Neighborhood Effects of Public Housing: How the Level of Public Housing Concentration Influences Neighborhood Crime Levels

Public housing is plagued by the well known “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) phenomenon. People may support the existence of public housing, but oppose it in their neighborhood. This is particularly relevant to “scattered site” public housing – which has a much lower density than “traditional” public housing – because, by its very essence, scattered site public housing will be “in more backyards”. Public protests against such programs have made it clear that people don’t care about the positive effects for the public housing tenants nearly as much as they care about perceived negative effects on their neighborhood. My goal is to determine whether these perceived negative effects are indeed real. I use cross-sectional data from Louisville, Kentucky to estimate the relationship between both traditional and scattered site public housing, and the crime rate in the surrounding neighborhood. Using data obtained from the Louisville Police Department and the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, I find that each type is well suited to its typical use. Scattered site public housing, in small quantities, will not lead to an increase in neighborhood crime, while traditional public housing will. However, the marginal increase in crime is much higher for scattered site units. In fact, the addition of one traditional public housing unit at the margin is actually associated with a decrease in crime in my sample. I conclude that there is no statistically significant relationship between scattered site housing and crime; therefore, opposition to small scale scattered site housing projects is not justified by the “there goes the neighborhood” argument. Although the following calculation is based on statistically insignificant results, it appears that scattered site housing will not increase neighborhood crime unless the unit density approaches 50 units per square mile – a level attained by only one census tract in Louisville. Below this level, scattered site housing may actually decrease crime. However, scattered site housing is not a panacea. When public housing with a scattered site form and label approaches the density of traditional public housing (greater than 50 units per square mile), it could have a more adverse impact on the community than a traditional public housing project would have. Thus, when it is necessary to provide many new units, traditional, high density public housing may be the better alternative

Effect of Selected Vestibular Exercise on Metabolic Parameters and Anthropometry in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a rapidly growing disease among the population of India. Type 2 Diabetes have close association with life style. Proper diet and adequate exercise are the vital components for diabetic management. Vestibular exercise is a simple, non- invasive physical activity that plays a role in maintenance of posture and equilibrium. Vestibular exercise has beneficial effect on Type 2 Diabetic management. With this background, we took up this study on the effect of vestibular exercise on metabolic parameters and anthropometry among Type 2 diabetic patients. Aim and objectives: The objective of the present study was to investigate the beneficial effect of vestibular exercise on metabolic parameters and anthropometry among Type 2 Diabetic patients before and after 3 months. Matrials and Methods: 120 male and female Type 2 diabetic patients in the age group between 40-55 years, with history of Diabetes mellitus for 5-10 years. They were divided in to two groups. Ie, Control group (Group A) , Vestibular exercise group ( Group B). Vestibular exercise were given to Group B for 3 months. Height, weight, Body fat percentage, BMI, Waist circumference, Hip circumference, Arm circumference, Thigh circumference, FBS, PPBS, HbA1c, Total cholesterol, Triglycerides, LDL, HDL, Systolic and Diastolic BP were recorded before and after the intervention in both the groups. Results: The analyzed values were significantly improved in the interventional groups (Group B. ie, vestibular exercise group) when compared with the control group.  Mean Diabetic patients were significantly fewer after 3 months in Group B when compared with both A and B groups. Conclusion: Vestibular exercise can manage Type 2 Diabetes and associated complications

A new sum of graphs and caterpillar trees

Árboles oruga, o simplemente oruga, son árboles tales que cuandoles quitamos todas sus ramas (o arista final) obtenemos un camino. La cantidad de orugas no isomorfas con n ≥ 2 aristas es 2n−3 + 2⌊(n−3)/2⌋. Usandouna nueva suma de grafos, introducida en este artículo, proporcionamos unanueva prueba de este resultado.Caterpillar trees, or simply Caterpillar, are trees such that when we remove all their leaves (or end edge) we obtain a path. The number of nonisomorphic caterpillars with n ≥ 2 edges is 2n−3 + 2⌊(n−3)/2⌋. Using a new sum of graphs, introduced in this paper, we provided a new proof of this result

