scholarly journals Keeping salamanders off the streets: Evaluating one of the first US amphibian road tunnels 30 years later

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon P. Hedrick ◽  
Abby Vander Linden ◽  
Samantha A. Cordero ◽  
Edward Watt ◽  
Patrick M. O’Roark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ambystoma Maculatum ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Road Tunnels ◽  
Long Time ◽  
One Year ◽  
Term Data

AbstractCulverts are often installed under busy roads to help a variety of animals, from small frogs to bears, safely cross roads that bisect their habitats. One of the first roadway culvert systems designed specifically for amphibian use in the United States was installed along Henry Street in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1987 to protect spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). These salamanders cross Henry Street during their annual migration to their breeding pools. In recent years, anecdotal evidence from volunteers monitoring the site suggested that salamanders were no longer using the tunnels. To evaluate this concern we conducted salamander counts in 2016, 2017, and 2018 to quantify tunnel use. In 2016, only 11% of observed salamanders used the tunnels– a substantial decrease from 68% in 1988, one year after their installation, when the tunnels were last evaluated. Subsequently, we implemented two tunnel modifications in an effort to increase tunnel usage above the established 2016 baseline. Unfortunately, neither retrofit was successful. Previous studies have demonstrated that salamanders prefer minimum tunnel apertures of >0.4 m, so it is likely that the 0.2 m apertures here are inadequate. This may create differential light and humidity inside and outside the tunnels that is recognized by the salamanders. While many studies have evaluated amphibian tunnel use in lab and field settings, ours is one of the first studies to have examined tunnel usage data long after initial installation. These long-term data are critical for evaluating what factors are necessary for maintaining tunnels over decades-long time scales.

Simulated Local and Remote Biophysical Effects of Afforestation over the Southeast United States in Boreal Summer*

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (13) ◽  
pp. 4511-4522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang-Shan Chen ◽  
Michael Notaro ◽  
Zhengyu Liu ◽  
Yongqiang Liu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Southeast United States ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Biophysical Effects

Abstract Afforestation has been proposed as a climate change mitigation strategy by sequestrating atmospheric carbon dioxide. With the goal of increasing carbon sequestration, a Congressional project has been planned to afforest about 18 million acres by 2020 in the Southeast United States (SEUS), the Great Lake states, and the Corn Belt states. However, biophysical feedbacks of afforestation have the potential to counter the beneficial climatic consequences of carbon sequestration. To assess the potential biophysical effects of afforestation over the SEUS, the authors designed a set of initial value ensemble experiments and long-term quasi-equilibrium experiments in a fully coupled Community Climate System Model, version 3.5 (CCSM3.5). Model results show that afforestation over the SEUS not only has a local cooling effect in boreal summer [June–August (JJA)] at short and long time scales but also induces remote warming over adjacent regions of the SEUS at long time scales. Precipitation, in response to afforestation, increases over the SEUS (local effect) and decreases over adjacent regions (remote effect) in JJA. The local surface cooling and increase in precipitation over SEUS in JJA are hydrologically driven by the changes in evapotranspiration and latent heat flux. The remote surface warming and decrease in precipitation over adjacent regions are adiabatically induced by anomalous subsidence. Our results suggest that the planned afforestation efforts should be developed carefully by taking account of short-term (local) and long-term (remote) biophysical effects of afforestation.

scholarly journals Keeping salamanders off the streets: evaluating and modifying one of the first US amphibian road tunnels 30 years after installation

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon P Hedrick ◽  
Abby Vander Linden ◽  
Samantha A Cordero ◽  
Edward Watt ◽  
Patrick M O’Roark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ambystoma Maculatum ◽  
Substantial Decrease ◽  
Road Tunnels ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Term Data ◽  
Usage Data

