Environmental exposures and cardiovascular morbidity in Scotland: a study of the effects of air pollution on health

Air pollution has been an ongoing problem around the world for centuries. It was brought to the public's attention in the mid 1900s with the London Smog which resulted in approximately 3000 excess deaths. Since then, there have been numerous studies carried out to determine the extent to which air pollution is related to human health. There are two main aims to this thesis, the first of which is to investigate the effects of PM10 exposure on cardiovascular illness in Scotland, focusing on the three largest cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. As this study makes use of readily available data, the second aim is to determine whether or not such data can be used to accurately estimate the effects of air pollution. Chapter 1 provides a detailed discussion of air pollution, focussing on the history of air pollution and the change in pollutants over time, and cardiovascular illnesses, giving a definition of cardiovascular disease, details of how they occur and giving incidence rates in Scotland. This chapter also gives an overview of the Information Services Division of the NHS (ISD), the Scottish Air Quality Website and the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC). Chapter 2 is a review of the relevant literature covering the standard modelling approach used in air pollution and health studies and will also outline the data used in these studies and the covariates involved. This chapter focuses exclusively on the short-term effects of air pollution as this is the focus of this thesis. Chapter 3 uses Poisson generalised linear models to explore the relationship between exposure to air pollution and cardiovascular admissions to hospital in Scotland, focusing specifically on Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Chapter 4 comprises a set of subanalyses of these data focusing on the effects of air pollution on various subclasses of cardiovascular morbidity in Glasgow. All analyses will be implemented using a generalised linear model, within the statistical programming language R (R 2.2.0 - A Language and Environment (2005)). Chapter 5 provides a summary of the results from the analyses. It also discusses the limitations associated with the use of routinely collected data and describes some of the dilemmas faced by researchers in this field

Steel and city. Metal construction in Rome in the 20th century

Ponència presentada a la sessió 9The PhD research proposes a reflection about the relationship between the steel construction and the city of twentieth century in Italy and it examines, as an exemplary case, the urban context of Rome. The investigation analyses not only the design of steel buildings and infrastructures realised in a complex urban environment that is rich of historical signs, but it intends to demonstrate the existence of a significant architectural heritage, related to modern technologies that are radically different from the local building tradition. The couple of terms “steel and city” doesn’t mean a common connection between contents and container, but it is considered as a symbiotic relationship between categories that are apparently separated, indeed metal construction has played an important role for the modernization of cities in the twentieth century and this condition is deeply realised in Rome, where new offices, commercial buildings, and infrastructures, request steel for many reasons that are not only functional. One hundred architectural works with steel structure, realised in Rome in the twentieth century, have been selected for the research and they have been listed in a catalogue, that is ordered not only chronologically, but also according to the different categories of urban morphology and perception. Most of selected works show the influence of international architecture and modern language due to the fact that Rome tries with many difficulties to acquire an imported linguistic code, but it is also evident the effort of architects and engineers to balance the modern language with the historical signs that have been settled over the centuries. In the “Eternal City”, composed of brick and stone architecture according to popular imagination, the steel construction seems to mark a deep discontinuity compared with the urban context and the research focuses on the results of this dialogue: to understand how steel construction has assumed distinctive features of the city where it is located and which effects have been produced in the urban context following a new figurative lexicon due to the steel technology. Christian Norberg-Schulz chose Rome as one of the best examples to argue the correspondence between location, settlement and architectural detail in his famous book “Genius Loci”1, so Rome seems to be the ideal city to analyse how steel technology is able to match the urban context, always suspended between modernity and tradition

Steel and city. Metallic construction in Rome in the twentieth century

Ponència presentada a: Session 9: Diseño e Historia (modernidad y tradición) / Design and History (modernity and tradition

