions of 'trust' and 'scientific uncertainty' appeared as important themes in the discussions. Argumentation based on concerns directly related to health risks, the activity causing the risk (IAPS), and its risk management can easily become muddled up in a societal debate, limiting the development of effective action perspectives. Acknowledging these multiple stakeholder concerns can clarify the positions taken by stakeholders and allow for more and other action perspectives to develop.

Rapid Assessment of Stakeholder Concerns about Public Health. An Introduction to a Fast and Inexpensive Approach Applied on Health Concerns about Intensive Animal Production Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marleen Kraaij-Dirkzwager

2017-12-01

Full Text Available To effectively manage environmental health risks, stakeholders often need to act collectively. Stakeholders vary in their desire to act due to many factors, such as knowledge, risk perception, interests, and worldviews. Understanding their perceptions of the issues at stake is crucial to support the risk governance process. Even though concern assessment is a pivotal element of risk governance, few tools for rapid assessment are reported in the literature. We tested a rapid and relatively cheap approach, taking the Dutch debate on Intensive Animal Production Systems (IAPS and health as an example. Dutch policy-oriented publications on IAPS and health and ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with a variety of stakeholders were analyzed to identify stakeholders and concerns involved in the Dutch debate about IAPS and health. Concerns were mapped and a stakeholder network was derived. Three classes of concerns were recognized in the discussions about IAPS and health: concerns related to health risks, concerns regarding the activity causing the risks (IAPS, and concerns about the process to control the risks. The notions of ‘trust’ and ‘scientific uncertainty’ appeared as important themes in the discussions. Argumentation based on concerns directly related to health risks, the activity causing the risk (IAPS, and its risk management can easily become muddled up in a societal debate, limiting the development of effective action perspectives. Acknowledging these multiple stakeholder concerns can clarify the positions taken by stakeholders and allow for more and other action perspectives to develop.

Influence of plume rise on the consequences of radioactive material releases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, A.J.; Wayland, J.R.; Ritchie, L.T.

1977-01-01

Estimates of health consequences resulting from a postulated nuclear reactor accident can be strongly dependent on the buoyant rise of the plume of released radioactive material. The sensitivity of the consequences of a postulated accident to two different plume rise models has been investigated. The results of these investigations are the subject of this report. One of the models includes the effects of emission angle, momentum, and radioactive heating of the released material. The difference in the consequence estimates from the two models can exceed an order of magnitude under some conditions, but in general the results are similar

Analysis of the Key and Difficult Points in the Engineering Construction Technology of the Steel Structures of a Super High-rise Building

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Lijun; Li, Hengxu

2017-07-01

In recent years, with the rapid development of the economy of China, the traditional building structure has not been able to meet the current people’s demands and the super high-rise building has become a symbol of a city. In the current period, the research on the super high-rise building in the architectural industry of China is late and the technical blanks exist in some construction difficulties in the super high-rise steel structures. Based on the above, a brief analysis and discussion on the difficult construction technology in the steel structures of a super high-rise building and some measures are presented for reference of the relevant personnel in this paper.

HEALTH CARE SPENDING GROWTH AND THE FUTURE OF U.S. TAX RATES

Science.gov (United States)

Baicker, Katherine; Skinner, Jonathan S.

2011-01-01

The fraction of GDP devoted to health care in the United States is the highest in the world and rising rapidly. Recent economic studies have highlighted the growing value of health improvements, but less attention has been paid to the efficiency costs of tax-financed spending to pay for such improvements. This paper uses a life cycle model of labor supply, saving, and longevity improvement to measure the balanced-budget impact of continued growth in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The model predicts that top marginal tax rates could rise to 70 percent by 2060, depending on the progressivity of future tax changes. The deadweight loss of the tax system is greater when the financing is more progressive. If the share of taxes paid by high-income taxpayers remains the same, the efficiency cost of raising the revenue needed to finance the additional health spending is $1.48 per dollar of revenue collected, and GDP declines (relative to trend) by 11 percent. A proportional payroll tax has a lower efficiency cost (41 cents per dollar of revenue averaged over all tax hikes, a 5 percent drop in GDP) but more than doubles the share of the tax burden borne by lower income taxpayers. Empirical support for the model comes from analysis of OECD country data showing that countries facing higher tax burdens in 1979 experienced slower health care spending growth in subsequent decades. The rising burden imposed by the public financing of health care expenditures may therefore serve as a brake on health care spending growth. PMID:21608156

Tackling cold housing and fuel poverty in New Zealand: A review of policies, research, and health impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howden-Chapman, Philippa; Viggers, Helen; Chapman, Ralph; O’Sullivan, Kimberley; Telfar Barnard, Lucy; Lloyd, Bob

2012-01-01

About a quarter of New Zealand households are estimated to be in fuel poverty. NZ has a poor history of housing regulation, so existing houses are often poorly insulated and rental properties are not required to have insulation or heating. Average indoor temperatures are cold by international standards and occupants regularly report they are cold, because they cannot afford to heat their houses. Fuel poverty is thought to be a factor in NZ's high rate of excess winter mortality (16%, about 1600 deaths a year) and excess winter hospitalisations (8%). We examined the link between indoor cold and health in two community trials, the Housing, Insulation, and Health Study and the Housing, Heating, and Health Study and both interventions demonstrated encouraging benefit/cost ratios. NZ governments have translated this and other research into major policy programmes designed to retrofit insulation and efficient heating into existing houses. However, houses are predominantly electrical resistance heated and a largely unregulated electricity market has seen rapidly rising residential electricity prices. These rising energy prices, combined with low rates of economic growth, rising unemployment and generally rising income inequality, are likely to further increase levels of fuel poverty in NZ, unless broader policy action is taken. - Highlights: ► Fuel poverty of New Zealand households is rising with electricity prices. ► Average indoor housing temperatures are low by international standards. ► Excess winter mortality and hospitalisation remain relatively high. ► Trials of retrofitted insulating and heating have influenced policy programmes. ► Fuel poverty benefits of programmes could be overshadowed by rising energy prices.

Drivers of Pontocaspian Biodiversity Rise and Demise

Science.gov (United States)

Wesselingh, Frank; Flecker, Rachel; Wilke, Thomas; Leroy, Suzanne; Krijgsman, Wout; Stoica, Marius

2015-04-01

In the past two million years, the region of the Black Sea Basin, Caspian Basin and adjacent Anatolia and the Balkans were the stage of the evolution of a unique brackish water fauna, the so-called Pontocaspian fauna. The fauna is the result of assembly of genera with a Paratethyan origin and Anatolian origins during the Early Pleistocene. The rapid diversification of the Pontocaspian fauna is the result of the very dynamic nature of the lakes (the Caspian Sea is technically a lake) and seas in the region in the past two million years. In most times the various lake basins were isolated (like today), but in other episodes connections existed. Regional and global climate as well as the regional tectonic regimes were main drivers of lake basin evolution. Over the past 80 years a major biodiversity crisis is hitting the Pontocaspian faunas due to environmental degradation, pollution and invasive species. In the new EU-ETN PRIDE (Drivers of Pontocaspian Biodiversity Rise and Demise)we will be documenting the geological context of past diversifications and turnover events. We present examples of rapid turnover (biodiversity crises) in the Quaternary, assess driving forces and draw implications for the nature of the current human-mediated biodiversity crisis in the region.

Calcium supplementation and cardiovascular risk: A rising concern.

Science.gov (United States)

Tankeu, Aurel T; Ndip Agbor, Valirie; Noubiap, Jean Jacques

2017-06-01

Over the past decade, the number of individuals taking calcium supplementation worldwide has been on the rise, especially with the emergence of new pharmaceutical companies specialized in the marketing of dietary supplements; with calcium supplementation being their main business axis. This is mostly because of the established role of calcium in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and, to a lesser extent, its role in the prevention of fractures. Recently, a rising body of evidence on the adverse effect of calcium supplementation on nonskeletal, especially cardiovascular, health has been a cause for concern. In fact, a significant number of studies have reported an association between calcium supplementation and adverse cardiovascular events, even though high dietary calcium intake was shown to have a protective effect. The mechanism by which calcium supplementation could cause a cardiovascular event was still unclear until a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Combining this recent finding with available data associating calcium supplementation with cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality, we call on the need for an evidence-based approach to calcium supplementation, while stressing on the safety of dietary calcium intake over the former on cardiovascular health. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Society and health effects of aspects an overview of nuclear energy

OpenAIRE

Mehmet Soykenar; Sabahat Coskun

2015-01-01

Today along with developing technology and rapid population growth, energy needs have been increasing in the worldwide. In order to supply rising energy demands, the countries have been tending to nuclear power plants which have high productivitiy. As all kinds of energy sources, there are negative effects to public health in the stages of production and consumption also for nuclear energy. For nuclear power plants established by using high tecnology, required precautions are adopted by asses...

A pilot biomedical engineering course in rapid prototyping for mobile health.

Science.gov (United States)

Stokes, Todd H; Venugopalan, Janani; Hubbard, Elena N; Wang, May D

2013-01-01

Rapid prototyping of medically assistive mobile devices promises to fuel innovation and provides opportunity for hands-on engineering training in biomedical engineering curricula. This paper presents the design and outcomes of a course offered during a 16-week semester in Fall 2011 with 11 students enrolled. The syllabus covered a mobile health design process from end-to-end, including storyboarding, non-functional prototypes, integrated circuit programming, 3D modeling, 3D printing, cloud computing database programming, and developing patient engagement through animated videos describing the benefits of a new device. Most technologies presented in this class are open source and thus provide unlimited "hackability". They are also cost-effective and easily transferrable to other departments.

Use of copeptin for rapid rule-out of acute myocardial infarction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mueller, Christian; Möckel, Martin; Giannitsis, Evangelos

2017-01-01

Copeptin is currently understood as a quantitative marker of endogenous stress. It rises rapidly in multiple acute disorders including acute myocardial infarction. As a single variable, it has only modest diagnostic accuracy for acute myocardial infarction. However, the use of copeptin within a d...

Rapid further heating of tokamak plasma by fast-rising magnetic pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, N.; Nihei, H.; Yamazaki, K.; Ichimura, M.; Morikawa, J.; Hoshino, K.; Uchida, T.

1977-01-01

The object of the experiment was to study the rapid further heating of a tokamak plasma and its influence on confinement. For this purpose, a high-voltage theta-pinch pulse was applied to a tokamak plasma and production of a high-temperature (keV) plasma was ensured within a microsecond. The magnetic pulse is applied at the plasma current maximum parallel or antiparallel to the study toroidal field. In either case, the pulsed field quickly penetrates the plasma and the plasma resistivity estimated from the penetration time is about 100 times larger than the classical. A burst of energetic neutrals of approximately 1 μs duration was observed and the energy distribution had two components of the order of 1 keV and 0.1 keV in the antiparallel case. Doppler broadening measurement shows heating of ions to a temperature higher than 200 eV; however, the line profile is not always Maxwellian distribution. The X-rays disappear at the moment of applying the magnetic pulse and reappear about 100 μs later with an intensive burst, while both energy levels are the same (approximately 100 keV). (author)

Employee health benefit redesign at the academic health center: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Julie; Weaver, Deirdre C; Splaine, Kevin; Hefner, David S; Kirch, Darrell G; Paz, Harold L

2013-03-01

The rapidly escalating cost of health care, including the cost of providing health care benefits, is a significant concern for many employers. In this article, the authors examine a case study of an academic health center that undertook a complete redesign of its health benefit structure to control rising costs, encourage use of its own provider network, and support employee wellness. With the implementation in 2006 of a high-deductible health plan combined with health reimbursement arrangements and wellness incentives, the Penn State Hershey Medical Center (PSHMC) was able to realize significant cost savings and increase use of its own network while maintaining a high level of employee satisfaction. By contracting with a single third-party administrator for its self-insured plan, PSHMC reduced its administrative costs and simplified benefit choices for employees. In addition, indexing employee costs to salary ensured that this change was equitable for all employees, and the shift to a consumer-driven health plan led to greater employee awareness of health care costs. The new health benefit plan's strong focus on employee wellness and preventive health has led to significant increases in the use of preventive health services, including health risk assessments, cancer screenings, and flu shots. PSHMC's experience demonstrates the importance of clear and ongoing communication with employees throughout--before, during, and even after--the process of health benefit redesign.

Effectiveness of interventions to improve the health and housing status of homeless people: a rapid systematic review.

OpenAIRE

Fitzpatrick-Lewis, D; Ganann, R; Krishnaratne, S; Ciliska, D; Kouyoumdjian, F; Hwang, SW

2011-01-01

Abstract Background Research on interventions to positively impact health and housing status of people who are homeless has received substantially increased attention over the past 5 years. This rapid review examines recent evidence regarding interventions that have been shown to improve the health of homeless people, with particular focus on the effect of these interventions on housing status. Methods A total of 1,546 articles were identified by a structured search of five electronic databas...

Organic matter content and particle size modifications in mangrove sediments as responses to sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Christian J; Smoak, Joseph M; Waters, Mathew N; Sanders, Luciana M; Brandini, Nilva; Patchineelam, Sambasiva R

2012-06-01

Mangroves sediments contain large reservoirs of organic material (OM) as mangrove ecosystems produce large quantities and rapidly burial OM. Sediment accumulation rates of approximately 2.0 mm year(-1), based on (210)Pb(ex) dating, were estimated at the margin of two well-developed mangrove forest in southern Brazil. Regional data point to a relative sea level (RSL) rise of up to ∼4.0 mm year(-1). This RSL rise in turn, may directly influence the origin and quantity of organic matter (OM) deposited along mangrove sediments. Lithostratigraphic changes show that sand deposition is replacing the mud (<63 μm) fraction and OM content is decreasing in successively younger sediments. Sediment accumulation in coastal areas that are not keeping pace with sea level rise is potentially conducive to the observed shifts in particle size and OM content. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Possible impacts of sea level rise on disease transmission and potential adaptation strategies, a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Dvorak, Ana C; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M; Galletti, Andrea; Benzecry, Bernardo; Malone, Hannah; Boguszewski, Vicki; Bird, Jason

2018-04-18

Sea levels are projected to rise in response to climate change, causing the intrusion of sea water into land. In flat coastal regions, this would generate an increase in shallow water covered areas with limited circulation. This scenario raises a concern about the consequences it could have on human health, specifically the possible impacts on disease transmission. In this review paper we identified three categories of diseases which are associated with water and whose transmission can be affected by sea level rise. These categories include: mosquitoborne diseases, naturalized organisms (Vibrio spp. and toxic algae), and fecal-oral diseases. For each disease category, we propose comprehensive adaptation strategies that would help minimize possible health risks. Finally, the City of Key West, Florida is analyzed as a case study, due to its inherent vulnerability to sea level rise. Current and projected adaptation techniques are discussed as well as the integration of additional recommendations, focused on disease transmission control. Given that sea level rise will likely continue into the future, the promotion and implementation of positive adaptation strategies is necessary to ensure community resilience. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plume rise from multiple sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briggs, G.A.

1975-01-01

A simple enhancement factor for plume rise from multiple sources is proposed and tested against plume-rise observations. For bent-over buoyant plumes, this results in the recommendation that multiple-source rise be calculated as [(N + S)/(1 + S)]/sup 1/3/ times the single-source rise, Δh 1 , where N is the number of sources and S = 6 (total width of source configuration/N/sup 1/3/ Δh 1 )/sup 3/2/. For calm conditions a crude but simple method is suggested for predicting the height of plume merger and subsequent behavior which is based on the geometry and velocity variations of a single buoyant plume. Finally, it is suggested that large clusters of buoyant sources might occasionally give rise to concentrated vortices either within the source configuration or just downwind of it

The effects of interventions targeting multiple health behaviors on smoking cessation outcomes: a rapid realist review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Minian, Nadia; deRuiter, Wayne K; Lingam, Mathangee; Corrin, Tricia; Dragonetti, Rosa; Manson, Heather; Taylor, Valerie H; Zawertailo, Laurie; Ebnahmady, Arezoo; Melamed, Osnat C; Rodak, Terri; Hahn, Margaret; Selby, Peter

2018-03-01

Health behaviors directly impact the health of individuals, and populations. Since individuals tend to engage in multiple unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, excessive alcohol use, physical inactivity, and eating an unhealthy diet simultaneously, many large community-based interventions have been implemented to reduce the burden of disease through the modification of multiple health behaviors. Smoking cessation can be particularly challenging as the odds of becoming dependent on nicotine increase with every unhealthy behavior a smoker exhibits. This paper presents a protocol for a rapid realist review which aims to identify factors associated with effectively changing tobacco use and target two or more additional unhealthy behaviors. An electronic literature search will be conducted using the following bibliographic databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), The Cochrane Library, Social Science Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts, and Web of Science. Two reviewers will screen titles and abstracts for relevant research, and the selected full papers will be used to extract data and assess the quality of evidence. Throughout this process, the rapid realist approach proposed by Saul et al., 2013 will be used to refine our initial program theory and identify contextual factors and mechanisms that are associated with successful multiple health behavior change. This review will provide evidence-based research on the context and mechanisms that may drive the success or failure of interventions designed to support multiple health behavior change. This information will be used to guide curriculum and program development for a government funded project on improving smoking cessation by addressing multiple health behaviors in people in Canada. PROSPERO CRD42017064430.

Economic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast

Science.gov (United States)

Thatcher, Cindy A.; Brock, John C.; Pendleton, Elizabeth A.

2013-01-01

The northern Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States has been identified as highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, based on a combination of physical and societal factors. Vulnerability of human populations and infrastructure to projected increases in sea level is a critical area of uncertainty for communities in the extremely low-lying and flat northern gulf coastal zone. A rapidly growing population along some parts of the northern Gulf of Mexico coastline is further increasing the potential societal and economic impacts of projected sea-level rise in the region, where observed relative rise rates range from 0.75 to 9.95 mm per year on the Gulf coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. A 1-m elevation threshold was chosen as an inclusive designation of the coastal zone vulnerable to relative sea-level rise, because of uncertainty associated with sea-level rise projections. This study applies a Coastal Economic Vulnerability Index (CEVI) to the northern Gulf of Mexico region, which includes both physical and economic factors that contribute to societal risk of impacts from rising sea level. The economic variables incorporated in the CEVI include human population, urban land cover, economic value of key types of infrastructure, and residential and commercial building values. The variables are standardized and combined to produce a quantitative index value for each 1-km coastal segment, highlighting areas where human populations and the built environment are most at risk. This information can be used by coastal managers as they allocate limited resources for ecosystem restoration, beach nourishment, and coastal-protection infrastructure. The study indicates a large amount of variability in index values along the northern Gulf of Mexico coastline, and highlights areas where long-term planning to enhance resiliency is particularly needed.

Relationships of working conditions, health problems and vehicle accidents in bus rapid transit (BRT) drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Ortiz, Viviola; Cendales, Boris; Useche, Sergio; Bocarejo, Juan P

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to estimate accident risk rates and mental health of bus rapid transit (BRT) drivers based on psychosocial risk factors at work leading to increased stress and health problems. A cross-sectional research design utilized a self-report questionnaire completed by 524 BRT drivers. Some working conditions of BRT drivers (lack of social support from supervisors and perceived potential for risk) may partially explain Bogota's BRT drivers' involvement in road accidents. Drivers' mental health problems were associated with higher job strain, less support from co-workers, fewer rewards and greater signal conflict while driving. To prevent bus accidents, supervisory support may need to be increased. To prevent mental health problems, other interventions may be needed such as reducing demands, increasing job control, reducing amount of incoming information, simplifying current signals, making signals less contradictory, and revising rewards. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[The rise and development of general dentistry in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hongchen

2016-02-01

General dentistry is an important part of the dental medicine and general dentists and general dentistry form the basis of clinical dental medicine. China's general dentistry has a long history, which started as an independent specialist in the 1990s. At present, the Chinese general dental medicine has received more and more attention as an independent profession. General dental medical model has been rapidly developed in the general hospital department of dentistry, private practice and community dentistry institutions, dental specialist hospitals and so on. In this paper, we will review the rise and development of China's general dentistry, and report its theoretical characteristics, institutional framework, academic progress, member development report, and look forward to its development in the future.

Social media for diabetes health education - inclusive or exclusive?

Science.gov (United States)

Pal, B Rani

2014-01-01

Technological innovations are rising rapidly and are inevitably becoming part of the health care environment. Patients frequently access Social media as a forum for discussion of personal health issues; and healthcare providers are now considering ways of harnessing social media as a source of learning and teaching. This review highlights some of the complex issues of using social media as an opportunity for interaction between public- patient-healthcare staff; considers the impact of self- education and self-management for patients with diabetes, and explores some recent advances in delivering education for staff. When using any information technology, the emphasis should rely on being assessed rigorously to show it promotes health education safely, can be recognized as delivering up-to- date health information effectively, and should ensure there is no bias in selective communication, or disadvantage to isolated patient groups.

The Far Right Challenge Comment on "The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy".

Science.gov (United States)

Halikiopoulou, Daphne

2017-07-11

Speed and Mannion make a good case that the rise of populism poses significant challenges for health policy. This commentary suggests that the link between populism and health policy should be further nuanced in four ways. First, a deconstruction of the term populism itself and a focus on the far right dimension of populist politics; second, a focus on the supply side and more specifically the question of nationalism and the 'national preference'; third, the dynamics of party competition during economic crisis; and fourth the question of policy, and more specifically the extent to which certain labour market policies are able to mediate demand for the far right. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Development of flexural vibration inspection techniques to rapidly assess the structural health of rural bridge systems

Science.gov (United States)

Brian K. Brashaw; Robert Vatalaro; Xiping Wang; Kevin Sarvela; James P. Wacker

2008-01-01

Approximately 4,000 vehicle bridges in the State of Minnesota contain structural timber members. Recent research at the University of Minnesota Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute (UMD NRRI) has been conducted on vibration testing of timber bridges as a means of developing rapid in-place testing techniques for assessing the structural health of bridges. The...

Decision-making Processes among Prostate Cancer Survivors with Rising PSA Levels: Results from a Qualitative Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Megan Johnson; Nelson, Christian J; Peters, Ellen; Slovin, Susan F; Hall, Simon J; Hall, Matt; Herrera, Phapichaya Chaoprang; Leventhal, Elaine A; Leventhal, Howard; Diefenbach, Michael A

2015-05-01

Prostate cancer survivors with a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level have few treatment options, experience a heightened state of uncertainty about their disease trajectory that might include the possibility of cancer metastasis and death, and often experience elevated levels of distress as they have to deal with a disease they thought they had conquered. Guided by self-regulation theory, the present study examined the cognitive and affective processes involved in shared decision making between physicians and patients who experience a rising PSA after definitive treatment for prostate cancer. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 prostate cancer survivors who had been diagnosed with a rising PSA (i.e., biochemical failure) within the past 12 months. Survivors were asked about their experiences and affective responses after being diagnosed with a rising PSA and while weighing potential treatment options. In addition, patients were asked about their decision-making process for the initial prostate cancer treatment. Compared with the initial diagnosis, survivors with a rising PSA reported increased negative affect following their diagnosis, concern about the treatability of their disease, increased planning and health behavior change, heightened levels of worry preceding doctor appointments (especially prior to the discussion of PSA testing results), and a strong reliance on physicians' treatment recommendations. Prostate cancer survivors' decision-making processes for the treatment of a rising PSA are markedly different from those of the initial diagnosis of prostate cancer. Because patients experience heightened distress and rely more heavily on their physicians' recommendations with a rising PSA, interactions with the health care provider provide an excellent opportunity to address and assist patients with managing the uncertainty and distress inherent with rising PSA levels. © The Author(s) 2014.

Community acceptability of use of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria by community health workers in Uganda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waiswa Peter

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many malarious countries plan to introduce artemisinin combination therapy (ACT at community level using community health workers (CHWs for treatment of uncomplicated malaria. Use of ACT with reliance on presumptive diagnosis may lead to excessive use, increased costs and rise of drug resistance. Use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs could address these challenges but only if the communities will accept their use by CHWs. This study assessed community acceptability of the use of RDTs by Ugandan CHWs, locally referred to as community medicine distributors (CMDs. Methods The study was conducted in Iganga district using 10 focus group discussions (FGDs with CMDs and caregivers of children under five years, and 10 key informant interviews (KIIs with health workers and community leaders. Pre-designed FGD and KII guides were used to collect data. Manifest content analysis was used to explore issues of trust and confidence in CMDs, stigma associated with drawing blood from children, community willingness for CMDs to use RDTs, and challenges anticipated to be faced by the CMDs. Results CMDs are trusted by their communities because of their commitment to voluntary service, access, and the perceived effectiveness of anti-malarial drugs they provide. Some community members expressed fear that the blood collected could be used for HIV testing, the procedure could infect children with HIV, and the blood samples could be used for witchcraft. Education level of CMDs is important in their acceptability by the community, who welcome the use of RDTs given that the CMDs are trained and supported. Anticipated challenges for CMDs included transport for patient follow-up and picking supplies, adults demanding to be tested, and caregivers insisting their children be treated instead of being referred. Conclusion Use of RDTs by CMDs is likely to be acceptable by community members given that CMDs are properly trained, and receive regular technical

Rapidity and multiplicity correlations in high energy hadronic collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heiselberg, H.

1993-01-01

Rapidity and multiplicity correlations of particle production in high energy hadronic collisions are studied. A simple model including short range correlations in rapidity due to clustering and long range correlations due to energy conservation is able to describe the two-body correlation functions well hadron-nucleon collisions around lab energies of 250 GeV. In this model fractional moments are calculated and compared to data. The strong rise of the factorial moments in rapidity intervals by size δy∝1 can be explained by long and short range correlation alone whereas the factorial moments approach a constant value at very small δy due to lack of correlations also in agreement with experiment. There is therefore no need for introducing intermittency in the particle production in hadronic collisions at these energies. (orig.)

The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals

Science.gov (United States)

Brocks, Jochen J.; Jarrett, Amber J. M.; Sirantoine, Eva; Hallmann, Christian; Hoshino, Yosuke; Liyanage, Tharika

2017-08-01

The transition from dominant bacterial to eukaryotic marine primary productivity was one of the most profound ecological revolutions in the Earth’s history, reorganizing the distribution of carbon and nutrients in the water column and increasing energy flow to higher trophic levels. But the causes and geological timing of this transition, as well as possible links with rising atmospheric oxygen levels and the evolution of animals, remain obscure. Here we present a molecular fossil record of eukaryotic steroids demonstrating that bacteria were the only notable primary producers in the oceans before the Cryogenian period (720-635 million years ago). Increasing steroid diversity and abundance marks the rapid rise of marine planktonic algae (Archaeplastida) in the narrow time interval between the Sturtian and Marinoan ‘snowball Earth’ glaciations, 659-645 million years ago. We propose that the incumbency of cyanobacteria was broken by a surge of nutrients supplied by the Sturtian deglaciation. The ‘Rise of Algae’ created food webs with more efficient nutrient and energy transfers, driving ecosystems towards larger and increasingly complex organisms. This effect is recorded by the concomitant appearance of biomarkers for sponges and predatory rhizarians, and the subsequent radiation of eumetazoans in the Ediacaran period.

The contribution to future flood risk in the Severn Estuary from extreme sea level rise due to ice sheet mass loss

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, N.; Bates, P. D.; Siddall, M.

2013-12-01

The rate at which sea levels will rise in the coming century is of great interest to decision makers tasked with developing mitigation policies to cope with the risk of coastal inundation. Accurate estimates of future sea levels are vital in the provision of effective policy. Recent reports from UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) suggest that mean sea levels in the UK may rise by as much as 80 cm by 2100; however, a great deal of uncertainty surrounds model predictions, particularly the contribution from ice sheets responding to climatic warming. For this reason, the application of semi-empirical modelling approaches for sea level rise predictions has increased of late, the results from which suggest that the rate of sea level rise may be greater than previously thought, exceeding 1 m by 2100. Furthermore, studies in the Red Sea indicate that rapid sea level rise beyond 1m per century has occurred in the past. In light of such research, the latest UKCIP assessment has included a H++ scenario for sea level rise in the UK of up to 1.9 m which is defined as improbable but, crucially, physically plausible. The significance of such low-probability sea level rise scenarios upon the estimation of future flood risk is assessed using the Somerset levels (UK) as a case study. A simple asymmetric probability distribution is constructed to include sea level rise scenarios of up to 1.9 m by 2100 which are added to a current 1:200 year event water level to force a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of coastal inundation. From the resulting ensemble predictions an estimation of risk by 2100 is established. The results indicate that although the likelihood of extreme sea level rise due to rapid ice sheet mass loss is low, the resulting hazard can be large, resulting in a significant (27%) increase to the projected annual risk. Furthermore, current defence construction guidelines for the coming century in the UK are expected to account for 95% of the sea level rise distribution

Tropical vegetation evidence for rapid sea level changes associated with Heinrich Events

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez, Catalina; Dupont, Lydie M, E-mail: catalina@uni-bremen.d, E-mail: dupont@uni-bremen.d [MARUM - Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Leobener Strasse, D-28359 Germany (Germany)

2010-03-15

A Cariaco Basin pollen record shows the development of tropical salt marshes during marine isotope stage 3. Rapid and abrupt expansions of salt marsh vegetation in tropical South America are associated with north Atlantic Heinrich Events stadials (HE-stadials). Intervals of salt marsh expansion have an internal structure, which consists of a recurrent alternation of species that starts with pollen increments of Chenopodiaceae, that are followed by increments of grasses, and subsequently by increments of Cyperaceae. This pattern suggests a successional process that is determined by the close relationship between sea-level and plant community dynamics. The salt tolerant Chenopodiaceae, indicate hypersaline intertidal environments, which were most likely promoted by extremely dry atmospheric conditions. Rapid sea-level rise characterizes the onset of HE-stadials, causing the continued recruitment of pioneer species, which are the only ones tolerating rapid rates of disturbance. Once sea-level rise decelerates, marsh plants are able to trap and stabilize sediments, favouring the establishment of more competitive species. These results add to the scarce knowledge on the dynamics of tropical salt marsh ecosystems, and provide independent paleoclimatic evidence on sea-level changes following Antarctic climate variability.

A Cultural Diffusion Model for the Rise and Fall of Programming Languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Valverde, Sergi; Solé, Ricard V

2015-07-01

Our interaction with complex computing machines is mediated by programming languages (PLs), which constitute one of the major innovations in the evolution of technology. PLs allow flexible, scalable, and fast use of hardware and are largely responsible for shaping the history of information technology since the rise of computers in the 1950s. The rapid growth and impact of computers were followed closely by the development of PLs. As occurs with natural, human languages, PLs have emerged and gone extinct. There has been always a diversity of coexisting PLs that compete somewhat while occupying special niches. Here we show that the statistical patterns of language adoption, rise, and fall can be accounted for by a simple model in which a set of programmers can use several PLs, decide to use existing PLs used by other programmers, or decide not to use them. Our results highlight the influence of strong communities of practice in the diffusion of PL innovations.

Rapid mask prototyping for microfluidics.

Science.gov (United States)

Maisonneuve, B G C; Honegger, T; Cordeiro, J; Lecarme, O; Thiry, T; Fuard, D; Berton, K; Picard, E; Zelsmann, M; Peyrade, D

2016-03-01

With the rise of microfluidics for the past decade, there has come an ever more pressing need for a low-cost and rapid prototyping technology, especially for research and education purposes. In this article, we report a rapid prototyping process of chromed masks for various microfluidic applications. The process takes place out of a clean room, uses a commercially available video-projector, and can be completed in less than half an hour. We quantify the ranges of fields of view and of resolutions accessible through this video-projection system and report the fabrication of critical microfluidic components (junctions, straight channels, and curved channels). To exemplify the process, three common devices are produced using this method: a droplet generation device, a gradient generation device, and a neuro-engineering oriented device. The neuro-engineering oriented device is a compartmentalized microfluidic chip, and therefore, required the production and the precise alignment of two different masks.

Regional approaches in high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Iconopisceva, O. G.; Proskurin, G. A.

2018-03-01

The evolutionary process of high-rise construction is in the article focus. The aim of the study was to create a retrospective matrix reflecting the tasks of the study such as: structuring the most iconic high-rise objects within historic boundaries. The study is based on contemporary experience of high-rise construction in different countries. The main directions and regional specifics in the field of high-rise construction as well as factors influencing the further evolution process are analyzed. The main changes in architectural stylistics, form-building, constructive solutions that focus on the principles of energy efficiency and bio positivity of "sustainable buildings", as well as the search for a new typology are noted. The most universal constructive methods and solutions that turned out to be particularly popular are generalized. The new typology of high-rises and individual approach to urban context are noted. The results of the study as a graphical scheme made it possible to represent the whole high-rise evolution. The new spatial forms of high-rises lead them to new role within the urban environments. Futuristic hyperscalable concepts take the autonomous urban space functions itself and demonstrate us how high-rises can replace multifunctional urban fabric, developing it inside their shells.

Soil Structure Interaction Effect on High Rise and Low Rise Buildings

OpenAIRE

Divya Pathak; PAresh H. SHAH

2000-01-01

Effect of supporting soil on the response of structure has been analyzed in the present study. A low rise (G+ 5 storey) and a high rise (G+12 storey) building has been taken for the analysis. For both type of buildings, the response of building with and without consideration of soil structure interaction effect has been compared.Without interaction case is the case in which ends of the structure are assumed to be fixed while in interaction case, structure is assumed to be...

Assessing health systems for type 1 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: developing a 'Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de Courten Maximilian

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In order to improve the health of people with Type 1 diabetes in developing countries, a clear analysis of the constraints to insulin access and diabetes care is needed. We developed a Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access, comprising a series of questionnaires as well as a protocol for the gathering of other data through site visits, discussions, and document reviews. Methods The Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access draws on the principles of Rapid Assessment Protocols which have been developed and implemented in several different areas. This protocol was adapted through a thorough literature review on diabetes, chronic condition management and medicine supply in developing countries. A visit to three countries in sub-Saharan Africa and meetings with different experts in the field of diabetes helped refine the questionnaires. Following the development of the questionnaires these were tested with various people familiar with diabetes and/or healthcare in developing countries. The Protocol was piloted in Mozambique then refined and had two further iterations in Zambia and Mali. Translations of questionnaires were made into local languages when necessary, with back translation to ensure precision. Results In each country the protocol was implemented in 3 areas – the capital city, a large urban centre and a predominantly rural area and their respective surroundings. Interviews were carried out by local teams trained on how to use the tool. Data was then collected and entered into a database for analysis. Conclusion The Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access was developed to provide a situational analysis of Type 1 diabetes, in order to make recommendations to the national Ministries of Health and Diabetes Associations. It provided valuable information on patients' access to insulin, syringes, monitoring and care. It was thus able to sketch a picture of the health care system with regards to its ability to

The changing timing of births in Iran: an explanation of the rise and fall in fertility after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Erfani, Amir; McQuillan, Kevin

2014-01-01

Studies exploring the course of period fertility in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution have not examined systematically the role played by changes in the timing of births. Using retrospective data from the 2000 Iran Demographic and Health Survey and frailty hazard models, this study finds that the rise in fertility in the early 1980s was due to faster transitions to the first birth among all social groups of women and to the fourth birth largely among illiterate and less educated women. In contrast, the rapid fertility decline after 1985 is attributed to slower transition to successive births, especially to the second, third, and fourth births. These findings point to the importance of education and contraceptive use (measured by length of previous birth interval) as key determinants of birth timing in Iran. Interaction between age at marriage and education positively influenced the timing of births, with stronger effects among highly educated women, suggesting that the onset of rapid fertility decline was likely driven by these highly educated women. Another interaction between the gender of prior children and education shows that birth timing, even among highly educated women, appears to have been influenced by son preference in Iran.

