scholarly journals Economic and Life Cycle Analysis of Passive and Active Monitoring of Ozone for Forest Protection

Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Elisa Carrari ◽  
Alessandra De Marco ◽  
Andrea Laschi ◽  
Ovidiu Badea ◽  
Laurence Dalstein-Richier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Windows ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Active Monitoring ◽  
Forest Protection ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Evergreen Forests ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Set Up

At forest sites, phytotoxic tropospheric ozone (O3) can be monitored with continuously operating, active monitors (AM) or passive, cumulative samplers (PM). For the first time, we present evidence that the sustainability of active monitoring is better than that of passive sensors, as the environmental, economic, and social costs are usually lower in the former than in the latter. By using data collected in the field, environmental, social, and economic costs were analyzed. The study considered monitoring sites at three distances from a control station in Italy (30, 400, and 750 km), two forest types (deciduous and Mediterranean evergreen), and three time windows (5, 10, and 20 years of monitoring). AM resulted in more convenience than PM, even after 5 years, in terms of O3 depletion, global warming, and photochemical O3 creation potential, suggesting that passive monitoring of ozone is not environmentally sustainable, especially for long time periods. AM led to savings ranging from a minimum of EUR 9650 in 5 years up to EUR 94,796 in 20 years in evergreen forests. The resulting social cost of PM was always higher than that of AM. The present evaluation will help in the decision process for the set-up of long-term forest monitoring sites dedicated to the protection of forests from O3.

Increase associated risk of gynaecological cancer due to long-term exposure to high concentration of atmospheric SO2 industrial pollutant

2021 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2110036
Author(s):  
Qian Xu ◽  
Chan Lu ◽  
Rachael Gakii Murithi ◽  
Lanqin Cao
Keyword(s):  
Time Windows ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Gynaecological Cancer ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
The Past ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Air Quality Monitoring Stations ◽  
Control Study

A cohort case–control study was conducted in XiangYa Hospital, Changsha, China, which involved 305 patients and 399 healthy women, from June 2010 to December 2018, to evaluate the association between Chinese women’s short- and long-term exposure to industrial air pollutant, SO2 and gynaecological cancer (GC). We obtained personal and family information from the XiangYa Hospital electronic computer medical records. Using data obtained from the air quality monitoring stations in Changsha, we estimated each woman’s exposure to the industrial air pollutant, sulphur dioxide (SO2), for different time windows, including the past 1, 5, 10 and 15 years before diagnosis of the disease. A multiple logistic regression model was used to assess the association between GC and SO2 exposure. GC was significantly associated with long-term SO2 exposure, with adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) = 1.56 (1.10–2.21) and 1.81 (1.07–3.06) for a per interquartile range increase in the past 10 and 15 years, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that different groups reacted in different ways to long-term SO2 exposure. We concluded that long-term exposure to high concentration of industrial pollutant, SO2 is associated with the development of GC. This finding has implications for the prevention and reduction of GC.

scholarly journals Integration of various scales for measurement of insomnia

2021 ◽  
pp. 263208432110100
Author(s):  
Satyendra Nath Chakrabartty
Keyword(s):  
Test Scores ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Weighted Sum ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Normal Probability ◽  
Equivalent Test ◽  
Item Scores ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Different Levels

