6,735 research outputs found
Smoking and intention to quit in deprived areas of Glasgow: is it related to housing improvements and neighbourhood regeneration because of improved mental health?
Background: People living in areas of multiple deprivation are more likely to smoke and less likely to quit smoking. This study examines the effect on smoking and intention to quit smoking for those who have experienced housing improvements (HI) in deprived areas of Glasgow, UK, and investigates whether such effects can be explained by improved mental health.
Methods: Quasi-experimental, 2-year longitudinal study, comparing residents’ smoking and intention to quit smoking for HI group (n=545) with non-HI group (n=517), adjusting for baseline (2006) sociodemographic factors and smoking status. SF-12 mental health scores were used to assess mental health, along with self-reported experience of, and General Practitioner (GP) consultations for, anxiety and depression in the last 12 months.
Results: There was no relationship between smoking and HI, adjusting for baseline rates (OR=0.97, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.67, p=0.918). We found an association between intention to quit and HI, which remained significant after adjusting for sociodemographics and previous intention to quit (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.12 to 4.16, p=0.022). We found no consistent evidence that this association was attenuated by improvement in our three mental health measures.
Conclusions: Providing residents in disadvantaged areas with better housing may prompt them to consider quitting smoking. However, few people actually quit, indicating that residential improvements or changes to the physical environment may not be sufficient drivers of personal behavioural change. It would make sense to link health services to housing regeneration projects to support changes in health behaviours at a time when environmental change appears to make behavioural change more likely
ERTS-1 Virgin Islands experiment 589: Determine boundaries of ERTS and aircraft data within which useful water quality information can be obtained
The author has identified the following significant results. The boundaries of application of ERTS-1 and aircraft data are established for St. Thomas harbor within which useful water quality information can be obtained. In situ physical, chemical, and biological water quality and benthic data were collected. Moored current meters were employed. Optical measurements of solar irradiance, color test panel radiance and water absorption were taken. Procedures for correlating in situ optical, biological, and chemical data with underflight aircraft I2S data and ERTS-1 MSS scanner data are presented. Comparison of bulk and precision CCT computer printout data for this application is made, and a simple method for geometrically locating bulk data individual pixels based on land-water interface is described. ERTS spacecraft data and I2S aircraft imagery are correlated with optical in situ measurements of the harbor water, with the aircraft green photographic and ERTS-1 MSS-4 bands being the most useful. The biological pigments correlate inversely with the optical data for inshore areas and directly further seaward. Automated computer data processing facilitated analysis
The Cosmic Coincidence as a Temporal Selection Effect Produced by the Age Distribution of Terrestrial Planets in the Universe
The energy densities of matter and the vacuum are currently observed to be of
the same order of magnitude: . The cosmological window of time during which this occurs is
relatively narrow. Thus, we are presented with the cosmological coincidence
problem: Why, just now, do these energy densities happen to be of the same
order? Here we show that this apparent coincidence can be explained as a
temporal selection effect produced by the age distribution of terrestrial
planets in the Universe. We find a large () probability that
observations made from terrestrial planets will result in finding at
least as close to as we observe today. Hence, we, and any
observers in the Universe who have evolved on terrestrial planets, should not
be surprised to find . This result is
relatively robust if the time it takes an observer to evolve on a terrestrial
planet is less than Gyr.Comment: Submitted to Ap
The Extended Methanol Maser Emission in W51
The European VLBI Network (EVN) has been used to make phase referenced,
wide-field (several arcminute) spectral line observations of the 6.7-GHz
methanol maser emission towards W51. In the W51main region, the bulk of the
methanol is offset from an UCHII region. This probably indicates the methanol
emission arises at the interface of the expanding UCHII region and not from an
edge-on circumstellar disc, as previously suggested. Near the W51 IRS2 region,
the methanol emission is associated with a very compact, extremely embedded
source supporting the hypothesis that methanol masers trace the earliest stages
of massive star formation. As well as these two previously well studied sites
of star formation, many previously unknown regions star formation are detected,
demonstrating that methanol masers are powerful means of detection young
massive stars.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Can the Arrow of Time be understood from Quantum Cosmology?
