The role of dwelling type when estimating the effect of magnetic fields on childhood leukemia in the California Power Line Study (CAPS).

PurposeThe type of dwelling where a child lives is an important factor when considering residential exposure to environmental agents. In this paper, we explore its role when estimating the potential effects of magnetic fields (MF) on leukemia using data from the California Power Line Study (CAPS). In this context, dwelling type could be a risk factor, a proxy for other risk factors, a cause of MF exposure, a confounder, an effect-measure modifier, or some combination.MethodsWe obtained information on type of dwelling at birth on over 2,000 subjects. Using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, we assessed whether dwelling type was a risk factor for childhood leukemia, which covariates and MF exposures were associated with dwelling type, and whether dwelling type was a potential confounder or an effect-measure modifier in the MF-leukemia relationship under the assumption of no-uncontrolled confounding.ResultsA majority of children lived in single-family homes or duplexes (70%). Dwelling type was associated with race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status but not with childhood leukemia risk, after other adjustments, and did not alter the MF-leukemia relationship upon adjustment as a potential confounder. Stratification revealed potential effect-measure modification by dwelling type on the multiplicative scale.ConclusionDwelling type does not appear to play a significant role in the MF-leukemia relationship in the CAPS dataset as a leukemia risk factor or confounder. Future research should explore the role of dwelling as an effect-measure modifier of the MF-leukemia association

Earthsongs: ecopoetics, Heidegger and dwelling

This paper discusses the notion of ecopoetics in relation to the work of Martin Heidegger and his concept of dwelling. Our aim, broadly stated, is to respond to the question: "What frame of mind could bring about sustainability - and how might we develop it?" In the first part of the paper, we comment on Jonathan Bate's notion of ecopoetics and his discussion of Heidegger. Crucial here is the question of whether we can ever approach Nature in an non-ideological way or are all attempts to capture Nature, theoretically or poetically or narratively, nothing more than our own peculiar appropriation of it? Ecopoetics might be conceived as a response to this question, although we dispute Bate's view. In the second part of the paper, following Micheal Haar's perceptive reading, we elaborate the four senses that Heidegger gives to Nature, and in the third section, we make some concluding comments about the notion of sustainability that might be explicated in relation to Heidegger's four senses of Nature

Are YOU Registered? An Analysis of Buffalo\u27s Rental Registry Code

Buffalo’s Dwelling Unit Registration code was passed in 2004 and became effective in 2005. The City of Buffalo had previously enacted a Multiple Dwelling Unit Registration law, which required owners of multiple dwelling units (three or more units) to register their property and obtain a certificate of occupancy, but the City did not have any required registration for single and double residential dwellings. The purpose of the Rental Registry code is to create a database that lists single and double residential dwelling owners’ contact information for future problems. Owners of single and double residential dwelling units pay annual registration fees. The data is collected through a report in the city’s computer system with the ability to cross-reference properties and owners to see which properties are registered. The Rental Registry code is designed to be a tool for legislators to enforce registration. Like many pieces of legislation it is not always strictly enforced. The courts are permitted to use the Rental Registry code to impose fines, but have not done so consistently

Health-related quality of life in Brazilian community-dwelling and institutionalized elderly: Comparison between genders

Objective: To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQL) indicators between institutionalized and community-dwelling elderly men and women. Method: This was a cross-sectional study with a sample of 496 elderly men and women, surveyed by researchers at a private hospital that attends institutionalized and community-dwelling elderly. HRQL (World Health Organization Quality of Life), daily living activities (Katz questionnaire), and instrumental daily living activities (Lawton questionnaire), mini-mental state examination, handgrip strength test, and function capacity (timed up and go test) were obtained. Results: Institutionalized men presented higher scores in physical and psychological domains of HRQL compared to elderly men living alone (p<0.05). Among women, the scores in all domains (physical, psychological, relationship, and environment) were similar between institutionalized and community-dwelling individuals. Conclusion: Institutionalized elderly men reported better scores in physical and psychological domains of HRQL compared to their community-dwelling pairs, while both institutionalized and community-dwelling elderly women presented similar HRQL

WHO CHOOSES TO OWN A MANUFACTURED HOME ?

Little research has been conducted on the choice of dwelling by U.S. homeowners. Few studies have included manufactured housing into the dwelling choices available to homeowners. This study focuses on the effects of demographic and socioeconomic variables on a household’s choice to own a manufactured home. A multinomial logit model was used to determine what type of households chooses to own a manufactured home when other traditional dwelling choices are available. I found that income and education play a major role in dwelling choice.Manufactured Housing; Housing Choice; Dwelling Choice, Multinomial Logit

Becoming-interior : toward a nondual philosophy of design for dwelling-in-the-world : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design at Massey University

