The Potential Impact of a Texas High Plains Ethanol Plant on Local Water Supplies

With the passage of the Energy Policy Act, the rapidly expanding number of ethanol plants, and the fury with which ethanol is being promoted, it is clear that ethanol will play a rising role in our domestic energy supply. Along with this rise there will be an increase in the consumptive use of water by ethanol production facilities. Regions, such as the Texas High Plains, that are already considered to be water stressed have the potential of being impacted. The objective of this research is to assess the potential impact the addition of an ethanol plant may have on the Texas High Plains and to determine how increased water costs will transform the economic viability of an ethanol plant.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Shuttle/TDRSS modelling and link simulation study

A Shuttle/TDRSS S-band and Ku-band link simulation package called LinCsim was developed for the evaluation of link performance for specific Shuttle signal designs. The link models were described in detail and the transmitter distortion parameters or user constraints were carefully defined. The overall link degradation (excluding hardware degradations) relative to an ideal BPSK channel were given for various sets of user constraint values. The performance sensitivity to each individual user constraint was then illustrated. The effect of excessive Spacelab clock jitter on the return link BER performance was also investigated as was the problem of subcarrier recovery for the K-band Shuttle return link signal

Farm Level Impacts of a Revenue Based Policy in the 2007 Farm Bill

Revenue-based policy alternatives are thought to be a potential component of the 2007 Farm Bill. This research provides an economic analysis of switching to a revenue assurance farm program for representative farms. Specifically, this research provides a monte-carlo stochastic simulation model that compares the effect of a revenue based safety net policy relative to continuing the 2002 Farm Bill policies for different types of U.S. crop farmers. The results show that both revenue assurance proposals by the National Corn Growers Association leave the majority of farmers, especially feed grain producers, with higher total receipts and higher government payments.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Impact of academic detailing on clinical pharmacy specialist involvement in medication assisted

Title: Impact of academic detailing on clinical pharmacy specialist involvement in medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in a primary care setting Lindsey Bartos, PharmD; Kristin Tallman, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP; Dara Johnson, PharmD, BCPP, BCACP Introduction: Opioid prescribing and opioid overdose deaths have increased steadily since the 1990s, reaching a 6-fold increase between 1999 and 2017. The opioid crisis, as it became known, was declared a public health emergency in 2017. In 2018 alone, an estimated two million people had a diagnosed opioid use disorder (OUD). The use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for OUD reduces the use and cravings of opiates, and risk of all-cause and opioid-related mortality. The inclusion of clinical pharmacy specialists (CPSs) on multidisciplinary healthcare teams has been shown to improve health outcomes, increase cost-effectiveness, and improve the quality of healthcare. Nevertheless, CPS involvement in MAT for OUD in a primary care setting remains limited. This study will provide information regarding barriers to CPS involvement in MAT, and the effectiveness of academic detailing provided to CPSs in increasing CPS involvement. Objectives: The objectives of this project are to identify and describe the most common barriers to CPS involvement in MAT for OUD, then assess the impact of academic detailing on CPS comfort level with being involved in the care of patients undergoing MAT for OUD in the primary care setting. Additionally, this project will assess the hypothesis that academic detailing will increase the number of patients with a CPS involved in the treatment of OUD. Methods: Study participants are CPSs recruited from a large medical group in Oregon and SW Washington who completed a survey before and after participating in academic detailing. The pre-survey was used to assess demographics, current involvement with MAT, perceived barriers to involvement in MAT, and asked participants to anonymously assess their comfort level, knowledge, and beliefs regarding MAT for OUD using a 0-5 point scale. Academic detailing was developed based on reported barriers, and consisted of handouts, two 45 minute interactive presentations, and small group work with case-based application. Participants then filled out a post-survey to re-assess their comfort level, knowledge, and beliefs regarding MAT for OUD following academic detailing. Survey results were compared and summarized by using either % of respondents in each category or mean (standard deviation) for each question across all respondents, then compared using a Wilcoxon-rank-sum test. CPS involvement in MAT will be reassessed using a survey or electronic intervention tracking in June. Results: 19 CPSs responded to the pre-survey and 20 CPSs responded to the post-survey. 4 respondents (21.05%) were currently active in MAT, and of these respondents, 3 indicated they are involved with MAT for 1-5 patients annually, and 1 indicated they are involved with MAT for 20+ patients annually. The most common barriers to involvement in MAT were lack of time (23.08%), lack of X-waivered providers (23.08%), and lack of knowledge regarding MAT (21.15%). There was no change in the number of CPSs involved in MAT between the pre-survey and the post-survey. Median responses to 6 of the 8 survey questions differed significantly between the pre and post surveys (p Conclusions: Most CPSs within PMG are not involved in the use of buprenorphine in MAT for OUD, likely due to a combination of time constraints, a lack of providers with the ability to prescribe buprenorphine, and unfamiliarity with buprenorphine in MAT. Following academic detailing to address these barriers, CPS comfort with buprenorphine in MAT had significantly improved in most areas. CPS involvement in MAT for OUT will be reassessed in June, 3 months following the academic detailing intervention.https://digitalcommons.psjhealth.org/pharmacy_PGY2/1001/thumbnail.jp

