Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service and the Indiana Network for Patient Care: Evaluating the Patient Match Process

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)In 2009, Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service (I-EMS, formerly Wishard Ambulance Service) launched an electronic medical record system within their ambulances and started to exchange patient data with the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC). This unique system allows EMS personnel in an ambulance to get important medical information prior to the patient’s arrival to the accepting hospital from incident scene. In this retrospective cohort study, we found EMS personnel made 3,021 patient data requests (14%) of 21,215 EMS transports during a one-year period, with a “success” match rate of 46%, and a match “failure” rate of 17%. The three major factors for causing match “failure” were (1) ZIP code 55%, (2) Patient Name 22%, and (3) Birth Date 12%. This study shows that the ZIP code is not a robust identifier in the patient identification process and Non-ZIP code identifiers may be a better choice due to inaccuracies and changes of the ZIP code in a patient’s record

An Economic Performance Analysis of the Beef Cow-herd Enterprise Using a Stochastic Frontier Function

Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) data from Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico were used to examine the economic performance of beef cow herd operations in the Southern Plains region by measuring their technical efficiency index. Factors that make significant impacts on the production are herd size, machinery investment per breeding cow, and rainfall. Little technical inefficiency among the Southern beef cattle operations that participated in the SPA data was found.beef, cattle, cost, cow-calf, production, stochastic production function., Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics,

Economic Optimization of Groundwater Resources in the Texas Panhandle

Replaced with revised version of paper 05/04/06.Economic Optimization, Groundwater Resources, Input Efficiency, Irrigated Agriculture, Southern Ogallala Aquifer, Texas Panhandle, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Economic analysis on animal manure; Static and dynamic approaches, Cox non-nested test, and optimal nitrogen rates for grasses

Scope and Method of Study: This study consists of three sections. The purpose of first section is to determine an economic profitability of sustained application of swine lagoon effluent and beef feedlot manure relative to anhydrous ammonia in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Two approaches: ANOVA for a static analysis and an optimization for a dynamic analysis were obtained. The purpose of second section is to examine the fitness of two competing production functions (quadratic and logistic) to data. Misspecification tests and the Cox non-nested test with a parametric fast double bootstrap were adopted. The purpose of last section is to determine optimal nitrogen rates for each of four grasses with two nitrogen sources. The variance covariance structures of the error term with repeated measures data and the existence of systematic changes in parameters of response functions were studied.Findings and Conclusions: For the first section, swine lagoon effluent was found to be the nitrogen source which provided the largest economic profits among three nitrogen sources (anhydrous ammonia, beef manure and swine effluent) in both approaches. A difference in optimal nitrogen rates between two approaches also indicates that the amount of nitrogen applied can be reduced significantly when the residual soil nitrogen level is considered. Animal manure can be an agronomically and economically viable substitute for commercial fertilizers. For the second section, two functional forms well represent the dry matter response of bermudagrass to total available nitrogen. A higher expected yield and profit was obtained in the logistic model than in the quadratic model. For the last section, the AR(1) variance covariance error structure was selected according to the selection criteria. The most profitable forage was bermudagrass fertilized with swine effluent. Swine effluent was a better nitrogen source that yielded higher profits than urea. The same nitrogen rate was optimal with buffalograss. A higher optimal nitrogen rate was obtained for orchardgrass rather than for wheatgrass when plots were treated with swine effluent

Optimal Application of Swine Effluent under Stochastic Weather Conditions in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles

Ammonia Volatilization, Animal Waste, Irrigation, Swine Effluent, Target MOTAD, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Economic and Groundwater Use Implications of Climate Change and Bioenergy Feedstock Production in the Ogallala Aquifer Region

The sustainable water use especially for irrigated agriculture in the Texas Panhandle Region is a major concern. A semi-arid climate and average low rainfalls results in little surface water being available year-round. The Ogallala Aquifer is the primary source of irrigation water in this region. The intensive irrigated agricultural production and growing livestock industry have led to substantial decline of water tables. Furthermore, climate change and growing bioenergy feedstock productions exacerbates the water shortage and quality problems. Given the critical dependence of the regional economy on Ogallala Aquifer, underground water use is an intergenerational issue that must be evaluated in terms of the sustainability of agricultural activities in the long run. This paper develops a dynamic multi-county land allocation optimization model which integrates three sectors: agriculture, climate and hydrology. The sustainable water use and associated irrigated agricultural economic consequences under climate change are analyzed. This model also serves as a policy tool in evaluating economic impacts of alternative bioenergy expansion policies and water saving technologies in Ogallala Aquifer Region. The simulation results show that availability of extractable water has a direct impact on optimal land allocation. Deficit irrigation for major crops is an effective short-run strategy for water sustainability. In the longer run, dryland and pastureland farming will dominate. Climate change has heterogeneous impacts on agricultural production over counties and sub-counties because of the non-uniform hydrological characteristics.Groundwater, Land Use Change, Climate Change, Bioenergy feedstock, Dynamic Optimization Model, Deficit Irrigation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q24, Q25, Q54,

