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In Paris, France, December 2015, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Con- vention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a "special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 â—ŠC above pre-industrial levels and related global green- house gas emission pathwaysâ€. In Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016, the IPCC panel accepted the invitation. Here we de- scribe the response devised within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) to provide tailored, cross-sectorally consistent impact projections to broaden the scientific basis for the report. The simulation protocol is de- signed to allow for (1) separation of the impacts of histori- cal warming starting from pre-industrial conditions from im- pacts of other drivers such as historical land-use changes (based on pre-industrial and historical impact model simula- tions); (2) quantification of the impacts of additional warm- ing up to 1.5 â—ŠC, including a potential overshoot and long- term impacts up to 2299, and comparison to higher lev- els of global mean temperature change (based on the low- emissions Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 and a no-mitigation pathway RCP6.0) with socio-economic conditions fixed at 2005 levels; and (3) assessment of the cli- mate effects based on the same climate scenarios while ac- counting for simultaneous changes in socio-economic con- ditions following the middle-of-the-road Shared Socioeco- nomic Pathway (SSP2, Fricko et al., 2016) and in particu- lar differential bioenergy requirements associated with the transformation of the energy system to comply with RCP2.6 compared to RCP6.0.With the aim of providing the scientific basis for an aggregation of impacts across sectors and anal- ysis of cross-sectoral interactions that may dampen or am- plify sectoral impacts, the protocol is designed to facilitate consistent impact projections from a range of impact mod- els across different sectors (global and regional hydrology, lakes, global crops, global vegetation, regional forests, global and regional marine ecosystems and fisheries, global and regional coastal infrastructure, energy supply and demand, temperature-related mortality, and global terrestrial biodiver- sity).

uploaded for EU BON by Plazi The EU BON project aims to Build the European Biodiversity Observation Network, and is the European contribution to the Group on Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). This present deliverable, entitled "Strategies and business plan for regional and global biodiversity information infrastructures" (D7.4) fits under EU BON Work Package (WP) 7 "Implementation of GEO BON: strategies and solutions at European and global levels", and provides an overview of the outputs resulting from two WP7 Tasks. The objectives of this deliverable were to develop (1) a strategy for a global GEO BON infrastructure with optimised functionality in terms of efficiency and operability (as part of Task 7.4), and (2) a business plan for sustaining the European Biodiversity Observation Network after the funded phase (as part of Task 7.5). Building on the outputs from other EU BON work packages and extensive consultation (including externally to the project consortium), these objectives have been met. The global and European-level map of the biodiversity informatics landscape (Task 7.4) has led to a better understanding of the landscape's current structure and functioning. This will enable key players to establish or strengthen collaborations, avoid effort duplication, and facilitate access to the biodiversity data, information and knowledge required to support effective decision-making. The business plan for the European Biodiversity Observation Network (Task 7.5) summarises what the network has to offer, to identified end-users (from policy, science/research, and citizen-science), in terms of products, tools and services, including those that can potentially generate income. A possible organisational structure, potential sources of funding, along with entry points for the network in other projects and initiatives (established or upcoming), are also presented.

The popularity of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has grown in recent years, with certain NPS commonly and preferentially consumed even following the introduction of preventative legislation. With the objective to improve the knowledge on the use of NPS, a rapid and very sensitive method was developed for the determination of ten priority NPS (N-ethylcathinone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), methylone, butylone, methedrone, mephedrone, naphyrone, 25-C-NBOMe, 25-I-NBOMe and 25-B-NBOMe) in influent wastewater. Sample clean-up and pre-concentration was made by off-line solid phase extraction (SPE) with Oasis MCX cartridges. Isotopically labelled internal standards were used to correct for matrix effects and potential SPE losses. Following chromatographic separation on a C18 column within 6 min, the compounds were measured by tandem mass spectrometry in positive ionization mode. The method was optimised and validated for all compounds. Limits of quantification were evaluated by spiking influent wastewater samples at 1 or 5 ng/L. An investigation into the stability of these compounds in influent wastewater was also performed, showing that, following acidification at pH 2, all compounds were relatively stable for up to 7 days. The method was then applied to influent wastewater samples from eight European countries, in which mephedrone, methylone and MDPV were detected. This work reveals that although NPS use is not as extensive as for classic illicit drugs, the application of a highly sensitive analytical procedure makes their detection in wastewater possible. The developed analytical methodology forms the basis of a subsequent model-based back-calculation of abuse rate in urban areas (i.e. wastewater-based epidemiology).

