scholarly journals A Quantitative Framework for Analyzing Spatial Dynamics of Flood Events: A Case Study of Super Cyclone Amphan

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3454
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mehedy Hassan ◽  
Kevin Ash ◽  
Joynal Abedin ◽  
Bimal Kanti Paul ◽  
Jane Southworth
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Association ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Water Index ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Super Cyclone ◽  
Flooding Risk ◽  
Flood Maps

Identifying the flooding risk hotspot is crucial for aiding a rapid response and prioritizes mitigation efforts over large disaster impacted regions. While climate change is increasing the risk of floods in many vulnerable regions of the world, the commonly used crisis map is inefficient and cannot rapidly determine the spatial variation and intensity of flooding extension across the affected areas. In such cases, the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) statistic can detect heterogeneity or the flooding hotspot at a local spatial scale beyond routine mapping. This area, however, has not yet been studied in the context of the magnitude of the floods. The present study incorporates the LISA methodology including Moran’s I and Getis–Ord Gi* to identify the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the occurrence of flooding from super cyclone Amphan across 16 coastal districts of Bangladesh. Using the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from Sentinel-1 and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification, “water” and “land” were classified for the pre-event (16 May 2020) and post-events (22 May, 28 May, and 7 June 2020) of the area under study. A Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), and visual comparison were used to evaluate the flood maps. A compelling agreement was accomplished between the observed and predicted flood maps, with an overall precision of above 95% for all SAR classified images. As per this study, 2233 km2 (8%) of the region is estimated to have been inundated on 22 May. After this point, the intensity and aerial expansion of flood decreased to 1490 km2 by 28 May before it increased slightly to 1520 km2 (2.1% of the study area) on 7 June. The results from LISA indicated that the main flooding hotspots were located in the central part, particularly in the region off the north-east of the mangrove forest. A total of 238 Unions (smallest administrative units) were identified as high flooding hotspots (p < 0.05) on 22 May, but the number of flooding hotspots dropped to 166 in the second week (28 May) after Amphan subsided before it increased to a further 208 hotspots (p < 0.05) on 7 June due to incessant rainfall and riverbank failure in the south-west part of the study area. As such, an appropriate, timely, and cost-effective strategy would be to assess existing flooding management policies through the identified flooding hotspot regions. This identification would then allow for the creation of an improved policy to help curtail the destructive effects of flooding in the future.

scholarly journals Awareness of the cost of psychotropic medication among doctors: a service evaluation

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 364-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhananjay Kumar Singh ◽  
Shakil Khawaja ◽  
Ishaq Pala ◽  
Jaleel Khaja ◽  
Ray Krishnanu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Service Evaluation ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Old Age Psychiatry ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Aims and methodCost-effective prescribing is an increasingly important aspect of our practice. A service evaluation was carried out to assess the level of awareness and knowledge of different aspects of cost-effective prescribing among doctors working in the North East London Foundation Trust. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to benchmark knowledge against six standards.ResultsThe survey was completed by 71% of doctors working in adult or old age psychiatry. A total of 2% of doctors stated that they should always take into consideration the price of the drug when prescribing and only 5% of doctors claimed to know the price of medications they prescribe most frequently.Clinical implicationsStrategies to improve the poor level of knowledge and awareness in this area of clinical practice would be of benefit in making the best use of limited financial resources without any detriment to patient care.

Innovative method for gathering river stage data using only the sound of the water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Alexander Osborne ◽  
Rebecca Hodge ◽  
Gordon Love ◽  
Peter Hawkin ◽  
Ruth Hawkin
Keyword(s):  
Winter Season ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
River Bank ◽  
Power Efficient ◽  
River Flooding ◽  
River Stage ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Environment Agency

&lt;p&gt;Splosh, gurgle, burble are all terms that can be used to describe how a river sounds as we stand on the bank. We have developed a new approach that uses the passive sound generated by a river, to gauge the current stage of the river, and generate (sono)hydrographs from the safety of the river bank. Our approach offers a cost-effective, power-efficient and flexible means to install flood monitors. We have developed a method of how to take the sound from around a river and translate it into a useful gauging tool without the need to listen to individual recordings. Using an internet of things approach we have developed a system of sound monitors that can be placed anywhere in the vicinity of a river. We aim to target the lesser studied parts of a river catchment, the headwaters, which are often data scarce environments. These environments are an opportunity to identify the real time responses of sub-catchments. The ultimate goal of our research is to enable community level flood monitoring, in areas that may be susceptible to river flooding, but are not yet actively gauged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We hypothesise that the sound generated by a river is a direct response to the obstacles found within the channel and the turbulence they cause. Sound is generated by the increase of energy available in the channel, being transformed into sound energy through turbulence generating structures, i.e. boulders. Data gathered over a winter season from several rivers in the North East of England, during Storm Ciara and Dennis, has shown sound to be a reliable method for determining rapid changes in river stage and is comparable to what the official Environment Agency gauges measured. Through an innovative approach, we have begun to understand the limits on sound data and the calibration of sound to the channel properties. Utilising a 7.5 m wide flume at a white water course we have recreated controlled environments and simulated different discharges and their effect on sound.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Overall, we have found that sound is an opportunity to be taken to measure river stage in areas that are seldom studied. We have identified that sound works during extreme conditions, and being placed on the banks of the channel our monitors have a lower risk of being damaged during storm events and are easy and safe to install. We present the first means of using sound from a river to actively gauge a river and the full workflow from collection, analysis and dissemination of results.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Flood characterisation of the Haor region of Bangladesh using flood index

