text:
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014 at approximately 3:02 p.m, a Patrol Officer with the Sedalia Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a blue Ford passenger car for a hazardous moving violation. The Officer spoke to the driver, identified as Heather M. Reed, 33 years old, of Sedalia.
Also in the vehicle were Heather's two children (ages 10 and 5) and a relative (age 8). A computer check through Dispatch revealed that Heather had a revoked Missouri operator's license. The Patrol Officer arrested Heather for driving while revoked. The Patrol Officer spoke with Heather, who then admitted that she had controlled substances in the vehicle.
Detectives with the Sedalia Police Department's Drug Enforcement Unit arrived on scene to assist with the traffic stop.
A search of the vehicle revealed a large amount of marijuana, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, drug packaging supplies, 9mm ammunition and a switch blade knife. The quantity of marijuana recovered from the vehicle was consistent with one who distributes the drug, and was far beyond the typical amount the average marijuana user would possess.
Also located in the vehicle was a cash lock box. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the lock box. Upon forcing open the lock box, Detectives located a significant amount of methamphetamine, controlled prescription medications, drug packaging materials, drug paraphernalia and a 9mm pistol. The quantity of meth recovered from the vehicle was consistent with one who distributes the drug, and was far beyond the typical amount the average meth user would possess.
Investigation revealed that Heather was involved in methamphetamine and marijuana distribution, and a user of both drugs.
The traffic stop look place in a location that was about 1,200 feet from the Smith Cotton Junior High School and about 1,600 feet from Sacred Heart School
Heather was arrested for the following charges and booked into the Pettis County Jail. She has since been issued a $250,000 cash/surety bond:
–1st Degree Drug Trafficking – Methamphetamine
–Possession of Meth with the Intent to Deliver
–Possession of Marijuana with the Intent to Deliver
–Possession of Meth
–Possession of Controlled Prescription Drugs (Xanax)
–Possession of Marijuana
–Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
–Habitual Drug User in Possession of a Firearm
–Possession of a Prohibited Weapon
–1st Degree Child Endangerment (3 counts)
–Unlawful Transaction with a Child (3 counts)
–Driving While Revoked


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Greetings all!
I'm an attorney in Des Moines Iowa. 28 y.o. I have been drinking bourbon for 4 or 5 years. I have tried a lot in the past couple of years.
Of the top of my head, my favorites so far in no particular order are: PVW 15, this year's Stagg (haven't had any other years), Wild Turkey 101, Elijah Craig 12. I have a bottle of the BTAC Weller and a 4 Roses SB Barrel Strength I'm looking forward to popping open.
I started drinking whiskey when I realized I didn't like Jack and cokes b/c of the coke. Moved on from there.
I look forward to chatting with you all.

subset: commoncrawl


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Planned one-day closure - NCAR Mesa Lab - 10/10/15 more info>
- UCAR Home
- About Us
- News
- Research+Resources
- Education
- For Staff
Does the organization have a policy regarding an employee's
responsibilities during an office relocation? During a recent move, I was
asked to move many large pieces of office furniture. It occurred to me in
retrospect that if I were injured during these activities, UCAR may have
some liability.
Answered on April 18, 2005
This is a great question. If moving large items is not in your job
description, don't do it!
Logistics Operations is responsible for conducting and coordinating office
moves. It has the tools and manpower to safely move large and heavy items.
Logistics Operations staff will ask for two working days of advance notice
to make staff available for small moves. Larger moves require more
planning, and may involve the use of subcontracted professional staff.
UCAR staff are responsible for removing personal items from their offices
before a move. Also, we ask that they pack files, journals, etc. into boxes
provided by Logistics Operations. Boxes should be packed lightly to lower
the risk of injury to Logistics Operations staff. Kerry Slaven is
responsible for coordinating office moves. He can be reached at ext. 1151
or email@example.com.
UCAR is responsible for providing medical care to employees who are injured
at work. Work-related injuries must be reported to your supervisor and to
the Health, Environment, and Safety Office (ext. 8556). We pay for medical
care via our Workers Compensation insurance. Our goal is to work safely and
prevent injuries from occurring so that we don't need to use the insurance,
but it is there when needed.
-Milenda Powers, Manager, Health, Environment and Safety Services
-Kerry Slaven, Manager, Logistics Operations
Liz Marsis
Communications Specialist
+1 303.497.1657
NCAR|UCAR Image & Multimedia Gallery


text:
Point of Contact:Leading Petty email@example.com
Location:Building 3, 8th deck
Availability of Services: Open to all TRICARE PRIME patients. Consults are required to be submitted to the clinic via CHCS. This should be specific as to request, and include height, weight and smoking status.
Scope of Care:We offer our services to active duty, dependents and retirees with medically indicated needs for reconstructive surgery. ***Due to current deployment requirements we are not currently accepting any elective cosmetic referrals.***
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Clinic
The Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth provides a full-spectrum of services that includes the reconstruction, restoration, and/or replacement of both congenital and acquired anomalies of form and function. The plastic surgery team at NMCP is committed to providing quality care, as well as quality of life, to all their patients. Plastic surgery patients at NMCP have the security and confidence that they are receiving superb care from experienced surgeons who have both the latest knowledge and extensive training in their specialties. In addition to being sure that each patient receives excellent care and treatment, the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at NMCP also offers the latest in surgical innovation and cutting-edge technology and is widely acclaimed for its diversity of services, ranging from trauma and cancer reconstruction to cosmetic and laser surgery. In fact, the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at NMCP treats many patients who have been referred by military treatment facilities from across the country, as well as around the globe.
The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic is a specialty clinic that provides inpatient and outpatient care to all eligible active duty, retirees and their dependents (beneficiaries). Services provided include surgical and non-surgical treatment of skin and soft tissue lesions, congenital craniofacial deformities including cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, facial deformities from trauma or cancer treatment, congenital and post-cancer deformities of the breast, hand and upper extremity deformities, lower extremity deformities, burns, complicated or chronic wounds, and aesthetic concerns of the face and body. To achieve access to care, all new patients are required to have a referral.
Referral Requested:Yes
Referral Instructions:All patients needing or requesting to be evaluated by the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic require a referral. The department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery can be consulted through CHCS. In order to expedite the consultation process and to avoid disappointment for your patients we ask that you include the following criteria: * Reason for referral * Height * Weight * Smoking Statue Compliance with these criteria will reduce the likelihood that the consult will need to be resubmitted. Please note that all emergency and ASAP referrals should be discussed with the Plastic Surgeon on duty.
Additional Information:Craniofacial Board at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth: The Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Clinic at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth provides a comprehensive team approach to assess the needs, diagnosis and treatment of children with clefts of the lip and palate, as well as other major craniofacial anomalies. This team includes specialists in plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, developmental pediatrics and psychology, audiology and speech pathology, nursing, social work, and genetics. As one of the busiest military programs of its kind, the Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Clinic at NMCP cares for more than 100 patients each year and provides a wide range of diagnostic, treatment and follow-up services.


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We all are acquainted with payday loans as they use to save our financial stability when we are in difficult situations. Our company provides no employment verification payday loans from direct lender on really attractive conditions. To know more about it please visit http://500fastcash.paydayloansnews.org/ site.
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Loans without faxing and teletrack
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Payday loans from direct lenders only
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Professional and user-friendly service.
With us you can get payday loans easily and enjoy profitable conditions. For start you should fill our online application with some personal information like name, age, place of residence. The whole process won't take you more than five minutes. After you send the application and our specialists check the information, you'll get an approval for no employment verification payday loans online and within a few hours the money will be transferred to your saving account.
Actually, almost every USA citizen of at least 18 years old with stable income can get our payday loans from direct lender. You don't have to visit bank, use fax or teletrack – the process is simple as ABC! You can apply for our payday loans from the comfort of your house or office and get money on your account within a few hours. The repayment process is even simpler – at appointed date you have to transfer the needed amount from your account – fast and safe.
You can count on our payday loans from direct lender even in case your credit reputation is not clear or you don't have an official place of employment. Many people nowadays use to have several sources of income, and certainly every person has a right for mistake. Thus, we are glad to provide no employment verification payday loans for bad credit of people with bad credit histories or without stable work.
Having reach experience and good reputation in providing payday loans from direct lender we know how to lend you money on the most attractive conditions. With us you'll get the lowest interest rates, absolutely honest service without any pitfalls, really easy and absolutely safe process of getting no employment verification payday loans from direct lender.


