Advocating for the Adoption of West Virginia’s Substantial Burden Standard Across the Mining States

Horizontal severance deeds separate property above and below the surface of land. In such deeds, typically the property rights below belong to mineral owners while property rights above belong to farmers. In most states, common law trespass utilizes what is generally known as the reasonable necessity doctrine to account for the rights that each owner has to enjoy in connection with his respective property. This doctrine has evolved over time and establishes the degree of surface damage that mineral owners can cause in accessing minerals below without becoming liable to the surface owner for damages. Recently, West Virginia made its standard more rigorous by prohibiting mineral owners from substantially burdening the surface estate. If other mining states like Texas and Pennsylvania were to incorporate West Virginia’s heightened standard into their respective doctrines, then the farming industry may receive greater national protection. And, since farming is currently thriving, heightened protection may even lead to greater national economic growth

Substantial Burden and the Reasonable Necessity Doctrine in Severance Deed Ownership: \u3cem\u3eWhiteman v. Chesapeake Appalachia\u3c/em\u3e

Horizontal severance deeds separate property rights above and below the surface. Sub-surface rights have typically belonged to mineral estate owners, whereas surface rights above have typically belonged to farmers. In West Virginia, courts have traditionally applied a common law trespass doctrine known as reasonable necessity to account for times when these bifurcated rights clash. The reasonable necessity doctrine in West Virginia has evolved over time as state courts have made it more rigorous by requiring that, in exercising their rights, sub-surface mineral estate owners not substantially burden the surface. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Whiteman v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C. applies the current standard to resolve disputes between the rights of surface and mineral estate owners in horizontal severance deed disputes. This Comment argues that the Fourth Circuit properly applied the heightened reasonable necessity doctrine that has developed in West Virginia common law over the past thirty years, and that in so doing, the court properly balanced the values that both mining and farming bring to the national economy

Optimal color channel combination across skin tones for remote heart rate measurement in camera-based photoplethysmography

Objective: The heart rate is an essential vital sign that can be measured remotely with camera-based photoplethysmography (cbPPG). Systems for cbPPG typically use cameras that deliver red, green, and blue (RGB) channels. The combination of these channels has been proven to increase signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and heart rate measurement accuracy (ACC). However, many combinations remain untested, the comparison of proposed combinations on large datasets is insufficiently investigated, and the interplay with skin tone is rarely addressed. Methods: Eight regions of interest and eight color spaces with a total of 25 color channels were compared in terms of ACC and SNR based on the Binghamton-Pittsburgh-RPI Multimodal Spontaneous Emotion Database (BP4D+). Additionally, two systematic grid searches were performed to evaluate ACC in the space of linear combinations of the RGB channels. Results: Glabella and forehead regions of interest provided highest ACC (up to 74.1 %) and SNR (> -3 dB) with the hue channel H from HSV color space and the chrominance channel Q from NTSC color space. The grid searches revealed a global optimum of linear RGB combinations (ACC: 79.2 %). This optimum occurred for all skin tones, although ACC dropped for darker skin tones. Conclusion: Through systematic grid searches we were able to identify the skin tone independent optimal linear RGB color combination for measuring heart rate with cbPPG. Our results proved on a large dataset that the identified optimum outperformed conventionally used color channels. Significance: The presented findings provide useful evidence for future considerations of algorithmic approaches for cbPPG

Automatic Classification of Full- and Reduced-Lead Electrocardiograms Using Morphological Feature Extraction

Cardiovascular diseases are the global leading cause of death. Automated electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis can support clinicians to identify abnormal excitation of the heart and prevent premature cardiovascular death. An explainable classification is particularly important for support systems. Our contribution to the PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2021 (team name: ibmtPeakyFinders) therefore pursues an approach that is based on interpretable features to be as explainable as possible. To meet the challenge goal of developing an algorithm that works for both 12-lead and reduced lead ECGs, we processed each lead separately. We focused on signal processing techniques based on template delineation that yield the template's fiducial points to take the ECG waveform morphology into account. In addition to beat intervals and amplitudes obtained from the template, various heart rate variability and QT interval variability features were extracted and supplemented by signal quality indices. Our classification approach utilized a decision tree ensemble in a one-vs-rest approach. The model parameters were determined using an extensive grid search. Our approach achieved challenge scores of 0.47, 0.47, 0.34, 0.40, and 0.41 on hidden 12-, 6-, 4-, 3-, and 2-lead test sets, respectively, which corresponds to the ranks 12, 10, 23, 18, and 16 out of 39 teams

Topical negative pressure wound therapy enhances the local tissue perfusion – A pilot study

