This work examines the effect of Zr
4+
ions on the physical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of hematite (α-Fe
2
O
3
) nanorod arrays grown in an aqueous solution containing zirconyl nitrate ...(ZrO(NO
3
)
2
) as a dopant precursor. The concentration of ZrO(NO
3
)
2
in the precursor solution influenced both the film thickness and the Zr
4+
concentration in the resulting films. Zr doping was found to enhance the photocurrent for water splitting; the highest photocurrent at 1.0 V
vs.
Ag/AgCl (0.33 mA cm
−2
) for the Zr-doped α-Fe
2
O
3
film was approximately 7.2 times higher than that for the undoped film (0.045 mA cm
−2
). Additionally, the incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) at 360 nm and 1.23 V
vs.
the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) increased from 3.8% to 13.6%. Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy suggests that Zr doping may influence PEC performance by reducing the rate of electron-hole recombination.
Zr doping into hematite greatly influenced the thickness of nanorod films grown in an aqueous solution. Zr doping was found to enhance the photocurrent for water splitting, by reducing the rate of electron-hole recombination.
In article no. 1800285, Shaohua Shen and co‐workers rationally design and fundamentally characterize an interfacial α‐Fe2O3/TiO2 structure to explore its electronic structure evolution for the ...synergy of the promoted interface charge transfer processes and the accelerated water oxidation electrocatalysis, contributing to the greatly enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting activities.
•Tropical urban phenology has key differences to temperate urban phenology.•In Kampala, growing season length increases along the urban–rural gradient.•Vegetation in the most built-up LCZ class had ...the shortest growing seasons.•Increases in surface temperatures resulted in shorter vegetation growing seasons.
Knowledge about the impacts of urban heat islands (UHI) and associated thermal gradients on vegetation seasonality (i.e. phenology) is vital for understanding spatial patterns in vegetation ecosystem functions. However, in contrast to temperate cites, there is little evidence to show how UHI influences landscape phenological processes in the tropics. In this study, we examined vegetation phenological responses to urban form, distance from the city centre and surface temperatures, in the tropical city of Kampala, Uganda. Estimates of vegetation growing season length and land surface temperature were derived from MODIS satellite imagery for multiple years (2013–2015) and urban form was characterised using the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification. We showed that growing season length increased along the urban–rural gradient (p < 0.001) and was longest in the least built-up LCZ class (p < 0.001). Growing season length was significantly reduced as land surface temperature increased (p < 0.001). These findings contrast with results reported for temperate cities, where higher temperatures are often associated with longer vegetation growing seasons. Our findings suggest that enhanced surface temperatures associated with UHI are a limiting factor to season length in the urban tropics. Urban planners in tropical cities should therefore account for vegetation sensitivity to UHI when developing targeted management strategies aiming to optimise the benefits accrued from vegetation.
There is an increasing volume of literature investigating the links between urban environments and human health, much of which involves spatial conceptualisations and research designs involving ...various aspects of geographical information science. Despite intensifying research interest, there has been little systematic investigation of pragmatic methodological concerns, such as how studies are realised in terms of the types of data that are gathered and the analytical techniques that are applied, both of which have the potential to impact results. The aim of this systematic review is, therefore, to understand how spatial scale, datasets, methods, and analytics are currently applied in studies investigating the relationship between green and blue spaces and human health in urban areas.
We systematically reviewed 93 articles following PRISMA protocol, extracted information regarding different spatial dimensions, and synthesised them in relation to various health indicators.
We found a preponderance of the use of neighbourhood-scale in these studies, and a majority of the studies utilised land-use and vegetation indices gleaned from moderate resolution satellite imagery. We also observed the frequent adoption of fixed spatial units for measuring exposure to green and blue spaces based on physical proximity, typically ranging between 30 and 5000 m. The conceptual frameworks of the studies (e.g., the focus on physical vs. mental health or the definition of exposure to green space) were found to have an influence on the strength of association between exposure and health outcomes. Additionally, the strength and significance of associations also varied by study design, something which has not been considered systematically.
