New Hampshire Volunteer Beach Profile Monitoring Program (VBPMP): Implementation, Field Methods, and Data Processing

The New Hampshire (NH) Volunteer Beach Profiling Monitoring Program (VBPMP) monitors beach elevation profiles at multiple stations along the NH Atlantic coast on a near-monthly basis using the Emery method. The program grew from three monitoring stations in 2016-2017 to thirteen stations across six beaches in 2018, with an additional station added in 2022. The overarching goal of the VBPMP is to assess the stability of New Hampshire’s Atlantic beaches over multiple years to determine seasonal changes and long-term trends using citizen science methods. Included in the assessment of beach stability are erosional or accretional trends, response to storms, and comparisons between beaches with differing morphology, sediments, and infrastructure (e.g., seawalls or dunes). Presented in this report are the methods used by the NH VBPMP for establishing profile stations, collecting beach elevation profiles based on the Emery method, recording, and uploading field data, and taking field photographs. The methods used for processing profile data after collection by volunteers is also described, including data review and quality assurance, datum corrections, plotting elevation profiles, sediment volume computation, and determination of mean profile elevations. Finally, examples of data products created for sharing with the public are presented

From the Group of Twenty to the Group of Two: The Need for Harmonizing Derivatives Regulation Between the United States and the European Union

Wireless Sensor Networks are often deployed in great numbers spanning large, sometimes hard to reach and hostile, areas with the aim of monitoring environmental conditions through the use of different sensors. Due to decreasing costs of ownership (e.g. non-proprietary protocols), recent advances in processor, radio, and memory technologies and the engineering of increasingly smaller sensing devices, the availability and area of application for wireless sensor networks have steadily been increasing. Sigma Technology Development Stockholm AB raised the question as to whether a wireless sensor network, running an open-source operating system and communicating over IPv6, could be used in the field of smart autonomous irrigation? The company also required a proof-of-concept system for demonstration purposes and to identify if the design choices made were suitable for an actual implementation. There are numerous of design decisions that have to be made when constructing an irrigation system: the back-end set-up, which irrigation algorithms to use, what hardware to choose and how to communicate? This thesis therefore focuses on the overall system design of a wireless sensor network in the field of irrigation and highlights the trade-offs being made and their pros and cons. Two improvements related to the existing technology and the proof-of-concept system are presented in this thesis. Firstly, the recommendation to use clustered self-healing routing despite claimed power consumption issues. Secondly, a new technique to minimize power consumption, by dynamically changing the sleep interval on the sensor nodes with the help of weather data. Furthermore, the proof-of-concept system is constructed and analysed to assess whether the system design choices made are valid for a real-life deployment.Trådlösa sensor nätverk används för att övervaka lokala miljöförändringar med hjälp av olika sorters sensorer. På grund av nedåtgående driftkostnader (ökad tillgänglighet av open-source mjukvara) och framsteg inom processor-, radio-, och datorminnesteknolgi har både tillgängligheten och användningsområdena för trådlösa sensornätverk stadigt ökat. Sigma Technology Development AB ställde frågan huruvida ett trådlöst sensornätverk, som använder sig av ett open-source operativsystem och kommunicerar över IPv6, kunde användas inom smart konstbevattning? Företaget ville även att ett proof-ofconcept system utvecklades för demonstration samt för att kunna avgöra om de designval som gjorts är lämpliga att använda i en verklig implementation. Det finns en mängd designval som måste göras när man konstruerar ett bevattningsystem: back-end lösningen, vilka bevattningsalogritmer som ska användas, vilken hårdvara som ska användas samt hur kommunikationen mellan noderna ska upprättas? Det här examensarbetet fokuserar därför på den övergripande systemdesigen av ett trådlöst sensornätverk inom konstbevattning, utvärderar och avgör vilka kompromisser som måste göras samt för- och nackdelarna med dessa val. Examensarbetet presenterar vidare två förbättringar på det utvecklade konceptsystemet som inte heller finns på marknanden. Först rekommenderas användandet av robusta självläkande routing protokoll trots påstådda energiförbrukningsproblem. Sedan föreslås även en teknik som minimerar energiåtgången genom att dynamiskt ändra hur länge sensornoden befinner sig i ’sleep mode’, detta med hjälp av insamlad väderdata. Slutligen så konstrueras och analyseras proof-of-concept systemet för att utvärdera om dessa designval är lämpliga för en implementering i det verkliga livet

