989 resultados para 171-1053


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Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, has been erupting since 1995. During the current eruption, a large part of the material produced by the volcano has been transported into the sea, modifying the morphology of the submarine flanks of the volcano. We present a unique set of swath bathymetric data collected offshore from Montserrat in 1999, 2002 and 2005. From 1999 to 2002, pyroclastic flows associated with numerous dome collapses entered the sea to produce 100 Mm3 deposit. From 2002 to 2005, the 290 Mm3 submarine deposit is mainly from the 12–13 July 2003 collapse. These data allow us to estimate that, by May 2005, at least 482 Mm3 of material had been deposited on the sea floor since 1995. We compare on-land characteristics and volumes of dome collapse events with the submarine deposits and propose a new analysis of their emplacement on the submarine flanks of the volcano. The deposition mechanism shows a slope dependence, with the maximum thickness of deposit before the break in the slope, probably because of the type of the dense granular flow involved. We conclude that from 1995 to 2005 more than 75% of the erupted volume entered the sea.

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Like other major cities, Brisbane (Australia) has adopted policies to increase residential densities to meet the liveability goal of decreasing car dependence. This objective hinges on urban neighbourhoods being amenity-rich spaces, reducing the need for residents to leave their neighbourhood for everyday living. While older people are attracted to urban settings, there has been little empirical evidence linking liveability satisfaction with older people's use of urban neighbourhoods. Using a case study approach employing qualitative (diaries, in-depth interviews) and quantitative (Global Positioning Systems and Geographical Information Systems mapping) methods,this paper explores the effect of the neighbourhood environment and its influence on liveability for older urban people. Reliance on motor vehicles and issues with availability and access to local amenities inhibit local participation for older people. Highlighting these issues furthers our understanding of the landscape planning and design factors that make urban neighbourhoods more liveable for older residents.

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The individual history of infertile women, as well as their age, may influence their response to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles. This study examined the associations between women’s histories and two IVF outcomes: eggs aspirated (EA) and proportion with normal, two-pronuclei (2PN), fertilisation. This is a cross-sectional survey of infertile women (n=141, 27-46 years) from a multi-centre clinical sample. Participants completed a survey of socio-demographic, relationship, lifestyle, reproductive and fertility factors, medical conditions and recurrent symptoms. Among participants with heterosexual partners (n=122), associations between women’s histories and EA or 2PN fertilisation were analysed using linear and logistic modelling, respectively, adjusted for age at EA and accounting for multiple IVF cycles (n=313 cycles). Participants aged 35+ years had reproductive histories of miscarriage only (16.9%), termination only (9.9%) or birth+termination (5.6%) that were 2-, 3- and 4-fold higher, respectively, than those aged <35 years (7.1%, 2.9%, 1.4%). More years of oral contraceptive use were associated with a lower mean EA: never used, 14.6 EA; 0-2 years, 11.7 EA; 3-5 years, 8.6 EA; 6þ years, 8.2 EA (p=.04). Participants with polycystic ovary syndrome had a higher mean EA (11.5) than those without the condition (8.3 EA, p<.01). Participants in trade or service occupations had lower proportions of 2PN fertilisation (51.7%) than participants in other occupations (professional, 58.6%; manual/other, 63.6%, p<.02). Increasing women’s age and prolonged used of oral contraceptives were associated with lower EA from IVF cycles; PCOS was associated with higher EA. Occupational exposures may have a detrimental effect on normal fertilisation rates.

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After more than 25 years of published investigation, including randomized controlled trials, the role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the treatment of kidney disease remains unclear. In vitro and in vivo experimental studies support the efficacy of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on inflammatory pathways involved with the progression of kidney disease. Clinical investigations have focused predominantly on immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy. More recently, lupus nephritis, polycystic kidney disease, and other glomerular diseases have been investigated. Clinical trials have shown conflicting results for the efficacy of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in IgA nephropathy, which may relate to varying doses, proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, duration of therapy, and sample size of the study populations. Meta-analyses of clinical trials using omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in IgA nephropathy have been limited by the quality of available studies. However, guidelines suggest that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids should be considered in progressive IgA nephropathy. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids decrease blood pressure, a known accelerant of kidney disease progression. Well-designed, adequately powered, randomized, controlled clinical trials are required to further investigate the potential benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the progression of kidney disease and patient survival.

