Geological and hydrogeological features affecting migration, multi-phase partitioning and degradation of chlorinated hydrocarbons through unconsolidated porous media.

Chlorinated solvents are the most ubiquitous organic contaminants found in groundwater since the last five decades. They generally reach groundwater as Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL). This phase can migrate through aquifers, and also through aquitards, in ways that aqueous contaminants cannot. The complex phase partitioning to which chlorinated solvent DNAPLs can undergo (i.e. to the dissolved, vapor or sorbed phase), as well as their transformations (e.g. degradation), depend on the physico-chemical properties of the contaminants themselves and on features of the hydrogeological system. The main goal of the thesis is to provide new knowledge for the future investigations of sites contaminated by DNAPLs in alluvial settings, proposing innovative investigative approaches and emphasizing some of the key issues and main criticalities of this kind of contaminants in such a setting. To achieve this goal, the hydrogeologic setting below the city of Ferrara (Po plain, northern Italy), which is affected by scattered contamination by chlorinated solvents, has been investigated at different scales (regional and site specific), both from an intrinsic (i.e. groundwater flow systems) and specific (i.e. chlorinated solvent DNAPL behavior) point of view. Detailed investigations were carried out in particular in one selected test-site, known as “Caretti site”, where high-resolution vertical profiling of different kind of data were collected by means of multilevel monitoring systems and other innovative sampling and analytical techniques. This allowed to achieve a deep geological and hydrogeological knowledge of the system and to reconstruct in detail the architecture of contaminants in relationship to the features of the hosting porous medium. The results achieved in this thesis are useful not only at local scale, e.g. employable to interpret the origin of contamination in other sites of the Ferrara area, but also at global scale, in order to address future remediation and protection actions of similar hydrogeologic settings.

Identification of problems in functioning of people with sleep disorders in a clinical setting using the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) Checklist

We conducted an explorative, cross-sectional, multi-centre study in order to identify the most common problems of people with any kind of (primary) sleep disorder in a clinical setting using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a frame of reference. Data were collected from patients using a structured face-to-face interview of 45-60 min duration. A case record form for health professionals containing the extended ICF Checklist, sociodemographic variables and disease-specific variables was used. The study centres collected data of 99 individuals with sleep disorders. The identified categories include 48 (32%) for body functions, 13 (9%) body structures, 55 (37%) activities and participation and 32 (22%) for environmental factors. 'Sleep functions' (100%) and 'energy and drive functions', respectively, (85%) were the most severely impaired second-level categories of body functions followed by 'attention functions' (78%) and 'temperament and personality functions' (77%). With regard to the component activities and participation, patients felt most restricted in the categories of 'watching' (e.g. TV) (82%), 'recreation and leisure' (75%) and 'carrying out daily routine' (74%). Within the component environmental factors the categories 'support of immediate family', 'health services, systems and policies' and 'products or substances for personal consumption [medication]' were the most important facilitators; 'time-related changes', 'light' and 'climate' were the most important barriers. The study identified a large variety of functional problems reflecting the complexity of sleep disorders. The ICF has the potential to provide a comprehensive framework for the description of functional health in individuals with sleep disorders in a clinical setting.

A multi-center study: Intra-scan and inter-scan variability of diffusion spectrum imaging

The objective of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to pool together diffusion spectrum imaging data from four different scanners, located at three different sites. Two of the scanners had identical configuration whereas two did not. To measure the variability, we extracted three scalar maps (ADC, FA and GFA) from the DSI and utilized a region and a tract-based analysis. Additionally, a phantom study was performed to rule out some potential factors arising from the scanner performance in case some systematic bias occurred in the subject study. This work was split into three experiments: intra-scanner reproducibility, reproducibility with twin-scanner settings and reproducibility with other configurations. Overall for the intra-scanner and twin-scanner experiments, the region-based analysis coefficient of variation (CV) was in a range of 1%-4.2% and below 3% for almost every bundle for the tract-based analysis. The uncinate fasciculus showed the worst reproducibility, especially for FA and GFA values (CV 3.7-6%). For the GFA and FA maps, an ICC value of 0.7 and above is observed in almost all the regions/tracts. Looking at the last experiment, it was found that there is a very high similarity of the outcomes from the two scanners with identical setting. However, this was not the case for the two other imagers. Given the fact that the overall variation in our study is low for the imagers with identical settings, our findings support the feasibility of cross-site pooling of DSI data from identical scanners.

