Examining the Relationship between Drought and Mental Health Outcomes of Depression and Anxiety in the U.S.

Abstract Examining the relationship between drought and mental health outcomes of depression and anxiety in the U.S. By Robyn J. Cathey December 4, 2017 BACKGROUND: Drought is likely linked to depression and anxiety through environmental and economic factors. Having a better understanding of this relationship would assist public health officials and policy-makers in future drought preparedness and mitigation strategies. METHODS: Depression and anxiety data were collected for 36 states from HCUPnet, an online system of hospital inpatient and emergency department information. Drought data were collected from the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly monitor integrating multiple drought indices to produce a single index, for 2011-2014. Proportions were calculated for state hospital mental health discharges from total state hospital discharges. Annual state drought data was dichotomized based on a 30% areal drought threshold for drought exposure conditions. Repeated measures ANOVA was used for analysis of the relationship between states’ depression and anxiety discharges and states’ drought exposure. RESULTS: The effect of time on depression was significantly different for states in the exposed and unexposed condition, F (3, 32) = 4.22, p = 0.01. The effect of time on anxiety was not different for states in the exposed and unexposed drought conditions, F (3, 32) = 1.92, p = 0.15. Post-hoc comparisons using four paired samples t-tests indicated a significant effect of drought exposure on depression comparing exposed drought condition with unexposed drought condition during 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. A significant effect of drought exposure condition on anxiety comparing exposed drought condition with unexposed drought condition during 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. CONCLUSION: Depression and anxiety discharges differed over time and between states in the exposed and unexposed drought conditions from 2011-2014. Depression and anxiety discharges were higher for states in the unexposed drought condition. Further research would refine the examination of this relationship

Innovative immersion approach to retention of African-American 1st year chemical engineers

Students that identify as Black1, chemical engineers, and 1st-year undergraduates face unique circumstances along with perspectives that have not been assessed in depth. This pilot study aims to highlight the challenges facing 1st-year African-American students, within the bounds of their experiences during their introductory chemical engineering course and overall interactions within a Chemical Engineering Department at a Predominately White Institution (PWI). The emphasis on 1st-year students is that this group faces the largest retraction of enrollment across disciplines and the students studied possess intersecting identities noted to foster an "at-risk" retention history. Chemical engineering is a specialized major in itself and faces unique retention challenges; studies specific to retention in chemical engineering separate from engineering as a whole are limited. African American engineering retention characteristics and phenomena are an emerging field; insight specific to chemical engineering 1st-year students are not heavily reflected in the literature. The literature and my own findings show cultural2 barriers that hinder African-American students from perceiving the department as a nurturing and inclusive environment. This pilot study looks to bridge the institutional divides to gain an understanding of a population overlooked, as an effort to build a base for future work specifically examining and addressing Black students' experiences in chemical engineering.Includes bibliographical reference

Probabilistic Determination of the Role of Faults and Intrusions in Helium‐Rich Gas Fields Formation

Natural gas fields with economic helium (>0.3 He %) require the radioactive decay of crustal uranium (U) and thorium (Th) to generate He and tectonic/structural regimes favorable to releasing and concentrating He. An unknown is determining the role of faults and structural features in focusing deep‐seated He sources on shallow accumulations. We tested the correlation between high‐He wells (n = 94) and structural features using a new high‐resolution aeromagnetic survey in the Four Corners area, USA. A depth‐to‐basement map with basement lineaments/faults, an intrusion map, and a flattened basement structural high map were created using Werner deconvolution algorithms by combining magnetic, gravity, and topography data with magnetic and gravity depth profiles. We show quantitatively (via analysis of variance) that a non‐random process controls the relationship between He (>0.3%) and both basement faults and intrusions: 88% of high‐He wells occur <1 km of basement faults; and 85% of high‐He wells occur <1 km of intrusions. As He % increases, the distance to the structural features decreases. Strong spatial/statistical correlations of He wells to both basement faults and intrusions suggest that advective transport via faults/intrusions facilitates He migration. The role of gas phase buoyancy and structural trapping is confirmed: 88% of high‐He occurs within basement structural highs, and 91% of the remaining wells are <1 km from intrusions (potential structural high). We present a composite figure to illustrate how a probabilistic approach can be used as a predictive model to improve He exploration success by targeting zones of intersection of basement faults and intrusions within basement structural highs

