29 research outputs found
Safeguarding public health at UK airports: an examination of current health security practices
This conference paper was presented at the 42nd Annual UTSG Conference: www.utsg.net/In response to the H1N1 influenza outbreak and the role of air travel in facilitating the virusâs
rapid spread around the world, this paper contributes to debates concerning the governance
of infectious disease by examining the role of the Port Health Regulations and associated
health security practices that are enacted at UK airports. While airports have been at the
forefront of measures to prevent the importation of âforeignâ infectious diseases since the
early 1930s, the present scale of international aeromobility combined with heightened
awareness of the role air travel plays in the global spread of human pathogens, the
epidemiological obsolescence of many early aeronautical sanitary regulations, and a dearth
of academic studies on health security at airports, provide compelling reasons to examine
the development, content, and implications of the existing Port Health Regulations and
associated health security practices that are performed at UK airports.
Drawing on extensive archival research and fieldwork interviews with key stakeholders in the
aviation and health care sectors (including airport managers, âfront lineâ customer-facing
airline personnel, and medical practitioners), we chart the development of sanitary
regulations at UK airports and explore the current practices of health security that are
performed at individual sites. We then identify the main challenges involved in safeguarding
global public health against the dissemination of âforeignâ infectious diseases by air through
UK airports and conclude by offering recommendations for improved practice
Physical and biogeochemical controls on the variability in surface pH and calcium carbonate saturation states in the Atlantic sectors of the Arctic and Southern Oceans
Polar oceans are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification due to their low temperatures and reduced buffering capacity, and are expected to experience extensive low pH conditions and reduced carbonate mineral saturations states (Ω) in the near future. However, the impact of anthropogenic CO2 on pH and Ω will vary regionally between and across the Arctic and Southern Oceans. Here we investigate the carbonate chemistry in the Atlantic sector of two polar oceans, the Nordic Seas and Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean, and the Scotia and Weddell Seas in the Southern Ocean, to determine the physical and biogeochemical processes that control surface pH and Ω. High-resolution observations showed large gradients in surface pH (0.10â0.30) and aragonite saturation state (Ωar) (0.2â1.0) over small spatial scales, and these were particularly strong in sea-ice covered areas (up to 0.45 in pH and 2.0 in Ωar). In the Arctic, sea-ice melt facilitated bloom initiation in light-limited and iron replete (dFe>0.2 nM) regions, such as the Fram Strait, resulting in high pH (8.45) and Ωar (3.0) along the sea-ice edge. In contrast, accumulation of dissolved inorganic carbon derived from organic carbon mineralisation under the ice resulted in low pH (8.05) and Ωar (1.1) in areas where thick ice persisted. In the Southern Ocean, sea-ice retreat resulted in bloom formation only where terrestrial inputs supplied sufficient iron (dFe>0.2 nM), such as in the vicinity of the South Sandwich Islands where enhanced pH (8.3) and Ωar (2.3) were primarily due to biological production. In contrast, in the adjacent Weddell Sea, weak biological uptake of CO2 due to low iron concentrations (dFe<0.2 nM) resulted in low pH (8.1) and Ωar (1.6). The large spatial variability in both polar oceans highlights the need for spatially resolved surface data of carbonate chemistry variables but also nutrients (including iron) in order to accurately elucidate the large gradients experienced by marine organisms and to understand their response to increased CO2 in the future
Indicadores de estresse térmico e utilização da somatotropina bovina (bST) em vacas leiteiras mestiças (Bos taurus x Bos indicus) no semi-årido do Nordeste
Modeling the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease for Cognitive Assistance and Smart homes
International audienceSmart homes provide support to cognitively impaired people (such as those suffering from Alzheimer's disease) so that they can remain at home in an autonomous and safe way. In order to be efficient and responsive, cognitive assistance requires models of this impaired population. This paper presents a way to model and simulate the progression of dementia of the Alzheimer's type by evaluating performance in the execution of an activity of daily living (ADL). This model satisfies three objectives: first, it models an activity of daily living; second, it simulates the progression of the dementia and the errors potentially made by people suffering from it, and, finally, it simulates the support needed by the impaired person. To develop this model, we chose the ACT-R cognitive architecture, which uses symbolic and subsymbolic representations. The simulated results of 100 people suffering from Alzheimer's disease closely resemble the results obtained by 106 people on an occupational assessment (the Kitchen Task Assessment)