GIS for Public Health Assessment A CASPER Methodology Framework

One of the greatest challenges in managing emergencies is to determine the impact of the disaster and to respond effectively to the primary needs of those affected. The Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) is a specific methodology designed to quickly and effectively estimate the health status and basic needs that must be addressed by the health agency. The present study discusses the application of a complete GIS-based framework for the improvement of each of the main phases of the CASPER methodology: preparation, conduction, analyzing data, and writing a report. The results show the GIS approach to implementing CASPER can significantly reduce the time required for data collection and processing, improve the quality of the collected data, and allows the agencies to make a real-time decision based on the situational awareness of the communitie

Commercial Impacts of the FIFA Soundtrack Effect for Artists

How does exposure in the FIFA soundtrack affect artists and their songs? Are songs featured in this soundtrack guaranteed a larger success than those which don’t? This paper focuses on how well songs do after being featured in a video game like FIFA. This paper also looks at the history and the creation of the soundtrack. In order to get a close look at how exposure affects songs I will include artists’ declarations and look at data from music charts. I will also use articles that study history and conduct interviews. In conclusion, exposure in video games like FIFA does help artists and songs have a greater audience

Influence of iron and nitrate concentration in water on aquatic Coleoptera community structure: Application to the Avia River (Ourense, NW. Spain)

In this work the influence of the concentration of dissolved iron and nitrate in the water on the structure of the community of aquatic Coleoptera of a river in northwest Spain is analyzed. A total of 45 species and subspecies of aquatic Coleoptera (Adephaga and Polyphaga) were collected between March and November 1999 from 10 sites distributed along the Avia river (Ourense, N.W. Spain). Also, 24 physical and chemical parameters of water were measured and a CCA was made to evaluate which of these factors had the greatest influence on the studied fauna. At the same time an ecological analysis was made using the distribution of species and subspecies in relation to two water parameters (concentration of nitrate and dissolved iron). The study of distribution in relation to these factors by means of elaborating their ecological profiles suggested indicator species for each of these parameters. Seventeen species were found to be indicators for at least one of the parameters analyzed. The species Deronectes costipennis gignouxi, Enichocerus legionensis, Hydraena testacea, Megasternum obscurum, Nebrioporus depressus elegans and Stenelmis canaliculata are the best indicators of these parameters, if we consider only taxa collected in class 4, that is, with high values of iron and nitrate.En este trabajo se analiza la influencia de la concentración de hierro disuelto y nitrato en el agua sobre la estructura de la comunidad de coleópteros acuáticos de un río en el noroeste de España. Un total de 45 especies y subespecies de Coleoptera acuáticos (Adephaga y Polyphaga) fueron recolectados entre marzo y noviembre de 1999 en 10 puntos distribuidos a lo largo del río Avia (Ourense, NW España). También se tomaron medidas de 24 de parámetros físicos y químicos del agua y se hizo un CCA para evaluar cuál de estos factores fue el de mayor influencia en la fauna estudiada. A partir de eso, realizamos un análisis ecológico de la distribución de la presencia de especies y subespecies en relación con dos factores químicos del agua (concentración de nitrato y hierro disuelto). El estudio de la distribución en relación con estos factores a través de la elaboración de sus perfiles ecológicos señaló las especies indicadoras para cada uno de estos parámetros, de acuerdo a su información recíproca de especie-factor. Diecisiete especies demostraron ser indicadoras de por lo menos unos de los parámetros analizados. Las especies Deronectes costipennis gignouxi, Enichocerus legionensis, Hydraena testacea, Megasternum obscurum, Nebrioporus depressus elegans y Stenelmis canaliculata son las mejores indicadoras de estos parámetros si tenemos en cuenta solo los taxones recogidos en la clase 4, es decir, con altos valores de hierro y nitrato

Improved local pdf estimation in the wavelet domain for generalized lifting

Generalized Lifting (GL) has been studied for lossy image compression in [2,3]. It has been demonstrated that the method leads to a significant reduction of the wavelet coefficients energy and entropy. The definition of the GL relies on an estimation of the pdf of the pixel to encode conditioned to a surrounding context. The objective of this paper is to present an improved method for the estimation of the pdf at the local level. Rather than assuming that the local pdf is monomodal, symmetric, and centered at the central value of the best context match within a neighborhood, as in [3], we follow the idea of self similarity proposed in [1] for denoising, and propose to estimate the pdf using all the causal contexts within a window. Therefore, all the available knowledge about the neighborhood is incorporated. No assumptions about the characteristics of the pdf are made. A generalized lifting operator that minimizes the energy is applied to each context during the encoding process. Experimental results show an important increment in the energy and entropy gains when compared to previous strategies [2,3].Postprint (published version

Comparación de la comunidad de coleópteros acuáticos (Adephaga y Polyphaga) en dos cuencas hidrográficas con distinto grado de acción antropogénica (Pontevedra, NO de España)