I address the question whether the origin of the observed arrow of time can
be derived from quantum cosmology. After a general discussion of entropy in
cosmology and some numerical estimates, I give a brief introduction into
quantum geometrodynamics and argue that this may provide a sufficient framework
for studying this question. I then show that a natural boundary condition of
low initial entropy can be imposed on the universal wave function. The arrow of
time is then correlated with the size of the Universe and emerges from an
increasing amount of decoherence due to entanglement with unobserved degrees of
freedom. Remarks are also made concerning the arrow of time in multiverse
pictures and scenarios motivated by dark energy.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in "The Arrow of Time", ed. by L.
Mersini-Houghton and R. Vaa
Optical coherence tomography angiography of foveal hypoplasia
AIMS: To discuss foveal development in the context of detailed retinal vasculature imaging in foveal hypoplasia using optical coherence tomography angiography.
METHODS: In this case series, the optical coherence tomography angiography results of four patients with idiopathic foveal hypoplasia and two patients with foveal hypoplasia secondary to oculocutaneous albinism are presented.
RESULTS: Cases with intact visual acuity demonstrated lower grades of foveal hypoplasia on optical coherence tomography, while those with poor vision demonstrated high grades of foveal hypoplasia. The superficial retinal capillary plexus was intact in the foveal area in all cases, with no demonstrable foveal avascular zone. The deep retinal capillary plexus was absent to variable degrees in most cases, but was most persistent in those cases with reduced vision.
CONCLUSIONS: The superficial retinal capillary plexus is present in cases with foveal hypoplasia, while the deep retinal capillary plexus is absent to varying degrees. Our findings support the hypothesis that an intact foveal avascular zone of the deep capillary plexus allows for outer retinal photoreceptor specialisation to occur unimpeded, resulting in preserved visual acuity, while this process may be inhibited by an absent deep capillary foveal avascular zone with resultant poor vision
If Numbers Can Speak, Who Listens? Creating Engagement and Learning for Effective Uptake of DRR Investment in Developing Countries
Introduction: With a renewed emphasis on evidence-based risk sensitive investment promoted under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, technical demands for analytical tools such as probabilistic cost-benefit analysis (CBA) will likely increase in the foreseeable future. This begs a number of pragmatic questions such as whether or not sophisticated quantitative appraisal tools are effective in raising policy awareness and what alternatives are available.
Method: This article briefly reviews current practices of analytical tools such as probabilistic cost-benefit analysis and identifies issues associated with its applications in small scale community based DRR interventions.
Results: The article illustrate that while best scientific knowledge should inform policy and practice in principle, it should not create an unrealistic expectation that the state-of-the art methods must be used in all cases, especially for small scale DRR interventions in developing countries, where data and resource limitations and uncertainty are high, and complex interaction and feedback may exist between DRR investment, community response and longer-term development outcome.
Discussion: Alternative and more participatory approaches for DRR appraisals are suggested which includes participatory serious games that are increasingly being used to raise awareness and identify pragmatic strategies for change that are needed to bring about successful uptake of DRR investment and implementation of DRR mainstreaming
The development of absorptive capacity-based innovation in a construction SME
Traditionally, construction has been a transaction-oriented industry. However, it is changing from the design-bid-build process into a business based on innovation capability and performance management, in which contracts are awarded on the basis of factors such as knowledge, intellectual capital and skills. This change presents a challenge to construction-sector SMEs with scarce resources, which must find ways to innovate based on those attributes to ensure their future competitiveness. This paper explores how dynamic capability, using an absorptive capacity framework in response to these challenges, has been developed in a construction-based SME. The paper also contributes to the literature on absorptive capacity and innovation by showing how the construct can be operationalized within an organization. The company studied formed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership using action research over a two-year period with a local university. The aim was to increase its absorptive capacity and hence its ability to meet the changing market challenges. The findings show that absorptive capacity can be operationalized into a change management approach for improving capability-based competitiveness. Moreover, it is important for absorptive capacity constructs and language to be contextualized within a given organizational setting (as in the case of the construction-based SME in the present study)
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