Estimating exposure response functions using ambient pollution concentrations

This paper presents an approach to estimating the health effects of an environmental hazard. The approach is general in nature, but is applied here to the case of air pollution. It uses a computer model involving ambient pollution and temperature input to simulate the exposures experienced by individuals in an urban area, while incorporating the mechanisms that determine exposures. The output from the model comprises a set of daily exposures for a sample of individuals from the population of interest. These daily exposures are approximated by parametric distributions so that the predictive exposure distribution of a randomly selected individual can be generated. These distributions are then incorporated into a hierarchical Bayesian framework (with inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation) in order to examine the relationship between short-term changes in exposures and health outcomes, while making allowance for long-term trends, seasonality, the effect of potential confounders and the possibility of ecological bias. The paper applies this approach to particulate pollution (PM10) and respiratory mortality counts for seniors in greater London (≥65 years) during 1997. Within this substantive epidemiological study, the effects on health of ambient concentrations and (estimated) personal exposures are compared. The proposed model incorporates within day (or between individual) variability in personal exposures, which is compared to the more traditional approach of assuming a single pollution level applies to the entire population for each day. Effects were estimated using single lags and distributed lag models, with the highest relative risk, RR=1.02 (1.01–1.04), being associated with a lag of two days ambient concentrations of PM10. Individual exposures to PM10 for this group (seniors) were lower than the measured ambient concentrations with the corresponding risk, RR=1.05 (1.01–1.09), being higher than would be suggested by the traditional approach using ambient concentrations

Following the relaxation dynamics of photoexcited aniline in the 273-266 nm region using time-resolved photoelectron imaging

Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) have been used to investigate the growth morphology of ultra-thin Pb films on the Ni3Al(111) face at room temperature. A previous study [K. Miśków and A. Krupski Appl Surf Sci 273, 2013, 554] using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and real time Auger intensity recording has demonstrated that an initial two-dimensional growth of the first Pb monolayer thick ‘wetting layer’ takes place. With further deposition and for T = 300 K, flat three atomic-layer-high islands are grown. Above 350 K, the Stranski–Krastanov growth mode was observed. In the current study, the analysis of STM measurements indicate and confirm that for coverage θ = 1.0 ML two-dimensional growth of the first Pb monolayer took place. Above θ > 1.0 ML, a three-dimensional growth of the Pb islands was observed with a strongly preferred atomic-scale ‘magic height (N),’ hexagonal shape and flat-tops. At coverage θ = 3.5 ML, only islands containing N = 3, 5, 7 and 11 atomic layers of Pb are observed. At the higher coverage θ = 5.5 ML, three types of regular hexagonal islands with side lengths of 25, 30 and 45 nm are observed. Furthermore, three different island adsorption configurations rotated by 10° ± 1° and 30° ± 6° with respect to each other were observed. After an annealing at T = 400 K of 5.5 ML of lead deposited at RT on the Ni3Al(111) the morphology of the surface changes. Post-anneal, islands of Pb are observed above the ‘wetting layer’ with an estimated average size and diameter of 768 ± 291 nm2 and 38.17 ± 6.56 nm and constant uniform height of two atomic layers (N = 2)

A new paradigm for SpeckNets:inspiration from fungal colonies

In this position paper, we propose the development of a new biologically inspired paradigm based on fungal colonies, for the application to pervasive adaptive systems. Fungal colonies have a number of properties that make them an excellent candidate for inspiration for engineered systems. Here we propose the application of such inspiration to a speckled computing platform. We argue that properties from fungal colonies map well to properties and requirements for controlling SpeckNets and suggest that an existing mathematical model of a fungal colony can developed into a new computational paradigm

Captain Stephen Olney

History of the life of Rhode Island patriot Captain Stephen Olney, beginning with his ancestry and birth in 1775 and before until his death in 1832

Influence of Weather On Movement and Habitat Use of Hen Pheasants During Brood Rearing