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 824-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asadusjjaman Suman ◽  
Biswa Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Flood Hazard ◽  
River System ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Time To Peak ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Flood Hydrograph ◽  
Flooding Risk ◽  
Flood Index

The paper presents the flood characterisation of the Haor region in the north-east of Bangladesh. The region consists of a system of Haors, each of which is a saucer-shaped depression and interconnected by a river system. A portion of the Haor area, known as the deeply flooded area, consisting of about 15 Haors, was chosen as the study area. A 1D2D model, with one-dimensional model for the rivers and a two-dimensional model for the Haors, was developed. Flood hydrograph characteristics such as the rising curve gradient, flood magnitude ratio (with respect to the average discharge) and time to peak were assessed for different river floods. Using these characteristics an integrated flood index (FI) was developed. The FI is an aggregated indicator based on the flood hydrograph characteristics and indicates the relative overall severity of a flood. The spatial and temporal variations of the index were investigated as well. The computed FI at different locations of the region and for different flood hazard frequencies provide a broad understanding of the flooding characteristics of the region. The developed methodology can also be applied to other river basins to analyse flooding risk provided some historical flood data are available.

scholarly journals Automatic Vowel Recognition from Assamese Spoken words

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 2297-2304
Keyword(s):  
Random Forest ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Recognition System ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
K Nearest Neighbor ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Vowel Recognition

Vowel plays the most important role in any speech processing work. In this research work, recognition of Assamese vowel from spoken Assamese words is explored. Assamese is a language which is spoken by major people in Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, Assam is a state which is situated in the North-East part of India. This automatic vowel recognition system is implemented by using three efficient techniques Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and Random Forest (RF) classifier. The database used in the experiments is specially designed for this purpose. A list of phonetically vowel rich Assamese words is prepared for the experiment. As an initial effort, twenty different (20) words uttered by fifty-five (55) speakers are taken. Utterances from both male and female speakers are collected. Each utterance was repeated two times by every speaker. A database of the total of 2200 samples is prepared. After experimenting on different samples it is seen that Random Forest (RF) is giving the best performance compared to the other two classifiers. The performance of the system is shown with testing dataset and comparison is done. Outcome of this research work will enhance the Machine Translation from Assamese to any other language.

scholarly journals Efficacité technique et rentabilité économique des méthodes de contrôle culturale et chimique des mauvaises herbes en culture d’oignon (Allium cepa L.) au Nord-Est du Bénin

2019 ◽  
Vol 42.2 ◽  
pp. 7207-7225
Author(s):  
Saliou Bello ◽  
Lucien Guillaume Amadji ◽  
Adam Ahanchédé
Keyword(s):  
Synergistic Effect ◽  
Allium Cepa ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Portulaca Oleracea ◽  
Cyperus Rotundus ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Allium Cepa L ◽  
Mauvaises Herbes

