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A Comparison Of Different Methods For Predicting Cancer Mortality Counts At The State Level, Corinne Wilson

Virginia Journal of Science

Cancer is a major health issue in the United States. Reliable estimates of yearly cancer mortality counts are essential for resourcing and planning. The American Cancer Society has used several methods of forecasting to estimate the future cancer burden and researchers are continually working to develop new methods with improved performance. There have been studies comparing different models for predicting the US cancer mortality counts. This study explores and compares several different models for cancer mortality count predictions at the state level, principally for the state of Virginia. Results of the comparisons appear to show the final improved model to …

Isolated Right Temporal Lobe Stroke Patients Present With Geschwind Gastaut Syndrome, Frontal Network Syndrome And Delusional Misidentification Syndromes, Michael Hoffmann

Neurology Faculty Publications

Background: Right temporal lobe lesion syndrome elicitation presents a clinical challenge. Aside from occasional covert quadrantanopias, heralding elementary neurological deficits are absent.Aim: Isolated right and left temporal lobe stroke patients were analyzed for the panoply of known temporal and frontal cognitive and neuropsychiatric syndromes.Methods: Temporal lobe stroke patients were analyzed, derived from a dedicated cognitive stroke registry. Patients were screened by a validated bedside cognitive battery and a neuropsychological test battery, including the Bear Fedio Inventory for diagnosis of the Geschwind Gastaut (GG) syndrome, frontal network syndrome testing (FNS), emotional intelligence testing and delusional misidentification syndromes (DMIS). NIH …

No Contest? An Analysis Of The Legality Of Thoroughbred Handicapping Contests Under Conflicting State Law Regimes, Laura A. D'Angelo, Daniel I. Waxman

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

National Park Service Cd Workbook For Planning, And Specifications For Ecological Restoration, Wendell Hassell, Nancy Dunckle, David Steensen, Sarah Wynn

United States National Park Service: Publications

This is an introduction to a new restoration workbook. It is a guide for writing specifications for ecological restoration in the National Park Service (NPS).The NPS has unique policies, guidelines, and procedures that govern ecological restoration of parklands. The policy guidance in this restoration workbook is taken from those management documents. Standards and specifications must be modified frequently.

The purpose of this workbook is to assist NPS staff in planning, designing, writing scopes of services and construction specifications for ecological restoration. It is based on engineering standards and specifications, and past experiences from actual park projects.

Many NPS restoration projects …

Global Climate Change: Leadership In The Pacific West Region, Jonathan B. Jarvis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Twenty years ago, I became the first chief of resource management at North Cascades National Park Complex. One of the first things I did was to bring in a team of scientists who sat around with me and my staff and we talked about the future of the park. I asked each one to suggest what we should do to better understand the challenges before us. Jim Agee, then with the Cooperative Park Study Unit at the University of Washington, suggested that we deploy remote weather stations every one thousand feet from the lowest to the highest range in the …

Restoring Burned Area Fire Regimes At Zion National Park, Kelly Fuhrmann

United States National Park Service: Publications

The Kolob Fire is the largest wildfire in Zion National Park’s recorded history (10,516 acres in Zion and 17,632 acres total; Figure 1). In June 2006, this human-caused fire altered the landscape in Zion on a scale that was unprecedented (Figure 2). A major concern of the fire’s impact was the loss of native vegetation and its replacement by non-native invasive species. After the burned area emergency rehabilitation (BAER) assessment was completed, a focused effort by park staff was initiated to implement recommended BAER actions. In late October and early November 2006, an aerial herbicide and seed treatment using PLATEAU …

Managing To Give Nature A Chance, Jerry M. Mitchell

United States National Park Service: Publications

My task is to speak to managing to give nature a chance. The debate: to manage resources, or to leave nature alone. Philosophical debate? Maybe. For my agency (the National Park Service) this debate may strike at our deepest beliefs, our corporate creed, our organizational religion, per se.

If you see Jerry Frielich’s position as saying, “Don’t mess with Mother Nature,” or, as a puritan cleric might say, “Thou shalt not sin,” then I will take the posture of the fire-andbrimstone preacher. “But you have sinned. The earth is a mess, humans, and you are responsible. Look at all that …

Cost-Effective Mapping Of Invasive Plants Using Systematic Reconnaissance Flights (Srfs), Tony Pernas, Amy Ferriter

United States National Park Service: Publications

The quarantine strategy is recognized as one of the most effective strategies for controlling invasive plant populations. The quarantine strategy as described by Woodall 1981 is where the least-infested areas (outliers) are addressed first in order to stop the progression of the existing population. Detection of individual trees and scattered small clusters is imperative for the success of the quarantine strategy.Attempts to map individual trees and small clusters of invasive plants in south Florida such as Melaleuca quinquenervia through remote sensing have not been successful. For example, in 1988 efforts to detect Melaleuca from false color infrared (1:10,000) in Everglades …

