A Comparison of Fish Health Indices Applied to Freshwater Species of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Fish kills, increased disease prevalence, and endocrine disruption have been observed in multiple freshwater fish populations of the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW). Some of these health issues occur in conjunction with declining abundance. A combination of multiple stressors is believed to be weakening sensitive fish species in non-tidal regions of the CBW. Fish health indices such as Deformity, Erosion, Lesion, and Tumor counts (DELTs), and the Health Assessment Index (HAI) are simple tools designed to evaluate the general health of fish populations. Both indices could be widely applied in the watershed because they require limited training and equipment. However, their utility in the CBW needs to be demonstrated. Fish health concerns in the CBW often occur in areas dominated by forested and agricultural land. The research in this thesis evaluates the influences of agricultural land-use, season, seasonal stream discharge, species, age, and sex on DELTs and the HAI. Two studies are included. The first occurred in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia and applies the DELT index to fish aggregations and the HAI to white sucker and fantail dater in wadable streams. These streams were spread over a gradient of catchment pastureland. The second looked at DELTs and the HAI applied to smallmouth bass at 5 sites, 2 in the Potomac River watershed and 3 in the Susquehanna River watershed, sampled from 2013 to 2020 in the spring and fall. These sites varied in catchment agricultural and forested land with small areas of development. The utility of the two indices in agricultural regions of the CBW was not demonstrated. Both DELTs and HAI scores were correlated with the age and sex of fish sampled, and not with any of the included environmental variables. Future research directions and other concerns surrounding the use of DELTs, and the HAI are discussed

Timidity, emotionality, and activity in rats deprived of grooming

The purpose of this current study was to investigate the effect of restriction of grooming, by means of collars, on activity, emotionality, and timidity. On the basis of the common occurrence of grooming when under stress some relationship between licking and emotionality was assumed to exist by the author. it was therefore expected that differences would be found among the treatment group. The current study made use of a three factor design. One factor was the treatment factor, another factor was the replications factor, and the third was the days factor. The days factor has repeated measures and the replications factor was random

Wholistic Education and the Shema Creed (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

This article sought to examine the shema creed in relation to principles of wholistic education. It concludes that while wholistic education includes emphasis on the development of the mental, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions of life, the shema suggests the inculcation of knowledge through various dimensions of life, using various methods and settings, and developing the entire being. The article also suggests that the shema reveals lessons that can be applied to our educational system today. The creed, whose outline includes the love for Yahweh, the transmission of the words of Yahweh, and the preservation of the words of Yahweh, teaches that we should love the Lord God wholeheartedly and transmit that love to our children diligently using every setting and medium. Applying these to our educational system today, we ought to make sure that the basis of our curricular is in God,  our teachers are totally committed to the love of God and they teach diligently, knowledge is transmitted at all times in every setting, and  our lessons are inculcated into students using all the dimensions of life: physical, intellectual, social and spiritual. Keywords: Wholistic Education, Shema creed, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Adventist Education

Educational Software for Rating and Sizing Chemical Reactors

An educational software for Rating and Sizing Chemical Reactors is presented in this work. The user-friendly software designed using C# is presented in a step-by-step, simple-to-follow format. Design equations are analyzed for batch and flow reactors. Having been tested with sample problems from relevant literatures, it is believed that it can serve as an important tool in solving chemical Reaction Engineering problems. Results obtained show a high level of accuracy, although with slight differences from that obtained in the literature. This can be attributed to truncation errors when using manual calculation method