Reconstructing Pittsburgh's Pollution History with Dendrochemistry: an Analysis of Trace Metal Concentrations in a Schenley Park Red Oak Tree

The city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has a rich history of industrial activity, particularly steel manufacturing. This, combined with other urban waste, leaves a legacy of environmental pollution across the landscape. This study compares trace metal concentration data from a Pittsburgh tree to local and national industrial production records and local climatic data. Trace metal concentrations (lead, copper, cadmium, zinc, and nickel) in the annual growth rings of a red oak tree (Quercus rubra) from Schenley Park in Pittsburgh were measured. This metal record was used to explore the consequences of pollution over the 126 year life of this tree (1881-2006). Trace metals and wet deposition sulfate concentrations are related (r2 range of 0.0631 and 0.3458) as are national steel production and regional wet deposition sulfate concentrations (r2 = 0.7670). However, these relationships break down in the 1990s as trace metal concentrations in the tree rings continue to increase and pollution inputs decrease. One potential explanation is the increasing dominance of vehicular traffic in urban systems. Nitrate emissions from vehicles could increase soil acidity and metal bioavailability, facilitating metal uptake by plants. This suggests that Pittsburgh pollution legacy issues should be a continued concern as increased trace metal availability will impact both urban ecosystems and human populations

Convictions of Innocent People with Intellectual Disability

In Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court held that executing individuals with intellectual disability violates the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment. In addition to concerns over culpability and deterrence, the Court’s judgment in Atkins was informed by the heightened “risk of wrongful execution” faced by persons with intellectual disability. This essay explores that question both anecdotally and quantitatively, hoping to illuminate the causes of wrongful conviction of persons with intellectual disability. We provide examples from our experiences in the Cornell Death Penalty Clinic and cases brought to our attention by defense attorneys. We also present data from the National Registry of Exonerations. Then we turn to the causes of the disproportionate wrongful conviction of intellectually disabled persons and conclude by considering implications of those causes for reform

Convictions of Innocent People with Intellectual Disability

In Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court held that executing individuals with intellectual disability violates the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment. In addition to concerns over culpability and deterrence, the Court’s judgment in Atkins was informed by the heightened “risk of wrongful execution” faced by persons with intellectual disability. This essay explores that question both anecdotally and quantitatively, hoping to illuminate the causes of wrongful conviction of persons with intellectual disability. We provide examples from our experiences in the Cornell Death Penalty Clinic and cases brought to our attention by defense attorneys. We also present data from the National Registry of Exonerations. Then we turn to the causes of the disproportionate wrongful conviction of intellectually disabled persons and conclude by considering implications of those causes for reform

UTILIZING BIOREACTORS TO REMOVE​ DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS IN WASTEWAT

An abundance of nutrients wastewater, including nitrogen and phosphorus, has led to algae covering the walls and floors of three pools within one water treatment system for the sponsor. Although algae growth within water systems poses no severe health risk, the amount of growth (up to 10,000 square feet) is an aesthetic issue. The goal is to design and implement a bioreactor to remove the dissolved nutrients attributed to algae growth in the water. After researching different types of biological filters, the solution that fits within constraints best is an attached growth biological filter with plastic media

Intrinsic symmetry groups of links with 8 and fewer crossings

We present an elementary derivation of the "intrinsic" symmetry groups for knots and links of 8 or fewer crossings. The standard symmetry group for a link is the mapping class group \MCG(S^3,L) or \Sym(L) of the pair $(S^3,L)$. Elements in this symmetry group can (and often do) fix the link and act nontrivially only on its complement. We ignore such elements and focus on the "intrinsic" symmetry group of a link, defined to be the image $\Sigma(L)$ of the natural homomorphism \MCG(S^3,L) \rightarrow \MCG(S^3) \cross \MCG(L). This different symmetry group, first defined by Whitten in 1969, records directly whether $L$ is isotopic to a link $L'$ obtained from $L$ by permuting components or reversing orientations. For hyperbolic links both \Sym(L) and $\Sigma(L)$ can be obtained using the output of \texttt{SnapPea}, but this proof does not give any hints about how to actually construct isotopies realizing $\Sigma(L)$. We show that standard invariants are enough to rule out all the isotopies outside $\Sigma(L)$ for all links except $7^2_6$, $8^2_{13}$ and $8^3_5$ where an additional construction is needed to use the Jones polynomial to rule out "component exchange" symmetries. On the other hand, we present explicit isotopies starting with the positions in Cerf's table of oriented links which generate $\Sigma(L)$ for each link in our table. Our approach gives a constructive proof of the $\Sigma(L)$ groups.Comment: 72 pages, 66 figures. This version expands the original introduction into three sections; other minor changes made for improved readabilit

