A comparison of green space indicators for epidemiological research

<p><b>Background</b> The potential for natural environments to be salutogenic has received growing interest from epidemiologists, but there has been no critical examination of the extent to which associations between green space and health might vary according to the indicator of green space coverage used.</p> <p><b>Methods</b> Three different indicators of green space coverage were derived for a set of 268 small areas in four cities within Britain. The indicators had different origins and provided a spectrum of sensitivity from larger spaces only, through to ambient greenery. Two indicators reproducible for anywhere in Europe were included. Agreement between the indicators on the quantity of green space in a small area, and their independent association with measures of mortality and self-reported morbidity, were compared.</p> <p><b>Results</b> Overall, the indicators showed relatively close overall agreement (all r2>0.89, p<0.001). However, agreement varied by level of area socioeconomic deprivation (p<0.001). The indicator that detected larger spaces only found less green space in areas of socioeconomic deprivation than the other two. Despite this difference, all indicators showed similar protective associations with the risk of mortality and self-reported morbidity suggesting that larger green spaces may be more important for health effects than smaller spaces.</p> <p><b>Conclusions</b> Associations between green space indicator and health were not sensitive to indicator origin and type. This raises the possibility of trans-European epidemiological studies. Larger green spaces may be the most important for health effects, but may also be less prevalent in more deprived areas.</p&gt

The construction of saturated 2Rk-p designs

Combinatorial and sequential analyses for optimization of saturated design

Research into fundamental phenomena associated with spacecraft electrochemical devices - Calorimetry of nickel-cadmium cells Progress report, 1 Jul. - 30 Sep. 1968

Training of electrochemist in battery research and collecting electrochemical and thermodynamic dat

Midcourse maneuver operations program

Midcourse Maneuver Operations Program /MMOP/ computes the required velocity change to correct a spacecraft trajectory. The program establishes the existence of maneuvers which satisfy spacecraft constraints, explores alternate trajectories in the event that some out-of-tolerance condition forces a change in plans, and codes the maneuvers into commands

Green cities and health: a question of scale?

<p><b>Background:</b> Cities are expanding and accommodating an increasing proportion of the world's population. It is important to identify features of urban form that promote the health of city dwellers. Access to green space has been associated with health benefits at both individual and neighbourhood level. We investigated whether a relationship between green space coverage and selected mortality rates exists at the city level in the USA.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> An ecological cross-sectional study. A detailed land use data set was used to quantify green space for the largest US cities (n=49, combined population of 43 million). Linear regression models were used to examine the association between city-level ‘greenness’ and city-level standardised rates of mortality from heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer, motor vehicle fatalities and all causes, after adjustment for confounders.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> There was no association between greenness and mortality from heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer or automobile accidents. Mortality from all causes was significantly higher in greener cities.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> While considerable evidence suggests that access to green space yields health benefits, we found no such evidence at the scale of the American city. In the USA, greener cities tend also to be more sprawling and have higher levels of car dependency. Any benefits that the green space might offer seem easily eclipsed by these other conditions and the lifestyles that accompany them. The result merits further investigation as it has important implications for how we increase green space access in our cities.</p&gt

Microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk yttria-partially-stabilized zirconia

A commercially available bulk 4.5 mole percent yttria-(Y2O3) partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) was studied by light microscopy, X-ray analysis, microhardness measurement, and fracture toughness testing. The growth of the precipitates and the phase transformations were studied as a function of aging in air at 1500 C. Aging curves were constructed for both the as received and the solution annealed and quenched materials; the curves showed hardness peaks at 1397 and 1517 Kg/sq mm respectively. The rectangular plate shaped tetragonal precipitates were found to have a 110 habit plane. A total of twelve different types of tetragonal precipitates were found. Grinding of the Y2O3 PSZ into powder did not cause a significant amount of metastable tetragonal precipitates to transform into the monoclinc phase, thus indicating that transformation toughening is not a significant mechanism for the material

Research into fundamental phenomena associated with spacecraft electrochemical devices, calorimetry of nickel-cadmium cells Progress report, 1 Oct. - 31 Dec. 1967

Calorimetry of nickel cadmium cells for spacecraft electrochemical system

Weighted feature selection criteria for visual servoing of a telerobot

Because of the continually changing environment of a space station, visual feedback is a vital element of a telerobotic system. A real time visual servoing system would allow a telerobot to track and manipulate randomly moving objects. Methodologies for the automatic selection of image features to be used to visually control the relative position between an eye-in-hand telerobot and a known object are devised. A weighted criteria function with both image recognition and control components is used to select the combination of image features which provides the best control. Simulation and experimental results of a PUMA robot arm visually tracking a randomly moving carburetor gasket with a visual update time of 70 milliseconds are discussed

Galileo: Earth avoidance study report

The 1989 Galileo mission to Jupiter is based on a VEEGA (Venus Earth Earth-Gravity Assist) trajectory which uses two flybys of Earth and one of Venus to achieve the necessary energy and shaping to reach Jupiter. These encounters are needed because the Centaur upper stage is not now being used on this mission. Since the Galileo spacecraft uses radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) for electrical power, the question arises as to whether there is any chance of an inadvertent atmospheric entry of the spacecraft during either of the two Earth flybys. A study was performed which determined the necessary actions, in both spacecraft and trajectory design as well as in operations, to insure that the probability of such reentry is made very small, and to provide a quantitative assessment of the probability of reentry