Reducing Decomposition Time in Landfills by an Aerobic Process

This experiment was performed to determine if sludge produced by the paper industry could be composted faster by promoting the aerobic degradation process. To perform this experiment, I chose a sludge produced by a virgin pulp mill. Once I collected sludge, it was dewatered to a moisture content of sixty-five percent or less. As soon as the sludge was dewatered, I set up four separate composting systems, three of which were run under aerobic conditions and one that was run under anaerobic conditions. The anaerobic conditions only had sludge and plastic for its bulking agent. In the aerobic systems there were three different types of bulking agents used; pine bark, plastic and compost. In the aerobic systems air was introduced into the system. To determine how fast each of the processes was composting, I collected the gases that were produced by each of the systems. The gases that are produced by an anaerobic process was carbon dioxide and methane, whereas an aerobic process produces carbon dioxide and water. Therefore, by analyzing the gases produced by each of the systems periodically and determining the amount of carbon dioxide produced by each of the systems, one can determine the rate of decomposition of the sludge for each of the separate systems. Also the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was determined for each of the system, before and after the degradation occurred. COD was used to measure that content of organic matter in the sludge. This also helped in determining the degradation that has occurred in each of the systems

Old-Age Support in Indonesia: Labor Supply, Intergenerational Transfers and Living Arrangements.

This is the first paper of which we are aware that attemps to formally model the supply-supply behavior of elderly individuals in a developing countryWithout broad-based public pension schemes, the majority of the elderly in developing countries are left to rely on their current and accumulated earnings and support from children as means of support.DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ; AGED ; PENSIONS

Do Coresidency with and Financial Transfers from Children Reduce the Need for Elderly Parents to Work in Developing Countries?

What drives the labor supply decisions of the elderly in developing countries? To what extent do elderly parents use coresidence with or financial transfers from children to reduce their own labor supply in old age? These questions are increasingly important because populations in many developing countries are rapidly aging. A clear understanding of the relationships between different means of support in old age is crucial to the development of sensible policy responses. This paper is one of only a few studies that seeks to formally model elderly labor supply in the context of a developing country while taking into account coresidency with and financial transfers from children. We find little evidence that support from children – either through transfers or coresidency – substitutes for elderly parents’ need to work. Thus, as in developed countries, there is a role for public policy to enhance the welfare of the elderly population.Intergenerational transfers, Old-age support, Elderly labor supply

Chronic disease, depression, and adult attachment within romantic relationships: a longitudinal analysis of trajectories of physical health

Doctor of PhilosophySchool of Family Studies and Human ServicesJared A. DurtschiDespite previous literature illustrating strong links between social relations, mental health, and health outcomes, much remains unknown regarding the associations among adult romantic attachment, depression, and reports of physical health within those diagnosed with a chronic disease. Using a sample of 197 individuals who reported a diagnosed chronic disease and in a cohabiting or romantic relationship from the Flourishing Families Project, a mediated latent growth curve analysis was used to test to what extent trajectories of reported physical health across two years were a function of attachment and depression. Specifically, trajectories of physical health were modeled to examine changes over two years with time-invariant covariates of depressive symptoms and adult attachment predicting initial levels of physical health and changes in physical health over time. Results indicated that as depressive symptoms increased, initial levels of physical health were worse. Higher reports of attachment anxiety were linked with better initial reports of physical health. Further, higher reports of depressive symptoms and attachment anxiety predicted a significant upward shift in the expected trajectory of improved physical health. These results expand current research and theory by examining how adult attachment and depression are linked with expected trajectories in physical health over time

Sense of place in children’s residential care homes: perceptions of home?

How do young people living in residential care perceive their environment? How do they experience the sights, sounds, smell and feel of living in an institution? How may attachment to place contribute to the wellbeing of young people? This paper explores meanings of home in domestic and regulated (institutional) environments from the perspective of young people and staff living and working in a residential children’s home in England. Drawing on a pilot study using visual participatory research methods adapted from the Mosaic approach (Clark 2011), the study identifies what young people and staff considered important about the place where residents lived. Using photographs and commentary, three conceptual themes are discussed: the home as institutional space; the home as ‘practices’; and home as idealised space. The paper raises questions as to how ways of ‘doing home’ can be supported in these liminal spaces that strive to be both domestic and institutional

Paving the Pathways to Quality: Washington's Early Learning Professional Development Landscape

Stakeholders from across the early care and education spectrum joined together to investigate what it will take to achieve a strong professional development system for early learning providers that will result in quality care and long-term outcomes for children. This collaborative process revealed a need for foundational work upon which to base a comprehensive, state-wide system of professional development for Washington's early childhood education workforce

Old-age support in Indonesia: labor supply, intergenerational transfers and living arrangements

This is the first paper of which we are aware that attempts to formally model the supply-supply behaviour of elderly individuals in a developing country. Without broad-based public pension schemes, the majority of the elderly in developing countries are left to rely on their own current and accumulated earnings and support from children as means of support. Our cooperative bargaining framework allows us to jointly estimate the determinants of coresidence, financial transfers from non-coresiding children, and the supply-supply of elderly Indonesians as alternative forms of old-age support. We find that many Indonesians, especially men, continue to work well into old age and there is little evidence that financial transfers from Indonesian children are a substitute for the income support provided by the elderly parent’s own supply supply. Transfers are negatively related to normal weekly hours of work only for non-coresiding mothers

Do coresidency with and financial transfers from children reduce the need for elderly parents to work in developing countries?

What drives the labor supply decisions of the elderly in developing countries? To what extent do elderly parents use coresidence with or financial transfers from children to reduce their own labor supply in old age? These questions are increasingly important because populations in many developing countries are rapidly aging. A clear understanding of the relationships between different means of support in old age is crucial to the development of sensible policy responses. This paper is one of only a few studies that seeks to formally model elderly labor supply in the context of a developing country while taking into account coresidency with and financial transfers from children. We find little evidence that support from children – either through transfers or coresidency – substitutes for elderly parents’ need to work. Thus, as in developed countries, there is a role for public policy to enhance the welfare of the elderly population

Cat's claw creeper vine, Macfadyena unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae), invasion impacts: comparative leaf nutrient content and effects on soil physicochemical properties

Macfadyena unguis-cati (L.) Gentry (Bignoniaceae) is a major environmental weed in coastal Queensland, Australia. There is a lack of quantitative data on its leaf chemistry and its impact on soil properties. Soils from infested vs uninfested areas, and leaves of M. unguis-cati and three co-occurring vine species (one exotic, two native) were collected at six sites (riparian and non-riparian) in south-eastern Queensland. Effects of invasion status, species, site and habitat type were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. Habitat type had a greater effect on soil nutrients than on leaf chemistry. Invasion effect of M. unguis-cati on soil chemistry was more pronounced in non-riparian than in riparian habitat. Significantly higher values were obtained in M. unguis-cati infested (vs. uninfested) soils for ~50% of traits. Leaf ion concentrations differed significantly between exotic and native vines. Observed higher leaf-nutrient load (especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in exotic plants aligns with the preference of invasive plant species for disturbed habitats with higher nutrient input. Higher load of trace elements (aluminium, boron, cadmium and iron) in its leaves suggests that cycling of heavy-metal ions, many of which are potentially toxic at excess level, could be accelerated in soils of M. unguis-cati-invaded landscape. Although inferences from the present study are based on correlative data, the consistency of the patterns across many sites suggests that M. unguis-cati may improve soil fertility and influence nutrient cycling, perhaps through legacy effects of its own litter input