Bird Hazards at Airports

This is a 137-slide audio-visual presentation of approximately 21 minutes duration produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide an awareness of bird hazards to aircraft in the airport environment and some procedures to reduce the hazard. The audio-visual is a semi-technical orientation and training program for airport/airfield managers, aircraft controllers, airline managers. pilots, and other airport users

Supporting Leopold Center research through on-farm trials and demonstrations

This project addresses sustainable agriculture\u27s need for farmers who (1) can develop the skills to conduct research trials (some replicated) of various innovative practices, and (2) who are also willing to demonstrate practices and share results. In conjunction with university scien­ tists, Practical Farmers of Iowa (a private, nonprofit, educational organization) has de­ veloped a procedure for generating statisti­ cally reliable information on working farms. From 1987 to 1993, they conducted approxi­ mately 340 trials. The scientists benefited from having data collected at multiple sites with particular soil characteristics, or where specific management abilities are employed (sustainable agriculture technologies fre­ quently depend on superior management)

Charge-ice dynamics in the negative thermal expansion material Cd(CN)2_2

We use variable-temperature (150--300\,K) single-crystal X-ray diffraction to re-examine the interplay between structure and dynamics in the ambient phase of the isotropic negative thermal expansion (NTE) material Cd(CN)$_2$. We find strong experimental evidence for the existence of low-energy vibrational modes that involve off-centering of Cd$^{2+}$ ions. These modes have the effect of increasing network packing density---suggesting a mechanism for NTE that is different to the generally-accepted picture of correlated Cd(C/N)$_4$ rotation modes. Strong local correlations in the displacement directions of neighbouring cadmium centres are evident in the existence of highly-structured diffuse scattering in the experimental X-ray diffraction patterns. Monte Carlo simulations suggest these patterns might be interpreted in terms of a basic set of `ice-rules' that establish a mapping between the dynamics of Cd(CN)$_2$ and proton ordering in cubic ice VII.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Zero-tension lysimeters: an improved design to monitor colloid-facilitated contaminant transport in the vadose zone

There is increasing evidence that mobile colloids facilitate the long-distance transport of contaminants. The mobility of fine particles and macromolecules has been linked to the movement of actinides , organic contaminants, and heavy metals through soil. Direct evidence for colloid mobility includes the presence of humic materials in deep aquifers as well as coatings of accumulated clay, organic matter, or sesquioxides on particle or aggregate surfaces in subsoil horizons of many soils. The potential for colloid-facilitated transport of contaminants from hazardous-waste sites requires adequate monitoring before, during, and after in- situ remediation treatments. A lysimeter is a device permanently installed in the soil to sample soil water periodically. Zero-tension lysimeters (ZTLs) are especially appropriate for sampling water as it moves through saturated soil, although some unsaturated flow events may be sampled as well. Because no ceramic barrier or fiberglass wick is involved to maintain tension on the water (as is the case with other lysimeters), particles suspended in the water as well as dissolved species may be sampled with ZTLs. Conventionally, ZTLs consist of shallow pans or troughs that are inserted laterally into the soil from an access pit or trench. But conventional design and installation of ZTLs leads to a number of problems. First, digging access pits or trenches to depths appropriate for sampling subsurface materials may be impractical or prohibitively costly. Second, disturbance of trench walls by digging equipment (e.g., smearing of the pit walls; fractures induced by the jarring of backhoe buckets) may alter physical conditions and limit interpretations and predictions for unsampled sites. Finally (and most importantly), the time and space required to install a conventional ZTL may place limitations on the number of replications possible at a given site and thereby limit appropriate monitoring of spatial variability . To address these problems, a ZTL design is proposed that is more suitable for monitoring colloid-facilitated contaminant migration. The improved design consists of a cylinder made of polycarbonate or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) that is placed below undisturbed soil material. In many soils, a hydraulically powered tube may be used to extract an undisturbed core of soil before placement of the lysimeter. In those cases, the design has significant advantages over conventional designs with respect to simplicity and speed of installation. Therefore, it will allow colloid-facilitated transport of contaminants to be monitored at more locations at a given site. Zero-tension lysimeters are intended to capture samples of suspended colloids as they move in the vadose zone. The specific benefits of the proposed design are related to the simplicity of installation and the concomitant reduction of cost of monitoring. Because more ZTLs of the proposed design than of the conventional design can be installed to assess site variability, more accurate monitoring of contaminant transport before, during, and after remediation will be achieved. In addition, because of the improved spatial resolution in sampling and monitoring, if contaminants are mobilized, their source can be more easily identified than with piezometer-based monitoring methods. The improved zero-tension lysimeters described in this proposal have been installed at five sites contaminated with americium and plutonium at Rocky Flats Plant, Golden, Colorado. Rainfall simulation experiments have been performed to test the ability of the improved lysimeters to intercept mobile colloids and actinides and to compare their behavior with that of conventional zero-tension lysimeters. Zero-tension lysimeters have been installed near Ames, Iowa, where colloid- facilitated transport of heavy metals (Cu, Ni, Cd, and Zn) in municipal sewage sludge amendments is monitored. in water samples collected from the lysimeters, suspended colloid concentrations, heavy metals, dissolved organic carbon, electrical conductivity, and pH are determined. Rainfall simulation experiments designed to simulate the intensity of typical summer storms will be completed along with transport simulation trials designed to identify the initial pH and ionic strength levels of soil water that are most conducive to mobilization of organic and phyllosilicate colloids and associated metals

