Health of people who travel to work: the effect of travel time and mode of transport on health: What have we learnt from the Kent and Medway health and lifestyle survey?

This is the first study of the health of people travelling to work. The paper describes a study from the 2001 Kent & Medway Health and Lifestyle Survey. It focusses on the health of people commuting to London and those working elsewhere who were travelling for more than 45 minutes

Caring in Kent: Patterns and Profiles, Evidence from the Kent Health and Lifestyle Survey, 2005

The ‘Caring in Kent’ report draws on the results of a Kent wide ‘Health and Lifestyle Survey’ conducted in 2005; this included a module on caring. This enables a picture of caring to be reported including: a general profile of carers, levels and types of care-giving, carers’ health, and the level and types of support they receive. ‘Carers provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner’. The increasingly recognised importance of the role of the ‘informal carer’ is - in good part - due to the rising proportion of older people in the UK population. Not only do people live longer but many experience a number of chronic conditions; these require support from family members if the older person is to remain living in the community

A Model for Parent-Teacher Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination in Young Children With Disabilities

This is the publisher's version, also found here: http://cec.metapress.com/content/h852n2t54065t89x/?p=6810d06059044800aa4cb3212939bc4f&pi=

Latin America 2060: consolidation or crisis?

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.Latin America has produced vigorous ideas throughout its history, expressed in narratives about its struggles and successes, or its weaknesses and failures. Together, these have shaped a multi-faceted vision of the region and its peoples. Some of its expositors, finding the story to be neither complete nor precise, work toward reformulations, some quite radical. Such generation of knowledge in different fields seems destined to yield a variety of distinct outcomes, at least in part because some of the emerging social and cultural movements are not yet very well structured. This Task Force Report project seeks to harness ideas about the region’s future into a coherent and policy useful discourse. A Workshop and a Task Force meeting was held at Boston University on November 18-19, 2010. A select group of invited experts – a mix of academic scholars and practitioners – were asked to turn their ideas into short ‘Think Pieces’ essays. Each Think Piece focuses on a specific topical issue for the region as a whole, instead of looking only at particular countries. These Think Piece essays are compiled and edited by the Task Force coordinator and published by the Pardee Center as a Task Force Report

The Impact of a Community–Wide Woodstove Changeout Intervention on Air Quality Within Two Schools

Due to temperature inversions and widespread residential woodstove use, Libby, Montana historically experienced elevated levels of ambient woodsmoke PM2.5 throughout the winter months. In an effort to reduce wintertime PM2.5, a large community–wide woodstove changeout was conducted between 2005 and 2007, removing nearly 1 200 old polluting stoves from service. To determine the impact of this intervention on indoor air quality, PM2.5 sampling was conducted in the gymnasiums of an elementary and middle school before, during, and after the woodstove changeout over a four–year period. Throughout the program, results showed that indoor PM2.5 concentrations at the elementary school were moderately high regardless of year or season (mean±sd, 31.9±14.1 μg/m3), ranging from 11.0 μg/m3 to 79.3 μg/m3. At the middle school, the mean was 12.2±11.2 μg/m3, with no differences by season. Although there was an overall improvement in ambient air quality (and reduction of woodsmoke–PM2.5) when comparing pre– and post– changeout PM2.5 concentrations, results suggest that the community–wide woodstove changeout did not have a significant impact on indoor air quality within the gymnasiums over this same time period. These findings are supported by the results of selected chemical markers of woodsmoke measured from indoor PM (including levoglucosan) at both schools, which also demonstrated no significant reductions throughout the four–year sampling program

Residential Indoor PM\u3csub\u3e2.5\u3c/sub\u3e in Wood Stove Homes: Follow-up of the Libby Changeout Program

In 2005 through 2008 a small rural mountain valley community engaged in a wood stove changeout program to address concerns of poor ambient air quality. During this program we assessed changes to indoor air quality before and after the introduction of a new, lower emission wood stove. We previously reported a greater than 70% reduction in indoor PM2.5 concentrations in homes following the installation of a new EPA-certified stove within the home. We report here on follow-up of the experiences in these and other homes over three winters of sample collection. In 21 homes, we compared pre-changeout PM2.5 concentrations (mean (sd) = 45.0 (33.0) μg/m3) to multiple post-changeout measures of PM2.5 concentrations using a DustTrak. The mean reduction (and 95% confidence interval) from pre-changeout to post-changeout was −18.5 μg/m3 (−31.9, −5.2), adjusting for ambient PM2.5, ambient temperature, and other factors. Findings across homes and across years were highly variable, and a subset of homes did not experience a reduction in PM2.5 following changeout. Reductions were also observed for organic carbon, elemental carbon, and levoglucosan, but increases were observed for dehydroabietic acid and abietic acid. Despite overall improvements in indoor air quality, the varied response across homes may be due to factors other than the introduction of a new wood stove

