Ecological correlation between diabetes hospitalizations and fine particulate matter in Italian provinces

Background: Exposure to particulate matter has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. We evaluated the ecological correlation between standardized hospital discharges with diabetes in Italian provinces and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) adjusting for common risk factors, socioeconomic factors and differences in hospitalization appropriateness. Methods: We used cross sectional data aggregated at the province level and available from official institutional databases for years 2008–2010. Covariates included prevalence of adult overweight, obese, smokers, physically inactive, education and income (as average gross domestic product per person, GDP). We reduced the number of covariates to a smaller number of factors for the subsequent statistical model by extracting meaningful components using principal component analysis (PCA). Log-linear multiple regression analysis was used to model diabetes hospital discharges with PCA components and PM2.5 levels and hospitalization appropriateness for men and women. Results: The first PCA components for both men and women were characterized by larger loadings of risk factors (obesity, overweight, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking) and lower socioeconomic factors (educational level and mean GDP). Diabetes hospitalization increases with the first PCA component and decreases with the index of hospitalization appropriateness. In fully adjusted models, diabetes hospitalizations increase with increasing annual PM2.5 concentrations, with a rise of 3.5 % (1.3 %–5.6 %) for men and of 4.0 % (1.5 %-6.4 %) for women per unit of PM2.5 increase. Conclusions: We found a significant ecological relationship between sex and age standardised hospital discharge with diabetes as principle diagnosis and mean annual PM2.5 concentrations in Italian provinces, once that covariates have been accounted for. The relationship was robust to different means of estimating PM2.5 exposure. A large portion of the variance of diabetes hospitalizations was linked to differences of hospital care appropriateness between Italian regions and this variable should routinely be included in ecological analyses of hospitalizations

Soldiers Home

The United States military has long been considered a proving ground for masculinity and encourages servicemembers to adopt a warrior mindset of bravery and toughness at the expense of vulnerability. Such a mindset often proves troublesome for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as it dissuades them from seeking care in the form of therapy. This article argues that contemporary recommendations to attune therapy to embrace military masculinity in an attempt to make it more appealing to veterans are misguided. Ernest Hemingway’s 1925 short story “Soldier’s Home” dramatizes how an appeal to normative forms of masculinity as an entry point to post-combat healing risks a rejection of care entirely if this type of masculinity is ever questioned. The substitution of a care-receiving process by a masculinity-affirming process that he cannot accept leaves protagonist Harold Krebs with no choice but to refuse it and flee his hometown after returning from service in World War I. To demonstrate alternative possibilities, the article then examines George Saunders’s “Home” (2013) and Toni Morrison’s Home (2012) as texts that explore how interrogations of military masculinity itself can contribute to the healing process. In both texts, the protagonists realize that manhood means more than protection and violence, which engenders an acceptance of care. While neither text offers a complete resolution by its end, they both gesture towards the necessity of changing perceptions of manhood fostered by the military. To conclude, the article references Walt Whitman’s Memoranda During the War as one historical precedent that demonstrates how certain types of vulnerability are acceptable and necessary, even during wartime

Justicia social, democratización del bienestar y prácticas de normalización : Las políticas estatales hacia las comunidades indígenas durante el primer peronismo. Algunos ejes de análisis

El presente trabajo tiene por objeto reflexionar sobre algunos de los ejes que adoptó la política indigenista estatal durante el primer peronismo para dar respuesta al “problema indígena”, teniendo en cuenta que la misma se llevó a cabo en el marco del conjunto de medidas destinadas al conjunto de las clases subalternas que buscaron compatibilizar las nuevas relaciones entre el Estado y la “sociedad civil” bajo la categoría de “pueblo”.Mesa 18: El Estado como problema y solución: Estado, administración y políticas públicasFacultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Achieving Exact and Constant Turnaround Ratio in a DDS-Based Coherent Transponder

A report describes a non-standard direct digital synthesizer (DDS) implementation that can be used as part of a coherent transponder so as to allow any rational turnaround ratio to be exactly achieved and maintained while the received frequency varies. (A coherent transponder is a receiver-transmitter in which the transmitted carrier is locked to a pre-determined multiple of the received carrier's frequency and phase. That multiple is called the turnaround ratio.) The report also describes a general model for coherent transponders that are partly digital. A partially digital transponder is one in which analog signal processing is used to convert the signals between high frequencies at which they are radiated and relatively low frequencies at which they are converted to or from digital form, with most of the complex processing performed digitally. There is a variety of possible architectures for such a transponder, and different ones can be selected by choosing different parameter values in the general model. Such a transponder uses a DDS to create a low-frequency quasi-sinusoidal signal that tracks the received carrier s phase, and another DDS to generate an IF or near-baseband version of the transmitted carrier. With conventional DDS implementations, a given turnaround ratio can be achieved only approximately, and the error varies slightly as the received frequency changes. The non-conventional implementation employed here allows any rational turnaround ratio to be exactly maintained

