Phosphorus Immobilization in Poultry Litter and Litter-amended soils with Aluminum, Calcium and Iron amendments

Arkansas produces approximately one billion broilers each year. Phosphorous (P) runoff from fields receiving poultry litter is believed to be one of the primary factors affecting water quality in Northwest Arkansas. Poultry litter contains approximately 20 g P kg-1, of which about 2 g P kg-1 is water soluble. Soils that have received repeated heavy applications of litter may have water soluble P contents of as high as 10 mg P Kg-1 soil. The objective of this study was to determine if soluble P levels could be reduced in poultry litter and litter-amended soils with Al,Ca, and/or Fe amendments. Poultry litter was amended with alum, sodium aluminate, quick lime, slaked lime, calcitic limestone, dolomitic limestone, gypsum, ferrous chloride, ferric chloride, ferrous sulfate and ferric sulfate, and incubated in the dark at 25°C for one week. Three soils which had been excessively fertilized with poultry litter were amended with alum, ferrous sulfate, calcitic limestone, gypsum and slaked lime and incubated for 4 weeks at 25 °C. In the litter studies, the Ca treatments were tested with and without CaF2 additions in an attempt to precipitate fluorapatite. At the end of the incubation period, the litter and soils were extracted with deionized water and soluble reactive P (SRP) was determined. SRP levels in the poultry litter were reduced from over 2,000 mg P kg-1 litter to less than 1 mg P kg-1 litter with the addition of alum, quick lime, slaked lime, ferrous chloride, ferric chloride, ferrous sulfate and ferric sulfate under favorable pH conditions. S.RP levels in the soils were reduced from approximately 5 mg P Kg-1 soil to less than 0.05 mg P Kg-1 soil with the addition of alum and ferrous sulfate under favorable pH conditions. Gypsum and sodium aluminate reduced SRP levels in litter by 50 to 60 percent while calcitic and dolomitic limestone were even less effective. In soils, the Ca amendments were less effective than the Al and Fe amendments, although slaked lime was effective at high pH. The results of these studies suggest that treating litter and excessively fertilized soils with some of these compounds, particularly alum, could significantly reduce the amount of SRP in runoff from littered pastures. Therefore, chemical additions to reduce SRP in litter and soil may be a best management practice in situations where eutrophication of adjacent water bodies due to P runoff has been identified. Preliminary calculations indicate that this .p ractice may be economically feasible. However, more research is needed to determine any beneficial and/or detrimental aspects of this practice

Feelings of Belonging: An Exploratory Analysis of the Sociopolitical Involvement of Black, Latina, and Asian/Pacific Islander Sexual Minority Women

This article compares and contrasts the sociopolitical involvement of Black, Latina, and Asian/Pacific Islander American sexual minority women within lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities of color. For the analysis, a sample of over 1,200 women from the Social Justice Sexuality project was analyzed. Findings indicate that, for all groups of women, feelings of connectedness to the LGBT community was the most significant predictor of sociopolitical involvement within LGBT communities of color

The Effect of High School Athletics On Academics Success For Students From Disadvantaged Backgrounds

Current research continues to explore the effects high school team sports have on student achievement. This study examined the connection between academic performance and team sports for Black high school students as well as for students from various ethnically diverse groups who, for the purpose of this analysis, are considered to be from backgrounds that are considered to be socio-economically disadvantaged. The study examined whether a well-coordinated study hall provided a foundation for self-regulation of academic task completion along with key responsibilities associated with skills for school success, such as school attendance, classroom behavior, and self-efficacy as mandated by the school’s policy for sports participation. The results indicated that a stable study hall learning environment did increase self-regulation for the athletes in this investigation, which included self-monitoring of academic progress and adherence to policy established for sports participation. It also corroborates research denoting the positive impact that sports and a positive learning environment, such as a well-run study hall, can have on academic success, for not only Black athletes in this study, but for students from other ethnic groups

Earth resources-regional transfer activity contracts review

A regional transfer activity contracts review held by the Earth Resources Office was summarized. Contracts in the earth resources field primarily directed toward applications of satellite data and technology in solution of state and regional problems were reviewed. A summary of the progress of each contract was given in order to share experiences of researchers across a seven state region. The region included Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Research in several earth science disciplines included forestry, limnology, water resources, land use, geology, and mathematical modeling. The use of computers for establishment of information retrieval systems was also emphasized

Study of methane fuel for subsonic transport aircraft

The cost and performance were defined for commercial transport using liquid methane including its fuel system and the ground facility complex required for the processing and storage of methane. A cost and performance comparison was made with Jet A and hydrogen powered aircraft of the same payload and range capability. Extensive design work was done on cryogenic fuel tanks, insulation systems as well as the fuel system itself. Three candidate fuel tank locations were evaluated, i.e., fuselage tanks, wing tanks or external pylon tanks