Tornadoes are one of the most frequent and destructive disasters in the United States. Like other environmental calamities, tornadoes too act as push factors for migration. The objectives of this study are to define tornado hot spots in the US, to analyze migration effectiveness in the tornado hot spots and non-hot spots, and to explore how tornado and other socio-economic factors influence migration decision. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Internal revenue service migration data, SPC tornado data, and Census Bureau data were used in the study. The results indicate that there are significant differences between migration patterns in the tornado hot spots and rest of the country: tornado hot spots are losing population to other regions. The results also indicated that along with the traditional socio-economic push and pull factors of migration, tornado occurrences also influenced people’s migration decision in the United States.

Denna forskningsöversikt handlar om effektiviteten av platsbaserat polisiärt arbete, som fokuserar på små geografiska områden med hög kriminalitet. Har platsbaserat polisiärt arbete en brottsminskande effekt? Minskar bara en viss typ av kriminalitet? Flyttar brottsligheten bara på sig? - Genom lämpliga sökord och välkända databaser valdes de studier ut som hade bra utvärderingsdesigner. Resultatet blev 14 studier varav 9 randomiserade experiment, 4 kvasiexperimentella studier och 1 metaanalys. Översikten visar på en delad bild när det kommer till signifikant effekt vid brottsminskning. Sammanfattningsvis är 6 studier signifikanta med liten effekt och 4 icke signifikanta när det kommer till total brottslighet. Problemorienterat arbete och samarbete med andra instanser ger bäst resultat. Att enbart arbeta platsbaserat påverkar inte all brottslighet, andra instanser/metoder behövs. / This research review is about the effectiveness of hot spot policing. Does hot spot policing have an effect on crime? Does only one type of crime decline? Does crime just move from one place to another? Through suitable keywords and well known databases, studies with good research designs were chosen. The result was 14 in all, 9 randomized controlled trials, 4 quasi-experiments and 1 meta-analysis. The review shows a divided picture when it comes to significance in crimeprevention. In summary: 6 studies are significantly small and 4 non-significant when it comes to the total of crime. To work problem-oriented and to work with other authorities is most effective. Only place-based work does not affect all crime, other authorities/methods are needed.

Orientadores: Goran Neshich, João Alexandre Ribeiro Gonçalves Barbosa / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T21:50:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pereira_JoseGeraldodeCarvalho_M.pdf: 10985777 bytes, checksum: 2610df8bda1ef229c4bcdc8c6c5d8325 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: A propriedade das proteínas de se ligarem umas as outras de forma altamente específica, formando complexos estáveis, é uma característica fundamental para todos os processos biológicos. Uma melhor compreensão da formação do complexo abre perspectivas para muitas aplicações práticas, entre elas o design racional de novos fármacos. Trabalhos anteriores demonstraram, através de experimentos de varredura por alaninas, que um pequeno número de resíduos das interfaces protéicas contribui com a maior parte da energia de ligação e por isso foram chamados de hot spots. Devido à importância desses resíduos para as interações proteína-proteína, diversos métodos computacionais têm sido propostos para predizer os hot spots complementando assim o procedimento experimental. Entre esses, estão métodos physics-based como dinâmica molecular, e também métodos knowledge-based, onde dados experimentais são utilizados para treinar métodos computacionais que aprendem as regras para classificar corretamente os hot spots e usados posteriormente para classificar novos casos em estruturas de complexos protéicos. Entre os algoritmos de aprendizado computacionais mais utilizados estão árvores de decisão, redes neurais, máquinas de vetor de suporte. Nesse trabalho, desenvolvemos métodos de predição de hot spots utilizando máquinas de vetor de suporte, que foram abastecidas na entrada com um conjunto de 186 descritores estruturais extraídos do banco de dados STING_DB e também com 112 novos descritores propostos neste trabalho. Os métodos propostos nesse trabalho apresentaram desempenho superior aos métodos de predição de hot spots mais conhecidos da literatura, como KFC, Minerva, Rosetta e FOLDEF. Além disso, a análise estatística dos descritores e também a seleção dos descritores mais eficientes na tarefa de classificar hot spots permitiu que observássemos diversas características que são distintas entre resíduos que são hot spots e os que não são. Entre estas características, a entalpia de hidratação ao redor do resíduo sugere que essa região é mais hidrofílica em hot spots. Essa região, que para hot spots é denominada de anel-O, tem a função de impedir o contato do solvente com o hot spot e por isso, alguns autores acreditavam tratar-se de uma região hidrofóbica, algo que os resultados deste trabalho não confirmaram. Futuramente, os novos descritores propostos neste trabalho serão agregados ao STING_DB e o método de predição de hot spots será integrado ao STING permitindo a predição de hot spots de todos os complexos protéicos depositados no Protein Data Bank (PDB) assim como de complexos protéicos fornecidos pelo usuário / Abstract: The property of the proteins to bind each other in a highly specific way, forming stable complexes, is a key feature for all biological processes. A better understanding of the formation of protein complexes provides many practical applications, including the rational design of new drugs. Through experiments of alanine scanning, it was shown that a small number of residues belonging to protein interfaces contribute decisively to the binding energy and so were called hot spots. Because of the importance of these residues for protein-protein interactions many computational methods have been proposed to predict the hot spots and thus complement the experimental procedure. These include physics-based methods such as molecular dynamics and also knowledge-based methods where experimental data are used to train computational methods that learn the rules for correctly classifying the hot spots and are then used to classify new cases in structures of protein complexes. Among the computational learning algorithms most frequently used are decision trees, neural networks, support vector machines, among others. In this work, we developed methods to predict hot spots using support vector machines, using at the input 186 structural descriptors extracted from the STING_DB and 112 new descriptors proposed in this work. The methods proposed here showed superior performance to methods of predicting hot spots best known from the literature, such as KFC, Minerva, Rosetta and FOLDEF. In addition, statistical analysis of the descriptors and also the selection of the descriptors more efficient in the task of classifying hot spots allowed us to observe several characteristics that are distinct for residues that are hot spots. Among these features, the enthalpy of hydration suggests that the region around hot spots is more hydrophilic. This region, which for hot spots is called O-ring, serves to prevent the contact of the solvent with the hot spot and therefore some authors believe that this was a hydrophobic region whereas results presented here show otherwise. In future, the new descriptors described in this work will be added to the STING_DB and the method of prediction of hot spots will be integrated with STING allowing the prediction of hot spots of all protein complexes deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) as well as protein complexes supplied by the user / Mestrado / Bioinformatica / Mestre em Genética e Biologia Molecular

