Soil Carbon Monitoring Program for Ranches in Dryland Ecosystems

Implementation of ranching practices that lead to greater soil carbon sequestration has become increasingly important due to rising atmospheric CO2 levels. Sustainable ranching practices are suggested to improve soil health and sequester more carbon in the soil. However, there is a paucity of measured data from replicated on-farm studies to support this premise. Thus, we developed a soil carbon monitoring program for a ranch located in the state of Oregon. Our monitoring program is focused on measuring the net carbon budget and the soil carbon sequestration totals. To achieve this goal, we combined field-sampling data with the COMET-Farm model. A total of 21 sites were sampled over a two-year period from 2020-2022. Soil was sampled at 0-20cm and 20-60cm depth for soil organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N) and standing plant biomass. SOC from the top 20cm increased (P \u3c 0.05) from 32.70 ton/ha in spring 2020, to 40.44 ton/ha in spring of 2022. Total soil carbon sampled during the fall of 2020 increased (P=0.02) from 29.31 ton/ha to 42.69 ton/ha in fall of 2021. Carbon pool at 60cm depth was more stable and mostly remained unchanged (P \u3e 0.05). The COMET model revealed that the ranch operations are avoiding an estimate of 8880 tons of emissions of CO2 equivalents per year. The results indicated that the monitored ranch is functioning as a carbon sink. Our next step is to implement the monitoring program on the other ranches participating on this study. Rangelands have high potential to sequester carbon if managed properly, which offers added value to products or commodities produced on rangelands

Adopting the Discovery Method to Develop Linguistic Competence Among International Students: Experience from Russia and Belarus

The article addresses linguistic competence and the importance of its formation for academic and professional purposes. It also posits that linguistic competence is an important part of the communicative one. The Discovery Method is proposed as a privileged tool when teaching international students to apply the norms and rules established in a language. In this article the authors give a number of reasons why this method should be used, and how to apply it during English teaching process in a class. The research is based on the data collected during English and Russian classes and is conducted in three universities by means of observation, discussion, interview, and questionnaire. The article proposes a set of 3 tables of descriptors to assess the student’s linguistic competence in three types of class activities: translation, writing, and reading. It also introduces a framework of exercises for teachers who wish to use the Discovery Method. Theoretical ground has been set for further research, focusing on the results of using the Discovery Method for linguistic competence formation

Building the foundation for a community-generated national research blueprint for inherited bleeding disorders: research priorities for mucocutaneous bleeding disorders

BACKGROUND: Excessive or abnormal mucocutaneous bleeding (MCB) may impact all aspects of the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of those who live with it (PWMCB). The evidence base for the optimal diagnosis and management of disorders such as inherited platelet disorders, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD), Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), and von Willebrand disease (VWD) remains thin with enormous potential for targeted research. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: National Hemophilia Foundation and American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network initiated the development of a National Research Blueprint for Inherited Bleeding Disorders with extensive all-stakeholder consultations to identify the priorities of people with inherited bleeding disorders and those who care for them. They recruited multidisciplinary expert working groups (WG) to distill community-identified priorities into concrete research questions and score their feasibility, impact, and risk. RESULTS: WG2 detailed 38 high priority research questions concerning the biology of MCB, VWD, inherited qualitative platelet function defects, HDS/EDS, HHT, bleeding disorder of unknown cause, novel therapeutics, and aging. CONCLUSIONS: Improving our understanding of the basic biology of MCB, large cohort longitudinal natural history studies, collaboration, and creative approaches to novel therapeutics will be important in maximizing the benefit of future research for the entire MCB community

Productive Characteristics, Nesting Substrates, and Colonies of the Escamolera Ant (Liometopum apiculatum M.) in Zacatecas, Mexico

Objective: The objective of this study was to connect measurements, weights, and production of escamoles with nesting substrates, foraging paths, nest types, and colony sizes of the escamolera ant. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data about nests, colonies, and larvae were gathered during morning and evening field walks, with the support of escamoles harvesters. The basic statistics of the data were estimated (N = 59 nests/colonies) and analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis H test. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the differences per nest type. Results: The highest production of escamoles was recorded in the Prosopis laevigata substrate (x=551.08 g/N=1), while the lowest production was recorded in the Echinocereus stramineus substrate (x=228.31 g/N=4). The length and width of the larvae (N=1,100 larvae) were similar in all the substrates. The weight of the larvae varied from 0.09 g, in the Prosopis levigata substrate, to 0.16 g, in the dry palm (Yucca spp.) substrate; therefore, 11,111 and 6,250 larvae are required, respectively, to obtain 1 kg of escamoles. Study Limitations/Implications: The information of this study is limited to a single harvesting region. Findings/Conclusions: The low escamoles production indicates that its harvesting must comply with a regulatory framework and a better organization, in order to guarantee the continuous presence of Liometopum apiculatum colonies

WHO World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Project: Prevalence and Distribution of Mental Disorders

