MATRIX GEOCHEMISTRY AND PHYTOPHTHORA OCCURRENCE ON REFORESTED MINE LANDS IN APPALACHIA

At the Bent Mountain surface mine, Pike County, Kentucky, a study has been ongoing since 2005 to assess the influence of various types of loose-graded mine spoils on water quality and forest establishment. Six research plots consist of two replicates of brown weathered sandstone, gray unweathered sandstone, and mixed brown sandstone, gray sandstone, and shale that were emplaced according to Forestry Reclamation Approach criteria. A series of analyses was initiated in 2007 to examine influence of spoil matrix composition on sulfate and carbonate geochemistry of infiltrated waters, as well as to investigate the occurrence of Phytophthora, a group of exotic forest pathogens that cause dieback and may affect success of founder species of hybrid American Chestnut (Castanea dentata Marsh.) Borkh.)), on the surface of mine spoils and in infiltrated waters. To identify the constituent responsible for elevated sulfate concentrations, as well as determine the role of alkalinity in spoil waters, PHREEQC geochemical modeling was used to analyze aqueous speciation of sulfates and carbonates with respect to time and tailing media. Variance of δ34S values was analyzed to determine source of sulfate minerals. Oxidation of minor amounts of pyritic coal enriched the δ34S value in the brown plots. Overall, plots had acceptable water quality parameters, substantiating various types of mine spoils for the FRA, although brown proved best for tree establishment. Methods were employed to determine whether Phytophthora were present in the surface of mine spoils and in infiltrated waters of 2005 plots as well as 2007 plots to determine if a chronosequential effect occurred. P. cryptogea was detected from surface spoil and from waters infiltrating brown sandstone plots. The brown spoil, relative to other spoil types, has greater soil moisture, greater nutrient availability, and lower pH, which may promote the occurrence and survival of the microorganism. The occurrence of the pathogen in the 2005 plots versus 2007 plots is notable; greater ground cover from colonizing species may be a precursor to Phytophthora detection on the plots. P. cryptogea is a possible threat to American chestnut, however, high infiltration rates in loose-dumped mine spoils should reduce damage by the pathogen. Over time, the relation between water quality parameters (as influenced by spoil matrix composition), tree success, and presence of Phytophthora, is of interest as certain hydrogeochemical parameters may cause stress on trees that may increase susceptibility of plants to disease caused by Phytophthora. Alternatively, certain water geochemical parameters may directly affect Phytophthora by promoting or inhibiting survival and transport of the pathogen in spoil and infiltrated spoil waters; this too has consequences for tree establishment on loose-dumped mine spoils

Center for Technology-Based Business Development

Center for Technology-Based Business Development The University of Maine will create a Center for Technology-Based Business Development to address Maine\u27s shortcomings in the creation of technology-based businesses and net exportation of its science and engineering graduates, as well as university based R&D. Strong, decisive action will be taken to provide opportunities for Maine-based technologies and students to develop companies in Maine. This strategy is consistent with the state\u27s Science and Technology Plan and the state\u27s economic development strategy. The Center will build on the University of Maine\u27s successful industrial activity, and the practical experience of many other research institutions. The Center will develop the necessary organizational structure including: (1) an entrepreneurial environment for faculty, student and industry interaction, a pro- active technology transfer office with business development expertise; shared labs; (2) equipment and incubation space for small technology-based start-ups; and (3) new programs to educate and encourage graduate-student and faculty entrepreneurs. The multi-disciplinary activity will be directed at the state\u27s and the university\u27s five targeted technology areas. This activity will establish a critical piece of business development infrastructure currently unavailable in Maine and allow the University of Maine to take a leading role in technology transfer related economic development

Exhibiting Women: Gender, Showmanship, and the Professionalization of Film Exhibition in the United States, 1900–1930

By operating traveling movie shows, managing nickelodeons and neighborhood theatres, playing musical accompaniments to films, selling tickets, and singing illustrated songs, thousands of pioneering women, long neglected in published histories, made vital contributions to the development of film exhibition throughout the silent film era. How did female exhibitors gain a foothold in the business in the first thirty years of film history, and why were all but the ubiquitous girl at the box office marginalized? Professionalization, at least in the US film industry, was a gendered process that negatively affected women, and eventually created a masculinized industry. Despite their eviction from picture palace management, women would nevertheless continue to work in all areas of theatres and would remain important as small town and rural exhibitors throughout Hollywood history