text:
Clerk: Alex Dolby
+44 20 7822 2036
Email Neil's Clerk
Email Neil
Add to Address Book
4 New Square
Lincoln's Inn
London, WC2A 3RJ
Tel: +44 20 7822 2000
DX: 1041 London Chancery Lane
Email us
View location map
Call: 1995 QC: 2015
Neil specialises in Commercial Law, Insurance/Reinsurance, and Professional Negligence. He is listed as a leading junior in Commercial Litigation, Insurance and Reinsurance and Professional Negligence by the Legal 500. He is described as "an excellent analyst of claims", "dependable, clever and committed" and "a very effective advocate".
His practice includes an expertise in urgent interlocutory relief, including freezing injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal orders and Bankers Trust applications, as well as in all aspects of insurance/reinsurance, acting for both insurers and insureds. In the commercial field he focuses particularly on commercial fraud, while in the area of professional negligence his work covers lawyers, insurance brokers, surveyors and accountants.
Neil is a member of COMBAR and the London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association.
LLB (Bristol) European Legal Studies
4 New Square
Lincoln's Inn
London, WC2A 3RJ
Tel: +44 20 7822 2000
Out of Hours Contact is:
Lizzy Stewart
+44 7912 405 153
Alex Dolby
+44 7912 405 151
Dennis Peck
+44 7912 405 149
© 2015 All rights reserved
Site Credits


text:
How is The Palms Backpackers rated on other websites?
The Palms Backpackers Reviews from the Web
Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
If you aren't too old... I wasn't allowed to stay as I was overage ... but the reception was very pleasant and helpful and several guests came and chatted to me. Overall it looked a great laid back hostel, everyone was interacting and preparing for Friday night partying. Oh, and the Kitchen and bathrooms were fine. A cool place if that's your style. — Paul, Australian (2012-06-28)
A clean hostel run by a decent owner The hostel is situated in Potts Point, next to the notorious red-light area, King Cross, near the famous Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is very easy to catch a train because the hostel is only about three minutes by walking from the King Cross Station. Dan, the hostel owner, was very nice to guests. When I emailed to the hostel, he replied very quickly and offered me a job. I stayed there two weeks and worked two hours every day as a toilet cleaner (ha ha ha) to have free accommodation. Yes, I did. So, instead of paying for stay, I spent that money for some fun in Sydney. Some other people were offered to work as the kitchen cleaner, room cleaner, room repairer. So, all rooms were clean, odour-free, and shiny (because we, the guest-cleaners, cleaned them every day). — Quang, Vietnam (2008-08-31)
brilliant hostel, would definitely recommend staying here! it's less like a strict hostel and more like a huge student house! awesome atmosphere, clean, great people, trips to the beach, and so close to everything! nice one, dan! — steph , UK (2007-05-09)
Palms was a great hostel! It was such a nice atmosphere and ther were so many nice people! like a big family. It's a home far away. — lars (2006-04-15)
this was one of the worst hostels i have ever stayed in, the toliets were unclean, the staff were useless, and the bathroom door was off it's hynges. DON'T STAY HERE!! — wayne (2006-01-27)
The annoying thing about this hostel is that it has the extras without getting the basics right. So, although we had a TV and fridge in your room, and there's an XBox and Sky TV downstairs, the bathrooms and bedroom were grubby, the kitchen never had any clean tea towels (and was pretty cramped), and it was very noisy. The staff were OK, and it's a shame because this place could be SO much nicer. — FunkyMunkey (2005-11-29)
This place really sucks. Bugs and dirt everywhere. Even the bedclothes smell like vomit. We checked out after one night. I recommend not staying here! — Alex (2005-08-23)
It felt like home, small and cozy, and everyone really nice! I loved it. It was a great start to our trip round Oz! Cheers Dan! — C-J (2005-04-18)


text:
Nestled on its own private peninsula in Redondo Beach, the 4-star Portofino Hotel & Marina is slashing nearly 50% off current rates.
What's included & when
About the hotel
This hotel boasts waterfront views, an on-site restaurant and a swimming pool. Redondo Beach is home to its own colony of sea lions and sits alongside 27 miles of oceanfront walking and biking paths. Beverly Hills and Hollywood are a 30-minute drive away while Disneyland is a 45-minute drive.
This deal is not available on: Jan. 29-30; Feb. 14-16; March 6-7, 25-26, 31. Marina view rooms are not available on Jan. 21.
Travelzoo Tip: Our team has negotiated great deals on exciting activities in the Los Angeles area.
Please go to your email and confirm your subscription.


text:
Monday, September 16, 2013
Jonathan Pelissie scores outstanding individual try against Toulouse
Montpellier scrumhalf Jonathan Pelissie scored an outstanding individual try against Toulouse in round 5 of the Top 14. You can view it as part of the highlights package from the match, with the highly impressive try taking place 30 seconds into the above video.
We'll keep an eye on him throughout the season but for now, he looks a star.
Posted by Rugbydump at 9:27 am | View Comments (0)
Posted in Great Tries


text:
Photo by Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth
YIELD: Makes 12 pancakes (3 to 4 servings)
TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm, plus more for cooking
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure mint extract (See Cooks' Note)
- 3 to 4 drops green food coloring (optional)
- 3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping
- Whipped cream, for serving
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
- Store-bought or homemade hot fudge sauce, for serving
1. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.
2. Whisk together buttermilk, egg, butter, extracts, and food coloring (if using) in a small bowl. Add to dry ingredients and stir until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon butter; it should sizzle and melt almost immediately. Ladle 1/4 cup of pancake batter into skillet for each pancake, taking care not to let the pancakes run together. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until bottom is golden brown and edges begin to bubble, then carefully flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to plates. Repeat with remaining batter.
4. Serve warm with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, and more chocolate chips, if desired.
Pancakes Inspired by Ice Creams
Candy Cane Pancakes: Replace mint extract with peppermint extract. Add 1/4 cup finely chopped candy canes along with or in place of chocolate chips. Use red food coloring instead of green.
Almond Chip Pancakes: Replace mint extract with almond extract. Add 1/4 cup chopped almonds to batter. Omit food coloring.
Plain Old Chocolate Chip Pancakes: Omit mint extract and increase vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon; omit food coloring.
Cooks' Note: Mint and peppermint extracts are similar but not identical in flavor. Mint extract typically contains both peppermint and spearmint, whereas pure peppermint is popular in holiday treats like candy canes. Use whichever minty extract you prefer.
From Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More! by Lindsay Landis & Taylor Hackbarth, © 2013 Quirk Books
my notes
Nutritional Info
- Calories550
- Carbohydrates78 g (26%)
- Fat23 g (36%)
- Protein12 g (25%)
- Saturated Fat13 g (67%)
- Sodium904 mg (38%)
- Polyunsaturated Fat1 g
- Fiber4 g (16%)
- Monounsaturated Fat7 g
- Cholesterol86 mg (29%)


