Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) of road drainage systems for sustainability evaluation:Quantifying the contribution of different life cycle phases

Previous Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) studies on urban drainage systems only included construction materials in the system inventories. The present study aims to suggest an LCA and LCC method that for the first time, considers the inventories from four main phases in the life cycle impact assessment, including extraction of aggregates and production of construction blocks, transportation, construction, civil work and finally maintenance and end-of-life. LCA and LCC were carried out for 10 drainage systems including filter drains, infiltration trenches, soakaways, permeable pavement, infiltration basin, wetland, retention ponds, swales, filter strip, kerb and gully. Results showed that normalisation of environmental impacts and costs to drainage system size (length or area) was more appropriate for drainage systems with higher flow rate capacities (e.g., kerb and gully). However, drainage systems with low flow rate capacities that were designed to store runoff, required normalisation of environmental impacts and costs to storage capacity. The environmental impacts associated with urban drainage systems that needed considerable amounts of virgin aggregates (e.g., filter drains) were higher than those with limited construction material (e.g., swales). Transportation of materials and construction civil works had a larger contribution in life cycle inventories and associated environmental impacts in drainage systems with higher demand for materials. The lowest environmental impacts and life cycle costing were from swales, wetland and retention pond. Uncertainty assessment revealed that drainage systems with extensive application of materials and civil work had more negative impacts on human health, ecosystems and resources

Asthma symptoms associated with depression and lower quality of life: a population survey

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Objective: To identify any association between asthma and depression and quality of life. Design and setting: A face-to-face Health Omnibus Survey of a random and representative sample of the South Australian population in August 1998. Participants: 3010 randomly selected participants aged 15 years and over. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma, and scores for depression (measured by PRIME-MD instrument) and quality of life (measured by SF-36) in affected participants. Results: The prevalence of asthma was 9.9%. The prevalence of major depression was significantly higher for those who experienced dyspnoea, wakening at night with asthma, and morning symptoms of asthma. Quality-of-life scores were also lower for the same groups. Conclusions: Depression is a serious but potentially remediable comorbidity with asthma that may affect appropriate diagnosis and outcome.Robert D Goldney, Richard Ruffin, Laura J Fisher and David H Wilso

<原著>脳卒中上肢機能検査を用いた麻痺側上肢の障害像の評価

目的 : 脳卒中発症後の麻痺側上肢の機能回復過程にみられる障害像をMFS{上肢機能スコア, MFT(脳卒中上肢機能検査)の得点}が反映するかどうかを検討した。方法 : 脳卒中による片麻痺患者81名(右片麻痺39名, 左片麻痺42名)の回復過程に収集した250件のデータを分析に用いた。MFTの8つの下位得点の組み合わせ(パターン)が上肢の障害像を反映していると仮定して, 回復過程で収集した下位得点の構造を調べた。下位得点のパターンの類似度によってデータを分類し, 各群のMFSの分布を調べた。結果 : MFT下位テスト間で連関の低かった上肢の運動課題とペグボード課題(手指の巧緻性評価)の得点の小計をみると, 少数例ではあるが小計が同点でも障害像の異なるケースがあった。下位得点のパターンの類似度で分類した場合, 各群に属する50%のデータではMFSが群ごとによく分離していた。結論 : MFSは麻痺側上肢の障害像をある程度反映していた。Object : The purpose of this study was to determine if an MFS (Manual Function Score) describes the actual state of the paretic upper extremities seen post-stroke. Methods : 250 MFT (Manual Function Test) results of 81 stroke survivors (39 Rt. hemiplegia, 42 Lt. hemiplegia) collected during the paretic recovery process were analyzed. Assuming that a combination pattern of 8 MFT subscores shows the state of the paretic upper extremities, the relationship among the subscores was investigated. The 250 data were classified into 6 groups by the pattern of their subscores. The distribution of the MFS of each group was checked. Results : There was a low association between the arm function and the finger dexterity measured by the peg board test. Occasionally, even when the subtotal of both subscores was same, figures of subscore components were different. The comparison between each group of MFS showed that difference in patterns of subscores is reflected in a difference in total MFS in 50% of the cases studied. Conclusion : The total MFS generally corresponded to the actual state of the paretic upper extremities seen post-stroke.国立情報学研究所で電子

Measuring the impact and costs of a universal group based parenting programme : protocol and implementation of a trial