Bone-anchored Hearing Aids: correlation between pure-tone thresholds and outcome in three user groups

OBJECTIVE: To investigate correlations between preoperative hearing thresholds and postoperative aided thresholds and speech understanding of users of Bone-anchored Hearing Aids (BAHA). Such correlations may be useful to estimate the postoperative outcome with BAHA from preoperative data. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case review. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS:: Ninety-two adult unilaterally implanted BAHA users in 3 groups: (A) 24 subjects with a unilateral conductive hearing loss, (B) 38 subjects with a bilateral conductive hearing loss, and (C) 30 subjects with single-sided deafness. INTERVENTIONS: Preoperative air-conduction and bone-conduction thresholds and 3-month postoperative aided and unaided sound-field thresholds as well as speech understanding using German 2-digit numbers and monosyllabic words were measured and analyzed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlation between preoperative air-conduction and bone-conduction thresholds of the better and of the poorer ear and postoperative aided thresholds as well as correlations between gain in sound-field threshold and gain in speech understanding. RESULTS: Aided postoperative sound-field thresholds correlate best with BC threshold of the better ear (correlation coefficients, r2 = 0.237 to 0.419, p = 0.0006 to 0.0064, depending on the group of subjects). Improvements in sound-field threshold correspond to improvements in speech understanding. CONCLUSION: When estimating expected postoperative aided sound-field thresholds of BAHA users from preoperative hearing thresholds, the BC threshold of the better ear should be used. For the patient groups considered, speech understanding in quiet can be estimated from the improvement in sound-field thresholds.

Critical issues in managing protected areas by multi-stakeholder participation - analysis of a process in the Swiss Alps

Balancing the frequently conflicting priorities of conservation and economic development poses a challenge to management of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site (WHS). This is a complex societal problem that calls for a knowledge-based solution. This in turn requires a transdisciplinary research framework in which problems are defined and solved cooperatively by actors from the scientific community and the life-world. In this article we re-examine studies carried out in the region of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch WHS, covering three key issues prevalent in transdisciplinary settings: integration of stakeholders into participatory processes; perceptions and positions; and negotiability and implementation. In the case of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch WHS the transdisciplinary setting created a situation of mutual learning among stakeholders from different levels and backgrounds. However, the studies showed that the benefits of such processes of mutual learning are continuously at risk of being diminished by the power play inherent in participatory approaches.

Changing ‘Multi-Problem Families’ – Developing a Multi-Contextual Systemic Approach

Over the past 30 years the Marlborough Family Service in London has pioneered multi-family work with marginalized families presenting simultaneously with abuse and neglect, family violence, substance misuse, educational failure and mental illness. The approach is based on a systemic multi-contextual mode and this chapter describes the evolving work, including the establishment of the first permanent multiple family day setting, specifically designed for and solely dedicated to the work with seemingly ‘hopeless’ families. The ingredients of ‘therapeutic assessments’ of parents and families are outlined and the importance of initial network meetings with professionals and family members is emphasized.

An Architecture for End-User TV Content Enrichment

This paper proposes an extension to the televisionwatching paradigm that permits an end-user to enrich broadcast content. Examples of this enriched content are: virtual edits that allow the order of presentation within the content to be changed or that allow the content to be subsetted; conditional text, graphic or video objects that can be placed to appear within content and triggered by viewer interaction; additional navigation links that can be added to structure how other users view the base content object. The enriched content can be viewed directly within the context of the TV viewing experience. It may also be shared with other users within a distributed peer group. Our architecture is based on a model that allows the original content to remain unaltered, and which respects DRM restrictions on content reuse. The fundamental approach we use is to define an intermediate content enhancement layer that is based on the W3C’s SMIL language. Using a pen-based enhancement interface, end-users can manipulate content that is saved in a home PDR setting. This paper describes our architecture and it provides several examples of how our system handles content enhancement. We also describe a reference implementation for creating and viewing enhancements.