Helping Hands: A Guidebook for Volunteer Meal Providers

The poster was presented at the American Dietetics Association meeting in San Diego, September 2011. Also attached to this is the actual 32 page Handbook and a flyer.Helping Hands: A Guidebook for Volunteer Meal Providers Author(s): J. Jennings,1 R. Ward,2 K. Kolasa3; 1Nutrition Science, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 2East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 3Family Medicine and Pediatrics, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC Learning Outcome: Participants will be able to explain how to apply strategies to help food donors promote food safety practices and to prepare nutritional and cost-conscious meals. “Helping Hands� is a 32-page practical resource for volunteer meal donors. The objective of this project was to develop a useful tool for volunteers providing prepared meals to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, Ronald McDonald House, and a cancer lodge. It was created in response to requests from local agencies that expressed concerns regarding the food safety practices and nutritional quality of meals being donated. They desired a document that would include basic nutrition and food safety principles for populations at risk for malnutrition and/or infection. Additionally, they desired recipes for budget-friendly meals that could be prepared by busy volunteers. A literature and internet search and a query to dietitians on several Listserves found no existing documents to fulfill these needs. The content was outlined, and food safety information and recipes were gathered from sources including the USDA and CDC websites. The guide includes over thirty recipes with nutrition information, basic food safety guidelines, time and cost-saving tips, components of healthy meals, and testimonials from volunteers and agency personnel. Nine food, nutrition, and food safety specialists on the FNSPEC Listserve responded to a request for reviewers and provided comments on accuracy, format, and readability. A two-page brochure was developed to promote the guide. The success of “Helping Hands� will be evaluated by the comparative number of nutritionally balanced meals served, the implementation of proper food safety practices, and the overall cost of meals to volunteers. The guidebook is found at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/fammed/index.cfm Funding Disclosure: None Sept 2011 Suppl Abstracts Vol III No 9 Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION / A-87We were encouraged by staff at the Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation

The Application of an Artificial Neural Network as a Baseline Model for Condition Monitoring of Innovative Humidified Micro Gas Turbine Cycles

Due to high penetration of renewables, the EU energy system is undergoing a transition from large-scale centralized generation toward small-scale distributed generation. The increasing share of intermittent renewables such as solar and wind has become the main driver for dispatchable distributed energy generation technologies to maintain the grid flexibility and stability. In this context, micro gas turbines (MGTs) with high fuel and operation flexibility could play a crucial role to guarantee the grid stability, enabling deeper penetration of the intermittent renewable energy sources. Despite this, the MGT market is still considered to be niche, and there are R&D&I challenges that need to be addressed to further promote this technology in distributed generation applications. Innovative MGT cycles based on a cycle humidification concept can be considered to obtain higher system performance. However, given the fact that MGTs are installed close to the consumption points, where they are operated by nontechnical prosumers with very limited access to maintenance services, they should also offer high availability and reliability to avoid unexpected outages and secure the supply. Therefore, intelligent monitoring systems are needed that can support nonexpert end-users to detect degradation and plan maintenance before a breakdown occurs. In this study, we investigated and developed advanced methods based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) for condition monitoring of a humidified MGT cycle under real-life operational conditions. To create a high-performing model, extensive data preprocessing has been conducted to remove data outliers and select optimum model features, which provide best results. Additionally, the model hyperparameters such as learning rate, momentum, and number of hidden nodes have been altered to achieve the most accurate predictions. The results of this study have provided a baseline ANN model capable of conducting condition monitoring of a micro humid air turbine (mHAT) system, which will be applied to additional studies in the future.acceptedVersio

Room of Errors: Safety in the Nursing Program

Creating a safer healthcare system will depend on the ability of nurses to fully use their expertise, education, and role to identify, interrupt, and correct medical errors to prevent patient harm (Gaffney et al., 2016). The ability to recognize common and preventable errors is important to improve patient outcomes and enhance safety. Errors are actions that fail to meet their desired outcome (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2000). Errors can range from medication errors to falls or acquiring an infection or pressure ulcer. Errors could result in prolonged hospitalization, death, rise in the cost of care, and increase suffering (Clay et al., 2017). Nurses should link nursing practice to fundamental improvements in patient safety and quality care (IOM, 2011). This teaching project was chosen to help students recognize errors in the clinical setting. A good number of errors are preventable, and increased awareness may decrease errors in practice

Teachers’ Observations of 2-Year-Old Children’s Musical Vocalizations Elicited by Purposeful Silence Techniques

