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1
Costello, Leesa. "Communicating health promotion on the web: the building, functioning and marketing of a therapeutic online community." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2009. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1854.
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This research was motivated by several important communication and public health issues. In terms of communication, the issue at hand was whether an authentic online health-related service could be started from scratch that would exhibit the hallmarks of community. If so, could the community offer effective support to its members? Would such a community help reduce the disadvantage experienced by some people who live outside the metropolitan area and away from health-related face to face support groups? If the on line community were supported by a charity, would community members feel more inclined to support the charity themselves, through donations, for example?
In terms of the public health agenda, heart-related diseases are a national concern in Australia and throughout many (predominantly) westernised countries. While preventing heart disease, in particular, must remain the primary focus for public health initiatives; for those already affected, the National Heart Foundation (WA) has recognised that social support is a significant protective factor along with other healthy lifestyle behaviours. Social support or access to support programs has been positioned as particularly lacking for those who reside in rural or remote areas of Australia. Therefore, finding ways to provide mechanisms and avenues for the delivery of support and rehabilitation have been identified as critical if the secondary prevention (i.e., recovery) of heart disease is to be achieved. An online community is one response to this challenge.
Given that the prevalence of heart disease increases with age, Australia's baby boomer generation is moving into a vulnerable life stage. If this large cohort is not provided for, a myriad of social and economic ramifications will follow. The National Heart Foundation has also expressed concern that baby boomers are less concerned about making donations to support their work than predecessor generations; and this may ultimately reduce the types of public health programs which are made available as more of this generation encounters heart conditions.
This research, funded by an ARC Linkage grant with the National Heart Foundation (WA) as the Industry Partner, set out to respond to these challenges through the provision of a best practice website to support heart patients in Western Australia. My role, as the PhD Candidate, was to oversee all aspects of the project's design, implementation and evaluation in order to achieve the research goals. Although I was supported by specialist supervisors and technicians, all aspects of the research were undertaken as part of my PhD journey.
The website that was developed, HeartNET, provided the mechanism to determine if a sense of community among heart patients could be fostered online, not only to produce therapeutic outcomes but to support the healthy behaviours which reduce the recurrence of heart disease or illnesses. Given the challenges with rural and remote access to support services, the building of a 'community' was aptly positioned to deliver support and rehabilitation regardless of location.
The research utilised an intervention-approach which relied upon the development of a successful website from the grassroots. That is, although research into the hallmarks of what patients consider to be community was the primary research objective, this could not be undertaken unless the website were deemed successful. Achieving the 'right' website was eventually delivered after two iterations; when it had reached a critical mass of participants, having undertaken substantial marketing and public relations activities, and after interactive tools had been fine-tuned. With the website running smoothly, utilising a netnographic methodology provided the best way to investigate the notion of community. In order to ensure rigour and trustworthiness, the research utilised two groups of participants - those who accessed the website, and those who acted as comparison, and therefore did not have access. The netnography, similar to ethnography but with unique markers for online research, utilised a number of qualitative data collection techniques - a focus group, in-depth interviews, online transcripts, and other observational techniques - along with questionnaires for quantitative data collection at the commencement of the research and after 12 months of participation.
The netnography revealed that a strong sense of community developed on the HeartNET website over a 12 month duration. The community began when members started forming relationships with each other, which resulted in a sense of bonding and belonging. Members were also identified as offering mutual support as part of a 'gift economy' which led to revelations about a reduced sense of isolation or aloneness. Having identified community features, the analysis turned to issues of identity and culture which resulted in a sense of community ownership and reinforcement of community values. The analysis then revealed some positive signs of an improvement in healthy lifestyle choices for healthy diet, physical activity and smoking cessation. The questionnaire data adds some additional weight to, and provides triangulation for, what was observed online in relation to health outcomes. The final stage analysis revealed that, although methodological issues would not allow for an in-depth interrogation of philanthropic support in terms of attitudes and behaviours to do with donations, it did reveal a new philanthropic currency in that HeartNET members were willing to donate their time, stories, and experiences to support Heart Foundation events and activities.
This thesis offers an innovative application of communications theory within a health context by providing a detailed roadmap for the development of other online health-related communities.
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Watson, James W. "Free Clinics and the Uninsured: The Need for Remote Area Medical in Central Appalachia After Health Reform." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1358.
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In 2008, the election of President Barack Obama brought health care to the forefront of national discussions and led to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The legislation changed the rules of health care delivery in the United States, but the ACA did not do one fundamental thing: It did not end the need for many of the nation's most needy patients to seek free medical care from groups such as Remote Area Medical (RAM).
A mobile clinic, RAM brings together volunteer dentists, physicians, nurses, and other professionals as well as support staff for multi-day clinic events to provide free, on-site care to anyone presenting for treatment without qualification questions. This thesis looks at the ongoing need for RAM in central Appalachia after the passage of the ACA due to a continued lack of comprehensive health care coverage for all Americans.
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Murphy, Angela University of Ballarat. "When urban policy meets regional practice : Evidence based practice from the perspective of multi-disciplinary teams working in rural and remote health service provision." University of Ballarat, 2004. http://archimedes.ballarat.edu.au:8080/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/12747.
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"In the main, contemporary research on Evidence Based Practice (EBP) has taken place within metropolitan locations, and has offered urbocentric solutions and insights. However the transferability of these developments to rural services is untested empirically. In addition, evidence development and studies on the implementation of this evidence have tended to be discipline-stream-specific; there has been very little research into either the development of multi-disciplinary evidence guidelines or the implementation of EBP from the perspective of individual practitioners working within multi-disciplinary teams. This research shortfall has provided the rationale for this study...."Doctor of Philosophy
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Murphy, Angela. "When urban policy meets regional practice : Evidence based practice from the perspective of multi-disciplinary teams working in rural and remote health service provision." Thesis, University of Ballarat, 2004. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/67365.
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"In the main, contemporary research on Evidence Based Practice (EBP) has taken place within metropolitan locations, and has offered urbocentric solutions and insights. However the transferability of these developments to rural services is untested empirically. In addition, evidence development and studies on the implementation of this evidence have tended to be discipline-stream-specific; there has been very little research into either the development of multi-disciplinary evidence guidelines or the implementation of EBP from the perspective of individual practitioners working within multi-disciplinary teams. This research shortfall has provided the rationale for this study...."Doctor of Philosophy
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Murphy, Angela. "When urban policy meets regional practice : Evidence based practice from the perspective of multi-disciplinary teams working in rural and remote health service provision." University of Ballarat, 2004. http://archimedes.ballarat.edu.au:8080/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/14586.
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"In the main, contemporary research on Evidence Based Practice (EBP) has taken place within metropolitan locations, and has offered urbocentric solutions and insights. However the transferability of these developments to rural services is untested empirically. In addition, evidence development and studies on the implementation of this evidence have tended to be discipline-stream-specific; there has been very little research into either the development of multi-disciplinary evidence guidelines or the implementation of EBP from the perspective of individual practitioners working within multi-disciplinary teams. This research shortfall has provided the rationale for this study...."Doctor of Philosophy
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Godrich, Stephanie Louise. "Food insecurity and fruit and vegetable consumption among regional and remote Western Australian children: Determinants, prevalence and predictors." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1975.
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Living in a community with adequate availability of nutritious food, and the capacity to access and utilise it, are key food security determinants (FSD). However, inequities relating to these determinants exist between regional and remote Western Australian (WA) communities, particularly regarding fruit and vegetables (F&V). This negatively impacts vulnerable populations, especially children. In order to understand determinants, prevalence and predictors of F&V and food security (FS), three concepts were explored in this PhD; (1) F&V consumption among regional and remote WA children (including determinants of F&V consumption, quantities, types, varieties of F&V consumed); (2) FS among regional and remote WA children (children’s FSD, prevalence of child food insecurity (FI) and socio-demographic predictors of FI); and (3) the relationship between FSD and F&V consumption among regional and remote WA children (FSD predictors of F&V consumption).
Methods This mixed-methods study included semi-structured interviews with 20 key informants, to explore determinants of F&V consumption and FS among regional and remote WA children. Cross-sectional surveys were completed by caregiver-child dyads (n = 256), to understand children’s F&V consumption behaviours, determine child FI prevalence and assess whether FSD predicted adequate F&V consumption. Twenty-four hour food diaries measured F&V amounts and varieties consumed. Data analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS (version 23), Microsoft Excel and QSR NVivo (version 10).
Results The determinants of children’s F&V consumption were explored using an Ecological Model of Health Behaviour. F&V quantities, types and varieties consumed were then quantified; more children achieved adequate fruit serves (65.8%) than vegetable serves (15.4%). Quantities consumed did not differ between regional and remote locations, however, F&V types and varieties consumed did. The FSD across food availability, access and utilisation dimensions were examined, illuminating inequities relating to food supply, social support and nutrition education. The calculation of prevalence and socio-demographic predictors of child FI revealed that one in five children were FI; family receipt of government income support (p = 0.022) and residency in a location of ‘Medium disadvantage’ (p = 0.023) predicted child FI. Subsequently, the association between FSD and adequate fruit intake among WA children was examined. After controlling for socio-demographic predictors, no determinants were significantly associated with fruit intake. However, FSD were associated with vegetable consumption; varieties and types of vegetables consumed (p = 0.007), health message promotion (p = 0.017), location of food outlets (p = 0.027) and price (p = 0.043) significantly predicted adequate vegetable consumption.
Conclusion This study contributed a greater understanding of the complex, interwoven factors that influence FS among regional and remote WA children, namely food availability, access, utilisation, and the impact on F&V consumption. Findings provide a basis for advocacy to improve inequities across WA, relating to food supply, social support and nutrition education. It also provides focus for health promotion practitioners who work with target groups affected by FI, to customise strategies to improve F&V consumption based on FSD, and has identified valuable future research pathways.
