Flood Fatalities in the United States

This study compiles a nationwide database of flood fatalities for the contiguous United States from 1959 to 2005. Assembled data include the location of fatalities, age and gender of victims, activity and/or setting of fatalities, and the type of flood events responsible for each fatality report. Because of uncertainties in the number of flood deaths in Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina, these data are not included in the study. Analysis of these data reveals that a majority of fatalities are caused by flash floods. People between the ages of 10 and 29 and 60 yr of age are found to be more vulnerable to floods. Findings reveal that human behavior contributes to flood fatality occurrences. These results also suggest that future structural modifications of flood control designs (e.g., culverts and bridges) may not reduce the number of fatalities nationwide. Spatially, flood fatalities are distributed across the United States, with high-fatality regions observed along the northeast Interstate-95 corridor, the Ohio River valley, and near the Balcones Escarpment in south-central Texas. The unique distributions found are likely driven by both physical vulnerabilities for flooding as well as the social vulnerabilities

The Storm Morphology of Deadly Flooding Events in the United States

This study investigates the synoptic and mesoscale environments associated with deadly flooding events in the United States from 1996 to 2005. A manual environment classification scheme, which includes analyses of surface charts, 500 hPa maps, and composite radar data (where available), is utilized to ascertain the primary ascent mechanisms and storm types producing these fatal flood events. Of the ten classifications in the scheme, the two most dominant ascent mechanisms associated with deadly floods include frontal boundaries (45%) and tropical systems (22%). Findings illustrate that mesoscale convective systems were responsible for 36% of the total number of flood fatalities over the period. The ten classifications are spatially and temporally analysed in order to assess region-specific risks associated with deadly flooding events

Evidence for bimodal orbital separations of white dwarf-red dwarf binary stars

We present the results of a radial velocity survey of 20 white dwarf plus M dwarf binaries selected as a follow up to a \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} study that aimed to spatially resolve suspected binaries. Our candidates are taken from the list of targets that were spatially unresolved with \textit{Hubble}. We have determined the orbital periods for 16 of these compact binary candidates. The period distribution ranges from 0.14 to 9.16\,d and peaks near 0.6\,d. The original sample therefore contains two sets of binaries, wide orbits ($\approx100-1000$\,au) and close orbits ($\lesssim1-10$\,au), with no systems found in the $\approx10-100$\,au range. This observational evidence confirms the bimodal distribution predicted by population models and is also similar to results obtained in previous studies. We find no binary periods in the months to years range, supporting the post common envelope evolution scenario. One of our targets, WD\,1504+546, was discovered to be an eclipsing binary with a period of 0.93\,d

The validity and reliability of the Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test

The aim of this study was to examine the content validity, construct validity and reliability of the newly developed Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test (BJSAT). Basketball athletes from different playing levels (State Basketball League [SBL], n = 30, age: 22.7 ± 6.1 yr; SBL Division I, n = 11, age: 20.6 ± 2.1 yr) completed four separate trials of the BJSAT with each trial consisting of shot attempts from two- and three-point distances at pre-determined court locations. Each shot attempt was scored utilising a criteria where higher scores were given when greater accuracy was exhibited. The BJSAT detected a significant, large difference in accuracy between two- and three-point shots (d = 0.99, p \u3c 0.01). Relative reliability across the repeated trials was rated as moderate for all athletes (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.71, p \u3c 0.01) and goodfor the SBL athletes (ICC = 0.78, p \u3c 0.01). Absolute reliability for all athletes was above the acceptable benchmark (coefficient of variation = 16.2%); however superior to skill tests available in the literature. In conclusion, the BJSAT is sensitive to two- and three-point shooting accuracy and can reliably assess jump shooting accuracy in basketball athletes

Revitalizing Your Library Faculty Governance: Five Tips to Increase Involvement

If you’re an academic librarian with faculty status, you know that this status comes with an equal portion of benefit and burden. Some of the benefits are academic freedom, support for scholarship, and elevated status on campus (though not necessarily higher pay). Some library faculty are even eligible for tenure (though at my institution, Kennesaw State University, we are not). On the flipside of these benefits are a few things I would consider burdens, such as tedious annual reviews and extensive service requirements. Library faculty governance, I would argue, falls somewhere in between a benefit and a burden

Does Experience with Sagebrush In utero and Early in Life Influence the Use of Sagebrush by Sheep?