Agency-Sponsored Treasure Hunts: Providing Alternatives To Traditional Geocaching, Virginia Reams, Stuart West

United States National Park Service: Publications

Geocaching, a sort of modern-day treasure hunt using Global Positioning System (GPS) units, has been prohibited in most national parks largely due to federal regulations prohibiting disturbance or damage of natural features and leaving behind unattended property. National parks, including Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, are continually challenged by unauthorized geocache sites within their borders. The National Park Service (NPS) must take enforcement action when necessary to prevent resource damage and ensure visitor safety. However, it has become clear that geocaching is a well-established, popular pastime that is more than just a trend, and some parks perceive positive …

Determining The Disturbance Effect On Forest Development For Use In Park Management Plans, Bruce Larson, Regina Rochefort, Mariano Amoroso

United States National Park Service: Publications

On San Juan Island, Washington, forests are an important component not only of the landscape of the island but also of San Juan Island National Historical Park. Although the forests of the island were manipulated during the historic military time period (1853 to 1871), significant and widespread alterations occurred during the post historic period of 1872 to 1966 (Agee 1984). During that time, patches of forest were cleared for agriculture in both the American and English Camps. Following the park’s establishment in 1966, many of these fields were abandoned and dense Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and lodgepole pine …

Research Learning Centers: Promoting Resource Stewardship Through Partnerships, Susan Sachs, Theresa Thom, Mac Brock, Kim Tripp

United States National Park Service: Publications

National parks throughout the system are encouraged to engage in partnerships that allow us to most effectively fulfill our mission. Research learning centers (RLCs) are directed to increase the amount and effectiveness of research and research education through partner projects. Each RLC has its own unique partnerships; the range includes bringing together organizations with overlapping goals, to collaborating on funding and facilitating science and research education efforts. Four RLCs highlight the scope of collaboration.

Citizen Science: A Best Practices Manual And How It Can Be Applied, Susan Sachs, Paul E. Super, Michelle Prysby

United States National Park Service: Publications

These examples are all forms of “citizen science” happening at environmental education centers, National Park research learning centers, nature centers, and other non-formal education institutions. Citizen science is a research and education tool that involves everyday people in real and meaningful forms of science, including biological inventory, long-term monitoring, and investigative research. All of these examples demonstrate ways that these institutions are using citizen science as a tool for furthering their missions of educating the public about the environment, teaching people about the process of science, and connecting people to the natural world. They also demonstrate ways that citizens are …

Methods Of Public Engagement, Denice Swanke

United States National Park Service: Publications

The question of how, and to what degree, the public should be involved with policy-setting is fundamental to strengthening—and thereby improving—the democratic process. Public agencies, including land management agencies, wrestle with appropriate and meaningful strategies for stakeholder involvement. Even the framers of our Constitution struggled with the basic question of “whether democratic citizens should be expected to work out the solution to such struggles directly among themselves or whether it is possible to adopt a machinery of government which would pump out solutions without requiring such direct citizen engagement. Should the burden of solving public problems rest most directly on …

Drawing A Line In The Tundra: Conservationists And The Mount Mckinley Park Road, Frank Norris

United States National Park Service: Publications

Today, Denali National Park and Preserve is one of the largest units in the national park system. The entire unit encompasses about 6.1 million acres, of which a little over threequarters (4.7 million acres) are national park, with the remainder being a national preserve, where sport hunting is allowed. About 425,000 people visited Denali in 2006. Most of them arrived at the park’s eastern entrance and boarded either a tour bus or shuttle bus and headed down the park road in search of one of the “big five” wildlife species that inhabit the area (mountain sheep, caribou, grizzly bear, moose, …

Beyond Hunting: Increasing Options For Effective Wildlife Management In The National Park System, Margaret A. Wild, Therese Johnson, Michael Mayer, Gary Johnston

United States National Park Service: Publications

The National Park Service (NPS) goal is to maintain natural processes (NPS Management Policies 2006, 4.4.2: “Whenever possible, natural processes will be relied upon to maintain native plant and animal species and influence natural fluctuations in populations of these species”). As mentioned, animal populations can be expected to fluctuate under natural conditions. Some would argue that animal overabundance in parks is just part of this natural fluctuation, and this may be the case in some situations. However, if a system is disturbed, flux may be greater—for example, when predators are removed and populations of prey are released from …

How Do You Manage Your Resources If They Are Being Stolen And Sold At The Swap Meet?, Todd Swain

United States National Park Service: Publications

Most of us began our park careers hoping to work outdoors and, in the process, do something positive for the environment. As we progressed from seasonal to permanent employees, and from trainees to supervisors,we were given more administrative duties.Now, the everyday tasks making up the majority of our jobs, like staff meetings, report writing, and budgeting, leave us little time to actually protect resources.

