Comparative spending of medicaid dollars on child participants of Kentucky’s sobriety treatment and recovery teams program versus a matched comparison group.

Child protective services agencies have long observed the complicating role that parental substance use and addiction plays in cases of child maltreatment. Families who struggle with these problems present unique challenges for child welfare professionals. These families are typically more difficult to engage, more likely to have children removed from the home, and have poorer outcomes when compared to other families. These poorer outcomes often include health problems. Addiction has well-known effects on health, and the specific manifestations of these problems for parents have been documented for years in child protection casework. However, what has been less investigated are the ways that these issues correspond to the health of the children involved in these cases. In many instances, children in these homes are severely injured and require acute medical care. These harms commonly result in significant increases in public spending; especially for state Medicaid programs. In Kentucky, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services created special child welfare units called Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START) to serve families where children have been harmed as a result of their parent’s substance use. Previous research efforts suggest that families who participate in START have more favorable outcomes than comparable families who received standard services. These past efforts have even documented cost savings attributable to the work of START in the form of fewer days spent in out of home care for children. This study aimed to expand on that past research by investigating whether similar costs savings are also being generated in the form of reduced Medicaid spending on the children whose parents received START services

Spatial Variation in Fine Sediment and Microbial Transport along Stream Cross Sections: Implications to Modeling and Monitoring

Spatial variations in suspended concentrations of fine sediment and indicator bacteria in streams is noted as a source of uncertainty in various applications of water quality datasets. Without proper analysis of the persistence and reasoning for this variance in natural systems, a finer resolution of model calibration is necessary to account for spatial variation in stream cross sections. This level of calibration has become of utmost importance due to technological advancements presenting the ability for water quality modeling frameworks to generate a much finer resolution of outputs. While the importance of model calibration has been noted for remediating levels of uncertainty in output datasets, single point sampling along a stream cross section is still predominately utilized for input data acquisition within the field. In order to test the level of variation which might be accounted for by implementing higher resolution sampling strategies, five evenly distributed positions were sampled simultaneously along stream cross sections. Along with lateral variation, vertical variation was addressed by sampling at 20% and 80% of the respective stage. These sample sets were analyzed for: 1) spatial variation in suspended sediment concentrations, 2) spatial variation in microbial concentrations, and 3) association between the variations of these constituents. Results showed spatial and temporal variations clearly existed within both datasets. Due to the sporadic nature of these variations both within and between events on any given site, it is recommended spatial variation be accounted for by higher resolution input calibration steps rather than purely empirical framework improvements. Spearman correlations showed little evidence of particulate to microbial associations within this study, but it is recommended particle size distributions be evaluated in consideration to attempting correlations between total suspended solids and fecal indicator bacteria in future studies

Look at Where You Listen: A Study of Commercial Music and Mediation

A joint senior project submitted to the divisions of arts and social studies. This project aims to reconsider the \u27album\u27 as a format of music distribution that has effects on the consumption-of and relationship-with music as commodity. This project consists of writing and recorded-music-making. Please email tom (at) dpimusic (dot) com for a link