Background Scales for evaluating insomnia differ in number of items, response format, and result in different scores distributions and score ranges and may not facilitate meaningful comparisons. Objectives Transform ordinal item-scores of three scales of insomnia to continuous, equidistant, monotonic, normally distributed scores, avoiding limitations of summative scoring of Likert scales. Methods Equidistant item-scores by weighted sum using data-driven weights to different levels of different items, considering cell frequencies of Item-Levels matrix, followed by normalization and conversion to [1, 10]. Equivalent test-scores (as sum of transformed item- scores) for a pair of scales were found by Normal Probability curves. Empirical illustration given. Results Transformed test-scores are continuous, monotonic and followed Normal distribution with no outliers and tied scores. Such test-scores facilitate ranking, better classification and meaningful comparison of scales of different lengths and formats and finding equivalent score combinations of two scales. For a given value of transformed test-score of a scale, easy alternate method avoiding integration proposed to find equivalent scores of another scales. Equivalent scores of scales help to relate various cut-off scores of different scales and uniformity in interpretations. Integration of various scales of insomnia is achieved by finding one-to-one correspondence among the equivalent score of various scales with correlation over 0.99 Conclusion Resultant test-scores facilitated undertaking analysis in parametric set up. Considering the theoretical advantages including meaningfulness of operations, better comparison, use of such method of transforming scores of Likert items/test is recommended test and items, Future studies were suggested.

scholarly journals Acceptance of a Symptom-Based Approach for COVID-19 rtRT-PCR Testing to Conserve Resources in a Lower Middle-Income Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272098771
Author(s):  
S. M. Rashed Ul Islam ◽  
Tahmina Akther ◽  
Md. Abdullah Omar Nasif ◽  
Sharmin Sultana ◽  
Saif Ullah Munshi
Keyword(s):  
Primary Method ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Clinical Recovery ◽  
Clinical Presentations ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Nasopharyngeal Secretion ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Set Up

SARS-CoV-2 initially emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019. It has since been recognized as a pandemic and has led to great social and economic disruption globally. The Reverse Transcriptase Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (rtRT-PCR) has become the primary method for COVID-19 testing worldwide. The method requires a specialized laboratory set up. Long-term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasopharyngeal secretion after full clinical recovery of the patient is regularly observed nowadays. This forces the patients to spend a longer period in isolation and test repeatedly to obtain evidence of viral clearance. Repeated COVID-19 testing in asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic cases often leads to extra workload for laboratories that are already struggling with a high specimen turnover. Here, we present 5 purposively selected cases with different patterns of clinical presentations in which nasopharyngeal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was observed in patients for a long time. From these case studies, we emphasized the adoption of a symptom-based approach for discontinuing transmission-based precautions over a test-based strategy to reduce the time spent by asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients in isolation. A symptom-based approach will also help reduce laboratory burden for COVID-19 testing as well as conserve valuable resources and supplies utilized for rtRT-PCR testing in an emerging lower-middle-income setting. Most importantly, it will also make room for critically ill COVID-19 patients to visit or avail COVID-19 testing at their convenience.

scholarly journals A Webgis Framework for Disseminating Processed Remotely Sensed on Land Cover Transformations

2016 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Caradonna ◽  
Antonio Novelli ◽  
Eufemia Tarantino ◽  
Raffaela Cefalo ◽  
Umberto Fratino
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Vegetation Indices ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Mediterranean Regions ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Set Up

Abstract Mediterranean regions have experienced significant soil degradation over the past decades. In this context, careful land observation using satellite data is crucial for understanding the long-term usage patterns of natural resources and facilitating their sustainable management to monitor and evaluate the potential degradation. Given the environmental and political interest on this problem, there is urgent need for a centralized repository and mechanism to share geospatial data, information and maps of land change. Geospatial data collecting is one of the most important task for many users because there are significant barriers in accessing and using data. This limit could be overcome by implementing a WebGIS through a combination of existing free and open source software for geographic information systems (FOSS4G). In this paper we preliminary discuss methods for collecting raster data in a geodatabase by processing open multi-temporal and multi-scale satellite data aimed at retrieving indicators for land degradation phenomenon (i.e. land cover/land use analysis, vegetation indices, trend analysis, etc.). Then we describe a methodology for designing a WebGIS framework in order to disseminate information through maps for territory monitoring. Basic WebGIS functions were extended with the help of POSTGIS database and OpenLayers libraries. Geoserver was customized to set up and enhance the website functions developing various advanced queries using PostgreSQL and innovative tools to carry out efficiently multi-layer overlay analysis. The end-product is a simple system that provides the opportunity not only to consult interactively but also download processed remote sensing data.