'Rapid Learning health care in oncology' - an approach towards decision support systems enabling customised radiotherapy'.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambin, Philippe; Roelofs, Erik; Reymen, Bart; Velazquez, Emmanuel Rios; Buijsen, Jeroen; Zegers, Catharina M L; Carvalho, Sara; Leijenaar, Ralph T H; Nalbantov, Georgi; Oberije, Cary; Scott Marshall, M; Hoebers, Frank; Troost, Esther G C; van Stiphout, Ruud G P M; van Elmpt, Wouter; van der Weijden, Trudy; Boersma, Liesbeth; Valentini, Vincenzo; Dekker, Andre

2013-10-01

An overview of the Rapid Learning methodology, its results, and the potential impact on radiotherapy. Rapid Learning methodology is divided into four phases. In the data phase, diverse data are collected about past patients, treatments used, and outcomes. Innovative information technologies that support semantic interoperability enable distributed learning and data sharing without additional burden on health care professionals and without the need for data to leave the hospital. In the knowledge phase, prediction models are developed for new data and treatment outcomes by applying machine learning methods to data. In the application phase, this knowledge is applied in clinical practice via novel decision support systems or via extensions of existing models such as Tumour Control Probability models. In the evaluation phase, the predictability of treatment outcomes allows the new knowledge to be evaluated by comparing predicted and actual outcomes. Personalised or tailored cancer therapy ensures not only that patients receive an optimal treatment, but also that the right resources are being used for the right patients. Rapid Learning approaches combined with evidence based medicine are expected to improve the predictability of outcome and radiotherapy is the ideal field to study the value of Rapid Learning. The next step will be to include patient preferences in the decision making. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Health workers' compliance to rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to guide malaria treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kabaghe, Alinune N.; Visser, Benjamin J.; Spijker, Rene; Phiri, Kamija S.; Grobusch, Martin P.; van Vugt, Michèle

2016-01-01

The World Health Organization recommends malaria to be confirmed by either microscopy or a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) before treatment. The correct use of RDTs in resource-limited settings facilitates basing treatment onto a confirmed diagnosis; contributes to speeding up considering a correct

Hydrovolcanic features on Mars: Preliminary observations from the first Mars year of HiRISE imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Keszthelyi, L.P.; Jaeger, W.L.; Dundas, C.M.; Martinez-Alonso, S.; McEwen, A.S.; Milazzo, M.P.

2010-01-01

We provide an overview of features indicative of the interaction between water and lava and/or magma on Mars as seen by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera during the Primary Science Phase of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission. The ability to confidently resolve meter-scale features from orbit has been extremely useful in the study of the most pristine examples. In particular, HiRISE has allowed the documentation of previously undescribed features associated with phreatovolcanic cones (formed by the interaction of lava and groundwater) on rapidly emplaced flood lavas. These include "moats" and "wakes" that indicate that the lava crust was thin and mobile, respectively [Jaeger, W.L., Keszthelyi, L.P., McEwen, A.S., Dundas, C.M., Russel, P.S., 2007. Science 317, 1709-1711]. HiRISE has also discovered entablature-style jointing in lavas that is indicative of water-cooling [Milazzo, M.P., Keszthelyi, L.P., Jaeger, W.L., Rosiek, M., Mattson, S., Verba, C., Beyer, R.A., Geissler, P.E., McEwen, A.S., and the HiRISE Team, 2009. Geology 37, 171-174]. Other observations strongly support the idea of extensive volcanic mudflows (lahars). Evidence for other forms of hydrovolcanism, including glaciovolcanic interactions, is more equivocal. This is largely because most older and high-latitude terrains have been extensively modified, masking any earlier 1-10 m scale features. Much like terrestrial fieldwork, the prerequisite for making full use of HiRISE's capabilities is finding good outcrops.

Complex systems thinking in emergency medicine: A novel paradigm for a rapidly changing and interconnected health care landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Widmer, Matthew A; Swanson, R Chad; Zink, Brian J; Pines, Jesse M

2017-12-27

The specialty of emergency medicine is experiencing the convergence of a number of transformational forces in the United States, including health care reform, technological advancements, and societal shifts. These bring both opportunity and uncertainty. 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES: Persistent challenges such as the opioid epidemic, rising health care costs, misaligned incentives, patients with multiple chronic diseases, and emergency department crowding continue to plague the acute, unscheduled care system. The traditional approach to health care practice and improvement-reductionism-is not adequate for the complexity of the twenty-first century. Reductionist thinking will likely continue to produce unintended consequences and suboptimal outcomes. Complex systems thinking provides a perspective and set of tools better suited for the challenges and opportunities facing public health in general, and emergency medicine more specifically. This article introduces complex systems thinking and argues for its application in the context of emergency medicine by drawing on the history of the circumstances surrounding the formation of the specialty and by providing examples of its application to several practice challenges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Arab Spring and health: two years on.

Science.gov (United States)

Coutts, Adam; Stuckler, David; Batniji, Rajaie; Ismail, Sharif; Maziak, Wasim; McKee, Martin

2013-01-01

The "Arab Spring" has touched almost all countries in the Middle East and North Africa. While most attention has focused on security and political developments, there are significant consequences for population health. These include immediate problems, such as violent deaths and injuries, population displacement, and damage to essential infrastructure, but also longer term vulnerabilities not yet addressed by the political changes, including high unemployment, the low status of women, erosion of already weak welfare systems, and rising food prices. It will be important to tackle these underlying issues while not repeating the mistakes made in other countries that have undergone rapid political transition.

Medical dominance in Canada in historical perspective: the rise and fall of medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Coburn, D; Torrance, G M; Kaufert, J M

1983-01-01

Freidson's concept of medical dominance is compared to the alternative conceptions of neo-Marxist writers. Dominance is then examined in historical perspective, using medicine in Canada (mainly Ontario) as a case study. Medicine emerged as the dominant health occupation in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, consolidating its power between World War I and the Saskatchewan doctors' strike of 1962. The authors argue that medical dominance has declined since that time due to such factors as the involvement of the state in health insurance, the rise of other health occupations, increasing public or at least elite skepticism, and possible internal fragmentation. The underlying social explanation for this historical process is sought in changes in the Canadian class structure, specifically the spread of the capitalist mode of production, the decline of the petite bourgeoisie, and the rise of the state. It is suggested that Freidson's specific accounts of the history of medicine must be incorporated for explanatory purposes within the broader neo-Marxist view of medicine as an intermediary rather than an ultimately determining institution.

Analysis of uncertainties in CRAC2 calculations: wet deposition and plume rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, R.C.; Kocher, D.C.; Hicks, B.B.; Hosker, R.P. Jr.; Ku, J.Y.; Rao, K.S.

1984-01-01

We have studied the sensitivity of results from the CRAC2 computer code, which predicts health impacts from a reactor-accident scenario, to uncertainties in selected meteorological models and parameters. The sources of uncertainty examined include the models for plume rise and wet deposition and the meteorological bin-sampling procedure. An alternative plume-rise model usually had little effect on predicted health impacts. In an alternative wet-deposition model, the scavenging rate depends only on storm type, rather than on rainfall rate and atmospheric stability class as in the CRAC2 model. Use of the alternative wet-deposition model in meteorological bin-sampling runs decreased predicted mean early injuries by as much as a factor of 2 to 3 and, for large release heights and sensible heat rates, decreased mean early fatalities by nearly an order of magnitude. The bin-sampling procedure in CRAC2 was expanded by dividing each rain bin into four bins that depend on rainfall rate. Use of the modified bin structure in conjunction with the CRAC2 wet-deposition model changed all predicted health impacts by less than a factor of 2. 9 references

Beyond the male-migrant: South Africa's long history of health geography and the contemporary AIDS pandemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Mark

2010-01-01

This article begins by noting the contribution that past South African writings on health can make to the field of health geography-especially writings on male migration and syphilis from the 1940s that conceptualized space as relational. However, the second part of the article notes that the rapid rise of AIDS in the post-apartheid period influenced the problematic projecting forward of the male-migrancy model. Ethnographic and secondary data show how AIDS is embedded in under-researched social and spatial structures after apartheid. In tracing these processes the article combines anthropology, geography, and political economy to chart an interdisciplinary analysis of the uneven geographies of health.

Portrait of a Warming Ocean and Rising Sea Levels: Trend of Sea Level Change 1993-2008

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

area of rising sea levels in the North Atlantic where sea levels are usually low. This large pool of rapidly rising warm water is evidence of a major change in ocean circulation. It signals a slow down in the sub-polar gyre, a counter-clockwise system of currents that loop between Ireland, Greenland and Newfoundland. Such a change could have an impact on climate since the sub-polar gyre may be connected in some way to the nearby global thermohaline circulation, commonly known as the global conveyor belt. This is the slow-moving circulation in which water sinks in the North Atlantic at different locations around the sub-polar gyre, spreads south, travels around the globe, and slowly up-wells to the surface before returning around the southern tip of Africa. Then it winds its way through the surface currents in the Atlantic and eventually comes back to the North Atlantic. It is unclear if the weakening of the North Atlantic sub-polar gyre is part of a natural cycle or related to global warming. This image was made possible by the detailed record of sea surface height measurements begun by Topex/Poseidon and continued by Jason-1. The recently launched Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite (OSTM/Jason-2) will soon take over this responsibility from Jason-1. The older satellite will move alongside OSTM/Jason-2 and continue to measure sea surface height on an adjacent ground track for as long as it is in good health. Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 are joint missions of NASA and the French space agency, CNES. OSTM/Jason-2 is collaboration between NASA; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; CNES; and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. JPL manages the U.S. portion of the missions for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

A rapid assessment scorecard to identify informal settlements at higher maternal and child health risk in Mumbai.

Science.gov (United States)

Osrin, David; Das, Sushmita; Bapat, Ujwala; Alcock, Glyn A; Joshi, Wasundhara; More, Neena Shah

2011-10-01

The communities who live in urban informal settlements are diverse, as are their environmental conditions. Characteristics include inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, poor quality of housing, overcrowding, and insecure residential status. Interventions to improve health should be equity-driven and target those at higher risk, but it is not clear how to prioritise informal settlements for health action. In implementing a maternal and child health programme in Mumbai, India, we had conducted a detailed vulnerability assessment which, though important, was time-consuming and may have included collection of redundant information. Subsequent data collection allowed us to examine three issues: whether community environmental characteristics were associated with maternal and newborn healthcare and outcomes; whether it was possible to develop a triage scorecard to rank the health vulnerability of informal settlements based on a few rapidly observable characteristics; and whether the scorecard might be useful for future prioritisation. The City Initiative for Newborn Health documented births in 48 urban slum areas over 2 years. Information was collected on maternal and newborn care and mortality, and also on household and community environment. We selected three outcomes-less than three antenatal care visits, home delivery, and neonatal mortality-and used logistic regression and classification and regression tree analysis to test their association with rapidly observable environmental characteristics. We developed a simple triage scorecard and tested its utility as a means of assessing maternal and newborn health risk. In analyses on a sample of 10,754 births, we found associations of health vulnerability with inadequate access to water, toilets, and electricity; non-durable housing; hazardous location; and rental tenancy. A simple scorecard based on these had limited sensitivity and positive predictive value, but relatively high specificity and negative

77 FR 26280 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From CareRise LLC

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-03

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... relinquishment from CareRise LLC of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act) authorizes the listing of PSOs, which are entities or...

The evolution of new business in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinberger, Stanley; Weeks, William

2004-01-01

The increasing size, growth, and complexity of the health care industry would appear to offer ample opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship. But is entrepreneurship really on the rise in health care? We performed a sequential cross-sectional analysis of new, rapidly growing health care businesses in the Inc. 500 list to answer this question. We found that, while there appears to be increasing numbers of opportunities for new, privately held businesses, this varies widely by category. In particular, health information management appeared to be an example of emerging industry, characterized by increases in the number of businesses, as well as in the rate of growth and the average revenue. In contrast, the insurance industry seems to have transitioned to maturity. This article argues that companies that introduce disruptive innovations into health care, either through information technology, new ancillary services, or more focused services to the elderly, will likely be good areas for investors who follow the health care industry as well as entrepreneurs who are looking for a niche for market entry.

The Rise and Fall of Star Formation Histories of Blue Galaxies at Redshifts 0.2 < z < 1.4

Science.gov (United States)

Pacifici, Camilla; Kassin, Susan A.; Weiner, Benjamin; Charlot, Stephane; Gardner, Jonathan P.

2012-01-01

Popular cosmological scenarios predict that galaxies form hierarchically from the merger of many progenitor, each with their own unique star formation history (SFH). We use the approach recently developed by Pacifici et al. to constrain the SFHs of 4517 blue (presumably star-forming) galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range O.2 galaxies rise and fall in a roughly symmetric bell-shaped manner, while those of low-mass galaxies rise progressively in time, consistent with the typically stronger activity of star formation in low-mass compared to high-mass galaxies. For galaxies of all masses, the star formation activity rises more rapidly at high than at low redshift. These findings imply that the standard approximation of exponentially declining SFHs wIdely used to interpret observed galaxy spectral energy distributions is not appropriate to constrain the physical parameters of star-forming galaxies at intermediate redshifts.

Health Systems Research in a Complex and Rapidly Changing Context: Ethical Implications of Major Health Systems Change at Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

MacGregor, Hayley; Bloom, Gerald

2016-12-01

This paper discusses health policy and systems research in complex and rapidly changing contexts. It focuses on ethical issues at stake for researchers working with government policy makers to provide evidence to inform major health systems change at scale, particularly when the dynamic nature of the context and ongoing challenges to the health system can result in unpredictable outcomes. We focus on situations where 'country ownership' of HSR is relatively well established and where there is significant involvement of local researchers and close ties and relationships with policy makers are often present. We frame our discussion around two country case studies with which we are familiar, namely China and South Africa and discuss the implications for conducting 'embedded' research. We suggest that reflexivity is an important concept for health system researchers who need to think carefully about positionality and their normative stance and to use such reflection to ensure that they can negotiate to retain autonomy, whilst also contributing evidence for health system change. A research process informed by the notion of reflexive practice and iterative learning will require a longitudinal review at key points in the research timeline. Such review should include the convening of a deliberative process and should involve a range of stakeholders, including those most likely to be affected by the intended and unintended consequences of change. © 2016 The Authors Developing World Bioethics Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Detecting anthropogenic footprints in sea level rise: the role of complex colored noise

Science.gov (United States)

Dangendorf, Sönke; Marcos, Marta; Müller, Alfred; Zorita, Eduardo; Jensen, Jürgen

2015-04-01

While there is scientific consensus that global mean sea level (MSL) is rising since the late 19th century, it remains unclear how much of this rise is due to natural variability or anthropogenic forcing. Uncovering the anthropogenic contribution requires profound knowledge about the persistence of natural MSL variations. This is challenging, since observational time series represent the superposition of various processes with different spectral properties. Here we statistically estimate the upper bounds of naturally forced centennial MSL trends on the basis of two separate components: a slowly varying volumetric (mass and density changes) and a more rapidly changing atmospheric component. Resting on a combination of spectral analyses of tide gauge records, ocean reanalysis data and numerical Monte-Carlo experiments, we find that in records where transient atmospheric processes dominate, the persistence of natural volumetric changes is underestimated. If each component is assessed separately, natural centennial trends are locally up to ~0.5 mm/yr larger than in case of an integrated assessment. This implies that external trends in MSL rise related to anthropogenic forcing might be generally overestimated. By applying our approach to the outputs of a centennial ocean reanalysis (SODA), we estimate maximum natural trends in the order of 1 mm/yr for the global average. This value is larger than previous estimates, but consistent with recent paleo evidence from periods in which the anthropogenic contribution was absent. Comparing our estimate to the observed 20th century MSL rise of 1.7 mm/yr suggests a minimum external contribution of at least 0.7 mm/yr. We conclude that an accurate detection of anthropogenic footprints in MSL rise requires a more careful assessment of the persistence of intrinsic natural variability.

The rise and fall of the ridge in heavy ion collisions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sorensen, P., E-mail: prsorensen@bnl.gov [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Physics Department, Upton, NY 11973 (United States); Bolliet, B. [ENS de Lyon, Lyon Cedex 07 (France); Mocsy, A. [Pratt Institute, Department of Math and Science, Brooklyn, NY 11205 (United States); Pandit, Y. [Kent State University, Physics Department, Kent, OH 44242 (United States); Pruthi, N. [Panjab University, Physics Department, Chandigarh 160014 (India)

2011-11-03

Recent data from heavy ion collisions at RHIC show unexpectedly large near-angle correlations that broaden longitudinally with increasing centrality. The amplitude of this ridge-like correlation rises rapidly, reaches a maximum, and then falls in the most central collisions. In this Letter we explain how this behavior can be uniquely explained by initial-state coordinate-space anisotropies converted into final-state momentum-space correlations. We propose v{sub n}{sup 2}/{epsilon}{sub n,part}{sup 2} as a useful way to study length scales and provide a prediction for the ridge in Pb + Pb collisions at {radical}(s{sub NN})=2.76 TeV.

Groundwater table rise in northwest Nile Delta:Problems and Recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Sayed, S. A.; Atta, E. R.; Al-Ashri, K. M.

2012-01-01

The present research work is devoted to evaluate the surrounding zones of a site which could be selected for construction of radiation facility. It is a model study to investigate the factors that protect sites from the risks of groundwater rising. The study area (village 17 and the related cultivated lands) lies in Bangar El Sukar area, south Alexandria Governorate. The area is suffering from the groundwater table rise phenomenon and its relevant problems (water logging, soil salinization and degradation of buildings). This water table rise is investigated using the hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical and isotopic approaches. The groundwater table of the Pleistocene-Holocene aquifer rises due to uncontrolled irrigation and drainage systems and the lack of municipal sewage system as well as soil and aquifer characteristics. The aquifer is being shallow and exists under semi-confined conditions. It consists of heterogeneous deposits (very fine to coarse grained sand, clay and calcareous rock fragments). Depths to water vary between 0.85 m and 1.44 m from ground surface. The groundwater (TDS 3331 mg/l, averagely) is a mixture of both the fresh water of the irrigation canals (TDS = 544.2 mg/l) and the more saline water (TDS = 5505 mg/l, averagely) of the drains used in irrigation. Nile water is considered the main recharge source to these types of waters. The recharge to the aquifer occurs by seepage from the canals and/or by the infiltration of the return flow after irrigation. The infiltration rate is moderately rapid (ranging from 1.8 mm/min to 2.6 mm/min). The groundwater moves from south to north with an average hydraulic gradient reaching about 1.7 x 10-3. The average rate of groundwater flow through the aquifer varies between 1799 m2/day and 543.65 m2/day. In order to avoid the risks related to the problem and its environmental impacts, proper recommendations are presented. Suggested design for a constructed net of drainage system and pumped well is presented in

Constraining the Antarctic contribution to interglacial sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Naish, T.; Mckay, R. M.; Barrett, P. J.; Levy, R. H.; Golledge, N. R.; Deconto, R. M.; Horgan, H. J.; Dunbar, G. B.

2015-12-01

Observations, models and paleoclimate reconstructions suggest that Antarctica's marine-based ice sheets behave in an unstable manner with episodes of rapid retreat in response to warming climate. Understanding the processes involved in this "marine ice sheet instability" is key for improving estimates of Antarctic ice sheet contribution to future sea-level rise. Another motivating factor is that far-field sea-level reconstructions and ice sheet models imply global mean sea level (GMSL) was up to 20m and 10m higher, respectively, compared with present day, during the interglacials of the warm Pliocene (~4-3Ma) and Late Pleistocene (at ~400ka and 125ka). This was when atmospheric CO2 was between 280 and 400ppm and global average surface temperatures were 1- 3°C warmer, suggesting polar ice sheets are highly sensitive to relatively modest increases in climate forcing. Such magnitudes of GMSL rise not only require near complete melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but a substantial retreat of marine-based sectors of East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent geological drilling initiatives on the continental margin of Antarctica from both ship- (e.g. IODP; International Ocean Discovery Program) and ice-based (e.g. ANDRILL/Antarctic Geological Drilling) platforms have provided evidence supporting retreat of marine-based ice. However, without direct access through the ice sheet to archives preserved within sub-glacial sedimentary basins, the volume and extent of ice sheet retreat during past interglacials cannot be directly constrained. Sediment cores have been successfully recovered from beneath ice shelves by the ANDRILL Program and ice streams by the WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Sub-glacial Access Research Drilling) Project. Together with the potential of the new RAID (Rapid Access Ice Drill) initiative, these demonstrate the technological feasibility of accessing the subglacial bed and deeper sedimentary archives. In this talk I will outline the

Sea level rise under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)

Science.gov (United States)

Schleussner, C. F.; Nauels, A.; Rogelj, J.; Mengel, M.; Meinshausen, M.

2017-12-01

In order to assess future sea level rise and its impacts, we need to study climate change pathways combined with different scenarios of socioeconomic development. Here, we present Sea Level Rise (SLR) projections for the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) storylines and different year-2100 radiative Forcing Targets (FTs). Future SLR is estimated with a comprehensive SLR emulator that accounts for latest research on additional Antarctic rapid discharge dynamics from hydrofracturing and ice cliff instability. Across all baseline scenario realizations (no dedicated climate mitigation), we find 2100 median SLR relative to 1986-2005 of 102 cm (likely range: 77 to 135 cm) for SSP1, 118 cm (90 to 151 cm) for SSP2, 118 cm (91 to 149 cm) for SSP3, 107 cm (81 to 137 cm) for SSP4, and 144 cm (112 to 184 cm) for SSP5. The 2100 sea level responses for combined SSP-FT scenarios is dominated by the mitigation targets and yield median estimates of 68 cm (56 to 87 cm) for FT 2.6 Wm-2, 76 cm (61 to 107 cm) for FT 3.4 Wm-2, 90 cm (68 to 120 cm) for FT 4.5 Wm-2, and 105 cm (79 to 136 cm) for FT 6.0 Wm-2. Average 2081-2100 annual rates of SLR are 6 mm/yr and 19 mm/yr for the FT 2.6 Wm-2 and the baseline scenarios, respectively. Our model setup allows linking scenario-specific emission and socioeconomic indicators to projected SLR. For limiting median 2100 SSP SLR projections to below 80 cm, we find that 2050 cumulative CO2 emissions since pre-industrial should not exceed around 860 GtC, with the global coal phase-out nearly completed. For SSP mitigation scenarios, the median 2050 carbon price of 90 US$2005 tCO2-1 would correspond to a median 2100 SLR of around 80 cm. Our results confirm that rapid and early emission reductions are essential for limiting 2100 SLR.

Organizing vertical layout environments: a forward-looking development strategy for high-rise building projects

Science.gov (United States)

Magay, A. A.; Bulgakova, E. A.; Zabelina, S. A.

2018-03-01

The article highlights issues surrounding development of high rise buildings. With the rapid increase of the global population there has been a trend for people to migrate into megacities and has caused the expansion of big city territories. This trend, coupled with the desire for a comfortable living environment, has resulted in numerous problems plaguing the megacity. This article proposes that a viable solution to the problems facing megacities is to create vertical layout environments. Potential options for creating vertical layout environments are set out below including the construction of buildings with atriums. Further, the article puts forth suggested spatial organization of the environment as well as optimal landscaping of high-rise buildings and constructions for the creation of vertical layout environments. Finally, the persuasive reasons for the adoption of vertical layout environments is that it will decrease the amount of developed urban areas, decrease traffic and increase environmental sustainability.

Current-day matters of administration and law in the field of high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Voskresenskaya, Elena; Snetkov, Vitaly; Tebryaev, Alexander

2018-03-01

The article touches upon main reasons for high-rise construction: increase in energy consumption and limited availability of site in the big cities of Russia. Increase in energy consumption is related with construction, transportation and applying of ventilation and air conditioning systems. Nowadays, there are developed a lot of design and engineer solutions, that include autonomous systems as well as passive methods with low energy consumption rate, which are interrelated with local climate conditions. Certain architectural solutions contribute to energy consumption decrease: building orientation with respect to the cardinal directions, taking into account the prevailing cold wind directions, maximum glazing of the southern facades and minimum glazing of the northern ones, what plays a big role in hard climate conditions. Limited availability of site for construction in the big cities resulted in rapid development of the high-rise construction, which today prevails in terms of quantitative indicators of civil engineering.

Human Factors in Green Office Building Design: The Impact of Workplace Green Features on Health Perceptions in High-Rise High-Density Asian Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Xue

2016-10-01

Full Text Available There is a growing concern about human factors in green building, which is imperative in high-rise high-density urban environments. This paper describes our attempts to explore the influence of workplace green features (such as green certification, ventilation mode, and building morphology on health perceptions (personal sensation, sensorial assumptions, healing performance based on a survey in Hong Kong and Singapore. The results validated the relationship between green features and health perceptions in the workplace environment. Remarkably, participants from the air-conditioned offices revealed significant higher concerns about health issues than those participants from the mixed-ventilated offices. The mixed-ventilation design performs as a bridge to connect the indoor environment and outdoor space, which enables people to have contact with nature. Additionally, the preferred building morphology of the workplace is the pattern of a building complex instead of a single building. The complex form integrates the configuration of courtyards, podium gardens, green terrace, public plaza, and other types of open spaces with the building clusters, which contributes to better health perceptions. This research contributes to the rationalization and optimization of passive climate-adaptive design strategies for green buildings in high-density tropical or subtropical cities.

Health inequalities research in India: a review of trends and themes in the literature since the 1990s.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhan, Nandita; Rao, Krishna Dipankar; Kachwaha, Shivani

2016-10-06

Research on health inequalities can be instrumental in drawing attention to the health of socioeconomically vulnerable groups in India in the context of rapid economic growth. It can shape the dialogue for public health action, emphasizing the need for greater investments in health, and monitor effectiveness of health programs. Our objective was to examine trends in studies on health inequalities in the last 25 years. We conducted a systematic literature review of studies on health inequalities published from 1990. The year, 1990, marked the beginning of economic reforms and liberalization in India. We searched PubMED using key terms to identify 8800 articles between 1990 and 2016; we identified 1,312 final studies for review. Key domains of analysis included measures of equity, health outcomes, populations studied, year of publication, study methodology, study focus (descriptive versus analytical), and location of main author. We found an increase in studies on health inequalities after 2005. About 88 % of the studies utilized quantitative methods for analysis. About 8 % of the studies related to health interventions or programs; the number of intervention studies have been increasing since 2010. A majority of studies were led by authors based in India. Early studies focused on mortality, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and nutrition, while later studies have focused on non-communicable diseases, mental health, risk factors, and injuries. Studies on women and children comprised nearly half of the literature; studies on the youth (15-24 years or as defined by the study) and elderly have been rising. Wealth and income were the most common measures of equity, followed by education and gender. The proportion of studies on wealth, education, region and caste have stayed consistent over time, while studies on gender disparities have been rising. In a country as diverse as India with large social inequalities combined with rapid economic growth, research

Rapid psychological assessment of depression and its relationship with physical health among urban elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavithra Cheluvaraj

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background Old age is associated with increased occurrence of a wide array of Psychological impairments or losses, which might contribute to physical disabilities. As Depression has been identified as the most common aberration its rapid assessment would be able to identify the quality of individual and family life of the elderly. Aims To assess psychological health status with respect to depression among geriatric urban community, and the relationship of depression with health perception and physical health status has been explored. Methods A cross-sectional total geriatric population survey consisting of 254 elderly has been carried out at urban field practice area. A standard geriatric depression scale (Short form has been utilized to assess psychological status. Detailed physical examination and investigations with special reference to Diabetes, Hypertension and Visual defects was carried out. Data was analyzed to find out the relationship of various socio-demographic factors, physical morbidities with depression. Results Out of 254 elderly examined, 32 per cent females and 23 per cent males were found to be suffering from depressive disorders. When assessed for individual health status perception, 25 per cent felt to have good health. Out of 190 geriatric subjects perceiving fair to bad health, 110 were found to be suffering from depression (p<0.001. Depression was also found to be associated with history of hospital admission in the previous year (p<0.05, low vision (p<0.05, diabetes (p<0.01 and hypertension (p<0.01. Conclusion Depression among geriatric age group is associated with physical illness and perception of health.

Rapid learning: a breakthrough agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Etheredge, Lynn M

2014-07-01

A "rapid-learning health system" was proposed in a 2007 thematic issue of Health Affairs. The system was envisioned as one that uses evidence-based medicine to quickly determine the best possible treatments for patients. It does so by drawing on electronic health records and the power of big data to access large volumes of information from a variety of sources at high speed. The foundation for a rapid-learning health system was laid during 2007-13 by workshops, policy papers, large public investments in databases and research programs, and developing learning systems. Challenges now include implementing a new clinical research system with several hundred million patients, modernizing clinical trials and registries, devising and funding research on national priorities, and analyzing genetic and other factors that influence diseases and responses to treatment. Next steps also should aim to improve comparative effectiveness research; build on investments in health information technology to standardize handling of genetic information and support information exchange through apps and software modules; and develop new tools, data, and information for clinical decision support. Further advances will require commitment, leadership, and public-private and global collaboration. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

The rise of global health diplomacy: An interdisciplinary concept linking health and international relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chattu, Vijay Kumar

2017-01-01

Global health diplomacy (GHD) is relatively a very new field that has yet to be clearly defined and developed though there are various definitions given by different experts from foreign policy, global health, diplomacy, international relations, governance, and law. With the intensification of globalization and increasing gaps between countries, new and reemerging health threats such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola, and Zika and a gradual rethinking on security concepts framed a new political context. The health problems addressed diplomatically have also become diverse ranging from neglected tropical diseases, infectious diseases, sale of unsafe, counterfeit drugs to brain drain crisis. We see that global health has become more diverse as the actors widened and also the interests appealing not only to the traditional humanitarian ideals associated with health but also to the principles grounded in national and global security. Recently, we are witnessing the increased priority given to the GHD because the issue of health is discussed by various actors outside the WHO to shape the global policy for health determinants. In fact, the area of health has become the part of UN Summit Diplomacy involving the G8, G20, BRICS, and the EU. The recent WHO Pandemic Influenza Framework, UN High Level Framework on Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are some of the examples of long-term negotiation processes for agreements that took place.

Implications of sea-level rise in a modern carbonate ramp setting

Science.gov (United States)

Lokier, Stephen W.; Court, Wesley M.; Onuma, Takumi; Paul, Andreas

2018-03-01

This study addresses a gap in our understanding of the effects of sea-level rise on the sedimentary systems and morphological development of recent and ancient carbonate ramp settings. Many ancient carbonate sequences are interpreted as having been deposited in carbonate ramp settings. These settings are poorly-represented in the Recent. The study documents the present-day transgressive flooding of the Abu Dhabi coastline at the southern shoreline of the Arabian/Persian Gulf, a carbonate ramp depositional system that is widely employed as a Recent analogue for numerous ancient carbonate systems. Fourteen years of field-based observations are integrated with historical and recent high-resolution satellite imagery in order to document and assess the onset of flooding. Predicted rates of transgression (i.e. landward movement of the shoreline) of 2.5 m yr- 1 (± 0.2 m yr- 1) based on global sea-level rise alone were far exceeded by the flooding rate calculated from the back-stepping of coastal features (10-29 m yr- 1). This discrepancy results from the dynamic nature of the flooding with increased water depth exposing the coastline to increased erosion and, thereby, enhancing back-stepping. A non-accretionary transgressive shoreline trajectory results from relatively rapid sea-level rise coupled with a low-angle ramp geometry and a paucity of sediments. The flooding is represented by the landward migration of facies belts, a range of erosive features and the onset of bioturbation. Employing Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Church et al., 2013) predictions for 21st century sea-level rise, and allowing for the post-flooding lag time that is typical for the start-up of carbonate factories, it is calculated that the coastline will continue to retrograde for the foreseeable future. Total passive flooding (without considering feedback in the modification of the shoreline) by the year 2100 is calculated to likely be between 340 and 571 m with a flooding rate of 3

Appropriate targeting of artemisinin-based combination therapy by community health workers using malaria rapid diagnostic tests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ndyomugyenyi, Richard; Magnussen, Pascal; Lal, Sham

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To compare the impact of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs), used by community health workers (CHWs), on the proportion of children ...-randomized trials were conducted in two contrasting areas of moderate-to-high and low malaria transmission in rural Uganda. Each trial examined the effectiveness of mRDTs in the management of malaria and targeting of ACTs by CHWs comparing two diagnostic approaches: (i) presumptive clinical diagnosis of malaria...

Overview of Provisional Peer-Reviewed Toxicity Values (PPRTVs), Alternative Methods in Human Health Risk Assessment, and the RapidTox Dashboard

Science.gov (United States)

This poster provides an overview of three key lines of ongoing work at EPA/ORD/NCEA-CIN: Provisional Peer-Reviewed Toxicity Values (PPRTVs), Alternative Methods in Human Health Risk Assessment, and the RapidTox Dashboard collaboration.

Health in China and India: a cross-country comparison in a context of rapid globalisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dummer, Trevor J B; Cook, Ian G

2008-08-01

China and India are similarly huge nations currently experiencing rapid economic growth, urbanisation and widening inequalities between rich and poor. They are dissimilar in terms of their political regimes, policies for population growth and ethnic composition and heterogeneity. This review compares health and health care in China and India within the framework of the epidemiological transition model and against the backdrop of globalisation. We identify similarities and differences in health situation. In general, for both countries, infectious diseases of the past sit alongside emerging infectious diseases and chronic illnesses associated with ageing societies, although the burden of infectious diseases is much higher in India. Whilst globalisation contributes to widening inequalities in health and health care in both countries--particularly with respect to increasing disparities between urban and rural areas and between rich and poor--there is evidence that local circumstances are important, especially with respect to the structure and financing of health care and the implementation of health policy. For example, India has huge problems providing even rudimentary health care to its large population of urban slum dwellers whilst China is struggling to re-establish universal rural health insurance. In terms of funding access to health care, the Chinese state has traditionally supported most costs, whereas private insurance has always played a major role in India, although recent changes in China have seen the burgeoning of private health care payments. China has, arguably, had more success than India in improving population health, although recent reforms have severely impacted upon the ability of the Chinese health care system to operate effectively. Both countries are experiencing a decline in the amount of government funding for health care and this is a major issue that must be addressed.

Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE)

Science.gov (United States)

Kasper, Justin C.; SunRISE Team

2018-06-01

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) is a NASA Heliophysics Explorer Mission of Opportunity currently in Phase A. SunRISE is a constellation of spacecraft flying in a 10-km diameter formation and operating as the first imaging radio interferometer in space. The purpose of SunRISE is to reveal critical aspects of solar energetic particle (SEP) acceleration at coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and transport into space by making the first spatially resolved observations of coherent Type II and III radio bursts produced by electrons accelerated at CMEs or released from flares. SunRISE will focus on solar Decametric-Hectometric (DH, 0.1 space before major SEP events, but cannot be seen on Earth due to ionospheric absorption. This talk will describe SunRISE objectives and implementation. Presented on behalf of the entire SunRISE team.

Factors associated with shift work disorder in nurses working with rapid-rotation schedules in Japan: the nurses' sleep health project.