LOW-COST 4D BIM MODELLING: A COMPARISON BETWEEN FREECAD AND COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE

Abstract. The paper aims to investigate the potential inherent in a FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) approach for the 4D BIM modelling using Freecad. In order to reach this goal it shows a comparison of Freecad features with those of commercial software, considering the evaluation of the effective application of this Open Source software in the professional environment, and highlighting the progress in the FOSS BIM area, that still represents an unexplored study field if compared to the vast publications related to BIM modelling that occurred in the last two decades. To this end, the study has been carried out on a singular case study, a steel canopy which has been designed for the urban renewal of a public space in Teramo. Despite its size, the canopy required the definition of complex details. Its structural system has addressed the study to compare Freecad with some software dedicated to steel structures or particularly suitable for the modelling of this specific structural typology: Tekla Structures and Sketchup. Starting from a concise historical reconstruction of the FOSS spread, the paper introduces a brief overview of the potential of Freecad in terms of BIM modelling - also proposing an operational modality to facilitate the drawing of BIM elements within the software - and finally reaching to the examination of three simulations which has been carried. This comparison can be useful to establish the current state of development of Freecad in the field of 4D BIM

NICU Infants & SNHL: Experience of a western Sicily tertiary care centre

Introduction: The variability of symptoms and signs caused by central nervous system (CNS) lesions make multiple sclerosis difficult to recognize,Introduction: This study adds the evaluation of the independent etiologic factors that may play a role in the development of SNHL in a NICU population. We compared neonatal intensive care unit NICU infants with sensorineural hearing loss SNHL to age and gender matched normal hearing NICU controls. Materials and methods: 284 consecutive NICU infants positive to the presence of risk indicators associated with permanent congenital, delayed-onset, or progressive hearing loss underwent to global audiological assessment. The following risk factors were researched, making a distinction between prenatal and perinatal risk factors: in the first group, family history of permanent childhood hearing impairment, consanguinity, pregnant maternal infection and drugs exposition during pregnancy; in the second group, premature birth, respiratory distress, hyperbilirubinemia requiring exchange tranfusion, very low birth weight, cranio-facial abnormality, perinatal infections, ototoxic drugs administration, acidosis, hyponatremia, head trauma. Results: The analysis of the auditory deficit for infants according to numbers of risk factors showed mean values of: 78 + 28.08 dB nHL for infants positive to two risk factors; 75.71 + 30.30 dB nHL in cases positive to three risk factors; 96.66 + 34.46 dB nHL for four risk factors and 85 + 35 dB nHL in case of >5 risk factors. Conclusion: NICU infants have greater chances of developing SNHL, because of the presence of multiple risk factors; in fact, as the number of coexisting risk factors increases, the prevalence rate of SNHL also increases (r=0.81)

Upper bound estimate for the blow-up time of a class of integrodifferential equation of parabolic type involving variable source

Consider a class of integrodifferential of parabolic equations involving variable source with Dirichlet boundary condition \begin{equation*} u_{t}=\Delta u-\int _{0}^{t}g\left(t-s\right) \Delta u\left(x,s\right) \mathrm{d} s+|u| ^{p(x) -2}u. \end{equation*} By means energy methods, we obtain a lower bound for blow-up time of the solution if blow-up occurs. Furthermore, assuming the initial energy is negative we establish a new blow-up criterion and give an upper bound for blow-up time of the solution

LAPORAN PRAKTIK PENGALAMAN LAPANGAN (PPL) Lokasi:

