The Quest for Zero Waste

Missoula’s waste stream is increasingly becoming a problem. Republic services – the primary landfill for the city – estimates that it will reach maximum capacity in just 62 years if current trends continue (Kidston 2018). This, and other concerns regarding the environmental impacts of a linear extraction-based economy, underscore the importance of Missoula’s efforts to reduce waste by 90% by 2050. Our research indicates several steps that may be taken to significantly reduce Missoula’s contribution to landfills, increase diversion to recycling and composting facilities, and encourage a local transition away from a linear economy. We propose the following policies that demand minimal infrastructure: 1.) A tax on paper and plastic bags to encourage consumers to consider the real cost of the waste, improve equity, and reduce the amount of trash and paper bags sent to the landfill, 2.) Communication between the city and businesses on practices to reduce waste and facilitate business transition to low-waste alternatives, and 3.) Incentivization of bulk food shopping in grocery stores around Missoula to reduce waste associated with individual packaging. For long term planning, we propose the following solutions that require a change in infrastructure: 4.) Implementation of a bag-based Pay-As-You-Throw trash collection system that charges users based on the number of bags disposed of to incentivize and reward waste reduction, improve equity, and encourage consumers to consider the real cost of waste, 5.) Increase access and develop financial incentives for composting and recycling to encourage landfill diversion

A Walk a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: A Comparison between Exercise Programs and Usual Care on the Various Side Effects of Oncology Patients.

Individuals diagnosed with cancer undergo many difficult trials throughout the progression of their disease. Initially, most of these individuals experience a great deal of emotional distress with the news of a cancer diagnosis. As treatment plans begin, patients may begin to feel pain or adverse side effects related to the progression of the disease or the methods of treatment. Chemotherapy is a common modality for the treatment of cancer. Chemotherapy, while effective, causes the body to experience many adverse side effects such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, depression, and more. Most practitioners will prescribe medications to help with these symptoms. However, there may be a less invasive and less expensive alternative right under our noses. Research has suggested the positive benefits of exercise for the health of the general population, but is there evidence that suggest that those undergoing cancer treatments could reap the same? In our research project, we took a closer look at three random controlled trials concerning the benefits of exercise to patients with varying types of cancer and in different stages of cancer

Support for smoke-free multi-unit housing policies among racially and ethnically diverse, low-income seniors in south florida

Open access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10823-014-9247-4/fulltext.html Previous studies have gauged support for implementing smoke-free MUH policies in the United States, but none have specifically examined attitudes among racially and ethnically diverse seniors living in low-income MUH. As part of an evaluation of a Community Transformation Grant funded program, we surveyed senior residents 62 years of age and older (n = 807) in 24 low-income housing properties in Broward County, Florida, to assess residents’ smoking behaviors, exposure to SHS, and support for smoke-free MUH policies. The study sample was ethnically and racially diverse with Hispanics comprising more than 61% of the population, and 22% of the population identified as Black or other races. Although close to 22% of the sample were former smokers, only 9% of residents reported being current smokers. The majority of residents surveyed supported no-smoking policies: 75% support no-smoking policies for individual units; 77% supported no-smoking policies in common areas; and, 68% supported no-smoking policies in outdoor areas. Over 29% of residents surveyed reported being exposed to secondhand smoke entering their units from elsewhere in their building. In sub-group analysis, Hispanic residents were significantly more likely to support both indoor (84.3 vs. 76.5, p\u3c.05) and outdoor (80.0 vs. 67.4, p\u3c.01) policies compared to non-Hispanic residents. Support for smoke-free policies did not vary significantly by race. This study demonstrates that senior residents living in low-income MUH properties overwhelmingly supported the implementation of smoke-free policies

LHC Forward Physics

The goal of this report is to give a comprehensive overview of the rich field of forward physics, with a special attention to the topics that can be studied at the LHC. The report starts presenting a selection of the Monte Carlo simulation tools currently available, chapter 2, then enters the rich phenomenology of QCD at low, chapter 3, and high, chapter 4, momentum transfer, while the unique scattering conditions of central exclusive production are analyzed in chapter 5. The last two experimental topics, Cosmic Ray and Heavy Ion physics are presented in the chapter 6 and 7 respectively. Chapter 8 is dedicated to the BFKL dynamics, multiparton interactions, and saturation. The report ends with an overview of the forward detectors at LHC. Each chapter is correlated with a comprehensive bibliography, attempting to provide to the interested reader with a wide opportunity for further studies.Peer Reviewe

Regression Discontinuity Designs with Clustered Data

Regression discontinuity designs have become popular in empirical studies due to their attractive properties for estimating causal effects under transparent assumptions. Nonetheless, most popular procedures assume i.i.d. data, which is unreasonable in many common applications. To fill this gap, we derive the properties of traditional local polynomial estimators in a fixed- setting that allows for cluster dependence in the error term. Simulation results demonstrate that accounting for clustering in the data while selecting bandwidths may lead to lower MSE while maintaining proper coverage. We then apply our cluster-robust procedure to an application examining the impact of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits on neighborhood characteristics and low-income housing supply

