Evaluation of Recovery in a Polluted Creek After Installation of New Sewage Treatment Procedures

Response of Hickman Creek near Lexington, Kentucky to alleviation from serious sewage pollution was studied from January, 1973 through July, 1974. Wastes are now handled from an efficient secondary treatment facility and four sequential polishing lagoons before chlorination and discharge to West Hickman branch. Physico-chemical tests gave no strong indication of residual pollution effects at the start of the study, approximately six months after the treatment facility opened. At low flow a slight oxygen sag, probably associated with algal growth in the lagoons, persists downstream from the outfall. Mean values for turbidity, nitrates and COD are somewhat higher at the outfall than at eleven stations within the basin. Orthophosphates are considerably higher in lagoon discharge than elsewhere in the system, which gains some phosphate from bedrock. While the lagoons place some oxygen demand on West Hickman in the form of unicellular algal growth, they can and do receive surges of input that cannot be accomodated in the treatment plant. They would serve as a buffer to the stream in case of operational malfunction, which could overwhelm the small stream at low flow. The lagoons provide some benefits of tertiary treatment. The diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates increased at most stations formerly affected by pollution but did not achieve the levels of two control stations on East Hickman Creek. Fishes reinvaded West Hickman more rapidly than did invertebrates but they also failed to achieve the diversity maintained at the control stations and observed in collections from 1960. Fecal and total coliforms 2 miles downstream from the lagoon outfall were as low or lower than elsewhere in the basin. Changes within the basin were sometimes more clearly seen when stations were grouped by stream order. Urbanization of West Hickman may be causing physico-chemical and biological changes apart from the effects of or alleviation from sewage pollution. The West Hickman Sewage Treatment Plant affords protection to Hickman Creek and produces a safe effluent that has allowed reestablishment of a variety of fishes, invertebrates and aesthetic qualities formerly associated with the stream. Presence of uncontaminated tributaries is thought to have sped observed recovery

An Ecological Study of Cladophora glomerate (Chlorophyceae) near Dallas

Cladophora glomerata, a green alga of the order Ulotrichales, family Cladophoraceae, is characterized by dich tomous branching, with ramuli ending in dense terminal fascicles…. Between October, 1949 and July, 1950, we collected this species in the Dallas area from Elm Fork of the Trinity River, and Bachman\u27s, White Rock, and Ten Mile creeks

The American Darters

The darters are a fascinating group of colorful and diminutive freshwater fish whose beauty rivals that of the tropical reef fishes. Native only to North America, the darters occur widely, especially in the United States, but are little known to the general public, largely because of their small size—few exceed six inches and some measure a mere one inch at maturity. This book is the first comprehensive guide to the darters, covering all named and several undescribed forms—140 species in all. Each species account includes a synoptic description to aid in separation of similar species and subspecies, a range map, and discussion of the species\u27 distribution, natural heritage, abundance, and scientific name. An illustrated key and glossary will further assist scientists, students, fishermen, and aquarium specialists in identifying darter species. Central to this volume is the series of 144 handsome color photographs illustrating nearly all known darter species and several subspecies. Most of the specimens shown were caught by the authors at sites throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and photographed by them on site using a recently developed technique that captures the full brilliance of the living fish. Because of their importance as indicators of environmental quality, the darters are receiving increasing attention today from scientists and naturalists. Public interest was focused recently on the plight of the snail darter, but many other darter species are either threatened or endangered, and others face an uncertain future as human activities continue to degrade our waterways. All those with an interest in preserving the natural heritage of our rivers and streams will find this comprehensive guide to the darters an invaluable tool. Robert A. Kuehne is associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Kentucky and the author of many papers on ecology, fish taxonomy, and the distribution patterns of aquatic animals. Roger W. Barbour is professor of biological sciences at the University of Kentucky. His publications include Bats of America (with Wayne H. Davis), Turtles of America (with Carl H. Ernst), and authorship or co-authorship of six volumes in the Kentucky Nature Series. He has received many awards for his contributions to wildlife conservation.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_biology/1001/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Organic Compounds on Amphibian Reproduction

