Downstream fish passage improvements at Hiram M. Chittenden Lock and Dam, Seattle, WA: a new Approach for an old dam

The Salish Sea is ringed with human development and infrastructure of multiple generations, some of which strongly influenced patterns of early development and continue to this day to maintain significant elements of the human environment. These developments are not going away, we will not “preserve” our way out of the environmental challenges they pose. Thus, it remains the role of the scientists, engineers, and owners to collaboratively guide their modification and maintenance to make their operation and presence more benign to the fish and the environment. One such development is the US Army Corps of Engineers owned and operated Hiram M Chittenden Dam and Locks in Seattle, Washington. This facility just celebrated its 100th year this past summer, in part with improvements to downstream fish passage and monitoring facilities and equipment. Aging downstream fish passage infrastructure, consisting of wedge wire flow dissipation screens and pipe flumes that dropped downstream migrants 20 to 30 feet to the water on low tides, were replaced by a large rectangular fiberglass smolt flume with updated passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas. The profile of the flume mirrored the profile of the dam ogee and is segmented for removal for storage during the winter months. Safety of smolt passage through the flume was evaluated using Normandeau’s HI-Z Turb\u27N Tag, a proprietary balloon tag technology and found to safely pass smolts with no harm or visible physical damage. Tagged coho smolts were held for 48 hours for observation of delayed effects. All fish were found healthy and vigorous at the end of the holding period. Two more flumes are presently under construction to be ready for installation in the spring of 2018, completing the change to the new downstream fish passage approach

Light interaction with extended quantum systems in dispersive media

We derive a light–matter interaction Hamiltonian to describe a quantum system embedded in a dispersive environment and coupled with the electromagnetic field. We include in this theory the spatial extension of the system, taken into account through its wavefunction. This enables us to overcome the divergence problem of the Green tensor propagator that arises from a point-like approximation of the quantum system. Thus the formalism can be applied to generalize the expressions for the spontaneous emission rate and the Lamb shift for a quantum system defined by a spatially extended dipole. In particular, these quantities can be modified by the asymmetry of the spatial structure of the atomic system as demonstrated in two test-bed examples

The competences of young teachers in education of pupils with special educational needs

Introduction. The present article considers the problem of readiness of young teachers to teach children with special educational needs in countries where the introduction of inclusive education began only in the last decade. The authors describe the key concepts of the theory of formation of professional skills and competences of teachers for working in inclusive education, based on which the results of research conducted in theCzechRepublic,Poland andRussia.The aim of this article is to compare the experience of young teachers in teaching children with special educational needs in relation to their skills and competences needed to perform this task.Methodology and research methods. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data, which were eventually processed using basic statistics (quantitative survey) and the open-coding method (qualitative content).Results. The results of the study indicate both strong and weak aspects of the skills of young teachers in teaching students with special educational needs. In particular, a qualitative analysis of teachers’ responses revealed some interesting ideas that can be used in the search for improvements in teacher training, as well as in the support provided to teachers working with children with special educational needs directly in the school environment at the beginning of their professional careers. In general, it can be stated that young teachers in all three countries do not feel sufficiently qualified in terms of training to work with these children and are in need of expert support.Scientific novelty. The results of the current research allow for the determination of some priorities in teacher training for the modern development of inclusive education in the countries examined.Practical significance. The presented materials of the research can become the basis for developing a system of expert support for young teachers in the implementation of inclusive education, as well as new programs for preparing future teachers to work with pupils with special educational needs.Введение. В статье рассмотрена проблема готовности молодых педагогов к обучению детей с особыми образовательными потребностями в странах, где внедрение инклюзивного образования началось только в последнее десятилетие. Авторами описаны ключевые положения теории формирования профессиональных навыков и компетенций учителей для работы в условиях инклюзивного образования, на основании которой представлены результаты исследований, проведенных в Чехии, Польше и России.Компетенции молодых педагогов в обучении детей с особыми образовательными потребностями. Основная цель статьи – сравнить опыт обучения молодыми педагогами детей с особыми образовательными потребностями в отношении навыков и компетенций, необходимых для выполнения этой задачи. Компетенции молодых педагогов в обучении детей с особыми образовательными потребностями Компетенции молодых педагогов в обучении детей с особыми образовательными потребностями. Анкетирование и интервью применялись для сбора количественных и качественных данных, которые обрабатывались с использованием базовой статистики (количественный обзор) и метода открытого кодирования (качественный контент). Компетенции молодых педагогов в обучении детей с особыми образовательными потребностями. Результаты исследования указывают как на сильные, так и на слабые стороны навыков молодых педагогов по обучению детей с особыми образовательными потребностями. В частности, качественный анализ их ответов позволил выявить некоторые интересные идеи, которые могут быть использованы для совершенствования подготовки педагогов, а также оказания поддержки учителям, работающим с детьми указанной категории, непосредственно в школьной среде в начале их профессиональной карьеры. В целом можно констатировать, что молодые учителя во всех трех странах не чувствуют себя достаточно квалифицированными в области подготовки к работе с такими детьми и нуждаются в экспертной поддержке. Научная новизна. Результаты исследования позволяют определить некоторые приоритеты подготовки учителей для современного развития инклюзивного образования в рассмотренных странах. Практическая значимость. Представленные материалы могут стать основой разработки системы экспертной поддержки молодых учителей в реализации инклюзивного образования, а также новых программ подготовки будущих педагогов к работе с учениками с особыми образовательными потребностями

