Short-term rentals in Canada: Uneven growth, uneven impacts

In the last several years, Airbnb and other short-term rental services have grown precipitously across Canada, but very little is known about the scale and character of this activity or its impact on housing. Relying on spatial analysis of big data, this study presents the first comprehensive analysis of Airbnb in Canada, with an emphasis on the interaction between the short-term rental market and long-term housing. Airbnb activity is highly concentrated geographically—nearly half of all active listings are located in the Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver metropolitan areas—and highly concentrated among hosts, the top 10% of whom earn a majority of all revenue. Contrary to the rhetoric of “home sharing”, almost 50% of all Airbnb revenue last year was generated by commercial operators who manage multiple listings. Moreover, between 17,000 to 43,000 entire homes were rented frequently enough last year that they are unlikely to house a permanent resident. This housing pressure disproportionately affects West Coast cities: between 10% and 70% of Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, and Abbotsford-Mission residents live in neighbourhoods whose rental vacancy rate is exceeded by the proportion of housing units that are frequently rented on Airbnb. While current Airbnb activity is concentrated in major cities, active listings, total revenue, hosts with multiple listings, and frequently rented entire-home listings are all growing at substantially higher rates in small towns and rural areas.Au cours des dernières années, Airbnb et d’autres services de location à court terme ont connu une croissance fulgurante à travers le Canada, mais on en sait très peu sur l’ampleur et le caractère de cette activité ou de son impact sur le logement. S’appuyant sur l’analyse spatiale du big data, cette étude présente la première analyse complète d’Airbnb au Canada, en mettant l’accent sur l’interaction entre les marchés locatif à court terme et logement à long terme. L’activité Airbnb est très concentrée géographiquement - près de la moitié de toutes les inscriptions actives sont situées dans les régions métropolitaines de Toronto, Montréal et Vancouver - et fortement concentrées parmi les hôtes, dont 10% des plus riches gagnent la majorité de tous les revenus. Contrairement à la rhétorique du « partage à domicile », près de 50% de tous les revenus d’Airbnb l’année dernière ont été générés par des opérateurs commerciaux qui gèrent plusieurs inscriptions location à court terme. De plus, 31 000 logements en entiers ont été loués de façon si fréquemment l’an dernier que l’on doute qu’ils sont habité par un résident permanent. Cette pression immobilière affecte de façon disproportionnée les villes de la Colombie-Britannique. Alors que l’activité Airbnb actuelle est concentrée dans les grandes villes, les listes actives, le total les revenus, les hôtes avec plusieurs inscriptions et les annonces de maisons entières souvent louées augmentent tous à des taux sensiblement plus élevés dans les petites villes et les zones rurales

Traumatic brain injury in pedestrian–vehicle collisions: Convexity and suitability of some functionals used as injury metrics

Background and Objective: Abrupt accelerations or decelerations can cause large strain in brain tissues and, consequently, different forms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In order to predict the effect of the accelerations upon the soft tissues of the brain, many different injury metrics have been proposed (typically, an injury metric is a real valued functional of the accelerations). The objective of this article is to make a formal and empirical comparison, in order to identify general criteria for reasonable injury metrics, and propose a general guideline to avoid ill-proposed injury metrics. Methods: A medium-size sample of vehicle-pedestrian collisions, from Post Mortem Human Subject (PMHS) tests, is analyzed. A statistical study has been conducted in order to determine the discriminant power of the usual metrics. We use Principal Component Analysis to reduce dimensionality and to check consistency among the different metrics. In addition, this article compares the mathematical properties of some of these functionals, trying to identify the desirable properties that any of those functionals needs to fulfill in order to be useful for optimization. Results: We have found a pair-wise consistency of all the currently used metrics (any two injury metrics are always positively related). In addition, we observed that two independent principal factors explain about 72.5% of the observed variance among all collision tests. This is remarkable because it indicates that despite high number of different injury metrics, a reduced number of variables can explain the results of all these metrics. With regard to the formal properties, we found that essentially all injury mechanisms can be accounted by means of scalable, differentiable and convex functionals (we propose to call minimization suitable injury metric to any metric having these three formal properties). In addition three useful functionals, usable as injury metrics, are identified on the basis of the empirical comparisons. Conclusions: The commonly used metrics are highly consistent, but also highly redundant. Formal minimal conditions of a reasonable injury metric have been identified. Future proposals of injury metrics can benefit from the results of this study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A synthesised view of process improvement methodologies within the English NHS: A systematic review of empirical case studies

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst globally for healthcare organisations to rethink and evaluate their processes due to the strain of the pandemic (Kuiper et al., 2021; Ortíz-Barrios & Alfaro-Saíz, 2020; Silver et al., 2021; Hill et al., 2021). This has presented a unique opportunity to explore the emerging themes within this industry. One of the key themes of the NHS Long Term plan is the overall improvement of NHS processes. These improvements must be completed at trust level, and so the sharing of best practice and lessons learned will be fundamental to the achievement of these goals, which is itself a key issue within the NHS (Matthias & Brown, 2016). Due to this approach, there is likely to be variation, as healthcare practitioners, similar to other industries, prefer to use a set of techniques usually due to personal preference or local context (Rizan et al., 2020). Objectives: The objective of this paper is to provide a synthesised, holistic view of process improvement methodologies within the English NHS. This research reviewed the existing literature that concerned process improvement programmes within the NHS to examine and extract key, emerging themes, and commonalities to aid in the creation of the synthesised view which intends to inform the literature and those with a vested interest in the NHS. Methods: A systematic literature review of NHS England case studies was conducted. A search strategy was applied to Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus to extract relevant references. A total of 4831 unique results were returned and subsequently reviewed. Following the first full text review, additional criteria were added to refine the scope of the study. Data were then extracted into a meta- framework, where variables were geared towards the research questions. Results: A total of 95 studies were found to be eligible following the application of exclusionary criteria. The most used methodologies were PDSA, Model for Improvement and Lean. A range of process improvement tools were also identified. Positive and negative influences on sustainability were identified, with influences such as junior doctor rotations and cost effectiveness being some examples. There were three methods used to report sustainability: quantitative proof of sustainment, qualitative confirmation that elements are still embedded, and use of sustainability model

