Globalization and the Housing Asset Rich: Geographies, Demographies and Policy Convoys

This article explores the importance of housing assets in shaping the global landscape of opportunity and disadvantage. In doing so, it is concerned with four key issues. First, it seeks to highlight the increasing significance of housing related wealth at a global scale. Second, it is concerned with the uneven and potentially divisive impact of housing asset accumulation, within and between societies. Third, it seeks to show how economic, geo-demographic and policy contexts combine to produce different outcomes for different population cohorts. Fourth, it discusses the way in which more market driven housing systems and housing wealth accumulation are changing the social policy environment. The underlying argument of the article is that the dynamics of housing markets and housing assets are of growing significance in relation to contemporary patterns of risk, opportunity, vulnerability and privilege and need to be embraced more thoroughly in social policy debate

Factors associated with spontaneous clearance of chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Background & Aims: Spontaneous clearance of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (CHC) is rare. We conducted a retrospective case-control study to identify rates and factors associated with spontaneous clearance of CHC. Methods: We defined cases as individuals who spontaneously resolved CHC, and controls as individuals who remained chronically infected. We used data obtained on HCV testing between 1994 and 2013 in the West of Scotland to infer case/control status. Specifically, untreated patients with ⩾2 sequential samples positive for HCV RNA ⩾6 months apart followed by ⩾1 negative test, and those with ⩾2 positive samples ⩾6 months apart with no subsequent negative samples were identified. Control patients were randomly selected from the second group (4/patient of interest). Case notes were reviewed and patient characteristics obtained. Results: 25,113 samples were positive for HCV RNA, relating to 10,318 patients. 50 cases of late spontaneous clearance were identified, contributing 241 person-years follow-up. 2,518 untreated, chronically infected controls were identified, contributing 13,766 person-years follow-up, from whom 200 controls were randomly selected. The incidence rate of spontaneous clearance was 0.36/100 person-years follow-up, occurring after a median 50 months’ infection. Spontaneous clearance was positively associated with female gender, younger age at infection, lower HCV RNA load and co-infection with hepatitis B virus. It was negatively associated with current intravenous drug use. Conclusions: Spontaneous clearance of CHC occurs infrequently but is associated with identifiable host and viral factors. More frequent HCV RNA monitoring may be appropriate in selected patient groups. Lay summary: Clearance of hepatitis C virus infection without treatment occurs rarely once chronic infection has been established. We interrogated a large Scottish patient cohort and found that it was more common in females, patients infected at a younger age or with lower levels of HCV in the blood, and patients co-infected with hepatitis B virus. Patients who injected drugs were less likely to spontaneously clear chronic infection

Trauma informed practices at the middle school level

TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICES AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL Forrest Cord Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and childhood trauma have been found to affect almost two thirds of the American population, including students enrolled in our public schools. This project was designed to create and implement a professional development workshop that provided a clear and concise description of ACEs, how exposure to ACEs and trauma affects the development of the brain, and how this exposure can impact a student’s behavior in and outside the classroom. The second focus of the presentation discussed trauma-informed classroom strategies to mitigate these behaviors. This project began by pre-surveying the staff to determine what they knew about ACEs and trauma-informed classroom practices. Using these data, a presentation was created and implemented at a staff development workshop. In order to determine the effectiveness of this training the participants were given a post-training ¨exit ticket¨ survey. The post-training survey found that the majority of participants found both sections of the training to be useful although learning about trauma-informed strategies were most appreciated. The conclusion drawn from this project is that educators want to learn more about ACEs, benefit from learning about how brain development is impacted by trauma exposure, and are very interested in strategies that will help them mitigate the behaviors of students who are exposed to trauma both in and outside of the classroom

Slowing the Burn: Principal Leadership Supports to Reduce Attrition

Growing student populations, accountability policies, and isolation due to remote learning are impacting teacher retention. The present study used narrative inquiry to explore the beliefs, contexts, and experiences that shape principals’ perceptions of their role in buffering teacher stress, burnout, and attrition. The researcher worked with school leaders to co-develop individual narratives that described their personal experiences in supporting teacher efficacy and retention in an urban district with high rates of attrition. Principals shared common stress factors including workload, discipline, and accountability. Collegial relationships, autonomy, and mentorship were noted as common supports. Principals felt they made an impact by building relationships, developing support systems, and seeking feedback on individual teacher needs. The narratives shed light on how these principals formed perspectives that framed their leadership approach. The results may serve future leaders as they navigate the issue of teacher support and retention

The Quantity Theory of Money is Valid. The New Keynesians are Wrong!

