This week, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division celebrates the 20th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day. The division marks the occasion by remembering the revolutionary ideal that our nation’s founding fathers embedded in the U.S. Constitution: that “securing . . . to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” will “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” For over 200 years, this “exclusive Right” has served as the foundation of the U.S. system of patent, copyright, and trademark laws.

Sabre Corporation and Farelogix, Inc. announced today the termination of their merger agreement.

The partnership between breeder Stonestreet Farm and consignor Denali Stud has produced a bevy of top-dollar horses at auction, and Charlatan's eye-popping triumph in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby showed just what a high-priced offering from that union can do on the racetrack. Charlatan was offered by Denali Stud as agent for Stonestreet's “Bred and […]

The post Kentucky Derby Consignor Standings Presented By Keeneland: Charlatan Keeps Rewarding Denali Stud, Stonestreet Partnership appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Allied Racing Stable LLC's By My Standards, after securing a stalking position from post 12, overhauled front-running Warrior's Charge in midstretch to win the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap by 1 ¾ lengths under Gabriel Saez on Saturday. By My Standards (3 for 3 this year) was exiting a three-length score in the $400,000 New Orleans […]

The post Oaklawn Handicap Winner By My Standards Will Target Breeders’ Cup Classic appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Social distancing could only last so long when Chester Thomas' By My Standards won Saturday's $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap by 1 3/4 lengths over Warrior's Charge. Thomas, the Madisonville, Ky., entrepreneur who races in the named of Allied Racing, and wife Jennifer had one of their sons and daughter in law and another couple over to […]

The post ‘Filled Out,’ ‘Stronger’ By My Standards Will Target Stephen Foster On June 27 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Josh Rushton writes: I’ve been following your blog for a while and checked in today to see if there was a thread on last week’s big-splash Stanford antibody study (the one with the shocking headline that they got 50 positive results in a “random” sample of 3330 antibody tests, suggesting that nearly 2% of the […]

Lauren and Jonah wrote this case study which shows how to do Mister P in R using Stan. It’s a great case study: it’s not just the code for setting up and fitting the multilevel model, it also discusses the poststratification data, graphical exploration of the inferences, and alternative implementations of the model. Adam Haber […]

Seth Flaxman et al. have an updated version of their model of coronavirus progression. Flaxman writes: Countries with successful control strategies (for example, Greece) never got above small numbers thanks to early, drastic action. Or put another way: if we did China and showed % of population infected (or death rate), we’d erroneously conclude that […]

tl;dr: Their 95% interval for the infection rate, given the data available, is [0.7%, 1.8%]. My Bayesian interval is [0.3%, 2.4%]. Most of what makes my interval wider is the possibility that the specificity and sensitivity of the tests can vary across labs. To get a narrower interval, you’d need additional assumptions regarding the specificity […]

What’s new? The new and shiny reduce_sum facility released with Stan 2.23 is far more user-friendly and makes it easier to scale Stan programs with more CPU cores than it was before. While Stan is awesome for writing models, as the size of the data or complexity of the model increases it can become impractical […]

Ivan Oransky points us to this amusing retraction of a meta-analysis. The problem: “Standard errors were used instead of standard deviations when using data from one of the studies”! Actually, I saw something similar happen in a consulting case once. The other side had a report with estimates and standard errors . . . the […]

The Orioles outfielder was open with reporters after publishing an emotional essay.

  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2009-12-14_train.htm

Rangers in Grand Canyon National Park are seeking the public’s assistance in locating 47-year old Shaw Joseph Ostermann of Tempe, Arizona. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2012-04-17_missing.htm

Horace P. Albright Training Center was officially listed to the National Register of Historic Places on September 30, 2013. The only National Park Service (NPS) training center in the West and located within the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park, the Center is a state significant Historic District exemplifying simple, practical, modernist design of the Mission 66 Era. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/albright-training-center.htm

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for parts of Grand Canyon National Park. The warning is in effect from 10 am Saturday, June 17 to 8 pm Wednesday, June 21 for areas below 5,000 feet in the canyon including Phantom Ranch and Indian Garden. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/summer-safety.htm

US Park Rangers of Grand Canyon National Park seek tips from the public to aid a vehicle burglary investigation. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1563/grca-rfi-04132020.htm

Welcome to the new world where global emergency collides with 21st century sloganism.

