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Across states there is variation in two dimensions of economic sanctions aimed at compelling individuals with justice system involvement to pay for criminal justice expenses. The first dimension – imposition – relates to the number of statutorily authorized costs. The second dimension – payment enforcement – relates to whether or not a private collection agency can collect economic sanctions; privatization means that offenders have higher financial obligations because of the surcharges and penalties that make these businesses financially successful. Together, these two dimensions of imposition and enforcement can be used to characterize states in terms of the degree to which convicted individuals are compelled to make payments toward costs and fees. Our analysis suggests that the South is more coercive than other regions of the country on these two dimensions and that, within the South, this continuum of coercive costs is worse in states with a history of convict leasing.

A magnetic recording read channel has numerous parameters that must be carefully tuned for its best performance; these include not only the equalizer coefficients, but also any parameters inside the soft-output detector, some of which may be pattern-dependent, including signal levels, predictor coefficients, and residual noise variances. Conventional tuning strategies based on a minimum-mean-squared error criterion are not optimal in terms of frame-error rate and ultimately areal density. Here, we propose a strategy for optimizing the parameters with the aim of minimizing the frame-error rate after error-control decoding. The proposed strategy exploits the close connection between the frame-error rate and the gap between the two curves in an extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart. A stochastic gradient algorithm applied to a cost function that quantifies this gap leads to our proposed adaptive minimum-frame-error rate (AMFER) algorithm for adapting the equalizer and detector parameters. Numerical results based on a quasi-micromagnetic simulated channel show that the AMFER parameters can reduce the frame-error rate by more than two orders of magnitude, leading to a 7% gain in areal density over conventional minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) parameters.

Despite the significant contribution of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) to organic aerosol formation and ozone production and loss, there are few longterm, year-round, ongoing measurements of their volume mixing ratios and quantification of their impacts on atmospheric reactivity. To address this gap, we present 1 year of hourly measurements of chemically resolved BVOCs between 15 September 2019 and 15 September 2020, collected at a research tower in Central Virginia in a mixed forest representative of ecosystems in the Southeastern US. Mixing ratios of isoprene, isoprene oxidation products, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes are described and examined for their impact on the hydroxy radical (OH), ozone, and nitrate reactivity. Mixing ratios of isoprene range from negligible in the winter to typical summertime 24 h averages of 4-6 ppb, while monoterpenes have more stable mixing ratios in the range of tenths of a part per billion up to similar to 2 ppb year-round. Sesquiterpenes are typically observed at mixing ratios of < 10 ppt, but this represents a lower bound in their abundance. In the growing season, isoprene dominates OH reactivity but is less important for ozone and nitrate reactivity. Monoterpenes are the most important BVOCs for ozone and nitrate reactivity throughout the year and for OH reactivity outside of the growing season. To better understand the impact of this compound class on OH, ozone, and nitrate reactivity, the role of individual monoterpenes is examined. Despite the dominant contribution of alpha-pinene to total monoterpene mass, the average reaction rate of the monoterpene mixture with atmospheric oxidants is between 25% and 30% faster than alpha-pinene due to the contribution of more reactive but less abundant compounds. A majority of reactivity comes from alpha-pinene and limonene (the most significant low-mixing-ratio, high-reactivity isomer), highlighting the importance of both mixing ratio and structure in assessing atmospheric impacts of emissions. National Science Foundation Division of Atmospheric and Geospace SciencesNational Science Foundation (NSF) [1837882, 1837891]; Virginia Space Grant Consortium Published version This research has been supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (grant nos. 1837882 and 1837891) and the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.

