Individual and Interactive Effects of Polyester Microplastics and Naproxen-Sodium on Lactuca Sativa Growth and Development and Soil Abiotic Conditions

Due to the dramatic expansion of plastic production over the last 65 years, plastic has become a major contributor to global pollution. Microplastics (MPs), formed from the physical breakdown of larger plastics, have been found in many ecosystems. Much research has been done on the effects of MPs in aquatic ecosystems, but fewer studies have explored impacts of MPs in terrestrial environments. MPs in terrestrial systems are found primarily in soils, particularly in agricultural areas where plastic usage permeates modern agricultural practices. Additionally, pharmaceutical contamination of water supplies is considered an emerging pollutant threat. Naproxen-sodium is one of the most widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), and has been found in wastewater and natural freshwater bodies. Thus, terrestrial plants, especially in agricultural systems, may be exposed to multiple pollutants simultaneously. Our research explored individual effects of MP pollution intensity in soils and exposure to naproxen contamination on the growth and development of Lactuca sativa (lettuce) as well as potential interactive effects between these two contaminants. We also assessed impacts on soil abiotic conditions (pH and electrical conductivity). Preliminary results show that compared to the control, all treatments significantly reduced the total number of leaves, with high MP and high MP/naproxen treatments having the most effect. Additionally, exposure to high MP levels in soil negatively impacted the number and size of leaves and the fresh weight biomass, possibly driven by lower water content in shoots. These results indicate that both contaminants, alone and together, can influence lettuce growth and development.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2022/1010/thumbnail.jp

Quasi-Newton inversion of seismic first arrivals using source finite bandwidth assumption: Application to subsurface characterization of landslides

International audienceCharacterizing the internal structure of landslides is of first importance to assess the hazard. Many geophysical techniques have been used in the recent years to image these structures, and among them is seismic tomography. The objective of this work is to present a high resolution seismic inversion algorithm of first arrival times that minimizes the use of subjective regularization operators. A Quasi-Newton P-wave tomography inversion algorithm has been developed. It is based on a finite frequency assumption for highly heterogeneous media which considers an objective inversion regularization (based on the wave propagation principle) and uses the entire source frequency spectrum to improve the tomography resolution. The Fresnel wavepaths calculated for different source frequencies are used to retropropagate the traveltime residuals, assuming that in highly heterogeneous media, the first arrivals are only affected by velocity anomalies present in the first Fresnel zone. The performance of the algorithm is first evaluated on a synthetic dataset, and further applied on a real dataset acquired at the Super-Sauze landslide which is characterized by a complex bedrock geometry, a layering of different materials and important changes in soil porosity (e.g. surface fissures). The seismic P-wave velocity and the wave attenuation are calculated, and the two tomographies are compared to previous studies on the site

Quasi-Newton algorithm using Fresnel wavepaths and frequency increase for P-wave tomography inversion: application to a landslide in the South French Alps

EGU2012-4323During last decases, geophysical methods have become of a great interest in geomorphological studies. Because they are well adapted to retrieve geological structures as variations in the spatial and temporal dimensions of rocks properties, they were widely developed for improving landslides understanding. Landslide studies generally involve the use of several geophysical methods, but among them, seismic surveys are well adapted to identify the slope's main structures. The wave propagation being mainly controlled by elastic properties of the medium, this method makes the interpretation easier since results are often well correlated with geotechnical observations. More generally, it provides information on the mechanical state of the soils with an acceptable spatial resolution. This structure is of first importance when studying clayey landslides as the Super-Sauze one. It occurred in the 1960s with the falls of large blocks and has developed continually covering an intact paleotopography. This succession of crests and gullies has been studied by geotechnical measurement and geophysics. It plays a large role in the behavior of the flow by delimiting preferential water and material pathways and compartments with different kinematics, mechanical and hydro dynamical characteristics. For the first time, a 3D geological model has been created from the fusion of multi-source data by Travelletti and Malet (2011), but it appears that geophysical methods can't capture the sharp geometry of the paleotopography. To improve such models and the numerical modeling resulting we propose a Quasi-Newton algorithm based on the Fresnel-wavepath and the frequency increase to the invert P-wave velocity fiel

Use of theory to guide development and application of sensor technologies in Nursing

Sensor technologies for health care, research, and consumers have expanded and evolved rapidly. Many technologies developed in commercial or engineering spaces, lack theoretical grounding and scientific evidence to support their need, safety, and efficacy. Theory is a mechanism for synthesizing and guiding knowledge generation for the discipline of nursing, including the design, implementation, and evaluation of sensors and related technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. In this paper, three nurse scientists summarize their presentations at the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science 2019 Advanced Methods Conference on Expanding Science of Sensor Technology in Research discussing the theoretical underpinnings of sensor technologies development and use in nursing research and practice. Multiple theories with diverse epistemological roots guide decision-making about whether or not to apply sensors to a given use; development of, components of, and mechanisms by which sensor technologies are expected to work; and possible outcomes

When Pandemics Collide: The Impact of COVID-19 on Childhood Obesity

• Children with obesity face increased biopsychosocial risks during COVID-19. • Stress exacerbates inflammation and immune response in obesity and COVID-19. • The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly interrupted children\u27s daily routines. • The health effects of the obesogenic environment are exacerbated by COVID-19. • Access to timely, comprehensive healthcare is critical during COVID-19