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN QUANTIFYING COORDINATION-VARIABILITY

The aim was to investigate the effects of stride definitions on vector-coding for quantifying coordination-variability between the shank and rearfoot angles for strides extracted from heel-strike (HS) versus toe-off (TO) events. Subjects with chronic ankle instability were randomly assigned to control and balance-training groups (n=31). Three peaks of coordination-variability consistently existed near midswing, midstance and just before HS during treadmill walking at 1.32m/s. Variability only reduced near HS after balance training for the HS to HS stride definition (pre 0.45±0.14; post 0.34±0.12;

The IκB-protein BCL-3 controls toll-like receptor-induced MAPK activity by promoting TPL-2 degradation in the nucleus

Proinflammatory responses induced by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are dependent on the activation of the NF-ĸB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, which coordinate the transcription and synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines. We demonstrate that BCL-3, a nuclear IĸB protein that regulates NF-ĸB, also controls TLR-induced MAPK activity by regulating the stability of the TPL-2 kinase. TPL-2 is essential for MAPK activation by TLR ligands, and the rapid proteasomal degradation of active TPL-2 is a critical mechanism limiting TLR-induced MAPK activity. We reveal that TPL-2 is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein and identify the nucleus as the primary site for TPL-2 degradation. BCL-3 interacts with TPL-2 and promotes its degradation by promoting its nuclear localization. As a consequence, Bcl3−/− macrophages have increased TPL-2 stability following TLR stimulation, leading to increased MAPK activity and MAPK-dependent responses. Moreover, BCL-3–mediated regulation of TPL-2 stability sets the MAPK activation threshold and determines the amount of TLR ligand required to initiate the production of inflammatory cytokines. Thus, the nucleus is a key site in the regulation of TLR-induced MAPK activity. BCL-3 links control of the MAPK and NF-ĸB pathways in the nucleus, and BCL-3–mediated TPL-2 regulation impacts on the cellular decision to initiate proinflammatory cytokine production in response to TLR activation

Ground Testing a LWIR Imaging Radiometer for an Upcoming Smallsat Mission

The Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space (CIRiS) mission is envisioned as a calibration laboratory in space to test source viewing order and timing. Furthermore, it demonstrates the use of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes as a very high emissivity source and an uncooled microbolometer. Due to the focus on instrument calibration, this program spends a significant amount of time in the thermal vacuum chamber to attain a good quality ground calibration. The resulting test plan is presented, along with the plan as implemented, and several lessons learned from the process

MOLECULAR MODELING AS A VISUALIZATION TOOL IN DESIGN OF DNA CROSSLINKED POLYACRYLAMIDE

ABSTRACT Polymers such as polyacrylamide form a diverse class of biomaterials in use today. The experimental research performed by our group has demonstrated how a critical concentration of crosslinking DNA strands can lead to gel formation in the polyacrylamide. The removal or addition of DNA strands can reverse or significantly increase the stiffness and strength of the gel. DNA is a versatile material for the exploration of nanoscale structures because its hybridization chemistry is very specific. DNA crosslinked gels use end-modified DNA oligonucleotides in the gels. The ability to choose the base sequence in the DNA crosslinks offers an opportunity to engineer the nanoscale structure of this material. However, it is extremely difficult to visualize the sequence of events that occurs when DNA is crosslinked with polyacrylamide. Computer modeling is a tool that enables the researchers to study the structural aspects of the newly engineered DNA crosslinkers. In this study, polyacrylamide gel crosslinked with DNA has been assayed with respect to energy and size using AMBER 7.0 software [1]. Since DNA-crosslinked gels are likely to find a range of applications it is important to know how to tailor the gel composition for a particular application. It is also of interest to know what the composition is that would induce the greatest change in stiffness. The molecular models generated in AMBER survey the mechanical properties of the gel as a function of crosslinker density, polyacrylamide density, and crosslinker length. The structure of an equilibrium state is computed using an explicitly solvated model. Visual inspection of the model determines other mechanical properties of the gel and helps predict chemical interactions. A long-term goal of this work is to use computer assisted modeling techniques to guide the experiments, to predict linker stiffness, and to examine other mechanical properties of the DNA crosslinker

Activation of the innate immune receptor Dectin-1 upon formation of a 'phagocytic synapse'.

Innate immune cells must be able to distinguish between direct binding to microbes and detection of components shed from the surface of microbes located at a distance. Dectin-1 (also known as CLEC7A) is a pattern-recognition receptor expressed by myeloid phagocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils) that detects β-glucans in fungal cell walls and triggers direct cellular antimicrobial activity, including phagocytosis and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In contrast to inflammatory responses stimulated upon detection of soluble ligands by other pattern-recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), these responses are only useful when a cell comes into direct contact with a microbe and must not be spuriously activated by soluble stimuli. In this study we show that, despite its ability to bind both soluble and particulate β-glucan polymers, Dectin-1 signalling is only activated by particulate β-glucans, which cluster the receptor in synapse-like structures from which regulatory tyrosine phosphatases CD45 and CD148 (also known as PTPRC and PTPRJ, respectively) are excluded (Supplementary Fig. 1). The 'phagocytic synapse' now provides a model mechanism by which innate immune receptors can distinguish direct microbial contact from detection of microbes at a distance, thereby initiating direct cellular antimicrobial responses only when they are required