Immersive GeoDesign: Exploring the Built Environment through the Coupling of GeoDesign, 3D Modeling, and Immersive Geography

GeoDesign is a relatively new field that serves as a repurposing of many different disciplines concerned with design decisions about the built environment. More specifically, GeoDesign represents a coupling of urban planning concepts with the analytical capabilities of GIS. While GIS has been used in planning mostly in the two-dimensional realm, the built environment is three-dimensional and challenges GIS in the handling of the vertical dimension, notably in floor-by-floor uses in mixed-use developments, basement-level parking, light capture, and intervisibility between structures. This research advances GeoDesign by addressing these three-dimensional issues through the utilization of highly-detailed 3D models using Trimble SketchUp, the mass-model generation power of ERSI\u27s CityEngine, and the immersive Geo-Virtual CAVE at West Virginia University to explore these issues through an Immersive GeoDesign case study of the city of Morgantown, WV

Mentoring African American men : a study of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

This dissertation is a correlational designed study that examined the strength and direction of the relationship between mentoring, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, of African American men, exclusively in a business setting (N = 364), who were members of the National Black Masters of Business Administration Association (NBMBAA). Approximately 56% of the respondents were affiliated with the association. Participants completed a web-based survey via Zoomerang™, which included Mowday, Steers, and Porter\u27s (1979) Organizational Commitment Scale and Spector\u27s (1988) Job Satisfaction Scale, and employed Dillman\u27s (2000) online survey protocol. This study used hierarchical multiple regression and mediational analysis to analyze the data. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that mentoring is a significant predictor of job satisfaction and a significant predictor of organizational commitment. The mediational analysis indicated that job satisfaction is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. Therefore, the results indicate that mentoring works through job satisfaction as a predictor of organizational commitment

Malnutrition and Length of Stay - A Relationship?

The admission nutrition status of 135 consecutive general medical patients admitted to a single nursing unit was evaluated using a simple questionnaire and available laboratory studies. A statistical analysis of the data obtained indicates that prolonged length of stay may be related to admission nutritional status

Results of phase 3 of the CATIE schizophrenia trial

Objective—The Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study examined the comparative effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments for individuals with chronic schizophrenia. Patients who had discontinued antipsychotic treatment in phases 1 and 2 were eligible for phase 3, in which they selected one of nine antipsychotic regimens with the help of their study doctor. We describe the characteristics of the patients who selected each treatment option and their outcomes. Method—Two hundred and seventy patients entered phase 3. The open-label treatment options were monotherapy with oral aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, perphenazine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone, long-acting injectable fluphenazine decanoate, or a combination of any two of these treatments. Results—Few patients selected fluphenazine decanoate (n=9) or perphenazine (n=4). Similar numbers selected each of the other options (range 33–41). Of the seven common choices, those who selected clozapine and combination antipsychotic treatment were the most symptomatic, and those who selected aripiprazole and ziprasidone had the highest body mass index. Symptoms improved for all groups, although the improvements were modest for the groups starting with relatively mild levels of symptoms. Side effect profiles of the medications varied considerably but medication discontinuations due to intolerability were rare (7% overall). Conclusions—Patients and their doctors made treatment selections based on clinical factors, including severity of symptoms, response to prior treatments, and physical health status. Fluphenazine decanoate was rarely used among those with evidence of treatment non-adherence and clozapine was underutilized for those with poor previous response. Combination antipsychotic treatment warrants further study

Referral Patterns Between Allopathic Physicians and Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practitioners

Introduction and Objectives: The provision of basic healthcare in the United States may be viewed considering two different, and sometimes combined, therapeutic approaches: •Allopathic/osteopathic medicine •Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) Our study is interested in the intersection of allopathic medicine and CAM. Evidence suggests that Americans are seeking CAM at a similar or even a higher rate than allopathic medicine, yet there seems to be a division between practitioners of each discipline. Isthis division created by a lack of coordination, such as an inadequately established referral system, or by a general lack of knowledge, or by the attitudes of the practitioners? In our study our objectives were: ? To assess the referral patterns between allopathic and CAM practitioners in Chittenden County. ? To examine the various factors that may influence these referral patterns using confidential surveys.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1017/thumbnail.jp

In The Works: Greenville, SC; Greensboro, NC; Washington, NC; Carrboro, NC; Atlanta, GA

Short planning reports from: GREENVILLE, SC: In Greenville, South Carolina the County Planning Commission has developed a creative strategy for controlling future development of a mountain area.; GREENSBORO, NC: The Greensboro, North Carolina Community Development program is realizing some success in a joint historic preservation/neighborhood improvement project in the "College Hill" neighborhood, an area populated largely by students and senior citizens.; WASHINGTON, NC: Washington, North Carolina is a National Main Street Center City, Selected in a national competition conducted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.; CARRBORO, NC: Zones float in Carrboro, North Carolina. So suggests one part of the Industrial Rezoning Study prepared by Carrboro' s Planning Department last summer. The study proposed an "area of suitability" for industrial development.; ATLANTA, GA: Trends in crime, redevelopment, displacement and many other areas can now be mapped in an attractive and readable form by the Atlanta Planning Department