Understanding pandemic solidarity: mutual support during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of solidarity has been invoked frequently. Much interest has centred around how citizens and communities support one another during times of uncertainty. Yet, empirical research which accounts and understands citizen’s views on pandemic solidarity, or their actual practices has remained limited. Drawing upon the analysis of data from 35 qualitative interviews, this article investigates how residents in England and Scotland enacted, understood, or criticised (the lack of) solidarity during the first national lockdown in the United Kingdom in April 2020—at a time when media celebrated solidarity as being at an all-time high. It finds that although solidarity was practiced by some people, the perceived lack of solidarity was just as pronounced. We conclude that despite frequent mobilisations of solidarity by policy makers and other public actors, actual practices of solidarity are poorly understood—despite the importance of solidarity for public health and policy

The Effects of Dietary Omega 3 Fatty Acids on Commercial Broiler Behavior from Hatch to Market Weight

The objective of this experiment was to investigate how different dietary omega-3 sources affect commercial broiler behavior from hatch to market weight. One hundred and twenty male 308 Ross broiler chicks were enrolled into the study. Three dietary treatments were compared; Control, Flaxseed-and Fish-oil. Fifteen pens were randomly selected and onefocal-bird was watched continually for three periods of time. One behavior, two postures,and an unknown category were collected. Week by dietary treatment interaction was not significant for any broiler behaviors (P ≥ 0.49). There was no dietary treatment effect observed for any broiler behaviors (P≥ 0.32). There was no observed difference for percentage of time spent at the feeder between week 1 and 4 (P =0.14). However, there was a difference for percentage of time spent active (P \u3c 0.0001), inactive (P = 0.0004) and unknown (P = 0.01) between week 1 and 4. Within the context of this work, the selected omega-3 dietary sources did not affect broiler behavior between weeks 1 and 4. Independent of dietary treatment, broilers increased the percentage of time spent inactive by week 4 of the study

Victim Gender and the Death Penalty

Previous research suggests that cases involving female victims are more likely to result in death sentences. The current study examines possible reasons for this relationship using capital punishment data from the state of Delaware. Death was sought much more for murders of either male or female white victims compared to murders of black male victims. Analyzing capital sentencing hearings in Delaware from 1977-2007 decided by judges or juries, we found that both characteristics of the victims and characteristics of the murders differentiated male and female victim cases. The presence of sexual victimization, the method of killing, the relationship between the victim and the defendant, and whether or not the victim had family responsibilities all predicted the likelihood of a death sentence and help to explain why cases with female victims are more likely to be punished with a death sentence

The Death Penalty: Should the Judge or the Jury Decide Who Dies?

This article addresses the effect of judge versus jury decision making through analysis of a database of all capital sentencing phase hearing trials in the State of Delaware from 1977– 2007. Over the three decades of the study, Delaware shifted responsibility for death penalty sentencing from the jury to the judge. Currently, Delaware is one of the handful of states that gives the judge the final decision-making authority in capital trials. Controlling for a number of legally relevant and other predictor variables, we find that the shift to judge sentencing significantly increased the number of death sentences. Statutory aggravating factors, stranger homicides, and the victim’s gender also increased the likelihood of a death sentence, as did the county of the homicide. We reflect on the implications of these results for debates about the constitutionality of judge sentencing in capital cases