Martin Heidegger suggests that dwelling is an act of inhabitation, which engenders a becoming-interior of the world. The site of this dwelling is not confined to architecture, but occurs in the space between earth and sky: the world. This work seeks to investigate the implications of this claim on the role of interior design. It proposes that, in order to formulate an approach to design that aims to facilitate a Heideggerian dwelling, the binary oppositions of inside and outside, nature and culture, self and world, must be re-examined. The connections between architectural minimalism and Eastern aesthetics that are hinted at in contemporary New Zealand lifestyle magazines such as urbis provide a gateway to an investigation of dwelling-design that moves beyond the conflicts of a world divided by Cartesian dualism. The space between East and West operates as the field of inquiry within which this work locates a comparative study of nondual philosophies pertaining to dwelling as an interrelation of self and world. Nondual concepts found in the writings of Elizabeth Grosz, and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, are subjected to a reading that suggests links with such Eastern philosophical concepts as ma (the space of the in-between), yin and yang as an analogy of correlativity and becoming-other, and dao and de (field and focus) as a conceptual model for the interrelation of the natural world and the self. Through the generation of a nondual core philosophy, the work suggests that the "nothingness" of minimalism may be reconceptualised as a betweenness, with the potential to act as an intermediary space between the inhabitant and nature. The nature of this mediation as the stimulation of resonance is explored in relation to the depiction of the natural world in art, and subsequently applied to the architectural threshold. Architecture is posited as an instrument of facilitation - the means by which the potential for dwelling may be manifested in a becoming-interior of the world

Thermostat settings in English houses No evidence of change between 1984 and 2007

Rising demand temperatures are widely blamed for UK home energy use not declining over time despite the increased efficiency of dwelling envelopes and heating technologies The hypothesis that thermostat settings have risen over time is tested using a repeated cross-sectional social survey of owners of centrally heated English houses No statistical evidence for changes in reported thermostat settings between 1984 and 2007 is foundWhy then has home energy use not declined over time despite homes apparently becoming more efficient? There is evidence that the energy efficiency of homes has not improved as much as previously assumed Improvements in dwelling energy efficiency and increased penetration of central heating would have increased internal temperatures without occupants demanding higher temperatures Dwelling area heated or duration of heating or window opening during the heating season may have increased over time increasing temperatures or energy us

Sustainable construction for the future - the role of government in energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings

This paper will summarise the findings from a study that explored the link between dwelling design, or type, and energy efficiencies in sub-tropical climates. An increasing number of government and private sector development companies are initiating projects that aim to deliver enhanced environmental outcomes at both sub-divisional and dwelling levels. The study used AccuRate, a new thermal modelling tool developed by CSIRO that responds to the need to improve ventilation modelling. The study found that dwellings developed in conjunction with the Departments of Housing and Public Works have set the benchmark. It provides a snapshot of the energy efficiency of a range of dwelling types found in recent subdivisions. However, the trend toward increasing urban densities may reduce the likelihood that cooling breezes will be available to cool dwellings. The findings are relevant to regulators, designers and industry in all states interested in reducing the energy used to cool dwellings in summer

The Use of the Get Up and Go Test as the Initial Screening Measure for Fall Risk With Community Dwelling Seniors

Falls represent a sizeable public health issue that has serious health-related consequences for both the individual and the medical system at large. Falls are one of the most common events that threaten the independence of older persons with one third of falls occurring in persons over the age of 65 and over 50% in persons over the age of 80 years (2). During an office appointment, senior adults are screened routinely for blood pressure, weight, medication adherence and lab result follow-up. One assessment that is commonly overlooked is evaluating seniors for fall risk. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of the Get Up and Go test (GUGT) as a routine screening measure for community dwelling seniors. The research questions addressed were: 1) Is self-reported fall history related to GUGT scores in community dwelling seniors? 2) Is age related to the GUGT scores for a sample of community-dwelling seniors?; and 3) Is age related to self-reported fall history for a sample of community-dwelling seniors? Recruitment of community-dwelling seniors occurred during a 3-month period at a primary care office setting in the urban San Francisco Bay area. A convenience sample of community-dwelling seniors (N=39) were recruited to participate in the study. All participants were age 65 or older, did not have a history of cognitive or neurological deficits, and were able to ambulate without the use of an assistive device such as a cane, walker or wheelchair. Participants reported fall occurrences for the last 12 months and performed the GUGT. This study did not find statistical relevance between GUGT pass or fail status and fall history. Two groups of participants are of particular interest. Nine participants with a positive fall history were able to pass the GUGT and 8 seniors who reported no fall history failed the GUGT. Consistent with previous studies (12), one fall does not necessarily signify musculoskeletal or neurological deficits and is usually related to environmental hazards. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that a single fall report is a poor predictor of fall risk and that the number of reported falls by patients is not a reliable number due to the patient under-estimating or under-reporting fall occurrences. These findings suggest that fall history may not be a sensitive measure capable of identifying all at risk seniors. Thus if only fall history is used to identify risk, then some at risk community-dwelling seniors will not be identified while others may be identified by fall history but do not exhibit mobility deficits. The relative ease in which the GUGT was performed, with minimum cost, strengthens the position that the GUGT should be performed as part of an annual examination for patients who are over the age of 65. The GUGT results can then become the sixth vital sign for patients over the age of 65 with the initial GUGT result establishing baseline results for future patient fall risk evaluation. Given this evidence, it can be concluded that at the very least, both fall history and the GUGT test should be performed annually on community-dwelling seniors over the age of 65