Single-use plastics in Cheltenham's Lower High Street: A study of the use of single-use plastics by independent takeaway businesses.

This research was commissioned by the Cheltenham West End Partnership in conjunction with undergraduate Sociology students at the University of Gloucestershire, as part of the Level 5 Public Sociology module

Field Cycle Length Sweep to Evaluate Resonant Cycle Sensitivity

Cycle length selection in corridor timing is often dictated by critical intersections with the highest level of saturation. Along corridors with balanced volumes and favorable link distances, a resonant cycle length is often sought to provide good progression in both directions of travel. This paper discusses the search for a resonant cycle length at a 5-intersection corridor in Fishers, Indiana over a three month period. The software traffic model suggests a reasonable range of cycle lengths from 104 seconds to 124 seconds for the corridor. This cycle length range is consistent with analytical highway capacity manual delay minimization approaches. A set of eleven cycle lengths from the 104 to 124-second range are tested over 12 weeks, with each iteration using optimized offset values generated by the Link Pivot progression optimization algorithm to maximize the percentage of vehicles arriving on green, and holding all phase splits constant. There was no obvious resonant cycle identified in the cycle length sweep, however the experiment findings indicate vehicles arriving on green decrease and travel times increase as cycle length increases.As a tradeoff, the number of force off phase terminations on the side-street phases decrease as a result of longer cycles indicating a better accommodation of sidestreet demand. Finally, a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SURE) model was used to analyze the correlation between cycle lengths, percent of vehicles arriving on green, and travel time indicating a negative correlation between higher cycle length and progression performance

Graphical Performance Measures for Practitioners to Triage Split Failure Trouble Calls

Detector occupancy is commonly used to measure traffic signal performance. Despite improvements in controller computational power, there have been relatively few innovations in occupancy-based performance measures or integration with other data. This paper introduces and demonstrates the use of graphical performance measures based on detector occupancy ratios to verify potential split failures and other signal timing shortcomings reported to practitioners by the public. The proposed performance measures combine detector occupancy during the green phase, detector occupancy during the first five seconds of the red phase, and phase termination cause (gap out or force off). These are summarized by time of day to indicate whether the phase is undersaturated, nearly saturated, or oversaturated. These graphical performance measures and related quantitative summaries provide a first-level screening and triaging tool for practitioners to assess user concerns regarding whether sufficient green times are being provided to avoid split failures. They can also provide outcome-based feedback to staff after making split adjustments to determine whether operation improved or worsened. The paper concludes by demonstrating how the information was used to make an operational decision to re-allocate green time that reduced the number of oversaturated cycles on minor movements from 304 to 222 during a Thursday 0900-1500 timing plan and from 240 to 180 during a Friday 0900-1500 timing plan

Improving Intersection Behavior through Delay-Based Left Turn Phase Initiation

Serving protected left-turn phases for one or two vehicles can often be an inefficient use of cycle green time when the opposing through movements are over capacity. This paper assesses the performance of an intersection at which controller logic is applied to delay the call for a protected left-turn phase on the basis of vehicle wait times. During four weeks of evaluation, the delay on left-turn phase calls was varied in 25-s increments from 0 to 75 s. The results indicate that delaying left-turn phase initiation substantially increases the amount of green time for saturated through movements while minimally increasing the travel delay for left-turning drivers. The recommendation is made for agencies to consider using a delay in the range of 25 to 50 s for calling protected phases at intersections at which the opposing through movement is oversaturated and could benefit from additional green time. This paper presents one of the first quantitative studies evaluating potential intersection capacity and performance improvements with respect to left-turn detector delay. </jats:p

Validation of the Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) Checklist: A Developmentally Informed Assessment Tool for Bereaved Youth

