Visualising urban gentrification and displacement in Greater London

Gentrification has long been a contentious issue which has prompted debate among scholars due to variations in its location, timing, context and types of measurements used. Therefore, it is worth seeking a simple and effective approach to measure the processes of gentrification, which enables comparative studies to be conducted across different cities around the world. Using six sets of thematic data from 2001 and 2011 at the neighbourhood level, this study proposes five types of gentrification and displacement by using Chapple and Zuk’s theoretical framework. London was selected as a case study. The results show that gentrification was sweeping in many ways during the 2000s in London, particularly in Inner East London. Some areas in North West London are identified as vulnerable neighbourhoods at risk of displacement and gentrification. Furthermore, it was found that most of the neighbourhoods experiencing ongoing displacement are concentrated in Outer London and Inner South London. The typology provides a useful starting point for planners and policymakers to gain deeper insights into the progress of gentrification in London. Additionally, this work can serve as an example to illustrate the potential for using similar types of open source code and census data to estimate the degree of gentrification in other cities

Nutrition support practices in critically ill head-injured patients: a global perspective

Background: Critical illness following head injury is associated with a hypermetabolic state but there are insufficient epidemiological data describing acute nutrition delivery to this group of patients. Furthermore, there is little information describing relationships between nutrition and clinical outcomes in this population. Methods: We undertook an analysis of observational data, collected prospectively as part of International Nutrition Surveys 2007-2013, and extracted data obtained from critically ill patients with head trauma. Our objective was to describe global nutrition support practices in the first 12 days of hospital admission after head trauma, and to explore relationships between energy and protein intake and clinical outcomes. Data are presented as mean (SD), median (IQR), or percentages. Results: Data for 1045 patients from 341 ICUs were analyzed. The age of patients was 44.5 (19.7) years, 78 % were male, and median ICU length of stay was 13.1 (IQR 7.9-21.6) days. Most patients (94 %) were enterally fed but received only 58 % of estimated energy and 53 % of estimated protein requirements. Patients from an ICU with a feeding protocol had greater energy and protein intakes (p <0.001, 0.002 respectively) and were more likely to survive (OR 0.65; 95 % CI 0.42-0.99; p = 0.043) than those without. Energy or protein intakes were not associated with mortality. However, a greater energy and protein deficit was associated with longer times until discharge alive from both ICU and hospital (all p <0.001). Conclusion: Nutritional deficits are commonplace in critically ill head-injured patients and these deficits are associated with a delay to discharge alive.Lee-anne S. Chapple, Marianne J. Chapman, Kylie Lange, Adam M. Deane and Daren K. Heylan

A scalable control system for a superconducting adiabatic quantum optimization processor

We have designed, fabricated and operated a scalable system for applying independently programmable time-independent, and limited time-dependent flux biases to control superconducting devices in an integrated circuit. Here we report on the operation of a system designed to supply 64 flux biases to devices in a circuit designed to be a unit cell for a superconducting adiabatic quantum optimization system. The system requires six digital address lines, two power lines, and a handful of global analog lines.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

Alternative job search strategies in remote rural and peri-urban labour markets: the role of social networks

This paper examines the importance of informal methods (especially social networking) to the job search strategies used by unemployed people. It compares three areas: a small rural town; a larger, more sparsely populated, remote rural area; and a centrally-located, peri-urban labour market. The analysis is based first on survey research undertaken with 490 job seekers across the study areas. Emerging issues were then followed up during a series of twelve focus groups. The survey research showed that job seekers in the rural study areas were significantly more likely to use social networks to look for work. However, those who had experienced repeated or long-term periods out of work, the unskilled and young people were significantly less likely to use such networks. Focus groups confirmed the perceived importance of social networking to the job search process in rural areas, in contrast to the more marginal role such methods appear to play in peri-urban settings. For many rural job seekers, formal job search activities conducted through Jobcentres were seen as largely symbolic, lacking the practical value of social networking. These results suggest that service providers seeking to assist unemployed people in rural areas need to address the problems faced by many disadvantaged job seekers who are currently caught between their lack of social network relations and the absence of local public employment service facilities in more remote communities