Excess centrosomes disrupt vascular lumenization and endothelial cell adherens junctions

Proper blood vessel formation requires coordinated changes in endothelial cell polarity and rearrangement of cell–cell junctions to form a functional lumen. One important regulator of cell polarity is the centrosome, which acts as a microtubule organizing center. Excess centrosomes perturb aspects of endothelial cell polarity linked to migration, but whether centrosome number influences apical–basal polarity and cell–cell junctions is unknown. Here, we show that excess centrosomes alter the apical–basal polarity of endothelial cells in angiogenic sprouts and disrupt endothelial cell–cell adherens junctions. Endothelial cells with excess centrosomes had narrower lumens in a 3D sprouting angiogenesis model, and zebrafish intersegmental vessels had reduced perfusion following centrosome overduplication. These results indicate that endothelial cell centrosome number regulates proper lumenization downstream of effects on apical–basal polarity and cell–cell junctions. Endothelial cells with excess centrosomes are prevalent in tumor vessels, suggesting how centrosomes may contribute to tumor vessel dysfunction

Selection of patients for heart transplantationin the current era of heart failure therapy

AbstractObjectivesWe sought to assess the relationship between survival, peak exercise oxygen consumption (Vo2), and heart failure survival score (HFSS) in the current era of heart failure (HF) therapy.BackgroundBased on predicted survival, HF patients with peak Vo2<14 ml/min/kg or medium- to high-risk HFSS are currently considered eligible for heart transplantation. However, these criteria were developed before the widespread use of beta-blockers, spironolactone, and defibrillators—interventions known to improve the survival of HF patients.MethodsPeak Vo2and HFSS were assessed in 320 patients followed from 1994 to 1997 (past era) and in 187 patients followed from 1999 to 2001 (current era). Outcomes were compared between these two groups of patients and those who underwent heart transplantation from 1993 to 2000.ResultsSurvival in the past era was 78% at one year and 67% at two years, as compared with 88% and 79%, respectively, in the current era (both p < 0.01). One-year event-free survival (without urgent transplantation or left ventricular assist device) was improved in the current era, regardless of initial peak Vo2: 64% vs. 48% for peak Vo2<10 ml/min/kg (p = 0.09), 81% vs. 70% for 10 to 14 ml/min/kg (p = 0.05), and 93% vs. 82% for >14 ml/min/kg (p = 0.04). Of the patients with peak Vo2of 10 to 14 ml/min/kg, 55% had low-risk HFSS and exhibited 88% one-year event-free survival. One-year survival after transplantation was 88%, which is similar to the 85% rate reported by the United Network for Organ Sharing for 1999 to 2000.ConclusionsSurvival for HF patients in the current era has improved significantly, necessitating re-evaluation of the listing criteria for heart transplantation

Timing of detachment faulting in the Bullfrog Hills and Bare Mountain area, southwest Nevada: Inferences from 40Ar/39Ar, K-Ar, U-Pb and fission track thermochronology

Crustal extension in the Bullfrog Hills and Bare Mountain area of southwest Nevada is associated with movement along a regional detachment fault. Normal faulting in the upper plate and rapid cooling (denudation) of the lower plate were coeval with Miocene silicic volcanism and with west-northwest transport along the detachment fault. A west-northwest progression of tilting along upper plate normal faults is indicated by ages of the volcanic rocks in relation to angular unconformities. Near the breakaway, tilting in the upper plate occurred between 12.7 and 11.6 Ma, continued less strongly past 10.7 Ma, and was over by 8.2 Ma. Ten to 20 km west of the breakaway, tilting occurred between 10.7 and 10.33 Ma, continued less strongly after 10.33 Ma, and was over by 8.1 Ma. The cooling histories of the lower plate metamorphic rocks were determined by thermochronologic dating methods: K-Ar and Ar-40/(39)A on muscovite, biotite, and hornblende, Ar-40/(39)A on K-feldspar, U-Pb on apatite, zircon, and sphene, and fission track on apatite, zircon, and sphene. Lower plate rocks 10 km west of the breakaway cooled slowly from Early Cretaceous lower-amphibolite facies conditions through 350+/-50 degrees to 300+/-50 degrees C between 57 and 38 Ma, then cooled rapidly from 205+/-50 degrees to 120+/-5O degrees C between 12.6+/-1.6 and 11.1+/-1.9 Ma. Lower plate rocks 20 km west of the breakaway cooled slowly from Early Cretaceous upper-amphibolite facies conditions through 500+/-50 degrees C at 78-67 Ma, passed through 350+/-50 degrees to 300+/-50 degrees C between 16.3+/-0.4 and 10.5+/-0.3 Ma, then cooled rapidly from 285+/-50 degrees to 120+/-50 degrees C between 10.2 and 8.6 Ma. Upper plate tilting and rapid cooling (denudation) of the lower plate occurred simultaneously in the respective areas. The early slow-cooling part of the lower plate thermal histories was probably related to erosion at the Earth's surface, which stripped off about 9 km of material in 50 to 100 m.y. The results indicate an initial fault dip greater than or equal to 30 degrees and a 12 mm yr(-1) west-northwest migration of the locus of rapid tilting in the upper plate