New Amphibian and Reptile Distribution Records from Eastern South Dakota, USA

Over recent years, the continued collection of voucher specimens has helped to better document the distributions of South Dakota’s amphibians and reptiles. Despite large increases in our knowledge of these distributions, it remains clear that gaps in our understanding remain. Here, I report 17 new county records of six species of amphibians and reptiles from eastern South Dakota (east of the Missouri River) that are the result of fieldwork conducted in September 2020. The majority of these records are from the northern portions of the James River Lowland, Missouri Coteau, and Drift Plains ecoregions (Bryce et al. 1998), which are areas where specimen records are lacking (DRD, unpubl. data). County records were determined by examining Ballinger et al. (2000), Platt et al. (2005), Davis et al. (2016, 2017a, b), Austin et al. (2017), Davis (2018), Davis and Farkas (2018), individual accounts published in Herpetological Review, and a thorough review of museum holdings. All specimens were collected by Drew R. Davis and deposited at the Biodiversity Collections, University of Texas at Austin (TNHC), and all identifications were verified by Travis J. LaDuc. Locality information was collected with a handheld GPS (WGS 84), and nomenclature used follows that of Crother (2017). Specimens were collected under a South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Scientific Collecting Permit (2020_#2) issued to DRD and followed an approved University of Texas Rio Grande Valley IACUC protocol (AUP #18-28). Genetic tissue samples (liver or skeletal muscle) were collected from all individuals and deposited alongside the specimen at TNHC. Many of the nearest known populations to the records included in this note are represented by voucher specimens that were also collected during September 2020 and deposited at TNHC. Additional nearest known populations are represented by voucher specimens housed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM), James Ford Bell Museum, University of Minnesota (JFBM), and the former University of South Dakota Herpetological Collection that is now housed at the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM)

Effects of high volume fly ash and powder activators on plastic and hardened concrete properties

This study was performed to examine the effects of high volumes of Class C fly ash modified by powder activators upon the plastic and hardened properties of concrete. In a companion study, five Missouri area cements and five Class C fly ashes were examined for incompatibilities, with the most and least reactive combinations being scaled up to full scale concrete testing. Two baseline concrete mixtures were examined, the only difference in mixtures being the sources of portland cement and fly ash. Fly ash replacement was examined at 50% and 70% replacement (by total cementitious mass). Three powder activators were used in combination with the cement and fly ash mixtures: 4% gypsum, 10% hydrated lime, and 20% rapid set cement (by mass of fly ash). Gypsum was present in all concrete mixes, with either hydrated lime or rapid set cement acting as an activator in combination with it. Both plastic concrete and hardened concrete properties were examined. The use of powdered activators in combination with fly ash resulted in the concrete exhibiting adequate 28 day strength, stiffer moduli, less drying shrinkage, lower chloride permeability, and improved resistance to freezing and thawing at 50% fly ash replacement when compared to a baseline mix, although the mixture suffered in abrasion resistance and salt scaling resistance. At 70% fly ash replacement, the mixtures performed poorly compared to their baseline counterparts, even with the addition of rapid set cement. The choice of activator primarily affected the early age strength and setting time, with rapid set cement mixtures exhibiting a quicker set and a higher earlier strength than the hydrated lime mixtures, though this did not correspond to improved characteristics in the long term. In applications where early properties are not important, the use of less expensive calcium hydroxide is recommended. In any applications, however, the specific cement and fly ash sources should be examined for possible incompatibilities

Maximizing the Benefit of Early-Stage CFD Ventilation Analyses to Reduce Fire and Explosion Hazards

PresentationOne of the most significant hazards faced by offshore platforms, FLNGs, and chemical facilities is the risk of explosions resulting from the ignition of flammable clouds due to an unintentional release (leak). Natural ventilation can act as a passive safety measure by helping to dilute and disperse released gases to levels below their flammable limits. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) ventilation studies are often performed to validate that layouts meet industry criteria or as a step in more complex safety studies; however, often these studies occur during later phases of design after it is “too late” to make basic changes that can drastically alter the risk posed by toxic, fire, and explosion hazards. Many ventilation studies provide results as a single measure, such as “adequate ventilation” measured by the number of air changes per hour (ACH) for a given area. For example, certain hazardous area classifications require that the ventilation must be greater than 12 ACH at least 95% percent of the time (95th percentile ACH). However, the 95th percentile ACH only describes a limited range of the ventilation conditions at the facility and should not be used as the sole means of comparing alternative layouts or making design decisions. A carefully constructed ventilation study that accounts for the nature of facility hazards can provide relatively fast and inexpensive insight into potential safety-oriented optimizations during early stages of facility design. By providing this insight early in design, facilities can be rigorously designed for safety—minimizing the risk (and therefore cost) of late-stage design changes. This paper will present guidance on some of the requirements for and benefits of early-stage ventilation studies. The paper will use specific examples derived from recent work in prioritizing safety in early-stages of design to demonstrate the value of such studies and why the industry needs to move beyond focusing on just the 95th percentile ACH

Amphibians and reptiles of C. E. Miller Ranch and the Sierra Vieja, Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, USA

