Average household income, crime, and smoking behaviour in a local area: The Finnish 10-Town study

Social environments, like neighbourhoods, are increasingly recognised as determinants of health. While several studies have reported an association of low neighbourhood socio-economic status with morbidity, mortality and health risk behaviour, little is known of the health effects of neighbourhood crime rates. Using the ongoing 10-Town study in Finland, we examined the relations of average household income and crime rate measured at the local area level, with smoking status and intensity by linking census data of local area characteristics from 181 postal zip codes to survey responses to smoking behaviour in a cohort of 23,008 municipal employees. Gender-stratified multilevel analyses adjusted for age and individual occupational status revealed an association between low local area income rate and current smoking. High local area crime rate was also associated with current smoking. Both local area characteristics were strongly associated with smoking intensity. Among ever-smokers, being an ex-smoker was less likely among residents in areas with low average household income and a high crime rate. In the fully adjusted model, the association between local area income and smoking behaviour among women was substantially explained by the area-level crime rate. This study extends our knowledge of potential pathways through which social environmental factors may affect health. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Portfolio of Compositions investigating ensemble improvisation, distributed and real-time scoring, and multi-nodal input and output

This output is a collection of compositions which explore issues of ensemble improvisation, ensemble management and orchestration, real-time and distributed scoring, multi-nodal inputs and outputs, and animated and graphic notation. Compositions include: Activities I; tutti, duet, trio, solo, quartet; Lewitt Notations I; Webwork I; and Sometimes I feel the space between people (voices) in terms of tempos. These compositions are presented in computer animated scores which are synchronized through the network and subject to real-time modification and control. They can be performed by ensembles distributed over large physical spaces connected by the network. The scores for these compositions include software which displays the animations to the performers, software to structure and disseminate score events, and triggering software that allows the control of a performance to be distributed. Scores can also include live electronics which are coordinated with graphic events.

Energy levels, wavefunction compositions and electric dipole transitions in neutral Ca

A configuration-interaction approach, based on the use of B-spline basis sets combined with a model potential including monoelectronic and dielectronic core polarization effects, is employed to calculate term energies and wavefunctions for neutral Ca. Results are reported for singlet and triplet bound states, and some quasi-bound states above the lowest ionization limit, with angular momentum up to L = 4. Comparison with experiment and with other theoretical results shows that this method yields the most accurate energy values for neutral Ca obtained to date. Wavefunction compositions, necessary for labelling the levels, and the effects of semi-empirical polarization potentials on the wavefunctions are discussed, as are some recent identifications of doubly-excited states. It is shown that taking into account dielectronic core polarization changes the energies of the lowest terms in Ca significantly, in general by a few hundred cm(-1), the effect decreasing rapidly for the higher bound states. For Rydberg states with n approximate to 7 the accuracy of the results is often better than a few cm(-1). For series members (or perturbers) with a pronounced 3d character the error can reach 150 cm(-1). The wavefunctions are used to calculate oscillator strengths and lifetimes for a number of terms and these are compared with existing measurements. The agreement is good but points to a need for improved measurements.

Late Quaternary tephrostratigraphy, Ahklun Mountains, SW Alaska

Radiocarbon-dated sediment cores from six lakes in the Ahklun Mountains, south-western Alaska, were used to interpolate the ages of late Quaternary tephra beds ranging in age from 25.4 to 0.4ka. The lakes are located downwind of the Aleutian Arc and Alaska Peninsula volcanoes in the northern Bristol Bay area between 159° and 161°W at around 60°N. Sedimentation-rate age models for each lake were based on a published spline-fit procedure that uses Monte Carlo simulation to determine age model uncertainty. In all, 62 C ages were used to construct the six age models, including 23 ages presented here for the first time. The age model from Lone Spruce Pond is based on 18 ages, and is currently the best-resolved Holocene age model available from the region, with an average 2s age uncertainty of about±109 years over the past 14.5ka. The sedimentary sequence from Lone Spruce Pond contains seven tephra beds, more than previously found in any other lake in the area. Of the 26 radiocarbon-dated tephra beds at the six lakes and from a soil pit, seven are correlated between two or more sites based on their ages. The major-element geochemistry of glass shards from most of these tephra beds supports the age-based correlations. The remaining tephra beds appear to be present at only one site based on their unique geochemistry or age. The 5.8ka tephra is similar to the widespread Aniakchak tephra [3.7±0.2 (1s) ka], but can be distinguished conclusively based on its trace-element geochemistry. The 3.1 and 0.4ka tephras have glass major- and trace-element geochemical compositions indistinguishable from prominent Aniakchak tephra, and might represent redeposited beds. Only two tephra beds are found in all lakes: the Aniakchak tephra (3.7±0.2ka) and Tephra B (6.1±0.3ka). The tephra beds can be used as chronostratigraphic markers for other sedimentary sequences in the region, including cores from Cascade and Sunday lakes, which were previously undated and were analyzed in this study to correlate with the new regional tephrostratigraphy. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Field and Laboratory Tests of Flow-Proportional Passive Samplers for Determining Average Phosphorus and Nitrogen Concentration in Rivers

