Evaluating the Influences of Karst Hydrogeology on Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms in Kentucky Lakes

A problem exists in Nolin River Lake and Rough River Lake in Kentucky, due to the increasing prevalence of cyanobacterial-based harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) and the threats they pose to local communities. These lakes were developed as artificial reservoirs from embankment. Further complicating the issue, the lakes are located within a heavily karstified region and there exists no plan or method currently for monitoring or managing CyanoHABs in a karst region with regard to groundwater inputs to the lake systems or their tributaries. A mixture of techniques and analysis methods was used to determine the best way to monitor and possibly detect the formation and occurrence of CyanoHABs in artificial lakes that are located in karst landscapes. The methods focused on determining the effect groundwater has on CyanoHAB occurrence and formation, how much nutrient pollution is entering the system, from where the pollution is originating and, ultimately, how best to monitor and develop management practices against CyanoHAB occurrence. Techniques used included dual nitrate isotope tracing, collecting hydrogeochemical data, lake discharge data, historical CyanoHAB data, and biological tracer monitoring in both lakes. The lakes under study showed varying degrees of the influence karst plays in their seasonal changes from summer to winter pools. Lake water temperatures never dropped below the temperatures needed for one of the dominant cyanobacteria, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, to grow. Calculations of nutrient loadings indicated that over 3.5 x 106 kg of nitrate moved through Nolin River Lake during the course of the study. The presence and concentrations of E. coli when paired with weather and geochemical data also revealed karst groundwater pulses exerting an influence through the system in response to precipitation events. The nitrogen and oxygen isotope data indicate that a wide variety of nitrate pollution sources are entering the system and that a variety of management techniques must be deployed to combat this complex issue. A holistic approach that focuses on management and education about karst processes and CyanoHABs is suggested, with an emphasis on broader community involvement beyond just the populations living adjacent to the lakes

A study of the structures of some compounds of the symmetrical triazine series by means of their ultraviolet spectra

The purpose of this work is to investigate the ultraviolet absorption spectra of symmetrical triazines with the outlook of correlating, on a theoretical basis, the date obtained with molecular structure

Global Impact Balancing in the Hierarchic Genetic Search

The new Globally Balanced Hierarchic Genetic Strategy (GB-HGS) was introduced as a tool for solving difficult global optimization problems. This strategy provides a multi-deme economic stochastic search with an adaptive accuracy that allows many local extremes of the objective to be found. The strategy was designed according to the Multi Agent System (MAS) paradigm. The novelty of GB-HGS derives from its control of the search impact performed by various demes on the basis of the global information gathered and exchanged among the computing agents. This mechanism is applied together with the local profiling of the computational process already used in the previous versions of hierarchic genetic computations. The new strategy exhibits better efficiency, especially in the second phase of computations, when the promising regions containing the global extremes are encountered

Interview of Robert Schaefer

Robert Schaefer was born in 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Roman Catholic High School and La Salle College. He worked at La Salle as Director of Public Relations. His son, also named Robert Schaefer, became a Christian Brother. He discusses growing up in Philadelphia in the 1930s and 1940s, attending college at La Salle in the 1950s, and his military service in Korea