397 research outputs found
Impact of urban development on climate and river systems: implications for the environmental health sustainability of the Mangaung metropolis, South Africa.
Get PDFThesis (Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Health)--Central University of TechnologyThe emigration to urban areas puts pressure on available resources, thereby increasing the scarcity of natural resources and changes in lifestyles. The overpopulation of urban centres accelerates land use patterns, slum creation and generation of contaminants. Urban centres are known to generate carbon dioxide and other compounds that increase greenhouse gases. In the process of combating food insecurity, farmers resort to chemicals such as fertilisers, pesticides and fungicides. Likewise, unplanned human slums and unregulated industries generate a lot of known and unknown emerging contaminants that pollute urban soils and water sources. Rapid urbanisation alters living styles and standards in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM). The MMM is faced with environmental challenges such as unplanned urban slums, incessant water and air pollution due to rapid urban development and human activities. Likewise, urbanisation in the study area triggered rural-urban migration that accelerate population growth in the study area; hence, the population rate in the MMM has shown an increase with numbers reported as 603 528 in 1996, 747 431 in 2011, 759 693 in 2016, 853 141 in 2018 and 861 651 in 2019. As such, this research sought to investigate the impact of rapid urban development in the MMM on water sources and environmental health sustainability. Systemic scientific methods were employed to investigate the urban land cover change, water quality and environmental health of the MMM. Remote sensing and geographic information systems were employed to analyse land use / land cover, Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, Normalised Difference Moisture Index, Normalised Difference Built-up Index and Normalised Difference Water Index changes for a period from 1978 to 2018 in the MMM. Furthermore, the historical water quality of important river systems and dams located on these rivers were studied to detect the impact of urban contamination. Consequently, the challenges accompanying rapid urbanisation in the MMM has led to the development of an urban health sustainability index to assess the status of environment health of the MMM. This is to ensure sustainability in all spheres of our environment and to mitigate the impact of urbanisation confronting us as people. The urban health sustainability index tracks a set of environmental and social environmental indicators that influence sustainability in an urban setting. The developed model observes the relationship between urban sprawl, land use / land cover changes, climatic variables, vegetation and water in terms of its sustainability. Furthermore, this research simulates the future land cover classification focussing on the urban growth development and water sources availability for the years 2028 and 2038. The result of the land use / land cover from satellite imagery revealed that an exponential increase in urban areas led to loss of vegetation cover and shortage of water availability in the MMM. This suggests that urbanisation accelerates the loss of vegetation cover, thus causing an increase in temperature and reduction in the amount of rainfall, thereby reducing the surface water quantity in the MMM. The change detection analysis observed between 1978 and 2018 revealed that agricultural areas increased by 22.6%. This can be linked to the increase in population growth and the upsurge in demand of farm products in the MMM. In addition, the Water Quality Index (WQI) of most of the water sources revealed deterioration in water quality from 1988, with a WQI of 20.1, 23.2 and 18.6 indexed as excellent, to 2018 with a WQI of 25.6, 41.0 and 49.0 indexed as good. This suggests the impact of urbanisation on water sources in the MMM. Conclusively, the results from the land cover classification and water quality assessment informed that the expansion in agricultural areas to enhance food security has led to the generation of more contaminants polluting the urban water system in the MMM. The urban health sustainability classification in the MMM ranged from low (30–50) to high (65– 80) sustainability scores. The low sustainability class is typical of areas with a high concentration of built-up areas, agricultural landmass and human activities where pollutants are mostly generated. Meanwhile, the high sustainability class is typical of areas with lowgenerating polluting media to the atmosphere and water sources. Likewise, the comprehensive environmental pollution index method categorised selected areas in the MMM into high, moderate and low polluted areas with index scores of 51–68, 42–44 and 32–37, respectively. The high and moderate polluted areas should be kept under environmental monitoring and pollution control for sustainable environmental health. The research recommends that control measures should be implemented in the township and urban slums in the MMM to reduce generation of solid waste through mandatory regulation and education. Policymakers in the MMM should curtail increases in unplanned settlements and control internal migration. This is to meet the urban sustainability goal by 2050 as campaigned by the United Nations. Finally, an environmental geochemistry study should be carried out to trace the sources of emerging contaminants across the MMM
Use of a mobile platform for assessing urban heat stress in Rotterdam
No full textIn this study, an assessment of the intensity of the urban heat island (UHI) in Rotterdam was carried out using an innovative mobile bio-meteorological measuring platform mounted on a cargo bicycle. The goal was to assess whether or not heat stress is currently or likely to become a critical issue. Physiological equivalent temperatures were calculated directly from the measurements. Preliminary results show how effective urban parks and greenery are in reducing the UHI. The maximum UHI was about 7 K warmer than the rural area, whereas greener urban configurations were under 3 K warmer. City parks show marked cooling effects during daytime. The preliminary results clearly demonstrate the presence of a considerable UHI in Rotterdam, which is expected to be found in other Dutch cities, and confirms the important role of green spaces in mitigating urban heat stress
