Madison County, Kentucky Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Analysis

The results of a commodity flow analysis of hazardous materials for KY Highway 21 (KY-0021) and KY Highway 627 (KY-0627) conducted by Western Kentucky University, in partnership with the Madison County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), are presented within this report. This report specifically focuses on the portions of these highways located in Madison County, Kentucky. Figure 1.1 shows the location of Madison County in relationship to the state of Kentucky. The purpose of this report is to present information regarding the patterns of hazardous materials transportation along KY-0021 and KY-0627 as observed from August 4, 2014 through August 15, 2014. This report also provides an analysis of incidents involving hazardous materials over the period of 2005 through 2014 in Madison County. Finally, this report summarizes these observations and provides recommendations based on these observations. The commodity flow analysis was necessary in order to provide the Madison County LEPC with information about hazardous materials transport patterns so that they can better prepare for potential incidents and releases of hazardous materials along KY-0021 and KY-0627. Analysis of hazmat incidents in Madison County provided an evaluation of significant hotspots where further risk assessments should be conducted. The data collected will assist in the emergency planning process by providing valuable information about frequently observed hazardous materials within the duration of the study

Current Use Pesticides that drain into Canadian tributaries: A potential threat to Whale habitats

Elevated contaminant concentrations in odontocete cetaceans within Canadian waters has been well documented. The Endangered transboundary Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW, Orcinus orca) and St Lawrence Estuary Beluga Whales (SLE beluga, Delphinapterus leucas) face significant threats from high levels of contaminants. The Recovery Strategy for the SLE beluga, SRKWs, as well as the Threatened Northern Resident Killer Whales (NRKW) lists contaminants as a key threat to these whale populations and identifies urban and agricultural runoff and stormwater as pollutant sources. This runoff exposes the whales and their priority prey to a mixture of environmental contaminants, including current use pesticides. Our main objective was to compare levels, loads, and yields of seven current use pesticides (atrazine, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, glyphosate, malathion, permethrin, and simazine) in tributaries within urban and agricultural areas that could impact the habitat of the whales and their prey. These include major Canadian metropolitan areas: 1) the Great Lakes Region (southern Ontario), 2) the Fraser River Basin (British Columbia), and 3) St. Lawrence Region (southern Quebec). The Great Lakes work focuses on tributaries that drain into Lake Ontario, which discharges into the St. Lawrence River its Atlantic estuary. Lake Ontario is the major contributor of pesticide pollution to the St. Lawrence River. Availability and quality of Chinook salmon has been identified as the priority threat to SRKWs. Fraser River Chinook make up a large percentage of the SRKW diet and may be impacted by current use pesticide discharges in the area. Preliminary results show that glyphosate had the highest yields across all sites followed by simazine (Fraser River Basin) and atrazine (Great Lakes and St. Lawrence). Exceedances of environmental water quality guidelines were observed for atrazine, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon. Pesticide hot-spots and exceedances will be discussed in the context of whale recovery

Global changes in urban vegetation cover

Urban vegetation provides many ecosystem services that make cities more liveable for people. As the world continues to urbanise, the vegetation cover in urban areas is changing rapidly. Here we use Google Earth Engine to map vegetation cover in all urban areas larger than 15 km2 in 2000 and 2015, which covered 390,000 km2 and 490,000 km2 respectively. In 2015, urban vegetation covered a substantial area, equivalent to the size of Belarus. Proportional vegetation cover was highly variable, and declined in most urban areas between 2000 and 2015. Declines in proportional vegetated cover were particularly common in the Global South. Conversely, proportional vegetation cover increased in some urban areas in eastern North America and parts of Europe. Most urban areas that increased in vegetation cover also increased in size, suggesting that the observed net increases were driven by the capture of rural ecosystems through low-density suburban sprawl. Far fewer urban areas achieved increases in vegetation cover while remaining similar in size, although this trend occurred in some regions with shrinking populations or economies. Maintaining and expanding urban vegetation cover alongside future urbanisation will be critical for the well-being of the five billion people expected to live in urban areas by 2030

Madison County, Kentucky Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Analysis

This report presents the results of a Commodity Flow Analysis of Hazardous Materials for Interstate-75 (I-75) (North and South Bound lanes) conducted by Western Kentucky University in partnership with the Madison County (Kentucky) Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The only Kentucky County within the study area is Madison County as shown in Figure 1.1. The purpose of report is to give information on patterns of hazardous materials being transported along I-75 as observed from July 25th 2011 to August 5th 2011. A secondary purpose is to summarize incidents involving hazardous materials over the previous 6 years (January 2006 – June 2011). Finally, this report assesses survey information collected from fixed facilities that ship and receive hazardous materials in the I-75 highway. Commodity flow analysis is necessary in order for the LEPC to prepare for future hazardous material releases that may occur along this section of I-75. Data collected from this study will aid the emergency planning process for specific hazardous materials that were observed to frequent the study area during the study period

The optical microscopy with virtual image breaks a record: 50-nm resolution imaging is demonstrated

We demonstrate a new 'microsphere nanoscope' that uses ordinary SiO2 microspheres as superlenses to create a virtual image of the object in near field. The magnified virtual image greatly overcomes the diffraction limit. We are able to resolve clearly 50-nm objects under a standard white light source in both transmission and reflection modes. The resolution achieved for white light opens a new opportunity to image viruses, DNA and molecules in real time

Patient Blood Management Bundles to Facilitate Implementation.

More than 30% of the world's population are anemic with serious economic consequences including reduced work capacity and other obstacles to national welfare and development. Red blood cell transfusion is the mainstay to correct anemia, but it is also 1 of the top 5 overused procedures. Patient blood management (PBM) is a proactive, patient-centered, and multidisciplinary approach to manage anemia, optimize hemostasis, minimize iatrogenic blood loss, and harness tolerance to anemia. Although the World Health Organization has endorsed PBM in 2010, many hospitals still seek guidance with the implementation of PBM in clinical routine. Given the use of proven change management principles, we propose simple, cost-effective measures enabling any hospital to reduce both anemia and red blood cell transfusions in surgical and medical patients. This article provides comprehensive bundles of PBM components encompassing 107 different PBM measures, divided into 6 bundle blocks acting as a working template to develop institutions' individual PBM practices for hospitals beginning a program or trying to improve an already existing program. A stepwise selection of the most feasible measures will facilitate the implementation of PBM. In this manner, PBM represents a new quality and safety standard