Abstract: The prevalence of wildfires in the Western United States has had devastating effects, and due to climate change, these fires are becoming more and more common. One effective way to address this issue is through appropriately and adequately distributing fire fighting stations in high-risk areas. In this research, geospatial analysis was used to locate the fire stations most overworked in terms of the area they are responsible for, the density of housing units in that area, and the risk of a fire in the area. In order to do this, archived data on the locations of fire stations and the fire risk at various locations in Idaho was used. The risk data was calculated in previous research. A Voronoi Diagram was generated around each fire station to define the area of responsibility for each station. A Voronoi Diagram was also created around the risk locations. Overlapping these polygons allowed for the calculation of the risk that each fire station is responsible for. By multiplying the risk across the cell by the area of the cell the most overworked stations in Idaho were revealed. The results showed two especially high-risk stations, one in Southeast Boise and one in Mountain Home. Respectively, their risks are 4835% and 4340% of the average station risk. The construction of additional fire stations in these areas could work to reduce this risk, but further research is needed here.

References

1. Burke, Marshall, et al. “The Changing Risk and Burden of Wildfire in the United States.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118, no. 2, 12 Jan. 2021, www.pnas.org/content/118/2/e2011048118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011048118.

2. Environmental Defense Fund. “Here’s How Climate Change Affects Wildfires.” Environmental Defense Fund, www.edf.org/climate/heres-how-climate-change-affects-wildfires.

3. Finney, Mark A., et al. “A Simulation of Probabilistic Wildfire Risk Components for the Continental United States.” Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, vol. 25, no. 7, 27 Mar. 2011, pp. 973–1000, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-011-0462-z. Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.

4. “Fire Stations.” Hifld-Geoplatform.opendata.arcgis.com, hifld-geoplatform.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/0ccaf0c53b794eb8ac3d3de6afdb3286_0/explore?location=38.601968%2C-120.631622%2C3.77. Accessed 9 Mar. 2023.

5. H., Scott, Joe, et al. Wildfire Risk to Communities: Spatial Datasets of Landscape-Wide Wildfire Risk Components for the United States. www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/Catalog/RDS-2020-0016. Accessed 9 Mar. 2023.

6. Olawoyin, Rachel, and Peter Kwabenah Acheampong. “Objective Assessment of the Thiessen Polygon Method for Estimating Areal Rainfall Depths in the River Volta Catchment in Ghana.” Ghana Journal of Geography, vol. 9, no. 2, 2017, pp. 151–174, www.ajol.info/index.php/gjg/article/view/159544, 10.4314/gjg.v9i2. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.

7. Renkas, Artur Renkas. “Optimization of Fire Station Locations to Increase the Efficiency of Firefighting in Natural Ecosystems.” Journal of Environmental Research, Jan. 2022.

8. Tran, Q. T.; Tainar, D.; Safar, M. (2009). Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems. p. 357. ISBN 9783642037214.

9. “Wildfires by State.” Policygenius, www.policygenius.com/homeowners-insurance/wildfires-by-state/.

10. Yu, Wenhao, et al. “Service Area Delimitation of Fire Stations with Fire Risk Analysis: Implementation and Case Study.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 6, 19 Mar. 2020, p. 2030, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062030. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.

Abstract: Green roofs (GRs) are typically used to retain stormwater and are increasingly being used to produce food by growing edible vegetation, such as Mad Hatter Peppers (Capsicum baccatum). However, there have been conflicting studies on whether GRs can feasibly produce Capsicum baccatum in GRs compared to in-ground production. To test this, water retention was compared among small-scale models of three different vegetation types: two Sedum setups, two Capsicum baccatum setups, and one bare setup. The models used water storage compartments and moisture retention fabric to increase water retention and to reduce the need for irrigation. There was not a statistically significant difference in water retention between the different vegetation types, and the Capsicum baccatum wilted by the end of the study, so it did not produce food. These results indicate that Sedum should be used in future GRs because they can provide many benefits other than water retention, whereas Capsicum baccatum may not be healthy enough to provide other benefits.

References

1. Manceaux, Pauline, et al. “Hormonal and Developmental Influences on Adolescent Suicide: A Systematic Review.” Psychiatria Danubina, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 27 Sept. 2015, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26417784/.

2. Cash, Scottye J, and Jeffrey A Bridge. “Epidemiology of Youth Suicide and Suicidal Behavior.” Current Opinion in Pediatrics, vol. 21, no. 5, 2009, pp. 613–619, doi:10.1097/mop.0b013e32833063e1.

3. Harmer, Bonnie, et al. “Suicidal Ideation.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 24 Apr. 2023, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33351435/.

4. Millner, Alexander J., et al. “Describing and Measuring the Pathway to Suicide Attempts: A Preliminary Study.” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, vol. 47, no. 3, 2016, pp. 353–369, doi:10.1111/sltb.12284.

5. Tariq, Naveen, and Vikas Gupta. “High Risk Behaviors.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 11 July 2022, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32809591/.

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7. Mendelsohn, Colin. “Smoking and Depression--a Review.” Australian Family Physician, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 4 May 2012, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22558621/.

8. Hamilton, D. F., et al. “Interpreting Regression Models in Clinical Outcome Studies.” Bone & Joint Research, vol. 4, no. 9, 4 Sept. 2015, pp. 152–153, doi:10.1302/2046-3758.49.2000571.

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12. Selkie, Ellen M., et al. “Cyberbullying, Depression, and Problem Alcohol Use in Female College Students: A Multisite Study.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 18, no. 2, 1 Feb. 2015, pp. 79–86, doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0371.

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14. Stahl, Stephen M. “The Psychopharmacology of Energy and Fatigue.” The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, vol. 63, no. 1, 2002, pp. 7–8, doi:10.4088/jcp.v63n0102.

15. López-Sobaler, Ana M.a, et al. “Importancia Del Desayuno En La Mejora Nutricional y Sanitaria de La Población.” Nutrición Hospitalaria, vol. 35, no. 6, 2018, doi:10.20960/nh.2278.

Abstract: Increasing evidence suggests that Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has affected the global population, but a group often overlooked is the adolescent population. Facing milder symptoms of COVID-19 as compared to their older counterparts, adolescents are not the prime focus of COVID research. This study measured the impacts of COVID on teenage neural processing and speech perception.
The current study compared the neural response to speech sounds in high-schoolers with and without a history of contracting COVID. event-related potential paradigm was used, and the electro-encephalogram (EEG) waves were time-locked to each speech stimulus. The mismatch negativity responses ( the difference between the standard and deviant sounds) were compared between the two participant groups. The two English vowels /ɪ/ and /ɛ/ were used in a nine-equal-step continuum as stimuli.
Overall, adolescents without a history of COVID showed larger standard and deviant responses at all three brain regions and across both standard and deviant conditions, except deviant conditions at the dominant hemisphere. Taken together, these findings suggest that contracting COVID may have long-term effects on the brains of adolescents. Future studies may examine the longer-term effect of COVID on the developing brain, given that participants of this study who had COVID were tested within 6 months of recovery.

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