Using existing infrastructure as ground control points to support citizen science coastal UAS monitoring programs

Recent publications have described the ability of citizen scientists to conduct unoccupied aerial system (UAS) flights to collect data for coastal management. Ground control points (GCPs) can be collected to georeference these data, however collecting ground control points require expensive surveying equipment not accessible to citizen scientists. Instead, existing infrastructure can be used as naturally occurring ground control points (NGCPs), although availably of naturally occurring ground control point placement on such infrastructure differs from published best practices of ground control point placement. This study therefore evaluates the achievable accuracy of sites georeferenced with naturally occurring ground control points through an analysis of 20 diverse coastal sites. At most sites naturally occurring ground control points produced horizontal and vertical root mean square errors (RMSE) less than 0.060 m which are similar to those obtained using traditional ground control points. To support future unoccupied aerial system citizen science coastal monitoring programs, an assessment to determine the optimal naturally occurring ground control point quantity and distribution was conducted for six coastal sites. Results revealed that generally at least seven naturally occurring ground control points collected in the broadest distribution across the site will result in a horizontal and vertical root mean square errors less than 0.030 m and 0.075 m respectively. However, the relationship between these placement characteristics and root mean square errors was poor, indicating that georeferencing accuracy using naturally occurring ground control points cannot be optimized solely through ideal quantity and distribution. The results of these studies highlight the value of naturally occurring ground control points to support unoccupied aerial system citizen science coastal monitoring programs, however they also indicate a need for an initial accuracy assessment of sites surveyed with naturally occurring ground control points at the onset of such programs

Beyond the Employment Dichotomy: An Examination of Recidivism and Days Remaining in the Community by Post-Release Employment Status

Criminological research has tended to consider employment in a dichotomy of employed versus unemployed. The current research examines a sample of individuals 1-year post-release to assess the extent to which four distinct employment categories (full-time, part-time, disabled, and unemployed) are associated with reincarceration and days remaining in the community. Findings indicate disabled individuals remain in the community longer and at a higher proportion compared with other employment categories. Furthermore, unique protective and risk factors are found to be associated with each employment category while some risk factors (e.g., homelessness) highlight the importance of addressing reentry barriers regardless as to employment status

New Methods for Assessing the Sustainability of Wood-burning Energy Facilities

Methods to assess wood-based bioenergy projects have tended to focus on technological and physical constraints. Less is known about how longer-term environmental, economic, and social systems—the three pillars of sustainable development—have influenced technological development in the context of woody biomass energy. This research offers new methods for assessing the sustainability of wood-based energy projects by combining spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews, and archival data analysis. By integrating quantitative and qualitative methods, this project offers ways to understand how social and environmental dynamics from the past shape technological development in the future. A propensity analysis of biomass energy plants in Michigan, USA was performed using US Census data grouped by social, economic, and environmental categories. This quantitative analysis helped to characterize community and landscape types in which woody biomass plants were developed in Michigan in the late-twentieth century. To help illustrate some of the often-hidden social and political dimensions of energy development, such as access to decision-making and attitudes toward bioenergy projects, transcripts of public hearings, media coverage, and other archival sources were examined, and 30 stakeholder interviews were conducted. By integrating these qualitative and quantitative approaches, this paper aims to provide a more comprehensive approach to assessing the sustainability of wood-based biofuel technologies

African American Female Offender\u27s Use of Alternative and Traditional Health Services After Re-Entry: Examining the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations

This is the first known study to use the Gelberg-Andersen Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to predict African American women\u27s use of three types of health services (alternative, hospitalization, and ambulatory) in the 18 months after release from prison. In the multivariate models, the most robust predictors of all three types of service utilization were in the vulnerable theoretical domains. Alternative health services were predicted by ethnic community membership, higher religiosity, and HIV/HCV. Hospitalizations were predicted by the lack of barriers to health care and disability. Ambulatory office visits were predicted by more experiences of gendered racism, a greater number of physical health problems, and HIV/HCV. Findings highlight the importance of cultural factors and HIV/HCV in obtaining both alternative and formal health care during community re-entry. Clinicians and policymakers should consider the salient role that the vulnerable domain plays in offender\u27s accessing health services

C-reactive protein predicts further ischemic events in patients with transient ischemic attack or lacunar stroke

