Platform-agnostic data visualization in Qt framework

Abstract. There are a variety of electronic devices making people’s lives easier. Many of these devices, such as smart TVs, coffee machines, and electric cars, have highresolution displays that visualize a rich interface for human-machine interaction. One common cross-platform framework for developing these visual interfaces is Qt. With its vast majority of modules, Qt offers a rich framework for developing different interfaces. Over the years, various modules have been added and removed from Qt. One such module is a module for visualizing data in 3D. The module was added when Qt relied heavily on the OpenGL rendering backend. Nowadays, in addition to OpenGL, Qt supports rendering 3D graphics on other popular graphics backends. Nevertheless, the data visualization module requires using OpenGL as the rendering backend. This thesis investigates the optimal way to change Qt’s module dedicated to 3D data visualization to work on different rendering backends. Additionally, a design for an extension to public C++ API for Qt’s 3D module, used in implementing the new module, is presented. The requirements for the new implementation of the data visualization module are derived from the current module. The implementation of the new version is evaluated with a tailor-made test application. The results indicate that the new module can improve performance on devices supporting modern graphics backend features.Alustariippumaton datavisualisointi Qt-ohjelmistorungossa. Tiivistelmä. On olemassa monia erilaisia ihmisten elämää helpottavia elektronisia laitteita. Monissa tällaisissa laitteissa, kuten älytelevisioissa, kahviautomaateissa ja sähköautoissa, on korkearesoluutioinen näyttö, joka visualisoi monipuolisen käyttöliittymän ihmisen ja koneen väliseen vuorovaikutukseen. Yksi yleinen alustariippumaton ohjelmistokehitysrunko näiden visuaalisten rajapintojen kehittämiseen on Qt. Qt tarjoaa paljon erilaisia moduleita ja runsaan kehyksen erilaisten käyttöliittymien kehitykseen. Vuosien varrella Qt-ympäristöön on lisätty ja siitä on poistettu erilaisia moduleja. Yksi tällainen moduli on tarkoitettu datan visualisointiin 3D-muodossa. Kyseinen moduli lisättiin, kun Qt luotti vielä voimakkaasti OpenGL-renderöintitaustajärjestelmään. Nykyään Qt tukee 3D-grafikan esittämistä muillakin suosituilla grafikkataustajärjestelmillä OpenGL:n lisäksi. Datan visualisointimoduli edellyttää kuitenkin OpenGL:n käyttämistä renderöintitaustajärjestelmänä. Tässä opinnäytetyössä tutkitaan optimaalista tapaa muuttaa Qt:n 3Dtietojen visualisoinnille tarkoitettua modulia toimimaan useammalla eri renderöintitaustajärjestelmällä. Lisäksi esitellään uuden modulin toteutuksessa käytetyn Qt:n 3D-modulin julkisen C++ API:n laajennuksen suunnitelma. Vaatimukset tiedon visualisointimodulin uudelle toteutukselle on johdettu nykyisestä moduulista. Uuden version toteutusta arvioidaan sitä varten kehitetyllä testisovelluksella. Tulokset osoittavat, että uusi moduuli voi parantaa suorituskykyä laitteissa, jotka tukevat nykyaikaisia renderöintitaustajärjestelmän ominaisuuksia

Social determinants of male health: a case study of Leeds, UK.

BACKGROUND: The social determinants of health have a disproportionate impact on mortality in men. A study into the state of health of the male population in Leeds was undertaken to guide public health commissioning decisions. This paper reports on the data relating to the social lives of men. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken, comprising descriptive analysis of data relating to educational attainment, housing, employment (including benefit claimants), marital status and relationships. Data was considered for the whole city and localised at the Middle Super Output Area (MSOA) level and mapped against the Index of Deprivation. RESULTS: Boys' educational attainment was found to be lagging behind girls' from their earliest assessments (Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, 46% vs. 60%, P = 0.00) to GCSEs (53% vs. 63%, P = 0.00), leaving many men with no qualifications. There were 68% more men than women identified as being unemployed, with more men claiming benefits. Men living in social housing are more likely to be housed in high-rise flats. Almost 50% of men aged 16-64 are single, with 2254 lone fathers. CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be a lack of sex/gender analysis of current cross city data. In areas of deprivation a complex picture of multiple social problems emerges, with marked gender differences in the social determinants of health, with males seeming to be more negatively affected. There is a need for more focused planning for reaching out and targeting boys and men in the most deprived inner city areas, so that greater efficiency in service delivery can be obtained