With the intent of improving early childhood music development understanding, the purpose of this research was to examine young children’s music vocalizations. The guiding research question was: When a music teacher implemented purposeful silences while performing a song and a rhythm chant, what techniques encouraged vocalizations made by 2-year-old children as observed by music teachers and classroom teachers? I implemented a qualitative design utilizing participant observation techniques to investigate the research purpose and question of this study. Four teachers served as a panel of experts to provide observational data. I video recorded myself teaching music activities from Music Play (Valerio, Reynolds, Taggart, Bolton, & Gordon, 1998) to a class of 12 two-year-old children. I used purposeful silences during the criterion song “Ring the Bells” and its corresponding tonal patterns and the criterion rhythm chant “Rolling” and its corresponding rhythm patterns (Valerio, et al., 1998). I adapted cultural domains and taxonomies regarding instructional silences and vocalizations from Young Children’s Responses to Purposeful Silences During Music Activities (Willing, 2009). Then, I developed a codebook based on the cultural domains and taxonomies. After creating cultural domains, taxonomies, and coding the data, two themes emerged: (a) modeling instructional silences and vocalizations may have encouraged vocalizations from children, and (b) using interactive, imaginative play and props helped teachers elicit children’s vocalizations. I created a componential analysis to compare three teachers’ observations of children’s vocalizations to instructional silences and found more similarities than differences in the vocalizations that a music teacher and two classroom teachers noticed. Classroom teachers may assist music teachers in encouraging and interpreting music vocalizations from children. Early childhood music teachers should continue to build alliances with classroom teachers as they interpret and encourage young children’s vocalizations with regard to musical development. Together they should use interactive music making techniques, such as instructional silences, vocal modeling, imaginative play, and props to support children’s musical development

Using Proteomic Analysis to investigate the Effects of Aging, Seasonality, Treatments and Disease Presence Within Apis mellifera Colonies.

Apis mellifera colonies are a complex, highly organised society that are essential pollinators across the world for both wild flora and cultivated crops. A. mellifera colonies face a myriad of challenges that can be detrimental to their survival – the spread of diseases and pests, poor bee husbandry, loss of essential flora, exposure to commercial insecticides and migratory beekeeping. These daily challenges and exposures have caused a worrying depletion of A. mellifera colonies which is resulting in an increasing concern in the environmental and scientific community. Research is now focused on the relationship honeybee colonies have with the changing environment and the presence of diseases. Female worker honeybees make up the majority of bees within A. mellifera colonies and are essential for hive survival. Worker bees undergo changes to their anatomy and gland secretions as they age to optimise their productivity. Furthermore, worker bees can be divided based on seasons – summer and winter worker bees, both age and seasonality can affect the proteome and therefore the immune response of worker bees. Label-free quantitative (LFQ) proteomics was performed on worker bees at various stages of their lifecycle, between winter and summer, in response to exposure to anti-Varroa treatments and finally in response to the presence of Varroa destructor and Nosema spores within colonies. The work presented in this thesis has identified key age, seasonal, and virus-infected differences within hives at a proteomic level. These results show both age-dependent evolution and environmental adaptions experienced by a hive highlighting their complex relationship and vulnerability to external threats. Importantly, this work has highlighted the impact of anti-Varroa treatments and the potential side effects towards colonies. Finally, work conducted on the effects of Varroa mites and Nosema spores on bees highlighted the need to better understand how these pathogens interact when both are infecting colonies simultaneously. The results presented here provide a novel insight into the proteomic changes that occur in worker bees when exposed to different external factors. However, it also highlights the need for further research into how honeybee workers adapt to stresses such as insecticide exposure and dual infections by Varroa and Nosema

The effect of synaptic plasticity on spatial representation and navigation

Synaptic plasticity, or the change in weight of the connections between cells, is a key mechanism underlying the brain's spatial representation and navigation functions. Experimentalists have shown that grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex fire in hexagonal patterns within an environment, or set of visual cues. Grid cells provide the input for place cells, which fire primarily at one location in the environment and are found in the hippocampus, a region essential for both learning and memory. I have built a computational model to examine how synaptic plasticity affects the interactions among grid cells and place cells. This work demonstrates that a rate-based plasticity model drives the weights from grid cells to place cells to such a distribution that place cells form single firing fields. Furthermore, a spike-timing-dependent plasticity model applied to the connections among place cells causes place fields to shift backward as observed experimentally