Soil Properties in Varying Crop and Non-Crop Areas of Calloway County, Kentucky

Soil Properties in Varying Crop and Non-Crop Areas of Calloway County, Kentucky Zack Eells, Clay Smotherman, Canaan Wring, Connor Moore, Iin Handayani, and Brian Parr Murray State University, Hutson School of Agriculture, Kentucky, USA Abstract Cropping practices leading to loss of soil organic matter thus can alter other soil properties. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of crop and non-crop areas on soils. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected from different fields of corn, soybeans, tobacco, pasture, and wooded areas in the Southwest portion of Calloway County, Kentucky on September 8, 2017. The properties observed include soil water holding capacity, soil water content at field capacity, bulk density, soil porosity, soil organic matter, and soil pH. All the data will be analyzed for means and standard error to observe the significant difference among the fields. The detail results will be explained on the poster. The data from this study can be used to quantify the physical and chemical changes of soils after cultivating the wooded areas for grain crops and tobacco. Keywords: Acidity, Calloway County Kentucky, Soils, Corn-Soybeans-Tobacco, Wooded area

Impact of Source Zone and Pumping Well Orientation on Dissolved Contaminant Dilution Factor

Capture zone delineation is a simple analytical tool that has been employed in many aspects of hydrological sciences throughout recent history. While using capture zone remediation techniques, the dilution of the source contaminant is closely examined and monitored. The dilution factor is the ratio of the contaminant concentration in the pumped water over the contaminant source concentration (assumed to be constant) in a pump-and-treat setup. It is important because it provides critical information about the fluid dynamics within the aquifer, and shows how much the source has been diluted within the aquifer. The objective of this thesis is to investigate how changing the source geometry and orientation impacts the dilution factor. The scenario includes an arbitrary line-source length and orientation, fully vertically penetrating well in a homogeneous, horizontally isotropic, confined aquifer. The experiment is set under steady-state conditions. Two analytical models are performed, the first dealing with three subcases consisting of constant source concentrations (cases 1-3), and the second dealing with three subcases cases involving time-dependent source concentrations (cases 4-6). The integrals associated with cases 4- 6 are solved in MATLAB using Gaussian quadrature and Gaussian Kronrod integration methods and demonstrate how each of these source types impacts the dilution factor calculation. After analyzing the results for the first analytical model, the overall conclusion is that the distance between the pumping well and the source is the dominant variable for increasing or decreasing the dilution factor. The source angle and source length also have an impact on the dilution factor. As these values decrease, so do the dilution factor values. The MATLAB model shows differing trends for both of the integration methods (Gaussian quadrature and Gaussian Kronrod) and the source types influence the dilution factor. The finite source decreases rapidly as the last of the source reaches the well, and then slowly flattens out until there is no longer a concentration in the system. The radioactive source and the Gaussian type source decrease with increasing time measurements. The models can be retrofitted for other source types and different variables to fit differing scenarios. Overall, the results will help with planning for future remediation projects, and these models allow for an initial screening test to be done before more robust, time intensive and expensive models can be put into place

AI and Democracy's Digital Identity Crisis

AI-enabled tools have become sophisticated enough to allow a small number of individuals to run disinformation campaigns of an unprecedented scale. Privacy-preserving identity attestations can drastically reduce instances of impersonation and make disinformation easy to identify and potentially hinder. By understanding how identity attestations are positioned across the spectrum of decentralization, we can gain a better understanding of the costs and benefits of various attestations. In this paper, we discuss attestation types, including governmental, biometric, federated, and web of trust-based, and include examples such as e-Estonia, China's social credit system, Worldcoin, OAuth, X (formerly Twitter), Gitcoin Passport, and EAS. We believe that the most resilient systems create an identity that evolves and is connected to a network of similarly evolving identities that verify one another. In this type of system, each entity contributes its respective credibility to the attestation process, creating a larger, more comprehensive set of attestations. We believe these systems could be the best approach to authenticating identity and protecting against some of the threats to democracy that AI can pose in the hands of malicious actors. However, governments will likely attempt to mitigate these risks by implementing centralized identity authentication systems; these centralized systems could themselves pose risks to the democratic processes they are built to defend. We therefore recommend that policymakers support the development of standards-setting organizations for identity, provide legal clarity for builders of decentralized tooling, and fund research critical to effective identity authentication systems

Historic Redlining and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the existing literature on the associations between historic redlining and modern-day health outcomes across the lifespan. Method: This review searched PubMed and CINAHL for peer-reviewed, data-based articles examining the relationship between historic redlining and any health outcome. Articles were appraised using the JBI critical appraisal checklist. The results were synthesized using a narrative summary approach. Results: Thirty-six articles were included and focused on various health outcomes, including cardiovascular outcomes, breast cancer incidence and mortality, firearm injury or death, birth-related outcomes, and asthma outcomes. Most of the included articles (n = 31; 86%) found significant associations between historic redlining and adverse health outcomes such as increased cardiovascular disease, higher rates of preterm births, increased cancer incidence, reduced survival time after breast cancer diagnosis, and increased firearm injury incidence. Discussion: This review demonstrates the persistent effect of historic redlining on individuals’ health. Public health nurses should recognize redlining as a form of structural racism when caring for affected communities and should advocate for policies and programs that advance health equity. Nurse researchers should develop and test multilevel interventions to address systemic racism and improve health outcomes in communities affected by redlining

Root responses to domestication, precipitation and silicification: weeping meadow grass simplifies and alters toughness

Background and aims Plant breeding usually focuses on conspicuous above-ground plant traits, yet roots fundamentally underpin plant fitness. Roots show phenotypic plasticity in response to soil conditions but it is unclear whether domesticated plants respond like their ancestors. We aimed to determine how root traits differed between ancestral and domesticated types of a meadow grass (Microlaena stipoides) under altered regimes of precipitation and soil silicon availability. Methods We subjected the two grass types to three simulated precipitation regimes (ambient, +50%/deluge and −50%/drought) in soil with (Si+) and without (Si−) silicon supplementation and then characterised root biomass, architectural complexity and toughness in addition to shoot traits. Results Domestication increased root tissue density, decreased specific root length (SRL) and decreased root architectural complexity. Domestication also increased root strength under Si− conditions but not Si+ conditions. Fine roots, SRL, architectural complexity and the force required to tear the roots all decreased under deluge. The ancestral and domesticated grasses responded similarly to precipitation, except that the latter had weaker roots (decreased fracture strain) under drought. Conclusions Domestication and increased precipitation caused changes in M. stipoides root traits that could be beneficial against some stresses (e.g. soil compaction, herbivory) but not others (e.g. drought)

FAA Fluorescent Penetrant Laboratory Inspections

The Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Assurance NDI Validation Center currently assesses the capability of various non-destructive inspection (NDI) methods used for analyzing aircraft components. The focus of one such exercise is to evaluate the sensitivity of fluorescent liquid penetrant inspection. A baseline procedure using the water-washable fluorescent penetrant method defines a foundation for comparing the brightness of low cycle fatigue cracks in titanium test panels. The analysis of deviations in the baseline procedure will determine an acceptable range of operation for the steps in the inspection process. The data also gives insight into the depth of each crack and which step(s) of the inspection process most affect penetrant sensitivities. A set of six low cycle fatigue cracks produced in 6.35-mm thick Ti-6Al-4V specimens was used to conduct the experiments to produce sensitivity data. The results will document the consistency of the crack readings and compare previous experiments to find the best parameters for water-washable penetrant