FOREST VEGETATION, FUEL, AND FIRE HAZARD DEVELOPMENT IN STANDS TREATED TO RESIST CROWN FIRE

Land management agencies across the western U.S. have urgently sought to restore forests with non-stand-replacing fire regimes to facilitate stand resistance to crown fire. Although silvicultural restoration has been shown to immediately reduce the probability of widespread crown fire, little is known about the mid- to long-term impacts of restoration on vegetation, fuel, and crown fire hazard development. This study examined mid-term (10-14 years) experimental restoration treatment effects in two different non-stand-replacing fire regimes: a frequent, low-severity regime, and an infrequent, mixed-severity regime. Restoration of frequent, low-severity fire regime was represented by fuel reduction treatments in the ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forest type, whereas restoration of infrequent, mixed-severity fire regime was represented by retention harvesting in the lodgepole pine forest type. After restorative fuel reduction treatments, the experimental ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir stands were also impacted by mountain pine beetle outbreak. The combined effects of fuel reduction and beetle outbreak in these stands resulted in forest structure that converged across treatments for many ecological and fuel attributes, though thinning and burning together demonstrated the greatest treatment longevity. Retention harvesting in lodgepole pine created variable canopy conditions that affected growth and reduced the probability of crown fire spread, but treatment increased surface fireline intensities and susceptibility to torching. Overall, this study highlights that stands treated to restore resistance to crown fire change in structure and fire hazard over time due to overstory mortality and understory growth

How Federal Work-Study Affects the College Student Experience

By creating a quantitative assessment and using one on one interviews, participants were asked to describe their collegiate experience as it has changed and evolved while enrolled in the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program. To achieve the greatest amount of data, four participants were individually interviewed who currently held FWS-funded positions and determined the affects the program had on their time at the Midwestern institution. All participants perceived college experiences were impacted in some way positively, citing multiple examples of growth and development throughout their time involved

How Federal Work-Study Affects the College Student Experience

By creating a quantitative assessment and using one on one interviews, participants were asked to describe their collegiate experience as it has changed and evolved while enrolled in the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program. To achieve the greatest amount of data, four participants were individually interviewed who currently held FWS-funded positions and determined the affects the program had on their time at the Midwestern institution. All participants perceived college experiences were impacted in some way positively, citing multiple examples of growth and development throughout their time involved

What is the best treatment for infants with colic?

Infantile colic, defined as excessive crying in an otherwise healthy baby, is a distressing phenomenon, but there is little evidence to support the many treatments offered. Several small studies report some benefit from use of a hypoallergenic (protein hydrolysate) formula, maternal diet adjustment (focusing on a low-allergen diet), and reduced stimulation of the infant. While dicyclomine has been shown to be effective for colic, there are significant concerns about its safety, and the manufacturer has contraindicated its use in this population. An herbal tea containing chamomile, vervain, licorice, fennel, and balm-mint was also effective in a small RCT, but the volume necessary for treatment limits its usefulness (strength of recommendation: B, inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence). The one proven treatment is time, as this behavior tends to dissipate by 6 months of age

Should you test or treat pregnant women with a history of pregnancy-related VTE?

No high-quality evidence supports testing for thrombophilia in pregnant patients who have experienced venous thromboembolism (VTE) in a previous pregnancy. Antepartum and postpartum anticoagulation with LMWH produces lower rates of VTE in patients with a prior history of VTE in pregnancy. Pregnant women with a prior history of VTE who are not treated with anticoagulation have about a 5% risk of antepartum or postpartum VTE. Expert opinion recommends graduated compression stockings

What are the causes of elevated TSH in a newborn?

Congenital hypothyroidism is a critical cause of elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in newborns; evaluate all neonates with an elevated TSH for congenital hypothyroidism (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A). Other causes of an elevated TSH include transient hypothyroidism due to neonatal illness, prematurity, iodine excess or deficiency, and maternal medication or maternal thyroid disease

Sub-optimal gain schedules for the discrete Kalman filter.

The object of this study is to find an approximation to the discrete optimal Kalman filter gain schedule by closed-form analytic expressions. In doing so, required table storage and/or on-line computation time can be reduced at little expense in terms of filter performance degradation. The method of least squares was used to determine the closed-form solution which was the best fit to the discrete Kalman filter gain schedule. The criterion for performance degradation was the difference between the values of the diagonal elements of the estimation covariance matrix, P, ,, , obtained by using the Kalman gain schedule, and the corresponding values obtained by using the closed-form analytic expressions for the elements of" the gain matrix. Examples are presented to show that near-optimal results were obtained utilizing this method. A comparison of the results of this study with another near-optimal estimation scheme is also included.http://www.archive.org/details/suboptimalgainsc00crotLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited