US land sector mitigation investments and emissions implications.

The land sector is anticipated to play an important role in achieving U.S. GHG emissions targets by reducing emissions and increasing sequestration from the atmosphere.

Projecting U.S. forest management, market, and carbon sequestration responses to a high-impact climate scenario.

The impact of climate change on forest ecosystems remains uncertain, with wide variation in potential climate impacts across different radiative forcing scenarios and global circulation models, as well as potential variation in forest productivity impacts across species and regions. This study uses an empirical forest composition model to estimate the impact of climate factors (temperature and precipitation) and other environmental parameters on forest productivity for 94 forest species across the conterminous United States. The composition model is linked to a dynamic optimization model of the U.

Projecting the Impact of Socioeconomic and Policy Factors on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration in U.S. Forestry and Agriculture.

Understanding greenhouse gas mitigation potential of the U.S. agriculture and forest sectors is critical for evaluating potential pathways to limit global average temperatures from rising more than 2° C.

Regionalized Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Forest Biomass Use for Electricity Generation in the United States.

This study presents a cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis (LCA) of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the electricity generated from forest biomass in different regions of the United States (U.S.), taking into consideration regional variations in biomass availabilities and logistics.

Importance of Cross-Sector Interactions When Projecting Forest Carbon across Alternative Socioeconomic Futures.

In recent decades, the carbon sink provided by the U.S. forest sector has offset a sizable portion of domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Evaluating Potential Sources of Aggregation Bias with a Structural Optimization Model of the U.S. Forest Sector.

Structural economic optimization models of the forestry and land use sectors can be used to develop baseline projections of future forest carbon stocks and annual fluxes, which inform policy dialog and investment in programs that maintain or enhance forest carbon stocks. Such analyses vary in terms of the degree of spatial, temporal, and activity-level aggregation used to represent forest resources, land cover, and markets. While the statistical and econometric modeling communities widely discuss the effects of aggregation bias and have developed correction techniques, there is limited prior research investigating how aggregation bias may affect structural optimization models.

Projecting the Spatial Distribution of Possible Planted Forest Expansion in the United States.

As the demand for forest products and carbon storage in standing timbers increases, intensive planting of forest resources is expected to increase. With the increased use of plantation practices, it is important to understand the influence that forest plot characteristics have on the likelihood of where these practices are occurring. Depending on the goals of a policy or program, increasing forest planting could be a desirable outcome or something to avoid.

Implications of Alternative Land Conversion Cost Specifications on Projected Afforestation Potential in the United States.

The Forestry and Agriculture Sector Optimization Model with Greenhouse Gases (FASOMGHG) has historically relied on regional average costs of land conversion to simulate land use change across cropland, pasture, rangeland, and forestry. This assumption limits the accuracy of the land conversion estimates by not recognizing spatial heterogeneity in land quality and conversion costs. Using data from Nielsen et al.

Logging residue supply and costs for electricity generation: Potential variability and policy considerations.

This paper applies a spatial allocation optimization model to evaluate logging residue supply potential and costs for bioelectricity generation within the conterminous United States. Simulations are developed to estimate a range in supply potential and costs across a broad range of sensitivity scenarios, including (1) different biomass availability rates based on observed roundwood removals, (2) renewable energy targets set nationally or at a state-level, (3) with and without biomass sourcing restrictions within a state, (4) with and without access to public lands, and (5) policy restrictions on eligible facility types. Under the least restrictive policy scenario (a hypothetical national mandate), total supply is 8.

Modeling International Trade of Forest Products: Application of PPML to a Gravity Model of Trade.

To model international trade of forest products we use a gravity model of trade. In modeling trade, we estimate the impact of importer gross domestic product (GDP), exporter GDP, and distance between trading partners using Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML). When estimating the log-linearized gravity model (ordinary least squares [OLS]), two issues arise.

A Land Use and Resource Allocation (LURA) modeling system for projecting localized forest CO effects of alternative macroeconomic futures.

The United States has recently set ambitious national goals for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions over the coming decades. A portion of these reductions are based on expected sequestration and storage contributions from land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF). Significant uncertainty exists in future forest markets and thus the potential LULUCF contribution to US GHG reduction goals.

