A seasonal-trend decomposition technique based on a locally-weighted regression smoothing (Loess) approach has been used to decompose monthly ozone concentrations at Mace Head (Ireland) into trend, seasonal and irregular components. The trend component shows a steady increase from 1990–2004, which is confirmed by statistical testing which shows that ozone concentrations at Mace Head have increa...

Identifying temporal variation in hospitalization rates may provide insights about disease patterns and thereby inform research, policy, and clinical care. However, the majority of medical conditions have not been studied for their potential seasonal variation. The objective of this study was to apply a data-driven approach to characterize temporal variation in condition-specific hospitalizatio...

The microgrid concept provides attractive solutions for reliability enhancement of power distribution systems. Normally, microgrids contain renewable-energy-based Distributed Generation (DG) units, which their output power varies with different environmental conditions. In addition, load demand usually changes with factors such as hourly and seasonal customer activities. Hence, these issues hav...

Providing guidance on risk and target groups for seasonal influenza immunisation is difficult for the 2010-11 season since there is no experience with the new influenza A(H1N1) virus in its seasonal form. Arguments exist for offering immunisation to people with chronic illness and older people, and also for other risk and target groups including pregnant women. A more rigorous approach is being...

A key factor in the effectiveness of the seasonal influenza vaccine is its immunological compatibility with the circulating viruses during the season. Here we propose a new bioinformatics approach for analysis of influenza viruses which could be used as an efficient tool for selection of vaccine viruses, assessment of the effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccines, and prediction of the epide...

Currently there is no influenza vaccination guidance for European general practitioners. Furthermore, although the European Council recommends a target seasonal influenza vaccination rate of 75% in the elderly (65 years and above) and in anyone aged >6 months with a chronic medical condition, there remain wide discrepancies throughout Europe. A harmonised guideline regarding not only vaccinatio...

Wildfires are often governed by rapid changes in seasonal rainfall. Therefore, measuring seasonal rainfall on a temporally finescale should facilitate the prediction of wildfire regimes. To explore this hypothesis, daily rainfall data over a 58-yr period (1950–2007) in south-central Florida were transformed into cumulative rainfall anomalies (CRAs). This transformation allowed precise estimatio...

Time series quite often show patterns that repeat periodically. Monthly retail sales provide a good example. If the seasonality is very regular, seasonal dummy variables can be used to give, for example, a monthly effect for each month. With this approach, the January effect is assumed to be the same regardless of the year. Seasonal ARMA error terms can be added to make some local modifications...

BACKGROUND In Hong Kong, the population is at risk of seasonal influenza infection twice a year. Seasonal influenza is significantly associated with the increased hospitalization of children. Maintaining personal hygiene and vaccination are the most effective measures to prevent influenza infection. Research demonstrates a positive relationship between the health practices applied by parents an...