Public Health Workforce Shortages Imperil Nation's Health

Examines from a community-based perspective the scope of the shortages in the public health workforce; contributing factors such as inadequate funding, salaries, and benefits; and strategies for training, recruiting, and retaining public health workers

Massachusetts Health Reform: High Costs and Expanding Expectations May Weaken Employer Support

Examines how, as a result of the state's health reform, improved access to the individual insurance market and increased employer responsibility may reduce employers' motivation and ability to provide coverage. Considers implications

The Prediction of Driving Ability from Laboratory Measures and Experience Indices from a Systematized Interview

The U. S. Army is faced with the problem of selecting drivers for immediate and active service in the motorized units. Although the youth of America are mechanically inclined, intimate acquaintance with the operation and care of motor vehicles is not at all universal. Many have driven but slightly, and usually have had experience with passenger type vehicles only

Luminosity Function of Faint Globular Clusters in M87

We present the luminosity function to very faint magnitudes for the globular clusters in M87, based on a 30 orbit \textit{Hubble Space Telescope (HST)} WFPC2 imaging program. The very deep images and corresponding improved false source rejection allow us to probe the mass function further beyond the turnover than has been done before. We compare our luminosity function to those that have been observed in the past, and confirm the similarity of the turnover luminosity between M87 and the Milky Way. We also find with high statistical significance that the M87 luminosity function is broader than that of the Milky Way. We discuss how determining the mass function of the cluster system to low masses can constrain theoretical models of the dynamical evolution of globular cluster systems. Our mass function is consistent with the dependence of mass loss on the initial cluster mass given by classical evaporation, and somewhat inconsistent with newer proposals that have a shallower mass dependence. In addition, the rate of mass loss is consistent with standard evaporation models, and not with the much higher rates proposed by some recent studies of very young cluster systems. We also find that the mass-size relation has very little slope, indicating that there is almost no increase in the size of a cluster with increasing mass.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Brightest Cluster Galaxies at the Present Epoch

We have observed 433 z<=0.08 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in a full-sky survey of Abell clusters. The BCG Hubble diagram is consistent to within 2% of a Omega_m=0.3, Lambda=0.7 Hubble relation. The L_m-alpha relation for BCGs, which uses alpha, the log-slope of the BCG photometric curve of growth, to predict metric luminosity, L_m, has 0.27 mag residuals. We measure central stellar velocity dispersions, sigma, of the BCGs, finding the Faber-Jackson relation to flatten as the metric aperture grows to include an increasing fraction of the total BCG luminosity. A 3-parameter "metric plane" relation using alpha and sigma together gives the best prediction of L_m, with 0.21 mag residuals. The projected spatial offset, r_x, of BCGs from the X-ray-defined cluster center is a gamma=-2.33 power-law over 1<r_x<10^3 kpc. The median offset is ~10 kpc, but ~15% of the BCGs have r_x>100 kpc. The absolute cluster-dispersion normalized BCG peculiar velocity |Delta V_1|/sigma_c follows an exponential distribution with scale length 0.39+/-0.03. Both L_m and alpha increase with sigma_c. The alpha parameter is further moderated by both the spatial and velocity offset from the cluster center, with larger alpha correlated with the proximity of the BCG to the cluster mean velocity or potential center. At the same time, position in the cluster has little effect on L_m. The luminosity difference between the BCG and second-ranked galaxy, M2, increases as the peculiar velocity of the BCG within the cluster decreases. Further, when M2 is a close luminosity "rival" of the BCG, the galaxy that is closest to either the velocity or X-ray center of the cluster is most likely to have the larger alpha. We conclude that the inner portions of the BCGs are formed outside the cluster, but interactions in the heart of the galaxy cluster grow and extend the envelopes of the BCGs.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

A Novel Hybrid CNN-AIS Visual Pattern Recognition Engine

Machine learning methods are used today for most recognition problems. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have time and again proved successful for many image processing tasks primarily for their architecture. In this paper we propose to apply CNN to small data sets like for example, personal albums or other similar environs where the size of training dataset is a limitation, within the framework of a proposed hybrid CNN-AIS model. We use Artificial Immune System Principles to enhance small size of training data set. A layer of Clonal Selection is added to the local filtering and max pooling of CNN Architecture. The proposed Architecture is evaluated using the standard MNIST dataset by limiting the data size and also with a small personal data sample belonging to two different classes. Experimental results show that the proposed hybrid CNN-AIS based recognition engine works well when the size of training data is limited in siz

Global Atmospheric Aerosol Modeling

Global aerosol models are used to study the distribution and properties of atmospheric aerosol particles as well as their effects on clouds, atmospheric chemistry, radiation, and climate. The present article provides an overview of the basic concepts of global atmospheric aerosol modeling and shows some examples from a global aerosol simulation. Particular emphasis is placed on the simulation of aerosol particles and their effects within global climate models

Cost effectiveness of strategies to combat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia: mathematical modelling study

Objectives To determine the population level costs, effects, and cost effectiveness of selected, individual based interventions to combat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in the context of low and middle income countries

Rentabilidad de las estrategias para combatir la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica y el asma en el África subsahariana y el sudeste asiático: estudio de modelos matemáticos

Objectives To determine the population level costs, effects, and cost effectiveness of selected, individual based interventions to combat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in the context of low and middle income countries. Design Sectoral cost effectiveness analysis using a lifetime population model. Setting Two World Health Organization sub-regions of the world: countries in sub-Saharan Africa with very high adult and high child mortality (AfrE); and countries in South East Asia with high adult and high child mortality (SearD). Data sources Disease rates and profiles were taken from the WHO Global Burden of Disease study; estimates of intervention effects and resource needs were drawn from clinical trials, observational studies, and treatment guidelines. Unit costs were taken from a WHO price database. Main outcome measures Cost per disability adjusted life year (DALY) averted, expressed in international dollars ($Int) for the year 2005. Results In both regions low dose inhaled corticosteroids for mild persistent asthma was considered the most cost effective intervention, with average cost per DALY averted about$Int2500. The next best value strategies were influenza vaccine for COPD in Sear-D (incremental cost $Int4950 per DALY averted) and low dose inhaled corticosteroids plus long acting ? agonists for moderate persistent asthma in Afr-E (incremental cost$Int9112 per DALY averted). Conclusions COPD is irreversible and progressive, and current treatment options produce relatively little gains relative to the cost. The treatment options available for asthma, however, generally decrease chronic respiratory disease burden at a relatively low cost