Science.gov (United States)

Asaoka, Shoichi; Aritake, Sayaka; Komada, Yoko; Ozaki, Akiko; Odagiri, Yuko; Inoue, Shigeru; Shimomitsu, Teruichi; Inoue, Yuichi

2013-05-01

Workers who meet the criteria for shift work disorder (SWD) have elevated levels of risk for various health and behavioral problems. However, the impact of having SWD on shiftworkers engaged in rapid-rotation schedules is unknown. Moreover, the risk factors for the occurrence of SWD remain unclear. To clarify these issues, we conducted a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey on a sample of shiftworking nurses. Responses were obtained from 1202 nurses working at university hospitals in Tokyo, Japan, including 727 two-shift workers and 315 three-shift workers. The questionnaire included items relevant to age, gender, family structure, work environment, health-related quality of life (QOL), diurnal type, depressive symptoms, and SWD. Participants who reported insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness for at least 1 mo that was subjectively relevant to their shiftwork schedules were categorized as having SWD. The prevalence of SWD in the sampled shiftworking nurses was 24.4%; shiftworking nurses with SWD showed lower health-related QOL and more severe depressive symptoms, with greater rates of both actual accidents/errors and near misses, than those without SWD. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that more time spent working at night, frequent missing of nap opportunities during night work, and having an eveningness-oriented chronotype were significantly associated with SWD. The present study indicated that SWD might be associated with reduced health-related QOL and decreased work performance in shiftworking nurses on rapid-rotation schedules. The results also suggested that missing napping opportunities during night work, long nighttime working hours, and the delay of circadian rhythms are associated with the occurrence of SWD among shiftworking nurses on rapid-rotation schedules.

Rise of a cold plume

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakuta, Michio

1977-06-01

The rise of smoke from the stacks of two research reactors in normal operation was measured by photogrametric method. The temperature of effluent gas is less than 20 0 C higher than that of the ambient air (heat emission of the order 10 4 cal s -1 ), and the efflux velocity divided by the wind speed is between 0.5 and 2.8 in all 16 smoke runs. The field data obtained within downwind distance of 150m are compared with those by plume rise formulas presently available. Considering the shape of bending-over plume, the Briggs' formula for 'jet' gives a reasonable explanation of the observed plume rise. (auth.)

‘Rapid Learning health care in oncology’ – An approach towards decision support systems enabling customised radiotherapy’

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambin, Philippe; Roelofs, Erik; Reymen, Bart; Velazquez, Emmanuel Rios; Buijsen, Jeroen; Zegers, Catharina M.L.; Carvalho, Sara; Leijenaar, Ralph T.H.; Nalbantov, Georgi; Oberije, Cary; Scott Marshall, M.; Hoebers, Frank; Troost, Esther G.C.; Stiphout, Ruud G.P.M. van; Elmpt, Wouter van; Weijden, Trudy van der; Boersma, Liesbeth; Valentini, Vincenzo; Dekker, Andre

2013-01-01

Purpose: An overview of the Rapid Learning methodology, its results, and the potential impact on radiotherapy. Material and results: Rapid Learning methodology is divided into four phases. In the data phase, diverse data are collected about past patients, treatments used, and outcomes. Innovative information technologies that support semantic interoperability enable distributed learning and data sharing without additional burden on health care professionals and without the need for data to leave the hospital. In the knowledge phase, prediction models are developed for new data and treatment outcomes by applying machine learning methods to data. In the application phase, this knowledge is applied in clinical practice via novel decision support systems or via extensions of existing models such as Tumour Control Probability models. In the evaluation phase, the predictability of treatment outcomes allows the new knowledge to be evaluated by comparing predicted and actual outcomes. Conclusion: Personalised or tailored cancer therapy ensures not only that patients receive an optimal treatment, but also that the right resources are being used for the right patients. Rapid Learning approaches combined with evidence based medicine are expected to improve the predictability of outcome and radiotherapy is the ideal field to study the value of Rapid Learning. The next step will be to include patient preferences in the decision making

Pandemic influenza preparedness and health systems challenges in Asia: results from rapid analyses in 6 Asian countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putthasri Weerasak

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since 2003, Asia-Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia, has received substantial attention because of the anticipation that it could be the epicentre of the next pandemic. There has been active investment but earlier review of pandemic preparedness plans in the region reveals that the translation of these strategic plans into operational plans is still lacking in some countries particularly those with low resources. The objective of this study is to understand the pandemic preparedness programmes, the health systems context, and challenges and constraints specific to the six Asian countries namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Taiwan, Thailand, and Viet Nam in the prepandemic phase before the start of H1N1/2009. Methods The study relied on the Systemic Rapid Assessment (SYSRA toolkit, which evaluates priority disease programmes by taking into account the programmes, the general health system, and the wider socio-cultural and political context. The components under review were: external context; stewardship and organisational arrangements; financing, resource generation and allocation; healthcare provision; and information systems. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in the second half of 2008 based on a review of published data and interviews with key informants, exploring past and current patterns of health programme and pandemic response. Results The study shows that health systems in the six countries varied in regard to the epidemiological context, health care financing, and health service provision patterns. For pandemic preparation, all six countries have developed national governance on pandemic preparedness as well as national pandemic influenza preparedness plans and Avian and Human Influenza (AHI response plans. However, the governance arrangements and the nature of the plans differed. In the five developing countries, the focus was on surveillance and rapid containment of poultry related transmission

Early retiree and near-elderly health insurance in recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Elise; Hertel-Fernandez, Alexander

2010-04-01

This paper examines recent trends in health insurance cost and coverage for the near-elderly population (aged 55 to 64), with particular attention directed toward the implications of the 2007 recession. We examine coverage by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics from the Current Population Survey and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We also estimate the effects of projected increases in the unemployment rate for employer-sponsored insurance coverage of the near elderly in 2009 and 2010. Erosion in coverage is likely to be exacerbated in the short run by the 2007 recession, given rapidly rising unemployment among this age cohort, and in the long-run, given the inability of the labor market to support increased labor market participation of older Americans in jobs that would have traditionally provided health insurance coverage.

On Capillary Rise and Nucleation

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, R.

2008-01-01

A comparison of capillary rise and nucleation is presented. It is shown that both phenomena result from a balance between two competing energy factors: a volume energy and a surface energy. Such a comparison may help to introduce nucleation with a topic familiar to the students, capillary rise. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

Evidence for coral island formation during rising sea level in the central Pacific Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Kench, Paul S.; Owen, Susan D.; Ford, Murray R.

2014-02-01

The timing and evolution of Jabat Island, Marshall Islands, was investigated using morphostratigraphic analysis and radiometric dating. Results show the first evidence of island building in the Pacific during latter stages of Holocene sea level rise. A three-phase model of development of Jabat is presented. Initially, rapid accumulation of coarse sediments on Jabat occurred 4800-4000 years B.P. across a reef flat higher than present level, as sea level continued to rise. During the highstand, island margins and particularly the western margin accreted vertically to 2.5-3.0 m above contemporary ridge elevations. This accumulation phase was dominated by sand-size sediments. Phase three involved deposition of gravel ridges on the northern reef, as sea level fell to present position. Jabat has remained geomorphically stable for the past 2000 years. Findings suggest reef platforms may accommodate the oldest reef islands in atoll systems, which may have profound implications for questions of prehistoric migration through Pacific archipelagos.

Using rapid assessment and response to operationalise physical activity strategic health communication campaigns in Tonga.

Science.gov (United States)

Turk, Tahir; Latu, Netina; Cocker-Palu, Elizabeth; Liavaa, Villiami; Vivili, Paul; Gloede, Sara; Simons, Allison

2013-04-01

The aim of the present study was to identify stakeholder and program beneficiary needs and wants in relation to a netball communication strategy in Tonga. In addition, the study aimed to more clearly identify audience segments for targeting of communication campaigns and to identify any barriers or benefits to engaging in the physical activity program. A rapid assessment and response (RAR) methodology was used. The elicitation research encompassed qualitative fieldwork approaches, including semistructured interviews with key informants and focus group discussions with program beneficiaries. Desk research of secondary data sources supported in-field findings. A number of potential barriers to behavioural compliance existed, including cultural factors, gender discrimination, socioeconomic factors, stigmatising attitudes, the threat of domestic violence, infrastructure and training issues. Factors contributing to participation in physical activity included the fun and social aspects of the sport, incentives (including career opportunities, highlighting the health benefits of the activity and the provision of religious and cultural sanctions by local leaders towards the increased physical activity of women. The consultative approach of RAR provided a more in-depth understanding of the need for greater levels of physical activity and opportunities for engagement by all stakeholders. The approach facilitated opportunities for the proposed health behaviours to be realised through the communication strategy. Essential insights for the strategy design were identified from key informants, as well as ensuring future engagement of these stakeholders into the strategy. So what? The expanded use of RAR to inform the design of social marketing interventions is a practical approach to data collection for non-communicable diseases and other health issues in developing countries. The approach allows for the rapid mobilisation of scarce resources for the implementation of more

Rapid instrumental detection and quantification of counterfeit pharmaceutical tablet formulations

OpenAIRE

Ogwu, John; Lawson, Graham; Tanna, Sangeeta

2015-01-01

From therapeutic to lifestyle medicines, the counterfeiting of medicines has been on the rise in recent times. Estimates indicate that about 10% of medicines worldwide are counterfeits with much higher figures in developing countries. Currently, identifying counterfeit medicines at the point of care is a challenge leaving many patients at risk. This study considered the potential use of Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) in rapid quantitative analy...

The rise of metal radionuclides in medical imaging: copper-64, zirconium-89 and yttrium-86.

Science.gov (United States)

Ikotun, Oluwatayo F; Lapi, Suzanne E

2011-04-01

Positron emission tomography, with its high sensitivity and resolution, is growing rapidly as an imaging technology for the diagnosis of many disease states. The success of this modality is reliant on instrumentation and the development of effective and novel targeted probes. Initially, research in this area was focused on what we will define in this article as 'standard' PET isotopes (carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and fluorine-18), but the short half-lives of these isotopes limit radiopharmaceutical development to those that probe rapid biological processes. To overcome these limitations, there has been a rise in nonstandard isotope probe development in recent years. This review focuses on the biological probes and processes that have been examined, in additiom to the preclinical and clinical findings with nonstandard radiometals: copper-64, zirconium-89, and yttrium-86.

Strategic advantages of high-rise construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaskova Natalya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional methods to assess the competitiveness of different types of real estate in the context of huge changes of new technological way of life don’t provide building solutions that would be correct from a strategic perspective. There are many challenges due to changes in the consumers’ behavior in the housing area. A multiplicity of life models, a variety of opportunities and priorities, traditions and new trends in construction should be assessed in terms of prospective benefits in the environment of the emerging new world order. At the same time, the mane discourse of high-rise construction mainly relates to its design features, technical innovations, and architectural accents. We need to clarify the criteria for economic evaluation of high-rise construction in order to provide decisions with clear and quantifiable contexts. The suggested approach to assessing the strategic advantage of high-rise construction and the prospects for capitalization of high-rise buildings poses new challenges for the economy to identify adequate quantitative assessment methods of the high-rise buildings economic efficiency, taking into account all stages of their life cycle.

Strategic advantages of high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Yaskova, Natalya

2018-03-01

Traditional methods to assess the competitiveness of different types of real estate in the context of huge changes of new technological way of life don't provide building solutions that would be correct from a strategic perspective. There are many challenges due to changes in the consumers' behavior in the housing area. A multiplicity of life models, a variety of opportunities and priorities, traditions and new trends in construction should be assessed in terms of prospective benefits in the environment of the emerging new world order. At the same time, the mane discourse of high-rise construction mainly relates to its design features, technical innovations, and architectural accents. We need to clarify the criteria for economic evaluation of high-rise construction in order to provide decisions with clear and quantifiable contexts. The suggested approach to assessing the strategic advantage of high-rise construction and the prospects for capitalization of high-rise buildings poses new challenges for the economy to identify adequate quantitative assessment methods of the high-rise buildings economic efficiency, taking into account all stages of their life cycle.

A rapid appraisal of the status of mental health support in post-rape care services in the Western Cape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naeemah Abrahams

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Despite the well-known impact of rape on mental health and the widespread problem of rape in South Africa, mental health services for rape victims are scant and not a priority for acute-phase services. Survivors encounter multiple mental health struggles in this period including adherence to the post-exposure prophylaxis drugs to prevent HIV and finding support from important others. We have little information on what mental health is provided, by whom and how it is integrated into the post-rape package of care. Aim: The aim of the study was to do a rapid appraisal of mental health services for rape survivors to gain a better understanding of the current acute and long-term (secondary mental health services. Method: We conducted a qualitative study using a rapid assessment with a purposive sample of 14 rape survivors and 43 service providers recruited from post-rape sexual assault services in urban and rural Western Cape Province. Data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews and observations of survivor sessions with counsellors, nurses and doctors. The data were coded thematically for analysis. Results: Survivors of rape experienced a range of emotional difficulties and presented varying levels of distress and various levels of coping. Receiving support and care from others assisted them, but the poor integration of mental health within post-rape services meant few received formal mental health support or effective referrals. Multiple factors contributed to the poor integration: mental health was not given the same level of priority as other rape services (i.e. clinical care, including forensic management, the inadequate capacity of service providers to provide mental healthcare, including mental health illiteracy, the lack of continuity of care, the poor linkages to ongoing mental healthcare, and the mental health challenges caused by vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue. Conclusion: Providing effective

Effects of Sea Level Rise on Groundwater Flow Paths in a Coastal Aquifer System

Science.gov (United States)

Morrissey, S. K.; Clark, J. F.; Bennett, M. W.; Richardson, E.; Stute, M.

2008-05-01

Changes in groundwater flow in the Floridan aquifer system, South Florida, from the rise in sea level at the end of the last glacial period may be indicative of changes coastal aquifers will experience with continued sea level rise. As sea level rises, the hydraulic head near the coast increases. Coastal aquifers can therefore experience decreased groundwater gradients (increased residence times) and seawater intrusion. Stable isotopes of water, dissolved noble gas temperatures, radiocarbon and He concentrations were analyzed in water collected from 68 wells in the Floridan aquifer system throughout South Florida. Near the recharge area, geochemical data along groundwater flow paths in the Upper Floridan aquifer show a transition from recently recharged groundwater to glacial-aged water. Down gradient from this transition, little variation is apparent in the stable isotopes and noble gas recharge temperatures, indicating that most of the Upper Floridan aquifer contains groundwater recharged during the last glacial period. The rapid 120-meter rise in sea level marking the end of the last glacial period increased the hydraulic head in the Floridan aquifer system near the coast, slowing the flow of groundwater from the recharge area to the ocean and trapping glacial-aged groundwater. The raised sea level also flooded half of the Florida platform and caused seawater to intrude into the Lower Floridan. This circulation of seawater in the Lower Floridan continues today as our data indicate that the groundwater is similar to modern seawater with a freshwater component entering vertically from the recharge area to the Upper Floridan.

Modeling the Effects of Sea-Level Rise on Groundwater Levels in Coastal New Hampshire

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, J. M.; Knott, J. F.; Daniel, J.; Kirshen, P. H.

2017-12-01

Coastal communities with high population density and low topography are vulnerable from sea-level rise (SLR) caused by climate change. Groundwater in coastal communities will rise with sea level impacting water quality, the structural integrity of infrastructure, and natural ecosystem health. SLR-induced groundwater rise has been studied in areas of high aquifer transmissivity and in low-lying areas immediately along the coast. In this regional study, we investigate SLR-induced groundwater rise in a coastal area characterized by shallow unconsolidated deposits overlying fractured bedrock, typical of the glaciated northeast United States. MODFLOW, a numerical groundwater-flow model, is used with groundwater observations, lidar topography, surface-water hydrology, and groundwater withdrawals to investigate SLR-induced changes in groundwater levels and vadose-zone thickness in New Hampshire's Seacoast. The SLR groundwater signal is detected up to 5 km from the coast, more than 3 times farther inland than projected surface-water flooding associated with SLR. Relative groundwater rise ranges from 38 to 98% of SLR within 1 km of the shoreline and drops below 4% between 4 and 5 km from the coast. The largest magnitude of SLR-induced groundwater rise occurs in the marine and estuarine deposits and land areas with tidal water bodies on three sides. In contrast, groundwater rise is dampened near streams. Groundwater inundation caused by 2 m of SLR is projected to contribute 48% of the total land inundation area in the City of Portsmouth with consequences for built and natural resources. Freshwater wetlands are projected to expand 3% by year 2030 increasing to 25% by year 2100 coupled with water-depth increases. These results imply that underground infrastructure and natural resources in coastal communities will be impacted by rising groundwater much farther inland than previously thought when considering only surface-water flooding from SLR.

A next generation Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO-100) for IR/optical observations of the rise phase of gamma-ray bursts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grossan, B.; Park, I.H.; Ahmad, S.

2012-01-01

generation of rapid-response space observatory instruments. We list science topics motivating ourinstruments, those that require rapid optical-IR GRB response, including: A survey of GRB rise shapes/times,measurements of optical bulk Lorentz factors, investigation of magnetic dominated (vs. non-magnetic) jet...... for a next generation space observatory as a secondinstrument on a low-earth orbit spacecraft, with a 120 kg instrument mass budget. Restricted to relatively modest mass,power, and launch resources, we find that a coded mask X-ray camera with 1024 cm2 of detector area could rapidlylocate about 64...

Can mobile phone technology support a rapid sharing of information on novel psychoactive substances among health and other professionals internationally?

Science.gov (United States)

Simonato, Pierluigi; Bersani, Francesco S; Santacroce, Rita; Cinosi, Eduardo; Schifano, Fabrizio; Bersani, Giuseppe; Martinotti, Giovanni; Corazza, Ornella

2017-05-01

The diffusion of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs), combined with the ability of the Internet to act as an online marketplace, has led to unprecedented challenges for governments, health agencies, and substance misuse services. Despite increasing research, there is a paucity of reliable information available to professionals working in the field. The paper will present the pilot results of the first mobile application (SMAIL) for rapid information sharing on NPSs among health professionals. The development of SMAIL was divided into 2 parts: (a) the creation of the application for registered users, enabling them to send an SMS or email with the name or "street name" of an NPS and receive within seconds emails or SMS with the information, when available and (b) the development of a database to support the incoming requests. One hundred twenty-two professionals based in 22 countries used the service over the pilot period of 16 months (from May 2012 to September 2013). Five hundred fifty-seven enquires were made. Users received rapid information on NPSs, and 61% of them rated the service as excellent. This is the right time to use mobile phone technologies for rapid information sharing and prevention activities on NPSs. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gambling and the Health of the Public: Adopting a Public Health Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Korn, David A.; Shaffer, Howard J.

1999-01-01

During the last decade there has been an unprecedented expansion of legalized gambling throughout North America. Three primary forces appear to be motivating this growth: (1) the desire of governments to identify new sources of revenue without invoking new or higher taxes; (2) tourism entrepreneurs developing new destinations for entertainment and leisure; and (3) the rise of new technologies and forms of gambling (e.g., video lottery terminals, powerball mega-lotteries, and computer offshore gambling). Associated with this phenomenon, there has been an increase in the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling among the general adult population, as well as a sustained high level of gambling-related problems among youth. To date there has been little dialogue within the public health sector in particular, or among health care practitioners in general, about the potential health impact of gambling or gambling-related problems. This article encourages the adoption of a public health perspective towards gambling. More specifically, this discussion has four primary objectives:1. Create awareness among health professionals about gambling, its rapid expansion and its relationship with the health care system;2. Place gambling within a public health framework by examining it from several perspectives, including population health, human ecology and addictive behaviors;3. Outline the major public health issues about how gambling can affect individuals, families and communities;4. Propose an agenda for strengthening policy, prevention and treatment practices through greater public health involvement, using the framework of The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion as a guide.By understanding gambling and its potential impacts on the public's health, policy makers and health practitioners can minimize gambling's negative impacts and appreciate its potential benefits.

Populism, Exclusion, Post-truth. Some Conceptual Caveats Comment on "The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy".

Science.gov (United States)

De Cleen, Benjamin

2017-07-15

In their editorial, Speed and Mannion identify two main challenges "the rise of post-truth populism" poses for health policy: the populist threat to inclusive healthcare policies, and the populist threat to well-designed health policies that draw on professional expertise and research evidence. This short comment suggests some conceptual clarifications that might help in thinking through more profoundly these two important issues. It argues that we should approach right-wing populism as a combination of a populist down/up (people/elite) axis with an exclusionary nationalist in/out (member/non-member) axis. And it raises some questions regarding the equation between populism, demagogy and the rejection of expertise and scientific knowledge. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The assessment of waters ecological state of the Crimea coastal near high-rise construction zones

Science.gov (United States)

Vetrova, Natalya; Ivanenko, Tatyana; Mannanov, Emran

2018-03-01

The relevance of our study is determined by the significant level of coastal sea waters pollution by sewage near high-rise construction zones, which determines the violation of the sanitary and hygienic of sea waters `characteristics and limits the possibilities for organizing recreational activities. The purpose of this study is to identify the ecological state of the marine aquatic area by the example of the Western Crimea near high-rise construction zones. The studies confirmed that the recreational and coastal area wastewater is intensely mixed with seawater, as a result, the pollution in the coastal strip of the sea in the area of deep water discharges sharply decrease. This happens because of water rapid rise to the surface and under the influence of the continuous movement of sea water huge masses with deep-water discharge, fresh wastewater is actively mixed with sea water. However, with no doubt, it is inadmissible to discharge sewage into the sea directly from the shore, but only at the estimated distance from the coast. The materials of the article can be useful for the management bodies and organizations involved in monitoring the quality of the coastal zone of the sea, teachers and students of higher educational institutions when assessing the ecological situation of the territories.

COMMUNITY HEALTH & PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

African Journals Online (AJOL)

adedamla

enrol in an insurance scheme feeling that they need more information on health insurance and the willingness to enrol in a ... and utilize the benefits of different types of health insurance services. Conclusion: The findings ..... improvements in access and quality of care, and the ... the 'rising tide' of and information technology.

Measuring Sea Level Rise-Induced Shoreline Changes and Inundation in Real Time

Science.gov (United States)

Shilling, F.; Waetjen, D.; Grijalva, E.

2016-12-01

We describe a method to monitor shoreline inundation and changes in response to sea level rise (SLR) using a network of time-lapse cameras. We found for coastal tidal marshes that this method was sensitive to vertical changes in sea level of 20 cm has occurred in the San Francisco Bay and other US coastal areas and is likely to rise by another 30-45 cm by mid-century, which will flood and erode many coastal ecosystems, highways, and urban areas. This rapid degree of rise means that it is imperative to co-plan for natural and built systems. Many public facilities are adjacent to shoreline ecosystems, which both protect infrastructure from wave and tide energy and are home to regulated species and habitats. Accurate and timely information about the actual extent of SLR impacts to shorelines will be critical during built-system adaptation. Currently, satellite-sourced imagery cannot provide the spatial or temporal resolution necessary to investigate fine-scale shoreline changes, leaving a gap between predictive models and knowing how, where and when these changes are occurring. The method described is feasible for near-term (1 to 10 years) to long-term application and can be used for measuring fine-resolution shoreline changes (organize photographs that could be combined with related external data (e.g., gauged water levels) to create an information mashup. This information could be used to validate models predicting shoreline inundation and loss, inform SLR-adaptation planning, and to visualize SLR impacts to the public.

Behavior of pressure rise and condensation caused by water evaporation under vacuum at high temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takase, Kazuyuki; Kunugi, Tomoaki; Yamazaki, Seiichiro; Fujii, Sadao

1998-01-01

Pressure rise and condensation characteristics during the ingress-of-coolant event (ICE) in fusion reactors were investigated using the preliminary ICE apparatus with a vacuum vessel (VV), an additional tank (AT) and an isolation valve (IV). A surface of the AT was cooled by water at RT. The high temperature and pressure water was injected into the VV which was heated up to 250degC and pressure and temperature transients in the VV were measured. The pressure increased rapidly with an injection time of the water because of the water evaporation. After the IV was opened and the VV was connected with the AT, the pressure in the VV decreased suddenly. From a series of the experiments, it was confirmed that control factors on the pressure rise were the flushing evaporation and boiling heat transfer in the VV, and then, condensation of the vapor after was effective to the depressurization in the VV. (author)

Coastal Marsh Longevity, Ecological Succession, and Organic Carbon Dynamics During Early Holocene Sea-Level Rise

Science.gov (United States)

Vetter, L.; Schreiner, K. M.; Rosenheim, B. E.; Tornqvist, T. E.

2016-02-01

Coastal marsh environments perform essential ecosystem services, including nutrient filtering, soil organic matter storage, and storm surge abatement, yet much is still unknown about their formation and fate under periods of sea-level change. During the early Holocene (7-10 ka), rapid sea-level rise in coastal Louisiana was one of the primary controls over marsh development and longevity. Here, we investigate plant community composition and succession and soil organic matter storage in early Holocene coastal marshes in Louisiana using bulk elemental ratios, lignin phenol biomarkers and stable isotopes from peat layers. Sediment cores were collected in southeastern Louisiana and contain a record of an early Holocene transgressive sea-level sequence 16-25 m below present sea-level. The sedimentary record consists of an immature paleosol overlain by basal peat that accumulated in an estuarine marsh, overlain by marine lagoonal muds. A re-established marsh peat is present 1-4 m above the initial transition to marine conditions, indicating a sequence of marsh development, sea-level rise and onset of marine conditions, and then further marsh development as the rate of relative sea-level rise decelerated. Plant community composition in coastal marshes was determined through cupric oxide oxidation and lignin-phenol and non-lignin-phenol biomarker abundances. The degradation state of soil organic matter and the specific source of stabilized organic matter within the sedimentary peats were determined through lignin-phenol biomarker ratios. Organic matter sources ranged from terrestrial to marine over the course of sea-level rise, and different sites showed different amounts of marine organic matter influence and different levels of terrestrial organic matter degradation. These results have important implications for reconstructing the response of coastal marshes and their plant communities to accelerated rates of sea-level rise projected through 2100.

Estimating Areas of Vulnerability: Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Hazards in the National Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Caffrey, M.; Beavers, R. L.; Slayton, I. A.

2013-12-01

The University of Colorado Boulder in collaboration with the National Park Service has undertaken the task of compiling sea level change and storm surge data for 105 coastal parks. The aim of our research is to highlight areas of the park system that are at increased risk of rapid inundation as well as periodic flooding due to sea level rise and storms. This research will assist park managers and planners in adapting to climate change. The National Park Service incorporates climate change data into many of their planning documents and is willing to implement innovative coastal adaptation strategies. Events such as Hurricane Sandy highlight how impacts of coastal hazards will continue to challenge management of natural and cultural resources and infrastructure along our coastlines. This poster will discuss the current status of this project. We discuss the impacts of Hurricane Sandy as well as the latest sea level rise and storm surge modeling being employed in this project. In addition to evaluating various drivers of relative sea-level change, we discuss how park planners and managers also need to consider projected storm surge values added to sea-level rise magnitudes, which could further complicate the management of coastal lands. Storm surges occurring at coastal parks will continue to change the land and seascapes of these areas, with the potential to completely submerge them. The likelihood of increased storm intensity added to increasing rates of sea-level rise make predicting the reach of future storm surges essential for planning and adaptation purposes. The National Park Service plays a leading role in developing innovative strategies for coastal parks to adapt to sea-level rise and storm surge, whilst coastal storms are opportunities to apply highly focused responses.

Rising Long-term Interest Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallett, Andrew Hughes

Rather than chronicle recent developments in European long-term interest rates as such, this paper assesses the impact of increases in those interest rates on economic performance and inflation. That puts us in a position to evaluate the economic pressures for further rises in those rates......, the first question posed in this assignment, and the scope for overshooting (the second question), and then make some illustrative predictions of future interest rates in the euro area. We find a wide range of effects from rising interest rates, mostly small and mostly negative, focused on investment...... till the emerging European recovery is on a firmer basis and capable of overcoming increases in the cost of borrowing and shrinking fiscal space. There is also an implication that worries about rising/overshooting interest rates often reflect the fact that inflation risks are unequally distributed...

SELF-PERCEIVED HEALTH OF THE ELDERLY: ECONOMIC AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC INEQUALITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga GAGAUZ,

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Given the rapid increase in the number and share of the elderly in the total population, good healthand healthy ageing are an important factor in the socio-economic development of ageing societies. Selfperceivedhealth is one of the most important health and well-being indicators. The article presents theresults of research on self-perceived elderly health based on data from "Household Budget Survey" for2006-2015 (NBS. The study reveals a slow increase in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, as wellas time spent in good health. The life expectancy without chronic illness is lower than healthy lifeexpectancy. There is a positive rise in the self-assessment of the elderly for both sexes and at different agesafter 60 years. The regression analysis of factors influencing self-perceived health (age, sex, education level,welfare level, degree of disability and civil status, demonstrates that among the most important factors withwhich self-responding health is associated, as bad and very bad were highlighted the low level of educationand material welfare, as well as the presence of behavioural vices (smoking.

Short Lived Climate Pollutants cause a Long Lived Effect on Sea-level Rise: Analyzing climate metrics for sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Sterner, E.; Johansson, D. J.

2013-12-01

utilizes an upwelling diffusion energy balance model and focuses on the thermosteric part of sea-level rise. Example GSP results are 244, 15 and 278 for BC, CH4 and N2O for a time horizon of 100 years. Compare GWP and GTP values of 405, 24 and 288 as well as 62, 4.5 and 252. The main result of the study is that no climate forcer is in any absolute sense short lived when it comes to Sea Level impacts. All of the examined climate forcers have considerable influence on the thermosteric SLR, and the closely linked ocean heat content, on the time scale of centuries. The reason for this is that heat, once it has been induced by the climate drivers and warmed the surface ocean, is transported down into the slowly mixing oceans. References: Shindell, D. et al. Simultaneously mitigating near-term climate change and improving human health and food security. Science 335, 183-189 (2012). Bond, T. C. et al. Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific assessment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 118 5380-5552 (2013). Hu, A., Xu, Y., Tebaldi, C., Washington, W. M. & Ramanathan, V. Mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants slows sea-level rise. Nature Climate Change 3, 730-734 (2013).

Socioeconomic differences in health expectancy in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik

2000-01-01

Social differences in mortality rates reported in Denmark gave rise to the present study of health expectancy in different socioeconomic groups.......Social differences in mortality rates reported in Denmark gave rise to the present study of health expectancy in different socioeconomic groups....

Mobile mental health: a challenging research agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Olff, Miranda

2015-01-01

The field of mobile health ("m-Health") is evolving rapidly and there is an explosive growth of psychological tools on the market. Exciting high-tech developments may identify symptoms, help individuals manage their own mental health, encourage help seeking, and provide both preventive and therapeutic interventions. This development has the potential to be an efficient cost-effective approach reducing waiting lists and serving a considerable portion of people globally ("g-Health"). However, few of the mobile applications (apps) have been rigorously evaluated. There is little information on how valid screening and assessment tools are, which of the mobile intervention apps are effective, or how well mobile apps compare to face-to-face treatments. But how feasible is rigorous scientific evaluation with the rising demands from policy makers, business partners, and users for their quick release? In this paper, developments in m-Health tools-targeting screening, assessment, prevention, and treatment-are reviewed with examples from the field of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. The academic challenges in developing and evaluating m-Health tools are being addressed. Evidence-based guidance is needed on appropriate research designs that may overcome some of the public and ethical challenges (e.g., equity, availability) and the market-driven wish to have mobile apps in the "App Store" yesterday rather than tomorrow.

Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL(©)): streamlining the systematic review process and creating utility for evidence-based health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Cindy; Boyd, Courtney; Jain, Shamini; Khorsan, Raheleh; Jonas, Wayne

2015-11-02

Systematic reviews (SRs) are widely recognized as the best means of synthesizing clinical research. However, traditional approaches can be costly and time-consuming and can be subject to selection and judgment bias. It can also be difficult to interpret the results of a SR in a meaningful way in order to make research recommendations, clinical or policy decisions, or practice guidelines. Samueli Institute has developed the Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL) SR process to address these issues. REAL provides up-to-date, rigorous, high quality SR information on health care practices, products, or programs in a streamlined, efficient and reliable manner. This process is a component of the Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH™) program developed by Samueli Institute, which aims at answering the question of "What works?" in health care. The REAL process (1) tailors a standardized search strategy to a specific and relevant research question developed with various stakeholders to survey the available literature; (2) evaluates the quantity and quality of the literature using structured tools and rulebooks to ensure objectivity, reliability and reproducibility of reviewer ratings in an independent fashion and; (3) obtains formalized, balanced input from trained subject matter experts on the implications of the evidence for future research and current practice. Online tools and quality assurance processes are utilized for each step of the review to ensure a rapid, rigorous, reliable, transparent and reproducible SR process. The REAL is a rapid SR process developed to streamline and aid in the rigorous and reliable evaluation and review of claims in health care in order to make evidence-based, informed decisions, and has been used by a variety of organizations aiming to gain insight into "what works" in health care. Using the REAL system allows for the facilitation of recommendations on appropriate next steps in policy, funding

Prevention device for rapid reactor core shutdown in BWR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koshi, Yuji; Karatsu, Hiroyuki.

1986-01-01

Purpose: To surely prevent rapid shutdown of a nuclear reactor upon partial load interruption due to rapid increase in the system frequency. Constitution: If a partial load interruption greater than the sum of the turbine by-pass valve capacity and the load setting bias portion is applied in a BWR type power plant, the amount of main steams issued from the reactor is decreased, the thermal input/output balance of the reactor is lost, the reactor pressure is increased, the void is collapsed, the neutron fluxes are increased and the reactor power rises to generate rapid reactor shutdown. In view of the above, the turbine speed signal is compared with a speed setting value in a recycling flowrate control device and the recycling pump is controlled to decrease the recycling flowrate in order to compensate the increase in the neutron fluxes accompanying the reactor power up. In this way, transient changes in the reactor core pressure and the neutron fluxes are kept within a setting point for the rapid reactor shutdown operation thereby enabling to continue the plant operation. (Horiuchi, T.)

Addressing Barriers to the Development and Adoption of Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Global Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Miller

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs have demonstrated significant potential for use as point-of- care diagnostic tests in resource-limited settings. Most notably, RDTs for malaria have reached an unparalleled level of technological maturity and market penetration, and are now considered an important complement to standard microscopic methods of malaria diagnosis. However, the technical development of RDTs for other infectious diseases, and their uptake within the global health community as a core diagnostic modality, has been hindered by a number of extant challenges. These range from technical and biological issues, such as the need for better affinity agents and biomarkers of disease, to social, infrastructural, regulatory and economic barriers, which have all served to slow their adoption and diminish their impact. In order for the immunochromatographic RDT format to be successfully adapted to other disease targets, to see widespread distribution, and to improve clinical outcomes for patients on a global scale, these challenges must be identified and addressed, and the global health community must be engaged in championing the broader use of RDTs.

Addressing Barriers to the Development and Adoption of Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Global Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Miller

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs have demonstrated significant potential for use as point-of-care diagnostic tests in resource-limited settings. Most notably, RDTs for malaria have reached an unparalleled level of technological maturity and market penetration, and are now considered an important complement to standard microscopic methods of malaria diagnosis. However, the technical development of RDTs for other infectious diseases, and their uptake within the global health community as a core diagnostic modality, has been hindered by a number of extant challenges. These range from technical and biological issues, such as the need for better affinity agents and biomarkers of disease, to social, infrastructural, regulatory and economic barriers, which have all served to slow their adoption and diminish their impact. In order for the immunochromatographic RDT format to be successfully adapted to other disease targets, to see widespread distribution, and to improve clinical outcomes for patients on a global scale, these challenges must be identified and addressed, and the global health community must be engaged in championing the broader use of RDTs.

Addressing Barriers to the Development and Adoption of Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Global Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Eric; Sikes, Hadley D

Immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have demonstrated significant potential for use as point-of-care diagnostic tests in resource-limited settings. Most notably, RDTs for malaria have reached an unparalleled level of technological maturity and market penetration, and are now considered an important complement to standard microscopic methods of malaria diagnosis. However, the technical development of RDTs for other infectious diseases, and their uptake within the global health community as a core diagnostic modality, has been hindered by a number of extant challenges. These range from technical and biological issues, such as the need for better affinity agents and biomarkers of disease, to social, infrastructural, regulatory and economic barriers, which have all served to slow their adoption and diminish their impact. In order for the immunochromatographic RDT format to be successfully adapted to other disease targets, to see widespread distribution, and to improve clinical outcomes for patients on a global scale, these challenges must be identified and addressed, and the global health community must be engaged in championing the broader use of RDTs.

