Age, Retirement and Expenditure Patterns: An Econometric Study of Older Canadian Households

The paper explores the allocation of consumption expenditure by the older population among different categories of goods and services, and how expenditure patterns change with age within that population. Of particular interest is whether observed differences between pre-retirement and post-retirement patterns are a consequence of changes in "tastes" or reductions in income. An adapted form of the Deaton and Muellbauer Almost Ideal Demand System is estimated with data from six Family Expenditure Surveys and used to investigate that question. The findings suggest that observed changes in budget allocations are most closely related to reductions in income.consumption expenditure; retirement; income

Invariant tensors and Casimir operators for simple compact Lie groups

The Casimir operators of a Lie algebra are in one-to-one correspondence with the symmetric invariant tensors of the algebra. There is an infinite family of Casimir operators whose members are expressible in terms of a number of primitive Casimirs equal to the rank of the underlying group. A systematic derivation is presented of a complete set of identities expressing non-primitive symmetric tensors in terms of primitive tensors. Several examples are given including an application to an exceptional Lie algebra.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, minor changes, version in J. Math. Phy

Enhanced star formation: The importance of bars in spiral galaxies

It was found that among an IR luminous subset of nearby spiral galaxies, nearly all of the systems with IRAS colors and luminosities indicative of enhanced star formation are barred. Radio continuum and IR spectroscopic results support the hypothesis that this emission originates within the central 2 kpc; possibly in a circumnuclear ring. It was also found that outer rings are over represented among these barred systems and suggest possible reasons for this phenomena

Updating predictive accident models of modern rural single carriageway A-roads

Reliable predictive accident models (PAMs) are essential to design and maintain safe road networks and yet the models most commonly used in the UK were derived using data collected 20 to 30 years ago. Given that the national personal injury accident total fell by some 30% in the last 25 years, while road traffic increased by over 60%, significant errors in scheme appraisal and evaluation based on the models currently in use seem inevitable. In this paper the temporal transferability of PAMs for modern rural single carriageway A-roads is investigated and their predictive performance is evaluated against a recent data set. Despite the age of these models, the PAMs for predicting the total accidents provide a remarkably good fit to recent data and these are more accurate than models where accidents are disaggregated by type. The performance of the models can be improved by calibrating them against recent data

Future of an ageing population evidence review; Developing medical fitness and wellbeing environments to maintain health and wellbeing over the lifecourse.

Background and methods This report is derived from a review of the research evidence on physical activity interventions and initiatives, interventions to support self-management/ self-care of long-term conditions and digitally enabled care services and technologies. The aim was to use existing evidence to envision future services and associated infrastructure. The Evidence Review involved scoping the literature for topics researched and to determine the nature of that research. Rapid-scoping review methods were applied to trusted sources, and searches for specific key texts were conducted. A separate search was conducted to identify literature relevant to each domain. A narrative was then produced from the review findings. Review findings The evidence base for physical activity interventions is growing. There has been significant recent investment in the development and evaluation of interventions to promote activity and reduce sedentary behaviour at the individual, community and population levels. The evidence to link higher levels of physical activity to positive health outcomes and disease prevention is convincing, both in ‘well’ populations and in those with long-term health conditions. Self-management interventions are heterogeneous in nature but common elements exist across the majority of them. The consensus in the literature is that self-management will become increasingly important due to unsustainable demands upon services. Evaluation of selfmanagement interventions reveals a small but varying effect across a wide range of outcomes. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which these interventions work and how these might vary across differing conditions and populations. Technology is being increasingly used to support service delivery in a wide range of contexts, and for the delivery of a variety of interventions including fitness and self-management. There is strong evidence supporting the use of technology for remote monitoring of people with longterm conditions, but further research is required. Implications Digital applications are already altering established patterns of service delivery. The findings presented here reveal varying results of efficacy which do not accord with the optimistic future described in various envisaging reports. Research has yet to consider unwanted and unforeseen effects of moving towards technology-enabled services. It is also important to consider how to effectively harness new health data emerging from the use of eHealth systems, technology-enabled services and health-tracking devices. There is an ongoing requirement to evaluate new technologies and technology-enabled services in ways that provide both timely and robust answers, particularly as technology development is a continually moving target. These considerations are discussed in this report

Assistive Technology: Creating and Engaging Collaborative Communities.

This paper outlines the remit of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council KT-EQUAL (Knowledge Transfer for Extending Quality of Life for older and disabled people) programme. Case examples drawing on the range of activities undertaken by KT-EQUAL highlight where assistive technology developments have been facilitated, the value of network activities and an underpinning model of engagement and collaboration. Given an increasing emphasis on the impact of research the model and innovative approaches deployed by KT-EQUAL are even more crucial in future developments which aim to ensure that research can be used to benefit society

Circulation near the Newfoundland Ridge

Mesoscale eddies (25 to 150 km diameter) are observed to occur along the crest of the Newfoundland Ridge and have water properties that suggest an origin near the Tail of the Bank. The eddies appear to be important features of the circulation over the Ridge...

Bottom waters of the Gulf of Maine, 1978-1983

The properties of the bottom waters (\u3e100 m) of the Gulf of Maine are described using hydrographic data from 26 surveys between May 1978 and December 1983. The average temperature and salinity of the bottom water are presented from the different surveys for four regions of the Gulf—Wilkinson, Jordan, and Georges Basins and the Northeast Channel. The spatial variability across the Gulf was larger than the temporal variability in any region. The bottom water originates from Slope Water that enters the Gulf through the Northeast Channel. It is modified within the Gulf by vertical mixing with the near-surface waters of Scotian Shelf origin. A box model for the property changes during the summer-fall period indicates that the advection and mixing processes are of approximately equal importance in determining the bottom water properties. A winter convective input to the bottom layers is shown to occur only from the coastal areas around Wilkinson Basin in years when the surface salinity there was relatively high (\u3e33.0‰). Advection and mixing rates calculated by the box model are in agreement with direct measurements of the inflow to the Gulf (Ramp et al., 1985) and mixing estimates from a budget for the intermediate layer waters in the Gulf (Hopkins and Garfield, 1979)

The Cleo III Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector

The CLEO detector has been upgraded to include a state of the art particle identification system, based on the Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector (RICH) technology, in order to take data at the upgraded CESR electron positron collider. The expected performance is reviewed, as well as the preliminary results from an engineering run during the first few months of operation of the CLEO III detector.Comment: 5 pages, 2 Figures Talk given by M. Artuso at 8th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors, May 200

Videoconferencing for Health Care Provision for Older Adults in Care Homes: A Review of the Research Evidence

A scoping review was conducted to map the research evidence on the use of videoconferencing for remote health care provision for older adults in care homes. The review aimed to identify the nature and extent of the existing evidence base. Databases used were Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library Reviews. The review identified 26 articles for inclusion, of which 14 were case studies, making the most used study design. Papers described videoconferencing as being used for assessment, management of health care, clinical support, and diagnosis, with eight of the papers reporting the use of videoconferencing for more than one clinical purpose. A further eight papers reported the use of videoconferencing for assessment alone. The literature reported the collection of various types of data, with 12 papers describing the use of both qualitative and quantitative data. The outcomes mainly addressed staff satisfaction (n=9) and resident satisfaction (n=8). Current evidence supports the feasibility of videoconferencing in care homes. However, research needs to be undertaken to establish the contexts and mechanisms that underpin the successful implementation of videoconferencing in care homes and to define useful measures for success