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Relaxation & Reflection Near the Serene Sonoma Coast
Ratna Ling Retreat Center • Cazedero, CA
Escape Kit
- A Two-Night Personal Retreat in a Deluxe Cottage, Mondays Through Thursdays ($199 per Person) or Fridays and Saturdays ($289 per Person)
- Priced per Person Based on Double Occupancy; See Fine Print
- Vegetarian Buffet Meals: Two Breakfasts, One Lunch, and Two Dinners per Person
- Access to All Regularly Scheduled Classes
- After Purchase, Follow Your Voucher's Redemption Instructions to Complete Your Reservation
Treat your mind and body to the ultimate getaway at this Sonoma County retreat.
The Destination
For an inspiring and serene environment that offers a peaceful getaway, treat yourself to the luxuries of Ratna Ling Retreat Center. A 2.5-hour drive north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge will bring you to this welcoming respite from the pressures of modern life. The simple elegance of the rustic lodge and pavilion gardens harmonizes with the natural grandeur of the 120-acre redwood forest to create a tranquil and sacred experience that nourishes a sense of well-being.
The Accommodations
Relax in a private, spacious two-bedroom cottage with vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, living and dining areas, and a kitchenette. Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, slip into a deluxe Jacuzzi bath, curl up by the fireplace, or take in the expansive view on the back deck for quiet contemplation. Join a class on meditation or relaxation for inspiration on finding your peaceful center. When it comes time to dine, you'll enjoy delectable vegetarian gourmet cuisine from around the world prepared in a health-conscious manner—and the kitchen staff can also accommodate dietary needs.
The Details
• 9% Sonoma County hotel taxes and resort fee are not included in your voucher
• Rates are based on double occupancy, so each of two guests must purchase an Escape and arrange to stay together at the property (Single travelers are welcome for an additional $100, payed directly to the merchant)
An amazing and beautiful place... I was worried my husband wouldn't connect, but he loved it. He's a meat eater and not all that spiritual, but he loved it. Go there and love it!-- LivingSocial Member
My husband and I loved everything about the retreat: The location, food, classes, great spirited staff, and cabin house! My husband and I were able to reconnect and enjoy our time together. We will be back!-- LivingSocial Member
escapes 30-day promise
LivingSocial gives you up to 30 days to return your unused voucher for a full refund. Once you've made a reservation, you are subject to the merchant's cancellation and refund policy. If you want to secure your preferred dates of travel, we strongly recommend that you complete reservation with the merchant within 30 days of your purchase—after that, LivingSocial will not issue any refunds.
the fine print
- Option B: Limit 4 per customer, up to 4 additional as gifts
- Only valid for stays now through May 30, 2015
- Reservations required and subject to availability
- Not valid toward existing or room block reservations
- Voucher includes vegetarian buffet meals: 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 2 dinners per person and access to all regularly scheduled classes
- Nights must be spent consecutively; all inclusions must be redeemed during one stay
- Voucher valid for 1 guest
- Merchant cancellation/re-scheduling policy of 72 hours in advance of scheduled arrival; voucher subject to forfeiture or $50 rescheduling fee
- Rates are per person based on double occupancy (two people sharing a room). Each of two guests must purchase an Escape and arrange to stay together at the property. Single occupancy requires an additional fee of $100; due at booking
- 9% Sonoma County hotel taxes and resort fee not included; payable directly to the property
- Incidental charges, charges for additional services, and gratuity at the property are not included
- Other conditions apply • PAID AND PROMOTIONAL VALUES EXPIRES ON May 30, 2015 • PAID VALUE DOES NOT EXPIRE • PAID VALUE EXPIRES ON May 30, 2020 • PROMOTIONAL VALUE EXPIRES ON May 30, 2015 • Enjoy By May 30, 2015
Other conditions apply
Except where noted in the fine print:
• Cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion
• Tax and gratuity are not included
• Merchant is responsible for the quality of the products or services provided to you at redemption
• LivingSocial Terms and Conditions - https://www.livingsocial.com/terms
Original Price:
- 0% savings
- remaining


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The Adventure Cycling blog covers bicycle-travel news, touring tips and gear, bicycle routes, organizational news, membership highlights, guided tours, and more. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for daily updates.
Photo by Adam Coppola
The following items are some of my favorite stuff from the show (please note that some of these products will not be available until 2011):


text:
from $144 per nightEnter Dates
from $144 per nightEnter Dates
The Green House Inn is a fun and relaxed environment for your New Orleans experience. With a convenient location, we are a tropical paradise with a unique saltwater pool and Jacuzzi. We offer comfortable rooms with king size beds, private bathrooms, TVs, DVD, cable, WIFI Internet, mini-refrigerators and other amenities. Included is free parking, tropical gardens, desktop computer with printer, and a library of movies and books. The Green House Inn, stay... relax... just be Check-in is at 3 00 PM. Guests planning to arrive before or after this time must contact the property at least 48 hours prior to arrival to receive special check-in instructions. As a bed and breakfast property, the Front Desk hours will vary guests should contact the property to find out more information. To contact the property, use the number on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
Air Conditioning
alarm clock
Accessible facilities
AM/FM radio
Barbeque grills
Cable television
DVD/video rental
Fire safety compliant


text:
Lane Medical Library
Clinical Decision Tools
- EBM calculator (University of Toronto)Web versionCalculates the Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV, LR+, and LR-, Relative Risk (RR), Absolute Relative Risk (ARR), Number Needed to Treat (NNT), Odds Ratio (OR), Relative Risk Reduction (RRR).
- Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS)STAT!Ref
- European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation (EuroSCORE)Users must sign up for a free account for access to site
Access restricted to Stanford community
Shortcut to Licensed Content
Lane Gateway to Licensed Content
TO INSTALL, DRAG THIS BUTTON to your browser Bookmarks or Tools Bar.
Lane Gateway to Licensed Content
Bookmark on Other Websites
- TO INSTALL, RIGHT CLICK this button.
- Select "Add to Favorites" (click "Continue" if you see a security alert)
- From the "Create in" menu, select "Favorites Bar" (IE8, IE9) to install
- Once installed it will look like this
- Click "Bookmark on Lane" to bookmark any webpage
- Your saved bookmark will appear on this page
TO INSTALL, RIGHT CLICK this button.
Shortcut for iPhone
Lane Gateway to Licensed Content
TO INSTALL, DRAG THIS BUTTON to your Safari bookmarks bar.
Get help using iCloud Bookmarks and Reading List
Mobile Apps & Websites
- Lexi-Comp "Mobile App Access" (lower right)
- MedCalc
- PubMed Search
- Scopus


