516 research outputs found
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report
Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical ReportOVERVIEW:
Transportation connects Boston’s workers, residents and tourists to their livelihoods, health care, education,
recreation, culture, and other aspects of life quality. In cities, transit access is a critical factor determining
upward mobility. Yet many urban transportation systems, including Boston’s, underserve some populations
along one or more of those dimensions. Boston has the opportunity and means to expand mobility access to
all residents, and at the same time reduce GHG emissions from transportation. This requires the
transformation of the automobile-centric system that is fueled predominantly by gasoline and diesel fuel.
The near elimination of fossil fuels—combined with more transit, walking, and biking—will curtail air
pollution and crashes, and dramatically reduce the public health impact of transportation. The City embarks
on this transition from a position of strength. Boston is consistently ranked as one of the most walkable and
bikeable cities in the nation, and one in three commuters already take public transportation.
There are three general strategies to reaching a carbon-neutral transportation system:
• Shift trips out of automobiles to transit, biking, and walking;1
• Reduce automobile trips via land use planning that encourages denser development and affordable
housing in transit-rich neighborhoods;
• Shift most automobiles, trucks, buses, and trains to zero-GHG electricity.
Even with Boston’s strong transit foundation, a carbon-neutral transportation system requires a wholesale
change in Boston’s transportation culture. Success depends on the intelligent adoption of new technologies,
influencing behavior with strong, equitable, and clearly articulated planning and investment, and effective
collaboration with state and regional partners.Published versio
Molecular line emission in NGC1068 imaged with ALMA: II. The chemistry of the dense molecular gas
We present a detailed analysis of ALMA Bands 7 and 9 data of CO, HCO+, HCN
and CS, augmented with Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) data of the ~ 200
pc circumnuclear disk (CND) and the ~ 1.3 kpc starburst ring (SB ring) of
NGC~1068, a nearby (D = 14 Mpc) Seyfert 2 barred galaxy. We aim at determining
the physical characteristics of the dense gas present in the CND and whether
the different line intensity ratios we find within the CND as well as between
the CND and the SB ring are due to excitation effects (gas density and
temperature differences) or to a different chemistry. We estimate the column
densities of each species in Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE). We then
compute large one-dimensional non-LTE radiative transfer grids (using RADEX) by
using first only the CO transitions, and then all the available molecules in
order to constrain the densities, temperatures and column densities within the
CND. We finally present a preliminary set of chemical models to determine the
origin of the gas. We find that in general the gas in the CND is very dense (>
10^5 cm^-3) and hot (T> 150K), with differences especially in the temperature
across the CND. The AGN position has the lowest CO/HCO+, CO/HCN and CO/CS
column density ratios. RADEX analyses seem to indicate that there is chemical
differentiation across the CND. We also find differences between the chemistry
of the SB ring and some regions of the CND; the SB ring is also much colder and
less dense than the CND. Chemical modelling does not succeed in reproducing all
the molecular ratios with one model per region, suggesting the presence of
multi-gas phase components. The LTE, RADEX and chemical analyses all indicate
that more than one gas-phase component is necessary to uniquely fit all the
available molecular ratios within the CND.Comment: Accepted by A&A; please contact the author for a better version of
the pdf where the resolution and positions of figures are as they will appear
in the Journa
First clinical trial of nitinol self-expanding everolimus-eluting stent implantation for peripheral arterial occlusive disease
BackgroundA novel self-expanding drug-eluting stent was designed to slowly release everolimus to prevent restenosis following peripheral arterial intervention. The purpose of the first-in-human Superficial Femoral Artery Treatment with Drug-Eluting Stents (STRIDES) trial was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this device for the treatment of symptomatic superficial femoral and proximal popliteal arterial occlusive disease.Methods and ResultsOne hundred four patients were enrolled at 11 European investigative centers in a prospective, nonrandomized, single-arm trial. The patients had severe symptomatic vascular disease, including a significant proportion of patients with critical limb ischemia (17%), diabetes (39%), and single-vessel outflow (26%). The mean lesion length was 9.0 ± 4.3 cm. Ninety-nine percent of patients were available for 12-month follow-up, including duplex imaging in 90% and arteriography in 83%. Clinical improvement, defined as a sustained decrease in Rutherford-Becker clinical category, was achieved in 80% of patients. Primary patency (freedom from ≥50% in-stent restenosis) was 94 ± 2.3% and 68 ± 4.6% at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Plain radiographic examination of 122 implanted devices at 12 months revealed no evidence for stent fracture.ConclusionsThe everolimus-eluting self-expanding nitinol stent can be successfully implanted in patients with severe peripheral arterial disease with favorable outcomes and clinical improvements observed in the majority of patients
High-Energy Gamma-Ray Observations of W Comae with STACEE
We report on observations of the blazar W Comae (ON+231) with the Solar Tower
Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE), a wavefront-sampling
atmospheric Cherenkov telescope, in the spring of 2003. In a data set
comprising 10.5 hours of ON-source observing time, we detect no significant
emission from W Comae. We discuss the implications of our results in the
context of the composition of the relativistic jet in W Comae, examining both
leptonic and hadronic models for the jet. We derive 95% confidence level upper
limits on the flux at the level of 1.5--3.5 x 10^{-10} cm^{-2} s^{-1} above 100
GeV for the leptonic models, or 0.5--1.1 x 10^{-10} cm^{-2} s^{-1} above 150
GeV for the hadronic models.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted to Ap
Combining mistake-proofing and Jidoka to achieve world class quality in clinical chemistry
Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF
The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at
the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described
Tissue Self-Affinity and Polarized Light Scattering in the Born Approximation: A New Model for Precancer Detection
Mammographic density. Measurement of mammographic density
Mammographic density has been strongly associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Furthermore, density is inversely correlated with the accuracy of mammography and, therefore, a measurement of density conveys information about the difficulty of detecting cancer in a mammogram. Initial methods for assessing mammographic density were entirely subjective and qualitative; however, in the past few years methods have been developed to provide more objective and quantitative density measurements. Research is now underway to create and validate techniques for volumetric measurement of density. It is also possible to measure breast density with other imaging modalities, such as ultrasound and MRI, which do not require the use of ionizing radiation and may, therefore, be more suitable for use in young women or where it is desirable to perform measurements more frequently. In this article, the techniques for measurement of density are reviewed and some consideration is given to their strengths and limitations
‘Fish out of water’: a cross-sectional study on the interaction between social and neighbourhood effects on weight management behaviours
Objective:
To analyse whether an individual’s neighbourhood influences the uptake of weight management strategies and whether there is an interaction between individual socio-economic status and neighbourhood deprivation.
Methodology:
Data were collected from the Yorkshire Health Study (2010–2012) for 27 806 individuals on the use of the following weight management strategies: ‘slimming clubs’, ‘healthy eating’, ‘increasing exercise’ and ‘controlling portion size’. A multi-level logistic regression was fit to analyse the use of these strategies, controlling for age, sex, body mass index, education, neighbourhood deprivation and neighbourhood population turnover (a proxy for neighbourhood social capital). A cross-level interaction term was included for education and neighbourhood deprivation. Lower Super Output Area was used as the geographical scale for the areal unit of analysis.
Results:
Significant neighbourhood effects were observed for use of ‘slimming clubs’, ‘healthy eating’ and ‘increasing exercise’ as weight management strategies, independent of individual- and area-level covariates. A significant interaction between education and neighbourhood deprivation was observed across all strategies, suggesting that as an area becomes more deprived, individuals of the lowest education are more likely not to use any strategy compared with those of the highest education.
Conclusions:
Neighbourhoods modify/amplify individual disadvantage and social inequalities, with individuals of low education disproportionally affected by deprivation. It is important to include neighbourhood-based explanations in the development of community-based policy interventions to help tackle obesit
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