An Evaluation of Soil Extracellular Enzyme Activity in Response to Burning as a Forest Restoration Technique

Burning is a method of forest restoration with the goal of returning natural tree species to ecosystems. Burning has a wide range of effects on an ecosystem, including the alteration of important soil processes and characteristics. One of the key components of soil is the activity of extracellular enzymes, which can be used to provide insight into the nutritional requirements of soil microbes as well as nutrient availability and cycling. Because enzymes are important in the overall functioning of soil and can be used to assess soil health, there is great need to examine the effects of burning on soil enzyme activity. The aim of this study was to assess differences in the activity of five enzymes (phosphatase, β-glucosidase, NAGase, phenol oxidase, and peroxidase) in response to historical burning, as compared to an unburned plot. Soil samples were collected from three sites (unburned, prescribed burn, and wildfire) in an upland forest of north Mississippi and assayed for enzyme activity. NAGase and phenol oxidase activity was higher in the burned plot, while phosphatase and β-glucosidase activity was lower, and peroxidase was generally unaffected. While enzyme activity is subject to change following burning, how certain enzymes respond is yet to be determined. However, the enzymes assayed in this study proved to be sensitive to fire, suggesting that soil enzyme activity can be used as a measure of soil quality or health during the restoration process

Governance for Affordable Energy: What is the impact of demand-side governance on affordability of energy for domestic consumers in Great Britain?

Thesis examining the impact of governance on affordability of energy for domestic consumers in Great Britain. Particular focus on the impact of governance on pricing, tariffs, energy-related income policy, and energy efficiency. Insight is also taken from governance in Denmark affecting energy efficiency policy. Proposals are given for alterations to the governance structure to better support affordability of energy for domestic consumers in Great Britain. Findings are based on a combination of examination of existing academic and policy literature, and from semi-structured interviews in both Great Britain and Denmark.Affordability of energy in the domestic sector is the product of three interrelated factors - level of household income, level of energy bills (which are a product of prices and levels of energy demand, mediated by tariffs and the retail market), and the amount of energy that a household needs to maintain a healthy living environment. This thesis focusses on the factors of affordability which are most relevant to the energy policy which are energy bills and energy efficiency, both of which are considered in the context of household income. Affordability of energy in Great Britain is important for separate, but over-lapping reasons. Firstly, it has important political impacts - as energy prices continue to rise, energy is repeatedly highlighted as one of the biggest financial concerns for households (uSwitch, 2013; YouGov, 2015; DECC, 2014f), leading affordability of energy to become an increasingly political issue (Lockwood, 2016). Secondly, affordability of energy has social implications which stem from the fact that the impact of rising energy bills is felt particularly strongly by those on low incomes and in inefficient homes – the fuel poor. In spite of it being twenty-five years since Brenda Boardman published her first book defining the issue of fuel poverty (Boardman, 1991), millions of households in Great Britain today still cannot afford adequate amounts of energy. This is significant because being able to afford access to basic levels of energy services such as warmth and light is essential for maintaining physical and mental health (Harrington et al., 2005; Stockton and Campbell, 2011). Thirdly, affordability has important implications for design of the energy system –a system focussed on minimising long-term costs, both through micro-scale features such as efficient network revenue regulation which keep costs down on a year-by-year basis, and macro-scale aspects such as through the development of a low-demand, highly flexible energy system which has the potential to bring costs down in the long term (Sanders et al., 2016), is likely to differ from one which in which affordability is less of a focus, or only a focus over the short term. This thesis responds to a gap in the literature in relation to the role that governance plays in affecting levels of affordability of energy for domestic consumers in Great Britain. It examines the impact of governance on energy prices and tariffs, and the impact of governance on energy efficiency of the housing stock in Great Britain. Both of these are examined in the context of levels of household income. Greater insight is gained by examining the impact of the energy governance structure in Denmark on Danish domestic energy efficiency standards, which are widely accepted to be very good (IEA, 2011). 7 This thesis makes use of existing academic and policy literature in tandem with data from fifty-six interviews with individuals from across the energy sectors in Great Britain and Denmark. The governance structure of energy in Great Britain is shown to be, on balance, not supportive of delivering affordable energy to domestic consumers. A number of specific issues within the current governance structure in Great Britain are identified. These include the presence of a limiting narrative, whereby policymakers consider affordability to be achieved principally through delivery of low prices; insufficient institutional capacity within OFGEM to keep network prices low, and monitor suppliers’ costs and profits; lack of wholesale market transparency; an anti-interventionist ideology leading to weak energy efficiency requirements for new-build and private rental properties; suppliers as poor executors of energy efficiency policy; weak demand-side interests; tariffs designed around the needs of suppliers, not consumers; an over-reliance on an uncompetitive retail market; a lack of institutional capacity amongst policy makers regarding energy efficiency, and network regulation; and weak consumer representation. A number of recommendations are put forward, including the fostering of a new narrative centred on energy efficiency; the redesign of tariffs to better protect the interests of consumers; the reallocation of responsibility for energy efficiency to local authorities; the development of greater institutional capacity among policymakers; the support for a more interventionist ideology supporting use of regulation; financial support for energy efficiency retrofit; the fostering of greater policy stability; development of new tariff structures; and the formation of a new consumer representative. Overall this thesis demonstrates that affordability of energy in unlikely to be delivered to domestic consumers in Great Britain unless significant changes are made to the governance structure of the energy sector.University of Exete

