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Determination of Nitrate in Aqueous Media
No full textDetermining the amount of inorganic ions in aqueous media is important in the food industry and environmentally. In the environment high levels of ions like nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate can lead to unhealthy conditions for aquatic species. Similarly, high levels of nitrate and nitrite can cause health issues in humans. One method for determining nitrate levels in aqueous samples involves reducing the nitrate species to nitrite via a redox reaction with finely divided zinc powder followed by conversion to a diazonium salt and complexation with 1-napthylamine to form a colored complex. In the work described herein, this modified version of the Griess reaction was used to spectrophotometrically determine the amount of nitrate in several environmental and food samples
The Analysis and Remediation of Excess Fluoride in Drinking Water in Isle of Wight County, VA
Get PDFExcess fluoride in drinking water can cause fluorosis or brown and yellow staining of the enamel of teeth. In extreme cases, severe damage to teeth and bone structure can develop. In 1993, the World Health Organization set a limit of 1.5 ppm as acceptable for drinking water; however, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, recent water quality reports detected levels of fluoride as high as 4 ppm. The purpose of this study was to investigate several detection and remediation methods of fluoride in drinking water. Detection methods included an ion selective electrode (ISE), dye-based colorimetric methods, and an at-home testing kit. ISE is the standard method for fluoride analysis. Remediation methods included commercially available activated alumina, charcoal, and water pitcher filters. Water samples were collected from locations using both wells and municipal water throughout Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Currently, parts of the county are under an advisory for fluoride levels. The water samples tested contained fluoride ranging from 1 to 6 ppm. Of the detection methods used, ISE and colorimetric methods proved to be more accurate than an at-home test kit, which indicated that all samples contained a fluoride concentration less than 0.50 ppm. The ultimate goal of this study was to develop a cost-effective method to detect and remove fluoride from drinking water in rural communities without water treatment facilities. Educational materials will be developed to help residents in these communities understand and manage their water quality
Policy suggestions from a simple framework with extreme outcomes
No full textThe experience of financial crises in recent decades has reinforced the critical need for economic policy to anticipate and reduce the impact of unexpected, extreme, events. In this paper, we develop a simple framework based on latent regime shifts to analyze why investors may undertake overly risky investment strategies and how policymakers may attempt to constrain such behavior. This framework explains, in particular, why banks, investors, and policymakers may decide not to hedge against extreme events, even when those events are exogenously determined and have well understood probabilities and consequences. We also examine cases in which the extreme events are endogenously created by the investment strategies themselves. Our main finding is that the private costs of the sustained suboptimal investment may be bounded and small. Thus, investors may knowingly ignore or exacerbate the likelihood of extreme events, especially if they face costs to learning the structure of the financial environment in which the events are created. These results obtain both in the theoretical model and upon calibration to the US economic experience, including the recent financial crisis. Our findings provide a strong motivation for policymakers to ensure full disclosure and dissemination of information regarding probabilities and consequences of extreme outcomes
Determination of Nitrate in Aqueous Media
No full textDetermining the amount of inorganic ions in aqueous media is important in the food industry and environmentally. In the environment high levels of ions like nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate can lead to unhealthy conditions for aquatic species. Similarly, high levels of nitrate and nitrite can cause health issues in humans. One method for determining nitrate levels in aqueous samples involves reducing the nitrate species to nitrite via a redox reaction with finely divided zinc powder followed by conversion to a diazonium salt and complexation with 1-naphthylamine to form a colored complex. A modified version of the Griess reaction was used to spectrophotometrically determine the amount of nitrate in several water and vegetable samples
Evaluating Our Reliance on Rare Earth Minerals and Platinum Group Metals Over The Period of 2012 to 2021
No full textRare Earth Elements (REE’s) are minerals used in our everyday lives. They can be found in our household appliances, phones, computers, cars, as part of wind turbines and solar panels. The US relies on imports of these rare earths from several other countries (e.g. China, Estonia, Malaysia, and Japan) as we cannot mine a majority of the minerals (e.g. cerium, lanthanum, europium, etc) domestically. Since the year 2012, the US has imported approximately 3,000 metric tons of rare earths, and in recent years, this number significantly increased. As of 2021, the US now imports approximately 43,000 metric tons of rare earths. Our need, reliance, and continued demand for these rare earths has seen a major increase in the last ten years due to several factors (e.g. technological advance and population growth). This project seeks to analyze our import reliance, and subsequent use of REE’s over the period of 2012-2021. Preserving the less abundant minerals for future uses while finding new ways to use more abundant or non-rare earths for our everyday uses of minerals to replace them will contribute to future energy security and long-term sustainability
FPEHS, January 2022 Newsletter
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/newsletters/1097/thumbnail.jp
Caregiver Rights, Virtual Meetings, and the Multidisciplinary Team: Communication of Legal Rights within Special Education
Get PDFDuring the COVID-19 pandemic many professional settings used virtual platforms to conduct meetings that typically took place in person. Within the United States public schools, special education programs faced unique challenges when conducting students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. These meetings are mandatory and essential in creating an individualized plan to provide the necessary services and support for students or for monitoring their progress. As mandated through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is a legal right of parents and/or guardians to be afforded the opportunity to attend any meetings regarding the “identification, evaluation, and educational placement” of their child and meetings regarding the provision of Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for their child (IDEA, 2004).
Caregivers and special education teams across the nation conducted virtua meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss special education services of students with many families and schools navigating virtual platforms for the first time. The purpose of this research is to determine how school personnel explained parental rights to caregivers through teleservices. Parental rights give caregivers certain powers regarding their child’s special education services. Caregivers have legal rights to access information about their child, written notices for meetings, and the ability to advocate for their child. Additionally, this research seeks to identify professional perspectives regarding barriers faced when explaining parental rights through online platforms during and after COVID-19. It is imperative that the field acknowledges and addresses the barriers created because of the use of virtual platforms during IEP meetings. Furthermore, it is essential that caregivers understand their rights and actively participate in decisions regarding their child’s education programs despite being virtual.
Forty-one IEP team members who oversaw the IEPs of students within public schools in Virginia during the 2020-2021 school year were surveyed to examine perspectives on parental rights and virtual IEP meetings. Survey results were analyzed using IBM SPSS (International Business Machines Corporation’s Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software.
Results from the statistical analysis indicated that whether or not professionals receive training on the procedural rights booklet their district uses has a positive impact on their confidence addressing caregiver’s legal rights during virtual IEP meetings. The results suggest that district training on procedural rights is helpful to professionals when later discussing legal rights with caregivers during meetings. The statistical analysis also indicated that there is not a significant correlation between professional self-perceived knowledge of procedural rights and confidence addressing a caregiver’s legal rights during virtual meetings