Age-Related Differences in Vertical Jump Power and Muscle Size and Quality of the Vastus Lateralis

Previous studies have reported that decreases in muscle size and quality of the vastus lateralis (VL) may contribute to the lower vertical jump power observed in old compared to young males. However, we are aware of no previous studies that have examined the contribution of VL muscle size and quality to age-related power differences in females, nor have there been any studies that examined these differences between young, middle, and older age groups. PURPOSE: To determine the effects of age on vertical jump power and muscle size (cross-sectional area [CSA]) and quality (echo intensity [EI]) of the VL in young, middle-aged, and old females. METHODS: Twenty-six young (age = 22 ± 2 yr; height = 163 ± 7 cm; mass = 61 ± 8 kg), 30 middle-aged (36 ± 5 yr; 164 ± 7 cm; 62 ± 11 kg), and 23 old (71 ± 5 yr; 161 ± 5 cm; 59 ± 10 kg) females underwent two diagnostic ultrasound assessments followed by three countermovement vertical jumps (CMJs). Peak power output (Pmax; W) was measured during the CMJs using a portable force plate. VL CSA (cm2) and EI (AU) were measured on the right leg using a portable B-mode ultrasound imaging device and linear-array probe. One-way ANOVAs and post-hoc analyses were used to compare Pmax, CSA, and EI between age groups. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients (r) were used to examine the relationships between Pmax and CSA and EI. RESULTS: Higher Pmax and CSA values were observed for the young (Pmax = 2257.40 ± 438.42 W; CSA = 20.59 ± 4.23 cm2) compared to the old (Pmax = 1098.55 ± 242.10 W; CSA = 10.69 ± 2.47 cm2) and middle-aged (Pmax = 1958.20 ± 341.87 W; CSA = 18.05 ± 4.24 cm2) and the middle-aged compared to the old (P ≤ 0.001-0.039). EI values for the young (104.29 ± 16.86 AU) and middle-aged (107.71 ± 17.30 AU) were lower than the old (128.35 ± 14.99 AU) (P \u3c 0.001), but they were not different from each other (P = 0.720). There was a significant positive relationship between Pmax and CSA (r = 0.830; P \u3c 0.001) and a significant negative relationship between Pmax and EI (r = -0.442; P \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that vertical jump power and muscle size and quality decrease with age. The significant relationships observed between Pmax and CSA and EI perhaps suggest that these age-related declines in VL muscle size and quality may play an important role in the lower vertical jump power observed in middle-aged and older adults

Linking Water Conservation and Natural Resource Stewardship in the Trinity River Basin

16 pp., 10 figures, 3 tablesWater conservation is a critical issue in Texas today. This publication explores the relationship between ecosystem health and land stewardship in the Trinity River Basin. It also describes how responsible land stewardship can be applied in urban and rural settings

Probing non-linear MHD stability of the EDA H-mode in ASDEX Upgrade

Regimes of operation in tokamaks that are devoid of large ELMs have to be better understood to extrapolate their applicability to reactor-relevant devices. This paper describes non-linear extended MHD simulations that use an experimental equilibrium from an EDA H-mode in ASDEX Upgrade. Linear ideal MHD analysis indicates that the operational point lies slightly inside of the stable region. The non-linear simulations with the visco-resistive extended MHD code, JOREK, sustain non-axisymmetric perturbations that are linearly most unstable with toroidal mode numbers of n = \{6 \dots 9\}, but non-linearly higher and lower n become driven and the low-n become dominant. The poloidal mode velocity during the linear phase is found to correspond to the expected velocity for resistive ballooning modes. The perturbations that exist in the simulations have somewhat smaller poloidal wavenumbers (k_{\theta} \sim 0.1 to 0.5 cm^{-1} ) than the experimental expectations for the quasi-coherent mode in EDA, and cause non-negligible transport in both the heat and particle channels. In the transition from linear to non-linear phase, the mode frequency chirps down from approximately 35 kHz to 13 kHz, which corresponds approximately to the lower end of frequencies that are typically observed in EDA H-modes in ASDEX Upgrade