Learning from mother begins early in the developmental process and can have lifelong effects when it comes to forage preferences. Recent research suggests that mothers are a powerful and positive influence before birth. Pregnancy is not an incubation period buy a staging period for well-being and disease later in life. Better understanding the developmental processes which take place in utero and the effects they have later in life may help us create management plans that utilize grazing animals to their full potential as landscape manipulators. Using in utero and early-life programming as a management tool is a relatively new concept, but offers a faster approach than genetic selection to respond to environmental contingencies in the short-term. Experiences in utero and early in life may have marked effects on the ability of herbivores to consume toxin-containing plants such as sagebrush. This is because environmental experiences cause epigenetic alterations in consumers which are translated into neurological, morphological, and physiological changes that influence foraging behavior. This change in behavior can reduce the competitive ability of toxin-containing plants in the community and allow for greater primary production and diversity. However, information regarding herbivores\u27 exposure early in life to plant toxins and their subsequent physiological and behavioral responses is limited. Moreover, no information is available on early life experiences to toxin-containing shrubs like sagebrush and their subsequent influence on feeding behavior by herbivores. Thus, the objective of my research was to explore how experience in utero and early life with sagebrush affected intake of and preference for sagebrush by sheep later in life

Global analysis reveals differential regulation of mRNA decay in human induced pluripotent stem cells

2013 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells are able to proliferate indefinitely while maintaining the capacity for unlimited differentiation and these properties are reflected by global changes in gene expression required for reprogramming of differentiated cells. Although the rate of transcription is an important regulator of steady-state mRNA levels, mRNA decay also plays a significant role in modulating the expression of cell-specific genes. The contribution of regulated mRNA decay towards establishing and maintaining pluripotency is largely unknown. To address this, we sought to determine global mRNA decay rates in iPS cells and the genetically-matched fibroblasts (HFFs) they were derived from. Using a microarray based approach, we determined half-lives for 5,481 mRNAs in both cell lines and identified three classes of mRNAs whose decay is differentially regulated in iPS cells compared to HFFs. We found that replication-dependent histone mRNAs are more abundant and more stable in iPS cells, resulting in increased histone protein abundances. This up-regulation of histone expression may facilitate the unique chromatin dynamics of pluripotent cells. A large set of C2H2 ZNF mRNAs are also stabilized in iPS cells compared to HFFs, possibly through reduced expression of miRNAs that target their coding regions. As many of these mRNAs encode transcriptional repressors, stabilization of these transcripts may support the overall increased expression of C2H2 ZNF transcription factors in early embryogenesis. Finally, we found that mRNAs containing C-rich elements in their 3'UTR are destabilized in iPS cells compared to HFFs and many of these mRNAs encode factors important for development. Interestingly, we also identified the Poly(C)-Binding Protein (PCBP) family as differentially regulated in iPS cells and investigated their possible involvement in regulation of the mRNAs in our dataset identified as destabilized in iPS cells and having C-rich 3'UTR elements. Thus, we identified several interesting classes of mRNAs whose decay is differentially regulated in iPS cells compared to HFFs and our results highlight the importance of post-transcriptional control in stem cell gene expression. Coordinated control of mRNA decay is evident in pluripotency and characterization of the mechanisms involved would further contribute to our limited understanding of pluripotent gene expression and possibly identify additional targets for reprogramming

Retributive Medication: A Discussion of a Maine Law Allowing Involuntary, Forcible Medication of a Pretrial Defendant for the Purpose of Rendering the Defendant Competent to Stand Trial

Innocent until proven guilty—it’s a phrase we have all heard, know, and accept. But there are circumstances where this simple concept is strained in its application, such as when a legally incompetent defendant is facing trial. After all, how can a defendant be proven guilty if he cannot stand trial? The Supreme Court of the United States has determined that forcibly medicating an incompetent defendant solely to render the defendant competent to stand trial is permissible under the Federal Constitution. However, the Federal Constitution provides only the floor-level of civil rights; states are free to set their own ceilings. The State of Maine had previously established a relatively high ceiling: Maine law provided a process for psychiatric hospitals across the state to administer short-term, forcible treatment of patients who exhibit dangerous behaviors, so as to minimize and control risk but in a manner limited by necessity. Nevertheless, a new Maine law went into effect in 2015 that adopted the federal standard, allowing a defendant to be forcibly medicated for the sole purpose of rendering the defendant competent to stand trial. Although this standard requires that certain conditions be met before treatment, the process allows forcible treatment to continue for indefinite periods of time, regardless of whether the defendant poses a risk to himself or others. At the heart of several concerns is a trepidation that Maine has stripped pretrial defendants of the civil liberties they had previously been afforded. This article utilizes the first case in Maine that has applied the new law to illustrate the concerns surrounding the new process. This article argues that the law attempts to fill a void that Maine does not have, and remains an ill fit for the State of Maine