Tobacco retailer density surrounding schools and youth smoking behaviour: a multi-level analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Youth smoking prevention should be a public health priority. It is not only vital to prevent youth from smoking but also to prevent non-smoking youth from becoming susceptible to smoking. Past research has examined factors associated with youth's susceptibility to become a future smoker, but research has yet to examine tobacco retailer density and susceptibility to smoking among never smokers. The objectives of this study are to examine how tobacco retailer density surrounding schools and social smoking influences are associated with smoking susceptibility among youth of never smokers, and occasional and daily smoking among youth of current smokers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected in 2005-2006 from grade 9 to 12 students attending 76 secondary schools in Ontario, Canada, as part of the SHAPES-On study. A series of multi-level logistic regression analyses were performed to understand how student- and school-level factors are associated with three smoking behaviour outcomes: smoking susceptibility among never smokers, occasional smoking, and daily smoking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The number of tobacco retailers surrounding a school was found to be associated with the likelihood of a never smoker being susceptible to future smoking (OR 1.03, 95CI% 1.01, 1.05). We also identified that being surrounded by smoking social influences, specifically family and close friends, can substantially increase the likelihood that never smokers are at risk for future smoking or that youth are already occasional or daily smokers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We identified that the number of tobacco retailers surrounding a school was associated with an increased odds of being susceptible to future smoking among male never smokers. Smoking social models surrounding youth also appears to have an important impact on their smoking behaviour regardless of their smoking status. It is important for youth smoking prevention programs to begin early, interrupt youths' susceptibility to future smoking, and focus on subgroups that are at higher risk of smoking. The government should consider the impact of tobacco retailer density on youth smoking behaviour, and be cautious when granting licenses for establishments to sell tobacco products.</p

Arc-Second Alignment of International X-Ray Observatory Mirror Segments in a Fixed Structure

The optics for the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) require alignment and integration of about fourteen thousand thin mirror segments to achieve the mission goal of 3.0 square meters of effective area at 1.25 keV with an angular resolution of five arc-seconds. These mirror segments are 0.4 mm thick, and 200 to 400 mm in size, which makes it hard to meet the strict angular resolution requirement of 5 arc-seconds for the telescope. This paper outlines the precise alignment, verification testing, and permanent bonding techniques developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). These techniques are used to overcome the challenge of transferring thin mirror segments from a temporary mount to a fixed structure with arc-second alignment and minimal figure distortion. Recent advances in technology development in addition to the automation of several processes have produced significant results. Recent advances in the mirror fixture process known as the suspension mount has allowed for a mirror to be mounted to a fixture with minimal distortion. Once on the fixture, mirror segments have been aligned to around 5 arc-seconds which is halfway to the goal of 2.5 arc-seconds per mirror segment. This paper will highlight the recent advances in alignment, testing, and permanent bonding techniques as well as the results they have produced

Bonding Thin Mirror Segments Without Distortion for the International X-Ray Observatory

The International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) uses thin glass optics to maximize large effective area and precise low angular resolution. The thin glass mirror segments must be transferred from their fabricated state to a permanent structure without imparting distortion. IXO will incorporate about fourteen thousand thin mirror segments to achieve the mission goal of 3.0 square meters of effective area at 1.25 keV with an angular resolution of five arcseconds. To preserve figure and alignment, the mirror segment must be bonded with sub-micron movement at each corner. Recent advances in technology development have produced significant x-ray test results of a bonded pair of mirrors. Three specific bonding cycles will be described highlighting the improvements in procedure, temperature control, and precision bonding. This paper will highlight the recent advances in alignment and permanent bonding as well as the results they have produced

Arc-Second Alignment of International X-Ray Observatory Mirror Segments in a Fixed Structure

The optics for the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) require alignment and integration of about fourteen thousand thin mirror segments to achieve the mission goal of 3.0 square meters of effective area at 1.25 keV with an angular resolution of five arc-seconds. These mirror segments are 0.4 mm thick, and 200 to 400 mm in size, which makes it hard not to impart distortion at the subare- second level. This paper outlines the precise alignment, verification testing, and permanent bonding techniques developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). These techniques are used to overcome the challenge of transferring thin mirror segments from a temporary mount to a fixed structure with arc-second alignment and minimal figure distortion. Recent advances in technology development in addition to the automation of several processes have produced significant results. This paper will highlight the recent advances in alignment, testing, and permanent bonding techniques as well as the results they have produced

Chiral microstructures (spirals) fabrication by holographic lithography

We present an optical interference model to create chiral microstructures (spirals) and its realization in photoresist using holographic lithography. The model is based on the interference of six equally-spaced circumpolar linear polarized side beams and a circular polarized central beam. The pitch and separation of the spirals can be varied by changing the angle between the side beams and the central beam. The realization of the model is carried out using the 325 nm line of a He-Cd laser and spirals of sub-micron size are fabricated in photoresist.Comment: 6 page