GEOINFORMATION SYSTEMS IN FOREST RESOURCES MONITORING

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
P. Savkov ◽  
N. Levinskova ◽  
G. Bondarchuk ◽  
N. Postarnichenko
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Production Control ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Active Monitoring ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Forestry Production ◽  
Control And Management

The total area of the forest fund of Ukraine is 10400000 hectares, of which 9600000 hectares are covered with forest vegetation. In total, 15.9 % of the country's area is covered by forests. This figure is growing: in 50 years the area of forests increased by 21 %, almost three times increased stock of wood – it is estimated within 2102 million cubic meters. But this is not enough. Today there are a number of problems connected with forestry, for example: mass destruction of forests, lack of forest development strategy, low level of forest resources use, lack of reliable information about the biomass condition, forest fires. According to the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine, the volume of unauthorized felling has been steadily decreasing for a long time, during 2005-2010. However, already in 2011 it was 25,100 cubic meters, which is 2.2 thousand more than in the previous year, 2007. However, this statistic, too, is mostly about illegal logging by local people, so it reflects very small volumes. The largest number of poached logging is recorded in the Lviv region. For example, in 2018 in the region 12,047 cubic meters of wood were illegally cut, and the figures do not stand still. As a consequence, this situation over time can lead to environmental degradation, increased water and wind erosion, degradation of agricultural land. The forest industry is one of the promising industries in Ukraine, for which it is advisable to use the tools of geographic information systems that provide detailed and necessary information, which greatly simplifies the work in research, analysis and prediction of the dynamics of the forestry fund of Ukraine. With the help of geospatial analysis tools we open up new horizons in the development and organization of forestry production, control and management of forests at all levels. This is why in today's conditions the introduction of geoinformation technologies can not only save money, but also save large areas of the forest fund and hundreds of diligent villages, settlements and cities. The events that took place in April 2020 showed that the lack of active monitoring of burning areas has painful consequences. The fire destroyed almost 40 houses in the resettled villages, Lichmans Srednyaya Rudnya, Nizhnyaya Rudnya and Verkhnyaya Rudnya, 45 buildings were saved, about 5 % of the protected area, 11500 hectares in the southwestern part of the Chernobyl Reserve were affected. These villages in Zhytomyr region were resettled after Chernobyl. More than 2000 people and 120 units of equipment were involved in extinguishing the fireі.

Risk Factors for Typhoid Fever Occurrence and Recurrence in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 381-401
Author(s):  
Umar Abdullahi Tawfiq ◽  
◽  
Shohaimi Shamarina ◽  
Syafinaz Amin Nordin ◽  
Mohd Noor Hisham Mohd Nadzir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Associated Risk Factors ◽  
At Home

Typhoid is a life-threatening disease that has remained endemic in parts of Africa and Asia where its burden is elevated by the inefficiency of control efforts which have been hampered by lack of epidemiological data, among others. In Nigeria, such data is absent in most of the States like Gombe where the disease has been rife for a long time, hence, to bridge that knowledge gap, this study was set up to determine the host-associated risk factors for typhoid occurrence and recurrence in Gombe. A questionnaire that was designed and validated for this location was used to obtain data from 663 respondents using simple random sampling and analyzed using the Chi-square test for association and binomial logistic regression to obtain risk factors for typhoid occurrence and recurrence, respectively. The study revealed that occurrences were statistically significantly associated with the variables for vaccination (χ2 = 39.729, p < 0.01), having houseboy/girl (χ2 = 16.909, p < 0.01), typhoid patient at home (χ2 = 13.393, p < 0.01), hand washing before handling food (χ2 = 22.856, p < 0.01), consuming iced/frozen items (χ2 = 16.805, p < 0.01), boiling drinking water (χ2 = 49.633, p < 0.01), and eating commercially available foods/drinks (χ2 = 27.864, p < 0.01), while recurrences were statistically significantly predicted by „not sure of been vaccinated‟ (OR = 2.962, CI = 1.290 to 6.802, p < 0.01), „not having another typhoid patient at home‟ (OR = 1.799, CI = 0.998 to 3.244, p < 0.01), and „drinking unboiled water sometimes‟ (OR = 2.130, CI = 1.023 to 4.434, p < 0.01). It is believed that these findings will guide efforts by the Government for health interventions against typhoid in the study area, thus improving the quality of life for the population.

