19th Century Ballot Reform in California: A Study of the Huntington Library's Political Ephemera Collection

Ballot reform is an important part of the American political process. During the 1800’s, ballots changed drastically. At the beginning of the century, voters wrote the names of the candidates for whom they wished to vote on a piece of paper and put that piece of paper into the ballot box. Legislation followed that allowed voters to cast professionally printed ballots, which opened the door to political parties providing their supporters with pre-printed ballots to cast. Towards the close of the century, the Australian ballot, also known as the secret ballot, was introduced to America and over a two decade transition period was implemented nationwide. Each of these reforms caused controversy and threatened the political system by introducing new methods for committing fraud. By studying the Political Ephemeral Collection at the Huntington Library, it is possible to see how the ballots actually changed over the years as new laws were passed. Studying how ballot reform laws impacted ballot design and voting patterns in the past can aid in determining how modern day ballot reform legislation may impact the political scene in America

The complexity of the California recall election

The October 7, 2003 California Recall Election strained California’s direct democracy. In recent California politics there has not been a statewide election conducted on such short notice; county election officials were informed on July 24 that the election would be held on October 7. Nor has California recently seen a ballot with so many candidates running for a single statewide office (see Mueller 1970). Under easy ballot access requirements, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley certified 135 candidates for the official ballot on August 13^1. In the recall, voters cast votes on (1) whether to recall Governor Davis from office, and (2) his possible successor. These two voting decisions were made independent by the federal district court’s decision on July 29. The court’s decision invalidated a state law requiring a vote on the recall question in order for a vote on the successor election to be counted (Partnoy et al. 2003). The abbreviated election calendar also led to many improvisations, including a dramatically reduced number of precinct poll sites throughout the state and the unprecedented ability of military personnel, their dependents, and civilians living overseas to return their absentee ballots by fax. These problems produced litigation and speculation that substantial problems would mar the election and throw the outcome of both the recall and a possible successor’s election into doubt. In the end, the litigation failed to stall the recall election, and the large final vote margins on both the recall question and the successor ballot seemingly overwhelmed Election Day problems. In this paper, we concentrate on some of the problems produced by the complexity of the recall election, but we do not attempt an exhaustive presentation of these problems. We focus on polling place problems on election day, the problems associated with translating the complicated recall election ballot into six languages, how the long ballot influenced voter behavior, and voter difficulties with the ballot measured with survey data. We conclude with a short discussion of the possible impact of these problems on the recall election

The Design and Operation of The Keck Observatory Archive

The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) and the W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO) operate an archive for the Keck Observatory. At the end of 2013, KOA completed the ingestion of data from all eight active observatory instruments. KOA will continue to ingest all newly obtained observations, at an anticipated volume of 4 TB per year. The data are transmitted electronically from WMKO to IPAC for storage and curation. Access to data is governed by a data use policy, and approximately two-thirds of the data in the archive are public.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figs, 4 tables. Presented at Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy III, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2014. June 2014, Montreal, Canad

Implementation of Technology-based Patient Engagement Strategies within Practice-Based Research Networks (Poster)

Careyva, B. Shaak, K. Mills, G. Johnson, M. Goodrich, S. Stello, B. Wallace, L. (2016, Nov). Implementation of Technology-Based Patient Engagement Strategies within Practice-Based Research Networks. Poster Presented at: North American Primary Care Research Group, Colorado Springs, CO

Integrating data types to estimate spatial patterns of avian migration across the Western Hemisphere