Rapid health assessments of evacuation centres in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth Alma Ramos

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Typhoon Haiyan caused thousands of deaths and catastrophic destruction, leaving many homeless in Region 8 of the Philippines. A team from the Philippine Field Epidemiology Training Program conducted a rapid health assessment survey of evacuation centres severely affected by Haiyan. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted whereby a convenience sample of evacuation centres were assessed on the number of toilets per evacuee, sanitation, drinking-water, food supply source and medical services. Results: Of the 20 evacuation centres assessed, none had a designated manager. Most were located in schools (70% with the estimated number of evacuees ranging from 15 to 5000 per centre. Only four (20% met the World Health Organization standard for number of toilets per evacuee; none of the large evacuation centres had even half the recommended number of toilets. All of the evacuation centres had available drinking-water. None of the evacuation centres had garbage collection, vector control activities or standby medical teams. Fourteen (70% evacuation centres had onsite vaccination activities for measles, tetanus and polio virus. Many evacuation centres were overcrowded. Conclusion: Evacuation centres are needed in almost every disaster. They should be safely located and equipped with the required amenities. In disaster-prone areas such as the Philippines, schools and community centres should not be designated as evacuation centres unless they are equipped with adequate sanitation services.

The Rise of the Professional Field of Medicine in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carina Carlhed

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article is an analysis of conditions enabling the rise of the professional field of medicine in Sweden. The analysis is based mainly on second- ary data, while the use of primary data is restricted to official statistics. Primarily, it aims to study the conditions promoting professionalization in medicine. Important exogenous conditions were derived from early emerging nation state administration structures concerning policy and governance of public health, as well as a delegated supervision of professional health activities to the medical profession and the organization of a public national health care system. Professionalization strategies such as social organization of the medical profession and their use of a variety of legitimizing resources as tools for jurisdictional claims are considered as endogenous conditions. Broadly, the analysis shows a close relationship between the growth of professionalization in the field of medicine and the development of state prosperity in the Swedish welfare state. 

This Is My (Post) Truth, Tell Me Yours Comment on "The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy".

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Martin

2017-05-15

This is a commentary on the article 'The rise of post-truth populism in pluralist liberal democracies: challenges for health policy.' It critically examines two of its key concepts: populism and 'post truth.' This commentary argues that there are different types of populism, with unclear links to impacts, and that in some ways, 'post-truth' has resonances with arguments advanced in the period at the beginning of the British National Health Service (NHS). In short, 'post-truth' populism' may be 'déjà vu all over again,' and there are multiple (post) truths: this is my (post) truth, tell me yours. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Rising natural gas prices : impacts on U.S. industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henry, D.

2005-01-01

The impact of rising natural gas prices on the United States economy and domestic industries was examined in this PowerPoint presentation. Industry comments were solicited on the effects of natural gas prices on their business performance from 2000 to 2004 in order to collect data, and macroeconomic impacts were determined through the use of an inter-industry model. Results of the survey and subsequent model suggested that in 2000 and 2001, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was depressed by 0.2 per cent because of higher natural gas prices. Between 2000 and 2004, the civilian workforce was lower by 489,000 jobs. It was determined that nitrogenous fertilizer manufacturing was the most gas intensive industry. The results indicated that higher natural gas prices were an additional burden on manufacturing industries, and that the economic performance of natural gas intensive industries was poor between 2000-2004. However, it was just as poor between 1997-2000, when gas prices were relatively low and stable. Natural gas intensive industries passed along price increases in their products to their downstream consumers. Despite job losses, wages in natural gas intensive industries were higher and grew faster than in the rest of the manufacturing industry in the 2000-2004 period. Although capital expenditures declined between 2000 to 2004, they declined more rapidly in the 1997-2000 period. There has been no evidence of a decline in international competitiveness of natural gas intensive industries. It was concluded that rising natural gas prices have had a significant impact on the growth of the economy and workforce. tabs., figs

The rise of artificial intelligence and the uncertain future for physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Krittanawong, C

2018-02-01

Physicians in everyday clinical practice are under pressure to innovate faster than ever because of the rapid, exponential growth in healthcare data. "Big data" refers to extremely large data sets that cannot be analyzed or interpreted using traditional data processing methods. In fact, big data itself is meaningless, but processing it offers the promise of unlocking novel insights and accelerating breakthroughs in medicine-which in turn has the potential to transform current clinical practice. Physicians can analyze big data, but at present it requires a large amount of time and sophisticated analytic tools such as supercomputers. However, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in the era of big data could assist physicians in shortening processing times and improving the quality of patient care in clinical practice. This editorial provides a glimpse at the potential uses of AI technology in clinical practice and considers the possibility of AI replacing physicians, perhaps altogether. Physicians diagnose diseases based on personal medical histories, individual biomarkers, simple scores (e.g., CURB-65, MELD), and their physical examinations of individual patients. In contrast, AI can diagnose diseases based on a complex algorithm using hundreds of biomarkers, imaging results from millions of patients, aggregated published clinical research from PubMed, and thousands of physician's notes from electronic health records (EHRs). While AI could assist physicians in many ways, it is unlikely to replace physicians in the foreseeable future. Let us look at the emerging uses of AI in medicine. Copyright © 2017 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Disposal of Kitchen Waste from High Rise Apartment

Science.gov (United States)

Ori, Kirki; Bharti, Ajay; Kumar, Sunil

2017-09-01

The high rise building has numbers of floor and rooms having variety of users or tenants for residential purposes. The huge quantities of heterogenous mixtures of domestic food waste are generated from every floor of the high rise residential buildings. Disposal of wet and biodegradable domestic kitchen waste from high rise buildings are more expensive in regards of collection and vertical transportation. This work is intended to address the technique to dispose of the wet organic food waste from the high rise buildings or multistory building at generation point with the advantage of gravity and vermicomposting technique. This innovative effort for collection and disposal of wet organic solid waste from high rise apartment is more economical and hygienic in comparison with present system of disposal.

Faster Growth of Road Transportation CO2 Emissions in Asia Pacific Economies: Exploring Differences in Trends of the Rapidly Developing and Developed Worlds

Science.gov (United States)

Marcotullio, Peter J.

2006-01-01

Researchers have identified how in some rapidly developing countries, road and aviation transportation CO2 emissions are rising faster (over time) when compared to the experiences of the USA at similar levels of economic development. While suggestive of how experiences of the rapidly developing Asia are different from those of the developed world…

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF BLUE GALAXIES AT REDSHIFTS 0.2 < z < 1.4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacifici, Camilla; Kassin, Susan A.; Gardner, Jonathan P.; Weiner, Benjamin; Charlot, Stéphane

2013-01-01

Popular cosmological scenarios predict that galaxies form hierarchically from the merger of many progenitors, each with their own unique star formation history (SFH). We use a sophisticated approach to constrain the SFHs of 4517 blue (presumably star-forming) galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 0.2 s bands and rest-frame optical emission-line luminosities with those of one million model spectral energy distributions. We explore the dependence of the resulting SFHs on galaxy stellar mass and redshift. We find that the average SFHs of high-mass galaxies rise and fall in a roughly symmetric bell-shaped manner, while those of low-mass galaxies rise progressively in time, consistent with the typically stronger activity of star formation in low-mass compared to high-mass galaxies. For galaxies of all masses, the star formation activity rises more rapidly at high than at low redshift. These findings imply that the standard approximation of exponentially declining SFHs widely used to interpret observed galaxy spectral energy distributions may not be appropriate to constrain the physical parameters of star-forming galaxies at intermediate redshifts.

Assessing health systems for type 1 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: developing a 'Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beran, David; Yudkin, John S; de Courten, Maximilian

2006-01-01

In order to improve the health of people with Type 1 diabetes in developing countries, a clear analysis of the constraints to insulin access and diabetes care is needed. We developed a Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access, comprising a series of questionnaires as well as a protocol...... for the gathering of other data through site visits, discussions, and document reviews....

Trend analysis of modern high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Radushinsky, Dmitry; Gubankov, Andrey; Mottaeva, Asiiat

2018-03-01

The article reviews the main trends of modern high-rise construction considered a number of architectural, engineering and technological, economic and image factors that have influenced the intensification of construction of high-rise buildings in the 21st century. The key factors of modern high-rise construction are identified, which are associated with an attractive image component for businessmen and politicians, with the ability to translate current views on architecture and innovations in construction technologies and the lobbying of relevant structures, as well as the opportunity to serve as an effective driver in the development of a complex of national economy sectors with the achievement of a multiplicative effect. The estimation of the priority nature of participation of foreign architectural bureaus in the design of super-high buildings in Russia at the present stage is given. The issue of economic expediency of construction of high-rise buildings, including those with only a residential function, has been investigated. The connection between the construction of skyscrapers as an important component of the image of cities in the marketing of places and territories, the connection of the availability of a high-rise center, the City, with the possibilities of attracting a "creative class" and the features of creating a large working space for specialists on the basis of territorial proximity and density of high-rise buildings.

Contemporary sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Cazenave, Anny; Llovel, William

2010-01-01

Measuring sea level change and understanding its causes has considerably improved in the recent years, essentially because new in situ and remote sensing observations have become available. Here we report on most recent results on contemporary sea level rise. We first present sea level observations from tide gauges over the twentieth century and from satellite altimetry since the early 1990s. We next discuss the most recent progress made in quantifying the processes causing sea level change on timescales ranging from years to decades, i.e., thermal expansion of the oceans, land ice mass loss, and land water-storage change. We show that for the 1993-2007 time span, the sum of climate-related contributions (2.85 +/- 0.35 mm year(-1)) is only slightly less than altimetry-based sea level rise (3.3 +/- 0.4 mm year(-1)): approximately 30% of the observed rate of rise is due to ocean thermal expansion and approximately 55% results from land ice melt. Recent acceleration in glacier melting and ice mass loss from the ice sheets increases the latter contribution up to 80% for the past five years. We also review the main causes of regional variability in sea level trends: The dominant contribution results from nonuniform changes in ocean thermal expansion.

Early rising children are more active than late risers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Kohyama

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Jun KohyamaDepartment of Pediatrics, Tokyo Kita Shakai Hoken Hospital, Tokyo, JapanBackground: A low level of physical activity impacts mental as well as physical health. This study investigated the daily lifestyle habits that affect physical activity in young children.Methods: The relationship between physical activity, assessed by means of a Mini-Mitter Actiwatch device, and observed daily lifestyle habits was analyzed for 204 children, aged 12 to 40 months (average: 22.6 months, for whom 6-consecutive-day data from both the Actiwatch and sleep log were obtained.Results: An older age, male gender, and early waking time showed significant positive correlations with physical activity level. Multiple regression analysis revealed that these three variables were significant predictors of physical activity.Conclusion: Promoting an early rising time is suggested to be an important element of cultivating good health in young children.Keywords: physical activity, children, actigraphy, morning light

Rising equity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burr, M.T.

1992-01-01

This article reports on the results of a financial rankings survey of the independent energy industry indicating that lenders and investors provided more than five billion dollars in capital for new, private power projects during the first six months of 1992. The topics of the article include rising equity requirements, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, project finance investors, revenue bonds, project finance lenders for new projects, project finance lenders for restructurings, and project finance advisors

Software for rapid prototyping in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kappler, Michael A

2008-05-01

The automation of drug discovery methods continues to develop, especially techniques that process information, represent workflow and facilitate decision-making. The magnitude of data and the plethora of questions in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research give rise to the need for rapid prototyping software. This review describes the advantages and disadvantages of three solutions: Competitive Workflow, Taverna and Pipeline Pilot. Each of these systems processes large amounts of data, integrates diverse systems and assists novice programmers and human experts in critical decision-making steps.

21 CFR 137.290 - Self-rising yellow corn meal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Self-rising yellow corn meal. 137.290 Section 137... Cereal Flours and Related Products § 137.290 Self-rising yellow corn meal. Self-rising yellow corn meal conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed by § 137.270 for self-rising white corn meal...

Changes in health expenditures in China in 2000s: has the health system reform improved affordability.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Qian; Xu, Ling; Bekedam, Henk; Tang, Shenglan

2013-06-13

China's health system reform launched in early 2000s has achieved better coverage of health insurance and significantly increased the use of healthcare for vast majority of Chinese population. This study was to examine changes in the structure of total health expenditures in China in 2000-2011, and to investigate the financial burden of healthcare placed on its population, particularly between urban and rural areas and across different socio-economic development regions. Health expenditures data came from the China National Health Accounts study in 1990-2011, and other data used to calculate the financial burden of healthcare were from China Statistical Yearbook and China Population Statistical Yearbook. Total health expenditures were divided into government and social expenditure, and out-of-pocket payment. The financial burden of healthcare was estimated as out-of-pocket payment per capita as a percentage of annual household living consumption expenditure per capita. Between 2000 and 2011, total health expenditures in China increased from Chinese yuan 319 to 1888 (United States dollars 51 to 305), with average annual increase of 17.4%. Government and social health expenditure increased rapidly being 22.9% and 18.8% of average annual growth rate, respectively. The share of out-of-pocket payment in total health expenditure for the urban population declined from 53% in 2005 to 36% in 2011, but had only a slight decrease for the rural population from 53% to 50%. Out-of-pocket payment, as a percentage of annual household living consumption, has continued to rise, particularly in the rural population from the less developed region (6.1% in 2000 to 8.8% in 2011). The rapid increase of public funding to subsidize health insurance in China, as part of the reform strategy, did not mitigate the out-of-pocket payment for healthcare over the past decade. Financial burden of healthcare on the rural population increased. Affordability among the rural households with sick

Cross-cultural adaptation of an environmental health measurement instrument: Brazilian version of the health-care waste management • rapid assessment tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Cozendey-Silva, Eliana Napoleão; da Silva, Cintia Ribeiro; Larentis, Ariane Leites; Wasserman, Julio Cesar; Rozemberg, Brani; Teixeira, Liliane Reis

2016-09-05

Periodic assessment is one of the recommendations for improving health-care waste management worldwide. This study aimed at translating and adapting the Health-Care Waste Management - Rapid Assessment Tool (HCWM-RAT), proposed by the World Health Organization, to a Brazilian Portuguese version, and resolving its cultural and legal issues. The work focused on the evaluation of the concepts, items and semantic equivalence between the original tool and the Brazilian Portuguese version. A cross-cultural adaptation methodology was used, including: initial translation to Brazilian Portuguese; back translation to English; syntheses of these translation versions; formation of an expert committee to achieve consensus about the preliminary version; and evaluation of the target audience's comprehension. Both the translated and the original versions' concepts, items and semantic equivalence are presented. The constructs in the original instrument were considered relevant and applicable to the Brazilian context. The Brazilian version of the tool has the potential to generate indicators, develop official database, feedback and subsidize political decisions at many geographical and organizational levels strengthening the Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanism. Moreover, the cross-cultural translation expands the usefulness of the instrument to Portuguese-speaking countries in developing regions. The translated and original versions presented concept, item and semantic equivalence and can be applied to Brazil.

Health care financing and the sustainability of health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Liaropoulos, Lycourgos; Goranitis, Ilias

2015-09-15

The economic crisis brought an unprecedented attention to the issue of health system sustainability in the developed world. The discussion, however, has been mainly limited to "traditional" issues of cost-effectiveness, quality of care, and, lately, patient involvement. Not enough attention has yet been paid to the issue of who pays and, more importantly, to the sustainability of financing. This fundamental concept in the economics of health policy needs to be reconsidered carefully. In a globalized economy, as the share of labor decreases relative to that of capital, wage income is increasingly insufficient to cover the rising cost of care. At the same time, as the cost of Social Health Insurance through employment contributions rises with medical costs, it imperils the competitiveness of the economy. These reasons explain why spreading health care cost to all factors of production through comprehensive National Health Insurance financed by progressive taxation of income from all sources, instead of employer-employee contributions, protects health system objectives, especially during economic recessions, and ensures health system sustainability.

Sea level rise and the geoid: factor analysis approach

OpenAIRE

Song, Hongzhi; Sadovski, Alexey; Jeffress, Gary

2013-01-01

Sea levels are rising around the world, and this is a particular concern along most of the coasts of the United States. A 1989 EPA report shows that sea levels rose 5-6 inches more than the global average along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the last century. The main reason for this is coastal land subsidence. This sea level rise is considered more as relative sea level rise than global sea level rise. Thus, instead of studying sea level rise globally, this paper describes a statistical...

Rising Star: a Game-Changing Format in a Dying Genre. The Highs and Lows of a Format's Birth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merav Schiffmann

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In the TV industry everyone is constantly searching for ‘the next big hit.’ For a brief moment in time, Rising Star perfectly fit this description. Within days of the Israeli launch of the first season, the format had already sold internationally to major territories. Rising Star boasted a first of its kind audience participation and a real-time live experience. This caught the attention of producers, executives and creators everywhere. This was a game-changing concept, set to shake the genre of reality singing competition shows to the core.The case study discussed in this paper examines the creation stages of a transmedia television format, the strains effecting its development, its rapid global roll-out and the international adaptations, primarily the failure on the US market and its negative ripple effect.

The Rise of Concussions in the Adolescent Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Alan L; Sing, David C; Rugg, Caitlin M; Feeley, Brian T; Senter, Carlin

2016-08-01

Concussion injuries have been highlighted to the American public through media and research. While recent studies have shown increased traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) diagnosed in emergency departments across the United States, no studies have evaluated trends in concussion diagnoses across the general US population in various age groups. To evaluate the current incidence and trends in concussions diagnosed across varying age groups and health care settings in a large cross-sectional population. Descriptive epidemiological study. Administrative health records of 8,828,248 members of a large private-payer insurance group in the United States were queried. Patients diagnosed with concussion from years 2007 through 2014 were stratified by year of diagnosis, age group, sex, classification of concussion, and health care setting of diagnosis (eg, emergency department vs physician's office). Chi-square testing was used for statistical analysis. From a cohort of 8,828,248 patients, 43,884 patients were diagnosed with a concussion. Of these patients, 55% were male and over 32% were in the adolescent age group (10-19 years old). The highest incidence of concussion was seen in patients aged 15 to 19 years (16.5/1000 patients), followed by those aged 10 to 14 years (10.5/1000 patients), 20 to 24 years (5.2/1000 patients), and 5 to 9 years (3.5/1000 patients). Overall, there was a 60% increase in concussion incidence from 2007 to 2014. The largest increases were in the 10- to 14-year (143%) and 15- to 19-year (87%) age groups. Based on International Classification of Disease-9th Revision classification, 29% of concussions were associated with some form of loss of consciousness. Finally, 56% of concussions were diagnosed in the emergency department and 29% in a physician's office, with the remainder in urgent care clinics or inpatient settings. The incidence of concussion diagnosed in the general US population is increasing, driven largely by a substantial rise in the adolescent

The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Geodetic Vertical Datum of Peninsular Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Din, A. H. M.; Abazu, I. C.; Pa'suya, M. F.; Omar, K. M.; Hamid, A. I. A.

2016-09-01

Sea level rise is rapidly turning into major issues among our community and all levels of the government are working to develop responses to ensure these matters are given the uttermost attention in all facets of planning. It is more interesting to understand and investigate the present day sea level variation due its potential impact, particularly on our national geodetic vertical datum. To determine present day sea level variation, it is vital to consider both in-situ tide gauge and remote sensing measurements. This study presents an effort to quantify the sea level rise rate and magnitude over Peninsular Malaysia using tide gauge and multi-mission satellite altimeter. The time periods taken for both techniques are 32 years (from 1984 to 2015) for tidal data and 23 years (from 1993 to 2015) for altimetry data. Subsequently, the impact of sea level rise on Peninsular Malaysia Geodetic Vertical Datum (PMGVD) is evaluated in this study. the difference between MSL computed from 10 years (1984 - 1993) and 32 years (1984 - 2015) tidal data at Port Kelang showed that the increment of sea level is about 27mm. The computed magnitude showed an estimate of the long-term effect a change in MSL has on the geodetic vertical datum of Port Kelang tide gauge station. This will help give a new insight on the establishment of national geodetic vertical datum based on mean sea level data. Besides, this information can be used for a wide variety of climatic applications to study environmental issues related to flood and global warming in Malaysia.

THE IMPACT OF SEA LEVEL RISE ON GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. H. M. Din

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Sea level rise is rapidly turning into major issues among our community and all levels of the government are working to develop responses to ensure these matters are given the uttermost attention in all facets of planning. It is more interesting to understand and investigate the present day sea level variation due its potential impact, particularly on our national geodetic vertical datum. To determine present day sea level variation, it is vital to consider both in-situ tide gauge and remote sensing measurements. This study presents an effort to quantify the sea level rise rate and magnitude over Peninsular Malaysia using tide gauge and multi-mission satellite altimeter. The time periods taken for both techniques are 32 years (from 1984 to 2015 for tidal data and 23 years (from 1993 to 2015 for altimetry data. Subsequently, the impact of sea level rise on Peninsular Malaysia Geodetic Vertical Datum (PMGVD is evaluated in this study. the difference between MSL computed from 10 years (1984 – 1993 and 32 years (1984 – 2015 tidal data at Port Kelang showed that the increment of sea level is about 27mm. The computed magnitude showed an estimate of the long-term effect a change in MSL has on the geodetic vertical datum of Port Kelang tide gauge station. This will help give a new insight on the establishment of national geodetic vertical datum based on mean sea level data. Besides, this information can be used for a wide variety of climatic applications to study environmental issues related to flood and global warming in Malaysia.

Rapid Syphilis Tests as Catalysts for Health Systems Strengthening: A Case Study from Peru.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia J García

Full Text Available Untreated maternal syphilis leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. The use of point of care tests (POCT offers an opportunity to improve screening coverage for syphilis and other aspects of health systems. Our objective is to present the experience of the introduction of POCT for syphilis in Peru and describe how new technology can catalyze health system strengthening.The study was implemented from September 2009-November 2010 to assess the feasibility of the use of a POCT for syphilis for screening pregnant women in Lima, Peru. Outcomes measured included access to syphilis screening, treatment coverage, partner treatment, effect on patient flow and service efficiency, acceptability among providers and patients, and sustainability.Before the introduction of POCT, a pregnant woman needed 6 visits to the health center in 27 days before she received her syphilis result. We trained 604 health providers and implemented the POCT for syphilis as the "two for one strategy", offering with one finger stick both syphilis and HIV testing. Implementation of the POCT resulted in testing and treatment on the first visit. Screening and treatment coverages for syphilis improved significantly compared with the previous year. Implementation of POCT has been scaled up nationally since the study ended, and coverages for screening, treatment and partner treatment have remained over 92%.Implementation of POCT for syphilis proved feasible and acceptable, and led to improvement in several aspects of health services. For the process to be effective we highlight the importance of: (1 engaging the authorities; (2 dissipating tensions between providers and identifying champions; (3 training according to the needs; (4 providing monitoring, supervision, support and recognition; (5 sharing results and discussing actions together; (6 consulting and obtaining feedback from users; and (7 integrating with other services such as with rapid HIV testing.

Rapid Syphilis Tests as Catalysts for Health Systems Strengthening: A Case Study from Peru

Science.gov (United States)

García, Patricia J.; Cárcamo, César P.; Chiappe, Marina; Valderrama, Maria; La Rosa, Sayda; Holmes, King K.; Mabey, David C. W.; Peeling, Rosanna W.

2013-01-01

Objectives Untreated maternal syphilis leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. The use of point of care tests (POCT) offers an opportunity to improve screening coverage for syphilis and other aspects of health systems. Our objective is to present the experience of the introduction of POCT for syphilis in Peru and describe how new technology can catalyze health system strengthening. Methods The study was implemented from September 2009–November 2010 to assess the feasibility of the use of a POCT for syphilis for screening pregnant women in Lima, Peru. Outcomes measured included access to syphilis screening, treatment coverage, partner treatment, effect on patient flow and service efficiency, acceptability among providers and patients, and sustainability. Results Before the introduction of POCT, a pregnant woman needed 6 visits to the health center in 27 days before she received her syphilis result. We trained 604 health providers and implemented the POCT for syphilis as the “two for one strategy”, offering with one finger stick both syphilis and HIV testing. Implementation of the POCT resulted in testing and treatment on the first visit. Screening and treatment coverages for syphilis improved significantly compared with the previous year. Implementation of POCT has been scaled up nationally since the study ended, and coverages for screening, treatment and partner treatment have remained over 92%. Conclusions Implementation of POCT for syphilis proved feasible and acceptable, and led to improvement in several aspects of health services. For the process to be effective we highlight the importance of: (1) engaging the authorities; (2) dissipating tensions between providers and identifying champions; (3) training according to the needs; (4) providing monitoring, supervision, support and recognition; (5) sharing results and discussing actions together; (6) consulting and obtaining feedback from users; and (7) integrating with other services such as with rapid HIV

Mechanism for rapid sawtooth crashes in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aydemir, A.Y.; Hazeltine, R.D.

1986-09-01

The sawtooth oscillations in the soft x-ray signals observed in tokamaks are associated with periodic changes in the central electron temperature, T/sub e/. Typically, a slow phase during which the central temperature slowly rises is followed by a fast drop in T/sub e/, associated with flattening of the central temperature. The time scale of the slow phase is determined by various transport processes such as ohmic heating. The resistive internal kink mode was invoked by Kadomtsev to explain the crash phase of the oscillations. Fast crash times observed in the large tokamaks are studied here, especially the fast crashes observed in JET. These sawtooth oscillations are characterized by the absence of any discrenible precursor oscillations, and a rapid collapse of the central temperature in about 100 microseconds. During the crash phase, the hot core region rapidly moves outward and is replaced by colder plasma. Then, this highly asymmetric state relaxes (in ∼100μsec) to a poloidally symmetric state in which a ring of hot plasma surrounds the colder core plasma, producing a hollow pressure profile

Assessing concentrations and health impacts of air quality management strategies: Framework for Rapid Emissions Scenario and Health impact ESTimation (FRESH-EST).

Science.gov (United States)

Milando, Chad W; Martenies, Sheena E; Batterman, Stuart A

2016-09-01

In air quality management, reducing emissions from pollutant sources often forms the primary response to attaining air quality standards and guidelines. Despite the broad success of air quality management in the US, challenges remain. As examples: allocating emissions reductions among multiple sources is complex and can require many rounds of negotiation; health impacts associated with emissions, the ultimate driver for the standards, are not explicitly assessed; and long dispersion model run-times, which result from the increasing size and complexity of model inputs, limit the number of scenarios that can be evaluated, thus increasing the likelihood of missing an optimal strategy. A new modeling framework, called the "Framework for Rapid Emissions Scenario and Health impact ESTimation" (FRESH-EST), is presented to respond to these challenges. FRESH-EST estimates concentrations and health impacts of alternative emissions scenarios at the urban scale, providing efficient computations from emissions to health impacts at the Census block or other desired spatial scale. In addition, FRESH-EST can optimize emission reductions to meet specified environmental and health constraints, and a convenient user interface and graphical displays are provided to facilitate scenario evaluation. The new framework is demonstrated in an SO2 non-attainment area in southeast Michigan with two optimization strategies: the first minimizes emission reductions needed to achieve a target concentration; the second minimizes concentrations while holding constant the cumulative emissions across local sources (e.g., an emissions floor). The optimized strategies match outcomes in the proposed SO2 State Implementation Plan without the proposed stack parameter modifications or shutdowns. In addition, the lower health impacts estimated for these strategies suggest that FRESH-EST could be used to identify potentially more desirable pollution control alternatives in air quality management planning

Long-term culture change related to rapid response system implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Jennifer; Johansson, Anna; Lennes, Inga; Hsu, Douglas; Tess, Anjala; Howell, Michael

2014-12-01

Increasing attention to patient safety in training hospitals may come at the expense of trainee autonomy and professional growth. This study sought to examine changes in medical trainees' self-reported behaviour after the institution-wide implementation of a rapid response system. We conducted a two-point cross-sectional survey of medical trainees in 2006, during the implementation of a rapid response system, and in 2010, in a single academic medical centre. A novel instrument was used to measure trainee likelihood of calling for supervisory assistance, perception of autonomy, and comfort in managing decompensating patients. Non-parametric tests to assess for change were used and year of training was evaluated as an effect modifier. Response rates were 38% in 2006 and 70% in 2010. After 5 years of the full implementation of the rapid response system, residents were significantly more likely to report calling their attending physicians for assistance (rising from 40% to 65% of relevant situations; p autonomy at 5 years after the implementation of the rapid response system. These changes were mirrored in the actual use of the rapid response system, which increased by 41% during the 5-year period after adjustment for patient volume (p < 0.0001). A primary team-focused implementation of a rapid response system was associated with durable changes in resident physicians' reported behaviour, including increased comfort with involving more experienced physicians and managing unstable patients. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rise and Shock: Optimal Defibrillator Placement in a High-rise Building.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Timothy C Y

2017-01-01

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in high-rise buildings experience lower survival and longer delays until paramedic arrival. Use of publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AED) can improve survival, but "vertical" placement has not been studied. We aim to determine whether elevator-based or lobby-based AED placement results in shorter vertical distance travelled ("response distance") to OHCAs in a high-rise building. We developed a model of a single-elevator, n-floor high-rise building. We calculated and compared the average distance from AED to floor of arrest for the two AED locations. We modeled OHCA occurrences using floor-specific Poisson processes, the risk of OHCA on the ground floor (λ 1 ) and the risk on any above-ground floor (λ). The elevator was modeled with an override function enabling direct travel to the target floor. The elevator location upon override was modeled as a discrete uniform random variable. Calculations used the laws of probability. Elevator-based AED placement had shorter average response distance if the number of floors (n) in the building exceeded three quarters of the ratio of ground-floor OHCA risk to above-ground floor risk (λ 1 /λ) plus one half (n ≥ 3λ 1 /4λ + 0.5). Otherwise, a lobby-based AED had shorter average response distance. If OHCA risk on each floor was equal, an elevator-based AED had shorter average response distance. Elevator-based AEDs travel less vertical distance to OHCAs in tall buildings or those with uniform vertical risk, while lobby-based AEDs travel less vertical distance in buildings with substantial lobby, underground, and nearby street-level traffic and OHCA risk.

The challenges of rapid urbanization on sustainable development of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The challenges of rapid urbanization on sustainable development of Nyanya, Federal Capital ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... unaffordable health care facilities, poor environmental health and traffic congestion on the ...

Microfossil measures of rapid sea-level rise: Timing of response of two microfossil groups to a sudden tidal-flooding experiment in Cascadia

Science.gov (United States)

Horton, B.P.; Milker, Yvonne; Dura, T.; Wang, Kelin; Bridgeland, W.T.; Brophy, Laura S.; Ewald, M.; Khan, Nicole; Engelhart, S.E.; Nelson, Alan R.; Witter, Robert C.

2017-01-01

Comparisons of pre-earthquake and post-earthquake microfossils in tidal sequences are accurate means to measure coastal subsidence during past subduction earthquakes, but the amount of subsidence is uncertain, because the response times of fossil taxa to coseismic relative sea-level (RSL) rise are unknown. We measured the response of diatoms and foraminifera to restoration of a salt marsh in southern Oregon, USA. Tidal flooding following dike removal caused an RSL rise of ∼1 m, as might occur by coseismic subsidence during momentum magnitude (Mw) 8.1–8.8 earthquakes on this section of the Cascadia subduction zone. Less than two weeks after dike removal, diatoms colonized low marsh and tidal flats in large numbers, showing that they can record seismically induced subsidence soon after earthquakes. In contrast, low-marsh foraminifera took at least 11 months to appear in sizeable numbers. Where subsidence measured with diatoms and foraminifera differs, their different response times may provide an estimate of postseismic vertical deformation in the months following past megathrust earthquakes.

Why does a spinning egg rise?

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Rod

2018-03-01

Experimental and theoretical results are presented concerning the rise of a spinning egg. It was found that an egg rises quickly while it is sliding and then more slowly when it starts rolling. The angular momentum of the egg projected in the XZ plane changed in the same direction as the friction torque, as expected, by rotating away from the vertical Z axis. The latter result does not explain the rise. However, an even larger effect arises from the Y component of the angular momentum vector. As the egg rises, the egg rotates about the Y axis, an effect that is closely analogous to rotation of the egg about the Z axis. Both effects can be described in terms of precession about the respective axes. Steady precession about the Z axis arises from the normal reaction force in the Z direction, while precession about the Y axis arises from the friction force in the Y direction. Precession about the Z axis ceases if the normal reaction force decreases to zero, and precession about the Y axis ceases if the friction force decreases to zero.

Digital Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: A Perfect Storm of Rapid Evolution and Stagnant Regulation

Science.gov (United States)

Mackey, Tim K.

2016-01-01

The adoption and use of digital forms of direct-to-consumer advertising (also known as "eDTCA") is on the rise. At the same time, the universe of eDTCA is expanding, as technology on Internet-based platforms continues to evolve, from static websites, to social media, and nearly ubiquitous use of mobile devices. However, little is known about how this unique form of pharmaceutical marketing impacts consumer behavior, public health, and overall healthcare utilization. The study by Kim analyzing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notices of violations (NOVs) and warning letters regarding online promotional activities takes us in the right direction, but study results raise as many questions as it does answers. Chief among these are unanswered concerns about the unique regulatory challenges posed by the "disruptive" qualities of eDTCA, and whether regulators have sufficient resources and oversight powers to proactively address potential violations. Further, the globalization of eDTCA via borderless Internet-based technologies raises larger concerns about the potential global impact of this form of health marketing unique to only the United States and New Zealand. Collectively, these challenges make it unlikely that regulatory science will be able to keep apace with the continued rapid evolution of eDTCA unless more creative policy solutions are explored. PMID:27239871

Beyond access: the role of family and community in children's oral health.

Science.gov (United States)

Mouradian, Wendy E; Huebner, Colleen E; Ramos-Gomez, Francisco; Slavkin, Harold C

2007-05-01

Children's health outcomes result from the complex interaction of biological determinants with sociocultural, family, and community variables. Dental professionals' efforts to reduce oral health disparities often focus on improving access to dental care. However, this strategy alone cannot eliminate health disparities. Rising rates of early childhood caries create an urgent need to study family and community factors in oral health. Using Los Angeles as a multicultural laboratory for understanding health disparities, the Santa Fe Group convened an experiential conference to consider models of ensuring child and family health within communities. This article summarizes key conference themes and insights regarding 1) children's needs and societal priorities; 2) the science of child health determinants; 3) the rapidly changing demographics of the United States; and 4) the importance of communities that support children and families. Conference participants concluded that to eliminate children's oral health disparities we must change paradigms to promote health, integrate oral health into other health and social programs, and empower communities. Oral health advocates have a key role in ensuring oral health is integrated into policy for children. Dental schools have a leadership role to play in expanding community partnerships and providing education in health determinants. Participants recommended replicating this experiential conference in other venues.

