Third Annual Report of the Farm Management Service for Farmers in Soil Conservation Demonstration Areas for the year 1937 (April 1937 to March 1938)

Farm Management,

Fate of conjugated natural and synthetic steroid estrogens in crude sewage and activated sludge batch studies

This document is the unedited author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es801952h.Steroids are excreted from the human body in the conjugated form but are present in sewage influent and effluent as the free steroid, the major source of estrogenic activity observed in water courses. The fate of sulfate and glucuronide conjugated steroid estrogens was investigated in batch studies using activated sludge grown on synthetic sewage in a laboratory-scale Husmann simulation and crude sewage from the field. A clear distinction between the fate of sulfate and glucuronide conjugates was observed in both matrices, with sulfated conjugates proving more recalcitrant and glucuronide deconjugation preferential in crude sewage. For each conjugate, the free steroid was observed in the biotic samples. The degree of free steroid formation was dependent on the conjugate moiety, favoring the glucuronide. Subsequent degradation of the free steroid (and sorption to the activated sludge solid phase) was evaluated. Deconjugation followed the first order reaction rate with rate constants for 17α-ethinylestradiol 3-glucuronide, estriol 16α-glucuronide, and estrone 3-glucuronide determined as 0.32, 0.24, and 0.35 h respectively. The activated sludge solid retention time over the range of 3−9 days had 74 to 94% of sulfate conjugates remaining after 8 h. In contrast, a correlation between increasing temperature and decreasing 17α-ethinylestradiol 3-glucuronide concentrations in the activated sludge observed no conjugate present in the AS following 8 h at 22 °C Based on these batch studies and literature excretion profiles, a hypothesis is presented on which steroids and what form (glucuronide, sulfate, or free) will likely enter the sewage treatment plant.EPSR

Understanding District Assemblywomen Participation in District Assemblies Common Fund Decisions in Ghana

Abstract The problem addressed in this study is that there is no deep understanding of the perspectives of the Assemblywomen of Ghana regarding their participation in the District Assemblies Common Fund (Common Fund) in Ghana. This qualitative case study aimed to explore and understand the perspectives of the assemblywomen’s participation in decisions of the Common Fund regarding development initiatives in their districts. The study used two theoretical frameworks, citizen participation theory and a sequential theory of decentralization, to provide better insights into the existence of this gap. The critical finding derived from an analysis of interviewing 25 assembly members is that the assemblywomen play no role in the decision-making process of the Common Fund. This finding led to the recommendation that the government provides 30% seats for women in the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to fill this participation gap. This analysis showed that the District assemblies are far from accomplishing President Rawlings’ decentralization policy. Nevertheless, with the implementation of the recommendation to increase the number of assemblywomen in the assemblies, there is a good chance that such an increase will increase the number of assemblywomen and their participation, thus bringing about positive social change

The impact of large scale licensing examinations in highly developed countries: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: To investigate the existing evidence base for the validity of large-scale licensing examinations including their impact. METHODS: Systematic review against a validity framework exploring: Embase (Ovid Medline); Medline (EBSCO); PubMed; Wiley Online; ScienceDirect; and PsychINFO from 2005 to April 2015. All papers were included when they discussed national or large regional (State level) examinations for clinical professionals, linked to examinations in early careers or near the point of graduation, and where success was required to subsequently be able to practice. Using a standardized data extraction form, two independent reviewers extracted study characteristics, with the rest of the team resolving any disagreement. A validity framework was used as developed by the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education to evaluate each paper’s evidence to support or refute the validity of national licensing examinations. RESULTS: 24 published articles provided evidence of validity across the five domains of the validity framework. Most papers (n = 22) provided evidence of national licensing examinations relationships to other variables and their consequential validity. Overall there was evidence that those who do well on earlier or on subsequent examinations also do well on national testing. There is a correlation between NLE performance and some patient outcomes and rates of complaints, but no causal evidence has been established. CONCLUSIONS: The debate around licensure examinations is strong on opinion but weak on validity evidence. This is especially true of the wider claims that licensure examinations improve patient safety and practitioner competence

An Ontological Approach to Inform HMI Designs for Minimizing Driver Distractions with ADAS

ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are in-vehicle systems designed to enhance driving safety and efficiency as well as comfort for drivers in the driving process. Recent studies have noticed that when Human Machine Interface (HMI) is not designed properly, an ADAS can cause distraction which would affect its usage and even lead to safety issues. Current understanding of these issues is limited to the context-dependent nature of such systems. This paper reports the development of a holistic conceptualisation of how drivers interact with ADAS and how such interaction could lead to potential distraction. This is done taking an ontological approach to contextualise the potential distraction, driving tasks and user interactions centred on the use of ADAS. Example scenarios are also given to demonstrate how the developed ontology can be used to deduce rules for identifying distraction from ADAS and informing future designs

