Using Zero-inflated Count Regression Models To Estimate The Fertility Of U. S. Women

In the modeling of count variables there is sometimes a preponderance of zero counts. This article concerns the estimation of Poisson regression models (PRM) and negative binomial regression models (NBRM) to predict the average number of children ever born (CEB) to women in the U.S. The PRM and NBRM will often under-predict zeros because they do not consider zero counts of women who are not trying to have children. The fertility of U.S. white and Mexican-origin women show that zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) models perform better in many respects than the Poisson and negative binomial models. Zero-inflated Poisson and negative binomial regression models are statistically appropriate for the modeling of fertility in low fertility populations, especially when there is a preponderance of women in the society with no children

Introduction to the Special Section: Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention in School Counselor Training

This special section on school counselor preparation in assessing for crisis and suicide risk considers the impact of the perception of school counselor training and expertise related to suicide assessment and intervention. The collection of six articles focuses on considerations and best practices in assessing and intervening with PK-12 students experiencing suicidality, the unique considerations within a school setting, and corresponding implications for school counselor training

Nanostructured Polymer Lithography for Photovoltaic Applications

The self-assembly of diblock copolymers into ordered domains holds great potential to furthering the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. Solutions containing polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were applied to silicon wafers from toluene solutions. Hexagonally ordered domains, with pore sizes ranging from 10-30 nm, were obtained by annealing films in solvent vapor, with the best results produced from a humidified benzene environment. Exposing the films to UV light cross-linked the polystyrene matrix and degraded the PMMA. Removal of the PMMA and PEO produced an ordered polystyrene template, which can be used for nanolithography for the deposition of quantum dots onto the wafers. Details of the film preparation, annealing times and conditions, and characterization will be presented

An analysis of plutonium immobilization versus the "spent fuel" standard

Safe Pu management is an important and urgent task with profound environmental, national, and international security implications. Presidential Policy Directive 13 and analyses by scientific, technical, and international policy organizations brought about a focused effort within the Department of Energy (DOE) to identify and implement long-term disposition paths for surplus Pu. The principal goal is to render surplus Pu as inaccessible and unattractive for reuse in nuclear weapons as Pu in spent reactor fuel. In the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Storage and Disposition of Weapons- Usable Fissile Materials (1997), DOE announced pursuit of two disposition technologies: (1) irradiation of Pu as MOX fuel in existing reactors and (2) immobilization of Pu into solid forms containing fission products as a radiation barrier. DOE chose an immobilization approach that includes �use of the can-in-canister option.. . for a portion of the surplus, non-pit Pu material.� In the can-in-canister approach, cans of glass or ceramic forms containing Pu are encapsulated within canisters of HLW glass. In support of the selection process, a technical evaluation of retrievability and recoverability of Pu from glass and ceramic forms by a host nation and by rogue nations or subnational groups was completed. The evaluation involved determining processes and flowsheets for Pu recovery, comparing these processes against criteria and metrics established by the Fissile Materials Disposition Program and then comparing the recovery processes against each other and against SNF processes

Analysis of the variability of nursing care by pathology in a sample of nine Belgian hospitals

info:eu-repo/semantics/published27th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 201