While we balance budgets and attend meetings, fossils, insects, mining equipment, Native American artifacts, and reptiles located on the public lands are being plundered. Some of them are taken as “souvenirs,” but a sizeable percentage is …

A Comparison Of Wildlife Management In Mid-Size Parks In South Africa And The United States, Daniel S. Licht, Rob Slotow, Joshua Millspaugh

United States National Park Service: Publications

In many parts of the world, national parks are the last remaining wild areas and the best hope for conserving native wildlife and natural processes. This is true in the United States and in South Africa, where both countries are viewed as leaders in wildlife conservation. However, both countries face similar threats and issues when attempting to conserve native grassland wildlife, especially large fauna. For example, many native grassland ungulates historically traveled great distances in response to changing environmental conditions, yet landscape fragmentation and societal concerns (e.g., impacts on cropland) now prevent largescale movements. Hence, parks in both countries often …

Multiple Data Sources Improve Dna-Based Mark–Recapture Population Estimates Of Grizzly Bears, John Boulanger, Katherine C. Kendall, Jeffrey B. Stetz, David A. Roon, Lisette P. Waits, David Paetkau

United States National Park Service: Publications

A fundamental challenge to estimating population size with mark–recapture methods is heterogeneous capture probabilities and subsequent bias of population estimates. Confronting this problem usually requires substantial sampling effort that can be difficult to achieve for some species, such as carnivores. We developed a methodology that uses two data sources to deal with heterogeneity and applied this to DNA mark–recapture data from grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). We improved population estimates by incorporating additional DNA ‘‘captures’’ of grizzly bears obtained by collecting hair from unbaited bear rub trees concurrently with baited, grid-based, hair snag sampling. We consider a Lincoln-Petersen estimator …

Responding To Shrinking Budgets: How To Keep Controlling Invasive Plants With Reduced Program Funding, James Åkerson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Land managers face challenges from two sides. On the one hand, outside threats to natural and cultural resources continue and increase in their intensity and menace. On the other, programmatic support to manage those threats is steadily eroding. In the case of the national park system, there is now less available project funding to preserve and protect our precious resources than during the previous five years.

When it comes to the threat posed by invasive nonnative plants, Pimentel et al. (2005) estimates there are at least 25,000 exotic plant species in North America. An eastern park example illustrates the challenge. …

The Effects Of Fire On Beach Grass (Ammophila Breviligulata) At Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Peggy Burkman

United States National Park Service: Publications

Unique land features at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore include rocky cliff faces, clay banks, sandscapes, and bogs. Clay banks contain a high percentage of sand which is eroded rapidly and transported by long shore currents to form a variety of coastal sand features or sandscapes. Sandscapes include several unique landforms such as barrier beaches (Julian Bay on Stockton Island) and spits (Long Island); cuspate forelands, which are triangular- shaped seaward extentions (Raspberry and South Twin islands); tombolos, which are sand or gravel bars stretching from an island to the mainland or another island; a double tombolo (Stockton Island); and sand …

Developing Integrated Assessments For National Capital Region Network Parks: An Example From Rock Creek Park, Lisa N. Florkowski, William C. Dennison, Todd R. Lookingbill, Tim J.B. Carruthers, Jane M. Hawkey, Shawn L. Carter

United States National Park Service: Publications

The National Capital Region Network (NCRN) contains 11 parks within the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia (Figure 1a): Antietam National Battlefield (ANTI), Catoctin Mountain Park (CATO), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (CHOH), George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP), Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (HAFE), Manassas National Battlefield Park (MANA), Monocacy National Battlefield (MONO), National Capital Parks–East (NACE), Prince William Forest Park (PRWI), Rock Creek Park (ROCR), and Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (WOTR). These parks are some of the most visited in the National Park Service (NPS) system due to the urban context …

“Rats And Weeds And Lizards—Oh My!” Eradication Of Rattus Rattus And Control Of Invasive Exotic Plants On Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, D. W. Clark, Z. Hillis-Starr, C. Furqueron

United States National Park Service: Publications

Once introduced to an island, non-native rodents can cause considerable damage to the native flora and fauna, including the endangerment of endemic species (Campbell 1989; Witmer et al. 1998). As a result, there have been numerous efforts in recent years to eradicate introduced rats (Rattus spp.) and house mice (Mus musculus) from islands around the world (e.g., Buckle and Fenn 1992; Howald et al. 1999; Billing and Harden 2000; Key and Hudson 2000). Problems caused by introduced roof rats (Rattus rattus) at Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, have been documented …

Academic Data Series, 2007-08 Edition, Office Of The Controller, Wright State University

Academic Data Series

A compilation of statistics extracted from the University's Banner System and Ohio Department of Higher Education resources for 2007-2008.

