Animal Damage Control in Eastern United States

This report is an overview of ongoing animal damage control programs in the 31 Eastern States, made possible by scores of individuals and the organizations they represent. The response to requests for data was excellent. For example, all 31 State Wildlife Agencies contributed information on their programs. As was to be expected, the organizations contacted do not use the same format in discharging their responsibilities nor in the records they keep. Thus precisely recorded figures have to march side by side with educated estimates , but at least the estimates were made by personnel intimately acquainted with a particular project. As this survey progressed, its base broadened to include several thousand organizational contacts that should have been made, a task beyond the limitations of this first endeavor. Thus isolated examples will often have to serve in place of a comprehensive assessment of animal damage control programs in the Eastern States

The Monroe County Intermediate School District: A case study

Background: Throughout the history of public education in Michigan, there has been an intermediate unit of educational government. This unit of educational government exists between the State Department of Education and the local school districts. Currently, there are fifty-seven intermediate school districts in Michigan providing educational services and governance functions.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the Monroe County Intermediate School District in order to inform educational leadership. Research Design: This study was an interpretive, historical case study. The study explored the manner in which culture was perpetuated via the system of education in Monroe, Michigan, throughout history. Conclusions: • The nature of educational governance is found in the myths and belief systems of the people and the ideological techniques used to control the educational environment. The nature of educational governance is to perpetuate culture. The question at issue is whose culture? • The ideological foundations of Michigan’s Public Education System are: *Protestant-republican reform ideology *business-scientific ideology *municipal reform ideology • The origin of the Monroe County Intermediate School District can be traced to 1867. The drift of educational governance has been away from local control. As the state has assumed more control of educational governance, the Intermediate School District, put into place as a source of state control, has evolved into a local and state public policy entrepreneur. • The dominant conflict this researcher found is that which exists between centralized versus local control. The question of who decides about educational matters has been the primary source of educational conflict. • The educational governance role of the Monroe County Intermediate School District is to provide resources, govern the delivery of special education services, serve as a policy entrepreneur, and manage political conflict. • The educational services role of the Monroe County Intermediate School District continues to evolve within the negotiated local educational arena and includes: *special education services *professional development services *Data processing services *Instructional technology services *Student enrichment service

Prioritizing Control of Lesser Celandine (Ficaria Verna) in Deciduous Forests in Indianapolis, IN

Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) is an aggressive ephemeral perennial native to Europe and western Asia that invades floodplains and mesic forests. It has been recorded to escape from cultivation throughout the eastern deciduous forest and has become abundant in many riparian areas in the Mid Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley. It emerges earlier than most native vernal flora and forms a dense mat that replaces the less aggressive native spring ephemeral community. Control efforts on floodplains are often unsuccessful due to floodwater transport of upstream propagules. Eco Logic LLC, a local ecological restoration firm, worked with Indy Land Stewardship to set up a treatment and monitoring program to develop an effective strategy for confining the lesser celandine to the low floodplain terraces to prevent it from invading the adjacent uplands

Stability and Reversibility of Lithium Borohydrides Doped by Metal Halides and Hydrides

In an effort to develop reversible metal borohydrides with high hydrogen storage capacities and low dehydriding temperature, doping LiBH4 with various metal halides and hydrides has been conducted. Several metal halides such as TiCl3, TiF3, and ZnF2 effectively reduced the dehydriding temperature through a cation exchange interaction. Some of the halide doped LiBH4 are partially reversible. The LiBH4 + 0.1TiF3 desorbed 3.5 wt % and 8.5 wt % hydrogen at 150 and 450 °C, respectively, with subsequent reabsorption of 6 wt % hydrogen at 500 °C and 70 bar observed. XRD and NMR analysis of the rehydrided samples confirmed the reformation of LiBH4. The existence of the (B12H12)−2 species in dehydrided and rehydrided samples gives insight into the resultant partial reversibility. A number of other halides, MgF2, MgCl2, CaCl2, SrCl2, and FeCl3, did not reduce the dehydriding temperature of LiBH4 significantly. XRD and TGA-RGA analyses indicated that an increasing proportion of halides such as TiCl3, TiF3, and ZnCl2 from 0.1 to 0.5 mol makes lithium borohydrides less stable and volatile. Although the less stable borohydrides such as LiBH4 + 0.5TiCl3, LiBH4 + 0.5TiF3, and LiBH4 + 0.5ZnCl2 release hydrogen at room temperature, they are not reversible due to unrecoverable boron loss caused by diborane emission. In most cases, doping that produced less stable borohydrides also reduced the reversible hydrogen uptake. It was also observed that halide doping changed the melting points and reduced air sensitivity of lithium borohydrides

Use of Vegetation Monitoring and Professional Sharpshooting in White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Management at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis

High white-tailed deer abundance at Eagle Creek Park (ECP) in Indianapolis necessitated active management to improve park habitat conditions. Significant deer impacts on local natural areas were first noted in the late 1990’s. Multiple years of deer browse monitoring, beginning in 2003, documented greatly impacted vegetation with heavy to severe browse damage in the park. After an initial managed hunt in 2014, population reductions have been accomplished exclusively at night by professional sharpshooters. Positive results are being evidenced through increasing pounds of venison per deer harvested and significant recovery of impacted vegetation communities

Utilization Patterns of IV Iron and Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents in Anemic Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: A Multihospital Study

Intravenous (IV) iron and Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents (ESAs) are recommended for anemia management in chronic kidney disease (CKD). This retrospective cohort study analyzed utilization patterns of IV iron and ESA in patients over 18 years of age admitted to University Health System Hospitals with a primary or secondary diagnosis of CKD between January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008. A clustered binomial logistic regression using the GEE methodology was used to identify predictors of IV iron utilization. Only 8% (n = 6678) of CKD patients on ESA therapy received IV iron supplementation in university hospitals. Those receiving iron used significantly less amounts of ESAs. Patient demographics (age, race, primary payer), patient clinical conditions (admission status, severity of illness, dialysis status), and physician specialty were identified as predictors of IV iron use in CKD patients. Use of IV iron with ESAs was low despite recommendations from consensus guidelines. The low treatment rate of IV iron represents a gap in treatment practices and signals an opportunity for healthcare improvement in CKD anemic patients

Optimizing Perioperative Decision Making: Improved Information for Clinical Workflow Planning

Perioperative care is complex and involves multiple interconnected subsystems. Delayed starts, prolonged cases and overtime are common. Surgical procedures account for 40–70% of hospital revenues and 30–40% of total costs. Most planning and scheduling in healthcare is done without modern planning tools, which have potential for improving access by assisting in operations planning support. We identified key planning scenarios of interest to perioperative leaders, in order to examine the feasibility of applying combinatorial optimization software solving some of those planning issues in the operative setting. Perioperative leaders desire a broad range of tools for planning and assessing alternate solutions. Our modeled solutions generated feasible solutions that varied as expected, based on resource and policy assumptions and found better utilization of scarce resources. Combinatorial optimization modeling can effectively evaluate alternatives to support key decisions for planning clinical workflow and improving care efficiency and satisfaction