Suchergebnisse

THIS STUDY SHOWS THAT THE STRINGENCY WITH WHICH MEDICARE CARRIERS SCREEN "CUSTOMARY, PREVAILING, AND REASONABLE CHARGES" (C.P.R.) INHIBITS SIGNIFICANTLY THE INFLATION OF MEDICARE PHYSICIANS' FEES. THE ADOPTION OF RELATIVE VALUE SCALES OR FIXED FEE SCALE HAS MAJOR RETARDING IMPACT ON FEE GROWTH.

Investigates the ways in which motivations and goals affect patterns of political information-seeking and the consequent structure of memory about candidates. Undergraduate participants used a computerized system that displayed different layers of information about fictional political candidates; the system recorded the strategies they used to search through this information. Results showed that motivations to engage in effortful processing produced tendencies to engage in within-candidate searches, better recall, and memory structures, clustered by candidate. Confirms that the manner in which people acquire candidate information has important consequences for the way they store that information in memory and that these processes vary according to individual motivations and goals. (Original abstract - amended)

Objective: The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a goal of prompt, complete and sustained elimination of industrially produced trans fats (iTFA) in the global food supply by 2023. We aimed to assess the number of products in the Australian packaged food supply likely to contain iTFA. Methods: Using a large pre-packaged food monitoring database collected in 2018, we searched the ingredient list using specific and non-specific ingredient terms to identify products likely to contain iTFA. Results: In total, 28,349 foods were included for analysis: 131 (0.5%) products contained specific ingredients indicative of iTFA, and 1,626 (5.7%) products contained non-specific ingredients that may indicate the presence of iTFA. Bread and bakery products, cereal and grain products and confectionery were the top three food groups that contained specific ingredients indicative of iTFA. Only 19 (14.5%) products with specific iTFA-indicating ingredients declared the amount of trans fats. Conclusions and implications for public health: Compared to other countries, the use of iTFA-containing ingredients is low in Australia, but repeated exposure to products containing iTFA could still put consumers at risk of excessive consumption. Legislation to eliminate iTFA should be considered to minimise the exposure to these harmful chemicals.

Abstract. This study is focused on the modification of a typhoon rainfall climatological model, by using the dataset up to 2006 and including data collected from rain gauge stations established after the 921 earthquake (1999). Subsequently, the climatology rainfall models for westward- and northward-moving typhoons are established by using the typhoon track classification from the Central Weather Bureau. These models are also evaluated and examined using dependent cases collected between 1989 and 2006 and independent cases collected from 2007 to 2011. For the dependent cases, the average total rainfall at all rain gauge stations forecasted using the climatology rainfall models for westward- (W-TRCM12) and northward-moving (N-TRCM12) typhoons is superior to that obtained using the original climatological model (TRCM06). Model W-TRCM12 significantly improves the precipitation underestimation of model TRCM06. The independent cases show that model W-TRCM12 provides better accumulated rainfall forecasts and distributions than model TRCM06. A climatological model for accompanied northeastern monsoons (A-TRCM12) for special typhoon types has also been established. The current A-TRCM12 model only contains five historical cases and various typhoon combinations can cause precipitation in different regions. Therefore, precipitation is likely to be significantly overestimated and high false alarm ratios are likely to occur in specific regions. For example, model A-TRCM12 significantly overestimates the rainfall forecast for Typhoon Mitag, an independent case from 2007. However, it has a higher probability of detection than model TRCM06. From a disaster prevention perspective, a high probability of detection is much more important than a high false alarm ratio. The modified models can contribute significantly to operational forecast.

Abstract. Due to the Central Mountain Range with an elevation up to about 4 km, the amount and distribution of rainfall in Taiwan associated with typhoons or tropical cyclones (TCs) depends not only on the distribution of convection within the TCs (internal structure) and influences from monsoon-scale environmental flow, but also on the orographic effect. This study analyzes the spatial and temporal characteristics of rainfall associated with 62 TC cases that affected Taiwan by using observations from the 371 automatic rain stations available in the period 1989–2002. It is found from the climatology maps that highly different rainfall distributions occurred for TCs that approached the Taiwan area from different directions. By performing objective clustering analysis of the rainfall time series of all the rain gauges, several characteristic temporal rainfall profiles are obtained. The geographic distribution of rain gauges that possess a particular temporal profile is also consistent with the possible TC track types that bring maximum rain to the Taiwan area at different times. Based on data in the 1989–2002 period, the development of a TC rainfall climatology-persistence (CLIPER) model is described. CLIPER is an optimized combination of climatology and persistence with different relative weighting for different forecast periods. Independent cases (other than the model development database) during 2003–2004 are used to validate the model. Objective measures like equitable threat score and bias score show that CLIPER's skill is acceptable for practical applications for 24-h rain threshold below 100 mm. However, the underestimation bias for more heavy rainfall is serious and CLIPER seems to have better performance for the northwestern Taiwan than for the other locations. Future directions for improvement of the CLIPER model are discussed.

© 2019 by the authors. With China's commitment to peak its emissions by 2030, sectoral emissions are under the spotlight due to the rolling out of the national emission trading scheme (ETS). However, the current sector policies focus either on the production side or consumption while the majority of sectors along the transmission were overlooked. This research combines input-output modelling and network analysis to track the embodied carbon emissions among thirty sectors of thirty provinces in China. Based on the large-data resolution network, a two-step network reduction algorithm is used to extract the backbone of the network. In addition, network centrality metrics and community detection algorithms are used to assess each individual sector's roles, and to reveal the carbon communities where sectors have intensive emission links. The research results suggest that the sectors with high out-degree, in-degree or betweenness can act as leverage points for carbon emissions mitigation. In addition to the electricity sector, which is included in the national ETS, the study also found that the metallurgy and construction sectors should be prioritized for emissions reduction from national and local levels. However, the hotpots are different across provinces and thus provincial specific targeted policies should be formed. Moreover, there are nineteen carbon communities in China with different features, which provides direction for provincial governments' external collaboration for synergistic effects.