text:
Chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with a variety of health impacts in adults and recent studies show that exposure varies spatially, with some residents in a community more exposed than others. A spatial exposure simulation model (SESM) which incorporates six microenvironments (home indoor, work indoor, other indoor, outdoor, in-vehicle to work and in-vehicle other) is described and used to explore spatial variability in estimates of exposure to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide (not including indoor sources) for working people. The study models spatial variability in estimated exposure aggregated at the census tracts level for 382 census tracts in the Greater Vancouver Regional District of British Columbia, Canada. Summary statistics relating to the distributions of the estimated exposures are compared visually through mapping. Observed variations are explored through analyses of model inputs.
Two sources of spatial variability in exposure to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide were identified. Median estimates of total exposure ranged from 8 μg/m3 to 35 μg/m3 of annual average hourly NO2 for workers in different census tracts in the study area. Exposure estimates are highest where ambient pollution levels are highest. This reflects the regional gradient of pollution in the study area and the relatively high percentage of time spent at home locations. However, for workers within the same census tract, variations were observed in the partial exposure estimates associated with time spent outside the residential census tract. Simulation modeling shows that some workers may have exposures 1.3 times higher than other workers residing in the same census tract because of time spent away from the residential census tract, and that time spent in work census tracts contributes most to the differences in exposure. Exposure estimates associated with the activity of commuting by vehicle to work were negligible, based on the relatively short amount of time spent in this microenvironment compared to other locations. We recognize that this may not be the case for pollutants other than NO2. These results represent the first time spatially disaggregated variations in exposure to traffic-related air pollution within a community have been estimated and reported.
The results suggest that while time spent in the home indoor microenvironment contributes most to between-census tract variation in estimates of annual average exposures to traffic-related NO2, time spent in the work indoor microenvironment contributes most to within-census tract variation, and time spent in transit by vehicle makes a negligible contribution. The SESM has potential as a policy evaluation tool, given input data that reflect changes in pollution levels or work flow patterns due to traffic demand management and land use development policy.
Chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with a variety of health impacts in adults, and recent studies show that some residents in a community may be more exposed than others. For example, living in proximity to busy roads has been associated with pre-term birth [1], higher cardiopulmonary mortality [2], earlier mortality [3], and higher prevalence rates of respiratory symptoms (persistent cough, asthma, wheeze, and breathlessness) [4]. Other sources of variation in exposure may also exist due to systematically higher pollution levels in some types of locations. Monitoring studies of NO2 provide evidence that consistently higher levels can be observed in urban areas and in transit-related environments. For example, short-term monitoring of NO2 in Helsinki showed that personal exposures for those participants who lived downtown were 23 percent higher than for those for participants living in suburban areas, a difference of approximately 7 μg/m3 [5]. Measured levels of NO2 in Hong Kong suggest that short-term concentrations are as much as 17 times higher in transit environments (bus, truck, van or car) than ambient outdoor levels [6], and a study conducted in North Carolina focusing on cars specifically found levels of NO2 inside cars, averaged over the course of several hours driving, to be about 1.4 times higher compared to levels measured concurrently at an ambient monitoring site [7]. These studies provide evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollution can affect population health, and that within-community spatial variations exist in exposure. Understanding where, and by how much, people may be exposed to traffic-related air pollution is important in determining the best approaches for reducing exposures and ultimately understanding health outcomes.
The objective of this study is to investigate the spatial pattern and relative magnitude of variation in chronic (annual average hourly) exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for workers in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) of British Columbia. As of 2004, the GVRD had a population of approximately 2.1 million people [8]. On average, 57 percent of commuters travel outside of their home municipality to work, although this percent is lower near the downtown core and higher in the near suburbs [9]. For this study, exposure is considered to be due to inhalation only and equivalent to the level of pollution in the air near a person, not the actual amount inhaled or absorbed in the body. For the purpose of this study indoor sources of pollution are not considered, only outdoor levels associated primarily with traffic. This research marks the first time such spatially disaggregated estimates of within-community variability in exposure have been produced via simulation modelling and subsequently mapped. It also is the first example of incorporating geographic details into air pollution simulation modelling through the use of a geographic information system and data sets with high spatial resolution.
There are two generally accepted methods for investigating characteristics (or determinants) of exposure. The first is the direct method in which personal monitoring is conducted and often linked to a time-activity diary, as for example in Georgoulis et al (2002) or DeBruin et al (2004) [10,11]. The second is the indirect method, in which pollutant concentrations in various locations (called microenvironments) are monitored in conjunction with a time-activity diary that records the amount of time a person spends in each microenvironment, as for example in Chau et al (2002) [6]. In the first case, personal monitoring studies provide the best information, but are necessarily limited to populations small enough to feasibly monitor. This is also true of the latter case; however, a simulation approach has been employed to model large populations, on the order of an entire urban area [12-15]. The simulation consists of randomly selecting from representative distributions of pollution concentration in a set of microenvironments and from sets of time-activity patterns that represent the population of interest.
It is important to note that exposure studies do not incorporate data on health outcomes, such as would occur in an epidemiological study where statistical analyses are used to assess the association between individual health outcomes and individual exposure measures. The results of exposure studies provide important information about the typical range of exposures for a certain population, as well as where and by how much the study population is exposed to potentially harmful pollutants. Information of this kind can be used to guide policy and practice aimed at reducing exposures and thereby potentially improving the health of a population.
For this research, a random selection indirect approach is used to simulate exposures, based on the following six microenvironment (ME) equation:
E is the total exposure expressed in pollution concentration units (μg/m3); Ch is the pollutant concentration at home indoor; Cw is the pollutant concentration at work indoor; Coi is the pollutant concentration at other indoor; Co is the pollutant concentration outdoor; Cvw is the pollutant concentration for in-vehicle to work; Cvo is the pollutant concentration for in-vehicle other; th, tw, toi, to, tvw and tvo are the time spent in each respective microenvironment, based on the time-activity pattern; and T equals the duration of time activity pattern. For this study, E is referred to as the total exposure, and the value associated with each microenvironment variable as the partial exposure. As per Equation 1, there will be six partial exposure estimates, one for each ME listed on the right hand side of the equation. For this research, E refers to exposure for a group, i.e., workers, rather than to individuals. Exposures are simulated through iterative random sampling of representative distributions of the terms in Eq (1).
This approach is based on work by Duan, Klepeis and Ott [16-18] and has been used extensively by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in support of setting air quality management objectives and standards [12,14,19-21]. Many of the exposure simulations conducted using this approach have been applied to estimate a single distribution of exposure for an entire urban population and therefore incorporate demographics to represent the population[12,13,22-27]. The objective here, however, is to investigate variability in exposure due to relative location within a metropolitan area and its suburbs and the spatial pattern of pollution, rather than variability due to demographic patterns. For this reason, a unique spatial exposure simulation model (SESM) was developed using a geographic information system (ESRI ArcGIS 9.1©) and custom C++ programming.
Five key datasets were employed in the SESM:
1) Time-activity data from the Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey [28], conducted in 1994, were used as a basis for simulation in the SESM. Time reported as spent in a variety of locations over 24 hours was aggregated for each of 756 adult time-activity patterns into the six MEs used for this research: home indoor, work indoor, other indoor (including time spent shopping or in restaurants, for example), outdoor, in-vehicle to work, and in-vehicle other (all non-work transit time). In order to incorporate weekday/weekend and summer/winter variations in the amount of time spent in different MEs over a year, the time-activity pattern records were grouped into three categories: non-workers summer (320 records), non-workers winter (278 records), and workers (178 records), which provide the required distributions for random sampling of the amount of time spent in each ME. In the SESM, this same pool of time-activity patterns is used for the simulation in each census tract, thus controlling for variation due to demographic differences.
2) Work flow data for all people aged 15 and over reporting employment, based on a 20 percent sample in each census tract on May 15th, 2001, were purchased from Statistics Canada. For each census tract, the numbers of workers going from the census tract of their residence to another census tract in the study area for work were used to develop frequency-weighted work pair lists (distributions) for use in the SESM. Workers who had a place of employment within the census tract of their residence were excluded, as were workers who had a place of employment outside the GVRD study area.
3) Nitrogen dioxide was chosen for study as it is recognized to be an indicator of traffic-related air pollution [29-37]. A spatial estimate of annual average NO2 levels (Figure 1), developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia using the land use regression (LUR) method with field monitoring conducted in 2003, was employed and is fully described in [38]. Briefly, the method uses linear regression to relate surrounding geographic variables to field measurements of the pollutant of interest, and the resulting model is used to predict pollution levels for every cell in a grid that covers the entire study area. The grid spacing is usually very fine (i.e., 5 metres), and captures pollution gradients associated with roadways and dense urban and commercial development. The most important features of the spatial estimates are that gradients in NO2 with distance from roadways are captured, as are higher concentrations of NO2 in commercially developed areas and the regional gradient from the more polluted urban core, to the less polluted rural areas. This level of detail in the spatial allocation of NO2 allows the SESM, as employed in this study, to differentiate among census tracts based on their location in the study area and among in-vehicle, work indoor, and home indoor MEs.
Figure 1. Spatial estimate of annual average NO2 levels in the Greater Vancouver Regional District study area.
4) Spatial property assessment data were used to identify the geographic location of every property in the study area for which taxes are assessed as well as the primary use of the building on the property. Within each census tract, property locations (either residential or commercial) were used to constrain the SESM to areas where these buildings exist, rather than assuming a homogeneous spatial distribution. In addition, since outdoor air pollution does not always fully infiltrate into indoor areas, indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios are applied according to building type based on a review of available indoor/outdoor monitoring studies, for example, [39-47]. Residential buildings were assigned an I/O ratio of 0.70, large office buildings 0.35, manufacturing, industrial, and civic buildings 0.50, and small stores, services, and restaurants 0.70.
5) A digital road dataset was acquired for the study area from DMTI Spatial Inc. under an academic research agreement. This dataset was converted into a GIS network using ArcGIS 9.1 ©, thereby allowing for the identification of the shortest route, assuming travel by car, between two points while observing appropriate travel restrictions such as one way streets and speed limits. For every home census tract, the shortest route based on time for every work census tract listed in the work pair file was identified and saved as a unique GIS file using a specific identifier (i.e., originCT10_destinationCT_205) with attributes including total distance and total time associated with the route. In total, 34,782 GIS files were created, representing the shortest routes between each home census tract and all associated work census tracts.
Developing distributions of NO2 concentrations
