Terrain, Climate, and Vegetation in the Badlands of the Little Missouri River in North Dakota

The climate of southwestern North Dakota is typical for the Great Plains of the central and west-central United States. The Rocky Mountains influence the climatic condi tions by providing an orographic obstacle to air circula tion. Statistical analysis through correlation and regres sion of 30 years of climatic data from southwestern North Dakota and nearby stations in South Dakota and Montana is consistent with climatic relationships that have been de fined by previous research. The influence of the Rocky Mountains is quantified through a variable that represents the linear distance from each weather station to the front range. The natural vegetation of southwestern North Dakota is mixed grasses; however, in the Badlands of the Little Missouri River, many varieties of plants are encountered. Flora range from desert plants, through mixed grasses, to woodland vegetation of higher elevations. Overall climate is modified into local climates by rough terrain, which provides extremes of conditions that create suitable habitats for migrant species in addition to grasses common to the region. Differences between general climate and terrain climate are contributable to unequal receipt of solar radiation, which causes variations in temperature, humidity, and other related parameters. Radiation estimates (and consequent variable equivalent latitude) are computed for nine sta tions that have been in the same location for a majority of the 30 year period. Additional correlation shows signifi cant relationships between radiation and average temperature of some fall and winter months. Equivalent latitude proves to be a valuable tool in analyzing the complex interaction of slope and azimuth for a given latitude in regression analysis . Significant differences between slopes are computed through several analyses of drainageways in the North Kill- deer Mountain area. Wilcoxon Tests for Paired Samples show variations in slope angles between east and west, and for northeast and southwest slopes. Chi-square analysis re veals significant results using north/south, northeast/ southwest, northeast/west, north/southwest , and northwest/ south azimuth pairs, and woodland, shrubland, and native prairie vegetation categories. Radiation estimates are calculated for sample slopes, and comparison of radiation conditions is made. Vegetation patterns found in Theodore Roosevelt Na tional Park in a previous study are depicted using a circle method to represent azimuth and slope angle. Twelve plants are analyzed, and individual patterns emerge

A Story That Made You Up: A Novel

A Story That Made You Up traces the dissolution of a long friendship between two women, Mia, the novel\u27s first-person narrator, and Jules. The focus of the novel involves the importance in women\u27s lives of having close female friends, and the devastation that occurs when those relationships end. The novel begins with the termination of the relationship and then moves backwards, in achronological fragments, to tell the story of the full twenty-five year friendship

In situ capping of contaminated sediments: spatial and temporal characterization of biogeochemical and contaminant biotransformation processes

Contaminated aquatic sediments pose health risks to fish, wildlife, and humans and can limit recreational and economic uses of surface waters. Technical and cost effective in situ approaches for sediment management and remediation have been identified as a research need. Subaqueous in situ capping is a promising remedial approach; however, little is known regarding its impact on underlying sedimentary processes and the feasibility of bioaugmented caps at sites subject to contaminated groundwater seepage. This work specifically addresses (1) the impact of capping on biogeochemical processes at the sediment-water interface, (2) the ability and degree to which indigenous sediment microorganisms colonize an overlying cap, (3) the effect of advective flow direction on redox conditions within a cap, (4) natural contaminant bioattenuation processes within capped sediment, and (5) limitations toward a functional bioreactive in situ cap. Laboratory-scale experiments with capped sediment columns demonstrated that emplacement of a sand-based in situ cap induced an upward, vertical shift of terminal electron accepting processes into the overlying cap while simultaneously conserving redox stratification. Upflow conditions simulating a groundwater seep compressed anaerobic processes towards the cap-water interface. Microorganisms indigenous to the underlying sediment colonized cap material and spatial population differences generally reflected redox stratification. Downflow of oxic surface water through the cap, simulating tidally-induced recharge, created fully oxic conditions within the cap, demonstrating that flow direction strongly contributes to redox conditions. Experiments simulating capped sediment subject to contaminated groundwater seepage revealed a reduction of natural bioattenuation processes with time, stemming from the elimination of labile organic matter deposition to the sediment and a subsequent lack of electron donor. Thus, parent contaminants within groundwater seeps will be subject to minimal biotransformations within the sediment before entering a reducing cap. A bioreactive cap, inoculated with microorganisms capable of reductive dehalogenation, was established to reductively dechlorinate tetrachloroethene present in the groundwater; however electron donor amendments to sediment effluent were required to achieve complete dechlorination of tetrachloroethene to non-toxic ethene. Results from this work improve understanding of biogeochemical and bioattenuation processes within capped aquatic sediments and should aid in the development of active capping technologies.Ph.D.Committee Co-Chair: Joseph B. Hughes; Committee Co-Chair: Kurt D. Pennell; Committee Member: Danny D. Reible; Committee Member: Frank E. Loeffler; Committee Member: Jim C. Spain; Committee Member: Martial Taillefert; Committee Member: Terry W. Stur

Weaving Place and Object: A New Martin Luther King Memorial Library

The new Washington D.C. Convention Center has proven to be a catalyst for revitalization and improvement in Downtown D.C. The existing older Convention Center site is impeding further development along the New York Avenue corridor. This thesis proposes the construction of a dynamic mixed-use community providing varied retail options and increased housing opportunities at all income levels. A prominent new downtown landmark will also be created-a new Martin Luther King Memorial Library to replace the existing library, an outdated structure located two blocks south of the site. This thesis also explores the symbiotic relationship between object buildings and spaces-the relationship between building and place. The mixing of uses is investigated at multiple scales, working from neighborhood scale to the building scale. The idea of procession between objects and spaces is also explored- linking the object building-the new convention center to the object space, the National Mall, via a dynamic and intuitive path. The new MLK Library will educate and entertain District residents and visitors at all hours-creating a place of public interaction and exhibition-in addition, the increased concentration of housing will aid in the realization of the Downtown we envision