MAS Integration and Controllership Effectiveness: Evidence of a Preparer-User Perception Gap

Recent evidence suggests that managers establish a positive link between management accounting system (MAS) integration and controllership effectiveness, which is fully mediated by the perceived consistency of financial language. Our paper extends this research by analyzing whether controllers have similar perceptions on MAS design. Testing a series of multi-group structural equation models, we find evidence for a preparer-user perception gap with respect to the mediating impact of a consistent financial language. Our results contribute to the still-ongoing controversial debate on MAS integration by indicating that the effectiveness of MAS design cannot be evaluated solely from an instrumental perspective independent from users’ perceptions.

Constructing a user experience user experience-based mobile learning environment

Mobile learning, in the past defined as learning with mobile devices, now refers to any type of learning-on-the-go or learning that takes advantage of mobile technologies. This new definition shifted its focus from the mobility of technology to the mobility of the learner (O'Malley and Stanton 2002; Sharples, Arnedillo-Sanchez et al. 2009). Placing emphasis on the mobile learner’s perspective requires studying “how the mobility of learners augmented by personal and public technology can contribute to the process of gaining new knowledge, skills, and experience” (Sharples, Arnedillo-Sanchez et al. 2009). The demands of an increasingly knowledge based society and the advances in mobile phone technology are combining to spur the growth of mobile learning. Around the world, mobile learning is predicted to be the future of online learning, and is slowly entering the mainstream education. However, for mobile learning to attain its full potential, it is essential to develop more advanced technologies that are tailored to the needs of this new learning environment. A research field that allows putting the development of such technologies onto a solid basis is user experience design, which addresses how to improve usability and therefore user acceptance of a system. Although there is no consensus definition of user experience, simply stated it focuses on how a person feels about using a product, system or service. It is generally agreed that user experience adds subjective attributes and social aspects to a space that has previously concerned itself mainly with ease-of-use. In addition, it can include users’ perceptions of usability and system efficiency. Recent advances in mobile and ubiquitous computing technologies further underline the importance of human-computer interaction and user experience (feelings, motivations, and values) with a system. Today, there are plenty of reports on the limitations of mobile technologies for learning (e.g., small screen size, slow connection), but there is a lack of research on user experience with mobile technologies. This dissertation will fill in this gap by a new approach in building a user experience-based mobile learning environment. The optimized user experience we suggest integrates three priorities, namely a) content, by improving the quality of delivered learning materials, b) the teaching and learning process, by enabling live and synchronous learning, and c) the learners themselves, by enabling a timely detection of their emotional state during mobile learning. In detail, the contributions of this thesis are as follows: • A video codec optimized for screencast videos which achieves an unprecedented compression rate while maintaining a very high video quality, and a novel UI layout for video lectures, which together enable truly mobile access to live lectures. • A new approach in HTTP-based multimedia delivery that exploits the characteristics of live lectures in a mobile context and enables a significantly improved user experience for mobile live lectures. • A non-invasive affective learning model based on multi-modal emotion detection with very high recognition rates, which enables real-time emotion detection and subsequent adaption of the learning environment on mobile devices. The technology resulting from the research presented in this thesis is in daily use at the School of Continuing Education of Shanghai Jiaotong University (SOCE), a blended-learning institution with 35.000 students.

ICOMF: Towards a Multi-cloud Ecosystem for Dynamic Resource Composition and Scaling

Modern cloud-based applications and infrastructures may include resources and services (components) from multiple cloud providers, are heterogeneous by nature and require adjustment, composition and integration. The specific application requirements can be met with difficulty by the current static predefined cloud integration architectures and models. In this paper, we propose the Intercloud Operations and Management Framework (ICOMF) as part of the more general Intercloud Architecture Framework (ICAF) that provides a basis for building and operating a dynamically manageable multi-provider cloud ecosystem. The proposed ICOMF enables dynamic resource composition and decomposition, with a main focus on translating business models and objectives to cloud services ensembles. Our model is user-centric and focuses on the specific application execution requirements, by leveraging incubating virtualization techniques. From a cloud provider perspective, the ecosystem provides more insight into how to best customize the offerings of virtualized resources.

