Regulation of Logging on Private Land in California Under Governor Gray Davis

Few issues in California have been more controversial or engendered more passionate public debate than the damage to the state\u27s environment from logging. The almost complete disappearance of the primeval old-growth redwood forests that once blanketed the north coast of California has been the focal point for much of the debate. Since the redwood forests have for the most part remained in private hands, they are subject to regulation by the state of California. And the fate of the redwoods has brought several waves of litigation, ballot initiatives, new regulations and numerous public acquisitions, all designed to preserve these forests from commercial logging. To evaluate the Davis administration\u27s performance in this area, the authors of this article conducted their own research into Governor Davis\u27 election fundraising activities and relied on their own extensive, continuous experience in working with and against the California Department of Forestry ( CDF ) and the Board of Forestry ( Board ) over the last 10 to 15 years. In addition, this article discusses the results of a number of other investigations conducted by government agencies and non-profit organizations into the effectiveness of California\u27s regulation of logging

Use of the Functional Movement Screening in Division III Collegiate Athletics

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) aims to expose movement limitations and asymmetries by screening an individual on seven different fundamental movement patterns. Limited research has been conducted using individual FMS test scores comparatively to composite scores. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a corrective exercise program on improving individual FMS scores for a collegiate basketball team. Thirteen healthy, male student athletes from an NCAA Division III men’s basketball team performed all seven FMS movements. The team was randomly divided into control and treatment groups. The control group followed their typical pre-practice dynamic warm-up four days per week for four weeks, while the treatment group performed a specific warm-up geared towards improving FMS for four days per week for four weeks. The athletes performed the complete FMS following the completion of the training program. The specific corrective exercise training program did not significantly change FMS movements

Movement Capability Changes in Collegiate Basketball Players Following a Corrective Exercise Program

While much data is available regarding Functional Movement Screen (FMS) scores in corrective exercise programs and injury prevention, limited data exists regarding comparisons between movement patterns in various sports. The purpose of this study was to review FMS scores to find any mobility and stability differences between several NCAA Division III sports. In this study, 83 healthy student-athletes, from four different sports teams, performed a battery of tests to measure physical capabilities prior to the beginning of their competitive season. All participating student-athletes performed the FMS, which is a tool used to gauge fundamental movement patterns including range of motion, stability, and balance, to measure movement asymmetries and limitations

Impact of hypoglycemia on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and their quality of life, work productivity, and medication adherence.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) that correlate with greater risk of hypoglycemia and determine the impact of hypoglycemia on health-related quality of life, work productivity, and medication adherence from a patient perspective.MethodsData from a large web-based survey were retrospectively analyzed. Adults with a diagnosis of T2DM taking antihyperglycemic agents were included in the analysis. Participants with knowledge of their hypoglycemic history were divided into three groups: those experiencing recent hypoglycemia (previous 3 months), those experiencing nonrecent hypoglycemia, and those never experiencing hypoglycemia.ResultsOf the participants with T2DM taking antihyperglycemic agents who were knowledgeable of their hypoglycemia history, 55.7% had ever experienced hypoglycemia. Of those, 52.7% had recent hypoglycemia. Compared with those who never experienced hypoglycemia, those who experienced hypoglycemia tended to: be younger; be more aware of their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels; have higher HbA1c levels; have a higher body mass index; have higher Charlson Comorbidity Index scores; be on insulin, sulfonylureas, and/or glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists; and be less adherent to their antihyperglycemic agents. Hypoglycemia interfered with social activities, caused more missed work (absenteeism), more impairment while at work (presenteeism), and decreased overall work productivity compared with patients who had never experienced hypoglycemia. Overall health-related quality of life, as determined by the Short Form-36 health questionnaire, was negatively impacted by hypoglycemia. Both Physical and Mental Summary scores were significantly lower for the recent hypoglycemia and nonrecent hypoglycemia groups compared with the never hypoglycemia group.ConclusionHypoglycemia can negatively impact many aspects of life. Greater awareness of those who are at risk for developing hypoglycemia can lead to the development of measures (eg, patient and physician education) to prevent future hypoglycemia episodes

The Growing Concern of Poverty in the United States: an exploration of food prices and poverty on obesity rates for low-income citizens

Studies demonstrate the link between income and obesity, determining factors to explain the strong correlation between high body mass index and low socioeconomic status. Many focus on uncovering predictors but few use a systems approach: identifying the interaction among predictors and their relative magnitude concerning obesity. This study asks: do poverty or food price indicators have a statistically stronger relationship with obesity? By collecting data, evaluating trends, and analyzing statistics, this study extends research by revealing a stronger relationship between obesity and food prices as opposed to obesity and poverty

Enhancing knowledge exchange and combination through HR practices: reflexivity as a translation process.

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) need to encourage their employees to engage in knowledge exchange and combination (KEC) so as to create the new knowledge that is core to their success. Human resource management (HRM) has the potential to play a key role in encouraging KEC but relatively little is known about the micro-processes through which HRM and KEC are linked. Based on a sample of 498 knowledge workers in 14 KIFs in the pharmaceutical and ICT sectors in Ireland and the UK, this study focuses on the knowledge workers themselves and their perceptions of how HR practices influence KEC. In so doing, we drill down into the micro-foundations of the proposed linkages between HRM and knowledge creation, proffering reflexivity as a translation process in understanding these linkages

A practical method for assessing quantitative scanner accuracy with long-lived radionuclides: The ARTnet insert

