Thermal comfort analysis of Indian subjects in multi-storeyed apartments: An adaptive approach in composite climate

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1216-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shailza Singh ◽  
Prabhjot Singh Chani
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Thermal Sensitivity ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Simple Linear Regression ◽  
Thermal Perception ◽  
Monsoon Period ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Seasonal Differences ◽  
Male Subjects

This paper investigated the effects of gender, age, seasonal differences and exposure of occupants to heat absorbed in the roof, on their thermal responses in naturally ventilated apartments. A simple linear regression was conducted to estimate the comfort temperatures and comfort range of the surveyed subjects. A year-round study, involving over 55 apartments and 71 subjects, had collated a data-set of 852 in total. The findings revealed that females are more sensitive to the environmental changes as compared to the male subjects, although both categories have shown a negligible difference in the neutral temperatures. Similarly, the elderly were found to have a narrow comfort range and high thermal sensitivity. The slope of the regression (indicating the thermal sensitivity) was observed to be higher in the summer (0.23/℃) and monsoon period (0.31/℃) and lower in the winter period (0.15/℃). The exposure to temperature near the roof was shown to have exhibited some significant impact on the thermal perception of occupants.

scholarly journals Determinants of prepaid systems of healthcare financing: a worldwide country-level perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Leiter ◽  
Engelbert Theurl
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Health Care Financing ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Country Level

AbstractIn this paper we examine determinants of prepaid modes of health care financing in a worldwide cross-country perspective. We use three different indicators to capture the role of prepaid modes in health care financing: (i) the share of total prepaid financing as percent of total current health expenditures, (ii) the share of voluntary prepaid financing as percent of total prepaid financing, and (iii) the share of compulsory health insurance as percent of total compulsory prepaid financing. In the econometric analysis, we refer to a panel data set comprising 154 countries and covering the time period 2000–2015. We apply a static as well as a dynamic panel data model. We find that the current structure of prepaid financing is significantly determined by its different forms in the past. The significant influence of GDP per capita, governmental revenues, the agricultural value added, development assistance for health, degree of urbanization and regulatory quality varies depending on the financing structure we look at. The share of the elderly and the education level are only of minor importance for explaining the variation in a country’s share of prepaid health care financing. The importance of the mentioned variables as determinants for prepaid health care financing also varies depending on the countries’ socio-economic development. From our analysis we conclude that more detailed information on indicators which reflect the distribution of individual characteristics (such as income, family size and structure and health risks) within a country’s population would be needed to gain deeper insight into the decisive determinants for prepaid health care financing.

scholarly journals Bayesian Network Structure and Predictability of Autistic Traits

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412097815
Author(s):  
Giovanni Briganti ◽  
Donald R. Williams ◽  
Joris Mulder ◽  
Paul Linkowski
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Bayesian Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Conditional Dependence ◽  
Bayesian Network Structure ◽  
Male Subjects

The aim of this work is to explore the construct of autistic traits through the lens of network analysis with recently introduced Bayesian methods. A conditional dependence network structure was estimated from a data set composed of 649 university students that completed an autistic traits questionnaire. The connectedness of the network is also explored, as well as sex differences among female and male subjects in regard to network connectivity. The strongest connections in the network are found between items that measure similar autistic traits. Traits related to social skills are the most interconnected items in the network. Sex differences are found between female and male subjects. The Bayesian network analysis offers new insight on the connectivity of autistic traits as well as confirms several findings in the autism literature.

scholarly journals Trends in mortality from ill-defined causes among the elderly in Brazil, 1979-2013: ecological study

2016 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davi Félix Martins Junior ◽  
Ridalva Dias Martins Felzemburg ◽  
Acácia Batista Dias ◽  
Tania Maria Costa ◽  
Pedro Nascimento Prates Santos
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Study ◽  
Temporal Trend ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Simple Linear Regression ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Proportional Mortality ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Health Situation