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Coltri, Priscila Pereira. "Influência do uso e cobertura do solo no clima de Piracicaba, São Paulo: análise de séries históricas, ilhas de calor e técnicas de sensoriamento remoto." Universidade de São Paulo, 2006. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11136/tde-25102006-123617/.
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As mudanças climáticas globais, regionais e locais representam, na atualidade, uma das maiores preocupações da humanidade. Essas mudanças podem ocorrer tanto a partir de causas naturais quanto a partir de causas antrópicas. As áreas das cidades se caracterizam por apresentarem temperaturas mais elevadas quando comparadas com as áreas rurais. Essa anomalia térmica causa a formação de ilhas de calor e esse fenômeno é reconhecidamente importante em estudos de clima urbano. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi, através de técnicas do sensoriamento remoto, identificar e analisar as ilhas de calor do Município de Piracicaba, SP verificando sua sazonalidade, intensidade e morfologia. Para tanto foi necessário realizar uma análise climática regional e verificar a possibilidade do uso do algoritmo de transformação termal do software IDRISI 3.2 nas imagens do satélite Landsat 7. Para validar o algoritmo foram aplicados dois métodos de transformação de temperatura aparente de superfície. Para a análise climática regional foram estudados os principais elementos climáticos do Município de Piracicaba, SP utilizando-se de dados da Estação Meteorológica da ESALQ/USP entre os anos de 1950 e 2005 e estes foram correlacionados com variáveis da urbanização. Concluiu-se, com os dados encontrados, que os elementos temperatura, precipitação, umidade relativa e evaporação tiveram tendência de aumento no período estudado e todos eles foram classificados como tendências climáticas. A temperatura apresentou tendência de aumento mais acentuada e se correlacionou positivamente com o aumento da urbanização. O algoritmo de transformação do software IDRISI 3.2 para o satélite Landsat 7 foi validado, sendo uma importante ferramenta para a utilização de imagens de melhor resolução. As ilhas de calor mais intensas do verão são representadas por locais com excesso de material de construção civil e pouca ou nenhuma área verde. A diferença entre a área urbana e a área rural da cidade ultrapassou 16°C no verão. O Parque da Rua do Porto é uma ilha de frescor e exerce um efeito oásis no centro e nos bairros vizinhos. O perfil das ilhas de calor do Município de Piracicaba não segue aquele delimitado por OKE (1974). As ilhas de calor variam sazonal e espacialmente e a intensidade destas, ao longo das estações do ano, está intimamente relacionada com a sazonalidade da cultura da cana-deaçúcar. As ilhas de calor da época da entressafra são, em média, 3.5°C mais intensas que as da época da safra. Por fim, pode-se afirmar que o uso e a cobertura do solo rural e urbano é um dos grandes agentes modificadores do clima local e regional.Global, regional and local climate changes represent one of the greatest concerns of humanity. Climate changes can occur through natural or anthropogenic causes. Urban areas usually present higher temperatures than rural areas. This thermal effect is called heat-island phenomenon and has great importance on urban climate studies. In the present work, we identified and analyzed the heat-islands from Piracicaba, São Paulo using remote sensing techniques. The heat-islands were analyzed according to its seasonality, intensity and morphology using images from Landsat 7 satellite. We performed analysis on regional climate changes and investigated the use of the IDRISI thermal algorithm to convert Landsat 7 infrared thermal data on land surface temperature (LST). In order to transform Landsat 7 infrared thermal data we used two mathematical methods. Climate changes were analyzed by monitoring the climate elements for long periods of time, enabling the visualization of directional or periodical regional changes. The main climate elements were studied using data from ESALQ meteorological station for the last 55 years (1950-2005). Temperature, relative humidity, evaporation and precipitation variation were found to be correlated with urban growth parameters. The results indicated that temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and evaporation increased during the studied period and have been classified as climate trends. The temperature presented the more accentuated trend of increase and was positively correlated with the growing urbanization. The software IDRISI 3.2 can be used with Landsat 7 high resolution images, being a useful and rapid tool to study urban heat islands. The most intense summer heatislands were represented by regions with higher amounts of constructed areas and almost any green area. In fact, during the summer the difference between the urban and rural areas was greater than 10°C. The Rua do Porto park was identified as a fresh-island and showed the oasis effect to the Center and neighbouring regions. Heat-islands varied according to the season and space and its intensity is intimately related to the sugar-cane seasonality. During the intercrop period the heat-islands were 3.5°C more intense than during the crop period. In conclusion land cover and land use affect local and regional climates.
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Parsons, David Norman. "Autism in regional and remote communities: Examining the effect of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis on regional and remote families and innovative therapies." Thesis, Curtin University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/77525.
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This PhD project aims to address therapy service access barriers for families of children with autism spectrum disorder living in regional and remote Western Australia. Therefore the feasibility, effectiveness and appropriateness of an information communication technology based intervention, the Therapy Outcomes By Your Playpad Application were examined. The findings provide partial support for the Therapy Outcomes By Your Playpad Application as a feasible, effective and appropriate intervention for families of children with autism spectrum disorder.
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Faw, Timothy Dale. "A Protected Microenvironment and White Matter Plasticity after Eccentric Rehabilitation in Spinal Cord Injury." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu157442327281762.
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Rahman, Abdullah Faizur 1963. "Monitoring regional-scale surface hydrologic processes using satellite remote sensing." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/191212.
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Satellite-based remotely sensed data were used to estimate regional-scale surface energy fluxes and a water deficit index of a semi-arid heterogeneous region in southeast Arizona. Spectral reflectance and radiometric temperature of the surface, derived from the digital counts of TM bands of LANDSAT-5 satellite, were used for this purpose. These reflectance and temperature, along with conventional meteorological information of the region, were used as inputs to numerical models which estimate surface energy fluxes. Point-based meteorological data of the region were spatially extrapolated over a grid of 120 m X 120 m so that it could be used with the spatially continuous remotely sensed data. The water deficit index (WDI) was estimated using surface temperature and a spectral vegetation index, "soil adjusted vegetation index" (SAVI). The surface fluxes were net radiation flux, sensible heat flux, soil heat flux and latent heat flux. Measured values obtained from the meteorological flux measurement (METFLUX) stations in the study area were compared with the modeled fluxes. Latent heat flux (LE) was the most important one to estimate in the scope of this study. The method of spatially extrapolating the point-based meteorological information and combining with the remotely sensed data produced good estimation of LE for the region, with a mean absolute difference (MAD) of 65 W/m² over a range of 67 to 196 W/m² . Also it was found that the numerical models that were previously used to estimate daily LE values from a region using mid-day remotely sensed data (mostly from NOAAAVHRR) can also be used with the mid-morning remotely sensed data (from LANDSAT). Out of the two models tested for this purpose (`Seguin-Itier' and 'Jackson' models), one was found to need some modification so that it could use mid-morning remotely sensed data as inputs. The other was found to be useable as it is, without any modification. Outputs from both models compared well with the measured fluxes from the METFLUX stations. In an effort of estimating the water deficit of the different biomes of the region, WDI of the biomes were estimated. The main goal of this effort was to be able to monitor the surface hydrologic conditions of the region using remotely sensed vegetation and surface information, and minimum ground data. Good estimation of the water deficit condition of the area were obtained by this method. This method was found to be sensitive to a few of the ground information such as wind speed and leaf area index (LAI). It was also found that if the required ground data were correctly estimated, this method could be used as an operational procedure for monitoring the vegetation water stress of the biomes and hence for better management of the region.
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Maclean, John Ross. "Telemedicine in remote health care." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.264331.
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This thesis offers a review of the historical development of telemedicine services in remote health care. It addresses the professional concerns in practising medicine in isolated conditions, and the advances in telecommunications technology since the telephone was invented. It also examines the application of telemedicine in remote environments across the world, such as in indigenous communities, remote industrial work sites and at scientific bases in Antarctica. At its most exotic, a review is offered of the health care for space crews. The literature review highlights a number of concerns about the state of the art knowledge on remote health care services. These concerns are the minimal training requirements of individuals who act as health care practitioners in the remote environment, the additional training requirement upon the advising medical practitioner, and the design of a system for the collection of clinical information from the patient. In response to the above a two year study was conducted. Quantitative and qualitative observation of remote health care consultations was undertaken. The environments studied were simulation cases occurring in the UK and Antarctica, and real cases presenting on oil installations in the North Sea. The study results answer the original concerns about the training levels, data collection and communications components of a remote health care service. In addition, they offer valuable input towards the design of a telemedicine model for remote health care. The telemedicine model is presented as a framework upon which future developments in the field of telemedicine may be approached.
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Manurung, Parluhutan. "Processing techniques for regional GPS networks remote from fiducial sites." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309825.
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Kasoar, Matthew. "Local and remote impacts of regional aerosol emissions on climate." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/42501.
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Aerosols are short-lived in the atmosphere, and so their distribution and climate forcing is very inhomogeneous. To understand the behaviour of the climate system in response to inhomogeneous forcing, and to inform emission policy choices, we must investigate how emissions from individual geographic regions affect the climate regionally and globally. I present here the results of two interwoven modelling studies. First, I analyse the simulated temperature response to perturbing sulfur dioxide emissions over a specific region – China – in three current generation climate models. Second, I systematically investigate with a single model the temperature and precipitation responses to black carbon and sulfur dioxide emissions from the United States, Europe, East Asia, and India. These simulations reveal in the first instance that there is very large uncertainty around aerosol-climate interactions in present climate models. Removing SO2 emissions from China results in a six-fold difference in the optical depth and short-wave flux changes over China between different models, and the resulting surface temperature response is poorly constrained. However, the subsequent systematic perturbations indicate that in the event the regional forcing is large, then there are striking features of the climate response that are consistent across different perturbation locations. Emission changes always result not only in a strong local response around the emission region, but also a strong remote response, the pattern of which is insensitive to the original location of emission changes. There is, however, variation in the efficacy with which emissions from different regions force the climate, with US and European sulphur dioxide emission changes having a larger effect than East Asian emission changes. The results presented here are relevant for understanding the effect of potential future emission controls, and also for understanding how the climate responds to different localised forcings, which has not been tested in complex coupled climate models previously.
