Fall 1975

Maintaining Wildlife Openings with Pellets Containing Pictoram (page 3) OSHA and How it Affects the Turf Industry (10) Farmers at Bunker Hill (13) Septic Systems--How Long do They Last? (16) Domesticating Wildflowers for the Home Garden (18

Natural Supplements for H1N1 Influenza: Retrospective Observational Infodemiology Study of Information and Search Activity on the Internet

Background: As the incidence of H1N1 increases, the lay public may turn to the Internet for information about natural supplements for prevention and treatment. Objective: Our objective was to identify and characterize websites that provide information about herbal and natural supplements with information about H1N1 and to examine trends in the public’s behavior in searching for information about supplement use in preventing or treating H1N1. Methods: This was a retrospective observational infodemiology study of indexed websites and Internet search activity over the period January 1, 2009, through November 15, 2009. The setting is the Internet as indexed by Google with aggregated Internet user data. The main outcome measures were the frequency of “hits” or webpages containing terms relating to natural supplements co-occurring with H1N1/swine flu, terms relating to natural supplements co-occurring with H1N1/swine flu proportional to all terms relating to natural supplements, webpage rank, webpage entropy, and temporal trend in search activity. Results: A large number of websites support information about supplements and H1N1. The supplement with the highest proportion of H1N1/swine flu information was a homeopathic remedy known as Oscillococcinum that has no known side effects; supplements with the next highest proportions have known side effects and interactions. Webpages with both supplement and H1N1/swine flu information were less likely to be medically curated or authoritative. Search activity for supplements was temporally related to H1N1/swine flu-related news reports and events. Conclusions: The prevalence of nonauthoritative webpages with information about supplements in the context of H1N1/swine flu and the increasing number of searches for these pages suggest that the public is interested in alternatives to traditional prevention and treatment of H1N1. The quality of this information is often questionable and clinicians should be cognizant that patients may be at risk of adverse events associated with the use of supplements for H1N1

December 1964

Turf and Lawn Grass Association Better turf through research and Educatio

Asteroid Distributions in the Ecliptic

We present analysis of the asteroid surface density distribution of main belt asteroids (mean perihelion $\Delta \simeq 2.404$ AU) in five ecliptic latitude fields, -17 \gtsimeq \beta(\degr) \ltsimeq +15, derived from deep \textit{Large Binocular Telescope} (LBT) $V-$band (85% completeness limit $V = 21.3$ mag) and \textit{Spitzer Space Telescope} IRAC 8.0 \micron (80% completeness limit $\sim 103 \mu$Jy) fields enabling us to probe the 0.5--1.0 km diameter asteroid population. We discovered 58 new asteroids in the optical survey as well as 41 new bodies in the \textit{Spitzer} fields. The derived power law slopes of the number of asteroids per square degree are similar within each $\sim 5$\degr{} ecliptic latitude bin with a mean value of $-0.111 \pm 0.077$. For the 23 known asteroids detected in all four IRAC channels mean albedos range from $0.24 \pm 0.07$ to $0.10 \pm 0.05$. No low albedo asteroids ($p_{V}$ \ltsimeq 0.1) were detected in the \textit{Spitzer} FLS fields, whereas in the SWIRE fields they are frequent. The SWIRE data clearly samples asteroids in the middle and outer belts providing the first estimates of these km-sized asteroids' albedos. Our observed asteroid number densities at optical wavelengths are generally consistent with those derived from the Standard Asteroid Model within the ecliptic plane. However, we find an over density at \beta \gtsimeq 5\degr{} in our optical fields, while the infrared number densities are under dense by factors of 2 to 3 at all ecliptic latitudes.Comment: 35 pages including 5 figures, accepted to The Astronomical Journa

Preliminary Evaluation of the Eagle Flat Region Hudspeth County, Texas

Preliminary evaluation of the Eagle Flat region, as designated by the Texas Legislature, indicates several areas that may have geologic and hydrologic conditions favorable for further evaluation as potential siting areas for the Texas low-level radioactive waste repository. This determination is based on a review of available data regarding surface drainage, thickness and character of alluvial fill, depth to groundwater, and apparent presence or absence of such features as late Cenozoic faults, fissures, known natural resources, and evidence of erosion. Some general siting areas have been identified that contain several sections that appear to have favorable characteristics. Examples of apparently favorable general siting areas are east of Yucca Mesa, south of Eagle Flat Mountain, and north of Little Hills. Our preliminary assessment is that, of the three areas cited above, the Yucca Mesa location should be given priority consideration. Initial flooding and drainage analysis indicates that the Yucca Mesa site includes sufficient surface areas unaffected by flooding. There are no known fissures or late Cenozoic faults. Depth to groundwater may be in excess of 500 ft, and the water quality may be poor. Shallow alluvium may be somewhat finer grained than at other settings, and the surface appears to be relatively stable and devoid of major incision by existing drainages. Although each of these characteristics needs to be investigated by further work, the most critical unanswered question is the thickness of alluvial fill. Available gravity data, including recent work by The University of Texas at El Paso, indicates that 100 ft or more of alluvial fill may be present in the area. Other areas may be present that are of equal or similar merit, but the preliminary analysis and available information suggest that the Yucca Mesa location apparently has the most favorable characteristics of those general siting areas identified currently. Smaller potential siting areas, generally about 400 to 800 acres in size, also may exist locally throughout the region where alluvial fill may be of sufficient thickness and drainage characteristics may be appropriate. These smaller potential siting areas would require additional site-specific evaluation of surface drainage characteristics before drill testing could be recommended. Any potential siting area is unique and would require site-specific evaluation activities to assess its suitability for characterization.Bureau of Economic Geolog