Characterization of Hypertension Risk Factors at the Committee on Temporary Shelter

Introduction: The health of homeless populations is at risk due to a high prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The interaction of housing and socioeconomic status with the risk factors for HTN and CVD remains unclear. Prevention of HTN through a healthy diet, exercise, adequate sleep, and avoidance of tobacco has been well described, but financial limitations and competing priorities for shelter and food make blood pressure (BP) control difficult for this population. By characterizing the risk factors and awareness of hypertension within the homeless population at the Committee on Temporary Shelter Daystation (COTS) in Burlington, Vermont, we may be able to identify promising avenues for therapeutic intervention.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1226/thumbnail.jp

Corrections for Racial Disparities in Law Enforcement

Much empirical analysis has documented racial disparities at the beginning and end stages of criminal cases. However, our understanding about the perpetuation of—and even corrections for—differential outcomes in the process remains less than complete. This Article provides a comprehensive examination of criminal dispositions using all DWI cases in North Carolina from 2001 to 2011, focusing on several major decision points in the process. Starting with pretrial hearings and culminating in sentencing results, we track differences in outcomes by race and gender. Before sentencing, significant gaps emerge in the severity of pretrial release conditions that disadvantage black and Hispanic defendants. Yet when prosecutors decide whether to pursue charges, we observe an initial correction mechanism: Hispanic men are almost two-thirds more likely to have those charges dropped relative to white men. Although few cases survive after the plea bargaining stage, a second correction mechanism arises: Hispanic men are substantially less likely to receive harsher sentences and are sent to jail for significantly less time relative to white men. The first mechanism is based, in part, on prosecutors’ reviewing the strength of the evidence, but much more on declining to invest scarce resources in the pursuit of defendants who fail to appear for trial. The second mechanism seems to follow more directly from judicial discretion to reverse decisions made by law enforcement or prosecutors. We discuss possible explanations for these novel empirical results and review methods for more precisely identifying causal mechanisms in criminal justice

A simplified protocol for detecting two systemic bait markers (Rhodamine B and iophenoxic acid) in small mammals

We developed a method of quantifying levels of fluorescence in the whiskers of wild stoats (Mustela erminea) using fluorescence microscopy and Axiovision 3.0.6.1 software. The method allows for discrimination between natural fluorescence present in or on a whisker, and the fluorescence resulting from the ingestion of the systemic marker Rhodamine B (RB), although some visual judgement is still required. We also developed a new high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) protocol for detecting the systemic marker iophenoxic acid (IPA) in the blood of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) and wild stoats. With this method, the blood of an animal that has consumed IPA can be tested for the presence of the foreign IPA compound itself. This is a more reliable test than the previous method, which measured the raised level of natural blood protein-bound iodine correlated with IPA absorption. The quantity of blood required from animal subjects is very small (10 μl), so the testing is less intrusive and the method can be extended to smaller species. The extraction technique uses methanol, rather than acids and heavy metal salts, thereby simplifying the procedure. Recovery of IPA is quantitative, giving a highly reliable reading. In experiments on captive rats the IPA method proved successful. Of 12 positively marked carcasses, two that had not been frozen for the 24 h before blood samples were taken showed relatively lower IPA levels. The same IPA detection method, as well as the whisker analysis for RB, was applied successfully to a population of wild stoats to which both Rhodamine B and IPA were made available at bait stations. The presence of both bait markers was detectable in rats for at least 21 days and in stoats for at least 27 days

Plant 3D genomics: the exploration and application of chromatin organization

Eukaryotic genomes are highly folded for packing into higher‐order chromatin structures in the nucleus. With the emergence of state‐of‐the‐art chromosome conformation capture methods and microscopic imaging techniques, the spatial organization of chromatin and its functional implications have been interrogated. Our knowledge of 3D chromatin organization in plants has improved dramatically in the past few years, building on the early advances in animal systems. Here, we review recent advances in 3D genome mapping approaches, our understanding of the sophisticated organization of spatial structures, and the application of 3D genomic principles in plants. We also discuss directions for future developments in 3D genomics in plants

Measuring galaxy cluster masses with CMB lensing using a Maximum Likelihood estimator: Statistical and systematic error budgets for future experiments

We develop a Maximum Likelihood estimator (MLE) to measure the masses of galaxy clusters through the impact of gravitational lensing on the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We show that, at low noise levels in temperature, this optimal estimator outperforms the standard quadratic estimator by a factor of two. For polarization, we show that the Stokes Q/U maps can be used instead of the traditional E- and B-mode maps without losing information. We test and quantify the bias in the recovered lensing mass for a comprehensive list of potential systematic errors. Using realistic simulations, we examine the cluster mass uncertainties from CMB-cluster lensing as a function of an experiment's beam size and noise level. We predict the cluster mass uncertainties will be 3 - 6% for SPT-3G, AdvACT, and Simons Array experiments with 10,000 clusters and less than 1% for the CMB-S4 experiment with a sample containing 100,000 clusters. The mass constraints from CMB polarization are very sensitive to the experimental beam size and map noise level: for a factor of three reduction in either the beam size or noise level, the lensing signal-to-noise improves by roughly a factor of two.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures: figs 2, 3 updated, references added: accepted for publication in JCA