Digital Commons Network^™

Droughtscape, Summer 2014, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Outlook

Drought & climate summary

Drought impacts

International drought monitoring and planning

Visiting scholars

North American Drought Monitor Forum

New primary Dust Bowl source

New additions to online webinar archive

Community Capitals Framework Institute

Explaining Nuclear Energy Pursuance: A Comparison Of The United States, Germany, And Japan, Lauren Emily Mckee

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Energy is critical to the functioning of the global economy and seriously impacts global security as well. What factors influence the extent to which countries will pursue nuclear energy in their overall mix of energy approaches? This dissertation explores this critical question by analyzing the nuclear energy policies of the United States, Germany and Japan. Rather than citizen opposition or proximity to nuclear disasters, it seems that a country's access to other resources through natural endowments or trading relationships offers the best explanation for nuclear energy pursuance.

Minors Crossing Us Southern Border Need Protection, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Lack Of Emergency Savings Puts American Households At Risk, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Blair Russell, Brad Tucker, Krista Comer

Center for Social Development Research

Lack of Emergency Savings Puts American Households at Risk

Heuristic Modeling Of Carcinogenesis For The Population With Dichotomous Susceptibility To Cancer: A Pancreatic Cancer Example., Tengiz Mdzinarishvili, Simon Sherman

Journal Articles: Eppley Institute

At present, carcinogenic models imply that all individuals in a population are susceptible to cancer. These models either ignore a fall of the cancer incidence rate at old ages, or use some poorly identifiable parameters for its accounting. In this work, a new heuristic model is proposed. The model assumes that, in a population, only a small fraction (pool) of individuals is susceptible to cancer and decomposes the problem of the carcinogenic modeling on two sequentially solvable problems: (i) determination of the age-specific hazard rate in individuals susceptible to cancer (individual hazard rate) from the observed hazard rate in the …

Motivating Students Through Classroom-Based Service Learning: Toward Adoption And Impact, Anne S. Robertson, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Saras Chung, Allison Williams

Center for Social Development Research

Motivating Students Through Classroom-Based Service Learning: Toward Adoption and Impact

The Economic Situation, 2014 June, Bruce Yandle

Publications

Quarterly report on the economic situation of the United States and South Carolina.

Francis F. Maury, M.D. (1840 To 1879): An Often Forgotten Pioneer In Early American Surgery., Guillaume S. Chevrollier, B.S., Scott W. Cowan, Md, Charles J. Yeo, Md, John C. Kairys, Md

Department of Surgery Gibbon Society Historical Profiles

Francis F. Maury (Fig. 1) was born on August 9, 1840, in Danville, Kentucky, where he was raised on a farm by his mother and father. His father was an Episcopal clergyman of Huguenot descent, whose forefathers had fled from France to escape religious persecution. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Center College in the summer of 1860, he entered medical school at the University of Virginia. After one full term, he matriculated to Philadelphia’s Jefferson Medical College and completed his medical education as a private student under the direction of Dr. Samuel D. Gross.1, 2 He obtained …

Who's Your Expert? Use Of An Expert Opinion Survey To Inform Development Of American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines., Joel Yager, Robert Kunkle, Laura J. Fochtmann, Sara M. Reid, Robert Plovnick, James E. Nininger, Joel J. Silverman, Michael J. Vergare

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: For many clinical questions in psychiatry, high-quality evidence is lacking. Credible practice guidelines for such questions depend on transparent, reproducible, and valid methods for assessing expert opinion. The objective of this study was to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a method for assessing expert opinion to aid in the development of practice guidelines by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

METHODS: A "snowball" process initially soliciting nominees from three sets of professional leaders was used to identify experts on a guideline topic (psychiatric evaluation). In a Web-based survey, the experts were asked to rate their level of agreement that …

Human Judgment And Health Care Policy., Benjamin Djulbegovic, Jason Beckstead, David B. Nash

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Resistant Starch Type 4-Enriched Diet Lowered Blood Cholesterols And Improved Body Composition In A Double Blind Controlled Cross-Over Intervention, Sailendra N Nichenametla, Lee A. Weidauer, Howard Wey, Tianna Beare, Bonny Specker, Moul Dey

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

A metabolic health crisis is evident as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of mortality in the United States. Effects of resistant starch type 4 (RS4), a prebiotic fiber, in comprehensive management of metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain unknown. This study examined the effects of a blinded exchange of RS4-enriched flour (30% v/v) with regular/control flour (CF) diet on multiple MetS comorbidities. In a double blind (participants-investigators), placebo-controlled, cluster cross-over intervention (n = 86, age≥18, 2-12 week interventions, 2-week washout) in the United States, individuals were classified as having MetS (With-MetS) or not (No-MetS) following International Diabetes Federation (IDF)-criteria. RS4 …

The Effects Of Resolution Methods And Industry Stress On The Loss On Assets From Bank Failures, Rosalind L. Bennett, Haluk Unal

Documents

No abstract provided.