Managing Stress Tolerance on Warm-Season Putting Greens in the Transition Zone

The use of warm-season putting greens in the transition zone has increased in recent years. Ultradwarf bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers x C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy) is the most prevalent warm-season putting green selection in the transition zone, however, newly developed greens-type zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) cultivars represent another potential selection for golf courses. The two major limitations of warm-season grasses in the transition zone are a general lack of cold- and shade-tolerance. Protective covers are essential to protect ultradwarf bermudagrass putting greens in the winter months. Unfortunately, golf courses can still experience winterkill underneath protective covers. Two field trials were conducted with a goal of improving upon management strategies to improve the performance and survival of golf course putting greens under stress. Both trials were conducted on sand-based rootzones and were managed with cultural practices consistent with golf course putting greens found in the region. The first trial was conducted during the winters of 2019-20 and 2020-21 on a putting green consisting of four replicated whole plots of the three most prevalent ultradwarf bermudagrass cultivars. The goal of the trial was to improve upon cover strategies by supplementing protective covers with three air gap materials to provide additional insulation. Although materials such as straw and batting fabric provided moderate soil temperature gains compared to the cover alone, protective covers alone provided sufficient protection from winterkill during adverse weather conditions. Because of the high purchasing cost and labor requirement associated, wall to wall coverage of air gaps is not likely feasible. Where air gaps could be valuable is spot coverage of portions of putting greens that are especially vulnerable to winterkill (shade, north slopes, high traffic) and historically receive winterkill. The second trial was conducted during the growing seasons (June to October) of 2020 and 2021 on a putting green consisting of three replicated whole plots of ‘Lazer’ zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella (L.) Merrill x Z. minima (Colenso) Zotov). Shade is a significant problem for golf course putting greens, so it is important to identify the precise amount of light is needed to maintain an acceptable putting green. Zoysiagrass is generally more shade tolerant than bermudagrass, however, ‘Lazer’ zoysiagrass has not been studied. The goal of this trial was to compare ‘Lazer’ zoysiagrass to an industry-standard putting green selection, ‘TifEagle’ bermudagrass, under varying levels of shade and management practices. Management practices included two mowing heights (2.5- and 3.2-mm) and with or without the treatment of the plant growth regulator, trinexapac-ethyl. The minimum daily light integral (DLI) was determined for both species and surface characteristics, including ball roll distance and surface firmness, were monitored. ‘Lazer’ zoysiagrass demonstrated superior shade-tolerance and had a minimum DLI requirement about 10 mol m-2 d-1 less than ‘TifEagle’. Surface firmness was greater for ‘Lazer’, while ‘TifEagle’ produced greater ball roll distance for most rating dates. However, both species consistently produced industry-standard ball roll distance. Results from this trial suggest that ‘Lazer’ zoysia can produce acceptable putting green conditions and is better adapted than ‘TifEagle’ to moderate shade conditions

A follow-up study of 100 reading disability cases, now adults, who were associated with the Boston University Education Clinic between 1936-1948

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

A Carneades reconstruction of Popov v Hayashi

Carneades is an open source argument mapping application and a programming library for building argumentation support tools. In this paper, Carneades’ support for argument reconstruction, evaluation and visualization is illustrated by modeling most of the factual and legal arguments in Popov v Hayashi

Formalizing Informal Logic

In this paper we investigate the extent to which formal argumentation models can handle ten basic characteristics of informal logic identified in the informal logic literature. By showing how almost all of these characteristics can be successfully modelled formally, we claim that good progress can be made toward the project of formalizing informal logic. Of the formal argumentation models available, we chose the Carneades Argumentation System (CAS), a formal, computational model of argument that uses argument graphs as its basis, structures of a kind very familiar to practitioners of informal logic through their use of argument diagrams

How to formalize informal logic

This paper presents a formalization of informal logic using the Carneades Argumentation System, a formal, computational model of argument that consists of a formal model of argument graphs and audiences. Conflicts between pro and con arguments are resolved using proof standards, such as preponderance of the evidence. Carneades also formalizes argumentation schemes. Schemes can be used to check whether a given argument instantiates the types of argument deemed normatively appropriate for the type of dialogue

Critical questions in computational models of legal argument

Two recent computational models of legal argumentation, by Verheij and Gordon respectively, have interpreted critical questions as premises of arguments that can be defeated using Pollock’s concepts of undercutters and rebuttals. Using the scheme for arguments from expert opinion as an example, this paper evaluates and compares these two models of critical questions from the perspective of argumentation theory and competing legal theories about proof standardsfor defeating presumptions. The applicable proof standard is found to be a legal issue subject to argument. Verheij’smodel is shown to have problems because the proof stan-dards it applies to different kinds of premises are “hard-wired” into the system. Gordon’s model overcomes these problems by allowing different proof standards to be assigned to each issue and by supporting arguments about proof standards within the same framework. These differences are minor however compared to the insight gained from these models jointly about the theory of argument schemes and critical questions. They show how schemes can be used to implement tools for constructing arguments, and not just for classifying arguments ex post facto, and help clarify how critical questions confound declarative knowledge about conditions for using argument schemes with procedural knowledge about how to evaluate and criticize arguments made using these schemes

The CCD and readout electronics for the OMC instrument on Integral

The Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) on ESA's Integral gamma-ray astronomy satellite is devoted to optical wavelength observations simultaneously covering the same field-of-view as the gamma-ray and X-ray instruments. The OMC consists of a refracting telescope with a CCD as the imaging device in the focal plane. Here we describe the CCD and its associated readout electronics, in particular pointing out features of interest to users of the OMC instrument and its data