Unpacking the drivers of corporate social performance: a multilevel, multistakeholder, and multimethod analysis

The question of what drives corporate social performance (CSP) has become a vital concern for many managers and researchers of large corporations. This study addresses this question by adopting a multilevel, multistakeholder, and multimethod approach to theorize and estimate the relative influence of macro (national business system and country), meso (industry), and micro (firm-level) factors on CSP. Applying three different methods of variance decomposition analysis to an international sample of 2,060 large public companies over a time span of 5 years, our results show that firm-level factors explain the largest proportion of variance in aggregate CSP as well as CSP oriented toward communities, the natural environment, and employees. These results support our hypotheses according to which CSP is not primarily driven by macrolevel or meso level factors, except for shareholder-oriented CSP, which is relatively more influenced by country-level factors. As a whole, our findings also point to the value of subdividing CSP into its stakeholder-specific components as this disaggregation allows for a more careful examination of distinct drivers of distinct aspects of CSP

OnabotulinumtoxinA 100U provides significant improvements in overactive bladder symptoms in patients with urinary incontinence regardless of the number of anticholinergic therapies used or reason for inadequate management of overactive bladder

INTRODUCTION: A prespecified pooled analysis of two placebo-controlled, phase 3 trials evaluated whether the number of prior anticholinergics used or reason for their discontinuation affected the treatment response to onabotulinumtoxinA 100U in overactive bladder (OAB) patients with urinary incontinence (UI). METHODS: Patients with symptoms of OAB received intradetrusor injections of onabotulinumtoxinA 100U or placebo, sparing the trigone. Change from baseline at week 12 in UI episodes/day, proportion of patients reporting a positive response (‘greatly improved’ or ‘improved’) on the treatment benefit scale (TBS), micturition and urgency were evaluated by number of prior anticholinergics (1, 2 or ≥ 3) and reason for their discontinuation (insufficient efficacy or side effects). Adverse events (AE) were assessed. RESULTS: Patients had taken an average of 2.4 anticholinergics before study enrolment. OnabotulinumtoxinA reduced UI episodes/day from baseline vs. placebo, regardless of the number of prior anticholinergics (−2.82 vs. −1.52 for one prior anticholinergic; −2.58 vs. −0.58 for two prior anticholinergics; and −2.92 vs. −0.73 for three or more prior anticholinergics; all p < 0.001). The proportion of TBS responders was higher with onabotulinumtoxinA vs. placebo (69.0% vs. 37.2% for one prior anticholinergic; 58.8% vs. 24.8% for two prior anticholinergics and 56.4% vs. 22.5% for three or more prior anticholinergics; all p < 0.001). Similar results were observed regardless of the reason for discontinuation. OnabotulinumtoxinA reduced the episodes of urgency and frequency of micturition vs. placebo in all groups. AEs were well tolerated, with a comparable incidence in all groups. CONCLUSION: In patients with symptoms of OAB who were inadequately managed by one or more anticholinergics, onabotulinumtoxinA 100U provided significant and similar treatment benefit and safety profile regardless of the number of prior anticholinergics used or reason for inadequate management of OAB. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00910845, NCT00910520

Effects of Cryogenic Processing on Rapid Prototyping Materials (DSMSomos-8110 and DuraForm PA)

This research investigates the effects of cryogenic processing on the properties of rapid prototyped materials. Not much research has been done on the post-processing (aging) of rapid prototyped (RP) polymers at temperatures below 159K (–173˚F). Test specimens of RP thermoplastic resin DSM-Somos 8110 and DuraformPA Nylon were fabricated and cryogenically aged from 5-30 hours. The tensile strength and impact toughness were measured. The goal of this work was to study the effect of cryogenic aging on yield strength and ductility. This research investigated (1) the cryogenic aging of DSM-Somos 8110 and DuraformPA Nylon, (2) the effects of controlled ramp-downs/ups on the ultimate and tensile strengths of samples, (3) the experimental methods, and (4) the analysis and interpretation of the data.Part of this work was funded by a NSF Grant under Research Experiences for Undergraduates.Mechanical Engineerin