ABSTRACT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Mortality measurements are traditionally used as health indicators and are useful in describing a population's health situation through reporting injuries that lead to death. The aim here was to analyze the temporal trend of proportional mortality from ill-defined causes (IDCs) among the elderly in Brazil from 1979 to 2013. DESIGN AND SETTING: Ecological study using data from the Mortality Information System of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. METHODS: The proportional mortality from IDCs among the elderly was calculated for each year of the study series (1979 to 2013) in Brazil, and the data were disaggregated according to sex and to the five geographical regions and states. To analyze time trends, simple linear regression coefficients were calculated. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 2,646,194 deaths from IDCs among the elderly, with a decreasing trend (ß -0.545; confidence interval, CI: -0.616 to -0.475; P < 0.000) for both males and females. This reduction was also observed in the macroregions and states, except for Amapá. The states in the northeastern region reported an average reduction of 80%. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality from IDCs among the elderly has decreased continuously since 1985, but at different rates among the different regions and states. Actions aimed at improving data records on death certificates need to be strengthened in order to continue the trend observed.

scholarly journals Decline in rates of clearance of IgG-sensitized erythrocytes with increasing age

Blood ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1726-1730
Author(s):  
KA Melez ◽  
LF Fries ◽  
BS Bender ◽  
T Quinn ◽  
MM Frank
Keyword(s):  
Aging Process ◽  
Elderly Population ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Immune Functions ◽  
Macrophage Function ◽  
Normal Volunteers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Male Subjects

Decreased immune functions have been suggested as a cause for the increased incidence of autoimmunity, malignancy, and infection in the elderly population. To assess the possible role of changes in macrophage function in the aging process we studied the Fc receptor- mediated clearance of IgG-coated erythrocytes in 56 healthy normal volunteers by following the removal of radiolabeled autologous erythrocytes. An age-related decrease in Fc-mediated clearance rates in both female and male subjects was found, which suggests a physiological decline of this macrophage function in older individuals.

AN AUTOMATED METHOD TO DETECT AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION FROM OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGES

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150036
Author(s):  
Anju Thomas ◽  
P. M. Harikrishnan ◽  
Varun P. Gopi ◽  
P. Palanisamy
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
Macular Degeneration ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Sigmoid Function ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Automated Method ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Sd Oct

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that affects the elderly. AMD’s prevalence is increasing as society’s population ages; thus, early detection is critical to prevent vision loss in the elderly. Arrangement of a comprehensive examination of the eye for AMD detection is a challenging task. This paper suggests a new poly scale and dual path (PSDP) convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture for early-stage AMD diagnosis automatically. The proposed PSDP architecture has nine convolutional layers to classify the input image as AMD or normal. A PSDP architecture is used to enhance classification efficiency due to the high variation in size and shape of perforation present in OCT images. The poly scale approach employs filters of various sizes to extract features from local regions more effectively. Simultaneously, the dual path architecture incorporates features extracted from different CNN layers to boost features in the global regions. The sigmoid function is used to classify images into binary categories. The Mendeley data set is used to train the proposed network and tested on Mendeley, Duke, SD-OCT Noor, and OCTID data sets. The testing accuracy of the network in Mendeley, Duke, SD-OCT Noor, and OCT-ID is 99.73%,96.66%,94.89%,99.61%, respectively. The comparison with alternative approaches showed that the proposed algorithm is efficient in detecting AMD. Despite having been trained on the Mendeley data set, the proposed model exhibited good detection accuracy when tested on other data sets. This shows that the suggested model can distinguish AMD/Normal images from various data sets. As compared to other methods, the findings show that the proposed algorithm is efficient at detecting AMD. Rapid eye scanning for early detection of AMD could be possible with the proposed architecture. The proposed CNN can be applied in real-time due to its lower complexity and less learnable parameters.

