Driven to Failure: An Empirical Analysis of Driver’s License Suspension in North Carolina

A person’s interest in a driver’s license is “substantial,” and as the U.S. Supreme Court has observed, the suspension of a license by the state can result in “inconvenience and economic hardship suffered,” including because a license may be “essential in the pursuit of a livelihood.” However, forty-four U.S. states currently require indefinite suspension of driver’s licenses for non-driving-related reasons, such as failure to appear in court or pay fines for traffic infractions. There are no systematic, peer-reviewed analyses of individual-level or county-level data regarding such suspensions. This study describes North Carolina’s population of suspended drivers and assesses how driver’s license suspension statutes operate relative to geography, race, and poverty level. First, it analyzes four decades of active-suspension data in North Carolina and finds over 1,225,000 active suspensions for failures to appear or pay traffic fines, amounting to one in seven adult drivers in the state. Second, it compares these data to county-population data; county-level traffic-stop data, collected as required by statute in North Carolina; and county-level data on the volume and composition of traffic court dockets. This study reveals that driver’s license suspensions are not associated with either the volume of traffic stops or the size of the traffic court docket. In contrast, we find that black and Latinx people are overrepresented relative to the population. Linear mixed-level modeling regression analyses demonstrate that the population of white people below the poverty line and black people above the poverty line are most strongly associated with more suspensions. Finally, this Article explores implications of these results for efforts to reconsider the imposition of driver’s license suspensions for non-driving-related reasons. These patterns raise constitutional concerns and practical challenges for policy efforts to undo such large-scale suspension of driving privileges

Physician Attitudes Toward Homosexuality and HIV: The PATHH-III Survey.

PurposeThe aims of this study were (1) to evaluate current physician attitudes toward homosexuality and homosexual, transgender, and HIV-positive individuals and (2) to compare current attitudes of those from prior surveys of the same population, the San Diego County medical community.MethodsAn online survey was conducted during November-December 2017 to assess general attitudes toward homosexuality and medically focused items that addressed homosexual orientation, transgender identity, and HIV. Responses were weighted for nonresponse. Predictors of stigma were assessed using generalized linear models. Trends across three surveys of the same population in 1982, 1999, and 2017 using common items were assessed using unweighted responses.ResultsOf 4418 eligible physicians, 491 (11.1%) responded (median age 55 years, 38% female and 8.7% gay or bisexual). Regarding admission to medical school, 1% opposed admitting a homosexual applicant, 2% a transgender applicant, and 5% an HIV-positive applicant. Regarding consultative referral to a pediatrician, 3% would discontinue referral to a homosexual pediatrician, 5% to a transgender pediatrician, and 10% to an HIV-positive pediatrician. Regarding discomfort treating patients, 7% reported discomfort treating homosexual patients, 22% transgender patients, and 13% HIV-positive patients. Earlier year of graduation from medical school, male gender, and heterosexual orientation were significant predictors of stigma-associated responses. Compared with the results from surveys in 1982 and 1999, the current results suggest substantively less stigma associated with homosexuality and HIV.ConclusionThere have been substantive declines over a 35-year period in the prevalence of stigmatizing attitudes toward sexual minorities and HIV-positive people among physician respondents in three survey waves of the San Diego County medical community

Impact of Dried Distillers’ Grains with Solubles Supplementation of Cattle While Grazing Bermudagrass on the Plant-Animal Interface

Dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of the fuel ethanol industry, has provided a source of supplement for livestock. This dissertation addressed the effects of DDGS supplementation with cattle grazing bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) pastures on performance, digestion, and digestive kinetics. The first objective of this study was to evaluate performance of stocker steers grazing ‘Tifton 85’ bermudagrass (TIF; Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers. × C. nlemfuënsis Vanderyst) when supplemented daily with varying rates of a DDGS supplement (SUPP; 0, 0.25, 0.5, or 1% BW). Steer ADG increased linearly (P < 0.01) as SUPP increased (0.61, 0.89, 0.96, and 1.10 kg/d for 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1% BW SUPP). The second objective was to evaluate performance of steers grazing ‘Coastal’ bermudagrass (COS) with daily rates of SUPP (0, 0.25, or 1% BW). Steer ADG increased linearly (P < 0.01) as SUPP increased (0.67, 0.70, and 1.02 kg/d for 0, 0.25, and 1% BW SUPP). The third objective was to measure the effect of SUPP on subsequent feedlot and carcass traits. Compensatory gains likely occurred in the finishing phase for SUPP, resulting in decreasing feedlot ADG with increasing SUPP. The fourth objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of SUPP on in vitro gas production, digestibility, and methane production. Results indicated that DDGS may be supplemented to cattle to increase diet digestibility with a potential benefit of reduced methane production. This effect was greater for COS than for TIF. The final objective of this study was to evaluate the ruminal digestion kinetics of TIF as affected by month of year and SUPP. Forage of TIF from later months (August and October) have altered cell wall structural (increased cellulose and lignin) than early-season TIF (June). Increases in SUPP might have created an inhospitable rumen environment for fiber-degrading bacteria. Overall, supplementation of steers with DDGS may be an effective management strategy when bermudagrass forage mass was more abundant to allow for increased selective grazing. Supplementation with DDGS may result in increased diet digestibility and decreased methane production

Foot-Controlled Supernumerary Robotic Arm: Foot Interfaces and Human Abilities

A supernumerary robotic limb (SRL) is a robotic limb that can act as an extra arm or leg for a human user. An unsolved issue with SRLs is how to operate them well. One possibility is to control an SRL with the foot, which offers the benefit of a third arm because the user’s arms remain unoccupied. While hand interfaces are common, foot interfaces are not well understood. Developing a good foot interface is challenging because of differences between feet and hands, such as the larger inertia of the leg. This thesis presents work to determine some design principles for foot interfaces. First, an experiment is done to test if the addition of friction to a foot interface can improve performance. The results show that friction can help a user stop and hold position without reducing the dynamic performance of the user. A second experiment looks at the performance of isometric interfaces, which, unlike isotonic interfaces, use force inputs rather than motion. Isotonic interfaces generally outperformed isometric, although there were only small differences between rate control for both isotonic and isometric. Additionally, rate control was found to be better than position control for the isometric interface. Finally, an experiment was conducted to evaluate how well a human user can use a foot-controlled SRL to coordinate motion with both of their hands. People showed that they could reliably use their foot in conjunction with their hands to perform a two-dimensional positioning task better than they can with just two hands, and with performance resembling that of two human users

Novel Conditioning Protocols Focusing on Oxygen Manipulation to Enhance Stem Cell Transplantation

Musculoskeletal tissue engineering involves the creation of multiple tissue types that interact together to form a particular function related to motion and maintaining the body\u27s frame. In order to create a fully functional musculoskeletal system, a concrete method for the creation of the different tissue types must first be completed. Of the different tissue components related to the function of a musculoskeletal system, these studies deal with preconditioning circumstances of stem cells that will differentiate into cartilage and bone. These studies also deal with methods for the creation of functional bone and cartilage to be combined for the creation of a musculoskeletal system. The idea of ischemic preconditioning, a solution for the improvement of implanted cerebral and cardiovascular tissues, was adapted in this study to show that it eases the transition of cells implanted into a injury site to have increased engraftment and survival compared to current methods. It was also determined that HIFs are vital to this increased survival of stem cells in a toxic injury environment. That information translated to the second study dealing with HIF-2\u27s involvement in the onset of hypertrophy. This study contributes to the field that through HIF-2 inhibition stem cells undergoing chondrogenesis will maintain a healthy phenotype providing proper mechanical function as found in native cartilage. Overall, these two studies added information relating to how stem cells could be prepared for the creation of a musculoskeletal system for implantation into defect systems

Effect of Limit-Fed Co-Product Feedstuffs on Production, Digestion, Fermentation and Rumen Function in Beef Cattle