Despite these Indiana neighbors being forced to stay isolated during the COVID-19 crisis, they have come up with a clever way of staying connected.

The post This Neighborhood Has Been Staying Connected During Social Distancing With Creative ‘I Spy’ Game appeared first on Good News Network.

Black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill) B.S.P) is the dominant forest cover type in interior Alaska and is prone to frequent, stand-replacing wildfires.

A century of effective fire suppression has radically transformed many forested landscapes on the east side of the Cascades. Managers of dry forests critically need information to help plan for and implement forest restoration. Management priorities include the stabilization of fire regimes and the maintenance of habitat for the northern spotted owl and other old-forest associates.

We describe a protocol to monitor the effectiveness of the Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) management standards for maintaining fish habitat. The protocol uses juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in small tributary streams in forested watersheds. We used a 3-year pilot study to develop detailed methods to estimate juvenile salmonid populations, measure habitat, and quantitatively determine trends in juvenile coho salmon abundance over 10 years. Coho salmon have been shown to be sensitive to habitat alterations, and we use coho salmon parr as the primary indicator in the protocol. A priori criteria for type I and type II error rates, effect size, and sample sizes for the protocol were derived with estimates of variance computed from the 3-year pilot study. The protocol is designed to detect trends in abundance of coho salmon parr, as well as coho salmon fry and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), in small streams managed according to TLMP standards and guidelines and to compare these to trends in unmanaged (old-growth) watersheds. Trends are adjusted to account for statistically significant habitat covariates. This information provides an important element in monitoring land management practices in the Tongass National Forest. The methods we describe may have application to monitoring protocols elsewhere for fish populations and land management practices.

Over a 3-day weekend in the spring of 2004 a group of scientists interested in extending understanding of place as applied in recreation research and management convened a working session in Portland, Oregon. The purpose of the gathering was to clarify their understanding of place-related concepts, approaches to the study of people-place relations, and the application of that understanding in recreation management for the purpose of integrating perspectives from different disciplines, discussing approaches to understanding and measuring sense of place, and other questions around the study and application of place-related concepts. Topics that generated the most discussion included how social processes influence place meanings, how place meanings are shared and negoitated within social groups, and when and how place meanings and attachments focus, reduce, or avert conflict in natural resource planning and management. This collection of papers is a result of that meeting.

This report synthesizes the literature on the role of informal economic activity in the United States postindustrial economy. Informal economic activity is expanding in the United States and is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. The formal and informal economic sectors are inextricably intertwined, with individuals and households combining elements of both sectors to construct their livelihoods. Although the informal economy is often thought of as the domain of economically marginal individuals and households, virtually everyone participates in the informal economy to some extent. However, the literature highlights how factors such as social status and household position in the formal economy affect whether participation in informal economic activity is exploitative or empowering. The nontimber forest products sector serves as a case study of why it is important to consider informal economic activity when developing natural resource and economic development policy. We recommend steps policymakers can take to identify and encourage positive aspects of the informal economic activity. We also highlight several areas of research to improve understandings of the role of informal economic activity in postindustrial societies.

This study's objective was to document and describe the current seedling bank of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) stands in southeast Alaska that were partially cut between 1900 and 1984.

Scientists have had little information about how prescribed fire and cattle grazing—common practices in many Western ponderosa pine forests—affect plant abundance and reproduction in the forest understory. Pacific Northwest Research Station scientists began to explore how these practices affect vegetation in a five-year study of postfire vegetation in eastern Oregon ponderosa pine forests where cattle have been routinely pastured from late June or early July through early to mid August. For this area of eastern Oregon, they found that excluding cattle grazing during peak growing season increased native plant cover and grass flowering capability in ungrazed areas compared to grazed areas. Because vegetation was measured prior to releasing cattle on the land, the study's results tend to reflect lasting grazing impacts rather than simple consumption.

This report describes and documents the OpCost forest operations cost model, a key component of the BioSum analysis framework. OpCost is available in two editions: as a callable module for use with BioSum, and in a stand-alone edition that can be run directly from R. OpCost model logic and assumptions for this open-source tool are explained, references to the literature used in all of the submodels included in OpCost are provided, and guidance is offered on how to change the default hourly machine rates associated with overall logging cost calculations. OpCost enhancements such as cost component breakout, and identifying the least-cost harvest system, are also described and explained.