Aquatic toxicity tests were conducted with atrazine, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, methylene chloride, trisodium nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and phenol. Each compound was administered to developmental stages of three to five amphibian species. Exposure was initiated at fertilization and maintained through 4 days posthatching. Test responses included lethality and teratogenesis. Different amphibian species exhibited varying degrees of tolerance to the selected compounds. Greatest tolerance usually was observed for the more broadly adapted semi-aquatic and terrestrial species (e.g., Bufo americanus, Bufo fowleri). The more sensitive amphibians usually included those species which normally are restricted to aquatic or moist habitats (e.g., Rana catesbeiana, Rana pipiens). Median lethal concentrattons (mg/1) determined at 4 days posthatching ranged from 0.41 to \u3e 48 for atrazine, 0.90 to 2.83 for carbon tetrachloride, 0.27 to 35.14 for chloroform, 17.78 to \u3e 32 for methylene chloride, 39.3 to 252.3 for NTA, and 0.04 to \u3e 0.89 for phenol. The most toxic compounds always included phenol, carbon tetrachloride, and atrazine, and the least toxic consistently were NTA and methylene chloride. for three chlorinated alkanes, including methylene chloride (CH2Cl2), chloroform (CHCl3), and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), toxicity increased with chlorination. Toxicity of the different compounds was further characterized by calculating concentrations which produced embryo-larval lethality or teratogenesis at frequencies of 10% (LC10) and 1% (LC1). On the basis of LC1 values, Hyla crucifer, Rana catesbeiana, and Rana pipiens generally exhibited sensitivity equal to or slightly greater than that observed for embryolarval stages of the rainbow trout

ADOPT: a tool for predicting adoption of agricultural innovations

A wealth of evidence exists about the adoption of new practices and technologies in agriculture but there does not appear to have been any attempt to simplify this vast body of research knowledge into a model to make quantitative predictions across a broad range of contexts. This is despite increasing demand from research, development and extension agencies for estimates of likely extent of adoption and the likely timeframes for project impacts. This paper reports on the reasoning underpinning the development of ADOPT (Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool). The tool has been designed to: 1) predict an innovation‘s likely peak extent of adoption and likely time for reaching that peak; 2) encourage users to consider the influence of a structured set of factors affecting adoption; and 3) engage R, D & E managers and practitioners by making adoptability knowledge and considerations more transparent and understandable. The tool is structured around four aspects of adoption: 1) characteristics of the innovation, 2) characteristics of the population, 3) actual advantage of using the innovation, and 4) learning of the actual advantage of the innovation. The conceptual framework used for developing ADOPT is described.Adoption, Diffusion, Prediction, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Solving the time- and frequency-multiplexed problem of constrained radiofrequency induced hyperthermia

Targeted radiofrequency (RF) heating induced hyperthermia has a wide range of applications, ranging from adjunct anti-cancer treatment to localized release of drugs. Focal RF heating is usually approached using time-consuming nonconvex optimization procedures or approximations, which significantly hampers its application. To address this limitation, this work presents an algorithm that recasts the problem as a semidefinite program and quickly solves it to global optimality, even for very large (human voxel) models. The target region and a desired RF power deposition pattern as well as constraints can be freely defined on a voxel level, and the optimum application RF frequencies and time-multiplexed RF excitations are automatically determined. 2D and 3D example applications conducted for test objects containing pure water (r(target) = 19 mm, frequency range: 500–2000 MHz) and for human brain models including brain tumors of various size (r(1) = 20 mm, r(2) = 30 mm, frequency range 100–1000 MHz) and locations (center, off-center, disjoint) demonstrate the applicability and capabilities of the proposed approach. Due to its high performance, the algorithm can solve typical clinical problems in a few seconds, making the presented approach ideally suited for interactive hyperthermia treatment planning, thermal dose and safety management, and the design, rapid evaluation, and comparison of RF applicator configurations

Tx/Rx Head Coil Induces Less RF Transmit-Related Heating than Body Coil in Conductive Metallic Objects Outside the Active Area of the Head Coil