In terms of energy density, the cost of shipping hay is often not justified in yr where adverse conditions limit available forage. Our objective was to determine if co-product feedstuffs could be used to meet the energy demands for cows in late pregnancy. Eighty-six crossbred cows (527 ± 0.8 kg BW) in late gestation were stratified by BW, BCS and age and allocated randomly to 1 of 6 groups held on 2-ha dormant bermudagrass pastures for 68 d. Three groups were offered bermudagrass hay ad libitum (HAY) and three groups were offered 6.4 kg of soybean hulls (LSH) daily and allowed access to mixed-grass hay for 1 h daily. Changes in BW, BCS, serum non-esterified fatty acids, and birth weights were minimal between treatments (P ≥ 0.12). In a companion study, 8 ruminally-fistulated cows (671 ± 32.0 kg BW) were stratified by BW and allocated randomly to1 of 4 treatments in a 2-period study: LSH, limit-fed distillers dried grains with solubles (LDG), a limit-fed mixture of SH and DDGS (MIX), or ad libitum mixed-grass hay (HAY). Total feces were collected for 5 d following a 28-d adaptation to diet and facilities in each period. Rumen fluid was sampled immediately prior to feeding and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 hr post-feeding for ruminal fermentation assessment. Digestibility of DM, OM, aNDF and ADF was greater (P \u3c 0.05) from limit-feeding than from those consuming hay. Individual VFA concentrations differed (P \u3c 0.05) early in the day, but no difference existed beyond 8 h. In situ forage DM disappearance was reduced (P \u3c 0.05) from LSH and LDG in comparison to HAY while diets were being fed. However, cows achieved steady-state forage disappearance within one week following removal from the diets. Based on this information, co-product feedstuffs may be used in lieu of hay to meet the energy requirements of cows during late pregnancy without adverse effects

Construction and Detailing Methods of Horizontally Curved Steel I-Girder Bridges

The present research extends the state-of-the-art in understanding the important physical phenomena that impact the constructability and behavior of horizontally curved steel I-girder bridges. The steel erection procedure of a horizontally curved and skewed steel I-girder bridge is examined through the use of a nonlinear finite element model. The behavior of the structure is studied for each stage of steel erection by observations of girder stresses, displacements and reactions. The eccentric application of gravity load resulting from horizontal curvature results in torsional forces being applied to the girder sections of a horizontally curved bridge. Due to the relative torsional flexibility of the steel I-girders, these forces can result in a marked girder rotation quantified in this work as web out-of-plumbness. The present research quantifies the effect and importance of girder web out-of-plumbness on primary member stress response in steel I-girders, both individually and as part of an assembly. Girder flange stresses and vertical and lateral displacements are presented for single straight and curved beam models and a curved two-girder system model all subject to up to 5 degrees of out-of-plumbness. Through a parametric study the effects of changes to radius or horizontal curvature, girder spacing, cross frame spacing, and web depth on the behavior of the curved two-girder system having initially out-of-plumb webs are investigated. The effects of "inconsistent detailing" - an approach to designing bridge cross frames to mitigate girder web out-of-plumbness - are presented. Specifically, the structural behavior in terms of resulting "locked-in" girder flange stresses and displacements are discussed. The research work reported herein is primarily analytical in nature, employing detailed non linear finite element models to investigate the steel erection and web-plumbness issues associated with horizontally curved steel I-girder bridges.Based on the analytical studies conducted, it is proposed that the effects of web out-of-plumbness need to be specifically considered for the effects on flange stresses in design, as an alternative to the practice of inconsistent detailing. Consideration of these effects during design and conventionally detailing girders and cross frames for the web-plumb position at no-load, in lieu of specifying inconsistent detailing to control web out-of-plumbness, will reduce construction problems that typically result from the practice of inconsistent detailing. However, if inconsistent detailing is employed to mitigate web out-of-plumbness, it must be recognized by bridge designers that this approach has complex effects on "locked-in" stresses and constructability of curved I-girder bridges. These "locked-in" stresses and constructability issues need to be considered by bridge designers and steel erectors, respectively