Given the spatial pollution estimate, routes between home and work census tracts, building locations and associated I/O ratios, a geographic information system was used to develop distributions of NO2 for each ME that are unique to each census tract in the study area. For a specific census tract, the distribution of NO2 levels for the home indoor ME is comprised of values extracted from the NO2 surface for each residential building location (assumed to be the centroid of each property parcel) in the census tract and multiplied by the I/O ratio of 0.70. For the work indoor ME, the pollution distribution is developed the same way, extracting NO2 levels at commercial building locations within the work census tract and multiplying by I/O ratios of 0.35, 0.50, or 0.70, according to building type. Pollution distributions for the other indoor ME are based on sampling the pollution surface at commercial locations within 5 kilometers of the residential census tract and again multiplying by the appropriate I/O ratio. Similarly, for the outdoor ME, a regularly spaced grid of sample points is used to extract NO2 values from the surface within 5 kilometers of the residential census tract. For the in-vehicle other ME, the road network is used to create sample points for extracting NO2 values along roadways within 5 kilometers of the residential census tract; these values are then averaged to provide a single in-vehicle other value for the census tract. A distance of 5 kilometers was chosen to represent the average distance people travel from home on non-work related trips based on a review of studies reporting a typical range between 2 and 8 kilometers [48-50]. As well, the SESM results were found to be insensitive to variations in the distance chosen between 2.5 and 7.5 kilometers. For the in-vehicle to work ME, distributions are made up of the length-weighted average pollution level along the shortest route between each home-work pair associated with the census tract. No I/O ratios are applied to the outdoor, in-vehicle other or in-vehicle to work MEs. It is important to note here than no indoor sources of NO2 are included in the simulation. For indoor microenvironments, the distributions for NO2 levels represent the amount of NO2 generated by traffic that infiltrates indoors.
Random sampling algorithm
Once the pollution concentration distributions for each census tract are developed, random sampling of these and other key variables is used to calculate total exposures for a year. Certain assumptions were made based on the need to use daily time activity patterns to simulate annual exposures, most importantly that workers have the same time-activity pattern on all workdays in the year, and have a random non-work pattern on each weekend day of the year. Beginning with the first census tract, one commuter time-activity pattern is randomly selected to represent all workdays in a year, a work destination is randomly chosen from the frequency-weighted distribution of possible work pairs for that census tract, and pollution concentrations are randomly chosen from the appropriate distributions for the MEs. Total exposure is then calculated as a time-weighted average of these randomly selected pollution levels for each ME, as per Equation (1), as are the partial exposures associated with each ME. For summer weekends (53 days between March 21st and September 21st), a non-commuter summer time-activity pattern is randomly selected, the appropriate distributions sampled for pollution levels, and exposure calculated as per Equation (1). This is repeated 53 times, and the average taken to represent the total and partial exposures for summer weekends. A similar procedure is used to calculate the total and partial exposures for winter weekends (53 days between September 22nd and March 20th). Results for workdays and summer and winter weekends are then combined to provide a time-weighted, seasonally adjusted estimate of total exposure to annual average hourly NO2, as per Equation (2):
Where Ey is a single calculation of the annual total exposure; Wa is the exposure during weekdays; Wws is the exposure during summer weekends; Www is the exposure during winter weekends; the weight 0.72 represents the proportion of working days in summer or winter; the weight 0.28 represents the proportion of weekend days in summer or winter; and the weight 0.50 gives the summer and winter components equal weight in the sum.
This set of calculations is repeated 10,000 times for a census tract, producing distributions of total exposure estimates as well as partial exposure estimates for each ME, with 95% confidence of estimating exposure at any percentile to within +/-1 percentile [51]. This procedure is then repeated for each census tract in the study area, and the resulting distributions can be compared statistically as well as visually through mapping. For example, the median (referred to as the 50th percentile values) of the total or partial exposure distributions in each census tract can be mapped to identify spatial patterns. The 10th percentile and 90th percentile values can be similarly mapped and compared to identify the lower and upper ranges of the exposure distributions. The differences between the 10th and 90th percentiles can be calculated and mapped to show where variability within census tracts is highest, i.e., where the range between the 10th and 90th percentile values is largest.
Model limitations
Due to the specification of the SESM as applied here, results must be interpreted with caution, under the following caveats. (1) Results apply to those commuting by vehicle, not working in the census tract of residence, and who have a fixed place of employment all year. Therefore, the SESM does not reflect exposures of people who work in transit-related occupations (e.g., bus, taxi, truck drivers), who regularly work outdoors, who have a variable work location (e.g., real estate sales, home care workers), or who use other modes of transportation. (2) Results do not reflect real measured personal exposures, but are estimates of the distribution of exposure within census tracts for a group of people (i.e. workers). (3) The results reported here are specific to NO2 and may reflect exposure to other traffic-related air pollutants. The results do not include any indoor sources of NO2 such as gas stoves or work-related equipment. (4) SESM results are sensitive to the use of different methods for estimating pollution levels, e.g., spatial interpolation based on fixed-site monitoring or LUR. Here, the most spatially detailed estimate of NO2 levels available for the study area was employed. Less detailed estimates, such as might be produced via spatial interpolation from fixed-site air quality monitors, may produce results that differ from those reported here.
Looking first at the total exposure estimates, the SESM distributions show that, on average, total exposures range from as high as 35 μg/m3 of annual average hourly NO2 in the downtown core to as low as 8 μg/m3 in rural areas. When the 50th percentile values for the distributions in each census tract are mapped (Figure 2), this generally decreasing gradient based on distance from the urban core is apparent, as are hot spots of elevated total exposures in suburban areas where nodes of dense commercial development exist (See Figure 1 for elevated levels of NO2 associated with urban core, suburban developments and roadways). Note that the maps presented do not show any data for areas where there is less than one residential building per 500 metres, in order to avoid giving visual importance to unpopulated regions of large census tracts.
Figure 2. Spatial distribution of the median total exposure.
Comparing the map of the 50th percentile of the total exposure estimates (Figure 2) to the map of the spatial estimate of NO2 used in the analysis (Figure 1), it appears that median total exposures generally follow the same spatial pattern as the pollution estimate. This pattern remains the same at the 10th and 90th percentile levels of the total exposure distributions (not shown here), although the 10th percentile levels are systematically lower and the 90th percentile levels are systematically higher than the 50th percentile levels shown in Figure 2. These results are not unexpected, since it would not be unreasonable to predict higher exposures where pollution is higher, based on the estimated ambient pollution surface. It also should be noted that the magnitude of the total exposure estimates is generally lower than the ambient pollution levels due to the use of indoor/outdoor ratios in the SESM to adjust for the lower levels of ambient pollution infiltrating inside residences and places of work.
Next, looking at the partial exposure estimates associated with each ME, unique spatial patterns are also evident, as shown using quintiles of the median of the exposure distributions in each census tract in Figures 3 through 8. The spatial pattern of the median partial exposure associated with the home indoor ME, shown in Figure 3, closely resembles the pollution estimate (Figure 1), with high median partial exposures corresponding to high pollution areas. This makes intuitive sense since this is the ME in which the most hours per day are spent, so pollution levels at residences have a substantial influence on total exposure.
Figure 3. Spatial distribution of the median partial exposure associated with the home indoor microenvironment.
Figure 4. Spatial distribution of the median partial exposure associated with the work indoor microenvironment.
Figure 5. Spatial distribution of the median partial exposure associated with the other indoor microenvironment.
Figure 6. Spatial distribution of the median partial exposure associated with the outdoor microenvironment.
Figure 7. Spatial distribution of the median partial exposure associated with the in-vehicle other microenvironment.
Figure 8. Spatial distribution of the median partial exposure associated with the in-vehicle to work microenvironment.
Figure 4 shows quintiles of the median partial exposure associated with the work indoor ME. In this case, median partial exposure is highest in the urban core and surrounding densely developed areas. In the SESM, partial exposure associated with the work indoor ME is based on NO2 levels in the census tracts where residents report working, according to the Statistics Canada work flow data. Higher median exposure estimates in a census tract therefore suggest that most of the workers living there are working in other census tracts where pollution levels are similar to each other and relatively high. It seems reasonable to suggest that the pattern of higher median partial exposures for workers living in and around the urban core associated with the work indoor ME is due to a preponderance of work locations within the same general area, indicating relatively short commute distances to work destinations within the more highly polluted urban core and nearby areas. This interpretation is supported by local planning documents, that report that the municipalities within the area indicated in Figure 4 have the lowest percentages of people who go to other municipalities to work [9].
Quintiles of the median partial exposure associated with the other indoor, outdoor, and in-vehicle other MEs are shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7. In the SESM, these partial exposures are based on pollution levels at commercial locations, outdoors, and along roads within 5 km of each individual census tract, and so reflect the larger scale regional variation in NO2 levels: higher in the urban core and nearby developed areas and decreasing toward rural areas.
The spatial pattern in the median of the partial exposure distributions associated with the in-vehicle to work ME is shown in Figure 8. Here, census tracts with the highest quintile of median partial exposure are located in suburban and rural areas. For this ME, partial exposures in a particular census tract are based on the length-weighted average NO2 level along the shortest routes between that census tract and all other census tracts where people report working. In addition, the frequency with which each work census tract is reported as a destination is incorporated in the SESM calculations, so the distribution of partial exposures is most influenced by the NO2 levels along the routes traveled to the most-often reported work census tracts. The spatial pattern seen here is consistent with longer commutes from suburban and rural areas on highways and major roads where NO2 levels are elevated.
While the medians of the partial exposures associated with the six MEs included in the SESM have distinct patterns, each partial exposure has a different level of influence on the pattern of total exposures. Box plots of the amount of time spent in each ME for all of the time-activity patterns used in the SESM are shown in Figure 9. Each box plot shows the minimum and maximum (the lowest and highest horizontal line), and the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile level (bottom, middle, and top of box) of time spent in the associated ME. Within a 24 hour period, the amount of time spent in the home indoor ME is the highest, with a median of about 13 hours, followed by the work indoor ME, with a median of about 8 hours. Median time spent in each remaining ME is less than one hour each. The SESM produces a time-weighted, seasonally adjusted average of total exposure based on the input set of 24 hour time-activity patterns, so even though pollution levels may be high in some MEs (i.e., in-vehicle to work), the relatively small amount of time spent in these MEs in any 24 hour period reduces the importance of these exposures in terms of the annual average hourly total exposure.
Figure 9. Distribution of hours per day spent in each microenvironment.
The previous results have focused on the 50th percentile levels of the distributions for total and partial exposures in the study area, and regional gradients in exposure are evident; however, additional detail can be found by comparing other points of the distributions produced for each census tract. Table 1 provides a summary of the mean, median, and standard deviations at the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles for the total and partial exposure distributions produced for each of the 382 census tracts in the study area. Also reported is the range between the mean of the 10th and 90th percentiles for all census tracts. Looking down the columns in Table 1 for the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles, the relative contribution of each ME to the total exposure is apparent, and is associated with the time spent in each ME, as discussed earlier. Of particular interest to note is the relatively negligible partial exposure associated with the in-vehicle to work ME. Also of interest are the ranges associated with each ME, shown in the last column of Table 1. These are produced by subtracting the mean of the 10th percentile values for all census tracts from the mean of the 90th percentile values for all census tracts, and indicate the variability of exposure within census tracts as opposed to between census tracts. The mean range for total exposure is approximately 5 μg/m3, while the mean ranges associated with each ME are 1 μg/m3 or less, with the exception of the work indoor ME, shown in bold. The mean range for the work indoor ME is almost 7 μg/m3, which is far higher than that of any other ME. More detailed discussion of the very low partial exposure estimates associated with the in-vehicle to work ME, and the very high range in partial exposure estimates associated with the work indoor ME is provided next.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the exposure estimate distributions in the 382 census tracts in the Greater Vancouver Regional District study area
