Evaluating the Stormwater Treatment Performance of AbTech Industries Smart Sponge® Plus, Landry, N

The ability of AbTech’s Smart Sponge® Plus to remove fecal-borne bacteria from stormwater was evaluated in a storm drainage system located in Seabrook, New Hampshire. The Smart Sponge ® Plus was installed into a water quality inlet and samples were collected from influent (pre-treatment) and effluent (post-treatment) for analysis of bacterial concentrations and loadings during 15 storm events from September 3, 2003 to May 24, 2004, excluding winter months. The 15 storms included events with a range of rainfall intensities and amounts, as well as accompanying runoff volumes. Flow weighted composite samples were analyzed for fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and enterococci to determine if concentrations were lowered as stormwater passed through the Smart Sponge® Plus material. In most cases, bacterial concentrations were reduced within the treatment system, but to varying degrees. The efficiency ratio based on reduction in event mean concentration for each bacterial indicator in the flow was calculated for each storm event. The values ranged most widely for fecal coliforms, whereas the range of ratios was narrower and the values were more consistent for enterococci. The overall load reductions for the bacterial indicators were 50.3% for fecal coliforms, 51.3% for Escherichia coli and 43.2% for enterococci. Relatively consistent pH values were observed in influent and effluent samples. The overall range of pH values was large, ranging from 5.21 units in influent from storm event #11 to 7.64 units in influent from storm event #1. Conductivity values were gr eater in the effluent in 14 of the 15 storm events, especially in storm events #12 and #13 when effluent conductivities were \u3e50% higher than influent values. Quality assurance/quality control procedures supported the methods and results of the study. Overall, the observed reductions in bacterial concentrations in post-treatment stormwater would still result in discharge of elevated bacterial levels that would continue to limit uses in receiving waters

Goals of Exclusive Breastfeeding and the Effectiveness of Programs and Initiatives in Attaining Them

Over recent years, breastfeeding has gained renewed significance in research and practice. Both in the United States and around the world, especially in poor countries that do not have easy access to quality healthcare, breastfeeding has been shown to dramatically and positively affect the health and lifespan of infants. However, there is still a low prevalence of effective breastfeeding practices universally. Even with the presence of global programs and goals that are geared toward exclusive breastfeeding habits, global rates are lower than what is desired. There are various determinants of breastfeeding that factor into a woman’s decision and practice of breastfeeding. Suggestions can further improve healthy breastfeeding practices, especially in the form of exclusive breastfeeding

The dynamics of trade and competition

We present, extend and estimate a model of international trade with firm heterogeneity in the tradition of Melitz (2003) and Melitz and Ottaviano (2005). The model is constructed to yield testable implications for the dynamics of international prices, productivity levels and markups as functions of openness to trade at a sectoral level. The theory lends itself naturally to a difference in differences estimation, with international differences in trade openness at the sector level reflecting international differences in the competitive structure of markets. Predictions are derived for the effects of both domestic and foreign openness on each economy. Using disaggregated data for EU manufacturing over the period 1989-1999 we find evidence that trade openness exerts a competitive effect, with prices and markups falling and productivity rising. Consistent with theory however, these effects diminish and may even revert in the longer term as less competitive economies become attractive havens from which to export from. We provide evidence that this entry into less open economies induces pro-competitive effects overseas in response to domestic trade liberalization.Competition, Globalization, Markups, Openness, Prices, Productivity, Trade

The ‘oldest tricks in the book’ don’t work! Reports of burglary by DUMA detainees in Western Australia

Explores the methods and motivations of those actively involved in committing burglaries. Foreword Research investigating the methods and motivations of burglars has typically focused on incarcerated offenders. The Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program provided an opportunity for the authors to explore the methods and motivations of those actively involved in committing burglaries, whether or not they had actually been caught or detained for that offence. The findings support Routine Activity Theory, indicating that offenders consider a number of factors in determining whether a property will be targeted for a break and enter offence. As might be expected, opportunistic burglars choose easy to access properties, stay a minimum length of time and take goods that can be disposed of easily. It was concluded that simple prevention strategies could minimise the risk of becoming a victim of opportunistic burglary, which also has implications for law enforcement, the security industry and insurance agencies

A methodology for testing virtualisation security

There is a growing interest in virtualisation due to its central role in cloud computing, virtual desktop environments and Green IT. Data centres and cloud computing utilise this technology to run multiple operating systems on one physical server, thus reducing hardware costs. However, vulnerabilities in the hypervisor layer have an impact on any virtual machines running on top, making security an important part of virtualisation. In this paper, we evaluate the security of virtualisation, including detection and escaping the environment. We present a methodology to investigate if a virtual machine can be detected and further compromised, based upon previous research. Finally, this methodology is used to evaluate the security of virtual machines. The methods used to evaluate the security include analysis of known vulnerabilities and fuzzing to test the virtual device drivers on three different platforms: VirtualBox, Hyper-V and VMware ESXI. Our results demonstrate that the attack surface of virtualisation is more prone to vulnerabilities than the hypervisor. Comparing our results with previous studies, each platform withstood IOCTL and random fuzzing, demonstrating that the platforms are more robust and secure than previously found. By building on existing research, the results show that security in the hypervisor has been improved. However, using the proposed methodology in this paper it has been shown that an attacker can easily determine that the machine is a virtual machine, which could be used for further exploitation. Finally, our proposed methodology can be utilised to effectively test the security of a virtualised environment

Language Style as Identity Construction: A Footing and Framing Approach

Despite the prevalence of conceptualizations of style shifting as a reactive phenomenon, conditioned by contextual factors such as formality and audience, style shifting increasingly has come to be viewed as a proactive phenomenon which speakers freely use to shape and re-shape context, as well as their personal and interpersonal identities (e.g. California Style Collective 1993, Coupland forthcoming). In this presentation, we suggest that an explanation for style shifting based on the interactional sociolinguistic notions of footing and frame indexing (e.g. Goffman 1981, Tannen and Wallat 1993) provides a neat encapsulation of some of the central tenets of these more proactive approaches, while at the same time addressing their limitations

CONVENTIONAL vs COMPLEX TRAINING: A SET BY SET AND SESSIONAL COMPARISON OF KINETIC AND KINEMATIC VARIABLES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of complex sets on kinetic and kinematic variables in a countermovement jump (CMJ) compared to a conventional training session. Twenty-three recreationally trained males completed two familiarisation and two experimental conditions. No significant differences (

Understanding the Nature of Online News Addiction

Being aware of the happenings in a community has always been of interest to humans, but the current state of news availability is unprecedented. This convenience is driving behavioral changes that manifest in online news addiction. In this research, we seek to understand antecedents to online news addiction as a need to be socially connected. We posit that an individual’s social identity creates envy, fear of missing out, and anxiety. These factors lead to frequent news checking to the point of addiction. Through this research we expect to provide guidance on the role of social identity in technology addictions, as well as new offerings that can lead to online news addiction. In the current environment of misinformation, this research will be informative for reducing online news addiction

CONVENTIONAL vs COMPLEX TRAINING: A SET BY SET AND SESSIONAL COMPARISON OF KINETIC AND KINEMATIC VARIABLES

The purpose of this study was to evaluate moments and shear forces at the hip and knee during step ups and single leg squats. Subjects were 12 weight trained adults. Each subject performed 3 repetitions of step ups and single leg squats using 70% of 1 repetition maximum. 2 X 2 (lift X phase (eccentric/concentric)) repeated measures ANOVAs were performed for each dependent variable. Significant interaction effects (