The inclusion of Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) in the DSMâ 5 appendix signifies a call for research regarding the distinguishing features and clinical utility of proposed PCBD criteria. Rigorously constructed tools for assessing PCBD are lacking, especially for youth. This study evaluated the validity and clinical utility of the PCBD Checklist, a 39â item measure designed to assess PCBD criteria in youth aged 8 to18 years. Test construction procedures involved: (a) reviewing the literature regarding developmental manifestations of proposed criteria, (b) creating a developmentally informed item pool, (c) surveying an expert panel to evaluate the clarity and developmental appropriateness of candidate items, (d) conducting focus groups to evaluate the comprehensibility and acceptability of items, and (e) evaluating psychometric properties in 367 bereaved youth (Mage = 13.49, 55.0% female). The panel, clinicians, and youth provided favorable content validity and comprehensibility ratings for candidate items. As hypothesized, youth who met full PCBD criteria, Criterion B (e.g., preoccupation with the deceased and/or circumstances of the death), or Criterion C (e.g., reactive distress and/or social/identity disruption) reported higher posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms than youth who did not meet these criteria, ηp2 = .07â .16. Youth who met Criterion C reported greater functional impairment than youth who did not, ηp2 = .08â .12. Youth who qualified for the â traumatic bereavement specifierâ reported more frequent posttraumatic stress symptoms than youth who did not, ηp2 = .04. Findings support the convergent, discriminant, and discriminantâ groups validity, developmental appropriateness, and clinical utility of the PCBD Checklist.ResumenValidación de Lista de verificación del Trastorno por Duelo Complejo Persistente (TDCP): Un informe del desarrollo de herramientas de medición para duelo en jóvenesLISTA DE CHEQUEO DE TRASTORNO DE DUELO COMPLEJO PERSISTENTELa inclusión del trastorno de duelo complejo persistente (TDCP en su sigla en español; PCBD en sus siglas en inglés) en el apéndice del DSMâ 5 significa un llamado para investigar en relación a las características distintivas y la utilidad clínica de los criterios propuestos para el TDCP. Se carece de herramientas rigurosamente construidas para evaluar TDCP, especialmente para jóvenes. Este estudio evalúa la validez y utilidad clínica de la lista de verificación de TPCP, una medida con 39 ítems diseñada para medir el criterio de TDCP en jóvenes de edades entre 8 a 18 años. El procedimiento de construcción del test involucró: (a) revisión de la literatura relacionada con manifestaciones desarrolladas del criterio propuesto; (b) creación de un pool de ítems informados para el desarrollo; (c) encuesta a un panel experto para evaluar la claridad y desarrollo apropiado de los ítems; (d) conducir grupos focales para evaluar la compresibilidad y aceptabilidad de los ítems; y (e) evaluación de propiedades psicométricas en 367 jóvenes en proceso de duelo (M edad = 13.49, 55.0% femenino). El panel, los clínicos y los jóvenes en proceso de duelo proveyeron una validez de contenido favorable y rangos de comprensibilidad para los ítems candidatos. Como se hipotetizó, los jóvenes que cumplieron el criterio completo de TDCP, criterio B (ej., preocupación por el fallecido y/o las circunstancias de la muerte) o el criterio C (ej., estrés reactivo y/o perturbación social/identidad) reportaron alto estrés postraumático y síntomas depresivos que los jóvenes que no cumplen este criterio, ηp2 = .07 a .16. Los jóvenes que no cumplieron el criterio C reportaron mayor deterioro funcional que los jóvenes que no lo cumplieron ηp2 = .08 a .12. Los jóvenes que calificaron para el â duelo traumático especificoâ reportaron mayor frecuencia de síntomas de estrés postraumático que jóvenes que no calificaron ηp2 = .04. Los resultados apoyan la validez convergente, discriminante y de grupos discriminante; y el apropiado desarrollo y utilidad clínica de la lista de verificación de TDCP para jóvenes con duelo.