published_or_final_version / abstract / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

In the summer of 2008, two hurricanes made landfall along the Texas coast causing billions of dollars in damage. Texas received presidential disaster declarations, which resulted in the state receiving over $350 million in hazard mitigation funds. Over 500 requests for mitigation projects were submitted to the government from communities impacted. Not all requested projects could be funded. As a result, those communities that submitted requests for well-defined mitigation projects were the primary beneficiaries of the federal mitigation funds. To better understand the factors that characterize a “welldefined” mitigation project, this study developed an index to rate the completeness and quality of mitigation project definitions. The study incorporated concepts from research on quality community planning and from project definition rating methods. The rating tool consists of detailed descriptions of the project scope elements along with a scoring method for the completeness and quality of the project’s definition. The rating tool and the detailed descriptions help to develop a “well-defined” mitigation project definition as well as to evaluate it. / text

Three empirical studies are conducted examining the efficiency of S&P 500 futures prices and the pricing of these futures contracts. In the first study, the ability of futures prices to predict the realized spot S&P 500 index prices on the expiration date is examined for near term contracts. The futures prices are found to be unbiased predictors of the realized spot index prices for the nineteen quarterly contracts from 1982 to 1986. Previous studies report significant deviations in S&P SOO futures prices from theoretically determined Cost of Carry Model (CCM) prices. In the second study, it is found that the CCM using the federal funds rate, a proxy for the overnight repurchase rate, provides relatively better estimates of the S&P S(x) futures prices over the 1984-1986 period. The futures mispricing also reflects the weekend effect anomaly: futures prices are "over-priced" relative to CCM prices on Mondays, whereas the opposite occurs on Fridays. The futures over-pricing (under-pricing) is characterized by "bull" ("bear") financial markets and the extent of price changes are relatively greater in the futures market. The futures under-pricing is supported by strong future market volume and open-interest positions. The basis and changes in it over the futures contract period are measures of how well integrated the futures market and the underlying spot market are. In the third study, based on daily closing prices for the S&P 500 index and index futures for the 1984-1986 period, it is found that the basis decreases over the contract period but the rate of decrease is independent of the time to expiration. The change in basis on Mondays is generally positive which also reflects the weekend effect anomaly. The daily basis is negative on 107 days, which generally occurs during strong futures market trading volume and open interest positions. It is doubtful whether the negative basis can be attributed to a negative net financing cost, where the dividend yield 0.1 the spot index exceeds the cost of financing the spot index forward.

No description available.

Class of 2010 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the product information and pivotal studies of injectable medications to determine if a specific size descriptor was included and if information was provided for dosing patients with extremes of body weight (body mass index < 18.5 or > 40 kg/m2). METHODS: This is a descriptive study of medications that received an approved new drug application (NDA) by the FDA between 1 January 2004 and 30 January 2009. Any information related to size descriptors, or dosing of patients with extremes of weight, was extracted and evaluated with a dosing usefulness score that ranged from a low of 0 to a high of 3. A score of 2 or greater was considered at least minimally adequate for dosing patients with extremes of weight. RESULTS: Of the 84 medications evaluated, some reference to weight descriptors was found for 23 (27%). None of the medications had information that generated a usefulness score of 2 or greater. CONCLUSIONS: The product information and pivotal studies involving newly approved medications is inadequate for dosing patients with extremes of weight and further research is needed. The FDA should mandate that product information contain the size descriptor and extremes of body weight relative to age and height that were used to develop dosing recommendations.

No description available.

Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) in the Canadian Arctic are subject to a variety of environmental and anthropogenic stressors that stand to potentially compromise population health and survival. Typically, animals exposed to chronic stressors initiate a stress response resulting in cortisol production, which results in physiological and behavioural changes designed to maintain homeostasis under the influence of the stressor. Cortisol extraction techniques were developed for Ringed seal blubber and fur samples. Blubber cortisol was found to be a reliable indicator of the condition factor ratio of blubber depth to core diameter. Ringed seal blubber cortisol concentration and condition was shown to alter depending on season and age class. The findings of this study are an important first step in developing an understanding of how this ice obligate species has and may respond to environmental stressors and will assist with developing conservation strategies. / October 2016

Drought indices based on monthly precipitation and sometimes temperature are widely used due to their simple calculation with readily available climate data. The portrayal of drought through simple precipitation anomalies or water balances when accounting for temperature may not capture the potentially complex evolution of drought events due to the timing, intensity, and frequency of precipitation events at the daily scale. In this study, we present a new drought index that incorporates a deterministic soil model, HYDRUS-1D, and daily climate data to assess how representative simple drought indices are of soil moisture status in the Southwest. Specifically, we compare our drought index with two widely used drought indices: the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Perception-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Modeled soil moisture output was summed into monthly values for direct comparison between indices. SPI and SPEI proved to be representative of soil moisture status at shallow depths, correlating best at a two-month window. SPI correlated higher with our modeled drought index than SPEI in shallow settings across all study sites. Intense drought events were controlled by the magnitude and frequency of precipitation, with large events creating water surplus and then a slow decay in soil moisture until the next large event. Furthermore, heat map correlations indicate that monitoring drought at depth is dependent upon the previous years monsoon, with the best correlating window growing with distance from monsoon onset. Modeled soil moisture showed volumetric water content increased during monsoon season and remained high through the fall and into the winter months. Higher moisture content increased hydraulic conductivity, priming the soil profile for winter recharge. We believe that the addition of a soil physics based drought index greatly improves drought monitoring conditions for the southwest.

Since the economic index is one of the two instruments which are so important to the financing of every school district of the state, and since the index is a hypothetical measure, it should be studied at regular intervals. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to re-examine the economic index used in Texas school finance for the purpose of determining its validity.

The current study examines the relationship between service utilization and child outcomes, and the role fidelity to the principles of the wraparound care coordination process plays in mediating that relationship. One hundred and twenty-one participants at three separate Children’s Mental Health Services (CMHS)-funded Systems of Care national evaluation sites in three states were administered the Wraparound Fidelity Index (WFI), designed to measure adherence to the principles of wraparound; child outcomes measures, including the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS); and the Multi-Sector Service Contact Questionnaire (MSSC), designed to assess services received. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and linear mixed models in order to examine the mediational role fidelity plays at two levels, children and wraparound facilitators, and at three different time points, baseline, six-month follow-up, and twelve-month follow-up. No statistically significant relationships were found between wraparound fidelity and child outcomes at six-month follow-up. Also, at six-month follow-up, the level of services the child and family received significantly predicted child outcomes related to externalizing symptoms but not to internalizing symptoms or functional impairment; however, this relationship was not mediated by fidelity to the wraparound process. From baseline to six-month follow-up and twelve-month follow-up, no statistically significant relationships were found between wraparound fidelity and child outcomes across wraparound facilitators. Also, no statistically significant relationships were found between the level of services the child and family received and child outcomes. A mediation model from baseline to six-month follow-up and twelve-month follow-up was not viable due to the null findings. Exploratory analyses were conducted. Implications of these findings and directions for future studies are discussed.