The popularity of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has grown in recent years, with certain NPS commonly and preferentially consumed even following the introduction of preventative legislation. With the objective to improve the knowledge on the use of NPS, a rapid and very sensitive method was developed for the determination of ten priority NPS (N-ethylcathinone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), methylone, butylone, methedrone, mephedrone, naphyrone, 25-C-NBOMe, 25-I-NBOMe and 25-B-NBOMe) in influent wastewater. Sample clean-up and pre-concentration was made by off-line solid phase extraction (SPE) with Oasis MCX cartridges. Isotopically labelled internal standards were used to correct for matrix effects and potential SPE losses. Following chromatographic separation on a C 18 column within 6 min, the compounds were measured by tandem mass spectrometry in positive ionization mode. The method was optimised and validated for all compounds. Limits of quantification were evaluated by spiking influent wastewater samples at 1 or 5 ng/L. An investigation into the stability of these compounds in influent wastewater was also performed, showing that, following acidification at pH 2, all compounds were relatively stable for up to 7 days. The method was then applied to influent wastewater samples from eight European countries, in which mephedrone, methylone and MDPV were detected. This work reveals that although NPS use is not as extensive as for classic illicit drugs, the application of a highly sensitive analytical procedure makes their detection in wastewater possible. The developed analytical methodology forms the basis of a subsequent model-based back-calculation of abuse rate in urban areas (i.e. wastewater-based epidemiology).

The simultaneous analysis of aerosol microphysical properties profiles at different European stations is made in the framework of the ChArMEx/EMEP 2012 field campaign (9-11 July 2012). During and in support of this campaign, five lidar ground-based stations (Athens, Barcelona, Bucharest, A parts per thousand vora, and Granada) performed 72aEuro-h of continuous lidar measurements and collocated and coincident sun-photometer measurements. Therefore it was possible to retrieve volume concentration profiles with the Lidar Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC). Results indicated the presence of a mineral dust plume affecting the western Mediterranean region (mainly the Granada station), whereas a different aerosol plume was observed over the Balkans area. LIRIC profiles showed a predominance of coarse spheroid particles above Granada, as expected for mineral dust, and an aerosol plume composed mainly of fine and coarse spherical particles above Athens and Bucharest. Due to the exceptional characteristics of the ChArMEx database, the analysis of the microphysical properties profiles' temporal evolution was also possible. An in-depth analysis was performed mainly at the Granada station because of the availability of continuous lidar measurements and frequent AERONET inversion retrievals. The analysis at Granada was of special interest since the station was affected by mineral dust during the complete analyzed period. LIRIC was found to be a very useful tool for performing continuous monitoring of mineral dust, allowing for the analysis of the dynamics of the dust event in the vertical and temporal coordinates. Results obtained here illustrate the importance of having collocated and simultaneous advanced lidar and sun-photometer measurements in order to characterize the aerosol microphysical properties in both the vertical and temporal coordinates at a regional scale. In addition, this study revealed that the use of the depolarization information as input in LIRIC in the stations of Bucharest, A parts per thousand vora, and Granada was crucial for the characterization of the aerosol types and their distribution in the vertical column, whereas in stations lacking depolarization lidar channels, ancillary information was needed. Results obtained were also used for the validation of different mineral dust models. In general, the models better forecast the vertical distribution of the mineral dust than the column-integrated mass concentration, which was underestimated in most of the cases. ; This work was supported by the Andalusia Regional Government through projects P12-RNM-2409 and P10-RNM-6299, by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through projects TEC2012-34575, TEC2015-63832-P, CGL2013-45410-R, CGL2011-13580-E/CLI, CGL2011-16124-E, and CGL2013-46736-R; by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project UNPC10-4E-442); the EU through the H2020 project ACTRIS2 (contract number 654109); by the University of Granada through the contract "Plan Propio. Programa 9. Convocatoria 2013"; and by the Department of Economy and Knowledge of the Catalan autonomous government (grant 2014 SGR 583). M. J. Granados-Muñoz was funded under grant AP2009-0552 from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. S. N. Pereira was funded under fellowship SFRH/BPD/81132/2011 and projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029212 (PTDC/GEO-MET/4222/2012 from the Portuguese Government). S. Basart and J. M. Baldasano acknowledge the CICYT project (CGL2010-19652 and CGL2013-46736) and Severo Ochoa Programme (SEV-2011-00067) of the Spanish Government. BSC-DREAM8b and NMMB/BSC-Dust simulations were performed on the Mare Nostrum supercomputer hosted by Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS). This paper was realized also as a part of the project III43007 financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia within the framework of integrated and interdisciplinary research for the period 2011–2015. It has also received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 289923 – ITaRS. The CIMEL calibration was performed at the AERONET-EUROPE calibration center, supported by ACTRIS-2 (EUH2020 grant agreement no. 654109. The authors express gratitude to the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory for the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model; the ICARE Data and Services Center the MODIS team; and the ChArMEx project of the MISTRALS (Mediterranean Integrated Studies at Regional And Local Scales; http://www.mistrals-home.org) multidisciplinary research programme. ; Peer Reviewed ; Postprint (published version)