Indulgent caregivers’ feeding style moderated the association between food responsiveness and BMI z-score of preschool children
Get PDFChildhood obesity is a global epidemic and a public health concern that requires urgent attention. This is because childhood obesity has been shown to be a strong predictor of obesity in adulthood and health risks associated with obesity are very many and could also lead to mortality in both children and adults. Among the many factors that influence obesity, parental feeding styles and child eating behaviors have been confirmed by many researchers to have a strong link with weight status in children. This study seeks to understand the moderation effect of parental feeding styles, if any, on the relationship between child eating behavior and child weight status. Chile is an important place to study this phenomenon because of the disproportionate number of children that are overweight or obese compared with other nations of the world. The objective of this study was to test the moderating role of indulgent, uninvolved and authoritarian feeding styles in the association between BMI z scores and eating behaviors of preschool children. Participants were 81 caregiver-preschooler dyads from low-income neighborhoods in Santiago, Chile. Moderated multiple linear regression models were used to test the moderating effect of caregiver feeding style in the association between a child’s eating behavior and BMI z-scores. Results showed that the indulgent caregiver’s feeding style moderated the association between food responsiveness and the child BMI z-score of preschool children. Findings from this study emphasize the complex nature of weight outcomes and show that indulgent feeding style can be a risk factor for unhealthy weight outcomes in preschoolers with food responsive eating behavior. Childhood obesity prevention programs in Chile may be more effective if such programs are planned with the consideration that indulgent feeding styles play a role in the relationship between a child’s BMI z-score and food responsiveness.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2022-12-01The student, Yosi Oke, accepted the attached license on 2020-11-24 at 16:54.The student, Yosi Oke, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2020-11-24 at 17:04.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2020-11-25 at 12:05.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #15956 on 2021-03-04 at 16:32:24Made available in DSpace on 2021-03-05T21:45:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
OKE-THESIS-2020.pdf: 463486 bytes, checksum: 99259f29fcf3bf4f1ffaaf6b5ffc3842 (MD5)
LICENSE.txt: 4205 bytes, checksum: b6d1e74d679baf3fa43c4af3d428f1e0 (MD5)
Previous issue date: 2020-11-25Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 117305
Lift date: 2023-03-05T21:45:47Z
Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 117305
Lift date: 2023-03-05T21:47:41Z
Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemAuthor requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemLimite
Supply Chain Management Alternate Thesis
No full textabstract: The purpose of this thesis paper is to discuss the life cycle curves of today’s innovation-driven digital services and how these life cycles can be extended. To decide on this subject, four supply chain management seminars were attended and summarized, and personal notes were added. After analysis of the seminars, the paper will dive deeper into the topic discussed by Professor Adegoke Oke of Arizona State University in his lecture on innovation-driven life cycle curves and their exemplification of the shark fin curve. This paper will analyze the nature of product life cycle curves, discuss three PC games and their life cycle curves, and evaluate the best methods for creating life cycle extension
Development of a cost-effectiveness model for optimisation of the screening interval in diabetic retinopathy screening
Get PDFBACKGROUND:
The English NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme was established in 2003. Eligible people are invited annually for digital retinal photography screening. Those found to have potentially sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) are referred to surveillance clinics or to Hospital Eye Services.
OBJECTIVES:
To determine whether personalised screening intervals are cost-effective.
DESIGN:
Risk factors were identified in Gloucestershire, UK using survival modelling. A probabilistic decision hidden (unobserved) Markov model with a misgrading matrix was developed. This informed estimation of lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in patients without STDR. Two personalised risk stratification models were employed: two screening episodes (SEs) (low, medium or high risk) or one SE with clinical information (low, medium-low, medium-high or high risk). The risk factor models were validated in other populations.
SETTING:
Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, South London and East Anglia (all UK).
PARTICIPANTS:
People with diabetes in Gloucestershire with risk stratification model validation using data from Nottinghamshire, South London and East Anglia.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Personalised risk-based algorithm for screening interval; cost-effectiveness of different screening intervals.
RESULTS:
Data were obtained in Gloucestershire from 12,790 people with diabetes with known risk factors to derive the risk estimation models, from 15,877 people to inform the uptake of screening and from 17,043 people to inform the health-care resource-usage costs. Two stratification models were developed: one using only results from previous screening events and one using previous screening and some commonly available GP data. Both models were capable of differentiating groups at low and high risk of development of STDR. The rate of progression to STDR was 5 per 1000 person-years (PYs) in the lowest decile of risk and 75 per 1000 PYs in the highest decile. In the absence of personalised risk stratification, the most cost-effective screening interval was to screen all patients every 3 years, with a 46% probability of this being cost-effective at a £30,000 per QALY threshold. Using either risk stratification models, screening patients at low risk every 5 years was the most cost-effective option, with a probability of 99-100% at a £30,000 per QALY threshold. For the medium-risk groups screening every 3 years had a probability of 43-48% while screening high-risk groups every 2 years was cost-effective with a probability of 55-59%.
