The effects on health of a publicly funded domestic heating programme: a prospective controlled study

<b>Objective</b>: To assess the effect of a publicly funded domestic heating programme on self-reported health. <b>Design, setting and participants</b>: A prospective controlled study of 1281 households in Scotland receiving new central heating under a publicly funded initiative, and 1084 comparison households not receiving new heating. The main outcome measures were self-reported diagnosis of asthma, bronchitis, eczema, nasal allergy, heart disease, circulatory problems or high blood pressure; number of primary care encounters and hospital contacts in the past year; and SF-36 Health Survey scores. <b>Results</b>: Usable data were obtained from 61.4% of 3849 respondents originally recruited. Heating recipients reported higher scores on the SF-36 Physical Functioning scale (difference 2.51; 95% CI 0.67 to 4.37) and General Health scale (difference 2.57; 95% CI 0.90 to 4.34). They were less likely to report having received a first diagnosis of heart disease (OR 0.69; 95% CI 0.52 to 0.91) or high blood pressure (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.97), but the groups did not differ significantly in use of primary care or hospital services. <b>Conclusions</b>: Provision of central heating was associated with significant positive effects on general health and physical functioning; however, effect sizes were small. Evidence of a reduced risk of first diagnosis with heart disease or high blood pressure must be interpreted with caution, due to the self-reported nature of the outcomes, the limited time period and the failure to detect any difference in health service use

Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) for remote observation of precipitation

The design, development, and tests of the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) operating in the 10 to 85 GHz range specifically for precipitation retrieval and mesoscale storm system studies from a high altitude aircraft platform (i.e., ER-2) are described. The primary goals of AMPR are the exploitation of the scattering signal of precipitation at frequencies near 10, 19, 37, and 85 GHz together to unambiguously retrieve precipitation and storm structure and intensity information in support of proposed and planned space sensors in geostationary and low earth orbit, as well as storm-related field experiments. The development of AMPR will have an important impact on the interpretation of microwave radiances for rain retrievals over both land and ocean for the following reasons: (1) A scanning instrument, such as AMPR, will allow the unambiguous detection and analysis of features in two dimensional space, allowing an improved interpretation of signals in terms of cloud features, and microphysical and radiative processes; (2) AMPR will offer more accurate comparisons with ground-based radar data by feature matching since the navigation of the ER-2 platform can be expected to drift 3 to 4 km per hour of flight time; and (3) AMPR will allow underflights of the SSM/I satellite instrument with enough spatial coverage at the same frequencies to make meaningful comparisons of the data for precipitation studies

Perceived characteristics of the environment associated with active travel: development and testing of a new scale

Background Environmental characteristics may be associated with patterns of physical activity. However, the development of instruments to measure perceived characteristics of the local environment is still at a comparatively early stage, and published instruments are not necessarily suitable for application in all settings. We therefore developed and established the test-retest reliability of a new scale for use in a study of the correlates of active travel and overall physical activity in deprived urban neighbourhoods in Glasgow, Scotland. Methods We developed and piloted a 14-item scale based on seven constructs identified from the literature (aesthetics, green space, access to amenities, convenience of routes, traffic, road safety and personal safety). We administered the scale to all participants in a random postal survey (n = 1322) and readministered the scale to a subset of original respondents (n = 125) six months later. We used principal components analysis and Varimax rotation to identify three principal components (factors) and derived summary scores for subscales based on these factors. We examined the internal consistency of these subscales using Cronbach's alpha and examined the test-retest reliability of the individual items, the subscale summary scores and an overall summary neighbourhood score using a combination of correlation coefficients and Cohen's kappa with and without weighting. Results Public transport and proximity to shops were the items most likely to be rated positively, whereas traffic volume, traffic noise and road safety for cyclists were most likely to be rated negatively. Three principal components – 'safe and pleasant surroundings', 'low traffic' and 'convenience for walking' – together explained 45% of the total variance. The test-retest reliability of individual items was comparable with that of items in other published scales (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) 0.34–0.70; weighted Cohen's kappa 0.24–0.59). The overall summary neighbourhood score had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.72) and test-retest reliability (ICC 0.73). Conclusion This new scale contributes to the development of a growing set of tools for investigating the role of perceived environmental characteristics in explaining or mediating patterns of active travel and physical activity

Holographic and ultrasonic detection of bond flaws in aluminum panels reinforced with boron-epoxy

An experimental investigation was made of the application of holographic interferometry to the nondestructive detection of unbonded areas (flaws) in bonded panels. Flaw detection results were compared with results obtained with an ultrasonic flaw detector. Holography, with panel deformation accomplished by a reduction in ambient pressure, is less sensitive for flaws beneath 5 and 10 plies of boron-epoxy than the ultrasonic method, though it does have its operational advantages. A process for the manufacture of bonded panels which incorporate known unbonded areas was also developed. The unbonded areas were formed without the use of foreign materials, which makes the method suitable for the construction of reference standards for bonded panels whenever needed for the proper setup of ultrasonic flaw-detection instruments

Evaluating health effects of transport interventions: methodologic case study

Background: There is little evidence about the effects of environmental interventions on population levels of physical activity. Major transport projects may promote or discourage physical activity in the form of walking and cycling, but researching the health effects of such “natural experiments” in transport policy or infrastructure is challenging. Methods: Case study of attempts in 2004–2005 to evaluate the effects of two major transport projects in Scotland: an urban congestion charging scheme in Edinburgh, and a new urban motorway (freeway) in Glasgow. Results: These interventions are typical of many major transport projects. They are unique to their context. They cannot easily be separated from the other components of the wider policies within which they occur. When, where, and how they are implemented are political decisions over which researchers have no control. Baseline data collection required for longitudinal studies may need to be planned before the intervention is certain to take place. There is no simple way of defining a population or area exposed to the intervention or of defining control groups. Changes in quantitative measures of health-related behavior may be difficult to detect. Conclusions: Major transport projects have clear potential to influence population health, but it is difficult to define the interventions, categorize exposure, or measure outcomes in ways that are likely to be seen as credible in the field of public health intervention research. A final study design is proposed in which multiple methods and spatial levels of analysis are combined in a longitudinal quasi-experimental study

Brief Note A Survey of the Helminth Fauna of Two Turtle Species from Northwestern Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Biology, Bowling Green State Universit