The simultaneous analysis of aerosol microphysical properties profiles at different European stations is made in the framework of the ChArMEx/EMEP 2012 field campaign (9-11 July 2012). During and in support of this campaign, five lidar ground-based stations (Athens, Barcelona, Bucharest, A parts per thousand vora, and Granada) performed 72aEuro-h of continuous lidar measurements and collocated and coincident sun-photometer measurements. Therefore it was possible to retrieve volume concentration profiles with the Lidar Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC). Results indicated the presence of a mineral dust plume affecting the western Mediterranean region (mainly the Granada station), whereas a different aerosol plume was observed over the Balkans area. LIRIC profiles showed a predominance of coarse spheroid particles above Granada, as expected for mineral dust, and an aerosol plume composed mainly of fine and coarse spherical particles above Athens and Bucharest. Due to the exceptional characteristics of the ChArMEx database, the analysis of the microphysical properties profiles' temporal evolution was also possible. An in-depth analysis was performed mainly at the Granada station because of the availability of continuous lidar measurements and frequent AERONET inversion retrievals. The analysis at Granada was of special interest since the station was affected by mineral dust during the complete analyzed period. LIRIC was found to be a very useful tool for performing continuous monitoring of mineral dust, allowing for the analysis of the dynamics of the dust event in the vertical and temporal coordinates. Results obtained here illustrate the importance of having collocated and simultaneous advanced lidar and sun-photometer measurements in order to characterize the aerosol microphysical properties in both the vertical and temporal coordinates at a regional scale. In addition, this study revealed that the use of the depolarization information as input in LIRIC in the stations of Bucharest, A parts per thousand vora, and Granada was crucial for the characterization of the aerosol types and their distribution in the vertical column, whereas in stations lacking depolarization lidar channels, ancillary information was needed. Results obtained were also used for the validation of different mineral dust models. In general, the models better forecast the vertical distribution of the mineral dust than the column-integrated mass concentration, which was underestimated in most of the cases. ; This work was supported by the Andalusia Regional Government through projects P12-RNM-2409 and P10-RNM-6299, by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through projects TEC2012-34575, TEC2015-63832-P, CGL2013-45410-R, CGL2011-13580-E/CLI, CGL2011-16124-E, and CGL2013-46736-R; by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project UNPC10-4E-442); the EU through the H2020 project ACTRIS2 (contract number 654109); by the University of Granada through the contract "Plan Propio. Programa 9. Convocatoria 2013"; and by the Department of Economy and Knowledge of the Catalan autonomous government (grant 2014 SGR 583). M. J. Granados-Muñoz was funded under grant AP2009-0552 from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. S. N. Pereira was funded under fellowship SFRH/BPD/81132/2011 and projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029212 (PTDC/GEO-MET/4222/2012 from the Portuguese Government). S. Basart and J. M. Baldasano acknowledge the CICYT project (CGL2010-19652 and CGL2013-46736) and Severo Ochoa Programme (SEV-2011-00067) of the Spanish Government. BSC-DREAM8b and NMMB/BSC-Dust simulations were performed on the Mare Nostrum supercomputer hosted by Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS). This paper was realized also as a part of the project III43007 financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia within the framework of integrated and interdisciplinary research for the period 2011–2015. It has also received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement no. 289923 – ITaRS. The CIMEL calibration was performed at the AERONET-EUROPE calibration center, supported by ACTRIS-2 (EUH2020 grant agreement no. 654109. The authors express gratitude to the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory for the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model; the ICARE Data and Services Center the MODIS team; and the ChArMEx project of the MISTRALS (Mediterranean Integrated Studies at Regional And Local Scales; http://www.mistrals-home.org) multidisciplinary research programme. ; Peer Reviewed ; Postprint (published version)