We test the quantity theory of money (QTM) using a novel approach and a large new sample. We do not follow the usual approach of first differentiating the logarithm of the Cambridge equation to obtain an equation relating the growth rate of real GDP, the growth rate of money and inflation. These variables must then again be ‘integrated’ by averaging in order to obtain stable relationships. Instead we suggest a much simpler procedure for testing directly the stability of the coefficient of the Cambridge equation. For 125 countries and post-war data we find the coefficient to be surprisingly stable. We do not select for high inflation episodes as was done in most empirical studies; inflation rates do not even appear in our data set. Much work supporting the QTM has been done by economic historians and at the University of Chicago by Milton Friedman and his associates. The QTM was a foundation stone of the monetarist revolution. Subsequently belief in it waned. The currently dominant New Keynesian School, implicitly or explicitly denies the validity of the QTM. We survey this history and argue that the QTM is valid and New Keynesians are wrong

Magnetic field directed assembly of two-dimensional fractal colloidal aggregates

The anisotropy of dipolar interactions can sometimes be a hindrance when assembling colloids, as it limits the diversity of structures that can be manufactured. Here we demonstrate that a mixture of paramagnetic and diamagnetic colloids in a ferrofluid can be used to create a variety of fractal aggregates in the presence of a field. These aggregates exhibit growth both parallel and perpendicular to the field, a distinct departure from the linear chains that are typical of dipolar assembly. The fractal dimension of these aggregates displays a parabolic character as the ferrofluid concentration is increased and varies between 0.94 0.03 and 1.54 0.03—a wider range than that which is seen when colloids are assembled using shortrange forces. This behavior is explained by examining how the ferrofluid concentration affects the relative strength of the dipolar interactions between each type of particle. These dipolar fractal aggregates may find use in the study of gelation via long-range forces or the preparation of gels that can be activated using an external field

Effect of local environment and stellar mass on galaxy quenching and morphology at 0.5<z<2.00.5<z<2.0

We study galactic star-formation activity as a function of environment and stellar mass over 0.5<z<2.0 using the FourStar Galaxy Evolution (ZFOURGE) survey. We estimate the galaxy environment using a Bayesian-motivated measure of the distance to the third nearest neighbor for galaxies to the stellar mass completeness of our survey, $\log(M/M_\odot)>9 (9.5)$ at z=1.3 (2.0). This method, when applied to a mock catalog with the photometric-redshift precision ($\sigma_z / (1+z) \lesssim 0.02$), recovers galaxies in low- and high-density environments accurately. We quantify the environmental quenching efficiency, and show that at z> 0.5 it depends on galaxy stellar mass, demonstrating that the effects of quenching related to (stellar) mass and environment are not separable. In high-density environments, the mass and environmental quenching efficiencies are comparable for massive galaxies ($\log (M/M_\odot)\gtrsim$ 10.5) at all redshifts. For lower mass galaxies ($\log (M/M)_\odot) \lesssim$ 10), the environmental quenching efficiency is very low at $z\gtrsim$ 1.5, but increases rapidly with decreasing redshift. Environmental quenching can account for nearly all quiescent lower mass galaxies ($\log(M/M_\odot) \sim$ 9-10), which appear primarily at $z\lesssim$ 1.0. The morphologies of lower mass quiescent galaxies are inconsistent with those expected of recently quenched star-forming galaxies. Some environmental process must transform the morphologies on similar timescales as the environmental quenching itself. The evolution of the environmental quenching favors models that combine gas starvation (as galaxies become satellites) with gas exhaustion through star-formation and outflows ("overconsumption"), and additional processes such as galaxy interactions, tidal stripping and disk fading to account for the morphological differences between the quiescent and star-forming galaxy populations.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figure, accepted for publication in Ap

High-power quantum-dot superluminescent tapered diode under CW operation

A high-power quantum-dot superluminescent diode is demonstrated under continuous-wave operation, with an output power of 137.5 mW and a corresponding spectral bandwidth of 21 nm. This represents not only the highest output power, but also a record-high power spectral density of 6.5 mW/nm for a CW-operated superluminescent diode in the 1.1 - 1.3 μm spectral region, marking more than a 6-fold increase with respect to the state of the art. The two-section contact layout of the reported device introduces additional degrees of freedom, which enable a wide tunability of the bandwidth and power depending on the desired application. A maximum bandwidth of 79 nm was recorded, with an output power of 1.4 mW. The high-power continuous-wave operation of this device would be particularly relevant for continuous, high-speed, high-sensitivity spectroscopy, imaging and sensing applications, as well as in optical communications.</p