æ ½è±¡Validation of the Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) Checklist: A Developmentallyâ Informed Assessment Tool for Bereaved YouthTraditional Chineseæ¨ é¡ : é© è­ ã æ çº æ §è¤ é å æ é ç¤ ç (PCBD)æª¢æ ¥è¡¨ã :ä¸ å é å° å æ é å° å¹´ã å ·ç ¼å± é ©å æ §ç è© ä¼°å·¥å ·æ ®è¦ : DSMâ 5å ¨é é 裡å å «äº æ çº æ §è¤ é å æ é ç¤ ç (PCBD), å æ  æ å æ é è¦ ç  ç©¶å ¶æ å ºç PCBDæ¨ æº ç ¨ç ¹ç ç ¹å¾µå è ¨åº æ ç ¨ã ç ¹å ¥æ ¯é å° é å° å¹´ç PCBD, æ å ç ®å ä» æ¬ ç¼ºå ´æ ¼è¨­è¨ ç è© ä¼°å·¥å ·ã æ ¬ç  ç©¶æª¢è¦ ã PCBDæª¢æ ¥è¡¨ã ç æ 度å è ¨åº æ ç ¨ã å® å ·å 39å 測é é  ç ®, ç ¨ä»¥è© ä¼°å¹´é½¡ä» ä¹ 8è ³18æ­²ç é å° å¹´ç PCBDã ç·¨å ¶è© ä¼°ç é ç¨ å æ ¬: (ä¸ ) å¯©è¦ æ æ å ºç æ¨ æº å ¨é å¾ ç  ç©¶ç ç ¼å± æ ¸æ ; (äº ) å  æ ç ¼å± æ ¸æ å»ºç« ä¸ å é  ç ®åº«; (ä¸ ) 訪å ä¸ ç¾¤å° æ¥­äººå£«, æª¢è¦ æ å å»ºç« ç è© ä¼°é  ç ®ç æ¸ æ¥ æ §å ç ¼å± é ©å æ §; (å ) ä»¥ç ¦é» å° çµ ç å½¢å¼ , æª¢è¦ è© ä¼°é  ç ®ç å ¯ç è§£æ §å å ¯æ ¥å 度; (äº ) æª¢è¦ 367å å æ é å° å¹´ (Mage = 13.49, 55.0% ç ºå¥³æ §)ç å¿ ç 測é ç ¹è³ªã å° æ¥­å é ã è ¨åº æ²»ç 師å å æª¢è¦ ç å æ é å° å¹´, é ½å° è© ä¼°é  ç ®ç å §å®¹æ 度å å ¯ç è§£æ §ä½ å ºè ¯å¥½è© å ã ä¸ å¦ å 設, å® å ¨ç¬¦å PCBDæ¨ æº , æ 符å æ¨ æº B (å¦ å° æ­»è å /æ å ¶æ­»äº¡æ æ³ é ·æ æ æ ) ã æ æ¨ æº C (å¦ å æ æ §æ ²ç å /æ 社交/èº«ä»½èª å å æ ¾) ç é å° å¹´, æ¯ ä¸ ç¬¦ç é å° å¹´æ è¼ é« æ°´å¹³ç å µå ·å¾ å£ å å æ 鬱ç ç (ηp2 = .07 è ³ .16)ã 符å æ¨ æº Cç é å° å¹´æ¯ ä¸ ç¬¦ç é å° å¹´æ è¼ é« æ°´å¹³ç å è ½å æ (ηp2 = .08 è ³ .12)ã 符å æ ã å µå ·æ §å æ ç ¹å¾µã ç é å° å¹´, æ¯ ä¸ ç¬¦ç é å° å¹´æ è¼ é »ç¹ ç å µå ·å¾ å£ å ç ç (ηp2 = .04)ã çµ æ è­ æ ç ¨ä»¥è© ä¼°å æ é å° å¹´ç ã PCBDæª¢æ ¥è¡¨ã æ å ¯è æ 度ã å ¤å ¥æ 度ã çµ å ¥å ¤å ¥æ 度, 亦æ ç ¼å± é ©å æ §å è ¨åº æ ç ¨ã Simplified Chineseæ  é¢ : éª è¯ ã æ ç»­æ §å¤ æ å æ ¸é ç¢ ç (PCBD)æ£ æ ¥è¡¨ã :ä¸ ä¸ªé 对å æ ¸é å° å¹´ã å ·å å± é å æ §ç è¯ ä¼°å·¥å ·æ ®è¦ : DSMâ 5å ¨é å½ é å å «äº æ ç»­æ §å¤ æ å æ ¸é ç¢ ç (PCBD), å æ  æ 们æ é è¦ ç  ç©¶å ¶æ å ºç PCBDæ  å ç ¬ç ¹ç ç ¹å¾ å ä¸´åº æ ç ¨ã ç ¹å «æ ¯é 对é å° å¹´ç PCBD, æ ä»¬ç ®å ä» æ¬ ç¼ºä¸¥æ ¼è®¾è®¡ç è¯ ä¼°å·¥å ·ã æ ¬ç  ç©¶æ£ è§ ã PCBDæ£ æ ¥è¡¨ã ç æ 度å ä¸´åº æ ç ¨ã å® å ·å¤ 39ä¸ªæµ é é¡¹ç ®, ç ¨ä»¥è¯ ä¼°å¹´é¾ ä» ä¹ 8è ³18å² ç é å° å¹´ç PCBDã ç¼ å ¶è¯ ä¼°ç è¿ ç¨ å æ ¬: (ä¸ ) å®¡è§ æ æ å ºç æ  å å ¨è¿ å¾ ç  ç©¶ç å å± æ °æ ®; (äº ) å  åº å å± æ °æ ®å»ºç« ä¸ ä¸ªé¡¹ç ®åº ; (ä¸ ) è®¿é ®ä¸ ç¾¤ä¸ ä¸ äººå£«, æ£ è§ æ ä»¬å»ºç« ç è¯ ä¼°é¡¹ç ®ç æ¸ æ¥ æ §å å å± é å æ §; (å ) ä»¥ç ¦ç ¹å° ç» ç å½¢å¼ , æ£ è§ è¯ ä¼°é¡¹ç ®ç å ¯ç è§£æ §å å ¯æ ¥å 度; (äº ) æ£ è§ 367å å æ ¸é å° å¹´ (Mage = 13.49, 55.0% ä¸ºå¥³æ §)ç å¿ ç æµ é ç ¹è´¨ã ä¸ ä¸ å ¢é ã ä¸´åº æ²»ç å¸ å å æ£ è§ ç å æ ¸é å° å¹´, é ½å¯¹è¯ ä¼°é¡¹ç ®ç å 容æ 度å å ¯ç è§£æ §ä½ å ºè ¯å¥½è¯ å ã ä¸ å¦ å 设, å® å ¨ç¬¦å PCBDæ  å , æ 符å æ  å B (å¦ å¯¹æ­»è å /æ å ¶æ­»äº¡æ å µé ¿æ æ 忧) ã æ æ  å C (å¦ å åº æ §æ ²ç å /æ 社交/身份认å å æ °) ç é å° å¹´, æ¯ ä¸ ç¬¦ç é å° å¹´æ è¾ é« æ°´å¹³ç å 伤å å å å æ é ç ç ¶(ηp2 = .07 è ³ .16)ã 符å æ  å Cç é å° å¹´æ¯ ä¸ ç¬¦ç é å° å¹´æ è¾ é« æ°´å¹³ç å è ½å æ (ηp2 = .08 è ³ .12)ã 符å æ ã å ä¼¤æ §å æ ¸ç ¹å¾ ã ç é å° å¹´, æ¯ ä¸ ç¬¦ç é å° å¹´æ è¾ é¢ ç¹ ç å 伤å å å ç ç ¶(ηp2 = .04)ã ç» æ è¯ æ ç ¨ä»¥è¯ ä¼°å æ ¸é å° å¹´ç ã PCBDæ£ æ ¥è¡¨ã æ æ± è æ 度ã å ¤å «æ 度ã ç» å «å ¤å «æ 度, 亦æ å å± é å æ §å ä¸´åº æ ç ¨ãPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143677/1/jts22277.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143677/2/jts22277_am.pd

