A Method for siting and prioritizing the removal of derelict vessels in Florida Coastal Waters: test applications in the Florida Keys

Increased boating activities and new waterfront developments have contributed an estimated 3,000 dismantled, abandoned, junked, wrecked, derelict vessels to Florida coastal waters. This report outlines a method of siting and prioritizing derelict vessel removal using the Florida Keys as a test area. The data base was information on 240 vessels, obtained from Florida Marine Patrol files. Vessel location was plotted on 1:250,000 regional and 1:5,000 and 1:12,000 site maps. Type of vessel, length, hull material, engine, fuel tanks, overall condition, afloat and submerged characteristics, and accessibility, were used to derive parametric site indices of removal priority and removal difficulty. Results indicate 59 top priority cases which should be the focus of immediate clean up efforts in the Florida Keys. Half of these cases are rated low to moderate in removal difficulty; the remainder are difficult to remove. Removal difficulty is a surrogate for removal cost: low difficulty -low cost, high difficulty - high cost. The rating scheme offers coastal planners options of focusing removal operations either on (1) specific areas with clusters of high priority derelict vessels or on (2) selected targeted derelicts at various, specific locations. (PDF has 59 pages.

Measurement of retinal vessel widths from fundus images based on 2-D modeling

Changes in retinal vessel diameter are an important sign of diseases such as hypertension, arteriosclerosis and diabetes mellitus. Obtaining precise measurements of vascular widths is a critical and demanding process in automated retinal image analysis as the typical vessel is only a few pixels wide. This paper presents an algorithm to measure the vessel diameter to subpixel accuracy. The diameter measurement is based on a two-dimensional difference of Gaussian model, which is optimized to fit a two-dimensional intensity vessel segment. The performance of the method is evaluated against Brinchmann-Hansen's half height, Gregson's rectangular profile and Zhou's Gaussian model. Results from 100 sample profiles show that the presented algorithm is over 30% more precise than the compared techniques and is accurate to a third of a pixel

Salinity and hydrology of the Wamballup Swamp catchment

The Mills Lake Catchment is located north of the Ongerup-Jerramungup Road, 35 km west of Jerramungup and 10 km north-east of Ongerup. It covers about 23,800 ha of agricultural land that is more than 90% cleared and predominantly cropped. The average annual rainfall of the catchment is about 370 mm. Many low-lying parts of the study area have become salt-affected during recent years. The extent of soil salinity is growing rapidly and it is feared that, without any treatment, more land will become salt-affected

The salinity and hydrology of Cranbrook

The study area covers the Cranbrook townsite and two catchments that affect it. The Cranbrook Town is located 85 km north-north-west of Albany and it has a population of 320 people (1190 in the Shire; ABS Census 1991). Cranbrook is experiencing salinity problems. Saline groundwater levels are close to the soil surface and cause deterioration of buildings, roads, infrastructure, death of trees and scalding of land including the sporting ground

The salinity and hydrology of the Tambellup townsite and Jam Creek Catchment

The study area covers the Tambellup Town and the Jam Creek Catchment (top photograph on cover). The Tambellup Town is located 115 km north of Albany. The town has a population of 360 people (800 in the whole Shire). Tambellup is experiencing increasing salinity problems. Saline groundwater levels are close to the soil surface and cause deterioration of buildings, roads, infrastructure, death of trees and scalding of land including the sporting grounds. Many hectares of land in the Jam Creek Catchment has become salt-affected and salinity is on increase. The objective of this study was to define the present salinity status of the Tambellup Town and develop management strategies to overcome or reduce the severity of salinity. The Catchment Hydrology Group has been asked to study the salinity status of the Tambellup townsite and suggest management options which reverse the increasing salinity trend

