696 research outputs found

    Dynamic rainfall thresholds for landslide early warning in Progo Catchment, Java, Indonesia

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    High spatiotemporal resolution satellite data have been available to provide rainfall estimates with global coverage and relatively short latency. On the other hand, a rain gauge measures the actual rain that falls to the surface, but its network density is commonly sparse, particularly those that record at sub-daily records. These datasets are extensively used to define rainfall thresholds for landslides. This study aims to investigate the use of GSMaP-GNRT and CMORPH-CRT data along with automatic rain station data to determine rainfall thresholds for landslides in Progo Catchment, Indonesia, as the basis for landslide early warning in the area. Using the frequentist method, we derived the thresholds based on 213 landslide occurrences for 2012-2021 in the Progo Catchment. Instead of relying on a fixed time window to determine rainfall events triggering landslides, we consider a dynamic window, enabling us to adapt to the rainfall event responsible for landslides by extending or shortening its duration depending on the persistence of the rainfall signal. Results indicate that both GSMaP-GNRT and CMORPH-CRT products fail to capture high-intensity rainfall in Progo Catchment and overestimate light rainfall measured by rain gauge observations.Nevertheless, when accumulated to define the rainfall threshold, the overall performance of GSMaP-GNRT and automatic rain station data in Progo Catchment is comparable. The rainfall measured at the stations performed slightly better than the estimated rainfall from GSMaP-GNRT, particularly at a probability exceedance level below 15%. In contrast, CMORPH -CRT performed the worst for all exceedance probabilities. The suitable exceedance probability for early warning purposes in Progo Catchment is 10% if it is based on the automatic rain station data. At this exceedance probability level, the threshold can adequately discriminate triggering/non-triggering rainfall conditions and produces the minimum false alarms and missed events

    A íntima dependência mútua entre fato e valor

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    Resumo O texto de Ettema e Glasser discute as formas de seleção das informações e produção das histórias jornalísticas. A questão central, para os autores, é o que significa dizer que as reportagens jornalísticas são verdadeiras. Em outras palavras, a que critérios e valores correspondem as histórias que são vistas como verdadeiras. Essa análise é parte da discussão sobre a relação entre valores e fatos no jornalismo. A objetividade é vista como um dispositivo que legitima determinados discursos e permite apresentar julgamentos como fatos. Resulta de acordos quanto aos valores que constituem as premissas dos julgamentos. Os padrões morais que estão na base da produção do noticiário transformam-se em fatos que podem, então, ser reportados com distanciamento. Palavras-chave: jornalismo; objetividade; padrões morais; seleção das informações; verdade. Abstract This text discusses the forms of selection of information and production of news stories. For its authors, the central question in this respect is what it means to say that news reports are true. In other words, what are the criteria and values corresponding to stories seen as true. The analysis is part of the wider discussion on the relationships of values to facts in journalism. Objectivity is seen as a device to legitimate some discourses and allows for the presentation of opinions as facts. It results from negotiations about the values that are the assumptions of opinions. Moral standards that are at the foundations of news productions become facts that may, then, be reported with exemption. Key words: journalism; objectivity; moral standards; information selection; truth

    Teake Ettema. The Construction of a dementia-specific Quality of Life instrument rated by professional caregivers: The QUALIDEM

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    Iedere professional in een verpleeghuis hoopt bij te dragen aan de kwaliteit van leven van zijn of haar cliënten. Om effectief de kwaliteit van leven te verhogen, is het nodig te weten wat kwaliteit van leven precies is en hoe je het kunt meten, terwijl daarover nog veel discussie en onduidelijkheid bestaat

    Wayfinding for cycle highways: Assessing e-bike users’ experiences with wayfinding along a cycle highway in the Netherlands.

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    In many regions, governments are motivating increased bicycle ridership by designing new and improving existing bicycle infrastructure. Cycle highways are an effective and cost-efficient type of bicycle-specific infrastructure that are designed to provide a functional connection between places where people work, go to school and live. One important element of developing high quality cycle highways is the development of an effective wayfinding system which allows current, potential, and new users to clearly identify and navigate a bicycle network. The wayfinding design standards used for conventional bicycle infrastructure may not be compatible for cycle highways, which encourage cyclists to travel at relatively higher speeds. This may warrant introducing specific wayfinding signage compatible for this new type of bicycle infrastructure. This study uses qualitative analysis including field observations, ride-along videos, and semi-structured interviews, to assess electrically assisted pedal bicycle (e-bike) users' opinions and experiences with wayfinding signage along a pilot cycle highway route located between Tilburg and Waalwijk in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2018, base-line observations and interviews were administered with twelve e-bike users who were unfamiliar with the route to assess their experiences with conventional signage for cyclists before changes were made to the wayfinding system. Follow-up observations were held in the fall, after the installation of two new pilot wayfinding systems that were specifically designed to accommodate cycle highway users. Initial findings suggest that the changes made to the location, size and clarity of the signage improve cyclists' overall experiences, and that cyclists' perceptions of the built environment are important. Specifically, it became easier for users to navigate the route, their overall travel related stress decreased, and several participants perceived shorter travel times. Policy makers and transportation planners are likely to be interested in the results of this study as they reveal how specific improvements to wayfinding along cycle highways not only help improve navigation, but also positively influence cyclists' overall comfort and stress