Association of Income Inequality With Pediatric Hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Conditions.

Importance: The level of income inequality (ie, the variation in median household income among households within a geographic area), in addition to family-level income, is associated with worsened health outcomes in children.

Objective: To determine the influence of income inequality on pediatric hospitalization rates for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) and whether income inequality affects use of resources per hospitalization for ACSCs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective, cross-sectional analysis used the 2014 State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of 14 states to evaluate all hospital discharges for patients aged 0 to 17 years (hereafter referred to as children) from January 1 through December 31, 2014.

Evidence-based best practices at Mater Health Services: a roadmap for integrated case management.

Purpose/objectives: This column traces the journey of Mater Health Services to improve the safety, quality, and consistency of its patient care by integrating evidence-based, best medical practices. Through a multidisciplinary approach of development, implementation, and ongoing improvement of care pathways, Mater Health Services shifted its focus from expected lengths of stay to the recovery milestones of individual patients.

Primary Practice Setting(s): Mater Health Services Brisbane Ltd.

In vitro deformation of acetyl resin and metal alloy removable partial denture direct retainers.

Statement Of The Problem: Acetyl resin removable partial denture (RPD) direct retainers may provide an esthetic alternative to conventional metal direct retainers. The effect of repeated stress on acetyl resin direct retainers is unknown.

Purpose: This study compared deformation of acetyl resin and metal alloy RPD direct retainers after repeated dislodgments over a test die.

A comparative study of oral acetylsalicyclic acid and metoprolol for the prophylactic treatment of migraine. A randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel group phase III study.

This study was a multinational, multicentre, double-blind, active controlled phase III trial designed to investigate efficacy and safety of 300 mg acetylsalicyclic acid (ASA) (n = 135) vs. 200 mg metoprolol (n = 135) in the prophylaxis of migraine. In total 270 (51 male and 219 female) patients, aged 18-65 years, suffering between two and six migraine attacks per month were recruited.

Periodic evaluation of the occlusal vertical dimension of maxillary dentures from the wax trial denture through 48 hours after polymerization.

Purpose: This study measured the effects of commercial resin type on maxillary complete dentures with monoplane teeth by periodically comparing the occlusal vertical dimension of the polymerized dentures with the baseline, wax trial denture fiducial measurements.

Materials And Methods: Commercially available compression-molded, injection-molded, and fluid poly(methyl methacrylate) resins, as well as one compression-molded methyl acrylate ester copolymer, were evaluated. Ten dentures were fabricated from each resin using monoplane teeth.

Wear of visible light-cured restorative materials and removable partial denture direct retainers.

Purpose: This study measured the in vitro wear of visible light-cured restorative materials and removable partial denture direct retainers.

Materials And Methods: An aluminum test die was produced by replicating the facial contours of an extracted human molar (model). The replica's cervical contour was modified by placement of a restorable Class V cavity preparation.

The light-cured composite restoration: an adjunct to removable partial prosthodontics.

An integral part of fabricating a removable partial denture is preparing the mouth to accommodate the design of the prosthesis and the patient's clinical presentation. When the morphology of the abutment tooth does not correspond to the design requirements, altering its form by either enameloplasty or restorative procedures is indicated. Research and clinical experience have shown that composite restoration is a suitable adjunct to preparing the mouth for removable partial dentures.

Influence of circadian periodicity on reproducibility of centric relation records for edentulous patients.

Complete dentures were made for 30 edentulous patients. The patients were divided into three groups and the dentures were remounted twice on the same day in a Vericheck instrument. The dentures for 10 patients were remounted twice in the morning (AM group), for 10 patients twice in the afternoon (PM group), and for 10 patients once in the morning and again in the afternoon (AM-PM group).

The relationship between the width of the mouth, interalar width, bizygomatic width, and interpupillary distance in edentulous patients.

The width of the mouth, interalar width, bizygomatic width, and interpupillary distance were measured in edentulous patients. The widths varied widely, even when the population was separated into groups by sex and/or race. When mean values were studied, black men differed significantly from black women, white women, and white men in interalar and bizygomatic widths; white women differed from the other groups in all widths.