Transportation corridors (notably roads) affect wildlife habitat, populations, and entire ecosystems. Considerable effort has been expended to quantify direct effects of roads on wildlife populations and ecological communities and processes. Much less effort has been expended toward quantifying indirect effects. In this report, we provide a comprehensive review of road/transportation corridor ecology; in particular, how this new field of ecology has advanced worldwide. Further, we discuss how research thus far has shaped our understanding and views of the ecological implications of transportation infrastructures, and, in turn, how this has led to the current guidance, policies, and management options. We learned that the impacts of transportation infrastructures are a global issue, with the potential to affect a wide variety of taxonomically diverse species and ecosystems. Because the majority of research to date has focused on the direct and more aesthetic and anthropocentric implications of transportation corridors, mainly wildlife-vehicle collisions, it is a fairly standard practice to incorporate underpasses, green bridges (i.e., overpasses), fencing, and barriers into road corridors to alleviate such impacts. Few studies, however, have been able to demonstrate the efficiency of these structures. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly evident that the indirect implications of transportation infrastructures (i.e., behavioral responses of wildlife individuals to roads) may be more pervasive, at least from the standpoint of biological diversity. Understanding how road corridors influence the functional connectivity of landscapes is crucial if we are to effectively manage species of concern. With these issues in mind, we propose a program of study that addresses the indirect and cumulative implications of transportation infrastructure on species distributions, community structure and ecosystem function

CONCORE ENTERTAINMENT star NATALIA DAMINI performed her new hit PACEMAKER (f/ PETEY PABLO) on an IG LIVE this past TUESDAY (NET NEWS 5/4) with iHEARTMEDIA Top 40 WAKS (96.5 KISS … more

An NHL NETWORK documentary on the 50th anniversary of the BOSTON BRUINS' 1970 STANLEY CUP championship is narrated by DROPKICK MURPHYS founder KEN CASEY. "THE 1970 BRUINS: BIG, BAD … more

Following their groundbreaking debut on ABC-TV's  GOOD MORNING AMERICA, CURB/WORD ENTERTAINMENT four-time GRAMMY winning duo FOR KING & COUNTRY have unveiled the official video … more

Speaking on the current status of the The Voice’s return Brooke said she’s in constant contact with fellow finalists and production

Statement Highlight: Resistant blood pressure affects 12 percent to 15 percent of people currently being treated for high blood pressure.

Washington, D.C.—March 20, 2020—Patient groups representing millions of people with serious health conditions are urging a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject a federal rule expanding the availability of short-term limited-duration...

WASHINGTON, D.C., 1 de abril del 2020 – 28 grupos de pacientes y consumidores que representan a millones de personas en todo el país con afecciones de salud preexistentes emitieron la siguiente declaración sobre la decision de la administración de no...

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule that threatens to undermine the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. The American Lung Association, Allergy & Asthma Network, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American...

U.S. and Canadian university students traveled to Istanbul in the summer of 2013, to investigate the issues behind national street demonstrations protesting the Turkish prime minister's authoritarian style. This is their multimedia report.

DALLAS, April 23, 2020 — As social distancing keeps families apart, many who care for a parent or loved one with heart failure may be left wondering how to best keep them safe. In the United States, more than 6 million people are living with heart...

  DALLAS, 23 de abril del 2020 — A medida que el distanciamiento social mantiene a las familias separadas, es posible que muchos de los que cuidan de un padre o un ser querido que padece insuficiencia cardíaca se pregunten cómo...

The workforce of the 21st century is more diverse than before. Over 85% of the total global workforce comprises frontline workers. Frontline workers are essentially the employees that have to be ‘present’ to accomplish their jobs. Unlike knowledge workers who can work from anywhere, frontline workers have to be on the ‘field’ which can be...

Coronavirus provides a chilling lesson about crowding. The disease originated in a densely packed Chinese City. As it moved worldwide it struck most heavily in crowded places where people live and...

