Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire: Examining Associated Press Coverage of Wildfires in the US

CFAES Research Forum- 1st place, Social SciencesThis research project examined newspaper articles surrounding United States wildfires that were published by the Associated Press. Following the Starbuck Fires in the western United States, which devastated many farms and ranches in 2017, I wanted to investigate if and how print media focused on agricultural and environmental issues related to wildfire tragedies. Using the framing theory, this study examined how news surrounding wildfires is framed and whether or not agricultural and environmental topics are discussed. Using Lexis Nexis, I searched for articles published by the Associated Press between November 1, 2012, and November 1, 2017. I then examined a sample set of 5 percent of the 2,990 articles (n=150), some of which contained several newswire stories. In articles that classified as newswires, I assigned a frame and actor to each timestamp. In total, there were 243 stories within the 150 articles and then assigned actors to each story. I created 35 different options of frames based on the work by Terracina-Hartman (2017). Nearly a quarter (22%) of the stories were unrelated to wildfires upon reading, and 10 percent of the stories were not related to American wildfires. These stories were disregarded from the study, which resulted in 195 frames. The most common frame was a fire update, which included a status report on the fire and fire damage (37.9%) Only one story had a primary frame related to agriculture (.51%) Two stories discussed threats to wildlife (1.0%). There were This research is important because it shows that agricultural and environmental factors are often not covered by mainstream press during periods of tragedy, such as a wildfire, despite large losses of farmland, forests, and other natural resources (USDA, 2018).No embargoAcademic Major: Agricultural Communicatio

Efficacy of Local Anesthetic With Dexamethasone on the Quality of Recovery Following Total Extraperitoneal Bilateral Inguinal Hernia Repair A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Quality of recovery (directly associated with patient satisfaction) is an important clinical outcome measurement and a surrogate of anesthetic/surgical care quality. Objectives To compare the efficacy of a transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with dexamethasone sodium phosphate and preperitoneal instillation of local anesthetic (PILA) with dexamethasone vs control on postoperative quality of recovery following a bilateral total extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair (TEP-IHR) (>24 hours). Secondary objectives included efficacy of this technique on postoperative opioid use, nausea and vomiting, and pain scores. Design, Setting, and Participants Conducted from November 2013 to August 2015, this randomized, prospective, single-blinded study compared 2 groups (a TAP block and PILA) with a standard anesthetic technique with no regional technique (control) following bilateral TEP-IHR. This study at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Indianapolis, Indiana) included patients ages 18 to 80 years with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status of 1 to 3 scheduled for an outpatient bilateral TEP-IHR. Nurses assigning pain scores and administrating opioids for pain and staff anesthesiologists administering the Quality of Recovery–40 (QoR-40) questionnaire were blinded. Interventions Patients randomized to receive a TAP block with local anesthetics and dexamethasone, PILA with dexamethasone, or no regional technique (3 groups). Main Outcomes and Measures Patient’s response to the QoR-40 questionnaire following a TEP-IHR surgery. Results The mean (SD) ages in the TAP block (n = 19), PILA (n = 24), and control (n = 23) groups were 58.2 (9.4) years, 62.5 (8.1) years, and 62.9 (7.8) years, respectively. The global QoR-40 scores on postoperative day 1 for the TAP block group (median [interquartile range (IQR)], 178 [173-188]) were comparable with the control group (median [IQR], 174 [150-181]), while the PILA group had better global QoR-40 scores (median [IQR], 184 [175.5-190.75]) (P = .002). The effects of the TAP block and PILA on pain in the postoperative care unit (PACU) (median [IQR], 1 [0-5] and 3.5 [0-6.8], respectively), pain after discharge (median [IQR], 3 [2-5] and 3 [1-5.5], respectively), opiate use after discharge (median [IQR], 6.7 [5-10] and 6.7 [3.3-10], respectively), and incidence of nausea and vomiting in the PACU (4 of 19 [21.1%] and 6 of 24 [25%], respectively) were not significantly different from the control group (median [IQR], 4 [3-6] for pain scores in the PACU; 4 [3-7] for pain scores after discharge; 6.7 [3.3-10] for opioid use after discharge; and 6 of 23 [26.1%] for incidence of nausea/vomiting in the PACU). While there was a significant reduction of opioid use in the PACU in the TAP block group (median [IQR], 0 [0-1.3]) when compared with the control group (median [IQR], 4 [1.3-6.7]) (P = .001), this was not seen in the PILA group (median [IQR], 2 [0-6.4]). Conclusions and Relevance This study demonstrates a better quality of recovery in patients’ receiving PILA with dexamethasone compared with control for a TEP-IHR surgery

