Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Disease

Workers’ Compensatio

A comparison of Boolean-based retrieval to the WAIS system for retrieval of aeronautical information

An evaluation of an information retrieval system using a Boolean-based retrieval engine and inverted file architecture and WAIS, which uses a vector-based engine, was conducted. Four research questions in aeronautical engineering were used to retrieve sets of citations from the NASA Aerospace Database which was mounted on a WAIS server and available through Dialog File 108 which served as the Boolean-based system (BBS). High recall and high precision searches were done in the BBS and terse and verbose queries were used in the WAIS condition. Precision values for the WAIS searches were consistently above the precision values for high recall BBS searches and consistently below the precision values for high precision BBS searches. Terse WAIS queries gave somewhat better precision performance than verbose WAIS queries. In every case, a small number of relevant documents retrieved by one system were not retrieved by the other, indicating the incomplete nature of the results from either retrieval system. Relevant documents in the WAIS searches were found to be randomly distributed in the retrieved sets rather than distributed by ranks. Advantages and limitations of both types of systems are discussed

Language, Motor, and Cognitive Outcomes of Toddlers Who Were Born Preterm

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the language, motor, and cognitive abilities of children born preterm in four categories: (a) healthy preterm infants, (b) infants of diabetic mothers, (c) infants with respiratory distress syndrome, and (d) infants with chronic lung disease when the children were 30 months, uncorrected age. Comorbidity of language, motor, and cognitive skills was examined, along with predictor variables. Method: A total of 148 children who were born preterm participated and were assessed using bivariate tests and logistic regression on standardized assessment scores. Results: Controlling for the children’s gestational age (GA), overall language ability was significantly lower in the infants of diabetic mothers group compared to the healthy preterm infant group, and expressive language skills were significantly lower for the chronic lung disease group than the respiratory distress syndrome group. The children with language delays on at least one measure were significantly more likely to have cognitive, motor, or both delays. Lower maternal education was a significant predictor for language and cognitive delays, and younger GA was a significant predictor for language, motor, and cognitive delays. Conclusion: Assessment of the preterm infant from a biosystems approach allows the speech-language pathologist to take into consideration maternal education, diagnosis at preterm birth, and GA, which were found to impact the language, motor, and cognitive outcomes of children born preterm. Our findings further reinforce the concept of the whole child in that children born preterm who display language delays should be screened for co-occurring motor and/or cognitive delays

Frequency-Modulated Orocutaneous Stimulation Promotes Non-nutritive Suck Development in Preterm Infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome or Chronic Lung Disease

Background—For the premature infant, extrauterine life is a pathological condition which greatly amplifies the challenges to the brain in establishing functional oromotor behaviors. The extent to which suck can be entrained using a synthetically patterned orocutaneous input to promote its development in preterm infants who manifest chronic lung disease is unknown. Objective—To evaluate the effects of a frequency-modulated orocutaneous pulse train delivered through a pneumatically-charged pacifier capable of enhancing non-nutritive suck (NNS) activity in tube-fed premature infants. Methods—A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of pneumatic orocutaneous stimulation 3x/day on NNS development and length of stay (LOS) in the NICU among 160 newborn infants distributed among 3 subpopulations, including healthy preterm infants (HI), respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), and chronic lung disease (CLD). Study infants received a regimen of orocutaneous pulse trains through a PULSED pressurized silicone pacifier or a SHAM control (blind pacifier) during gavage feeds for up to 10 days. Results—Mixed modeling, adjusted for the infant’s gender, gestational age, postmenstrual age, and birth weight, was used to handle interdependency among repeated measures within subjects. A significant main effect for stimulation mode (SHAM pacifier vs PULSED orosensory) was found among preterm infants for NNS Bursts/minute (p=.003), NNS events/minute (p=.033), and for Total Oral Compressions/minute [NNS+nonNNS] (p=.016). Pairwise comparison of adjusted means using Bonferroni adjustment indicated RDS and CLD infants showed the most significant gains on these NNS performance indices. CLD infants in the treatment group showed significantly shorter LOS by an average of 2.5 days

Frequency-Modulated Orocutaneous Stimulation Promotes Non-nutritive Suck Development in Preterm Infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome or Chronic Lung Disease

Background—For the premature infant, extrauterine life is a pathological condition which greatly amplifies the challenges to the brain in establishing functional oromotor behaviors. The extent to which suck can be entrained using a synthetically patterned orocutaneous input to promote its development in preterm infants who manifest chronic lung disease is unknown. Objective—To evaluate the effects of a frequency-modulated orocutaneous pulse train delivered through a pneumatically-charged pacifier capable of enhancing non-nutritive suck (NNS) activity in tube-fed premature infants. Methods—A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of pneumatic orocutaneous stimulation 3x/day on NNS development and length of stay (LOS) in the NICU among 160 newborn infants distributed among 3 subpopulations, including healthy preterm infants (HI), respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), and chronic lung disease (CLD). Study infants received a regimen of orocutaneous pulse trains through a PULSED pressurized silicone pacifier or a SHAM control (blind pacifier) during gavage feeds for up to 10 days. Results—Mixed modeling, adjusted for the infant’s gender, gestational age, postmenstrual age, and birth weight, was used to handle interdependency among repeated measures within subjects. A significant main effect for stimulation mode (SHAM pacifier vs PULSED orosensory) was found among preterm infants for NNS Bursts/minute (p=.003), NNS events/minute (p=.033), and for Total Oral Compressions/minute [NNS+nonNNS] (p=.016). Pairwise comparison of adjusted means using Bonferroni adjustment indicated RDS and CLD infants showed the most significant gains on these NNS performance indices. CLD infants in the treatment group showed significantly shorter LOS by an average of 2.5 days

