Kinship,reproductive strategies and social dynamics of yellow-bellied marmots

Summary Social behavior of yellow-bellied marmots was observed for three years in colonies where kinship was known and for one year in a high elevation colony where harems were contiguous. Social dynamics of yellow-bellied marmots is dependent on kinship, group composition, and age-sex classes. This pattern is a consequence of the reproductive strategies of males and females. Females behave cohesively toward sisters or daughters, but not with sons and agonistically toward other females. Males generally behave amicably toward females and agonistically toward males, including their sons. Thus, reproductive strategies limit nepotism. This behavior is consistent with a population process in which sons typically disperse as yearlings. At least some of the variation in the expected patterns of social behaviors is attributable to individual differences. Because male and female reproductive strategies differ, a marmot population consists of two social subsystems. The female unit is the closely-related kin group which may also be a burrow group. The male unit is a harem which usually consists of two or more competing female kin groups.     

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of the effects of reactor configuration on disinfection efficiency.

The efficacy of disinfection processes in water purification systems is governed by several key factors, including reactor hydraulics, disinfectant chemistry, and microbial inactivation kinetics. The objective of this work was to develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to predict velocity fields, mass transport, chlorine decay, and microbial inactivation in a continuous flow reactor. The CFD model was also used to evaluate disinfection efficiency in alternative reactor designs. The CFD reactor analysis demonstrates that disinfection efficiency is affected by both kinetics and mixing state (i.e., degree of micromixing or segregation). Residence time distributions (RTDs) derived from tracer analysis do not describe intrinsic mixing conditions. The CFD-based disinfection models account for reactor mixing patterns by resolution of the reactor velocity field and thus provide a better prediction of microbial inactivation than models that use an RTD.     

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND HAZARDS MITIGATION IN THE UNITED STATES: DISASTERS BY DESIGN REVISITED

It has become clear that natural and related technological hazards and disasters are not problems that can be solved in isolation. The occurrence of disasters is a symptom of broader and more basic social problems. Since 1994, a team of over 100 expert academics and practitioners – including members of the private sector – have assessed, evaluated, and summarized knowledge about natural and technological hazards in the United States from the perspectives of the physical, natural, social, behavioral, and engineering sciences. The major thesis of the findings was losses from hazards and inability to comprehensively reduce losses of all types are the consequences of narrow and shortsighted development patterns, cultural premises, and attitudes toward the natural environment, science, and technology. To address these broad and basic problems, the study included proposals for ways in which people and the institutions of the United States can take responsibility for disaster losses, reduce future hazard losses, and link hazard mitigation to sustainable development.     

Network design factors for assessing temporal variability in ground-water quality

Benchmark major ions and nutrients data were collected biweekly for about two years at 12 wells at two sites in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer in west-central Illinois. The purpose of the study was to explore the time series properties of ground-water quality data collected at a relatively high sampling frequency. A secondary purpose was to determine the relative magnitudes of natural and sampling-related sources of variance in ground-water quality time series. The absence of this kind of information has severely hindered the design of ground-water sampling programs in the past.An autocorrelation analysis showed that the median sampling frequency for which the predicted ratio of effective independent sample size to total sample size was 0.5 (50% sampling redundancy) ranged from 6 to 14 samples per year. For a predicted ratio of effective independent sample size to total sample size of 0.9 (10% sampling redundancy) the sampling frequency ranged from 3 to 6 samples per year. This suggests that, for the wells sampled, sampling frequencies much higher than monthly can result in considerable loss of information, and may not be cost effective. Care was taken in the design of the field and laboratory sampling protocol to minimize the effects of measurement error. The data analysis confirmed that this goal was accomplished. In most cases considerably less than five percent of the total variability could be attributed to sampling and analytical error. Because of the relatively short duration of the study (42 biweekly sampling occasions at most wells) it was not possible to identify the magnitude of seasonal variations reliably.     

Stabilization of Cu-contaminated army firing range soils using waste oyster shells

A stabilization/solidification (S/S) process was used to immobilize Cu in contaminated soils obtained from two army firing ranges sites (A and B) with total Cu concentrations of 520 and 380 mg/kg, respectively. Both waste oyster shells (WOS) and pretreated oyster shells (POS) were used to immobilize Cu in the contaminated soils. Waste oyster shells passing the #10 mesh and #20 mesh were used for the Sites A and B, respectively. WOS- and POS-treated soil samples cured for 28 days were evaluated for Cu leaching by the Korean Standard Leaching Test (KSLT) method. Slurry suspensions were prepared to investigate the Cu immobilization mechanism using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses. The treatment results showed that the POS treatment was more effective than the WOS treatment of 28 days. For Site A, 10 wt% WOS and 3 wt% POS dosages were required to pass the Korean warning standard of 50 mg/kg, while 10 wt% WOS and 5 wt% POS dosages were required for the Site B treatment. The XRPD and SEM-EDX results showed that Cu immobilization was strongly linked to both CSH/CAH and ettringite. Overall, the POS treatment was effective at immobilizing the Cu in the contaminated soils, very likely due to its CaO content.     

The scientific consensus of climate change revisited

This paper first reviews previous work undertaken to assess the level of scientific consensus concerning climate change, concluding that studies of scientific consensus concerning climate change have tended to measure different things. Three dimensions of consensus are determined: manifestation, attribution and legitimation. Consensus concerning these dimensions are explored in detail using a time series of data from surveys of climate scientists. In most cases, little difference is discerned between those who have participated in the IPCC process and those who have not. Consensus, however, in both groups does not amount to unanimity. Results also suggest rather than a single group proclaiming the IPCC does not represent consensus, there are now two groups, one claiming the IPCC makes overestimations (a group previously labeled skeptics, deniers, etc.) and a relatively new formation of a group (many of whom have participated in the IPCC process) proclaiming that IPCC tends to underestimate some climate related phenomena.     

Ascorbic acid, β-carotene,sugars, phenols,and heavy metals in sweet potatoes grown in soil fertilized with municipal sewage sludge

Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) used for land farming typically contains heavy metals that might impact crop quality and human health. A completely randomized experimental design with three treatments (six replicates each) was used to monitor the impact of mixing native soil with MSS or yard waste (YW) mixed with MSS (YW +MSS) on: i) sweet potato yield and quality; ii) concentration of seven heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Mo, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Ni) in sweet potato plant parts (edible roots, leaves, stem, and feeder roots); and iii) concentrations of ascorbic acid, total phenols, free sugars, and β-carotene in sweet potato edible roots at harvest. Soil samples were collected and analyzed for total and extractable metals using two extraction procedures, concentrated nitric acid (to extract total metals from soil) as well as CaCl₂ solution (to extract soluble metals in soil that are available to plants), respectively. Elemental analyses were performed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Overall, plant available metals were greater in soils amended with MSS compared to control plots. Concentration of Pb was greater in YW than MSS amendments. Total concentrations of Pb, Ni, and Cr were greater in plants grown in MSS+YW treatments compared to control plants. MSS+YW treatments increased sweet potato yield, ascorbic acid, soluble sugars, and phenols in edible roots by 53, 28, 27, and 48%, respectively compared to plants grown in native soil. B-carotene concentration (157.5 μg g^?1 fresh weight) was greater in the roots of plants grown in MSS compared to roots of plants grown in MSS+YW treatments (99.9 μg g^?1 fresh weight). Concentration of heavy metals in MSS-amended soil and in sweet potato roots were below their respective permissible limits.