Ambient monitoring to inform the protection of beneficial uses and achieve water quality goals in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, Puget Sound, WA

Currently discharge limits enforced under the Clean Water Act are focused on meeting National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) limits at the end of the pipe and environmental performance is measured based on meeting the NPDES discharge limits; but meeting discharge limits has very little to do with achieving water quality goals for coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Therefore an effective monitoring and assessment program is needed to assess continuous process improvement, evaluate the ecological conditions, and provide metrics that can inform effective management of coastal and estuarine water quality. Here we report on an ambient monitoring program within Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, WA that was established to characterize environmental conditions, assess potential impacts, and track environmental quality trends within the Inlets. A network of water, sediment, and biota monitoring locations were selected that were co-located near suspected sources (industrial, waste water, and stormwater outfalls; marinas, stream mouths, and other sources) and locations that were representative of ambient marine and nearshore conditions for periodic sampling. Water column stations and effluents from industrial outfalls were sampled seasonally for trace metals, conventional parameters, and toxicity. Indigenous mussels have been sampled semi-annually for contaminant residues of metals and toxic organic compounds, and sediment monitoring is being conducted at five-eight year intervals. Key management questions include: (1) Are discharges from the naval shipyard protective of beneficial uses? (2) Are discharges from all sources of contamination impacting the quality of water, sediment, and biota in the Inlets? (3) What is the status and trend of water, sediment, and biota residue quality in the Inlets? Results from 2009-2016 monitoring provide metrics that are being used to evaluate ecosystem recovery and assess progress toward meeting environmental quality goals for the watershed

All-Silicone-based distributed bragg reflectors for efficient flexible luminescent solar concentrators

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) have drawn huge interest recently as a technology to pave the way towards the seamless integration of photovoltaics to a range of high-value industries; from architecture and sports to leisure and consumer electronics. Additional device flexibility comes with the inherent ability to attain freeform shapes, expanding the possible fabrication methods, applications and retro-fitting techniques. Unfortunately, flexible LSCs suffer from curvature induced losses which can severely reduce their efficiency, inhibiting the potential of large-scale devices. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate an all-silicone based flexible LSC and Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) combination diminishing curvature induced losses. The DBRs, fabricated using scalable solution-based processes, exhibit optical properties precisely engineered to partner our LSCs, as well as high uniformity, resistance to temperature and curvature. Comprehensive modelling shows that for large-scale devices (1 m2) we can essentially decouple the performance of the LSC from curvature, steering the technology towards commercial viability

Diffusive gradient thin-films in seawater: time integrated technique for aqueous trace metal monitoring in impacted waterways

As part of an ambient monitoring program being conducted for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets of the Puget Sound, receiving waters of the Inlets are routinely monitored for trace metals and toxicity to assess water quality status, track progress in achieving water quality goals, and demonstrate protection of aquatic life. Recently, aqueous metal bioavailability using diffusive gradient thin-film (DGT) passive samplers has been incorporated into the monitoring program. The DGT samplers allow for the measurement of trace metal concentrations integrated over time via in situ chelation of labile metals. The DGT samplers are selective for free and weakly complexed metal species, allowing uptake to mimic diffusion limited bioavailability. This provides a monitoring solution by which episodic events are captured that provides a better representation of the potential for biological effects. A combination of laboratory performance tests and field deployed DGTs have been used to assess the reliability of the method to accurately measure labile concentrations Cu, Pb, and Zn under baseline and episodic storm events. Based on the results from DGTs deployed over different intervals spanning continuous deployments of 1-56 days and rainfall events of 0.4 – 3.2 inches/24 hr, reproducibility was affected by the presence of partially labile complexes, mass loading rate (time to equilibrium) which is proportional to free ion concentration, and variation in resin blank values. Best results were obtained for 3-7 day DGT deployments which showed high resolution of labile metal concentrations over varying spatial and temporal scales. The ability to conduct constant surveillance of metal bioavailable for a variety of freshwater and nearshore marine environments under varying environmental conditions greatly improves the assessment of potential ecological effects from exposure to metals

Assessing 21st century contaminants of concern using integrative passive sampling devices to obtain more meaningful and cost effective data on impacts from stormwater runoff