Objective(s): To address the problem of using large volumes of long-lived radionuclides in test phantoms to check calibration accuracy of PET and SPECT systems we have developed a test object which (a) contains less radioactivity, (b) has a low total volume, and (c) is easier to store than currently used phantoms, while still making use of readily-available “standardised” test objects.Methods: We have designed a hollow acrylic cylindrical insert compatible with the NEMA/IEC PET Body Image Quality (IQ) phantom used in NU 2 performance testing of PET systems. The insert measures 90 mm internal diameter and 70 mm internal height and so is sufficiently large to not be subject to partial volume effects in PET or SPECT imaging. The volume of the insert is approximately 500 mL. It has been designed as a replacement for the standard long cylindrical “lung insert” in the IQ phantom without needing to remove the fillable hollow spheres of the phantom. The insert been tested with 18F, 68Ga and 124I PET/CT and 99mTc, 131I and 177Lu SPECT/CT on scanners that had previously been calibrated for these radionuclides.Results: The scanners were found to produce accurate image reconstructions in the insert with ±5% of the true value without any confounding uncertainty from partial volume effects when compared to NEMA NU 2-2018 Phantom measurement.Conclusions: The “ARTnet Insert” is simple to use, inexpensive, compatible with current phantoms and is suitable for both PET and SPECT systems. It does not suffer from significant partial volume losses permitting its use even with the poor spatial resolution of high-energy imaging with 131I SPECT. Furthermore, it uses less radioactivity in a smaller volume than would be required to fill the entire phantom as is usually done. Long-term storage is practical while allowing radioactive decay of the insert contents

Nocturnal sleep, daytime sleepiness, and quality of life in stable patients on hemodialysis

BACKGROUND: Although considerable progress has been made in the treatment of chronic kidney disease, compromised quality of life continues to be a significant problem for patients receiving hemodialysis (HD). However, in spite of the high prevalence of sleep complaints and disorders in this population, the relationship between these problems and quality of life remains to be well characterized. Thus, we studied a sample of stable HD patients to explore relationships between quality of life and both subjective and objective measures of nocturnal sleep and daytime sleepiness METHODS: The sample included forty-six HD patients, 24 men and 22 women, with a mean age of 51.6 (10.8) years. Subjects underwent one night of polysomnography followed the next morning by a Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), an objective measure of daytime sleepiness. Subjects also completed: 1) a brief nocturnal sleep questionnaire; 2) the Epworth Sleepiness Scale; and, 3) the Quality of Life Index (QLI, Dialysis Version) which provides an overall QLI score and four subscale scores for Health & Functioning (H&F), Social & Economic (S&E), Psychological & Spiritual (P&S), and Family (F). (The range of scores is 0 to 30 with higher scores indicating better quality of life.) RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation; SD) of the overall QLI was 22.8 (4.0). The mean (SD) of the four subscales were as follows: H&F – 21.1 (4.7); S&E – 22.0 (4.8); P&S – 24.5 (4.4); and, F – 26.8 (3.5). H&F (r(s )= -0.326, p = 0.013) and F (r(s )= -0.248, p = 0.048) subscale scores were negatively correlated with periodic limb movement index but not other polysomnographic measures. The H&F subscale score were positively correlated with nocturnal sleep latency (r(s )= 0.248, p = 0.048) while the H&F (r(s )= 0.278, p = 0.030) and total QLI (r(s )= 0.263, p = 0.038) scores were positively associated with MSLT scores. Both of these latter findings indicate that higher life quality is associated with lower sleepiness levels. ESS scores were unrelated to overall QLI scores or the subscale scores. Subjective reports of difficulty falling asleep and waking up too early were significantly correlated with all four subscale scores and overall QLI. Feeling rested in the morning was positively associated with S&E, P&S, and Total QLI scores. CONCLUSION: Selected measures of both poor nocturnal sleep and increased daytime sleepiness are associated with decreased quality of life in HD patients, underscoring the importance of recognizing and treating these patients' sleep problems

A multicentre comparison of quantitative 90Y PET/CT for dosimetric purposes after radioembolization with resin microspheres

Purpose: To investigate and compare the quantitative accuracy of Y-90 imaging across different generation PET/CT scanners, for the purpose of dosimetry after radioembolization with resin microspheres. Methods: A strict experimental and imaging protocol was followed by 47 international sites using the NEMA 2007/IEC 2008 PET body phantom with an 8-to-1 sphere-to-background ratio of Y-90 solution. The phantom was imaged over a 7-day period (activity ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 GBq) and all reconstructed data were analysed at a core laboratory for consistent processing. Quantitative accuracy was assessed through measures of total phantom activity, activity concentration in background and hot spheres, misplaced counts in a nonradioactive insert, and background variability. Results: Of the 69 scanners assessed, 37 had both time-of-flight (ToF) and resolution recovery (RR) capability. These current generation scanners from GE, Philips and Siemens could reconstruct background concentration measures to within 10 % of true values over the evaluated range, with greater deviations on the Philips systems at low count rates, and demonstrated typical partial volume effects on hot sphere recovery, which dominated spheres of diameter 20 mm in diameter, activity concentrations were consistently underestimated by about 20 %. Non-ToF scanners from GE Healthcare and Siemens were capable of producing accurate measures, but with inferior quantitative recovery compared with ToF systems. Conclusion: Current generation ToF scanners can consistently reconstruct Y-90 activity concentrations, but they underestimate activity concentrations in small structures (a parts per thousand currency sign37 mm diameter) within a warm background due to partial volume effects and constraints of the reconstruction algorithm. At the highest count rates investigated, measures of background concentration (about 300 kBq/ml) could be estimated on average to within 1 %, 5 % and 2 % for GE Healthcare (all-pass filter, RR + ToF), Philips (4i8s ToF) and Siemens (2i21s all-pass filter, RR + ToF) ToF systems, respectively. Over the range of activities investigated, comparable performance between GE Healthcare and Siemens ToF systems suggests suitability for quantitative analysis in a scenario analogous to that of postradioembolization imaging for treatment of liver cancer