Social capital and regional social infrastructure investment: Evidence from New Zealand

In this paper we link unique data on local social infrastructure expenditure with micro-level individual survey data of self-reported social capital measures of trust and participation in community activities. We use both probit and tobit models to estimate the impact of social infrastructure expenditure on social capital formation. Our results imply that the links between social capital, demographic characteristics, human capital, geography and public social infrastructure investment are rather more subtle and complex than much of the literature implies. While we find evidence in support of many of the hypothesized relationships discussed in the social capital literature, our results also suggest that the impact of public social infrastructure investment is affected by both selection effects and free rider processes.Social capital, trust, participation, public infrastructure, demography, geography

Homeownership and Social Capital in New Zealand

Does homeownership affect individual social capital and thereby influence local outcomes? Following DiPasquale and Glaeser, a body of literature suggests that homeownership is positively related to social capital formation. Homeowners have an incentive to engage in the local community in order to preserve or enhance the value of their housing asset. Moreover, homeownership creates barriers to geographic mobility, which increases the present value of the expected stream of benefits from local community social capital. We test the homeownership hypothesis alongside other individual, household and locational determinants of social capital using unique data created by merging the 2006 and 2008 samples of the New Zealand Quality of Life survey. The measures of social capital used in our analysis include trust in others, participation in social networks, attitude towards local governance and sense of community. Since homeownership is not randomly assigned, we complement our regression models with propensity score matching to control for selection effects. The results confirm that homeownership exerts considerable positive impact in the formation of social capital in New Zealand communities. In raising accountability of local government it does, however, lead to reduced satisfaction by homeowners in the performance of local councils.social capital, homeownership, New Zealand, matching methods

Order, disorder and stability in Be intermetallics for fusion applications

Be intermetallics are a promising family of materials for the first wall and neutron multiplying applications in future nuclear fusion reactors, owing to their low atomic number, still high beryllium content but improved thermo-mechanical properties over pure beryllium. Due to the difficulties of working with Be, however, they are often poorly characterized. Thus, the crystallography, elastic and magnetic properties, thermodynamical stability, deviation from stoichiometry and order/disorder transformations of intermetallics, which are relevant to Be alloys have been investigated using computer simulation [1,2,3]. These include Be-Fe-Al ternary phases as well as a series of Be-transition metal binaries. Throughout the density functional code CASTEP was employed, coupled with phonon density of states calculations to capture temperature effects. The propensity for intermetallics to act as impurity sinks was also considered. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Diffusion of Botulinum Toxins

Background: It is generally agreed that diffusion of botulinum toxin occurs, but the extent of the spread and its clinical importance are disputed. Many factors have been suggested to play a role but which have the most clinical relevance is a subject of much discussion. Methods: This review discusses the variables affecting diffusion, including protein composition and molecular size as well as injection factors (e.g., volume, dose, injection method). It also discusses data on diffusion from comparative studies in animal models and human clinical trials that illustrate differences between the available botulinum toxin products (onabotulinumtoxinA, abobotulinumtoxinA, incobotulinumtoxinA, and rimabotulinumtoxinB). Results: Neither molecular weight nor the presence of complexing proteins appears to affect diffusion; however, injection volume, concentration, and dose all play roles and are modifiable. Both animal and human studies show that botulinum toxin products are not interchangeable, and that some products are associated with greater diffusion and higher rates of diffusion-related adverse events than others. Discussion: Each of the botulinum toxins is a unique pharmacologic entity. A working knowledge of the different serotypes is essential to avoid unwanted diffusion-related adverse events. In addition, clinicians should be aware that the factors influencing diffusion may range from properties intrinsic to the drug to accurate muscle selection as well as dilution, volume, and dose injected

Learning force fields for limb control in character animation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-72).This work applies vector-field-based limb control to physically simulated character animation. Vector fields of joint torques, defined over joint angle space, have been shown in the neuroscience literature to be able to generate simple reaching motions in two dimensions when linearly combined with time-varying weights. In this work, three-dimensional versions of such "basis" fields generate a similar diversity of realistic motions, while maintaining tractable control through a concise parameter space. A decomposition algorithm is presented that takes a set of limb motions and generates a set of torque fields, whose various linear combinations can generate each member of the input set, and other plausible motions. Unlike other motion extrapolators, the system extrapolates torque control programs instead of the motion paths themselves, retaining Newtonian physical correctness.by Matthew Koichi Grimes.S.M

Magnitude of the Difference Between Clinic and Ambulatory Blood Pressures and Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background Obtaining 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure ( BP ) is recommended for the detection of masked or white-coat hypertension. Our objective was to determine whether the magnitude of the difference between ambulatory and clinic BP s has prognostic implications. Methods and Results We included 610 participants of the AASK (African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension) Cohort Study who had clinic and ambulatory BPs performed in close proximity in time. We used Cox models to determine the association between the absolute systolic BP ( SBP ) difference between clinic and awake ambulatory BPs (primary predictor) and death and end-stage renal disease. Of 610 AASK Cohort Study participants, 200 (32.8%) died during a median follow-up of 9.9 years; 178 (29.2%) developed end-stage renal disease. There was a U-shaped association between the clinic and ambulatory SBP difference with risk of death, but not end-stage renal disease. A 5- to <10-mm Hg higher clinic versus awake SBP (white-coat effect) was associated with a trend toward higher (adjusted) mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.84; 95% CI, 0.94-3.56) compared with a 0- to <5-mm Hg clinic-awake SBP difference (reference group). A ≥10-mm Hg clinic-awake SBP difference was associated with even higher mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.27-4.22). A ≥-5-mm Hg clinic-awake SBP difference was also associated with higher mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.05-3.15) compared with the reference group. Conclusions A U-shaped association exists between the magnitude of the difference between clinic and ambulatory SBP and mortality. Higher clinic versus ambulatory BPs (as in white-coat effect) may be associated with higher risk of death in black patients with chronic kidney disease