Disinfection By-Product Reduction Study of a Small Central Florida Public Water System

The disinfection of water for potabilization has proven to be one of the most significant public achievements of the 20th century. Although chemical disinfectants are successfully utilized to inactivate acute pathogenic organisms, they may react with natural organic matter (NOM) to produce potentially-harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs). As a result, the United States Environmental Protection Agency regulates DBPs such as total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). The research herein is focused on the formation, removal, and control of TTHMs and HAAs in a small public water system (PWS) in Polk County, Florida (County). Pilot-scale tests were implemented to determine the efficacy of stripping TTHMs using single-pass spray and recirculating tray aeration systems, both operating at flows of 3 gallons per minute. In the spray aerator evaluation, an average TTHM reduction of 29.5% was recorded. With tray aeration, a 46.7% reduction of TTHMs was observed after a single pass through the assembly. The benefits of additional recirculation appeared to decrease significantly after four passes, at a TTHM removal of 85.5%. A raw water blending effort was conducted to model bypass around granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption vessels. The results demonstrated the feasibility of a 50% blend in full-scale treatment operations. With this blend, chlorine residuals and HAA concentrations were able to be controlled throughout 48 hours of incubation at 30°C. From the data collected, a water quality plan was developed for the County\u27s Waverly PWS. The plan to control the formation of DBPs integrated a recirculating tray aeration process for TTHM stripping complemented with GAC adsorption process for removing DBP precursors. The estimated conceptual operating cost was approximated at $24,000 annually. This cost considered carbon replacement as well as the recirculation pump operation. If the recommended 50$15,250 annually

Autobiographical: An accountant\u27s education; Accountant\u27s education

This is a review of how various experiences in my career have contributed to my understanding of accounting. I recall the circumstances surrounding several of my efforts towards the development of accounting theories, viz. (1) decision-usefulness theory, (2) activity costing, and (3) market simulation accounting, as well as my excursion into (4) market association research in seeking to validate decision-usefulness theory and (5) a search for the effects of firms\u27 economic environments on the development of enterprise accounting in the 2nd millennium, C.E. I give my impressions of several of the important players in the evolution of accounting thought in the 20th century with whom I was closely associated, such as Vatter, Moonitz, Chambers, and Sterling, as well as other prominent figures in the broad field of accounting. Some of my gains from associations with three institutions: the American Accounting Association, The University of Chicago, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board: are identified. I conclude with a few summary thoughts on what I have learned

Prospects for Justice and Accountability in Syria

In recent years, the international community has closely monitored the actions of Syrian president, Bashar-al Assad. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, President Assad has continued to incite widespread violence throughout Syria by committing mass atrocities that violate international laws. There is evidence to provide proof of President Assad’s connection to his crimes and that his crimes have killed and displaced millions of Syrians. However, the legalities of indicting a head of state and the special interests between the members of the United Nations Security Council create obstacles that make prosecuting President Assad near impossible in a traditional international court. This paper analyzes the prospects of President Assad being indicted by the international community and tried in a court for violating international laws. The cases of Slobodan Milošević and Charles Taylor are used to closely examine both the similarities and differences as they apply to President Assad. The close examinations and comparisons of these cases serve as the method in determining the best model for achieving an indictment and trial for President Assad. This paper further examines how the creation and implementation of a special tribunal for President Assad’s case is the best available option for indicting President Assad on international law charges and holding a trial for his case

Dark ages of cost accounting: The role of miscues in the literature

The conceptual and theoretical development of cost accounting has been at a standstill for several decades, despite its poor state and drastic changes in its environment. The concept of cost itself and related concepts are both unclear and unrelated to relevant concepts in other areas of economics, and several critical issues remain unresolved. Part of the blame for this state is laid at the door of those writers and interpreters of several key pieces of literature, or sets of writings on specific topics. The works involved in the miscues are J. M. Clark\u27s emphasis on different costs for different purposes in his Studies in the Economics of Overhead Costs; Paton and Littleton\u27s difficulties in clarifying the cost concept; the American Institute of Accountants\u27 definition of depreciation accounting as systematic and rational allocation; the direct/variable costing literature; and the rejection of allocation. An effort is made to show how each of those miscues harmed the cause of cost accounting

Influence of firm size, strategy, and structure on the development of accounting, 1776-1989

