Measuring health burden without discriminating against the disabled

This paper addresses an ethical implication of some health metrics used for evaluating population health, with particular reference to the Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY). Specifically, the paper considers the concern that, such measures may discriminate against the disabled. An analysis of this problem is offered, alongside the formulation of three principles upon which an alternative measure is developed –the Ethically Adjusted Life Year (EALY)

Empire Shared Collection: Preserving legacy print collections together

Libraries from multiple library sectors in Western New York have worked together to develop a regional collaborative “last copy” print repository – the Empire Shared Collection Repository (ESCR) – that provides continuing access to a shared collection of seldom-used serial-type materials. In this session, learn how the University at Buffalo, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, SUNY Buffalo State, and The College at Brockport have collaborated to develop the tools, standards, services, costs and policies that are needed to create and sustain a collaborative print repository

Empire Shared Collection Program: Preserving legacy print collections together

Libraries from multiple library sectors in Western New York have worked together to develop a regional collaborative “last copy” print repository – the Empire Shared Collection Repository (ESCR) – that provides continuing access to a shared collection of seldom-used serial-type materials. In this session, learn how the University at Buffalo, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, SUNY Buffalo State, and The College at Brockport have collaborated to develop the tools, standards, services, costs and policies that are needed to create and sustain a collaborative print repository

Holocene guano influences on eutrophication and lacustrine ecology at Kettle Lake, North Dakota

The grasslands of the Northern Great Plains host a series of migratory birds along the Central Flyway each year. Migratory bird populations have the ability to significantly alter ecosystems along their transit corridors. Coupling this with the sensitivity of grassland lacustrine ecosystems to moisture variability and ecological change, it will be crucial to understand the response of these systems to both future avian influence and climate variability. Here, I examine the influence of climate-forced avian migration on nitrogen cycling at Kettle Lake, North Dakota throughout the Holocene. I investigate this influence using stable nitrogen isotope values (15N) from lake sediment organic matter, with particular focus on periods of struvite deposition, a magnesium-ammonium-phosphate mineral formed from guano. I find that 15N is elevated throughout the Holocene in comparison to other lake sediment records in North America of similar temporal length. In particular, 15N is highest during periods of struvite deposition and in intervals of drought. Additionally, the negatively correlated 15N-percent Nitrogen abundance (%N) relationship is strongest during struvite-bearing intervals, indicating a depletion of the nitrogen pool. From this I conclude that guano deposition significantly alters nitrogen cycle processes, which are amplified during this time as evidenced by a drop in %N and increase in 15N beyond estimated guano values. Continuously elevated 15N in the late Holocene may indicate a “legacy” of bioavailable N from guano deposition, but further indicators are needed to assess this claim. To ensure that my conclusions are based on environmental changes reflected in d15N, I create a model to understand diagenetic changes in the sediment record. I use this “15N diagenesis model” to assess the degree of diagenetic change from remineralization in the sediment and then correct the original 15N record accordingly. Generally, trends in the Kettle Lake 15N are conserved, with the original record showing enrichment of <1‰ on average and greatest disagreement occurring in the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene. These results are valuable as an analog to human-driven eutrophication of surface waters in the Northern Great Plains and indicate that agriculture expansion and intensive animal feeding operations could significantly alter the nitrogen cycle of nearby surface waters