An assessment of the fiscal impact of the Clarendon Farms and McLeod Farm Developments on Beaufort County, South Carolina : a report to the County Council of Beaufort County

The City of Beaufort has announced plans to annex two properties comprising over 5,000 acres. At the request of Beaufort County, the Strom Thurmond Institute analyzed the impact of this proposed development on the finances of Beaufort County government, the Beaufort County School District, and the Burton Fire District over a twenty five-year period. It analyzed two development scenarios: one with relatively large households consisting primarily of families with students and one with relatively small households consisting primarily of childless retirees. The results of our analysis are summarized in this paper

Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD): study design and methods

Background: As an important indicator of mobility, driving confers a host of social and health benefits to older adults. Despite the importance of safe mobility as the population ages, longitudinal data are lacking about the natural history and determinants of driving safety in older adults. Methods: The Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) project is a multisite prospective cohort study designed to generate empirical data for understanding the role of medical, behavioral, environmental and technological factors in driving safety during the process of aging. Results: A total of 2990 active drivers aged 65–79 years at baseline have been recruited through primary care clinics or health care systems in five study sites located in California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, and New York. Consented participants were assessed at baseline with standardized research protocols and instruments, including vehicle inspection, functional performance tests, and “brown-bag review” of medications. The primary vehicle of each participant was instrumented with a small data collection device that records detailed driving data whenever the vehicle is operating and detects when a participant is driving. Annual follow-up is being conducted for up to three years with a telephone questionnaire at 12 and 36 months and in-person assessment at 24 months. Medical records are reviewed annually to collect information on clinical diagnoses and healthcare utilization. Driving records, including crashes and violations, are collected annually from state motor vehicle departments. Pilot testing was conducted on 56 volunteers during March–May 2015. Recruitment and enrollment were completed between July 2015 and March 2017. Conclusions: Results of the LongROAD project will generate much-needed evidence for formulating public policy and developing intervention programs to maintain safe mobility while ensuring well-being for older adults

Detection of superhumps in XTE J1118+480 approaching quiescence

We present the results of our monitoring of the halo black-hole soft X-ray transient (SXT) XTE J1118+480 during its decline to quiescence. The system has decayed 0.5 mags from December 2000 to its present near quiescent level at R=18.65 (June 2001). The ellipsoidal lightcurve is distorted by an additional modulation that we interpret as a superhump of P_sh=0.17049(1) d i.e. 0.3% longer than the orbital period. This implies a disc precession period P_prec= 52 d. After correcting the average phase-folded light curve for veiling, the amplitude difference between the minima suggests that the binary inclination angle lies in the range i=71-82 deg. However, we urge caution in the interpretation of these values because of residual systematic contamination of the ellipsoidal lightcurve by the complex form of the superhump modulation. The orbital--mean H-alpha profiles exhibit clear velocity variations with ~500 km/s amplitude. We interpret this as the first spectroscopic evidence of an eccentric precessing disc.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA