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Analyzing Water Resource Challenges in the US Eastern Zone
Full text linkOne major narrative over the last several years, consistent with the US Northeast region in policy discourse rests on its perception as a hub with high concentration of city bright lights and skyscrapers but short on water usage. In the process, no one thinks about how the rising demands from urban residential areas to hydroelectricity and climate change stressors impact the hydrology. Yet, what is forgotten is that the economic engine driving the region comes from the interactions in a complex hydrological network anchored in water distribution dependency. At the same time, a closer look at various states indicates that the “big apple” area along with its neighbors most notably Maryland, New jersey, and Pennsylvania all share a heavy penchant in the use of water resources. With people obsessed with bright lights of the “big apple” and activities rooted in the growing use of water amidst disparate distribution. The use levels in the zone rely on surface and subterranean ground water types. Aside from the dependence on surface water, there exists sectoral imbalances in water distribution, the threats of pollution, and droughts precipitated by climate change parameters. Given hydroelectricity’s ranking as the largest water user in such a heavily urbanized setting, the consumption levels affirm the primacy of New York ahead of the others. While the rising incidence of water mining together with the risks and impacts remain highly evident, it does not occur in a vacuum due to socio-economic and ecological factors located within the regional hydrology. Still, water resources issues therein seemed overlooked in previous studies. This research will bridge that void using a mix-scale approach involving the fusion of GIS and descriptive statistics in the Northeast US. With emphasis on the issues, trends, environmental analysis, impacts, factors, and institutional efforts in place. The results point to rising use of water, impacts, changes in allocation, the dispersion of water use indicators across space and sectorial disparity amidst a host of elements. In all these, the paper proffered remedies ranging from public enlightenment, monitoring, the design of regional water management information systems, conservation plans and the enactment of effective policies
A Canonical Transformation for the Anderson Lattice Hamiltonian with f–f Electron Coupling
Full text linkIn this work, a new canonical transformation for the Anderson lattice Hamiltonian with f–f electron coupling was developed, which was further used to identify a new Kondo lattice Hamiltonian. Different from the single impurity Kondo effect, the resulted new Kondo lattice Hamiltonian only includes the spin-flip scattering processes between conduction electrons and f-electrons, while the normal process of non-spin-flip scattering is absent in this Hamiltonian, under the second order approximation. The new Kondo lattice Hamiltonian may be used to study some anomalous physical properties in some Kondo lattice intermetallic compounds
The Cade Library Newsletter (Volume 5, Spring 2024)
Full text linkThis issue of the Cade Report features the following:
John B. Cade Library Designated PTRC, Dean\u27s Corner: Spring Address, Champions for Equality, The Main Ingredient for Success, Faculty & Staff Spotlight, Editorial: Expanding Horizons at Cade Library, Grant Writing Essentials, the Student Library Advisory Council, Library News and additional library coverage.https://digitalcommons.subr.edu/cade_report/1021/thumbnail.jp
All of Us: How to Sign Up
No full textLearn how to sign up for the All of Us Research Programs.https://digitalcommons.subr.edu/su_allofus/1002/thumbnail.jp
The Analysis of Extreme Climate Threats in Maryland’s Lower Region Along the US Mid Atlantic
Full text linkThe state of Maryland for all intents and purposes stands out as a pacesetter in different aspects of environmental planning more than other states. Known for having the first established planning commission in the United States decades ago before its neighbors and a longstanding tradition in orderly planning. One would think such illustrious trajectory, that Maryland enjoys, guarantees immunity from common exposures to climate change dangers based on experience. However, that is not really the case in the Mid Atlantic zone. The same state that boasts of some of the most successful farming operations and a flourishing economy heavily reliant on a stable ecosystem, now finds itself at the receiving end of climatic uncertainty along the coast. Accordingly, the lower side of Maryland has seen full share of climate change induced threats like ice storms, floodings and elevated temperature. All these results in widespread damage to society, economy, and the surrounding ecosystem, amidst the vulnerability of many sectors. The situation in the coastal environment is compounded by sea level rise, potential displacements, degradation, destruction of