Public Health Surveillance via Template Management in Electronic Health Records: Tri-Service Workflow's Rapid Response to an Infectious Disease Crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Berkley, Holly; Barnes, Matthew; Carnahan, David; Hayhurst, Janet; Bockhorst, Archie; Neville, James

2017-03-01

To describe the use of template-based screening for risk of infectious disease exposure of patients presenting to primary care medical facilities during the 2014 West African Ebola virus outbreak. The Military Health System implemented an Ebola risk-screening tool in primary care settings in order to create early notifications and early responses to potentially infected persons. Three time-sensitive, evidence-based screening questions were developed and posted to Tri-Service Workflow (TSWF) AHLTA templates in conjunction with appropriate training. Data were collected in January 2015, to assess the adoption of the TSWF-based Ebola risk-screening tool. Among encounters documented using TSWF templates, 41% of all encounters showed use of the TSWF-based Ebola risk-screening questions by the fourth day. The screening rate increased over the next 3 weeks, and reached a plateau at approximately 50%. This report demonstrates the MHS capability to deploy a standardized, globally applicable decision support aid that could be seen the same day by all primary care clinics across the military health direct care system, potentially improving rapid compliance with screening directives. Reprint & Copyright © 2017 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Society and health effects of aspects an overview of nuclear energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet Soykenar

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Today along with developing technology and rapid population growth, energy needs have been increasing in the worldwide. In order to supply rising energy demands, the countries have been tending to nuclear power plants which have high productivitiy. As all kinds of energy sources, there are negative effects to public health in the stages of production and consumption also for nuclear energy. For nuclear power plants established by using high tecnology, required precautions are adopted by assessing all negative effects that can harm environmental health. So as to provide our country to be the leading position in the global trade and tecnological progress competition, it is required to make the investments by evaluating the pros and cons of nuclear energy, regarded as a qualified and sustainable energy source. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2015; 14(1.000: 65-70

Using Ant Communities For Rapid Assessment Of Terrestrial Ecosystem Health

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wike, L

2005-06-01

relative health of the ecosystem. The IBI, though originally for Midwestern streams, has been successfully adapted to other ecoregions and taxa (macroinvertebrates, Lombard and Goldstein, 2004) and has become an important tool for scientists and regulatory agencies alike in determining health of stream ecosystems. The IBI is a specific type of a larger group of methods and procedures referred to as Rapid Bioassessment (RBA). These protocols have the advantage of directly measuring the organisms affected by system perturbations, thus providing an integrated evaluation of system health because the organisms themselves integrate all aspects of their environment and its condition. In addition to the IBI, the RBA concept has also been applied to seep wetlands (Paller et al. 2005) and terrestrial systems (O'Connell et al. 1998, Kremen et al. 1993, Rodriguez et al. 1998, Rosenberg et al. 1986). Terrestrial RBA methods have lagged somewhat behind those for aquatic systems because terrestrial systems are less distinctly defined and seem to have a less universal distribution of an all-inclusive taxon, such as fish in the IBI, upon which to base an RBA. In the last decade, primarily in Australia, extensive development of an RBA using ant communities has shown great promise. Ants have the same advantage for terrestrial RBAs that fish do for aquatic systems in that they are an essential and ubiquitous component of virtually all terrestrial ecosystems. They occupy a broad range of niches, functional groups, and trophic levels and they possess one very important characteristic that makes them ideal for RBA because, similar to the fishes, there is a wide range of tolerance to conditions within the larger taxa. Within ant communities there are certain groups, genera, or species that may be very robust and abundant under even the harshest impacts. There are also taxa that are very sensitive to disturbance and change and their presence or absence is also indicative of the local

The social values at risk from sea-level rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, Sonia; Barnett, Jon; Fincher, Ruth; Hurlimann, Anna; Mortreux, Colette; Waters, Elissa

2013-01-01

Analysis of the risks of sea-level rise favours conventionally measured metrics such as the area of land that may be subsumed, the numbers of properties at risk, and the capital values of assets at risk. Despite this, it is clear that there exist many less material but no less important values at risk from sea-level rise. This paper re-theorises these multifarious social values at risk from sea-level rise, by explaining their diverse nature, and grounding them in the everyday practices of people living in coastal places. It is informed by a review and analysis of research on social values from within the fields of social impact assessment, human geography, psychology, decision analysis, and climate change adaptation. From this we propose that it is the ‘lived values’ of coastal places that are most at risk from sea-level rise. We then offer a framework that groups these lived values into five types: those that are physiological in nature, and those that relate to issues of security, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. This framework of lived values at risk from sea-level rise can guide empirical research investigating the social impacts of sea-level rise, as well as the impacts of actions to adapt to sea-level rise. It also offers a basis for identifying the distribution of related social outcomes across populations exposed to sea-level rise or sea-level rise policies

The social values at risk from sea-level rise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graham, Sonia, E-mail: sonia.graham@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Barnett, Jon, E-mail: jbarn@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Fincher, Ruth, E-mail: r.fincher@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Hurlimann, Anna, E-mail: anna.hurlimann@unimelb.edu.au [Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Architecture and Planning Building, Parkville, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Mortreux, Colette, E-mail: colettem@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia); Waters, Elissa, E-mail: elissa.waters@unimelb.edu.au [Department of Resource Management and Geography, The University of Melbourne, 221 Bouverie St., Carlton, Victoria 3053 (Australia)

2013-07-15

Analysis of the risks of sea-level rise favours conventionally measured metrics such as the area of land that may be subsumed, the numbers of properties at risk, and the capital values of assets at risk. Despite this, it is clear that there exist many less material but no less important values at risk from sea-level rise. This paper re-theorises these multifarious social values at risk from sea-level rise, by explaining their diverse nature, and grounding them in the everyday practices of people living in coastal places. It is informed by a review and analysis of research on social values from within the fields of social impact assessment, human geography, psychology, decision analysis, and climate change adaptation. From this we propose that it is the ‘lived values’ of coastal places that are most at risk from sea-level rise. We then offer a framework that groups these lived values into five types: those that are physiological in nature, and those that relate to issues of security, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. This framework of lived values at risk from sea-level rise can guide empirical research investigating the social impacts of sea-level rise, as well as the impacts of actions to adapt to sea-level rise. It also offers a basis for identifying the distribution of related social outcomes across populations exposed to sea-level rise or sea-level rise policies.

Progressive Collapse of High-Rise Buildings from Fire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pershakov Valerii

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Considers ensuring the stability of structures of high-rise buildings against progressive collapse due to fire, proposed measures to ensure the stability of high-rise buildings due to progressive collapse. The analysis of large fires in high-rise buildings with progressive collapse and review of the literature on the issue of progressive collapse. The analysis of the Ukrainian normative documents on progressive collapse resistance.

Microstructure of rapidly solidified materials

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, H.

1984-07-01

The basic features of rapidly solidified microstructures are described and differences arising from alternative processing strategies are discussed. The possibility of achieving substantial undercooling prior to solidification in processes such as quench atomization and chill block melt spinning can give rise to striking microstructural transitions even when external heat extraction is nominally Newtonian. The increased opportunity in laser and electron beam surface melting for epitaxial growth on the parent solid at an accelerating rate, however, does not exclude the formation of nonequilibrium phases since the required undercooling can be locally attained at the solidification front which is itself advancing at a sufficiently high velocity. The effects of fluid flow indicated particularly in melt spinning and surface melting are additional to the transformational and heat flow considerations that form the present basis for interpretation of such microstructural effects.

Rising intracellular zinc by membrane depolarization and glucose in insulin-secreting clonal HIT-T15 beta cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Slepchenko, Kira G; Li, Yang V

2012-01-01

Zinc (Zn(2+)) appears to be intimately involved in insulin metabolism since insulin secretion is correlated with zinc secretion in response to glucose stimulation, but little is known about the regulation of zinc homeostasis in pancreatic beta-cells. This study set out to identify the intracellular zinc transient by imaging free cytosolic zinc in HIT-T15 beta-cells with fluorescent zinc indicators. We observed that membrane depolarization by KCl (30-60 mM) was able to induce a rapid increase in cytosolic concentration of zinc. Multiple zinc transients of similar magnitude were elicited during repeated stimulations. The amplitude of zinc responses was not affected by the removal of extracellular calcium or zinc. However, the half-time of the rising slope was significantly slower after removing extracellular zinc with zinc chelator CaEDTA, suggesting that extracellular zinc affect the initial rising phase of zinc response. Glucose (10 mM) induced substantial and progressive increases in intracellular zinc concentration in a similar way as KCl, with variation in the onset and the duration of zinc mobilization. It is known that the depolarization of beta-cell membrane is coupled with the secretion of insulin. Rising intracellular zinc concentration may act as a critical signaling factor in insulin metabolism of pancreatic beta-cells.

Morphological response of the saltmarsh habitats of the Guadiana estuary due to flow regulation and sea-level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Sampath, D. M. R.; Boski, T.

2016-12-01

In the context of rapid sea-level rise in the 21st century, the reduction of fluvial sediment supply due to the regulation of river discharge represents a major challenge for the management of estuarine ecosystems. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the cumulative impacts of the reduction of river discharge and projected sea-level rise on the morphological evolution of the Guadiana estuary during the 21st century. The assessment was based on a set of analytical solutions to simplified equations of tidal wave propagation in shallow waters and empirical knowledge of the system. As methods applied to estimate environmental flows do not take into consideration the fluvial discharge required to maintain saltmarsh habitats and the impact of sea-level rise, simulations were carried out for ten cases in terms of base river flow and sea-level rise so as to understand their sensitivity on the deepening of saltmarsh platforms. Results suggest saltmarsh habitats may not be affected severely in response to lower limit scenarios of sea-level rise and sedimentation. A similar behaviour can be expected even due to the upper limit scenarios until 2050, but with a significant submergence afterwards. In the case of the upper limit scenarios under scrutiny, there was a net erosion of sediment from the estuary. Multiplications of amplitudes of the base flow function by factors 1.5, 2, and 5 result in reduction of the estimated net eroded sediment volume by 25, 40, and 80%, respectively, with respect to the net eroded volume for observed river discharge. The results also indicate that defining the minimum environmental flow as a percentage of dry season flow (as done presently) should be updated to include the full spectrum of natural flows, incorporating temporal variability to better anticipate scenarios of sea-level rise during this century. As permanent submergence of intertidal habitats can be significant after 2050, due to the projected 79 cm rise of sea-level by the year

Role of Plastics on Human Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Pramod

2018-05-01

Plastics, currently the universal workhorse materials of modern economy, because of their low cost and varied functional properties are posing serious threat to environment and consumer's health in many direct and indirect ways. Rising concern about the impact of plastics on environment and human health, has forced the industry to look for alternatives. This review studies current understanding of benefits and concerns surrounding use of plastics, reviews literature about health effects in humans and discusses the current state of evidence, as well as future research trends. There is increasing concern regarding additives in plastics to which most people are exposed, such as phthalates, bisphenol A or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), and their detection in humans, leading to harmful impact on health. The studies are divided, among many other issues on the fact of considering these additives as carcinogens or toxicants, but there is a consensus that these chemicals have the ability to alter the endocrine system. Human data are limited compared to large body of experimental evidence documenting reproductive or developmental toxicity in relation to these compounds in animals. The concentrations of these additives in young children, a segment particularly sensitive to exogenous insults, are typically higher, indicating the need to decrease exposure to these compounds. The rapid increase in usage of plastics and increased awareness about its health hazard has lent urgency to the whole issue.

Mind the gap: social media engagement by public health researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Brett; Labrique, Alain; Jain, Kriti M; Pekosz, Andrew; Levine, Orin

2014-01-14

The traditional vertical system of sharing information from sources of scientific authority passed down to the public through local health authorities and clinicians risks being made obsolete by emerging technologies that facilitate rapid horizontal information sharing. The rise of Public Health 2.0 requires professional acknowledgment that a new and substantive forum of public discourse about public health exists on social media, such as forums, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Some public health professionals have used social media in innovative ways: to surveil populations, gauge public opinion, disseminate health information, and promote mutually beneficial interactions between public health professionals and the lay public. Although innovation is on the rise, most in the public health establishment remain skeptical of this rapidly evolving landscape or are unclear about how it could be used. We sought to evaluate the extent to which public health professionals are engaged in these spaces. We conducted a survey of professorial- and scientist-track faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. We asked all available faculty via email to complete a 30-question survey about respondent characteristics, beliefs about social media, and usage of specific technologies, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. A total of 181 (19.8%) of 912 professor- and scientist-track faculty provided usable responses. The majority of respondents rarely used major social media platforms. Of these 181 respondents, 97 (53.6%) had used YouTube, 84 (46.4%) had used Facebook, 55 (30.4%) had read blogs, and 12 (6.6%) had used Twitter in the prior month. More recent degree completion was the best predictor of higher usage of social media. In all, 122 (67.4%) agreed that social media is important for disseminating information, whereas only 55 (30.4%) agreed that social media is useful for their research. In all, 43 (23.8%) said social media

Health tourism on the rise? Evidence from the Balance of Payments Statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Loh, Chung-Ping A

2014-09-01

The study assesses the presence and magnitude of global trends in health tourism using health-related travel (HRT) spending reported in the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments Statistics database. Linear regression and quantile regression are applied to estimate secular trends of the import and export of HRT based on a sample of countries from 2003 to 2009. The results show that from 2003 to 2009 the import and export of health tourism rose among countries with a high volume of such activities (accounting for the upper 40% of the countries), but not among those with a low volume. The uneven growth in health tourism has generated greater contrast between countries with high and low volumes of health tourism activities. However, the growth in the total import of health tourism did not outpace the population growth, implying that in general the population's tendency to engage in health tourism remained static.

Adapting to Rising Sea Level: A Florida Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Parkinson, Randall W.

2009-07-01

Global climate change and concomitant rising sea level will have a profound impact on Florida's coastal and marine systems. Sea-level rise will increase erosion of beaches, cause saltwater intrusion into water supplies, inundate coastal marshes and other important habitats, and make coastal property more vulnerable to erosion and flooding. Yet most coastal areas are currently managed under the premise that sea-level rise is not significant and the shorelines are static or can be fixed in place by engineering structures. The new reality of sea-level rise and extreme weather due to climate change requires a new style of planning and management to protect resources and reduce risk to humans. Scientists must: (1) assess existing coastal vulnerability to address short term management issues and (2) model future landscape change and develop sustainable plans to address long term planning and management issues. Furthermore, this information must be effectively transferred to planners, managers, and elected officials to ensure their decisions are based upon the best available information. While there is still some uncertainty regarding the details of rising sea level and climate change, development decisions are being made today which commit public and private investment in real estate and associated infrastructure. With a design life of 30 yrs to 75 yrs or more, many of these investments are on a collision course with rising sea level and the resulting impacts will be significant. In the near term, the utilization of engineering structures may be required, but these are not sustainable and must ultimately yield to "managed withdrawal" programs if higher sea-level elevations or rates of rise are forthcoming. As an initial step towards successful adaptation, coastal management and planning documents (i.e., comprehensive plans) must be revised to include reference to climate change and rising sea-level.

A comparison of rapid diagnostic testing (by plasmodium lactate ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers early and rapid diagnosis as one of the strategies to control malaria. This study compared the performance of Quantitative Buffy Coat (QBC) test and the Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) rapid diagnostic test (RDT) with microscopy as the gold ...

Cross-cultural adaptation of an environmental health measurement instrument: Brazilian version of the health-care waste management • rapid assessment tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eliana Napoleão Cozendey-Silva

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Periodic assessment is one of the recommendations for improving health-care waste management worldwide. This study aimed at translating and adapting the Health-Care Waste Management - Rapid Assessment Tool (HCWM-RAT, proposed by the World Health Organization, to a Brazilian Portuguese version, and resolving its cultural and legal issues. The work focused on the evaluation of the concepts, items and semantic equivalence between the original tool and the Brazilian Portuguese version. Methods A cross-cultural adaptation methodology was used, including: initial translation to Brazilian Portuguese; back translation to English; syntheses of these translation versions; formation of an expert committee to achieve consensus about the preliminary version; and evaluation of the target audience’s comprehension. Results Both the translated and the original versions’ concepts, items and semantic equivalence are presented. The constructs in the original instrument were considered relevant and applicable to the Brazilian context. The Brazilian version of the tool has the potential to generate indicators, develop official database, feedback and subsidize political decisions at many geographical and organizational levels strengthening the Monitoring and evaluation (M&E mechanism. Moreover, the cross-cultural translation expands the usefulness of the instrument to Portuguese-speaking countries in developing regions. Conclusion The translated and original versions presented concept, item and semantic equivalence and can be applied to Brazil

The advisability of high-rise construction in the city

Science.gov (United States)

Sergievskaya, Natalia; Pokrovskaya, Tatyana; Vorontsova, Natalya

2018-03-01

In this article there discusses the question of advisability high-rise construction, the reasons for its use, both positive and negative sides of it. On the one hand, a number of authors believe that it is difficult to avoid high-rise construction due to the limited areas in very large cities. On the other hand, a number of other authors draw attention to the problems associated with high-rise construction. The author of the article analyses examples of high-rise construction in several countries (UAE, Dubai "Burj Khalifa"; Japan "Tokyo Sky Tree"; United States of America, "Willis Tower"; Russia "Federation Tower") and proves the advisability of high-rise construction in the city.

Correlation function distributions in rapidity for pairs of π mesons in K-p interactions at 32 GeV/c

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bumazhnov, V.A.; Babintsev, V.V.; Bogolyubskij, M.Yu.

1983-01-01

The inclusive and semiinclusiVe distributions of correlation functions in K - p-interactions at 32 GeV/c are presented as functions of rapidity. The positive short range correlations among rapidities of two charged pions reach maximUm in fragmentation ranges of incoming hadrons. The correlations become central and increase with rising of transverse momentum. Maximum values of correlations in the π + π - and π - π - systems oc in the region of negative and positive values of rasidity

How do health insurer market concentration and bargaining power with hospitals affect health insurance premiums?

Science.gov (United States)

Trish, Erin E; Herring, Bradley J

2015-07-01

The US health insurance industry is highly concentrated, and health insurance premiums are high and rising rapidly. Policymakers have focused on the possible link between the two, leading to ACA provisions to increase insurer competition. However, while market power may enable insurers to include higher profit margins in their premiums, it may also result in stronger bargaining leverage with hospitals to negotiate lower payment rates to partially offset these higher premiums. We empirically examine the relationship between employer-sponsored fully-insured health insurance premiums and the level of concentration in local insurer and hospital markets using the nationally-representative 2006-2011 KFF/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey. We exploit a unique feature of employer-sponsored insurance, in which self-insured employers purchase only administrative services from managed care organizations, to disentangle these different effects on insurer concentration by constructing one concentration measure representing fully-insured plans' transactions with employers and the other concentration measure representing insurers' bargaining with hospitals. As expected, we find that premiums are indeed higher for plans sold in markets with higher levels of concentration relevant to insurer transactions with employers, lower for plans in markets with higher levels of insurer concentration relevant to insurer bargaining with hospitals, and higher for plans in markets with higher levels of hospital market concentration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Planning of Low-rise Urban Housing Areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, O.

In many countries industrialization of house building has led to the building of large, monotonous housing areas with high-rise construction. In Denmark, however, smaller, varied housing areas with low-rise construction and urban features have become predominant. This report contains guidelines...... for the planning of such housing areas....

Rapid temperature increase near the anode and cathode in the afterglow of a pulsed positive streamer discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Ono, Ryo

2018-06-01

The spatiotemporal evolution of the temperature in the afterglow of point-to-plane, pulsed positive streamer discharge was measured near the anode tip and cathode surface using laser-induced predissociation fluorescence of OH radicals. The temperature exhibited a rapid increase and displayed a steep spatial gradient after a discharge pulse. The rate of temperature rise reached 84 K μs‑1 at mm, where z represents the distance from the anode tip. The temperature rise was much faster than in the middle of the gap; it was only 2.8 K μs‑1 at mm. The temperature reached 1700 K near the anode tip at s and 1500 K near the cathode surface at s, where t represents the postdischarge time. The spatial gradient reached 1280 K mm‑1 near the anode tip at s. The mechanism responsible for the rapid temperature increase was discussed, including rapid heating of the gas in the early postdischarge phase (s), and vibration-to-translation energy transfer in the later postdischarge phase (s). The high temperatures near the anode tip and cathode surface are particularly important for the ignition of combustible mixtures and for surface treatments, including solid-surface treatments, water treatments, and plasma medicine using pulsed streamer discharges.

Health Economics at the Crossroads of Centuries - From the Past to the Future.

Science.gov (United States)

Jakovljevic, Mihajlo Michael; Ogura, Seiritsu

2016-01-01

Health economics, as an interdisciplinary science, has experienced exceptionally bold evolution through the past eight decades. Generations of committed scholars have built up huge body of knowledge and developed a set of methodological tools to assist health-care authorities with resource allocation process. Following its conception at the US National Bureau of Economic Research and Ivy League US Universities, this science has spread across the Globe. It has adapted to a myriad of local conditions and needs of the national health systems with diverse historical legacies, medical services provision, and financing patterns. Challenge of financial sustainability facing modern day health systems remains primarily attributable to population aging, prosperity diseases, large scale migrations, rapid urbanization, and technological innovation in medicine. Despite promising developments in developing countries with emerging BRICS markets on the lead, rising out-of-pocket health spending continues to threaten affordability of medical care. Universal health coverage extension will likely remain serious challenge even for some of the most advanced OECD nations. These complex circumstances create strong drivers for inevitable further development of health economics. We believe that this interdisciplinary health science shall leave long-lasting blue print to be visible for decades to come.

The Rise of Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Peter Viggo; Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali

2010-01-01

Iran is viewed by many as a rising power that poses an increasing threat to regional and even global security. This view is wrong for three reasons. Iran's hard and soft power is exaggerated by most accounts; it is too limited to allow the Iranians to dominate the Persian Gulf let alone the Middle...... East, and its brand of Shi‘ism has very limited appeal outside of Iran. Second, growing internal political and economic instability will seriously limit Iran's bid for regional dominance. Third, the failure to stop the Iranian nuclear program has led analysts to underestimate the ability of the other...... regional powers and the West to balance Iran and contain its influence, even if it acquires nuclear weapons. If these limitations on Iranian power are taken into account the rise seems destined to be a short one....

High-resolution tide projections reveal extinction threshold in response to sea-level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Field, Christopher R; Bayard, Trina S; Gjerdrum, Carina; Hill, Jason M; Meiman, Susan; Elphick, Chris S

2017-05-01

Sea-level rise will affect coastal species worldwide, but models that aim to predict these effects are typically based on simple measures of sea level that do not capture its inherent complexity, especially variation over timescales shorter than 1 year. Coastal species might be most affected, however, by floods that exceed a critical threshold. The frequency and duration of such floods may be more important to population dynamics than mean measures of sea level. In particular, the potential for changes in the frequency and duration of flooding events to result in nonlinear population responses or biological thresholds merits further research, but may require that models incorporate greater resolution in sea level than is typically used. We created population simulations for a threatened songbird, the saltmarsh sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus), in a region where sea level is predictable with high accuracy and precision. We show that incorporating the timing of semidiurnal high tide events throughout the breeding season, including how this timing is affected by mean sea-level rise, predicts a reproductive threshold that is likely to cause a rapid demographic shift. This shift is likely to threaten the persistence of saltmarsh sparrows beyond 2060 and could cause extinction as soon as 2035. Neither extinction date nor the population trajectory was sensitive to the emissions scenarios underlying sea-level projections, as most of the population decline occurred before scenarios diverge. Our results suggest that the variation and complexity of climate-driven variables could be important for understanding the potential responses of coastal species to sea-level rise, especially for species that rely on coastal areas for reproduction. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Social Media Channels in Health Care Research and Rising Ethical Issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Azer, Samy A

2017-11-01

Social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have been used as tools in health care research, opening new horizons for research on health-related topics (e.g., the use of mobile social networking in weight loss programs). While there have been efforts to develop ethical guidelines for internet-related research, researchers still face unresolved ethical challenges. This article investigates some of the risks inherent in social media research and discusses how researchers should handle challenges related to confidentiality, privacy, and consent when social media tools are used in health-related research. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Use and limitations of malaria rapid diagnostic testing by community health workers in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkes, Michael; Katsuva, Jean Paul; Masumbuko, Claude K

2009-12-23

Accurate and practical malaria diagnostics, such as immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), have the potential to avert unnecessary treatments and save lives. Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) represent a potentially valuable human resource for expanding this technology to where it is most needed, remote rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa with limited health facilities and personnel. This study reports on a training programme for CHWs to incorporate RDTs into their management strategy for febrile children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a tropical African setting ravaged by human conflict. Prospective cohort study, satisfaction questionnaire and decision analysis. Twelve CHWs were trained to safely and accurately perform and interpret RDTs, then successfully implemented rapid diagnostic testing in their remote community in a cohort of 357 febrile children. CHWs were uniformly positive in evaluating RDTs for their utility and ease of use. However, high malaria prevalence in this cohort (93% by RDTs, 88% by light microscopy) limited the cost-effectiveness of RDTs compared to presumptive treatment of all febrile children, as evidenced by findings from a simplified decision analysis. CHWs can safely and effectively use RDTs in their management of febrile children; however, cost-effectiveness of RDTs is limited in zones of high malaria prevalence.

Use and limitations of malaria rapid diagnostic testing by community health workers in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katsuva Jean

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Accurate and practical malaria diagnostics, such as immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs, have the potential to avert unnecessary treatments and save lives. Volunteer community health workers (CHWs represent a potentially valuable human resource for expanding this technology to where it is most needed, remote rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa with limited health facilities and personnel. This study reports on a training programme for CHWs to incorporate RDTs into their management strategy for febrile children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a tropical African setting ravaged by human conflict. Methods Prospective cohort study, satisfaction questionnaire and decision analysis. Results Twelve CHWs were trained to safely and accurately perform and interpret RDTs, then successfully implemented rapid diagnostic testing in their remote community in a cohort of 357 febrile children. CHWs were uniformly positive in evaluating RDTs for their utility and ease of use. However, high malaria prevalence in this cohort (93% by RDTs, 88% by light microscopy limited the cost-effectiveness of RDTs compared to presumptive treatment of all febrile children, as evidenced by findings from a simplified decision analysis. Conclusions CHWs can safely and effectively use RDTs in their management of febrile children; however, cost-effectiveness of RDTs is limited in zones of high malaria prevalence.

Leasing instruments of high-rise construction financing

Science.gov (United States)

Aleksandrova, Olga; Ivleva, Elena; Sukhacheva, Viktoria; Rumyantseva, Anna

2018-03-01

The leasing sector of the business economics is expanding. Leasing instruments for high-rise construction financing allow to determine the best business behaviour in the leasing economy sector, not only in the sphere of transactions with equipment and vehicles. Investments in high-rise construction have a multiplicative effect. It initiates an active search and leasing instruments use in the economic behaviour of construction organizations. The study of the high-rise construction sector in the structure of the leasing market participants significantly expands the leasing system framework. The scheme of internal and external leasing process factors influence on the result formation in the leasing sector of economy is offered.

Shapes and rising velocities of single bubbles rising through an inner subchannel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomiyama, Akio; Nakahara, Yusuke; Adachi, Yoshihiro; Hosokawa, Shigeo

2003-01-01

Shapes and velocities of single air bubbles rising through stagnant and flowing waters in an inner subchannel are measured by making use of fluorocarbon tubes. It is confirmed that (1) bubble shapes and motions in the subchannel are by far different from those in simple geometry, and they depend on the ratio λ of the bubble diameter to the subchannel hydraulic diameter, (2) when λ > 0.9, a part of a bubble intrudes into neighboring subchannels, and thereby a kind of void drift takes place even with a single bubble, (3) the terminal velocity V T of a small bubble (λ T for cell-Taylor bubbles (λ > 0.9) is presented, and (5) the rising velocity V B in laminar an turbulent flow conditions are well evaluated by substituting the proposed V T models and the ratio of the maximum liquid velocity to the mean liquid velocity into the Nicklin correlation. (author)

Rise and Fall of one of World's largest deltas; the Mekong delta in Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

Minderhoud, P. S. J.; Eslami Arab, S.; Pham, H. V.; Erkens, G.; van der Vegt, M.; Oude Essink, G.; Stouthamer, E.; Hoekstra, P.

2017-12-01

The Mekong delta is the third's largest delta in the world. It is home to almost 20 million people and an important region for the food security in South East Asia. As most deltas, the Mekong delta is the dynamic result of a balance of sediment supply, sea level rise and subsidence, hosting a system of fresh and salt water dynamics. Ongoing urbanization, industrialization and intensification of agricultural practices in the delta, during the past decades, resulted in growing domestic, agricultural and industrial demands, and have led to a dramatic increase of fresh water use. Since the year 2000, the amount of fresh groundwater extracted from the subsurface increased by 500%. This accelerated delta subsidence as the groundwater system compacts, with current sinking rates exceeding global sea level rise up to an order of magnitude. These high sinking rates have greatly altered the sediment budget of the delta and, with over 50% of the Mekong delta surface elevated less than 1 meter above sea level, greatly increase vulnerability to flooding and storm surges and ultimately, permanent inundation. Furthermore, as the increasingly larger extractions rapidly reduce the fresh groundwater reserves, groundwater salinization subsequently increases. On top of that, dry season low-flows by the Mekong river cause record salt water intrusion in the delta's estuarine system, creating major problems for rice irrigation. We present the work of three years research by the Dutch-Vietnamese `Rise and Fall' project on land subsidence and salinization in both groundwater and surface water in the Vietnamese Mekong delta.

Smartphone Technology and Apps: Rapidly Changing Health Promotion

Science.gov (United States)

Kratzke, Cynthia; Cox, Carolyn

2012-01-01

Despite the increased availability of smartphones and health applications (apps), little is known about smartphone technology and apps for implementation in health promotion practice. Smartphones are mobile devices with capabilities for e-mail, text messaging, video viewing, and wireless Internet access. It is essential for health promotion…

Rapid assessment response (RAR study: drug use and health risk - Pretoria, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trautmann Franz

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Within a ten year period South Africa has developed a substantial illicit drug market. Data on HIV risk among drug using populations clearly indicate high levels of HIV risk behaviour due to the sharing of injecting equipment and/or drug-related unprotected sex. While there is international evidence on and experience with adequate responses, limited responses addressing drug use and drug-use-related HIV and other health risks are witnessed in South Africa. This study aimed to explore the emerging problem of drug-related HIV transmission and to stimulate the development of adequate health services for the drug users, by linking international expertise and local research. Methods A Rapid Assessment and Response (RAR methodology was adopted for the study. For individual and focus group interviews a semi-structured questionnaire was utilised that addressed key issues. Interviews were conducted with a total of 84 key informant (KI participants, 63 drug user KI participants (49 males, 14 females and 21 KI service providers (8 male, 13 female. Results and Discussion Adverse living conditions and poor education levels were cited as making access to treatment harder, especially for those living in disadvantaged areas. Heroin was found to be the substance most available and used in a problematic way within the Pretoria area. Participants were not fully aware of the concrete health risks involved in drug use, and the vague ideas held appear not to allow for concrete measures to protect themselves. Knowledge with regards to substance related HIV/AIDS transmission is not yet widespread, with some information sources disseminating incorrect or unspecific information. Conclusions The implementation of pragmatic harm-reduction and other evidence-based public health care policies that are designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with substance use and HIV/AIDS should be considered. HIV testing and treatment services also need to

Beam Induced Pressure Rise at RHIC

CERN Document Server

Zhang, S Y; Bai, Mei; Blaskiewicz, Michael; Cameron, Peter; Drees, Angelika; Fischer, Wolfram; Gullotta, Justin; He, Ping; Hseuh Hsiao Chaun; Huang, Haixin; Iriso, Ubaldo; Lee, Roger C; Litvinenko, Vladimir N; MacKay, William W; Nicoletti, Tony; Oerter, Brian; Peggs, Steve; Pilat, Fulvia Caterina; Ptitsyn, Vadim; Roser, Thomas; Satogata, Todd; Smart, Loralie; Snydstrup, Louis; Thieberger, Peter; Trbojevic, Dejan; Wang, Lanfa; Wei, Jie; Zeno, Keith

2005-01-01

Beam induced pressure rise in RHIC warm sections is currently one of the machine intensity and luminosity limits. This pressure rise is mainly due to electron cloud effects. The RHIC warm section electron cloud is associated with longer bunch spacings compared with other machines, and is distributed non-uniformly around the ring. In addition to the countermeasures for normal electron cloud, such as the NEG coated pipe, solenoids, beam scrubbing, bunch gaps, and larger bunch spacing, other studies and beam tests toward the understanding and counteracting RHIC warm electron cloud are of interest. These include the ion desorption studies and the test of anti-grazing ridges. For high bunch intensities and the shortest bunch spacings, pressure rises at certain locations in the cryogenic region have been observed during the past two runs. Beam studies are planned for the current 2005 run and the results will be reported.

Rapid review programs to support health care and policy decision making: a descriptive analysis of processes and methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Polisena, Julie; Garritty, Chantelle; Kamel, Chris; Stevens, Adrienne; Abou-Setta, Ahmed M

2015-03-14

Health care decision makers often need to make decisions in limited timeframes and cannot await the completion of a full evidence review. Rapid reviews (RRs), utilizing streamlined systematic review methods, are increasingly being used to synthesize the evidence with a shorter turnaround time. Our primary objective was to describe the processes and methods used internationally to produce RRs. In addition, we sought to understand the underlying themes associated with these programs. We contacted representatives of international RR programs from a broad realm in health care to gather information about the methods and processes used to produce RRs. The responses were summarized narratively to understand the characteristics associated with their processes and methods. The summaries were compared and contrasted to highlight potential themes and trends related to the different RR programs. Twenty-nine international RR programs were included in our sample with a broad organizational representation from academia, government, research institutions, and non-for-profit organizations. Responses revealed that the main objectives for RRs were to inform decision making with regards to funding health care technologies, services and policy, and program development. Central themes that influenced the methods used by RR programs, and report type and dissemination were the imposed turnaround time to complete a report, resources available, the complexity and sensitivity of the research topics, and permission from the requestor. Our study confirmed that there is no standard approach to conduct RRs. Differences in processes and methods across programs may be the result of the novelty of RR methods versus other types of evidence syntheses, customization of RRs for various decision makers, and definition of 'rapid' by organizations, since it impacts both the timelines and the evidence synthesis methods. Future research should investigate the impact of current RR methods and reporting to

Coal prices rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLean, A.

2001-01-01

Coking and semi hard coking coal price agreements had been reached, but, strangely enough, the reaching of common ground on semi soft coking coal, ultra low volatile coal and thermal coal seemed some way off. More of this phenomenon later, but suffice to say that, traditionally, the semi soft and thermal coal prices have fallen into place as soon as the hard, or prime, coking coal prices have been determined. The rise and rise of the popularity of the ultra low volatile coals has seen demand for this type of coal grow almost exponentially. Perhaps one of the most interesting facets of the coking coal settlements announced to date is that the deals appear almost to have been preordained. The extraordinary thing is that the preordination has been at the prescience of the sellers. Traditionally, coking coal price fixing has been the prerogative of the Japanese Steel Mills (JSM) cartel (Nippon, NKK, Kawasaki, Kobe and Sumitomo) who presented a united front to a somewhat disorganised force of predominantly Australian and Canadian sellers. However, by the time JFY 2001 had come round, the rules of the game had changed

What telomeres say about activity and health: A rapid review: Ce que les télomères révèlent au sujet de l'activité et de la santé : revue rapide.

Science.gov (United States)

To-Miles, Flora Y L; Backman, Catherine L

2016-04-06

Empirical studies on occupation as a determinant of health could be advanced with research incorporating biological measures of health. Telomere length and telomerase function are promising biomarkers of the interaction of genetics, lifestyle, and behaviour; however, they have not been used in occupational therapy research. This paper reviews current evidence on the role of physical and mindfulness activities in sustaining telomeres. The findings are applied to the study of occupation, health, and aging. A rapid review was conducted with an evidence synthesis of 23 studies published from 2008 to 2014. Mindfulness activities may preserve telomeres, slow cell senescence and death, and sustain health through mediating life stressors. Inconsistencies exist for the effect of physical activities on telomeres. Similar research examining a range of occupations may help to identify the health-promoting benefits of occupation and inform lifestyle interventions. © CAOT 2016.

[Public spheres, political crisis and the Internet: the rise of the Podemos party].