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Morris, Scott Edward Washer Glenn A. "Remote health monitoring for asset management." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/6556.
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The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 19, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Glenn Washer. Includes bibliographical references.
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Al-Ahwal, Saleh Abdullah Hussain. "The health care of remote industrial communities." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.248244.
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The main part of the introduction illustrates the health care provision made in the past for workforces of the oil and gas industries functioning in remote places usually associated with an environmental hazard. Much of the past work has been carried out in the North Sea and the provision made there has been reviewed in some detail together with the gradual development of health care in the United Arab Emirates for both the offshore and the onshore oil-related workforces. There follows a short review of the provision made for two analogous situations - Newfoundland and Labrador and the British Antarctic Territories - since the developments there are of direct relevance to the Middle East situation. The main environmental hazard in the Middle East is heat and so the physiology and pathology of thermal balance in man are addressed in some detail. The first study is on the identification of the particular thermal problem which occurs in the offshore workings on the Abu Dhabi oil and gas companies, namely heat cramps. This problems had not been previously identified and the work done in determining its presence and its management is duly reported, indicating the problems of accepting health education material designed for one environment by another. In the development of systems of health care for both oil and non-oil related remote populations, the importance of training of the population at risk has been repeatedly emphasised. The perceived problems in that area are skill retention by laymen and the acceptance of the guidelines of the European and US Resuscitation Councils. A second study was therefore carried out to examine skill retention in laymen together with the feasibility of carrying out resuscitation manoeuvres in high temperatures.
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Jasti, Madhu Narasimha Rao. "IoT based remote patient health monitoring system." Kansas State University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/38268.
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Master of ScienceDepartment of Computer Science
Daniel A. Andresen
With an improvement in technology and miniaturization of sensors, there have been attempts to utilize the new technology in various areas to improve the quality of human life. One main area of research that has seen an adoption of the technology is the healthcare sector. The people in need of healthcare services find it very expensive this is particularly true in developing countries. As a result, this project is an attempt to solve a healthcare problem currently society is facing. The main objective of the project was to design a remote healthcare system. It’s comprised of three main parts. The first part being, detection of patient’s vitals using sensors, second for sending data to cloud storage and the last part was providing the detected data for remote viewing. Remote viewing of the data enables a doctor or guardian to monitor a patient’s health progress away from hospital premises. The Internet of Things (IoT) concepts have been widely used to interconnect the available medical resources and offer smart, reliable, and effective healthcare service to the patients. Health monitoring for active and assisted living is one of the paradigms that can use the IoT advantages to improve the patient’s lifestyle. In this project, I have presented an IoT architecture customized for healthcare applications. The aim of the project was to come up with a Remote Health Monitoring System that can be made with locally available sensors with a view to making it affordable if it were to be mass produced. Hence the proposed architecture collects the sensor data through Arduino microcontroller and relays it to the cloud where it is processed and analyzed for remote viewing. Feedback actions based on the analyzed data can be sent back to the doctor or guardian through Email and/or SMS alerts in case of any emergencies.
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Yang, Cheng. "Multimedia motion analysis for remote health monitoring." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2017. http://digitool.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=27952.
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Substantial amount of research in home-use health monitoring techniques has emerged given growing global health awareness and ageing population in recent decades. These sensor-driven home-use healthcare applications encourage patient involvement at home during daytime activities and nighttime sleep, effectively help assess patients conditions away from clinics and hospitals, and significantly reduce the number of infirmary visits. However, there are two main issues in current wearable/remote sensor-based home-use health monitoring applications: 1) portable human motion analysis systems that are commercially available still require substantial amount of manual effort to process the measurements, which is time consuming and thus impractical for long-term home-use health monitoring, and 2) current sleep-related health monitoring applications are intrusive to the body, limited to measuring the respiration rate and sleep duration, or not clinically validated to demonstrate their efficacy. In this dissertation, we overcome the drawbacks of current health monitoring systems as follows. For lower limb motion analysis, we propose an alternative to state of the art optical motion analysis systems, cost-effective and portable, single-camera system. For upper limb motion analysis, we track all relevant body joints simultaneously, and classify the post-stroke recovery levels based on features extracted from the tracked body-joint trajectories. For abnormal respiratory event detection during sleep, we propose to record video and audio of a patient using a depth camera during his/her sleep, and extract relevant features to train a classifier for detection of the abnormal respiratory events scored manually by a scientific officer based on data collected by a clinical-use sleeping device The main contribution of this dissertation lies in proposing new application-driven algorithms for advancing cost-effective human limb motion analysis and sleep monitoring healthcare techniques, including an autonomous detection scheme for finding the initial and final frames that are of interest for video analysis, a single marker tracking scheme that is based on the Kalman filter and Structural Similarity image quality assessment,an autonomous gait event detection scheme that is based on the features of the relative positions of the markers, a scheme classification of the post-stroke recovery level by minimization of graph total variation with graph-based signal processing, an alternating-frame depth video coding scheme, a depth video temporal denoising scheme using a motion vector graph smoothness prior, and a dual-ellipse model that can efficiently track the torso motion during a person is sleeping. Experimental results show that, both the autonomous frame-of-interest detection and gait event detection show high detections rates. The validation of tracking in terms of the knee angle, shoulder movement, trunk tilt and elbow movement with a gold standard optical motion analysis system shows R-squared value larger than 0.95. The graph-based classification scheme has the potential to accurately classify participants into different stroke groups. Our depth video coding scheme outperforms a competitor that records only the 8 most significant bits. Our temporal denoising scheme reduces the flickering effect without ever-smoothing. Finally, our trained classifiers can deduce respiratory events with high accuracy. Overall, our proposed limb motion analysis system offers an alternative,inexpensive and convenient solution for clinical gait and upper limb motion analysis,and our proposed sleep monitoring system can reliably detect abnormal respiratory events using our extracted video and audio features.
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Collins, Jonathan D. "Remote monitoring systems for substructural health monitoring." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2008. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0002605.
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Osman, E. M. H. "Crop yield forecasting at national and regional levels using remote sensing techniques." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2003. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/11058.
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Crop yield forecasting models are needed to help farmers and decision makers cheaply
detect crop condition early enough to assess and mitigate its impacts on grain
production. A precise estimate of crop production requires an accurate measure of the
total cultivated area and well-established knowledge of crop yield. The first
requirement is no longer a problem as is technically solved through various techniques
such as area frame sampling. With respect to the second, great efforts have been made
to find an accurate definition of the crop yield with respect to the actual factors that
shape its growth through out the season. Agrometeorological models have found a
wide range of applications in agricultural research and technology and are playing an
increasing role in translating information about climate variability into assessments,
predictions and recommendations tailored to the needs of agricultural decision makers.
However these models have generally been developed and tested for application at the
scale of a homogeneous plot. They are criticized for their inability to address large-scale
yield estimates at regional or even national levels in addition to their high cost of
application. This is because field conditions during the period of crop establishment at
the regional scale may be quite variable and poorly represented by standard parameter
values of the crop model.
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Osman, El Mamoun H. "Crop yield forecasting at national and regional levels using remote sensing techniques." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2003. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/11058.
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Crop yield forecasting models are needed to help farmers and decision makers cheaply detect crop condition early enough to assess and mitigate its impacts on grain production. A precise estimate of crop production requires an accurate measure of the total cultivated area and well-established knowledge of crop yield. The first requirement is no longer a problem as is technically solved through various techniques such as area frame sampling. With respect to the second, great efforts have been made to find an accurate definition of the crop yield with respect to the actual factors that shape its growth through out the season. Agrometeorological models have found a wide range of applications in agricultural research and technology and are playing an increasing role in translating information about climate variability into assessments, predictions and recommendations tailored to the needs of agricultural decision makers. However these models have generally been developed and tested for application at the scale of a homogeneous plot. They are criticized for their inability to address large-scale yield estimates at regional or even national levels in addition to their high cost of application. This is because field conditions during the period of crop establishment at the regional scale may be quite variable and poorly represented by standard parameter values of the crop model.
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Anda, Martin. "Technologists in remote Aboriginal communities : a regional approach for community-building technology." Thesis, Anda, Martin ORCID: 0000-0001-7398-4192 (1998) Technologists in remote Aboriginal communities : a regional approach for community-building technology. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1998. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/22686/.
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This study developed from technical research and development of an ablutions facility for remote Aboriginal communities by the author. The poor state of environmental health and essential services in these communities were the inspiration for the study and are described in the context of current and emerging approaches to service delivery in Western Australia. The fieldwork associated with the deployment of the ablutions facility provided the opportunity to conduct research into these approaches by technologists and has resulted in both the evaluation of the ablutions facility and formulation of Appropriate Technology approaches to service delivery using grounded theory methodology.
Contained within the ablutions facility, known as the Remote Area Hygiene Facility (RAHF), were several discrete technologies also under development by the author and associates: a plastic solar water heater, a pour-flush toilet and an evapotranspiration wastewater disposal system. The technical appropriateness of these artefacts was assessed through action research trials in Aboriginal town camps and there were both successes and failures in this dimension of technology-practice. The structural design of the RAHF changed considerably over the period to meet the requirements of the users. The trials found that the solar water heater was able to function as required in the short term, but further development was required to provide suitable plastic components for continuous operation at high temperatures and under ultraviolet irradiation. The pour-flush toilet met all of its technical objectives, but further development was required to produce a durable, low-flush cistern. The evapotranspiration trench performed entirely satisfactorily and was thereafter implemented at other sites throughout Western Australia.
