A comparison of green space indicators for epidemiological research

<p><b>Background</b> The potential for natural environments to be salutogenic has received growing interest from epidemiologists, but there has been no critical examination of the extent to which associations between green space and health might vary according to the indicator of green space coverage used.</p> <p><b>Methods</b> Three different indicators of green space coverage were derived for a set of 268 small areas in four cities within Britain. The indicators had different origins and provided a spectrum of sensitivity from larger spaces only, through to ambient greenery. Two indicators reproducible for anywhere in Europe were included. Agreement between the indicators on the quantity of green space in a small area, and their independent association with measures of mortality and self-reported morbidity, were compared.</p> <p><b>Results</b> Overall, the indicators showed relatively close overall agreement (all r2>0.89, p<0.001). However, agreement varied by level of area socioeconomic deprivation (p<0.001). The indicator that detected larger spaces only found less green space in areas of socioeconomic deprivation than the other two. Despite this difference, all indicators showed similar protective associations with the risk of mortality and self-reported morbidity suggesting that larger green spaces may be more important for health effects than smaller spaces.</p> <p><b>Conclusions</b> Associations between green space indicator and health were not sensitive to indicator origin and type. This raises the possibility of trans-European epidemiological studies. Larger green spaces may be the most important for health effects, but may also be less prevalent in more deprived areas.</p&gt

Reducing inappropriate antibiotics prescribing: The role of online commentary on physical examination findings

Objective: This study investigates the relationship of ‘online commentary’(contemporaneous physician comments about physical examination [PE] findings) with (i) parent questioning of the treatment recommendation and (ii) inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Methods: A nested cross-sectional study of 522 encounters motivated by upper respiratory symptoms in 27 California pediatric practices (38 pediatricians). Physicians completed a post-visit survey regarding physical examination findings, diagnosis, treatment, and whether they perceived the parent as expecting an antibiotic. Taped encounters were coded for ‘problem’ online commentary (PE findings discussed as significant or clearly abnormal) and ‘no problem’ online commentary (PE findings discussed reassuringly as normal or insignificant). Results: Online commentary during the PE occurred in 73% of visits with viral diagnoses (n = 261). Compared to similar cases with ‘no problem’ online commentary, ‘problem’ comments were associated with a 13% greater probability of parents uestioning a non-antibiotic treatment plan (95% CI 0-26%, p = .05,) and a 27% (95% CI: 2-52%, p < .05) greater probability of an inappropriate antibiotic prescription. Conclusion: With viral illnesses, problematic online comments are associated with more pediatrician-parent conflict over non-antibiotic treatment recommendations. This may increase inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Practice implications: In viral cases, physicians should consider avoiding the use of problematic online commentary

Green cities and health: a question of scale?

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Background:&lt;/b&gt; Cities are expanding and accommodating an increasing proportion of the world's population. It is important to identify features of urban form that promote the health of city dwellers. Access to green space has been associated with health benefits at both individual and neighbourhood level. We investigated whether a relationship between green space coverage and selected mortality rates exists at the city level in the USA.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Methods:&lt;/b&gt; An ecological cross-sectional study. A detailed land use data set was used to quantify green space for the largest US cities (n=49, combined population of 43 million). Linear regression models were used to examine the association between city-level ‘greenness’ and city-level standardised rates of mortality from heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer, motor vehicle fatalities and all causes, after adjustment for confounders.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; There was no association between greenness and mortality from heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer or automobile accidents. Mortality from all causes was significantly higher in greener cities.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; While considerable evidence suggests that access to green space yields health benefits, we found no such evidence at the scale of the American city. In the USA, greener cities tend also to be more sprawling and have higher levels of car dependency. Any benefits that the green space might offer seem easily eclipsed by these other conditions and the lifestyles that accompany them. The result merits further investigation as it has important implications for how we increase green space access in our cities.&lt;/p&gt

Restrictions of generalized Verma modules to symmetric pairs

We initiate a new line of investigation on branching problems for generalized Verma modules with respect to complex reductive symmetric pairs (g,k). Here we note that Verma modules of g may not contain any simple module when restricted to a reductive subalgebra k in general. In this article, using the geometry of K_C orbits on the generalized flag variety G_C/P_C, we give a necessary and sufficient condition on the triple (g,k, p) such that the restriction X|_k always contains simple k-modules for any g-module $X$ lying in the parabolic BGG category O^p attached to a parabolic subalgebra p of g. Formulas are derived for the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension of any simple k-module occurring in a simple generalized Verma module of g. We then prove that the restriction X|_k is multiplicity-free for any generic g-module X \in O if and only if (g,k) is isomorphic to a direct sum of (A_n,A_{n-1}), (B_n,D_n), or (D_{n+1},B_n). We also see that the restriction X|_k is multiplicity-free for any symmetric pair (g, k) and any parabolic subalgebra p with abelian nilradical and for any generic g-module X \in O^p. Explicit branching laws are also presented.Comment: 31 pages, To appear in Transformation Group

Short-term climate response to a freshwater pulse in the Southern Ocean

The short-term response of the climate system to a freshwater anomaly in the Southern Ocean is investigated using a coupled global climate model. As a result of the anomaly, ventilation of deep waters around Antarctica is inhibited, causing a warming of the deep ocean, and a cooling of the surface. The surface cooling causes Antarctic sea-ice to thicken and increase in extent, and this leads to a cooling of Southern Hemisphere surface air temperature. The surface cooling increases over the first 5 years, then remains constant over the next 5 years. There is a more rapid response in the Pacific Ocean, which transmits a signal to the Northern Hemisphere, ultimately causing a shift to the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation in years 5–10

A submillimetre wavelength spectral line search of the Orion molecular cloud core

A submillimetre wavelength molecular line search of the Orion molecular cloud has been made covering a total of about 5 percent of the frequency range 342.8 - 358.6 GHz. This search, coupled with the authors' previous observations of submillimetre transitions in this cloud, has led to the detection of 22 transitions of 14 molecular species, of which 16 are reported here for the first time. No unidentified lines have been detected in the present search. Mapping observations have been obtained for several of the lines and, in the case of H2CO the authors have been able to compare the present data with that obtained from other telescopes, to estimate the density and abundance in the emitting region

New mechanism for the enhancement of sdsd dominance in interacting boson models

We introduce an exactly solvable model for interacting bosons that extend up to high spin and interact through a repulsive pairing force. The model exhibits a phase transition to a state with almost complete $sd$ dominance. The repulsive pairing interaction that underlies the model has a natural microscopic origin in the Pauli exclusion principle between contituent nucleons. As such, repulsive pairing between bosons seems to provide a new mechanism for the enhancement of $sd$ dominance, giving further support for the validity of the $sd$ Interacting Boson Model.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Changes in Glenohumeral Kinematics after a Competitive Season in Collegiate Baseball Pitchers

poste

Using Stories in Coach Education

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how storied representations of research can be used as an effective pedagogical tool in coach education. During a series of continuing professional development seminars for professional golf coaches, we presented our research in the form of stories and poems which were created in an effort to evoke and communicate the lived experiences of elite professional golfers. Following these presentations, we obtained written responses to the stories from 53 experienced coaches who attended the seminars. Analysis of this data revealed three ways in which coaches responded to the stories: (i) questioning; (ii) summarising; and (iii) incorporating. We conclude that these responses illustrate the potential of storied forms of representation to enhance professional development through stimulating reflective practice and increasing understanding of holistic, person-centred approaches to coaching athletes in high-performance sport