Evaluation of the Water Quality Impacts of Land Application of Poultry Litter

Evaluating the effect of land application of animal waste on water quality is fraught with inherent variability due to differing infiltration rates, slope, rainfall intensity and etc . Simulated rainfall technology has been used in erosion research for decades. Generally, this technology is used on plots of sufficient size (25 x 5 m) to develop rill and interrill erosion. The object of this investigation was to adapt and modify existing rainfall simulation technology used in soil erosion research for use in evaluating water quality impacts of land application of animal waste, and to test, evaluate and demonstrate it\u27s scientific validity. State of the art simulation technology was obtained from the National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory located on the campus of Purdue University. The technology was scaled (2 x 6 m) and modified to fit into field research programs having several treatments and rep 1 i cated p 1 ots . The technology was shown to meet specification needed to produce the required raindrop size and velocity, flexibility in storm intensity, while maintaining uniformity(\u3e 0.8). Equally important, the unit is portable and fits well into labor intensive runoff work requiring replication of a variety of treatments

Hysteresis and competition between disorder and crystallization in sheared and vibrated granular flow

Experiments on spherical particles in a 3D Couette cell vibrated from below and sheared from above show a hysteretic freezing/melting transition. Under sufficient vibration a crystallized state is observed, which can be melted by sufficient shear. The critical line for this transition coincides with equal kinetic energies for vibration and shear. The force distribution is double-peaked in the crystalline state and single-peaked with an approximately exponential tail in the disordered state. A linear relation between pressure and volume ($dP/dV > 0$) exists for a continuum of partially and/or intermittently melted states over a range of parameters

Assessment of Effectiveness of Buffer Zones in Removing Impurites in Runoff from Areas Treated with Poultry Litter

Land application of animal manures (e.g. poultry litter, poultry manure, and swine manure) to pasture and range can lead to runoff quality degradation during storms that occur soon after application. Vegetative filter strips (VFS) have been shown to reduce pollution in runoff from row-cropped areas but have not been extensively studied in pasture and range settings. This research involved characterizing performance of fescue VFS in improving quality of runoff from pasture land areas treated with poultry litter and swine manure. The VFS were found to be quite effective in reducing off-site transport of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), ortho-phosphorus (P04-P), total phospnorus (TP) , and fecal coliform (FC) for simulated storms occurring 2-5 days following poultry litter and swine manure applicati on. The VFS were from 81 to 99% effective (at a VFS length of 21.4 m) in reducing incoming mass transport of NH3-N, TKN, P04-P, TP, and FC in runoff from poultry litter-treated plots. Similar performance was observed for the VFS installed below plots treated with swine manure. Transport of suspended solids and chemical oxygen demand was also reduced by the VFS, but generally not to the extent of other litter and manure constituents. Transport of poultry litter and swine manure constituents were well-described by first-order kinetics

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

Stoichiometry control of sputtered CuCl thin films: Influence on ultraviolet emission properties

We demonstrate that the chemical composition of the sputtered CuCl thin films could be finely controlled by adjusting the bias to the substrate. The films deposited without any intentional bias were Cl rich (CuCl1+x), a bias of −22 V yielded stoichiometric CuCl, and a further increase in the negative bias resulted in Cl deficient films (CuCl1−x). The crystalline and optical properties were found to be associated with the chemical composition. Cl rich films showed a deep level green emission at around 515 nm in addition to ultraviolet (UV) excitonic emission. The stoichiometric films have higher optical quality, exhibiting a sharp UV emission at around 385 nm at room temperature, compared to nonstoichiometric samples. Visible luminescence related to deep level defects was not observed in the stoichiometric films. Changes in energy of the flux from the target and the subsequent ion bombardment on the substrate surface are correlated with the variations in chemical composition and their impact on the film microstructure and UV emission

Localized transverse bursts in inclined layer convection

We investigate a novel bursting state in inclined layer thermal convection in which convection rolls exhibit intermittent, localized, transverse bursts. With increasing temperature difference, the bursts increase in duration and number while exhibiting a characteristic wavenumber, magnitude, and size. We propose a mechanism which describes the duration of the observed bursting intervals and compare our results to bursting processes in other systems.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure

Hysterectomy, endometrial ablation, and levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (Mirena) for treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding : cost effectiveness analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Motivation, Optimal Experience and Flow in First Year Computing Science

We examine the concept of motivation from the perspective of Self Determination Theory and give a brief overview of relevant results. We also consider the optimal state known as "Flow" and give an account of its conceptualisation in the theory due to Csikszentmihalyi. After discussion of ways in which these concepts can be measured, we describe a set of preliminary studies that investigate motivation and flow in the context of a first year computing class. We analyse student responses to enquiries about perceptions of motivation and flow experiences and look at links between them. We also discuss intrinsic motivation within the subject

Fluvial organic carbon flux from an eroding peatland catchment, southern Pennines, UK

This study investigates for the first time the relative importance of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) in the fluvial carbon flux from an actively eroding peatland catchment in the southern Pennines, UK. Event scale variability in DOC and POC was examined and the annual flux of fluvial organic carbon was estimated for the catchment. At the event scale, both DOC and POC were found to increase with discharge, with event based POC export accounting for 95% of flux in only 8% of the time. On an annual cycle, exports of 35.14 t organic carbon (OC) are estimated from the catchment, which represents an areal value of 92.47 g C m<sup>−2</sup> a<sup>−1</sup>. POC was the most significant form of organic carbon export, accounting for 80% of the estimated flux. This suggests that more research is required on both the fate of POC and the rates of POC export in eroding peatland catchments