Early childhood development and the social determinants of health inequities: A review of the evidence

This report focuses on early childhood development and the social determinants of health inequities. It is one of eight reviews of evidence commissioned by VicHealth to support the use of a planning tool for health promotion policy and practice in Victoria, known as Fair Foundations

Sidebar- Programming Commercial Robots

P. 125-132Manual systems require the user/programmer to directly enter the desired behaviour of the robot, usually using a graphical or text-based programming language, as shown in Fig. 1. Text-based systems are either controller-specific languages, generic procedural languages, or behavioural languages, which typically differ by the flexibility and method of expression of the system. Graphical languages [BKS02, BI01] use a graph, flow-chart or diagram based graphical interface to programming, sacrificing some flexibility and expressiveness for ease of use. The user/programmer has little or no direct control over the robot code in an automatic programming system, which may acquire the program by learning, programming by demonstration (PbD), or by instruction, as indicated in Fig. 2. Often automatic systems are used “online,” with a running robot, although a simulation can also be used. In this sidebar we will focus on the characteristics of commercial programming environments. Simple robots can be programmed directly using their own operating systems. More sophisticated robots include SDKs to simplify the programming of their robots. Mobile robots programming environments vs. industrial manipulators are also presente

USING SMOS PASSIVE MICROWAVE DATA TO DEVELOP SMAP FREEZE/THAW ALGORITHMS ADAPTED FOR THE CANADIAN SUBARCTIC

Seasonal terrestrial Freeze/Thaw cycle in Northern Quebec Tundra (Nunavik) was determined and evaluated with passive microwave observations. SMOS time series data were analyzed to examine seasonal variations of soil freezing, and to assess the impact of land cover on the Freeze/Thaw cycle. Furthermore, the soil freezing maps derived from SMOS observations were compared to field survey data in the region near Umiujaq. The objective is to develop algorithms to follow the seasonal cycle of freezing and thawing of the soil adapted to Canadian subarctic, a territory with a high complexity of land cover (vegetation, soil, and water bodies). Field data shows that soil freezing and thawing dates vary much spatially at the local scale in the Boreal Forest and the Tundra. The results showed a satisfactory pixel by pixel mapping for the daily soil state monitoring with a > 80% success rate with in situ data for the HH and VV polarizations, and for different land cover. The average accuracies are 80% and 84% for the soil freeze period, and soil thaw period respectively. The comparison is limited because of the small number of validation pixels

Associations between Area-Level Unemployment, Body Mass Index, and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in an Urban Area

Introduction: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) has been linked to "neighbourhood" socioeconomic status (nSES), often operationalized as a composite index of aggregate income, occupation and education within predefined administrative boundaries. The role of specific, non-composite socioeconomic markers has not been clearly explained. It is also unclear whether the relationship between nSES and CVD varies according to sex. We sought to determine whether area-level unemployment (ALU) was associated with CVD risk, and whether this association differed by sex. Methods: 342 individuals from the Montreal Neighbourhood Survey of Lifestyle and Health provided self-reported behavioural and socioeconomic information. A nurse collected biochemical and anthropometric data. ALU, a weighted average of the proportion of persons 15-years and older available for but without work, was measured using a Geographic Information System for a 250 m buffer centred on individual residence. Generalized Estimating Equations were used to estimate the associations between ALU, body mass index (BMI) and a cumulative score for total cardiometabolic risk (TCR). Results: After confounder adjustments, the mean 4th minus 1st quartile difference in BMI was 3.19 kg/m2 (95% CI: 2.39, 3.99), while the prevalence ratio for the 4th relative to 1st quartile for TCR was 2.20 (95 % CI: 1.53, 3.17). Sex interacted with ALU; women relative to men had greater mean 3.97 kg/m2 (95% CI: 2.08, 5.85) BMI and greater mean TCR 1.51 (95% CI: 0.78, 2.90), contrasted at mean ALU. Conclusions: Area-level unemployment is associated with greater CVD risk, and this association is stronger for women

Insufficient Allure: The Luxurious Art and Cost of Creative Pattern Cutting

Creative pattern cutting really pushes the boundaries of design. It is a luxury that breaks all traditional rules. The whole process however is costly, in both the use of cloth and the time it takes to produce a pattern. This paper examines creative cutting from final year fashion students. It celebrates the student’s individual philosophies towards creative cut and examines how the industry promotes pattern cutting to students as a viable career option. The role of the pattern cutter can have as much glamorous allure as the role of the designer although it is at a lower key. Its allure comes from creative satisfaction and integrity. The paper also discusses the realistic and commercial cost implications in the production of creatively cut garments and suggests pragmatic ways to maintain this luxurious creativity with cost effectiveness

Forest health surveillance methodology in hardwood plantations in Queensland, Australia

Forest health surveillance (FHS) of hardwood plantations commenced in Queensland in 1997 as plantations expanded following a state government planting initiative arising from the national 2020 forest policy vision. The estate was initially characterised by a large number of small plantations (10-50 ha), although this has changed more recently with the concentration of larger plantations in the central coast and South Burnett regions. Due to the disparate nature of the resource, drive- and walkthrough surveys of subsets of plantations have been undertaken in preference to aerial surveys. FHS has been effective in detecting a number of new hardwood pests in Queensland including erinose mites (Rhombacus and Acalox spp.), western white gum plate galler (Ophelimus sp.), Creiis psyllid and bronzing bug (Thaumastocoris sp.), in evaluating their potential impact and assisting in focussing future research efforts. Since 2003 there has been an increased emphasis on training operational staff to take a greater role in identifying and reporting on forest health issues. This has increased their awareness of forest health issues, but their limited time to specifically survey and report on pests and diseases, and high rates of staff turnover, necessitate frequent ongoing training. Consequently, common and widespread problems such as quambalaria shoot blight (Quambalaria pitereka), chrysomelid leaf beetles (mainly Paropsis atomaria) and erinose mites may be under-reported or not reported, and absence data may often not be recorded at all. Comment is made on the future directions that FHS may take in hardwood plantations in Queensland