scholarly journals Buruli-Ulcer Induced Disability in Ghana: A Study at Apromase in the Ashanti Region

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pius Agbenorku ◽  
Anthony Edusei ◽  
Margaret Agbenorku ◽  
Thomas Diby ◽  
Esenam Nyador ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Buruli Ulcer ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Ulcer Disease ◽  
Mission Hospital ◽  
Ankle Joints ◽  
Proportional Increase ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Set Up

Objectives. To describe trends and category of disabilities caused by Buruli ulcer disease. Design. This retrospective study was set up to quantify information on the disability trends caused by Buruli ulcer (BU) using data on patients attending BU and chronic ulcer clinics from 2004 to 2009, at Global Evangelical Mission Hospital, Apromase. Methods. Data was retrieved from the WHO BU1 form, case registry book, surgical theatre register, and BU patients' records book of the hospital. Disability was measured as the incapability of patients to perform one or more daily activities due to his/her state of BU disease before treatment. Results. A total of 336 positive BU cases comprising 181 males (53.9%) were recorded of which 113 (33.6%) cases of disabilities were identified. A mean age of 52.5 (±1.32) years was recorded. For the trend of disabilities, the year 2009 recorded the highest (N = 34, 31.0%). The lesions were mostly located at the lower limbs (N = 65, 57.5%) region of the patients. Lesions with diameter >15 cm were the major (59.3%) category of lesions. Conclusion. Trend of disability reveals proportional increase over the years from 2004 to 2009. Contracture at the knee and ankle joints was the commonest disability recorded.

scholarly journals Impacts of Spatial Heterogeneity and Temporal Non-Stationarity on Intensity-Duration-Frequency Estimates—A Case Study in a Mountainous California-Nevada Watershed

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiying Ren ◽  
Z. Jason Hou ◽  
Mark Wigmosta ◽  
Ying Liu ◽  
L. Ruby Leung
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Exceedance Probability ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
Climate Simulations ◽  
Engineering Standards ◽  
Intensity Duration Frequency ◽  
Using Data

Changes in extreme precipitation events may require revisions of civil engineering standards to prevent water infrastructures from performing below the designated guidelines. Climate change may invalidate the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) computation that is based on the assumption of data stationarity. Efforts in evaluating non-stationarity in the annual maxima series are inadequate, mostly due to the lack of long data records and convenient methods for detecting trends in the higher moments. In this study, using downscaled high resolution climate simulations of the historical and future periods under different carbon emission scenarios, we tested two solutions to obtain reliable IDFs under non-stationarity: (1) identify quasi-stationary time windows from the time series of interest to compute the IDF curves using data for the corresponding time windows; (2) introduce a parameter representing the trend in the means of the extreme value distributions. Focusing on a mountainous site, the Walker Watershed, the spatial heterogeneity and variability of IDFs or extremes are evaluated, particularly in terms of the terrain and elevation impacts. We compared observations-based IDFs that use the stationarity assumption with the two approaches that consider non-stationarity. The IDFs directly estimated based on the traditional stationarity assumption may underestimate the 100-year 24-h events by 10% to 60% towards the end of the century at most grids, resulting in significant under-designing of the engineering infrastructure at the study site. Strong spatial heterogeneity and variability in the IDF estimates suggest a preference for using high resolution simulation data for the reliable estimation of exceedance probability over data from sparsely distributed weather stations. Discrepancies among the three IDFs analyses due to non-stationarity are comparable to the spatial variability of the IDFs, underscoring a need to use an ensemble of non-stationary approaches to achieve unbiased and comprehensive IDF estimates.

