Evaluation of An Oral Health Education Session for Early Head Start Home Visitors

Objectives Home visiting programs promote the education and health of Early Head Start (EHS) children and pregnant women. However, EHS\u27s oral health component is unevenly implemented. We conducted an educational intervention to improve oral health knowledge and motivational interviewing techniques among Wisconsin EHS home visitors. Methods A questionnaire assessing oral health-related knowledge and confidence was administered to home visitors before and after an educational session. Changes between pre/post-responses were analyzed with McNemar\u27s test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Results After the intervention there were increases in both knowledge and confidence related to oral health communication. Knowledge increases were observed in such topics as fluoridation, dental caries, and caregivers’ role in assisting and supervising children\u27s tooth brushing. Conclusions A brief educational intervention was associated with increased home visitor knowledge and confidence in communicating oral health messages to EHS caregivers and pregnant women

Larval Black Crappie Distribution: Implications for Sampling Impoundments and Natural Lakes

An understanding of larval fish distributions is essential for developing an appropriate sampling design to monitor larval abundances. We monitored abundance of larval black crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus to assess spatial differences in Richmond Lake (a 336-ha impoundment) and Brant Lake (a 405-ha natural lake), South Dakota, during 1994–1996. Age-0 black crappies were collected with a 500-µm mesh ichthyoplankton trawl from fixed sites within each water body. In the impoundment, larval black crappies were collected over a longer period at the upper site than at the dam site during 1994 and 1995. In the natural lake, larval black crappie abundances were similar between east and west sites during all 3 years. In light of our results, biologists should spatially stratify sampling sites when collecting larval black crappies in impoundments such as Richmond Lake, whereas random sites may be more appropriate in natural lakes such as Brant Lake

Photometric Correction for Infrared Sensors

Infrared thermography has been widely used in several domains to capture and measure temperature distributions across surfaces and objects. This methodology can be further expanded to 3D applications if the spatial distribution of the temperature distribution is available. Structure from Motion (SfM) is a photometric range imaging technique that makes it possible to obtain 3D renderings from a cloud of 2D images. To explore the possibility of 3D reconstruction via SfM from infrared images, this article proposes a photometric correction model for infrared sensors based on temperature constancy. Photometric correction is accomplished by estimating the scene irradiance as the values from the solution to a differential equation for microbolometer pixel excitation with unknown coefficients and initial conditions. The model was integrated into an SfM framework and experimental evaluations demonstrate the contribution of the photometric correction for improving the estimates of both the camera motion and the scene structure. Further, experiments show that the reconstruction quality from the corrected infrared imagery achieves performance on par with state-of-the-art reconstruction using RGB sensors

Mississippi Kids Count: High School Graduation Rates

Though national dropout rates have generally fallen over the past twenty years, almost 1.2 million students in the United States drop out of school each year, representing nearly one-third of high school students. At about 61%, Mississippi’s high school graduation rate falls slightly below the national figure, though school districts in the Mississippi Delta fare particularly poorly. Five of the ten districts with the highest four-year dropout rates in the state are located in Delta region counties: Leflore, Tallahatchie, Sunflower, Tunica, and Panola Counties

The Price of Slavery: An Analysis of Human Trafficking Policy and Spending in Department of Defense Procurement

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe Department of Defense (DoD) is charged with upholding the U.S. zero tolerance human trafficking policy in a world of complex, opaque supply chains and constrained human and capital resources. This study explores how the DoD can better leverage its acquisition workforce, sourcing expertise, and data to rigorously uphold the U.S. policy of zero tolerance for human trafficking in such an environment. As part of this analysis a program evaluation of the DoD’s Combating Trafficking in Persons training was conducted for the acquisition workforce. This evaluation categorized the training related to prevention, monitoring, and response to human trafficking. A quantitative analysis of DoD spending was conducted to illuminate the amount of tax dollars spent in categories, based on product and service codes, where trafficking is most prevalent to help the DoD focus its efforts for program improvement. The spend analysis revealed areas that are most at risk. Globally, an estimated 24.9 million people are subjected to human trafficking, which generates an estimated $150 billion annually in illicit profits (White House, 2020, p. 8). Specifically, the DoD spent$13.1 billion (2018–2020) in countries that are not making significant efforts to combat human trafficking according to the Department of State. The research provides insight and recommendations on where the DoD should focus attention to address human trafficking in contracts constrained of prevention, monitoring, and response resources. Finally, we provided recommended courses of action to increase participation and enhance the mandatory training for the acquisition workforce.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Egg Development in a High-Density Black Crappie (\u3ci\u3ePomoxis nigromacuIatus\u3c/i\u3e) Population

Female black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) were collected from Richmond Lake, South Dakota and egg-diameter frequencies were examined to document spawning strategy during 1994. Two hundred and sixteen adult females [mean total length (TL) ±SE = 204 ± 1 mm] were collected and 85,572 egg diameters were measured. Female black crappie gonadosomatic-index (GSI) values exceeded 8% from 18 May to 22 June 1994, and the density of larval black crappie caught with an ichthyoplankton net peaked on 8 June 1994. The GSI values and larval catches indicated that the population, as a whole, had a single extended spawn from mid-May through mid-June. However, patterns of egg-diameter distributions were inconsistent among individual female black crappie. It appeared that some females spawned only once during 1994, while others probably spawned twice