Praktik Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL) merupakan langkah strategis untuk melengkapi kompetensi mahasiswa calon tenaga kependidikan. PPL mahasiswa dapat mendarmabaktikan ilmu akademisinya di lapangan. Sebaliknya mahasiswa juga dapat belajar dari lapangan. Dengan demikian mahasiswa dapat memberi dan menerima (give and take) berbagai keilmuan yang dapat menghantarkan mahasiswa menjadi calon tenaga pendidik professional. Program Kuliah Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL) Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta merupakan salah satu mata kuliah yang wajib ditempuh oleh mahasiswa program studi kependidikan. Tujuan dari program ini untuk memberikan pengalaman kepada mahasiswa dalam bidang pembelajaran, menerapkan ilmu pengetahuan dan keterampilan yang dimiliki ke dalam kehidupan nyata, melatih dan mengembangkan kompetensi kependidikan untuk bekal mahasiswa sebagai sumber daya pengajar yang dibutuhkan dalam dunia pendidikan kelak ketika bergelut di dunia pendidikan yang sebenarnya. SMP N 8 Yogyakarta merupakan sekolah yang mempunyai 10 kelas untuk maisng-masing angkatan. Kegiatan PPL merupakan kegiatan yang dilaksanakan oleh mahasiswa sebagai wujud pengabdian mahasiswa kepada masyarakat, sekolah atau lembaga masyarakat sekaligus untuk melatih mahasiswa untuk menerapakan pengetahuan dan kemampuan yang telah dimiliki. Program PPL di SMP NEGERI 8 Yogyakarta yang dilaksanakan pada tanggal 10 Agustus sampai dengan 12 September 2015. Kegiatan PPL yang dilakukan meliputi tahap persiapan, praktik mengajar, dan pelaksanaan. Program PPL selain sebagai sarana untuk pelatihan dan pembelajaran bagi mahasiswa, juga menjadi usaha Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta untuk turut berkontribusi dalam mentransformasikan nilai-nilai kependidikan kepada sekolah tersebut. Harapannya, bukan hanya transfer of knowledge yang diberikan mahasiswa, tetapi juga transfer of value. Keberadaan mahasiswa KKN PPL UNY diharapkan dapat membuat perubahan-perubahan sebagai upaya memajukan pendidikan Indonesia

PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS OF HEART DISEASE USING K-MEANS AND APRIORI ALGORITHMS

International audienceDisease prediction is one of the most important issues we face today. The research paper aims to develop a Data-Mining based console that analyzes large amounts of data and extracts information that can be converted into useful knowledge. However, there is a lack of effective analytical tools to discover hidden data relationships and trends that even the doctors are unable to predict the disease accurately. There is a need to develop an effective decision system that can use the available data to correctly predict the disease. So, in this paper we are introducing an automated console that predicts heart disease through clustering K-means and Apriori algorithms in combination with MATLAB software. These two algorithms can be used to effectively detect the stage of the disease. The stages of heart disease predicted are low risk, medium risk, and high risk stages

Upper bound estimate for the blow-up time of a class of integrodifferential equation of parabolic type involving variable source

Consider a class of integrodifferential of parabolic equations involving variable source with Dirichlet boundary condition \begin{equation*} u_{t}=\Delta u-\int _{0}^{t}g\left(t-s\right) \Delta u\left(x,s\right) \mathrm{d} s+|u| ^{p(x) -2}u. \end{equation*} By means energy methods, we obtain a lower bound for blow-up time of the solution if blow-up occurs. Furthermore, assuming the initial energy is negative we establish a new blow-up criterion and give an upper bound for blow-up time of the solution

PROCEDURAL MODELLING FOR HBIM OF ITALIAN RAILWAYS IRON BRIDGES

Abstract. The development of the railways network in the 19th century represented a significant scenario for the technological advancement of the entire Italian building sector; consequently, it produced a relevant renewal of construction techniques. Icons of this robust infrastructure building program were the railway bridges built over the Po river; their construction represented an arduous technological challenge. Unfortunately, in the years following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy the national industry was disorganized and unprepared to face this ambitious challenge; indeed, the first four bridges were built by foreign companies that could guarantee the necessary technological know-how. However, the industrial scenario immediately changed and the last two bridges were designed and built by Italian engineers and steelwork companies. The railway bridges over the River Po are now lost; the changing needs of railway traffic or bombings during the Second World War unavoidably led to their demolition. Their enhancement through 3d modelling and virtual representation is fundamental for the rediscovering of the role they played not only in the construction of the national infrastructural system but also in the life of the young state. To this aim, the paper proposes the outcomes of research that explores the potentialities of 3d software with Visual Programming Language (VPL), in order to create modelling tools useful for the disclosure and dissemination of the historical value of this lost heritage