An investigation of vegetation and other Earth resource/feature parameters using LANDSAT and other remote sensing data. 1: LANDSAT. 2: Remote sensing of volcanic emissions

A fanning technique based on a simplistic physical model provided a classification algorithm for mixture landscapes. Results of applications to LANDSAT inventory of 1.5 million acres of forest land in Northern Maine are presented. Signatures for potential deer year habitat in New Hampshire were developed. Volcanic activity was monitored in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala along with the Mt. St. Helens eruption. Emphasis in the monitoring was placed on the remote sensing of SO2 concentrations in the plumes of the volcanoes

An investigation of vegetation and other earth resource/feature parameters using LANDSAT and other remote sensing data. A: LANDSAT. B: Remote sensing of volcanic emissions

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

An investigation of vegetation and other earth resource/feature parameters using LANDSAT and other remote sensing data. A: LANDSAT. B: Remote sensing of volcanic emissions

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Evaluating an integrated primary care approach to improve well-being among frail community-living older people

Background: A major challenge in primary healthcare is the substantial increase in the proportion of frail community-dwelling older persons with long-term conditions and multiple complex needs. Consequently, a fundamental transformation of current models of primary care by means of implementing proactive integrated care is necessary. Therefore, an understanding of the effects of integrated primary care approaches and underlying mechanisms is essential. This article presents the design of a theory-based evaluation of an integrated primary care approach to improve well-being among frail community-living older adults, which is called "Finding and Follow-up of Frail older persons" (FFF). First, we present a theoretical model to facilitate a sound theory-guided evaluation of integrated primary care approaches for frail community-dwelling older people. The model incorporates interrelated elements of integrated primary care approaches (e.g. proactive case finding and self-management support). Efforts to improve primary care should integrate these promising components to assure productive patient-professional interactions and to improve well-being. Moreover, cognitive and behavioral components of healthcare professionals and patients are assumed to be important. Second, we present the design of the study to evaluate the FFF approach which consists of the following key components: (1) proactive case finding, (2) case management, (3) medication review, (4) self-management support, and (5) working in multidisciplinary care teams. Methods: The longitudinal evaluation study has a matched quasi-experimental design with one pretest and one posttest (12 month follow-up) and is conducted in the Netherlands between 2014 and 2017. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to evaluate effectiveness, processes, and cost-effectiveness. In total, 250 frail older persons (75 years and older) of 11 GP (general practitioner) practices that implemented the FFF approach are compared with 250 frail older patients of 4 GP practices providing care as usual. In addition, data are collected from healthcare professionals. Outcome measures are based on our theoretical model. Discussion: The proposed evaluation study will reveal insight into the (cost)effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of the proactive integrated primary care approach FFF. A major strength of the study is the comprehensive evaluation b

Contribution of Primary Pelvic Organ Prolapse to Micturition and Defecation Symptoms

Objective. To investigate the contribution of Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) to micturition and defecation symptoms. Method. Cross-sectional study including 64 women presenting with POP symptoms and 50 controls without POP complaints. Subjects were evaluated using POP-Quantification system, Urinary Distress Inventory, and Defecation Distress Inventory. The MOS SF-36 health survey and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale were used to measure self-perceived health status and depressive symptoms, respectively. Results. POP in terms of POP-Q had a moderate impact on the symptom observing vaginal protrusion (explained variance 0.31). It contributed modestly to obstructive voiding and overactive bladder symptoms (explained variance 0.09, resp., 0.14) but not to urinary incontinence. Constipation was more likely explained by clinical depression than by pelvic floor defects (explained variance 0.13, resp., 0.05). Conclusion. Stage of POP and specific prolapse symptoms are associated but such a strong association does not exist between POP and micturition or defecation symptoms

Sex differences in experimental pain among healthy children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sex differences in response to experimental pain are commonly reported in systematic reviews in the adult literature. The objective of the present research was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of sex differences in healthy children's responses to experimental pain (eg, cold pressor, heat pain, pressure pain) and, where possible, to conduct analyses separately for children and adolescents. A search was conducted of electronic databases for published papers in English of empirical research using experimental pain tasks to examine pain-related outcomes in healthy boys and girls between 0 and 18 years of age. Eighty articles were eligible for inclusion and were coded to extract information relevant to sex differences. The systematic review indicated that, across different experimental pain tasks, the majority of studies reported no significant differences between boys and girls on pain-related outcomes. However, the meta-analysis of available combined data found that girls reported significantly higher cold pressor pain intensity compared to boys in studies where the mean age of participants was greater than 12 years. Additionally, a meta-analysis of heat pain found that boys had significantly higher tolerance than girls overall, and boys had significantly higher heat pain threshold than girls in studies where the mean age of participants was 12 years or younger. These findings suggest that developmental stage may be relevant for understanding sex differences in pain

Perinatale gezondheid in Rotterdam; nulmeting periode 2000-2007

Inleiding Rotterdam heeft binnen Nederland een relatief hoog perinataal sterftecijfer. Onder perinatale sterfte verstaan we sterfte vanaf 22 weken zwangerschapsduur tot en met de eerste 7 dagen na de geboorte. Dit bleek reeds in 2008 toen De Graaf et al. beschreven dat vrouwen in de vier grote steden een sterk verhoogde kans hebben op perinatale sterfte en daarmee samenhangende perinatale ziekte. De belangrijkste vier perinatale ziekten, die vaak voorlopers zijn van perinatale sterfte, zijn aangeboren afwijkingen, vroeggeboorte, laag geboortegewicht gelet op de zwangerschapsduur, en een lage Apgar score (een slechte start bij de geboorte). In vervolg op de bevindingen voor Rotterdam is in 2008 het Aanvalsplan Perinatale Sterfte Rotterdam van start gegaan. Dit is een meerjarig programma waarin de Gemeente Rotterdam in samenwerking met het Erasmus MC en de GGD Rotterdam Rijnmond tot doel heeft de perinatale sterfte en perinatale ziekte binnen Rotterdam te verminderen. Een eerste stap hierbij is het nauwkeurig in kaart brengen van perinatale ziekten en sterfte, en de factoren die mogelijk hiervoor verantwoordelijk zijn. Deze factoren kunnen gebonden zijn aan zwangeren zelf, met hun omgeving te maken hebben of met de zorg te maken hebben