Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Experiences of care and adjustment to change in caregivers of children with autoimmune encephalitis: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) occurs in response to an antibody-mediated central nervous system disease and can lead to significant neurodisability. Prior research on family adjustment has described a reciprocal relationship between caregiver functioning, distress and clinical outcome in parents and children with encephalitis. There has been no previous research exploring the experiences of caregivers with a child with AE. Aims: To explore the perspectives of parents and/or caregivers with a child diagnosed with AE regarding (i) their own adjustment from hospital admission to post-discharge, and (ii) their experiences of care and service provision. Methods: A purposive sampling approach was used. Five parents of children with AE participated in a semi-structured interview exploring their experiences of caring for their child and service provision during acute care and post-discharge. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the transcripts. Main findings and conclusions: Four shared super-ordinate themes with related subthemes emerged: (a) uncertainty, (b) managing our recovery, (c) changes in my child, (d) experiences of service provision. Participants reported emotional distress, often underpinned by recurrent experiences of uncertainty, and ‘loss’ of the previous child, and mediated by coping strategies and social support. While an overall positive experience of inpatient services was reported, parents often perceived post-discharge services as lacking in co-ordination, communication and formal follow-up, resulting in unmet support needs. Implications and recommendations for services, practitioners and future research are discussed.

Development of an historical landscape photography database to support landscape change analysis in the Northeast of Portugal

Repeat photography is an efficient, effective and useful method to identify trends of changes in the landscapes. It was used to illustrate long-term changes occurring in the landscapes. In the Northeast of Portugal, landscapes changes is currently driven mostly by agriculture abandonment and agriculture and energy policy. However, there is a need to monitoring changes in the region using a multitemporal and multiscale approach. This project aimed to establish an online repository of oblique digital photography from the region to be used to register the condition of the landscape as recorded in historical and contemporary photography over time as well as to support qualitative and quantitative assessment of change in the landscape using repeat photography techniques and methods. It involved the development of a relational database and a series of web-based services using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor language, and the development of an interface, with Joomla, of pictures uploading and downloading by users. The repository will make possible to upload, store, search by location, theme, or date, display, and download pictures for Northeastern Portugal. The website service is devoted to help researchers to obtain quickly the photographs needed to apply RP through a developed search engine. It can be accessed at: http://esa.ipb.pt/digitalandscape/.

Location analysis of city sections: socio-demographic segmentation and restaurant potentiality estimation : a case study of Lisbon

One of the objectives of this study is to perform classification of socio-demographic components for the level of city section in City of Lisbon. In order to accomplish suitable platform for the restaurant potentiality map, the socio-demographic components were selected to produce a map of spatial clusters in accordance to restaurant suitability. Consequently, the second objective is to obtain potentiality map in terms of underestimation and overestimation in number of restaurants. To the best of our knowledge there has not been found identical methodology for the estimation of restaurant potentiality. The results were achieved with combination of SOM (Self-Organized Map) which provides a segmentation map and GAM (Generalized Additive Model) with spatial component for restaurant potentiality. Final results indicate that the highest influence in restaurant potentiality is given to tourist sites, spatial autocorrelation in terms of neighboring restaurants (spatial component), and tax value, where lower importance is given to household with 1 or 2 members and employed population, respectively. In addition, an important conclusion is that the most attractive market sites have shown no change or moderate underestimation in terms of restaurants potentiality.

Analysis of Land Use Change as a Method of Predicting Water Demands in an Urbanizing Environment: Redland, Miami-Dade County, Florida

The fluctuation in water demand in the Redland community of Miami-Dade County was examined using land use data from 2001 and 2011 and water estimation techniques provided by local and state agencies. The data was converted to 30 m mosaicked raster grids that indicated land use change, and associated water demand measured in gallons per day per acre. The results indicate that, first, despite an increase in population, water demand decreased overall in Redland from 2001 to 2011. Second, conversion of agricultural lands to residential lands actually caused a decrease in water demand in most cases while acquisition of farmland by public agencies also caused a sharp decline. Third, conversion of row crops and groves to nurseries was substantial and resulted in a significant increase in water demand in all such areas converted. Finally, estimating water demand based on land use, rather than population, is a more accurate approach.

Risk analysis of climate change on black sigatoka in banana in Brazil.

2008

A systematic review of environmental correlates of obesity-related dietary behaviors in youth

There is increasing interest in the role the environment plays in shaping the dietary behavior of youth, particularly in the context of obesity prevention. An overview of environmental factors associated with obesity-related dietary behaviors among youth is needed to inform the development of interventions. A systematic review of observational studies on environmental correlates of energy, fat, fruit/ vegetable, snack/fast food and soft drink intakes in children (4–12 years) and adolescents (13–18 years) was conducted. The results were summarized using the analysis grid for environments linked to obesity. The 58 papers reviewed mostly focused on sociocultural and economical–environmental factors at the household level. The most consistent associations were found between parental intake and children’s fat, fruit/vegetable intakes, parent and sibling intake with adolescent’s energy and fat intakes and parental education with adolescent’s fruit/ vegetable intake. A less consistent but positive association was found for availability and accessibility on children’s fruit/vegetable intake. Environmental factors are predominantly studied at the household level and focus on sociocultural and economic aspects. Most consistent associations were found for parental influences (parental intake and education).More studies examining environmental factors using longitudinal study designs and validated measures are needed for solid evidence to inform interventions.

