Assessment of Risks and Benefits for Pennsylvania Water Sources When Utilizing Acid Mine Drainage for Hydraulic Fracturing

The use of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the hydraulic fracturing process increases the complexity of a polarizing topic. Many stakeholders see a potential to provide relief to multiple environmental problems while others see it as another threat to the Pennsylvania water supply so many parties depend on. This research will evaluate data from Pennsylvania state agencies and additional academic research regarding AMD and fracking to assess potential benefits, risks, and complications for Pennsylvania watersheds when using AMD in the fracking process. Chapter 1 presents background information on energy demand and hydraulic fracturing, as well as energy sources and industrial impacts within the state of Pennsylvania. Chapter 2 presents the background information on hydraulic fracturing and water sources to support the fracturing operations. Chapter 3 discusses the properties of acid mine drainage and its potential use as water supply for hydraulic fracturing. Chapter 4 discusses the use of acid mine drainage in the hydraulic fracturing operations in Pennsylvania. Chapter 5 presents research benefits, risks, challenges, conclusions and recommendations

Get the facts - and then act : How Marjorie H. Carr and Florida Defenders of the Enviornment Fought to Save the Ocklawaha River

Self described as a Micanopy housewife, Marjorie Harris Carr seemed an unlikely candidate to develop and lead a successful grassroots campaign to save the Ocklawaha River and the wilderness surrounding it against the Army Corps of Engineers\u27 federally mandated Cross-Florida Barge Canal. In spearheading the Fight to Save the Ocklawaha, Carr revealed an innate sense of how to present environmental science to the public, the media, and legislators in a way that swayed opinion

Mammals of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: a 60-year followup to Brumwell (1951)

More than 60 years have elapsed since Brumwell\u27s (1951) comprehensive assessment during 193911940 of resident terrestrial vertebrates from Fort Leavenworth Military Rooervation in northeastern Kansas. Subsequent studies have been accomplished for the amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Our study is the first to assess intervening changes in the mammalian composition of this diverse local fauna. Notable observations include: the decline or extirpation of the black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), Franklin\u27s ground squirrel (Spermophilus franklinii), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) and eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius); the return or recovery of locally extirpated gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), puma (Puma concolor), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the increases of the once uncommon eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), the invasion and establishment of the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), and the displacement of the eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) by the eastern gray squirrel (S. carolinensis) as the most common squirrel. Documented species either not mentioned by Brumwell (1951) or listed by him as hypothetically occurring on the post, included northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis), eastern pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus), evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis), southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi), and meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius)

Molecular Beams

Contains reports on three research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E

Tumour micro-environment elicits innate resistance to RAF inhibitors through HGF secretion.

Drug resistance presents a challenge to the treatment of cancer patients. Many studies have focused on cell-autonomous mechanisms of drug resistance. By contrast, we proposed that the tumour micro-environment confers innate resistance to therapy. Here we developed a co-culture system to systematically assay the ability of 23 stromal cell types to influence the innate resistance of 45 cancer cell lines to 35 anticancer drugs. We found that stroma-mediated resistance is common, particularly to targeted agents. We characterized further the stroma-mediated resistance of BRAF-mutant melanoma to RAF inhibitors because most patients with this type of cancer show some degree of innate resistance. Proteomic analysis showed that stromal cell secretion of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) resulted in activation of the HGF receptor MET, reactivation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K)-AKT signalling pathways, and immediate resistance to RAF inhibition. Immunohistochemistry experiments confirmed stromal cell expression of HGF in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma and showed a significant correlation between HGF expression by stromal cells and innate resistance to RAF inhibitor treatment. Dual inhibition of RAF and either HGF or MET resulted in reversal of drug resistance, suggesting RAF plus HGF or MET inhibitory combination therapy as a potential therapeutic strategy for BRAF-mutant melanoma. A similar resistance mechanism was uncovered in a subset of BRAF-mutant colorectal and glioblastoma cell lines. More generally, this study indicates that the systematic dissection of interactions between tumours and their micro-environment can uncover important mechanisms underlying drug resistance

Human Cerebral Neuropathology of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The cerebral neuropathology of Type 2 diabetes (CNDM2) has not been positively defined. This review includes a description of CNDM2 research from before the ‘Pubmed Era’. Recent neuroimaging studies have focused on cerebrovascular and white matter pathology. These and prior studies about cerebrovascular histopathology in diabetes are reviewed. Evidence is also described for and against the link between CNDM2 and Alzheimer\u27s disease pathogenesis. To study this matter directly, we evaluated data from University of Kentucky Alzheimer\u27s Disease Center (UK ADC) patients recruited while non-demented and followed longitudinally. Of patients who had come to autopsy (N = 234), 139 met inclusion criteria. These patients provided the basis for comparing the prevalence of pathological and clinical indices between well-characterized cases with (N = 50) or without (N = 89) the premortem diagnosis of diabetes. In diabetics, cerebrovascular pathology was more frequent and Alzheimer-type pathology was less frequent than in non-diabetics. Finally, a series of photomicrographs demonstrates histopathological features (including clinical–radiographical correlation) observed in brains of persons that died after a history of diabetes. These preliminary, correlative, and descriptive studies may help develop new hypotheses about CNDM2. We conclude that more work should be performed on human material in the context of CNDM2

Quantum Electronics

Contains reports on three research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant PHY77-07156)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAABO7-76-C-1400)U. S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Grant AFOSR-76-3042)U. S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract F-44620-76-C-0079)M.I.T. Sloan Fund for Basic Researc

Quantum Electronics

Contains report on ten research projects split into three sections.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-78-C-0020)National Science Foundation (Grant PHY77-07156)U. S. Air Force-Office of Scientific Research (Grant AFOSR-3042)National Science Foundation (Grant ENG77-24981

Quantum Electronics

Contains reports on eight research projects divided into three sections.National Science Foundation (Grant PHY79-09739)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-78-C-0020)U.S. Air Force Geophysics Laboratory (AFSC) (Contract F19628-79-C-0082)National Science Foundation (Grant ENG79-09980