Confidence maps: a tool to evaluate archaeological data'srelevance in spatial analysis

Inventory data used in archaeology is often incomplete and heterogeneous. In the framework of the ArchaeDyn program, a method has been proposed to evaluate heterogeneity in archaeological inventories. The purpose of this work is to create a validation tool to interpret the results. This tool is called a “confidence map” and is produced by combining representation and reliability maps. The first step consists of generating representation maps to describe the clustering of archaeological items. The second step is based on reliability maps. Data providers are asked to define and outline the level of reliability of their data. Then the representation and reliability layers are combined using map algebra. The resulting maps allow for the comparison and analysis of data confidence

ArchaeDyn. Dynamique spatiale du peuplement et ressources naturelles : vers une analyse intégrée dans le long terme, de la Préhistoire au Moyen Âge,. ACI Espaces et territoires (contrat ET28, 2005-2007)

Rapport de fin de contrat ACIRapport de fin de contrat d'ACIProject final repor

The impact of emotional well-being on long-term recovery and survival in physical illness: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesized studies on emotional well-being as predictor of the prognosis of physical illness, while in addition evaluating the impact of putative moderators, namely constructs of well-being, health-related outcome, year of publication, follow-up time and methodological quality of the included studies. The search in reference lists and electronic databases (Medline and PsycInfo) identified 17 eligible studies examining the impact of general well-being, positive affect and life satisfaction on recovery and survival in physically ill patients. Meta-analytically combining these studies revealed a Likelihood Ratio of 1.14, indicating a small but significant effect. Higher levels of emotional well-being are beneficial for recovery and survival in physically ill patients. The findings show that emotional well-being predicts long-term prognosis of physical illness. This suggests that enhancement of emotional well-being may improve the prognosis of physical illness, which should be investigated by future research

Hypertension and happiness across nations

In surveys of well-being, countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands emerge as particularly happy while nations like Germany and Italy report lower levels of happiness. But are these kinds of findings credible? This paper provides some evidence that the answer is yes. Using data on 16 countries, it shows that happier nations report systematically lower levels of hypertension. As well as potentially validating the differences in measured happiness across nations, this suggests that blood-pressure readings might be valuable as part of a national well-being index. A new ranking of European nations’ GHQ-N6 mental health scores is also given

A review of air pollution impact on subjective well-being: Survey versus visual psychophysics

Air pollution is a worldwide environmental and health issue, especially in major developing countries. A recent World Health Organization report shows about 3 million deaths in the world in 2012 are due to ambient air pollution and China and India are the countries with the most severe challenge. Air pollution influences people's thought and experience of their lives directly by visual perceptions. This reduces people's subjective well-being (SWB) to a significant degree. Empirical researchers have made efforts to examine how self-reported well-being varies with air quality typically by survey method - matching SWB data with monitored air pollution data. Their findings show NO2, particles, lead, SO2 and O3 have significant negative impact on SWB. However, it is very hard to match air pollution characteristics from monitor stations with each respondent's state of SWB at the moment a survey is conducted. Also it is very hard to find the detailed trend impact from only air pollution factor on SWB. This review illustrates the features and limitations of previous survey studies on quantifying the effects of air pollution on subjective well-being. This review further displays the progress of psychophysics and its application in landscape and air quality research. We propose using psychophysics application to quantify air pollution impact on SWB

Cognitive Impairment Predicts Fatal Incident Stroke: Findings from a National Sample of Older Adults

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87016/1/j.1532-5415.2011.03494.x.pd

Late‐life depression in Rural China: do village infrastructure and availability of community resources matter?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111959/1/gps4217.pd

A psychophysical measurement on subjective well-being and air pollution

Although the physical effects of air pollution on humans are well documented, there may be even greater impacts on the emotional state and health. Surveys have traditionally been used to explore the impact of air pollution on people’s subjective well-being (SWB). However, the survey techniques usually take long periods to properly match the air pollution characteristics from monitoring stations to each respondent’s SWB at both disaggregated spatial and temporal levels. Here, we used air pollution data to simulate fixed-scene images and psychophysical process to examine the impact from only air pollution on SWB. Findings suggest that under the atmospheric conditions in Beijing, negative emotions occur when PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 µm) increases to approximately 150 AQI (air quality index). The British observers have a stronger negative response under severe air pollution compared with Chinese observers. People from different social groups appear to have different sensitivities to SWB when air quality index exceeds approximately 200 AQI