Resolving Range Conflict in Nevada? The Potential for Compensation via Monetary Payouts and Grazing Alternatives

In response to environmental pressure, public land agencies in Nevada have reduced animal unit months (AUMs) of grazing on public lands. This has resulted in economic losses to ranchers, increased conflict between ranchers and the public land agencies, and general unrest in the ranch community. One approach to resolving the problems might be to compensate ranchers for lost grazing privileges. In this study, we employ the results of the Nevada Ranch Survey to examine ranchers’ willingness to accept a one-time payment to retire grazing rights, as well as three other means of “compensating” ranchers that enable them to earn a living from the public lands despite reduced access to public forage. The results suggest that ranchers are not keen on being compensated in any form, expressing a desire to continue ranching. However, those most amenable to compensation and a reworking of the social contract are those who have the best relationship with the public land manager and view the public agencies in a positive light.range economics, environmental services from public land, compensation for grazing rights, social capital and trust

Social Dilemmas and Public Range Management: Results from the Nevada Ranch Survey

Since the late 1960s, the Nevada ranch community has come under increasing pressure from environmental groups regarding their use of public lands for livestock grazing, thus increasing tension between ranchers and public land managers and potentially reducing the social capital that facilitates action and cooperation in range management. In this paper, we use responses to a survey of all public grazing permit holders in Nevada to investigate the changing relationships between ranchers and the public land agencies, and its potential implications. In particular, we investigate factors that affect ranchers’ trust in the public land agencies, and then factors that influence the nature of the relationship between ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Low levels of trust between ranchers and public managers were most significantly related to previous disagreements and the belief in a poor future for ranching. The occurrence of wildfire on grazing land contributed most signifcantly to increased disagreement between ranchers and public agencies. Finally, as a response to conflict in the ranch community, community based initiatives, such as grass banking, are examined for their potential to bring stakeholders together to realize and address common goals. Community involvement in decision making may increase levels of social capital, reduce transaction costs, and thus allow for more effective and efficient use of the range resources.Institutions and social capital, effectiveness of range management policies

Discerning Tumor Status from Unstructured MRI Reports—Completeness of Information in Existing Reports and Utility of Automated Natural Language Processing

Information in electronic medical records is often in an unstructured free-text format. This format presents challenges for expedient data retrieval and may fail to convey important findings. Natural language processing (NLP) is an emerging technique for rapid and efficient clinical data retrieval. While proven in disease detection, the utility of NLP in discerning disease progression from free-text reports is untested. We aimed to (1) assess whether unstructured radiology reports contained sufficient information for tumor status classification; (2) develop an NLP-based data extraction tool to determine tumor status from unstructured reports; and (3) compare NLP and human tumor status classification outcomes. Consecutive follow-up brain tumor magnetic resonance imaging reports (2000–­2007) from a tertiary center were manually annotated using consensus guidelines on tumor status. Reports were randomized to NLP training (70%) or testing (30%) groups. The NLP tool utilized a support vector machines model with statistical and rule-based outcomes. Most reports had sufficient information for tumor status classification, although 0.8% did not describe status despite reference to prior examinations. Tumor size was unreported in 68.7% of documents, while 50.3% lacked data on change magnitude when there was detectable progression or regression. Using retrospective human classification as the gold standard, NLP achieved 80.6% sensitivity and 91.6% specificity for tumor status determination (mean positive predictive value, 82.4%; negative predictive value, 92.0%). In conclusion, most reports contained sufficient information for tumor status determination, though variable features were used to describe status. NLP demonstrated good accuracy for tumor status classification and may have novel application for automated disease status classification from electronic databases

Ellagic Acid Derivatives from Rubus ulmifolius Inhibit Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Formation and Improve Response to Antibiotics

Biofilms contribute to the pathogenesis of many forms of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Treatment of these infections is complicated by intrinsic resistance to conventional antibiotics, thus creating an urgent need for strategies that can be used for the prevention and treatment of biofilm-associated infections.This study demonstrates that a botanical natural product composition (220D-F2) rich in ellagic acid and its derivatives can limit S. aureus biofilm formation to a degree that can be correlated with increased antibiotic susceptibility. The source of this composition is Rubus ulmifolius Schott. (Rosaceae), a plant used in complementary and alternative medicine in southern Italy for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections. All S. aureus clonal lineages tested exhibited a reduced capacity to form a biofilm at 220D-F2 concentrations ranging from 50-200 µg/mL, which were well below the concentrations required to limit bacterial growth (530-1040 µg/mL). This limitation was therapeutically relevant in that inclusion of 220D-F2 resulted in enhanced susceptibility to the functionally-distinct antibiotics daptomycin, clindamycin and oxacillin. Testing with kidney and liver cell lines also demonstrated a lack of host cell cytotoxicity at concentrations of 220D-F2 required to achieve these effects.These results demonstrate that extract 220D-F2 from the root of Rubus ulmifolius can be used to inhibit S. aureus biofilm formation to a degree that can be correlated with increased antibiotic susceptibility without toxic effects on normal mammalian cells. Hence, 220D-F2 is a strong candidate for development as a botanical drug for use in the prevention and treatment of S. aureus biofilm-associated infections

