Mechanical land clearing to promote establishment of coastal sandplain grassland and shrubland communities

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2005. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Blackwell Publishing for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Restoration Ecology 14 (2006): 220-232, doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2006.00124.x.The decline in grasslands and other species-rich early-successional habitats on the coastal sandplains of the northeastern U.S. has spurred management to increase the area of these declining plant communities. We mechanically removed overstory oak and applied seed from a nearby sandplain grassland on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts to evaluate this technique for creating an open oak community able to support sandplain herbaceous species. We compared vegetation structure and composition before and after clearing in an area of total tree removal (clearcutting), an area where 85% of tree basal area was removed (savanna cutting) and in adjacent coastal oak forest. Plant responses to clearcutting and savanna cutting were similar. Sandplain herbs colonized at high frequencies after seeding and increasing herbaceous cover from <7% before clearing to 22-38% three growing seasons later. Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge) increased in cover ~ 6-fold, accounting for 84-90% of the increased herbaceous cover. Other native ruderals, and exotic herbs reached 6%, 2%, and 1%, cover respectively, after three years. Species richness across cleared treatments increased from 30 to 79 species. All forest species were retained. Forest shrubs and trees initially declined from their dominant cover, but rebounded after three years. Tree clearing plus seeding appeared to be a viable management practice for increasing cover of herbaceous sandplain species while causing minimal increases in exotic herbaceous cover. The long-term persistence of sandplain herbs may require periodic disturbances that limit woody regrowth.This work was funded by grants from the A. W. Mellon Foundation and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust to MBL and from the Kohlberg Foundation to TNC

Schooling and Poor Children in 19th-Century America

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68138/2/10.1177_000276429203500307.pd

Primary Invasive Aspergillosis of the Digestive Tract: Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND: Disseminated aspergillosis is thought to occur as a result of vascular invasion from the lungs with subsequent bloodstream dissemination, and portals of entry other than sinuses and/or the respiratory tract remain speculative. METHODS: We report two cases of primary aspergillosis in the digestive tract and present a detailed review of eight of the 23 previously-published cases for which detailed data are available. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: These ten cases presented with symptoms suggestive of typhlitis, with further peritonitis requiring laparotomy and small bowel segmental resection. All cases were characterized by the absence of pulmonary disease at the time of histologically-confirmed gastrointestinal involvement with vascular invasion by branched Aspergillus hyphae. These cases suggest that the digestive tract may represent a portal of entry for Aspergillus species in immunocompromised patients

Aspects of environmental and safety analysis of fusion reactors

Statement of responsibility on title-page reads: M. S. Kazimi, editor, D. A. Dube, R. W. Green, L. M. Lidsky, N. C. Rasmussen, R. W. Sawdye, and J. A. Sefcik"October 1977."Includes bibliographical referencesProgress report; October 1, 1976 to September 30, 1977This report summarizes the progress made between October 1976 and September 1977 in studies of some environmental and safety considerations in fusion reactor plants. A methodology to assess the admissible occurrence rate of major accidental releases is outlined. The pathways for tritium releases are defined. Preliminary assessment of the important factors in evaluation of the reactor containment building response to Li-Air fire is presented.U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration contract EY-76-S-02-243

Propaganda in an Age of Algorithmic Personalization: Expanding Literacy Research and Practice

In this commentary, the author considers the rise of algorithmic personalization and the power of propaganda as they shift the dynamic landscape of 21st‐century literacy research and practice. Algorithmic personalization uses data from the behaviors, beliefs, interests, and emotions of the target audience to provide filtered digital content, targeted advertising, and differential product pricing to online users. As persuasive genres, advertising and propaganda may demand different types of reading practices than texts whose purpose is primarily informational or argumentative. Understanding the propaganda function of algorithmic personalization may lead to a deeper consideration of texts that activate emotion and tap into audience values for aesthetic, commercial, and political purposes. Increased attention to algorithmic personalization, propaganda, and persuasion in the context of K–12 literacy education may also help people cope with sponsored content, bots, and other forms of propaganda and persuasion that now circulate online

Occurrence of mental illness following prenatal and early childhood exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water: a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While many studies of adults with solvent exposure have shown increased risks of anxiety and depressive disorders, there is little information on the impact of prenatal and early childhood exposure on the subsequent risk of mental illness. This retrospective cohort study examined whether early life exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water influenced the occurrence of depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia among adults from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 1,512 subjects born between 1969 and 1983 were studied, including 831 subjects with both prenatal and early childhood PCE exposure and 547 unexposed subjects. Participants completed questionnaires to gather information on mental illnesses, demographic and medical characteristics, other sources of solvent exposure, and residences from birth through 1990. PCE exposure originating from the vinyl-liner of water distribution pipes was assessed using water distribution system modeling software that incorporated a leaching and transport algorithm.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No meaningful increases in risk ratios (RR) for depression were observed among subjects with prenatal and early childhood exposure (RR: 1.1, 95% CI: 0.9-1.4). However, subjects with prenatal and early childhood exposure had a 1.8-fold increased risk of bipolar disorder (N = 36 exposed cases, 95% CI: 0.9-1.4), a 1.5-fold increased risk post-traumatic stress disorder (N = 47 exposed cases, 95% CI: 0.9-2.5), and a 2.1-fold increased risk of schizophrenia (N = 3 exposed cases, 95% CI: 0.2-20.0). Further increases in the risk ratio were observed for bipolar disorder (N = 18 exposed cases, RR; 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3-5.6) and post-traumatic stress disorder (N = 18 exposed cases, RR: 1.7, 95% CI: 0.9-3.2) among subjects with the highest exposure levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this study provide evidence against an impact of early life exposure to PCE on the risk of depression. In contrast, the results provide support for an impact of early life exposure on the risk of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The number of schizophrenia cases was too small to draw reliable conclusions. These findings should be confirmed in investigations of other similarly exposed populations.</p

Measurements of neutron emission induced by muons stopped in metal deuteride targets

An 80 MeV/c negative muon beam from the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron at Brookhaven National Laboratory was used to investigate the stopping of muons inside Pd, Ti and Y targets saturated with deuterium. Neutron emission from the targets was measured with an array of {sup 3}He detectors, and in some runs, the temperature of the target was monitored as a function of time, with and without a flux of muons on the target. The neutron rates were also measured for Pd cathodes in an active electrochemical cell similar in design to those used in so-called cold-fusion'' experiments, and the electrolyte solution was analyzed for excess tritium at rates consistent with these claimed in cold fusion'' experiments. Neutron production catalyzed fusion due to the presence of deuterium in palladium deuteride, PdD{sub 0.7}, exposed to muons was determined in palladium 0.0 {plus minus} 0.03 (stat.) {plus minus} 0.25 (syst.) neutrons per stored muon. 15 refs., 5 figs

The Influence of Dormitory Architecture On Resident Behavior

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66943/2/10.1177_001391657300500402.pd