Poverty, Opportunity, and Well-Being in the United States

Economic opportunity varies dramatically across the United States. In this study the Opportunity to Flourish Index (OFI) is created to determine the level of opportunity United States cities afford those at the bottom of the income distribution. Indicators within the index measure disposable income, access to financial services, diet, educational attainment, unemployment, physical well-being, and family structure. The OFI’s relationship with standard measures of economic growth and economic mobility is also evaluated. The OFI is not correlated with measures of income and population growth, suggesting, that in the short-run growth and opportunity are not necessarily complementary. The OFI is strongly correlated with intergenerational economic mobility. Individuals that live in cities which have higher levels of opportunity are more likely to have children that move up the income distribution. The OFI provides stakeholders in poverty alleviation a means to evaluate and promote equality of opportunity in United States cities

Flight tests of IFR landing approach systems for helicopters

Joint NASA/FAA helicopter flight tests were conducted to investigate airborne radar approaches (ARA) and microwave landing system (MLS) approaches. Flight-test results were utilized to prove NASA with a data base to be used as a performance measure for advanced guidance and navigation concepts, and to provide FAA with data for establishment of TERPS criteria. The first flight-test investigation consisted of helicopter IFR approaches to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, using weather/mapping radar, operational pilots, and a Bell 212 helicopter. The second flight-test investigation consisted of IFR MLS approaches at Crows Landing (near Ames Research Center), with a Bell UH-1H helicopter, using NASA, FAA, and operational industry pilots. Tests are described and results discussed

Laser scabbling of mortars

Laser scabbling of concrete is the process by which the surface layer of concrete may be removed through the use of a low power density laser beam. Previous research has suggested that the driving force responsible for laser scabbling is developed within the mortar. The aim of this investigation was to establish the key parameters that influence laser scabbling of mortars. The results show that the removal of free water from mortars prohibits scabbling, but resaturation allows mortar to scabble. A reduced permeability, either due to a reduction in the water/binder ratio or the use of 25% PFA replacement, enhances the scabbling. A higher fine aggregate content increases volume removal and fragment sizes during laser scabbling

Supplementary feeding increases nestling feather corticosterone early in the breeding season in house sparrows

Several studies on birds have proposed that a lack of invertebrate prey in urbanized areas could be the main cause for generally lower levels of breeding success compared to rural habitats. Previous work on house sparrows Passer domesticus found that supplemental feeding in urbanized areas increased breeding success but did not contribute to population growth. Here, we hypothesize that supplementary feeding allows house sparrows to achieve higher breeding success but at the cost of lower nestling quality. As abundant food supplies may permit both high-and low-quality nestlings to survive, we also predict that within-brood variation in proxies of nestling quality would be larger for supplemental food broods than for unfed broods. As proxies of nestling quality, we considered feather corticosterone (CORTf), body condition (scaled mass index, SMI), and tarsus-based fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Our hypothesis was only partially supported as we did not find an overall effect of food supplementation on FA or SMI. Rather, food supplementation affected nestling phenotype only early in the breeding season in terms of elevated CORTf levels and a tendency for more variable within-brood CORTf and FA. Early food supplemented nests therefore seemed to include at least some nestlings that faced increased stressors during development, possibly due to harsher environmental (e.g., related to food and temperature) conditions early in the breeding season that would increase sibling competition, especially in larger broods. The fact that CORTf was positively, rather than inversely, related to nestling SMI further suggests that factors influencing CORTf and SMI are likely operating over different periods or, alternatively, that nestlings in good nutritional condition also invest in high-quality feathers

Decreased Cognitive/CNS Function in Young Adults at Risk for Hypertension: Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Hypertension has been linked to impaired cognitive/CNS function, and some of these changes may precede development of frank essential hypertension. The stress and fatigue of sleep deprivation may exacerbate these cognitive changes in young adults at risk. We hypothesize that individuals at risk for hypertension will show significant declines in cognitive function during a night of sleep deprivation. Fifty-one young adults were recruited for 28-hour total sleep deprivation studies. Hypertension risk was assessed by mildly elevated resting blood pressure and by family history of hypertension. A series of cognitive memory tasks was given at four test sessions across the sleep deprivation period. Although initially comparable in cognitive performance, persons at risk showed larger declines across the night for several indices of working memory, including code substitution, category, and order recall. These results suggest that cognitive/CNS changes may parallel or precede blood pressure dysregulation in the early stages of hypertension development. The role of CNS changes in the etiology of essential hypertension is discussed

Paper Session II-A - Space Station Freedom Accommodation of the Human Exploration Initiative

In his July 20th speech commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing, President Bush proposed ...a sustained program of manned exploration of the solar system...and the permanent settlement of space. The President\u27s plan for the future of America\u27s manned space program calls for Space Station Freedom to be operational in the 1990\u27s followed by a return to the Moon for the new century, this time to stay , and then a manned mission to Mars. Space Station Freedom is a fundamental part of this long-range, evolutionary, human exploration initiative. It will support continuous human presence in Earth orbit for the purposes of scientific research and the development of technologies critical to the exploration missions. In addition to serving as a research and development facility in space, Freedom will be used as a spaceport or transportation node to support the assembly, servicing and checkout of space transfer vehicles which will ferry crew and cargo to the lunar surface and on to Mars. A study conducted by NASA during the Autumn of 1989 identified exploration accommodation requirements for the Space Station and formulated plans to implement mission-supporting capabilities. It was determined that the initial Space Station Freedom configuration (termed Assembly Complete) must be augmented to provide additional resources and capabilities. Increases will be required to Freedom crew, power, pressurized volume and truss structure. New capabilities will be required such as spacecraft assembly and servicing. A significant conclusion of the 90-day NASA study was that Space Station is capable of accommodating the necessary additions due to the evolutionary nature of the design