Flow responsive passive samplers offer considerable potential in nutrient monitoring in catchments; bridging the gap between the intermittency of grab sampling and the high cost of automated monitoring systems. A commercially available passive sampler was evaluated in a number of river systems encapsulating a gradient in storm response, combinations of diffuse and point source pressures, and levels of phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations. Phosphorus and nitrogen are sequestered to a resin matrix in a permeable cartridge positioned in line with streamflow. A salt tracer dissolves in proportion to advective flow through the cartridge. Multiple deployments of different cartridge types were undertaken and the recovery of P and N compared with the flow-weighted mean concentration (FWMC) from high-resolution bank-side analysers at each site. Results from the passive samplers were variable and largely underestimated the FWMC derived from the bank-side analysers. Laboratory tests using ambient river samples indicated good replication of advective throughflow using pumped water, although this appeared not to be a good analogue of river conditions where flow divergence was possible. Laboratory tests also showed good nutrient retention but not elution and these issues appeared to combine to limit the utility in ambient river systems at the small catchment scale.

On the required shape corrections to the local density and generalized gradient approximations to the Kohn-Sham potentials for molecular response calculations of (hyper)polarizabilities and excitation energies

It is well known that shape corrections have to be applied to the local-density (LDA) and generalized gradient (GGA) approximations to the Kohn-Sham exchange-correlation potential in order to obtain reliable response properties in time dependent density functional theory calculations. Here we demonstrate that it is an oversimplified view that these shape corrections concern primarily the asymptotic part of the potential, and that they affect only Rydberg type transitions. The performance is assessed of two shape-corrected Kohn-Sham potentials, the gradient-regulated asymptotic connection procedure applied to the Becke-Perdew potential (BP-GRAC) and the statistical averaging of (model) orbital potentials (SAOP), versus LDA and GGA potentials, in molecular response calculations of the static average polarizability alpha, the Cauchy coefficient S-4, and the static average hyperpolarizability beta. The nature of the distortions of the LDA/GGA potentials is highlighted and it is shown that they introduce many spurious excited states at too low energy which may mix with valence excited states, resulting in wrong excited state compositions. They also lead to wrong oscillator strengths and thus to a wrong spectral structure of properties like the polarizability. LDA, Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr (BLYP), and Becke-Perdew (BP) characteristically underestimate contributions to alpha and S-4 from bound Rydberg-type states and overestimate those from the continuum. Cancellation of the errors in these contributions occasionally produces fortuitously good results. The distortions of the LDA, BLYP, and BP spectra are related to the deficiencies of the LDA/GGA potentials in both the bulk and outer molecular regions. In contrast, both SAOP and BP-GRAC potentials produce high quality polarizabilities for 21 molecules and also reliable Cauchy moments and hyperpolarizabilities for the selected molecules. The analysis for the N-2 molecule shows, that both SAOP and BP-GRAC yield reliable energies omega(i) and oscillator strengths f(i) of individual excitations, so that they reproduce well the spectral structure of alpha and S-4.(C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Pattern of learning disabilities in children with extremely low birth weight and broadly average intelligence

To examine the prevalence and pattern of specific areas of learning disability (LD) in neurologically normal children with extremely low birth weight (ELBW) (<or = 800 g) who have broadly average intelligence compared with full-term children with normal birth weight of comparable sociodemographic background, and to explore concurrent cognitive correlates of the specific LDs.

Trading Energy ETFs with an Improved Moving Average Strategy

In this paper we employ the recently introduced improved moving average methodology of Papailias and Thomakos (2011) and we apply it in two energy ETFs. We compare it to the standard moving average methodology and the buy and hold strategy. Investors who are interested in energy-related sectors and trade using averages, could benefit by forming their strategies based on this improved moving average methodology as it returns higher profits accompanied by decreased risk (measured in terms of drawdown).

Synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic star copolymers of 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate and methyl methacrylate: Effects of architecture and composition

Six amphiphilic star copolymers comprising hydrophilic units of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and hydrophobic units of methyl methacrylate (MMA) were prepared by the sequential group transfer polymerization (GTP) of the two comonomers and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) cross-linker. Four star-block copolymers of different compositions, one miktoarm star, and one statistical copolymer star were synthesized. The molecular weights (MWs) and MW distributions of all the star copolymers and their linear homopolymer and copolymer precursors were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), while the compositions of the stars were determined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1 NMR) spectroscopy. Tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions of all the star copolymers were characterized by static light scattering to determine the absolute weight-average MW ((M) over bar (w)) and the number of arms of the stars. The R, of the stars ranged between 359,000 and 565,000 g mol(-1), while their number of arms ranged between 39 and 120. The star copolymers were soluble in acidic water at pH 4 giving transparent or slightly opaque solutions, with the exception of the very hydrophobic DMAEMA(10)-b-MMA(30)-star, which gave a very opaque solution. Only the random copolymer star was completely dispersed in neutral water, giving a very opaque solution. The effective pKs of the copolymer stars were determined by hydrogen ion titration and were found to be in the range 6.5-7.6. The pHs of precipitation of the star copolymer solutions/dispersions were found to be between 8.8-10.1, except for the most hydrophobic DMA-EMA(10)-b-MMA(30)-Star, which gave a very opaque solution over the whole pH range. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magma Evolution in the Primitive, Intra-oceanic Tonga Arc: Petrogenesis of Basaltic Andesites at Tofua Volcano

Tofua volcano is situated midway along the Tonga oceanic arc and has undergone two phases of ignimbrite-forming activity. The eruptive products are almost entirely basaltic andesites (52 center dot 5-57 wt % SiO2) with the exception of a volumetrically minor pre-caldera dacite. The suite displays a strong tholeiitic trend with K2O <1 wt %. Phenocryst assemblages typically comprise plagioclase + clinopyroxene +/- orthopyroxene with microlites of Ti-magnetite. Olivine (Fo(83-88)) is rare and believed to be dominantly antecrystic. An increase in the extent and frequency of reverse zoning in phenocrysts, sieve-textured plagioclase and the occurrence of antecrystic phases in post-caldera lavas record a shift to dynamic conditions, allowing the interaction of magma batches that were previously distinct. Pyroxene thermobarometry suggests crystallization at 950-1200 degrees C and 0 center dot 8-1 center dot 8 kbar. Volatile measurements of glassy melt inclusions indicate a maximum H2O content of 4 center dot 16 wt % H2O, and CO2-H2O saturation curves indicate that crystallization occurred at two levels, at depths of 4-5 center dot 5 km and 1 center dot 5-2 center dot 5 km. Major and trace element models suggest that the compositions of the majority of the samples represent a differentiation trend whereby the dacite was produced by 65% fractional crystallization of the most primitive basaltic andesite. Trace element models suggest that the sub-arc mantle source is the residuum of depleted Indian mid-ocean ridge basalt mantle (IDMM-1% melt), whereas radiogenic isotope data imply addition of 0 center dot 2% average Tongan sediment melt and a fluid component derived from the subducted altered Pacific oceanic crust. A horizontal array on the U-Th equiline diagram and Ra excesses of up to 500% suggest fluid addition to the mantle wedge within the last few thousand years. Time-integrated (Ra-226/Th-230) vs Sr/Th and Ba/Th fractionation models imply differentiation timescales of up to 4500 years for the dacitic magma compositions at Tofua.

Magma Evolution in the Primitive, Intra-oceanic Tonga Arc: Rapid Petrogenesis of Dacites at Fonualei Volcano

Fonualei is unusual amongst subaerial volcanoes in the Tonga arc because it has erupted dacitic vesicular lavas, tuffs and phreomagmatic deposits for the last 165 years. The total volume of dacite may approach 5 km(3) and overlies basal basaltic andesite and andesite lavas that are constrained to be less than a few millennia in age. All of the products are crystal-poor and formed from relatively low-viscosity magmas inferred to have had temperatures of 1100-1000 degrees C, 2-4 wt % H2O and oxygen fugacities 1-2 log units above the quartz-fayalite-magnetite buffer. Major and trace element data, along with Sr-Nd-Pb and U-Th-Ra isotope data, are used to assess competing models for the origin of the dacites. Positive correlations between Sc and Zr and Sr rule out evolution of the within-dacite compositional array by closed-system crystal fractionation of a single magma batch. An origin by partial melting of lower crustal amphibolites cannot reproduce these data trends or, arguably, any of the dacites either. Instead, we develop a model in which the dacites reflect mixing between two dacitic magmas, each the product of fractional crystallization of basaltic andesite magmas formed by different degrees of partial melting. Mixing was efficient because the two magmas had similar temperatures and viscosities. This is inferred to have occurred at shallow (2-6 km) depths beneath the volcano. U-Th-Ra disequilibria in the basaltic andesite and andesite indicate that the parental magmas had fluids added to their mantle source regions less than 8 kyr ago and that fractionation to the dacitic compositions took less than a few millennia. The 165 year eruption period for the dacites implies that mixing occurred on a similar timescale, possibly during ascent in conduits. The composition of the dacites renders them unsuitable candidates as contributors to average continental crust.