On the Outside Looking In: The Precarious Housing Situations of Successful Refugee Claimants in the GVRD

Access to affordable and adequate housing is a key step in the successful integration of newcomers. While some immigrants are able to transition into home ownership quite rapidly, other newcomers are finding it increasing difficult to access basic shelter. There is little systematic knowledge about the extent of homelessness among immigrants and refugees in Greater Vancouver. This paper details the findings of a 2005 study entitled The Profile of Absolute and Relative Homelessness among Immigrants, Refugees, and Refugee Claimants in the GVRD. We highlight the extent to which some newcomers are increasingly at risk of “hidden homelessness,” a term that describes precarious and unstable housing experiences. This paper also details the unique housing experiences of refugee claimants. Given their temporary legal status, claimants often face the most tenuous experiences in the housing market. Their experiences are often marked by poor residential conditions, crowding, and high rent-to-income ratios.L’accès à un logement abordable et adéquat est une étape importante dans l’intégration réussie des nouveaux arrivants. Bien que quelques immigrants parviennent à devenir propriétaire de leur logement assez rapidement, d’autres nouveaux arrivants éprouvent des difficultés croissantes pour accéder à un abri de base. Il existe peu d’information systématique sur l’étendue du phénomène des sans-abris parmi les immigrants et les réfugiés dans le Grand Vancouver. Ce document met en exergue les résultats d’une étude entreprise en 2005 et intitulée The Profile of Absolute and Relative Homelessness Among Immigrants, Refugees, and Refugee Claimants in the GVRD (“Le profil des sans-abris absolus et relatifs parmi des immigrants, les réfugiés, et les demandeurs du statut de réfugiés dans le DRGV”). Nous soulignons la mesure dans laquelle certains nouveaux arrivants sont de plus en plus à risque du sans-abrisme caché, un terme qui décrit des expériences de logement précaire et instable. Ce document détaille également les expériences uniques en matière de logement des demandeurs du statut de réfugié. Étant donné leur statut juridique provisoire, les demandeurs font face souvent à des expériences des plus ardues sur le marché du logement. Leurs expériences sont souvent caractérisées par des conditions de logement précaires, l’encombrement et des loyers élevés par rapport aux revenus

The Detection of an Extremely Bright Fast Radio Burst in a Phased Array Feed Survey

We report the detection of an ultra-bright fast radio burst (FRB) from a modest, 3.4-day pilot survey with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The survey was conducted in a wide-field fly's-eye configuration using the phased-array-feed technology deployed on the array to instantaneously observe an effective area of 160 deg^2, and achieve an exposure totaling 13200 deg^2 hr. We constrain the position of FRB 170107 to a region 8^'x 8^' in size (90% containment) and its fluence to be 58 ± 6 Jy ms. The spectrum of the burst shows a sharp cutoff above 1400 MHz, which could be due to either scintillation or an intrinsic feature of the burst. This confirms the existence of an ultra-bright (> 20 Jy ms) population of FRBs

Restricted Access: The Role of Social Capital in Mitigating Absolute Homelessness among Immigrants and Refugees in the GVRD

The housing patterns of newcomers mark a primary indicator for their successful integration. However, different groups of people have varied access to the stock of housing in Canada. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that social capital plays in housing trajectories of immigrants with particular attention to the experiences of refugee claimants. In this paper we draw upon the results of a 2004–2005 study on the profile of absolute and relative homelessness among immigrants, refugees, and refugee claimants in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). We highlight the importance of social networks in the housing careers of newcomers, and argue that access to social networks varies according to the mode of entry for immigrants (e.g., skilled immigrants vs. refugees). We find that refugee claimants are particularly vulnerable, given their combination of uncertain legal status, lack of official language ability, and unfamiliarity with Canadian society. They are the most likely of all newcomers to “fall between the cracks” of the housing system. We discuss the benefits of social capital for immigrants and refugees, especially the key role that social capital plays in the integration process.Les préférences des nouveaux arrivants en matière de logement constituent un indicateur primaire pour la réussite de leur intégration. Cependant, l’accès au parc de logements au Canada varie selon les groupes. Le but de cet article est d'examiner le rôle que le capital social joue dans les trajectoires des immigrants en matière de logement, avec une attention particulière pour l’expérience de demandeurs du statut de réfugié. Dans cet article nous puisons à partir des résultats d'une étude entreprise en 2004-2005 sur le profil du sans abrisme absolu et relatif parmi les immigrants, les réfugiés et les demandeurs de statut de réfugié dans le District Régional du Grand Vancouver (DRGV). Nous soulignons l'importance des réseaux sociaux dans le parcours de nouveaux arrivants en matière de logement et soutenons que l'accès aux réseaux sociaux varie selon le mode d'entrée des immigrants (par ex., les immigrants qualifiés à l’opposé des réfugiés). Nous constatons que les demandeurs de statut de réfugié sont particulièrement vulnérables, étant donné qu’ils combinent en eux-mêmes l’incertitude du statut juridique, des faiblesses par rapport aux langues officielles, et le manque de familiarité avec la société canadienne. De tous les nouveaux arrivants, ils sont les plus susceptibles de passer entre les mailles du filet du système de logement. Nous traitons des avantages du capital social pour les immigrants et les réfugiés, surtout le rôle clé que joue le capital social dans le processus d'intégration