Are there one or two stocks of Scoranza bleak - Alburnus scoranza Bonaparte, 1845 in Lake  Skadar (Montenegro)

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 80-92
Author(s):  
Drago Marić ◽  
Katarina Burzanović
Keyword(s):  
Condition Factor ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Population Variability ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Weight Relationship ◽  
Lake Skadar

This paper provides the first comprehensive information on the Length-Weight Relationship (LWR) of Scoranza bleak (Alburnus scoranza) from the Lake Skadar. The results of the study showed that LWR was different in young and older individual fish. We concluded that no single regression would adequately describe the length-weight relationship for  Scoranza bleak in the winter period. Small fish, up to one year old, have positive allometric growth whereas older and larger, negative. The results of this study show that the animals grow equally in the same pattern in both localities (Raduš and Karuč) which shows that there are no two stocks as it was assumed in the past. The condition factor in young Scoranza bleaks was lower than in the elderly. Condition factor decreased significantly during the winter period in older specimens. Based on this, we conclude that Scoranza bleak during the winter is poorly fed/starved, which causes a decrease in the condition factor.Analysis of the total sample, of any species, cannot show by what rule the population grows, if infrapopulation variability is present, because the studied value will depend on the number of individual subgroups. If no infra-population variability is found, the required parameter for the entire population can be calculated. In order to determine population variability, multiple groups must be singled out. Preferably, the number of stratified samples should be at least 6 so that correlation-regression analysis can be performed. In stratified samples, the number of individuals should be between 30-40, for any parameter, in order to compare their mean values. The results of the study show that 50 individuals are sufficient for accurate determination of LWR (or ???? and b, ???? is a constant coefficient and b is the slope of the curve.), when it is determined that there is no intrapopulation variability.

scholarly journals On the consistency of MODIS chlorophyll $a$ products in the northern South China Sea

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Shang ◽  
Q. Dong ◽  
C. M. Hu ◽  
G. Lin ◽  
Y. H. Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
South China ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Northern South China Sea ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Study Region ◽  
China Sea

Abstract. Chlorophyll a (Chl) concentrations derived from satellite measurements have been used in oceanographic research, for example to interpret eco-responses to environmental changes on global and regional scales. However, it is unclear how existing Chl products compare with each other in terms of accuracy and consistency in revealing temporal and spatial patterns, especially in the optically complex marginal seas. In this study, we examined three MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Chl data products that have been made available to the community by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) using community-accepted algorithms and default parameterization. These included the products derived from the OC3M (ocean chlorophyll three-band algorithm for MODIS), GSM (Garver–Siegel–Maritorena model) and GIOP (generalized inherent optical properties) algorithms. We compared their temporal variations and spatial distributions in the northern South China Sea. We found that the three products appeared to capture general features such as unique winter peaks at the Southeast Asian Time-series Study station (SEATS, 18° N, 116° E) and the Pearl River plume associated blooms in summer. Their absolute magnitudes, however, may be questionable in the coastal zones. Additional error statistics using field measured Chl as the truth demonstrated that the three MODIS Chl products may contain high degree of uncertainties in the study region. Root mean square error (RMSE) of the products from OC3M and GSM (on a log scale) was about 0.4 and average percentage error (ε) was ~ 115% (Chl between 0.05–10.41 mg m−3, n = 114). GIOP with default parameterization led to higher errors (ε = 329%). An attempt to tune the algorithms based on a local coastal-water bio-optical data set led to reduced errors for Chl retrievals, indicating the importance of local tuning of globally-optimized algorithms. Overall, this study points to the need of continuous improvements for algorithm development and parameterization for the coastal zones of the study region, where quantitative interpretation of the current Chl products requires extra caution.

Coral reef development drives molluscan diversity increase at local and regional scales in the late Neogene and Quaternary of the southwestern Caribbean

Paleobiology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth G. Johnson ◽  
Jonathan A. Todd ◽  
Jeremy B. C. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Marine Biota ◽  
Environmental Distribution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Ecological Response ◽  
Local Diversity ◽  
Late Neogene

