Foreclosure Is Not an Equal Opportunity Stressor: How Inequality Fuels the Adverse Health Implications of the Nation's Financial Crisis

Foreclosure rates persist at high levels, segregation remains a central organizing feature of metropolitan regions, and a variety of health problems continue to plague metropolitan regions across the United States. Each of these issues is the subject of much policy debate and scholarly research. Missing from most of this discussion, however, is the intersection of these social forces. In recent years, a connection between foreclosures and health has been documented. A question that arises and is explored in this research is whether the impact of foreclosures on health is exacerbated by various measures of inequality. This article examines the emerging impact of foreclosures on health and the longstanding effects of racial and socioeconomic inequality (e.g., racial segregation, concentration of poverty, and income inequality) on health in major metropolitan areas. More importantly, multivariate statistical analyses are conducted to determine whether, and the extent to which, these indicators of inequality mediate the impact of foreclosures on health. The findings suggest policy implications for the development, expansion, and allocation of health care and financial services to address challenges posed by the ongoing foreclosure crises facing the nation's metropolitan areas.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CARCASS DECONTAMINATION SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING THE PRESENCE OF PATHOGENS ON THE SURFACES OF MEAT ANIMAL CARCASSES1

The effectiveness of decontamination systems for controlling the presence of pathogens and spoilage organisms on carcasses is discussed. Research using organic acids and water (hot or cold) demonstrates the general effectiveness of such treatments in lowering the aerobic plate counts (APC) on carcasses by 1–3 log₁₀ cfu per unit area. Chlorine has been found to be relatively ineffective for use in animal carcass spray washers. An example of direct application of the bacteriocin nisin to inoculated tissue in a spray washer is discussed. Reductions attributable to nisin were 2–2.5 log₁₀ cfu per unit area higher than those reported for various organic acids or water. Areas for further research are highlighted along with the potential use of newer technologies to elucidate attachment and detachment mechanisms of bacteria to meat animal carcasses.     

Competition and 'Local' Communications: Innovation, Entry and Integration

This paper suggests that the imminent introduction of new localaccess competition using existing and new technologies shouldend any possibility of a natural monopoly in local exchange.The paper questions whether the fundamental economics of thelocal exchange really require regulation of local telephoneservice rather than the narrow regulation of interconnection.It also points out that technological development is sharpeningcompetitive forces in practically all aspects of telecommunications.Moreover, the willingness of some local exchange providers tounbundle has laid the foundation for a further rollback of regulationin areas of the USA. Finally, the paper contends that regulatorylags require that regulation take a forward-looking perspectiveand attempt to deal with the industry as it will be, not asit was.     

Pavement Management System with Real time Microprocessor-Based Computation

This article is the second part of a two-part article concerned with observing cracks on the pavement surface with very specialized microcomputer equipment mounted in a van type vehicle moving at road speeds. As one would imagine, the computing speed required to do the job is very high. In fact, to adequately handle this particular application, three camera systems, each with its own Motorola 68020 microprocessor, are required to work in parallel as the 12-foot lane width is observed. In the first part of this article, an overview of the following technical requirements was presented [5]: 1) sensor data rate requirements, 2) hardware and software approaches, 3) pavement rating procedures, 4) system block diagram, and 5) real-time computer algorithms.
This article will extend and update previous pavement monitoring concepts while looking at the microprocessor requirements of moving a huge amount of processed data through the system. In addition, a host microprocessor (a Motorola 68010) will be responsible for system housekeeping and formatting all of the processed data for future use. Some introductory comments about the pavement monitoring system appear again for continuity.     

Remote Video Sensing of Highway Pavements at Road Speeds: Using the Motorola 68020 Microprocessor

This article presents microprocessor measurement techniques for a multi-cameera video system mounted in a van type vehicle that will observe a 12-foot lane of road surface. Because of the high speed processing requirement of the vision system, several 68020 microprocessors are employed to handle data and detect various cracking patterns while the vehicle is in motion at highway speeds. As the image processing system collects the data, a host microprocessor computes an instantaneous and cumulative pavement score that will be used by the operator and the Pavement Management System, PMS, for further analysis and maintence considerations. The article presents an overview of the microprocessor driven PMS using high speed hardware circuitry for real-time processing. Development of the system is underway by the Earth Technology Corporation and Louisiana Tech University.     

Phase Relations in Crystalline Ceramic Nuclear Waste Forms: The System UO2+x-CeO2-ZrO2-ThO2 at 1200°C in Air

Steady-state phase relations in the system UO_2+x-CeO_z-ZrO₂-ThO₂ were determined for application to phase relations in high-level crystalline ceramic nuclear waste forms. Samples were treated at 1200°C at an oxygen partial pressure of 21.3 kPa and a total pressure of 101.3 kPa. Phase assemblages were found to be comprised of cubic solid solutions of the fluorite-structure type, solid solutions based on ZrO₂, and orthorhombic solid solutions based on U₃O₈.     

SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE TREATMENT TO INACTIVATE AEROBIC MICROORGANISMS ON ALFALFA SEEDS

The supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) process involves pressurizing CO₂ in a chamber which generates liquid phase of carbon dioxide. Pressurized liquid CO₂ has a strong extraction capability of organic and inorganic compounds. The recent studies have also demonstrated that antimicrobial effect of SC-CO₂ due extraction some cellular components of microorganisms. The efficacy of a supercritical carbon dioxide treatment on alfalfa seeds contaminated with Escherichia coli K12 was tested at 2000, 3000, and 4000 psi at 50C. Samples were treated for 15, 30, and 60 min at each pressure. After pummeling the seed samples in 0.1% peptone water, the initial and final Escherichia coli and total aerobic bacteria on the seeds were determined by plating on 3M Petri Films. After 48 h of incubation at 37 C, the colonies were enumerated. Treated seeds were evaluated in terms of germination characteristics. For aerobic plate count, the effect of pressure in the range of 2000–4000 psi was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) even though 85.6% inactivation was achieved at 4000 psi for 60 min. For E. coli, the reductions for 2000, 3000, and 4000 psi treatments for 15 min were 26.6, 68.1, and 81.3%, respectively. As the time was increased from 15 to 60 min at 4000 psi, the percent E. coli reduction increased from 81.3% to 92.8%. The percent germination for all treatments was over 90%. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the germination rate of treated and untreated seeds. Supercritical carbon dioxide treatments demonstrated a reduction of E. coli K12 and total aerobic counts without affecting the germination characteristics of alfalfa seeds (p < 0.05). This study was a step in the direction of improving safety of alfalfa seeds used to produce fresh sprouts, which have been the cause of several outbreaks.     

Construction of and Measurements with an Extremely Compact Cross-Flow Heat Exchanger

Abstract

An extremely compact cross-flow heat exchanger is described. The exchanger is constructed by furnace-brazing together a stack of hundreds of stainless-steel sheets. The resulting structure is leak-tight and very strong, but fluid channels as small as 51 μm (0.002 in) are not plugged by excess brazing material. Measurements of heat transfer between water and liquid propylene flowing through the heat exchanger are in excellent agreement with calculations based on exchanger geometry and fluid properties.