ARGOS policy brief on semantic interoperability

Semantic interoperability requires the use of standards, not only for Electronic Health Record (EHR) data to be transferred and structurally mapped into a receiving repository, but also for the clinical content of the EHR to be interpreted in conformity with the original meanings intended by its authors. Accurate and complete clinical documentation, faithful to the patient’s situation, and interoperability between systems, require widespread and dependable access to published and maintained collections of coherent and quality-assured semantic resources, including models such as archetypes and templates that would (1) provide clinical context, (2) be mapped to interoperability standards for EHR data, (3) be linked to well specified, multi-lingual terminology value sets, and (4) be derived from high quality ontologies. Wide-scale engagement with professional bodies, globally, is needed to develop these clinical information standards

Ocean Industries and Marine Planning

Marine planning (marine spatial planning/MSP) is under development as a viable tool to address potential user conflicts in the oceans and allow for better management of ocean uses and resources. With marine planning developing in many parts of the world, especially the E.U., U.S. and Australia, it is important for industry to be part of the creation of a shared vision for a marine area, the discussion regarding whether or not to pursue a planning or other improved management effort, and the necessary elements (e.g., outreach, funding, boundaries) of such an effort. World Ocean Council, with funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, undertook a project to inform and, as appropriate, engage a diverse range of ocean industries on marine planning and encourage the use of credible science and risk assessment. With information gathered through literature reviews, case studies, interviews, and outreach, this paper presents potential benefits of and concerns regarding marine planning from the ocean business perspective. It also offers considerations for industry to consider its role in marine planning and for planners on how and why to engage the private sector

Port State Performance Putting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing on the Radar

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is notorious for undermining efforts to manage fisheries sustainably and has detrimental environmental, social and economic consequences. The Pew Environment Group's Port State Performance research focuses on the role that port States play in abating IUU fishing by assessing how effectively they are implementing port State measures. As the situation stands, the current system of port State measures lacks transparency, accountability and global reach, and is thus failing to both close loopholes exploited by IUU operators and keep IUU fish out of ports

Health Reform Across the States: Increased Insurance Coverage and Federal Spending on the Exchanges and Medicaid

Estimates state-by-state effects of healthcare reform, including variations by state in the impact on uninsurance rates, exchange subsidies, Medicaid enrollees, and federal spending. Analyzes state characteristics contributing to the variations

Federal Standardized Health Insurance Plans Could Improve Access to Care without Raising Premiums

Health insurance companies should offer plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces that cover the cost of basic outpatient care—like primary care, specialty care, and prescription drugs—before people pay off their deductible. The new federal standardized silver plans, released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this year, will do just that. New, original research shows that federal standardized plans are a good deal for consumers who need a plan that covers basic health care services before they meet their deductible. Our report found that:The federal standardized silver plans would have premiums that are comparable to current silver marketplace plans that cover little to no services before the deductible.Offering these standardized plans could improve access to outpatient care without driving up premiums.Families USA produced the report with Milliman, an independent actuarial firm. Families USA believes that insurers in all 34 states with federally facilitated marketplaces should offer these plans in 2017 so that consumers in these states have access to these plan options. In 2018 and future years, we urge the federal government to require insurers in these states to offer the federal standardized plans

With comfort and dignity and support: An evaluation of the Hospice at Home service delivered by Milford Care Centre

Copyright @ 2011 University of LimerickMilford Care Centre is the lead organisation that provides a comprehensive range of services for the elderly and palliative care patients in the Mid West Region. In tandem with the growing requirement for specialist palliative care in the community, it expanded its existing and limited community-based services in 2006 to include a specialist ‘Hospice at Home’ service for patients who require palliative care in their own homes. With inputs from a multi-disciplinary clinical team, the Hospice at Home Service delivered by Milford Care Centre represents the first service of its kind within the Republic of Ireland. The Hospice at Home Service is supported by funding from the HSE and donations from the public, as well as a significant donation from The Atlantic Philanthropies. A condition of the funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies was that the Service would be evaluated, thus providing Milford Care Centre with research information regarding various of aspects of the service, including the viewpoints of carers and patients. In 2009, Milford Care Centre commissioned the University of Limerick to undertake an independent evaluation of the Hospice at Home Service, with the aim of examining whether it offered a viable and effective model for delivering a range of palliative care services to patients and their families in the community. The evaluation was conducted between February 2009 and June 2011. It should be noted that an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of the Service was also commissioned and will be undertaken by another group