Salinity and hydrology of the Mills Lake Catchment

The Mills Lake Catchment is located north of the Ongerup-Jerramungup Road, 35 km west of Jerramungup and 10 km north-east of Ongerup. It covers about 23,800 ha of agricultural land that is more than 90% cleared and predominantly cropped. The average annual rainfall of the catchment is about 370 mm. Many low-lying parts of the study area have become salt-affected during recent years. The extent of soil salinity is growing rapidly and it is feared that, without any treatment, more land will become salt-affected

Optic nerve head segmentation

Reliable and efficient optic disk localization and segmentation are important tasks in automated retinal screening. General-purpose edge detection algorithms often fail to segment the optic disk due to fuzzy boundaries, inconsistent image contrast or missing edge features. This paper presents an algorithm for the localization and segmentation of the optic nerve head boundary in low-resolution images (about 20 /spl mu//pixel). Optic disk localization is achieved using specialized template matching, and segmentation by a deformable contour model. The latter uses a global elliptical model and a local deformable model with variable edge-strength dependent stiffness. The algorithm is evaluated against a randomly selected database of 100 images from a diabetic screening programme. Ten images were classified as unusable; the others were of variable quality. The localization algorithm succeeded on all bar one usable image; the contour estimation algorithm was qualitatively assessed by an ophthalmologist as having Excellent-Fair performance in 83% of cases, and performs well even on blurred image

Topologically Massive Gauge Theory: A Lorentzian Solution

We obtain a lorentzian solution for the topologically massive non-abelian gauge theory on AdS space by means of a SU(1, 1) gauge transformation of the previously found abelian solution. There exists a natural scale of length which is determined by the inverse topological mass. The topological mass is proportional to the square of the gauge coupling constant. In the topologically massive electrodynamics the field strength locally determines the gauge potential up to a closed 1-form via the (anti-)self-duality equation. We introduce a transformation of the gauge potential using the dual field strength which can be identified with an abelian gauge transformation. Then we present the map from the AdS space to the pseudo-sphere including the topological mass. This is the lorentzian analog of the Hopf map. This map yields a global decomposition of the AdS space as a trivial circle bundle over the upper portion of the pseudo-sphere which is the Hyperboloid model for the Lobachevski geometry. This leads to a reduction of the abelian field equation onto the pseudo-sphere using a global section of the solution on the AdS space. Then we discuss the integration of the field equation using the Archimedes map from the pseudo-sphere to the cylinder over the ideal Poincare circle. We also present a brief discussion of the holonomy of the gauge potential and the dual-field strength on the upper portion of the pseudo-sphere.Comment: 23 pages, 1 postscript figur

Predicting pharmacy naloxone stocking and dispensing following a statewide standing order, Indiana 2016

BACKGROUND: While naloxone, the overdose reversal medication, has been available for decades, factors associated with its availability through pharmacies remain unclear. Studies suggest that policy and pharmacist beliefs may impact availability. Indiana passed a standing order law for naloxone in 2015 to increase access to naloxone. OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with community pharmacy naloxone stocking and dispensing following the enactment of a statewide naloxone standing order. METHODS: A 2016 cross-sectional census of Indiana community pharmacists was conducted following a naloxone standing order. Community, pharmacy, and pharmacist characteristics, and pharmacist attitudes about naloxone dispensing, access, and perceptions of the standing order were measured. Modified Poisson and binary logistic regression models attempted to predict naloxone stocking and dispensing, respectively. RESULTS: Over half (58.1%) of pharmacies stocked naloxone, yet 23.6% of pharmacists dispensed it. Most (72.5%) pharmacists believed the standing order would increase naloxone stocking, and 66.5% believed it would increase dispensing. Chain pharmacies were 3.2 times as likely to stock naloxone. Naloxone stocking was 1.6 times as likely in pharmacies with more than one full-time pharmacist. Pharmacies where pharmacists received naloxone continuing education in the past two years were 1.3 times as likely to stock naloxone. The attempted dispensing model yielded no improvement over the constant-only model. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacies with larger capacity took advantage of the naloxone standing order. Predictors of pharmacist naloxone dispensing should continue to be explored to maximize naloxone access