scholarly journals Mapping gaseous amines, ammonia, and their particulate counterparts in marine atmospheres of China’s marginal seas: Part 1 – Differentiating marine emission from continental transport

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dihui Chen ◽  
Yanjie Shen ◽  
Juntao Wang ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Huiwang Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
The Yellow Sea ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Marine Atmosphere ◽  
Coastal Site ◽  
Marginal Seas ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Set Up

Abstract. To study sea-derived gaseous amines, ammonia, and primary particulate aminium ions in the marine atmospheres of China's marginal seas, an onboard URG-9000D Ambient Ion Monitor-Ion chromatography (AIM-IC, Thermo Fisher) was set up on the front deck of the R/V Dongfanghong 3 to semi-continuously measure the spatiotemporal variations in the concentrations of atmospheric trimethylamine (TMAgas), dimethylamine (DMAgas), and ammonia (NH3gas) along with their particulate matter (PM2.5) counterparts. In this study, we differentiated marine emissions of the gas species originating from continental transport using data obtained from December 9 to 22, 2019 during the cruise over the Yellow and Bohai Seas, facilitated by additional measurements collected at a coastal site near the Yellow Sea during summer 2019. The data obtained during the cruise and the coastal site demonstrated that the observed TMAgas and protonated trimethylamine (TMAH+) in PM2.5 over the Yellow and Bohai Seas overwhelmingly originated from marine sources. During the cruise, there was no significant correlation (P > 0.05) between the simultaneously measured TMAH+ and TMAgas concentrations. Additionally, the concentrations of TMAH+ in the marine atmosphere varied around 0.28 ± 0.18 μg m−3 (average  ±  standard deviation), with several episodic hourly average values exceeding 1 μg m−3, which were approximately one order of magnitude larger than those of TMAgas (approximately 0.031 ± 0.009 μg m−3). Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation (P < 0.01) between the concentrations of TMAH+ and NH4+ in PM2.5 during the cruise. Therefore, the observed TMAH+ in PM2.5 was overwhelmingly derived from primary sea-spray aerosols. Using the TMAgas and TMAH+ in PM2.5 as tracers for sea-derived basic gases and sea-spray particulate aminium ions, the values of non-sea-derived DMAgas and NH3gas, as well as non-sea-spray particulate DMAH+ in PM2.5, were estimated, and the estimated average values of each species contributed to 16 %, 34 %, and 65 % of the observed average concentrations, respectively. Uncertainties remained in the estimations as TMAH+ may decompose into smaller molecules in seawater to varying extents. The non-sea-derived gases and non-sea-spray particulate DMAH+ likely originated from long-range transport from the upwind continents, according to the recorded offshore winds and increased concentrations of SO42− and NH4+ in PM2.5. The lack of a detectable increase in the particulate DMAH+, NH4+, and SO42− concentrations in several SO2 plumes did not support the secondary formation of particulate DMAH+ in the marine atmosphere.

scholarly journals Highland Hill tribe language - an extinct language system needed to be saved

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
Tang Minh Chau
Keyword(s):  
Root Culture ◽  
Language System ◽  
Hill Tribe ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Hill Tribes ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Culture And Language

Highland is a typical area in Vietnam with a great deal of unique things for people to study and discover. Among them are culture and language, the two reciprocal elements to create communities called Hill tribes. Original Hill tribes came to the Highland long time ago and set up their life based on their root culture until now. When studying about Hill tribes, we realize that their culture is very interesting and worth tracing. Therefore, how to conserve Hill tribes’ culture is what we need to take into consideration as soon as possible.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document