Midwest Technology Assistance Center for Small Public Water Systems Final Report

The Midwest Technology Assistance Center (MTAC) was established October 1, 1998 to provide assistance to small public water systems throughout the Midwest via funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under section 1420(f) of the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. This report summarizes progress made under USEPA Grant# 832591-01 for funds received in Federal Years (FY) 05 and 06. MTAC is a cooperative effort of the 10 states of the Midwest (congruent with USEPA regions 5 and 7), led by the Illinois State Water Survey and the University of Illinois. The director of their Water Resources Institute (WRI) coordinates the participation of each state in MTAC. Dr. Richard Warner (WRI director) and Kent Smothers were the principal investigators for this project. Kent Smothers serves as the managing director of the center, and is responsible for conducting routine activities with the advice and counsel of Dr. Richard Warner.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Friction force microscopy : a simple technique for identifying graphene on rough substrates and mapping the orientation of graphene grains on copper

At a single atom thick, it is challenging to distinguish graphene from its substrate using conventional techniques. In this paper we show that friction force microscopy (FFM) is a simple and quick technique for identifying graphene on a range of samples, from growth substrates to rough insulators. We show that FFM is particularly effective for characterizing graphene grown on copper where it can correlate the graphene growth to the three-dimensional surface topography. Atomic lattice stick–slip friction is readily resolved and enables the crystallographic orientation of the graphene to be mapped nondestructively, reproducibly and at high resolution. We expect FFM to be similarly effective for studying graphene growth on other metal/locally crystalline substrates, including SiC, and for studying growth of other two-dimensional materials such as molybdenum disulfide and hexagonal boron nitride

Flying the coop : why is the move out of home proving unsustainable?

Changing social trends indicate that more young Australians are electing to live at home longer. Residing in the parental home is the most common mode of living for those aged in their 20s, with recent data indicating more than 30 per cent decisively remain in this arrangement with their parents.While there are obviously still those who decide to move out, this housing arrangement seems to be proving unsustainable; many young adults are returning home to reside with their parents after time spent on their own in a trend increasingly referred to as the &lsquo;boomerang&rsquo; effect.This paper reviews the available literature on young adults&rsquo; living arrangements, identifying those factors implicated both in the leaving home process and the likelihood a young adult will return home after previously moving out. In highlighting how much of this earlier research has relied on the use of statistical methods, the paper aims to justify the need for the proposed study- a contemporary exploration of generation Y Australians&rsquo; experiences of home returning.The study, guided by an ecological theoretical perspective, will utilise a qualitative methodology to investigate the reasons why young adults are experiencing difficulty sustaining their move to independent living. In-depth interviews will be conducted in Melbourne with young adults aged between 20 and 30 years who currently reside in the parental home after living independently for four months or more. It is anticipated the study sample will include both males and females who are currently engaged in, or have previously completed, tertiary study.These interviews will be analysed and through the emergent themes, will provide a clearer insight into the &lsquo;boomerang&rsquo; generation- a group of young adults who will become increasingly more common in light of the current uncertainty surrounding finances, employment and housing markets. The implications of this research will therefore be significant for those concerned with the future housing decisions of Australian society.<br /

Knowledge, Attitudes Toward Corporations, and Belief in a Just World as Correlates of Tort Reform Attitudes

Recent legislation in tort law has resulted in such changes as states capping punitive and non-economic damages as well as abolishing the collateral source rule and joint and several liability. The purpose of the present research is to examine attitudes toward changes in tort law. We asked American adults about their attitudes toward the civil justice system and its players, experiences in the civil justice system, and belief in a just world. We found that a more negative attitude toward litigation and juries, higher belief in a just world, and a more positive attitude toward corporations and doctors predicted a more positive view of recent changes in tort legislation

Accretion disc formation around the neutron star in Be/X-ray binaries

We study the accretion on to the neutron star in Be/X-ray binaries, using a 3D SPH code and the data imported from a simulation by \citet{oka2} for a coplanar system with a short period ($P_{\rm orb}=24.3 \rm{d}$) and a moderate eccentricity $(e=0.34)$, which targeted the Be/X-ray binary 4U 0115+63. For simplicity, we adopt the polytropic equation of state. We find that a time-dependent accretion disc is formed around the neutron star regardless of the simulation parameters. In the long term, the disc evolves via a two-stage process, which consists of the initial developing stage and the later developed stage. The developed disc is nearly Keplerian. In the short term, the disc structure modulates with the orbital phase. The disc shrinks at the periastron passage of the Be star and restores its radius afterwards. The accretion rate on to the neutron star is also phase dependent, but its peak is broader and much lower than that of the mass-transfer rate from the Be disc, unless the polytropic exponent is as large as 5/3. Our simulations show that the truncated Be disk model for Be/X-ray binaries is consistent with the observed X-ray behaviour of 4U 0115+63.Comment: 13pages, 62figures, accepted to MNRAS. Revised version adds in 4 new figures, in which we have improved the English, kindly pointed out by Manson Katherine. For associated movies, see http://astro3.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/~kimi/movie.htm

Tackling Difficult Conversations: Student-Athletes, Mental Health, and Emerging Technology