Marine litter education boosts children’s understanding and self-reported actions

Marine litter is a significant environmental problem inherently linked to individuals’ purchasing, use and disposal behaviour. This research examined 176 British schoolchildren’s (aged 8–13 years) baseline marine litter understanding and self-reported actions, and tested the impact of an educational intervention. All children participated in the educational intervention and completed a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire. At baseline, children were quite concerned about marine litter and recognised some of the causes and impacts of the problem. Children also reported taking a number of actions to help solve the problem. After the intervention, children were significantly more concerned, had a better understanding of the causes and negative impacts, and reported engaging in more actions to reduce the potential causes of marine litter. Understanding the perceptions and behaviours of children is crucial as they represent current and future actors and a potentially important source of social influence among their peers, parents and community

Representations of Time Coordinates in FITS

In a series of three previous papers, formulation and specifics of the representation of World Coordinate Transformations in FITS data have been presented. This fourth paper deals with encoding time. Time on all scales and precisions known in astronomical datasets is to be described in an unambiguous, complete, and self-consistent manner. Employing the well--established World Coordinate System (WCS) framework, and maintaining compatibility with the FITS conventions that are currently in use to specify time, the standard is extended to describe rigorously the time coordinate. World coordinate functions are defined for temporal axes sampled linearly and as specified by a lookup table. The resulting standard is consistent with the existing FITS WCS standards and specifies a metadata set that achieves the aims enunciated above.Comment: FITS WCS Paper IV: Time. 27 pages, 11 table

Consumer Financial Protection in the COVID-19 Crisis: An Emergency Agenda

The coronavirus pandemic is creating overwhelming needs, in three waves. First is the health crisis; second is the macroeconomic crisis created by the abrupt halt in much business activity; and now third is a consumer crisis, as households are faced with total or partial job loss, sharp income decline, and potential loss of health care. Millions of Americans are falling behind on their bills, including major obligations like mortgages, rent, car payments, and other forms of household debt. At the same time, they face a financial industry itself struggling to respond to the compounding crises and widespread confusion as to what the new rules of the road are as financial institutions, states, localities, and the federal government scramble to respond. The result is fertile ground for consumer scams. The authors call upon the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to recognize and respond to this new consumer crisis, providing an action plan of more than a dozen practical steps that the CFPB can and must take immediately to prevent widespread consumer harm. The action plan starts with the most basic and essential step of collecting and disseminating timely and accurate information for both consumers and policymakers. The CFPB must address pressing consumer risks in four primary areas: foreclosure prevention, non-mortgage debt forbearance, oversight of debt collectors, and supervision of credit reporting companies. In each of these primary areas, and on all the issues discussed in this paper, the CFPB must use all of its authorities to ensure that crucial relief is delivered to distressed consumers

Back to Addams and Richmond: Was Social Work Really A Divided House in the Beginning?

Social work has experienced unique tensions related to its professional identity and dual purpose of social reform and individualized treatment. Scholars have represented this dual purpose, epitomized by Jane Addams and Mary Richmond, as indicating irreconcilable differences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the writings and speeches of Mary Richmond and Jane Addams, and, based on this inquiry, to assert that their respective approaches to social work are much more unified than often suggested. Specific themes examined include: acceptance and need for each other’s perspectives; compatibility and unity of perspectives; and their collaboration as critical for effecting social change. With this more complex understanding of Richmond and Addams, the authors speculate about how a more holistic approach to social work practice is needed in the 21st century

Back to Addams and Richmond: Was Social Work Really a Divided House in the Beginning?

Social work has experienced unique tensions related to its professional identity and dual purpose of social reform and individualized treatment. Scholars have represented this dual purpose, epitomized by Jane Addams and Mary Richmond, as indicating irreconcilable differences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the writings and speeches of Mary Richmond and Jane Addams, and, based on this inquiry, to assert that their respective approaches to social work are much more unified than often suggested. Specific themes examined include: acceptance and need for each other’s perspectives; compatibility and unity of perspectives; and their collaboration as critical for effecting social change. With this more complex understanding of Richmond and Addams, the authors speculate about how a more holistic approach to social work practice is needed in the 21st century