SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND GEOMORPHIC EVOLUTION OF PLAYA-LUNETTE SYSTEMS ON THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS OF KANSAS

Geographically and hydrologically isolated, ephemeral playa wetlands are ubiquitous features of the High Plains. Lunettes are dune-like features that form downwind of some larger playas. Although playas are important landscape elements, few systematic inventories have been conducted, and little is known about their evolutionary history. A comprehensive Geographic Information Systems database was created for Kansas utilizing several geospatial data sources, including aerial imagery, digital raster graphics, and SSURGO soils data. In addition, stratigraphic data collected from two representative playa-lunette systems (PLSs) were used to reconstruct paleoenvironment and geomorphic processes occurring within these systems throughout their formation and evolution. Mapping results indicate there are more than 22,000 playas in Kansas, ranging in size from 0.03 ha to 188 ha, with a mean area of 1.65 ha. More than 80% of all playas are smaller than 2 ha and only about 400 are larger than 10 ha. Results indicate that previous High Plains playa inventories failed to identify most playas smaller than 2 ha because data sources were not of sufficient resolution. Additionally, playa identification criteria have not been consistent for all inventories, making it difficult to compare results and establish trends for various playa attributes across the entire High Plains. Stratigraphic investigations of the two PLSs indicate they are composed of sediment spanning more than 40 kyrs, which began accumulating during at least Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. Climate during MIS 3 was similar to modern: warm temperatures, low effective moisture, and playa floors exposed long enough to allow pedogenesis. During MIS 2, climate was relatively cool with higher effective moisture, and playas were inundated for longer periods. During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, climate warmed, yet moisture availability remained relatively high. Several distinct shifts in δ13C identify rapid climate changes associated with the Bølling-Allerød/Younger Dryas climate sequence. Warming continued into the Holocene, though moisture availability was highly variable; Holocene soils are common. Thus, PLSs represents a continuum of the uplands High Plains loess sequence, though deposits are altered by playa hydrology. Geomorphic processes alternated between fluvial- and eolian-driven as climate changed, and detailed records of environmental change throughout their evolution are preserved

Economic Impact of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District on the Regional Economy, 2014-2022

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), the largest conservancy district in Ohio, initiated a significant, multi-year capital improvement plan in 2014 in response to increasing revenues associated with Utica Shale development. This study used input-output analysis to estimate the regional economic impact of MWCD’s spending on infrastructure improvements and related operations from 2014 through 2022. Cleveland State University’s Energy Policy Center found that MWCD’s $182.1 million in capital spending during the study period resulted in$486.8 million of gross output (total economic activity of all sales/revenues), $221.9 million of value added (gross output minus intermediate inputs),$135.6 million in labor income, and 2,287 jobs throughout the conservancy district’s 18-county service area. Additionally, every 1 million spent annually by MWCD during the study period on operations and maintenance (O&M) supported approximately 3.5 million of gross output, $1.9 million of value added,$1.3 million in labor income, and 22 jobs per year on average in the local economy. Altogether, MWCD’s spending on capital improvements and O&M from 2014 through 2022 resulted in $938.3 million of total economic activity for the 18-county region served by the conservancy district

Update on Electricity Customer Choice In Ohio: Competition Continues to Outperform Traditional Monopoly Regulation (Executive Summary)

Key Findings at a Glance: Deregulated Markets Save Ohio Electricity Consumers Billions Since 2011, deregulation has saved Ohio consumers $23.9 billion. The Study Team anticipates that savings will continue for the near term to be around$3 billion per year. However, these savings may be lost, in whole or in part, if deregulated energy markets continue to be undermined by cross subsidies. Competition Outperforms Monopoly Regulation Competition has driven down average electricity prices in deregulated Midwestern states while their regulated peers have seen a steady increase in price of generated electricity

Update on Electricity Customer Choice In Ohio: Competition Continues to Outperform Traditional Monopoly Regulation (Executive Summary)

Key Findings at a Glance: Deregulated Markets Save Ohio Electricity Consumers Billions Since 2011, deregulation has saved Ohio consumers $23.9 billion. The Study Team anticipates that savings will continue for the near term to be around$3 billion per year. However, these savings may be lost, in whole or in part, if deregulated energy markets continue to be undermined by cross subsidies. Competition Outperforms Monopoly Regulation Competition has driven down average electricity prices in deregulated Midwestern states while their regulated peers have seen a steady increase in price of generated electricity

Update on Electricity Customer Choice In Ohio: Competition Continues to Outperform Traditional Monopoly Regulation (Full Report)

The purpose of this study is to provide an update to the research team’s 2016 report “Electricity Customer Choice in Ohio: How Competition Has Outperformed Traditional Monopoly Regulation” using data for 2016 through 2018. Key Findings: 1. Since 2011, Ohio consumers have saved $23.9 billion because of deregulation. 2. Competition has driven down average electricity prices in deregulated Midwestern states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois), while their regulated peers (Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin) have seen a steady increase in price of generated electricity. 3. The Study Team anticipates that savings will continue for the near term to be around$3 billion per year. However, these savings may be lost, in whole or in part, if deregulated energy markets continue to be undermined by cross subsidies of uncompetitive Investor Owned Utility (IOU) generation through Electric Distribution Utility (EDU) riders and surcharges, or through legislatively-mandated, above market Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and subsidies

