Assessing Transportation Impacts Using Vehicle Miles Traveled Rather Than Level of Service Can Incentivize Infill Development

Local governments have long relied on Level of Service (LOS), a measure of automobile congestion, as the basis for assessing transportation impacts of land use development projects. However, use of the LOS metric creates an incentive for projects that contribute to urban sprawl while penalizing denser development projects that could allow people better accessibility to jobs and services through alternate modes like walking, bicycling, or transit. Starting July 1, 2020, local governments in California are required to use vehicle miles traveled (VMT) rather than LOS to measure land use projects’ transportation impacts. Researchers at UC Davis studied how this change affects the approval process for urban development. Because most agencies have not yet switched to using VMT in their analyses, the researchers looked back at environmental documents for development projects in the City of Los Angeles between 2001 and 2016 and determined whether these projects could have benefited from using a VMT metric instead of LOS for measuring their transportation impacts. Findings are summarized in this policy brief.View the NCST Project Webpag

A cleavage map of bacteriophage Phi-X174 genome

Restriction endonucleases isolated from Hemophilus influenzae, Hemophilus parainfluenzae, and Hemophilus aegyptius were used to cleave phi-X174 replicative form DNA into three sets of specific DNA fragments. The order of these fragments in the phi-X replicative form molecule was determined by (1) analysis of partial digest products, (2) analysis of overlapping sets of fragments produced by two different restrictive enzymes. On the basis of these results, a detailed physical map of the phi-X174 genome has been constructed with respect to the cleavage sites of all three enzymes

Where People Get Information About Restaurants and Other Local Businesses

Presents survey findings about the demographics and technology profiles of those who seek information about restaurants, bars, and local businesses and their sources of information, including the Internet, newspapers, word of mouth, and local television

Stationary Distribution Convergence of the Offered Waiting Processes for GI/GI/1+GI Queues in Heavy Traffic

A result of Ward and Glynn (2005) asserts that the sequence of scaled offered waiting time processes of the $GI/GI/1+GI$ queue converges weakly to a reflected Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process (ROU) in the positive real line, as the traffic intensity approaches one. As a consequence, the stationary distribution of a ROU process, which is a truncated normal, should approximate the scaled stationary distribution of the offered waiting time in a $GI/GI/1+GI$ queue; however, no such result has been proved. We prove the aforementioned convergence, and the convergence of the moments, in heavy traffic, thus resolving a question left open in Ward and Glynn (2005). In comparison to Kingman's classical result in Kingman (1961) showing that an exponential distribution approximates the scaled stationary offered waiting time distribution in a $GI/GI/1$ queue in heavy traffic, our result confirms that the addition of customer abandonment has a non-trivial effect on the queue stationary behavior.Comment: 29 page

Production of Specific Fragments of {varphi}X174 Replicative Form DNA by a Restriction Enzyme from Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Endonuclease HP

A restriction endonuclease from Haemophilus parainfluenzae degrades {varphi}X174 replicative form DNA into eight specific fragments, ranging from 1,700 to 150 base pairs and terminated specifically by deoxycytidylic acid

Can creating a Behavioral Task Force on the medical and surgical floor increase staff satisfaction rates?

Abstract Background. The medical and surgical units within Maine Medical Center have seen an influx of patients with behavioral disturbances. Staff voice concerns regarding lack of knowledge and lack of support while treating patients with a medical condition and dual diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder with behavioral disturbances. Purpose (PICOT). In adult patients on R5 with behavioral disturbances, how does the implementation of a Behavioral Task Force compared to the current practice affect staff knowledge and satisfaction? Method. This quality improvement study began in May 2017 and is on-going. In May, a pre-implementation survey was given to all nurses and clinical nursing assistance on R5. The survey measured staffs feeling of support and knowledge while working with behavioral patients before, during and after admission. During the implementation phase of this project, an interdisciplinary team was established. The Behavioral Task Force met on a monthly basis and provided clear policies, procedures and protocols as well as comprehensive trainings and education for staff working with behavioral patients on the medical floor. A post-implementation survey has been sent out to the same staff with the same focus as the pre-implementation survey. Results. The pre-implementation survey showed that 47% of nurses and clinical nursing assistants felt supported while working with patients exhibiting behavioral disturbances. 53% of nurses and clinical nursing assistants felt they had the knowledge necessary to work with behavioral patients. The goal was to increase both categories by 25% in a six month period. Time Frame. The post-implementation survey is slated to result by October 15, 2017. The quality improvement study will be on-going with the ability to change based on continued staff input

Non-invasive techniques for minimizing pain with needle puncture

In healthcare settings with heavy workload and limited intervention time, pain management is still vital for PAs to consider. This CME discussed easy to use, commonly found, non-invasive, rapid, inexpensive, and minimal side effect methods to alleviate this induced pain, including: topical local anesthetics, cryoanesthesia, mechanical vibrations, ShotBlocker, and Buzzy. As PAs play a vital role in providing healthcare, it is essential to provide various methods that are adaptable to each unique clinical context, increase patient satisfaction, and improve the quality of care they provide

Understanding the Participatory News Consumer

Analyzes survey findings on the impact of social media and mobile connectivity on news consumption behavior by demographics and political affiliation. Examines sources; topics; participation by sharing, commenting on, or creating news; and views on media