Although the amount of time spent in the in-vehicle to work ME was known to be low, it was expected that the use of a spatial estimate of NO2 that captured elevated concentrations along roadways and the use of GIS to identify routes along those roadways would act to give additional importance to the contribution of this ME to total exposure. This clearly was not the case, and may be due to some routes (or portions of routes) following local roads where levels are not particularly elevated in the pollution estimate. The summary of LUR NO2 levels associated with residential locations and different road classes in the study area, provided in Table 2, supports this interpretation. The mean annual average hourly NO2 level at each of the residential locations in the study area is 28 μg/m3, compared to 34 μg/m3 on highways, freeways and arterial roads, and 26 μg/m3 or less on all other classes of roads. Also notable is the relatively low percentage of highways, freeways and arterial roads (17%) in the study area compared to other road classes with lower NO2 levels. Therefore, only long commutes on major roads will have relatively high partial exposures, and are note frequent enough in the study area to have a significant influence on total exposure. Another contributing factor could be the use of shortest paths in the model, solved to optimize total time based on speed limits, thus representing the best case scenario where there is no congestion or stop and go traffic and so may underestimate actual exposures.
Table 2. Estimated pollution levels associated with residential locations and different road classes
A more detailed look at the work indoor ME results provides additional information that aids in the explanation of the high range observed in the partial exposure associated with this ME. The SESM results suggest workers in the top 10 percent of the exposure distribution (90th percentile) could be exposed to, on average 6.8 μg/m3 more annual average NO2 than workers in the bottom 10 percent of exposure distribution (10th percentile) within the same census tract. The mean ratio of the 90th percentile to the 10th percentile for all census tracts is 2.8, indicating that on average, workers in the top 10 percent could have exposures 2.8 times greater than workers in the bottom 10 percent of exposures who live in the same census tract. The effect of this variation on the total exposure is diminished by the influence of time spent in other MEs, producing a mean ratio of the 90th percentile to 10th percentile total exposure of 1.3.
In the SESM, distributions of partial exposure associated with the work indoor ME are based on the work flow frequency data specific to each census tract in conjunction with the time-activity pattern data. A large range in a census tract for the partial exposure distribution for this ME suggest that workers go to a set of work census tracts with diverse pollution levels, which is plausible for suburban and rural census tracts. Conversely, a low range suggests that most workers go to census tracts which are all relatively similar in terms of pollution levels, and this is likely true of census tracts in and near densely developed areas such as the urban core. A map of the 10th – 90th percentile range for the partial exposure distributions associated with the work indoor ME is shown in Figure 10. Larger ranges in the partial exposures associated with the work indoor ME are in fact more frequent in the suburban areas, and less frequent near the urban core. This interpretation is also supported by the proportional work flows shown in Figures 11 and 12, for example. Figure 11 shows that in a census tract with a low range in partial exposure, the majority of workers are going most often to census tracts relatively close to the home census tract. Figure 12 shows that in a census tract with a high range in partial exposure, workers visit a number of census tracts at varying distances from the home census tract in relatively equal proportions, where pollution levels may vary widely.
Figure 10. Spatial variability in partial exposure associated with the work indoor microenvironment (range between 10th and 90th percentile).
Figure 11. An example of work flow patterns for selected census tracts with a low range in partial exposure associated with the work indoor microenvironment. (a) Census tract near the urban core with a low range. (b) Census tract in a suburban area with a high range.
Figure 12. An example of work flow patterns for selected census tracts with a high range in partial exposure associated with the work indoor microenvironment (a) Census tract near the urban core with a low range. (b) Census tract in a suburban area with a high range.
The simulation results suggest that workers in the GVRD may experience an annual average exposure to traffic-related NO2 ranging from as low as 8 μg/m3 to as high as 35 μg/m3, with the average of the mean total exposures across all census tracts being 21 μg/m3 (SD 3.5). The level of exposure is closely associated with the pollution level in the census tract of residence, which ranges from 8 μg/m3 to 56 μg/m3 (mean = 30 μg/m3, SD 7.5 μg/m3) annual average hourly NO2, based on an area weighted average of the LUR values within each census tract. These results appear to be reasonable in comparison with existing short-term personal monitoring studies conducted elsewhere (none were conducted in the study area), and are most similar to results from a study of adults from eight cities in Switzerland. In that study, the average total personal exposure to NO2 in a sample of adults in eight cities in Switzerland was 27 μg/m3 compared to an average ambient level of 31 μg/m3, with approximately 7 μg/m3 of personal exposure identified as being due to NO2 originating indoors from gas cooking and smoking [39].
Table 3 provides a summary of additional personal monitoring studies of NO2. While the average of the SESM results in this paper is generally within the ranges shown, direct comparisons are difficult to make due to the inclusion of indoor sources at home and at work in the personal monitoring results. An important caveat must also be included here: the SESM produces an estimate of annual average hourly exposure, whereas the personal monitoring studies report the average hourly exposure for a single day. To evaluate the SESM results, personal monitoring for representative samples of workers for each census tract would be required for a period of time that would adequately represent an entire year.
Table 3. Summary of NO2 levels measured in personal monitoring studies
The simulation results presented here also show that within census tract variability is due to different work flow patterns among workers in census tracts. The partial exposures at the 90th percentile for work indoor (i.e., in the top ten percent of workers) on average can be 6.8 μg/m3 higher than the partial exposure at the 10th percentile (i.e., in the bottom ten percent of workers) in the same census tract, which translates into a partial exposure 2.8 times higher, and a total exposure of 1.3 times higher. The largest variability is generally found in suburban areas where workers travel to a large number of different work destinations. This is a new insight, in terms of the magnitude of variability in exposure.
Time spent commuting to work in a vehicle contributed a negligible amount to estimated exposure. This finding was somewhat unexpected; however, some empirical evidence exists that supports the conclusion that exposures encountered while in transit do not contribute significantly to total exposure when measured for a full 24 hour period or longer, or when there are other sources of the pollutant that are not associated specifically with traffic, as is the case for NO2 (i.e., gas stoves and heaters). In Oxford UK, a study using the EXPOLIS monitoring methodology found personal 24 hour exposures to NO2 (mean 24.5 μg/m3, SD 1.7) were similar to levels measured indoors at residences with gas stoves (mean 22.3 μg/m3; SD 1.8) and indoors at workplaces (mean 29.6 μg/m3, 1.5) [41], which could reasonably be interpreted as an indication of no other significant sources of exposure other than indoor at home and work. In Helsinki, as part of the EXPOLIS study, Rotko, Kousa et al (2001) found no association between time spent in commute (categorized as less than or more than 1 hour) and personal 24 hour NO2 exposure, even in the absence of gas stoves (only 9 of the 176 residences monitored used gas stoves). Similarly, a commute time greater than 1 hour was not significantly associated with NO2 exposure for a combined group of EXPOLIS subjects from Helsinki, Basle, and Prague [52]. Conversely, in a personal monitoring study of NO2 exposure conducted in 18 cities around the world, commute time exceeding one hour was found to be significantly correlated with total personal exposure [53]. In Levy (1998), the mean personal NO2 exposure for people with a commute longer than 1 hour was 60 μg/m3, compared to 56 μg/m3 for people with commutes of less than 1 hour, a relatively small difference in terms of the total exposure. So, for people employed in non-transit related occupations, for which typical round-trip commutes are under 1 hour, it seems reasonable to conclude that the simulated results for partial exposure associated with the in-vehicle to work ME presented here would be unlikely to be significantly higher even if improvements to the SESM could be incorporated. A final note of caution is warranted here. The lack of importance of the in-vehicle to work ME to total exposure may be reasonable for NO2, but in the case of other pollutants, such as some VOCs, where there may be few indoor sources and extremely elevated levels on roadways, exposure while in a vehicle may be much more important.
A spatial exposure simulation model was described and used to estimate within-community variability in exposure estimates to traffic-related annual average hourly NO2(μg/m3). The results produced show that while time spent in the home indoor ME contributes most to between census tract variation in exposures, time spent in the work indoor ME contributes most to within census tract variation, and time spent in vehicles makes a negligible contribution to annual average exposure estimates.
Although the simulation results represent exposure estimates rather than actual exposures, the explicitly spatial perspective represented here has utility for informing targeted air quality policies meant to reduce exposures and environmental inequity in terms of exposure to traffic-related air pollution. All residents of an area would benefit from an overall decrease in traffic-related air pollution, such as might be achieved by further reducing tail-pipe emissions or switching to alternative fuels. If, however, the goal of policy is to reduce exposures for those most affected, either the spatial pattern of pollution or the spatial patterns of where people live and where they work bears further scrutiny. No doubt changes in one pattern will be caused or influenced by changes in the others. The SESM has future potential as a policy evaluation tool, given input data that reflect changes in pollution levels or work flow patterns due to traffic demand management and land use development policy.
List of Abbreviations
CHAPS: Canadian Human Activity Pattern Study; GVRD: Greater Vancouver Regional District; I/O: Indoor outdoor ratio; LUR: Land use regression; ME: Microenvironment; NO2: Nitrogen dioxide; SESM: Spatial exposure simulation model; US EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency; μg/m3: Micrograms per cubic metre.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
EMS was responsible for the conceptual design of the study, including the development and implementation of the SESM, and for preparing the draft manuscript. CPK and DCF provided feedback on study design and interpretation of results. PWH collaborated with EMS on data acquisition and processing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Funding for this study was provided by Health Canada, as part of the Border Air Quality Study – Georgia Basin Puget Sound region, led by Dr. Michael Brauer of the University of British Columbia. Dr. Jochen Stier (University of Victoria, Computer Science Department, wrote the C++ code used in the SESM. Special thanks to the many data providers, including Dr. Judy Leech (Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey), BC Assessment (property assessment data), twenty-six municipal jurisdictions (property parcel data), Statistics Canada, DMTI Spatial, Sarah Henderson and Dr. Michael Brauer (NO2 spatial estimate).
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text:
Italy: The Vespa Museum
The history of the famous scooter named after the wasp
I always knew the iconic Vespa was the most stylish sway to swoop through those narrow Italian streets. But I´d never before appreciated that a key part of the design was to make its riders look good when they arrived.
The Vespa museum in Pontedera, Tuscany is a love letter to engineering´s contribution to fashion. It invites Vespas from around the world to join in with one shiny, sleek Vespa party. There´s the Vespa that travelled around the world, there´s a racing Vespa, there´s a giant Vespa, a diamond studded Vespa and the Blue Peter Vespa from an English television programme. There´s a bumble bee Vespa and a newspaper Vespa, a flower power Vespa and a futuristic Vespa.
There´s also, perhaps more importantly, the story of the Vespa.
At the end of World War II, aeronautical engineer Corradino d´Ascanio found himself living in a country with a ten year ban on military manufacturing.
At the end of World War II, aeronautical engineer Corradino d´Ascanio found himself living in a country with a ten year ban on military manufacturing.
Elsewhere, plant owner Piaggio found himself with the remnants of a ruined engineering factory and an irritating habit of getting mud on his trousers while riding his motorbike.
It was meant to be. Piaggio hired d´Ascanio and they both got to work. After a few shiny prototypes the Vespa was born. Its unique design had gears on the handlebars, a single metal chassis and an easy way for riders to rest their feet on the platform instead of straddling an unwieldy mechanical beast. Splash guards even protected those tailored Italian business suits.
Either from the Vespa´s narrow waist or from the buzzing of the engine, the motorbike reminded both men of a wasp. Hence the name, Vespa, which means wasp in Italian.
After wandering through and appreciating the engineering, there´s the chance to buy plenty of souvenirs for friends and family at home. Books, T shirts, postcards and even small models of the Vespa are available.
There´s also, the unmistakable reinforcement of the message I already knew: that Vespas are cool.
Flight times and prices for Pisa
Save time by booking your flight ticket to Pisa online! You can see all flight times and prices on our website. Once you have chosen your flight, you can get your plane ticket in a few minutes!
Abigail King
Abigail King is a British journalist and photographer who swapped a career as a hospital doctor for a life on the road. She also blogs about cultural travel and adventure at Inside the Travel Lab, where she experiments with the world.
Book your flight