Optimal Nitrogen Applications: A Stochastic Dynamic Model of Irrigated Corn in the Southern High Plains

Crop Production/Industries,

Antimicrobial HPA3NT3 peptide analogs: Placement of aromatic rings and positive charges are key determinants for cell selectivity and mechanism of action

AbstractIn an earlier study, we determined that HP(2‐20) (residues 2‐20 of parental HP derived from the N-terminus of the Helicobacter pylori ribosomal protein L1) and its analog, HPA3NT3, had potent antimicrobial effects. However, HPA3NT3 also showed undesirable cytotoxicity against HaCaT cells. In the present study, we designed peptide analogs including HPA3NT3-F1A (‐F1A), HPA3NT3-F8A (‐F8A), HPA3NT3-F1AF8A (‐F1AF8A), HPA3NT3-A1 (‐A1) and HPA3NT3-A2 (‐A2) in an effort to investigate the effects of amino acid substitutions in reducing their hydrophobicity or increasing their cationicity, and any resulting effects on their selectivity in their interactions with human cells and pathogens, as well as their mechanism of antimicrobial action. With the exception of HPA3NT3-A1, all of these peptides showed potent antimicrobial activity. Moreover, substitution of Ala for Phe at positions 1 and/or 8 of the HPA3NT3 peptides (‐F1A, -F8A and -F1AF8A) dramatically reduced their cytotoxicity. Thus the cytotoxicity of HPA3NT3 appears to be related to its Phe residues (positions 1 and 8), which strongly interact with sphingomyelin in the mammalian cell membrane. HPA3NT3 exerted its bactericidal effects through membrane permeabilization mediated by pore formation. In contrast, fluorescent dye leakage and nucleic acid gel retardation assays showed that ‐A2 acted by penetrating into the cytoplasm, where it bound to nucleic acids and inhibited protein synthesis. Notably, Staphylococcus aureus did not develop resistance to -A2 as it did with rifampin. These results suggest that the -A2 peptide could potentially serve as an effective antibiotic agent against multidrug-resistant bacterial strains

Selective Algicidal Action of Peptides against Harmful Algal Bloom Species

Recently, harmful algal bloom (HAB), also termed “red tide”, has been recognized as a serious problem in marine environments according to climate changes worldwide. Many novel materials or methods to prevent HAB have not yet been employed except for clay dispersion, in which can the resulting sedimentation on the seafloor can also cause alteration in marine ecology or secondary environmental pollution. In the current study, we investigated that antimicrobial peptide have a potential in controlling HAB without cytotoxicity to harmless marine organisms. Here, antimicrobial peptides are proposed as new algicidal compounds in combating HAB cells. HPA3 and HPA3NT3 peptides which exert potent antimicrobial activity via pore forming action in plasma membrane showed that HPA3NT3 reduced the motility of algal cells, disrupted their plasma membrane, and induced the efflux of intracellular components. Against raphidoflagellate such as Heterosigma akashiwo, Chattonella sp., and C. marina, it displayed a rapid lysing action in cell membranes at 1∼4 µM within 2 min. Comparatively, its lysing effects occurred at 8 µM within 1 h in dinoflagellate such as Cochlodium polykrikoides, Prorocentrum micans, and P. minimum. Moreover, its lysing action induced the lysis of chloroplasts and loss of chlorophyll a. In the contrary, this peptide was not effective against Skeletonema costatum, harmless algal cell, even at 256 µM, moreover, it killed only H. akashiwo or C. marina in co-cultivation with S. costatum, indicating to its selective algicidal activity between harmful and harmless algal cells. The peptide was non-hemolytic against red blood cells of Sebastes schlegeli, the black rockfish, at 120 µM. HAB cells were quickly and selectively lysed following treatment of antimicrobial peptides without cytotoxicity to harmless marine organisms. Thus, the antibiotic peptides examined in our study appear to have much potential in effectively controlling HAB with minimal impact on marine ecology

Dryland Wheat variety selection in the Texas High Plain

Selecting the best wheat varieties affects producers’ profit and financial risk. This study identifies the optimal wheat variety selection using the portfolio approach at various risk aversion levels. Results showed that the optimal wheat variety selection was significantly affected by changes in levels of risk aversion of decision makersDryland, Portfolio, risk, wheat Variety, Farm Management,