Abstract Wildlife tunnels are often installed under busy roads to help a variety of animals, from small frogs to bears, safely cross roads that bisect their habitats. One of the first roadway wildlife tunnel systems designed specifically for amphibian use in the USA was installed along Henry Street in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1987 to protect spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). These salamanders cross Henry Street during their annual migration to their breeding pools. In recent years, volunteers monitoring the site suggested that salamanders were no longer using the tunnels. To evaluate this concern, we conducted salamander counts in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to quantify tunnel use. In 2016, 11% of observed salamanders used the tunnels—a substantial decrease from 68% in 1988, 1 year after tunnel installation, when the tunnels were last evaluated. Following 2016, we implemented two tunnel modifications: adding a light to the far end of tunnels (2017) and placing a ramp at tunnel entrances to reduce balking (2018). However, salamander tunnel use was not increased significantly by either the light modification or the ramp modification. Previous studies have demonstrated that salamanders prefer minimum tunnel apertures of >0.4 m, so it is likely that the 0.2 m apertures at Henry Street are too small. While many studies have evaluated amphibian tunnel use in laboratory and field settings, ours was one of the first studies to examine tunnel usage data long after initial installation. These long-term data are critical for evaluating factors necessary for maintaining wildlife tunnel effectiveness over decades.

scholarly journals Skin Cancer, Irradiation, and Sunspots: The Solar Cycle Effect

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Valachovic ◽  
Igor Zurbenko
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Small Variation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cancer Data ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Cancer Irradiation

Skin cancer is diagnosed in more than 2 million individuals annually in the United States. It is strongly associated with ultraviolet exposure, with melanoma risk doubling after five or more sunburns. Solar activity, characterized by features such as irradiance and sunspots, undergoes an 11-year solar cycle. This fingerprint frequency accounts for relatively small variation on Earth when compared to other uncorrelated time scales such as daily and seasonal cycles. Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filters, applied to the solar cycle and skin cancer data, separate the components of different time scales to detect weaker long term signals and investigate the relationships between long term trends. Analyses of crosscorrelations reveal epidemiologically consistent latencies between variables which can then be used for regression analysis to calculate a coefficient of influence. This method reveals that strong numerical associations, with correlations >0.5, exist between these small but distinct long term trends in the solar cycle and skin cancer. This improves modeling skin cancer trends on long time scales despite the stronger variation in other time scales and the destructive presence of noise.

scholarly journals Global Nighttime Light Change from 1992 to 2017: Brighter and More Uniform

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4905
Author(s):  
Yunfeng Hu ◽  
Yunzhi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
The United States ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Light Change ◽  
Nighttime Lights ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Nighttime Light

Nighttime light images record the brightness of the Earth surface, indicating the scope and intensity of human activities. However, there are few studies on the long-term changes in global nighttime lights. In this paper, the authors constructed a long time series (1992~2017) nighttime light dataset combining the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) and the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP-VIIRS) data sources and observed the following: (1) Global nighttime lights have become brighter. The global nighttime brightness in 2017 was 2.2 times that of 1992. Approximately 40.3% of the lighted area was significantly brightened, and an area of 1.3 × 107 km2 transitioned from an unlighted area to a lighted area. (2) Approximately 85.7% of the nighttime light increase occurred in the low-brightness zone (LBZ). Therefore, global brightness has become more uniform than before. (3) China, India, and the United States have led the global lighting trend. The increase in Chinese nighttime lights is the largest, with an average annual growth of 6.48%, followed by the light growth in India, while the United States has the largest brightened area. (4) The changes in nighttime lights in developing countries (e.g., China and India) are closely and positively related to their electricity consumption, industrial added value and gross domestic product (GDP). The shift of the LBZ center from Asia to Africa indicates the intercontinental transition of poverty.