The transmit–receive (Tx/Rx) birdcage head coil is often used for excitation instead of the body coil because of the presumably lower risk of heating in and around conductive implants. However, this common practice has not been systematically tested. To investigate whether the Tx/Rx birdcage head coil produces less heating than the body coil when scanning individuals with implants, we used a 3T clinical scanner and made temperature measurements around a straight 15 cm conductor using either the Tx/Rx body or the head coil for excitation. Additionally, the transmitted fields of a Tx/Rx head coil were measured both in air and in gel using a resonant and a non-resonant B field probes as well as a non-resonant E field probe. Simulations using a finite-difference time domain solver were compared with the experimental findings. When the body coil was used for excitation, we observed heating around the 15 cm wire at various anatomical locations (both within and outside of the active volume of the head coil). Outside its active area, no such heating was observed while using the Tx/Rx head coil for excitation. The E and B fields of the Tx/Rx birdcage head coil extended well-beyond the physical dimensions of the coil. In air, the fields were monotonically decreasing, while in gel they were more complex with local maxima at the end of the ASTM phantom. These experimental findings were line with the simulations. While caution must always be exercised when scanning individuals with metallic implants, these findings support the use of the Tx/Rx birdcage head coil in place of the body coil at 3T in order to reduce the risk of heating in and around conductive implants that are remote from the head coil

Some of the Effects of Domestic Sewage Discharged Into Hickman and Jessamine Creeks in Jessamine County, Kentucky

A 6-week study was made in the summer of 1971 as an initial effort to determine the extent of pollution that the three sewage disposal plants in Jessamine County, Kentucky, are contributing to its streams. With the rapid population increase in Lexington and nearby municipalities, this study should furnish a basis of comparison for future investigations. Eighteen collecting stations were established in riffle areas of Hickman and Jessamine Creeks, and coliform bacteria, macro-invertebrate populations, fish populations and chemical water quality of each riffle area were studied. Hickman Creek\u27s flow was augmented by approximately 3,100,000 gallons/day (11,735 -m3/day) from one of the City of Lexington\u27s sewage disposal plants, and Jessamine Creek\u27s flow by 500,000 gallons/day (1,893 m3/day) from the cities of Nicholasville and Wilmore. The Lexington and Wilmore facilities were greatly overloaded. Chemical analyses were directed toward finding out the fluctuations of phosphates, sulfates, and nitrates. Water disappearing through limestone faults posed investigational problems. Hickman Creek showed evidences of pollution for a greater distance downstream than did Jessamine. Diversity of clean water indicator organisms was higher in lower Jessamine than in lower Hickman; this was particularly true for darters (Etheostoma) and stoneflies (Plecoptera). Jessamine Creek was also supporting limited game fishing

Congressional Oversight of Modern Warfare: History, Pathologies, and Proposals for Reform

Despite significant developments in the nature of twenty-first century warfare, Congress continues to employ a twentieth century oversight structure. Modern warfare tactics, including cyber operations, drone strikes, and special operations, do not neatly fall into congressional committee jurisdictions. Counterterrorism and cyber operations, which are inherently multi-jurisdictional and highly classified, illustrate the problem. In both contexts, over the past several years Congress has addressed oversight shortcomings by strengthening its reporting requirements, developing relatively robust oversight regimes. But in solving one problem, Congress has created another: deeply entrenched information silos that inhibit the sharing of information about modern warfare across committees. This has real consequences. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee may have to vote on an authorization for the use of military force against a country without a full understanding of options for covert operations that might achieve the same purpose with less risk. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees may be asked to approve a train-and-equip program for a partner force in a nation without knowing that the CIA is already operating essentially the same program. And the House and Senate Intelligence Committees may support a proposed covert operation without understanding the broader foreign policy context, and therefore, the reaction that it might provoke if it were discovered. But there is good news with the bad. If Congress is to blame for this information siloing, Congress is also able to fix it. This Article’s discussion of solutions begins with a proposal made by the 9/11 Commission to address information sharing failures—the formation of a super committee to address national security matters. After explaining why this is not the right answer, this Article offers four concrete proposals to remedy the problem. First, Congress should promote inter-committee information sharing by expanding cross-committee membership. Second, Congress should require joint briefings to committees when matters cut across jurisdictional boundaries. Third, Congress should permit members to share classified information with other members under limited, clearly defined circumstances. And fourth, Congress should create a Congressional National Security Council to coordinate cross-cutting national security matters and share mutually relevant information