284 research outputs found

    Quantifying uncertainty in health impact assessment: a case-study example on indoor housing ventilation.

    Get PDF
    Quantitative health impact assessment (HIA) is increasingly being used to assess the health impacts attributable to an environmental policy or intervention. As a consequence, there is a need to assess uncertainties in the assessments because of the uncertainty in the HIA models. In this paper, a framework is developed to quantify the uncertainty in the health impacts of environmental interventions and is applied to evaluate the impacts of poor housing ventilation. The paper describes the development of the framework through three steps: (i) selecting the relevant exposure metric and quantifying the evidence of potential health effects of the exposure; (ii) estimating the size of the population affected by the exposure and selecting the associated outcome measure; (iii) quantifying the health impact and its uncertainty. The framework introduces a novel application for the propagation of uncertainty in HIA, based on fuzzy set theory. Fuzzy sets are used to propagate parametric uncertainty in a non-probabilistic space and are applied to calculate the uncertainty in the morbidity burdens associated with three indoor ventilation exposure scenarios: poor, fair and adequate. The case-study example demonstrates how the framework can be used in practice, to quantify the uncertainty in health impact assessment where there is insufficient information to carry out a probabilistic uncertainty analysis

    Gender identity change in a female adolescent transsexual

    Full text link
    Two years of individual and milieu therapy are described of a 141/2-year-old girl who had presented with the persistent request to have a sex-change operation since age 12. Her past history was obtained from her parents and the records of the child guidance clinic which evaluated her at 3 years of age. She gives a history of remarkable tomboyism during her latency years and increasing withdrawal from peers and family during early adolescence. The patient's personal and family dynamics are explored, and these major therapeutic themes are discussed. The individual and milieu therapy are described and discussed with some speculation about the reasons for her positive response to psychotherapy. It would appear that this is a rare case of a postpubertal female transsexual reported to have made a gender identity change.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44103/1/10508_2005_Article_BF01541204.pd

    Les faibles doses de radiations peuvent-elles ĂȘtre dangereuses ?

    No full text
    Indétectables par nos sens, les radiations en faibles doses inquiÚtent le public. L'auteur s'attache à montrer par quelques exemples que cette peur, fonds de commerce des antinucléaires et souvent attisée par les média, est généralement disproportionnée

    SURFACE ENERGY CHARACTERIZATION OF THERMALLY MODIFIED SPRUCE USING INVERSE GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY UNDER CYCLIC HUMIDITY CONDITIONS

    Get PDF
    The surface energy of unmodified and thermally modified spruce wood components was researched at dry and moist conditions using inverse gas chromatography. The results indicate a more pronounced heterogeneous nature of the thermally modified wood surfaces in terms of the dispersive (nonpolar) component of the surface energy, compared with that of the unmodified wood surfaces. The dispersive component of the surface energy of the thermally modified wood ranged between 44 and 38 mJ/m2 corresponding to an increase in surface coverage from a low level and up to about 10%. Suggested explanations for the more distinct heterogeneity of the thermally modified wood sample arerelated to chemical changes of the wood substance which seem to result in certain micromorphological features observed by scanning electron microscopy as alternated fracture surfaces created in the grinding process; and also possible changes or redistribution of the wood extractives. An increase of the MC, representing a change from a dry condition of approximately 0% RH to ca 75% RH, of both the unmodified and thermally modified samples seemed to have a marginal influence on the dispersive component of the surface energy. Possible implications of the results in this study can be found in the tailoring of new compatible and durable material combinations, for example, when using thermally modified wood residuals as a component in new types of biocomposites

    Guest Editorial

    No full text
    • 

    corecore