Enriching Summer Work: An Evaluation of the Summer Career Exploration Program

To determine the impact of the Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP), a privately funded summer jobs program for low-income teens, P/PV examined the lives of over 1700 applicants. These youth were randomly assigned to participate or to not participate in SCEP in the summer of 1999, and their outcomes were compared at four and twelve months after program application. Researchers found that implementation was strong, but program impacts were less impressive. While SCEPs participants got summer jobs at a substantially higher rate (92%) than the control group (62%), the programs ability to translate this large and immediate summer employment impact into intermediate gains (in terms of future plans, college enrollment, work success, sense of self-efficacy or reduced criminal activity) proved to be negligible. Although impacts were short lived, the report concludes that SCEP and similar programs have an important place in the larger mosaic of supports, programs and opportunities for young people

Nitrogen conservation in swine manure composting land-application systems

The use of bedding in the popular hooped houses for swine production generates large volumes of manure that composts easily. However, composting results in nutrient losses, especially for nitrogen, which then diminish its value as a fertilizer. This study looks at carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the composting process and subsequent soil mineralization

Evaluation of design flow criteria for effluent discharge permits in Colorado

August 1987.Includes bibliographical references

MECHANICAL VARIABLES OF JUMPING DURING NAVAL ACADEMY OBSTACLE COURSE TRAINING ACTIVITIES

Introduction•-The use of the obstacle course (O-course) activities at the U.S. Naval Academy is mandatory for all midshipmen. To reduce injuries on the 0course, research has been conducted to evaluate other methods related to specific work assignments. The purpose of this study was to determine which variables contributed to the successful jump used in jumping to clear a shelf. METHODS -Five males (age: 20.2 yrs ±1.3; hgt: 178.6 cm± 3,7; wgt: 77.4 kg±7.7) and five females (age: 20.0 yrs ±1.9; hgt: 170.64 cm±7.3; wgt: 63.8 kg ± 8.5) served as subjects. Anthropometric, strength, and video data were collected at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis MD. Three-dimensional video images were collected from the sagittal and posterior views as subjects scaled a shelf. Fifteen data points were digitized, files transformed, data smoothed with a digital filter set at 10Hz and graphed with the Ariel Performance Analysis System (APAS). RESULTS -Statistical differences using two-sample t-tests were found between males and females in the variables: hgt (t=2.193); wgt (t=2.639); percent body fat (t=5.028); leg length (t=2.128); knee flexion peak torque % BW(t=4.459); knee extension peak % BW (t=2.128); knee flexion (t=1.937); and hip extension (t=3.207). All subjects cleared the shelf. However, several subjects used additional time to complete the skilI. Because differences were noted in anthropometric, strength, and kinematic variables, the skill of jumping to c1eartheshelfseemsto favor the taller, stronger individuals. CONCLUSIONS -Because the Navy is incorporating gender neutral standards into their physical training standards, the 0course may not be the most appropriate way of measuring these standards

Evolution of a Peer Review and Evaluation Program for Online Course Development

The faculty peer assistants (FPAs) program combines a mentoring and peer review process for initial online faculty course development and subsequent course revision. An FPA mentors colleagues during course design and conducts peer reviews when the courses are complete. The program incorporates a peer review and evaluation form that outlines course standards and guides the faculty course developer, the peer reviewer, and the department chair. Feedback about the program from department chairs, faculty course developers, and FPAs was uniformly positive

Enriching Summer Work: An Evaluation of the Summer Career Exploration Program (Executive Summary)

This document summarizes the key findings of the Summer Career Exploration Program evaluation

Neuron numbers increase in the human amygdala from birth to adulthood, but not in autism.