The CHIPS randomized controlled trial (Control of Hypertension in Pregnancy Study) found no difference in the primary perinatal or secondary maternal outcomes between planned "less tight" (target diastolic 100 mm Hg) and "tight" (target diastolic 85 mm Hg) blood pressure management strategies among women with chronic or gestational hypertension. This study examined which of these management strategies is more or less costly from a third-party payer perspective. A total of 981 women with singleton pregnancies and nonsevere, nonproteinuric chronic or gestational hypertension were randomized at 14 to 33 weeks to less tight or tight control. Resources used were collected from 94 centers in 15 countries and costed as if the trial took place in each of 3 Canadian provinces as a cost-sensitivity analysis. Eleven hospital ward and 24 health service costs were obtained from a similar trial and provincial government health insurance schedules of medical benefits. The mean total cost per woman–infant dyad was higher in less tight versus tight control, but the difference in mean total cost (DM) was not statistically significant in any province: Ontario ($30191.62 versus $24469.06; DM $5723, 95% confidence interval, −$296 to $12272; P=0.0725); British Columbia ($30593.69 versus $24776.51; DM $5817; 95% confidence interval, −$385 to $12349; P=0.0725); or Alberta ($31510.72 versus $25510.49; DM $6000.23; 95% confidence interval, −$154 to $12781; P=0.0637). Tight control may benefit women without increasing risk to neonates (as shown in the main CHIPS trial), without additional (and possibly lower) cost to the healthcare system.

The CHIPS randomized controlled trial (Control of Hypertension in Pregnancy Study) found no difference in the primary perinatal or secondary maternal outcomes between planned textquotedblleftless tighttextquotedblright (target diastolic 100 mm Hg) and textquotedbllefttighttextquotedblright (target diastolic 85 mm Hg) blood pressure management strategies among women with chronic or gestational hypertension. This study examined which of these management strategies is more or less costly from a third-party payer perspective. A total of 981 women with singleton pregnancies and nonsevere, nonproteinuric chronic or gestational hypertension were randomized at 14 to 33 weeks to less tight or tight control. Resources used were collected from 94 centers in 15 countries and costed as if the trial took place in each of 3 Canadian provinces as a cost-sensitivity analysis. Eleven hospital ward and 24 health service costs were obtained from a similar trial and provincial government health insurance schedules of medical benefits. The mean total cost per womantextendashinfant dyad was higher in less tight versus tight control, but the difference in mean total cost (DM) was not statistically significant in any province: Ontario ($30 191.62 versus $24 469.06; DM $5723, 95% confidence interval, -$296 to $12 272; P=0.0725); British Columbia ($30 593.69 versus $24 776.51; DM $5817; 95% confidence interval, -$385 to $12 349; P=0.0725); or Alberta ($31 510.72 versus $25 510.49; DM $6000.23; 95% confidence interval, -$154 to $12 781; P=0.0637). Tight control may benefit women without increasing risk to neonates (as shown in the main CHIPS trial), without additional (and possibly lower) cost to the healthcare system.Clinical Trial RegistrationtextemdashURL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01192412.Novelty and Significance

Ozone air pollution is identified as one of the main threats bearing upon human health and ecosystems, with 25 000 deaths in 2005 attributed to surface ozone in Europe (IIASA 2013 TSAP Report #10). In addition, there is a concern that climate change could negate ozone pollution mitigation strategies, making them insufficient over the long run and jeopardising chances to meet the long term objective set by the European Union Directive of 2008 (Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008) (60 ppbv, daily maximum). This effect has been termed the ozone climate penalty. One way of assessing this climate penalty is by driving chemistry-transport models with future climate projections while holding the ozone precursor emissions constant (although the climate penalty may also be influenced by changes in emission of precursors). Here we present an analysis of the robustness of the climate penalty in Europe across time periods and scenarios by analysing the databases underlying 11 articles published on the topic since 2007, i.e. a total of 25 model projections. This substantial body of literature has never been explored to assess the uncertainty and robustness of the climate ozone penalty because of the use of different scenarios, time periods and ozone metrics. Despite the variability of model design and setup in this database of 25 model projection, the present meta-analysis demonstrates the significance and robustness of the impact of climate change on European surface ozone with a latitudinal gradient from a penalty bearing upon large parts of continental Europe and a benefit over the North Atlantic region of the domain. Future climate scenarios present a penalty for summertime (JJA) surface ozone by the end of the century (2071-2100) of at most 5 ppbv. Over European land surfaces, the 95% confidence interval of JJA ozone change is [0.44; 0.64] and [0.99; 1.50] ppbv for the 2041-2070 and 2071-2100 time windows, respectively.

