scholarly journals The health impact of heat waves in Europe: insights from national plans and key informant interviews

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Vanderplanken ◽  
J van Loenhout ◽  
P van den Hazel
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Health Plans ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Different Types

Abstract In Europe, heat waves and extreme heat are known to cause an increase in morbidity and mortality. Moreover, climate change is expected to increase the number and intensity of heat waves, particularly in urban areas. In order to limit the negative health impact of heat waves, many European countries have developed heat health plans. The SCORCH project has reviewed the national heat plans of 20 European countries. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted in 9 countries, involving key stakeholders who partake in the development, implementation and/or diffusion of the plans. Combined, the national plans and interviews provide insights in the different types of warning systems, the scales of implementation, the stakeholders involved and their responsibilities and the vulnerable populations that are targeted. Moreover, we are able to evaluate the processes outlined in the national plans, and identify certain strengths and weaknesses. These results will support the development of heat wave plans for countries that currently do not have such plans yet.

scholarly journals Determinants of Preferences for Advertisement and Communication in the Promotion of Anti-Malaria Products in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kabiru K. Salami ◽  
Chinwe M. Onuegbu
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Malaria Prevention ◽  
Southwestern Nigeria ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Rural Dwellers ◽  
And Control

One of the strategies for promoting malaria prevention and control globally is advertisement of anti-malaria products. This study was designed to determine users’ preferences for style of advertisement and communication of anti-malaria products in Ibadan. Data collection involved twelve Key Informant Interviews and 500 copies of a questionnaire. Radio was the most preferred and most accessible medium of advert in both rural and urban areas. A large majority (86.4%) of rural dwellers preferred advertisements in form of speeches, house-to-house campaigns, face-to-face counselling and rallies. Whereas, advertisement in forms of drama (44.0%) and music (16.0%) were preferred by the urban dwellers. Results show that advertisements and communication programs on anti-malaria products do not relay messages on drug reaction and its treatment, and cost of anti-malaria products. Hence, advertisements and communicative programmes for controlling malaria would be more effective if the social and environmental factors influencing preferences for advertisement are put into consideration.

scholarly journals Social Interaction and Social Media At Airport Departure Gates

2021 ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Cell Phone ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Gate Time ◽  
Observed Behavior

An observational study was conducted at airline departure gates in several U.S. and European countries. Thirty-second observations were randomly made of 1360 different individuals ranging in age from infants to the elderly, although 79% of the travelers were adults. Most of the individuals were traveling with someone, except for adults who were more often traveling alone (58% vs. 42% time). Of the different types of social interaction and social media observed, cell phone texting/scrolling was significantly more frequently observed (at 53% time) than cell phone talking (13 % time), face-to-face interaction (13% time), on computer (7%) and touching (4%) which was the least frequently observed behavior. Significantly more cell phone texting/scrolling time occurred when adults were traveling alone (58% time). These data suggest that airline travelers are spending significantly more airport departure gate time on social media (specifically cell phone texting/scrolling) than face-to-face interaction or touching. Unfortunately, the observations that were made by professors and students were from too great a distance (10 feet away) in order to be unobtrusive but unable to code the precise type of cell phone texting/scrolling that was occurring.

scholarly journals Resilience, Agency and Coping with Hardship: Evidence from Europe during the Great Recession

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (03) ◽  
pp. 547-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
HULYA DAGDEVIREN ◽  
MATTHEW DONOGHUE
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Coping Mechanisms ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Different Types ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Household Responses

AbstractThis paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on resilience by focusing on coping with hardship during the Great Recession, drawing upon primary data gathered through household and key informant interviews in nine European countries. As the resilience approach highlights agency, the paper examines the nature of household responses to hardship during this period on the basis of the ‘structure-agency problem’. An important contribution of this paper is to identify different forms of agency and discuss their implications. More specifically, we conceptualise three different types of agency in coping with hardship: absorptive, adaptive and transformative. Analysis of the findings indicates that structural constraints remain prominent. Most coping mechanisms fall under the category of absorptive and adaptive agency characterised here as burden-bearing actions that ‘conform’ to changing circumstances rather than shaping those circumstances.