The late Neogene was a time of major environmental change in Tropical America. Global cooling and associated oceanographic reorganization and the onset and intensification of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere during the past ten million years coincided with the uplift of the Central American isthmus and resulting changes in regional oceanographic conditions. Previous analyses of patterns of taxonomic turnover and the shifting abundances of major ecological guilds indicated that the regional shallow-water marine biota responded to these environmental changes through extinction and via a restructuring of local benthic food webs, but it is not clear whether this ecological response had an effect on the diversity of molluscan assemblages in the region. Changes in regional and local diversity are often used as proxies for similar ecological response to environmental change in large-scale paleontological studies, but a clear relationship between diversity and ecological function has rarely been demonstrated in marine systems dominated by mollusks. To explore this relationship, we have compiled a data set of the stratigraphic and environmental distribution of genera of mollusks in large new collections of fossil specimens from the late Neogene and Recent of the southwestern Caribbean. Analysis of a selection of ecological diversity measures indicates that within shelf depths, assemblages from deeper water (51–200 m) were more diverse than shallow-water (<50 m) assemblages in the Pliocene. Lower diversity for shallow-water assemblages is caused by increased dominance of a few superabundant taxa in each assemblage. This implies that studies of diversity of shelf benthos need to control for relatively fine scaled environmental conditions if they are to avoid interpreting artifacts of uneven sampling as true change of diversity. For shallow-water assemblages only, there was significant increase in local and regional diversity of bivalve assemblages after the late Pliocene. No parallel increase in gastropods could be detected, but this likely is because sample size was inadequate for documenting the diversity of gastropod assemblages following a steep post-Pliocene decline of average gastropod abundance. Both the increasing bivalve diversity and the decrease in average abundance of gastropod taxa correspond to an interval of increasing carbonate deposition and reef building in the region, and are likely a result of increased fine-scale habitat heterogeneity controlled by the local distribution of carbonate buildups. Each of these results demonstrates that documenting the ecological response of tropical marine ecosystems to regional environmental change requires a large volume of fine-scaled samples with detailed paleoenvironmental control. Such data sets are rarely available from the fossil record.

Electroconvulsive therapy versus transcranial magnetic stimulation for major depression: a review with recommendations for future research

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 291-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith G. Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sample Sizes ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Differential Outcomes

Objective:To review the literature comparing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for major depression.Methods:Data from the six randomised, prospective studies were agglutinated into one data set. Special attention was given to the methods of both TMS and ECT as well as data pertaining to differential outcomes in subgroups such as psychotic depressives and the elderly.Results:There is a highly significant advantage for ECT in the prospective, randomised trials. The two non-randomised, retrospective comparative trials found the treatments to be equal in one study and superior for ECT in another. However, sample sizes are small in these studies, and both TMS and ECT may have been used suboptimally. Furthermore, the possibilities of differential efficacy of ECT or TMS for psychotic depressives or as a function of age have yet to be fully explored.Conclusions:The data to date do not support the contention that TMS is equivalent in efficacy to ECT. It is recommended that a large-scale trial be undertaken using aggressive forms of both TMS and ECT with sample sizes sufficiently large to detect effects of moderating variables such as age and psychosis status.

Do Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists Teach Elderly People How to Rise after a Fall?

2000 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 254-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Kinn ◽  
Linda Galloway
Keyword(s):  
Elderly People ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Elderly Population ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Balance Training ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Knowledge For Teaching ◽  
Almost All

Falling is a major problem for the elderly population and much research has been done to investigate the risk factors for and means of preventing falls. However, very little research has been carried out looking at if and how therapists teach elderly people how to rise after a fall. This postal survey was undertaken to investigate whether therapists do anything to try to prevent falls, assess elderly people for suitability and teach them how to rise after a fall. The results showed that almost all the respondents (127 of 137) identified falling as a problem that they had to deal with in their patients over 65 years. The main focus of occupational therapists was to prevent falls by making environmental changes (for example, removing hazards) whereas physiotherapists were involved in physical changes (for example, balance training). Over half the respondents had considered teaching people how to rise after a fall. A range of different methods was used, which broadly fell into physical and verbal instructions or referral to other health care professionals. The sources of knowledge for teaching how to rise after a fall came mainly from previous clinical experience. Falls are an acknowledged problem in the elderly population and among these hospital and community based therapists about half had considered teaching or had taught elderly people how to rise after a fall.

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