En este trabajo se estudia la fauna de coleópteros acuáticos (Adephaga y Polyphaga) de las cuencas hidrográficas de los ríos Lagares y Miñor (Pontevedra, NO de España). Se muestrearon 20 puntos en cuatro campañas estacionales (mayo 2001-enero 2002). Se estudiaron un total de 1597 individuos, identificándose 35 especies de las familias Haliplidae, Gyrinidae, Dytiscidae, Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, Elmidae, Dryopidae y Scirtidae. Se citan por primera vez para la provincia de Pontevedra la familia Hydrochidae (Hydrochus angustatus) los géneros Esolus (Esolus parallelepipedus) y Megasternum (Megasternum concinnum) y las especies Helophorus flavipes, Elmis aenea y Elmis maugetii maugetii. La variación espacial y temporal de la riqueza, abundancia y diversidad han sido analizadas, así como la afinidad entre los puntos de muestreo, basada en el análisis de la composición faunística. Los resultados indican que las comunidades típicas de aguas no contaminadas quedan claramente separadas de las comunidades de aguas contaminadas, indicando este fenómeno la influencia negativa de la contaminación sobre la fauna.In this work we studied the fauna of aquatic Coleoptera (Adephaga and Polyphaga) of the hydrographic river basins of the Lagares and Miñor Rivers (Pontevedra, NW of Spain). Twenty sites were sampled in four seasonal campaigns between May of 2001 and January of 2002. A total of 1,597 specimens belonging to 35 species of the families Haliplidae, Gyrinidae, Dytiscidae, Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, Elmidae, Dryopidae and Scirtidae were collected. The family Hydrochidae (Hydrochus angustatus), the genus Esolus (Esolus parallelepipedus), and Megasternum (Megasternum concinnum), and the species Helophorus flavipes, Elmis aenea, and Elmis maugetii maugetii are all new records for the province. Spatial and seasonal variations in richness, abundance and diversity were analysed, in addition the similarity between sites was also analysed based on the total fauna composition of each. The results indicate that the typical communities of non-polluted waters are separated from those of polluted waters, indicating the negative influence of the contamination on the fauna

Associations of quality of life, pain, and self-reported arthritis with age, employment, bleed rate, and utilization of hemophilia treatment center and health care provider services: results in adults with hemophilia in the HERO study

INTRODUCTION: Severe hemophilia and subsequent hemophilic arthropathy result in joint pain and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Assessment of HRQoL in persons with hemophilia (PWH), including underlying factors that drive HRQoL differences, is important in determining health care resource allocation and in making individualized clinical decisions. AIM: To examine potential associations between HRQoL, pain interference, and self-reported arthritis and age, employment, activity, bleed frequency, and hemophilia treatment center and health care professional utilization. METHODS: PWH (age ≥18 years) from ten countries completed a 5-point Likert scale on pain interference over the previous 4 weeks, the EQ-5D-3L scale (mobility, usual activities, self-care, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression) including a health-related visual analog scale (0-100, coded as an 11-point categorical response). RESULTS: Pain interference (extreme/a lot) was higher in PWH aged \u3e40 years (31%) compared to those aged 31-40 years (27%) or ≤30 years (21%). In an analysis of eight countries with home treatment, PWH who reported EQ-5D mobility issues were less likely to be employed (53% vs 79%, with no mobility issues). Median annual bleed frequency increased with worsening EQ-5D pain or discomfort. The percentage of PWH with inhibitors reporting visual analog scale scores of 80-90-100 was lower (20%) than those without inhibitors (34%). Median bleed frequency increased with pain. Globally, nurse and social worker involvement increased with disability and pain; physiotherapist utilization was moderate regardless of the extent of disability or pain. CONCLUSION: Increased disability and pain were associated with increased age, lower employment, higher reported bleed frequency, and lower HRQoL

The microhabitat preferences of water beetles in four rivers in Ourense province, Northwest Spain

We analysed the microhabitat preferences of water beetle species in four rivers in Northwest Spain. In each river, we sampled 5 sites with different types of substrate. These sites were characterised in situ according to the predominant material type (macrophytes, moss, pebbles and sand). The occurrence of a substrate preference was verified from a comparative study of species richness and abundance among different microhabitats. The differences in abundance and richness between substrates and in the abundance of each species were tested with an ANOVA. The similarity between microhabitats was tested with non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), and the correlation between fauna and substrates was verified with a correspondence analysis (CA). We observed different species distribution patterns, and these patterns reflected the microhabitat preference of each species. Both the ecological parameters and the correspondence analysis indicated that the preferred substrate for most of the species was moss, followed by pebbles.Se analiza la preferencia de microhabitat de especies de coleópteros acuáticos en cuatro ríos del noroeste de España. En cada río se muestrearon 5 puntos en diferentes tipos de sustrato caracterizados in situ en función del tipo de material predominante (macrófitas, musgo, cantos-gravas y arena). La preferencia de sustrato fue verificada mediante un estudio comparado de riqueza y abundancia de especies entre los diferentes microhábitats. Las diferencias entre los diferentes sustratos para la abundancia yriqueza,asícomoparala abundanciade cadaespeciefueron testadasmediante unanálisisANOVA.Lasimilitud entre microhábitats fue testada mediante un NMDS, mientras que la correlación entre la fauna y los sustratos, se verificó a partir de un análisis de correspondencias (CA). Se observaron diferentes patrones de distribución de las especies según su preferencia por determinados microhábitats. Tanto los parametros ecológicos de riqueza y abundancia como el análisis de correspondencias indican que el sustrato preferido por la mayoría de las especies fue el musgo, seguido de los cantos-gravas