The Ursinus Weekly, April 5, 1943

Sophs will feature Mardi Gras gaiety and new collegians • Forum speaker urges need for world union to bring sure peace • Weekly control board names Marion Bright as new editor • Lincoln prof tells rights of individual • Women will select officers Thursday • Ursinus to begin Navy training July 1 as inspectors approve college\u27s facilities • Med school begins for 22 this month • Navy lowers vision barrier to aid drive for more V-7\u27s • Women told of synthetics • Mary Alice Weaver wins coronation script contest • Pre-meds elect Beadling • IRC hears Italian problems • Avella made music prexy • Newly formed Spanish Club hears talk by Betty Knauer • Coeds plan five-sport spring program of tournaments and instruction clinics • Soph-seniors win ten bouts to walk away with tourney • Clamer faces Maples in semi-finals today • Boxing, wrestling champs in intramural tourney • Baseball, softball series to replace intra league • Highland sextet tops Maples 7-6 to enter finals • Wentzel describes need of good will • Two book reviews listed for English Club tonight • Schonfeld speaks on painthttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1759/thumbnail.jp

Otitis Media Supuratif Akut Di Poliklinik Tht-kl Blu RSU. Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Manado Periode Januari 2010-desember 2012

: Acute suppurative otitis media (ASOM) is an acute inflammation of the middle ear that lasted less than three weeks. The age factor is one of the risk factors associated with the ASOM. Children are more susceptible to ASOM, where the frequency will decrease with age. From the research ASOM most vulnerable to children due to tubal eustachius in children horizontally straight,shorter and wide. This research uses descriptive method through retrospective medical record in Ear, Nose, Throat-Head and Neck Surgery Department of Prof. R. D. Kandou General Hospital Manado on the period January 2010-December 2012

Using Aerial Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Imagery to Estimate Corn Plant Stand Density

Since corn plant stand density is important for optimizing crop yield, several researchers have recently developed ground-based systems for automatic measurement of this crop growth parameter. Our objective was to use data from such a system to assess the potential for estimation of corn plant stand density using remote sensing images. Aerial hyperspectral remote sensing imagery was collected on three dates over three plots of corn in central Iowa during the 2004 growing season. The imagery had a spatial resolution of 1 m and a spectral resolution of 3 nm between 498 nm and 855 nm. A machine vision system for early-season measurement of corn plant stand density was also used to map every row of corn within the three plots, and a complete inventory of corn plants was generated as a rich ground reference dataset. A principal component regression analysis was used to assess relationships between plant stand density measurements and principal components of hyperspectral reflectance for each plot, on each image collection date, and at three different spatial resolutions (2, 6, and 10 m). The maximum R2 for regressions was 0.79. Estimates of corn plant stand density were best when using imagery collected at the later vegetative and early reproductive corn growth stages. Quantization effects due to row width complicated corn plant stand density estimates at 2 m spatial resolution, and better estimations were typically seen at resolutions of 6 m and 10 m. Among the different cases of plot, image date, and spatial resolution, the principal components of reflectance most highly correlated with plant stand density were able to be classified into four distinct types, denoted as types A, B, C, and D. Type A principal components contrasted all available visible red wavelengths with all available near-infrared wavelengths. Type B principal components contrasted green wavelengths (531 to 552 nm) plus shorter wave near-infrared (759 nm) with red wavelengths (675 to 693 nm) plus longer wave near-infrared (852 nm). Type C principal components summed green wavelengths (528 to 546 nm) and near-infrared wavelengths (717 to 855 nm). Type D principal components contrasted blue/green wavelengths (498 to 507 nm) with the red edge (717 nm). Remote sensing can be best used to estimate corn plant stand density at mid-season as long as plant stand variability exists and variability due to other factors is minimal

The Ursinus Weekly, January 18, 1907

Ursinus Union • The rose of Savoy • Alumni notes • Society notes • College news • Exchanges • Literary Supplement: The new football; Che sara, sara; College fraternities; Two eighteenth century dramatistshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/2928/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, November 16, 1906

Football • Personals • Society notes • Meeting of the Directors of Ursinus College • Alumni notes • School of Theology • Ursinus Union • Literary Supplement: The garden of the Lord; Wanted: An instructor; Socialism; Our poet traveler; The little red school house on the hill; Just a modest Irish maid • Exchangeshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/2921/thumbnail.jp