Role of an Extension Soil Testing Program in the Development of Best Management Practices: A Florida Case Study

Extension faculty in many states, particularly those involved with soil-testing programs, are faced with the complex task of developing Best Management Practices (BMPs) that potentially minimize environmental impacts from inorganic and organic fertilizers. Experiences gained by Extension faculty at the University of Florida in developing nutrient BMPs based on soil-test recommendations are presented with specific applications to the middle Suwannee River Basin of Florida. The article illustrates practical dilemmas faced and lessons learned as grower-friendly BMP versions or Interim Measures have evolved. Scope and limitations of educational information should be documented as an aid to subsequent regulatory requirements

Characterization of advanced composites- a nondestructive approach

Adhesively bonded sandwich structures comprising of particulate composites as core and graphite epoxy skins as stiffeners are widely used for various applications in the marine and aerospace industry. The core material and the stiffener are held together by an adhesive bond. Particulate composites are made from a mixture of a polymer resin and hollow or solid particles. Hollow particulate composites are known as syntactic foams. Particulate composites possess attractive mechanical and physical properties such as high compressive strength etc, making them attractive materials for use in structural applications. Characterization of the adhesive bondline and core material in sandwich structures is important for ensuring structural stability and reliability. Nondestructive evaluation [NDE] techniques such as ultrasound are used for better evaluation of these sandwich structured materials. The present study addresses the problems of detection of disbonds, bond surface characteristics and porosity in the adhesive panels along with characterization of particulate composites separately using NDE. The importance of the attenuation coefficient in computing the longitudinal velocities of the ultrasonic wave in particulate composite samples is also discussed. Five sets of adhesively bonded carbon epoxy composite specimens with varying bond surface preparation, twenty four different types of hollow syntactic foams and six different types of solid particulate composites, are fabricated. The adhesively bonded panels are made by including known defects in the bond layer of the samples. The particulate composites (syntactic foams and solid particulates) are fabricated by varying the volume fraction of each of the four types of microballoons and solid particle from 10% to 60%. Pulse echo UI method is selected for use in the present work. The results of this research provides a better understanding of adhesive joints and particulate composites and thus help in characterizing structures composed of these constituents. One of the major findings in this research is the discovery of a nondestructive method to determine the dynamic modulus of particulate composites. In addition, a constitutive model explaining the effect of particle size, porosity, radius ratio on the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient in particulate composites is developed

Microgrid Protection Systems

Micro grids are miniature version of conventional large power grids functioning either autonomously or with inter connection to the main grid. Primary function of micro grid is to serve power at distribution level. Distributed energy resources (DERs) connected to the micro grid enables reliable and efficient operation of micro grid. Protection of micro grids assumed importance due to increased penetration of distributed energy resources. Most of the distribution systems in earlier days are radial in nature and protection systems are designed for that. These protection systems pose serious challenges when applied to present day distribution systems which are mesh connected and fed by the distributed energy resources. Limitation of the conventional protection scheme demands new insights and methodologies for micro grid protection. Due to intermediate current injection from DERs the conventional coordination of over current (O/C) relays is not possible. Further in meshed systems the fault current flow is bidirectional. Hence the protection of micro grid systems with DERs require different approach to ensure faults are cleared in less time and minimal number of consumers connected to the system are affected. A comprehensive analysis of the suitable techniques applicable for micro grid protection is presented in this chapter

Evaluation of infertility in women from an industrial area in Telangana, India by diagnostic hysterolaparoscopy: can it explain the unexplained?

Background: Infertility with a prevalence of 10-15% worldwide has been showing a rising trend. Diagnostic hysterolaparoscopy (DHL) procedure in infertility cases uncovers conditions which even a detailed clinical examination or hysterosalpingography or transvaginal ultrasound can miss. Correction of these factors improves chances of conception, naturally or by subsequent ART procedures.Methods: This is a prospective study conducted from January 2014 to December 2015. The objective of this study is to evaluate the factors causing infertility by diagnostic hystertolaparoscopy among primary and secondary infertility women coming from an industrial area, attending infertility clinic at Employees State Insurance Corporation Hospital, Telangana. 80 cases of primary infertility (65%)and secondary infertility (35%) belonging to age group of 19 to 35 years and above, satisfying the inclusion criteria underwent a systematic way of evaluation by diagnostic hysteroscopy followed by diagnostic laparoscopy procedure.Results: 40.38% of primary infertility and 35.72% of secondary infertility had abnormal pelvic pathology. 27% of primary and 32.14% of secondary infertility had abnormal intrauterine abnormality. Diagnostic hysteroscopy found intrauterine septum and endometrial polyp in 12.5% and tubal ostial fibrosis in 5% of total cases. Pelvic peritoneal adhesion (23.75%), pelvic endometriosis (13.75%) and tubal pathology (18.75%) were most common laparoscopic findings. 32.5% of all cases had no significant abnormality. Bilateral tubal block was seen in 20% of cases on chromopertubation. DHL also facilitated operative interventions like adhesionolysis, endometriotic tissue ablation, ovarian cyst drilling, septal resection, polypectomy in the same sitting.Conclusions: DHL procedure has become the gold standard diagnostic modality, as it explains 30-70% of factors that remained undetected during routine investigative workup of female infertility, especially those grouped under unexplained infertility. Industrial toxin exposure may lead to infertility as this study among industrial workers showed a greater incidence of tubo-peritoneal pathology than other factors

Use of Soil Tests for Residential Landscapes: A Survey of Soils Lab Open House Participants in Alachua County, Florida

We discuss the results of a residential homeowners survey conducted at the Open House organized by the University of Florida\u27s Extension Soil Testing Laboratory. For the majority of participants, the Open House provided the first opportunity to learn about the Soil Testing Laboratory services. Approximately half of the survey respondents who had never tested soils indicated that they had been unaware of the soil testing services or the organizations offered the service. Among those who had used the soil testing services prior to the event, more than one-third indicated that soil test recommendations are difficult to interpret

Real Time Hybrid Intrusion Detection System Using Apache Storm

Networks are prone to intrusions and detecting intruders on the internet is a major problem. Many Intrusion Detection Systems have been proposed to detect these intrusions. However, as the internet grows day by day, there is a huge amount of data (big data) that needs to be processed to detect intruders. For this reason, intrusion detection has to be done in real- time before intruders can inflict damage, and previous detection systems do not satisfy this need for big data.Using Apache Storm, a Real time Hybrid Intrusion Detection System has been developed in our thesis. Apache Storm serves as a distributed, fault tolerant, real time big data stream processor. The hybrid detection system consists of two neural networks. The CC4 instan- taneous neural network acts as an anomaly-based detection for unknown attacks and the Multi Layer Perceptron neural network acts as a misuse-based detection for known attacks. Based on the outputs from these two neural networks, the incoming data will be classified as �attack� or �normal.� We found the average accuracy of hybrid detection system is 89% with a 4.32% false positive rate. This model is appropriate for real time detection since Apache Storm acts as a real time streaming processor, which can also handle big data.Computer Scienc