Cat and mouse search: the influence of scene and object analysis on eye movements when targets change locations during search

We explored the influence of early scene analysis and visible object characteristics on eye movements when searching for objects in photographs of scenes. On each trial, participants were shown sequentially either a scene preview or a uniform grey screen (250 ms), a visual mask, the name of the target and the scene, now including the target at a likely location. During the participant's first saccade during search, the target location was changed to: (i) a different likely location, (ii) an unlikely but possible location or (iii) a very implausible location. The results showed that the first saccade landed more often on the likely location in which the target re-appeared than on unlikely or implausible locations, and overall the first saccade landed nearer the first target location with a preview than without. Hence, rapid scene analysis influenced initial eye movement planning, but availability of the target rapidly modified that plan. After the target moved, it was found more quickly when it appeared in a likely location than when it appeared in an unlikely or implausible location. The findings show that both scene gist and object properties are extracted rapidly, and are used in conjunction to guide saccadic eye movements during visual search

Secondary forests offset less than 10% of deforestation-mediated carbon emissions in the Brazilian Amazon

Secondary forests are increasing in the Brazilian Amazon and have been cited as an important mechanism for reducing net carbon emissions. However, our understanding of the contribution of secondary forests to the Amazonian carbon balance is incomplete, and it is unclear to what extent emissions from old‐growth deforestation have been offset by secondary forest growth. Using MapBiomas 3.1 and recently refined IPCC carbon sequestration estimates, we mapped the age and extent of secondary forests in the Brazilian Amazon and estimated their role in offsetting old‐growth deforestation emissions since 1985. We also assessed whether secondary forests in the Brazilian Amazon are growing in conditions favourable for carbon accumulation in relation to a suite of climatic, landscape and local factors. In 2017, the 129,361 km2 of secondary forest in the Brazilian Amazon stored 0.33 ± 0.05 billion Mg of above‐ground carbon but had offset just 9.37% of old‐growth emissions since 1985. However, we find that the majority of Brazilian secondary forests are situated in contexts that are less favourable for carbon accumulation than the biome average. Our results demonstrate that old‐growth forest loss remains the most important factor determining the carbon balance in the Brazilian Amazon. Understanding the implications of these findings will be essential for improving estimates of secondary forest carbon sequestration potential. More accurate quantification of secondary forest carbon stocks will support the production of appropriate management proposals that can efficiently harness the potential of secondary forests as a low‐cost, nature‐based tool for mitigating climate change

Modulation of blood-brain barrier permeability by neutrophils: in vitro and in vivo studies

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts solute permeability across healthy cerebral endothelial cells. However, during inflammation, permeability is increased and can lead to deleterious cerebral edema. Neutrophils are early cellular participants in acute inflammation, but their effect on BBB permeability is unclear. To study this, neutrophils were applied in a resting and activated state to in vitro and in vivo models of the BBB. In vitro, human neutrophils (5 × 106/ml) were activated with tumor necrosis factor (100U/ml) and leukotriene B4 (10-7mol/l). Untreated neutrophils reduced permeability across the human brain endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3. Activated neutrophils returned permeability to baseline, an effect blocked by the reactive oxygen scavengers superoxide dismutase (10U/ml) and catalase (1000U/ml). In vivo, human neutrophils (2.5 × 105 in 4μl) were injected into the striatum of anesthetized juvenile Wistar rats, and BBB permeability measured 30 minutes later. This was compared to control injections (4μl) of vehicle (0.9% saline) and arachidonic acid (10-3mol/l). The injection generated a small hematoma around the injection tract (<3μl). Untreated neutrophils induced significantly lower permeability in their vicinity than activated neutrophils, with a trend to lowered permeability compared to the vehicle control. Neither untreated nor activated neutrophils induced permeability increases, while arachidonic acid increased permeability as a positive control. This study further delineates the effect of neutrophils on the BBB, and demonstrates that resting neutrophils induce acute reductions in permeability while activated neutrophils have a neutral effect. The in vivo model reiterates some aspects of acute intracerebral hemorrhage

Mental Health And Academic Motivation Among Third-Year College TES Grantees A Correlational Study