text:
Four time CFMA Young Performer of the Year nominee and 2014 CN Youth Artist Award winner, Rebecca Lappa is a prolific songwriter, who has penned over 200 songs with more waiting to be born. She writes songs inspired by observations of life, historical events, and literary references that slide between the realms of pop and folk. Her modern folk sound with Celtic world flavour is making the folktale new again. Rebecca draws comparisons to strong female vocalists and songwriters such as, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Loreena McKennit and Tori Amos.
After two EP's, Rebecca released her first full-length CD of original music, "Not in Neverland" in June 2011. This album earned Rebecca her first CFMA nomination and a Harvard Broadcasting Exposure Travel Grant. In May 2012, Rebecca released her second CD "Myths and Monsters" produced by Alana Levandoski. This CD garnered Rebecca her second CFMA Young Performer of the Year nomination, a nominee's showcase in St. John and a nomination for an Edmonton Music Award. In June 2013, Rebecca released her 3rd CD, Advant Garden, produced by Alana Levandoski. "Avant Garden" was nominated for 2013 CFMA Young Performer of the Year and given a nominee showcase spot.
2012 Highlights include: She was one of six finalists in the All-Albertan Song Contest for her song "Welcome to Wayne." She received a Songwriting Boot Camp prize as a Sonic Youth at the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Competition and was mentored by Sam Baker. She was a finalist in the Here is Canada national contest for her song "We are Canadians". She was selected to participate in The Galaxie Young Performers Program at the 2012 Winnipeg Folk Festival and was mentored by Royal Wood. Rebecca was chosen as a songwriting winner in the 2012 Canadian Wildlife Federation, "Get to Know Your Wild Neighbour Contest". Rebecca was one of 4 wild cards on YTV's The Next Star; making it to the top 16 out of 4000 contestants.
Rebecca has had her songs played on CBC, CKUA, CFBX, CJSR, CJSF, CJLY, CJUM, CHMA, CHMR, CKRL, CFLX, CHLY, CJMQ, CIFA, CHIP, CIBN, CFRU, KAOS, SCOP, Roots Music Canada, Women's Radio Channel, Alberta Artists Streaming Radio, Festival Radio all on Live365, WITRR Radio Network and Edmontunes. She has been interviewed on CBC Radio's Edpod Challenge, CBC Daybreak Alberta, CJSR Soul of the City, Up 97.7 FM, KAOS Radio and Folk Roots Radio (CFRU). She has been filmed for Shaw TV, Breakfast Television, Global TV, Balcony TV and CTV news. She has had press coverage in The Edmonton Journal, Saint City News, The Edmonton Sun, The West Edmonton Local, Beaumont News, Vue Weekly, The Edmonton Examiner, Drumheller Mail, The Guantlet, Red Deer Advocate and an article in the Alternative Trends magazine. She was even a featured artist in the Prairie Belles Podcast and been covered in Gigcity and New Music Michael blogs.
From her hometown of Edmonton, Rebecca is wowing audiences and building a fan base. She has performed at events such as the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Calgary Folk Festival, Beaumont Blues Festival, Homefest, Nextfest, The Works, SOS Fest, Heart of the City Festival, Big Valley Jamboree, Canadian Rockies International Rodeo Music Fest, Musicians in the Making at the Winspear, Blossom into the Blues Festival, Night of Artist Gala, Kaleido Family Arts Festival, Black Gold Rodeo, Hair Massacure, and many other charity events, libraries, coffee shops, open mikes and markets. Sharing her music with an audience is Rebecca's true passion.
Rebecca is a classically trained singer who delivers her songs in an expressive mezzo-soprano accompanied by her keyboard. Always striving to improve, she received Honors in both the Grade 7 RCM vocal exam and the Advanced Music Rudiments Theory Exam and attended a Berklee College of Music summer program. She is an award-winning vocalist, receiving multiple awards at local competitions such as Futures Fest and E.F.C.L. talent shows and has been a finalist in the Northern Star Talent search for 6 years. She was awarded a vocal scholarship at the St. Albert Rotary Music Festival and won both St. Albert Junior Idol and East Meets West Idol performing her original songs. At the Edmonton Kiwanis Music Festival in April 2011, Rebecca received a mark of "Superior" for her original song "Forever Together". Rebecca placed 3rd at Kalyna Idol and Top 10 in the all ages Edmonton Undiscovered Competition in 2011.
Since she was a little girl, Rebecca has loved to sing and perform. At age 2, Rebecca was exposed to music in the Music Fun Time Classes at Visionary College. Even then, her parents knew there was something special about her musicality, and so she began vocal and piano lessons. During her pre-teen years she flexed her acting muscle as she performed in musical theatre plays (Sinbad the Sailor, Annie, My Fair Lady), operas (Filumena, Pagliacci), T.V. commercials (Family Channel, Acura, Save on Foods) and as an extra in the TV series "Fear Itself" and the video "Edmonton 2030". Rebecca is also a natrual storyteller and has had stories and poems published in the Magpie Magazine and Celebrating Words publications. Eventually at the age of 10, Rebecca combined her love of writing with her passion for music and a songwriter was born.
Songwriting opened up a whole new world for Rebecca and she began performing her original material at competitions and local venues around Edmonton. At Hulbert's Songwriting Stage she was noticed by Rhea March and invited to join U22. As a member of U22 productions, Rebecca grew as a performer and eagerly collaborated with other young artists. Rebecca has even mentored other songwriters as a speaker at the 2010, 2012 and 2013 Highland's Junior High School Young Readers Conference, in a presentation at Victoria School of Performing Arts, and at The School of Song 2012 Songwriting and Performance Camp. In 2013, Rebecca was part of Rhea March's Songwriting presentation for the North Central Teachers Convention. She also led a songwriting workshop at the 2013 City of Edmonton Youth Art Jam and started a weekly songwriting club at her school. In 2014 Rebecca led a songwriting session at the Riverbend Library's writing club with author Natasha Deen, and mentored elementary students with The School of Song as part of Culture Days at the Jubilee.
Besides performing, this honors student is busy in other activities. At Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts, she has been in the school's choir for 9 years and mixed Jazz Choir for 3 year. She loves to dance and has taken 3 years of Ballet and Jazz. Rebecca was a competitive gymnast for many years and the all-round provincial Champion at her level in 2009. In 2010, she competed as a gymnast at the Alberta Winter Games. Currently, she is using her tumbling skills on her high school cheer team and they won cities, and provincials in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Radio Charts:
"We are Canadians": National Finalist in the Here Is Canada multi-media contest, 2012
"The Bargain": Sonic Youth Boot Camp winner in the Calgary Folk Fest Songwriting Contest, 2012
"Welcome to Wayne": Top 6 Finalist in the All Albertan Song contest, 2012
"Forever Together": mark of Superior at the Edmonton Kiwanis Festival, 2011
"Superhero": featured in I-Cubed Collective at Victoria School, 2011
"Turned Out Wrong": on Not4Me national drug awareness website, 2010
"Message in the Wind": featured in the Wade in the Water Collective at Victoria School, 2010
"See My Tears": featured in "Fostering Acceptance Through Art and Global Citizenship" video, 2009
"Runaway": 2nd place winner in Futures Fest, 2009
"Turned Out Wrong": winner of Alternative Trends East Meets West Idol, 2009
"Friends": winner of St. Albert Junior Idol, 2008


