263 research outputs found

    Sociogame behavior in groups and nongroups

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    Soil Compaction and Visual Disturbance Following an Integrated Mechanical Forest Fuel Reduction Operation in Southwest Oregon

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    Most mechanical forest fuel reduction treatments prescribed to extract biomass are performed with existing or modified conventional logging equipment. Treatments that commonly harvest small, non-merchantable trees are often combined with or integrated into commercial thinning operations. Only a limited amount of literature has quantified harvesting system feasibility or environmental effects from such operations. The extra stand travel required to fell and extract small trees may lead to additional soil disturbance. The objective of this study was to assess soil disturbance from an integrated forest harvesting/mechanical forest fuel reduction operation in southwest Oregon, USA. The study was conducted in a fuel reduction thinning of a densely stocked 8.1-hectare (20-acre) mixed conifer stand on gentle terrain. A tracked, swing-boom feller-buncher and two rubber-tired, grapple skidders were used for felling and extracting both non-merchantable and merchantable trees. Visually classified soil disturbance, along with penetration resistance estimates were recorded pre- and post harvesting. Results indicate that the operation did not contribute to either statistically or biologically significant soil disturbance effects, based on an a priori biological reference threshold of 3,000 kPa. A history of multiple harvest entries, low soil moisture, and high initial soil strength conditions contributed to the lack of significant effects. This investigation will aid forest managers in decision making concerning expected soil disturbance effects when prescribing integrated harvesting systems for forest fuel reduction treatments

    Process Improvement for Implementation of a Verified Substance Use Screening Tool for all Patients in a General Medicine Inpatient Unit

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    Introduction: As of 2017, an estimated 21 million US adults, equivalent to 1 in 13 people, had a substance use disorder. Of those with a substance use disorder it was estimated that only 2.2 million received treatment. In 2015, New Mexico had the 8th highest overdose death rate in the nation with the highest number of overall deaths attributed to Bernalillo County. The most common drugs used in overdose related deaths included heroin, benzodiazepines and prescription opioids. At the time of this study, it was found that the University of New Mexico Hospital did not have an identification tool for patients with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) as part of their intake protocols. The DAST-10 (Drug Abuse Screening Tool 10 question) is a verified screening tool that has been shown to be an accurate predictor with good specific identification of substance use. This screening tool is a short and efficient and has been easily integrated into clinical flow and is also highly sensitive in other studies. Similar studies conducted previously found that important factors to success and implementation included comprehensive education and training, intra and inter-organization communication and collaboration, host site and practitioner support, and champions to lead and direct management of the program. Methods: This pilot was conducted on 4 West, the largest inpatient adult medical-surgical unit at UNMH, over a 14 day period in 2019. All patients admitted to the unit over the course of the pilot were screened for eligibility. Exclusion criteria included non-English speaking, encephalopathic or if otherwise deemed inappropriate for screening by the surveyor (e.g. clinically inappropriate). Eligible patients were then consented for willingness to participate. For eligible and willing patients, the validated SUD screening tool, DAST-10, was performed. In the result of a positive screen, patients were assessed for interest in treatment and offered a compilation of local resources for support. Results: A total of 67 patients admitted to the unit were reviewed. Of the 67 patients, 33 patients (49.2%) were eligible for screening. Main identified reasons for ineligibility included inappropriate for screening based on surveyor judgment (27.3%), non-English speaking (21.2%), and patient were encephalopathic (15.2%). In total, 22 patients agreed to participate in the survey, while 11 patients declined. Of the 22 willing participants, there were 3 (13.6%) who screened positive on the DAST-10. Of the patients who screened positive for substance use, one patient was interested in receiving resources. Conclusions: The inpatient hospitalization can serve as a critical time to engage patients with SUD in treatment discussions. This pilot demonstrated that ability of a validated screening tool to identify a large portion of patients with SUD in an adult inpatient unit at UNMH. Additionally the screening process itself facilitated linkage to treatment resources. Barriers to screening included patient clinical status and language barriers, the latter of which may improve with translating the tool into other languages. Further efforts to improve tool utilization are being considered including inclusion of the tool within the electronic health record

    A Uniform CO Survey of the Molecular Clouds in Orion and Monoceros

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    We report the results of a new large scale survey of the Orion-Monoceros complex of molecular clouds made in the J = 1->0 line of CO with the Harvard-Smithsonian 1.2m millimetre-wave telescope. The survey consists of 52,288 uniformly spaced spectra that cover an area of 432 square degrees on the sky and is the most sensitive large-scale survey of the region to date. Distances to the constituent molecular clouds of the complex, estimated from an analysis of foreground and background stars, have provided information on the three dimensional structure of the entire complex.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 19 pages with 17 colour figures - 39 if you count the sub-figures separately. The figures here have been bit-mapped with some loss of quality and beauty. The paper version in A&A will be in greyscale with the on-line version in colour. In the meantime the colour version can be obtained by following links at http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/mrwm . The 9MB PostScript is recommended if you have appropriate bandwidth or otherwise the 2.3MB PDF is usabl
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