Recalibration of the Local Magnitude (ML) Scale for Earthquakes in the Yellowstone Volcanic Region

ABSTRACT The Yellowstone volcanic region is one of the most seismically active areas in the western United States. Assigning magnitudes (M) to Yellowstone earthquakes is a critical component of monitoring this geologically dynamic zone. The University of Utah Seismograph Stations (UUSS) has assigned M to 46,767 earthquakes in Yellowstone that occurred between 1 January 1984 and 31 December 2020. Here, we recalibrate the local magnitude (ML) distance and station corrections for the Yellowstone volcanic region. This revision takes advantage of the large catalog of earthquakes and an increase in broadband stations installed by the UUSS since the last ML update in 2007. Using a nonparametric method, we invert 7728 high-quality, analyst-reviewed amplitude measurements from 1383 spatially distributed earthquakes for 39 distance corrections and 20 station corrections. The inversion is constrained with four moment magnitude (Mw) values determined from time-domain inversion of regional-distance broadband waveforms by the UUSS. Overall, the new distance corrections indicate relatively high attenuation of amplitudes with distance. The distance corrections decrease with hypocentral distance from 3 km to a local minimum at 80 km, rise to a broad peak at 110 km, and then decrease again out to 180 km. The broad peak may result from superposition of direct arrivals with near-critical Moho reflections. Our ML inversion doubles the number of stations with ML corrections in and near the Yellowstone volcanic region. We estimate that the additional station corrections will nearly triple the number of Yellowstone earthquakes that can be assigned an ML. The new ML distance and station corrections will also reduce uncertainties in the mean MLs for Yellowstone earthquakes. The new MLs are ∼0.07 (±0.18) magnitude units smaller than the previous MLs and have better agreement with 12 Mws (3.15–4.49) determined by the UUSS and Saint Louis University.

Saint Louis University GWEP Pivots to Virtual Service Delivery: Lessons Learned

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Saint Louis University GWEP quickly pivoted service initiatives to online formats. Despite challenges of technology literacy and access, GWEP faculty, staff, and students creatively adapted in-person programming to online delivery and developed new virtually-delivered services. These service delivery adaptations provided opportunities for educating students, residents, faculty, community partners, and older adults and their caregivers to gain new knowledge and skills while continuing to participate in programming. This presentation will highlight innovations in the area of services to persons with dementia through Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, caregivers through education and support programs, older adults experiencing loneliness and social isolation through Circle of Friends, and older adults and caregivers through a virtual geriatric assessment clinic. We share highlights here of our efforts to pivot programming, access new funding streams, and, in some cases, create online delivery, including valuable lessons learned.

RIGHTS! Civil and Human Rights Law Portal

On September 1, 2020, LLMC, a non-profit Minnesota-based consortium of law libraries, launched the open-access portal RIGHTS! (http://www.llmc.com/rights/home.aspx). If you are looking for primary materials such as current constitutions, human/civil rights acts, Non-Governmental Organizations’ websites, advocacy organizations, and other resources specifically dealing with injustices regarding marginalized parties, this is the place to look. Their stated mission is preserving legal titles and government documents, while making copies inexpensively available digitally through its on-line service, LLMC-Digital (http://www.llmc.com/about.aspx). The original intent was to focus on primarily US and Canadian sources, as seen by the dropdown navigation on the left of the site, but the site also includes other international sources. The page opens at the “Civil and Human Rights Law Portal—Global,” which includes links to various government organizations, judicial information, non-governmental organizations, research and education resources and various documents from different countries. The RIGHTS! site can also be reached through the parent page (http://LLMC.com) with the link to RIGHTS! Located in the right-hand column. The RIGHTS! Portal is sponsored by the Vincent C. Immel Law Library at Saint Louis University.

Sensitivity and Specificity of the Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination to Detect Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Chinese Population

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) examination is a common screening instrument to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Western countries. However, further work is needed to identify optimal SLUMS cutoff scores for screening MCI and dementia in Chinese populations. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility and diagnostic accuracy of the SLUMS examination in the diagnosis of dementia and MCI in Chinese population. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A cross-sectional multicenter design was conducted. Patients were recruited from the outpatient department of our neurology and psychiatric clinics. The establishment of the gold standard for the SLUMS-Chinese version (SLUMS-C) to detect MCI and dementia was based on the clinical criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) and related neuropsychological testing conducted by 3 certified dementia specialists. The consistency of the diagnosis process and administering SLUMS-C were established prior to the beginning of the study. Data were analyzed, and sensitivity, specificity, and areas under the curve (AUCs) were calculated. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 367 subjects were recruited. The SLUMS-C did not show satisfactory AUCs for the preliminary detection of normal cognitive status and MCI by different educational levels (all AUC 0.32–0.54). However, the SLUMS-C showed acceptable AUCs for the preliminary detection of dementia by different educational levels (all AUC 0.78–0.81). An educational level of senior high school showed the best cutoff, sensitivity, and specificity. The SLUMS-C scores to detect dementia for individuals with at least high school education and less than high school education were &#x3c;24 and 22, respectively. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Our results indicate that the SLUMS-C could be a beneficial and convenient screening instrument to detect dementia in Chinese population. After community screening, a comprehensive clinical evaluation including cognitive assessment, functional status, corroborative history, and imaging confirmation is needed.