Collaborative Ro1 With Ncbo Semantics And Services Enabled Problem Solving Environment For Trypanosoma Cruzi, Amit P. Sheth, Rick Tarleton, Prashant Doshi, Mark Musen, Natasha Noy, Satya S. Sahoo, Daniel B. Weatherly

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Semantic Sensor Web, Amit P. Sheth, Satya S. Sahoo

Kno.e.sis Publications

Sensors are distributed across the globe leading to an avalanche of data about our environment. It is possible today to utilize networks of sensors to detect and identify a multitude of observations, from simple phenomena to complex events and situations. The lack of integration and communication between these networks, however, often isolates important data streams and intensifies the existing problem of too much data and not enough knowledge. With a view to addressing this problem, the semantic sensor Web (SSW) proposes that sensor data be annotated with semantic metadata that will both increase interoperability and provide contextual information essential for …

Semantic Provenance For Escience: Managing The Deluge Of Scientific Data, Satya S. Sahoo, Amit P. Sheth, Cory Andrew Henson

Kno.e.sis Publications

Provenance information in eScience is metadata that's critical to effectively manage the exponentially increasing volumes of scientific data from industrial-scale experiment protocols. Semantic provenance, based on domain-specific provenance ontologies, lets software applications unambiguously interpret data in the correct context. The semantic provenance framework for eScience data comprises expressive provenance information and domain-specific provenance ontologies and applies this information to data management. The authors' "two degrees of separation" approach advocates the creation of high-quality provenance information using specialized services. In contrast to workflow engines generating provenance information as a core functionality, the specialized provenance services are integrated into a scientific workflow …

A Flexible, Conformal Ultrasound Array For Medical Imaging, Weidong Zhang, Dwight Woolard, Elliott Brown, Boris Gelmont, Robert Trew

Physics Faculty Publications

An ultrasound imaging system is under development that features a flexible transducer that can be wrapped conformally around curved surfaces of the body. The device is intended to deliver high image quality without the need for mechanical scanning, and will benefit medical personnel with limited ultrasound training. A 2 x 8 element piezoelectric transducer prototype and 15.5 MHz imaging system have been built, and the system concept has been demonstrated by imaging a soft tissue phantom. The transducer design, imaging procedure, and preliminary image processing techniques are presented.

Downflow Limestone Beds For Treatment Of Net-Acidic, Oxic, Iron-Laden Drainage From A Flooded Anthracite Mine, Pennsylvania, Usa: 1. Field Evaluation, Charles A. Cravotta Iii, Suzanne J. Ward

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Passive-treatment systems that route acidic mine drainage (AMD) through crushed limestone and/or organic-rich substrates have been used to remove the acidity and metals from various AMD sources, with a wide range of effects. This study evaluates treatment of net-acidic, oxic, iron-laden AMD with limestone alone, and with organic-rich compost layered with the limestone. In the fall of 2003, a treatment system consisting of two parallel, 500-m² downflow cells followed by a 400-m² aerobic settling pond and wetland was installed to neutralize the AMD from the Bell Mine, a large source of AMD and baseflow to the Schuylkill River …

Geochemical Evidence For Hydroclimatic Variability Over The Last 2460 Years From Crevice Lake In Yellowstone National Park, Usa, Lora R. Stevens, Walter E. Dean

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A 2460-year-long hydroclimatic record for Crevice Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Montana was constructed from the δ¹⁸O values of endogenic carbonates. The δ¹⁸O record is compared to the Palmer Hydrologic Drought Index (PHDI) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) indices, as well as inferred discharge of the Yellowstone River. During the last century, high δ¹⁸O values coincide with drought conditions and the warm phase of the PDO index. Low δ¹⁸O values coincide with wet years and a negative PDO index. Comparison of tree-ring inferred discharge of the Yellowstone River with the δ¹⁸O …

Environmental Contaminant Hazards To Wildlife At National Capital Region And Mid-Atlantic National Park Service Units, Barnett A. Rattner, Betty K. Ackerson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Part of the mission of the National Park Service (NPS) entails preservation of natural resources, processes, systems, and associated values of its units in an unimpaired condition. Environmental contamination and pollution processes are well recognized stressors that can adversely affect park units and are addressed by NPS management policies and plans. Nonetheless, biota remain at risk to contaminants at many NPS units. One U.S. Department of the Interior activity that addresses pollution hazards is the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends project (Zylstra 1994). Its does so through active field monitoring and by use of decision support tools, including the …