Evaluation of city and region planning techniques

The transportation and community planning effort in the United States has resulted in the expenditure of a great deal of time and money. However, the result of this effort has largely been unusable because of a lack of an effective formalized planning method. this thesis presents summarizations of the planning methods employed in ten plans which are typical of the U.S. Planning Effort. Each of these methods are critiqued in the light of a proposed planning method. The Federal Government has recently required the adoption of a Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS) in an effort to formalize a scientific approach to planning. As an approach to the implementation of PPBS this thesis presents the use of value analysis and objective setting as practiced by the fields of product and methods of engineering --Abstract, page ii

Toward a Model for Fisheries Social Impact Assessment

This paper presents a model for Fisheries Social Impact Assessment (SIA) that lays the groundwork for development of fisheries-focused, quantitative social assessments with a clear conceptual model. The usefulness of current fisheries SIA’s has been called into question by some as incompatible with approaches taken by fisheries biologists and economists when assessing potential effects of management actions. Our model’s approach is closer to the economists’ and biologists’ assessments and is therefore more useful for Fishery Management Council members. The paper was developed by anthropologists initially brought together in 2004 for an SIA Modeling Workshop by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA

Auxin-based Herbicide Program for Weed Control in Auxin Resistant Soybean

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars resistant to synthetic auxin herbicides have provided another mode of action for the postemergence broadleaf weed control. This field study was conducted at three South Dakota locations [Northeast, NERF; east-central, ARF; and Southeast, SERF) in 2019 and two locations (ARF and SERF) in 2020. The Enlist E3 and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend cultivars were planted at three dates (early, mid-, and late season) to examine weed control, agronomic characteristics, nodulation, and yield. Preemergence (PRE) treatment was flumioxazin + metribuzin + S-metolachlor + glyphosate + pendimethalin. Two postemergence (POST) treatments, based on cultivar, were compared with PRE-only. The PREonly treatment had numerous grasses {including green foxtail [Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv.] and yellow foxtail [S. pumila (Poir.) Roem. & Schult.], volunteer corn (Zea mays L.), barnyard grass [Echinochola crus-galli (L.) Beauv.], large crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.], woolly cupgrass [Eriochloa villosa (Thunb.) Kunth]} and broadleaf weeds (including redroot pigweed [Amaranthus retroflexus L.], common lambsquarters [Chenopodium album L.], waterhemp [Amaranthus rudis Sauer]) with high density and biomass. POST treatments controlled most of the broadleaf species, although some grasses remained. Yields were similar within a location and year, although differences occurred among planting dates. In 2019, planting date did not influence final yield at ARF (average yield 3,084 kg ha−1). Yield was greatest for the early (NERF) and mid-planting dates (NERF and SERF) compared with late-season planting. In 2020, dry conditions occurred, and yields at ARF and SERF were lowest for the late-season plantings (ranging from 37 to 73% lower depending on cultivar) compared with the early season planting. In 2020, dicamba + glyphosate treatment of the Xtend cultivar had 10% (ARF) and 20% (SERF) greater yield than the acifluorfen + clethodim treatment

The Economic Impact of a Junior Club Sporting Event: Caravan Fans

This study investigated the economic impact of visitor’s expenditures at a junior girl’s club sporting event in the city of Denver, Colorado. This study uses a random sample of 2,000 sport fans of which 1,163 surveys were found to be usable (n=1,163). The findings reveal that hosting a club sports national tournament can generate substantial economic benefits and, in some cases, greater than those associated with mega sporting events. Key findings are that economic impact can play a critical role in assessing the potential benefits of hosting small events and that youth sport event managers must make sure to meet the needs of caravan fans. Caravan fans are the parents and family members that attend these events to watch their children participate

Strategy for encoding and comparison of gene expression signatures

EXALT (EXpression signature AnaLysis Tool) enables comparisons of microarray data across experimental platforms and different laboratories

Quantification and Machine Learning Based N2O-N and CO2-C Emissions Predictions from a Decomposing Rye Cover Crop

Cover crops improve soil health and reduce the risk of soil erosion. However, their impact on the carbon dioxide equivalence (CO2e) is unknown. Therefore, objective of this two-year study was to quantify the effect of cover crop-induced differences in soil moisture, temperature, organic C, and microorganisms on CO2e and to develop machine learning algorithms that predict daily N2O-N and CO2-C emissions. The prediction models tested were multiple linear regression (MLR), partial least square regression (PLSR), support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and artificial neural network (ANN). Models’ performance was accessed using R2 , RMSE and MAE. Rye (secale cereale) was dormant seeded in mid-October and in the following spring it was terminated at corn’s (Zea mays) V4 growth stage. Soil temperature, moisture, and N2O-N and CO2-C emissions were measured near continuously from soil thaw to harvest in 2019 and 2020. Prior to termination, the cover crop decreased N2O-N emissions by 34% (p=0.05) and over the entire season, N2O-N emissions from cover crop and no cover crop treatments were similar (p=0.71). Based on N2O-N and CO2-C emissions over the entire season and the estimated fixed cover crop carbon remaining in the soil, the partial CO2e were -1,061 and 496 kg CO2e ha-1 in the cover crop and no cover crop treatments, respectively. The RF algorithm explained more of the daily N2O-N (73%) and CO2-C (85%) emissions variability during validation than the other models. Across models, the most important variables were temperature and the amount of cover crop-C added to the soil