For many avian species, spatial migration patterns remain largely undescribed, especially across hemispheric extents. Recent advancements in tracking technologies and high-resolution species distribution models (i.e., eBird Status and Trends products) provide new insights into migratory bird movements and offer a promising opportunity for integrating independent data sources to describe avian migration. Here, we present a three-stage modeling framework for estimating spatial patterns of avian migration. First, we integrate tracking and band re-encounter data to quantify migratory connectivity, defined as the relative proportions of individuals migrating between breeding and nonbreeding regions. Next, we use estimated connectivity proportions along with eBird occurrence probabilities to produce probabilistic least-cost path (LCP) indices. In a final step, we use generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) both to evaluate the ability of LCP indices to accurately predict (i.e., as a covariate) observed locations derived from tracking and band re-encounter data sets versus pseudo-absence locations during migratory periods and to create a fully integrated (i.e., eBird occurrence, LCP, and tracking/band re-encounter data) spatial prediction index for mapping species-specific seasonal migrations. To illustrate this approach, we apply this framework to describe seasonal migrations of 12 bird species across the Western Hemisphere during pre- and postbreeding migratory periods (i.e., spring and fall, respectively). We found that including LCP indices with eBird occurrence in GAMMs generally improved the ability to accurately predict observed migratory locations compared to models with eBird occurrence alone. Using three performance metrics, the eBird + LCP model demonstrated equivalent or superior fit relative to the eBird-only model for 22 of 24 species–season GAMMs. In particular, the integrated index filled in spatial gaps for species with over-water movements and those that migrated over land where there were few eBird sightings and, thus, low predictive ability of eBird occurrence probabilities (e.g., Amazonian rainforest in South America). This methodology of combining individual-based seasonal movement data with temporally dynamic species distribution models provides a comprehensive approach to integrating multiple data types to describe broad-scale spatial patterns of animal movement. Further development and customization of this approach will continue to advance knowledge about the full annual cycle and conservation of migratory birds

Clinician-Reported Barriers to Group Visit Implementation

Background: Group visits have been shown to improve disease-oriented outcomes and satisfaction, yet many clinicians have not incorporated them into practice. We aimed to identify clinician-reported barriers that preclude clinicians from implementing group visits. Methods: Primary care physicians from one practice-based research network were surveyed regarding their experience with and barriers to group visits. The survey, developed for this study, was mailed to 246 clinicians. Results: Of 107 respondents (44% response rate), those in practice 10 years of experience. For those without prior group visit experience, training was named as the top barrier to incorporating group visits. Those with group visit experience named staffing concerns and recruitment as the top barriers to group visit implementation. Conclusions: Primary care clinicians without prior group visit experience were less likely to endorse group visits. Addressing the modifiable barriers may enhance the incorporation of group visits into practice

Clinician-Reported Barriers to Group Visit Implementation.

BACKGROUND: Group visits have been shown to improve disease-oriented outcomes and satisfaction, yet many clinicians have not incorporated them into practice. We aimed to identify clinician-reported barriers that preclude clinicians from implementing group visits. METHODS: Primary care physicians from one practice-based research network were surveyed regarding their experience with and barriers to group visits. The survey, developed for this study, was mailed to 246 clinicians. RESULTS: Of 107 respondents (44% response rate), those in practice10 years of experience. For those without prior group visit experience, training was named as the top barrier to incorporating group visits. Those with group visit experience named staffing concerns and recruitment as the top barriers to group visit implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care clinicians without prior group visit experience were less likely to endorse group visits. Addressing the modifiable barriers may enhance the incorporation of group visits into practice

Evaluation of peanut skin and grape seed extracts to inhibit growth of foodborne pathogens

Peanut skin extract (PSE) and grape seed extract (GSE) are derived from waste products in the wine and peanut industries, respectively. Both have high concentrations of polyphenols, known to possess antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. PSE primarily contains “A‐type” procyanidins, while GSE primarily contains “B‐type” procyanidins. These differ structurally, but are both isomers of epicatechin dimers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of PSE containing A‐type procyanidins and GSE containing B‐type procyanidins against select foodborne pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Salmonella Typhimurium). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the two extracts on L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, and S. Typhimurium was determined using the pour plate method. GSE had a significantly lower MIC (p ≤ .05) than PSE for L. monocytogenes (GSE = 60.6 ppm, PSE > 68.2 ppm) and S. Typhimurium (GSE = 45.7 ppm, PSE = 60.6 ppm), but no difference in inhibition of E. coli O157:H7. Since GSE contributed to greater inhibition, GSE extract was fractionated into monomer‐rich (consisting primarily of catechins, epicatechins, and epicatechin gallates) and oligomer‐rich (consisting of dimers, trimers, tetramers, up to decamers) components. Growth curves of all three pathogens in the presence of full extract, monomer and oligomer fractions were compared separately. None of the extracts inhibited S. Typhimurium growth. Generally, the extract containing greater oligomer components inhibited growth of L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 when compared to the control. Results indicate that an extract with type B procyanidins higher in oligomers may have greater antimicrobial properties