Redesigning the Scajaquada Expressway

The Scajaquada Expressway was constructed in the early 1960’s and is now at the end of its functional life. The redesign and rebuilding of the roadway offers the opportunity to make it less dangerous and more compatible with the natural, historic, and cultural fabric of the parks, parkways, neighborhoods, schools, colleges, and museums it serves and impacts

Re-estimation of small-scale fishery catches for U.S. flag-associated island areas in the western Pacific: the last 50 years

Nearshore fisheries in the tropical Pacific play an important role, both culturally and as a reliable source of food security, but often remain under-reported in statistics, leading to undervaluation of their importance to communities. We re-estimated nonpelagic catches for Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and summarize previous work for American Samoa for 1950−2002. For all islands combined, catches declined by 77%, contrasting with increasing trends indicated by reported data. For individual island entities, re-estima-tion suggested declines of 86%, 54%, and 79% for Guam, CNMI, and American Samoa, respectively. Except for Guam, reported data primarily represented commercial catches, and hence under-represented contributions by subsistence and recreational fisheries. Guam’s consistent use of creel surveys for data collection resulted in the most reliable reported catches for any of the islands considered. Our re-estimation makes the scale of under-reporting of total catches evident, and provides valuable baselines of likely historic patterns in fisheries catches

Sepsis caused by bloodstream infection in patients in the intensive care unit: the impact of inactive empiric antimicrobial therapy on outcome

Background: Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in the UK. Aims: The aims of this study were to identify the rate of inactive antimicrobial therapy (AMT) in the ICU and whether inactive AMT had an effect on in hospital mortality, ICU mortality, 90-day mortality and length of hospital stay. Additionally, we wanted to identify risk factors for receiving inactive AMT. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted at Glasgow Royal Infirmary ICU between January 2010 and December 2013, with 12,000 blood cultures taken over this time period, of which n=127 were deemed clinically significant. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors independently associated with mortality. To identify risk factors for receiving inactive AMT a univariable and a subsequent multivariate analysis was constructed. Results: The rate of inactive AMT was 47% (n =60). Our multivariate analysis showed that receiving antibiotics within the first 24 hours of ICU admission led to a reduced mortality (RR 1.70; 95% CI 1.19-2.44.) Furthermore, it showed that severity of illness (as defined by SIRS criteria sepsis vs septic shock) increased mortality (OR 9.87; 95% CI 1.73-55.5). However, inactive AMT did not increase mortality (OR 1.07; 95% CI 0.47-2.41) or length of hospital stay (53.2 vs 69.1 days p=0.348.) We identified fungal bloodstream infection as a risk factor for receiving inactive AMT (OR 5.10;95% CI 1.29-20.14. Conclusion: Mortality from sepsis is influenced by multiple factors. We were unable to demonstrates that inactive AMT had an effect on mortality in sepsis

Mortality in intensive care: The impact of bacteremia and the utility of systemic inflammatory response syndrome

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of bacteremia on intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and to develop a bacteremia prediction tool using systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria. Methods: Patients included those aged >18 years who had blood cultures taken in the ICU from January 1, 2011-December 31, 2013. Eligible patients were identified from microbiology records of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland. Clinical and outcome data were gathered from ICU records. Patients with clinically significant bacteremia were matched to controls using propensity scores. SIRS criteria were gathered and used to create decision rules to predict the absence of bacteremia. The main outcome was mortality at ICU discharge. The utility of the decision tools was measured using sensitivity and specificity. Results: One hundred patients had a clinically significant positive blood culture and were matched to 100 controls. Patients with bacteremia had higher ICU mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.35; P = .001) and longer ICU stay (OR, 17.0 vs 7.8 days; P ≤ .001). Of 1,548 blood culture episodes, 1,274 met ≥2 SIRS criteria (106 significant positive cultures and 1,168 negative cultures). There was no association between SIRS criteria and positive blood cultures (P = .11). A decision rule using 3 SIRS criteria had optimal predictive performance (sensitivity, 56%; specificity, 50%) but low accuracy. Conclusions: ICU patients with bacteremia have increased mortality and length of ICU stay. SIRS criteria cannot be used to identify patients at low risk of bacteremia

Unhappily Ever After: Effects of Long-Term Low-Quality Marriages on Well-Being

The present study shows that long-term low-quality marriages have significant negative effects on overall well-being. We utilize a nationally representative longitudinal study with a multi-item marital quality scale that allows us to track unhappy marriages over a twelve-year period and to assess marital happiness along many dimensions. Remaining unhappily married is associated with significantly lower levels of overall happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and overall health, along with elevated levels of psychological distress, compared to remaining otherwise continuously married. There is also some evidence that staying unhappily married is more detrimental than divorcing, as people in low-quality marriages are less happy than individuals who divorce and remarry and have lower levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and overall health than individuals who divorce and remain unmarried. Unhappily married people may have greater odds of improving their well-being by dissolving their low-quality unions, as there is no evidence that they are better off on any aspects of overall well-being than those who divorce

Juries in Rape Trials: Balanced or Biased?

The most comprehensive mock trial research project on juror attitudes in rape cases has recently called into question the traditional perception of a criminal trial, that juries reach impartial verdicts based on a balanced assessment of the evidence. It will be recalled that in the UK no inquiries are permitted of jury verdicts, and the jury do not give reasons for their verdicts. The integrity of the jury’s decision-making process is presumed; to think otherwise is to undermine the system itself. But is the system working? Is it even capable of working? The new research, carried out by Psychologists Dominic Willmott and Professor Daniel Boduszek at the University of Huddersfield, and underpinned by legal guidance from criminal barrister Nigel Booth at St John’s Buildings in Manchester, suggests that we are right to be asking such awkward questions.</p

The English Jury on Trial

Within the English criminal justice system, trial by jury remains the gold standard means of delivering justice. The complex mix of evidence against those accused, alongside testimony, which challenges the police interpretation of the facts, is thought to be resolved simply through exposure to a jury of our peers. Of course in practice, things are unlikely to be so simple. In fact, discussing jury decisions with any police officer typically results in the same opinion being expressed: that the only predictable feature of the jury – is their unpredictability.</p

Violin and Viola Studio Recital

Violin and Viola Studio RecitalMatthew Booth & Daniel Stipe, pianoMonday, April 1, 2019 at 3:15pmRecital hallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove AvenueRichmond, Virgini