University of Nebraska Omaha

About: University of Nebraska Omaha is a education organization based out in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 4526 authors who have published 8905 publications receiving 213914 citations. The organization is also known as: UNO & University of Omaha.

* Searching for the Denominator: Problems With Police Traffic Stop Data And an Early Warning System Solution

Abstract: In response to widespread allegations of racial and ethnic discrimination in traffic stops, a practice that has been labeled “racial profiling,” law enforcement agencies are now collecting data on traffic stops that include the race or ethnicity of drivers. Interpreting these data to determine whether a pattern of race discrimination exists poses enormous difficulties. Specifically, it is not clear what baseline (often referred to as “the denominator”) should be used to assess the racial and ethnic distribution of people stopped. Using the first traffic stop data reports from the San Jose Police Department as a case study, this paper examines baselines that are commonly used or discussed as appropriate. The paper argues that resident population data and/or official crime data are not adequate as baselines. As an alternative, the paper proposes an approach based on police early warning systems.

Landscape heterogeneity drives contrasting concentration–discharge relationships in shale headwater catchments

Abstract: Solute concentrations in stream water vary with discharge in patterns that record complex feedbacks between hydrologic and biogeochemical processes. In a comparison of three shale-underlain headwater catchments located in Pennsylvania, USA (the forested Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory), and Wales, UK (the peatland-dominated Up- per Hafren and forest-dominated Upper Hore catchments in the Plynlimon forest), dissimilar concentration-discharge (C-Q) behaviors are best explained by contrasting landscape distributions of soil solution chemistry - especially dissolved organic carbon (DOC) - that have been established by pat- terns of vegetation and soil organic matter (SOM). Specif- ically, elements that are concentrated in organic-rich soils due to biotic cycling (Mn, Ca, K) or that form strong com- plexes with DOC (Fe, Al) are spatially heterogeneous in pore waters because organic matter is heterogeneously dis- tributed across the catchments. These solutes exhibit non- chemostatic behavior in the streams, and solute concentra- tions either decrease (Shale Hills) or increase (Plynlimon) with increasing discharge. In contrast, solutes that are con- centrated in soil minerals and form only weak complexes with DOC (Na, Mg, Si) are spatially homogeneous in pore waters across each catchment. These solutes are chemo- static in that their stream concentrations vary little with stream discharge, likely because these solutes are released quickly from exchange sites in the soils during rainfall events. Furthermore, concentration-discharge relationships of non-chemostatic solutes changed following tree harvest in the Upper Hore catchment in Plynlimon, while no changes were observed for chemostatic solutes, underscoring the role of vegetation in regulating the concentrations of certain ele- ments in the stream. These results indicate that differences in the hydrologic connectivity of organic-rich soils to the stream drive differences in concentration behavior between catchments. As such, in catchments where SOM is dom- inantly in lowlands (e.g., Shale Hills), we infer that non- chemostatic elements associated with organic matter are re- leased to the stream early during rainfall events, whereas in catchments where SOM is dominantly in uplands (e.g., Plyn- limon), these non-chemostatic elements are released later during rainfall events. The distribution of SOM across the landscape is thus a key component for predictive models of solute transport in headwater catchments.

Late effects of therapy in 94 patients with localized rhabdomyosarcoma of the orbit: Report from the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS)-III, 1984-1991.

Abstract: Background We reviewed the late complications of therapy in 94 patients with localized, primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the orbit treated on the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS)-III protocol (1984–1991). Procedure A questionnaire was sent to the institutions that had registered 106 patients with orbital RMS on the IRS-III protocol, seeking information about vision, periocular structures, and growth and development of the 102 survivors. Results Ninety-four questionnaires were returned. The median follow-up interval was 7.6 years. The affected eye was removed from 13 patients because of local recurrence (N = 10) or other causes (N = 3). Seventy-nine of the eighty-one remaining patients had received radiation therapy. Sixty-five of these seventy-nine patients (82%) developed a cataract, and 43 of them (66%) underwent cataract surgery. Fifty-five patients (70%) had decreased visual acuity. Twenty-four patients had a dry eye, and 22 had chronic keratitis, conjunctivitis, or corneal changes. Strabismus, diplopia, retinopathy, and uveitis were uncommon. The orbit was hypoplastic in 48 of 82 patients assessed (59%). Ptosis and enophthalmos were reported in 22 patients. Decreased statural growth was noted in 13 of the 53 irradiated patients aged 3–14 years at diagnosis with sufficient data (24%). Conclusions The overall survival rate was 96% (102/106). The eye was preserved in 86% of the patients, but vision was impaired in 70% of them. Other frequent complications were cataract, orbital hypoplasia, keratoconjunctivitis, and ptosis/enophthalmos. The current IRS-V study recommends decreasing the dose of irradiation and using conformal techniques in an attempt to minimize these complications. Med. Pediatr. Oncol. 34:413–420, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Glacier velocities across the central Karakoram

Abstract: Optical matching of ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) satellite image pairs is used to determine the surface velocities of major glaciers across the central Karakoram. The ASTER images were acquired in 2006 and 2007, and cover a 60 � 120 km region over Baltoro glacier, Pakistan, and areas to the north and west. The surface velocities were compared with differential global position system (GPS) data collected on Baltoro glacier in summer 2005. The ASTER measurements reveal fine details about ice dynamics in this region. For example, glaciers are found to be active over their termini even where they are very heavily debris-covered. The characteristics of several surge-type glaciers were measured, with terminus advances of several hundred meters per year and the displacement of trunk glaciers as surge glaciers pushed into them. This study is the first synthesis of glacier velocities across this region, and provides a baseline against which both past and future changes can be compared.