Direct Filtration Versus Conventional Water Treatment in the Intermountain Region

The direct filtration water treatment scheme does not include sedimentation and in some cases flocculation. Compared to conventional treatment, direct filtration has lowered capital costs, reduced space requirements, decreased sludge quantities, and reduced coagulant dosages. One objective of this research was the statistical comparison of the direct filtration, Utah Valley Water Purification Plant (Orem, Utah) and the conventional Little Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant (Salt Lake City, Utah). These treatment plants are the two most compatible treatment plants having the highest correlation of source water in the local area. The Little Cottonwood plant receives approximately 65 percent of its sources water from Deer Creek Reservoir whereas the Utah Valley plant receives all of its source water from Deer Creek Reservoir. Data from August 1, 1980, through August 31, 1983, were obtained from the daily water quality and plant operation logs of the two treatment plants. Utilizing the computer, the data were clocked into season means and compared staistically in several fashions. The water quality parameter of most importance in the comparison is the finished water turbidities. The most benficial results were obtained from a two-way analysis of variance using an F-ratio as the reference for signifiicance. The F-ratio for the finished water turbidity at the degree of significance, alpha = 0.01, proved not significant. The overall statistical analysis exhibits that the Utah Valley plant produces not only acceptable finished water turbinities well below EPA\u27s maximum contaminant level of 1 TU, but one that is also comparable in quality to that of the conventional processes of the Little Cottonwood Treatment Plant. Another objective of this research was the operation of two pilot-scale direct filtration systems at the Utah Valley treatment plant. The pilot plant treated the same source water and used the same dual-filter media as the Utah Valley treatment plant. The pilot plant flow processes consisted of a rapid mix basin, a flocculation basin, and the filter column. Filters were evaluated by the filter performance index (F.P.I.), which is based on the quantity of turbidity removed, the volume of water produced during a filter run, and effluent quality. The highest F.P.I. values were achieves during the filter runs using alum as the primary coagulant and a cationic polymer as a coagulant aid. These filter runs produced a product water with finished water rubidities considerably below the EPA maximum contaminant level of 1 TU. The most successful filter runs were characterized with filter loading rates ranging from 3 to 5 gpm/ft^2, and alum and polymer dosages ranging from 2.1 to 8.1 mg/l and 0.70 to 2.2 mg/l, respectively. These filter runs treated raw water with average turbidities from 13.6 to 22.8 NTU

Diet of Juvenile Alabama Shad (Alosa alabamae) in Two Northern Gulf of Mexico Drainages

Understanding food-web ecology is valuable to conservation by linking interactions of multiple species together and illustrating the functionality of trophic exchange. Alosa alabamae (Alabama Shad), an anadromous species, reproduces in northern Gulf of Mexico drainages from February through May, and for this study, the Pascagoula and Apalachicola rivers were chosen to sample juvenile Alabama Shad. The age-0 fish mature within these rivers and have the potential to impact the food web of the systems in which maturation occurs. The focus was to determine if diet changes as Alabama Shad mature, and to identify diet differences between drainages. Diets of Alabama Shad (SL) consisted primarily of a dark, almost black material labeled as unidentifiable organics. while larger Alabama Shad. \u3e50 mm SL, fed almost exclusively on insects. Many groups of aquatic and terrestrial insects were found in the stomachs of this species. Alabama Shad diets also differed among drainages, with the Apalachicola River being dominated by terrestrial insects, and the Pascagoula River having both terrestrial and aquatic insects. Diet and trophic placement of Alabama Shad may allow managers to understand the importance of this fish within its natal rivers

Review of Dam Effects on Native and Invasive Crayfishes Illustrates Complex Choices for Conservation Planning