Increasingly, colleges across the world are contending with rising rates of mental disorders, and in many cases, the demand for services on campus far exceeds the available resources. The present study reports initial results from the first stage of the WHO World Mental Health International College Student project, in which a series of surveys in 19 colleges across 8 countries (Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain, United States) were carried out with the aim of estimating prevalence and basic sociodemographic correlates of common mental disorders among first-year college students. Web-based self-report questionnaires administered to incoming first-year students (45.5% pooled response rate) screened for six common lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders: major depression, mania/hypomania, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, alcohol use disorder, and substance use disorder. We focus on the 13,984 respondents who were full-time students: 35% of whom screened positive for at least one of the common lifetime disorders assessed and 31% screened positive for at least one 12-month disorder. Syndromes typically had onsets in early to middle adolescence and persisted into the year of the survey. Although relatively modest, the strongest correlates of screening positive were older age, female sex, unmarried-deceased parents, no religious affiliation, nonheterosexual identification and behavior, low secondary school ranking, and extrinsic motivation for college enrollment. The weakness of these associations means that the syndromes considered are widely distributed with respect to these variables in the student population. Although the extent to which cost-effective treatment would reduce these risks is unclear, the high level of need for mental health services implied by these results represents a major challenge to institutions of higher education and governments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).status: publishe

Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first-year college students: First cross-national results from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Although mental disorders and suicidal thoughts-behaviors (suicidal thoughts and behaviors) are common among university students, the majority of students with these problems remain untreated. It is unclear what the barriers are to these students seeking treatment. AIMS: The aim of this study is to examine the barriers to future help-seeking and the associations of clinical characteristics with these barriers in a cross-national sample of first-year college students. METHOD: As part of the World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) initiative, web-based self-report surveys were obtained from 13,984 first-year students in eight countries across the world. Clinical characteristics examined included screens for common mental disorders and reports about suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Multivariate regression models adjusted for socio-demographic, college-, and treatment-related variables were used to examine correlates of help-seeking intention and barriers to seeking treatment. RESULTS: Only 24.6% of students reported that they would definitely seek treatment if they had a future emotional problem. The most commonly reported reasons not to seek treatment among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help were the preference to handle the problem alone (56.4%) and wanting to talk with friends or relatives instead (48.0%). Preference to handle the problem alone and feeling too embarrassed were also associated with significantly reduced odds of having at least some intention to seek help among students who failed to report that they would definitely seek help. Having 12-month major depression, alcohol use disorder, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were also associated with significantly reduced reported odds of the latter outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of first-year college students in the WMH-ICS surveys report that they would be hesitant to seek help in case of future emotional problems. Attitudinal barriers and not structural barriers were found to be the most important reported reasons for this hesitation. Experimental research is needed to determine whether intention to seek help and, more importantly, actual help-seeking behavior could be increased with the extent to which intervention strategies need to be tailored to particular student characteristics. Given that the preference to handle problems alone and stigma and appear to be critical, there could be value in determining if internet-based psychological treatments, which can be accessed privately and are often build as self-help approaches, would be more acceptable than other types of treatments to student who report hesitation about seeking treatment.status: publishe

Structural Design of Thrust Measurement System for Cryogenic Rocket Engines

The Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research (cSETR) at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has been the leader in academia on the development of Liquid Oxygen (LO2) and Liquid Methane (LCH 4) propulsion technologies. One of the projects being developed at cSETR is a suborbital vehicle whose mission is to evaluate performance parameters, demonstrate restart capability, and demonstrate the propulsion system operation in microgravity. This vehicle, called Daedalus, will use a 500-lbf LO 2-LCH4 rocket engine that can be throttled down to 100-lbf. To accomplish this goal, UTEP partnered with the El Paso County to lease a plot of land next to an airport in Fabens, Texas. This land will be for the construction and development of the Technology Research and Innovation Accelerated Park (tRIAc). ^ The following work describes the details on the design process, analysis, decisions, and design characteristics of the liquid oxygen-liquid engine rocket engine testing facility. Several design requirements of the systems and the subsystems were developed. Those design requirements will be covered in detail in this document. ^ The tRIAc will serve as a test facility, which includes different assets such as the Static Thrust Stand (STS), Load Cell Module (LCM), and a Cryogenic Propellant Feed System (CPFS) The Static Thrust Stand (STS) will house the Load Cell Module (LCM) during testing, and the propellant will be delivered using the Cryogenic Propellant Feed System (CPFS). ^ The Static Thrust Stand (STS) was designed in house by the cSETR, which will serve as a framework and support to load cell module (LCM), and the cryogenic propellant feed system (CPFS). Also a vertical test stand was designed for later stages of testing. Both of them have the same capabilities and can easily adapt the LCM and CPFS. Both structures will be integrated into a static interface located at the tRIAc in Fabens, Texas. ^ The load cell module (LCM) will measure the thrust generated by the LO 2-LCH4 rocket engines developed by cSETR. Due to the variation of thrust provided by the rocket engines, the LCM has the capability of adapting to the different needs. The loads cells can be changed and measure thrust up to 2,000 lbf. Also, the system is designed to be integrated between the rocket engine cage and the STS located at tRIAc. The propellant delivery system has the capability to transfer pressurized liquid oxygen and methane to both the 500 and 2,000 lbf engines. The system is equipped with pressure and temperature probes, which determine the state of the fluids during the test. This will help us to understand the flow of cryogenic fluids throughout the entire system. The data acquired, such as thrust, chamber pressure, inlet pressures, tank pressure, propellant flow rates, and engine temperatures will be used to develop a system flow model that would facilitate future designs.

Ground Truth Dataset with mappings of companies to OpenCorporates legal entities

<p>Ground Truth Dataset with mappings of companies to OpenCorporates legal entities. Available data per company: company name, country of headquarters, state of headquarters (in case of US companies) and address of headquarters.</p