A Comparison of Two Shallow Water Models with Non-Conforming Adaptive Grids: classical tests

In an effort to study the applicability of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) techniques to atmospheric models an interpolation-based spectral element shallow water model on a cubed-sphere grid is compared to a block-structured finite volume method in latitude-longitude geometry. Both models utilize a non-conforming adaptation approach which doubles the resolution at fine-coarse mesh interfaces. The underlying AMR libraries are quad-tree based and ensure that neighboring regions can only differ by one refinement level. The models are compared via selected test cases from a standard test suite for the shallow water equations. They include the advection of a cosine bell, a steady-state geostrophic flow, a flow over an idealized mountain and a Rossby-Haurwitz wave. Both static and dynamics adaptations are evaluated which reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the AMR techniques. Overall, the AMR simulations show that both models successfully place static and dynamic adaptations in local regions without requiring a fine grid in the global domain. The adaptive grids reliably track features of interests without visible distortions or noise at mesh interfaces. Simple threshold adaptation criteria for the geopotential height and the relative vorticity are assessed.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, preprin

Agreement of Air Bike and Treadmill Protocols To Assess Maximal Oxygen Uptake: An Exploratory Study

International Journal of Exercise Science 17(4): 633-647, 2024. Maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O2max) is an important measure of aerobic fitness, with applications in evaluating fitness, designing training programs, and assessing overall health. While treadmill assessments are considered the gold standard, airbikes (ABs) are increasingly popular exercise machines. However, limited research exists on AB-based V̇O2max assessments, particularly regarding agreement with treadmill graded exercise tests. To address this gap, a randomized crossover study was conducted, involving 15 healthy adults (9M, 6F, 7 familiar with AB) aged 30.1 ± 8.6 years. Paired t-tests, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Bland-Altman and Principal component (PC) analyses were used to assess agreement between protocols. The results demonstrated good to excellent agreement in V̇O2max, maximum heart rate (HR), and rating of perceived exertion (ICC range: 0.89-0.92). However, significant differences were observed in several measures, including V̇O2max and maximum HR (p \u3c 0.01). Overall a systematic bias 3.31 mL/kg/min (treadmill \u3e AB, 95%CI[1.67,4.94]) was observed, no proportional bias was present; however, regular AB users (systematic bias: 1.27 (95%CI[0.20,2.34]) mL/kg/min) exhibited higher agreement in V̇O2max measures compared to non-regular users (systematic bias: 5.09 (95%CI[3.69,6.49]) mL/kg/min). There were no significant differences in cardiorespiratory coordination, between the AB and the treadmill. These findings suggest that for individuals familiar with the AB, it can be a suitable alternative for assessing V̇O2max compared to the treadmill. Future research with larger samples should focus on developing prediction equations for field AB tests to predict V̇O2max. Practitioners should consider using the AB to assess V̇O2max in individuals who prefer it over running

Building the Games Students Want to Play: BiblioBouts Project Interim Report #3

The University of Michigan's School of Information and its partner, the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, are undertaking the 3-year BiblioBouts Project (October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2011) to support the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the web-based BiblioBouts game to teach incoming undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts. This third interim report describes the BiblioBouts Project team’s 6-month progress achieving the project's 4 objectives: designing, developing, deploying, and evaluating the BiblioBouts game and recommending best practices for future information literacy games. This latest 6-month period was marked by extensive progress in the deployment and evaluation of the alpha version of BiblioBouts. Major tasks that will occupy the team for the next 6 months are applying evaluation findings to game redesign and enhancement. For general information about game design, pedagogical goals, scoring, game play, project participants, and playing BiblioBouts in your course, consult the BiblioBouts Project web site.Institute of Museum and Library Serviceshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69157/1/bbInterimReportToIMLS03.pd

Abstract P1-09-05: Does socioeconomic status (SES) influence receipt of guideline concordant care in older women with breast cancer: Findings from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national program of cancer registries (NPCR) patterns of care study

Abstract Background: Lower SES is associated with worse breast cancer outcomes in general. Disparities by SES have not been well studied in older cancer patients. Here, we examined differences in presentation and treatment patterns by SES in older cancer patients. Methods: The NPCR's Patterns of Care study reabstracted the medical records of breast cancer cases diagnosed in 2004 from 7 state cancer registries. For this study, we included women ≥65 years old with stage 0-III breast cancer. SES was defined by insurance status: non-poor if Medicare (M) or poor if Medicare plus Medicaid (dMM). Receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy, radiation (RT) after breast conserving surgery (BCS), and endocrine therapy were compared by insurance status. We used multiple logistic regression to evaluate the role of age, race, comorbidity and tumor characteristics in the differences in receipt of treatment components, both in separate models by insurance status and then in a pooled model that included insurance status as a predictor. Results: Included were 1,844 women, with insurance status M in 1,585 and dMM in 259. Patients with dMM (vs M) were more likely nonwhite (38.1% vs 10.1%, p&amp;lt;0.001), had higher comorbidity (p = 0.01), higher stage (p = 0.03), and larger tumors (p = 0.002). M and dMM groups were similar with respect to age distribution, tumor grade, lymph node status (LN), hormone receptor status, and HER2 status. Overall, there were similar rates of BCS vs mastectomy and use of adjuvant chemotherapy (17.6% vs 13.5%, p = 0.099). Endocrine therapy use was less likely in dMM-insured patients (45.4% vs 55.7%, p = 0.0175). In multivariate analyses, for M-insured patients, lower BCS rate was associated with higher stage (OR 0.45 for stage I and 0.088 for stage III, vs stage 0, p&amp;lt;0.05) and larger tumor size, vs 10 mm or less(OR 0.566 for 11-20 mm, p&amp;lt;0.05, and 0.390 for 20mm and greater, p&amp;lt;0.05); severe comorbidity predicted less RT after BCS (OR 0.457, p&amp;lt;0.05); and larger tumor size (vs 10 mm or less) predicted higher likelihood of receiving chemotherapy (OR 3.93 for 11-20 mm, p&amp;lt;0.05, and 12.65 for 20mm and greater, p&amp;lt;0.05). In dMM-insured patients, the only significant relationship was that higher age predicted less chemotherapy use (OR 0.788, p&amp;lt;0.05). In models that included insurance status, this covariate was significant only in the model for chemotherapy – dMM was associated with less chemotherapy use (OR 0.38, p&amp;lt;0.05). Conclusions: Despite presenting with higher stage and larger tumors, older breast cancer patients with dual-Medicare-Medicaid insurance were less likely than those with Medicare-only to receive adjuvant chemotherapy, controlling for age, race, comorbidity and tumor characteristics. Research is needed to further explore the disparity in adjuvant chemotherapy use among poor older patients. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P1-09-05.</jats:p