The Lilead Survey: A National Study of District-Level Library Supervisors: The Position, Office, and Characteristics of the Supervisor

The school district library supervisor occupies a pivotal position in library and information services programs that support and enhance the instructional efforts of a school district: providing leadership; advocating for the programs; supporting, advising, and providing professional development to building-level librarians; and representing school library programs to stakeholders in the school system and the community at large. With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Lilead Project was founded at the University of Maryland in 2011 to study, support, and build community among school district library supervisors (Lilead Project n.d.). To gain a better understanding of supervisors--who they are, the duties they perform, and the challenges they face--and to establish baseline data upon which further research can be built, in 2012 the project team conducted a survey of supervisors nationwide: the Lilead Survey. In this paper, which is the first of two planned reports on the results of the survey, we present findings related to the position and office of the supervisor; demographic information, qualifications, and career paths of the incumbents of the position; and changes in policies, curriculum, and resources that impact the supervisor\u27s responsibilities for library services. Survey findings related to responsibilities and tasks assigned to the position, professional development needs of supervisors and staff, and challenges and needs that supervisors face will be presented in the second report

The Lilead Survey: A National Study of District-Level Library Supervisors: Roles, Responsibilities, Challenges, and Professional Development Needs

The school district library supervisor plays a pivotal role in supporting, advising, and providing professional development to building-level librarians; advocating for the program; providing leadership; and representing school library programs to stakeholders in the school system and the larger community. To gain a better understanding of supervisors\u27 roles, responsibilities, demographics, and challenges, and to establish baseline data upon which further research can be built, the Lilead Project was initiated in 2011 at the University of Maryland with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. In 2012 the project team conducted the Lilead Survey, a survey of supervisors nationwide. In this paper, the second of two reports on the results of the survey, we present findings related to the responsibilities and tasks assigned to the position, professional development needs of supervisors and staff, and the range of stakeholder groups with which supervisors work

Herschel/SPIRE Sub-millimeter Spectra of Local Active Galaxies

We present the sub-millimeter spectra from 450 GHz to 1550 GHz of eleven nearby active galaxies observed with the SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer (SPIRE/FTS) onboard Herschel. We detect CO transitions from J_up = 4 to 12, as well as the two [CI] fine structure lines at 492 and 809 GHz and the [NII] 461 GHz line. We used radiative transfer models to analyze the observed CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs). The FTS CO data were complemented with ground-based observations of the low-J CO lines. We found that the warm molecular gas traced by the mid-J CO transitions has similar physical conditions (n_H2 ~ 10^3.2 - 10^3.9 cm^-3 and T_kin ~ 300 - 800 K) in most of our galaxies. Furthermore, we found that this warm gas is likely producing the mid-IR rotational H2 emission. We could not determine the specific heating mechanism of the warm gas, however it is possibly related to the star-formation activity in these galaxies. Our modeling of the [CI] emission suggests that it is produced in cold (T_kin 10^3 cm^-3) molecular gas. Transitions of other molecules are often detected in our SPIRE/FTS spectra. The HF J=1-0 transition at 1232 GHz is detected in absorption in UGC05101 and in emission in NGC7130. In the latter, near-infrared pumping, chemical pumping, or collisional excitation with electrons are plausible excitation mechanisms likely related to the AGN of this galaxy. In some galaxies few H2O emission lines are present. Additionally, three OH+ lines at 909, 971, and 1033 GHz are identified in NGC7130.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 20 pages, 9 figure

Improved Standardization of Type II-P Supernovae: Application to an Expanded Sample

In the epoch of precise and accurate cosmology, cross-confirmation using a variety of cosmographic methods is paramount to circumvent systematic uncertainties. Owing to progenitor histories and explosion physics differing from those of Type Ia SNe (SNe Ia), Type II-plateau supernovae (SNe II-P) are unlikely to be affected by evolution in the same way. Based on a new analysis of 17 SNe II-P, and on an improved methodology, we find that SNe II-P are good standardizable candles, almost comparable to SNe Ia. We derive a tight Hubble diagram with a dispersion of 10% in distance, using the simple correlation between luminosity and photospheric velocity introduced by Hamuy & Pinto 2002. We show that the descendent method of Nugent et al. 2006 can be further simplified and that the correction for dust extinction has low statistical impact. We find that our SN sample favors, on average, a very steep dust law with total to selective extinction R_V<2. Such an extinction law has been recently inferred for many SNe Ia. Our results indicate that a distance measurement can be obtained with a single spectrum of a SN II-P during the plateau phase combined with sparse photometric measurements.Comment: ApJ accepted version. Minor change