The fieldwork combined with a review of Appropriate Technology, community development and aid projects in developing countries inspired a concept to address the social and cultural dimensions of technology-practice: Community-building Technology. Community-building Technology is a simultaneous process of service delivery and empowerment which introduces technology to a community by means of training programs, community participation in construction projects, or cultural activities. One RAHF project was able to validate this concept. As a result of the fieldwork becoming an exercise in service delivery the establishment of regional, Appropriate Technology, training and manufacturing centres was attempted. One centre was established, but the attempt was unsuccessful at the other two sites. Additional fieldwork was conducted by the author to determine the requirements for regional technology information services. This ongoing work with remote Aboriginal communities motivated the development of two further concepts complementary to the first: Community Technology and Regional Technology. The former required the establishment of an ensemble of integrated technologies within a community and could not be validated within the scope of the study. However, some legitimacy could be shown for the latter through a review of approaches in central Australia, the aspirations of some regional organisations in WA, and the successful establishment of the Remote Area Technology Centre as a regional Appropriate Technology agency. Finally, the strength of these three concepts was found to be as components of an integrated framework for sustainable service delivery, management, and maintenance in remote Aboriginal communities which combined the resources of a number of communities in a region. This improved mode of technology-practice, the integrated framework, is termed Regional Technology.
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Hyatt, Carly Adeline. "Development and Regional Application of Sub-Seasonal Remote- Sensing Chlorophyll Detection Models." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4390.
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Remote sensing has been used as an effective chlorophyll-a detection method in inland lakes and reservoirs. Concentration estimates of chlorophyll-a approximate the amounts of algae and phytoplankton in a body of water, can indicate the existence of large blooms and high nutrient loading, and can be used as an indicator of water quality. These biomasses pose potential threats to the quality of the water and the local environment by depleting oxygen, influencing the taste of the drinking water and detrimentally affecting aesthetics and recreation. Deer Creek Reservoir exhibited eutrophic tendencies in the early 1990's, caused by phosphorus pollution. This was made evident by accelerated algae growth. Following remediation efforts, Deer Creek Reservoir, as well as nearby Jordanelle Reservoir have been closely monitored with regular field sampling. These field data have been used to develop remote sensing methods using Landsat images to provide supplementary information for reservoir management. These remote sensing methods allow for mapping of the distribution of chlorophyll-a, which provides spatial distribution average, and maximum estimates of chlorophyll-a concentrations, data and information that are not feasible with in-field sampling. In this thesis, traditional methods for remote sensing models are discussed, and a novel sub-seasonal approach based on seasonal algal succession is proposed and demonstrated. Each seasonal model is created using a standard stepwise regression using historic field data and the associated Landsat images and is statistically tested for leverage to ensure unbiased model development. These sub-seasonal detection models are applied to 5 reservoirs in the central-Utah region to provide a more comprehensive description of reservoir behavior and water quality trends over the past 30 years. Historic trends of the average and maximum chlorophyll-a estimates are provided for each of the reservoirs. Example color maps are presented to demonstrate the ability of remote sensing to represent the spatial distribution of algae (using chlorophyll as an indicator). Limitations for this approach are discussed, as well as applications for remotely sensed water quality data on a regional scale.
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Fourniadis, Ioannis. "Regional assessment of landslide impact in the Three Gorges, China, using remote sensing." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/7908.
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Sill, Paul E. (Paul Eric). "Assessing Regional Gully Erosion Risk: A Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Approach." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1995. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332453/.
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Gully erosion has been established as a major source of sediment pollution in the upper Trinity River watershed in north-central Texas. This fact, along with a lack of models appropriate for a large-area gully erosion analysis established a need for a gully erosion study in the upper Trinity basin. This thesis project attempted to address this need by deriving an index indicative of gully erosion risk using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) methodology. In context of previous field studies, the coarse spatial resolution of the input GIS data layers presented a challenge to prediction of gully prone areas. However, the remote sensing/GIS approach was found to provide useful reconnaissance information on gully risk over large areas.
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Isaac, Peter Robert, and peter isaac@flinders edu au. "Estimating Surface-Atmosphere Exchange at Regional Scales." Flinders University. School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, 2006. http://catalogue.flinders.edu.au./local/adt/public/adt-SFU20060412.170700.
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This thesis examines a method for estimating the daytime fluxes of heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide at regional scales by using simple models to combine spatially resolved surface properties with bulk meteorological quantities measured at a central location. The central themes of this thesis are that the spatial and temporal variability of regional scale fluxes are contained in the surface properties and meteorology respectively and that the surface properties can be interpolated across a heterogeneous landscape using remotely sensed data. The regional scale fluxes estimated using this technique are compared to the values from three other methods and this allows some conclusions to be made regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of each method. The surface property approach yields robust estimates of the fluxes that will be useful in researching exchange processes at regional scales, providing input parameters for, and validation of, the biosphere components of General Circulation Models and testing inventory estimates of CO2 budgets.
The surface properties are derived using data from 33 aircraft flights and eight ground-based sites along a 96 km transect established during the 1995 Observations At Several Interacting Scales experiment held near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. Surface properties examined are the evaporative fraction (ratio of evapotranspiration to available energy), the Bowen ratio (ratio of sensible heat flux to evapotranspiration), the maximum stomatal conductance (maximum stomatal opening under optimal conditions) and the water-use efficiency (ratio of CO2 flux to evapotranspiration). Maximum stomatal conductance is calculated using a simple model of the stomatal response to light and water vapour deficit assuming soil evaporation occurs at the equilibrium rate. The diurnal trend and day-to-day variability in the surface properties is found to be significantly less than the spatial variability. All of the surface properties examined show some sensitivity to the synoptic conditions.
The relationships between the surface properties and the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are examined using a 130 km by 50 km sub-scene from a Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) image obtained five days before the start of the experiment period. The ground-based and aircraft observations are used to calculate the source-area influencing each measurement and this is combined with the Landsat 5 TM data to produce an average, source-area weighted NDVI for each ground-based site and each aircraft location. The source-area model is important because it provides the link between the observations and the remotely sensed data by identifying the surface patch that influences the measurements. Linear relationships are found between the source-area weighted NDVI and the surface properties. The observed relationships are used to interpolate the surface properties over the region covered by the satellite image and spatial variations in water loss and CO2 uptake by the surface vegetation are identified that are not resolved by the ground-based network.
Analysis of the ground-based data showed that the spatial variability of the bulk meteorological quantities used in the surface property approach was much less than the diurnal trend in these data. With the small temporal variation in the surface properties noted before, this confirms the utility of assigning the spatial and temporal variability of the fluxes to the surface properties and the meteorology respectively.
The combination of surface properties derived from the aircraft data and meteorology measured at a single location at the centre of the transect shows good skill in predicting the observed fluxes. Furthermore, the discrepancies between the predictions and the observations are explained by the different source-areas of the aircraft and ground-based data and much of the bias is removed when the surface properties are scaled from the NDVI of the aircraft source-area to the NDVI of the ground-based sites. Regional scale fluxes of heat and water vapour calculated using the surface property approach agree with averages of the ground-based data and this indicates that the ground-based network was representative of the OASIS region. Estimates of regional scale CO2 fluxes are not available from the ground-based network due to the lack of measurements at the driest ground-based site but the surface property approach yields plausible values. The results demonstrate the utility of extrapolating surface properties across heterogeneous landscapes using remotely sensed data.
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Khorakhun, Chonlatee. "Using quantified-self for future remote health monitoring." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9460.
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Remote monitoring is an essential part of future mHealth systems for the delivery of personal and pervasive healthcare, especially to allow the collection of personal bio-data outside clinical environments. mHealth involves the use of mobile technologies including sensors and smart phones with Internet connectivity to collect personal bio-data. Yet, by its very nature, it presents considerable challenges: (1) it will be a highly distributed task, (2) requiring collection of bio-data from a myriad of sources, (3) to be gathered at the clinical site, (4) and via secure communication channels. To address these challenges, we propose the use of an online social network (OSN) based on the quantified-self, i.e. the use of wearable sensors to monitor, collect and distribute personal bio-data, as a key component of a near-future remote health monitoring system. Additionally, the use of a social media context allows existing social interactions within the healthcare regime to be modeled within a carer network, working in harmony with, and providing support for, existing relationships and interactions between patients and healthcare professionals. We focus on the use of an online social media platform (OSMP) to enable two primitive functions of quantified-self which we consider essential for mHealth, and on which larger personal healthcare services could be built: remote health monitoring of personal bio-data, and an alert system for asynchronous notifications. We analyse the general requirements in a carer network for these two primitive functions, in terms of four different viewpoints within the carer network: the patient, the doctor in charge, a professional carer, and a family member (or friend) of the patient. We propose that a wellbeing remote monitoring scenario can act as a suitable proxy for mHealth monitoring by the use of an OSN. To allow rapid design, experimentation and evaluation of mHealth systems, we describe our experience of creating an mHealth system based on a wellbeing scenario, exploiting the quantified-self approach of measurement and monitoring. The use of wellbeing data in this manner is particularly valuable to researchers and systems developers, as key development work can be completed within a realistic scenario, but without risk to sensitive patient medical data. We discuss the suitability of using wellbeing monitoring as a proxy for mHealth monitoring with OSMPs in terms of functionality, performance and the key challenge in ensuring appropriate levels of security and privacy. We find that OSMPs based on quantified-self offer great potential for enabling personal and pervasive healthcare in an mHealth scenario.
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Spark, Ross L. "Developing health promotion methods in remote Aboriginal communities." Thesis, Curtin University, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/969.