Science.gov (United States)

Jerez, Ariel; Maceiras, Sergio D'Antonio; Maestu, Enrique

2015-12-01

The rise of the political party Podemos, within the context of a crisis in political representation, can be explained from a perspective of transformative interactions between public spheres, social movements and new technologies. The emergence of the 15M movement allowed Podemos to offer a new diagnosis of politics that has been actively promoted on social media, which represent a true campaign platform for low-budget parties. An analysis of Twitter and Facebook reveals the rapid growth of Podemos, its prominence on social networks, the profile of its followers and its most influential publications in these new discourses. Lastly, we analyze the challenges for this type of party in terms of incorporating into the political panorama in Spain and in Europe.

Rapid spread of complex change: a case study in inpatient palliative care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filipski Marta I

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Based on positive findings from a randomized controlled trial, Kaiser Permanente's national executive leadership group set an expectation that all Kaiser Permanente and partner hospitals would implement a consultative model of interdisciplinary, inpatient-based palliative care (IPC. Within one year, the number of IPC consultations program-wide increased almost tenfold from baseline, and the number of teams nearly doubled. We report here results from a qualitative evaluation of the IPC initiative after a year of implementation; our purpose was to understand factors supporting or impeding the rapid and consistent spread of a complex program. Methods Quality improvement study using a case study design and qualitative analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 36 national, regional, and local leaders. Results Compelling evidence of impacts on patient satisfaction and quality of care generated 'pull' among adopters, expressed as a remarkably high degree of conviction about the value of the model. Broad leadership agreement gave rise to sponsorship and support that permeated the organization. A robust social network promoted knowledge exchange and built on an existing network with a strong interest in palliative care. Resource constraints, pre-existing programs of a different model, and ambiguous accountability for implementation impeded spread. Conclusions A complex, hospital-based, interdisciplinary intervention in a large health care organization spread rapidly due to a synergy between organizational 'push' strategies and grassroots-level pull. The combination of push and pull may be especially important when the organizational context or the practice to be spread is complex.

Building a durable response to HIV/AIDS: implications for health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Atun, Rifat; Bataringaya, Jacqueline

2011-08-01

The remarkable rise in investments for HIV control programs in 2003-2010 enabled an unprecedented expansion of access to HIV services in low-income and middle-income countries. By the end of 2010, more than 5.2 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), which transformed HIV infection, once a death sentence, into a long-term illness. The rapid expansion in the number of persons receiving ART means that health systems must continue to provide acute life-saving care for those with advanced HIV/AIDS although also providing chronic care services to expanding cohorts of more stable patients who are doing well on ART. This expansion also means a transition from an emergency response to the epidemic, characterized by a public health approach, to a more integrated and durable approach to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services that fosters individualized care for those requiring long-term antiretroviral treatment. Yet most low-income and middle-income countries, which have weak health systems, are poorly prepared to make this transition. In this article, we highlight the challenges health systems face in developing a sustained and durable response to HIV/AIDS. The article analyses the readiness of health systems to combine rapid expansion of ART access with long-term treatment and continuity of care for a growing cohort of patients. We argue that effective management of a transition from an emergency AIDS response to long-term programatic strategies will require a paradigm shift that enables leveraging investments in HIV to build sustainable health systems for managing large cohorts of patients receiving ART although meeting the immediate needs of those who remain without access to HIV treatment and care.

The Science-Policy Link: Stakeholder Reactions to the Uncertainties of Future Sea Level Rise

Science.gov (United States)

Plag, H.; Bye, B.

2011-12-01

would provide a different kind of science input to policy makers and stakeholders. Like in many other insurance problems (for example, earthquakes), where deterministic predictions are not possible and decisions have to be made on the basis of statistics and probabilities, the statistical approach to coastal resilience would require stakeholders to make decisions on the basis of probabilities instead of predictions. The science input for informed decisions on adaptation would consist of general probabilities of decadal to century scale sea level changes derived from paleo records, including the probabilities for large and rapid rises. Similar to other problems where the appearance of a hazard is associated with a high risk (like a fire in a house), this approach would also require a monitoring and warning system (a "smoke detector") capable of detecting any onset of a rapid sea level rise.

Tracking and unpacking rapid Arctic change: Indicators of community health and sustainability in northern Alaska and links to cryospheric change

Science.gov (United States)

Eicken, H.; Sam, J. M.; Mueller-stoffels, M.; Lovecraft, A. L.; Fresco, N. L.

2017-12-01

Tracking and responding to rapid Arctic change benefits from time series of indicator variables that describe the state of the system and can inform anticipatory action. A key challenge is to identify and monitor sets of indicators that capture relevant variability, trends, and transitions in social-environmental systems. We present findings from participatory scenarios focused on community health and sustainability in northern Alaska. In a series of workshops in 2015 and 2016 (Kotzebue workshop photo shown below), over 50 experts, mostly local, identified determinants of community health and sustainability by 2040 in the Northwest Arctic and North Slope Boroughs, Alaska. Drawing on further research, an initial set of factors and uncertainties was refined and prioritized into a total of 20 key drivers, ranging from governance issues to socio-economic and environmental factors. The research team then developed sets of future projections that describe plausible outcomes by mid-century for each of these drivers. A plausibility and consistency analysis of all pairwise combinations of these projections (following Mueller-Stoffels and Eicken, In: North by 2020 - Perspectives on Alaska's Changing Social-Ecological Systems, University of Alaska Press, 2011) resulted in the identification of robust scenarios. The latter were further reviewed by workshop participants, and a set of indicator variables, including indicators of relevant cryospheric change, was identified to help track trajectories towards plausible future states. Publically accessible recorded data only exist for a subset of the more than 70 indicators, reaching back a few years to several decades. For several indicators, the sampling rate or time series length are insufficient for tracking of and response to change. A core set of variables has been identified that meets indicator requirements and can serve as a tool for Alaska Arctic communities in adapting to or mitigating rapid change affecting community

Why is energy use rising in the freight sector?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mintz, M.; Vyas, A.D.

1991-01-01

Trends in transportation sector energy use and carbon dioxide emissions are analyzed with an emphasis on three freight modes -- rail, truck, and marine. A recent set of energy use projections is presented and freight mode energy characteristics are discussed. Transportation sector energy use, which nearly doubled between 1960 and 1985, is projected to grow more slowly during the period 1985 endash 2010. Most of the growth is projected to come from non-personal modes (freight and commercial air). Trends in freight mode energy intensities are discussed and a variety of factors behind these trends are analyzed. Rail and marine modes improved their energy intensities during sudden fuel price rises of the 1970s. Though there is room for further technological improvement, long power plant life cycles preclude rapid penetration of new technologies. Thus, energy intensities in these modes are more likely to improve through operational changes. Because of relatively stable fuel prices, the energy share of truck operating expenses is likely to remain low. Coupled with increasing labor costs, this portends only modest improvements in truck energy efficiency over the next two decades

Historical Cavern Floor Rise for All SPR Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriarty, Dylan Michael [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-09-01

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) contains the largest supply is the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil in the world. The oil is stored in multiple salt caverns spread over four sites in Louisiana and Texas. Cavern infrastructure near the bottom of the cavern can be damaged from vertical floor movement. This report presents a comprehensive history of floor movements in each cavern. Most of the cavern floor rise rates ranged from 0.5-3.5 ft/yr, however, there were several caverns with much higher rise rates. BH103, BM106, and BH105 had the three highest rise rates. Information from this report will be used to better predict future vertical floor movements and optimally place cavern infrastructure. The reasons for floor rise are not entirely understood and should be investigated.

A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: a case study of 'bird flu' and 'swine flu'.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, R Alexander; Ormerod, Paul

2010-08-01

Effective communication strategies regarding health issues are affected by the way in which the public obtain their knowledge, particularly whether people become interested independently, or through their social networks. This is often investigated through localized ethnography or surveys. In rapidly-evolving situations, however, there may also be a need for swift, case-specific assessment as a guide to initial strategy development. With this aim, we analyze real-time online data, provided by the new 'Google Trends' tool, concerning Internet search frequency for health-related issues. To these data we apply a simple model to characterise the effective degree of social transmission versus decisions made individually. As case examples, we explore two rapidly-evolved issues, namely the world-wide interest in avian influenza, or 'bird flu', in 2005, and in H1N1, or 'swine flu', from late April to early May 2009. The 2005 'bird flu' scare demonstrated almost pure imitation for two months initially, followed by a spike of independent decision that corresponded with an announcement by US president George Bush. For 'swine flu' in 2009, imitation was the more prevalent throughout. Overall, the results show how interest in health scares can spread primarily by social means, and that engaging more independent decisions at the population scale may require a dramatic announcement to push a populace over the 'tipping point'. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

21 CFR 137.270 - Self-rising white corn meal.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Self-rising white corn meal. 137.270 Section 137... Cereal Flours and Related Products § 137.270 Self-rising white corn meal. (a) Self-rising white corn meal is an intimate mixture of white corn meal, sodium bicarbonate, and one or both of the acid-reacting...

Health Economics at the Crossroads of Centuries – From the Past to the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Jakovljevic, Mihajlo (Michael); Ogura, Seiritsu

2016-01-01

Health economics, as an interdisciplinary science, has experienced exceptionally bold evolution through the past eight decades. Generations of committed scholars have built up huge body of knowledge and developed a set of methodological tools to assist health-care authorities with resource allocation process. Following its conception at the US National Bureau of Economic Research and Ivy League US Universities, this science has spread across the Globe. It has adapted to a myriad of local conditions and needs of the national health systems with diverse historical legacies, medical services provision, and financing patterns. Challenge of financial sustainability facing modern day health systems remains primarily attributable to population aging, prosperity diseases, large scale migrations, rapid urbanization, and technological innovation in medicine. Despite promising developments in developing countries with emerging BRICS markets on the lead, rising out-of-pocket health spending continues to threaten affordability of medical care. Universal health coverage extension will likely remain serious challenge even for some of the most advanced OECD nations. These complex circumstances create strong drivers for inevitable further development of health economics. We believe that this interdisciplinary health science shall leave long-lasting blue print to be visible for decades to come. PMID:27376055

Rising trends and inequalities in cesarean section rates in Pakistan: Evidence from Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys, 1990-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Mumtaz, Sarwat; Bahk, Jinwook; Khang, Young-Ho

2017-01-01

Despite global efforts to improve maternal health, many developing countries including Pakistan have failed to achieve the target of a 75% reduction in maternal deaths by 2015. Addressing socioeconomic inequalities in access to emergency obstetric care is crucial for reducing the maternal mortality rate. This study was done to examine the time trends and socioeconomic inequalities in the utilization of cesarean section (C-section) in Pakistan during 1990-2013. We used data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS) conducted during 1990 to 2013. All these surveys are nationally representative surveys of ever-married women aged 15-49 years with a sample size of 6611, 10,023, and 13,558 women in 1990-1991, 2006-2007, and 2012-2013, respectively, with an overall response rate of over 90%. The unit of analysis for this study was women with their most recent live birth in the five years preceding the surveys. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to investigate the prevalence of cesarean sections according to selected sociodemographic characteristics of women. C-section rates were found to have increased during this period, with an especially significant rise from 2.7% in 1990-1991 to 15.8% in 2012-2013 with lower utilization among the non-educated women (7.5%), compared with the women with higher education (40.3%). C-section rates ranged from 5.5% in the poorest women to 35.3% in the richest women. Only 11.5% of the rural women had a C-section compared to 25.6% of the urban women. A greater likelihood of having a cesarean section was observed in the richest, highly educated, and urban-living women while there was no significant difference observed in cesarean section rates between the private and public sectors in all three surveys. To improve maternal health, routine monitoring and evaluation of the provision of emergency obstetric services are needed to address the underuse of C-section in poor and rural areas and

Rising trends and inequalities in cesarean section rates in Pakistan: Evidence from Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys, 1990-2013.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarwat Mumtaz

Full Text Available Despite global efforts to improve maternal health, many developing countries including Pakistan have failed to achieve the target of a 75% reduction in maternal deaths by 2015. Addressing socioeconomic inequalities in access to emergency obstetric care is crucial for reducing the maternal mortality rate. This study was done to examine the time trends and socioeconomic inequalities in the utilization of cesarean section (C-section in Pakistan during 1990-2013. We used data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS conducted during 1990 to 2013. All these surveys are nationally representative surveys of ever-married women aged 15-49 years with a sample size of 6611, 10,023, and 13,558 women in 1990-1991, 2006-2007, and 2012-2013, respectively, with an overall response rate of over 90%. The unit of analysis for this study was women with their most recent live birth in the five years preceding the surveys. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to investigate the prevalence of cesarean sections according to selected sociodemographic characteristics of women. C-section rates were found to have increased during this period, with an especially significant rise from 2.7% in 1990-1991 to 15.8% in 2012-2013 with lower utilization among the non-educated women (7.5%, compared with the women with higher education (40.3%. C-section rates ranged from 5.5% in the poorest women to 35.3% in the richest women. Only 11.5% of the rural women had a C-section compared to 25.6% of the urban women. A greater likelihood of having a cesarean section was observed in the richest, highly educated, and urban-living women while there was no significant difference observed in cesarean section rates between the private and public sectors in all three surveys. To improve maternal health, routine monitoring and evaluation of the provision of emergency obstetric services are needed to address the underuse of C-section in poor and

Rising cyclin-CDK levels order cell cycle events.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Oikonomou

Full Text Available Diverse mitotic events can be triggered in the correct order and time by a single cyclin-CDK. A single regulator could confer order and timing on multiple events if later events require higher cyclin-CDK than earlier events, so that gradually rising cyclin-CDK levels can sequentially trigger responsive events: the "quantitative model" of ordering.This 'quantitative model' makes predictions for the effect of locking cyclin at fixed levels for a protracted period: at low cyclin levels, early events should occur rapidly, while late events should be slow, defective, or highly variable (depending on threshold mechanism. We titrated the budding yeast mitotic cyclin Clb2 within its endogenous expression range to a stable, fixed level and measured time to occurrence of three mitotic events: growth depolarization, spindle formation, and spindle elongation, as a function of fixed Clb2 level. These events require increasingly more Clb2 according to their normal order of occurrence. Events occur efficiently and with low variability at fixed Clb2 levels similar to those observed when the events normally occur. A second prediction of the model is that increasing the rate of cyclin accumulation should globally advance timing of all events. Moderate (<2-fold overexpression of Clb2 accelerates all events of mitosis, resulting in consistently rapid sequential cell cycles. However, this moderate overexpression also causes a significant frequency of premature mitoses leading to inviability, suggesting that Clb2 expression level is optimized to balance the fitness costs of variability and catastrophe.We conclude that mitotic events are regulated by discrete cyclin-CDK thresholds. These thresholds are sequentially triggered as cyclin increases, yielding reliable order and timing. In many biological processes a graded input must be translated into discrete outputs. In such systems, expression of the central regulator is likely to be tuned to an optimum level, as we

Minimum and Maximum Potential Contributions to Future Sea Level Rise from Polar Ice Sheets

Science.gov (United States)

Deconto, R. M.; Pollard, D.

2017-12-01

New climate and ice-sheet modeling, calibrated to past changes in sea-level, is painting a stark picture of the future fate of the great polar ice sheets if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. This is especially true for Antarctica, where a substantial fraction of the ice sheet rests on bedrock more than 500-meters below sea level. Here, we explore the sensitivity of the polar ice sheets to a warming atmosphere and ocean under a range of future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. The ice sheet-climate-ocean model used here considers time-evolving changes in surface mass balance and sub-ice oceanic melting, ice deformation, grounding line retreat on reverse-sloped bedrock (Marine Ice Sheet Instability), and newly added processes including hydrofracturing of ice shelves in response to surface meltwater and rain, and structural collapse of thick, marine-terminating ice margins with tall ice-cliff faces (Marine Ice Cliff Instability). The simulations improve on previous work by using 1) improved atmospheric forcing from a Regional Climate Model and 2) a much wider range of model physical parameters within the bounds of modern observations of ice dynamical processes (particularly calving rates) and paleo constraints on past ice-sheet response to warming. Approaches to more precisely define the climatic thresholds capable of triggering rapid and potentially irreversible ice-sheet retreat are also discussed, as is the potential for aggressive mitigation strategies like those discussed at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) to substantially reduce the risk of extreme sea-level rise. These results, including physics that consider both ice deformation (creep) and calving (mechanical failure of marine terminating ice) expand on previously estimated limits of maximum rates of future sea level rise based solely on kinematic constraints of glacier flow. At the high end, the new results show the potential for more than 2m of global mean sea level rise by 2100

Trade and health: an agenda for action

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard D; Lee, Kelley; Drager, Nick

2009-01-01

The processes of contemporary globalisation are creating ever-closer ties between individuals and populations across different countries. The health of a population, and the systems in place to deliver health care, are affected increasingly by factors beyond the population and health system. The Lancet’s Series on trade and health has provided an overview of these links between international trade, trade liberalisation, and health, and raised the key issues that face the health community. In this final paper in the Series, we call for a substantial and sustained effort by those within the health profession to engage with issues of trade, to strengthen institutional capacity in this area, and to place health higher on the agenda of trade negotiations. The rapid rise of trade agreements and treaties, as well as trade that occurs beyond these institutional boundaries, means that further action is required by a range of actors, including WHO, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), regional agencies, foundations, national governments, civil society, non-governmental organisations, and academics. The stewardship of a domestic health system in the 21st century requires a sophisticated understanding of how trade affects, and will affect, a country’s health system and policy, to optimise opportunities to benefit health and health care while minimising the risks posed though the assertion of health goals in trade policy. To acheive this will place a premium on all those engaged in health to understand the importance of trade and to engage with their counterparts involved in trade and trade policy. We hope that this Series has prompted the reader to become involved in these efforts. PMID:19167056

Trade and health: an agenda for action.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard D; Lee, Kelley; Drager, Nick

2009-02-28

The processes of contemporary globalisation are creating ever-closer ties between individuals and populations across different countries. The health of a population, and the systems in place to deliver health care, are affected increasingly by factors beyond the population and health system. The Lancet's Series on trade and health has provided an overview of these links between international trade, trade liberalisation, and health, and raised the key issues that face the health community. In this final paper in the Series, we call for a substantial and sustained effort by those within the health profession to engage with issues of trade, to strengthen institutional capacity in this area, and to place health higher on the agenda of trade negotiations. The rapid rise of trade agreements and treaties, as well as trade that occurs beyond these institutional boundaries, means that further action is required by a range of actors, including WHO, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), regional agencies, foundations, national governments, civil society, non-governmental organisations, and academics. The stewardship of a domestic health system in the 21st century requires a sophisticated understanding of how trade affects, and will affect, a country's health system and policy, to optimise opportunities to benefit health and health care while minimising the risks posed though the assertion of health goals in trade policy. To acheive this will place a premium on all those engaged in health to understand the importance of trade and to engage with their counterparts involved in trade and trade policy. We hope that this Series has prompted the reader to become involved in these efforts.

Special considerations for testing rising rotating stem MOVs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moffa, A.

1992-01-01

Rising stem gate and globe valves have one plane of motion: linear. The stem is either pushed or pulled into position. For rising and rotating stems however, there are two planes of motion: linear and rotational. The stem is twisted in addition to being pushed or pulled into position. Typical motor operated valve (MOV) sizing equations account only for the linear requirements of the valve to open or close. Theoretical calculations performed for a two-dimensional system predict that in the running load region, rotational torque requirements far exceed the linear requirements. To validate the theoretical model, torque testing of rising rotating stem valves was preformed, using Liberty Technologies Valve Operation Test and Evaluation System (VOTES). Theoretical and empirical data have produced a new perspective for operational requirements and a guideline for testing rising rotating stem valves

Rising Intracellular Zinc by Membrane Depolarization and Glucose in Insulin-Secreting Clonal HIT-T15 Beta Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kira G. Slepchenko

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Zinc (Zn2+ appears to be intimately involved in insulin metabolism since insulin secretion is correlated with zinc secretion in response to glucose stimulation, but little is known about the regulation of zinc homeostasis in pancreatic beta-cells. This study set out to identify the intracellular zinc transient by imaging free cytosolic zinc in HIT-T15 beta-cells with fluorescent zinc indicators. We observed that membrane depolarization by KCl (30–60 mM was able to induce a rapid increase in cytosolic concentration of zinc. Multiple zinc transients of similar magnitude were elicited during repeated stimulations. The amplitude of zinc responses was not affected by the removal of extracellular calcium or zinc. However, the half-time of the rising slope was significantly slower after removing extracellular zinc with zinc chelator CaEDTA, suggesting that extracellular zinc affect the initial rising phase of zinc response. Glucose (10 mM induced substantial and progressive increases in intracellular zinc concentration in a similar way as KCl, with variation in the onset and the duration of zinc mobilization. It is known that the depolarization of beta-cell membrane is coupled with the secretion of insulin. Rising intracellular zinc concentration may act as a critical signaling factor in insulin metabolism of pancreatic beta-cells.

Mangrove forest against dyke-break-induced tsunami on rapidly subsiding coasts

Science.gov (United States)

Takagi, Hiroshi; Mikami, Takahito; Fujii, Daisuke; Esteban, Miguel; Kurobe, Shota

2016-07-01

Thin coastal dykes typically found in developing countries may suddenly collapse due to rapid land subsidence, material ageing, sea-level rise, high wave attack, earthquakes, landslides, or a collision with vessels. Such a failure could trigger dam-break tsunami-type flooding, or "dyke-break-induced tsunami", a possibility which has so far been overlooked in the field of coastal disaster science and management. To analyse the potential consequences of one such flooding event caused by a dyke failure, a hydrodynamic model was constructed based on the authors' field surveys of a vulnerable coastal location in Jakarta, Indonesia. In a 2 m land subsidence scenario - which is expected to take place in the study area after only about 10-20 years - the model results show that the floodwaters rapidly rise to a height of nearly 3 m, resembling the flooding pattern of earthquake-induced tsunamis. The depth-velocity product criterion suggests that many of the narrow pedestrian paths behind the dyke could experience strong flows, which are far greater than the safe limits that would allow pedestrian evacuation. A couple of alternative scenarios were also considered to investigate how such flood impacts could be mitigated by creating a mangrove belt in front of the dyke as an additional safety measure. The dyke-break-induced tsunamis, which in many areas are far more likely than regular earthquake tsunamis, cannot be overlooked and thus should be considered in disaster management and urban planning along the coasts of many developing countries.

Diabetes in Mexico: cost and management of diabetes and its complications and challenges for health policy

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Mexico has been experiencing some of the most rapid shifts ever recorded in dietary and physical activity patterns leading to obesity. Diabetes mellitus has played a crucial role causing nearly 14% of all deaths. We wanted to make a comprehensive study of the role of diabetes in terms of burden of disease, prevalence, cost of diabetes, cost of complications and health policy. Method We review the quantitative data that provides evidence of the extent to which the Mexican health economy is affected by the disease and its complications. We then discuss the current situation of diabetes in Mexico with experts in the field. Results There was a significant increase in the prevalence of diabetes from 1994 to 2006 with rising direct costs (2006: outpatient USD$ 717,764,787, inpatient USD$ 223,581,099) and indirect costs (2005: USD$ 177,220,390), and rising costs of complications (2010: Retinopathy USD$ 10,323,421; Cardiovascular disease USD$ 12,843,134; Nephropathy USD$ 81,814,501; Neuropathy USD$ 2,760,271; Peripheral vascular disease USD$ 2,042,601). The health policy focused on screening and the creation of self-support groups across the country. Conclusions The increasing diabetes mortality and lack of control among diagnosed patients make quality of treatment a major concern in Mexico. The growing prevalence of childhood and adult obesity and the metabolic syndrome suggest that the situation could be even worse in the coming years. The government has reacted strongly with national actions to address the growing burden posed by diabetes. However our research suggests that the prevalence and mortality of diabetes will continue to rise in the future. PMID:23374611

Diabetes in Mexico: cost and management of diabetes and its complications and challenges for health policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Barquera, Simon; Campos-Nonato, Ismael; Aguilar-Salinas, Carlos; Lopez-Ridaura, Ruy; Arredondo, Armando; Rivera-Dommarco, Juan

2013-02-02

Mexico has been experiencing some of the most rapid shifts ever recorded in dietary and physical activity patterns leading to obesity. Diabetes mellitus has played a crucial role causing nearly 14% of all deaths. We wanted to make a comprehensive study of the role of diabetes in terms of burden of disease, prevalence, cost of diabetes, cost of complications and health policy. We review the quantitative data that provides evidence of the extent to which the Mexican health economy is affected by the disease and its complications. We then discuss the current situation of diabetes in Mexico with experts in the field. There was a significant increase in the prevalence of diabetes from 1994 to 2006 with rising direct costs (2006: outpatient USD$ 717,764,787, inpatient USD$ 223,581,099) and indirect costs (2005: USD$ 177,220,390), and rising costs of complications (2010: Retinopathy USD$ 10,323,421; Cardiovascular disease USD$ 12,843,134; Nephropathy USD$ 81,814,501; Neuropathy USD$ 2,760,271; Peripheral vascular disease USD$ 2,042,601). The health policy focused on screening and the creation of self-support groups across the country. The increasing diabetes mortality and lack of control among diagnosed patients make quality of treatment a major concern in Mexico. The growing prevalence of childhood and adult obesity and the metabolic syndrome suggest that the situation could be even worse in the coming years. The government has reacted strongly with national actions to address the growing burden posed by diabetes. However our research suggests that the prevalence and mortality of diabetes will continue to rise in the future.

Does Rapid and Sustained Economic Growth Lead to Convergence in Health Resources: The Case of China From 1980 to 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Di; Zhang, Donglan; Huang, Jiayan; Schweitzer, Stuart

2016-01-01

China's rapid and sustained economic growth offers an opportunity to ask whether the advantages of growth diffuse throughout an economy, or remain localized in areas where the growth has been the greatest. A critical policy area in China has been the health system, and health inequality has become an issue that has led the government to broaden national health insurance programs. This study investigates whether health system resources and performance have converged over the past 30 years across China's 31 provinces. To examine geographic variation of health system resources and performance at the provincial level, we measure the degree of sigma convergence and beta convergence in indicators of health system resources (structure), health services utilization (process), and outcome. All data are from officially published sources: the China Health Statistics Year Book and the China Statistics Year Book. Sigma convergence is found for resource indicators, whereas it is not observed for either process or outcome indicators, indicating that disparities only narrowed in health system resources. Beta convergence is found in most indicators, except for 2 procedure indicators, reflecting that provinces with poorer resources were catching up. Convergence found in this study probably reflects the mixed outcome of government input, and market forces. Thus, left alone, the equitable distribution of health care resources may not occur naturally during a period of economic growth. Governmental and societal efforts are needed to reduce geographic health variation and promote health equity. © The Author(s) 2016.

The role of developmental plasticity and epigenetics in human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gluckman, Peter D; Hanson, Mark A; Low, Felicia M

2011-03-01

Considerable epidemiological, experimental and clinical data have amassed showing that the risk of developing disease in later life is dependent on early life conditions, mainly operating within the normative range of developmental exposures. This relationship reflects plastic responses made by the developing organism as an evolved strategy to cope with immediate or predicted circumstances, to maximize fitness in the context of the range of environments potentially faced. There is now increasing evidence, both in animals and humans, that such developmental plasticity is mediated in part by epigenetic mechanisms. However, recognition of the importance of developmental plasticity as an important factor in influencing later life health-particularly within the medical and public health communities-is low, and we argue that this indifference cannot be sustained in light of the growing understanding of developmental processes and the rapid rise in the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disease globally. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Sea level rise and the geoid: factor analysis approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexey Sadovski

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Sea levels are rising around the world, and this is a particular concern along most of the coasts of the United States. A 1989 EPA report shows that sea levels rose 5-6 inches more than the global average along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the last century. The main reason for this is coastal land subsidence. This sea level rise is considered more as relative sea level rise than global sea level rise. Thus, instead of studying sea level rise globally, this paper describes a statistical approach by using factor analysis of regional sea level rates of change. Unlike physical models and semi-empirical models that attempt to approach how much and how fast sea levels are changing, this methodology allows for a discussion of the factor(s that statistically affects sea level rates of change, and seeks patterns to explain spatial correlations.

Application of tuned mass dampers in high-rise construction

Science.gov (United States)

Teplyshev, Vyacheslav; Mylnik, Alexey; Pushkareva, Maria; Agakhanov, Murad; Burova, Olga

2018-03-01

The article considers the use of tuned mass dampers in high-rise construction for significant acceleration and amplitude of vibrations of the upper floors under dynamic wind influences. The susceptibility of people to accelerations in high-rise buildings and possible means of reducing wind-induced fluctuations in buildings are analyzed. The statistics of application of tuned mass dampers in high-rise construction all over the world is presented. The goal of the study is to identify an economically attractive solution that allows the fullest use of the potential of building structures in high-rise construction, abandoning the need to build massive frames leading to over-consumption of materials.

Rapid road repair vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Mara, Leo M.

1998-01-01

Disclosed is a rapid road repair vehicle capable of moving over a surface to be repaired at near normal posted traffic speeds to scan for and find an the high rate of speed, imperfections in the pavement surface, prepare the surface imperfection for repair by air pressure and vacuum cleaning, applying a correct amount of the correct patching material to effect the repair, smooth the resulting repaired surface, and catalog the location and quality of the repairs for maintenance records of the road surface. The rapid road repair vehicle can repair surface imperfections at lower cost, improved quality, at a higher rate of speed than was was heretofor possible, with significantly reduced exposure to safety and health hazards associated with this kind of road repair activities in the past.

Health Technology Trust: Undeserved or Justified? A review of technological risks in eHealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ossebaard, Hans Cornelis; Geertsma, R.E.; van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E.W.C.; van Gemert-Pijnen, L.; Ossebaard, HC; Smedberg, A; Wynchank, S.; Giacomelli, P.

2012-01-01

Challenges for global health care are considerable. Increasing healthcare expenditures, ageing, the rise of chronic diseases and the public health threat of infectious diseases give reason to worldwide concern. Many believe eHealth technologies to contribute to the solution of these issues and to

Analysis of coastal protection under rising flood risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan J. Lickley

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Infrastructure located along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts is exposed to rising risk of flooding from sea level rise, increasing storm surge, and subsidence. In these circumstances coastal management commonly based on 100-year flood maps assuming current climatology is no longer adequate. A dynamic programming cost–benefit analysis is applied to the adaptation decision, illustrated by application to an energy facility in Galveston Bay. Projections of several global climate models provide inputs to estimates of the change in hurricane and storm surge activity as well as the increase in sea level. The projected rise in physical flood risk is combined with estimates of flood damage and protection costs in an analysis of the multi-period nature of adaptation choice. The result is a planning method, using dynamic programming, which is appropriate for investment and abandonment decisions under rising coastal risk.

The Climate Science Special Report: Rising Seas and Changing Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Kopp, R. E.

2017-12-01

GMSL has risen by about 16-21 cm since 1900. Ocean heat content has increased at all depths since the 1960s, and global mean sea-surface temperature increased 0.7°C/century between 1900 to 2016. Human activity contributed substantially to generating a rate of GMSL rise since 1900 faster than during any preceding century in at least 2800 years. A new set of six sea-level rise scenarios, spanning a range from 30 cm to 250 cm of 21st century GMSL rise, were developed for the CSSR. The lower scenario is based on linearly extrapolating the past two decades' rate of rise. The upper scenario is informed by literature estimates of maximum physically plausible values, observations indicating the onset of marine ice sheet instability in parts of West Antarctica, and modeling of ice-cliff and ice-shelf instability mechanisms. The new scenarios include localized projections along US coastlines. There is significant variability around the US, with rates of rise likely greater than GMSL rise in the US Northeast and the western Gulf of Mexico. Under scenarios involving extreme Antarctic contributions, regional rise would be greater than GMSL rise along almost all US coastlines. Historical sea-level rise has already driven a 5- to 10-fold increase in minor tidal flooding in several US coastal cities since the 1960s. Under the CSSR's Intermediate sea-level rise scenario (1.0 m of GMSL rise in 2100) , a majority of NOAA tide gauge locations will by 2040 experience the historical 5-year coastal flood about 5 times per year. Ocean changes are not limited to rising sea levels. Ocean pH is decreasing at a rate that may be unparalleled in the last 66 million years. Along coastlines, ocean acidification can be enhanced by changes in the upwelling (particularly along the US Pacific Coast); by episodic, climate change-enhanced increases in freshwater input (particularly along the US Atlantic Coast); and by the enhancement of biological respiration by nutrient runoff. Climate models project

Large Topographic Rises on Venus: Implications for Mantle Upwelling

Science.gov (United States)

Stofan, Ellen R.; Smrekar, Suzanne E.; Bindschandler, Duane L.; Senske, David A.

1995-01-01

Topographic rises on Venus have been identified that are interpreted to be the surface manifestation of mantle upwellings. These features are classified into groups based on their dominant morphology. Atla and Beta Regiones are classified as rift-dominated, Dione, western Eistla, Bell, and Imdr Regiones as volcano-dominated, and Themis, eastern Eistla, and central Eistla Regiones as corona-dominated. At several topographic rises, geologic indicators were identified that may provide evidence of uplifted topography (e.g., volcanic flow features trending upslope). We assessed the minimum contribution of volcanic construction to the topography of each rise, which in general represents less than 5% of the volume of the rise, similar to the volumes of edifices at terrestrial hotspot swells. The total melt volume at each rise is approximated to be 10(exp 4) - 10(exp 6) cu km. The variations in morphology, topography, and gravity signatures at topographic rises are not interpreted to indicate variations in stage of evolution of a mantle upwelling. Instead, the morphologic variations between the three classes of topographic rises are interpreted to indicate the varying influences of lithospheric structure, plume characteristics, and regional tectonic environment. Within each class, variations in topography, gravity, and amount of volcanism may be indicative of differing stages of evolution. The similarity between swell and volcanic volumes for terrestrial and Venusian hotspots implies comparable time-integrated plume strengths for individual upwellings on the two planets.

Retrograde Accretion of a Caribbean Fringing Reef Controlled by Hurricanes and Sea-level Rise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Blanchon

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Predicting the impact of sea-level (SL rise on coral reefs requires reliable models of reef accretion. Most assume that accretion results from vertical growth of coralgal framework, but recent studies show that reefs exposed to hurricanes consist of layers of coral gravel rather than in-place corals. New models are therefore needed to account for hurricane impact on reef accretion over geological timescales. To investigate this geological impact, we report the configuration and development of a 4-km-long fringing reef at Punta Maroma along the northeast Yucatan Peninsula. Satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB shows the crest is set-back a uniform distance of 315 ±15 m from a mid-shelf slope break, and the reef-front decreases 50% in width and depth along its length. A 12-core drill transect constrained by multiple 230Th ages shows the reef is composed of an ~2-m thick layer of coral clasts that has retrograded 100 m over its back-reef during the last 5.5 ka. These findings are consistent with a hurricane-control model of reef development where large waves trip and break over the mid-shelf slope break, triggering rapid energy dissipation and thus limiting how far upslope individual waves can fragment corals and transport clasts. As SL rises and water depth increases, energy dissipation during wave-breaking is reduced, extending the clast-transport limit, thus leading to reef retrogradation. This hurricane model may be applicable to a large sub-set of fringing reefs in the tropical Western-Atlantic necessitating a reappraisal of their accretion rates and response to future SL rise.

