A Comprehensive Data Driven Evaluation of Wide Area Probe Data: Opportunities and Challenges.

There is a growing desire, among transportation organizations and state DOTs, to consider augmenting traditional traffic data collection with probe - based services for expanded coverage under constrained budgets. The nature of traffic data collection with probes is however dramatically different from traditional traffic data collection techniques. This affects how the new technology is applied and used to solve current traffic problems such as traffic incident management and roadway performance assessment. The current paper summarizes the experiences and lessons learned while using probe data for traffic operations and safety management and makes recommendations on opportunities to maximize the use of probe data in light of its limitations

New record of the pavement ant, Tetramorium immigrans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in South Dakota with notes on its thermal tolerance and geographic distribution

The pavement ant, Tetramorium immigrans, is an abundant and widespread species across large portions of the United States. Yet despite its current distribution in Northeastern, Midwestern, Pacific, and Western states, there is a surprising lack of records from the Great Plains. Here we present an updated county list of T. immigrans from museum collections and research grade observations (459 counties; ~15% of US counties), highlighting the first records from one Great Plains state—South Dakota. Observations on community science platforms since 2006 have undoubtedly increased the awareness of T. immigrans (+329 counties; ~72% of all county records), however we posit that such platforms may also highlight the dispersal limitations of this species into the less urban, colder Northern Great Plains states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming (~5% of 291 counties). As such, we offer novel information on T. immigrans’ thermal biology including measurements of critical thermal limits, knock-down resistance, and chill coma recovery. While T. immigrans can likely tolerate the warm summer temperatures found in South Dakota due to its heat tolerance hovering around 46°C, its lower ability to tolerate cold winter conditions may be a possible mechanism for its limited dispersal

Gospel Choir Spring Concert

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Gospel Choir Spring Concert.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1391/thumbnail.jp

Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League

This presentation will describe an internship experience at Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL). The mission of this organization is to center and uplift the voices of Black and Latinx youth who are often overlooked and invalidated. Furthermore, ROYAL is an abolitionist organization that supports the defunding of police in order to support other community resources such as mental health facilities, community centers and affordable child-care. As an intern, the mission is to provide further support to the youth by providing safe spaces for healing and reflection. Moreover, interns also aim to provide academic, social and emotional support in an accessible way to the youth. Interns are granted a lot of freedom to use their personal skills and knowledge in order to support the youth of ROYAL in various ways. Furthermore, interns are responsible to continue their self-education in abolition and other social justice work. ROYAL youth are strong advocates in the Oak Park community and come together to organize community healing spaces, host outdoor rallies and marches, creates petitions that advocate for students of color, and uses their social media platforms to further support BIPOC communities. The youth participate in weekly meetings and are creating their own podcast.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1203/thumbnail.jp

A Comprehensive Data Driven Evaluation of Wide Area Probe Data: Opportunities and Challenges.

There is a growing desire, among transportation organizations and state DOTs, to consider augmenting traditional traffic data collection with probe - based services for expanded coverage under constrained budgets. The nature of traffic data collection with probes is however dramatically different from traditional traffic data collection techniques. This affects how the new technology is applied and used to solve current traffic problems such as traffic incident management and roadway performance assessment. The current paper summarizes the experiences and lessons learned while using probe data for traffic operations and safety management and makes recommendations on opportunities to maximize the use of probe data in light of its limitations.This paper was peer-reviewed by TRB and presented at the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C. and can be cited as Adu-Gyamfi, Yaw Okyere, Anuj Sharma, Skylar Knickerbocker, Neal Hawkins, and Michael Jackson. "Comprehensive Data Driven Evaluation of Wide Area Probe Data: Opportunities and Challenges." In Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting, no. 16-6482. 2016. Posted with permission.</p

Data from: New Record of the Pavement Ant, <i>Tetramorium immigrans</i> (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in South Dakota with notes on its thermal tolerance and geographic distribution