text:
million dollar chicken
Yield: 4 people
Submitted by katyaskitchen
Updated: January 10, 2010
Ingredients3 C. hot couscous or rice (cooked as directed on package)
1 T. olive or vegetable oil
1/4 C. coarsely chopped almonds
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 chicken thighs, skin removed
2 C. chunky salsa
1/4 C. water
2 T. dried currants
1 t. honey
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. cinnamon
Preparation1. While couscous or rice is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat until hot.
2. Add almonds; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove almonds from skillet with slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Add garlic to skillet and cook and stir for 30 seconds.
4. Add chicken, cook 4 to 5 minutes or until browned, turning once.
5. In medium bowl combine salsa and all remaining ingredients, mix well.
6. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until chicken is fork tender and juices run clear.
7. Stir in almonds and serve chicken mixture over couscous or rice.


text:
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RE: FS: MLD, Hennessy, ALPS
bump. all items new, never been used.
FS: MLD, Hennessy, ALPS
I have 3 pieces of gear I am selling because my apartment is overflowing with outdoor gear. Shipping to US incuded in price, non-US please contact for shipping, paypal only. Please send PMs with...
chapstick caps
great idea, I was recently looking for something similar for my ld01 and I came across a thread that suggested using chapstick / lib balm lids. I picked up some red, green and white lids ($3 for al...
thanks for the ideas!
Thank you to everyone who responded to this thread, it inspired me to start doing my own gear projects, and I have already made my first prototype quilt / sewing project from some cheap materials a...
great idea
that's a great idea, I like the idea of having some pillows. I guess I could try my hand at making some down booties or mitts as well. I haven't sewn anything since I was a little kid thoug...
Fly tying scissors
It sounds like you've already settled on a tool, but I just wanted to throw fly tying scissors out as a light weight pair thats fairly easy to search for. I have a couple of pairs. A standard m...
The humidity factor
Living in the midwest, I'm sure you are well aware of humidity and mold issues. I lived in Columbia, MO for a number of years and it was a constant issue at that time. I would weigh the heavy h...
Recycling Old Sleeping Bags, suggestions?
Not strictly a how-to question, but seems like this questions has haunted this forum before: I searched the forums for converting old bags to quilts. There are several tutorials, however, my old...
Direct Route
I recently picked up a garmin and had this exact problem. I have been addressing it by going to the dropdown menu in the upper right in basecamp and setting it to direct route. Where the hiking set...
Zero drop
I'll second, or I guess third, the notion of zero drop shoes. I recently switched to them and I am truly amazed by the improvements I am seeing in my balance and ankle strength. I am using the ...
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