This paper is a portion of a line of research based on the premise that one\u27s ability to understand and explain the existence of a particular firm\u27s accounting practices, or of typical firm accounting practices, is enhanced by an understanding of the economics of the firm. Both firms and accounting have existed for a long time, having developed together over many centuries. The focus in this paper is on developments in firm size, in firm strategy regarding vertical integration and diversification, and in form of organization as influences on the development of accounting

Enhancing the ELV Payload Safety Review Process Through Program Activities

No abstract availabl

NASA ELV Payload Safety Program Information Exchange

This presentation details the Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) Payload Safety Program in its development and plan for implementation. It is an overview of the program's policies, process and requirements

Hybridization between an invasive fruit fly and a variably plastic native sibling species

Introgressive hybridization can play an important role in the evolution of species ranges by introducing adaptive variation to populations at the margins. The apple maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella) is an introduced tephritid fly that has become abundant in the moist western counties of Washington State but remains scarce in the relatively arid central and eastern counties. In contrast, the snowberry maggot (R. zephyria), a native congener, is abundant in counties across the state. The difference in the distributions of the two species has been attributed to variation in their desiccation resistance because snowberry maggots, particularly those from central and eastern sites, have been shown to outperform apple maggots in low humidity conditions. Recent population genetic studies suggest that the two species are hybridizing, and that snowberry maggot alleles are asymmetrically introgressing into apple maggot populations. This has led to speculation that adaptive gene flow from snowberry maggot populations might facilitate the expansion of the apple maggot into new territories. In Chapter 1, I conduct laboratory crosses between apple maggots and snowberry maggots from western and central Washington, and contrast the performance of the two types of hybrid offspring with that of apple maggots in low humidity conditions. Both types of hybrids are found to be more resistant to desiccation and more likely to survive to adulthood than apple maggots. I do not observe a difference in the mean desiccation resistances of the two types of hybrids, but I do observe greater variation among hybrids sired by western Washington snowberry maggots than among those sired by central Washington snowberry maggots. These results imply that there is heritable variation in desiccation resistance between apple and snowberry maggots, and perhaps greater genetic variation within the western Washington snowberry maggot population than within the central Washington snowberry maggot population. The presence of such variation raises the possibility that introgressive hybridization with snowberry maggots from either region may lead to more desiccation-resistant apple maggot populations, but further research is needed to better understand the steps in between hybridization and potential adaptation. In Chapter 2, I investigate patterns of gene expression in the same populations of snowberry maggots that sired the hybrids in Chapter 1. Previous work has clearly established that snowberry maggots from the central Washington population lose less weight and are more likely to survive to adulthood than snowberry maggots from the western Washington population when they pupate in low humidity. However, those differences become insignificant in high humidity, suggesting that the biology of the two populations varies under different environmental conditions. I expose larvae from each population to either high or low humidity, and sequence their transcriptomes at the onset of barreling, a key point of transition between the larval and pupal stages. I identify individual genes and modules of genes which are differentially expressed between the populations and/or conditions, and determine whether those differences are environmentally canalized or arise via plasticity. I also discuss the expression patterns as they relate to patterns of desiccation resistance and survival in the two populations, and use Gene Ontology annotations to infer possible cellular responses to desiccation stress. I find that the majority of differences in gene expression between the two populations are attributable to differences in plasticity, and that plasticity is reduced overall in the central Washington population relative to the western Washington population. I also find that a wide range of biological processes are affected by differences in humidity, including protein metabolism, peroxisome activity, and development. My results add to a growing body of evidence that variation in plasticity is an important component of phenotypic variation, and suggest candidate mechanisms of desiccation resistance in snowberry maggots for further investigation

Ensuring Payload Safety in Missions with Special Partnerships

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) payload space flight missions involve cooperative work between NASA and partners including spacecraft (or payload) contractors, universities, nonprofit research centers, Agency payload organization, Range Safety organization, Agency launch service organizations, and launch vehicle contractors. The role of NASA's Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Directorate is typically fairly straightforward, but when a mission's partnerships become more complex, to realize cost and science benefits (e.g., multi-agency payload(s) or cooperative international missions), the task of ensuring payload safety becomes much more challenging. This paper discusses lessons learned from NASA safety professionals working multiple-agency missions and offers suggestions to help fellow safety professionals working multiple-agency missions