Removal and Reuse of Phosphorus as a Fertilizer from CAFO Runoff

Eutrophication is the process in which nutrient saturated waters promote algal blooms on the surface of the water. This limits the amount of dissolved oxygen content in the water, effectively limiting the range of species that can survive in a body of water. Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) can contribute to this issue. The animals in a CAFO produce large amounts of nutrient-rich waste streams that can enter natural waterways if not properly managed and increase the problem of eutrophication. The ability to treat these waste streams and recover the excess nutrients would allow for not only the reduction of nutrient leaching and runoff but would help create sustainable phosphorus practice. Phosphorus is vital in terms of food production, and there is no replacement for phosphorus for plants or humans. As the population continues to increase, food demand will as well. This means that at any point that phosphorus can be recovered, it should be. To recover phosphorus effectively from waste water sources, reverse osmosis, anion exchange, or adsorption are all viable options. Woo Pig Pooie researched these options for recovering phosphorus, and adsorption was found to be the most promising from standpoints of low maintenance and cost effectiveness. Multiple adsorption materials were ranked based on appropriate performance of cost, particle size, adsorption qualities, and the effects of application of the material. Water treatment residuals, WTR (i.e. spent alum from a drinking water treatment plant), was determined to be the most effective adsorbent. WTR, a waste product, is 80% water as it exits the water treatment plant. It must be pelletized and dried before use as an adsorbent. Pelletized and dried WTR was utilized in a full-scale facility treating 62 GPM of feed using two 11,000 gallons packed columns with associated equipment. If the cost of pelletizing and drying the WTR is included, an alternative strategy for implementation on individual farms is for several farmers to form a cooperative, which would allow the minimization of the $1,460,000 fixed capital cost and the$504,000 cost of manufacturing of the drying pelletizing facility. This would allow for the maximum amount of WTR to be treated increasing the revenue of the operation to $731,500. The cooperative would have an operation of 10 years with a net present value of$5,000. Experimental results using WTR packed columns have shown non-detectable levels of phosphorus in the effluent. The produced phosphorus saturated WTR could be land applied to reduce the level of nutrients in runoff from fields, making a safer agriculture operation

Programs for Children and Youth in a Community Context

Shares insights from a discussion on integrating evidence-based out-of-school time programs into community initiatives to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. Outlines issues and the need for adaptable, data-driven programs with defined outcomes

Teen Births: Examining the Recent Increase

This research brief explores whether the data reflect a short-term blip or a true reversal in the decline of the U.S. teen birth rate. It also considers potential explanations for the uptick in teen births, and raises data and research gaps that must be filled to inform public and private prevention efforts. Among the findings: --Declines in teen contraceptive use may have played some role in the teen birth rate increase. Between 2003 and 2005, a slightly greater percentage of high school girls reported using no method of birth control the last time they had sex. --Recent declines in teen sexual activity have stalled. --Economic hardship and the rising cost of certain birth control methods may also have made contraception less affordable for some teens.--National data indicate a significant decline between 1995 and 2002 in the percentage of students who report having received formal contraceptive education.This brief is based on a paper by Kristin Anderson Moore, Ph.D., that resulted from a meeting of experts and researchers convened by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

What Works for Adolescent Reproductive Health: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions

This Child Trends fact sheet reviews evaluated programs that focus on adolescent reproductive health. Among the findings: Many different types of programs have been shown to positively affect reproductive health outcomes. Not only school- and community-based sex education programs, but also clinic-based programs, youth development programs, service-learning programs, early childhood programs, and programs for young mothers have been found to be effective. Comprehensive sex education can improve adolescent reproductive health. Of the 21 comprehensive sex education programs that have been experimentally evaluated, 11 had a significant positive impact on the behavior of the youth studied or important subgroups of the sample. No abstinence-only interventions have yet been shown to positively affect any behavioral outcomes. Six abstinence-only interventions have had their impacts on behavioral outcomes experimentally evaluated. None has had an impact on initiation of sexual intercourse, frequency of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, use of condoms, use of contraceptives, pregnancies, births, or STD contraction. None of these six abstinence-only interventions have been shown to negatively affect any behavioral outcomes, either. In particular, in spite of their exclusive focus on abstinence, none have served to significantly decrease condom or contraceptive use. The fact sheet includes a table that shows whether the evaluated programs were found to work, not proven to work, or had mixed findings

Adverse Childhood Experiences: National and State-Level Prevalence

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being. These experiences range from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse to parental divorce or the incarceration of a parent or guardian. A growing body of research has sought to quantify the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and illuminate their connection with negative behavioral and health outcomes, such as obesity, alcoholism, and depression, later in life. However, prior research has not reported on the prevalence of ACEs among children in a nationally representative, non-clinical sample. In this brief, we describe the prevalence of one or more ACEs among children ages birth through 17, as reported by their parents, using nationally representative data from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). We estimate the prevalence of eight specific ACEs for the U.S., contrasting the prevalence of specific ACEs among the states and between children of different age groups

Neighborhood Support and Children's Connectedness

Summarizes research on the links between levels of neighborhood support, such as neighbors helping one another, and other types of "connectedness" that contribute to children's healthy development -- with family, peers, community, and activities

The Development and Use of Child Well-Being Indicators in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

Summarizes the conceptual framework and development of outcomes-based, measurable indicators focused on child safety, permanency, and well-being to help monitor the status of children in the child welfare system. Outlines recommended indicators

Effective and Promising Summer Learning Programs and Approaches for Economically-Disadvantaged Children and Youth

Reviews research on summer learning program outcomes for low-income children and identifies the characteristics of effective programs such as experienced teachers, small groups, and fun activities. Finds reading and math achievement gains are possible

Comparison of Eye Movement Data to Direct Measures of Situation Awareness for Development of a Novel Measurement Technique in Dynamic, Uncontrolled Test Environments

Situation awareness (SA) is a measure of an individual\u27s knowledge and understanding of the current and expected future states of a situation. While there are numerous options for SA measurement, none are currently suitable in dynamic, uncontrolled environments. Direct measures of SA are the most common, but require a large amount of researcher control as well as the ability to stop operators during a task in order to ask questions about their levels of SA. The current research explored the relationship between direct measures of SA and eye tracking measures as a first step in the development of an unobtrusive SA measure to be used in less controllable, dynamic environments. Two studies compared participant eye movements and SA in driving and air traffic control scenarios. Both studies showed that the more individuals fixated on an important, task-relevant event, the higher their SA for that event. The studies also provide evidence that the way operators allocate attention (i.e., distributed widely or narrowly) affects their SA as well as their task performance. In addition, study 2 results showed positive correlations between SA and task performance. The results indicate that eye tracking may be a viable option for measuring SA in environments not conducive to current direct SA measurement techniques. Future research should continue to explore which eye movement variables best predict participant SA, as well as to investigate the relationship between attention allocation and SA

Implementing School-Based Services: Strategies From New Mexico's School-Based Health and Extended Learning Services

Based on discussions with policy makers and educators, outlines strategies for providing family supports, health care, and extended learning activities in schools. Suggestions include enhancing behavioral and mental health programs and staff support