Mother’s Day celebrations will look different for many families this year as we follow social distancing guidelines. Fortunately, we don’t have to be in proximity to express our love...

MARENGO
Stanley N. Hauser, 87, died Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo.

STANLEY N. HAUSER
Marengo


Stanley N. Hauser, 87, of Marengo, passed away Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at Rose Haven Nursing Home. A graveside service will be held at noon Tuesday, May 12, at Calvary Cemetery in Marengo, with Father David Wilkening officiating. Military honors will be conducted at a later date. A memorial fund has been established in Stanley's
name. Kloster Funeral Home in Marengo is assisting the family with arrangements.

STANLEY N. HAUSER
Marengo



Stanley N. Hauser, 87, of Marengo, passed away Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at Rose Haven Nursing Home. A graveside service will be held at noon Tuesday, May 12, at Calvary Cemetery in Marengo, with Father David Wilkening officiating. Military honors will be conducted at a later date. A memorial fund has been established in Stanley's
name. Kloster Funeral Home in Marengo is assisting the family with arrangements.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and his children, Paul and Anita Hauser of Rochester, N.Y., Sheila and David Sherman of Marengo, Jeff and Gayle Hauser of Royal Oak, Mich., Scott and Mindy Hauser of Rochester, N.Y., Karen Hauser Richards of Grinnell and David and Debbie Hauser of Ankeny; he also leaves 16 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and three of his siblings, Ruth Hauser Serck, and her husband, Ronald of Rock Valley, Kenneth Hauser, and his wife, Dorcas of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Carol Hauser Williams, and her husband, Billy of East Bend, N.C.
He was preceded in death by three of his siblings, Anna Marie Hauser Gardner of Minneapolis, Ralph Hauser of Rock Valley and Edward Hauser of Rock Valley; and a sister-in-law, Sharon Hellwig Leinen of Yankton, S.D.
Better yet, toast his memory with a Black Velvet and 7-Up. Stan would like to know you're enjoying life.
Online condolences: www.klosterfuneralhome.com.

I am a longtime resident of Johnson County, currently in my 25th year of law enforcement. I worked for the Coralville Police Department in the late 1990’s and transferred to the Cedar Rapids Police Department in 1999 where I am a sergeant of the patrol division. I have degrees in criminal justice and organizational leadership and have advanced leadership training from Northwestern University in the School of Police Staff and Command.

Working in the second-largest city in the state has offered me many opportunities to lead. I have taught in the police academy and defensive tactics and as a field training instructor. I was the director of the Eastern Iowa Heroin Initiative, where I founded CRUSH of Iowa (Community Resources United to Stop Heroin). CRUSH is a community-based, grassroots organization helping all those affected by substance abuse disorder.

My passion has been community outreach. Currently I am a member of the Johnson County Human Trafficking Coalition and the Johnson County Prevention Partnership. Through these partnerships I will create a criminal interdiction team to fight the trafficking of humans, weapons and narcotics.

As sheriff, my top three concerns are substance abuse, mental health and human trafficking. I believe in creating long-lasting relationships with the community. I believe in common sense solutions without the haze of political bias. I believe that every citizen has a voice and should be heard. I believe in building a proactive and progressive law enforcement agency that serves with professionalism, compassion and dedication to the citizens. I believe we need to place the community back into community policing.

I am ready to be sheriff of Johnson County. I am a proven leader who is determined to build bridges with the citizens of the county and lead with accountability, trust and transparency. I will fight for all of Johnson County as sheriff because I have done so all of my life. This election is not just about me, it is about us. We, together, will make a positive impact on Johnson County. The status quo is not working. It’s time for change!

I would love to have your vote on June 2. We work better when we work together. People before politics!

Al Fear is a candidate in the Democratic primary for Johnson County sheriff. alfearforsheriff.com

Growing up on the Greenfield family farm outside a little town of 500, we worked hard and learned to look out for one another.

I’ve visited with folks in every corner of Iowa during my U.S. Senate campaign. The people I hear from want the dignity of providing for their families, and to know they can get a hand up when they need it. Now, as the coronavirus threatens our communities and Washington seems more focused on pointing fingers than getting results, Iowans want to know that we can get through this and come out stronger in the end. I’ve been through tough times, and I know from my own life that the only way we get through is by pulling together.