Background Sub-optimal parenting is a common risk factor for a wide range of negative health, social and educational outcomes. Most parenting programmes have been developed in the USA in the context of delinquency prevention for targeted or indicated groups and the main theoretical underpinning for these programmes is behaviour management. The Family Links Nurturing Programme (FLNP) focuses on family relationships as well as behaviour management and is offered on a universal basis. As a result it may be better placed to improve health and educational outcomes. Developed in the UK voluntary sector, FLNP is popular with practitioners, has impressed policy makers throughout the UK, has been found to be effective in before/after and qualitative studies, but lacks a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence base. Methods/Design A multi-centre, investigator blind, randomised controlled trial of the FLNP with a target sample of 288 south Wales families who have a child aged 2-4 yrs living in or near to Flying Start/Sure Start areas. Changes in parenting, parent child relations and parent and child wellbeing are assessed with validated measures immediately and at 6 months post intervention. Economic components include cost consequences and cost utility analyses based on parental ranking of states of quality of life. Attendance and completion rates and fidelity to the FLNP course delivery are assessed. A nested qualitative study will assess reasons for participation and non-participation and the perceived value of the programme to families. By the end of May 2010, 287 families have been recruited into the trial across four areas of south Wales. Recruitment has not met the planned timescales with barriers including professional anxiety about families entering the control arm of the trial, family concern about video and audio recording, programme facilitator concern about the recording of FLNP sessions for fidelity purposes and delays due to the new UK research governance procedures. Discussion Whilst there are strong theoretical arguments to support universal provision of parenting programmes, few universal programmes have been subjected to randomised controlled trials. In this paper we describe a RCT protocol with quantitative and qualitative outcome measures and an economic evaluation designed to provide clear evidence with regard to effectiveness and costs. We describe challenges implementing the protocol and how we are addressing these

Trends in Hospitalizations for Peptic Ulcer Disease, United States, 1998–20051

TOC summary: Decreased hospitalization rates suggest decline in complications from Helicobacter pylori infection

Effect of good hygiene practices intervention on food safety in senior secondary schools in Ghana

Eleven schools in three different hygiene categories were given hygiene training as an intervention to reported low hygiene standards. Staff hygiene knowledge scores, food temperature, food service time and microbiological quality of jollof rice (cooked rice in tomato sauce and fish) were measured before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon’s Signed- Rank Test for repeated measures on SPSS were used to evaluate the effect of GHP intervention. Staff hygiene knowledge and practice scores, food temperature, aerobic colony count (ACC) and Staphylococcus aureus load in ready to eat (RTE) meal improved significantly (p≤0.05). Food hygiene training remains an essential legal and industrial requirement

Sea level variability in the Arctic Ocean from AOMIP models

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 112 (2007): C04S08, doi:10.1029/2006JC003916.Monthly sea levels from five Arctic Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (AOMIP) models are analyzed and validated against observations in the Arctic Ocean. The AOMIP models are able to simulate variability of sea level reasonably well, but several improvements are needed to reduce model errors. It is suggested that the models will improve if their domains have a minimum depth less than 10 m. It is also recommended to take into account forcing associated with atmospheric loading, fast ice, and volume water fluxes representing Bering Strait inflow and river runoff. Several aspects of sea level variability in the Arctic Ocean are investigated based on updated observed sea level time series. The observed rate of sea level rise corrected for the glacial isostatic adjustment at 9 stations in the Kara, Laptev, and East Siberian seas for 1954–2006 is estimated as 0.250 cm/yr. There is a well pronounced decadal variability in the observed sea level time series. The 5-year running mean sea level signal correlates well with the annual Arctic Oscillation (AO) index and the sea level atmospheric pressure (SLP) at coastal stations and the North Pole. For 1954–2000 all model results reflect this correlation very well, indicating that the long-term model forcing and model reaction to the forcing are correct. Consistent with the influences of AO-driven processes, the sea level in the Arctic Ocean dropped significantly after 1990 and increased after the circulation regime changed from cyclonic to anticyclonic in 1997. In contrast, from 2000 to 2006 the sea level rose despite the stabilization of the AO index at its lowest values after 2000.This research is supported by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (under cooperative agreements OPP- 0002239 and OPP- 0327664) with the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and by the Climate Change Prediction Program of the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The development of the UW model is also supported by NASA grants NNG04GB03G and NNG04GH52G and NSF grants OPP-0240916 and OPP-0229429