THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUTING HABITS AND MORTALITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES

In recent years, policy makers have invested in public transportation and infrastructure to promote walking and cycling to work. There is also a large body of economic research that has found mortality rates increase during economic expansions. While there has been a number of epidemiological studies that investigate the impact of commuting mode choice on individual health outcomes, there is a lack of research on the aggregate health effects of alternative transportation methods, such as biking, walking, or using public transportation. This paper uses a fixed-effect model to investigate the impact of an increase in total employment on mortality rates, and whether the impact of increased employment on mortality varies between counties with differing commuting habits. Findings suggest an increase in total employment is associated with a decrease in all-cause, respiratory, and suicide mortality rates, and that this effect is stronger in counties with a lower than median proportion of commuters who drive to work, and in counties with a higher than median proportion of commuters who walk, bike, or take public transportation to work. The principal conclusions of this paper are two-fold: first, procyclical fluctuations in mortality rates found in previous studies do not come from higher total employment; and second, findings provide evidence that an increase in total employment decreases mortality rates more in communities which have a relatively high proportion of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation users, and a relatively low proportion of commuters dependent on personal automobiles

Congestion-gradient driven transport on complex networks

We present a study of transport on complex networks with routing based on local information. Particles hop from one node of the network to another according to a set of routing rules with different degrees of congestion awareness, ranging from random diffusion to rigid congestion-gradient driven flow. Each node can be either source or destination for particles and all nodes have the same routing capacity, which are features of ad-hoc wireless networks. It is shown that the transport capacity increases when a small amount of congestion awareness is present in the routing rules, and that it then decreases as the routing rules become too rigid when the flow becomes strictly congestion-gradient driven. Therefore, an optimum value of the congestion awareness exists in the routing rules. It is also shown that, in the limit of a large number of nodes, networks using routing based on local information jam at any nonzero load. Finally, we study the correlation between congestion at node level and a betweenness centrality measure.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Effect of temperature on the percentage-rate growth of the chick embryo.

Publication authorized January 13, 1927.Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (page 11)

Prolonging the incarnation: towards a reappropriation of Ivan Illich for Christian mission and life together

On the basis of my experience as a U.S. national living as a missionary in Brazil from 2003-2010, this thesis explores cultural, political, and ethical questions related to Christian mission, by reappropriating the life and thought of Ivan Illich. This thesis is an exercise in doing theology with and after Illich. One of the aims of my thesis is to respond to a ‘research gap’ in relation to Illich in the field of theology. In reappropriating Illich for contemporary theology, my thesis is two-fold. First, I bring his explicitly theological commentary (focused on the Incarnation) together with his earlier social criticism (focused on conviviality)" arguing that they operate in tandem as expressions of “Incarnational Christianity.” Second, I show that he offers a compelling contribution to contemporary accounts of Christian mission, with practical implications for incarnational mission. Illich’s three-fold contribution, I argue, relates to: his understanding of the incarnational basis of mission; his diagnosis of the social conditions which undermine and corrupt this incarnational movement; his insights regarding the cultivation of conviviality as a response to wider social concerns, such as economic and ecological crises, as a means for reclaiming the freedom of living in hope and of “prolonging the Incarnation.

Mechanisms Utilized by Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Persist in the Human Cervical Epithelium: Signaling, Invasion, Intracellular Survival, and Escape

