The utilization of compost heat in small-scale aquaculture

Heat generated from composting fresh animal manure was collected with steel and copper heat exchangers. Water was pumped through the heat exchangers at a constant flow of 2 L/minute. The effluent temperature showed an average increase (ΔT) of 5.7 C and 3.5 C for steel and copper, 3 respectively. A volume of 5.9 m3 of compost maintained these temperatures for an average of 15 days per run. In a series of tests, water flow rates of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 L/minute experienced an average increase in temperatures of 8.1, 4.5, 3.2, and 3.2 C for steel and 5.9, 3.1, 1.9, and 1.6 C for copper, respectively. These tests were run for one 60-minute period on 6 consecutive days. The application of this heat source in a recirculated system design showed an average increase in temperature of 4.8 C. It was observed that increased moisture of the composting material decreased the biological activity, i.e., heat generating capacity, of the compost heap. The technique showed potential for warming water when applied to small volume aquatic systems

The History of Men\u27s Intramural Sports at Utah State University

The history of men\u27s intramurals at Utah State University has been one of improbable beginnings with unrecognized goals . It has grown to a program of very positive beginnings, and very recognizable goals. This was done by implementing far reaching and forward looking ideas. Of Course, there were many times during the course of the departmental history when miscalculations were made; but in general, they were for the best. The program now encompases three campus-wide leagues with some thirty to sixty teams, depending upon the sport

Coding Geographic Areas Across Census Years: Creating Consistent Definitions of Metropolitan Areas

This paper presents suggested matches for the geographical coding (geocoding) of metropolitan areas in the 1970, 1980, and 1990 Censuses. The Census Bureau used different definitions and taxonomies to describe the geography of metropolitan areas in these three Census years. As a result, the geographical areas referred to by the standard Census Bureau definitions differ among the three Census data sets. The geographic matching scheme explained in this paper attempts to maximize consistency over time for metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Students as a Teaching Resource in Preparing Educational Leaders: An International Masters Programme

The Institute of International and Comparative Education, Beijing Normal University has offered a Masters Program in Educational Leadership and Policy (Comparative Education) for the last four years and it attracts students from around the world, with substantial support in terms of scholarships, from the Chinese government. Beijing Normal University introduced a PhD programme in the same discipline in 2013. The programme is intended to train talented individuals from all over the world, and to provide them with theoretical understanding and skills that will prepare them to take positions of leadership. The programme benefits from the high calibre of students that it attracts, and a multi-national multi-cultural student body is an important educational resource. The authors have worked in the programme, with other colleagues, since its inception, and describe some of the unique features of the programme, as well as some of the challenges

The clinical relevance and newsworthiness of NIHR HTA-funded research: a cohort study

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical relevance and newsworthiness of the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme funded reports.Study designRetrospective cohort study.SettingThe cohort included 311 NIHR HTA Programme funded reports publishing in HTA in the period 1 January 2007–31 December 2012. The McMaster Online Rating of Evidence (MORE) system independently identified the clinical relevance and newsworthiness of NIHR HTA publications and non-NIHR HTA publications. The MORE system involves over 4000 physicians rating publications on a scale of relevance (the extent to which articles are relevant to practice) and a scale of newsworthiness (the extent to which articles contain news or something clinicians are unlikely to know).Main outcome measuresThe proportion of reports published in HTA meeting MORE inclusion criteria and mean average relevance and newsworthiness ratings were calculated and compared with publications from the same studies publishing outside HTA and non-NIHR HTA funded publications.Results286/311 (92.0%) of NIHR HTA reports were assessed by MORE, of which 192 (67.1%) passed MORE criteria. The average clinical relevance rating for NIHR HTA reports was 5.48, statistically higher than the 5.32 rating for non-NIHR HTA publications (mean difference=0.16, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.29, p=0.01). Average newsworthiness ratings were similar between NIHR HTA reports and non-NIHR HTA publications (4.75 and 4.70, respectively; mean difference=0.05, 95% CI ?0.18 to 0.07, p=0.402). NIHR HTA-funded original research reports were statistically higher for newsworthiness than reviews (5.05 compared with 4.64) (mean difference=0.41, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.64, p=0.001).ConclusionsFunding research of clinical relevance is important in maximising the value of research investment. The NIHR HTA Programme is successful in funding projects that generate outputs of clinical relevance

The PL calibration for Milky Way Cepheids and its implications for the distance scale

The rationale behind recent calibrations of the Cepheid PL relation using the Wesenheit formulation is reviewed and reanalyzed, and it is shown that recent conclusions regarding a possible change in slope of the PL relation for short-period and long-period Cepheids are tied to a pathological distribution of HST calibrators within the instability strip. A recalibration of the period-luminosity relation is obtained using Galactic Cepheids in open clusters and groups, the resulting relationship, described by log L/L_sun = 2.415(+-0.035) + 1.148(+-0.044)log P, exhibiting only the moderate scatter expected from color spread within the instability strip. The relationship is confirmed by Cepheids with HST parallaxes, although without the need for Lutz-Kelker corrections, and in general by Cepheids with revised Hipparcos parallaxes, albeit with concerns about the cited precisions of the latter. A Wesenheit formulation of Wv = -2.259(+-0.083) - 4.185(+-0.103)log P for Galactic Cepheids is tested successfully using Cepheids in the inner regions of the galaxy NGC 4258, confirming the independent geometrical distance established for the galaxy from OH masers. Differences between the extinction properties of interstellar and extragalactic dust may yet play an important role in the further calibration of the Cepheid PL relation and its application to the extragalactic distance scale.Comment: Accepted for Publication (Astrophysics & Space Science