Given the exponential growth of mental health issues on colleges campuses and the concerns regarding mental health disorders among elite level athletes, the NCAA (2016) has made recommendations to support and promote student-athlete mental health. However, to successfully address the increase in mental health issues, the development of effective communication skills is required. To address this, the researchers developed and built an immersive learning experience focused on “difficult conversations” using Mursion® technology. This pilot study contributes to this important conversation by analyzing the influence of an immersive experience on the student-athletes’ communication skills. Using a quasi-experimental design, 79 NCAA Division I student-athletes took part in the study (40 control; 39 Mursion®). Both groups completed a pre-survey to assess their ability to deal with “difficult” scenarios, and a post-survey 3-5 weeks after the pre-test. Results indicate that Mursion® participants experienced, although not statistically significant, increase in interpersonal communication competence. The results also demonstrated differences across gender and racial/ethnic categories. This study provides the initial evidence that Mursion® is an effective, timely, cost-effective tool to enhance athletes’ communication skills; consequently, it is critical to not only improving the student-athlete experience but also addressing future student-athlete mental health and well-being

Repetition, Order of Presentation and the Timing of Arguments and Measures as Determinants of Opinion Change

A model of order effects developed by Miller and Campbell (1959) predicts more recency with intervals between arguments and less recency with a delay of the posttest. To test the model, this study used 320 undergraduates as Ss, periods of 1 wk. as intervals and delays, and jury-trial excerpts as materials. Retention data supported the model completely. Opinion data showed less recency with delay (p&lt;.01), as predicted, but did not show more recency with intervals-a striking nonconfirmation. Repeating an argument (1 vs. 3 times) increased opinion change slightly (p &lt; .OS) and retention markedly (p &lt; .01). Both retention and opinion showed strong overall recency (p &lt; .01). Thirty years of research and theorizing have provided much data on the effect of order of presentation on the formation of impressions and opinions. The current literature, however, does not show a completely clear picture. The purpose of the present study was to test a model of order effects developed by Miller and Campbell (1959) and based on the negatively accelerated forgetting curve proposed by Ebbinghaus. Miller and Campbell&apos;s article offered some support for their model as did a later article b

Nonlinear Elasticity, Fluctuations and Heterogeneity of Nematic Elastomers

Liquid crystal elastomers realize a fascinating new form of soft matter that is a composite of a conventional crosslinked polymer gel (rubber) and a liquid crystal. These {\em solid} liquid crystal amalgams, quite similarly to their (conventional, fluid) liquid crystal counterparts, can spontaneously partially break translational and/or orientational symmetries, accompanied by novel soft Goldstone modes. As a consequence, these materials can exhibit unconventional elasticity characterized by symmetry-enforced vanishing of some elastic moduli. Thus, a proper description of such solids requires an essential modification of the classical elasticity theory. In this work, we develop a {\em rotationally invariant}, {\em nonlinear} theory of elasticity for the nematic phase of ideal liquid crystal elastomers. We show that it is characterized by soft modes, corresponding to a combination of long wavelength shear deformations of the solid network and rotations of the nematic director field. We study thermal fluctuations of these soft modes in the presence of network heterogeneities and show that they lead to a large variety of anomalous elastic properties, such as singular length-scale dependent shear elastic moduli, a divergent elastic constant for splay distortion of the nematic director, long-scale incompressibility, universal Poisson ratios and a nonlinear stress-strain relation fo arbitrary small strains. These long-scale elastic properties are {\em universal}, controlled by a nontrivial zero-temperature fixed point and constitute a qualitative breakdown of the classical elasticity theory in nematic elastomers. Thus, nematic elastomers realize a stable ``critical phase'', characterized by universal power-law correlations, akin to a critical point of a continuous phase transition, but extending over an entire phase.Comment: 61 pages, 24 eps pages, submitted to Annals of Physic

Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods for assigning larvae to natal sites using natural geochemical tags

Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecological Applications 18 (2008): 1901–1913, doi:10.1890/07-1792.1.Geochemical signatures deposited in otoliths are a potentially powerful means of identifying the origin and dispersal history of fish. However, current analytical methods for assigning natal origins of fish in mixed-stock analyses require knowledge of the number of potential sources and their characteristic geochemical signatures. Such baseline data are difficult or impossible to obtain for many species. A new approach to this problem can be found in iterative Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms that simultaneously estimate population parameters and assign individuals to groups. MCMC procedures only require an estimate of the number of source populations, and post hoc model selection based on the deviance information criterion can be used to infer the correct number of chemically distinct sources. We describe the basics of the MCMC approach and outline the specific decisions required when implementing the technique with otolith geochemical data. We also illustrate the use of the MCMC approach on simulated data and empirical geochemical signatures in otoliths from young-of-the-year and adult weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, from the U.S. Atlantic coast. While we describe how investigators can use MCMC to complement existing analytical tools for use with otolith geochemical data, the MCMC approach is suitable for any mixed-stock problem with a continuous, multivariate data.J. W. White was supported by NSF Predoctoral, UC Regents, and UCSB Affiliates fellowships