Thermo-Mechanical Treatment Effects on Stress Relaxation and Hydrogen Embrittlement of Cold-Drawn Eutectoid Steels

The effects of the temperature and stretching levels used in the stress-relieving treatment of cold-drawn eutectoid steel wires are evaluated with the aim of improving the stress relaxation behavior and the resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Five industrial treatments are studied, combining three temperatures (330, 400, and 460 °C) and three stretching levels (38, 50 and 64% of the rupture load). The change of the residual stress produced by the treatments is taken into consideration to account for the results. Surface residual stresses allow us to explain the time to failure in standard hydrogen embrittlement test

A Dose-Dependent Relationship between Exposure to a Street-Based Drug Scene and Health-Related Harms among People Who Use Injection Drugs

While the community impacts of drug-related street disorder have been well described, lesser attention has been given to the potential health and social implications of drug scene exposure on street-involved people who use illicit drugs. Therefore, we sought to assess the impacts of exposure to a street-based drug scene among injection drug users (IDU) in a Canadian setting. Data were derived from a prospective cohort study known as the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study. Four categories of drug scene exposure were defined based on the numbers of hours spent on the street each day. Three generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression models were constructed to identify factors associated with varying levels of drug scene exposure (2–6, 6–15, over 15 hours) during the period of December 2005 to March 2009. Among our sample of 1,486 IDU, at baseline, a total of 314 (21%) fit the criteria for high drug scene exposure (>15 hours per day). In multivariate GEE analysis, factors significantly and independently associated with high exposure included: unstable housing (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 9.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.36–14.20); daily crack use (AOR = 2.70; 95% CI, 2.07–3.52); encounters with police (AOR = 2.11; 95% CI, 1.62–2.75); and being a victim of violence (AOR = 1.49; 95 % CI, 1.14–1.95). Regular employment (AOR = 0.50; 95% CI, 0.38–0.65), and engagement with addiction treatment (AOR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.45–0.75) were negatively associated with high exposure. Our findings indicate that drug scene exposure is associated with markers of vulnerability and higher intensity addiction. Intensity of drug scene exposure was associated with indicators of vulnerability to harm in a dose-dependent fashion. These findings highlight opportunities for policy interventions to address exposure to street disorder in the areas of employment, housing, and addiction treatment

Land use and soil characteristics affect soil organisms differently from above-ground assemblages

Background: Land-use is a major driver of changes in biodiversity worldwide, but studies have overwhelmingly focused on above-ground taxa: the effects on soil biodiversity are less well known, despite the importance of soil organisms in ecosystem functioning. We modelled data from a global biodiversity database to compare how the abundance of soil-dwelling and above-ground organisms responded to land use and soil properties. Results: We found that land use affects overall abundance differently in soil and above-ground assemblages. The abundance of soil organisms was markedly lower in cropland and plantation habitats than in primary vegetation and pasture. Soil properties influenced the abundance of soil biota in ways that differed among land uses, suggesting they shape both abundance and its response to land use. Conclusions: Our results caution against assuming models or indicators derived from above-ground data can apply to soil assemblages and highlight the potential value of incorporating soil properties into biodiversity models

Toward a Theory of Child Well-Being

Assuring the well-being of children has emerged over the past several decades as an important goal for health and social policymakers. Although the concept of child well-being has been operationalized and measured in different ways by different child-serving entities, there are few unifying theories that could undergird and inform these various conceptual and measurement efforts. In this paper, we attempt to construct a theory of child well-being. We first review the social and policy history of the concept of child well-being, and briefly review its measurement based on these conceptualizations. We then examine three types of theories of well-being extant in philosophy - mental states theories, desire-based theories and needs-based theories - and investigate their suitability to serve as prototypes of a theory of child well-being. We develop a constraint that child well-being is important in and of itself and not merely as a way station to future adult well-being (we call this a non-reduction constraint). Using this constraint, we identify the limitations of each of the three sets of theories to serve as a basis for a theory of child well-being. Based on a developmentalist approach, we then articulate a theory of child well-being that contains two conditions. First, a child's stage-appropriate capacities that equip her for successful adulthood, given her environment; and, second, an engagement with the world in child-appropriate ways. We conclude by reviewing seven implications of this theoretical approach for the measurement of child well-being. Key Words Child well-being, philosophy, social policy, child developmentNoneThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0665-

Employment Services Utilization and Outcomes among Substance Abusing Offenders Participating in California’s Proposition 36 Drug Treatment Initiative

