Non-specific abdominal pain and air pollution: a novel association.

We studied whether short-term exposure to air pollution was associated with non-specific abdominal pain in epidemiologic and animal studies. Patients visiting the emergency department with non-specific abdominal pain were identified in Edmonton (1992 to 2002, n = 95,173) and Montreal (1997 to 2002, n = 25,852). We calculated the daily concentrations for ozone (O(3)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), carbon monoxide (CO), and particles <10 (PM(10)) or <2.5 (PM(2.5)) µm. A case crossover study design was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) associated with an increase in the interquartile range of the air pollutants. We investigated differential effects by age and sex. Mice were gavaged with urban particle extracts. In animal models, colonic motility was tested, and visceral abdominal pain was measured using a writhing test, and behavioral response to oil of mustard and neostigmine. Motility and pain was measured acutely (1.5 hours after gavage) and chronically (7-days and 21-days after gavage). Emergency department visits for non-specific abdominal pain were primarily by women between the ages of 15-24 years. Individuals aged 15 to 24 years were at increased risk of non-specific abdominal pain in Edmonton (same day CO: OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02-1.06; and NO(2): OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.03-1.09). The risk of air pollution among 15-24 year olds in Montreal was significantly positive (same day CO: OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.05-1.17; NO(2): OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01-1.16; SO(2): OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.10-1.25; PM(2.5): OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.04-1.15). Abdominal pain was increased by an acute gavage of pollution extract but not to chronic exposure to pollutants. Colonic transit was delayed following chronic but not acute exposure with the pollutants. Epidemiological and animal data suggest that short-term exposure to air pollution may trigger non-specific abdominal pain in young individuals

Design of a (mini) wide plate specimen for strain-based weld integrity assessment

Wide plate tension tests are commonly executed to investigate the integrity of defective welds under a uniaxial load. The specimen can be flat or curved, depending on the geometry from which it has been extracted (plate or pipe). Despite its usefulness, the design of the (curved) wide plate test is still not standardized up-to-date. This paper compares two specimen designs with a different length-to-width ratio through finite element analysis, using a design-of-experiments approach to account for different influential factors. The results reveal significant differences between the interpretation of tests with net section collapse and gross section collapse, promoted by weld strength overmatch. Further, both investigated designs tend to provide similar estimates of failure mode, strain capacity and crack driving force. Hence, the shorter specimen is considered an acceptable alternative to the slightly more representative longer specimen

Enhancing cultural competence: Trans-Atlantic experiences of European and Canadian nursing students

This paper describes the enhancement of cultural competence through trans-Atlantic rural community experiences of European and Canadian nursing students using critical incident technique (CIT) as the students' reflective writing method. The data generated from 48 students' recordings about 134 critical incidents over a 2-year project were analysed by qualitative content analysis. Five main learning categories were identified as: cross-cultural ethical issues; cultural and social differences; health-care inequalities; population health concerns; and personal and professional awareness. Four emergent cultural perspectives for the health sector that became apparent from the reflections were: health promotion realm; sensitivity to social and cultural aspects of people's lives; channels between the health sector and society; cultural language and stories of local people. CIT was successfully used to foster European and Canadian undergraduate students' cultural reflections resulting in considerations and suggestions for future endeavours to enhance cultural competence in nursing education

THE IMPACT OF PROPERTY TAXATION ON BUSINESS INVESTMENT IN ALBERTA

Alberta municipalities rely heavily on property taxes levied on residential and non-residential sectors to finance local public services. This paper investigates the effects of non-residential property tax rate on business investment using panel data from 17 Alberta cities over the 1998-2017 period. We find that a one mill increase in the non-residential property tax rate is associated with a $49 decrease in commercial and industrial real capita investment. Based on this estimate, we calculate the marginal cost of public funds for the non-residential property tax, which range from 3.12 for Lethbridge to 1.21 for Leduc.&nbsp; We also find that business taxes that are levied on the rental value of a business property have a negative impact on investment, while higher expenditures on municipal services do not have a significant effect on business investment

Bayesian Analyses of Metal-Loss Corrosion on Energy Pipeline Based on Inspection Data

Bayesian models are developed to calibrate the accuracies of high-resolution in-line inspection (ILI) tools for sizing metal-loss corrosion defects and to characterize the growth of individual defects on energy pipelines. Moreover, a methodology is proposed to evaluate the time-dependent system reliability of a segment of a pressurized pipeline containing multiple active corrosion defects. The calibration of ILI tools is carried out by comparing the field-measured depths and ILI-reported depths for a set of static defects. The proposed methodology is able to quantify the measurement errors of multiple ILI tools simultaneously and evaluate the correlation between random errors associated with different ILI tools. The corrosion growth model is developed in a hierarchical Bayesian framework. The depth of the corrosion defects is assumed to be a power-law function of time characterized by two power-law coefficients and the corrosion initiation time, and the probabilistic characteristics of the parameters involved in the growth model are evaluated using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation technique based on ILI data collected at different times for a given pipeline. The model accounts for the constant and non-constant biases and random scattering errors of the ILI data, as well as the potential correlation between the random scattering errors associated with different ILI tools. Both the conventional Monte Carlo simulation and MCMC simulation techniques are employed in the methodology to evaluate the failure probability of the pipeline. The methodology considers three distinctive failure modes, namely small leak, large leak and rupture, and incorporates the hierarchical Bayesian power-law growth model for the depth of individual corrosion defect