Nowhere to Go: A Crisis of Affordability in the Bronx

The state of affordability in the Bronx has Nowhere to Go - the Bronx is in a full out crisis of affordability. New data reveals that more than half of all households in Bronx Community District 5 now pay more than 50% of their income on rent, something unprecedented in the history of New York City. This trend of percent of income spent on rent cannot go any higher without a significant increase in overcrowding and homelessness.Economic hardships and the housing affordability gap are well documented nationally, and are especially acute in the Bronx. About half of all renters nationally, and nearly two-thirds of renters in the Bronx, live in unaffordable housing, and both of those numbers are increasing. The legacy of redlining and disinvestment has had an enormous impact on the Bronx and contributed to poor housing conditions and poverty. Reinvestment work starting in the 1970s thwarted the threats for planned shrinkage in the Bronx and created the housing that became home to immigrants and others seeking to live in New York City. Just as community-led reinvestment by the public and private sectors transformed the old Bronx, investment is still needed today to preserve the new Bronx. Investment is especially needed in the low wage workers that keep the five boroughs running so that these workers can afford to live and thrive in New York City.The report Nowhere to Go: A Crisis of Affordability in the Bronx highlights trends in the data to explain the current economic situation in the Bronx and to help inform policy decisions from a community based perspective. The report was presented at our 30th Anniversary Forum on May 1st, 2013. Panelists at the forum included John Reilly, Executive Director of Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation; Christa Meyers, Senior Director of Research, Evaluation & Planning with the District Public Health Offices at the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene; and Nick Iuviene and Yorman Nuñez from the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative

Intradural spinal metastasis of renal cell cancer. Report of a case and review of 26 published cases

Metastatic disease in the intradural compartment of the spine is a rare manifestation of cancer. We report the case of an 82-year-old patient with an intradural, extramedullary metastasis of renal cell carcinoma in the cervical spine. A literature search for intradural spinal metastases of renal cell carcinoma yielded a total of 26 further cases. 18 patients had sporadic renal cell carcinoma, and 9 patients had von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) in which the metastases of the renal cell carcinoma were embedded within spinal haemangioblastomas. Patients presented with paresis, back pain, altered sensation or, less frequently, bladder dysfunction. Intradural spinal metastases were diagnosed at an earlier age in VHL patients than in sporadic cases (mean 43 ± 5years vs. 60 ± 14.5years). The metastasis was surgically removed in 81% of patients. Pain improved in all patients, paresis in 90%, hypaesthesia in 38% and bladder dysfunction in 50%. Death occured as a result of systemic cancer progression. 93% of patients in the sporadic renal cell cancer group died within 1.5years, whereas two thirds of the VHL patients were alive after 2year

Comparative analysis of bone structural parameters reveals subchondral cortical plate resorption and increased trabecular bone remodeling in human facet joint osteoarthritis

Facet joint osteoarthritis is a prominent feature of degenerative spine disorders, highly prevalent in ageing populations, and considered a major cause for chronic lower back pain. Since there is no targeted pharmacological therapy, clinical management of disease includes analgesic or surgical treatment. The specific cellular, molecular, and structural changes underpinning facet joint osteoarthritis remain largely elusive. The aim of this study was to determine osteoarthritis-related structural alterations in cortical and trabecular subchondral bone compartments. To this end, we conducted comparative micro computed tomography analysis in healthy (n = 15) and osteoarthritic (n = 22) lumbar facet joints. In osteoarthritic joints, subchondral cortical plate thickness and porosity were significantly reduced. The trabecular compartment displayed a 42 percent increase in bone volume fraction due to an increase in trabecular number, but not trabecular thickness. Bone structural alterations were associated with radiological osteoarthritis severity, mildly age-dependent but not gender-dependent. There was a lack of association between structural parameters of cortical and trabecular compartments in healthy and osteoarthritic specimens. The specific structural alterations suggest elevated subchondral bone resorption and turnover as a potential treatment target in facet joint osteoarthritis

OPTIMIZATION OF COAL PARTICLE FLOW PATTERNS IN LOW NOX BURNERS

The proposed research is directed at evaluating the effect of flame aerodynamics on NO{sub x} emissions from coal fired burners in a systematic manner. This fundamental research includes both experimental and modeling efforts being performed at the University of Arizona in collaboration with Purdue University. The objective of this effort is to develop rational design tools for optimizing low NO{sub x} burners to the kinetic emissions limit (below 0.2 lb./MMBTU). Experimental studies include both cold and hot flow evaluations of the following parameters: flame holder geometry, secondary air swirl, primary and secondary inlet air velocity, coal concentration in the primary air and coal particle size distribution. Hot flow experiments will also evaluate the effect of wall temperature on burner performance. Cold flow studies will be conducted with surrogate particles as well as pulverized coal. The cold flow furnace will be similar in size and geometry to the hot-flow furnace but will be designed to use a laser Doppler velocimeter/phase Doppler particle size analyzer. The results of these studies will be used to predict particle trajectories in the hot-flow furnace as well as to estimate the effect of flame holder geometry on furnace flow field. The hot-flow experiments will be conducted in a novel near-flame down-flow pulverized coal furnace. The furnace will be equipped with externally heated walls. Both reactors will be sized to minimize wall effects on particle flow fields. The cold-flow results will be compared with Fluent computation fluid dynamics model predictions and correlated with the hot-flow results with the overall goal of providing insight for novel low NO{sub x} burner geometry's