MEMS-integrated load cell for measuring pressure, erosion, and deposition in dynamic environmental flows

A microelectromechanical system-based load cell is integrated with signal conditioning circuitry, temperature, and tilt sensors for measurement of sediment-fluid interaction and flow under turbulent conditions. Such an instrument has potential value for quantifying geophysical flows and sediment dynamics within a range of environments. Sensor sensitivity is tested to a mass of 0.5 g but can be shown theoretically to extend to 50 mg. The sensor is found to have no attenuation of frequencies up to 2.5 Hz and would therefore be suitable for monitoring turbulent flow. Laboratory flume experiments, simulating a dam burst, demonstrate the applicability of the sensor for measuring highly dynamic and transient flow phenomena in unprecedented detail

RESOLVING RANGE CONFLICT IN NEVADA? THE POTENTIAL FOR COMPENSATION VIA MONETARY PAYOUTS AND GRAZING ALTERNATIVES

In response to environmental pressure, public land agencies in Nevada have reduced animal unit months (AUMs) of grazing on public lands. This has resulted in economic losses to ranchers, increased conflict between ranchers and the public land agencies, and general unrest in the ranch community. One approach to resolving the problems might be to compensate ranchers for lost grazing privileges. In this study, we employ the results of the Nevada Ranch Survey to examine ranchers' willingness to accept a one-time payment to retire grazing rights, as well as three other means of "compensating" ranchers that enable them to earn a living from the public lands despite reduced access to public forage. The results suggest that ranchers are not keen on being compensated in any form, expressing a desire to continue ranching. However, those most amenable to compensation and a reworking of the social contract are those who have the best relationship with the public land manager and view the public agencies in a positive ligh

The Texas Budget: Facing Changes in State-Federal Relations, PRP 118

This report on the Texas state budget and the Texas Budget Simulator on the World Wide Web are the final products of a policy research project conducted in 1995-96 under a grant from the Legislative Budget Board. The product is twofold: a report analyzing key issues and trends that influence the development of the state budget and the Texas Budget Simulator, which attempts to demonstrate the impact of choices budget writers must make. The Texas Budget Simulator is intended to be an educational device that illustrates the restraints and problems facing legislators who must produce the biennial budget. The report and the simulator were prepared by students and have not been endorsed or approved by Legislative Budget Board staff. Neither are the policy options recommended by students necessarily endorsed by the board as the best course to follow. They are intended to illustrate possible choices.Public Affair

Resolving Range Conflict in Nevada? Buyouts and Other Compensation Alternatives

To mitigate adverse effects on ranchers from reduced access to public forage, financial or other forms of ‘compensation’ may be required. In this paper, we use results from a survey of Nevada ranchers to examine ranchers’ willingness to sell grazing permits and participate in other schemes that enable them to continue ranching in spite of declining access to public forage. On average ranchers demand $255 per AUM to sell grazing permits, while support for other programs, some of which are performance based, depends on whether respondents trust public agencies and intend to pass their ranch on to an heir

SOCIAL DILEMMAS AND PUBLIC RANGE MANAGEMENT: RESULTS FROM THE NEVADA RANCH SURVEY

Since the late 1960s, the Nevada ranch community has come under increasing pressure from environmental groups regarding their use of public lands for livestock grazing, thus increasing tension between ranchers and public land managers and potentially reducing the social capital that facilitates action and cooperation in range management. In this paper, we use responses to a survey of all public grazing permit holders in Nevada to investigate the changing relationships between ranchers and the public land agencies, and its potential implications. In particular, we investigate factors that affect ranchers' trust in the public land agencies, and then factors that influence the nature of the relationship between ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Low levels of trust between ranchers and public managers were most significantly related to previous disagreements and the belief in a poor future for ranching. The occurrence of wildfire on grazing land contributed most significantly to increased disagreement between ranchers and public agencies. Finally, as a response to conflict in the ranch community, community based initiatives, such as grass banking, are examined for their potential to bring stakeholders together to realize and address common goals. Community involvement in decision making may increase levels of social capital, reduce transaction costs, and thus allow for more effective and efficient use of the range resource