“I don't mean to be rude, but could you put a mask on while I'm here?” A qualitative study of risks experienced by domiciliary care workers in Wales during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Domiciliary care workers (DCWs) continued to provide care to adults in their own homes throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic. The evidence of the impact of COVID‐19 on health outcomes of DCWs is currently mixed. The OSCAR study will quantify the impact of COVID‐19 upon health outcomes of DCWs in Wales, explore causes of variation and extrapolate to the rest of the UK DCW population. An embedded qualitative study aimed to explore DCW experiences during the pandemic, including factors that may have varied risk of exposure to COVID‐19 and adverse health and wellbeing outcomes. Registered DCWs working throughout Wales were invited to participate in a semi‐structured telephone interview. 24 DCWs were interviewed between February and July 2021. Themes were identified through inductive analysis using thematic coding. Several themes emerged relating to risk of exposure to COVID‐19. First, general changes to the role of the DCW during the pandemic were identified. Second, practical challenges for DCWs in the workplace were reported, including staff shortages, clients and families not following safety procedures, initial shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), DCW criticism of standard use PPE, client difficulty with PPE and management of rapid antigen testing. Third, lack of government/employer preparation for a pandemic was described, including the reorganisation of staff clients and services, inadequate or confusing information for many DCWs, COVID‐19 training and the need for improved practical instruction and limited official standard risk assessments for DCWs. Pressure to attend work and perceptions of COVID‐19 risk and vaccination was also reported. In summary, this paper describes the risk factors associated with working during the pandemic. We have mapped recommendations for each problem using these qualitative findings including tailored training and better support for isolated team members and identified the required changes at several socio‐ecological levels