Objectif : Le sarclage pratiqué en culture d‘oignon est inefficace contre les Portulacacées et les Cypéracées. La présente étude a permis de comparer les effets des sarclo-binages et d’applications simple et combinée d’herbicides sur la phytotoxicité pour l’oignon, le recouvrement et la biomasse des mauvaises herbes et le rendement de l’oignon au Nord-Est du Bénin. Méthodologie et résultats : Le dispositif expérimental est un bloc complètement aléatoire installé dans 30 parcelles paysannes représentant chacune une répétition comportant six traitements constitués des pratiques de sarclo-binages exclusifs et combinées à l’application d’herbicides. Les herbicides appliqués sont les sélectifs Agristomp à base de pendiméthaline à la teneur de 400 g/l et Dadyochlor à la teneur de 50% d’acétochlore ainsi que les totaux Round Up et Dady Up à base de glyphosate aux teneurs respectives de 360 g/l et de 480 g/l. Les variables recouvrement, biomasse et rendement ont été soumises respectivement au test T de Student, à l’analyse de variance à deux facteurs et au test de Tukey. Une faible phytotoxicité et une meilleure répression de Portulaca quadrifida et de Portulaca oleracea avec Agristomp, une meilleure gestion de Cyperus rotundus et une faible production de biomasse totale avec Round Up ont été observées. Des différences très hautement significatives et un effet synergique ont été observés entre les pratiques de luttes culturale et chimique. Dady Up a engendré le rendement le plus élevé et le plus rentable avec 28,72 t/ha de bulbes, comparativement aux autres traitements. Conclusion et application des résultats : La combinaison des sarclo-binages et d’application d’herbicides, plus efficace contre les mauvaises herbes avec un effet synergique et une meilleure rentabilité économique, a été recommandée. Technical and economical efficacy of hoe-weeding and herbicides application in onion’ crop (Allium cepa L.) in the North-East of Benin ABSTRACT Objective: Weeding in onion is ineffective against Portulacacées and Cyperaceae.. This study compared the effects of weeding, simple and combined herbicide applications on phytotoxicity on onions, weed recovery and biomass, and onion yield in northeastern Benin.Methodology and results: The experimental design is a completely randomized block of 30 replications with six treatments which include exclusive and combined hoe weeding practices to herbicides application. Applied herbicides were selective Agristomp with 400 g/l of pendimethalin and dadyochlor with 50% of acetochlor, Round Up and Dady Up with 360 g/l and 480 g/l of glyphosate respectively. Weed covering and onion yield were submitted to T of Student test, two-way analysis of variance and Tukey test.Low phytotoxicity and better control of Portulaca quadrifida and Portulaca oleracea with Agristomp, better management of Cyperus rotundus and low total biomass production with Round Up were observed.. Very significant differences and a synergistic effect have been observed between the practices of crop and chemical control. Dady Up generated the highest and most cost-effective yield with 28.72 t/ha of bulbs, compared to other treatments. Finding and applying the results: The combination of weeding and herbicide application, which is more effective against weeds with synergistic effect and improved economic profitability, was recommended.

scholarly journals Caveat emptor NICE: biased use of cost-effectiveness is inefficient and inequitable

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Dowie ◽  
Mette Kjer Kaltoft ◽  
Jesper Bo Nielsen ◽  
Glenn Salkeld
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Health Gain ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The South ◽  
Constrained System ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
Undesirable Consequence ◽  
The Cost

Concern with the threshold applied in cost-effectiveness analyses by bodies such as NICE distracts attention from their biased use of the principle. The bias results from the prior requirement that an intervention be effective (usually 'clinically effective') before its cost-effectiveness is considered. The underlying justification for the use of cost-effectiveness as a criterion, whatever the threshold adopted, is that decisions in a resource-constrained system have opportunity costs. Their existence rules out any restriction to those interventions that are 'incrementally cost-effective' at a chosen threshold and requires acceptance of those that are 'decrementally cost-effective' at the same threshold. Interventions that fall under the linear ICER line in the South-West quadrant of the cost-effectiveness plane are cost-effective because they create net health benefits, as do those in the North-East quadrant. If there is objection to the fact that they are cost-effective by reducing effectiveness as well as costs, it is possible to reject them, but only on policy grounds other than their failure to be cost-effective. Having established this, the paper considers and seeks to counter the arguments based on these other grounds. Most notably these include those proposing a different threshold in the South-West quadrant from the North-East one, i.e. propose a 'kinked ICER'. Another undesirable consequence of the biased use of cost-effectiveness is the failure to stimulate innovations that would increase overall health gain by being less effective in the condition concerned, but generate more benefits elsewhere. NICE can only reward innovations that cost more.

scholarly journals Spotting the Differences: The CEAC vs. CEAFC vs. CERAC

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedram Sendi ◽  
Klazien Matter-Walstra ◽  
Matthias Schwenkglenks
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Joint Distribution ◽  
Joint Probability ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Program Costs ◽  
The Cost

Methods to handle uncertainty in economic evaluation have gained much attention in the literature and the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve (CEAC) is the most widely used method to summarize and present uncertainty associated with program costs and effects in cost-effectiveness analysis. Some researchers have emphasized the limitations of the CEAC for informing decision and policy makers as the CEAC is insensitive to radial shifts of the joint distribution of incremental costs and effects in the North-East and South-West quadrants of the cost-effective plane (CEP). Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the CEAC does not incorporate risk-aversion in valuing uncertain costs and effects. In the present article we show that the cost-effectiveness affordability curve (CEAFC) captures both dimensions of the joint distribution of incremental costs and effects on the CEP and is therefore sensitive to radial shifts of the joint distribution on the CEP. Furthermore, the CEAFC also informs about the budget impact of a new intervention as it estimates the joint probability an intervention is both affordable and cost-effective. Moreover, we show that the cost-effectiveness risk-aversion curve (CERAC) allows to incorporate risk-aversion into the analysis and can therefore be used to inform decision-makers who are risk-averse. We use data from a published cost-effectiveness model of palbociclib in addition to letrozole versus letrozole alone for the treatment of oestrogen-receptor positive, HER-2 negative, advanced breast cancer to demonstrate the differences between CEAC, CEAFC and CERAC and show how these can jointly be used to inform decision and policy makers.