Remarkably little is known about the postnatal cellular development of the human amygdala. It plays a central role in mediating emotional behavior and has an unusually protracted development well into adulthood, increasing in size by 40% from youth to adulthood. Variation from this typical neurodevelopmental trajectory could have profound implications on normal emotional development. We report the results of a stereological analysis of the number of neurons in amygdala nuclei of 52 human brains ranging from 2 to 48 years of age [24 neurotypical and 28 autism spectrum disorder (ASD)]. In neurotypical development, the number of mature neurons in the basal and accessory basal nuclei increases from childhood to adulthood, coinciding with a decrease of immature neurons within the paralaminar nucleus. Individuals with ASD, in contrast, show an initial excess of amygdala neurons during childhood, followed by a reduction in adulthood across nuclei. We propose that there is a long-term contribution of mature neurons from the paralaminar nucleus to other nuclei of the neurotypical human amygdala and that this growth trajectory may be altered in ASD, potentially underlying the volumetric changes detected in ASD and other neurodevelopmental or neuropsychiatric disorders

Contrasting effects of substrate mobility on infaunal assemblages inhabiting two high-energy settings on Fieberling Guyot

The influence of seamount-intensified flows on the structure of infaunal assemblages was examined at two sand-covered sites located 2.3 km apart atop the summit plain of Fieberling Guyot (32°27.6′N 127° 48.0′W). Both sites experience strong, tidal bottom currents with flows exceeding 20 cm/s on a daily basis (4 mab). Estimates of shear velocity (u*) did not differ significantly between the two sites. However, differences in sediment composition and density produced different sediment transport regimes at the two sites. At Sea Pen Rim (SPR), located on the NW perimeter (635 m), sedimentary particles were composed primarily of basaltic sands that experienced negligible transport during the study period. At White Sand Swale (WSS, 580 m), a narrow valley enclosed on three sides by basalt outcrops, sediments were composed almost entirely of foraminiferal sands that moved daily. Sediment organic content and microbial abundances were similar at the two sites. Infauna (\u3e300 μm) had higher densities at WSS (1870/m2) than SPR (1489/m2), but lower expected species richness. Although the 2 sites shared nearly 50% of identified species, peracarid crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, and bryozoans were proportionally more important in the stable substrates of SPR, while turbellarians, bivalves, and aplacophorans were better represented in the shifting sands of WSS. The infauna of WSS lived deeper in the sediment column (\u3e50% below 2 cm) than that of SPR (\u3e 50% in the upper 1 cm), at least partly because the majority (83%) at WSS were subsurface burrowers with motile lifestyles. Tube-building and epifaunal lifestyles were more common at SPR than WSS, as were surface-deposit and filter-feeding modes. Fences and weirs were deployed at the study sites for 6.5-wk and 6-mo periods to manipulate bottom stress. Changes in faunal patterns within weirs at WSS reinforced our conjecture that contrasting sediment transport regimes explain between-site differences in community structure. Fence effects varied with deployment period and site. Topographic features on Fieberling Guyot produce heterogeneous sedimentary settings characterized by different transport regimes. Our results suggest that substrate mobility exerts primary control over infaunal community structure at the two high-energy sites

Algal bioassessment metrics for wadeable streams and rivers of Maine, USA

Many state water-quality agencies use biological assessment methods based on lotic fish and macroinvertebrate communities, but relatively few states have incorporated algal multimetric indices into monitoring programs. Algae are good indicators for monitoring water quality because they are sensitive to many environmental stressors. We evaluated benthic algal community attributes along a landuse gradient affecting wadeable streams and rivers in Maine, USA, to identify potential bioassessment metrics. We collected epilithic algal samples from 193 locations across the state. We computed weighted-average optima for common taxa for total P, total N, specific conductance, % impervious cover, and % developed watershed, which included all land use that is no longer forest or wetland. We assigned Maine stream tolerance values and categories (sensitive, intermediate, tolerant) to taxa based on their optima and responses to watershed disturbance. We evaluated performance of algal community metrics used in multimetric indices from other regions and novel metrics based on Maine data. Metrics specific to Maine data, such as the relative richness of species characterized as being sensitive in Maine, were more correlated with % developed watershed than most metrics used in other regions. Few community-structure attributes (e.g., species richness) were useful metrics in Maine. Performance of algal bioassessment models would be improved if metrics were evaluated with attributes of local data before inclusion in multimetric indices or statistical models