The obligate human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococci) causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. Interactions between gonococci and human cervical epithelial cells that promote bacterial invasion and post-invasion survival were examined. The data showed that gonococci activated MAPK signaling in cervical epithelial cells prior to invasion. Gonococci triggered prolonged ERK phosphorylation (possibly through EGFR signaling), which could facilitate gonococcal invasion. Furthermore, gonococci expressing lacto-N-neotetraose LOS decreased JNK activation and elicited lower IL-8 production from host cells compared to variants expressing lactosyl LOS. I propose that gonococci can manipulate MAPK signaling to facilitate invasion into cervical epithelial cells and to evade the innate immune response. To investigate gonococcal invasion, I expressed β-lactamase on the outer membrane of gonococcal strain FA1090 to generate the reporter strain FA1090 psi(bla-iga'). Utilizing a β-lactamase reporter assay, I demonstrated that FA1090 psi(bla-iga') only invaded a subpopulation of cervical epithelial cells. Nonviable FA1090 psi(bla-iga') did not invade host cells and failed to recruit F-actin to sites of adherence. Viable gonococci required pili expression but not Opa expression to invade susceptible host cells. These data suggest that viable gonococci elicit invasion-promoting interactions with host cells not triggered by nonviable gonococci. Finally, the data demonstrated that gonococci realize different intracellular fates after entry into cervical epithelial cells. I developed a tannic acid survival assay to show that intracellular gonococci survived within host cells. Intracellular survival did not require catalase or the NfsB nitrogen reductase. A subpopulation of gonococci could escape from cells back into the extracellular milieu. Gonococci utilized an exocytosis pathway to escape after invasion that was blocked by treating cells with tannic acid, but not cytoskeletal inhibitors. I propose a working scenario whereby gonococci undergo cycles of invasion into and escape from a susceptible subpopulation of cervical epithelial cells. Gonococci that survive within host cells may represent bacteria that progress into deeper host tissues to disseminate to secondary sites. Escaping gonococci could invade into other host cells and are well-positioned for transmission to another host. Gonococci interact with the cervical epithelium through invasion, intracellular survival, and escape to establish bacterial persistence in the female host

As the world turns in a convergence culture

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2007.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references.The American daytime serial drama is among the oldest television genres and remains a vital part of the television lineup for ABC and CBS as what this thesis calls an immersive story world. However, many within the television industry are now predicting that the genre will fade into obscurity after two decades of declining ratings. This study outlines how the soap opera industry is and could be further adapting to the technological and social changes of a convergence culture to maintain and revitalize the genre's relevance for viewers and advertisers alike. CBS/Procter and Gamble Productions/TeleVest's As the World Turns will serve as a case study for these changes. This project examines how the existing fan base plays an active role in gaining and maintaining new fans by researching historical and contemporary examples of social relationships that fans form with other fans and the show itself. In addition to looking at how these fan communities operate, this thesis focuses on how soap operas have adapted and might adapt to alternate revenue models such as product placement, capitalize on their vast content archives, and tell stories through multiple media formats. The study concludes that soap operas should be managed as brands and not ephemeral television content because of their permanence in the television landscape, that fans outside the target advertising demographic should be empowered as proselytizers for the show, and that a transgenerational storytelling approach best utilizes the power of the genre to tell its stories.by Samuel Earl Ford.S.M

Flat Plates by Successive Approximations

Civil Engineerin

Serum Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and risk of death from cardiovascular diseases among U.S. adults with diagnosed diabetes: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey linked mortality study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) measures all atherogenic apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins and predicts risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The association of non-HDL-C with risk of death from CVD in diabetes is not well understood. This study assessed the hypothesis that, among adults with diabetes, non-HDL-C may be related to the risk of death from CVD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed data from 1,122 adults aged 20 years and older with diagnosed diabetes who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey linked mortality study (299 deaths from CVD according to underlying cause of death; median follow-up length, 12.4 years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to participants with serum non-HDL-C concentrations of 35 to 129 mg/dL, those with higher serum levels had a higher risk of death from total CVD: the RRs were 1.34 (95% CI: 0.75-2.39) and 2.25 (95% CI: 1.30-3.91) for non-HDL-C concentrations of 130-189 mg/dL and 190-403 mg/dL, respectively (<it>P </it>= 0.003 for linear trend) after adjustment for demographic characteristics and selected risk factors. In subgroup analyses, significant linear trends were identified for the risk of death from ischemic heart disease: the RRs were 1.59 (95% CI: 0.76-3.32) and 2.50 (95% CI: 1.28-4.89) (<it>P </it>= 0.006 for linear trend), and stroke: the RRs were 3.37 (95% CI: 0.95-11.90) and 5.81 (95% CI: 1.96-17.25) (<it>P </it>= 0.001 for linear trend).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In diabetics, higher serum non-HDL-C concentrations were significantly associated with increased risk of death from CVD. Our prospective data support the notion that reducing serum non-HDL-C concentrations may be beneficial in the prevention of excess death from CVD among affected adults.</p