Speech-Language Pathology in the Peace Corps: Necessity and Sustainability

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Special Education ◽  
Peace Corps ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Language Pathology

In countries other than the United States, the study and practice of speech-language pathology is little known or nonexistent. Recognition of professionals in the field is minimal. Speech-language pathologists in countries where speech-language pathology is a widely recognized and respected profession often seek to share their expertise in places where little support is available for individuals with communication disorders. The Peace Corps offers a unique, long-term volunteer opportunity to people with a variety of backgrounds, including speech-language pathologists. Though Peace Corps programs do not specifically focus on speech-language pathology, many are easily adapted to the profession because they support populations of people with disabilities. This article describes how the needs of local children with communication disorders are readily addressed by a Special Education Peace Corps volunteer.

Abusive Men's Use of Children to Control Their Partners and Ex-Partners

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa L. Beeble ◽  
Deborah Bybee ◽  
Cris M. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
The Relationship

While research has found that millions of children in the United States are exposed to their mothers being battered, and that many are themselves abused as well, little is known about the ways in which children are used by abusers to manipulate or harm their mothers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that perpetrators use children in a variety of ways to control and harm women; however, no studies to date have empirically examined the extent of this occurring. Therefore, the current study examined the extent to which survivors of abuse experienced this, as well as the conditions under which it occurred. Interviews were conducted with 156 women who had experienced recent intimate partner violence. Each of these women had at least one child between the ages of 5 and 12. Most women (88%) reported that their assailants had used their children against them in varying ways. Multiple variables were found to be related to this occurring, including the relationship between the assailant and the children, the extent of physical and emotional abuse used by the abuser against the woman, and the assailant's court-ordered visitation status. Findings point toward the complex situational conditions by which assailants use the children of their partners or ex-partners to continue the abuse, and the need for a great deal more research in this area.

Mafias on the Move

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Varese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
The North ◽  
Economic Transformations ◽  
At Will

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As this book explains, the truth is more complicated. The author has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. The book spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, the book charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. The book explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. A pioneering chapter on China examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. This book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.

Leaded Aviation Fuel May Present Long-Term Effects on Campus Life from the Adjacent Albert Whitted Airport

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Matthews ◽  
Madhu Pandey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
The United States ◽  
Aviation Fuel ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Aviation Gasoline ◽  
Suspended Particulate ◽  
Descent Line

Propeller planes and small engine aircraft around the United States, legally utilize leaded aviation gasoline. The purpose of this experiment was to collect suspended particulate matter from a university campus, directly below an airport’s arriving flight path’s descent line, and to analyze lead content suspended in the air. Two collection sets of three separate samples were collected on six separate days, one set in July of 2018 and the second set in January 2019.

Markets, Technological Change and Economic Growth (The Quaid-i-Azam Lecture)

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (4I) ◽  
pp. 327-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Lipsey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Countries ◽  
Canadian Institute ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Short Time

I am honoured to be invited to give this lecture before so distinguished an audience of development economists. For the last 21/2 years I have been director of a project financed by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and composed of a group of scholars from Canada, the United States, and Israel.I Our brief is to study the determinants of long term economic growth. Although our primary focus is on advanced industrial countries such as my own, some of us have come to the conclusion that there is more common ground between developed and developing countries than we might have first thought. I am, however, no expert on development economics so I must let you decide how much of what I say is applicable to economies such as your own. Today, I will discuss some of the grand themes that have arisen in my studies with our group. In the short time available, I can only allude to how these themes are rooted in our more detailed studies. In doing this, I must hasten to add that I speak for myself alone; our group has no corporate view other than the sum of our individual, and very individualistic, views.

The Future of Muslim Education in the United States: An Agenda for Research

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 46-82
Author(s):  
Fathi Malkawi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Education ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Future ◽  
Muslim Education ◽  
Future Plans

This paper addresses some of the Muslim community’s concerns regarding its children’s education and reflects upon how education has shaped the position of other communities in American history. It argues that the future of Muslim education will be influenced directly by the present realities and future trends within American education in general, and, more importantly, by the well-calculated and informed short-term and long-term decisions and future plans taken by the Muslim community. The paper identifies some areas in which a wellestablished knowledge base is critical to making decisions, and calls for serious research to be undertaken to furnish this base.

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