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This thesis investigates the development and implementation of health promotion strategies and methods in remote Aboriginal communities via the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Promotion Project (KAHPP), a project funded under a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services and conducted by the School of Public Health at Curtin University of Technology. The aim of the project was to investigate the effectiveness of health promotion strategies and methods in remote Aboriginal communities and to develop structures for implementing effective Aboriginal health promotion programs.There were three main research components in this study: an assessment of health indicators; an assessment of the intervention impact; and an assessment of the media component of the intervention. The research methodology included the development of a culturally appropriate survey instrument and the conduct of cross-sectional surveys of three remote Aboriginal communities with differing historical circumstances in the Kimberley region. The questionnaire and field study methods were piloted in 1990 and the main study conducted in 1991 1[superscript].A health promotion intervention was conducted based on an approach originally developed in the Northern Territory 2[superscript]. The intervention employed community development and mass media strategies. Community members nominated health issues that they wished to address, from which 'storyboards' were created for health promotion advertisements to appear on remote television on a paid schedule 3[superscript]. Representative random samples of adult males and females from three remote Aboriginal communities were surveyed according to a range of attitudinal and behavioural health indicators. A post-test survey assessed media reach and impact and pre-post surveys assessed relevant changes in the communities.The cross-sectional survey of health indicators found differences between communities in terms of self-assessed health and risk behaviours. These are discussed in terms of the historical differences between communities and with respect to each community's current situation. Respondents from all communities rated environmental factors as important in their contribution to health, and generally more so than individual lifestyle behaviours.The study demonstrated that television has the potential to reach the vast majority of Aboriginal people in remote communities in the Kimberley. There was some indication that participation in the development of advertisements was associated with higher recognition and more positive assessments of that advertisement. No significant differences in selected indicators of community 'empowerment' were detected following the intervention.The thesis methodology has contributed to the development of a set of guidelines for the conduct of survey research in remote Aboriginal communities, 4[superscript] and has guided the formation of Aboriginal health promotion units in Western Australia and elsewhere.1. Spark R, Binns C, Laughlin D, Spooner C, Donovan RJ. Aboriginal people's perceptions of their own and their community's health: results of a pilot study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1992; 2(2):60-61.2. Spark R, Mills P. Promoting Aboriginal health on television in the Northern Territory: a bicultural approach. Drug Education Journal of Australia 1988; 2 (3):191-198.3. Spark R, Donovan RJ, Howat P. Promoting health and preventing injury in remote Aboriginal communities: a case study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1991; 1(2):10-16.4. Donovan RJ, Spark. R. Towards guidelines for conducting survey research in remote Aboriginal communities. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1997; 21:89-94.
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Spark, Ross L. "Developing health promotion methods in remote Aboriginal communities." Curtin University of Technology, School of Public Health, 1999. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=9501.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates the development and implementation of health promotion strategies and methods in remote Aboriginal communities via the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Promotion Project (KAHPP), a project funded under a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services and conducted by the School of Public Health at Curtin University of Technology. The aim of the project was to investigate the effectiveness of health promotion strategies and methods in remote Aboriginal communities and to develop structures for implementing effective Aboriginal health promotion programs.There were three main research components in this study: an assessment of health indicators; an assessment of the intervention impact; and an assessment of the media component of the intervention. The research methodology included the development of a culturally appropriate survey instrument and the conduct of cross-sectional surveys of three remote Aboriginal communities with differing historical circumstances in the Kimberley region. The questionnaire and field study methods were piloted in 1990 and the main study conducted in 1991 1[superscript].A health promotion intervention was conducted based on an approach originally developed in the Northern Territory 2[superscript]. The intervention employed community development and mass media strategies. Community members nominated health issues that they wished to address, from which 'storyboards' were created for health promotion advertisements to appear on remote television on a paid schedule 3[superscript]. Representative random samples of adult males and females from three remote Aboriginal communities were surveyed according to a range of attitudinal and behavioural health indicators. A post-test survey assessed media reach and impact and pre-post surveys assessed relevant changes in the communities.The cross-sectional survey ++of health indicators found differences between communities in terms of self-assessed health and risk behaviours. These are discussed in terms of the historical differences between communities and with respect to each community's current situation. Respondents from all communities rated environmental factors as important in their contribution to health, and generally more so than individual lifestyle behaviours.The study demonstrated that television has the potential to reach the vast majority of Aboriginal people in remote communities in the Kimberley. There was some indication that participation in the development of advertisements was associated with higher recognition and more positive assessments of that advertisement. No significant differences in selected indicators of community 'empowerment' were detected following the intervention.The thesis methodology has contributed to the development of a set of guidelines for the conduct of survey research in remote Aboriginal communities, 4[superscript] and has guided the formation of Aboriginal health promotion units in Western Australia and elsewhere.1. Spark R, Binns C, Laughlin D, Spooner C, Donovan RJ. Aboriginal people's perceptions of their own and their community's health: results of a pilot study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1992; 2(2):60-61.2. Spark R, Mills P. Promoting Aboriginal health on television in the Northern Territory: a bicultural approach. Drug Education Journal of Australia 1988; 2 (3):191-198.3. Spark R, Donovan RJ, Howat P. Promoting health and preventing injury in remote Aboriginal communities: a case study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1991; 1(2):10-16.4. Donovan RJ, Spark. R. Towards guidelines for conducting survey research in remote Aboriginal communities. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1997; 21:89-94.
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Cordova, Vicente D. "Regional-scale carbon flux estimation using MODIS imagery." Virtual Press, 2005. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1325989.
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The National Aeronautics and Space Agency NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) platform carried by Terra and Aqua satellites, is providing systematic measurements summarized in high quality, consistent and well-calibrated satellite images and datasets ranging from reflectance in the visible and near infrared bands to estimates of leaf area index, vegetation indices and biome productivity. The objective of this research was to relate the spectral responses and derived MODIS products of ecosystems, to biogeochemical processes and trends in their physiological variables. When different sources of data were compared, discrepancies between the MODIS variables and the corresponding ground measurements were evident. Uncertainties in the input variables of MODIS products algorithms, effects of cloud cover at the studied pixel, estimation algorithm, and local variation in land cover type are considered as the cause. A simple "continuous field" model based on a physiologically-driven spectral index using two ocean-color bands of MODIS satellite sensor showed great potential to track seasonally changing photosynthetic light use efficiency and stress-induced reduction in net primary productivity of terrestrial vegetation. The model explained 88% of the variability in Flux tower-based daily Net Primary Productivity. Also a high correlation between midday gross CO2 exchange with both daily and 8-day mean gross CO2 exchange, consistent across all the studied vegetation types, was found. Although it may not be possible to estimate 8-day mean Light Use Efficiency reliably from satellite data, Light Use Efficiency models may still be useful for estimation of midday values of gross CO2 exchange which could then be related to longer term means of CO2 exchange. In addition, the MODIS enhanced vegetation index shows a high potential for estimation of ecosystem gross primary production, using respiration values from MODIS surface temperature, providing truly per-pixel estimates.Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management
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Berntsson, Karin. "Ill-health in Sweden : A regional Perspective." Thesis, Jönköping University, JIBS, Economics, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-224.
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I denna uppsats behandlas ohälsans regionala utveckling och syftet är att analysera vad som påverkar den svenska ohälsan. Teori angående hushållens val mellan fritid och arbete används för att analysera resultaten från den empiriska undersökningen. Bakgrunden till denna uppsats bottnar i utvecklingen av ohälsotalen som har ökat med 5,1 dagar mellan åren 2000 och 2004. De empiriska resultaten påvisar att arbetslösheten har ett positivt samband med ohälsa och att kvinnor tenderar att vara mer sjuka än män. Vidare bekräftar resultaten att inkomsten har ett negativt samband med ohälsa och detta är även sant för stora företag. Följaktligen har små företag en positiv inverkan på ohälsotalen och en analys av kommuner belägna i den norra delen av Sverige påvisar ett högre ohälsotal än övriga kommuner. Vidare är individernas ålder en faktor som kan förklara utvecklingen av öhälsotalen. Dessa resultat bekräftar att arbetslöshet, kön, inkomst, företagsstorlek, ålder och kommuner belägna i den norra delen är faktorer som kan förklara ohälsotalens utveckling, men även andra faktorer är av betydelse.
This thesis examines the regional development of ill-health and the purpose is to analyse factors that tend to influence the Swedish ill-health. Theory of household choice between work and leisure is used when analysing the results of the empirical study. The background for this thesis is derived from the development of ill-health that has increased with 5.1 days between the years 2000 and 2004. The empirical findings show that unemployment has a positive relationship with ill-health and that women tend to be more ill than men. Furthermore, the results confirm that income has a negative relationship with ill-health and this is also true for large companies. Consequently, small companies have positive influence on ill-health and an analysis of the municipalities in the northern part of Sweden points out a higher number of ill-health than the other municipalities. Moreover, the individuals’ age is also a factor that can explain the development of ill-health. These findings confirm that unemployment, gender, income, size of company, age, and the municipalities in the north-ern part are factors that can explain the development of ill-health. However, other factors are important in the process as well.
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Schepanski, Kerstin [Verfasser]. "Characterising Saharan dust sources and export using remote sensing and regional modelling / Kerstin Schepanski." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2009. http://d-nb.info/1019811358/34.
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Weyant, Emily, Nakia J. Woodward, Rachel R. Walden, Rick L. Wallace, and Kelly R. Loyd. "Promoting Consumer Health Materials at Remote Area Medical Clinics." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2019. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/8823.
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Brebner, John Alexander. "The provision of health care in remote hostile environments." Thesis, Robert Gordon University, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2192.
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The health care of those who work in remote places associated with hostile environments is reviewed, concentrating on the offshore oil industry and Antarctic populations. An understanding of associated environmental hazards is essential for adequate health care and particular attention is paid to the hyperbaric environment and to environmental heat and cold. The basic medical problems in remote health care are evaluated in three related studies. The first examines 2,162 personnel who required medical evacuations from the offshore structures of four North Sea operating companies, the second with 5,894 presentations from offshore at the A&E department of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, while the third examines 100 annual medical reports from British Antarctic Survey stations.
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Kerrigan, Kristi Lisa. "Development of a regional bio-optical model for water quality assessment in the US Virgin Islands." Thesis, College of Charleston, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1605329.