scholarly journals P142 Restriction of use of high cost drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by CCGs in England

Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Walker ◽  
Sandra Robinson ◽  
Jane Barry ◽  
Phillip Punter ◽  
Sinead Kearns
Keyword(s):  
Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Inadequate Response ◽  
The South ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Secondary Failure ◽  
Effective Drugs

Abstract Background/Aims  It became apparent at a session at the 2019 BSR Annual Conferene that some CCGs were restricting the number of high cost drugs (HCDs) that were permitted to be prescribed for an individual with rheumatoid arthritis. Further HCDs could only then be prescribed by utilising an Individual Funding Request. We were interested to explore how common this was and what the restrictions were in different areas. Methods  The websites of all CCGs in England were scrutinised between March and July 2020 for local guidelines for the use of HCDs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The results were tabulated and mapped. Results  Of 134 CCGs in England, 69 (51%) had no expressed restriction on numbers of HCDs provided that NICE thresholds were observed. 10 (7%) had a pathway limiting the drugs to 6, 49 (33%) restricted to 4 and a further 9 (7%) restricted to 3. Dates of guidance implementation varied from 07/2017 to 07/2020 with the vast majority being 2018 and 2019. Geographically, the restrictions were not uniform. The CCGs restricting to 3 HCDs were all in London except for one, Oxford. Those restricting to 4 were mainly from the South East, North West and East. Those restricting to 6 HCDs were in the Liverpool area. Largely unrestricted areas were the North East, the South West, the Midlands and the majority of Yorkshire. The majority of CCGs gave no explanation for the restriction of HCDs. Where stated, the reason given was that it had not been shown to be cost effective. Conclusion  Restricting the number of HCDs may deprive some patients of effective drugs that have been NICE approved contrary to NICE guidance. There are currently 5 different modes of action (MOA) of HCDs (TNFi, B cell depletion, IL6i, CTLA4 and JAKi) for the treatment of moderately or severely active RA, therefore in some areas not even all MOAs may have been tried. There is no reliable way of predicting a patient's response to an individual drug, so it is necessary to trial and observe. Non-responders will require more treatment changes. Many patients have secondary failure of drugs after initial good response, so trying other drugs with the same MOA is a logical progression. Over a long disease course, patients will need many different interventions and access to the widest possible range is important. Whilst there are lower response rates for HCDs in biologic inadequate response phase III studies, responders can be observed after only 3 months of treatment. Restricting the number of drug choices is also likely to affect clinical practice, as less effective drugs could be continued unnecessarily for fear of running out of choices. Disclosure  D. Walker: Honoraria; Gilead Sciences Ltd, Ely Lilly Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Grants/research support; Gilead Sciences Ltd. S. Robinson: None. J. Barry: Corporate appointments; Gilead Sciences Ltd. P. Punter: Corporate appointments; Gilead Sciences Ltd. S. Kearns: Corporate appointments; Gilead Sciences Ltd.

Ras al Khaimah: further archaeological discoveries

Antiquity ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 50 (200) ◽  
pp. 216-222
Author(s):  
Beatrice De Cardi
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
The State ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

Ras a1 Khaimah is the most northerly of the seven states comprising the United Arab Emirates and its Ruler, H. H. Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qasimi, is keenly interested in the history of the state and its people. Survey carried out there jointly with Dr D. B. Doe in 1968 had focused attention on the site of JuIfar which lies just north of the present town of Ras a1 Khaimah (de Cardi, 1971, 230-2). Julfar was in existence in Abbasid times and its importance as an entrep6t during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries-the Portuguese Period-is reflected by the quantity and variety of imported wares to be found among the ruins of the city. Most of the sites discovered during the survey dated from that period but a group of cairns near Ghalilah and some long gabled graves in the Shimal area to the north-east of the date-groves behind Ras a1 Khaimah (map, FIG. I) clearly represented a more distant past.

Lichens in the North-East regions of Cyprus

1999 ◽  
Vol 110 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 455-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Güvenç ◽  
Ş Öztürk
Keyword(s):  
North East ◽  
The North
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