Discrete versus continuous domain models for disease mapping

The main goal of disease mapping is to estimate disease risk and identify high-risk areas. Such analyses are hampered by the limited geographical resolution of the available data. Typically the available data are counts per spatial unit and the common approach is the Besag--York--Molli{\'e} (BYM) model. When precise geocodes are available, it is more natural to use Log-Gaussian Cox processes (LGCPs). In a simulation study mimicking childhood leukaemia incidence using actual residential locations of all children in the canton of Z\"urich, Switzerland, we compare the ability of these models to recover risk surfaces and identify high-risk areas. We then apply both approaches to actual data on childhood leukaemia incidence in the canton of Z\"urich during 1985-2015. We found that LGCPs outperform BYM models in almost all scenarios considered. Our findings suggest that there are important gains to be made from the use of LGCPs in spatial epidemiology.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, 2 Table

A Hedonic Analysis of Cattle Prices in the Central Corridor of West Africa: Implications for Production and Marketing Decisions

Detailed weekly sales transactions data for the period January 2000-June 2001 from three frontier markets in the central corridor of West Africa were analyzed to identify the factors influencing short-run, intra-year cattle prices. The empirical results indicate that in addition to market location and seasonality of supply and sales, market participants show systemic preferences for specific cattle attributes (sex, weight, condition and finish) and are willing to pay premium prices consistent with their preferences. Communicating this information to producers can assist them to tailor their production and marketing decisions to meet market expectations and thereby improve their competitiveness, profitability and intra-regional livestock trade. Innovative policy and institutional approaches to improve market information dissemination and ease other constraints that tend to dampen supply response, even in the face of favorable prices, are discussed in the paper.livestock markets, hedonic price model, market information, West Africa, Livestock Production/Industries, C21, D4, Q13, Q17,

Political Economy Factors in International Environmental Cooperation

This thesis comprises of two theoretical chapters addressing the hierarchical structure of environmental policy and the understanding of how this affects international environmental cooperation. The third chapter is an experimental analysis, offering a perspective on how heterogeneous stakeholders interact in the provision of a common public good, such as international cooperation on emission reductions. The common thread of the three chapters lies in the question of how the structure and decisionmaking process in international environmental policy facilitates or hinders the provision of public goods. The overarching aim of this thesis is to contribute to a more profound comprehension of potential obstacles and prospects of future international environmental cooperation by accounting for political economy frictions not previously or suffciently researched. Gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of domestic electoral competition combined with political polarisation and the associated incentives for governments in power, delegation mechanisms within domestic political systems as well as burden-sharing among heterogeneous stakeholders will prove necessary in order to provide instructive policy guidance for the design of more effective environmental policy in the future

Betätigungsmöglichkeiten von Menschen mit Fluchtgeschichte : der Einfluss von Erwerbsmöglichkeit auf die Lebensqualität von Geflüchteten der letzten fünfzig Jahre

Vorstellung des Themas Die Schweiz ist durch ihre wirtschaftlich und politisch stabile Lage ein Ziel für Menschen auf der Flucht. Die Geflüchteten dürfen in der Schweiz erst nach drei Monaten arbeiten. Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht, wie sich die Möglichkeit einer Erwerbstätigkeit nachgehen zu können, für Geflüchtete der letzten fünfzig Jahre verändert hat. Zudem wird die Auswirkung der Erwerbstätigkeit auf die Lebensqualität analysiert. Methode Mittels einer systematischen Literaturrecherche wurde in Staatsarchiven, Datenbanken, Zeitungen und im NEBIS-Katalog nach geeigneter Literatur gesucht. Die Literatur wurde nach Brendel (2015) und Matron (2017, nach Blessing 2017) gewürdigt. Ergebnisse Die Ergebnisse zeigen sechs Fallbeispiele aus unterschiedlichen Herkunftsländern und Zeitperioden. Die Fallbeispiele wurden in einem Fliesstext zusammengefasst und anhand des Person-Environment-Occupation-Modells analysiert. Schlussfolgerung Die sechs Fallbeispiele zeigen auf, dass die Geflüchteten in der Schweiz die Möglichkeit zur Erwerbstätigkeit hatten. Personen mit einer zufriedenstellenden Erwerbstätigkeit haben gemäss der Analyse ein geringeres Risiko für eine Occupational Deprivation. Die Lebensqualität wird ebenfalls höher eingeschätzt, jedoch müssen auch die Fluchterlebnisse miteinbezogen werden