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Previous research in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) has demonstrated that land-based sources of pollution associated with watershed development and climate change are local and global factors causing coral reef degradation. A good indicator that can be used to assess stress on these environments is the water quality. Conventional assessment methods based on in situ measurements are timely and costly. Satellite remote sensing techniques offer better spatial coverage and temporal resolution to accurately characterize the dynamic nature of water quality parameters by applying bio-optical models. Chlorophyll-a, suspended sediments (TSM), and colored-dissolved organic matter are color-producing agents (CPAs) that define the water quality and can be measured remotely. However, the interference of multiple optically active constituents that characterize the water column as well as reflectance from the bottom poses a challenge in shallow coastal environments in USVI. In this study, field and laboratory based data were collected from sites on St. Thomas and St. John to characterize the CPAs and bottom reflectance of substrates. Results indicate that the optical properties of these waters are a function of multiple CPAs with chlorophyll-a values ranging from 0.10 to 2.35 ?g/L and TSM values from 8.97 to 15.7 mg/L. These data were combined with in situ hyperspectral radiometric and Landsat OLI satellite data to develop a regionally tiered model that can predict CPA concentrations using traditional band ratio and multivariate approaches. Band ratio models for the hyperspectral dataset (R2 = 0.35; RMSE = 0.10 ?g/L) and Landsat OLI dataset (R2 = 0.35; RMSE = 0.12 ?g/L) indicated promising accuracy. However, a stronger model was developed using a multivariate, partial least squares regression to identify wavelengths that are more sensitive to chlorophyll-a (R2 = 0.62, RMSE = 0.08 ?g/L) and TSM (R2 = 0.55). This approach takes advantage of the full spectrum of hyperspectral data, thus providing a more robust predictive model. Models developed in this study will significantly improve near-real time and long-term water quality monitoring in USVI and will provide insight to factors contributing to coral reef decline.
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Patra, Harisadhan. "Mechanisms of remote masking." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1199309775.
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van, Vuuren Catharina Cornelia Maria (Kitty), and n/a. "Community Participation in Australian Community Broadcasting: A Comparative Study of Rural, Regional and Remote Radio." Griffith University. School of Arts, Media and Culture, 2004. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040720.153812.
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This study investigates the relationship between media and democracy with a particular focus on Australian community broadcasting. I put forward the thesis that the value and purpose of community broadcasting are located in its community development function, rather than in its ability to transmit alternative information. This suggests that an analysis should emphasise community rather than media. Community development promotes the empowerment of ordinary people so that they can confidently participate in management and decision-making - that is, the procedures and norms that underpin democratic practices. In the case of community media, the relationship between democracy and media is located primarily in its volunteers. To understand this relationship, I link together concepts of the public sphere and social capital. The public sphere is understood as multiple and diverse and linked to other publics via the web of relationships forged among people with shared interests and norms. I argue that a community public sphere should be understood as a cultural resource and managed as a common property. The public sphere is thus conceived to have a more or less porous boundary that serves to regulate membership. Understood as a bounded domain, the public sphere can be analysed in terms of its ideological structure, its management practices and its alliances with other publics. This approach also allows for a comparison with other similar public spheres. The study identifies two main ideological constellations that have shaped the development of Australian community broadcasting - professionalism and community development, with the former gaining prominence as the sector expands into rural and regional communities. The ascendancy of professional and quasi-commercial practices is of concern as it can undermine the community development potential of community broadcasting, a function that appears to be little understood and one which has attracted little research. The study presents a case study of three regional and remote rural community radio stations and compares them from a social capital perspective. Social capital is a framework for understanding the relationship between the individual and the community and explores this relationship in terms of participation in networks, reciprocal benefits among groups and individuals and the nature of active participation. Demographic and organisational structures of the three stations are also compared. By taking this approach, each station's capacity for community development and empowerment is addressed. The results of the fieldwork reveal that the success of a community radio station is related to 'community spirit' and demographic structure. They reveal that the community radio station in the smallest community with the lowest per capita income was best able to meet the needs of its community and its volunteers.
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Vafeidis, Anthanasios. "Regional estimation of post-fire erosion using remote sensing and GIS : an example from Greece." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.248186.
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van, Vuuren Catharina Cornelia Maria (Kitty). "Community Participation in Australian Community Broadcasting: A Comparative Study of Rural, Regional and Remote Radio." Thesis, Griffith University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366371.
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This study investigates the relationship between media and democracy with a particular focus on Australian community broadcasting. I put forward the thesis that the value and purpose of community broadcasting are located in its community development function, rather than in its ability to transmit alternative information. This suggests that an analysis should emphasise community rather than media. Community development promotes the empowerment of ordinary people so that they can confidently participate in management and decision-making - that is, the procedures and norms that underpin democratic practices. In the case of community media, the relationship between democracy and media is located primarily in its volunteers. -- To understand this relationship, I link together concepts of the public sphere and social capital. The public sphere is understood as multiple and diverse and linked to other publics via the web of relationships forged among people with shared interests and norms. I argue that a community public sphere should be understood as a cultural resource and managed as a common property. The public sphere is thus conceived to have a more or less porous boundary that serves to regulate membership. Understood as a bounded domain, the public sphere can be analysed in terms of its ideological structure, its management practices and its alliances with other publics. This approach also allows for a comparison with other similar public spheres. -- The study identifies two main ideological constellations that have shaped the development of Australian community broadcasting - professionalism and community development, with the former gaining prominence as the sector expands into rural and regional communities. The ascendancy of professional and quasi-commercial practices is of concern as it can undermine the community development potential of community broadcasting, a function that appears to be little understood and one which has attracted little research. -- The study presents a case study of three regional and remote rural community radio stations and compares them from a social capital perspective. Social capital is a framework for understanding the relationship between the individual and the community and explores this relationship in terms of participation in networks, reciprocal benefits among groups and individuals and the nature of active participation. Demographic and organisational structures of the three stations are also compared. By taking this approach, each station's capacity for community development and empowerment is addressed. -- The results of the fieldwork reveal that the success of a community radio station is related to 'community spirit' and demographic structure. They reveal that the community radio station in the smallest community with the lowest per capita income was best able to meet the needs of its community and its volunteers.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Arts, Media and Culture
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Vedom, Julia. "Health care access and regional disparities in China." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/25483.
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This thesis examines the access of health care facilities in nine provinces of China between the years 1989 and 2004, evaluating the effect of demographic, financial and geographic factors. Equity in social welfare has long played a major role in shaping China's national policies. However, continued pursuit of the GDP-led development orientation in China since the late 1970s has resulted in increasing urban-rural and intra- and inter-regional socio-economic disparities, raising multiple causes for concern from an equity perspective and suggesting the trends that should be closely monitored. While there is a consensus about the need and importance of access equity, little geographic research has been conducted in this area.
In light of these issues, using China Health and Nutrition Survey this study addressed the following two objectives: (1) to describe the geographic and financial disparities in access to clinics and hospitals in nine provinces of China during the 1989-2004 period, and (2) to explore the demographic, socio-economic and geographic factors affecting access to health care.
Results of the analysis show that between 1989 and 2004 the accessibility gap between hospitals and clinics in terms of geographic indicators has decreased, while the gap in financial accessibility has increased, making urban hospitals the least accessible facilities. Access to both hospitals and clinics in urban and rural areas is mostly conditioned by geographic factors, namely the travel method, region of residence and the availability of health care facilities. Patients who were able to reach the facilities on foot were more likely to enjoy better access than those who were not able to do so. Similarly, residents of western China (Guangxi and Guizhou) along with the provinces with higher availability of health care facilities also tended to have better potential access than their counterparts.
Several important contributions essential for informing public decision- and policymaking stem from this thesis, leading to a better understanding of issues related to the accessibility of health care in nine provinces of China. While, typically, the determinants of accessibility have been attributed to the financial or demographic characteristics of patients, this research has identified geographic factors as being of the foremost importance in the accessibility of health care. This important finding provides grounds for further geographic research on accessibility issues in China. While our conceptual framework was designed for studying the accessibility of health care in China, it can be potentially applied to any country with regional, provincial or neighborhood disparities in access.
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Liu, Y. "Wireless remote patient monitoring on general hospital wards." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2010. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/17508/.
Full textAbstract:
A novel approach which has potential to improve quality of patient care on general hospital wards is proposed. Patient care is a labour-intensive task that requires high input of human resources. A Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) system is proposed which can go some way towards improving patient monitoring on general hospital wards. In this system vital signs are gathered from patients and sent to a control unit for centralized monitoring. The RPM system can complement the role of nurses in monitoring patients’ vital signs. They will be able to focus on holistic needs of patients thereby providing better personal care. Wireless network technologies, ZigBee and Wi-Fi, are utilized for transmission of vital signs in the proposed RPM system. They provide flexibility and mobility to patients. A prototype system for RPM is designed and simulated. The results illustrated the capability, suitability and limitation of the chosen technology.
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Veenstra, Gerry. "Social capital and regional health governance in Saskatchewan, Canada /." *McMaster only, 1998.
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Kincaid, Joni L. "An assessment of regional climate trends and changes to the Mt. Jaya glaciers of Irian Jaya." Texas A&M University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5804.
Full textAbstract:
Over the past century, glaciers throughout the tropics have predominately retreated.
These small glaciers, which respond quickly to climate changes, are becoming
increasingly important in understanding glacier-climate interactions. The glaciers on Mt.
Jaya in Irian Jaya, Indonesia are the last remaining tropical glaciers in the Western
Pacific region. Although considerable research exists investigating the climatic factors
most affecting tropical glacier mass balance, extensive research on the Mt. Jaya glaciers
has been lacking since the early 1970s.