Dams are among the most prevalent and extreme alterations humans have perpetrated on fluvial systems. The dramatic physical and biological changes caused by dams have been synthesized for many aquatic faunal groups, but not for crayfishes. In addition, invasive crayfish species are an increasing threat to global biodiversity, and dams have both costs and benefits with respect to crayfish invasions. North American crayfishes have imperiled native crayfishes in Europe, largely by hosting and spreading the crayfish plague pathogen Aphanomyces astaci that is lethal to European crayfishes. The differential effects of A. astaci on North American vs. European crayfishes contribute to differences between the continents in the costs and benefits of dams. We reviewed literature on both the detrimental and beneficial effects of dams on crayfishes, with emphasis on conservation of European crayfishes. We also suggested additional potential dam effects that warrant investigation. Our review illustrates the challenges and opportunities dams create for crayfish conservation. Dams create detrimental effects to native crayfishes, including reducing suitable habitats necessary for native habitat-specialist species and creating habitats suitable for non-native habitat-generalist species; fragmenting crayfish populations; and reducing species' ability to recolonize upstream habitats. Conversely, dams can have beneficial effects by creating barriers that slow or halt upstream invasions by non-native crayfishes and spread of the crayfish plague. The complexity of the issues and the limited ecological information available highlights the need for future studies on the effects of dams on crayfishes. Crayfishes are one of the most imperiled groups of aquatic fauna globally; therefore, understanding the beneficial and detrimental effects of dams is essential for effective conservation of many crayfish species

Using endmembers in AVIRIS images to estimate changes in vegetative biomass

Field techniques for estimating vegetative biomass are labor intensive, and rarely are used to monitor changes in biomass over time. Remote-sensing offers an attractive alternative to field measurements; however, because there is no simple correspondence between encoded radiance in multispectral images and biomass, it is not possible to measure vegetative biomass directly from AVIRIS images. Ways to estimate vegetative biomass by identifying community types and then applying biomass scalars derived from field measurements are investigated. Field measurements of community-scale vegetative biomass can be made, at least for local areas, but it is not always possible to identify vegetation communities unambiguously using remote measurements and conventional image-processing techniques. Furthermore, even when communities are well characterized in a single image, it typically is difficult to assess the extent and nature of changes in a time series of images, owing to uncertainties introduced by variations in illumination geometry, atmospheric attenuation, and instrumental responses. Our objective is to develop an improved method based on spectral mixture analysis to characterize and identify vegetative communities, that can be applied to multi-temporal AVIRIS and other types of images. In previous studies, multi-temporal data sets (AVIRIS and TM) of Owens Valley, CA were analyzed and vegetation communities were defined in terms of fractions of reference (laboratory and field) endmember spectra. An advantage of converting an image to fractions of reference endmembers is that, although fractions in a given pixel may vary from image to image in a time series, the endmembers themselves typically are constant, thus providing a consistent frame of reference

Environmental Conditions of 2 River Drainages Into the Northern Gulf of Mexico During Successful Hatching of Alabama Shad (\u3ci\u3eAlosa alabamae\u3c/i\u3e)

In recent years, the Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) has experienced dramatic declines and extirpations from portions of its native range. Habitat degradation and barriers to migration are considered contributing factors to contraction in the distributional range this species. To identify conditions during successful spawning, river temperatures and discharges in 2 drainages of the northern Gulf of Mexico (the Apalachicola and Pascagoula rivers) were characterized during successful hatching “windows.” Sampling during 2005–2009 yielded 400 juvenile Alabama shad of which 261 were aged from counts of rings on sagittal otoliths. Results from logistic regression revealed that successful spawning coincided with increases in temperature within a specific range (9.4–21.5°C) and with an average drainage-dependent discharge volume (625.6 m³/s in the Apalachicola River and \u3e400.7 m³/s in the Pascagoula River). Timing of successful hatching windows differed between drainages but not between years within each drainage. Documenting and identifying the river conditions during successful reproduction provide important information on how to manage rivers to aid in the recovery of this species of conservation concern

