WTG Energy Systems' MP1-200 200 kilowatt wind turbine generator

The preliminary design criteria of the MP1-200 wind turbine are given along with a brief description of the wind turbine generator. Performance and operational experience and cost factors are included. Recommendations for additional research are listed

Is Brain Gym an Effective Educational Intervention?

Brain Gym® (BG) (BGI, 2008) is a popular commercial program sold by Brain Gym® International (BGI). Making extravagant claims for improved intellectual and physical development, it used in more than 80 countries. While BGI’s claims are persuasive, to date there is little empirical evidence validating the approach. We examine some theoretical assumptions from which BGI was developed, review the efficacy literature, and provide suggestions for making informed decisions about the judiciousness of investing time and resources in this program

A Time to Define: Making the Specific Learning Disability Definition Prescribe Specific Learning Disability

Unlike other special education categories defined in U.S. law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the definition of specific learning disability (SLD) has not changed since first proposed in 1968. Thus, although the operational definition of SLD has responded to new knowledge and understanding about the construct, the formal definition has remained static for 40 years, creating a schism between theory and practice. Using concepts gleaned from the scientific study of formal and operational definitions as well as the history of another special education category (i.e., mental retardation), in this article we demonstrate why change in the SLD definition is necessary. Finally, we propose a change in the SLD definition in federal regulations to redress the disconnect between theory and practice and restore integrity to the SLD field

Drama: A Comparative Analysis of Individual Narratives

In a narrative inquiry, five educators who taught college in prison share stories about working in this non-traditional learning environment that is often dangerous and frustrating. From the tension between the prison\u27s emphasis on social control and the educators\u27 concern for democratic classrooms, three broad themes emerged: working in borderlands, negotiating power relations, and making personal transformations. Large intact segments from transcripts of participant interviews form a dramatic text that illuminates how a selected group of educators made meaning of their experience teaching college courses to incarcerated students. A comparative analysis presented in a one act play brings together the individual participant voices to tell a collective story, which has meaning in the context of a shared emotional experience

Sirolimus-eluting versus uncoated stents in acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Sirolimus-eluting stents reduce rates of restenosis and reintervention, as compared with uncoated stents. Data are limited regarding the safety and efficacy of such stents in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation. METHODS: We performed a single-blind, multicenter, prospectively randomized trial to compare sirolimus-eluting stents with uncoated stents in primary PCI for acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation. The trial included 712 patients at 48 medical centers. The primary end point was target-vessel failure at 1 year after the procedure, defined as target-vessel-related death, recurrent myocardial infarction, or target-vessel revascularization. A follow-up angiographic substudy was performed at 8 months among 174 patients from selected centers. RESULTS: The rate of the primary end point was significantly lower in the sirolimus-stent group than in the uncoated-stent group (7.3% vs. 14.3%, P=0.004). This reduction was driven by a decrease in the rate of target-vessel revascularization (5.6% and 13.4%, respectively; P<0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the rate of death (2.3% and 2.2%, respectively; P=1.00), reinfarction (1.1% and 1.4%, respectively; P=1.00), or stent thrombosis (3.4% and 3.6%, respectively; P=1.00). The degree of neointimal proliferation, as assessed by the mean (+/-SD) in-stent late luminal loss, was significantly lower in the sirolimus-stent group (0.14+/-0.49 mm, vs. 0.83+/-0.52 mm in the uncoated stent group; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among selected patients with acute myocardial infarction, the use of sirolimus-eluting stents significantly reduced the rate of target-vessel revascularization at 1 year. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00232830 [ClinicalTrials.gov].)

Dust Mediated Transfer of Phosphorus to Alpine Lake Ecosystems of the Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA

Alpine lakes receive a large fraction of their nutrients from atmospheric sources and are consequently sensitive to variations in both the amount and chemistry of atmospheric deposition. In this study we explored the spatial changes in lake water chemistry and biology along a gradient of dust deposition in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Regional differences were explored using the variation in bulk deposition, lake water, sediment, and bedrock geochemistry and catchment characteristics. Dust deposition rates in the Southwestern region averaged 3.34 g m−2 year−1, approximately three times higher than deposition rates in the Northwestern region (average 1.06 g m−2 year−1). Dust-P deposition rates ranged from 87 µg P m2 day−1 in the Northwestern region to 276 µg P m2 day−1 in the Southwestern region. Subalpine and alpine lakes in the Southwestern region had greater total phosphorus (TP) concentrations (5–13 µg L−1) and greater sediment phosphorus (SP) concentrations (2–5 mg g−1) than similar lakes elsewhere in the region (1–8 µg L−1 TP, 0.5–2 mg g−1 SP). Lake phosphorus concentrations were related to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) across vegetation gradients, but related to the percent of bare rock, catchment area to lake area, and catchment steepness across dust deposition gradients. Modern phytoplankton and zooplankton biomasses were two orders of magnitude greater in the Southwest than in the Northwest, and alpine lakes in the Southwest had a unique diatom species assemblage with relatively higher concentrations of Asterionella formosa, Pseudostaurosira pseudoconstruens, and Pseudostaurosira brevistriata. These results suggests that catchment controls on P export to lakes (i.e. DOC) are overridden in dominantly bare rock basins where poor soils cannot effectively retain dust deposited P

