Residential relocation in response to light rail transit investment: case study of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system

© 2016, The Author(s).It is widely acknowledged that the improved accessibility enabled by investment in public transport services can, under favorable market conditions, impact the local real estate market within the zone of influence of the service’s stations. The motivation for this study is to establish the nature of two such impacts, specifically the spatial and socio-economic patterns of residential relocations that are driven by the new light rail transit (LRT) service. Using empirical data (n = 1,023) from the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail system in New Jersey (US), we report findings regarding the impacts of the introduction of the new LRT service. We investigate two linked dimensions; the first is the distinctive socio-economic profile of LRT passengers who self-report having relocated to the new transit corridor due, at least in part, to the new transit service. The second is their proximity (following their residential relocation) to the new LRT line’s stations. We present a novel analysis that accounts for endogeneity between these two dimensions of residential relocation. Of light rail passengers who engaged in a residential relocation in the 5 years prior to the survey, two-thirds (69 %) indicate that proximity to the light rail service was a ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ important consideration. Via the multivariate analysis, we demonstrate that small household size, low income, youth (as opposed to older age), and low car ownership are each positively linked, ceteris paribus, with having engaged in a residential relocation motivated by the new transit service. Finally, higher household income is found to be associated with distance (after relocation) to the nearest transit station, which is consistent with bid-rent theory

Core dissolution and the dynamics of massive stars in young stellar clusters

We investigate the dynamical effects of rapid gas expulsion from the core of a young stellar cluster. The aims of this study are to determine 1) whether a mass-segregated core survives the gas expulsion and 2) the probable location of any massive stars that have escaped from the core. Feedback from massive stars is expected to remove the gas from the core of the cluster first, as that is where most massive stars are located. We find that gas expulsion has little effect on the core for a core star formation efficiency, of greater than 50%. For lower values of star formation efficiency down to 20%, a reduced core survives containing the majority of the massive stars while some of them are dispersed into the rest of the cluster. In fact we find that ejected stars migrate from radial to tangential orbits due to stellar encounters once they leave the core. Thus, the location of massive stars outside of the core does not exclude their forming in the dense cluster core. Few massive stars are expected to remain in the core for a star formation efficiency lower than 20%.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Fluorides, orthodontics and demineralization: a systematic review

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of fluoride in preventing white spot lesion (WSL) demineralization during orthodontic treatment and compare all modes of fluoride delivery. Data sources: The search strategy for the review was carried out according to the standard Cochrane systematic review methodology. The following databases were searched for RCTs or CCTs: Cochrane Clinical Trials Register, Cochrane Oral Health Group Specialized Trials Register, MEDLINE and EMBASE. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied when considering studies to be included. Authors of trials were contacted for further data. Data selection: The primary outcome of the review was the presence or absence of WSL by patient at the end of treatment. Secondary outcomes included any quantitative assessment of enamel mineral loss or lesion depth. Data extraction: Six reviewers independently, in duplicate, extracted data, including an assessment of the methodological quality of each trial. Data synthesis: Fifteen trials provided data for this review, although none fulfilled all the methodological quality assessment criteria. One study found that a daily NaF mouthrinse reduced the severity of demineralization surrounding an orthodontic appliance (lesion depth difference –70.0 µm; 95% CI –118.2 to –21.8 µm). One study found that use of a glass ionomer cement (GIC) for bracket bonding reduced the prevalence of WSL (Peto OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.15–0.84) compared with a composite resin. None of the studies fulfilled all of the methodological quality assessment criteria. Conclusions: There is some evidence that the use of a daily NaF mouthrinse or a GIC for bonding brackets might reduce the occurrence and severity of WSL during orthodontic treatment. More high quality, clinical research is required into the different modes of delivering fluoride to the orthodontic patient

The Contribution of Benefit-in-Kind Taxation Policy in Britain to the 'Peak Car' Phenomenon