I was 24 when my first husband, an electrical worker, was killed in a workplace accident. Social Security and hard-earned union benefits helped me get back on my feet and pursue a career where I could support my two young sons. I’ll fight to protect and strengthen Social Security so every Iowan can get that same hand up.

So, I know what it’s like to have a loved one not come home from work. When I hear about workers having to choose between staying home safely or earning a paycheck, I say no way. Since March, I’ve put out two plans calling for more testing, personal protective equipment, paid sick leave, premium pay, and stronger protections for our front-line workers.

I also believe health care is a right — not a privilege. This shouldn’t be partisan.

As a businesswoman and a mom, I know the tough decisions our small businesses and families are making right now. That’s why I’ve called for more urgent economic aid and faster help for our small businesses and workers — not more bailouts for corporate CEOs. We also need a robust infrastructure plan and to invest in more skills training to create opportunity in all of our hometowns.

None of this will happen unless we make Washington work more like we do by ending political corruption. I’m not taking a dime of corporate PAC money and I will work to overturn Citizens United, and ban dark money and corporate PACs.

Sen. Joni Ernst broke her promise to be different. Instead, she’s voted with Mitch McConnell and her corporate PAC donors for tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest — while hardworking Iowans fall further behind.

Iowans deserve a senator who shares their grit and their resolve, who will carry the fight for our small towns and our working families in her heart. It’s how we get through this pandemic and how we create more opportunity for our state. In the Senate, I’ll never forget where I’m from or who I’m fighting for, and I’ll always put Iowa first.

Theresa Greenfield is a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Coronavirus provides a chilling lesson about crowding. The disease originated in a densely packed Chinese City. As it moved worldwide it struck most heavily in crowded places where people live and work in proximity.

Medical experts advise us to stay home and keep fellow humans at a distance. Isolation works. If a pathogen can’t reach us it can’t cause harm.

The same holds true for food. Years ago farmers planted diverse crops in relatively small fields, and raised modest numbers of chickens, pigs, and cattle. One cornfield or chicken coop was, essentially, isolated from the next closest counterpart, making it hard for a disease to jump from one farm to the next.

Modern Agriculture, in contrast, raises hundreds of thousands of chickens and turkeys crowded together in single buildings. Hogs and cattle are also crammed together, as are crops. Essentially the Midwest is one continuous cornfield stretching from Ohio to Nebraska. Once a pathogen mutates a new disease can easily sweep across vast fields or through crowded growing buildings, leaving a path of death and food shortages in its wake.

Modern mass agriculture is efficient, providing consumers with inexpensive eggs, milk, vegetables and meat, but it is vulnerable. Today’s farmers recognize disease potential and practice scrupulous biosecurity to keep pathogens away from their crops and animals. Still, all it takes is one mutation or introduction of a foreign microbe and a high percentage of American food is lost.

Families can reduce their vulnerability to mass food production by growing some at home. During The Second World War the government encouraged families to plant victory gardens and keep one to two hens per family member. Many households were able to grow up to 40% of their annual dietary needs, even in small yards. It freed commercially produced food for the military. Yards remain capable of growing significant quantities of nutritious food using three techniques.

Gardening: An amazing quantity of nutritious food can be grown in even a small sunny backyard, especially when intensive gardening techniques are used.

Foraging: Delicious wild foods grow in unsprayed yards and are free for the picking. Our family, for example, enjoys nettles, lambsquarters, purslane, acorns and dandelions. Learning to identify, harvest, and process them is not difficult. Ironically spraying a yard kills plants people can eat to favor inedible grass.

Chickens: A six hen backyard flock will produce two dozen eggs a week. They need some commercial feed but recycle kitchen scraps and garden weeds into eggs. Cedar Rapids and other towns allow families to keep chickens with a few restrictions.

Families unable or unwilling to grow backyard food can boost food security by buying vegetables, meat and eggs from small local producers.

Coronavirus has taught us about contagion and helps clarify the threat that mass production poses. Raising backyard food enhances resilience. It’s satisfying and helps ensure there will be something to eat.

Rich Patterson of Cedar Rapids is a writer, former nature center director and ecological consultant who co-owns Winding Pathways LLC with his wife, Marion.