Prediction of ice formation in clouds presents one of the grand challenges in the atmospheric sciences. Immersion freezing initiated by ice-nucleating particles (INPs) is the dominant pathway of primary ice crystal formation in mixed-phase clouds, where supercooled water droplets and ice crystals coexist, with important implications for the hydrological cycle and climate. However, derivation of INP number concentrations from an ambient aerosol population in cloud-resolving and climate models remains highly uncertain. We conducted an aerosol–ice formation closure pilot study using a field-observational approach to evaluate the predictive capability of immersion freezing INPs. The closure study relies on collocated measurements of the ambient size-resolved and single-particle composition and INP number concentrations. The acquired particle data serve as input in several immersion freezing parameterizations, which are employed in cloud-resolving and climate models, for prediction of INP number concentrations. We discuss in detail one closure case study in which a front passed through the measurement site, resulting in a change of ambient particle and INP populations. We achieved closure in some circumstances within uncertainties, but we emphasize the need for freezing parameterization of potentially missing INP types and evaluation of the choice of parameterization to be employed. Overall, this closure pilot study aims to assess the level of parameter details and measurement strategies needed to achieve aerosol–ice formation closure. The closure approach is designed to accurately guide immersion freezing schemes in models, and ultimately identify the leading causes for climate model bias in INP predictions.

This study used violent victimization data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1994–2018) to examine whether criminal justice interventions (i.e. reporting to the police and arrest) for y...

Background: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) infusions are commonly managed with nurse-driven nomograms titrated to activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). In some patients, anti-Xa values may be more appropriate measures of anticoagulation. At the present institution, an update to the nurse-driven aPTT nomogram requires pharmacist notification and clinical assessment for critically supratherapeutic aPTT results. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the nomogram update. Methods: A single-center, retrospective, pre-post analysis was conducted in patients treated with UFH who experienced a critical aPTT during the 6 months preceding and following the nomogram update. Patients with erroneous critical aPTT results were excluded. The primary endpoint was the time in therapeutic range (Rosendaal method) from the first critical aPTT until UFH discontinuation. Secondary endpoints included the proportion of patients transitioned to anti-Xa monitoring and the incidence of Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) 2, 3, 5 bleeding. Data were analyzed by the χ2 test. The study was institutional review board approved. Results: Of 277 UFH infusions, 142 belonged to the pre-implementation group and 135 to the post-implementation group. Baseline aPTTs were similar between the 2 groups. Time in therapeutic range was 58.1% versus 62.4% of between groups ( P = .467). UFH was transitioned to pharmacist-driven anti-Xa monitoring in 16.2% versus 40.3% of patients ( P < .001). BARC 2, 3, 5 bleeding occurred in 23.2% versus 13.4% of patients ( P < .001). Conclusions: Application of these data suggest improved safety and efficacy outcomes with directed pharmacist management of UFH in patients with critically elevated aPTTs.

Background College students experience a disproportionately high prevalence of both food insecurity and eating disorders. Food insecurity is associated with stress, irregular eating patterns, weight change, depression, and body dissatisfaction, making it a possible risk factor for the onset of eating disorders. However, the association between food insecurity and eating disorders among college students is not well understood. Objective This study explored the relation between food insecurity and screening positive for an eating disorder among students attending a large, public Midwestern university. Design Cross-sectional data were collected using an online survey administered from March through June 2018. Participants/setting Participants were recruited from a random sample of 2,000 students, with oversampling from the following groups: racial/ethnic minorities, first-generation students, and students from lower-income households. Of those sampled, 851 students (43%) responded. The final analytic sample comprised 804 students after excluding those with missing data. Main outcome measure The validated 5-item Sick, Control, One stone, Fat, Food (SCOFF) questionnaire was used to screen for the presence of an eating disorder. Statistical analyses performed Poisson regression was used to model prevalence ratios for positive SCOFF screens (≥2 affirmative responses) by levels of food security (ie, high, marginal, low, or very low). Models were adjusted for sex, age, race/ethnicity, degree type, financial aid, and first-generation student status. Results Compared to students with high food security, a higher prevalence of positive SCOFF screens was found among students with marginal food security (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.83, 95% CI 1.26 to 2.65; P = 0.001), low food security (PR 1.72, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.54; P = 0.007), and very low food security (PR 2.83, 95% CI 2.01 to 3.97; P Conclusions Students with food insecurity at any level were more likely to screen positive for an eating disorder via the SCOFF questionnaire. Prospective studies are needed to determine whether food insecurity is a risk factor for the onset of eating disorders among college students.