Hot spots policing is a popular and effective evidence-based police intervention with several benefits. However, since the primary resource of the intervention is intensified police presence leading to an increase in citizen-police interactions, critics have argued that the intervention negatively affects police-citizen relationships and public perceptions and attitudes toward the police. To advance research on the effects of hot spots policing, this study examines the impacts of the hot spots policing intervention on residents’ trust in, and fear of, the police. The study utilized a secondary dataset from a U.S. DOJ/NIJ-funded project in New York City, NY (2012-2018) examining the effects of hot spots policing and police-resident familiarity on offender decision making and crime prevention. The results of chi-square test of association and ordinal logistic regression analyses show that the hot spots policing intervention has no significant impact on residents’ reported level of trust in, and fear of, the police. In addition, the impacts of residents’ age, race, gender, as well as familiarity are also analyzed. Further, the interaction between the intervention and police-resident familiarity does not significantly moderate the relationship between hot spots policing and residents’ reported level of trust in, and fear towards, the police. The implications of these findings are also discussed.

Patients that have undergone organ transplantation are life-long treated with immunosuppressant drugs and these have to be monitored regularly to get the desired effect of suppressing the immune system. To monitor the drug concentration normally a venous blood sample is collected at a clinic but the use of dried blood spots (DBS) as a matrix for drug monitoring for immunosuppressant drugs will make home sampling possible for this patient group. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a bioanalytical method for quantifying cyclosporine A and tacrolimus in dried blood spots. The method consist of punching out a 5 mm disc from a blood spot , followed by extracting the spot in a 96-well hydrophobic filter plate with 150 µL extraction solution containing internal standard (ascomycin and cyclosporine A d12) in a methanol water solution (80:20v/v%). The extract is then centrifuged through the filter plate down in a 96-deep well plate and injected on the LC-MS/MS, with an analysis time of 2.5min. The method will be validated in accordance with the guidelines set by the European Medicines Agency with additions specific to DBS. The method is not fully validated but will be in due time. The validated parameters show a robust and fast analysing method that has the prospects of being used for analysing DBS samples for patients and in the future can possibly be used by patients in home environment.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / During the month of July 1987 an acoustical experiment was conducted by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in the East Greenland Sea Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) . Ambient noise "hot spots" or concentrated areas of relatively high noise levels were found along the ice edge using a towed array. Ambient noise levels were obtained on 27 and 28 July using AN/SSQ-57A and AN/SSQ-57XN5 calibrated sonobuoys . The temperature structure of the area was determined using XBT (ship) and AXBT (P3C aircraft) buoys placed inside and outside the ice edge. The ice edge was determined from coincident satellite photos, 90 GHz microwave imagery and P3 radar ice edge maps. Weather data (sea state and wind speed and direction) were recorded on the ship. The data seem to indicate a correlation between the high ambient noise levels of the hot spots and the presence of a large topographically controlled mesoscale eddy located at the southeastern extent of the MIZ. / http://archive.org/details/spatialvariabili00bigg / Lieutenant, United States Navy

In a minimal medium supplemented with glucose and yeast extract, the optimum pH for the growth of C. poinsettias was found to be 7.5. The organism requires thiamine, biotin, and pantothenic acid for growth. No absolute requirement was found for any amino acid, purine or pyrimidine although an amino acid mixture was stimulatory. Casamino acids could be substituted for the synthetic amino acid mixture. Yeast extract provided an additional factor(s) necessary for maximal growth. The results suggest that the unknown factor found in yeast extract might be purified by a combination of solvent extraction, and adsorption and elution from charcoal.