GuideView: structured multi-modal delivery of clinical guidelines.

GuideView is a system designed for structured, multi-modal delivery of clinical guidelines. Clinical instructions are presented simultaneously in voice, text, pictures or video or animations. Users navigate using mouse-clicks and voice commands. An evaluation study performed at a medical simulation laboratory found that voice and video instructions were rated highly.

Opportunistic Routing for Multi-flow Video Dissemination over Flying Ad-Hoc Networks

A reliable and robust routing service for Flying Ad-Hoc Networks (FANETs) must be able to adapt to topology changes. User experience on watching live video sequences must also be satisfactory even in scenarios with buffer overflow and high packet loss ratio. In this paper, we introduce a Cross-layer Link quality and Geographical-aware beaconless opportunistic routing protocol (XLinGO). It enhances the transmission of simultaneous multiple video flows over FANETs by creating and keeping reliable persistent multi-hop routes. XLinGO considers a set of cross-layer and human-related information for routing decisions, as performance metrics and Quality of Experience (QoE). Performance evaluation shows that XLinGO achieves multimedia dissemination with QoE support and robustness in a multi-hop, multi-flow, and mobile network environments.

Stratification of high-risk prostate cancer into prognostic categories: a European multi-institutional study

BACKGROUND High-risk prostate cancer (PCa) is an extremely heterogeneous disease. A clear definition of prognostic subgroups is mandatory. OBJECTIVE To develop a pretreatment prognostic model for PCa-specific survival (PCSS) in high-risk PCa based on combinations of unfavorable risk factors. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study including 1360 consecutive patients with high-risk PCa treated at eight European high-volume centers. INTERVENTION Retropubic radical prostatectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Two Cox multivariable regression models were constructed to predict PCSS as a function of dichotomization of clinical stage (< cT3 vs cT3-4), Gleason score (GS) (2-7 vs 8-10), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA; ≤ 20 ng/ml vs > 20 ng/ml). The first "extended" model includes all seven possible combinations; the second "simplified" model includes three subgroups: a good prognosis subgroup (one single high-risk factor); an intermediate prognosis subgroup (PSA >20 ng/ml and stage cT3-4); and a poor prognosis subgroup (GS 8-10 in combination with at least one other high-risk factor). The predictive accuracy of the models was summarized and compared. Survival estimates and clinical and pathologic outcomes were compared between the three subgroups. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS The simplified model yielded an R(2) of 33% with a 5-yr area under the curve (AUC) of 0.70 with no significant loss of predictive accuracy compared with the extended model (R(2): 34%; AUC: 0.71). The 5- and 10-yr PCSS rates were 98.7% and 95.4%, 96.5% and 88.3%, 88.8% and 79.7%, for the good, intermediate, and poor prognosis subgroups, respectively (p = 0.0003). Overall survival, clinical progression-free survival, and histopathologic outcomes significantly worsened in a stepwise fashion from the good to the poor prognosis subgroups. Limitations of the study are the retrospective design and the long study period. CONCLUSIONS This study presents an intuitive and easy-to-use stratification of high-risk PCa into three prognostic subgroups. The model is useful for counseling and decision making in the pretreatment setting.

A qualitative assessment of multi-level nutrition strategies for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in diabetes

The purpose of this study is to examine the stages of program realization of the interventions that the Bronx Health REACH program initiated at various levels to improve nutrition as a means for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in diabetes. This study was based on secondary analyses of qualitative data collected through the Bronx Health REACH Nutrition Project, a project conducted under the auspices of the Institute on Urban Family Health, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Local human subjects' review and approval through the Institute on Urban Family Health was required and obtained in order to conduct the Bronx Health REACH Nutrition Project. ^ The study drew from two theoretical models—Glanz and colleagues' nutrition environments model and Shediac-Rizkallah and Bone's sustainability model. The specific study objectives were two-fold: (1) to categorize each nutrition activity to a specific dimension (i.e. consumer, organizational or community nutrition environment); and (2) to evaluate the stage at which the program has been realized (i.e. development, implementation or sustainability). ^ A case study approach was applied and a constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Triangulation of data based was also conducted. Qualitative data from this study revealed the following principal findings: (1) communities of color are disproportionately experiencing numerous individual and environmental factors contributing to the disparities in diabetes; (2) multi-level strategies that targeted the individual, organizational and community nutrition environments can appropriately address these contributing factors; (3) the nutrition strategies greatly varied in their ability to appropriately meet criteria for the three program stages; and (4) those nutrition strategies most likely to succeed (a) conveyed consistent and culturally relevant messages, (b) had continued involvement from program staff and partners, (c) were able to adapt over time or setting, (d) had a program champion and a training component, (e) were integrated into partnering organizations, and (f) were perceived to be successful by program staff and partners in their efforts to create individual, organizational and community/policy change. As a result of the criteria-based assessment and qualitative findings, an ecological framework elaborating on Glanz and colleagues model was developed. The qualitative findings and the resulting ecological framework developed from this study will help public health professionals and community leaders to develop and implement sustainable multi-level nutrition strategies for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in diabetes. ^