The Importance of Diet and Gut Health to the Treatment and Prevention of Mental Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, S L; Dash, S R; Jacka, F N

2016-01-01

The departure from traditional lifestyles and the rising disease burden of mental disorders are increasing global health concerns. Changes in diet around the world mean that populations are now increasingly reliant on highly processed, poor quality foods, which have been linked to increased risk for mental disorder. Conversely, a nutrient-rich diet is understood to be protective of mental health, and researchers are now aiming to understand the biological underpinnings of this relationship. The gut microbiota has been proposed as a key mediator of this link, given its association with both diet and mental health. Importantly, several critical "windows of opportunity" for prevention and intervention have been identified, particularly early life and adolescence; these are periods of rapid development and transition that provide a foundation for future health. Strategies that promote overall diet quality, high in fiber and nutrients, have been linked to increased microbial diversity and gut health. Improving diet quality and subsequent gut health may have benefits for individuals' mental health, as well as the mental health of future generations. Here we discuss specific, targeted dietary and gut focused strategies for the prevention and treatment of mental disorder. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Islamophobia and Public Health in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Samari, Goleen

2016-11-01

Anti-Muslim sentiments are increasingly common globally and in the United States. The recent rise in Islamophobia calls for a public health perspective that considers the stigmatized identity of Muslim Americans and health implications of Islamophobic discrimination. Drawing on a stigma, discrimination, and health framework, I expand the dialogue on the rise of Islamophobia to a discussion of how Islamophobia affects the health of Muslim Americans. Islamophobia can negatively influence health by disrupting several systems-individual (stress reactivity and identity concealment), interpersonal (social relationships and socialization processes), and structural (institutional policies and media coverage). Islamophobia deserves attention as a source of negative health outcomes and health disparities. Future public health research should explore the multilevel and multidimensional pathways between Islamophobia and population health.

It is Time to Ban Rapid Weight Loss from Combat Sports.

Science.gov (United States)

Artioli, Guilherme G; Saunders, Bryan; Iglesias, Rodrigo T; Franchini, Emerson

2016-11-01

Most competitions in combat sports are divided into weight classes, theoretically allowing for fairer and more evenly contested disputes between athletes of similar body size, strength and agility. It has been well documented that most athletes, regardless of the combat sports discipline, reduce significant amounts of body weight in the days prior to competition to qualify for lighter weight classes. Rapid weight loss is characterised by the reduction of a significant amount of body weight (typically 2-10 %, although larger reductions are often seen) in a few days prior to weigh-in (mostly in the last 2-3 days) achieved by a combination of methods that include starvation, severe restriction of fluid intake and intentional sweating. In doing so, athletes try to gain a competitive advantage against lighter, smaller and weaker opponents. Such a drastic and rapid weight reduction is only achievable via a combination of aggressive strategies that lead to hypohydration and starvation. The negative impact of these procedures on health is well described in the literature. Although the impact of rapid weight loss on performance is debated, there remains robust evidence showing that rapid weight loss may not impair performance, and translates into an actual competitive advantage. In addition to the health and performance implications, rapid weight loss clearly breaches fair play and stands against the spirit of the sport because an athlete unwilling to compete having rapidly reduced weight would face unfair contests against opponents who are 'artificially' bigger and stronger. The World Anti-Doping Agency Code states that a prohibited method must meet at least two of the following criteria: (1) enhances performance; (2) endangers an athlete's health; and (3) violates the spirit of the sport. We herein argue that rapid weight loss clearly meets all three criteria and, therefore, should be banned from the sport. To quote the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, this would "protect

[Introduction of rapid syphilis and HIV testing in prenatal care in Colombia: qualitative analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Ochoa-Manjarrés, María Teresa; Gaitán-Duarte, Hernando Guillermo; Caicedo, Sidia; Gómez, Berta; Pérez, Freddy

2016-12-01

Interpret perceptions of Colombian health professionals concerning factors that obstruct and facilitate the introduction of rapid syphilis and HIV testing in prenatal care services. A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews was carried out. A convenience sample was selected with 37 participants, who included health professionals involved in prenatal care services, programs for pregnant women, clinical laboratories, and directors of health care units or centers, as well as representatives from regional departments and the Ministry of Health. Colombia does not do widespread screening with rapid syphilis and HIV tests in prenatal care. The professionals interviewed stated they did not have prior experience in the use of rapid tests-except for laboratory staff-or in the course of action in response to a positive result. The insurance system hinders access to timely diagnosis and treatment. Health authorities perceive a need to review existing standards, strengthen the first level of care, and promote comprehensive prenatal care starting with contracts between insurers and health service institutional providers. Participants recommended staff training and integration between health-policymaking and academic entities for updating training programs. The market approach and the characteristics of the Colombian health system constitute the main barriers to implementation of rapid testing as a strategy for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV. Measures identified include making changes in contracts between insurers and health service institutional providers, adapting the timing and duration of prenatal care procedures, and training physicians and nurses involved in prenatal care.

Rapid Business Transformations in Health Care: A Systems Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Shulaiba, Refaat A.

2011-01-01

The top two priorities of health care business leaders are to constantly improve the quality of health care while striving to contain and reduce the high cost of health care. The Health Care industry, similar to all businesses, is motivated to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate business transformation and increase business capabilities. …

The Rise of Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali

Iran is viewed as a rising power that poses an increasing threat to regional and even global security. This view is wrong for three reasons. Iran's hard and soft power is exaggerated by most accounts; it is too limited to allow the Iranians to dominate the Persian Gulf let alone the Middle East...

The Rise of Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali; Jakobsen, Peter Viggo

2010-01-01

Iran is viewed as a rising power that poses an increasing threat to regional and even global security. This view is wrong for three reasons. Iran's hard and soft power is exaggerated by most accounts; it is too limited to allow the Iranians to dominate the Persian Gulf let alone the Middle East...

Rising Health Expenditure Due to Non-Communicable Diseases in India: An Outlook.

Science.gov (United States)

Barik, Debasis; Arokiasamy, Perianayagam

2016-01-01

With ongoing demographic transition, epidemiological transition has been emerged as a growing concern in India. The share of non-communicable disease in total disease burden has increased from 31% in 1990 to 45% in 2010. This paper seeks to explore the health scenario of India in the wake of the growing pace of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension among Indian population using data from health and morbidity survey of the National Sample Survey Organisation (2004) and notifies about the resource needed to tackle this growing health risk. Given the share of private players (70%) in Indian health system, results indicate a higher private expenditure, mostly out-of-pocket expense, on account of non-communicable diseases. A timely look into the matter may tackle a more dreadful situation in near future.

Evaluation of a Rising Plate Meter for Use in Multispecies Swards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Leanne Dillard

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The rising plate meter (RPM provides rapid estimates of herbage mass (HM. Accurate calibration of the RPM is difficult due to variability in forage management, growth, and species composition. The RPM is typically calibrated by linear regression of HM and RPM height; however, the is usually low. Curvilinear regression, with the intercept set to zero, could provide a more robust calibration equation and decrease variability in RPM estimates. Three Pennsylvania organic dairy farms grazing lactating dairy cattle on multispecies pastures were used to determine measured HM and estimated HM using a RPM. Removal of the intercept increased the adjusted of all equations between 42.8 and 89.0%. Use of quadratic and cubic regression only resulted in 0.01 to 0.02 increase in adjusted . Linear regression remains the simplest and preferred method of calibration; however, error can be reduced by setting calibration equations so that zero RPM height is associated with zero HM.

The rise of sea level. To understand and to anticipate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-03-01

By proposing and briefly commenting graphs and drawings, this publication propose brief presentations of the main issues related to sea level rise: global warming and climate disturbance, description of the phenomenon of sea level rise (difference between sea ice and ground ice, melting of glaciers), increase of sea level rise during the twentieth century, territories at risk (examples of Greenland, Tuvalu, Shanghai), acceleration of ice melting during the twenty first century with many coastal areas at risk, already noticed and possible future impacts in France (glaciers runoff, threatened coasts, example of the Xynthia tempest), how to be united and to anticipate (a threat for millions of people, adaptation to sea level rise, limitation of global warming to limit sea level rise)

The power of collaboration: using internet-based tools to facilitate networking and benchmarking within a consortium of academic health centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Korner, Eli J; Oinonen, Michael J; Browne, Robert C

2003-02-01

The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) represents a strategic alliance of 169 academic health centers and associated institutions engaged in knowledge sharing and idea-generation. The use of the Internet as a tool in the delivery of UHC's products and services has increased dramatically over the past year and will continue to increase during the foreseeable future. This paper examines the current state of UHC-member institution driven tools and services that utilize the Web as a fundamental component in their delivery. The evolution of knowledge management at UHC, its management information and reporting tools, and expansion of e-commerce provide real world examples of Internet use in health care delivery and management. Health care workers are using these Web-based tools to help manage rising costs and optimize patient outcomes. Policy, technical, and organizational issues must be resolved to facilitate rapid adoption of Internet applications.

Barrier response to Holocene sea-level rise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pejrup, Morten; Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest; Johannessen, Peter N

Normally it is believed that sea-level rise causes coastal barrier retreat. However, sea-level is only one of the parameters determining the long term coastal development of barrier coasts. Sediment supply is an equally important determinant and may overshadow the effects of sea-level rise....... Conceptually this has been known for a long time but for the first time we can show the relative effect of these two parameters. We have studied three neighboring barrier islands in the Wadden Sea, and described their 3D morphological evolution during the last 8000 years. It appears that the barrier islands...... a much stronger component of sea-level control. The distance between the islands is only 50 km, and therefore our study shows that prediction of barrier development during a period of rising sea level may be more complicated than formerly believed....

A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Akira Uyemura

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Agriculture is a mainstay of many developing countries’ economy, such as Brazil. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Brazil is the major global consumer of pesticides. Irrespective of the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggests that pesticides promote human cancer risk, a prospective study reports that colorectal cancer (CRC burden will increase in developing countries by approximately 60% in the coming decades. Here, we review the literature and public data from the Brazilian Federal Government to explore why pesticides levels and new cases of colon cancer (CC are rising rapidly in the country. CC incidence is the second most common malignancy in men and women in the South and the Southeast of Brazil. However, while these regions have almost doubled their pesticide levels and CC mortality in 14 years, the amount of sold pesticides increased 5.2-fold with a corresponding 6.2-fold increase in CC mortality in Northern and Northeastern states. Interestingly, mortality from endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases are rapidly increasing, in close resemblance with the pesticide detection levels in food. Taken together, we discuss the possibility that pesticides might alter the risk of CC.

Anthropogenic forcing dominates sea level rise since 1850

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jevrejeva, Svetlana; Grinsted, Aslak; Moore, John

2009-01-01

The rate of sea level rise and its causes are topics of active debate. Here we use a delayed response statistical model to attribute the past 1000 years of sea level variability to various natural (volcanic and solar radiative) and anthropogenic (greenhouse gases and aerosols) forcings. We show...... that until 1800 the main drivers of sea level change are volcanic and solar radiative forcings. For the past 200 years sea level rise is mostly associated with anthropogenic factors. Only 4 ± 1.5 cm (25% of total sea level rise) during the 20th century is attributed to natural forcings, the remaining 14 ± 1...

How Big Data, Comparative Effectiveness Research, and Rapid-Learning Health-Care Systems Can Transform Patient Care in Radiation Oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Jason C; Showalter, Timothy N

2018-01-01

Big data and comparative effectiveness research methodologies can be applied within the framework of a rapid-learning health-care system (RLHCS) to accelerate discovery and to help turn the dream of fully personalized medicine into a reality. We synthesize recent advances in genomics with trends in big data to provide a forward-looking perspective on the potential of new advances to usher in an era of personalized radiation therapy, with emphases on the power of RLHCS to accelerate discovery and the future of individualized radiation treatment planning.

Interconnect rise time in superconducting integrating circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Preis, D.; Shlager, K.

1988-01-01

The influence of resistive losses on the voltage rise time of an integrated-circuit interconnection is reported. A distribution-circuit model is used to present the interconnect. Numerous parametric curves are presented based on numerical evaluation of the exact analytical expression for the model's transient response. For the superconducting case in which the series resistance of the interconnect approaches zero, the step-response rise time is longer but signal strength increases significantly

Rising Health Expenditure due to Non-communicable Diseases in India: An Outlook

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debasis Barik

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract: With ongoing demographic transition, epidemiological transition in India has been emerged as a growing concern in India. The share of non-communicable disease in total disease burden has increased from 31 per cent in 1990 to 45 per cent in 2010. This paper seeks to explore the health scenario of India in the wake of the growing pace of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension among Indian population using data from health and morbidity survey of the National Sample Survey Organisation (2004 and notifies about the resource needed to tackle this growing health risk. Given the share of private players (70 per cent in Indian health system, results indicate a higher private expenditure, mostly out-of-pocket expense, on account of non-communicable diseases. A timely look into the matter may tackle a more dreadful situation in near future.

The Rise of Conservatism since World War II.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Dan T.

2003-01-01

Discusses the rise of the conservatism movement in the United States since World War II. States that laissez-faire capitalism and the rise of communism contributed to the popularity of conservatism in the United States. Focuses on the role of U.S. Presidents, such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. (CMK)

Determination of Temperature Rise and Temperature Differentials of CEMII/B-V Cement for 20MPa Mass Concrete using Adiabatic Temperature Rise Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chee Siang, GO

2017-07-01

Experimental test was carried out to determine the temperature rise characteristics of Portland-Fly-Ash Cement (CEM II/B-V, 42.5N) of Blaine fineness 418.6m2/kg and 444.6m2/kg respectively for 20MPa mass concrete under adiabatic condition. The estimation on adiabatic temperature rise by way of CIRIA C660 method (Construction Industry Research & Information Information) was adopted to verify and validate the hot-box test results by simulating the heat generation curve of the concrete under semi-adiabatic condition. Test result found that Portland fly-ash cement has exhibited decrease in the peak value of temperature rise and maximum temperature rise rate. The result showed that the temperature development and distribution profile, which is directly contributed from the heat of hydration of cement with time, is affected by the insulation, initial placing temperature, geometry and size of concrete mass. The mock up data showing the measured temperature differential is significantly lower than the technical specifications 20°C temperature differential requirement and the 27.7°C limiting temperature differential for granite aggregate concrete as stipulated in BS8110-2: 1985. The concrete strength test result revealed that the 28 days cubes compressive strength was above the stipulated 20MPa characteristic strength at 90 days. The test demonstrated that with proper concrete mix design, the use of Portland flyash cement, combination of chilled water and flake ice, and good insulation is effective in reducing peak temperature rise, temperature differential, and lower adiabatic temperature rise for mass concrete pours. As far as the determined adiabatic temperature rise result was concern, the established result could be inferred for in-situ thermal properties of 20MPa mass concrete application, as the result could be repeatable on account of similar type of constituent materials and concrete mix design adopted for permanent works at project site.

Mobile mental health: a challenging research agenda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miranda Olff

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The field of mobile health (“m-Health” is evolving rapidly and there is an explosive growth of psychological tools on the market. Exciting high-tech developments may identify symptoms, help individuals manage their own mental health, encourage help seeking, and provide both preventive and therapeutic interventions. This development has the potential to be an efficient cost-effective approach reducing waiting lists and serving a considerable portion of people globally (“g-Health”. However, few of the mobile applications (apps have been rigorously evaluated. There is little information on how valid screening and assessment tools are, which of the mobile intervention apps are effective, or how well mobile apps compare to face-to-face treatments. But how feasible is rigorous scientific evaluation with the rising demands from policy makers, business partners, and users for their quick release? In this paper, developments in m-Health tools—targeting screening, assessment, prevention, and treatment—are reviewed with examples from the field of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. The academic challenges in developing and evaluating m-Health tools are being addressed. Evidence-based guidance is needed on appropriate research designs that may overcome some of the public and ethical challenges (e.g., equity, availability and the market-driven wish to have mobile apps in the “App Store” yesterday rather than tomorrow.

Climate change, human health, and epidemiological transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Bruce; Charles, Joel W; Temte, Jonathan L

2015-01-01

The health of populations depends on the availability of clean air, water, food, and sanitation, exposure to pathogens, toxins and environmental hazards, and numerous genetic, behavioral and social factors. For many thousands of years, human life expectancy was low, and population growth was slow. The development of technology-based civilizations facilitated what Abdel Omran called "epidemiological transition," with increasing life expectancy and rapid population growth. To a large extent, the spectacular growth of human populations during the past two centuries was made possible by the energy extracted from fossil fuels. We have now learned, however, that greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion are warming the planet's surface, causing changes in oceanic and atmospheric systems, and disrupting weather and hydrological patterns. Climate change poses unprecedented threats to human health by impacts on food and water security, heat waves and droughts, violent storms, infectious disease, and rising sea levels. Whether or not humanity can reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to slow climate change to a rate that will allow societies to successfully adapt is not yet known. This essay reviews the current state of relevant knowledge, and points in a few directions that those interested in human health may wish to consider. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Linking sea level rise and socioeconomic indicators under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Nauels, Alexander; Rogelj, Joeri; Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich; Meinshausen, Malte; Mengel, Matthias

2017-11-01

In order to assess future sea level rise and its societal impacts, we need to study climate change pathways combined with different scenarios of socioeconomic development. Here, we present sea level rise (SLR) projections for the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) storylines and different year-2100 radiative forcing targets (FTs). Future SLR is estimated with a comprehensive SLR emulator that accounts for Antarctic rapid discharge from hydrofracturing and ice cliff instability. Across all baseline scenario realizations (no dedicated climate mitigation), we find 2100 median SLR relative to 1986-2005 of 89 cm (likely range: 57-130 cm) for SSP1, 105 cm (73-150 cm) for SSP2, 105 cm (75-147 cm) for SSP3, 93 cm (63-133 cm) for SSP4, and 132 cm (95-189 cm) for SSP5. The 2100 sea level responses for combined SSP-FT scenarios are dominated by the mitigation targets and yield median estimates of 52 cm (34-75 cm) for FT 2.6 Wm-2, 62 cm (40-96 cm) for FT 3.4 Wm-2, 75 cm (47-113 cm) for FT 4.5 Wm-2, and 91 cm (61-132 cm) for FT 6.0 Wm-2. Average 2081-2100 annual SLR rates are 5 mm yr-1 and 19 mm yr-1 for FT 2.6 Wm-2 and the baseline scenarios, respectively. Our model setup allows linking scenario-specific emission and socioeconomic indicators to projected SLR. We find that 2100 median SSP SLR projections could be limited to around 50 cm if 2050 cumulative CO2 emissions since pre-industrial stay below 850 GtC, with a global coal phase-out nearly completed by that time. For SSP mitigation scenarios, a 2050 carbon price of 100 US2005 tCO2 -1 would correspond to a median 2100 SLR of around 65 cm. Our results confirm that rapid and early emission reductions are essential for limiting 2100 SLR.

Health, civilization, and the state: a history of public health from ancient to modern times

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Porter, Dorothy

1999-01-01

... including: * * * * * * * pestilence, public order and morality in pre-modern times the Enlightenment and its effects public health and centralization in Victorian Britain localization of health care in the United States population issues and family welfare the rise of the classic welfare state and its health care policies attitudes towards public health in...

Capillary Rise: Validity of the Dynamic Contact Angle Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Pingkeng; Nikolov, Alex D; Wasan, Darsh T

2017-08-15

The classical Lucas-Washburn-Rideal (LWR) equation, using the equilibrium contact angle, predicts a faster capillary rise process than experiments in many cases. The major contributor to the faster prediction is believed to be the velocity dependent dynamic contact angle. In this work, we investigated the dynamic contact angle models for their ability to correct the dynamic contact angle effect in the capillary rise process. We conducted capillary rise experiments of various wetting liquids in borosilicate glass capillaries and compared the model predictions with our experimental data. The results show that the LWR equations modified by the molecular kinetic theory and hydrodynamic model provide good predictions on the capillary rise of all the testing liquids with fitting parameters, while the one modified by Joos' empirical equation works for specific liquids, such as silicone oils. The LWR equation modified by molecular self-layering model predicts well the capillary rise of carbon tetrachloride, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and n-alkanes with the molecular diameter or measured solvation force data. The molecular self-layering model modified LWR equation also has good predictions on the capillary rise of silicone oils covering a wide range of bulk viscosities with the same key parameter W(0), which results from the molecular self-layering. The advantage of the molecular self-layering model over the other models reveals the importance of the layered molecularly thin wetting film ahead of the main meniscus in the energy dissipation associated with dynamic contact angle. The analysis of the capillary rise of silicone oils with a wide range of bulk viscosities provides new insights into the capillary dynamics of polymer melts.

Specific features of modern multifunctional high-rise building construction

Science.gov (United States)

Manukhina, Lyubov; Samosudova, Natal'ja

2018-03-01

The article analyzes the main reasons for the development of high-rise building construction the most important of which-is a limitation of the urban areas and, consequently, the high price of land reserved for construction. New engineering and compositional solutions for the creation of new types of buildings are considered - complex technical designs of a large number of storeys completely meet the new requirements for safety and comfort. Some peculiarities of designing high-rise buildings and searching for optimal architectural and planning solutions are revealed since, with external architectural simplicity, high-rise buildings have complex structural and technological and space-planning solutions. We consider the specific features of a high-rise housing in various countries around the world, including Russia, such as the layout of the multi-storey residential buildings, depending on the climatic characteristics of the regions, assessment of the geological risk of the construction site, the choice of parameters and functional purpose of the sections of the territory of high-rise construction, location of the town-planning object for substantiating the overall dimensions of the building, assessment of changes aeration and engineering and hydrological conditions of the site. A special place in the article on the problems of improvement of the territory, the device of courtyards, landscaping, the device of playing and sports grounds. The main conclusion in the article is the following problem - when developing high-rise housing construction, the development of high-rise housing, and an increase in the population density in the territory of large cities of Russia, necessary to create a comfortable and safe level of residents living and not a decrease, but an improvement in the quality of the urban environment.

Rapid disappearance of a warm, dusty circumstellar disk.

Science.gov (United States)

Melis, Carl; Zuckerman, B; Rhee, Joseph H; Song, Inseok; Murphy, Simon J; Bessell, Michael S

2012-07-04

Stars form with gaseous and dusty circumstellar envelopes, which rapidly settle into disks that eventually give rise to planetary systems. Understanding the process by which these disks evolve is paramount in developing an accurate theory of planet formation that can account for the variety of planetary systems discovered so far. The formation of Earth-like planets through collisional accumulation of rocky objects within a disk has mainly been explored in theoretical and computational work in which post-collision ejecta evolution typically is ignored, although recent work has considered the fate of such material. Here we report observations of a young, Sun-like star (TYC 8241 2652 1) where infrared flux from post-collisional ejecta has decreased drastically, by a factor of about 30, over a period of less than two years. The star seems to have gone from hosting substantial quantities of dusty ejecta, in a region analogous to where the rocky planets orbit in the Solar System, to retaining at most a meagre amount of cooler dust. Such a phase of rapid ejecta evolution has not been previously predicted or observed, and no currently available physical model satisfactorily explains the observations.

The Orinoco megadelta as a conservation target in the face of the ongoing and future sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T; Hernández, E; Rull, Valentí; Rull Vegas, Elisa

2015-05-15

Currently, risk assessments related to rising sea levels and the adoption of defensive or adaptive measures to counter these sea level increases are underway for densely populated deltas where economic losses might be important, especially in the developed world. However, many underpopulated deltas harbouring high biological and cultural diversity are also at risk but will most likely continue to be ignored as conservation targets. In this study, we explore the potential effects of erosion, inundation and salinisation on one of the world's comparatively underpopulated megadeltas, the Orinoco Delta. With a 1 m sea level rise expected to occur by 2100, several models predict a moderate erosion of the delta's shorelines, migration or loss of mangroves, general inundation of the delta with an accompanying submersion of wetlands, and an increase in the distance to which sea water intrudes into streams, resulting in harm to the freshwater biota and resources. The Warao people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Orinoco Delta and currently are subject to various socioeconomic stressors. Changes due to sea level rise will occur extremely rapidly and cause abrupt shifts in the Warao's traditional environments and resources, resulting in migrations and abandonment of their ancestral territories. However, evidence indicates that deltaic aggradation/accretion processes at the Orinoco delta due to allochthonous sediment input and vegetation growth could be elevating the surface of the land, keeping pace with the local sea level rise. Other underpopulated and large deltas of the world also may risk immeasurable biodiversity and cultural losses and should not be forgotten as important conservation targets. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Sea-level rise risks to coastal cities

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Robert J.

2017-04-01

Understanding the consequence of sea-level rise for coastal cities has long lead times and huge political implications. Civilisation has emerged and developed during a period of several thousand years during which in geological terms sea level has been unusually stable. We have now moved out of this period and the challenge will be to develop a long-term proactive assessment approach to manage this challenge. In 2005 there were 136 coastal cities with a population exceeding one million people and a collective population of 400 million people. All these coastal cities are threatened by flooding from the sea to varying degrees and these risks are increasing due to growing exposure (people and assets), rising sea levels due to climate change, and in some cities, significant coastal subsidence due to human agency (drainage and groundwater withdrawals from susceptible soils). In these cities we wish to avoid major flood events, with associated damage and potentially deaths and ultimately decline of the cities. Flood risks grow with sea-level rise as it raises extreme sea levels. As sea levels continue to rise, protection will have to be progressively upgraded. Even with this, the magnitude of losses when flood events do occur would increase as coastal cities expand, and water depths and hence unit damage increase with sea-level rise/subsidence. This makes it critical to also prepare for larger coastal flood disasters than we experience today and raises questions on the limits to adaptation. There is not an extensive literature or significant empirical information on the limits to adaptation in coastal cities. These limits are not predictable in a formal sense - while the rise in mean sea level raises the likelihood of a catastrophic flood, extreme events are what cause damage and trigger a response, be it abandonment, a defence upgrade or something else. There are several types of potential limits that could be categorised into three broad types: • Physical

What Explains Divorced Women's Poorer Health? The Mediating Role of Health Insurance and Access to Health Care in a Rural Iowan Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Lavelle, Bridget; Lorenz, Frederick O.; Wickrama, K. A. S.

2012-01-01

Economic restructuring in rural areas in recent decades has been accompanied by rising marital instability. To examine the implications of the increase in divorce for the health of rural women, we examine how marital status predicts adequacy of health insurance coverage and health care access, and whether these factors help to account for the…

Development of the bubble rise model in RELAP-UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, J.A.

1977-11-01

Several improvements have been made to the 'bubble rise calculation' in the code RELAP-UK, which models the separation of the steam and water phases within specified volumes of the coolant circuit. The bubble rise velocity and the bubble density gradient parameter are no longer necessarily user-defined constants, as the code can calculate their values at each time step according to the local fluid conditions. In particular, the calculation of the bubble rise velocity is consistent with the RELAP-UK drift flux correlation. It is now possible to represent a vertical column by a stack of vertically-adjacent bubble-rise volumes. Any mixture level existing within the column can freely pass between the volumes in the stack. The facilities are demonstrated in this paper by a simple computational example. (author)

Obstetricians' rising liability insurance premiums and inductions at late preterm gestations.

Science.gov (United States)

Murthy, Karna; Grobman, William A; Lee, Todd A; Holl, Jane L

2009-04-01

To estimate the association between professional liability insurance premiums for obstetricians and late preterm induction (LPI) rates. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics were used to identify all Illinois women pregnant with singletons at 34 weeks' gestation from 1991 to 2003. The independent association between LPI (induction between 34 and 37 weeks' gestation) rates and the previous year's obstetric malpractice insurance premiums was evaluated using linear regression. The mean annual LPI rate (5.4/1000 in 1991 to 15.2/1000 in 2003, P insurance premiums ($55,480 to $110,613, P insurance premium. Rising premiums are associated with increased frequency of LPI among women with singleton gestations.

Situation of Linkage between Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV-Related Policies in Islamic Republic of Iran – A Rapid Assessment in 2011–2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghobad Moradi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The number of sexual transmission of HIV is increasing globally. Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH issues and HIV/AIDS related problems are rooted in common grounds such as poverty, gender inequality, and social exclusion. As a result, international health organizations have suggested the integration of SRH services with HIV/AIDS services as a strategy to control HIV and to improve people’s access to SRH services. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between reproductive health and HIV/AIDS services at policy-making level in Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI. This study was conducted in 2011–2 and was a rapid assessment based on guidelines provided by the World Health Organization (WHO, United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, Family Health International Association, and some other international organizations. In this rapid assessment we used different methods such as a review of literature and documents, visiting and interviewing professionals and experts in family health and HIV/AIDS programs, and experts working in some NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs. Overall, based on the results obtained in this study, in most cases there was not much linkage between HIV/AIDS policies and SRH policies in Iran. Since integration of HIV/AIDS services and SRH services is recommended as a model and an appropriate response to HIV epidemics worldwide, likewise to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Iran it is required to integrate HIV/AIDS and SRH services at all levels, particularly at the policy-making level.

Complexities in barrier island response to sea level rise: Insights from numerical model experiments, North Carolina Outer Banks

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Laura J.; List, Jeffrey H.; Williams, S. Jeffress; Stolper, David

2010-09-01

Using a morphological-behavior model to conduct sensitivity experiments, we investigate the sea level rise response of a complex coastal environment to changes in a variety of factors. Experiments reveal that substrate composition, followed in rank order by substrate slope, sea level rise rate, and sediment supply rate, are the most important factors in determining barrier island response to sea level rise. We find that geomorphic threshold crossing, defined as a change in state (e.g., from landward migrating to drowning) that is irreversible over decadal to millennial time scales, is most likely to occur in muddy coastal systems where the combination of substrate composition, depth-dependent limitations on shoreface response rates, and substrate erodibility may prevent sand from being liberated rapidly enough, or in sufficient quantity, to maintain a subaerial barrier. Analyses indicate that factors affecting sediment availability such as low substrate sand proportions and high sediment loss rates cause a barrier to migrate landward along a trajectory having a lower slope than average barrier island slope, thereby defining an "effective" barrier island slope. Other factors being equal, such barriers will tend to be smaller and associated with a more deeply incised shoreface, thereby requiring less migration per sea level rise increment to liberate sufficient sand to maintain subaerial exposure than larger, less incised barriers. As a result, the evolution of larger/less incised barriers is more likely to be limited by shoreface erosion rates or substrate erodibility making them more prone to disintegration related to increasing sea level rise rates than smaller/more incised barriers. Thus, the small/deeply incised North Carolina barriers are likely to persist in the near term (although their long-term fate is less certain because of the low substrate slopes that will soon be encountered). In aggregate, results point to the importance of system history (e

Complexities in barrier island response to sea level rise: Insights from numerical model experiments, North Carolina Outer Banks

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Laura J.; List, Jeffrey H.; Williams, S. Jeffress; Stolper, David

2010-01-01

Using a morphological-behavior model to conduct sensitivity experiments, we investigate the sea level rise response of a complex coastal environment to changes in a variety of factors. Experiments reveal that substrate composition, followed in rank order by substrate slope, sea level rise rate, and sediment supply rate, are the most important factors in determining barrier island response to sea level rise. We find that geomorphic threshold crossing, defined as a change in state (e.g., from landward migrating to drowning) that is irreversible over decadal to millennial time scales, is most likely to occur in muddy coastal systems where the combination of substrate composition, depth-dependent limitations on shoreface response rates, and substrate erodibility may prevent sand from being liberated rapidly enough, or in sufficient quantity, to maintain a subaerial barrier. Analyses indicate that factors affecting sediment availability such as low substrate sand proportions and high sediment loss rates cause a barrier to migrate landward along a trajectory having a lower slope than average barrier island slope, thereby defining an “effective” barrier island slope. Other factors being equal, such barriers will tend to be smaller and associated with a more deeply incised shoreface, thereby requiring less migration per sea level rise increment to liberate sufficient sand to maintain subaerial exposure than larger, less incised barriers. As a result, the evolution of larger/less incised barriers is more likely to be limited by shoreface erosion rates or substrate erodibility making them more prone to disintegration related to increasing sea level rise rates than smaller/more incised barriers. Thus, the small/deeply incised North Carolina barriers are likely to persist in the near term (although their long-term fate is less certain because of the low substrate slopes that will soon be encountered). In aggregate, results point to the importance of system history (e

The Rise of Big Data in Oncology.

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Fessele, Kristen L

2018-05-01

To describe big data and data science in the context of oncology nursing care. Peer-reviewed and lay publications. The rapid expansion of real-world evidence from sources such as the electronic health record, genomic sequencing, administrative claims and other data sources has outstripped the ability of clinicians and researchers to manually review and analyze it. To promote high-quality, high-value cancer care, big data platforms must be constructed from standardized data sources to support extraction of meaningful, comparable insights. Nurses must advocate for the use of standardized vocabularies and common data elements that represent terms and concepts that are meaningful to patient care. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

OBSTACLES TO FAMILY PLANNING USE AMONG RURAL WOMEN IN ATIAK HEALTH CENTER IV, AMURU DISTRICT, NORTHERN UGANDA

Science.gov (United States)

Ouma, S.; Turyasima, M.; Acca, H.; Nabbale, F.; Obita, K. O.; Rama, M.; Adong, C. C.; Openy, A.; Beatrice, M. O.; Odongo-Aginya, E. I.; Awor, S.

2016-01-01

Background Uganda’s rapid population growth (3.2%) since 1948 has placed more demands on health sector and lowered living standard of Ugandans resulting into 49% of people living in acute poverty especially in post conflict Northern Uganda. The population rise was due to low use of contraceptive methods (21% in rural areas and 43% in urban areas) and coupled with high unmet need for family planning (41%). This indicated poor access to reproductive health services. Effective use of family planning could reduce the rapid population growth. Objective To determine obstacles to family planning use among rural women in Northern Uganda. Design A descriptive cross-sectional analytical study. Setting Atiak Health Centre IV, Amuru District, rural Northern Uganda. Subjects Four hundred and twenty four females of reproductive ages were selected from both Inpatient and Outpatient Departments of Atiak Health Centre IV. Results There was high level of awareness 418 (98.6%), positive attitude 333 (78.6%) and fair level of utilisation 230 (54.2%) of family planning. However, significant obstacles to family planning usage included; long distance to Health facility, unavailability of preferred contraceptive methods, absenteeism of family planning providers, high cost of managing side effects, desire for big family size, children dying less than five years old, husbands forbidding women from using family planning and lack of community leaders’ involvement in family planning programme. Conclusions In spites of the high level of awareness, positive attitude, and free family planning services, there were obstacles that hindered family planning usage among these rural women. However, taking services close to people, reducing number of children dying before their fifth birthday, educating men about family planning, making sure family planning providers and methods are available, reducing cost of managing side effects and involving community leaders will improve utilisation of family

OBSTACLES TO FAMILY PLANNING USE AMONG RURAL WOMEN IN ATIAK HEALTH CENTER IV, AMURU DISTRICT, NORTHERN UGANDA.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouma, S; Turyasima, M; Acca, H; Nabbale, F; Obita, K O; Rama, M; Adong, C C; Openy, A; Beatrice, M O; Odongo-Aginya, E I; Awor, S

Uganda's rapid population growth (3.2%) since 1948 has placed more demands on health sector and lowered living standard of Ugandans resulting into 49% of people living in acute poverty especially in post conflict Northern Uganda. The population rise was due to low use of contraceptive methods (21% in rural areas and 43% in urban areas) and coupled with high unmet need for family planning (41%). This indicated poor access to reproductive health services. Effective use of family planning could reduce the rapid population growth. To determine obstacles to family planning use among rural women in Northern Uganda. A descriptive cross-sectional analytical study. Atiak Health Centre IV, Amuru District, rural Northern Uganda. Four hundred and twenty four females of reproductive ages were selected from both Inpatient and Outpatient Departments of Atiak Health Centre IV. There was high level of awareness 418 (98.6%), positive attitude 333 (78.6%) and fair level of utilisation 230 (54.2%) of family planning. However, significant obstacles to family planning usage included; long distance to Health facility, unavailability of preferred contraceptive methods, absenteeism of family planning providers, high cost of managing side effects, desire for big family size, children dying less than five years old, husbands forbidding women from using family planning and lack of community leaders' involvement in family planning programme. In spites of the high level of awareness, positive attitude, and free family planning services, there were obstacles that hindered family planning usage among these rural women. However, taking services close to people, reducing number of children dying before their fifth birthday, educating men about family planning, making sure family planning providers and methods are available, reducing cost of managing side effects and involving community leaders will improve utilisation of family planning and thus reduce the rapid population growth and poverty.