This study evaluates the relationship between mental health and academic motivation among third-year college TES grantees. Thus, correlational design was employed to determine if there is a significant relationship between mental health and academic motivation among 150 third-year TES grantees. Statistical findings reveal that the r coefficient of 0.52 indicates a moderate positive correlation between the variables. The p-value of 0.00, which is less than 0.05, leads to rejecting the null hypothesis. Hence, a significant relationship exists between mental health and academic motivation of third-year college TES grantees. Implications were discussed in the study

Risk factors for inpatient mortality among children with severe acute malnutrition in Zimbabwe and Zambia

Background/Objectives: Malnutrition underlies 45% of deaths in children under-5 years annually. Children hospitalised with complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have unacceptably high mortality. We aimed to identify variables from early hospital admission (baseline factors) independently associated with inpatient mortality in this cohort to identify those most at risk. Subjects/Methods: Observational study of 745 children aged 0–59 months admitted with complicated SAM at three hospitals in Zimbabwe/Zambia. Children underwent anthropometry and clinical assessment by a study physician within 72 h of enrolment, and caregivers provided sociodemographic data. Children were followed-up daily until discharge/death. A multivariable survival analysis identified the baseline factors independently associated with mortality. Results: 70/745 (9.4%) children died in hospital. Age between 6–23 months [aHR 6.53, 95%CI 2.24–19.02], higher mid-upper arm circumference [aHR 0.73, 95%CI 0.59–0.89], presence of oedema [aHR 2.22, 95%CI 1.23–4.05], shock [aHR 8.18, 95%CI 3.79–17.65], sepsis [aHR 3.13, 95%CI 1.44–6.80], persistent diarrhoea [aHR 2.27, 95%CI 1.18–4.37], lack of a toilet at home [aHR 4.35, 95%CI 1.65–11.47], and recruitment at one Harare site [aHR 0.38, 95%CI 0.18–0.83] were all independently associated with inpatient mortality. Oedematous children had a significantly higher birthweight [2987 g vs 2757 g, p &lt; 0.001] than those without oedema; higher birthweight was weakly associated with mortality [aHR 1.50 95%CI 0.97–2.31]. Conclusions: Children with oedema, low MUAC, baseline infections, shock and lack of home sanitation had a significantly increased risk of inpatient mortality following hospitalisation for complicated SAM. Children with high-risk features may require additional care. A better understanding of the pathophysiology of SAM is needed to identify adjunctive interventions

Drought-induced Amazonian wildfires instigate a decadal-scale disruption of forest carbon dynamics

Drought-induced wildfires have increased in frequency and extent over the tropics. Yet, the long-term (greater than 10 years) responses of Amazonian lowland forests to fire disturbance are poorly known. To understand post-fire forest biomass dynamics, and to assess the time required for fire-affected forests to recover to pre-disturbance levels, we combined 16 single with 182 multiple forest census into a unique large-scale and long-term dataset across the Brazilian Amazonia. We quantified biomass, mortality and wood productivity of burned plots along a chronosequence of up to 31 years post-fire and compared to surrounding unburned plots measured simultaneously. Stem mortality and growth were assessed among functional groups. At the plot level, we found that fire-affected forests have biomass levels 24.8 ± 6.9% below the biomass value of unburned control plots after 31 years. This lower biomass state results from the elevated levels of biomass loss through mortality, which is not sufficiently compensated for by wood productivity (incremental growth + recruitment). At the stem level, we found major changes in mortality and growth rates up to 11 years post-fire. The post-fire stem mortality rates exceeded unburned control plots by 680% (i.e. greater than 40 cm diameter at breast height (DBH); 5–8 years since last fire) and 315% (i.e. greater than 0.7 g cm−3 wood density; 0.75–4 years since last fire). Our findings indicate that wildfires in humid tropical forests can significantly reduce forest biomass for decades by enhancing mortality rates of all trees, including large and high wood density trees, which store the largest amount of biomass in old-growth forests. This assessment of stem dynamics, therefore, demonstrates that wildfires slow down or stall the post-fire recovery of Amazonian forests. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial tropical carbon cycle: patterns, mechanisms and implications’

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types