Community Development Capital Initiative: Status Of The Program And Financial Health Of Remaining Participants, United States: Government Accountability Office (Gao)

Documents

No abstract provided.

The Profession Feminism Left Behind: Heterosexism In Schooling And The Teaching Profession, Cynthia J. Benton

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

The interrelationship of a number of factors-‐teacher dispositions and identity, student socialization, the school environment, and the content of the curriculum-­‐are examined in this conceptual study of heterosexism in U. S. schooling. Contemporary curricular and social programs which mitigate against heterosexist assumptions are discussed.

Outpatient Management Of Heart Failure In The United States, 2006-2008, Kailash Mosalpuria, Sunil K Agarwal, Sirin Yaemsiri, Bredy Pierre-Louis, Samir Saba, Rene Alvarez, Stuart D Russell

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Better outpatient management of heart failure might improve outcomes and reduce the number of rehospitalizations. This study describes recent outpatient heart-failure management in the United States.

We analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey of 2006–2008, a multistage random sampling of non-Federal physician offices and hospital outpatient departments.

Annually, 1.7% of all outpatient visits were for heart failure (51% females and 77% non-Hispanic whites; mean age, 73 ± 0.5 yr). Typical comorbidities were hypertension (62%), hyperlipidemia (36%), diabetes mellitus (35%), and ischemic heart disease (29%). Body weight and blood pressure were recorded in about 80% of visits, and …

Idaho Gag Law Hides Horrors Of Ag Industry, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Aiding And Abetting: The Illegality Of Morocco's Nationalist Expansion Into Western Sahara And Their Support From The United States, Rachid H. Yousfi

Master's Theses

This paper will address the illegality of Morocco’s nationalist annexation of Western Sahara and how the United States plays the accommodating role through the selling of arms, economic aid, and diplomatic support. Considered as Africa’s last colony, the Saharawi people have not experienced the basic human right to self-determination and the right for independence. These rights are continued to be withheld for the sake of Moroccan nationalism and their “rightful and ethnic” claims to the territory, disregarding the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s advisory opinion ruling in favor of Saharawi self-determination. It explores the chronology of the Saharawi population from …

News In Brief

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Fernando Blanco, PhD, is working under the mentorship of Jonathan Brody, PhD, Director of the Division of Surgical Research, as a Clinical Pharmacology Fellow. Dr. Blanco came to Jefferson under a training grant with Drs. Scott Waldman and Walter Kraft in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. His work focuses on chemoresistance mechanisms of pancreatic cancer cells.

The annual Surgery Resident Research Presentations will take place on Thursday, May 29, 2014, from 7 – 8:30 a.m. in Foerderer Auditorium in the College Building. All are welcome to attend.

The annual Templeton Grand Rounds lecture is scheduled for 8 a.m. …

Gail Coleman Directs Generous Gift To Pancreatic Cancer Research

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Gail Coleman of Alexandria, Virginia spent three decades as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor. Now retired, she enjoys traveling, volunteer activities, and taking history classes at George Mason University. And she still utilizes the analytical skills of an attorney. Indeed, before recommending a $100,000 grant to Jefferson (see “Changing Lives Through Research” on p. 3), Gail educated herself on the landscape of pancreatic cancer research, met with several institutions and evaluated a number of potential projects.

Gail’s initial decision to support pancreatic cancer research was not analytical, but deeply personal: The disease took her mother in 1989, …

Jamie Jay Rothstein, Rn, Ccrc

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

As Clinical Research Nurse and the Project Manager for the Department of Surgery, Jamie Jay Rothstein builds systems for implementing and managing all aspects of the Department’s clinical trials – from protocol development to fiscal management. She also guides the Department’s research coordinators, interacting with them regularly for ongoing education and training.

Before joining Jefferson in July 2013, Rothstein created, developed and managed a research department of 10 physicians. Through strategic planning, analysis, business plan development, quality and performance improvement, the department grew to a staff of several coordinators. She says that while she enjoyed the position, she jumped at …

Innovative Projects Explore Metabolism, Chemotherapy Resistance In Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

A generous contribution via the Gail V. Coleman-Kenneth M. Bruntel Charitable Grant Fund (see “Those Who Give” on p. 4) has enabled Jordan M. Winter, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery, and his team to initiate two innovative studies in pancreatic cancer. Here, Dr. Winter provides an overview of the purpose – and potential impact – of each project.

Studying Cancer Cell Metabolism

As Dr. Winter explains, metabolism is a fundamental biologic process for the viability of any cell – including cancer cells. “If you can find a way to impair that biology, you have an opportunity to treat cancer …

Susan Lanza-Jacoby, Phd

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

It’s been 35 years since the Chair of Surgery at the time, Dr. Francis E. Rosato, Sr., hired Susan Lanza-Jacoby, PhD, to develop a research function within Jefferson’s Department of Surgery. Since then, her lab has been among the first to show that COX2 inhibitors are protective against the development of breast cancer. More recently, it was the first to identify that a 25-percent decrease in daily caloric intake delayed the onset of pancreatic cancer. And despite growing competition for grant dollars, Dr. Jacoby has been able to remain an independent investigator since coming to Jefferson in 1979.