CONCLUSIONS:
The study found that annual screening of all patients for STDR was not cost-effective. Screening this entire cohort every 3 years was most likely to be cost-effective. When personalised intervals are applied, screening those in our low-risk groups every 5 years was found to be cost-effective. Screening high-risk groups every 2 years further improved the cost-effectiveness of the programme. There was considerable uncertainty in the estimated incremental costs and in the incremental QALYs, particularly with regard to implications of an increasing proportion of maculopathy cases receiving intravitreal injection rather than laser treatment. Future work should focus on improving the understanding of risk, validating in further populations and investigating quality issues in imaging and assessment including the potential for automated image grading
Statistical approach to flood disaster management and risks reduction - in IBU River Basin
No full textIn the past four decades, economic losses due to flood have increased tremendously and resulted in major loss of human lives and livelihoods, the destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damage. This study focuses on flood disaster management through the establishment of a flood prediction model for Ibu River, a major tributary of the Ona River using the statistical approach. The Hazen plotting position was used to calculate the flood return periods while the floods were fitted into log-Pearson Type III distribution to obtain extreme flood estimate. Estimates showed that extreme floods are expected to occur between the months of June and October when rainfall is prominent within the basin area. In addition, flood magnitudes were found to increase with an increase in return periods in the Hazen plotting position. The model Q = 27.89Tr0.548 (R2 = 0.97) generated from fitting the extreme values (peaks) of the River Ibu into the log-Pearson type III distribution, can reduce flood risks within the River Ibu basin, particularly in Sagamu, and this information is highly helpful to hydrologists and engineers in planning for flood regulation and protection measures.Keywords: Ibu River, Hazen Plotting Position, Log-Pearson Type III Distribution, Peaks, Flood Regulatio
Millennium Development Goals {MDGs} and the Yar'adua's Seven Point Agenda in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges
No full textMillennium Development Goals {MDGs} and the Yar'adua's Seven Point Agenda in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges
Get PDFOne global identity today is glaring poverty. The intercontinental epidemichas its worse effects on the developing nations of the world, Africa andNigeria in particular. Indicators of this glaring poverty span through allhuman socio-political economic lives of the citizenry, from health toeducation, gender inequality and to environmental degradation. The United Nations woke up to this startling reality in September 8, 2000 in New York to adopt a millennium declaration to address this problem. This has hither to been adopted in Nigeria by the democratic government of Presidents Obasanjo and Yar'Adua. Yar'Adua in the wake of his administration declared a 7-point agenda to combact poverty and its attendant indicators head-long. This paper therefore observes that, though MDGs and its incorporated 7-points agenda of Yar'Adua seem to have the prospect and capability to address the problem of poverty in Nigeria, yet it lacks the in-built capacity toaddress poverty especially in this era of global economic meltdown. To this end the paper contends that some policies in the past failed to address similar problems due to lack of strong political will and corruption. Therefore, the paper examines some challenges confronting the attainment of MDGs and the Yar’Adua’s 7-point agenda in Nigeria. Finally, the paper identifies some policy suggestions towards realising the MDGs and the 7-point agenda. Content analysis is relied upon in the course of the research
Monitoring the sensible heat flux over urban areas using large aperture scintillometry: Case study of Marseille city during the ESCOMPTE experiment
No full text@article{RI-LONG-2006, author = {Lagouarde, J.P. and Irvine, M. and Bonnefond, J.M. and Grimmond, C.S.B and Long, N. and Oke, T.R. and Salmond, J.A and Offerle, B.}, title = {Monitoring the sensible heat flux over urban areas using large aperture scintillometry: case study of Marseille city during the ESCOMPTE experiment}, journal = {Boundary Layer of Meteorology}, year = {2006}, volume = {118}, pages = {449-476}, annote = {\url{http://www.springerlink.com/(dtwtabvxegx0sx45jxfdxf55)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=searcharticlesresults,6,8;)} \url{http://www.springerlink.com/media/p8121d90am2rtmd94ftx/contributions/f/p/5/8/fp587rx1122r2267.pdf}} }International audienc
Infrastructural development dimension of urban prosperity in selected settlements of Ogun state, Nigeria
Get PDFThis study investigated the extent of urban prosperity (Infrastructural Development) using residents’ perceptions in selected settlements (Ota and Agbado) of Ogun State, Nigeria. The study adopted the survey research design (majorly questionnaire). The sample frame consisted of 4,375 households in Ota (Otun) and 3,312 households in Oke-Aro (Agbado Core) which translates to 7,687 households. The sample size was 722 households’ heads. The method of data analysis included frequency tables and likert scale outputs through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Based on the findings, core residential area has majority (73%) of dwellers as indigenes while 54% were holders of secondary certificates. The study found that 49.3% were self-employed as the major (56%) housing type design was bungalow. From the Likert scale outputs, the study revealed that the extent of urban prosperity in terms of infrastructure (public Service) were health infrastructure with 3.36 Residents’ Perception Index (RPI), public school standard with 3.25 RPI and road transport with 3.06 RPI, Also, the extent of urban prosperity in terms of infrastructures (Housing) with built as planned has 3.95 RPI and housing affordability with 3.62 RPI respectively. It was concluded that, urban settlements (Otun in Ota and Oke-Aro in Agbado) have tendency of being urban prosperous centers considering the RPI for policy formulation. Key Words: Development, Infrastructure, Settlements, Urban Prosperit
- …