Shields-1 Technology Demonstration on ELaNaXIX

The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Shields-1 CubeSat will demonstrate a research payload platform for materials durability experiments on emerging radiation shielding technologies. This spacecraft has been manifested on the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative ELaNaXIX mission scheduled for November 2017. Shields-1 has been previously designed for a concept of operations (CONOPS) in the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) environment, and now it has been updated for the polar low earth orbit (PLEO) environment planned for ELaNaXIX. Shields-1 incorporates eight dosimeters for radiation experiments: one in the atomic number (Z)-grade radiation shielding vault, three behind experimental Z-grade radiation shielding samples developed at NASA LaRC, three behind baseline aluminum shielding samples, and one deep inside the research payload. The Z-grade is an atomic number gradient of shielding materials with a low atomic number metal, such as aluminum, with a high atomic number material, like tantalum. The metals are engineered into the vault structure. The research payload structure supports the multiple radiation experiments and provides the systems necessary for space operations and rideshare. Shields-1 includes the resistance and temperature measurement of a charge dissipation film. The data acquisition system has been developed at NASA LaRC to collect temperature, total ionizing dose, charge dissipation film resistance, and coarse sun-sensor photodiode measurements. The Shields-1 mission contributes to the SmallSat community with the development of technologies to increase the lifetimes of CubeSat missions from months to years in multiple radiation environments and increase the return on investment for scientific and commercial spacecraft

Shoot yield drives phosphorus use efficiency in Brassica oleracea and correlates with root architecture traits

The environmental and financial costs of using inorganic phosphate fertilizers to maintain crop yield and quality are high. Breeding crops that acquire and use phosphorus (P) more efficiently could reduce these costs. The variation in shoot P concentration (shoot-P) and various measures of P use efficiency (PUE) were quantified among 355 Brassica oleracea L. accessions, 74 current commercial cultivars, and 90 doubled haploid (DH) mapping lines from a reference genetic mapping population. Accessions were grown at two or more external P concentrations in glasshouse experiments; commercial and DH accessions were also grown in replicated field experiments. Within the substantial species-wide diversity observed for shoot-P and various measures of PUE in B. oleracea, current commercial cultivars have greater PUE than would be expected by chance. This may be a consequence of breeding for increased yield, which is a significant component of most measures of PUE, or early establishment. Root development and architecture correlate with PUE; in particular, lateral root number, length, and growth rate. Significant quantitative trait loci associated with shoot-P and PUE occur on chromosomes C3 and C7. These data provide information to initiate breeding programmes to improve PUE in B. oleracea

An Analysis of Private School Closings

We add to the small literature on private school supply by exploring exits of K-12 private schools. We find that the closure of private schools is not an infrequent event, and use national survey data from the National Center for Education Statistics to study closures of private schools. We assume that the probability of an exit is a function of excess supply of private schools over the demand, as well as the school's characteristics such as age, size, and religious affiliation. Our empirical results generally support the implications of the model. Working Paper 07-0

Promiscuous \u3cem\u3eCoxiella burnetii\u3c/em\u3e CD4 Epitope Clusters Associated With Human Recall Responses Are Candidates for a Novel T-Cell Targeted Multi-Epitope Q Fever Vaccine

Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium transmitted via aerosol. Regulatory approval of the Australian whole-cell vaccine Q-VAX® in the US and Europe is hindered by reactogenicity in previously exposed individuals. The aim of this study was to identify and rationally select C. burnetii epitopes for design of a safe, effective, and less reactogenic T-cell targeted human Q fever vaccine. Immunoinformatic methods were used to predict 65 HLA class I epitopes and 50 promiscuous HLA class II C. burnetii epitope clusters, which are conserved across strains of C. burnetii. HLA binding assays confirmed 89% of class I and 75% of class II predictions, and 11 HLA class II epitopes elicited IFNγ responses following heterologous DNA/DNA/peptide/peptide prime-boost immunizations of HLA-DR3 transgenic mice. Human immune responses to the predicted epitopes were characterized in individuals naturally exposed to C. burnetii during the 2007–2010 Dutch Q fever outbreak. Subjects were divided into three groups: controls with no immunological evidence of previous infection and individuals with responses to heat-killed C. burnetii in a whole blood IFNγ release assay (IGRA) who remained asymptomatic or who experienced clinical Q fever during the outbreak. Recall responses to C. burnetii epitopes were assessed by cultured IFNγ ELISpot. While HLA class I epitope responses were sparse in this cohort, we identified 21 HLA class II epitopes that recalled T-cell IFNγ responses in 10–28% of IGRA+ subjects. IGRA+ individuals with past asymptomatic and symptomatic C. burnetii infection showed a comparable response pattern and cumulative peptide response which correlated with IGRA responses. None of the peptides elicited reactogenicity in a C. burnetii exposure-primed guinea pig model. These data demonstrate that a substantial proportion of immunoinformatically identified HLA class II epitopes show long-lived immunoreactivity in naturally infected individuals, making them desirable candidates for a novel human multi-epitope Q fever vaccine

Work-Related Mental Health and Job Performance: Can Mindfulness Help?

Work-related mental health issues such as work-related stress and addiction to work impose a significant health and economic burden to the employee, the employing organization, and the country of work more generally. Interventions that can be empirically shown to improve levels of work-related mental health – especially those with the potential to concurrently improve employee levels of work performance – are of particular interest to occupational stakeholders. One such broad-application interventional approach currently of interest to occupational stakeholders in this respect is mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Following a brief explication of the mindfulness construct, this paper critically discusses current research directions in the utilization of mindfulness in workplace settings and assesses its suitability for operationalization as an organization-level work-related mental health intervention. By effecting a perceptual-shift in the mode of responding and relating to sensory and cognitive-affective stimuli, employees that undergo mindfulness training may be able to transfer the locus of control for stress from external work conditions to internal metacognitive and attentional resources. Therefore, MBIs may constitute cost-effective organization-level interventions due to not actually requiring any modifications to human resource management systems and practises. Based on preliminary empirical findings and on the outcomes of MBI studies with clinical populations, it is concluded that MBIs appear to be viable interventional options for organizations wishing to improve the mental health of their employees