Establishing the impact of COVID-19 on the health outcomes of domiciliary care workers in Wales using routine data: a protocol for the OSCAR study

Introduction Domiciliary care workers (DCWs) continued providing social care to adults in their own homes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on health outcomes of DCWs is currently mixed, probably reflecting methodological limitations of existing studies. The risk of COVID-19 to workers providing care in people's homes remains unknown. Objectives To quantify the impact of COVID-19 upon health outcomes of DCWs in Wales, to explore causes of variation, and to extrapolate to the rest of the UK DCW population. Methods Mixed methods design comprising cohort study of DCWs and exploratory qualitative interviews. Data for all registered DCWs in Wales is available via the SAIL Databank using a secured, privacy-protecting encrypted anonymisation process. Occupational registration data for DCWs working during the pandemic will be combined with EHR outcome data within the SAIL Databank including clinical codes that identify suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. We will report rates of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 infections and key health outcomes including mortality and explore variation (by factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation quintile, rurality, employer, comorbidities) using regression modelling, adjusting for clustering of outcome within Health Board, region and employer. A maximum variation sample of Welsh DCWs will be approached for qualitative interview using a strategy to include participants that vary across factors such as sex, age, ethnicity and employer. The interviews will inform the quantitative analysis modelling. We will generalise the quantitative findings to other UK nations. Discussion Using anonymised linked occupational and EHR data and qualitative interviews, the OSCAR study will quantify the risk of COVID-19 on DCWs' health and explore sources of variation. This will provide a secure base for informing public health policy and occupational guidance

Discovery and Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect of Exoplanet Kepler-8b

We report the discovery and the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of Kepler-8b, a transiting planet identified by the NASA Kepler Mission. Kepler photometry and Keck-HIRES radial velocities yield the radius and mass of the planet around this F8IV subgiant host star. The planet has a radius RP = 1.419 RJ and a mass, MP = 0.60 MJ, yielding a density of 0.26 g cm^-3, among the lowest density planets known. The orbital period is P = 3.523 days and orbital semima jor axis is 0.0483+0.0006/-0.0012 AU. The star has a large rotational v sin i of 10.5 +/- 0.7 km s^-1 and is relatively faint (V = 13.89 mag), both properties deleterious to precise Doppler measurements. The velocities are indeed noisy, with scatter of 30 m s^-1, but exhibit a period and phase consistent with the planet implied by the photometry. We securely detect the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, confirming the planet's existence and establishing its orbit as prograde. We measure an inclination between the projected planetary orbital axis and the projected stellar rotation axis of lambda = -26.9 +/- 4.6 deg, indicating a moderate inclination of the planetary orbit. Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements of a large sample of transiting planets from Kepler will provide a statistically robust measure of the true distribution of spin-orbit orientations for hot jupiters in general.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; In preparation for submission to the Astrophysical Journa