The Rock Mass Quality Index (RQI): a quantitative tool for the quality evaluation of near-surface rock masses

The knowledge of rock masses behaviour is an important information in various fields such as civil engineering, land use planning and hazard/risk zoning. Different rock mass classification methods, initially aimed at assisting underground excavations (Hoek, 2007), are widely used nowadays for preliminary design procedures (Bieniawski, 1989; Hoek, 2007), like the RMR (Bieniawski, 1976) and the Q (Barton et al., 1974) and their modifications. These methods incorporate geological, geomechanical and geometric parameters in order to obtain a quantitative estimation of the rock mass quality, but, on the other hand, their implementation is time-consuming. Despite the dominance of these two methods, further rock mass classifications systems have been proposed in the last decades and, among these, the Geological Strength Index (GSI) classification system is currently widely used as it allows to estimate the strength of rock mass through empirical semiquantitative evaluation (Hoek, 1994; Cai et al., 2004), based on both rock mass structure and condition of the joints (Hoek et al., 1995). Estimating the GSI is straightforward and fast, but it comes at the cost of a certain degree of subjectivity. Moreover, the index does not adequately account for the lithology of the rock mass matrix. Hence, for the above reasons, these classification methods are not fully suitable to collect rock mass data over wide scale areas for engineering geological mapping. The Rock mass Quality Index (RQI, Disperati et al., 2016; Mammoliti et al., 2018) is a rock mass classification system developed for cartographic purposes and it is based on the systematic fieldwork measurement and processing of sets of the Schmidt hammer rebound values (R). Each representative rock mass outcrop is analysed by collecting ca. 20 R values at the 15-25 nodes of a regular grid conceived to investigate the typical features of the rock mass. This allows to perform statistical analyses and to calculate the RQI, a quantitative indicator of the global strength and quality of the rock mass. In the last decade, a dataset of ca 1100 outcrops sites spreading over a large area (ca. 12000 km2) were acquired in Tuscany (Italy), according to different lithology, weathering, jointing conditions. The dataset consists of both RQI measurements and GSI estimations for the main different lithological groups (flysch, limestones, marls, magmatic rocks and schists) of the Northern Apennines (Italy), as well as the laboratory determinations of the Slake Durability Index (Id2; Franklin & Chandra, 1974) obtained by testing representative outcrop rock samples. The large dataset has allowed to analyse the correlation among RQI, GSI and Id2 and to perform an in-depth critical analysis of the relationships among RQI, lithology, rock mass structure, as well as the suitability of the RQI as reference index for engineering geological mapping of near-surface rock mass quality

Weathering Effects on Engineering Geological Properties of Trachydacitic Volcanic Rocks from the Monte Amiata (Southern Tuscany, Italy)

Variability in lithology and weathering degree affects physical and mechanical properties of rocks. In this study, we investigated the relationships between weathering degree and engineering geological properties of trachydacitic volcanic rocks from Monte Amiata (central Italy) by coupling field and laboratory analyses. We collected in situ Schmidt hammer tests in the field. We evaluated weathering quantifying the percentage of secondary minerals through thermal analysis in the laboratory. We also determined dry density (rd), specific gravity of solids (Gs), porosity (n) and two-dimensional (2D) porosity as resulted from scanning electron microscopy investigations. The results of our study indicate a negative linear correlation between Schmidt hammer rebound values and secondary mineral percentage. This correlation provides a tool to quantitatively estimate the deterioration of rock uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) as weathering increases. Moreover, thermal analysis turned out to be a quantitative and reproducible method to evaluate weathering degree of magmatic rocks