Glutamate receptors in nucleus accumbens mediate regionally selective increases in cortical acetylcholine release

The basal forebrain cortical cholinergic system (BFCS) is critical for the regulation of attentional information processing. BFCS activity is regulated by several cortical and subcortical structures, including the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). GABAergic projection neurons from NAC to basal forebrain are modulated by Glu receptors within NAC. We previously reported that intra-NAC perfusions of NMDA or its antagonist CPP stimulate ACh release in PFC. In this experiment we determined whether this trans-synaptic modulation of cortical ACh release is evident in multi-sensory associational areas like the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). Artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF, control), NMDA (250 or 400 ΜM), or CPP (200 or 400 ΜM) were perfused into the NAC shell and ACh was measured in the ipsilateral PPC. Amphetamine (2.0 mg/kg, i.p), was systemically administered as a positive control in a fourth session, since it also stimulates cortical ACh release but via mechanisms known to not necessitate transmission within the NAC. Neither NMDA nor CPP increased ACh efflux in the PPC, yet both drugs increased ACh release in PFC, suggesting that NMDA receptor modulation in the NAC increases ACh in the cortex in a regionally-specific manner. Systemic amphetamine administration significantly increased (100–200%) ACh in the PPC, suggesting that levels of ACh in the PPC can be increased following certain pharmacological manipulations. The cortical region-specific modulation of ACh by NAC may underlie the linkage of motivational information with top-down controls of attention as well as guide appropriate motor output following exposure to salient and behaviorally relevant stimuli. Synapse 61:115–123, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55892/1/20354_ftp.pd

Structure and activity of lacustrine sediment bacteria involved in nutrient and iron cycles

Knowledge about the bacterial community structure in sediments is essential to better design restoration strategies for eutrophied lakes. In that regard, the aim of this study was to quantify the abundance and activity of bacteria involved in nutrient and iron cycling in sediments from four Azorean lakes with distinct trophic states (Verde, Azul, Furnas and Fogo). Inferred from quantitative PCR, bacteria performing anaerobic ammonia oxidation, were the most abundant in the eutrophic lakes Verde, Azul and Furnas (4.5 % to 16.6 %), followed by nitrifying bacteria (0.8 % to 13.0 %), denitrifying bacteria (0.5 % to 6.8 %), iron-reducing bacteria (0.2 % to 1.4 %), and phosphorus-accumulating organisms (<0.3 %). In contrast, denitrifying bacteria dominated sediments from the oligo-mesotrophic lake Fogo (8.8 %). Activity assays suggested that bacteria performing ammonia oxidation (aerobic and anaerobic), nitrite oxidation, heterothrophic nitrate reduction, iron reduction and biological phosphorus storage/release were present and active in all Azorean lake sediments. The present work also suggested that the activity of denitrifying bacteria might contribute to the release of phosphorus from sediments.The authors are indebted and grateful to the Regional Department of Water Resources and Land Planning (Azores) for the grant (Contrato Excepcionado no. 4/2008/ DROTRH) and its staff (Dina Pacheco), and to Virgilio Cruz and Paulo Antunes (Geosciences Department, University of Azores) for the useful help in sediments' collection, to the technical staff of the Department of Environmental Engineering - DTU for chemical analysis, to Laurent Philippot (INRA - University of Burgundy) for positive controls for DNB, to Richard Glaven and Derek Lovley (Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts) for Geobacter strains, to Paul Bodelier, Marzia Milleto and Marion Meima (Netherlands Institute of Ecology, NIOO-KNAW) for SRB clones and to Yunhong Kong and Per Halkjaer Nielsen (Department of Life Sciences, Section of Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University) for PAO clones. The authors also acknowledge the Grant SFRH/BD/25639/2005 from the Foundation for Science and Technology/M.C.T.(Portugal) awarded to G. M. and a Marie Curie Excellence Award (EC FP6) to B.F.S

Phosphorus–iron interaction in sediments : can an electrode minimize phosphorus release from sediments?

All restoration strategies to mitigate eutrophication depend on the success of phosphorus (P) removal from the water body. Therefore, the inputs from the watershed and from the enriched sediments, that were the sink of most P that has been discharged in the water body, should be controlled. In sediments, iron (hydr)oxides minerals are potent repositories of P and the release of P into the water column may occur upon dissolution of the iron (hydr)oxides mediated by iron reducing bacteria. Several species of these bacteria are also known as electroactive microorganisms and have been recently identified in lake sediments. This capacity of bacteria to transfer electrons to electrodes, producing electricity from the oxidation of organic matter, might play a role on P release in sediments. In the present work it is discussed the relationship between phosphorus and iron cycling as well as the application of an electrode to work as external electron acceptor in sediments, in order to prevent metal bound P dissolution under anoxic conditions.The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers of a previous version of the manuscript for the constructive comments and suggestions. The authors also acknowledge the Grant SFRH/BPD/80528/2011 from the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal, awarded to Gilberto Martins