Elemental composition of ambient aerosols measured with high temporal resolution using an online XRF spectrometer

The Xact 625 Ambient Metals Monitor was tested during a 3-week field campaign at the rural, traffic-influenced site Härkingen in Switzerland during the summer of 2015. The field campaign encompassed the Swiss National Day fireworks event, providing increased concentrations and unique chemical signatures compared to non-fireworks (or background) periods. The objective was to evaluate the data quality by intercomparison with other independent measurements and test its applicability for aerosol source quantification. The Xact was configured to measure 24 elements in PM10 with 1 h time resolution. Data quality was evaluated for 10 24 h averages of Xact data by intercomparison with 24 h PM10 filter data analysed with ICP-OES for major elements, ICP-MS for trace elements, and gold amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry for Hg. Ten elements (S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ba, Pb) showed excellent correlation between the compared methods, with r2 values  ≥  0.95. However, the slopes of the regressions between Xact 625 and ICP data varied from 0.97 to 1.8 (average 1.28) and thus indicated generally higher Xact elemental concentrations than ICP for these elements. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed, but further investigations are needed. For the remaining elements no conclusions could be drawn about their quantification for various reasons, mainly detection limit issues. An indirect intercomparison of hourly values was performed for the fireworks peak, which brought good agreement of total masses when the Xact data were corrected with the regressions from the 24 h value intercomparison. The results demonstrate that multi-metal characterization at high-time-resolution capability of Xact is a valuable and practical tool for ambient monitoring

Genetic risk factors for ischaemic stroke and its subtypes (the METASTROKE Collaboration): a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies

<p>Background - Various genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been done in ischaemic stroke, identifying a few loci associated with the disease, but sample sizes have been 3500 cases or less. We established the METASTROKE collaboration with the aim of validating associations from previous GWAS and identifying novel genetic associations through meta-analysis of GWAS datasets for ischaemic stroke and its subtypes.</p> <p>Methods - We meta-analysed data from 15 ischaemic stroke cohorts with a total of 12 389 individuals with ischaemic stroke and 62 004 controls, all of European ancestry. For the associations reaching genome-wide significance in METASTROKE, we did a further analysis, conditioning on the lead single nucleotide polymorphism in every associated region. Replication of novel suggestive signals was done in 13 347 cases and 29 083 controls.</p> <p>Findings - We verified previous associations for cardioembolic stroke near PITX2 (p=2·8×10−16) and ZFHX3 (p=2·28×10−8), and for large-vessel stroke at a 9p21 locus (p=3·32×10−5) and HDAC9 (p=2·03×10−12). Additionally, we verified that all associations were subtype specific. Conditional analysis in the three regions for which the associations reached genome-wide significance (PITX2, ZFHX3, and HDAC9) indicated that all the signal in each region could be attributed to one risk haplotype. We also identified 12 potentially novel loci at p<5×10−6. However, we were unable to replicate any of these novel associations in the replication cohort.</p> <p>Interpretation - Our results show that, although genetic variants can be detected in patients with ischaemic stroke when compared with controls, all associations we were able to confirm are specific to a stroke subtype. This finding has two implications. First, to maximise success of genetic studies in ischaemic stroke, detailed stroke subtyping is required. Second, different genetic pathophysiological mechanisms seem to be associated with different stroke subtypes.</p&gt

Primary gliosarcoma: key clinical and pathologic distinctions from glioblastoma with implications as a unique oncologic entity

This report presents the historical experience, clinical presentation, treatment, prognosis, and pathogenesis of gliosarcoma described to date in the English literature. PubMed query of term “gliosarcoma” was performed, followed by a rigorous review of cited literature. Articles selected for analysis included: (1) case reports of gliosarcoma, (2) review articles of gliosarcoma, and (3) studies of the pathogenesis or genetics of gliosarcoma in humans. Our review identified 219 cases of gliosarcoma in 34 reports and eight articles addressing the pathogenesis. Survival in larger series ranged 4–11.5 months. Features unique to gliosarcoma compared to glioblastoma (GBM) include their temporal lobe predilection, potential to appear similar to a meningioma at surgery, repeated reports of extracranial metastases, and infrequency of EGFR mutations. Published experience is limited to small case series, and the pathogenesis remains unclear. Clinical and pathologic characteristics distinct from GBM suggest that they may warrant specific treatment, separate from conventional GBM therapy

ACTRIS ACSM intercomparison - Part 2: Intercomparison of ME-2 organic source apportionment results from 15 individual, co-located aerosol mass spectrometers

