Driver license renewal by mail in California

Drivers under the age of 70 whose prior 4-year accident and conviction records showed no entries when examined 2 months prior to the date of expiration of their driver licenses were randomly assigned to either a group that renewed licenses in the normal manner or a group that was offered the opportunity to receive a 4-year license extension by mail. A related experiment involved comparing clean-record drivers of any age who were given a 2-year extension with a group of drivers required to renew in person. Examination of driver records 18 and 28 months subsequent to extension uncovered no deleterious effects of the program, while savings of roughly 3 million dollars annually are expected. Findings are tentative, however, until 4-year data can be collected. The report concludes that the extension program has been successful, that multiple extensions should be authorized and evaluated for drivers with continuing clean records, and that the present exclusion of drivers 70 and above does not appear to be defensible.     

The importance of investigating for uniparental disomy in prenatally identified balanced acrocentric rearrangements

We report the finding of paternal isodisomy for chromosome 14 in a fetus found to have a der(14;14)(q10;q10) by amniocentesis. The pregnancy was complicated by severe polyhydramnios and elevated amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The infant showed features consistent with paternal uniparental disomy (UPD) including postnatal growth retardation, poor respiratory function, feeding difficulties, and evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The present case, in addition to other reported cases of UPD involving balanced acrocentric rearrangements, supports testing for UPD in prenatally detected Robertsonian translocations and isochromosomes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of pathway configuration, landmarks and stress on environmental cognition

The results of this study indicate that manipulations of the pathway grid configuration and landmark placement in a setting cause changes in environmental knowledge. These experimental manipulations were accomplished using a realistic, dynamic simulation technique at the Berkeley Environmental Simulation Laboratory. Measures of environmental knowledge include: memory for incidental information along the simulated urban route, accuracy of route maps, relocation memory for scenes along the route, and questionnaire measures. Data are also presented showing both positive and negative effects of stress from noise on the processes of environmental cognition.     

Barnacle larvae actively select flow environments supporting post-settlement growth and survival

Many marine dispersive propagules select specific settlement sites based on a range of environmental cues. However, the link between larval choice and post-settlement growth and survival is still poorly understood. Here we show that cypris larvae of the barnacle Balanus improvisus actively reject surfaces exposed to local flow speeds exceeding 5-10 cm/s. Field experiments show that post-settlement growth and survival decline in freestream flows above 15 cm/s. Moreover, studies in flume flow at local speeds exceeding 10 cm/s reveal that early juveniles show reduced feeding rates caused by deformation of the cirral fan, reduced retention efficiency, and a decrease in time spent feeding. We conclude that cypris larvae actively reject flow environments that will be suboptimal for suspension feeding in the early post-settlement phase. Our study suggests that larval choice can be adaptively connected to a specific part of the life cycle, in this case the very sensitive time after metamorphosis.     

Accuracy and reliability of dogs in surveying for desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii).

The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is federally listed as "threatened" and is afforded protection in several U.S. states including California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Numerous factors ranging from habitat destruction to disease are thought to contribute to the species' decline throughout its range. Data collection on desert tortoises in the wild is challenging because tortoises are secretive, and many age and size classes are virtually undetectable in the wild. Detection dogs have been used for decades to assist humans, and the use of dogs for wildlife surveys is of increasing interest to scientists and wildlife managers. To address the basic question of whether dogs could be used to survey for the desert tortoise, we quantified the reliability and efficacy of dogs trained for this purpose. Efficacy is the number of tortoises that dogs find out of a known population. Reliability is a measure of how many times a dog performs its trained alert when it has found a tortoise. A series of experimental trials were designed to statistically quantify these metrics in the field setting where dogs trained to locate live desert tortoises were tested on their ability to find them on the surface, in burrows, and in mark-recapture surveys. Results indicated that dogs are effective at and can safely locate desert tortoises with reliability on the surface and are capable of detecting tortoises in burrows under a range of environmental conditions. Dogs found tortoises at the same statistical rate at temperatures between 12 degrees and 27 degrees C, relative humidity from 16% to 87%, and wind speeds up to 8 m/s. In both surface and burrow trials, dogs found >90% of the experimental animals. In comparative studies with humans, dogs found tortoises as small as 30 mm, whereas the smallest tortoise located by human survey teams was 110 mm. Although not all dogs or dog teams meet the requirements to conduct wildlife surveys, results from this study show the promise in using dogs to increase our knowledge of rare, threatened, and endangered species through improved data collection methods.     

Characterizing perfluorooctanoate in ambient air near the fence line of a manufacturing facility: comparing modeled and monitored values

In order to improve our understanding of the nature, measurement and prediction of salts of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in air, two studies were performed along the fence line of a fluoropolymer manufacturing facility. First, a six-event, 24-hr monitoring series was performed around the fence line using the OSHA versatile sampler (OVS) system. Perfluorooctanoate concentrations were determined as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) via liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Those data indicated that the majority of the PFOA was present as a particulate. No vapor-phase PFOA was detected above a detection limit of approximately 0.07 microg/m3. A follow-up study using a high-volume cascade impactor verified the range of concentrations observed in the OVS data. Both studies aligned with the major transport direction and range of concentrations predicted by an air dispersion model, demonstrating that model predictions agreed with monitoring results. Results from both monitoring methods and predictions from air dispersion modeling showed the primary direction of transport for PFOA was in the prevailing wind direction. The PFOA concentration measured at the site fence over the 10-week sampling period ranged from 0.12 to 0.9 microg/m3. Modeled predictions for the same time period ranged from 0.12 to 3.84 microg/m3. Less than 6% of the particles were larger than 4 microm in size, while almost 60% of the particles were below 0.3 microm. These studies are believed to be the first published ambient air data for PFOA in the environment surrounding a manufacturing facility.     

Healthcare utilization and costs among older adult female drivers and former drivers

PurposeThis study compared the healthcare utilization and costs for specific types of medical services among older adult women who currently drive and those who no longer drive.MethodsThis study included 347 women aged 65 or older who were either former (had stopped driving) or current drivers, randomly sampled from a large U.S. health plan to participate in a telephone survey, and who had automated health records with healthcare utilization and cost data. Bivariate analyses and generalized linear modeling were used to examine associations between driving status and healthcare utilization and costs.ResultsAdjusting for age, income, and marital status, former drivers were more likely than current drivers to use mental health care services (RR = 3.37; 95% CI: 1.03, 10.98). Former drivers also tended to use more inpatient (RR = 1.85; 95% CI: 0.88, 3.87) and emergency services (RR = 1.89; 95% CI: 0.96, 3.70), but results did not reach statistical significance. Total annual healthcare costs in 2005 were almost twice as high for former drivers compared with current drivers ($13,046 vs. $7,054; mean difference = $5,992; 95% CI: -$360, $12,344), although this relationship was not statistically significant (CR = 1.61; 95% CI: 0.88, 2.96).Impact on IndustryFormer drivers were more than three times as likely as current drivers to use mental health services, and tended to use more emergency and inpatient services. Further research on factors that potentially mediate the relationship between driving status and health service use is warranted.