Housing and health in old age: a research agenda

Housing is a key element in maintaining well-being and independence in old age. However, the elderly live in worse housing conditions than younger people in terms of unsuitable housing, accommodation which is draughty, cold and lacking in basic amenities and in properties in a poor state of repair. Given the generally accepted policy objective to keep old people in their own homes in the community for as long as possible and desirable, it is essential that housing policies are coordinated with health and social policies to ensure that the domenstic environment is as clean, comfortable, sage and warm as possible. Investment in satisfactory housing accommodation forms an important element of any preventative health strategy for the elderly. The purpose of this paper is to propose through a carefully thoughtout research agenda a broad examination of the links between housing and health in old age. The research agenda is designed to cover existing gaps in the information presently available to housing, health and social services about the effects of improved housing provision on health and health care provision. The agenda consists of a major follow-up study and a set of smaller-scale proposals. There is a marked lack of information about the way in which elderly people make choices about their housing accommodation and the ways in which they can be guided to make them. A follow-up study of a cohort of elderly people would aim to identify the full range and mix of housing needs in old age and the nature of their interaction with health, status, services and costs. It would also evaluate different approaches to meeting these needs. The smaller-scale projects would be concerned inter alia with examining the role of housing in maintaining the independence of the elderly (for example in preventing admission to residential care or facilitating early discharge from hospital) and/or with evaluating specific initiatives in the development of housing services for elderly people. If this research agenda were accepted the results would go a long way to helping policy makers decide about the most efficient use of resources available for helping the elderly to stay in their own homes and to ensure that these policies are effectively put into practice through joint planning and collaberation between agencies.elderly, housing, health

Developmental trends in voice onset time: some evidence for sex differences

This study reports on an investigation into the voice onset time (VOT) patterns of the plosives /p b t d/ in a group of 30 children aged 7 (n = 10), 9 (n = 10) and 11 (n = 10) years. Equal numbers of girls and boys participated in the study. Each child named a series of letter objects to elicit /p b t d/ in a syllable onset position with a fixed vowel context. VOT data were examined for age, sex and plosive differences with the following hypotheses: Firstly, that there would be sex differences in the VOT patterns of preadolescent children. Secondly, that the sex differences in VOT patterns would be linked to age and development, and that these would eventually become marked by the age of 11 years, by which time adult-like VOT values should have been achieved. Finally, that the extent of sex and age differences would be dependent upon the plosive being investigated. Results indicated patterns of decrease with age in the VOT values of /p b/ for the boys, with some evidence of increases in the VOT values of /t/ for the girls. In addition, 'voiced' and 'voiceless' cognates showed a more marked bimodal distribution in the girls' VOT patterns. This bimodal distribution was investigated by examining the degree of difference between the VOT values of voiced and voiceless cognate pairs /p b/ and /t d/, and examining the effects of age, sex and cognate pair. These results indicated that more marked sex differences in the 'voiced'/'voiceless' contrast emerged between the data of the 9- and 11-year-olds, a pattern, which was more marked for the alveolar plosives. These preliminary results confirmed all three hypotheses. The findings are presented and discussed both within a developmental and sociophonetic framework

Predictors of orbital convergence in primates: A test of the snake detection hypothesis of primate evolution

Traditional explanations for the evolution of high orbital convergence and stereoscopic vision in primates have focused on how stereopsis might have aided early primates in foraging or locomoting in an arboreal environment. It has recently been suggested that predation risk by constricting snakes was the selective force that favored the evolution of orbital convergence in early primates, and that later exposure to venomous snakes favored further degrees of convergence in anthropoid primates. Our study tests this snake detection hypothesis (SDH) by examining whether orbital convergence among extant primates is indeed associated with the shared evolutionary history with snakes or the risk that snakes pose for a given species. We predicted that orbital convergence would be higher in species that: 1) have a longer history of sympatry with venomous snakes, 2) are likely to encounter snakes more frequently, 3) are less able to detect or deter snakes due to group size effects, and 4) are more likely to be preyed upon by snakes. Results based on phylogenetically independent contrasts do not support the SDH. Orbital convergence shows no relationship to the shared history with venomous snakes, likelihood of encountering snakes, or group size. Moreover, those species less likely to be targeted as prey by snakes show significantly higher values of orbital convergence. Although an improved ability to detect camouflaged snakes, along with other cryptic stimuli, is likely a consequence of increased orbital convergence, this was unlikely to have been the primary selective force favoring the evolution of stereoscopic vision in primates