Chemically resolved atmospheric aerosol data sets from the largest intercomparison of the Aerodyne aerosol chemical speciation monitors (ACSMs) performed to date were collected at the French atmospheric supersite SIRTA. In total 13 quadrupole ACSMs (Q-ACSM) from the European ACTRIS ACSM network, one time-of-flight ACSM (ToF-ACSM), and one high-resolution ToF aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) were operated in parallel for about 3 weeks in November and December~2013. Part 1 of this study reports on the accuracy and precision of the instruments for all the measured species. In this work we report on the intercomparison of organic components and the results from factor analysis source apportionment by positive matrix factorisation (PMF) utilising the multilinear engine 2 (ME-2). Except for the organic contribution of mass-to-charge ratio m/z 44 to the total organics (f44), which varied by factors between 0.6 and 1.3 compared to the mean, the peaks in the organic mass spectra were similar among instruments. The m/z 44 differences in the spectra resulted in a variable f44 in the source profiles extracted by ME-2, but had only a minor influence on the extracted mass contributions of the sources. The presented source apportionment yielded four factors for all 15 instruments: hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA), cooking-related organic aerosol (COA), biomass burning-related organic aerosol (BBOA) and secondary oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA). ME-2 boundary conditions (profile constraints) were optimised individually by means of correlation to external data in order to achieve equivalent / comparable solutions for all ACSM instruments and the results are discussed together with the investigation of the influence of alternative anchors (reference profiles). A comparison of the ME-2 source apportionment output of all 15 instruments resulted in relative standard deviations (SD) from the mean between 13.7 and 22.7 % of the source's average mass contribution depending on the factors (HOA: 14.3 ± 2.2 %, COA: 15.0 ± 3.4 %, OOA: 41.5 ± 5.7 %, BBOA: 29.3 ± 5.0 %). Factors which tend to be subject to minor factor mixing (in this case COA) have higher relative uncertainties than factors which are recognised more readily like the OOA. Averaged over all factors and instruments the relative first SD from the mean of a source extracted with ME-2 was 17.2 %

In situ, satellite measurement and model evidence on the dominant regional contribution to fine particulate matter levels in the Paris megacity

International audiencePublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 9578 M. Beekmann et al.: Evidence for a dominant regional contribution to fine particulate matter levels Abstract. A detailed characterization of air quality in the megacity of Paris (France) during two 1-month intensive campaigns and from additional 1-year observations revealed that about 70 % of the urban background fine particulate matter (PM) is transported on average into the megacity from upwind regions. This dominant influence of regional sources was confirmed by in situ measurements during short intensive and longer-term campaigns, aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from ENVISAT, and modeling results from PMCAMx and CHIMERE chemistry transport models. While advection of sulfate is well documented for other megacities, there was surprisingly high contribution from long-range transport for both nitrate and organic aerosol. The origin of organic PM was investigated by comprehensive analysis of aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), radio-carbon and tracer measurements during two intensive campaigns. Primary fossil fuel combustion emissions constituted less than 20 % in winter and 40 % in summer of carbonaceous fine PM, unexpectedly small for a megacity. Cooking activities and, during winter, residential wood burning are the major primary organic PM sources. This analysis suggests that the major part of secondary organic aerosol is of modern origin , i.e., from biogenic precursors and from wood burning. Black carbon concentrations are on the lower end of values encountered in megacities worldwide, but still represent an issue for air quality. These comparatively low air pollution levels are due to a combination of low emissions per inhabitant , flat terrain, and a meteorology that is in general not conducive to local pollution build-up. This revised picture of a megacity only being partially responsible for its own average and peak PM levels has important implications for air pollution regulation policies

In situ, satellite measurement and model evidence on the dominant regional contribution to fine particulate matter levels in the Paris megacity

A detailed characterization of air quality in the megacity of Paris (France) during two 1-month intensive campaigns and from additional 1-year observations revealed that about 70 % of the urban background fine particulate matter (PM) is transported on average into the megacity from upwind regions. This dominant influence of regional sources was confirmed by in situ measurements during short intensive and longer-term campaigns, aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from ENVISAT, and modeling results from PMCAMx and CHIMERE chemistry transport models. While advection of sulfate is well documented for other megacities, there was surprisingly high contribution from long-range transport for both nitrate and organic aerosol. The origin of organic PM was investigated by comprehensive analysis of aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), radiocarbon and tracer measurements during two intensive campaigns. Primary fossil fuel combustion emissions constituted less than 20 % in winter and 40 % in summer of carbonaceous fine PM, unexpectedly small for a megacity. Cooking activities and, during winter, residential wood burning are the major primary organic PM sources. This analysis suggests that the major part of secondary organic aerosol is of modern origin, i.e., from biogenic precursors and from wood burning. Black carbon concentrations are on the lower end of values encountered in megacities worldwide, but still represent an issue for air quality. These comparatively low air pollution levels are due to a combination of low emissions per inhabitant, flat terrain, and a meteorology that is in general not conducive to local pollution build-up. This revised picture of a megacity only being partially responsible for its own average and peak PM levels has important implications for air pollution regulation policies