Ozone air pollution is identified as one of the main threats bearing upon human health and ecosystems, with 25 000 deaths in 2005 attributed to surface ozone in Europe (IIASA 2013 TSAP Report #10). In addition, there is a concern that climate change could negate ozone pollution mitigation strategies, making them insufficient over the long run and jeopardising chances to meet the long term objective set by the European Union Directive of 2008 (Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008) (60 ppbv, daily maximum). This effect has been termed the ozone climate penalty. One way of assessing this climate penalty is by driving chemistry-transport models with future climate projections while holding the ozone precursor emissions constant (although the climate penalty may also be influenced by changes in emission of precursors). Here we present an analysis of the robustness of the climate penalty in Europe across time periods and scenarios by analysing the databases underlying 11 articles published on the topic since 2007, i.e. a total of 25 model projections. This substantial body of literature has never been explored to assess the uncertainty and robustness of the climate ozone penalty because of the use of different scenarios, time periods and ozone metrics. Despite the variability of model design and setup in this database of 25 model projection, the present meta-analysis demonstrates the significance and robustness of the impact of climate change on European surface ozone with a latitudinal gradient from a penalty bearing upon large parts of continental Europe and a benefit over the North Atlantic region of the domain. Future climate scenarios present a penalty for summertime (JJA) surface ozone by the end of the century (2071-2100) of at most 5 ppbv. Over European land surfaces, the 95% confidence interval of JJA ozone change is [0.44; 0.64] and [0.99; 1.50] ppbv for the 2041-2070 and 2071-2100 time windows, respectively.

Ozone air pollution is identified as one of the main threats bearing upon human health and ecosystems, with 25 000 deaths in 2005 attributed to surface ozone in Europe (IIASA 2013 TSAP Report #10). In addition, there is a concern that climate change could negate ozone pollution mitigation strategies, making them insufficient over the long run and jeopardising chances to meet the long term objective set by the European Union Directive of 2008 (Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008) (60 ppbv, daily maximum). This effect has been termed the ozone climate penalty. One way of assessing this climate penalty is by driving chemistry-transport models with future climate projections while holding the ozone precursor emissions constant (although the climate penalty may also be influenced by changes in emission of precursors). Here we present an analysis of the robustness of the climate penalty in Europe across time periods and scenarios by analysing the databases underlying 11 articles published on the topic since 2007, i.e. a total of 25 model projections. This substantial body of literature has never been explored to assess the uncertainty and robustness of the climate ozone penalty because of the use of different scenarios, time periods and ozone metrics. Despite the variability of model design and setup in this database of 25 model projection, the present meta-analysis demonstrates the significance and robustness of the impact of climate change on European surface ozone with a latitudinal gradient from a penalty bearing upon large parts of continental Europe and a benefit over the North Atlantic region of the domain. Future climate scenarios present a penalty for summertime (JJA) surface ozone by the end of the century (2071-2100) of at most 5 ppbv. Over European land surfaces, the 95% confidence interval of JJA ozone change is [0.44; 0.64] and [0.99; 1.50] ppbv for the 2041-2070 and 2071-2100 time windows, respectively.

For 18 months in 2009–2010, the Rockefeller Foundation provided support to establish the Roundtable on Urban Living Environment Research (RULER). Composed of leading experts in population health measurement from a variety of disciplines, sectors, and continents, RULER met for the purpose of reviewing existing methods of measurement for urban health in the context of recent reports from UN agencies on health inequities in urban settings. The audience for this report was identified as international, national, and local governing bodies; civil society; and donor agencies. The goal of the report was to identify gaps in measurement that must be filled in order to assess and evaluate population health in urban settings, especially in informal settlements (or slums) in low- and middle-income countries. Care must be taken to integrate recommendations with existing platforms (e.g.,Health Metrics Network, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) that could incorporate, mature, and sustain efforts to address these gaps and promote effective data for healthy urban management. RULER noted that these existing platforms focus primarily on health outcomes and systems, mainly at the national level. Although substantial reviews of health outcomes and health service measures had been conducted elsewhere, such reviews covered these in an aggregate and perhaps misleading way. For example, some spatial aspects of health inequities, such as those pointed to in the 2008 report from the WHO's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, received limited attention. If RULER were to focus on health inequities in the urban environment, access to disaggregated data was a priority. RULER observed that some urban health metrics were already available, if not always appreciated and utilized in ongoing efforts (e.g., census data with granular data on households, water, and sanitation but with little attention paid to the spatial dimensions of these data). Other less obvious elements had not exploited the gains realized in spatial measurement technology and techniques (e.g., defining geographic and social urban informal settlement boundaries, classification of population based amenities and hazards, and innovative spatial measurement of local governance for health. In summary, the RULER team identified three major areas for enhancing measurement to motivate action for urban health—namely, disaggregation of geographic areas for intra-urban risk assessment and action, measures for both social environment and governance, and measures for a better understanding of the implications of the physical (e.g., climate) and built environment for health. The challenge of addressing these elements in resource-poor settings was acknowledged, as was the intensely political nature of urban health metrics. The RULER team went further to identify existing global health metrics structures that could serve as platforms for more granular metrics specific for urban settings.