In many cases stormwater compliance monitoring is labor intensive, expensive, and largely unsuccessful in providing the data needed to support stormwater management goals. In addition, data from manual grab sampling and automated composite sampling are rarely collected in a manner that provides the information required to identify sources of contamination, evaluate the effectiveness of Best Management Practices, and inform effective decision making. Furthermore, monitoring is often driven by the need to meet low concentration benchmarks for metals and other constituents that do not take into account loading into the receiving waters, resulting in arbitrary monitoring requirements (monthly or seasonally) that are not tied to the driving forces within the watershed such as hydrology (flow regime), weather (storm events and antecedent dry periods), and upland land use and cover. To help address these issues, passive sampling devices including Diffusive Gradients in Thin films (DGT) for metals and Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samples (POCIS) for a wide range of household, personal care, pharmaceutical, and endocrine disrupting compounds are being used to monitor stormwater runoff. In the Puget Sound a network of monitoring stations was established in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets to assess runoff from industrial areas of Naval Base Kitsap as well as commercial, residential, and rural areas within the watershed. Passive samplers were co-located with autosamplers to provide a direct comparison with grab and composite sampling. Preliminary results from multiple DGT deployments showed that time-dependent variability in stormwater impacts on ambient metal concentrations could be detected on small time scales, as well as over multiple days of rainfall. The POCIS samplers showed that a wide range of organic compounds could be reliably detected from the surveillance monitoring which should prove very useful for finger printing likely sources of contamination in stormwater runoff in the areas monitored

Proof-of-Concept of Real-World Quantum Key Distribution with Quantum Frames

We propose and experimentally investigate a fibre-based quantum key distribution system, which employs polarization qubits encoded into faint laser pulses. As a novel feature, it allows sending of classical framing information via sequences of strong laser pulses that precede the quantum data. This allows synchronization, sender and receiver identification, and compensation of time-varying birefringence in the communication channel. In addition, this method also provides a platform to communicate implementation specific information such as encoding and protocol in view of future optical quantum networks. Furthermore, we report on our current effort to develop high-rate error correction.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 4 table

Children of Prisoners: Their Situation and Role in Long-Term Crime Prevention

Studies suggest that maintaining family ties can help reduce the likelihood of reoffending, and that while parental imprisonment can increase a child’s likelihood to offend, positive responses to the situation can aid the children’s well-being, attitude and attainment. Drawing on findings from the recently completed EU-funded COPING Project on the mental health of children of prisoners, this chapter explores the factors that aid a child’s ability to cope with parental imprisonment and the actions that different stakeholders can take to support them. It identifies some of the mental health impacts at different stages of parental imprisonment, the roles played by non-imprisoned parents/carers and by schools, and suggests options for further clarifying the factors that help and hinder children of prisoners in the short and long term

A distinct bacterial dysbiosis associated skin inflammation in ovine footrot

Ovine footrot is a highly prevalent bacterial disease caused by Dichelobacter nodosus and characterised by the separation of the hoof horn from the underlying skin. The role of innate immune molecules and other bacterial communities in the development of footrot lesions remains unclear. This study shows a significant association between the high expression of IL1β and high D. nodosus load in footrot samples. Investigation of the microbial population identified distinct bacterial populations in the different disease stages and also depending on the level of inflammation. Treponema (34%), Mycoplasma (29%) and Porphyromonas (15%) were the most abundant genera associated with high levels of inflammation in footrot. In contrast, Acinetobacter (25%), Corynebacteria (17%) and Flavobacterium (17%) were the most abundant genera associated with high levels of inflammation in healthy feet. This demonstrates for the first time there is a distinct microbial community associated with footrot and high cytokine expression

Targeting Cattle-Borne Zoonoses and Cattle Pathogens Using a Novel Trypanosomatid-Based Delivery System

Trypanosomatid parasites are notorious for the human diseases they cause throughout Africa and South America. However, non-pathogenic trypanosomatids are also found worldwide, infecting a wide range of hosts. One example is Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) theileri, a ubiquitous protozoan commensal of bovids, which is distributed globally. Exploiting knowledge of pathogenic trypanosomatids, we have developed Trypanosoma theileri as a novel vehicle to deliver vaccine antigens and other proteins to cattle. Conditions for the growth and transfection of T. theileri have been optimised and expressed heterologous proteins targeted for secretion or specific localisation at the cell interior or surface using trafficking signals from Trypanosoma brucei. In cattle, the engineered vehicle could establish in the context of a pre-existing natural T. theileri population, was maintained long-term and generated specific immune responses to an expressed Babesia antigen at protective levels. Building on several decades of basic research into trypanosomatid pathogens, Trypanosoma theileri offers significant potential to target multiple infections, including major cattle-borne zoonoses such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Brucella abortus and Mycobacterium spp. It also has the potential to deliver therapeutics to cattle, including the lytic factor that protects humans from cattle trypanosomiasis. This could alleviate poverty by protecting indigenous African cattle from African trypanosomiasis