assets and anticipated inundation of low-lying settlements in the coming years. Notwithstanding the gravity of these issues, very little has been done to capture the risks sufficiently in the literature. Consequently, this enquiry will fill that void notably by analyzing the changing climate risks in Southern Maryland using mix-scale methods of GIS and descriptive statistics. Emphasis is on the trends, issues, factors, impacts and efforts towards containment of the hazards. Accordingly, the results of the trends show widespread risks exposure through periodic damages to the ecosystem, along with fiscal losses in some sectors of the economy. With all these attributed to ecological, socio-economic, policy and climatic uncertainty. The paper proffered solutions ranging from education, the strengthening of policies, the design of regional climate information system and the recourse to coastal zone planning
High-Fidelity Machine Learning Techniques for Driver Drowsiness Detection
Full text linkIt is devastating that daily, there is an ample number of car crashes that cause damage to automobiles, onboard passengers get injured, and others tend to lose their lives. Road crashes are fast rising across the globe and have drawn many road safety commissions and concerned individuals to discuss ways to reduce this menacing situation drastically. With the introduction of artificial intelligence and technological advancement, the government and state commissions have beckoned on the various universities and research institutions to develop methods to curb the rise of automobile crashes. Some causes of these crashes include drunk driving and drowsiness, the latter is most prevalent as it occurs to all and sundry. Drowsiness detection can be categorized into three main techniques; behavioral-based, vehicular-based, and physiological-based. In this research, the behavioral-based approach was studied, with significant consideration being the cost of implementation, execution time, and accuracy. Three machine learning (ML) classifiers were considered: Support Vector Machine (SVM), Naïve Bayes (NB), and Random Forest (RF). A dataset of 1448 images was used for training and testing these classifiers: 70% for training and 30% for testing. Random Forest classifier gave the best accuracy of (92.41%) compared to SVM (90.34%) and Naïve Bayes (69.43%). A deep neural network (VGG16) was used to classify drowsiness, and this gave a high accuracy of 97.20%, which outperformed the traditional machine learning models
Wood to Cells: Understanding PCP Exposure and PANoptosis in Rural Areas
Full text linkPentachlorophenol has been in use as a pesticide, fungicide, herbicide, and insecticide since 1936. The US government outlawed PCP in 1984 due to its carcinogenic and toxic effects, however, 36 million utility poles treated with PCP still persist in US, greatly increasing the likelihood of exposure. Humans can be exposed to PCP through direct volatilization from the wood surface, either through skin contact or inhalation. Several case studies have demonstrated increased risk of exposure to PCP and its metabolites during farming- specifically in fencing, treating timber and sawmills. PANoptosis involving three key programmed cell death modes-pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis plays critical role in cellular homeostatic processes during exposure to environmental stress. Studies from our laboratory showed an increase inflammatory responses and release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPS)-like HSP70 and HMGB1 in PCP exposed lung (A549) and liver (HepG2) cells. Additionally, a potent metabolite of PCP-Tetrachlorohydroquinone (TCHQ) was observed to induce heightened transcription of cytokines/chemokines and expression of transcription factors-STAT3 and NF-ҡB compared to PCP in A549 cells. We also observed significant increase in ZBP1, a key regulator for PANoptosis in TCHQ exposed lung epithelial cell. Our next focus is to examine the role of DAMPs in regulating PCP and TCHQ induced PANoptosis in lung and liver epithelial cells. Our findings will provide critical information about the complex relationship between the immune and apoptotic pathways. In brief, our research highlights potentially harmful consequences of PCP, providing critical information about biomarkers which could be targeted for mitigating health risks in rural areas
The Effects of Changing Climate in the US Western Region