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Precise protein quantification and recommendation is essential in clinical dietetics, particularly in the management of individuals with chronic kidney disease, malnutrition, burns, wounds, pressure ulcers, and those in active sports. The Expedited 10g Protein Counter (EP-10) was developed to simplify the quantification of dietary protein for assessment and recommendation of protein intake.1 Instead of using separate protein exchanges for different food groups to quantify the dietary protein intake of an individual, every exchange in the EP-10 accounts for an exchange each of 3g non-protein-rich food and 7g protein-rich food (Table 1). The EP-10 was recently validated and published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition recently.1 This study demonstrated that using the EP-10 for dietary protein intake quantification had clinically acceptable validity and reliability when compared with the conventional 7g protein exchange while requiring less time.2 In clinical practice, the use of efficient, accurate and practical methods to facilitate assessment and treatment plans is important. The EP-10 can be easily implemented in the nutrition assessment and recommendation for a patient in the clinical setting. This patient education tool was adapted from materials printed in the Journal of Renal Nutrition.1 The tool may be used as presented or adapted to assist patients to achieve their recommended daily protein intake.

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Sustainable development has long been promoted as the best answer to the world’s environmental problems. This term has generated mass appeal as it implies that both the development of the built environment and its associated resource consumption can be achieved without jeopardising the natural environment. In the urban context, sustainability issues have been reflected in the promotion of sustainable urban development, which emphasises the sensible exploitation of scarce natural resources for urbanisation in a manner that allows future generations to repeat the process. This chapter highlights attempts to promote sustainable urban development through an integration of three important considerations: planning, development and the ecosystem. It highlights the fact that spatial planning processes were traditionally driven by economic and social objectives, and rarely involved promoting the sustainability agenda to achieve a sustainable urban future. As a result, rapid urbanisation has created a variety of pressures on the ecosystem upon which we rely. It is believed that the integration of the urban planning and development processes within the limitations of the ecosystem, monitored by a sustainability assessment mechanism, would offer a better approach to maintaining sustainable resource use without compromising urban development.

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Elements, types, rescission, exclusion clauses and impact of legislation

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Abstract Objective: To explore whether area-level socioeconomic position or the form of retail stream (conventional versus farmers’ market) are associated with differences in the price, availability, variety and quality of a range of fresh fruit and vegetables. Design: A multi-site cross-sectional pilot study of farmers’ markets, supermarkets and independent fruit and vegetable retailers. Each was surveyed to assess the price, availability, variety and quality of 15 fruit and 18 vegetable items. Setting: Retail outlets were located in South-East Queensland. Subjects: Fifteen retail outlets were surveyed (five of each retail stream). Results: Average basket prices were not significantly different across the socioeconomic spectrum however prices in low socioeconomic areas were cheapest. Availability, variety, and quality did not differ across levels of socioeconomic position however the areas with the most socioeconomic disadvantage scored poorest for quality and variety. Supermarkets had significantly better fruit and vegetable availability than farmers’ markets however price, variety and quality scores were not different across retail streams. Results demonstrate a trend to fruit and vegetable prices being more expensive at farmers’ markets, with the price of the Fruit basket being significantly greater at the organic farmer’s market compared with the non-organic farmers’ markets. Conclusions: Neither area-level socioeconomic position nor the form of retail stream was significantly associated with differences in the availability, price, variety and quality of fruit and vegetables, except for availability which was higher in supermarkets than farmers’ markets. Further research is needed to determine what role farmers’ markets can play in affecting fruit and vegetable intake.