Spatial Drift Dynamics of Shovelnose Sturgeon and Pallid Sturgeon Prelarvae in the Transition Zone of Ft. Peck Reservoir

Habitats in reservoir headwaters may cause high mortality of sturgeon prelarvae. Short inter-reservoir reaches export drifting prelarvae from hatch locations into reservoirs. However, flooded vegetation could entrain prelarvae. We used 2 day post hatch (dph) shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and 1-dph pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) to determine the spatial dynamics of drifting prelarvae.We released 220,000 2-dph shovelnose sturgeon 4 km upstream of Ft. Peck Reservoir and 135,000 1-dph pallid sturgeon 2.5 km upstream of the reservoir the following day. We recaptured shovelnose sturgeon prelarvae with nets deployed along three transects of the transition zone and within the headwaters of the reservoir.We sampled 5148.2 m3 of water and recaptured 323 prelarval shovelnose sturgeon for a recapture rate of 0.14 percent. Fifty-nine percent of recaptured prelarvae were recaptured from the thalweg, 12 percent from the flooded vegetation-main channel interface, 9 percent from the channel border, and 19 percent from the zero-velocity area of Ft. Peck Reservoir. We recaptured pallid sturgeon prelarvae with nets deployed along one transect of the transition zone and within the headwaters of the reservoir. We sampled 6608.5 m3 of water and recaptured 397 pallid sturgeon prelarvae for a recapture rate of 0.29 percent. Twenty one percent of prelarvae were recaptured within the thalweg, 0.25 percent were recaptured along the channel margins, and 79 percent from the zero-velocity area of Ft. Peck Reservoir. Although recapture rates were low, the majority of prelarvae were captured in the thalweg and transported to the headwaters of Ft. Peck Reservoir. The drift dynamics observed in this study provide a springboard for further research

Evaluation of Community-Based Cessation Programs: How Do Smokers with Behavioral Health Conditions Fare?

Though persons with behavioral health conditions experience large disparities in tobacco use, questions about the efficacy of evidence-based tobacco use treatment remain understudied in community health settings. This evaluation examined outcomes from eight community-based tobacco cessation programs for participants with and without behavioral health conditions (n = 974 participants). The majority (64.8%) of participants reported one or more current behavioral health conditions, including mental illness and/or substance abuse. Participants who used cessation medication during the program and who attended more counseling sessions had an increased likelihood of being quit at 4-month follow-up. Quit rates were between 9.8% (intent-to-treat rate) and 30.6% (responder rate); behavioral health status did not negatively affect reported quit rates. Findings add to the growing literature evaluating community-based interventions within the behavioral health population

Greenhouse gas emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Current and future carbon emissions from land-use change and energy consumption were analyzed for Sub-Saharan Africa. The energy sector analysis was based on UN energy data tapes while the land-use analysis was based on a spatially-explicit land-use model developed specifically for this project. The impacts of different energy and land-use strategies on future carbon emissions were considered. (A review of anthropogenic emissions of methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons in Sub-Saharan Africa indicated that they were probably minor in both a global and a regional context. The study therefore was focused on emissions of carbon dioxide.) The land-use model predicts carbon emissions from land use change and the amount of carbon stored in vegetation (carbon inventory) on a yearly basis between 1985 and 2001. Emissions and inventory are modeled at 9000 regularly-spaced point locations in Sub-Saharan Africa using location-specific information on vegetation type, soils, climate and deforestation. Vegetation, soils, and climate information were derived from continental-scale maps while relative deforestation rates(% of forest land lost each year) were developed from country-specific forest and deforestation statistics (FAO Tropical Forest Resources Assessment for Africa, 1980). The carbon emissions under different land use strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa were analyzed by modifying deforestation rates and altering the amount of carbon stored under different land uses. The considered strategies were: preservation of existing forests, implementation of agroforestry, and establishment of industrial tree plantations. 82 refs., 16 figs., 25 tabs

Unconditional care in academic emergency departments

Recent news stories have explicitly stated that patients with symptoms of COVID-19 were "turned away" from emergency departments. This commentary addresses these serious allegations, with an attempt to provide the perspective of academic emergency departments (EDs) around the Nation. The overarching point we wish to make is that academic EDs never deny emergency care to any person