Organizational Climate and Employee Mental Health Outcomes -- A Systematic Review of Studies in Health Care Organizations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bronkhorst, B.A.C.; Tummers, L.G.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/341028274; Steijn, A.J.; Vijverberg, D.

2015-01-01

Background: In recent years, the high prevalence of mental health problems among health care workers has given rise to great concern. The academic literature suggests that employees’ perceptions of their work environment can play a role in explaining mental health outcomes. Purposes: We conducted a

Risks and Benefits of Rapid Clozapine Titration.

Science.gov (United States)

Lochhead, Jeannie D; Nelson, Michele A; Schneider, Alan L

2016-05-18

Clozapine is often considered the gold standard for the treatment of schizophrenia. Clinical guidelines suggest a gradual titration over 2 weeks to reduce the risks of adverse events such as seizures, hypotension, agranulocytosis, and myocarditis. The slow titration often delays time to therapeutic response. This raises the question of whether, in some patients, it may be safe to use a more rapid clozapine titration. The following case illustrates the potential risks associated with the use of multiple antipsychotics and rapid clozapine titration. We present the case of a young man with schizophrenia who developed life threatening neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) during rapid clozapine titration and treatment with multiple antipsychotics. We were unable to find another case in the literature of NMS associated with rapid clozapine titration. This case is meant to urge clinicians to carefully evaluate the risks and benefits of rapid clozapine titration, and to encourage researchers to further evaluate the safety of rapid clozapine titration. Rapid clozapine titration has implications for decreasing health care costs associated with prolonged hospitalizations, and decreasing the emotional suffering associated with uncontrolled symptoms of psychosis. Clozapine is considered the most effective antipsychotic available thus efforts should focus on developing strategies that would allow for safest and most efficient use of clozapine to encourage its utilization for treatment resistance schizophrenia.

Risks and benefits of rapid clozapine titration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeannie D. Lochhead

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Clozapine is often considered the gold standard for the treatment of schizophrenia. Clinical guidelines suggest a gradual titration over 2 weeks to reduce the risks of adverse events such as seizures, hypotension, agranulocytosis, and myocarditis. The slow titration often delays time to therapeutic response. This raises the question of whether, in some patients, it may be safe to use a more rapid clozapine titration. The following case illustrates the potential risks associated with the use of multiple antipsychotics and rapid clozapine titration. We present the case of a young man with schizophrenia who developed life threatening neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS during rapid clozapine titration and treatment with multiple antipsychotics. We were unable to find another case in the literature of NMS associated with rapid clozapine titration. This case is meant to urge clinicians to carefully evaluate the risks and benefits of rapid clozapine titration, and to encourage researchers to further evaluate the safety of rapid clozapine titration. Rapid clozapine titration has implications for decreasing health care costs associated with prolonged hospitalizations, and decreasing the emotional suffering associated with uncontrolled symptoms of psychosis. Clozapine is considered the most effective antipsychotic available thus efforts should focus on developing strategies that would allow for safest and most efficient use of clozapine to encourage its utilization for treatment resistance schizophrenia.

Can we help in changing the future of Italian health care?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Di Napoli

2011-04-01

Full Text Available [The abstract of this article is not available. Here are the first sentences of the article. The full text is freely available upon registration]The retirement age of the baby boom generation is almost out-door. The proportion of ageing people will grow rapidly in the near future [1-3]. There will be fewer people to pay for the health and social care of the quickly aging population; furthermore, advancements in medical science will raise a new bar for quality in terms of the outcomes achieved in the treatment of illness [3]. An ageing population and the rising public expectations will produce an increase in costs and will impede timely access to care, thus jeopardising sustainability.The Italian National Health system is an example of a collapsing system: the ageing Italian workforce affects not only patient demographics but also the availability of clinicians. The upcoming wave of retiring health care professionals will occur in the exact moment when they will be more necessary. To overcome these challenges, our health care system will have to use its resources more effectively. Access and equity remain essential characteristics of our health care system, but are insufficient goals in terms of improving quality and achieving financial sustainability.

Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment

Science.gov (United States)

Mengel, Matthias; Levermann, Anders; Frieler, Katja; Robinson, Alexander; Marzeion, Ben; Winkelmann, Ricarda

2016-01-01

Sea level has been steadily rising over the past century, predominantly due to anthropogenic climate change. The rate of sea level rise will keep increasing with continued global warming, and, even if temperatures are stabilized through the phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level is still expected to rise for centuries. This will affect coastal areas worldwide, and robust projections are needed to assess mitigation options and guide adaptation measures. Here we combine the equilibrium response of the main sea level rise contributions with their last century's observed contribution to constrain projections of future sea level rise. Our model is calibrated to a set of observations for each contribution, and the observational and climate uncertainties are combined to produce uncertainty ranges for 21st century sea level rise. We project anthropogenic sea level rise of 28–56 cm, 37–77 cm, and 57–131 cm in 2100 for the greenhouse gas concentration scenarios RCP26, RCP45, and RCP85, respectively. Our uncertainty ranges for total sea level rise overlap with the process-based estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The “constrained extrapolation” approach generalizes earlier global semiempirical models and may therefore lead to a better understanding of the discrepancies with process-based projections. PMID:26903648

Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mengel, Matthias; Levermann, Anders; Frieler, Katja; Robinson, Alexander; Marzeion, Ben; Winkelmann, Ricarda

2016-03-08

Sea level has been steadily rising over the past century, predominantly due to anthropogenic climate change. The rate of sea level rise will keep increasing with continued global warming, and, even if temperatures are stabilized through the phasing out of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level is still expected to rise for centuries. This will affect coastal areas worldwide, and robust projections are needed to assess mitigation options and guide adaptation measures. Here we combine the equilibrium response of the main sea level rise contributions with their last century's observed contribution to constrain projections of future sea level rise. Our model is calibrated to a set of observations for each contribution, and the observational and climate uncertainties are combined to produce uncertainty ranges for 21st century sea level rise. We project anthropogenic sea level rise of 28-56 cm, 37-77 cm, and 57-131 cm in 2100 for the greenhouse gas concentration scenarios RCP26, RCP45, and RCP85, respectively. Our uncertainty ranges for total sea level rise overlap with the process-based estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The "constrained extrapolation" approach generalizes earlier global semiempirical models and may therefore lead to a better understanding of the discrepancies with process-based projections.

United States import safety, environmental health, and food safety regulation in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyambok, Edward O; Kastner, Justin J

2012-01-01

China boasts a rapidly growing economy and is a leading food exporter. Since China has dominated world export markets in food, electronics, and toys, many safety concerns about Chinese exports have emerged. For example, many countries have had problems with Chinese food products and food-processing ingredients. Factors behind food safety and environmental health problems in China include poor industrial waste management, the use of counterfeit agricultural inputs, inadequate training of farmers on good farm management practices, and weak food safety laws and poor enforcement. In the face of rising import safety problems, the U.S. is now requiring certification of products and foreign importers, pursuing providing incentives to importers who uphold good safety practices, and considering publicizing the names of certified importers.

Rising Waters and a Smaller Island: What Should Physicians Do for Tuvaluans?

Science.gov (United States)

Emont, Jordan; Anandarajah, Gowri

2017-12-01

Residents of the island nation of Tuvalu will be among the first of the 1.7 million Pacific Islanders to be displaced by the effects of climate change (including rising sea levels, changing distributions of agriculture, and unpredictable weather patterns). Already 3,500 Tuvaluans live in New Zealand (approximately 25 percent of the world's Tuvaluan population), some of whom moved due to climate change. Immigrating to New Zealand presents several challenges for Tuvaluans, including limited job opportunities, health care disparities, and dietary changes. Nevertheless, Tuvaluans in New Zealand continue their culture as they redefine their identity in a new country. Given the growing effects of climate change, physicians around the world will soon care for a new generation of immigrants and will play an important role in advocating for health equity and self-determination among climate-sensitive populations. This article uses personal stories and photographs of Tuvaluans and photographs of Tuvalu and New Zealand to present Tuvaluans' struggles and ethical issues pertaining to health that arise in relocating Tuvaluans. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Oral health in frail elderly

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoeksema, Albert

2016-01-01

Ageing points towards increasing health problems and rising costs for the society. One of these health problems is the deteriorating oral health in care dependent elderly. The latter is related to the high need for care on many levels in these elderly. The lack of attention for oral care can be

SEISMIC Analysis of high-rise buildings with composite metal damper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Ruixue

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper mainly studies on the mechanical characteristics and application effect of composite metal damper in the high-rise buildings via the numerical simulation analysis. The research adopts the elastic and elastic-plastic dynamic approach and the displacement time history response and damper energy dissipation capacity and so on of the high-rise building are compared and analyzed before and after installation. The analysis found that the energy dissipation characteristic of metallic dampers is good. High-rise building story drift significantly is reduced and the extent of damage of the walls and coupling beams is decreased, achieved a good energy dissipation effect. Composite metal damper can effectively and economically improve the seismic performance of high-rise buildings, meet the requirement of the 3-level design for seismic resistance. The result has certain reference significance for the application of metallic damper in the high-rise buildings.

Study on rapid bio-drying technology of cow dung with CaO2

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaotian; Qu, Guangfei; Liu, Shugen; Xie, Ruosong; He, Yanhua

2017-05-01

Effect of CaO2 on cow dung rapid bio-drying technology was researched. A static aerobic composting system was applied to this experiment which combining natural ventilation with Turing in the process of composting. The physical characteristics of cow dung was observed and the compost temperature, moisture content, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, potassium content was determined which in order to study the effect of CaO2 on rapid drying of cattle in the compost. In the initial stage of compost, adding CaO2 groups compared with the control group, the temperature rise faster, 4-6 days in advance to the thermophilic phase; at the end of composting, the CaO2 composition and moisture content decreased significantly to below 30%. The addition of CaO2 in fertilizer was shorten the composting time, extend the thermophilic phase, to provide sufficient oxygen meeting the growth needs of aerobic microorganisms. It convinced that the rapid bio-drying of dairy manure has a good effect and provided a new idea for the effective treatment of cow dung.

Networking of Public Health Microbiology Laboratories Bolsters Europe’s Defenses against Infectious Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Albiger

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In an era of global health threats caused by epidemics of infectious diseases and rising multidrug resistance, microbiology laboratories provide essential scientific evidence for risk assessment, prevention, and control. Microbiology has been at the core of European infectious disease surveillance networks for decades. Since 2010, these networks have been coordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC. Activities delivered in these networks include harmonization of laboratory diagnostic, antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular typing methods, multicentre method validation, technical capacity mapping, training of laboratory staff, and continuing quality assessment of laboratory testing. Cooperation among the European laboratory networks in the past 7 years has proved successful in strengthening epidemic preparedness by enabling adaptive capabilities for rapid detection of emerging pathogens across Europe. In partnership with food safety authorities, international public health agencies and learned societies, ECDC-supported laboratory networks have also progressed harmonization of routinely used antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular typing methods, thereby significantly advancing the quality, comparability and precision of microbiological information gathered by ECDC for surveillance for zoonotic diseases and multidrug-resistant pathogens in Europe. ECDC continues to act as a catalyst for sustaining continuous practice improvements and strengthening wider access to laboratory capacity across the European Union. Key priorities include optimization and broader use of rapid diagnostics, further integration of whole-genome sequencing in surveillance and electronic linkage of laboratory and public health systems. This article highlights some of the network contributions to public health in Europe and the role that ECDC plays managing these networks.

Health inequalities among urban children in India: a comparative assessment of Empowered Action Group (EAG) and South Indian states.

Science.gov (United States)

Arokiasamy, P; Jain, Kshipra; Goli, Srinivas; Pradhan, Jalandhar

2013-03-01

As India rapidly urbanizes, within urban areas socioeconomic disparities are rising and health inequality among urban children is an emerging challenge. This paper assesses the relative contribution of socioeconomic factors to child health inequalities between the less developed Empowered Action Group (EAG) states and more developed South Indian states in urban India using data from the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey. Focusing on urban health from varying regional and developmental contexts, socioeconomic inequalities in child health are examined first using Concentration Indices (CIs) and then the contributions of socioeconomic factors to the CIs of health variables are derived. The results reveal, in order of importance, pronounced contributions of household economic status, parent's illiteracy and caste to urban child health inequalities in the South Indian states. In contrast, parent's illiteracy, poor economic status, being Muslim and child birth order 3 or more are major contributors to health inequalities among urban children in the EAG states. The results suggest the need to adopt different health policy interventions in accordance with the pattern of varying contributions of socioeconomic factors to child health inequalities between the more developed South Indian states and less developed EAG states.

Sea-level rise: towards understanding local vulnerability

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmstorf, Stefan

2012-06-01

Projections of global sea-level rise into the future have become more pessimistic over the past five years or so. A global rise by more than one metre by the year 2100 is now widely accepted as a serious possibility if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. That is witnessed by the scientific assessments that were made since the last IPCC report was published in 2007. The Delta Commission of the Dutch government projected up to 1.10 m as a 'high-end' scenario (Vellinga et al 2009). The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) projected up to 1.40 m (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 2009), and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) gives a range of 0.90-1.60 m in its 2011 report (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme 2011). And recently the US Army Corps of Engineers recommends using a 'low', an 'intermediate' and a 'high' scenario for global sea-level rise when planning civil works programmes, with the high one corresponding to a 1.50 m rise by 2100 (US Army Corps of Engineers 2011). This more pessimistic view is based on a number of observations, most importantly perhaps the fact that sea level has been rising at least 50% faster in the past decades than projected by the IPCC (Rahmstorf et al 2007, IPCC 2007). Also, the rate of rise (averaged over two decades) has accelerated threefold, from around 1 mm yr-1 at the start of the 20th century to around 3 mm yr-1 over the past 20 years (Church and White 2006), and this rate increase closely correlates with global warming (Rahmstorf et al 2011). The IPCC projections, which assume almost no further acceleration in the 20th century, thus look less plausible. And finally the observed net mass loss of the two big continental ice sheets (Van den Broeke et al 2011) calls into question the assumption that ice accumulation in Antarctica would largely balance ice loss from Greenland in the course of further global warming (IPCC 2007). With such a serious sea-level rise on the horizon

The New Woman in "The Sun Also Rises"

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Yu, Xiaoping

2010-01-01

Hemingway is a famous American writer and a spokesman of the Lost Generation. His life attitude of the characters in the novels influenced the whole world. His first masterpiece "The Sun Also Rises" contributes a lot to the rise of feminism and make the world began to be familiar with a term: The New Woman through the portrayal of Brett.…

The energy-saving anaerobic baffled reactor membrane bioreactor (EABR-MBR) system for recycling wastewater from a high-rise building.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratanatamskul, Chavalit; Charoenphol, Chakraphan

2015-01-01

A novel energy-saving anaerobic baffled reactor-membrane bioreactor (EABR-MBR) system has been developed as a compact biological treatment system for reuse of water from a high-rise building. The anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) compartment had five baffles and served as the anaerobic degradation zone, followed by the aerobic MBR compartment. The total operating hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the EABR-MBR system was 3 hours (2 hours for ABR compartment and very short HRT of 1 hour for aerobic MBR compartment). The wastewater came from the Charoen Wisawakam building. The results showed that treated effluent quality was quite good and highly promising for water reuse purposes. The average flux of the membrane was kept at 30 l/(m2h). The EABR-MBR system could remove chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen and total phosphorus from building wastewater by more than 90%. Moreover, it was found that phosphorus concentration was rising in the ABR compartment due to the phosphorus release phenomenon, and then the concentration decreased rapidly in the aerobic MBR compartment due to the phosphorus uptake phenomenon. This implies that phosphorus-accumulating organisms inside the EABR-MBR system are responsible for biological phosphorus removal. The research suggests that the EABR-MBR system can be a promising system for water reuse and reclamation for high-rise building application in the near future.

Detecting anthropogenic footprints in regional and global sea level rise since 1900

Science.gov (United States)

Dangendorf, S.; Marcos, M.; Piecuch, C. G.; Jensen, J.

2015-12-01

While there is scientific consensus that global and local mean sea level (GMSL and LMSL) is rising since the late 19th century, it remains unclear how much of this rise is due to natural variability or anthropogenic forcing. Distinguishing both contributions requires an extensive knowledge about the persistence of natural high and low stands in GMSL and LMSL. This is challenging, since observational time series represent the superposition of various processes with different spectral properties. Here we provide a probabilistic upper range of long-term persistent natural GMSL/LMSL variability (P=0.99), which in turn determines the minimum/maximum anthropogenic contribution since 1900. To account for different spectral characteristics of various contributing processes, we separate LMSL (corrected for vertical land motion) into a slowly varying volumetric (mass and density changes) and a more rapidly changing atmospheric component. Based on a combination of spectral analyses of tide gauge records, barotropic and baroclinic ocean models and numerical Monte-Carlo experiments, we find that in records where transient atmospheric processes dominate the spectra, the persistence of natural volumetric changes tends to be underestimated. If each component is assessed separately, natural centennial trends are locally up to ~1.0 mm/yr larger than in case of an integrated assessment, therefore erroneously enhancing the significance of anthropogenic footprints. The GMSL, however, remains unaffected by such biases. On the basis of a model assessment of the separate components, we conclude that it is virtually certain (P=0.99) that at least 45% of the observed increase in GMSL is of anthropogenic origin.

Comparative study of manufacturing condyle implant using rapid prototyping and CNC machining

Science.gov (United States)

Bojanampati, S.; Karthikeyan, R.; Islam, MD; Venugopal, S.

2018-04-01

Injuries to the cranio-maxillofacial area caused by road traffic accidents (RTAs), fall from heights, birth defects, metabolic disorders and tumors affect a rising number of patients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and require maxillofacial surgery. Mandibular reconstruction poses a specific challenge in both functionality and aesthetics, and involves replacement of the damaged bone by a custom made implant. Due to material, design cycle time and manufacturing process time, such implants are in many instances not affordable to patients. In this paper, the feasibility of designing and manufacturing low-cost, custom made condyle implant is assessed using two different approaches, consisting of rapid prototyping and three-axis computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining. Two candidate rapid prototyping techniques are considered, namely fused deposition modeling (FDM) and three-dimensional printing followed by sand casting The feasibility of the proposed manufacturing processes is evaluated based on manufacturing time, cost, quality, and reliability.

Early Childhood Dental Caries: A Rising Dental Public Health Crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Grace Felix

2013-01-01

The aim of this article is to examine the literature and review the risk factors and disparities contributing to early childhood caries (ECC), which is a major health problem among preschoolers in the United States of America. A search was conducted using MEDLINE, PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library databases and the key terms…

Ranking health between countries in international comparisons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik

2014-01-01

Cross-national comparisons and ranking of summary measures of population health sometimes give rise to inconsistent and diverging conclusions. In order to minimise confusion, international comparative studies ought to be based on well-harmonised data with common standards of definitions and docum......Cross-national comparisons and ranking of summary measures of population health sometimes give rise to inconsistent and diverging conclusions. In order to minimise confusion, international comparative studies ought to be based on well-harmonised data with common standards of definitions...

Predicting habitat distribution to conserve seagrass threatened by sea level rise

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, M. I.; Baldock, T.; Brown, C. J.; Callaghan, D. P.; Golshani, A.; Hamylton, S.; Hoegh-guldberg, O.; Leon, J. X.; Lovelock, C. E.; Lyons, M. B.; O'Brien, K.; Mumby, P.; Phinn, S. R.; Roelfsema, C. M.

2013-12-01

Sea level rise (SLR) over the 21st century will cause significant redistribution of valuable coastal habitats. Seagrasses form extensive and highly productive meadows in shallow coastal seas support high biodiversity, including economically valuable and threatened species. Predictive habitat models can inform local management actions that will be required to conserve seagrass faced with multiple stressors. We developed novel modelling approaches, based on extensive field data sets, to examine the effects of sea level rise and other stressors on two representative seagrass habitats in Australia. First, we modelled interactive effects of SLR, water clarity and adjacent land use on estuarine seagrass meadows in Moreton Bay, Southeast Queensland. The extent of suitable seagrass habitat was predicted to decline by 17% by 2100 due to SLR alone, but losses were predicted to be significantly reduced through improvements in water quality (Fig 1a) and by allowing space for seagrass migration with inundation. The rate of sedimentation in seagrass strongly affected the area of suitable habitat for seagrass in sea level rise scenarios (Fig 1b). Further research to understand spatial, temporal and environmental variability of sediment accretion in seagrass is required. Second, we modelled changes in wave energy distribution due to predicted SLR in a linked coral reef and seagrass ecosystem at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Scenarios where the water depth over the coral reef deepened due to SLR and minimal reef accretion, resulted in larger waves propagating shoreward, changing the existing hydrodynamic conditions sufficiently to reduce area of suitable habitat for seagrass. In a scenario where accretion of the coral reef was severely compromised (e.g. warming, acidification, overfishing), the probability of the presence of seagrass declined significantly. Management to maintain coral health will therefore also benefit seagrasses subject to SLR in reef environments. Further

Knowledge bases, clinical decision support systems, and rapid learning in oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Peter Paul

2015-03-01

One of the most important benefits of health information technology is to assist the cognitive process of the human mind in the face of vast amounts of health data, limited time for decision making, and the complexity of the patient with cancer. Clinical decision support tools are frequently cited as a technologic solution to this problem, but to date useful clinical decision support systems (CDSS) have been limited in utility and implementation. This article describes three unique sources of health data that underlie fundamentally different types of knowledge bases which feed into CDSS. CDSS themselves comprise a variety of models which are discussed. The relationship of knowledge bases and CDSS to rapid learning health systems design is critical as CDSS are essential drivers of rapid learning in clinical care. Copyright © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Identifying the Academic Rising Stars via Pairwise Citation Increment Ranking

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Chuxu

2017-08-02

Predicting the fast-rising young researchers (the Academic Rising Stars) in the future provides useful guidance to the research community, e.g., offering competitive candidates to university for young faculty hiring as they are expected to have success academic careers. In this work, given a set of young researchers who have published the first first-author paper recently, we solve the problem of how to effectively predict the top k% researchers who achieve the highest citation increment in Δt years. We explore a series of factors that can drive an author to be fast-rising and design a novel pairwise citation increment ranking (PCIR) method that leverages those factors to predict the academic rising stars. Experimental results on the large ArnetMiner dataset with over 1.7 million authors demonstrate the effectiveness of PCIR. Specifically, it outperforms all given benchmark methods, with over 8% average improvement. Further analysis demonstrates that temporal features are the best indicators for rising stars prediction, while venue features are less relevant.

Methods of erection of high-rise buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Cherednichenko, Nadezhda; Oleinik, Pavel

2018-03-01

The article contains the factors determining the choice of methods for organizing the construction and production of construction and installation work for the construction of high-rise buildings. There are also indicated specific features of their underground parts, characterized by powerful slab-pile foundations, large volumes of earthworks, reinforced bases and foundations for assembly cranes. The work cycle is considered when using reinforced concrete, steel and combined skeletons of high-rise buildings; the areas of application of flow, separate and complex methods are being disclosed. The main conditions for the erection of high-rise buildings and their components are singled out: the choice of formwork systems, delivery and lifting of concrete mixes, installation of reinforcement, the formation of lifting and transporting and auxiliary equipment. The article prescribes the reserves of reduction in the duration of construction due to the creation of: complex mechanized technologies for the efficient construction of foundations in various soil conditions, including in the heaving, swelling, hindered, subsidence, bulk, water-saturated forms; complex mechanized technologies for the erection of monolithic reinforced concrete structures, taking into account the winter conditions of production and the use of mobile concrete-laying complexes and new generation machines; modular formwork systems, distinguished by their versatility, ease, simplicity in operation suitable for complex high-rise construction; more perfect methodology and the development of a set of progressive organizational and technological solutions that ensure a rational relationship between the processes of production and their maximum overlap in time and space.

RADIOACTIVELY POWERED RISING LIGHT CURVES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piro, Anthony L.

2012-01-01

The rising luminosity of the recent, nearby supernova 2011fe shows a quadratic dependence with time during the first ≈0.5-4 days. In addition, studies of the composite light curves formed from stacking together many Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have found similar power-law indices for the rise, but may also show some dispersion that may indicate diversity. I explore what range of power-law rises are possible due to the presence of radioactive material near the surface of the exploding white dwarf (WD). I summarize what constraints such a model places on the structure of the progenitor and the distribution and velocity of ejecta. My main conclusion is that for the inferred explosion time for SN 2011fe, its rise requires an increasing mass fraction X 56 ≈ (4-6) × 10 –2 of 56 Ni distributed between a depth of ≈10 –2 and 0.3 M ☉ below the WD's surface. Radioactive elements this shallow are not found in simulations of a single C/O detonation. Scenarios that may produce this material include helium-shell burning during a double-detonation ignition, a gravitationally confined detonation, and a subset of deflagration to detonation transition models. In general, the power-law rise can differ from quadratic depending on the details of the velocity, density, and radioactive deposition gradients in a given event. Therefore, comparisons of this work with observed bolometric rises of SNe Ia would place strong constraints on the properties of the shallow outer layers, providing important clues for identifying the elusive progenitors of SNe Ia.

Online Citizen Science with Clickworkers & MRO HiRISE E/PO

Science.gov (United States)

Gulick, V. C.; Deardorff, G.; Kanefsky, B.; HiRISE Science Team

2010-12-01

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment’s E/PO has fielded several online citizen science projects. Our efforts are guided by HiRISE E/PO’s philosophy of providing innovative opportunities for students and the public to participate in the scientific discovery process. HiRISE Clickworkers, a follow-on to the original Clickworkers crater identification and size diameter marking website, provides an opportunity for the public to identify & mark over a dozen landform feature types in HiRISE images, including dunes, gullies, patterned ground, wind streaks, boulders, craters, layering, volcanoes, etc. In HiRISE Clickworkers, the contributor views several sample images showing variations of different landforms, and simply marks all the landform types they could spot while looking at a small portion of a HiRISE image. Contributors then submit their work & once validated by comparison to the output of other participants, results are then added to geologic feature databases. Scientists & others will eventually be able to query these databases for locations of particular geologic features in the HiRISE images. Participants can also mark other features that they find intriguing for the HiRISE camera to target. The original Clickworkers website pilot study ran from November 2000 until September 2001 (Kanefsky et al., 2001, LPSC XXXII). It was among the first online Citizen Science efforts for planetary science. In its pilot study, we endeavored to answer two questions: 1) Was the public willing & able to help science, & 2) Can the public produce scientifically useful results? Since its inception over 3,500,000 craters have been identified, & over 350,000 of these craters have been classified. Over 2 million of these craters were marked on Viking Orbiter image mosaics, nearly 800,000 craters were marked on Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images. Note that these are not counts of distinct craters. For example, each crater in the Viking orbiter images was counted by about 50

Rapid City Native American Population Needs Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrokhi, Abdollah

1993-01-01

Interviews with 301 Native American households in Rapid City, South Dakota, examined demographic variables and attitudes and needs in the areas of education, housing, transportation, health care, recreation, and employment. The ultimate goals for Native American people are achieving empowerment and group determination through greater cultural…

A Fall Protection System for High-Rise Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haluk Çeçen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In construction industry, the number of fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries is higher than other industries. Among causes of these accidents, “falls” play a key role. This situation reveals the importance for carrying out research in fall protection systems. In this paper, a practical, economical, and functional fall protection system is introduced. Following determination and evaluation of existing solutions, weekly brainstorming meetings were held among the responsible project staff (general coordinator, project coordinator, project manager, site manager, and health and safety manager. As a result of these meetings, design criteria were developed. Based on these criteria, the fall protection system for high-rise construction (FPSFHC was developed which satisfied all the specified design criteria. Required materials were procured from local dealers. In this paper, criteria used in design and details of the final design are presented. Field performance of the system is evaluated, and recommendations for further development and standardization of the system are added.

Subnanosecond-rise-time, low-impedance pulse generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Druce, R.; Vogtlin, G.

1983-01-01

This paper describes a fast rise, low-impedance pulse generator that has been developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The design specifications of this generator are: 50-kV operating voltage, 1-ohm output impedance, subnanosecond rise time, and a 2 to 10 nanosecond pulse length. High repetition rate is not required. The design chosen is a parallel-plate, folded Blumlein generator. A tack switch is utilized for its simple construction and high performance. The primary diagnostic is a capacitive voltage divider with a B probe used to measure the current waveform

Subnanosecond-rise-time, low-impedance pulse generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Druce, R.; Vogtlin, G.

1983-06-03

This paper describes a fast rise, low-impedance pulse generator that has been developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The design specifications of this generator are: 50-kV operating voltage, 1-ohm output impedance, subnanosecond rise time, and a 2 to 10 nanosecond pulse length. High repetition rate is not required. The design chosen is a parallel-plate, folded Blumlein generator. A tack switch is utilized for its simple construction and high performance. The primary diagnostic is a capacitive voltage divider with a B probe used to measure the current waveform.

Subnanosecond-rise-time, low-impedance pulse generator

Science.gov (United States)

Druce, R.; Vigtlin, G.

1983-06-01

A fast rise, low impedance pulse generator developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is described. The design specifications of this generator are: 50-kV operating voltage, 1-ohm output impedance, subnanosecond rise time, and a 2 to 10 nanosecond pulse length. High repetition rate is not required. The design chosen is a parallel plate, folded Blumlein generator. A tack switch is utilized for its simple construction and high performance. The primary diagnostic is a capacitive voltage divider with a B probe used to measure the current waveform.

Seismic damage assessment for high-rise buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Scholl, Roger E.

1980-01-01

The problem considered in this project, conducted by URS/John A. Blume & Associates, Engineers (URS/Blume), for the U.S. Geological Survey, is the identification, evaluation, and correlation of ground-motion and structural parameters in order to improve procedures for predicting dollar losses for high-rise structures damaged by earthquakes. Ground-motion data bases, analytical techniques, and known motion-damage relationships already developed for high-rise buildings and for other classes of structures will be refined and extended so that reliable quantitative seismic risk evaluations can be made.

The RiSE climbing robot: body and leg design

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, A.; Goldman, D. I.; Full, R. J.; Buehler, M.

2006-05-01

The RiSE robot is a biologically inspired, six legged climbing robot, designed for general mobility in scansorial (vertical walls, horizontal ledges, ground level) environments. It exhibits ground reaction forces that are similar to animal climbers and does not rely on suction, magnets or other surface-dependent specializations to achieve adhesion and shear force. We describe RiSE's body and leg design as well as its electromechanical, communications and computational infrastructure. We review design iterations that enable RiSE to climb 90° carpeted, cork covered and (a growing range of) stucco surfaces in the quasi-static regime.

Integrating wildfire plume rises within atmospheric transport models

Science.gov (United States)

Mallia, D. V.; Kochanski, A.; Wu, D.; Urbanski, S. P.; Krueger, S. K.; Lin, J. C.

2016-12-01

Wildfires can generate significant pyro-convection that is responsible for releasing pollutants, greenhouse gases, and trace species into the free troposphere, which are then transported a significant distance downwind from the fire. Oftentimes, atmospheric transport and chemistry models have a difficult time resolving the transport of smoke from these wildfires, primarily due to deficiencies in estimating the plume injection height, which has been highlighted in previous work as the most important aspect of simulating wildfire plume transport. As a result of the uncertainties associated with modeled wildfire plume rise, researchers face difficulties modeling the impacts of wildfire smoke on air quality and constraining fire emissions using inverse modeling techniques. Currently, several plume rise parameterizations exist that are able to determine the injection height of fire emissions; however, the success of these parameterizations has been mixed. With the advent of WRF-SFIRE, the wildfire plume rise and injection height can now be explicitly calculated using a fire spread model (SFIRE) that is dynamically linked with the atmosphere simulated by WRF. However, this model has only been tested on a limited basis due to computational costs. Here, we will test the performance of WRF-SFIRE in addition to several commonly adopted plume parameterizations (Freitas, Sofiev, and Briggs) for the 2013 Patch Springs (Utah) and 2012 Baker Canyon (Washington) fires, for both of which observations of plume rise heights are available. These plume rise techniques will then be incorporated within a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model (STILT) in order to simulate CO and CO2 concentrations during NASA's CARVE Earth Science Airborne Program over Alaska during the summer of 2012. Initial model results showed that STILT model simulations were unable to reproduce enhanced CO concentrations produced by Alaskan fires observed during 2012. Near-surface concentrations were drastically

Rapid In-Place Composite Rotor Damage Detection, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Luna Innovations is proposing to develop the Rapid In-Place Composite Rotor Damage Detection (RIPCoRDD) for determining and tracking the structural health of...

The Debate over eHealth

CERN Document Server

Gaddi, Antonio Vittorino

2014-01-01

The future of eHealth and telemedicine has recently become a much debated and controversial subject. It is widely believed that eHealth will play an increasingly important role in shaping healthcare systems in the twenty-first century. The rising burden of chronic diseases and the potential of eHealth for cutting costs and improving quality and safety of health services make eHealth a great opportunity for providing more efficient health care.

Finding Rising and Falling Words

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tjong Kim Sang, E.

2016-01-01

We examine two different methods for finding rising words (among which neologisms) and falling words (among which archaisms) in decades of magazine texts (millions of words) and in years of tweets (billions of words): one based on correlation coefficients of relative frequencies and time, and one

The rise of angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras: Insights from Ranunculaceae

OpenAIRE

Wei Wang; Li Lin; Xiao-Guo Xiang; Rosa del C. Ortiz; Yang Liu; Kun-Li Xiang; Sheng-Xiang Yu; Yao-Wu Xing; Zhi-Duan Chen

2016-01-01

The rise of angiosperms has been regarded as a trigger for the Cretaceous revolution of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the timeframe of the rise angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras (ADHFs) is lacking. Here, we used the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) as a proxy to provide insights into the rise of ADHFs. An integration of phylogenetic, molecular dating, ancestral state inferring, and diversification analytical methods was used to infer the early evolutionary history of Ranunculaceae. We...

Nanomaterial-enabled Rapid Detection of Water Contaminants.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Shun; Chang, Jingbo; Zhou, Guihua; Chen, Junhong

2015-10-28

Water contaminants, e.g., inorganic chemicals and microorganisms, are critical metrics for water quality monitoring and have significant impacts on human health and plants/organisms living in water. The scope and focus of this review is nanomaterial-based optical, electronic, and electrochemical sensors for rapid detection of water contaminants, e.g., heavy metals, anions, and bacteria. These contaminants are commonly found in different water systems. The importance of water quality monitoring and control demands significant advancement in the detection of contaminants in water because current sensing technologies for water contaminants have limitations. The advantages of nanomaterial-based sensing technologies are highlighted and recent progress on nanomaterial-based sensors for rapid water contaminant detection is discussed. An outlook for future research into this rapidly growing field is also provided. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Managing health care costs: strategies available to small businesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, C W; Finley, L; Kinard, J

1990-07-01

Although health care costs continue to rise at an alarming rate, small businesses can take steps to help moderate these costs. First, business firms must restructure benefits so that needless surgery is eliminated and inpatient hospital care is minimized. Next, small firms should investigate the feasibility of partial self-insurance options such as risk pooling and purchasing preferred premium plans. Finally, small firms should investigate the cost savings that can be realized through the use of alternative health care delivery systems such as HMOs and PPOs. Today, competition is reshaping the health care industry by creating more options and rewarding efficiency. The prospect of steadily rising prices and more choices makes it essential that small employers become prudent purchasers of employee health benefits. For American businesses, the issue is crucial. Unless firms can control health care costs, they will have to keep boosting the prices of their goods and services and thus become less competitive in the global marketplace. In that event, many workers will face a prospect even more grim than rising medical premiums: losing their jobs.

Oceans and Human Health: A Rising Tide of Challenges and Opportunities for Europe