Improvements in sustainable energy and water practice in the food processing industry : an in depth analysis of the manufacture of Ghee at the Butter Producers' Cooperative Federation Limited, Brisbane

This thesis is a documented energy audit and long term study of energy and water reduction in a ghee factory. Global production of ghee exceeds 4 million tonnes annually. The factory in this study refines dairy products by non-traditional centrifugal separation and produces 99.9% pure, canned, crystallised Anhydrous Milk Fat (Ghee). Ghee is traditionally made by batch processing methods. The traditional method is less efficient, than centrifugal separation. An in depth systematic investigation was conducted of each item of major equipment including; ammonia refrigeration, a steam boiler, canning equipment, pumps, heat exchangers and compressed air were all fine-tuned. Continuous monitoring of electrical usage showed that not every initiative worked, others had pay back periods of less than a year. In 1994-95 energy consumption was 6,582GJ and in 2003-04 it was 5,552GJ down 16% for a similar output. A significant reduction in water usage was achieved by reducing the airflow in the refrigeration evaporative condensers to match the refrigeration load. Water usage has fallen 68% from18ML in 1994-95 to 5.78ML in 2003-04. The methods reported in this thesis could be applied to other industries, which have similar equipment, and other ghee manufacturers.

Real estate agency practice and profitability : an analysis of house sales and agency profitability in Sydney

Large cities provide a broad range of residential property types, as well as a range of socio-economic locations. This results in a significant variation in residential property prices across both the city itself and the individual suburbs. The only constant across such a diverse range of residential property is the need for the majority of residential property owners to employ the services of a real estate agent to sell their property or to purchase a residential property. This paper will analyse the Sydney residential property market over the period 1994 to 2002 to determine the change in real estate offices numbers over the period, the profitability of real estate agency offices based on the residential house price performance of houses and units in these specific locations and the extent of changing residential house prices on agency profitability. Suburbs have been selected to provide a full range of housing types, socio-economic areas, older established and developing residential suburbs and location from the

Consonance in urban form : morphogenetic analysis of architectural elements within urban forms

"By understanding how places have evolved, we are better able to guide development and change in the urban fabric and avoid the incongruity created by so much of the modern environment" (MacCormac, R (1996), An anatomy of London, Built Environment, Dec 1996 This paper proposes a theory on the relevance of mapping the evolutionary aspects of historical urban form in order to develop a measure of evaluating architectural elements within urban forms, through to deriving parameters for new buildings. By adopting Conzen's identification of the tripartite division of urban form; the consonance inurban form of a particular palce resides in the elements and measurable values tha makeup the fine grain aggregates of urban form. The paper will demonstrate throughthe case study of Brisbane in Australia, a method of conveying these essential components that constitute a cities continuity of form and active usage. By presenting the past as a repository of urban form characteristics, it is argued that concise architectural responses that stem from such knowledge should result in an engaged urban landscape. The essential proposition is that urban morphology is a missing constituent in the process of urban design, and that the approach of the geographical discipline to the study of urban morphology holds the key to providing the evidence of urban growth characteristics, and this methodology suggests possibilities for an architectural approach that can comprehensively determine qualitative aspects of urban buildings. The relevance of this research lies in a potential to breach the limitations of current urban analysis whilst continuing the evolving currency of urban morphology as an integral practice in the design of our cities.

Contradictions : Genre, causal layered analysis and analysis of institutional change

In what follows, I put forward an argument for an analytical method for social science that operates at the level of genre. I argue that generic convergence, generic hybridity, and generic instability provide us with a powerful perspectives on changes in political, cultural, and economic relationships, most specifically at the level of institutions. Such a perspective can help us identify the transitional elements, relationships, and trajectories that define the place of our current system in history, thereby grounding our understanding of possible futures.1 In historically contextualising our present with this method, my concern is to indicate possibilities for the future. Systemic contradictions indicate possibility spaces within which systemic change must and will emerge. We live in a system currently dominated by many fully-expressed contradictions, and so in the presence of many possible futures. The contradictions of the current age are expressed most overtly in the public genres of power politics. Contemporary public policy—indeed politics in general-is an excellent focus for any investigation of possible futures, precisely because of its future-oriented function. It is overtly hortatory; it is designed ‘to get people to do things’ (Muntigl in press: 147). There is no point in trying to get people to do things in the past. Consequently, policy discourse is inherently oriented towards creating some future state of affairs (Graham in press), along with concomitant ways of being, knowing, representing, and acting (Fairclough 2000).