    Chlamydial contribution to anaerobic metabolism during eukaryotic evolution

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    The origin of eukaryotes is a major open question in evolutionary biology. Multiple hypotheses posit that eukaryotes likely evolved from a syntrophic relationship between an archaeon and an alphaproteobacterium based on H-2 exchange. However, there are no strong indications that modern eukaryotic H-2 metabolism originated from archaea or alphaproteobacteria. Here, we present evidence for the origin of H-2 metabolism genes in eukaryotes from an ancestor of the Anoxychlamydiales-a group of anaerobic chlamydiae, newly described here, from marine sediments. Among Chlamydiae, these bacteria uniquely encode genes for H-2 metabolism and other anaerobiosis-associated pathways. Phylogenetic analyses of several components of H-2 metabolism reveal that Anoxychlamydiales homologs are the closest relatives to eukaryotic sequences. We propose that an ancestor of the Anoxychlamydiales contributed these key genes during the evolution of eukaryotes, supporting a mosaic evolutionary origin of eukaryotic metabolism

    A model for integrating home-work tour scheduling with time-varying network congestion and marginal utility profiles for home and work activities.

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    The existing literature on activity-based modeling emphasizes that individuals schedule their activities by keeping the whole-day activity pattern in mind. Several attempts have been made to integrate this with network congestion; however, for explicit explanation of travel behavior of individuals, further improvements are required. The proposed model is a combined model that addresses the scheduling of the home-work tour with time-varied network congestion in a fixed-point problem frame-work. Marginal utility profiles that represent individual time-of-day preferences and satiation effect of the activities are incorporated for the measurement of the utility of activity engagement along with the disutility of travel. Consideration of only time-of-day dependent marginal utility profiles of activities in the utility function does not appropriately integrate activities and travel within the tour. The proof is shown analytically and numerically. This finding contradicts earlier research into integration of morning and evening commutes with network congestion. Additionally, the results of two numerical experiments are presented. In the first experiment, an arbitrary dynamic tolling strategy is assumed, and then a detailed analysis is performed to show variation in the balance of trade-offs involved in the process. The second experiment assesses the sensitivity of the combined model through incorporation of different dynamic traffic loading models. Some meaningful observations are drawn from these experiments and are discussed with the identification of avenues for future research

    A protocol for periprosthetic joint infections from the Northern Infection Network for Joint Arthroplasty (NINJA) in the Netherlands

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    Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication of joint arthroplasty surgery. Treatment success depends on accurate diagnostics, adequate surgical experience and interdisciplinary consultation between orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, infectious disease specialists and medical microbiologists. For this purpose, we initiated the Northern Infection Network for Joint Arthroplasty (NINJA) in the Netherlands in 2014. The establishment of a mutual diagnostic and treatment protocol for PJI in our region has enabled mutual understanding, has supported agreement on how to treat specific patients, and has led to clarity for smaller hospitals in our region for when to refer patients without jeopardizing important initial treatment locally. Furthermore, a mutual PJI patient database has enabled the improvement of our protocol, based on medicine-based evidence from our scientific data. In this paper we describe our NINJA protocol

    Contextual factors influencing the urban mobility infrastructure interventions and policies for older adults in low- and middle-income countries: A realist review

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    Transportation is among the key aspects that influence active ageing. This realist review intends to understand the mechanisms of urban mobility infrastructure interventions and policies in low- and middle-income countries for older adults and to identify factors, which influenced the success or failure of interventions. We followed the steps suggested by Pawson and colleagues for a realist review. Electronic databases were searched from inception until August 2020. Studies were screened based on titles, abstracts and full text. The quality of included studies was assessed based on rigour and relevance. The evidence was obtained from 36 articles with diverse study designs conducted in 36 low- and middle-income countries. Findings were validated through stakeholder consultations from three low- and middle-income countries. Of the various individual factors identified, behaviour change communication interventions were low-cost, had a long-term impact and were efficient in increasing awareness among users to improve safety, social inclusion and about transport schemes for older adults. Improved transport infrastructure resulted in a shift from private to public transportation. For a sustainable urban transport infrastructure, good governance and involvement of stakeholders for planning and implementing transport interventions were considered necessary. Lack of evaluation, experience of transport planners, and inter-sectoral coordination were key challenges to successful interventions. The review highlighted a lack of older adult-specific transportation policies, and gender-targeted interventions for older women, suggesting a need for interventions and policies based on the contextual factors existing in a region
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