DISSPLA plotting routines for the G189A EC/LS computer program

Data from a G-189A execution is formatted and plotted. The plotting may be done at the time of execution of the program or stored on tape for processing at a later time

Using a Gridded Global Dataset to Characterize Regional Hydroclimate in Central Chile

Central Chile is facing dramatic projections of climate change, with a consensus for declining precipitation, negatively affecting hydropower generation and irrigated agriculture. Rising from sea level to 6000 m within a distance of 200 km, precipitation characterization is difficult because of a lack of long-term observations, especially at higher elevations. For understanding current mean and extreme conditions and recent hydroclimatological change, as well as to provide a baseline for downscaling climate model projections, a temporally and spatially complete dataset of daily meteorology is essential. The authors use a gridded global daily meteorological dataset at 0.25° resolution for the period 1948–2008, adjusted by monthly precipitation observations interpolated to the same grid using a cokriging method with elevation as a covariate. For validation, daily statistics of the adjusted gridded precipitation are compared to station observations. For further validation, a hydrology model is driven with the gridded 0.25° meteorology and streamflow statistics are compared with observed flow. The high elevation precipitation is validated by comparing the simulated snow extent to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images. Results show that the daily meteorology with the adjusted precipitation can accurately capture the statistical properties of extreme events as well as the sequence of wet and dry events, with hydrological model results displaying reasonable agreement with observed streamflow and snow extent. This demonstrates the successful use of a global gridded data product in a relatively data-sparse region to capture hydroclimatological characteristics and extremes

Hirschsprung disease in the U.S. associated Pacific Islands: more common than expected.

INTRODUCTION: Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, is uniquely situated to serve patients from the United States Associated Pacific Islands (USAPIs) through the congressionally funded Pacific Island Health Care Project (PIHCP). Because of time differences and distance, a web-based store-and-forward consultation and referral network was established using the internet to more efficiently and economically facilitate patient care. Using both electronic and hard copy records, we sought to establish the incidence of Hirschsprung Disease (HD) in children from the USAPI and contrast it to that of the developed world. METHODS: PIHCP website records as well as all the inpatient and outpatient medical records of patients referred to TAMC fortreatment of HD from 1994 to 2002 were reviewed. A diagnosis of HD was confirmed in all cases with full thickness biopsy. Incidence figures for HD are based on this review and on the birth rates for these islands from the International Data Base of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. RESULTS: There were 14 cases of short-segment HD referred over a nine year study period. Nine patients came from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) with an average annual incidence of 1:3190, which is 1.5 to 2 times the reported incidence in Western nations. Remarkably, seven of these nine were from Pohnpei State, capital of the FSM (annual incidence of 1:1370 or3-5 times that in the West). Three patients came from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and two came from American Samoa (AS). There were no reported consanguineous marriages, associated syndromes, or complications of surgery. CONCLUSION: HD was found to be up to 2-3 times more common among people from the FSM than has been reported in the developed world. Given the limitations of providing care and obtaining data from all the USAPls with a population that is spread over a massive expanse of ocean larger than the continental United States, this incidence is likely an underestimation of HD among Pacific Islanders. A secure web-based referral network developed in 1998 has been invaluable in collecting epidemiologic data from these islands as well as in providing health care workers in the USAPI with an efficient and inexpensive means to seek consultation from specialists and sub-specialists at a major tertiary care medical facility

Enfoque multiobjetivo para determinação de Benchmarks de companhias aéreas brasileiras DEA-ineficientes.

Este trabalho usa os resultados obtidos no modelo de Análise de Envoltória de Dados que determina quais as companhias aéreas brasileiras eficientes em vendas, no triênio 1998-1999-2000. Ao invés de serem exploradas as características das companhias eficientes, pretende-se mostras opções de melhora paras as companhias ineficientes, através das companhias que lhes servem de referência (benchmarks). Tal procedimento utiliza um enfoque de Programação Linear Multiobjeto, devido a algumas limitações dos modelos DEA clássicos. Este enfoque permite a escolha de uma meta dentre um conjunto possível de empresas eficiente