High-Performance and Flexible Thermoelectric Films by Screen Printing Solution-Processed Nanoplate Crystals

Screen printing allows for direct conversion of thermoelectric nanocrystals into flexible energy harvesters and coolers. However, obtaining flexible thermoelectric materials with high figure of merit ZT through printing is an exacting challenge due to the difficulties to synthesize high-performance thermoelectric inks and the poor density and electrical conductivity of the printed films. Here, we demonstrate high-performance flexible films and devices by screen printing bismuth telluride based nanocrystal inks synthesized using a microwave-stimulated wet-chemical method. Thermoelectric films of several tens of microns thickness were screen printed onto a flexible polyimide substrate followed by cold compaction and sintering. The n-type films demonstrate a peak ZT of 0.43 along with superior flexibility, which is among the highest reported ZT values in flexible thermoelectric materials. A flexible thermoelectric device fabricated using the printed films produces a high power density of 4.1 mW/cm2 with 60°C temperature difference between the hot side and cold side. The highly scalable and low cost process to fabricate flexible thermoelectric materials and devices demonstrated here opens up many opportunities to transform thermoelectric energy harvesting and cooling applications

Self-Rated Mental Health, School Adjustment, and Substance Use in Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents

This survey, “Life and Health—Young People 2005,” included all 15/16-year-old adolescents in mainstream schools in the county of Örebro, Sweden. Just students with a slight/mild or moderate hearing loss were included. There were 56 (1.9%) “hard-of-hearing (HH) students with multiple disabilities,” 93 (3.1%) students who were “just HH,” 282 (9.7%) students with some “other disability than HH,” and 2,488 (85.2%) students with “no disability.” “HH with multiple disabilities” reported considerably higher scores for mental symptoms, substance use, and school problems than the “no disability” group. Those with “just HH” and those with “other disability than HH” had more mental symptoms and school problems than the “no disability” group but no significant differences in substance use. In conclusion, the combination of a hearing loss and some other disability strongly increases the risk for mental symptoms, school problems, and substance use. This group, thus, is an important target for preventive measures

Barriers and facilitators to diabetes screening and prevention after a pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes

OBJECTIVE: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing in the United States, with higher rates among minoritized racial and ethnic populations and lower income populations. GDM increases risk for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and postpartum diabetes screening and prevention are imperative. This qualitative study examines barriers and facilitators to postpartum T2DM screening and prevention among non-privately insured individuals with a history of GDM in a state prior to Medicaid expansion. METHODS: Thirty-six non-privately insured women with a history of GDM completed semi-structured interviews. Four focus groups and seven interviews were conducted with 30 nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, nurses and registered dietitians from Federally Qualified Health Centers in St. Louis, MO. Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were analyzed using an integrative thematic analysis informed by the socio-ecological model. RESULTS: Barriers and facilitators to T2DM screening and prevention occur across multiple environments (society, healthcare system, interpersonal, and individual). Societal barriers include insurance issues, unemployment, and lack of transportation, childcare, safe housing, and healthy food access, while facilitators include government sponsored programs and community organizations. Healthcare system barriers include care fragmentation, scheduling policies and time constraints while facilitators include care coordination, pregnancy support groups, and education materials. Interpersonal barriers include negative care experiences, cultural differences, communication challenges, competing priorities, and lack of a social support network, while facilitators include family and friend support and positive care experiences. Individual barriers include health complications and unhealthy food and exercise patterns, while facilitators include child wellbeing, empowered attitudes and healthy food and exercise patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The socioecological model highlights the societal and systemic determinants that encompass individual and interpersonal factors affecting postpartum T2DM screening and prevention. This framework can inform multi-level interventions to increase postpartum T2DM screening and prevention in this high-risk population, including policy changes to alleviate higher-level barriers

Measurement of Branching Fraction and Dalitz Distribution for B0->D(*)+/- K0 pi-/+ Decays

We present measurements of the branching fractions for the three-body decays B0 -> D(*)-/+ K0 pi^+/-$and their resonant submodes$B0 -> D(*)-/+ K*+/- using a sample of approximately 88 million BBbar pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy storage ring. We measure: B(B0->D-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(4.9 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D*-/+ K0 pi+/-)=(3.0 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D-/+ K*+/-)=(4.6 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.5 (syst)) 10^{-4} B(B0->D*-/+ K*+/-)=(3.2 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) 10^{-4} From these measurements we determine the fractions of resonant events to be : f(B0-> D-/+ K*+/-) = 0.63 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.04(syst) f(B0-> D*-/+ K*+/-) = 0.72 +/- 0.14(stat) +/- 0.05(syst)Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures submitted to Phys. Rev. Let