Integration of airborne and ground observations of nitryl chloride in the Seoul metropolitan area and the implications on regional oxidation capacity during KORUS-AQ 2016

Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is a radical reservoir species that releases chlorine radicals upon photolysis. An integrated analysis of the impact of ClNO2 on regional photochemistry in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) during the Korea-United States Air Quality Study (KORUS-AQ) 2016 field campaign is presented. Comprehensive multiplatform observations were conducted aboard the NASA DC-8 and at two ground sites (Olympic Park, OP; Taehwa Research Forest, TRF), representing an urbanized area and a forested suburban region, respectively. Positive correlations between daytime Cl2 and ClNO2 were observed at both sites, the slope of which was dependent on O3 levels. The possible mechanisms are explored through box model simulations constrained with observations. The overall diurnal variations in ClNO2 at both sites appeared similar but the nighttime variations were systematically different. For about half of the observation days at the OP site the level of ClNO2 increased at sunset but rapidly decreased at around midnight. On the other hand, high levels were observed throughout the night at the TRF site. Significant levels of ClNO2 were observed at both sites for 4-5 h after sunrise. Airborne observations, box model calculations, and back-trajectory analysis consistently show that these high levels of ClNO2 in the morning are likely from vertical or horizontal transport of air masses from the west. Box model results show that chlorine-radical-initiated chemistry can impact the regional photochemistry by elevating net chemical production rates of ozone by 25% in the morning

Rapid Display of Radiographic Images

The requirements for the rapid display of radiographic images exceed the capabilities of widely available display, computer and communication technologies. Computed radiography captures data with a resolution of about four megapixels. Large format displays are available that can present over four megapixels. One megapixel displays are practical for use in combination with large format displays and in areas where the viewing task does not require primary diagnosis. This paper describes an electronic radiology system that approximates the highest quality systems, but through the use of several interesting techniques allows the possibility of its widespread installation throughout hospitals. The techniques uses can be grouped under three major systems concepts: a local, high-speed Image Server, one of more physician\u27s workstations each with one or more high-performance Auxiliary Displays specialized to the radiology viewing task, and dedicated, high-speed communication links between the server and the displays. This approach is enhanced by the use of a progressive transmission scheme to decrease the latency for viewing four megapixel images. The system includes an Image Server with storage for over 600 4 megapixel images and high-speed link. A subsampled megapixel image is fetched from disk and transmitted to the display in about one second followed by the full resolution 4 megapixel in about 2.5 seconds. Other system components include a megapixel display with a 6 megapixel display memory space and frame-rate update of image roam, zoom and contrast. Plans for clinical use are presented

A new method to quantify mineral dust and other aerosol species from aircraft platforms using single particle mass spectrometry

Single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) instruments characterize the composition of individual aerosol particles in real time. Their fundamental ability to differentiate the externally mixed particle types that constitute the atmospheric aerosol population enables a unique perspective into sources and transformation. However, quantitative measurements by SPMS systems are inherently problematic. We introduce a new technique that combines collocated measurements of aerosol composition by SPMS and size-resolved absolute particle concentrations on aircraft platforms. Quantitative number, surface area, volume, and mass concentrations are derived for climate-relevant particle types such as mineral dust, sea salt, and biomass burning smoke. Additionally, relative ion signals are calibrated to derive mass concentrations of internally mixed sulfate and organic material that are distributed across multiple particle types. The NOAA Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument measures size-resolved aerosol chemical composition from aircraft. We describe the identification and quantification of nine major atmospheric particle classes, including sulfate–organic–nitrate mixtures, biomass burning, elemental carbon, sea salt, mineral dust, meteoric material, alkali salts, heavy fuel oil combustion, and a remainder class. Classes can be sub-divided as necessary based on chemical heterogeneity, accumulated secondary material during aging, or other atmospheric processing. Concentrations are derived for sizes that encompass the accumulation and coarse size modes. A statistical error analysis indicates that particle class concentrations can be determined within a few minutes for abundances above ∼10 ng m−3. Rare particle types require longer sampling times. We explore the instrumentation requirements and the limitations of the method for airborne measurements. Reducing the size resolution of the particle data increases time resolution with only a modest increase in uncertainty. The principal limiting factor to fast time response concentration measurements is statistically relevant sampling across the size range of interest, in particular, sizes D \u3c 0.2 µm for accumulation-mode studies and D \u3e 2 µm for coarse-mode analysis. Performance is compared to other airborne and ground-based composition measurements, and examples of atmospheric mineral dust concentrations are given. The wealth of information afforded by composition-resolved size distributions for all major aerosol types represents a new and powerful tool to characterize atmospheric aerosol properties in a quantitative fashion