On the basis of our findings, we propose a set of recommendations for standardised protocols and methods for the evaluation of the impact of green-blue spaces on health. Our analysis suggests that future studies should consider conducting analyses at finer spatial scales and employing multiple exposure assessment methods to achieve a comprehensive and comparable evaluation of the association between greenspace and health along multiple pathways.
•We reviewed spatial scale, data, and methods applied in greenspace and health research.•Studies are heterogeneous in the application of spatial scale, data and methods.•Most studies are neighbourhood-scale and use a single exposure metric from moderate-resolution data.•Strength and significance of associations are influenced by variations in spatial dimensions.•We call for improvements in study design, protocols and reporting of geospatial metadata.
There is a growing body of literature supporting positive associations between natural environments and better health. The type, quality and quantity of green and blue space ('green-space') in ...proximity to the home might be particularly important for less mobile populations, such as for some older people. However, considerations of measurement and definition of green-space, beyond single aggregated metrics, are rare. This constitutes a major source of uncertainty in current understanding of public health benefits derived from natural environments. We aimed to improve our understanding of how such benefits are conferred to different demographic groups through a comprehensive evaluation of the physical and spatial characteristics of urban green infrastructure.
We employed a green infrastructure (GI) approach combining a high-resolution spatial dataset of land-cover and function with area-level demographic and socio-economic data. This allowed for a comprehensive characterization of a densely populated, polycentric city-region. We produced multiple GI attributes including, for example, urban vegetation health. We used a series of step-wise multi-level regression analyses to test associations between population chronic morbidity and the functional, physical and spatial components of GI across an urban socio-demographic gradient.
GI attributes demonstrated associations with health in all socio-demographic contexts even where associations between health and overall green cover were non-significant. Associations varied by urban socio-demographic group. For areas characterised by having higher proportions of older people ('older neighbourhoods'), associations with better health were exhibited by land-cover diversity, informal greenery and patch size in high income areas and by proximity to public parks and recreation land in low income areas. Quality of GI was a significant predictor of good health in areas of low income and low GI cover. Proximity of publicly accessible GI was also significant.
The influence of urban GI on population health is mediated by green-space form, quantity, accessibility, and vegetation health. People in urban neighbourhoods that are characterised by lower income and older age populations are disproportionately healthy if their neighbourhoods contain accessible, good quality public green-space. This has implications for strategies to decrease health inequalities and inform international initiatives, such as the World Health Organisation's Age-Friendly Cities programme.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•A suburban case study is modelled in ENVI-met using six greenspace scenarios.•The ENVI-met modelling is validated against field measurements of air temperature.•Adding 5% mature trees may reduce ...average surface temperatures by 1.0°C.•Replacing all current vegetation with asphalt increases air temperature up to 3.2°C.
With increasing urbanisation and predictions of increased frequency of heat waves under projected climate change scenarios, one strategy that has been suggested to address both adaptation and mitigation for urban areas is the increased use of greenspace. A number of studies have analysed this strategy through the use of empirical, analytical methods, or numerical methods. These tend to focus on city or regional scale changes in land use with only a broad categorisation of greenspace type. This study tests seven greenspace scenarios that might be applied at a block or neighbourhood level and the resulting microclimate changes that can be achieved through such applications for a temperate city in northwest England. Using a suburban commercial site in Manchester, UK as the case study area, the research utilises the urban microclimate model ENVI-met to compare the changes in air and surface temperatures on a warm summer day in July 2010 (approximately 4°C above the rural reference July average maximum temperature). The modelling demonstrates that even in suburban areas in temperate cities a 5% increase in mature deciduous trees can reduce mean hourly surface temperatures by 1°C over the course of a summer's day. A marked increase in air temperature of 3.2°C at mid-day is modelled for the worst case scenario of replacing all current vegetation with asphalt.