Using IKONOS satellite images, the ice extents of the Mt. Jaya glaciers in 2000,
2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 were mapped. The mapping indicates that the recessional
trend which began in the mid-19th century has continued. Between 1972 (Allison, 1974;
Allison and Peterson, 1976) and 2000, the glaciers lost approximately 67.6% of their
area, representing a reduction in surface ice area from 7.2 km2 to 2.35 km2. From 2000
to 2005, the glaciers lost an additional 0.54 km2, representing approximately 24% of the
2000 area. Rates of ice loss, calculated from area measurements for the Mt. Jaya glaciers
in 1942, 1972, 1987, and 2005, indicate that ice loss on Mt. Jaya has increased during
each subsequent period. Preliminary modeling, using 600 hPa atmospheric temperature, specific humidity,
wind speeds, surface precipitation, and radiation values, acquired from the NCEP
Reanalysis dataset, indicates that the only climate variable having a statistically-significant
change with a magnitude great enough to strongly affect ice loss on these
glaciers was an increase in the mean monthly atmospheric temperature of 0.24ðC
between 1972 and 1987. However, accelerated ice loss occurring from 1988-2005
without large observed changes in the weather variables indicates that a more complex
explanation may be required. Small, though statistically-significant changes were found
in regional precipitation, with precipitation decreasing from 1972-1987 and increasing
from 1988-2005. While, individually, these changes were not of sufficient magnitude to
have greatly affected ice loss on these glaciers, increased precipitation along with a
rising freezing level may have resulted in a greater proportion of the glacier surface
being affected by rain. This may account for the increased recession rate observed in the
latter period.
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Hsieh, Sheau-Ling 1952. "Distributed multimedia collaborative system framework for tele-healthcare remote consultation systems." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284034.
Full textAbstract:
The Remote Consultation and Diagnosis (RCD) in Global Picture Archiving and Communication System (Global PACS) is a unique suite of multimedia telemedicine applications developed at the University of Arizona. The applications support real-time patients' data, image files, audio and video consultation and diagnosis annotation exchanges. The RCD enables joint collaboration between pathologists, radiologists, or physicians while they are at distant geographical locations. This project provides four RCD scenarios, i.e., Case Review, Case Acquire, Store and Forward Analysis, as well as Interactive Diagnosis and Consultation. The RCD Global PACS environment consists of heterogeneous, autonomous, and legacy resources. The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), and Java language provide the capability to combine the RCD Global PACS resources into an integrated, interoperable, and scalable system. The underneath technology, including IDL, ORB, Event Service, IIOP, JDBC/ODBC, legacy system wrapping and Java implementation are explored. This distributed collaborative CORBA/JDBC based framework will challenge the advanced, medical information management requirements. It also makes the RCD Global PACS both hardware and software technologically independent. As our research and development extend, we will continue to incorporate the latest advances in computer technology. RCD Global PACS is not another new tool in telemedicine, but rather a new paradigm for the delivery of health services that requires process reengineering, cultural changes, as well as organizational changes. It is a whole new way of practicing in telemedicine. We ensure that the RCD Global PACS project has long-term, comprehensive solutions for today and tomorrow's healthcare needs.
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Williams, Cynthia. "Home Care Quality Effects of Remote Monitoring." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2014. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/6383.
Full textAbstract:
Despite concerted efforts to decrease costs and increase public health, the embattled U.S. health care system continues to struggle to alleviate these widespread issues. Because the problem of hospital utilizations among patients with heart failure is posited to increase as the population ages, innovative methodologies need to be explored to mitigate adverse events. Remote monitoring harnesses the strength of advanced information and communication technology to affect positive changes in health care quality and cost. By reaching across geographical boundaries, remote monitoring may support increased access to less costly services and improve the quality of home health care.
The purpose of the study was to examine the home care quality effects of remote monitoring technology in patients with heart failure and to provide an economic justification for its adoption and diffusion. It compared remote monitoring as a potential intervention strategy to a standard no-intervention group (without remote monitoring). Specifically, it analyzed remote monitoring as a viable strategy to decrease hospital readmissions and emergency department visits. It also compared the cost of remote monitoring against the current standard-of-care.
The theoretical framework of Donabedian's Quality Model was used in the evaluation of remote monitoring. A retrospective posttest only, case control study design was used to test the degree which remote monitoring was effective in promoting health care quality (hospital readmissions and decreased emergency department visits). Retrospective chart reviews were performed using electronic medical records (EMR). Analysis of Variance, Path Analysis, Automatic Interaction Detector Analysis (Dtreg), and Cost Outcomes Ratio were used to test the hypotheses and validate the proposed theoretical model.
No significant difference was noted in remote monitoring and usual care groups. Results suggested that remote monitoring does not statistically lead to a decrease in heart failure-related hospital readmissions and all-cause emergency department visits. Results of the cost ratio analysis suggested that there was no statistically significant difference in the net income between usual care and remote monitoring; however, data suggest that there were significant increases in cost and intensity of nursing utilization for the remote monitoring intervention. The Automatic Interaction Detector Analysis showed that the unfavorable results in hospital readmissions were due to a decrease in collaborative care and patient education prior to the recommendation for hospitalization.
The role of nursing care, whether in hospital or community-based care, in heart failure management is critical to quality outcomes. As the field continues to consider the use of technology in health care, decision makers should think through the process of patient care such that preventable hospital readmissions are decreased and patients received quality care.Ph.D.
Doctorate
Health and Public Affairs
Public Affairs; Health Services Management and Research Track
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Johnsson, Genevieve Catherine. "Technology Delivered Disability Training and Support for Service Providers in Regional and Remote New South Wales." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/20489.
Full textAbstract:
The rollout of individualised disability funding in Australia will result in an increased demand for services for Australians with a disability. Growing and maintaining a skilled workforce will be vital in keeping up with the increased demand for disability-related support. Continuing professional development is one way to build capacity, however face-to-face opportunities can be limited in more remote areas in Australia. Technology may provide a low-cost and widely-accessible platform for training and supporting rural and remote staff. The studies in this thesis are a realist evaluation of a novel webinar training and individual online support program to upskill a diverse range of participants including allied health, education and community support staff. Surveys and interviews were conducted to investigate what is it about the program works, for whom, and in which conditions. We found a statistically significant increase in perceived skills and knowledge, and confidence in working with children with autism from pre- to post-program, and this increase was positively related to the number of webinars the participants accessed. The mode of webinar access was predominantly via asynchronous learning (watching recording of webinars). These results were consistent across job roles and levels of remoteness. Synchronous learning via individual sessions was accessed by a small number of participants, mostly allied health professionals. Increased collaboration and access to autism-specific support were reported benefits of participating in the training program, while barriers for engagement included work load and scheduling. Occupational stress was found to be within normal limits across the sample and duration of the program. The technology platform was found to be accessible and acceptable. The results indicate that online technology may provide professionals in geographically isolated areas with improved access to learning and support that increases their skills.
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Rufin, Philippe. "A global to regional scale assessment of dam-induced agricultural change by means of remote sensing." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/20125.
Full textAbstract:
Landwirtschaftliche Produktionssysteme basieren in vielen Weltregionen auf dem Einsatz von Bewässerung. Staudämme stellen einen Großteil der benötigten Wasserressourcen, jedoch wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen Staudämmen und Veränderungen im Landsystem bis heute kaum erforscht. Im Hinblick auf die steigende Nachfrage nach landwirtschaftlichen Erzeugnissen bedarf es eines besseren Verständnisses des Zusammenhangs zwischen Staudämmen, Bewässerung und landwirtschaftlichen Produktionssystemen. Daten und Methoden der Fernerkundung liefern synoptische und räumlich detaillierte Aufnahmen der Erdoberfläche mit großem Potential für die Untersuchung von landwirtschaftlichen Produktionssystemen. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit war es, das gegenwärtige Verständnis des Zusammenhangs von Bewässerungsstaudämmen und Landsystemen mit Mitteln der Fernerkundung zu verbessern. In dieser Arbeit wurden großflächige Beschreibungen globaler und regionaler Agrarsysteme generiert, welche nachdrücklich das Potential von Daten und Methoden aus der Fernerkundung hervorheben. Das hohe thematische, räumliche und zeitliche Detail der Ergebnisse erlaubte einzigartige Einblicke in die raumzeitlichen Dynamiken von Bewässerungsfeldwirtschaft. Die im Zuge dieser Arbeit entstandenen Ergebnisse, Methoden, und Datensätze tragen maßgeblich zum heutigen Wissensstand in Bezug auf den Zusammenhang zwischen Bewässerungsstaudämmen und Landnutzungsintensität bei und liefern wichtige Einblicke zur Verbesserung zukünftiger Produktionsstrukturen.A growing world population, and increasing demands for food, feed, fuel and fiber, substantially add pressure on the global land system. The construction of dams is a common strategy for boosting production outputs through irrigation. Reservoirs represent the most important source of irrigation water globally, but their effects on agricultural land systems are only poorly understood. Remote sensing emerges as a key tool for enabling spatially explicit assessments of dam-induced land system change due to its ability to provide spatially detailed, frequent, and synoptic observations of the land surface. The overall goal of this thesis was to assess the effects of irrigation dams on agricultural land systems on a global and regional scale, by making use of state-of-the art remote sensing data products and methods. A synthesis of the current scientific literature offered primary insights into dam-induced changes in agricultural systems, and raised the hypothesis that irrigation dams caused overall increases in agricultural land use intensity. On a global scale, satellite-based measurements of cropping frequency derived from MODIS-based map products attested to this finding, albeit a strong regional variability was apparent. Landsat-based time series methods were used on a national to regional scale, which further revealed strong spatio-temporal dynamics of irrigated agriculture. The results of this thesis add knowledge and spatially explicit insights on the effects of dams on agricultural land systems. The work further emphasizes the important role of remote sensing technologies in exploring future pathways of agricultural intensification.
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Nilson, Caroline. "Bindjareb Yorgas Health Program: Promoting Aboriginal women's health in a regional community setting." Thesis, Nilson, Caroline ORCID: 0000-0003-3975-3862 (2016) Bindjareb Yorgas Health Program: Promoting Aboriginal women's health in a regional community setting. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2016. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/31360/.
Full textAbstract:
This study addresses the self-identified health issues experienced by yorgas (women) in an Aboriginal Bindjareb (region) community in the Nyungar nation of south west Western Australia. In collaboration with yorga Elders and Leaders from the Murray Districts Aboriginal Association (MDAA), Caroline Nilson, a non-Indigenous researcher, academic and health professional, developed, coordinated, facilitated, and implemented a culturally appropriate health promotion initiative, the Bindjareb Yorgas Health Program [BYHP], which was the topic of Caroline's PhD research project.