Advancing ecosystem accounting in estuaries: Swartkops Estuary case study

Rapid degradation of ecosystems and loss of ecosystem services have sparked interest in developing approaches to report and integrate such change with socio-economic information systems, such as the System of National Accounts. Here we describe an approach and application of ecosystem accounting for individual estuaries, building on approaches previously applied at national and bay levels. Using the Swartkops Estuary as a case study, the focus is on physical accounts for ecosystem extent and condition, as well as accounts for two important ecosystem services (carbon sequestration and recreational use). Pressure accounts are also introduced to demonstrate the value of identifying key areas for management and restoration interventions in response to changes in extent and/or condition accounts. Greater resolution in these account reports, achieved through zoning, provides spatially explicit information on ecosystem assets and their services within an estuary to also inform management decision-making at local level. Further, these accounts can also inform local restoration prioritisation, in support of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), for example offsetting irreversibly degraded areas in one zone with restoration or maintenance of similar habitats in another. Significance: • This study is the first to apply the ecosystem accounting approach at the individual estuary level. • We provide spatially explicit information on ecosystem assets and their services in support of resource management. • Physical accounts include extent and condition, as well as ecosystem service and pressure accounts. • These accounts inform estuary management and restoration at the local governance level

Smad-Runx interactions during chondrocyte maturation

BACKGROUND: Intracellular signaling triggered by bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) results in activated Smad complexes that regulate transcription of BMP-responsive genes. However, the low specificity of Smad binding to regulatory sequences implies that additional tissue-specific transcription factors are also needed. Runx2 (Cbfal) is a transcription factor required for bone formation. We have examined the role of Smads and Runx2 in BMP induction of type X collagen, which is a marker of chondrocyte hypertrophy leading to endochondral bone formation. METHODS: Pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes from the cephalic portion of the chick embryo sternum were placed in culture in the presence or absence of rhBMP-2. Cultures were transiently transfected with DNA containing the BMP-responsive type X collagen promoter upstream of the luciferase gene. The cultures were also transfected with plasmids, causing over-expression of Smads or Runx2, or both. After 24-48 hours, cell extracts were examined for levels of luciferase expression. RESULTS: In the presence of BMP-2, chondrocytes over-expressing BMP-activated Smadl or Smad5 showed significant enhancement of luciferase production compared with that seen with BMP alone. This enhancement was not observed with over-expression of Smad2, a transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)-activated Smad. Overexpression of Runx2 in BMP-treated cultures increased transcriptional activity to levels similar to those seen with Smads 1 or 5. When chondrocytes were simultaneously transfected with both Runx2 and Smad 1 or 5, promoter activity was further increased, indicating that BMP-stimulated Smad activity can be augmented by increasing the levels of Runx2. CONCLUSIONS: These results implicate the skeletal tissue transcription factor Runx2 in regulation of chondrocyte hypertrophy and suggest that maximal transcription of the type X collagen gene in pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes involves interaction of BMP-stimulated Smads with Runx2. Clinical Relevance: Many skeletal abnormalities are associated with impaired regulation of chondrocyte hypertrophy in growth plates. These studies demonstrate that both BMP-activated Smads and Runx2 levels can modulate chondrocyte transition to hypertrophy

Evaluation of a peer coach-led intervention to improve pain symptoms (ECLIPSE): Rationale, study design, methods, and sample characteristics

Chronic pain is prevalent, costly, and a leading cause of disability. Pain self-management (i.e., employing self-management strategies including behavioral modifications) is an effective, evidence-based treatment. However, implementation and delivery of a pain self-management model is challenging because of time and resources. Peer supported pain self-management offers a promising approach to implementing pain self-management programs using fewer clinical resources. Evaluation of a Peer Coach-Led Intervention for the Improvement of Pain Symptoms (ECLIPSE) is a randomized controlled trial testing effectiveness of peer coach-delivered pain self-management intervention versus controls receiving a class on pain and pain self-management. ECLIPSE is a Hybrid Type 1 study testing effectiveness while examining implementation factors. ECLIPSE enrolled 215 veterans randomly assigned to the peer coaching (N = 120) or control (N = 95) arm. The peer coaching intervention lasts 6 months, with patient-peer coach pairs instructed to talk twice per month. Coaches attend initial training, are provided a detailed training manual, and attend monthly booster sessions. Outcomes are assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 9 months. The primary outcome is overall pain (intensity and interference), measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). Secondary outcomes are self-efficacy, social support, pain catastrophizing, patient activation, health-related quality of life, and health care utilization. To maximize implementation potential of pain self-management, innovative delivery methods are needed that do not require additional resources from healthcare teams. A novel and promising approach is a peer-coaching model, in which patients who are successfully managing their pain offer information, ongoing support, and advice to other patients with pain