Would a student midwife run postnatal clinic make a valuable addition to midwifery education in the UK? - A systematic review

Background – There is growing evidence in the UK that some National Health Service improvements, particularly in the postnatal period, are having an impact on the quality and variety of student midwives’ clinical experiences, making it challenging for them to meet the standards set by the regulatory body for midwives and receive a licence to practice. A possible solution to this may be the introduction of a Student Midwife integrated Learning Environment (SMiLE) focusing upon the delivery of postnatal care (PN) through a student run clinic Objective - To identify the current state of knowledge, regarding the educational outcomes of students who engage with student run clinics (SRC) and the satisfaction of patients who attend them Search strategy - BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE were searched for articles published until April 2014. Selection criteria - Studies nationally and internationally, that were carried out on healthcare students running their own clinics. Outcome measures were the evaluation of educational outcomes of students and client satisfaction were included Data collection and analysis - Data were extracted, analysed and synthesised to produce a summary of knowledge, regarding the effectiveness of SRC’s Main results - 6 studies were selected for this review Authors conclusions – The findings that SRC can offer advantages in improving educational outcomes of students and provide an effective service to clients is encouraging. However, given the limited number of high-quality studies included in this review, further research is required to investigate the effectiveness of SR

Design, Construction and In Situ Testing of a Muon Camera for Earth Science and Civil Engineering Applications

The MUST2 (MUon Survey Tomography based on Micromegas detectors for Unreachable Sites Technology) camera is based on a thin Time Projection Chamber read by a resistive Micromegas. This innovative combination presents interesting distinctive features compared to existing muon detection technologies. It allows a wide angular acceptance of the detector with a low weight and compact volume, well adapted for confined spaces or underground operation. The current work presents the results obtained during the calibration measurements at the reference site, the Low Background Noise Laboratory (LBNL). Preliminary results from field measurement campaign carried out at the dam overlooking the village of Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt (South-East of France) are presented and discussed

Landslide activation behaviour illuminated by electrical resistance monitoring

A common factor in landslide activation (or reactivation) is subsurface moisture and associated pore pressure variations linked to rainfall. Monitoring of these subsurface hydrogeological processes is necessary to improve our understanding of water-induced landslide activation. Geophysical approaches, electrical methods in particular, are increasingly being applied to landslide monitoring because they provide non-invasive spatial information in heterogeneous subsurface environments that can be difficult to characterise using surface observations or intrusive sampling alone. Electrical techniques are sensitive to changing subsurface moisture conditions, and have proven to be a useful tool for investigating the hydrogeology of natural and engineered slopes. The objectives of this investigation were to further develop electrical resistance monitoring for slope stability assessment, and to validate the approach at an intermittently-active UK landslide system to advance the understanding of complex landslide activation mechanisms. A long-term transfer resistance dataset was collected from a grid of electrodes to allow spatial monitoring of the landslide. These data were interpreted using a synthesis of rainfall, temperature, GPS and piezometric records. The resistance data were corrected for seasonal temperature variations and electrode movements were monitored, as these processes were shown to mask moisture related changes. Results reveal that resistance monitoring is sensitive to soil moisture accumulation, including changes in piezometric levels, and can be used to study the principal activation mechanism of slow-moving shallow earthflows. Spatial monitoring using resistance maps was shown to be particularly valuable as it revealed the evolution of subsurface moisture distribution, in the lead up to landslide activation. Key benefits of this approach are that it provides a simple, rapid and non-invasive means of spatially monitoring subsurface moisture dynamics linked to landslide activation at high-temporal resolution. Crucially, it provides a means of monitoring subsurface hydraulic changes in the build-up to slope failure, thereby contributing to early warning of landslide events

Vocalizing the Angels of Mons: Audio Dramas as Propaganda in the Great War of 1914 to 1918 Societies 2014, 4(2), 180-221; doi:10.3390/soc4020180

Sound drama production prior to the onset of the “Radio Age” underwent a pioneering development during the Great War. This was achieved by the making, publication and distribution of short audio dramas acted with sound effects and music in front of early microphones and released in the form of 78 rpm phonograph discs. Entertaining storytelling through dramatic performance was mobilized for the purposes of improving recruitment and disseminating patriotic endorsement recordings. This article focuses on the sound dramatization of the myth of “The Angels of Mons” released by Regal in 1915. The recording is examined as a text for its significance in terms of propaganda, style of audio-drama, and any cultural role it may have played in the media of the First World War. The Regal disc was an example of what was described at the time as “descriptive sketches.” This article explores why a sound phonograph was used to dramatize the myth that angels intervened to assist the British Expeditionary Force to resist the German Army invading France through Belgium in 1914. A number of historians have discussed the First World War as being a theatre for the first modern media war, in which the process of propaganda was modernized. To what extent does “The Angels of Mons” phonograph and the genre of descriptive sketches support this analysis? Does this short sound drama play have any relevance to the cultural phenomena of spiritualism, modernism and patriotic Christianity identified as being important during the Great War period