We report the occurrence of 50 species of amphibians and reptiles recently collected on C. E. Miller Ranch and the Sierra Vieja in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas, USA and describe their perceived distribution and abundance across various habitat associations of the region. Our recent surveys follow intense, historic sampling of amphibians and reptiles from this region in 1948. Of the 50 species detected in recent surveys, six were not collected in 1948 and an additional three species documented in 1948 have yet to be detected in a 14-year period of recent surveys. Combining data from both historic and recent surveys, a total of 53 species of amphibians and reptiles are known from the ranch (11 amphibians, 42 reptiles). Land stewardship and conservation practices have likely contributed to the persistence of the majority of these species through time. Additionally, we discuss the status of amphibians and reptiles not collected during recent surveys and comment on potential species that have not yet been detected

Guardians of Freedom

Guardians of Freedom is my attempt to make sense out of my time spent in uniform, in the only way that is appropriate: hyperbolic comedy. It is a story of Specialist Henry, a disillusioned soldier returning from one deployment in the Global War on Terror and facing another. Thoughts of making a difference and changing the world dashed, he wants nothing more than to be rid of the uniform and live an admittedly pointless life. He is joined by the various characters of Bravo Company, the deploying unit which has been used as a dumping point for medically-impaired soldiers. Outwardly, the story is about the bureaucracy and inanity of military life in a time of prolonged war. Hopefully though, there is a glimpse at the very real people that I met and loved and who, like me, were forced to find a way to survive and live in an environment that’s sole purpose revolves around death

Erik S. Tjernberg : Augustana Alum of 1886

Erik S. Tjernberg graduated from Augustana in 1886. We will discuss his career as a pastor, his family history and his genealogy. We will include information about life in Augustana in the 1880s. We will use sources from Augustana\u27s special collections and original Swedish Parish records

Evans Findings Company: Unattended Stamping

In Fall 2010, Capstone Design Team 6, consisting of Drew Davis, Kyle Morris, Paul Schumacher, and Derek Sutcliffe, designed a part sorting device for the Evans Findings Company. The project’s objective was to meet Evans Co.’s need for a device capable of reducing the scrap rate of parts produced during unattended stamping operations. In Spring 2011, Team 6 built, tested, troubleshot, redesigned, and rebuilt the device to meet the design specifications and Evans Co.’s expectations. The overnight, unattended stamping operations at Evans Co. are currently susceptible to loss; as all finished parts are ejected from the stamping press into one large forty-gallon bin, defective parts can easily contaminate an entire batch. In manufacturing, a lot sorting device is a common countermeasure against batch contamination. The design team generated over 120 concepts before choosing one such device, which has gained approval from Evans Co. The team’s financial analysis shows the payback period will likely meet Evans Co.’s requirements. The final concept consists of six buckets, each on a rolling carriage, constrained by an oval aluminum track. The carriages are pushed around the track by a chain attached to sprockets driven by a stepper motor, which is commanded by an Arduino microcontroller. It should ensure reliable capture of finished parts from the stamping press, sorted into separate buckets by their ejection time, thus providing protection from contamination. The device itself (named the USAD, or Unattended Stamping Assistance Device) was completed on time with a $4,000 budget. Simulation and financial analysis both indicate that the device will pay for itself within one year and save Evans Co. over$7,000 annually by reducing scrap

“Feeding the monster”: vocational pedagogy and the further education policy present

This chapter begins by comparing the current model of vocational education in the US with the vocational offer in colleges in England. While policy in the US has traditionally shied away from vocational ‘tracking’ because of the perception that this entrenches social division, increasingly, community colleges are seen as a way of marrying academic and industry-related education . Drawing on a research project involving teachers of vocational subjects from a number of different colleges in the West Midlands region of England, this chapter explores the reality as experienced by practitioners behind the recent policy anxiety about vocational pedagogy. It reveals how despite political rhetoric, policy initiatives to raise standards in vocational teaching and learning may not be yielding the results intended. It presents FE as a troubled landscape in which interventions under the Coalition government (2010-2015) targeting an improvement in vocational education appear to have diluted practitioners’ ability to deliver a rise in the quality of provision. The failure of these policy intervention is indicative of the disconnect between policy makers and practitioners which appears to be a key characteristic of the relationship between government and further education providers. The chapter concludes by focusing on existing accountability systems and how these, in effect, contribute to produce a simulated picture of colleges’ activities as dictated by the marketised environment, suggesting that it is this relationship rather than that between vocational teachers, vocational students and their learning that requires some critical attention and improvement

Evidence of an established population of Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868) in south Texas, USA

Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868) is a large parastacid crayfish (Decapoda: Parastacidae) native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Due to various factors, C. quadricarinatus is an emerging invasive species in an increasing number of regions across the world. Deleterious ecological effects of C. quadricarinatus introduction have been documented in many of these regions, and its spread has been monitored and restricted where possible. Previously, only a small, isolated population of C. quadricarinatus in southern California had been reported within the continental United States. Here, we report the collection of three adult C. quadricarinatus from Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, the first record of this species in the state and only the second record for the continental United States. Given the connectivity of aquatic habitats in the area and the duration for which the population has likely been present, there is evidence that C. quadricarinatus is poised to invade subtropical watersheds of the southern United States. The ecological effects of C. quadricarinatus on aquatic ecosystems in the region are not yet fully understood, but further research is warranted to effectively mitigate negative impacts that may occur and to guide efforts to manage or eradicate these population