California drug treatment programs may use funds to address barriers to work faced by Proposition 36 offenders, most of whom are not working at treatment entry, but employment services utilization and related behavioral outcomes have never been studied. This study examined primary data collected on 1,453 offenders by 30 programs during 2004 to explore the characteristics, employment services utilization, and outcomes of those who did and did not receive employment services while in drug treatment. One-year outcomes were mostly similar across groups, however, increases in the proportion of offenders employed, receiving income from employment and family or friends, and being paid for work were significantly greater among the received-employment-services group, and a greater proportion of this group also completed drug treatment. Employment services utilization was less likely for persons recruited from outpatient settings and more likely with greater severity of family/social problems and desire for services. Odds of employment one-year post-treatment entry were higher for those of Hispanic race/ethnicity (vs. White) and for those with treatment completion/longer retention but lower for those who were older, lived in specific counties, had greater employment problem severity at intake, and received other income-related services. Strategies for improving employment services utilization and outcomes among Proposition 36 offenders are discussed

Does urbanization explain differences in interactions between an insect herbivore and its natural enemies and mutualists?

Urbanization can alter the composition of arthropod communities. However, little is known about how urbanization affects ecological interactions. Using experimental colonies of the black bean aphid Aphis fabae Scopoli reared on Vicia faba L, we asked if patterns of predator-prey, host-parasitoid and ant-aphid mutualisms varied along an urbanization gradient across a large town in southern England. We recorded the presence of naturally occurring predators, parasitoid wasps and mutualistic ants together with aphid abundance. We examined how biotic (green areas and plant richness) and abiotic features (impervious surfaces and distance to town center) affected (1) aphid colony size, (2) the likelihood of finding predators, mutualistic ants and aphid mummies (indicating the presence of parasitoids), and (3) how the interplay among these factors affected patterns of parasitoid attack, predator abundance, mutualistic interactions and aphid abundance. The best model to predict aphid abundance was the number of mutualistic ants attending the colonies. Aphid predators responded negatively to both the proportion of impervious surfaces and to the number of mutualistic ants farming the colonies, and positively to aphid population size, whereas parasitized aphids were found in colonies with higher numbers of aphids and ants. The number of mutualistic ants attending was positively associated with aphid colony size and negatively with the number of aphid predators. Our findings suggest that for insect-natural enemy interactions, urbanization may affect some groups, while not influencing others, and that local effects (mutualists, host plant presence) will also be key determinants of how urban ecological communities are formed

Urbanisation generates multiple trait syndromes for terrestrial animal taxa worldwide

Cities can host significant biological diversity. Yet, urbanisation leads to the loss of habitats, species, and functional groups. Understanding how multiple taxa respond to urbanisation globally is essential to promote and conserve biodiversity in cities. Using a dataset encompassing six terrestrial faunal taxa (amphibians, bats, bees, birds, carabid beetles and reptiles) across 379 cities on 6 continents, we show that urbanisation produces taxon-specific changes in trait composition, with traits related to reproductive strategy showing the strongest response. Our findings suggest that urbanisation results in four trait syndromes (mobile generalists, site specialists, central place foragers, and mobile specialists), with resources associated with reproduction and diet likely driving patterns in traits associated with mobility and body size. Functional diversity measures showed varied responses, leading to shifts in trait space likely driven by critical resource distribution and abundance, and taxon-specific trait syndromes. Maximising opportunities to support taxa with different urban trait syndromes should be pivotal in conservation and management programmes within and among cities. This will reduce the likelihood of biotic homogenisation and helps ensure that urban environments have the capacity to respond to future challenges. These actions are critical to reframe the role of cities in global biodiversity loss.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

There is no age limit for methadone: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Data from the US indicates that methadone-maintained populations are aging, with an increase of patients aged 50 or older. Data from European methadone populations is sparse. This retrospective cohort study sought to evaluate the age trends and related developments in the methadone population of Basel-City, Switzerland. METHODS: The study included methadone patients between April 1, 1995 and March 31, 2003. Anonymized data was taken from the methadone register of Basel-City. For analysis of age distributions, patient samples were split into four age categories from '20-29 years' to '50 years and over'. Cross-sectional comparisons were performed using patient samples of 1996 and 2003. RESULTS: Analysis showed a significant increase in older patients between 1996 and 2003 (p < 0.001). During that period, the percentage of patients aged 50 and over rose almost tenfold, while the proportion of patients aged under 30 dropped significantly from 52.8% to 12.3%. The average methadone dose (p < 0.001) and the 1-year retention rate (p < 0.001) also increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Findings point to clear trends in aging of methadone patients in Basel-City which are comparable, although less pronounced, to developments among US methadone populations. Many unanswered questions on medical, psychosocial and health economic consequences remain as the needs of older patients have not yet been evaluated extensively. However, older methadone patients, just as any other patients, should be accorded treatment appropriate to their medical condition and needs. Particular attention should be paid to adequate solutions for persons in need of care