Honors Research Project Goodyear Business Suggestion

Our project takes on the task of evaluating the current market of the tire industry in todays pandemic. We are taking our findings to the local company Goodyear, and supplying suggestions to their firm in order to help their bottom line going forward. At the end of this, we will propose to Goodyear a solution within their firm on whether to pivot, expand, or downsize their current operations

Effectiveness of flameless catalytic infrared radiation against life stages of three stored-product insect species in stored wheat

A bench top flameless catalytic infrared emitter was evaluated in the laboratory to disinfest wheat containing different life stages (ages) of the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica; rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae; and red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. The emitter produces infrared in the 3 to 7 um range. A noncontact infrared thermometer obtained real-time grain temperatures during exposures of uninfested and infested wheat containing various life stages of the three insect species. The grain temperatures attained were influenced by wheat quantity, distance from the emitter, and exposure time, which in turn influenced effectiveness against various life stages of the three species. In general, higher grain temperatures were attained in 113.5 g of wheat as opposed to 227.0 g, at 8.0 cm from the emitter surface rather than at 12.7 cm, and during a 60-sec exposure compared to a 45-sec exposure. Logistic regression indicated the probability of death of various life stages of R.  dominica, S. oryzae, and T. castaneum was temperature-dependent. About 99 to 100% mortality of all life stages of the three species occurred when the mean wheat temperatures were in the range of 108 to 114°C. The promising results show flameless catalytic infrared technology to be a viable option for disinfestation of stored wheat, provided such high temperatures do not affect grain quality.Keywords: Infrared radiation, Stored-product insects, Non-chemical method, Efficacy assessmen

High‐Dimensional Covariance Estimation From a Small Number of Samples

Abstract: We synthesize knowledge from numerical weather prediction, inverse theory, and statistics to address the problem of estimating a high‐dimensional covariance matrix from a small number of samples. This problem is fundamental in statistics, machine learning/artificial intelligence, and in modern Earth science. We create several new adaptive methods for high‐dimensional covariance estimation, but one method, which we call Noise‐Informed Covariance Estimation (NICE), stands out because it has three important properties: (a) NICE is conceptually simple and computationally efficient; (b) NICE guarantees symmetric positive semi‐definite covariance estimates; and (c) NICE is largely tuning‐free. We illustrate the use of NICE on a large set of Earth science–inspired numerical examples, including cycling data assimilation, inversion of geophysical field data, and training of feed‐forward neural networks with time‐averaged data from a chaotic dynamical system. Our theory, heuristics and numerical tests suggest that NICE may indeed be a viable option for high‐dimensional covariance estimation in many Earth science problems

Ultrasonography-Guided Identification With Methylene Blue Tattooing of the Ilioinguinal Nerve for Neurectomy for Chronic Pain: A Case Series

Chronic ilioinguinal pain is a common but morbid complication of inguinal herniorrhaphy for 12% to 62% of patients.1 Although pharmacologic options exist (such as nerve blocks), long-term pain relief is inferior to surgical neurectomy.2,3 We present our experience in ilioinguinal neurectomy with preoperative ultrasonography-guided identification and perineural injection of methylene blue to tattoo the nerve

Enhanced Signals and Fast Nucleic Acid Hybridization By Microfluidic Chaotic Mixing

Order from chaos: Microfluidic chaotic mixing shows a significant improvement in the equilibration time of hybridization in DNA microarrays over conventional techniques. These results illustrate a new concept for performing kinetics studies in microfluidic devices

Enhanced Signals and Fast Nucleic Acid Hybridization By Microfluidic Chaotic Mixing

Order from chaos: Microfluidic chaotic mixing shows a significant improvement in the equilibration time of hybridization in DNA microarrays over conventional techniques. These results illustrate a new concept for performing kinetics studies in microfluidic devices