Black carbon (BC) particles accumulated in the Arctic troposphere and deposited on snow have been calculated to have significant effects on radiative forcing of the Arctic regional climate. Applying cluster analysis technique on 10-day backward trajectories, seven distinct transport pathways (or clusters) affecting Alert (82.5° N, 62.5° W), Nunavut in Canada are identified in this work. Transport frequency associated with each pathway is obtained as the fraction of trajectories in that cluster. Based on atmospheric transport frequency and BC surface flux from surrounding regions (i.e. North America, Europe, and former USSR), a linear regression model is constructed to investigate the inter-annual variations of BC observed at Alert in January and April, representative of winter and spring respectively, between 1990 and 2005. Strong correlations are found between BC concentrations predicted with the regression model and measurements at Alert for both seasons ( R 2 equals 0.77 and 0.81 for winter and spring, respectively). Results imply that atmospheric transport and BC emission are the major contributors to the inter-annual variations in BC concentrations observed at Alert in the cold seasons for the 16-year period. Other factors, such as deposition, could also contribute to the variability in BC concentrations but were not considered in this analysis. Based on the regression model the relative contributions of regional BC emissions affecting Alert are attributed to the Eurasian sector, composed of the European Union and the former USSR, and the North American sector. Considering both seasons, the model suggests that former USSR is the major contributor to the near-surface BC levels at the Canadian high Arctic site with an average contribution of about 67% during the 16-year period, followed by European Union (18%) and North America (15%). In winter, the atmospheric transport of BC aerosols from Eurasia is found to be even more predominant with a multi-year average of 94%. The model estimates smaller contribution from the Eurasian sector in spring (70%) than that in winter. It is also found that the inter-annual variation in Eurasian contributions depends mainly on the reduction of emissions, while the changes in both emission and atmospheric transport contributed to the inter-annual variation of North American contributions.

In Australia, manufacturers can use two government-endorsed approaches to advertise product healthiness: the Health Star Rating (HSR) front-of-pack nutrition labelling system, and health claims. Related, but different, algorithms determine the star rating of a product (the HSR algorithm) and eligibility to display claims (the Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (NPSC) algorithm). The objective of this study was to examine the agreement between the HSR and NPSC algorithms. Food composition information for 41,297 packaged products was extracted from The George Institute's FoodSwitch database. HSR and the NPSC scores were calculated, and the proportion of products in each HSR category that were eligible to display a health claim under the NPSC was examined. The highest agreement between the HSR scoring algorithm and the NPSC threshold to determine eligibility to display a health claim was at the HSR cut-off of 3.5 stars (k = 0.83). Overall, 97.3% (n = 40,167) of products with star ratings of 3.5 or higher were also eligible to display a health claim, and 94.3% (n = 38,939) of products with star ratings less than 3.5 were ineligible to display a health claim. The food group with greatest divergence was "edible oils", with 45% products (n = 342) with HSR >3.5, but 64% (n = 495) eligible to display a claim. Categories with large absolute numbers of products with HSR <3.5, but eligible to display a claim, were "yoghurts and yoghurt drinks" (335 products, 25.4%) and "soft drinks" (299 products, 29.7%). Categories with a large number of products with HSR ≥3.5, but ineligible to display a claim, were "milk" (260 products, 21.2%) and "nuts and seeds" (173 products, 19.7%). We conclude that there is good agreement between the HSR and the NPSC systems overall, but divergence in some food groups is likely to result in confusion for consumers, particularly where foods with low HSRs are eligible to display a health claim. The alignment of the NPSC and HSR scoring algorithms should be improved.

Black carbon (BC) particles accumulated in the Arctic troposphere and deposited on snow have been calculated to have significant effects on radiative forcing of the Arctic regional climate. Applying cluster analysis technique on 10-day backward trajectories, seven distinct transport pathways (or clusters) affecting Alert (82.5° N, 62.5° W), Nunavut in Canada are identified in this work. Transport frequency associated with each pathway is obtained as the fraction of trajectories in that cluster. Based on atmospheric transport frequency and BC surface flux from surrounding regions (i.e. North America, Europe, and former USSR), a linear regression model is constructed to investigate the inter-annual variations of BC observed at Alert in January and April, representative of winter and spring respectively, between 1990 and 2005. Strong correlations are found between BC concentrations predicted with the regression model and measurements at Alert for both seasons (R2 equals 0.77 and 0.81 for winter and spring, respectively). Results imply that atmospheric transport and BC emission are the major contributors to the inter-annual variations in BC concentrations observed at Alert in the cold seasons for the 16-year period. Other factors, such as deposition, could also contribute to the variability in BC concentrations but were not considered in this analysis. Based on the regression model the relative contributions of regional BC emissions affecting Alert are attributed to the Eurasian sector, composed of the European Union and the former USSR, and the North American sector. Considering both seasons, the model suggests that former USSR is the major contributor to the near-surface BC levels at the Canadian high Arctic site with an average contribution of about 67% during the 16-year period, followed by European Union (18%) and North America (15%). In winter, the atmospheric transport of BC aerosols from Eurasia is found to be even more predominant with a multi-year average of 94%. The model estimates smaller contribution from the Eurasian sector in spring (70%) than that in winter. It is also found that the inter-annual variation in Eurasian contributions depends mainly on the reduction of emissions, while the changes in both emission and atmospheric transport contributed to the inter-annual variation of North American contributions.