The BYHP aims were to foster the development of personal knowledge and skills in achieving and maintaining wellness, and the strengthening of community actions towards improving health by facilitating improved individual and group health literacy. Further, the study sought an understanding of the ways in which the BYHP facilitated healthy lifestyle change in the Bindjareb yorgas and their families and whether the structure and delivery of the program provided a supportive environment for the women to engage in sustainable health promotion activities.
The BYHP was underpinned by the ideals of the Aboriginal model of health, which encompasses all aspects of a person's life (Lock, 2007). This concept places significant emphasis on social and emotional components and is linked to the sense of being Aboriginal, through connection with the environment (social and economic), community, relationships, land, the physical body and the mind, and traditional cultural lore (law) and knowledge (Nyungar kaartdijin). The BYHP study consisted of four components: nutrition and cooking classes, group fitness classes (including walking group sessions), a community vegetable garden project and health 'yarning' sessions (a culturally appropriate method of communicating about important matters), which comprised informal and formal discussions.
Twenty-two women from the two kinship groups in two towns in the research setting were invited to take part in the project. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit the yorga participants and the consent processes were conducted by the yorga Elders and Leaders and resulted in 17 Bindjareb yorgas consenting to participate.
There were a total of 24 cooking and nutrition classes and all 17 participants each took part in between 3 and 22 classes. Attendance at the 33 group fitness classes varied, with 16 of the 17 participants taking part in between 1 and 29 classes; as did attendance at the 24 walking group sessions where 13 yorgas participated in between 3 and 22 sessions each. Six participants volunteered to share the vegetable garden management over a 24 week period resulting in an average weekly attendance of 5.5 visits between them. A number of yarning sessions (individual and group) were also facilitated by Caroline in collaboration with Karrie-Anne Kearing-Salmon, an Aboriginal woman Leader appointed as the research assistant.
An ethnographic action research [EAR] approach was used in the research, which combines the methodologies of ethnography, participatory techniques and action research (Tacchi, Slater & Hearn, 2003; Tacchi, et al., 2007). The data was collected with the assistance of the yorga Elders and Leaders during which time Caroline was also mentored by Gloria Kearing, a yorga Elder. Data sources included audio recorded yarning groups, audio recorded individual yarning, direct observations and participant-observations, and Caroline's personal diary notes audio recorded during fieldwork.
A narrative art project was also conducted as a culturally appropriate method of gathering data and was used as an opportunity to facilitate informal health yarning. The works of art were shared with the wider community in a public gallery exhibition, which ran for six weeks during August and September 2013.
Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken in consultation and collaboration with the selected yorga Elders and Leaders for each component of the research, and was assisted using Artichoke ™ (Fetherston, 2013), a computer-based program.
Results that have captured the main findings are presented in the thesis in a number of peer-reviewed published and under review articles and other manuscripts have been prepared and are in the process of submission.
The themes identified from the cooking and nutrition component related to experiences of overwhelming loss, acknowledging collective shame, finding change too hard, being crippled by the lack of resources, mistrust, and tensions, community control empowering individuals through engagement, learning for life purpose, and planning for community determination.
The themes derived from the group fitness component related to the loss of traditional knowledge and practices, withdrawal due to shame, community facilitation enabling enjoyment in engagement, and experiencing a sense of place and connection to land and culture.
The community vegetable garden component themes related to feelings of ownership: "deadly, unna?" (very good, isn’t it?), "ngnaailak" (belongs to us); a sense of place: "nalaru boodjar" (our own country), "kwobbrup" (a good place); reconnection to traditional land: "boodjar, mundak and ponar" (land, the bush and the seasons); pride in learning new skills: "djinanginy kaartdijin" (seeing, learning, and understanding); and hoping for continued community engagement and partnership support: "patpatan mila" (worried for the future).
The health yarning component themes related to patience in the ways of talking with the yorgas "moorditj bandjar tarwagin" (patient way of talking with us), feelings of safety to talk about health issues and coming together as equals to become strong in health; "djaliny moordidjabiny kootamiara quab" (listening to become strong in health).
The narrative art project themes related to the overall connectedness and the mobilisation of community members in coming together to consolidate relationships for their health and wellbeing; individuals coming together for their health and wellbeing, and processes in mobilising community social relationships. The additional themes related to the yorgas developing self-identity through painting their experiences and their creativity contributing to community empowerment.
In regards to sustainable lifestyle change, themes from the group fitness and cooking and nutrition components around the real challenges and barriers also emerged. The acknowledgement of shame was identified as a psychosocial barrier and previously experienced reduced health literacy was seen as having a negative impact on food security and healthy lifestyle choices. Several themes relating to the importance of a 'sense of place' and 'feelings of safety', and the 'rekindled connection to land' were threaded through all the components, particularly the vegetable garden project. These themes were critical in answering the research questions regarding community ownership and the culturally appropriate structure and delivery of the BYHP. Themes from the cooking and nutrition component also related to the impact of historical events on nutritional health of Indigenous Australians, and on the undermining effect of mistrust within the community and towards outsiders and the need to plan to achieve a real sense of community determination and address issues of limited resources. These themes were pertinent in answering the research question regarding the required community action to lead to the sustainability of the program.
The findings suggest that historical colonisation processes greatly influence current Aboriginal health and wellbeing. It has impacted on individual and community esteem and determination, resulting in feelings of inadequacy, racial demoralisation and mistrust, towards others and within their own groups. Feelings of a sense of place, the reconnection to land and culture, and a sense of safety were a common thread to have emerged from the BYHP. These correlated with further findings that identify the need for community collaboration and control. The acknowledgement of shame was identified as a psychosocial barrier influencing health literacy, food security and healthy lifestyle choices. The real challenges of change around healthy eating and physical activity were highlighted, however the sense of purpose gained through learning new skills and knowledge was found to be a key driver towards change. To achieve sustainability the findings highlighted the need for continued partnership development and ongoing planning for skills and employment opportunity and these were identified as important to achieving a real sense of community determination.
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Shupe, Scott Marshall. "Extending a field-based Sonoran desert vegetation classification to a regional scale using optical and microwave satellite imagery." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289136.
Full textAbstract:
Vegetation mapping in and regions facilitates ecological studies, land management, and provides a record to which future land changes can be compared. Accurate and representative mapping of desert vegetation requires a sound field sampling program and a methodology to transform the data collected into a representative classification system. Time and cost constraints require that a remote sensing approach be used if such a classification system is to be applied on a regional scale. However, desert vegetation may be sparse and thus difficult to sense at typical satellite resolutions, especially given the problem of soil reflectance. This study was designed to address these concerns by conducting vegetation mapping research using field and satellite data from the US Army Yuma Proving Ground (USYPG) in Southwest Arizona. Line and belt transect data from the Army's Land Condition Trend Analysis (LCTA) Program were transformed into relative cover and relative density classification schemes using cluster analysis. Ordination analysis of the same data produced two and three-dimensional graphs on which the homogeneity of each vegetation class could be examined. It was found that the use of correspondence analysis (CA), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination methods was superior to the use of any single ordination method for helping to clarify between-class and within-class relationships in vegetation composition. Analysis of these between-class and within-class relationships were of key importance in examining how well relative cover and relative density schemes characterize the USYPG vegetation. Using these two classification schemes as reference data, maximum likelihood and artificial neural net classifications were then performed on a coregistered dataset consisting of a summer Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image, one spring and one summer ERS-1 microwave image, and elevation, slope, and aspect layers. Classifications using a combination of ERS-1 imagery and elevation, slope, and aspect data were superior to classifications carried out using Landsat TM data alone. In all classification iterations it was consistently found that the highest classification accuracy was obtained by using a combination of Landsat TM, ERS-1, and elevation, slope, and aspect data. Maximum likelihood classification accuracy was found to be higher than artificial neural net classification in all cases.
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Yang, Yun. "Studying soil moisture and land-to-water carbon export in urbanized coastal areas using remotely sensed data and a regional hydro-ecological model." Thesis, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3608527.
Full textAbstract:
The main objective of this research was to study the flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from a terrestrial urbanized watershed to an estuarine system using a process-based regional hydro-ecological model and remotely sensed data.
While DOC is an important component of the global carbon cycle, the link of the variations in terrestrial carbon storage is still poorly understood. Soil moisture is a key factor that influences the amount of available water for vegetation growth and the decomposition rate of organic matter in the soil and thus contributes to the amount of DOC in the soil at the land-water boundary. The Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) was used to model the biogeochemical cycle in the Neponset Watershed, Boston MA from 2006 to 2011. Remotely sensed indices and field measurements of soil moisture, locally measured watershed DOC values, and streamflow gauge amounts were used to evaluate the modeled results.
The fully parameterized high resolution RHESSys model was used to simulate soil moisture in the highly urbanized and fragmented Neponset watershed and displayed good correlation with the measured soil moisture values. Another two measures of soil moisture conditions (the topographic moisture index (TMI) and the remotely sensed temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI)) were also estimated and compared with field measured data. Two nested study areas, the Neponset River Watershed and the Greater Boston Area, were utilized to correspond with two spatial resolutions. The DOC concentration data sampled in the Neponset River Watershed were analyzed and the sensitivity of the DOC simulation in RHESSys was evaluated. The simulated DOC was compared with estuarine results and a good correlation was found to exist between the measured and simulated DOC concentrations and fluxes.
This effort represents the first successful application of RHESSys model to an urbanized New England watershed and not only provided an accurate way to estimate both soil moisture and DOC flux but also provided a framework to test further hypotheses and future scenarios to benefit global carbon cycle research.
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Veenstra, Gerry. "Social capital and regional health governance in Saskatchewan, Canada." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0024/NQ51018.pdf.
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