For 18 months in 2009–2010, the Rockefeller Foundation provided support to establish the Roundtable on Urban Living Environment Research (RULER). Composed of leading experts in population health measurement from a variety of disciplines, sectors, and continents, RULER met for the purpose of reviewing existing methods of measurement for urban health in the context of recent reports from UN agencies on health inequities in urban settings. The audience for this report was identified as international, national, and local governing bodies; civil society; and donor agencies. The goal of the report was to identify gaps in measurement that must be filled in order to assess and evaluate population health in urban settings, especially in informal settlements (or slums) in low- and middle-income countries. Care must be taken to integrate recommendations with existing platforms (e.g.,Health Metrics Network, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) that could incorporate, mature, and sustain efforts to address these gaps and promote effective data for healthy urban management. RULER noted that these existing platforms focus primarily on health outcomes and systems, mainly at the national level. Although substantial reviews of health outcomes and health service measures had been conducted elsewhere, such reviews covered these in an aggregate and perhaps misleading way. For example, some spatial aspects of health inequities, such as those pointed to in the 2008 report from the WHO's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, received limited attention. If RULER were to focus on health inequities in the urban environment, access to disaggregated data was a priority. RULER observed that some urban health metrics were already available, if not always appreciated and utilized in ongoing efforts (e.g., census data with granular data on households, water, and sanitation but with little attention paid to the spatial dimensions of these data). Other less obvious elements had not exploited the gains realized in spatial measurement technology and techniques (e.g., defining geographic and social urban informal settlement boundaries, classification of population based amenities and hazards, and innovative spatial measurement of local governance for health. In summary, the RULER team identified three major areas for enhancing measurement to motivate action for urban health—namely, disaggregation of geographic areas for intra-urban risk assessment and action, measures for both social environment and governance, and measures for a better understanding of the implications of the physical (e.g., climate) and built environment for health. The challenge of addressing these elements in resource-poor settings was acknowledged, as was the intensely political nature of urban health metrics. The RULER team went further to identify existing global health metrics structures that could serve as platforms for more granular metrics specific for urban settings. ; Copyright Information: 2011 The New York Academy of Medicine

Over the last few decades, increasing attention has been paid to understanding the pathophysiology, aetiology, prognosis, and treatment of elevated intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) in trauma, surgical, and medical patients. However, there is presently a relatively poor understanding of intra-abdominal volume (IAV) and the relationship between IAV and IAP (i.e. abdominal compliance). Consensus definitions on C ab were discussed during the 5 th World Congress on Abdominal Compartment Syndrome and a writing committee was formed to develop this article. During the writing process, a systematic and structured Medline and PubMed search was conducted to identify relevant studies relating to the topic. According to the recently updated consensus definitions of the World Society on Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (WSACS), abdominal compliance (C ab ) is defined as a measure of the ease of abdominal expansion, which is determined by the elasticity of the abdominal wall and diaphragm. It should be expressed as the change in IAV per change in IAP (mL [mm Hg] -1 ). Importantly, C ab is measured differently than IAP and the abdominal wall (and its compliance) is only a part of the total abdominal pressure-volume (PV) relationship. During an increase in IAV, different phases are encountered: the reshaping, stretching, and pressurisation phases. The first part of this review article starts with a comprehensive list of the different definitions related to IAP (at baseline, during respiratory variations, at maximal IAV), IAV (at baseline, additional volume, abdominal workspace, maximal and unadapted volume), and abdominal compliance and elastance (i.e. the relationship between IAV and IAP). An historical background on the pathophysiology related to IAP, IAV and C ab follows this. Measurement of C ab is difficult at the bedside and can only be done in a case of change (removal or addition) in IAV. The C ab is one of the most neglected parameters in critically ill patients, although it plays a key role in understanding the deleterious effects of unadapted IAV on IAP and end-organ perfusion. The definitions presented herein will help to understand the key me