Pheasants survive in a wide range of yearly weather extremes but can be limited by certain short-term weather factors (Graham and Hosterburg 1948). Study of short-term weather conditions can therefore be important in understanding pheasant survival. Many studies have been done on yearly and seasonal effects of weather on pheasant production and survival. Bemitt and Terril (1940) reported on possible temperature factors in pheasant management in the north central area of the United States. Effects of weather on pheasant reproduction were studied by Buss and Swanson (1950) and Kozieky et al. (1955). MacKullan and Eherhardt (1953) studied the tolerance of incubating eggs and young chicks to exposure. Labisky et al. (1964) discussed the influence of land use and weather on pheasant distribution. A few studies have reported the daily effects of weather on movement and habitat use of pheasants. The ability of pheasants to withstand climatic elements was measured by Latham (1947). Restriction of pheasant movement by weather was reported by Shick (1952) and Weston (1954). Cover type use was related to weather by Grondahl (1953). The previous studies were all done by visual observation. The development of radio-telometry systems (LeKunyan et al. 1959, Marshall 1960, Cochrane and Lord 1963) and techniques (Marshall and Kupa 1963) have made possible the collection of more information on daily movement and habitat use. The use of computers to analyze these data has allowed more detailed studies to be done (Siniff and Tester 1965). Movement and behavior of her pheasants during the nesting season were reported by Kuck et al. (1970). Carter (1971) studied seasonal movement of pheasants. General habitat use and movement of hen pheasants during brood-rearing were studied by Hanson (1971). Survival of broods may have as much influence on pheasant population as hatching success (Trautman and Dahlgren 1965). Since little is known about the influence of daily weather variations on hens during the brood-rearing period, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of selected weather conditions on the movement and habitat use of hen pheasants during the brood-rearing period

Future Farmers of America incentives

This is a study of Future Farmer of America (FFA) incentives in the East Tennessee District of Vocational Agriculture. The purpose of the study embodied two elements which may be specifically stated as follows: (1) To determine ways contests and awards affected FFA members, teachers and others, (2) To determine the extent of FFA members affected and the extent advisors and others were affected by contests and awards. This study did not answer the question, what should the incentives be? It merely helped identify a few of the results of incentives as observed by the persons supplying the information. The results may, however, be helpful in redesigning parts of the FFA to serve better the school, members and awards

A Plea for the Town System of Public Schools

A guide to Rhode Island public education reform based on a community model for country towns. Expands the thesis The wealth of a state is in proportion to the education which its children receive

Predictors of barefoot plantar pressure during walking in patients with diabetes, peripheral neuropathy and a history of ulceration

OBJECTIVE:Elevated dynamic plantar foot pressures significantly increase the risk of foot ulceration in diabetes mellitus. The aim was to determine which factors predict plantar pressures in a population of diabetic patients who are at high-risk of foot ulceration. METHODS:Patients with diabetes, peripheral neuropathy and a history of ulceration were eligible for inclusion in this cross sectional study. Demographic data, foot structure and function, and disease-related factors were recorded and used as potential predictor variables in the analyses. Barefoot peak pressures during walking were calculated for the heel, midfoot, forefoot, lesser toes, and hallux regions. Potential predictors were investigated using multivariate linear regression analyses. 167 participants with mean age of 63 years contributed 329 feet to the analyses. RESULTS:The regression models were able to predict between 6% (heel) and 41% (midfoot) of the variation in peak plantar pressures. The largest contributing factor in the heel model was glycosylated haemoglobin concentration, in the midfoot Charcot deformity, in the forefoot prominent metatarsal heads, in the lesser toes hammer toe deformity and in the hallux previous ulceration. Variables with local effects (e.g. foot deformity) were stronger predictors of plantar pressure than global features (e.g. body mass, age, gender, or diabetes duration). CONCLUSION:The presence of local deformity was the largest contributing factor to barefoot dynamic plantar pressure in high-risk diabetic patients and should therefore be adequately managed to reduce plantar pressure and ulcer risk. However, a significant amount of variance is unexplained by the models, which advocates the quantitative measurement of plantar pressures in the clinical risk assessment of the patient

Partisan Cues, Emotion, and the Efficacy of Corrections to Misinformation About Democratic Norms

Political misinformation and threats to democratic norms are major problems for American democracy. This thesis examines belief in misinformation about democratic norms and the efficacy of corrective information (fact-checking) in multiple circumstances, specifically analyzing the effects of emotions, partisan cues, and conspiracy thinking on the efficacy of the corrective information. To measure these effects, a survey of 45 questions was fielded through Lucid. Approximately 2000 respondents answered questions about their demographics, political beliefs/participation, and media habits. These respondents were subsequently randomly sorted into 1 of 8 experimental groups and received an emotional priming activity and a simulated news article containing misinformation about democratic norms. The political attribution and presence of fact checking varied based on the experimental group. The results of this survey found that corrective information is effective at reducing belief in misinformation across a variety of circumstances; the effectiveness was not significantly affected by the experimental treatments. The results also showed that conspiracy thinking is positively correlated with increased belief in misinformation, which is particularly impactful as approximately 70% of the respondents displayed a tendency towards conspiracy thinking