HABITAT : a longitudinal multilevel study of physical acitvity change in mid-aged adults

Purpose. To explore the role of the neighborhood environment in supporting walking Design. Cross sectional study of 10,286 residents of 200 neighborhoods. Participants were selected using a stratified two-stage cluster design. Data were collected by mail survey (68.5% response rate). Setting. The Brisbane City Local Government Area, Australia, 2007. Subjects. Brisbane residents aged 40 to 65 years. Measures. Environmental: street connectivity, residential density, hilliness, tree coverage, bikeways, and street lights within a one kilometer circular buffer from each resident’s home; and network distance to nearest river or coast, public transport, shop, and park. Walking: minutes in the previous week categorized as < 30 minutes, ≥ 30 < 90 minutes, ≥ 90 < 150 minutes, ≥ 150 < 300 minutes, and ≥ 300 minutes. Analysis. The association between each neighborhood characteristic and walking was examined using multilevel multinomial logistic regression and the model parameters were estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Results. After adjustment for individual factors, the likelihood of walking for more than 300 minutes (relative to <30 minutes) was highest in areas with the most connectivity (OR=1.93, 99% CI 1.32-2.80), the greatest residential density (OR=1.47, 99% CI 1.02-2.12), the least tree coverage (OR=1.69, 99% CI 1.13-2.51), the most bikeways (OR=1.60, 99% CI 1.16-2.21), and the most street lights (OR=1.50, 99% CI 1.07-2.11). The likelihood of walking for more than 300 minutes was also higher among those who lived closest to a river or the coast (OR=2.06, 99% CI 1.41-3.02). Conclusion. The likelihood of meeting (and exceeding) physical activity recommendations on the basis of walking was higher in neighborhoods with greater street connectivity and residential density, more street lights and bikeways, closer proximity to waterways, and less tree coverage. Interventions targeting these neighborhood characteristics may lead to improved environmental quality as well as lower rates of overweight and obesity and associated chromic disease.

Which components of heart failure programs are effective? A meta-analysis of the outcomes of structured telephone support or telemonitoring as the primary component of heart failure management in 9,560 patients (Abridged Cochrane Review)

Aims--Telemonitoring (TM) and structured telephone support (STS) have the potential to deliver specialised management to more patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), but their efficacy is still to be proven. Objectives To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of TM or STS on all- cause mortality and all-cause and CHF-related hospitalisations in patients with CHF, as a non-invasive remote model of specialised disease-management intervention.--Methods and Results--Data sources:We searched 15 electronic databases and hand-searched bibliographies of relevant studies, systematic reviews, and meeting abstracts. Two reviewers independently extracted all data. Study eligibility and participants: We included any randomised controlled trials (RCT) comparing TM or STS to usual care of patients with CHF. Studies that included intensified management with additional home or clinic visits were excluded. Synthesis: Primary outcomes (mortality and hospitalisations) were analysed; secondary outcomes (cost, length of stay, quality of life) were tabulated.--Results: Thirty RCTs of STS and TM were identified (25 peer-reviewed publications (n=8,323) and five abstracts (n=1,482)). Of the 25 peer-reviewed studies, 11 evaluated TM (2,710 participants), 16 evaluated STS (5,613 participants) and two tested both interventions. TM reduced all-cause mortality (risk ratio (RR 0•66 [95% CI 0•54-0•81], p<0•0001) and STS showed similar trends (RR 0•88 [95% CI 0•76-1•01], p=0•08). Both TM (RR 0•79 [95% CI 0•67-0•94], p=0•008) and STS (RR 0•77 [95% CI 0•68-0•87], p<0•0001) reduced CHF-related hospitalisations. Both interventions improved quality of life, reduced costs, and were acceptable to patients. Improvements in prescribing, patient-knowledge and self-care, and functional class were observed.--Conclusion: TM and STS both appear effective interventions to improve outcomes in patients with CHF.

An analysis of the variability in Queensland WiM data

The Queensland Department of Main Roads uses Weigh-in-Motion (WiM) devices to covertly monitor (at highway speed) axle mass, axle configurations and speed of heavy vehicles on the road network. Such data is critical for the planning and design of the road network. Some of the data appears excessively variable. The current work considers the nature, magnitude and possible causes of WiM data variability. Over fifty possible causes of variation in WiM data have been identified in the literature. Data exploration has highlighted five basic types of variability specifically: ----- • cycling, both diurnal and annual;----- • consistent but unreasonable data;----- • data jumps;----- • variations between data from opposite sides of the one road; and ----- • non-systematic variations.----- This work is part of wider research into procedures to eliminate or mitigate the influence of WiM data variability.