A household's vulnerability to energy poverty is socially and spatially variable. Efforts to measure energy poverty, however, have focused on narrow, expenditure-based metrics or area-based ...targeting. These metrics are not spatial per se, because the relative importance of drivers does not vary between neighborhoods to reflect localized challenges. Despite recent advancements in geographically weighted methodologies that have the potential to yield important information about the sociospatial distribution of vulnerability to energy poverty, the phenomenon has not been approached from this perspective. For a case study of England, global principal component analysis (PCA) and local geographically weighted PCA (GWPCA) are applied to a suite of neighborhood-scale vulnerability indicators. The explicit spatiality of this methodological approach addresses a common criticism of vulnerability assessments. The global PCA reaffirms the importance of well-established vulnerabilities, including older age, disability, and energy efficiency. It also demonstrates striking new evidence of vulnerabilities among precarious and transient households that are less well understood and have become starker during austerity. In contrast, rather than providing a single estimate of propensity to energy poverty for neighborhoods based on a national understanding of what drives the condition, the GWPCA identifies a diverse array of vulnerability factors of greatest importance in different locales. These local results destabilize the geographical configurations of an urban-rural and north-south divide that typify understandings of deprivation in this context. The geographically weighted approach therefore draws attention to vulnerabilities often hidden in policymaking, allowing for reflection on the applicability of spatially constituted methodologies to wider social vulnerability assessments. Key Words: energy poverty, geographically weighted PCA, GIS, spatial analysis, vulnerability.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•We investigate the geographical features of fuel poverty using different indicators.•We compare the spatial distribution of fuel poverty using a 10% and LIHC indicator.•The shift to a LIHC indicator ...has disproportionately affected regions with lower housing costs.•Using a LIHC indicator there is a higher prevalence of fuel poverty in urban areas.•Using a LIHC indicator there are fewer fuel poverty ‘hot-spots’ and ‘cold-spots’.•The results have implications for targeting of fuel poverty alleviation resources.
Recognition of the negative impacts of fuel poverty, a lack of sufficient energy services in the home, has generated considerable interest in how the phenomenon can best be measured. Subsequently, the most well-known indicators deployed in policy-making, the established 10% indicator and the recent Low Income High Cost (LIHC) indicator, have generated considerable discussion and critique. One facet of the debate that remains unexplored is the effect of a change in indicator upon the spatial distribution of fuel poverty. Using spatial analyses we interrogate sub-regional estimates of the two indicators in England, where the LIHC indicator was first conceived. Three principle findings are discussed, enhancing understanding of the geographic features of fuel poverty as understood by each indicator. Firstly, the reduction in fuel poor households has disproportionately affected areas with lower housing costs. Secondly, there is a higher prevalence of fuel poverty in urban areas. Finally, the condition is more spatially heterogeneous with fewer ‘hot-spots’ and ‘cold-spots’. As a result, each indicator captures different notions of what it means to be fuel poor, representing particular vulnerabilities, losses of wellbeing and injustices. This has implications for the targeting of limited alleviation resources and for alternative national contexts where the LIHC indicator might be deployed.
Abstract
Background
potentially harmful polypharmacy is very common in older people living in aged care facilities. To date, there have been no double-blind randomised controlled studies of ...deprescribing multiple medications.
Methods
three-arm (open intervention, blinded intervention and blinded control) randomised controlled trial enrolling people aged over 65 years (n = 303, noting pre-specified recruitment target of n = 954) living in residential aged care facilities. The blinded groups had medications targeted for deprescribing encapsulated while the medicines were deprescribed (blind intervention) or continued (blind control). A third open intervention arm had unblinded deprescribing of targeted medications.
Results
participants were 76% female with mean age 85.0 ± 7.5 years. Deprescribing was associated with a significant reduction in the total number of medicines used per participant over 12 months in both intervention groups (blind intervention group −2.7 medicines, 95% CI −3.5, −1.9, and open intervention group −2.3 medicines; 95% CI −3.1, −1.4) compared with the control group (−0.3, 95% CI −1.0, 0.4, P = 0.053). Deprescribing regular medicines was not associated with any significant increase in the number of ‘when required’ medicines administered. There were no significant differences in mortality in the blind intervention group (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.50, 1.73, P = 0.83) or the open intervention group (HR 1.47, 95% CI 0.83, 2.61, P = 0.19) compared to the control group.
Conclusions
deprescribing of two to three medicines per person was achieved with protocol-based deprescribing during this study. Pre-specified recruitment targets were not met, so the impact of deprescribing on survival and other clinical outcomes remains uncertain.
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