Ecriture émergente provisoire :: adhésion ou résistance

Mon travail de recherche traite de l’écriture émergente provisoire, plus précisément de « comment cette dernière est perçue et utilisée par les enseignants dans leur classe ». En effet, une nouvelle conception de l’apprentissage de la lecture et de l’écriture a vu le jour ces dernières années grâce à de nombreuses recherches effectuées dans des classes. Ces recherches ont démontré que l’enfant apprend à écrire comme il apprend à lire et qu’il doit donc être confronté à l’écrit et pouvoir écrire dès son plus jeune âge, même s’il n’a pas encore connaissance du code alphabétique. L’élève entre progressivement dans ce monde de l’écrit, devient un rédacteur compétent et développe des stratégies d’écriture qui lui seront bénéfiques pour la suite de sa scolarité. Malgré les effets positifs démontrés par cette approche dans l’apprentissage de l’écriture, il semble y avoir une certaine réticence voir résistance à son égard de la part des enseignants. J’ai donc cherché à découvrir à quoi était lié l’adhésion ou l’éventuelle résistance en questionnant quatre enseignantes des degrés 1-2 actuels de la scolarité selon Harmos (ci-après 1-2P) sur différents éléments comme les représentations qu’elles avaient de l’école enfantine, le rôle qu’elles s’attribuaient et sur leur positionnement face aux changements. Suite aux discours de ces quatre enseignantes, une analyse a été effectuée afin de comprendre les actions et les représentations de chacune

Care and cost trajectories of asylum seekers in a nurse-led, patient centered, care network in Switzerland.

Switzerland, with its decentralized health system, has seen the emergence of a variety of care models to meet the complex needs of asylum seekers. A network of public and private providers was designed in the canton Vaud, in which a nurse-led team acts as a first contact point to the health system and provides health checks, preventive care, and health education to this population. In addition, the service plays a case management role for more complex and vulnerable patients. While the network has been examined from a clinical angle, we provide the first descriptive evidence on the care and cost trajectories of asylum seekers in the canton. We used routinely collected administrative, patient-level data in a Swiss region responsible for 10% of the asylum seekers in the country. We extracted data on all asylum seekers aged 18 or older who entered the network between 2012 and 2015. The data covered all healthcare costs during the period until they left the network, either because they were granted residence, they left the country, or until 31 December 2018. We estimated random effects regression models for costs and consultations within and outside the network for each month of stay in the network. We investigated language barriers in access to care by stratifying the analysis between patients who spoke one of the official Swiss languages or English and patients who did not speak any of these languages. We found that both overall health care costs and contacts with the nurse-led team were relatively high during the first year of stay. Asylum seekers then progressively integrated into the regular health system. Individuals who did not speak the language generally had more contacts with the network and fewer contacts outside. In this exploratory study, we observe a transition from nurse-led specific care with frequent contacts to care in the regular health system. This leads us to generate the hypothesis that a nurse-led, patient-centered care network for asylum seekers can play an important role in providing primary care during the first year after their arrival and can subsequently help them navigate autonomously within the conventional healthcare system

Resistance of thermo-hygro-mechanically densified wood to colonisation and degradation by brown-rot fungi

Colonisation and wood degradation by three brown-rot fungi, Coniophora puteana, Gloeophyllum trabeum and Poria placenta, were studied in wood of Norway spruce (Picea abies) subjected to three different treatments: hygro-thermal (TH) (160 and 180°C), mechanical densification and thermo-hygro-mechanical (THM) treatment including densification and post-treatment under saturated steam conditions at different temperatures (140, 160 and 180°C). The weight loss induced by all three fungi was lowest in THM-densified wood post-treated at 180°C. Highest weight losses were recorded for controls and TH-treated wood. Fungal colonisation varied in its intensity, depending on the treatment applied to the wood. Hyphal growth in controls and TH-treated wood was abundant, whereas in densified and THM-densified wood it was sparse and confined predominantly to the cell lumina of earlywood tracheids. Also, penetration of large-diameter hyphae and associated degradation in THM-densified wood was impeded by occlusion of the lumina, associated with irreversible compression (loss in shape memory). In contrast to C. puteana and P. placenta, which showed typical brown-rot behaviour, G. trabeum frequently showed hyphal tunnelling within the secondary walls of tracheids and xylem ray parenchyma of controls and thermally treated wood. Such growth was never observed in THM-densified wood post-treated at 180°

Assessment of resonance wood quality by comparing its physical and histological properties

The quality of wood used for music instrument making (resonance wood) is determined by assessing six physical properties: density, modulus of elasticity, sound velocity, radiation ratio, emission ratio, and loudness index. This can easily be done by means of measurements of the resonance frequency and the corresponding damping factor. The method described here is based on vibrational analyses, adapted from standard non-destructive testing of solid material, so as to provide information both for scientific studies and for violin making. The above six properties were assessed in samples of resonance wood of different quality and in normal (control) wood of Norway spruce and sycamore. The differences observed between the samples correlated with anatomical or histological characteristics of the wood. A sample of best-quality Norway spruce resonance wood showed a high radiation ratio in the axial direction, which correlated with the presence of small wood cells with thin cell walls. In "curly maple”, a high sound velocity in the radial direction correlated with the presence of broad xylem rays. The influence of external factors like wood moisture content or the geometry of the system is discussed within the context of the present stud