Multiscale influence of environmental factors on water quality in boreal rivers:application of spatial-based statistical modelling

Abstract Rivers create unique habitat for aquatic life and provide ecosystem services for humans. Thus, degradation of river water quality is a serious, global problem. Water quality is the outcome of anthropogenic and natural landscape factors and the interaction of these two. To improve water quality, robust and quick methods are needed to study the complex, spatio-temporally dependent relation between water quality and environment conditions across extensive areas. This thesis aimed to study the relationship between water quality (total phosphorus and nitrogen, pH, water colour and dissolved oxygen) and environmental factors in boreal rivers combining grid-based data and statistical methods. The study comprised of 34 Finnish rivers with their catchments. First, the effect of natural and human-induced environmental factors on water quality was studied. Then, (a) the ability of the characteristics of different spatial scales around the river channel and under different discharge conditions to predict water quality was explored and (b) the suitability of the applied statistical methods (generalized linear and additive models, partitioning methods, non-metric multidimensional scaling) in water quality studies was evaluated. As expected, the results highlighted the impact of agricultural activities on water quality as nutrients and pH increased, together with the cover of agricultural activities. However, when studied as a group, natural factors explained water quality better than land use/cover. Lakes were strongly related to decreased nutrients and water colour. The effect of fine-grained soils on nutrients and pH was positive. In the scale studies, nutrients and water colour were best explained by the characteristics of the entire catchment but pH was mostly predicted by the characteristics of the 50 m riparian zone. The connection between water quality and environment was strongest during high-flow discharge periods. The results encourage the use of the applied methods, showing that the combination of grid-based data and advanced statistical methods provide an efficient first-filter estimate of water quality-environment relations. Spatial-based statistical modelling provides a crucial framework for river, water resources and land use management. The applied methods can also be seen as essential tools when predicting the impacts of global change on water quality.Tiivistelmä Joet luovat vesielämälle ainutlaatuisen elinympäristön ja tarjoavat ihmisille ekosysteemipalveluja. Jokien vedenlaadun huononeminen onkin vakava, maailmanlaajuinen uhka. Vedenlaatua määrittävät luonnolliset ja ihmisen muokkaamat ympäristötekijät sekä näiden yhteisvaikutus. Vedenlaadun kohentamiseksi tarvitaan luotettavia ja nopeita menetelmiä, joiden avulla voidaan tutkia monimutkaista, alueellisesti ja ajallisesti riippuvaa yhteyttä vedenlaadun ja ympäristöolojen välillä laajoilla alueilla. Tässä väitöskirjassa oli tavoitteena tutkia vedenlaadun (kokonaisfosfori ja -typpi, pH, väriluku ja liukoinen happi) ja ympäristön yhteyttä boreaalisella vyöhykkeellä käyttäen paikkatietoaineistoja ja tilastollisia menetelmiä. Tutkimusalueena oli 34 suomalaista jokea valuma-alueineen. Ensinnäkin tutkittiin luonnollisten ympäristötekijöiden ja ihmistoiminnan vaikutusta vedenlaatuun. Tavoitteena oli myös selvittää, miten joen ympärillä olevien erikokoisten vyöhykkeiden ominaisuudet ja vaihtelevat virtaamaolosuhteet selittävät vedenlaatua. Lopuksi arvioitiin käytettyjen tilastollisten menetelmien (yleistetyt lineaariset ja additiiviset mallit, hajonnan ositusmenetelmät, ordinaatioanalyysi) soveltuvuutta vedenlaatututkimuksissa. Tuloksissa korostui odotetusti valuma-alueen maatalouden vaikutus vedenlaatuun. Ravinteiden määrä ja pH-luku kasvoivat maatalouden lisääntyessä. Muuttujien ryhmittäisessä tarkastelussa ympäristön luonnolliset ominaisuudet selittivät vedenlaatua maankäyttöä/-peittoa paremmin. Järvisyyden lisääntyminen oli yhteydessä ravinteisuuden ja väriluvun laskuun. Hienorakeiset maalajit olivat yhteydessä ravinteisuuden ja pH-luvun nousuun. Mittakaavatarkastelussa ravinteisuutta ja värilukua ennustivat parhaiten koko valuma-alueen ominaisuudet, mutta pH-lukua selittivät parhaiten ominaisuudet 50 m:n vyöhykkeellä joen ympärillä. Ympäristön ja vedenlaadun yhteys oli voimakkaimmillaan, kun jokien virtaamat olivat korkeimmillaan. Tämä väitöskirja osoittaa, että paikkatietoaineistojen ja sovellettujen tilastollisten menetelmien yhteiskäyttö tuottaa tehokkaita malleja vedenlaadun ja ympäristön välisestä yhteydestä. Spatiaalis-tilastollinen mallinnus tarjoaa tärkeän viitekehityksen jokien ja vesistöjen käytön sekä maankäytön suunnitteluun. Lähestymistapa voidaan nähdä myös tärkeänä välineenä ennustettaessa globaalimuutoksen vaikutusta vedenlaatuun

