Pan-European Perspectives on Parties and Party Systems

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DA for land surface studies in the Sentinel era: how can we deliver?

<p>Towards an efficient approach to DA for optical remote senisng parameter inversion.</p

Efficient Data Assimilation for optical data using EO-LDAS

<p>The Earth is being continuously monitored by a large fleet of space-borne sensors, acquiring<br>information on the state of the land surface. Converting these observations into variables of<br>ecological interest is challenging, as the observations are not necessarily very sensitive to<br>everything that one wants to monitor. Further, the available sensors have very different<br>characteristics: different temporal sampling, different spatial resolutions and different spectral<br>characteristics. We envisage a system where all the information collected by this combination of<br>heterogenous sensors can be interpreted consistently using our understanding of the physical<br>processes thattake place in the land surface.In some circumstances, due to the low sensitivity<br>of the available observations, or just due to the lack of data, inferences on the state of the land<br>surface need are very uncertain, and extra prior knowledge needs to be brought in. Prior<br>knowledge in thiscontext refers to models that describe the evolution of the land surface, but<br>also typical behaviour patterns on the scene. The consistent combination of this a<br>prioriknowledge with the observations is done through Bayes' Rule. In this contribution, we<br>present a software library to do data assimilation (DA) experiments, using optical EO data to<br>infer the state of the vegetation in the landsurface. The library presents an implementation of a<br>variational data assimilationscheme that allows the use of observation operators that map from<br>the stateof the vegetation to observations of directional surface reflectance. The use of<br>aphysical model as an observation operator allows for the consistent treatment of different<br>spectral bandpass characteristics as well as illumination geometries.The state is thus the<br>parameters required to simulate the scene (e.g. LAI, chlorophyll a+b concentration, equivalent<br>water thickness, etc. for optical data). Since the temporal and spatial evolution of the state<br>parameters is not wellunderstood, we suggest the use of spatial and temporal smoothness<br>constraints. Theseallow the estimation of the state if no observation is available, but also<br>allowconsistent fusion of data at different spatial resolutions. To relax the requirementof<br>obtaining partial derivatives of the observation operator using e.g. adjoints tominimise the<br>resulting cost function, and in order to speed up calculations, GaussianProcesses are used to<br>"emulate" the observation operator, resulting in an efficientoperation. </p> <p> </p

Standards for practice in intellectual and developmental disability nursing: A Delphi study

Background: The practice standards of specialist areas of nursing need to be distinctive and reflect contemporary practice. In the absence of intellectual and developmental disability content in curriculum design at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, nurses practising in this specialty area need a clear set of standards that guide their practice. Aim: To redevelop a contemporary set of practice standards by combining findings from a three-year research project with the Delphi technique to determine consensus. Methods: The Delphi technique was applied to a draft set of eight standards that were developed based on research generated by the project. Data were generated through two Delphi rounds conducted via Qualtrics© online surveys. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics for percentage agreement, and content analysis for qualitative data. Findings: Response rate was 72% for round one and 77% for round two. Consensus was reached for each of the eight standards in round one. Consensus was reached for the schema, following round two. Discussion: The revised set of specialty standards offers points of distinction that sets them apart from other practice standards by reflecting the values, knowledge and skills required to work in intellectual and developmental disability nursing. Conclusion: A combination of research evidence and the Delphi technique was useful in determining a new framework for practice standards that reflected current practice. Differentiating specialty practice standards offers identity and guidance for nurses practicing in specialised areas of nursing. The revised standards are a useful resource in policy development and education design

A Practical Approach for Data Assimilation of Optical EO data

<p>Poster presented in the Sentinel2 for Science'2014 workshop held at ESA ESRIN in Frascati, Italy.</p

Demographic profile of the intellectual disability nursing workforce in Australia: Findings from a national survey

Background: Nurses provide technical and relational skills that are ntegral to the care of people with intellectual disability (ID) in Australia. However, little is known about the demographic profile of this section of the nursing workforce. Method: Administration of a survey to nurses whose primary role it is to care for people with ID nationwide Results: This brief report provides a description of the demographics of participants in the national survey. Of 101 participants, 78% were women and the mean age was 53.21 years. Participants held a variety of educational qualifications to prepare them for the care of people with ID. Conclusion: The findings suggest the need to consider the future unmet needs of people with ID given the ageing of this workforce. The ongoing support needs of people with ID depend upon the ongoing presence of nurses well prepared to meet the need of this group of people