Reduction of Taxonomic Bias in Diatom Species Data

Inconsistency in taxonomic identification and analyst bias impede the effective use of diatom data in regional and national stream and lake surveys. In this study, we evaluated the effect of existing protocols and a revised protocol on the precision of diatom species counts. The revised protocol adjusts four elements of sample preparation, taxon identification and enumeration, and quality control (QC). We used six independent data sets to assess the effect of the adjustments on analytical outcomes. The first data set was produced by three laboratories with a total of five analysts following established protocols (Charles et al., Protocols for the analysis of algal samples collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment, 2002) or their slight variations. The remaining data sets were produced by one to three laboratories with a total of two to three analysts following a revised protocol. The revised protocol included the following modifications: (1) development of coordinated precount voucher floras based on morphological operational taxonomic units, (2) random assignment of samples to analysts, (3) postcount identification and documentation of taxa (as opposed to an approach in which analysts assign names while they enumerate), and (4) increased use of QC samples. The revised protocol reduced taxonomic bias, as measured by reduction in analyst signal, and improved similarity among QC samples. Reduced taxonomic bias improves the performance of biological assessments, facilitates transparency across studies, and refines estimates of diatom species distributions

Validation of Oil Trajectory and Fate Modeling of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Trajectory and fate modeling of the oil released during the Deepwater Horizon blowout was performed for April to September of 2010 using a variety of input data sets, including combinations of seven hydrodynamic and four wind models, to determine the inputs leading to the best agreement with observations and to evaluate their reliability for quantifying exposure of marine resources to floating and subsurface oil. Remote sensing (satellite imagery) data were used to estimate the amount and distribution of floating oil over time for comparison with the model’s predictions. The model-predicted locations and amounts of shoreline oiling were compared to documentation of stranded oil by shoreline assessment teams. Surface floating oil trajectory and distribution was largely wind driven. However, trajectories varied with the hydrodynamic model used as input, and was closest to observations when using specific implementations of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model modeled currents that accounted for both offshore and nearshore currents. Shoreline oiling distributions reflected the paths of the surface oil trajectories and were more accurate when westward flows near the Mississippi Delta were simulated. The modeled movements and amounts of oil floating over time were in good agreement with estimates from interpretation of remote sensing data, indicating initial oil droplet distributions and oil transport and fate processes produced oil distribution results reliable for evaluating environmental exposures in the water column and from floating oil at water surface. The model-estimated daily average water surface area affected by floating oil \u3e1.0 g/m2 was 6,720 km2, within the range of uncertainty for the 11,200 km2 estimate based on remote sensing. Modeled shoreline oiling extended over 2,600 km from the Apalachicola Bay area of Florida to Terrebonne Bay area of Louisiana, comparing well to the estimated 2,100 km oiled based on incomplete shoreline surveys

Hydroacoustic Assessment of Abundance and Diel Distribution of Sockeye Salmon and Kokanee in the Sawtooth Valley Lakes, Idaho

We used dual-beam hydroacoustics and echo integration techniques, combined with midwater trawling and gillnetting, to assess the abundance and distribution of the endangered Snake River juvenile sockeye salmon and resident kokanee (both Oncorhynchus nerka) in Sawtooth Valley lakes of Idaho during September 1991 and 1992. Abundance of O. nerka varied among the four lakes containing this species (12,500–257,000) and varied between years in Redfish Lake (86,400 in 1994 and 241,000 in 1992) and Alturas Lake (230,000 in 1991 and 257,000 in 1992). In Alturas Lake, where piscivore densities were high and zooplankton densities were low, small acoustic targets (≤18 cm long) were nearly absent from the limnetic zone during daylight, and high densities remained in colder intermediate depths (15–30 m) during crepuscular and nocturnal periods. In Redfish Lake, where predator density was much lower and zooplankton density was higher, targets concentrated in schools at 25–30 m during daylight, dispersed into the upper 10 m at dusk, then were broadly distributed over the upper 30 m at night. In Pettit and Stanley lakes, nocturnal distributions of smaller (3–7 cm) and intermediate (7–18 cm) target sizes were skewed toward the epilimnion, and larger targets remained in the metalimnion or upper hypolimnion. The different diel vertical distribution patterns suggested that juvenile O. nerka exposed to limited food and high predation risk consumed smaller rations and maximized bioenergetic efficiency. Populations with higher food supplies and exposed to lower piscivore densities exploited the higher epilimnetic prey densities and temperatures at night and crepuscular periods to maximize growth but deviated further from bioenergetic efficiency. Populations responded differently to the unique combination of constraints that limit potential sockeye salmon smolt production at each lake. Consequently, different management strategies may be needed in each lake