Car use per person has historically grown year-on-year in Great Britain since the 1950s, with minor exceptions during fuel crises and times of economic recession. The 'Peak Car' hypothesis proposes that this historical trend no longer applies. The British National Travel Survey provides evidence of such an aggregate levelling off in car mileage per person since the mid-1990s, but further analysis shows that this is the result of counter trends netting out: in particular, a reduction in per capita male driving mileage being offset by a corresponding increase in female car driving mileage. A major contributory factor to the decline in male car use has been a sharp reduction in average company car mileage per person. This paper investigates this aspect in more detail. Use of company cars fell sharply in Britain from the 1990s up to the 2008 recession. Over the same period, taxation policy towards company cars became more onerous, with increasing levels of taxation on the benefit-in-kind value of the ownership of a company car and on the provision of free fuel for private use. The paper sets out the changes in taxation policy affecting company cars in the UK, and looks at the associated reductions in company car ownership (including free fuel) and patterns of use. It goes on to look in more detail at which groups of the population have kept company cars and in which parts of the country they have been most used, and how these patterns have changed over time. A preliminary investigation is also made of possible substitution effects between company car and personal car driving and between company car use and rail travel. Clearly, the role of the company car is only one of many factors that are contributing to aggregate changes in levels of car use in Great Britain, alongside demographic changes and a wide range of policy initiatives. But, company car use cannot fall below zero, so the effect of declining year-on-year company car mileage suppressing overall car traffic levels cannot continue indefinitely. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Exploring how material cues drive sensorimotor prediction across different levels of autistic-like traits

This is the final version. Available from Springer (part of Springer Nature) via the DOI in this record.Recent research proposes that sensorimotor difficulties, such as those experienced by many autistic people, may arise from atypicalities in prediction. Accordingly, we examined the relationship between non-clinical autistic-like traits and sensorimotor prediction in the material-weight illusion, where prior expectations derived from material cues typically bias one’s perception and action. Specifically, prediction-related tendencies in perception of weight, gaze patterns, and lifting actions were probed using a combination of self-report, eye-tracking, motion-capture, and force-based measures. No prediction-related associations between autistic-like traits and sensorimotor control emerged for any of these variables. Follow-up analyses, however, revealed that greater autistic-like traits were correlated with reduced adaptation of gaze with changes in environmental uncertainty. These findings challenge proposals of gross predictive atypicalities in autistic people, but suggest that the dynamic integration of prior information and environmental statistics may be related to autistic-like traits. Further research into this relationship is warranted in autistic populations, to assist the development of future movement-based coaching methods.Economic and Social Research Counci

To err again is human: exploring a bidirectional relationship between pressure and performance failure feedback

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordBackground and Objectives:While the potentially negative effects of pressure on skilled performance have been well studied in laboratory- based research, theoretically driven questions based on real-world performance data are lacking. Design:We aimed to test the predictions of the newly developed Attentional Control Theory: Sport (ACTS), using archived play-by-play data from the past seven seasons of the National Football League (American Football). Methods:An additive scoring system was developed to characterize the degree of pressure on 212,356 individual offensive plays and a Bayesian regression model was used to test the relationship between performance, pressure and preceding negative outcomes, as outlined in ACTS. Results:There was found to be a clear increase in the incidence of failures on high pressure plays (odds ratio = 1.20), and on plays immediately following a previous play failure (odds ratio = 1.09). Additionally, a combined interactive effect of previous failureandpressure indicated that the feedback effect of negative outcomes was greater when pressure was already high (odds ratio = 1.10), in line with the predictions of ACTS. Conclusions:Thesefindings reveal the importance of exploring momentary changes in pressure in real-world sport settings, and the role of failure feedback in influencing the pressure-performance relationship

Vehicle automation and freeway 'pipeline' capacity in the context of legal standards of care

The study evaluates, in the context of freeway segments, the interaction between automated cars’ kinematic capabilities and the standard legal requirement for the operator of an automobile to not strike items that are in its path (known as the ‘Assured Clear Distance Ahead’ criterion). The objective is to characterize the impacts of ACDA-compliant driving behavior on the system-level indicator of roadway-network capacity. We assess the barriers to automated cars operating non-ACDA-compliant driving strategies, develop a straightforward ACDA-compliant automated-driving model to analytically estimate freeway ‘pipeline’ capacity, compare this behavior to human drivers, and interpret quantitative findings which are based on a range of rationally-specified parameter values and explicitly account for kinematic uncertainty. We demonstrate that automated cars pursuing ACDA-compliant driving strategies would have distinctive “fundamental diagrams” (relationships between speed and flow). Our results suggest that such automated-driving strategies (under a baseline set of assumptions) would sustain higher flow rates at free-flow speeds than human drivers, however at higher traffic volumes the rate of degradation in speed due to congestion would be steeper. ACDA-compliant automated cars also would have a higher level of maximum-achievable throughput, though the impact on maximum throughput at free-flow speed depends on the specific interpretation of ACDA. We also present a novel quantification of the tradeoff between freeway-capacity and various degrees of safety (one failure in 100,000 events, one failure in 1,000,000, etc.) that explicitly accounts for the irreducible uncertainty in emergency braking performance, by drawing on empirical distributions of braking distance testing. Finally, we assess the vulnerability of ACDA-compliant automated cars to lateral ‘cut-ins’ by vehicles making lane changes. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of policy questions and research needs