Impacts of Climate Change on the Evolution of the Electrical Grid

Maintaining interdependent infrastructures exposed to a changing climate requires understanding 1) the local impact on power assets; 2) how the infrastructure will evolve as the demand for infrastructure changes location and volume and; 3) what vulnerabilities are introduced by these changing infrastructure topologies. This dissertation attempts to develop a methodology that will a) downscale the climate direct effect on the infrastructure; b) allow population to redistribute in response to increasing extreme events that will increase under climate impacts; and c) project new distributions of electricity demand in the mid-21st century. The research was structured in three parts. The first used downscaling techniques to scale regional gridded atmospheric processes to measurements of local extreme events. These techniques illustrate the ability to move reasonably from regional to local effects. The second chapter explored how people migrated in response to the extreme events for which climate change will increase the frequency and intensity. The third chapter translated downscaled climate impacts and granular population movements into a national map of electricity demand. The results of this research illustrates the feasibility of the three part approach to address possible future infrastructure vulnerabilities under varying policy options and technology assumptions. This methodology can be an important tool for increasing the robustness of the nation’s infrastructure

The Effects of Varying Physical Parameterizations and Initial Conditions on Tracer Transport in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Earth Observation System Model, Version 5

The evolution of General Circulation Models (GCM) for climate study has led to more accurate predictions for atmospheric transport, yet precision in predictions remains in need of improvement. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Earth Observation System model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) represents a state of the art climate model capable of simulating a wide variety of atmospheric processes informed continuously by satellite observations. This thesis examines some of the physical parameterizations employed by GEOS-5 and their effect on the transport of two greenhouse gasses: ozone and carbon dioxide

Sleep health of young adults in Western Australia and associations with physical and mental health: A population-level cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: This article aims to report on the sleep health characteristics of a population-level sample of young Australian adults and examine associations with measures of physical and mental health. METHODS: A cross-sectional study using data from the Raine Study. Data from participants (n = 1234) born into the study (Generation 2) at the 22-year follow-up were used, including data from a self-report questionnaire and polysomnography. RESULTS: The highest prevalence of suboptimal sleep health was seen on measures of sleep duration (30%), onset latency (18%), satisfaction (25%) and regularity (60%). Dissatisfaction with sleep (physical health: =0.08; mental health: =0.34) and impaired daytime alertness (physical health: =0.09; mental health: =0.08) were significantly associated with poorer physical and mental health and inadequate polysomnography-measured sleep duration was associated poorer mental health ( =0.07) (all ps \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Satisfaction with sleep and daytime alertness, both of which are assessed via self-report, are essential aspects of sleep health for young adults. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Findings could inform public health interventions, including screening guidelines, to improve the sleep health and, in turn, the physical and mental health of young adults in Australia

Measuring State and Trait Anxiety: An Application of Multidimensional Item Response Theory

The State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA) is a widely used measure of state and trait anxiety. Within the Classical Testing Theory model, consistent findings provide support for its multidimensional factor structure, discriminant, convergent, and nomological validity, as well as age and gender invariance, across healthy and clinical samples. Nevertheless, some issues regarding STICSA dimensionality and item-scale composition remain unresolved (e.g., both bifactor and two-factor models were found to fit data equally well). The goal of this study was to investigate the STICSA’s dimensionality within the Item Response Theory, and to assess the tenability of the bifactor model as a plausible model over the multidimensional model. The sample consisted of 3338 Italian participants (58.21% females; 41.79% males) with an average age of 35.65 years (range: 18–99; SD = 20.25). Both bifactor and two-correlated dimensions of the STICSA scales were confirmed to fit data by applying the multidimensional Item Response Theory (mIRT). While the bifactor model showed better fit indices, the multidimensional model was more accurate and precise (0.86–0.88) in estimating state and trait latent anxiety. A further comparison between multidimensional item parameters revealed that the multidimensional and bifactor models were equivalent. Findings showed that the STICSA is an accurate and precise instrument for measuring somatic and cognitive symptomatology dimensions within state and trait anxiety. The use of the state/trait total score requires special attention from the clinicians and researchers to avoid bias in the psychodiagnostic assessment

Defining Environmental Health Literacy

Environmental Health Literacy (EHL) is embraced as important for improving public health by preventing disability and disease from our environment. This study aimed to determine knowledge and skill items identified by Environmental Health (EH) professionals as being associated with EHL and to understand how these items rank by importance. Such a coordinated effort to tease out skills and knowledge needed for EHL had not previously been made. We utilized a mixed-methods approach of semi-structured interviews of 24 EH professionals and a quantitative survey with 275 EH professionals across the United States. Interviews identified 37 skill and 69 knowledge items, which were used to create the survey questions. Survey results indicate 32 knowledge items and six skill items considered essential by \u3e50% of respondents where consensus was reached between professional groups (chi square test: \u3e 0.05). We further identified six knowledge items, which \u3e70% of EH professionals agreed were essential for EHL. The identification of these knowledge and skill items sets the stage for further research that includes exploring agreement with more diverse stakeholders, developing comprehensive measures of EHL and evaluation of methods and materials designed to improve EHL

Attempts to control unwanted thoughts in the night : development of the thought control questionnaire-insomnia revised (TCQI-R)

The attempted control of intrusive, uncontrollable thoughts has been implicated in the maintenance of a range of psychological disorders. The current paper describes the refinement of the Thought Control Questionnaire Insomnia (TCQI; Behav. Cogn. Psychoth. 29 (2001)) through its administration to a sample (n=385) including good sleepers and individuals with insomnia. Several items with poor psychometric properties were discarded, resulting in a 35-item revised TCQI. Factor analysis revealed six factors; aggressive suppression, cognitive distraction, reappraisal, social avoidance, behavioural distraction, and worry. The attempted management of unwanted thoughts was compared across individuals with insomnia and good sleepers, and the impact of these strategies on sleep quality, anxiety and depression was investigated. With the exception of cognitive distraction, individuals with insomnia, relative to good sleepers, more frequently used every thought control strategy. The strategies of aggressive suppression and worry, in particular, appeared to be unhelpful, with the use of these strategies predicting sleep impairment, anxiety and depression. The strategy of cognitive distraction appeared to be helpful, with the use of this strategy predicting better sleep quality

A new measure for trait and state anxiety: The state trait inventory of cognitive and somatic anxiety (STICSA). standardization in an Italian population

The Italian version of the STICSA has exhibited good psychometric properties in a sample of middle-aged and older adults (Balsamo et al., 2015).The aim of the current project is to investigate psychometric properties of the STICSA in a large Italian population

A new measure for trait and state anxiety: The state trait inventory of cognitive and somatic anxiety (STICSA). standardization in an Italian population

The Italian version of the STICSA has exhibited good psychometric properties in a sample of middle-aged and older adults (Balsamo et al., 2015).The aim of the current project is to investigate psychometric properties of the STICSA in a large Italian population