Suicide methods in Europe: a gender-specific analysis of countries participating in the "European Alliance Against Depression"

Objective: To identify the most frequent gener-specific suicide methods in Europe. Design: Proportions of seven predominant suicide methods utilised in 16 countries participating in the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD)were reported in total and cross-nationally. Relative risk (RR)relating to suicide methods and gender was calculated. To group countries by pattern of suicide methods, hierarchical clustering was applied. Setting and participants: Data on suicide methods for 119 122 male and 41 338 female cases in 2000-4/5 from 16 EAAD countries, covering 52% of European population were obtained. Results: Hanging was the most prevalent suicide method among both males (54.3%) and females (35.6%). For males, hanging was followed by firearms (9.7%) and poisoning by drugs (8.6%); for females, by poisoning by drugs (24.7%)and jumping from a high place (14.5%). Only in Switzerland did hanging rank as second for males after firearms. Hanging ranked first among females in eight countries, poisoning by drugs in five and jumping from a high place in three. In all countries, males had a higher risk than females of using firearms and hanging and a lower risk of poisoning by drugs, drowning and jumping. Grouping showed that countries might be divided into five main groups among males; for females, grouping did not yield clear results. Conclusions: Research on suicide methods could lead to the development of gender-specific intervention strategies. Nevertheless, other approaches, such as better identification and treatment of mental disorders and the improvement of toxicological aid should be put in place

Urinary Levoglucosan as a Biomarker for Wood Smoke: Results of Human Exposure Studies

Urinary levoglucosan was investigated as a potential biomarker for wood smoke exposure in two different controlled experimental settings. Nine subjects were exposed to smoke from a campfire in a controlled setting and four were exposed to smoke from an older model wood stove. All subjects were asked to provide urine samples before and after exposure, and to wear personal PM2.5 monitors during the exposure. Urinary levoglucosan measurements from both studies showed no consistent response to the smoke exposure. A third experiment was conducted to assess the contribution of dietary factors to urinary levoglucosan levels. Nine subjects were asked to consume caramel and provide urine samples before and after consumption. Urinary levoglucosan levels increased within 2 hours of caramel consumption and returned to pre-exposure levels within 24 hours. These studies suggest that diet is a major factor in determining urinary levoglucosan levels and recent dietary history needs to be taken into account for future work involving levoglucosan as a biomarker of wood smoke exposure

Phosphorylation of Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) links energy sensing to anti-inflammatory signaling

Adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a pivotal regulator of metabolism at cellular and organismal levels. AMPK also suppresses inflammation. We found that pharmacological activation of AMPK rapidly inhibited the Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway in various cells. In vitro kinase assays revealed that AMPK directly phosphorylated two residues (Ser515 and Ser518) within the Src homology 2 domain of JAK1. Activation of AMPK enhanced the interaction between JAK1 and 14-3-3 proteins in cultured vascular endothelial cells and fibroblasts, an effect that required the presence of Ser515 and Ser518 and was abolished in cells lacking AMPK catalytic subunits. Mutation of Ser515 and Ser518 abolished AMPK-mediated inhibition of JAK-STAT signaling stimulated by either the sIL-6Ra/IL-6 complex or the expression of a constitutively active V658F-mutant JAK1 in human fibrosarcoma cells. Clinically used AMPK activators metformin and salicylate enhanced the inhibitory phosphorylation of endogenous JAK1 and inhibited STAT3 phosphorylation in primary vascular endothelial cells. Therefore, our findings reveal a mechanism by which JAK1 function and inflammatory signaling may be suppressed in response to metabolic stress and provide a mechanistic rationale for the investigation of AMPK activators in a range of diseases associated with enhanced activation of the JAK-STAT pathway. 2016</p

Foundations for Self-Determination in Early Childhood: Preliminary Preschool Study

Foundations for self-determination begin in early childhood for children with disabilities with the onset of self-regulation and engagement in activities at home, school, and in the community. This article describes the development and preliminary results of an intervention model that encourages collaborative practices for parents and teachers around short-term goal setting to adjust environments for young children with special needs or at risk for delay. The Foundations Intervention was used with 48 children in authentic early childhood settings and involved parents, teachers, and a facilitator to enhance children’s self-regulation and engagement at home and school. Results showed feasibility of the intervention; positive child outcomes in goal attainment, self-regulation, and engagement measures were also evident. When parents and teachers communicated about a child’s strengths and needs within routines at home and school, this appeared to strengthen parent and teacher connections and helped children become more engaged or regulated in daily activities.U.S. Department of Education Grant R324A09026