A targeted gene panel that covers coding, non-coding and short tandem repeat regions improves the diagnosis of patients with neurodegenerative diseases

Genetic testing for neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) is highly challenging because of genetic heterogeneity and overlapping manifestations. Targeted-gene panels (TGPs), coupled with next-generation sequencing (NGS), can facilitate the profiling of a large repertoire of ND-related genes. Due to the technical limitations inherent in NGS and TGPs, short tandem repeat (STR) variations are often ignored. However, STR expansions are known to cause such NDs as Huntington\u27s disease and spinocerebellar ataxias type 3 (SCA3). Here, we studied the clinical utility of a custom-made TGP that targets 199 NDs and 311 ND-associated genes on 118 undiagnosed patients. At least one known or likely pathogenic variation was found in 54 patients; 27 patients demonstrated clinical profiles that matched the variants; and 16 patients whose original diagnosis were refined. A high concordance of variant calling were observed when comparing the results from TGP and whole-exome sequencing of four patients. Our in-house STR detection algorithm has reached a specificity of 0.88 and a sensitivity of 0.82 in our SCA3 cohort. This study also uncovered a trove of novel and recurrent variants that may enrich the repertoire of ND-related genetic markers. We propose that a combined comprehensive TGPs-bioinformatics pipeline can improve the clinical diagnosis of NDs

Spatial analysis of falls in an urban community of Hong Kong

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Falls are an issue of great public health concern. This study focuses on outdoor falls within an urban community in Hong Kong. Urban environmental hazards are often place-specific and dependent upon the built features, landscape characteristics, and habitual activities. Therefore, falls must be examined with respect to local situations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This paper uses spatial analysis methods to map fall occurrences and examine possible environmental attributes of falls in an urban community of Hong Kong. The Nearest neighbour hierarchical (Nnh) and Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE) techniques can offer additional insights about the circumstances and environmental factors that contribute to falls. The results affirm the multi-factorial nature of falls at specific locations and for selected groups of the population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The techniques to detect hot spots of falls yield meaningful results that enable the identification of high risk locations. The combined use of descriptive and spatial analyses can be beneficial to policy makers because different preventive measures can be devised based on the types of environmental risk factors identified. The analyses are also important preludes to establishing research hypotheses for more focused studies.</p

Icosahedral metallacarborane/carborane species derived from 1,1′-bis(o-carborane)

We thank ORSAS (GS) and the EPSRC (DE and DMcK supported by project EP/E02971X/1, WYM supported by project EP/I031545/1) for funding.Examples of singly-metallated derivatives of 1,1[prime or minute]-bis(o-carborane) have been prepared and spectroscopically and structurally characterised. Metallation of [7-(1[prime or minute]-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-closo-C2B10H11)-7,8-nido-C2B9H10]2- with a {Ru(p-cymene)}2+ fragment affords both the unisomerised species [1-(1[prime or minute]-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-closo-C2B10H11)-3-(p-cymene)-3,1,2-closo-RuC2B9H10] (2) and the isomerised [8-(1[prime or minute]-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-closo-C2B10H11)-2-(p-cymene)-2,1,8-closo-RuC2B9H10] (3), and 2 is easily transformed into 3 with mild heating. Metallation with a preformed {CoCp}2+ fragment also affords a 3,1,2-MC2B9-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-C2B10 product [1-(1[prime or minute]-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-closo-C2B10H11)-3-Cp-3,1,2-closo-CoC2B9H10] (4), but if CoCl2/NaCp is used followed by oxidation the result is the 2,1,8-CoC2B9-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-C2B10 species [8-(1[prime or minute]-1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-closo-C2B10H11)-2-Cp-2,1,8-closo-CoC2B9H10] (5). Compound 4 does not convert into 5 in refluxing toluene, but does do so if it is reduced and then reoxidised, perhaps highlighting the importance of the basicity of the metal fragment in the isomerisation of metallacarboranes. A computational study of 1,1[prime or minute]-bis(o-carborane) is in excellent agreement with a recently-determined precise crystallographic study and establishes that the {1[prime or minute],2[prime or minute]-closo-C2B10H11} fragment is electron-withdrawing compared to H.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Design and Analysis of Modules for Segmented X-Ray Optics

Future X-ray astronomy missions demand thin, light, and closely packed optics which lend themselves to segmentation of the annular mirrors and, in turn, a modular approach to the mirror design. The modular approach to X-ray Flight Mirror Assembly (FMA) design allows excellent scalability of the mirror technology to support a variety of mission sizes and science objectives. This paper describes FMA designs using slumped glass mirror segments for several X-ray astrophysics missions studied by NASA and explores the driving requirements and subsequent verification tests necessary to qualify a slumped glass mirror module for space-flight. A rigorous testing program is outlined allowing Technical Development Modules to reach technical readiness for mission implementation while reducing mission cost and schedule risk