Full text linkhe Pacific Northwest region of the US has over the years, outpaced other zones in the country in every socio-economic indicator. Known for its enviable physical attributes of high montane ecosystem and warm weather all year round in some places together with abundant biodiversity. The region’s position as among the fastest growing areas in the nation under vast swaths of land with large population concentration in big cities has made it the perennial destination for many. Aside from all these, in the last several years, the zone continues to be the epicenter of the most dangerous natural disasters prompted by changing climatic parameters from high aridity, bush fires, and sometimes isolated patches of irregular heavy rainfall and periodic snowstorms. Additional risks embody subzero and elevated temperature and the warming of the atmosphere. Accordingly, this changing climatic trend coincides with recurrent fires, damage to agriculture, forestry as well as very deadly threats, to the extent that both human and natural ecosystems have come under serious degradation at disturbing rates. This involves mounting concerns over air quality, deaths, water scarcity, the drying of wells, plumes of smog and economic losses. In as much as, all these are attributed to socio-economic, physical, economic and factors. Very little has been done in the literature to fully assess the risks posed to the western region’s environment by changing climate through a mix-scale model. Notwithstanding current efforts of institutions to remedy the situation to no avail. This study will fill that void in the literature by assessing the state of climate change in the US Pacific Northwest region. Emphasis is on the issues, trends, factors and efforts and impacts. With results showing the occurrence of change and recurrent pressures of climatic parameters in the study area. The zone saw increased temperature, aquifer declines, heavy fire outbreaks and ecosystem degradation as well as loss of economic assets and displacement of citizens. The fact that the impacts of change in the zone are manifested notably. The GIS mapping of the trends points to gradual diffusion of climatic risks over different areas in space. These changes are attributable to a host of forces from policy to the economy and the physical environment. The paper proffered solutions in the form of education, enforcement of regulations, the design of regional climate information systems and the installation of advanced early warning systems to alert citizens of impending dangers and risk monitoring
Repeated healing of low velocity impact induced damage in orthogrid-stiffened sandwich panel
Full text linkHerein, we present a new sandwich panel composed of a carbon fiber grid-stiffened shape memory vitrimer (SMV) core. The sandwich panels were fabricated via a pin-guided dry-weaving technology, and their impact responses were evaluated via low-velocity impact testing. The main failure mode observed after the first round of impact was the transverse cracking of the SMV matrix in the sandwich core. The healing efficiency according to the crack initiation energy (CIE) was found to be 76.5% after the first healing cycle. Even after the second healing cycle, the healing efficiency was greater than 72%. From the low-velocity impact tests, reinforcing the pure SMV core with a grid-skeleton enhanced the impact resistance significantly, that is, the crack initiation energy and peak load were increased by 64.0% and 169.0%, respectively. The results also show that smaller bay area leads to higher impact resistance. With the repeated crack healing, increased impact tolerance, and shape memory effect, it is expected that the sandwich panels will have a good possibility for usage in aerospace and automotive applications
Environmental Perils: Pentachlorophenol, Tetrachlorohydroquinone, and Their Legacy
Full text linkPentachlorophenol (PCP), a chlorinated aromatic organic compound, has served various agricultural purposes, including as a pesticide, fungicide, herbicide, and insecticide, since its introduction in 1936. However, its usage faced prohibition by the United States government in 1984 due to recognized carcinogenic and toxic properties. Despite this, approximately 36 million utility poles across the country remain treated with PCP, posing a continued risk of exposure. Exposure to PCP primarily occurs through direct volatilization from treated surfaces, leading to potential inhalation or skin contact. Its persistence in the environment, with a half-life of up to 200 days in water and varying durations in human tissue, contributes to its widespread presence. Recent studies have unveiled PCP\u27s conversion into Tetrachlorohydroquinone (TCHQ), a more potent carcinogenic compound, through oxidative processes. TCHQ poses significant health risks, particularly evident in its heightened toxicity towards lung epithelial cells (A549) compared to PCP. Further investigations highlight TCHQ\u27s activation of key cell death pathways, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis, along with increased expression of ZBP1, a regulator of PANoptosis. Additionally, TCHQ exposure prompts the upregulation of proinflammatory mediators like TLR-4, STAT3, CCL2, and IL-6. Our research aims to unravel the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying TCHQ-induced toxicity, particularly focusing on PANoptosome regulation in A549 cells. By gaining a thorough understanding of these pathways, we aim to reduce the health risks linked to PCP and TCHQ exposure and facilitate the development of safer alternatives for both humans and agricultural practices