Safety at Curves and Road Geometry Standards in Some European Countries

1996 ◽  
Vol 1523 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Brenac
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
National Standards ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
The Road ◽  
Horizontal Curves ◽  
Road Design ◽  
Road Geometry ◽  
Design Speed ◽  
Curve Geometry

This paper deals with safety at horizontal curves on two-lane roads outside urban areas and the way the road design standards of different European countries account for this safety aspect. After a review of some research results, the main aspects of curve geometry and the curve's place in the horizontal alignment are analyzed. The main conclusions are that the traditional design speed approach is insufficient and that formal complementary rules in road design standards, especially to improve compatibility between successive elements of the alignment, must be introduced. If such complementary rules already exist in some national standards, they are neither frequent nor homogeneous throughout the different countries, and it seems that they are not based on sufficiently developed knowledge.

scholarly journals Evolving heat waves characteristics challenge heat warning systems and prevention plans

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathilde Pascal ◽  
Robin Lagarrigue ◽  
Anouk Tabai ◽  
Isabelle Bonmarin ◽  
Sacha Camail ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Waves ◽  
Warning Systems

scholarly journals A heat-health watch and warning system with extended season and evolving thresholds

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahamat Abdelkerim Issa ◽  
Fateh Chebana ◽  
Pierre Masselot ◽  
Céline Campagna ◽  
Éric Lavigne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Excess Mortality ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
Extreme Heat Events ◽  
Watch And Warning System

Abstract Background Many countries have developed heat-health watch and warning systems (HHWWS) or early-warning systems to mitigate the health consequences of extreme heat events. HHWWS usually focuses on the four hottest months of the year and imposes the same threshold over these months. However, according to climate projections, the warm season is expected to extend and/or shift. Some studies demonstrated that health impacts of heat waves are more severe when the human body is not acclimatized to the heat. In order to adapt those systems to potential heat waves occurring outside the hottest months of the season, this study proposes specific health-based monthly heat indicators and thresholds over an extended season from April to October in the northern hemisphere. Methods The proposed approach, an adoption and extension of the HHWWS methodology currently implemented in Quebec (Canada). The latter is developed and applied to the Greater Montreal area (current population 4.3 million) based on historical health and meteorological data over the years. This approach consists of determining excess mortality episodes and then choosing monthly indicators and thresholds that may involve excess mortality. Results We obtain thresholds for the maximum and minimum temperature couple (in °C) that range from (respectively, 23 and 12) in April, to (32 and 21) in July and back to (25 and 13) in October. The resulting HHWWS is flexible, with health-related thresholds taking into account the seasonality and the monthly variability of temperatures over an extended summer season. Conclusions This adaptive and more realistic system has the potential to prevent, by data-driven health alerts, heat-related mortality outside the typical July–August months of heat waves. The proposed methodology is general and can be applied to other regions and situations based on their characteristics.

scholarly journals Adapting the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) to engage poor urban communities in Ghana: protocol for a participatory action research study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. e049564
Author(s):  
Mary Abboah-Offei ◽  
Akosua Gyasi Darkwa ◽  
Andrews Ayim ◽  
Adelaide Maria Ansah-Ofei ◽  
Delanyo Dovlo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Health Planning ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Key Stakeholders

IntroductionWith rapid urbanisation in low-income and middle-income countries, health systems are struggling to meet the needs of their growing populations. Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) in Ghana have been effective in improving maternal and child health in rural areas; however, implementation in urban areas has proven challenging. This study aims to engage key stakeholders in urban communities to understand how the CHPS model can be adapted to reach poor urban communities.Methods and analysisA Participatory Action Research (PAR) will be used to develop an urban CHPS model with stakeholders in three selected CHPS zones: (a) Old Fadama (Yam and Onion Market community), (b) Adedenkpo and (c) Adotrom 2, representing three categories of poor urban neighbourhoods in Accra, Ghana. Two phases will be implemented: phase 1 (‘reconnaissance phase) will engage and establish PAR research groups in the selected zones, conduct focus groups and individual interviews with urban residents, households vulnerable to ill-health and CHPS staff and key stakeholders. A desk review of preceding efforts to implement CHPS will be conducted to understand what worked (or not), how and why. Findings from phase 1 will be used to inform and co-create an urban CHPS model in phase 2, where PAR groups will be involved in multiple recurrent stages (cycles) of community-based planning, observation, action and reflection to develop and refine the urban CHPS model. Data will be managed using NVivo software and coded using the domains of community engagement as a framework to understand community assets and potential for engagement.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the University of York’s Health Sciences Research Governance Committee and the Ghana Health Service Ethics Review Committee. The results of this study will guide the scale-up of CHPS across urban areas in Ghana, which will be disseminated through journal publications, community and government stakeholder workshops, policy briefs and social media content. This study is also funded by the Medical Research Council, UK.

