An Analysis of Development Impact Fees in Georgia

A development impact fee is defined as “payment of money imposed upon development as a condition to development approval to pay for a proportionate share of the cost of system improvements needed to serve growth and development.” Development impact fees are a relatively new idea in Georgia, but have been used in other jurisdictions for years. This paper analyzes the development of the Georgia Development Impact Fee Law. It also tracks use of impact fees in Georgia and makes recommendations for jurisdictions considering adopting impact fees

Variation of an indicator of

Escherichia coli is an indicator of fecal pollution used to mandate recreational and drinking water quality. Concentrations of culturable E. coli following contamination of surface water are determined by three factors: dilution; cell attachment to particulate material and settling or resuspension in the water column; and the net rate of change in viability. This study evaluated the variability in the latter parameter, and how predictive variation in death rate was of culturable population densities at the time of sampling. Water samples (N=232) with varying levels of E. coli contamination were collected from 46 discrete locations in four watersheds across Canada over a three-month period and enumerated for culturable E. coli by membrane filtration plate counting (T0EC). Water samples were again enumerated following a laboratory 24 h holding period at 30°C in the dark, and the difference considered the death rate (ΔEC). Relationships of T0EC and ΔEC with environmental and water chemistry factors were explored using step-wise multiple regression. The model predicting T0EC indicated that stream order, total rainfall seven days in advance of sampling day, total phosphorus, and ΔEC were the most significant contributors. The model predicting ΔEC indicated that turbidity and NH3+NH4 were the most important contributors. A model suggests that the persistence factor is less important than dilution (i.e. stream order) in describing E. coli densities, followed by factors that influence the loading of E. coli into watersheds

Circadian actigraphic rest–activity rhythms following surgery for endometrial cancer: A prospective, longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate (1) circadian rest-activity rhythm disturbances among endometrial cancer patients as they recover from surgery in comparison to a historical reference group of women with no cancer history; and (2) health- and treatment-related predictors of dysregulated rest-activity rhythms in endometrial cancer patients. METHODS: 60 endometrial cancer patients participated in a prospective, longitudinal study with actigraphic assessment at 1 week, 1 month, and 4 months post-surgery. 60 women without cancer from an epidemiological sample completed one actigraphic assessment, acting as a reference group. RESULTS: On average, results revealed initial significant rest-activity dysregulation at 1 week and 1 month post-surgery for the endometrial cancer group and then significant recovery in rest-activity patterns at 4 months post-surgery. Similarly, the cancer group had significantly more impaired rhythms than the reference group at 1 week post-surgery, but demonstrated comparable rhythms by 4 months post-surgery. Among the health and treatment-related variables examined, obesity and receipt of more invasive surgery were found to predict more impaired rhythms at all time points. CONCLUSION(S): The current study highlights significant disturbances in rest-activity patterns for endometrial cancer patients initially during surgical recovery followed by improvement in these patterns by 4 months post-surgery; however, obese patients and those having more invasive surgery demonstrated more impaired rest-activity patterns throughout the 4-month recovery period. Further research is warranted to understand how more impaired rest-activity patterns relate to health and quality of life outcomes