När orsakerna till brottslighet har studerats har kriminologisk forskning och teori traditionellt fokuserat på individuella egenskaper och på riskfaktorer hos brottslingar, eller på olika socioekonomiska faktorer. Kriminologisk forskning om brottslighetens geografiska fördelning har dock ökat och fått större utrymme och acceptans både bland forskare och bland de samhällsinstanser som arbetar mot brottslighet. Hot spots utgörs av små områden där det sker mycket fler brott än i omgivande områden. Flera studier har visat att några få områden står för merparten av brottsligheten när enskilda brottstyper studeras. Syftet med denna studie var att analysera hur brottsligheten koncentrerar sig geografiskt i Sundsvall, samt att jämföra hur brottslighetens fördelning har förändrats mellan åren 2010 och 2015. Studien bygger på en analys av anmälningar inkomna till polisen i Sundsvall under perioderna 1 januari till 31 december 2010 samt 1 januari till 31 december 2015. Anmälningarna som studerades delades sedan upp i de fyra brottstyperna våldsbrott, narkotikabrott, inbrott samt tillgreppsbrott. Resultatet visade att brottsanmälningarna i Sundsvall koncentrerade sig till hot spots. Var dessa hot spots var placerade geografiskt skiljer sig åt mellan olika brottstyper, men en viss överrepresentation av anmälningar kunde ses på ett antal platser oavsett brottstyp. Varje undersökt brottstyp diskuteras utifrån socialekologisk teori och Crime pattern theory. I diskussionen ges även förslag på i vilka situationer det kan vara effektivt att använda sig av platsbaserat polisiärt arbete och i vilka situationer andra preventiva åtgärder kan vara mer effektiva. / <p>2016-06-01</p>

Dynamics between organic molecules and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) hot spots are extracted from far-field optical images by two experimental methods presented in this thesis: orientational imaging and super-resolution optical imaging. We introduce SERS orientational imaging as an all-optical technique able to determine the three-dimensional orientations of SERS-active Ag nanoparticle dimers. This is accomplished by observing lobe positions in SERS emission patterns formed by the directional polarization of SERS emission along the longitudinal axis of the dimer. We further extend this technique to discriminate nanoparticle dimers from higher order aggregates by observing the wavelength-dependence of SERS emission patterns, which are unchanged in nanoparticle dimers, but show differences in higher order aggregates involving two or more nanoparticle junctions. Dynamic fluctuations in the SERS emission pattern lobes are observed in aggregates labeled with low dye concentrations, as molecules diffuse into regions of higher electromagnetic enhancement in multiple nanoparticle junctions. In order to investigate these dynamic interactions between single organic molecules and nanoparticle hot spots we present the first super-resolution optical images of single-molecule SERS (SM-SERS), introducing super-resolution imaging as a powerful new tool for SM-SERS studies. Mapping the dynamic movement of SM-SERS centroid positions with +/- 5 nm resolution reveals the position-dependent SERS intensity as the centroid samples different positions in space. We have proposed that the diffusion of the SERS centroid is due to diffusion of a single molecule on the surface of the nanoparticle, which leads to changes in coupling between the scattering dipole and the optical near field of the nanoparticle. Finally, we combine an isotope-edited bi-analyte SERS spectral approach with super-resolution optical imaging and atomic force microscopy (AFM) structural analysis for a more complete picture of molecular dynamics in SERS hot spots. We demonstrate the ability to observe multiple molecule dynamics in a single hot spot and show that in addition to the single-molecule regime, a "few" molecule regime is able to report on position-dependent SERS intensities in a hot spot. Furthermore, we are able to identify multiple local hot spots in single nanoparticle aggregates. / text

Wooden railway sleeper inspections in Sweden are currently performed manually by a human operator; such inspections are based on visual analysis. Machine vision based approach has been done to emulate the visual abilities of human operator to enable automation of the process. Through this process bad sleepers are identified, and a spot is marked on it with specific color (blue in the current case) on the rail so that the maintenance operators are able to identify the spot and replace the sleeper. The motive of this thesis is to help the operators to identify those sleepers which are marked by color (spots), using an “Intelligent Vehicle” which is capable of running on the track. Capturing video while running on the track and segmenting the object of interest (spot) through this vehicle; we can automate this work and minimize the human intuitions. The video acquisition process depends on camera position and source light to obtain fine brightness in acquisition, we have tested 4 different types of combinations (camera position and source light) here to record the video and test the validity of proposed method. A sequence of real time rail frames are extracted from these videos and further processing (depending upon the data acquisition process) is done to identify the spots. After identification of spot each frame is divided in to 9 regions to know the particular region where the spot lies to avoid overlapping with noise, and so on. The proposed method will generate the information regarding in which region the spot lies, based on nine regions in each frame. From the generated results we have made some classification regarding data collection techniques, efficiency, time and speed. In this report, extensive experiments using image sequences from particular camera are reported and the experiments were done using intelligent vehicle as well as test vehicle and the results shows that we have achieved 95% success in identifying the spots when we use video as it is, in other method were we can skip some frames in pre-processing to increase the speed of video but the segmentation results we reduced to 85% and the time was very less compared to previous one. This shows the validity of proposed method in identification of spots lying on wooden railway sleepers where we can compromise between time and efficiency to get the desired result.