Global Ocean Colour for Carbon Cycle Research (full product set)

In 2005, the International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) convened a working group to examine the state of the art in ocean colour data merging, which showed that the research techniques had matured sufficiently for creating long multi-sensor datasets (IOCCG, 2007). As a result, ESA initiated and funded the DUE GlobColour project (http://www.globcolour.info/) to develop a satellite based ocean colour data set to support global carbon-cycle research. It aims to satisfy the scientific requirement for a long (10+ year) time-series of consistently calibrated global ocean colour information with the best possible spatial coverage. This has been achieved by merging data from the three most capable sensors: SeaWiFS on GeoEye's Orbview-2 mission, MODIS on NASA's Aqua mission and MERIS on ESA's ENVISAT mission. In setting up the GlobColour project, three user organisations were invited to help. Their roles are to specify the detailed user requirements, act as a channel to the broader end user community and to provide feedback and assessment of the results. The International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) based at UNESCO in Paris provides direct access to the carbon cycle modelling community's requirements and to the modellers themselves who will use the final products. The UK Met Office's National Centre for Ocean Forecasting (NCOF) in Exeter, UK, provides an understanding of the requirements of oceanography users, and the IOCCG bring their understanding of the global user needs and valuable advice on best practice within the ocean colour science community. The three year project kicked-off in November 2005 under the leadership of ACRI-ST (France). The first year was a feasibility demonstration phase that was successfully concluded at a user consultation workshop organised by the Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, France, in December 2006. Error statistics and inter-sensor biases were quantified by comparison with insitu measurements from moored optical buoys and ship based campaigns, and used as an input to the merging. The second year was dedicated to the production of the time series. In total, more than 25 Tb of input (level 2) data have been ingested and 14 Tb of intermediate and output products created, with 4 Tb of data distributed to the user community. Quality control (QC) is provided through the Diagnostic Data Sets (DDS), which are extracted sub-areas covering locations of in-situ data collection or interesting oceanographic phenomena. This Full Product Set (FPS) covers global daily merged ocean colour products in the time period 1997-2006 and is also freely available for use by the worldwide science community at http://www.globcolour.info/data_access_full_prod_set.html. The GlobColour service distributes global daily, 8-day and monthly data sets at 4.6 km resolution for, chlorophyll-a concentration, normalised water-leaving radiances (412, 443, 490, 510, 531, 555 and 620 nm, 670, 681 and 709 nm), diffuse attenuation coefficient, coloured dissolved and detrital organic materials, total suspended matter or particulate backscattering coefficient, turbidity index, cloud fraction and quality indicators. Error statistics from the initial sensor characterisation are used as an input to the merging methods and propagate through the merging process to provide error estimates for the output merged products. These error estimates are a key component of GlobColour as they are invaluable to the users; particularly the modellers who need them in order to assimilate the ocean colour data into ocean simulations. An intensive phase of validation has been undertaken to assess the quality of the data set. In addition, inter-comparisons between the different merged datasets will help in further refining the techniques used. Both the final products and the quality assessment were presented at a second user consultation in Oslo on 20-22 November 2007 organised by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA); presentations are available on the GlobColour WWW site. On request of the ESA Technical Officer for the GlobColour project, the FPS data set was mirrored in the PANGAEA data library.