Data files for manuscript titled "New Record of the Pavement Ant, Tetramorium immigrans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in South Dakota with Notes on its Thermal Tolerance and Geographic Distribution".Excel file with 7 tabs: Metadata; CTmin, CTmax, Knock-down, Chill coma, Specimen data, Observation dataData description: Raw data for county observations/museum collections and thermal traits of Tetramorium immigrans. The data for observations/museum collections were collated from >100 years of publicly available information on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN). Presence/absence values from these digital repositories were assigned to current county or county equivalent federal information processing system (FIPS) codes to create an updated distributional map. Thermal trait data that included critical thermal maximum and minimum, knock-down resistance, and chill coma recovery were empirically determined from specimens collected in Brookings, SD in 2022 and 2023. Methods for each assay are listed in the main text.Abstract from paper: The pavement ant, Tetramorium immigrans Santschi, is an abundant and widespread species across large portions of the United States. Yet despite its current distribution in Northeastern, Midwestern, Pacific, and Western states, there is a surprising lack of records from the Great Plains. Here we present an updated county list of T. immigrans from museum collections and research grade observations (459 counties; ~15% of US counties), highlighting the first records from one Great Plains state—South Dakota. Observations on community science platforms since 2006 have undoubtedly increased the awareness of T. immigrans (+329 counties; ~72% of all county records), however we posit that such platforms may also highlight the dispersal limitations of this species into the less urban, colder Northern Great Plains states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming (~5% of 291 counties). As such, we offer novel information on T. immigrans’ thermal biology including measurements of critical thermal limits, knock-down resistance, and chill coma recovery. While T. immigrans can likely tolerate the warm summer temperatures found in South Dakota due to its heat tolerance hovering around 46 °C, its lower ability to tolerate cold winter conditions may be a possible mechanism for its limited dispersal.</p

Perioperative Topical Antisepsis and Surgical Site Infection in Patients Undergoing Upper Aerodigestive Tract Reconstruction

Importance: Surgical site infections (SSIs) after vascularized reconstruction of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) are associated with considerable morbidity. The association between perioperative prophylaxis practices, particularly topical antisepsis, and SSIs remains uncertain. Objective: To assess the association between perioperative topical antisepsis and SSIs in patients undergoing vascularized reconstruction of the UADT. Design, setting, and participants: This cohort study included patients from 12 academic tertiary care centers over an 11-month period, from July 1, 2020, to June 1, 2021. Patients undergoing open surgical procedures requiring a communication between the UADT and cervical skin with a planned regional pedicled flap, free flap, or both were included. Patients with an active infection at the time of surgical procedure were excluded. Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome measure was an SSI within 30 days of surgery. The association of demographic characteristics, perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical technique, and postoperative care with SSIs was assessed using univariable and multivariable analyses. The relative risk ratio and 95% CIs for developing SSI were calculated for each of the variables based on predetermined categories. Variables for which the relative risk 95% CI did not include the value of zero effect (relative risk = 1.00) were included in the multivariable model. Results: A total of 554 patients (median age, 64 years; range, 21-95 years; 367 men [66.2%]) were included. Cancer ablation was the most frequent reason for surgery (n = 480 [86.6%]). Overall, the SSI rate was 20.9% (n = 116), with most infections involving the head and neck surgical site only (91 [78.4%]). The median time to SSI diagnosis was 11 days (range, 1-28 days). Topical antisepsis mucosal preparation was performed preoperatively in 35.2% (195) and postoperatively in 52.2% (289) of cases. Ampicillin and sulbactam was the most common systemic antibiotic prophylaxis agent used (n = 367 [66.2%]), with 24 hours being the most common duration (n = 363 [65.5%]). On multivariable analysis, preoperative topical antisepsis mucosal preparation (odds ratio [OR], 0.49; 95% CI, 0.30-0.77) and systemic prophylaxis with piperacillin and tazobactam (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.21-0.84) were associated with a decreased risk of a postoperative SSI. The use of an osseous vascularized flap was associated with an increased risk of postoperative SSI (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.13-2.75). Conclusions and relevance: Findings of this study suggest that preoperative topical antisepsis mucosal preparation was independently associated with a decreased risk of SSIs in a 12-center multi-institutional cohort. Further investigation of the association between individual perioperative practices and the incidence of postoperative SSIs is necessary to develop evidence-based protocols to reduce SSIs after UADT reconstruction