Suchergebnisse

This project presents an assessment tool for classifying building complexes using sitebased relationships as calculated from ArcGIS 9.2 using model builder and Python scripting. Anthropogenic features extracted from imagery often form the foundation of spatial databases. These data are in turn used to inform situational awareness for relief, law enforcement, and military agencies among many others. Buildings and the complexes they form are critical features within the landscape. The categorization of complexes requires an understanding of the relationships of the buildings within the site. In this study, building complexes in California were assessed for similarity to a prototypical California high school defined with a training set of known high schools and compared to a set of uncategorized sites. Eighty-eight percent of the high schools were correctly classified as being highly similar to the control data set.

Nutritional management of chronic kidney disease in pets
Renea Creech and Kim Wilson outline the challenges of Chronic Kidney Disease in pets, the irreversible loss of kidney function, and how nutrition can help. Approximately one in three cats and one in ten dogs are likely to develop kidney disease in their lifetime. (1,2) Increased incidence of diagnosis occurs in older pets, particularly in cats. (3,4) A longevity study showed renal disorders were a major cause of death in cats over five years (5), and upwards of 80% aged over 15 years are affected by Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) or other renal disorders. (3,4) Clinical signs include vomiting, decreased appetite, increased water intake, and total and lean body mass loss. Veterinarians often analyse urine and blood samples to determine biomarker levels such as serum creatinine and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA). The International Renal Interest Society provides veterinarians with guidance for diagnosing and managing kidney disease based on staging, with stage 1 representing early CKD and stage 4 severe CKD. (6)

Abstract
Interdisciplinary scholarly literature considers how research processes may adversely affect their participants. Building on this work, this article addresses the processes and practices of applied research in contexts in which imbalances of power exist between researchers and those being researched. We argue that research activities in international development and humanitarian work that are typically operational, such as needs assessments, baseline studies, and monitoring and evaluation, represent interventions in the lives of participants, with the potential to create value or harm, delight or distress. The ethical and methodological dilemmas of this intervention have received less attention than purely academic discussions of human subject research. How can applied researchers meaningfully reckon with the effects of the research process on both those conducting it and those participating in it throughout the research cycle? In response, we introduce an approach co-developed over seven years through engagement with applied researchers across sectors. We discuss four interrelated principles—relevance, respect, right-sizing, and rigor—intended to invite a commitment to ongoing process improvement in the conduct of applied research. We also propose a framework to guide the implementation of these principles and illustrate the tensions that may arise in the process of its application. These contributions extend conversations about research ethics and methods to the operational research realm, as well as provide concrete tools for reflecting on the processes of operational research as sites of power that ought to be considered as seriously as the findings of data collection activities.

AbstractBy implementing intervention strategies to help psychiatrically disabled persons choose, get, and keep jobs, supported employment can become a successful element in psychiatric rehabilitation.