Swan Creek Reservoir Investigation

Swan Creek Reservoir is 23 acres in area and located within West Amwell Township, New Jersey. The reservoir serves as a source of public drinking water for residents of the surrounding area and is owned and operated by SUEZ Water New Jersey Lambertville, a water utility. Prior to distribution, SUEZ Water New Jersey Lambertville treats reservoir water to applicable drinking water standards. An investigation of current phosphorus levels in the reservoir was investigated to aid in the future management of algal blooms within the reservoir as it was hypothesized that nutrient levels had increased. A monthly sampling program was developed from four locations during January, February and March 2018. Water quality parameters recorded at each location included appearance, dissolved oxygen, pH, oxidation-reduction potential, specific conductivity, temperature and turbidity. Ammonia-N, chlorophyll a, nitrate-N, soluble reactive phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, total particulate phosphorus, total phosphorus and total suspended solids were also analyzed. All collected data was compared to applicable historic data made available by SUEZ Water New Jersey Lambertville with results showing that the reservoir is hypereutrophic, similar to other nearby water bodies. Additionally, total phosphorus levels were found to have increased over time in the reservoir, and as overland flow is a primary mechanism for phosphorus transport, it was hypothesized that phosphorus was being carried via overland flow from neighboring agricultural lands where phosphorus containing fertilizers may have been applied. Therefore, the uses of properties within or adjacent to the reservoir’s approximately 690 acre watershed were examined. Information regarding these properties was reviewed from EDR, Inc., government databases, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, StateInfoServices.com and West Amwell Township. This review, however, did not identify a source of phosphorus to the reservoir as the majority of surrounding land is either undisturbed woodland/wetland habitat or land utilized for farming on a small-scale

Photocatalytic Treatment of Air: How to dealwith the problem of TiO2 deactivation

n this study photocatalytic oxidation of toluene, used as model VOCs in the gas phase on different types of Ti-based catalytic materials was investigated. The objective of this work was to find out additional information regarding activity and stability of catalyst during photocatalytic treatment of the polluted air. Two designs of the photoreactor were used: classical type of an annular reactor and annular reactor with recirculation. All measurements were performed at room temperature, atmospheric pressure and at constant initial toluene concentration, relative humidity and total flow rate of the reaction mixture. Some experiments were carried out with catalysts thermally treated on different temperatures (350–450 °C). It was found out that thermal treatment of deactivated photocatalyst at higher temperature is efficient method of TiO2 reactivation. According to results presented in this paper problem of catalyst deactivation can be partially solved by using annular reactor with recirculation of one part of reaction mixture entering the reactor

Randomised controlled study in the primary healthcare sector to investigate the effectiveness and safety of auriculotherapy for the treatment of uncomplicated chronic rachialgia: a study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Uncomplicated chronic rachialgia is a highly prevalent complaint, and one for which therapeutic results are contradictory. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of treatment with auriculopressure, in the primary healthcare sector, carried out by trained healthcare professionals via a 30-hour course.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The design consists of a multi-centre randomized controlled trial, with placebo, with two parallel groups, and including an economic evaluation. Patients with chronic uncomplicated rachialgia, whose GP is considering referral for auriculopressure sensory stimulation, are eligible for inclusion. Sampling will be by consecutive selection, and randomised allocation to one of the two study arms will be determined using a centralised method, following a 1:1 plan (true auriculopressure; placebo auriculopressure). The implants (true and placebo) will be replaced once weekly, and the treatment will have a duration of 8 weeks. The primary outcome measure will be the change in pain intensity, measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS) of 100 mm, at 9 weeks after beginning the treatment. A follow up study will be performed at 6 months after beginning treatment. An assessment will also be made of the changes measured in the Spanish version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, of the changes in the Lattinen test, and of the changes in quality of life (SF-12). Also planned is an analysis of cost-effectiveness and also, if necessary, a cost-benefit analysis.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study will contribute to developing evidence on the use of auriculotherapy using Semen vaccariae [wang bu liu xing] for the treatment of uncomplicated chronic rachialgia.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN01897462.</p

Microplanning with Communicative Intentions: The SPUD System

The process of microplanning in Natural Language Generation (NLG) encompasses a range of problems in which a generator must bridge underlying domain-specific representations and general linguistic representations. These problems include constructing linguistic referring expressions to identify domain objects, selecting lexical items to express domain concepts, and using complex linguistic constructions to concisely convey related domain facts. In this paper, we argue that such problems are best solved through a uniform, comprehensive, declarative process. In our approach, the generator directly explores a search space for utterances described by a linguistic grammar. At each stage of search, the generator uses a model of interpretation, which characterizes the potential links between the utterance and the domain and context, to assess its progress in conveying domain-specific representations. We further address the challenges for implementation and knowledge representation in this approach. We show how to implement this approach effectively by using the lexicalized tree-adjoining grammar formalism (LTAG) to connect structure to meaning and using modal logic programming to connect meaning to context. We articulate a detailed methodology for designing grammatical and conceptua