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The objective of the study was to assess, from a health service perspective, whether a systematic program to modify kidney and cardiovascular disease reduced the costs of treating end-stage kidney failure. The participants in the study were 1,800 aboriginal adults with hypertension, diabetes with microalbuminuria or overt albuminuria, and overt albuminuria, living on two islands in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1995 to 2000. Perindopril was the primary treatment agent, and other medications were also used to control blood pressure. Control of glucose and lipid levels were attempted, and health education was offered. Evaluation of program resource use and costs for follow-up periods was done at 3 and 4.7 years. On an intention-to-treat basis, the number of dialysis starts and dialysis-years avoided were estimated by comparing the fate of the treatment group with that of historical control subjects, matched for disease severity, who were followed in the before the treatment program began. For the first three years, an estimated 11.6 person-years of dialysis were avoided, and over 4.7 years, 27.7 person-years of dialysis were avoided. The net cost of the program was 1,210 dollars more per person per year than status quo care, and dialyses avoided gave net savings of 1.0 million dollars at 3 years and 3.4 million dollars at 4.6 years. The treatment program provided significant health benefit and impressive cost savings in dialysis avoided.

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Automated airborne collision-detection systems are a key enabling technology for facilitat- ing the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace. These safety-critical systems must be sensitive enough to provide timely warnings of genuine air- borne collision threats, but not so sensitive as to cause excessive false-alarms. Hence, an accurate characterisation of detection and false alarm sensitivity is essential for understand- ing performance trade-offs, and system designers can exploit this characterisation to help achieve a desired balance in system performance. In this paper we experimentally evaluate a sky-region, image based, aircraft collision detection system that is based on morphologi- cal and temporal processing techniques. (Note that the examined detection approaches are not suitable for the detection of potential collision threats against a ground clutter back- ground). A novel collection methodology for collecting realistic airborne collision-course target footage in both head-on and tail-chase engagement geometries is described. Under (hazy) blue sky conditions, our proposed system achieved detection ranges greater than 1540m in 3 flight test cases with no false alarm events in 14.14 hours of non-target data (under cloudy conditions, the system achieved detection ranges greater than 1170m in 4 flight test cases with no false alarm events in 6.63 hours of non-target data). Importantly, this paper is the first documented presentation of detection range versus false alarm curves generated from airborne target and non-target image data.

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This article examines the philosophy and practice of open-source technology in the development of the jam2jam XO software for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computer. It explores how open-source software principles, pragmatist philosophy, improvisation and constructionist epistemologies are operationalized in the design and development of music software, and how such reflection reveals both the strengths and weaknesses of the open-source software development paradigm. An overview of the jam2jam XO platform, its development processes and music educational uses is provided and resulting reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of open-source development for music education are discussed. From an educational and software development perspective, the act of creating open-source software is shown to be a valuable enterprise, however, just because the source code, creative content and experience design are accessible and 'open' to be changed, does not guarantee that educational practices in the use of that software will change. Research around the development and use of jam2jam XO suggests that open-source software development principles can have an impact beyond software development and on to aspects of experience design and learning relationships.

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Post-discharge surgical wound infection surveillance is an important part of many infection control programs. It is frequently undertaken by patient self-assessment, prompted either by a telephone or postal questionnaire. To assess the reliability of this method, 290 patients were followed for six weeks postoperatively. Their wounds were photographed and also covertly assessed for signs of infection by two experienced infection control nurses (ICNs). Patients also responded to a postal questionnaire seeking evidence of infection at both week four and week six post-surgery. Correlation between the patient's assessment of their wound and the ICNs diagnosis was poor (r=0.37) with a low positive predictive value (28.7%), although negative predictive value was high (98.2%). Assessment of photos for signs of infection by two experienced clinicians also correlated poorly with the ICNs diagnosis of infection (r=0.54). The patient's recall of prescription of an antibiotic by their general practitioner (GP) for wound infection during the postoperative period correlated best with the ICNs diagnosis (r=0.76). This latter measure, particularly when confirmed by the GP in those patients reporting an infection, appears to provide the most valid and resource efficient marker of post-discharge surgical wound infection.