Book reviews

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Turbulent Magnetic Field Amplification from Spiral SASI Modes: Implications for Core-Collapse Supernovae and Proto-Neutron Star Magnetization

We extend our investigation of magnetic field evolution in three-dimensional flows driven by the stationary accretion shock instability (SASI) with a suite of higher-resolution idealized models of the post-bounce core-collapse supernova environment. Our magnetohydrodynamic simulations vary in initial magnetic field strength, rotation rate, and grid resolution. Vigorous SASI-driven turbulence inside the shock amplifies magnetic fields exponentially; but while the amplified fields reduce the kinetic energy of small-scale flows, they do not seem to affect the global shock dynamics. The growth rate and final magnitude of the magnetic energy are very sensitive to grid resolution, and both are underestimated by the simulations. Nevertheless our simulations suggest that neutron star magnetic fields exceeding $10^{14}$ G can result from dynamics driven by the SASI, \emph{even for non-rotating progenitors}.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap

Performance measures of net-enabled hypercompetitive industries: the case of tourism

This paper investigates the theory and practise of e-metrics. It examines the tourism sector as one of the most successful sectors on-line and identifies best practice in the industry. Qualitative research with top e-Marketing executives demonstrates the usage and satisfaction levels from current e-metrics deployment, selection of e-metrics for ROI calculation as well as intention of new e-metrics implementation and future trends and developments. This paper concludes that tourism organizations gradually realise the value of e-measurement and are willing to implement e-metrics to enable them evaluate the effectiveness of their planning processes and assess their results against their short and the long term objectives

Higher Spin Field Equation in a Virtual Black Hole Metric

In a quantum theory of gravity, fluctuations about the vacuum may be considered as Planck scale virtual black holes appearing and annihilating in pairs. Incident fields scattering from such fluctuations would lose quantum coherence. In a recent paper (hep-th/9705147), Hawking and Ross obtained an estimate for the magnitude of this loss in the case of a scalar field. Their calculation exploited the separability of the conformally invariant scalar wave equation in the electrovac C metric background, which is justified as a sufficiently good description of a virtual black hole pair in the limit considered. In anticipation of extending this result, the Teukolsky equations for incident fields of higher spin are separated on the vacuum C metric background and solved in the same limit. With the exception of spin 2 fields, these equations are shown in addition to be valid on the electrovac C metric background. The angular solutions are found to reduce to the spin- weighted spherical harmonics, and the radial solutions are found to approach hypergeometrics close to the horizons. By defining appropriate scattering boundary conditions, these solutions are then used to estimate the transmission and reflection coefficients for an incident field of spin s. The transmission coefficient is required in order to estimate the loss of quantum coherence of an incident field through scattering off virtual black holes.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, minor typo correcte

Alcohol assessment: the practice, knowledge, and attitudes of staff working in the general medical wards of a large metropolitan hospital

Aims To measure the prevalence of routine alcohol assessment; to assess its clinical utility in the general medical wards of a large urban hospital; and to assess medical and nursing staff knowledge with regard to standard drink measures and recommended drinking limits as well as their attitudes towards alcohol assessment.Methods The prevalence of alcohol assessment and the clinical utility of the resulting information was determined via a retrospective file review (n=109). The knowledge and attitudes of medical and nursing staff were measured via questionnaire (n=106).Results The file review data indicated 78% (+/- 7.25) of patients admitted to the general medical wards were queried with regard to their alcohol consumption. However, the clinical utility of the recorded information was generally poor and the accuracy questionable. Only 12% of questionnaire respondents were able to accurately identify the standard drink equivalents for beer, wine, and spirits and only 8% were able to accurately identify the recommended drinking limits (per drinking occasion and per week) for both males and females. Attitudes towards alcohol assessment were positive.Conclusions Patient alcohol consumption is frequently assessed, but the clinical utility of the resulting information is limited. The use of a structured alcohol screen and the provision of appropriate staff training are recommended