Acute In Vivo Response to an Alternative Implant for Urogynecology

Purpose. To investigate in vivo the acute host response to an alternative implant designed for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Methods. A biodegradable scaffold was produced from poly-L-lactic acid (PLA) using the electrospinning technique. Human and rat adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were isolated and characterized by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and differentiation assays. PLA scaffolds were seeded and cultured for 2 weeks with human or rat ADSCs. Scaffolds with and without human or rat ADSCs were implanted subcutaneously on the abdominal wall of rats. After 3 and 7 days, 6 animals from each group were sacrificed. Sections from each sample were analyzed by Haematoxylin and Eosin staining, Sirius red staining, and immunohistochemistry for CD68, PECAM-1, and collagen I and III. Results. Animals responded to the scaffolds with an acute macrophage response. After 7 days of implantation, there was extensive host cell penetration, new blood vessel formation, and new collagen deposition throughout the full thickness of the samples without obvious differences between cell-containing and cell-free scaffolds. Conclusions. The acute in vivo response to an alternative implant (both with and without cells) for the treatment of SUI and POP showed good acute integration into the host tissues

Public Health Workforce Self-Identified Training Needs by Jurisdiction and Job Type

Context: Ensuring adequate and appropriate training of the workforce is a crucial priority for governmental public health. This is particularly important, given the diverse backgrounds of the public health workforce; the vast majority (approximately 83%) do not have formal training in public health, and those that do have formal training in public health have limited training in management and other essential organizational skills. Objective: The purpose of this article is to identify training needs among public health workers in specific job types and settings. Design and Participants: This cross section study used 2014 data from the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey. Qualitative analyses were used to code open-ended responses to questions about training needs. Needs are stratified across job types and jurisdiction. Results: Eight main themes or skill areas were identified with the largest proportion indicating a need for management/leadership skills (28.2%). The second most frequent need was communication skills (21.3%). Across the 9 job types examined, general management skills were either the first or second training need for 7 job types. Among individuals who already have leadership/management positions, budgeting was the most common training need. Conclusions: Findings from this study can inform targeted strategies to address training needs for specific types of employees. Such strategies can influence the efficiency and effectiveness of public health efforts and employee satisfaction. As new public health frameworks–like Public Health 3.0 and the Chief Health Strategist–are advanced nationally, it is necessary to ensure that the workforce has the skills and abilities to implement these frameworks. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal

Proteomic Analysis of a Noninvasive Human Model of Acute Inflammation and Its Resolution: The Twenty-one Day Gingivitis Model

The 21-day experimental gingivitis model, an established noninvasive model of inflammation in response to increasing bacterial accumulation in humans, is designed to enable the study of both the induction and resolution of inflammation. Here, we have analyzed gingival crevicular fluid, an oral fluid comprising a serum transudate and tissue exudates, by LC−MS/MS using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and iTRAQ isobaric mass tags, to establish meta-proteomic profiles of inflammation-induced changes in proteins in healthy young volunteers. Across the course of experimentally induced gingivitis, we identified 16 bacterial and 186 human proteins. Although abundances of the bacterial proteins identified did not vary temporally, Fusobacterium outer membrane proteins were detected. Fusobacterium species have previously been associated with periodontal health or disease. The human proteins identified spanned a wide range of compartments (both extracellular and intracellular) and functions, including serum proteins, proteins displaying antibacterial properties, and proteins with functions associated with cellular transcription, DNA binding, the cytoskeleton, cell adhesion, and cilia. PolySNAP3 clustering software was used in a multilayered analytical approach. Clusters of proteins that associated with changes to the clinical parameters included neuronal and synapse associated proteins