Abstract: Even though that in the very beginning of Daylight Saving Time (DST) policy, standards were decided individually by each country, and were not regulated, most European member States have progressively been adopting the so called "summer time" since 1970s or 1980s which had been gradually harmonized under EU law [1]. Public discomfort have been argued for years and claims from several social groups regarding the need for a public inquiry were attended. However, after European Union decided to properly ask citizens about their feelings regarding Daylight Saving Time, a small fraction of European citizens (68% from Germany) had told that they don't want to change the time twice a year. Despite the very statistically biased result, there are still misgivings about the biomedical and clinical meanings of this position. Therefore a significant amount of uncertainty related to the actual impact of DST on health persists both in general public and in the clinical and scientific community. Actually, at the same time discussion seemed ready to be closed in EU, some countries persist with this trend and some others try to implement variants.
García Sotillo, Marcos . et al.-- 9 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables ; On 9 September 2014, an intensive drifter deployment was carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar. In the frame of the MEDESS-4MS Project (EU MED Program), the MEDESS-GIB experiment consisted of the deployment of 35 satellite tracked drifters, mostly of CODE-type, equipped with temperature sensor sampling at a rate of 30 min. Drifters were distributed along and on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. The MEDESS-GIB deployment plan was designed as to ensure quasi-synoptic spatial coverage. To this end, four boats covering an area of about 680NM2 in 6 h were coordinated. As far as these authors know, this experiment is the most important exercise in the area in terms of number of drifters released. Collected satellite-tracked data along drifter trajectories have been quality controlled and processed to build the presented MEDESS-GIB database. This paper reports the MEDESS-GIB data set that comprises drifter trajectories, derived surface currents and in situ SST measurements collected along the buoys tracks. This series of data is available through the PANGAEA (Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science) repository, with the following doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.853701. Likewise, the MEDESS-GIB data will be incorporated as part of the Copernicus Marine historical products. The MEDESS-GIB data set provides a complete Lagrangian view of the surface inflow of Atlantic waters through the Strait of Gibraltar and thus, very useful data for further studies on the surface circulation patterns in the Alboran Sea, and their links with one of the most energetic Mediterranean Sea flows: the Algerian Current ; The MEDESS-GIB experiment was performed as part of the MEDESS-4MS Project activities (Project ref. 2S-MED11-01), supported by the European Regional Development Fund in the framework of the MED Programme. D. Conti is currently a PhD fellowship (FPI/1543/2013) granted by the Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Universitats from the Government of the Balearic Islands co-financed by the European Social Fund. J. M. Sayol is thankful for the financial support of CSIC and FSE with the JAE-pre PhD scholarship program ; Peer Reviewed
Background: Appropriate choice of research design is essential to rightly understand the research problem and derive optimal solutions. The Comorbidity Action in the North project sought to better meet the needs of local people affected by drug, alcohol and mental health comorbidity. The aim of the study focused on the needs of Aboriginal peoples and on developing a truly representative research process. A methodology evolved that best suited working with members of a marginalised Aboriginal community. This paper discusses the process of co-design of a Western methodology (participatory action research) in conjunction with the Indigenous methodologies Dadirri and Ganma. This co-design enabled an international PhD student to work respectfully with Aboriginal community members and Elders, health professionals and consumers, and non-Indigenous service providers in a drug and alcohol and mental health comorbidity project in Adelaide, South Australia. Methods The PhD student, Aboriginal Elder mentor, Aboriginal Working Party, and supervisors (the research team) sought to co-design a methodology and applied it to address the following challenges: the PhD student was an international student with no existing relationship with local Aboriginal community members; many Aboriginal people deeply distrust Western research due to past poor practices and a lack of implementation of findings into practice; Aboriginal people often remain unheard, unacknowledged and unrecognised in research projects; drug and alcohol and mental health comorbidity experiences are often distressing for Aboriginal community members and their families; attempts to access comorbidity care often result in limited or no access; and Aboriginal community members experience acts of racism and discrimination as health professionals and consumers of health and support services. The research team considered deeply how knowledge is shared, interpreted, owned and controlled, by whom and how, within research, co-morbidity care and community settings. The PhD student was supported to co-design a methodology that was equitable, democratic, liberating and life-enhancing, with real potential to develop feasible solutions.Results The resulting combined Participatory Action Research (PAR)-Dadirri-Ganma methodology sought to create a bridge across Western and Aboriginal knowledges, understanding and experiences. Foundation pillars of this bridge were mentoring of the PhD student by senior Elders, who explained and demonstrated the critical importance of Yarning (consulting) and Indigenous methodologies of Dadirri (deep listening) and Ganma (two-way knowledge sharing), and discussions among all involved about the principles of Western PAR. Conclusions Concepts within this paper are shared from the perspective of the PhD student with the permission and support of local Elders and Working Group members. The intention is to share what was learned for the benefit of other students, research projects and community members who are beginning a similar journey. ; Hepsibah Sharmil, Janet Kelly, Margaret Bowden, Cherrie Galletly, Imelda Cairney, Coral Wilson