Outside the …

Treating Acute Respiratory Failure

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

In March, Jefferson’s Adult ECMO Program saved the life of Kennett Square resident and entrepreneur Steve Burkes. Burkes, 59, and his wife, Caroline Henrich, an attorney, report that his symptoms started with chills and fever. Since Burkes had recently been playing with their new Amazon parrot, the couple thought perhaps he had contracted an infection from the bird. Instead, it turned out to be Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), caused by a rare bacterial infection unrelated to the parrot.

By the time Henrich drove her husband to Jennersville Regional Hospital, he was incoherent. (“I felt like I was burning up …

Area Hospitals Turn To Jefferson's Adult Ecmo Program

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

In 2010, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital introduced new capabilities for portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which provides both cardiac and respiratory support to individuals with severely diseased or damaged heart and lungs. Since then, the hospital has built the area’s only comprehensive, surgeon-led Adult ECMO Program that includes a dedicated unit and team of clinicians with special training and experience in using this life-saving technology.

“Our program is gaining recognition in the community, with other hospitals increasingly referring critically ill patients to our team,” says Nicholas C. Cavarocchi, MD, FACS, FCCP, Director of the Surgical Cardiac Care Unit and Professor …

From The Chair: Overview

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

One Jefferson

There is palpable excitement in the air here at Jefferson. Efforts to transform our University, led by our new President Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, are well underway. Many from our Department have contributed to the changes we see on the horizon. “Health Is All We Do”…has been embraced as our new motto.

“We will reimagine health care, health education and discovery to create unparalleled value”...has been embraced as our vision statement.

A recent extensive strategic retreat process has generated a Blueprint for Strategic Action (BSA) with four foundational enablers. These are:

• Partnerships

• Diversity

• Technology …

Growing Roots: Gardening As A Means To Mitigate Urban Poverty And Its Symptoms, Maeve Bassett

2014 Student Theses

Urban gardening has become a very popular trend in the last few years in both affluent neighborhoods as a form of relaxation and in impoverished areas as a form of hunger relief. In impoverished areas, urban gardens are usually exclusively advertised as a solution to limited food access; however, there is a naïve belief that these gardens are effective forms of mass food production. Presently, these gardens are not productive enough to globally effect food production and the environment. However, to the communities surrounding the gardens, the effects are immense. Urban gardens are cheap and effective solutions for many of …

A Historical-Institutional Study Of The Welfare Systems In The United States And Sweden: Net Social Wage Approach, Sarah Elliott Blank

Honors Theses

In this study I first look at the historical developments of the welfare systems in Sweden and the United States to understand why these countries have produced two distinct systems over the years. After understanding their historical context I turn to the question of the relationship between the welfare system and economic growth. Policy makers and the mainstream media commonly cite the critique that through government deficit and public debt, welfare systems are a drag on the economy. By calculating the net social wage, the difference in taxes paid and benefits received by workers, I test this hypothesis to see …

Pressure To Democratize? An Assessment Of U.S. Policy Towards Post-Arab Spring Egypt, Emilie Meguid

Honors Scholar Theses

The fall of Mubarak changed U.S.-Egypt relations for the first time in over thirty years. As Egypt moved towards democratization, questions of how the United States would react were raised. In the past three years the U.S. has put an undue and atypical amount of pressure on Egypt to democratize quickly, through both its use of rhetoric and aid conditionalities, despite evidence against the advisability of a hastened democratic transition. The United States’ actions have done nothing to bolster civil society in Egypt, and it seems ever more likely that the elections set for July will result in a return …

Foreign Aid In Egypt: The Legality Of Continued Financial Support To The Egyptian Military After Mohammed Morsi's Removal From Power, Eric Schmitz

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Treatment Practices, Outcomes, And Costs Of Multidrug-Resistant And Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, United States, 2005-2007, Suzanne M. Marks, Jennifer Flood, Barbara Seaworth, Yael Hirsch-Moverman, Lori Armstrong, Sundari Mase, Katya Salcedo, Peter Oh, Edward A. Graviss, Paul W. Colson, Lisa Armitige, Manuel Revuelta, Kathryn Sheeran, Tb Epidemiologic Studies Consortium

School of Medicine Faculty Publications and Presentations

To describe factors associated with multidrug-resistant (MDR), including extensively-drug-resistant (XDR), tuberculosis (TB) in the United States, we abstracted inpatient, laboratory, and public health clinic records of a sample of MDR TB patients reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from California, New York City, and Texas during 2005–2007. At initial diagnosis, MDR TB was detected in 94% of 130 MDR TB patients and XDR TB in 80% of 5 XDR TB patients. Mutually exclusive resistance was 4% XDR, 17% pre-XDR, 24% total first-line resistance, 43% isoniazid/rifampin/rifabutin-plus-other resistance, and 13% isoniazid/rifampin/rifabutin-only resistance. Nearly three-quarters of patients were hospitalized, 78% …