Smart growth is an approach to urban planning that provides a framework for making community development decisions. Despite its growing use, it is not known whether smart growth can impact physical ...activity. This review utilizes existing built environment research on factors that have been used in smart growth planning to determine whether they are associated with physical activity or body mass. Searching the MEDLINE, Psycinfo and Web-of-Knowledge databases, 204 articles were identified for descriptive review, and 44 for a more in-depth review of studies that evaluated four or more smart growth planning principles. Five smart growth factors (diverse housing types, mixed land use, housing density, compact development patterns and levels of open space) were associated with increased levels of physical activity, primarily walking. Associations with other forms of physical activity were less common. Results varied by gender and method of environmental assessment. Body mass was largely unaffected. This review suggests that several features of the built environment associated with smart growth planning may promote important forms of physical activity. Future smart growth community planning could focus more directly on health, and future research should explore whether combinations or a critical mass of smart growth features is associated with better population health outcomes.
Statistical interactions are a common component of data analysis across a broad range of scientific disciplines. However, the statistical power to detect interactions is often undesirably low. One ...solution is to elevate the Type 1 error rate so that important interactions are not missed in a low power situation. To date, no study has quantified the effects of this practice on power in a linear regression model.
A Monte Carlo simulation study was performed. A continuous dependent variable was specified, along with three types of interactions: continuous variable by continuous variable; continuous by dichotomous; and dichotomous by dichotomous. For each of the three scenarios, the interaction effect sizes, sample sizes, and Type 1 error rate were varied, resulting in a total of 240 unique simulations.
In general, power to detect the interaction effect was either so low or so high at α = 0.05 that raising the Type 1 error rate only served to increase the probability of including a spurious interaction in the model. A small number of scenarios were identified in which an elevated Type 1 error rate may be justified.
Routinely elevating Type 1 error rate when testing interaction effects is not an advisable practice. Researchers are best served by positing interaction effects a priori and accounting for them when conducting sample size calculations.
Additive manufacturing processes and especially the family of laser powder bed fusion technologies have a great industrial potential since it enables, from metal powder beds, to produce full density ...complex monolithic parts. The high-temperature gradient resulting from the locally concentrated energy input leads to strong temperature fields driving non-negligible residual stress gradients, part deformations and crack formation. Resulting stress and texture gradients arise from the interdependent physical phenomena (metallurgical, thermal, mechanical and fluid mechanics) occurring during the process. Present work focuses on the residual stress being built in an austenitic stainless steel cubical shaped part of 1 cm side, prepared by a laser powder bed fusion process from a gas-atomized metallic powder (from martensitic X40CrMoVN16-2 stainless steel), through a full residual stress tensor mapping achieved thanks to neutron diffraction. Stress analyses incorporate morphological and crystallographic textures, as well as elastic anisotropy. Components of the principal stress tensor display compressive values close to the baseplate that develop into low compression, and a tensile stress state at the subsurface (surrounding thermal history effects). Results also underline the strong impact of matter environment (and thus thermal environment) onto stress gradient magnitude and the complex loading origins of the residual stress.
Oxaliplatin neurosensory toxicity is dose limiting and may present as acute symptoms and/or cumulative peripheral neuropathy.
From October 2005 to May 2008, patients with oxaliplatin-induced acute ...neurotoxicity were randomized into a double-blind study, to receive either venlafaxine 50 mg 1 h prior oxaliplatin infusion and venlafaxine extended release 37.5 mg b.i.d. from day 2 to day 11 or placebo. Neurotoxicity was evaluated using numeric rating scale (NRS) for pain intensity and experienced relief under treatment, the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory and the oxaliplatin-specific neurotoxicity scale. The primary end point was the percentage of patients with a 100% relief under treatment.
Forty-eight patients were included (27 males, median age: 67.6 years). Most patients had colorectal cancer (72.9%). Median number of cycles administered at inclusion was 4.5 (mean cumulative oxaliplatin dose: 684.6 mg). Twenty out of 24 patients in arm A (venlafaxine) and 22 out of 24 patients in arm B (placebo) were assessable for neurotoxicity. Based on the NRS, full relief was more frequent in the venlafaxine arm: 31.3% versus 5.3% (P = 0.03). Venlafaxine side-effects included grade 1–2 nausea (43.1%) and asthenia (39.2%) without grade 3–4 events.
Venlafaxine has clinical activity against oxaliplatin-induced acute neurosensory toxicity.
Implementation of the Nitrates Directive (NiD) and its environmental impacts were compared for member states in the northwest of the European Union (Ireland, United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, ...Belgium, Northern France and Germany). The main sources of data were national reports for the third reporting period for the NiD (2004–2007) and results of the MITERRA-EUROPE model. Implementation of the NiD in the considered member states is fairly comparable regarding restrictions for where and when to apply fertilizer and manure, but very different regarding application limits for N fertilization. Issues of concern and improvement of the implementation of the NiD are accounting for the fertilizer value of nitrogen in manure, and relating application limits for total nitrogen (N) to potential crop yield and N removal. The most significant environmental effect of the implementation of the NiD since 1995 is a major contribution to the decrease of the soil N balance (N surplus), particularly in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This decrease is accompanied by a modest decrease of nitrate concentrations since 2000 in fresh surface waters in most countries. This decrease is less prominent for groundwater in view of delayed response of nitrate in deep aquifers. In spite of improved fertilization practices, the southeast of the Netherlands, the Flemish Region and Brittany remain to be regions of major concern in view of a combination of a high nitrogen surplus, high leaching fractions to groundwater and tenacious exceedance of the water quality standards. On average the gross N balance in 2008 for the seven member states in EUROSTAT and in national reports was about 20 kg N ha−1 yr−1 lower than by MITERRA. The major cause is higher estimates of N removal in national reports which can amount to more than 50 kg N ha−1 yr−1. Differences between procedures in member states to assess nitrogen balances and water quality and a lack of cross-boundary policy evaluations are handicaps when benchmarking the effectiveness of the NiD. This provides a challenge for the European Commission and its member states, as the NiD remains an important piece of legislation for protecting drinking water quality in regions with many private or small public production facilities and controlling aquatic eutrophication from agricultural sources.
