Urban Climate Station Site Selection Through Combined Digital Surface Model and Sun Angle Calculations

Meteorological measurements within urban areas are becoming increasingly important due to the accentuating effects of climate change upon the Urban Heat Island (UHI). However, ensuring that such measurements are representative of the local area is often difficult due to the diversity of the urban environment. The evaluation of sites is important for both new sites and for the relocation of established sites to ensure that long term changes in the meteorological and climatological conditions continue to be faithfully recorded. Site selection is traditionally carried out in the field using both local knowledge and visual inspection. This paper exploits and assesses the use of lidar-derived digital surface models (DSMs) to quantitatively aid the site selection process. This is acheived by combining the DSM with a solar model, first to generate spatial maps of sky view factors and sun-hour potential and second, to generate site-specific views of the horizon. The results show that such a technique is a useful first-step approach to identify key sites that may be further evaluated for the location of meteorological stations within urban areas

Lessons from the TAPS study - Message handling and appointment systems

The Threats to Australian Patient Safety (TAPS) Study collected 648 anonymous reports about threats to patient safety from a representative random sample of Australian general practitioners. These contained any events the GPs felt should not have happened, and would not want to happen again, regardless of who was at fault or the outcome of the event. This series of articles presents clinical lessons resulting from the TAPS study.2 page(s

Comparative Analysis of Eating Patterns of Individuals With Obese Vs. Normal BMI and With and Without Type 2 Diabetes

This study explored eating patterns of obese-weight (OB) and normal-weight (NW) individuals with and without Type 2 diabetes (T2D). The dietary intakes of OB-T2D individuals were significantly higher than those of NW individuals. Health care professionals can use this knowledge to provide direction for treatment modalities (e.g., different dietary strategies, more intensive dietary therapy, lifestyle counseling).https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/archivedposters/1149/thumbnail.jp

So, How Much of the Earth's Surface Is Covered by Rain Gauges?

The measurement of global precipitation, both rainfall and snowfall, is critical to a wide range of users and applications. Rain gauges are indispensable in the measurement of precipitation, remaining the de facto standard for precipitation information across Earths surface for hydrometeorological purposes. However, their distribution across the globe is limited: over land their distribution and density is variable, while over oceans very few gauges exist and where measurements are made, they may not adequately reflect the rainfall amounts of the broader area. Critically, the number of gauges available, or appropriate for a particular study, varies greatly across the Earth owing to temporal sampling resolutions, periods of operation, data latency, and data access. Numbers of gauges range from a few thousand available in nearreal time to about 100,000 for all official gauges, and to possibly hundreds of thousands if all possible gauges are included. Gauges routinely used in the generation of global precipitation products cover an equivalent area of between about 250 and 3,000 m2. For comparison, the center circle of a soccer pitch or tennis court is about 260 m2. Although each gauge should represent more than just the gauge orifice, autocorrelation distances of precipitation vary greatly with regime and the integration period. Assuming each Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC)available gauge is independent and represents a surrounding area of 5-km radius, this represents only about 1 of Earths surface. The situation is further confounded for snowfall, which has a greater measurement uncertainty

Primary care research priorities in low- and middle-income countries

PURPOSE To identify and prioritize the needs for new research evidence for primary health care (PHC) in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) about organization, models of care, and financing of PHC. METHODS Three-round expert panel consultation of LMIC PHC practitioners and academics sampled from global networks, via web-based surveys. Iterative literature review conducted in parallel. Round 1 (pre–Delphi survey) elicited possible research questions to address knowledge gaps about organization and models of care and about financing. Round 2 invited panelists to rate the importance of each question, and in round 3 panelists provided priority ranking. RESULTS One hundred forty-one practitioners and academics from 50 LMICs from all global regions participated and identified 744 knowledge gaps critical to improving PHC organization and 479 for financing. Four priority areas emerged: effective transition of primary and secondary services, horizontal integration within a multidisciplinary team and intersectoral referral, integration of private and public sectors, and ways to support successfully functioning PHC professionals. Financial evidence priorities were mechanisms to drive investment into PHC, redress inequities, increase service quality, and determine the minimum necessary budget for good PHC. CONCLUSIONS This novel approach toward PHC needs in LMICs, informed by local academics and professionals, created an expansive and prioritized list of critical knowledge gaps in PHC organization and financing. It resulted in research questions, offering valuable guidance to global supporters of primary care evaluation and implementation. Its source and context specificity, informed by LMIC practitioners and academics, should increase the likelihood of local relevance and eventual success in implementing research findings

Primary care financing: a systematic assessment of research priorities in low- and middle-income countries

Introduction: Financing of primary healthcare (PHC) is the key to the provision of equitable universal care. We aimed to identify and prioritise the perceived needs of PHC practitioners and researchers for new research in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) about financing of PHC. Methods: Three-round expert panel consultation using web-based surveys of LMIC PHC practitioners, academics and policy-makers sampled from global networks. Iterative literature review conducted in parallel. First round (PreDelphi survey) elicited possible research questions to address knowledge gaps about financing. Responses were independently coded, collapsed and synthesised to two lists of questions. Round 2 (Delphi Round 1) invited panellists to rate importance of each question. In Round 3 (Delphi Round 2), panellists ranked questions in order of importance. Results: A diverse range of PHC practitioners, academics and policy-makers in LMIC representing all global regions identified 479 knowledge gaps as potentially critical to improving PHC financing. Round 2 provided 31 synthesised questions on financing for rating. The top 16 were ranked in Round 3e to produce four prioritised research questions. Conclusions: This novel exercise created an expansive and prioritised list of critical knowledge gaps in PHC financing research questions. This offers valuable guidance to global supporters of primary care evaluation and implementation, including research funders and academics seeking research priorities. The source and context specificity of this research, informed by LMIC practitioners and academics on a global and local basis, should increase the likelihood of local relevance and eventual success in implementing the findings

Sociodemografija: istraživanje ponašanja studenata pri konzumaciji alkohola u pet zemalja

This study is a pioneering endeavour, in which researchers from five different countries collaborated to provide more insights into the drinking behaviour of university students, a group of consumers characterised by frequent and often dangerous drinking behaviour. A total of 1704 students were included in this study that investigated various socio-demographic variables and drinking habits. The results showed students in certain countries (Ireland, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina engaged in hazardous drinking, while students in other countries (Croatia and Portugal), displayed safer alcohol drinking behaviour. In addition, male respondents in general consumed significantly more alcohol than female students. This study enriches the literature on international alcohol consumption behaviour among university students, and the results can be used by policy makers to address the issue of alcohol abuse that is frequently associated with this cohort of consumers.Ovaj rad rezultat je kolaboracije istraživača iz pet zemalja, u čijem je fokusu ponašanje studenata pri konzumaciji alkohola. Studenti su skupina koju karakterizira česta i rizična konzumacija alkohola. Na uzorku od 1704 studenta analizirane su sociodemografske varijable i navike u konzumaciji alkohola. Rezultati pokazuju da u nekima od zemalja studenti uglavnom pripadaju skupini s karakteristikama opasne konzumacije alkohola (Irska, Južna Afrika i Bosna i Hercegovina), dok u nekima (Hrvatska, Portugal) pripadaju skupini sigurnije konzumacije alkohola. Utvrđeno je da u svim zemljama muškarci konzumiraju znatno više alkohola nego žene. Ovo istraživanje obogaćuje postojeća međunarodna istraživanja o konzumaciji alkohola te može pomoći kreatorima socijalne politike u rješavanju problema nepoželjne konzumacije alkohola ove skupine potrošača

Ground Validation Assessments of GPM Core Observatory Science Requirements

No abstract availabl