Winter Cereal Rye Cover Crop Decreased Nitrous Oxide Emissions During Early Spring

Despite differences between the cover crop growth and decomposition phases, few greenhouse gas (GHG) studies have separated these phases from each other. This study’s hypothesis was that a living cover crop reduces soil inorganic N concentrations and soil water, thereby reducing N2O emissions. We quantified the effects of a fall-planted living cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop (2017, 2018, 2019) on the following spring’s soil temperature, soil water, water-filled porosity (WFP), inorganic N, and GHG (N2O-N and CO2–C) emissions and compared these measurements to bare soil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block, where years were treated as blocks. Rye was fall planted in 2017, 2018, and 2019, but mostly emerged the following spring. The GHG emissions were near-continuously measured from early spring through June. Rye biomass was 1,049, 428, and 2,647 kg ha–1 in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. Compared to the bare soil, rye reduced WFP in the surface 5 cm by 29, 15, and 26% in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and reduced soil NO3–N in surface 30 cm by 53% in 2019 (p = .04) and 65% in 2020 (p = .07), respectively. Rye changed the N2O and CO2 frequency emission signatures. It also reduced N2O emissions by 66% but did not influence CO2–C emissions during the period prior to corn (Zea mays L.) emergence (VE). After VE, rye and bare soils N2O emissions were similar. These results suggest that nitrous oxide (N2O-N) sampling protocols must account for early season impacts of the living cover

Time-lapse imaging and cell-specific expression profiling reveal dynamic branching and molecular determinants of a multi-dendritic nociceptor in C. elegans

AbstractNociceptive neurons innervate the skin with complex dendritic arbors that respond to pain-evoking stimuli such as harsh mechanical force or extreme temperatures. Here we describe the structure and development of a model nociceptor, the PVD neuron of C. elegans, and identify transcription factors that control morphogenesis of the PVD dendritic arbor. The two PVD neuron cell bodies occupy positions on either the right (PVDR) or left (PVDL) sides of the animal in posterior–lateral locations. Imaging with a GFP reporter revealed a single axon projecting from the PVD soma to the ventral cord and an elaborate, highly branched arbor of dendritic processes that envelop the animal with a web-like array directly beneath the skin. Dendritic branches emerge in a step-wise fashion during larval development and may use an existing network of peripheral nerve cords as guideposts for key branching decisions. Time-lapse imaging revealed that branching is highly dynamic with active extension and withdrawal and that PVD branch overlap is prevented by a contact-dependent self-avoidance, a mechanism that is also employed by sensory neurons in other organisms. With the goal of identifying genes that regulate dendritic morphogenesis, we used the mRNA-tagging method to produce a gene expression profile of PVD during late larval development. This microarray experiment identified>2,000 genes that are 1.5X elevated relative to all larval cells. The enriched transcripts encode a wide range of proteins with potential roles in PVD function (e.g., DEG/ENaC and Trp channels) or development (e.g., UNC-5 and LIN-17/frizzled receptors). We used RNAi and genetic tests to screen 86 transcription factors from this list and identified eleven genes that specify PVD dendritic structure. These transcription factors appear to control discrete steps in PVD morphogenesis and may either promote or limit PVD branching at specific developmental stages. For example, time-lapse imaging revealed that MEC-3 (LIM homeodomain) is required for branch initiation in early larval development whereas EGL-44 (TEAD domain) prevents ectopic PVD branching in the adult. A comparison of PVD-enriched transcripts to a microarray profile of mammalian nociceptors revealed homologous genes with potentially shared nociceptive functions. We conclude that PVD neurons display striking structural, functional and molecular similarities to nociceptive neurons from more complex organisms and can thus provide a useful model system in which to identify evolutionarily conserved determinants of nociceptor fate

'The world is full of big bad wolves': investigating the experimental therapeutic spaces of R.D. Laing and Aaron Esterson

In conjunction with the recent critical assessments of the life and work of R.D. Laing, this paper seeks to demonstrate what is revealed when Laing’s work on families and created spaces of mental health care are examined through a geographical lens. The paper begins with an exploration of Laing’s time at the Tavistock Clinic in London during the 1960s, and of the co-authored text with Aaron Esterson entitled, Sanity, Madness and the Family (1964). The study then seeks to demonstrate the importance Laing and his colleague placed on the time-space situatedness of patients and their worlds. Finally, an account is provided of Laing’s and Esterson’s spatial thinking in relation to their creation of both real and imagined spaces of therapeutic care