Rising temperatures threaten the resilience of public transit systems. We determined whether bus stop shelters and tree canopy surrounding bus stops moderated the effect of warm season temperatures ...on ridership in Austin, Texas, and whether shelters and trees were equitably distributed. For bus stops (n = 2271) of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, boardings per bus were measured 1 April-30 September 2019. Air temperature data originated from the Camp Mabry weather station. Tree canopy was calculated by classification of high-resolution aerial imagery from the National Agriculture Imagery Program. Data on race, ethnicity, poverty level, median age, and bus commuters within census tracts of bus stops originated from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey. Using multilevel negative binomial regression models, we found that shelters did not moderate the effect of high temperatures on ridership (
> 0.05). During high temperatures, each one-percent increase in tree canopy was associated with a lesser decrease (1.6%) in ridership compared to if there were no trees (1.7%) (
< 0.001). In general, shelters and trees were equitably distributed. Insignificant or modest effects of shelters and trees on ridership during high temperatures may be attributed to the transit dependency of riders. For climate change adaptation, we recommend tree planting at bus stops to protect from ridership losses and unhealthy exposure to extreme heat.
Dike intrusions often cause complex ground displacements that are not sufficiently explained by simple analytical models. We develop a method to find complex and realistic dike geometries and ...overpressures from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data. This method is based on a combination of a boundary element method with realistic topography and a neighborhood algorithm inversion. Dike model geometry is roughly a quadrangle with its top reaching the ground. The inversion has two stages: search and appraisal. The appraisal stage involves calculations of model marginal probability density functions using misfit values calculated during the search stage. The misfit function takes into account the variance and correlation of data noise. Synthetic tests show that a model is successfully retrieved within predicted narrow confidence intervals. We apply the method on InSAR data of the February 2000 flank eruption at Piton de la Fournaise and get a trapezoid dike dipping seaward (61.0°–67.3°) with its bottom passing 800–1000 m beneath the summit. A model with a basal slip plane does not better explain observed asymmetric displacements, and thus this asymmetry is solely attributed to the dipping dike. The dike lies above a narrow band of preeruption seismicity, suggesting that lateral magma propagation occurred. Neglecting topography results in poor modeling at depth and in overestimations of overpressure (or opening), height (both about 30%), and volume (about 20%).
Protecting water quality at catchment scales is complicated by the high spatiotemporal variability in water chemistry. Consequently, determining pollutant sources requires costly monitoring ...strategies to diagnose causes and guide management solutions. However, recent studies have shown that spatial patterns in water chemistry can be persistent at catchment scales, potentially allowing identification of pollution sources and sinks with just a few sampling campaigns. Here, we tested a new method to quantify spatial persistence (SP) of water chemistry patterns with data from synoptic samplings in 22 headwater subcatchments within a 375 km2 catchment in western France (March 2018 to July 2019). This new method to quantify SP reduces dependence on long‐term metrics such as flow‐weighted concentrations, which are usually uncertain or unavailable. We applied the method to 16 ecologically relevant water quality parameters, including soluble reactive phosphorus, nitrate, and dissolved organic carbon. The results showed an average SP of 0.68 among parameters during the study period. For most parameters, SP was higher during the high‐flow winter period but lower and more variable during the low‐flow summer period. We found that the SP ultimately depended on the ratio between the temporal and spatial coefficients of variation (variance explained: 70%) rather than the temporal synchrony among subcatchments (variance explained: 4%). These results demonstrate that in these temperate catchments, synoptic sampling during the high‐flow winter period allows efficient identification of source and sink subcatchments, while more frequent samplings are needed to characterize ecological conditions at low flow.
Key Points
We found high spatial persistence of water chemistry, despite high spatiotemporal variability in water chemistry
Spatial persistence of water chemistry is primarily determined by the ratio between spatial and temporal variability
A single synoptic sampling during the high‐flow season allows efficient identification of source and sink subcatchments
At basaltic volcanoes, magma is transported to the surface through dikes (magma‐filled fractures), but the evolution of these dikes as eruptions proceed is rarely documented. In March 1998, after ...five and a half years of quiescence, Piton de la Fournaise volcano (Réunion Island) entered into a new eruptive phase characterized by intense eruptive activity. Coeruptive displacements recorded by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) for the first five eruptions of the cycle are analyzed using 3‐D boundary element models combined with a Monte Carlo inversion method. We show that the eruptions are associated with the emplacement of lateral dikes rooted at depths of less than about 1000 m, except for the first March 1998 event where an additional deeper source is required. The dikes are located above preeruptive seismic swarms. This is consistent with nearly isotropic stress caused by repeated dike intrusions and low confining pressure enhanced by the presence of pores in the shallowest 1000 m of the edifice. The volumes of the modeled dikes represent 17% of the volume of emitted lava, showing that exogenous growth plays a major role in building the volcano. By taking into account the preeruptive seismicity and tilt data together with the results of InSAR data modeling, we find that dikes first propagate vertically from a source region below sea level before being injected laterally at shallow depth. This behavior is consistent with the presence of levels of neutral buoyancy at shallow depth in the edifice.
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