A Review of Local Exchange and Trading Schemes (LETS) and Time Banks in Scotland

The Employment Research Institute at Napier University, Edinburgh, carried out a review of Local Exchange And Trading Schemes (LETS) in Scotland during February and March 2004. Time banks were also considered. This involved a brief literature review of existing research, informal telephone interviews with a number of organisations who had an interest in LETS and/or Time banks and a survey of LETS and time banks currently operating in Scotland. The umbrella organisation, LETSLink Scotland, provided a list of 25 LETS in Scotland, of which 22 were interviewed. Of these, five were currently dissolved or dormant. A couple of schemes were in the process of start-up at the time the survey was carried out, while many had been in operation for a number of years (including four that had been trading for 10 or more years). A list of five time banks in Scotland was obtained from Time Banks UK and four were interviewed (one was a recent offshoot from the Gorbals time bank and is included under their responses). The longest running was only three years old while one was currently starting-up

Lone Star Productions

Lone Star Productions (LSP) is a concert promotions business that was started in 1981 by Bill Oldman. Since 1986, this company has been the exclusive provider of concert promotion materials for 75% of the top grossing national tours. In 1997, Bill Oldman sold the company to a group of investors headed by Mike Sims. With a background in banking and investments, Sims took over a LSP’s president. Bill Oldman remained as the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Lone Star Productions’ business encompasses several segments, including concert promotions, audio and video production, production staffing, video editing, web site development, and equipment and suite rental. Currently, concert promotions account for 90% of the company’s revenue. Efforts to build business in the areas other than concert promotion have been mildly successful, but LSP considers the further development of these business areas to be critical to the long-term profitability and financial stability of the company, LSP is currently considering buying the largest video production company in the Dallas, Texas area.(Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Small Busn. Mgmt

Identifying Prevalent Mathematical Pathways to Engineering in South Carolina

National data indicate that initial mathematics course placement in college is a strong predictor of persistence to degree in engineering, with students placed in calculus persisting at nearly twice the rate of those placed below calculus. Within the state of South Carolina, approximately 95% of engineering-intending students who initially place below calculus are from in-state. In order to make systemic change, we are first analyzing system-wide data to identify prevalent educational pathways within the state, and the mathematical milestones along those pathways taken by students in engineering and engineering-related fields. This paper reports preliminary analysis of that data to understand trends in major selection and mathematics preparation within the state

Estimating Error in Using Ambient PM2.5 Concentrations as Proxies for Personal Exposures: A Review

Several methods have been used to account for measurement error inherent in using ambient concentration of particulate matter < 2.5 μm/m3 (PM2.5) as a proxy for personal exposure. Such methods usually rely on the estimated correlation between ambient and personal PM2.5 concentrations (r). These studies have not been systematically and quantitatively assessed for publication bias or heterogeneity

Estimating Error in Using Residential Outdoor PM2.5 Concentrations as Proxies for Personal Exposures: A Meta-analysis

BackgroundStudies examining the health effects of particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) commonly use ambient PM2.5 concentrations measured at distal monitoring sites as proxies for personal exposure and assume spatial homogeneity of ambient PM2.5. An alternative proxy—the residential outdoor PM2.5 concentration measured adjacent to participant homes—has few advantages under this assumption.ObjectivesWe systematically reviewed the correlation between residential outdoor PM2.5 and personal PM2.5 (r̄j) as a means of comparing the magnitude and sources of measurement error associated with their use as exposure surrogates.MethodsWe searched seven electronic reference databases for studies of the within-participant residential outdoor-personal PM2.5 correlation.ResultsThe search identified 567 candidate studies, nine of which were abstracted in duplicate, that were published between 1996 and 2008. They represented 329 nonsmoking participants 6–93 years of age in eight U.S. cities, among whom r̄j was estimated (median, 0.53; range, 0.25–0.79) based on a median of seven residential outdoor-personal PM2.5 pairs per participant. We found modest evidence of publication bias (symmetric funnel plot; pBegg = 0.4; pEgger = 0.2); however, we identified evidence of heterogeneity (Cochran’s Q-test p = 0.05). Of the 20 characteristics examined, earlier study midpoints, eastern longitudes, older mean age, higher outdoor temperatures, and lower personal-residential outdoor PM2.5 differences were associated with increased within-participant residential outdoor-personal PM2.5 correlations.ConclusionsThese findings were similar to those from a contemporaneous meta-analysis that examined ambient-personal PM2.5 correlations (r̄j = median, 0.54; range, 0.09–0.83). Collectively, the meta-analyses suggest that residential outdoor-personal and ambient-personal PM2.5 correlations merit greater consideration when evaluating the potential for bias in studies of PM2.5-mediated health effects

Estimating Personal Exposures from Ambient Air Pollution Measures: Using Meta-Analysis to Assess Measurement Error

Although ambient concentrations of particulate matter ≤10μm (PM10) are often used as proxies for total personal exposure, correlation (r) between ambient and personal PM10 concentrations varies. Factors underlying this variation and its effect on health outcome-PM exposure relationships remain poorly understood

Impact of long-term measures of glucose and blood pressure on the retinal microvasculature

Retinopathy and retinal microvascular abnormalities are common in adult populations, yet few long-term predictors have been identified. We therefore examined the association between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and fasting plasma glucose, assessed over 18 years, with retinopathy and retinal vascular caliber in 2,066 Carotid MRI participants, an Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities ancillary study

Angiogenesis induced by tumor necrosis factor-agr; is mediated by α4 integrins

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2 or bFGF) are potent stimulators of angiogenesis. TNF-α, but not FGF-2, can induce the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) on the surface of endothelial cells. The soluble form of VCAM-1 has recently been demonstrated to function as an angiogenic mediator. Here we demonstrate that monoclonal antibodies directed against VCAM-1 or its α4 integrin counter-receptor inhibited TNF-α-induced endothelial cell migration in vitro. Angiogenesis induced in vivo in rat corneas by TNF-α was inhibited by a neutralizing antibody directed against the rat α4 integrin subunit. A peptide antagonist of the a4 integrins blocked TNF-α-induced endothelial cell migration in vitro and angiogenesis in rat corneas in vivo. No inhibition by the antibodies or peptide antagonist was observed either in vitro or in vivo when FGF-2 was used as the stimulus. The peptide antagonist did not inhibit TNF-a binding to its receptor nor did it block the function of αvβ3, an integrin previously implicated in TNF-a and FGF-2 mediated angiogenesis. These results demonstrate that angiogenic processes induced by TNF-α are mediated in part by agr;4 integrins possibly by a mechanism involving the induction of soluble VCAM-1.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41761/1/10456_2004_Article_188219.pd

Recommendations for Nanomedicine Human Subjects Research Oversight: An Evolutionary Approach for an Emerging Field

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96363/1/j.1748-720X.2012.00703.x.pd