Patients who have experienced a first cerebral ischemic event are at increased risk of recurrent stroke. There is strong evidence that low-level inflammation as measured by high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a predictor of further ischemic events. Other mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of stroke may play a role in determining the risk of secondary events, including oxidative stress and the adaptive response to it and activation of neuroprotective pathways by hypoxia, for instance through induction of erythropoietin (EPO). This study investigated the association of the levels of CRP, peroxiredoxin 1 (PRDX1, an indicator of the physiological response to oxidative stress) and EPO (a neuroprotective factor produced in response to hypoxia) with the risk of a second ischemic event. Eighty patients with a diagnosis of lacunar stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) were included in the study and a blood sample was collected within 14 days from the initial event. Hs-CRP, PRDX1 and EPO were measured by ELISA. Further ischemic events were recorded with a mean follow-up of 42 months (min 24, max 64). Multivariate analysis showed that only CRP was an independent predictor of further events with an observed risk (OR) of 1.14 (P = 0.034, 95% CI 1.01-1.29). No association was observed with the levels of PRDX1 or EPO. A receiver operating curve (ROC) determined a cut-off CRP level of 3.25 μg/ml, with a 46% sensitivity and 81% specificity. Low-level inflammation as detected by hs-CRP is an independent predictor of recurrent cerebrovascular ischemic events

Efficacious Intermittent Dosing of a Novel JAK2 Inhibitor in Mouse Models of Polycythemia Vera

A high percentage of patients with the myeloproliferative disorder polycythemia vera (PV) harbor a Val617→Phe activating mutation in the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene, and both cell culture and mouse models have established a functional role for this mutation in the development of this disease. We describe the properties of MRLB-11055, a highly potent inhibitor of both the WT and V617F forms of JAK2, that has therapeutic efficacy in erythropoietin (EPO)-driven and JAK2V617F-driven mouse models of PV. In cultured cells, MRLB-11055 blocked proliferation and induced apoptosis in a manner consistent with JAK2 pathway inhibition. MRLB-11055 effectively prevented EPO-induced STAT5 activation in the peripheral blood of acutely dosed mice, and could prevent EPO-induced splenomegaly and erythrocytosis in chronically dosed mice. In a bone marrow reconstituted JAK2V617F-luciferase murine PV model, MRLB-11055 rapidly reduced the burden of JAK2V617F-expressing cells from both the spleen and the bone marrow. Using real-time in vivo imaging, we examined the kinetics of disease regression and resurgence, enabling the development of an intermittent dosing schedule that achieved significant reductions in both erythroid and myeloid populations with minimal impact on lymphoid cells. Our studies provide a rationale for the use of non-continuous treatment to provide optimal therapy for PV patients

Ability Awareness

I have chosen to design a research project focusing on the awareness of disability on college campuses. Through my experience as a college student, I have witnessed the lack of communication students have about the subject of disability. Through research, discussions, and an original program, I plan to provide an opportunity for college students to discuss disability. Also using these venues, I plan to collect my own information to compile a research project with the hypothesis of seeing attitude changes in students about their view of disability. After the program is done, I will collect questionnaires to assess, and evaluate if my hypothesis is confirmed

Utilizing Multiple Lines of Evidence to Determine Landscape Degradation within Protected Area Landscapes: A Case Study of Chobe National Park, Botswana from 1982 to 2011

The savannas of Southern Africa are an important dryland ecosystem as they cover up to 54% of the landscape and support a rich variety of biodiversity. This paper evaluates landscape change in savanna vegetation along Chobe Riverfront within Chobe National Park Botswana, from 1982 to 2011 to understand what change may be occurring in land cover. Classifying land cover in savanna environments is challenging because the vegetation spectral signatures are similar across distinct vegetation covers. With vegetation species and even structural groups having similar signatures in multispectral imagery difficulties exist in making discrete classifications in such landscapes. To address this issue, a Random Forest classification algorithm was applied to predict land-cover classes. Additionally, time series vegetation indices were used to support the findings of the discrete land cover classification. Results indicate that a landscape level vegetation shift has occurred across the Chobe Riverfront, with results highlighting a shift in land cover towards more woody vegetation. This represents a degradation of vegetation cover within this savanna landscape environment, largely due to an increasing number of elephants and other herbivores utilizing the Riverfront. The forested area along roads at a further distance from the River has also had a loss of percent cover. The continuous analysis during 1982–2011, utilizing monthly AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) values, also verifies this change in amount of vegetation is a continuous and ongoing process in this region. This study provides land use planners and managers with a more reliable, efficient and relatively inexpensive tool for analyzing land-cover change across these highly sensitive regions, and highlights the usefulness of a Random Forest classification in conjunction with time series analysis for monitoring savanna landscapes