Background: Topical negative pressure wound therapy (TNPWT) is a regularly used method in modern wound treatment with a growing and diverse potential for clinical use. So far positive effects on microcirculation have been observed and examined, although precise statements on the underlying mechanism appear unsatisfying. Objective: The aim of our study was to extend the understanding of the effect of TNPWT on tissue perfusion and determine the time frame and the extent to which the tissue perfusion changes due to TNPWT. Material and methods: TNPWT was applied to the anterior thighs of 40 healthy individuals for 30 min, respectively. Before and up to 90 min after the application, measurements of the amount of regional haemoglobin (rHb), capillary venous oxygen saturation (sO2), blood flow (flow) and velocity were conducted with spectrophotometry (combining white light spectrometry and laser Doppler spectroscopy) within two different depths/skin layers. A superficial measuring probe for depths up to 3 mm and a deep measuring probe for up to 7 mm were used. Results: All parameters show significant changes after the intervention compared to baseline measurements. The greater effect was seen superficially. The superficially measured rHb, sO2 and flow showed a significant increase and stayed above the baseline at the end of the protocol. Whereas deeply measured, the rHb initially showed a decrease. The flow and sO2 showed a significant increase up to 60 min after the intervention. Conclusion: The application of TNPWT on healthy tissue shows an increase in capillary-venous oxygen saturation and haemoglobin concentration of at least 90 min after intervention. A possible use in clinical practice for preconditioning to enhance wound healing for high-risk patients to develop wound healing disorder, requires further studies to investigate the actual duration of the effect

Camera-based assessment of cutaneous perfusion strength in a clinical setting

Objective. After skin flap transplants, perfusion strength monitoring is essential for the early detection of tissue perfusion disorders and thus to ensure the survival of skin flaps. Camera-based photoplethysmography (cbPPG) is a non-contact measurement method, using video cameras and ambient light, which provides spatially resolved information about tissue perfusion. It has not been researched yet whether the measurement depth of cbPPG, which is limited by the penetration depth of ambient light, is sufficient to reach pulsatile vessels and thus to measure the perfusion strength in regions that are relevant for skin flap transplants. Approach. We applied constant negative pressure (compared to ambient pressure) to the anterior thighs of 40 healthy subjects. Seven measurements (two before and five up to 90 min after the intervention) were acquired using an RGB video camera and photospectrometry simultaneously. We investigated the performance of different algorithmic approaches for perfusion strength assessment, including the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), its logarithmic components logS and logN, amplitude maps, and the amplitude height of alternating and direct signal components. Main results. We found strong correlations of up to r = 0.694 (p < 0.001) between photospectrometric measurements and all cbPPG parameters except SNR when using the green color channel. The transfer of cbPPG signals to POS, CHROM, and O3C did not lead to systematic improvements. However, for direct signal components, the transformation to O3C led to correlations of up to r = 0.744 (p < 0.001) with photospectrometric measurements. Significance. Our results indicate that a camera-based perfusion strength assessment in tissue with deep-seated pulsatile vessels is possible

Three essays on the disposition of employer-sponsored retirement plan balances

This thesis investigates why, in spite of the high tax and opportunity costs, a substantial fraction of workers withdraw money from their employer-sponsored retirement accounts upon leaving a job. I employ three national surveys--the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)--to evaluate explanations for this behavior. Often attributed to poor decision-making, withdrawals from employer-sponsored plans may in fact serve as an important mechanism for liquidity-constrained workers to smooth consumption in response to income shocks. Results from the NLSY79 suggest that withdrawals do appear to be driven largely by need, as workers who faced jobless spells upon separation as well as those with low holdings of liquid assets, and poor access to consumer credit markets, were significantly more likely to take some money from their retirement plans when leaving an employer. Yet there was little evidence to support the hypothesis that workers who suffered an adverse job separation were more likely to withdraw money from their plans if they were also liquidity constrained. The second chapter estimates the tax sensitivity of withdrawal decisions using estimates of effective federal and state marginal tax rates generated with the NBER Taxsim program. Estimates reveal that, depending on the tax price measure used, a one percent increase in the marginal tax rate increased the probability that workers preserved the tax-deferred status of the money in their retirement plans between 10 and 30 percentage points. State-level penalties for early withdrawals were also found to be an effective policy instrument for deterring cash outs among workers under age 55. In the third chapter, I take advantage of measures of savings goals and habits, as well as more specific information on the use of cash settlements, found in the SCF to further investigate behavioral explanations for disposition of employer-sponsored plans. Workers who reported credit constraints, a short planning horizon, not saving primarily for retirement and a major future expense for which they had not yet begun saving were significantly more likely to take money from their plans

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In bound volumes: Copyright Deposits 1820-186