Spatio-temporal aspects of the environmental factors affecting water quality in boreal rivers

Abstract River water quality is the outcome of multiple processes and factors, which vary spatially and temporally. In this study, the key spatial and temporal scales and the most important environmental factors explaining river water quality at these scales were analysed by generalized additive models (GAMs). Water quality was studied through total phosphorus (median = 61.9 µg l⁻¹) and nitrogen (1388.1 µg l⁻¹), pH (6.7) and water colour (143.3 mg Pt l⁻¹). Environmental factors covered variables from land use/cover, climate and other landscape characteristics. The spatial scales used were the closest 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 m buffer zones around the river channel, in addition to the entire catchment area. Temporality was studied through the entire year and four periods, which were determined by the natural variation in discharge. In the comparison of spatial scales of environmental factors, the variation in phosphorus, nitrogen and water colour was best explained using environmental data from the broadest scale, the entire catchment. In contrast, the variation in pH was best explained using data from the closest (50 m) buffer zone, the riparian area. In modelling temporal scales, the variation in water quality variables was best explained during discharge maximum periods and when the environmental data covering the entire year were considered. Nutrients were related specifically to agriculture, water colour to lake percentage and pH to pastures. The results showed the suitability of GAMs in water quality studies

Land Use Cover and Land Cover Semantics. Principles, Best Practices, and Prospects

As more and more land cover data sets have been developed, the need to harmonize classification systems for landscape analysis is a frequently proposed solution. This book provides a platform for scholars to reassess the field, affirm successful approaches, and point to future possibilities in advancing LULC semantics. With analysis of land-use/land-cover semantics and explanations of current best practices, the book reviews aspects of data modeling where designers and practitioners should be aware of providing clear and consistent semantic detailS

Glucose metabolism in midlife is associated with preceding 30-year employment trajectories:a Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study

Abstract Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate how glucose metabolism in midlife is related to preceding 30-year-long employment trajectories. Methods: In the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, we compared glucose metabolism at 46 to employment trajectories (previously defined for men and women and named as high-educated, traditional, self-employed, delayed, and floundering; n = 6399). Results: Compared with individuals in high-educated trajectories, odds ratios for type 2 diabetes (T2D, 95% confidence interval) in traditional and floundering trajectories in men were 1.65 (1.02–2.68) and 2.42 (1.38–4.23) and in women 1.89 (1.04–3.43) and 2.60 (1.46–4.62), respectively. In self-employed trajectory in women, odds ratios for prediabetes and T2D were 1.66 (1.09–2.51) and 2.47 (1.21–5.04). Conclusions: The highest risks for T2D in midlife were associated after traditional and floundering trajectories in men and women and after self-employment trajectory in women

The association of unemployment with glucose metabolism:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Objectives: Unemployment has been linked with poor health. We hypothesized that being unemployed is associated with disorders of glucose metabolism and performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to ascertain the relationship. Methods: We searched the databases of Scopus, Medline Ovid and Web of Science for population-based original studies for past 20 years. Random effects meta-analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes among the unemployed as compared to those employed, separately for men and women when possible. Results: Out of 981 articles found, 12 articles were included in the systematic review and eight articles in the meta-analyses. Unemployment was associated with 1.6-fold odds for prediabetes (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.07–2.35), and 1.7-fold odds for type 2 diabetes (OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.14–2.58) in the total sample. The corresponding associations for type 2 diabetes were also found stratified for men (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.47–1.60) and women (OR 1.60; 95% CI 1.33–1.92). Conclusions: Unemployment is associated with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, global concerns of public health with potential for prevention