Needs analysis report following the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham

It has been an immense honour to listen to the experiences of the people of Rotherham. The project team received a warm welcome and felt humbled at the extraordinary courage of victims, survivors and their families. We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part in the study. The knowledge and opinions shared by our participants are the foundation of this report. No-one wants to think about what child sexual abuse and exploitation really means. Recognising that children have been humiliated, raped and tortured is extremely distressing. As such, it is no surprise that many felt anger and rage when they understood that those with authority failed to protect vulnerable children and young people. There is a need to face the awful reality that child sexual abuse has always happened. However, in the age of the internet, the number of children at risk of sexual abuse has increased. Those who sexually abuse children are mostly, but not always, men. Not discounting the vast number of boys who have suffered abuse, most of the known victims of sexual abuse are girls. Both victims and perpetrators come from every walk of life. The threat is such that we all have a responsibility to consider what we can do to protect every child in our family and communities. The public criticism of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) and South Yorkshire Police, following Professor Jay’s report was right and inevitable. Positively, there have been several examples of how RMBC and South Yorkshire Police have responded to criticism and improved the way they respond to victims and survivors. However, there have also been negative consequences of public scrutiny, with many people in the study reporting that they want to regain pride in their hometown. Those who took part in this study did not shy away from exploring the difficulties they face. Naturally, participants continue to talk about issues of trust, as past mistakes created a sense of vulnerability. However, there is also evidence that healing is taking place. Many participants made suggestions of how they and RMBC could and should collaborate to strengthen, individuals, families and their communities Indeed, there is a determination to meet current and future needs with a sense of collective rigour. Some of these tasks involve developing internal structures, such as communication and the provision of appropriate resources. Rotherham, like many other towns and cities in Britain, is also faced with external threats which can exacerbate internal challenges. An example of this is how recognition of the involvement of some men of Asian Pakistani heritage, in the abuse of children in Rotherham, led some political groups to capitalise on fears. However, it is clear that children are best protected in resilient families and communities. Thankfully, Rotherham and its people continue to demonstrate resilience. In addition, there is also a strong sense of realism, no-one in Rotherham expects perfection, but they do expect to do everything possible to protect children and young people. One woman made the distinction between surviving and thriving: “…I don’t want to survive, I want to thrive…” We hope this report contributes to that aim and welcome your views on the findings from data collected between April and June 2015. We recognise that the data is reflective of views expressed at that time and that RMBC and the people of Rotherham, have continued to respond to needs throughout the course of this analysis process

Quantum-mechanical calculation of Stark widths of Ne VII n=3, Δn=0\Delta n=0 transitions

The Stark widths of the Ne VII 2s3s-2s3p singlet and triplet lines are calculated in the impact approximation using quantum-mechanical Convergent Close-Coupling and Coulomb-Born-Exchange approximations. It is shown that the contribution from inelastic collisions to the line widths exceeds the elastic width contribution by about an order of magnitude. Comparison with the line widths measured in a hot dense plasma of a gas-liner pinch indicates a significant difference which may be naturally explained by non-thermal Doppler effects from persistent implosion velocities or turbulence developed during the pinch implosion. Contributions to the line width from different partial waves and types of interactions are discussed as well.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; accepted by Phys. Rev.

Chemotherapy for advanced breast cancer: what influences oncologists' decision-making?

Chemotherapy is widely used in the management of patients with advanced breast cancer. However, a considerable proportion of patients experience toxic side effects without gaining benefit. This study aimed to elicit oncologists' views of the goals of chemotherapy for patients with advanced breast cancer and to elicit which factors are important in decisions to recommend chemotherapy to such patients. 30 oncologists underwent a semi-structured interview to examine their views of 5 goals of chemotherapy and of various disease, treatment and patient-related factors that might influence decisions to offer treatment. The clinicians also made decisions regarding treatment in relation to a hypothetical patient scenario under varying clinical conditions. Relief of symptoms and improvement of activity were rated as the most valuable and achievable goals of treatment. The patient's performance status, frailty and their wishes regarding treatment were the most important patient-related factors in determining decision-making. The most important disease/treatment-related factors were pace of the disease, previous poor response to chemotherapy, co-existing symptoms and concurrent medical conditions. The hypothetical scenario revealed that co-existing medical conditions, adverse previous response, increased age and depression would decrease the likelihood of recommending chemotherapy, whereas key symptoms (e.g. breathlessness) and the patient's goals would increase the likelihood. The findings suggest that British oncologists primarily aim to improve patients' physical function, although subjective factors, such as a patient's desire for anti-cancer treatment and their future goals, also influence decisions to offer treatment. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Pamela: development of the RF system for a non-relativistic non-scaling FFAG

The PAMELA project(Particle Accelerator For MEdical Applications) currently consists of the design of a particle therapy facility. The project, which is in the design phase, contains Non-Scaling FFAG, particle accelerator capable of rapid beam acceleration, giving a pulse repetition rate of 1kHz, far beyond that of a conventional synchrotron. To realise the repetition rate, a key component of the accelerator is the rf accelerating system. The combination of a high energy gain per turn and a high repetition rate is a significant challenge. In this paper, options for the rf system of the proton ring and the status of development are presented