Deceleration of sliding motorcycles (mainly scooters) in accident reconstructions

2017 ◽  
Vol 232 (7) ◽  
pp. 866-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Cialdai ◽  
Dario Vangi ◽  
Antonio Virga
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Test Session ◽  
Road Accidents ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Energy Dissipated ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
Two Wheeler ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Good Agreement

This paper presents an analysis of the situation in which a two-wheeler (i.e. a motorcycle, where the term motorcycles includes scooters) falls over to the side and then successively slides; this typically occurs in road accidents involving this type of vehicle. Knowing the deceleration rate of the sliding phase allows the kinetic energy dissipated and the speed of the motorcycle just before the fall to the ground to be calculated. These parameters are very important in the analysis and reconstruction of accidents. The work presented in this paper was developed in two experimental test sessions on fully faired motorcycles which are mainly of the scooter type and widely used in urban areas. In the first session, sliding tests were carried out, with the speed in the range 10–50 km/h, on three different types of road surface. Analysis of the evidence allowed the dissipative main phases of motion of the motorcycle (the impact with the ground, the rebounds and the stabilized swiping) to be identified and some factors affecting the phenomenon to be studied. The coefficient of average deceleration was calculated using two typical equations. The second test session consisted of drag tests. In these tests, the motorcycle, which had previously laid on its side, was dragged for a few metres at a constant speed of about 20 km/h, while the drag force was measured. A comparison of the results obtained in these tests with those obtained in the sliding tests yielded very good agreement in the coefficients of deceleration.

Herramientas digitales para recolección, procesamiento y presentación de datos de campo como instrumento para afrontar la contingencia COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Didier Haid Alvarado Acosta
Keyword(s):  
Learning Curve ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Past ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Virtual Libraries ◽  
Different Types

In March of 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak forced people to lock themselves inside their homes and begin the process of transitioning from face-to-face activities at work, schools and universities to a 100 % virtual method. Even when Communication Technologies (ICT) and online platforms have seen growth over the past two decades, including various virtual libraries developed by database publishers or web-based training programs that appear to shorten the learning curve (Lee, Hong y Nian, 2002), many people were unprepared for this transition and all of them are now dedicated to entering the new reality. In this order of ideas, the activities that have traditionally required the assistance of the staff have had to adapt with the use of new tools, which meet daily needs. A clear example is the field work collection tasks. In this group, there are different types such as surveys, photographs, reviews or on-site inspections. The current work presents the use of tools for collecting, validating, analysing and presenting data remotely and in real time. All of them based on the ArcGIS Online platform.

Effectiveness of Truck Rollover Warning Systems

2001 ◽  
Vol 1779 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Baker ◽  
Rob Bushman ◽  
Curtis Berthelot
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
Commercial Vehicles ◽  
Decision Criteria ◽  
Warning Messages ◽  
System A ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Rollover Warning

Different types of intelligent rollover system deployed by road agencies across North America are investigated. The importance of weight is addressed for maximum effectiveness of rollover warning messages for commercial vehicles in a potential rollover situation on sharp curves or exit ramps. The type of information that may be used to activate a rollover is discussed to analyze the number of correctly warned vehicles compared with the number of false warnings generated by the rollover warning system. A case study of the effectiveness of an intelligent rollover system is presented. On the basis of this case study, it was found that speed-based rollover warning systems generated anywhere from 44 percent to 49 percent more false rollover warnings for commercial vehicles than did rollover warning systems that employed weight information in the rollover decision criteria.

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