Mares glacielles et non glacielles dans le marais salé de l’Isle Verte, estuaire du St-Laurent, Québec

Depuis 1904, de nombreuses hypothèses ont été émises pour expliquer l'origine des mares dans les marais salés côtiers. Au Québec, les chercheurs ont favorisé la thèse d'une origine glacielle, alors qu'ailleurs on a fait appel presque essentiellement à des causes non glacielles. À l'Isle-Verte, la localisation précise du pied de glace au haut de l'hydrolittoral moyen permet de démontrer que des mares glacielles sont créées à chaque printemps sur l'hydrolittoral moyen où abonde Spartina alterniflora, tandis que des mares non glacielles existent sur l'hydrolittoral supérieur du marais salé où surviennent les groupements à Spartina patens, Salicornia europaea, Spergularia marina, Festuca rubra, Carex paleacea, Carex satina, Spartina pectinata et Sonchus arvensis. Un inventaire détaillé de 80 mares glacielles et non glacielles permet d'en décrire la flore, la morphométrie et la pédologie. On doit reconnaître que les hypothèses émises à ce jour ne peuvent expliquer adéquatement la genèse des mares non glacielles.Since 1904, a good number of proposals to explain the origin of depressions in coastal salt marshes are found in the littérature. In Québec, drift-ice has been the only explanation brought forward by the scientific community. Elsewhere, on the contrary, other causes for the genesis of pans were favoured. At Isle-Verte, exact location of the ice-foot on the top of the middle hydrolittoral zone has made it possible to prove that ice-made pans were created each Spring on the middle hydrolittoral where Spartina alterniflora florishes. On the other hand, other causes are responsible for the creation of a variety of pools on the upper hydrolittoral of the salt marsh where Spartina patens, Salicornia europaea, Spergularia marina, Festuca rubra, Carex paleacea, Carex palina, Spartina pectinata and Sonchus arvensis communities are found. A detailed survey of 80 ice-made pans and pools has allowed the description of their flora, morphometry and pedology. To date, it seems that the numerous hypothesis brought forward are still inadequate to explain the exact genesis of pools in salt marshes, and now biochemical researchs are suggested.Seit 1904 gibt es in der Literatur ziemlich viele Hypothesen urn den Ursprung der Vertiefungen in den Kusten Salzmarschen zu erklàren. In Quebec, wurde Treibeis als einzige Erklàrung von der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft angenommen. Anderen Ortes, wurden im Gegenteil andere Grunde fur die Genesis von Pfannen vorgezogen. Auf der Isle Verte lnsel machte die genaue Lage des Eisfusses auf der Hôhe der Mittelhydrolateral-Zone es môglich, zu beweisen, dass glaziale Pfannen in jedem Fruhjahr auf dem Mittlerenhydrolittoral entstehen, wo Spartina alterniflora gedeiht. Andererseits, sind andere Ursachen verantwortlich fur die Entstehung von einer Menge von nicht glazialen Pfuhlen im oberen Hydrolittoral der Salzmarsch, wo Spartina patens, Salicornia europaea, Spergularia marina, Festuca rubra, Carex salina, Spartina pectinata Sonchus arvensis Gemeinschaften gefunden werden. Eine detaillierte Untersuchung von 80 glazial Pfannen und Pfuhlen erlaubte die Beschreibung ihrer Flora, Morphométrie und Pédologie. Bis heute scheinen die verschiedenen Hypothesen immer noch unzulânglich um die genaue Ursache von Pfuhlen in Salzmarschen zu erklàren, und neue biochemische Fors-chungen werden vorgeschlagen

Risk of asthmatic episodes in children exposed to sulfur dioxide stack emissions from a refinery point source in Montreal, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the respiratory effects of short-term exposures to petroleum refinery emissions in young children. This study is an extension of an ecologic study that found an increased rate of hospitalizations for respiratory conditions among children living near petroleum refineries in Montreal (Canada). METHODS: We used a time-stratified case-crossover design to assess the risk of asthma episodes in relation to short-term variations in sulfur dioxide levels among children 2-4 years of age living within 0.5-7.5 km of the refinery stacks. Health data used to measure asthma episodes included emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions from 1996 to 2004. We estimated daily levels of SO2 at the residence of children using a) two fixed-site SO2 monitors located near the refineries and b) the AERMOD (American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model) atmospheric dispersion model. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios associated with an increase in the interquartile range of daily SO2 mean and peak exposures (31.2 ppb for AERMOD peaks). We adjusted for temperature, relative humidity, and regional/urban background air pollutant levels. RESULTS: The risks of asthma ED visits and hospitalizations were more pronounced for same-day (lag 0) SO2 peak levels than for mean levels on the same day, or for other lags: the adjusted odds ratios estimated for same-day SO2 peak levels from AERMOD were 1.10 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-1.22] and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.10-1.82), over the interquartile range, for ED visits and hospital admissions, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term episodes of increased SO2 exposures from refinery stack emissions were associated with a higher number of asthma episodes in nearby children

Experimental study of dynamic bending stiffness of ACSR overhead conductors

Abstract : Aeolian vibrations of transmission line conductors may cause fretting fatigue failure at or near the location of clamped devices. At these locations, the bending stiffness variation of the conductor has a large influence on its deformed shape and hence on its fatigue mechanics. Variable bending stiffness models could be integrated in non-linear finite element programs to obtain better mechanical behaviour predictions. However, there is very little data available in the literature to validate such numerical models. The objective of this paper is to present experimental data for the deformed shape of two types of ACSR conductors undergoing vibrations. The tests were performed on a 5.83 m test bench for various tensions, displacement amplitudes and frequencies. The displacement amplitude was measured at the vibration anti-node and at five locations near the squarefaced bushing. The results suggest a large stiffness variation near the bushing. This experimental study provides valuable data to compare with a numerical model of a vibrating conductor that includes variable bending stiffness

Return on investment in the public sector

In an environment of scarce resources and rising federal deficits the people not only expect, but demand greater accountability for the spending of public funds. This demand has created a trend in the public sector, not only in the United States, but worldwide as well, towards the importation of private sector business practices to improve accountability-oriented analysis. One example is increased emphasis on return on investment (ROI) analysis in public sector organizations. Development and application of ROI analysis is challenging in the public sector since most government organizations do not generate profit necessary for calculation of ROI in the manner in which it is done in the private sector. This thesis develops the methodology necessary for use of ROI analysis in the public sector. ROI methodology is applied for test evaluation with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego. The test demonstrates that ROI can be applied successfully to assess the relative efficiency of value-added work and to improve the process of choosing between investment alternatives. Properly designed ROI analysis reveals how and for what goods and services money is spent and provides a means for comparing the value derived from investment and work performed.http://archive.org/details/returnoninvestme109451317Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The deep distributions of helium isotopes, radiocarbon, and noble gases along the U.S. GEOTRACES East Pacific Zonal Transect (GP16)

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 201 (2018): 167-182, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2017.03.009.We report the deep distributions of noble gases, helium isotopes, and radiocarbon measured during the U.S. GEOTRACES GP16 East Pacific Zonal Transect between 152 and 77°W at 12- 15°S in the South Pacific. The dominant feature is an intense tongue of hydrothermal effluent that extends more than 4,000 km westward from the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at ~2500m depth. The patterns reveal significant “downstream” variations in water mass structure, advection, and mixing that belie the simple perception of a continuous plume extending westward from the EPR. For example, one feature observed at 120°W, 14°S has tracer signatures that are consistent with a water mass originating from an area as much as 2,000 km south of this section, suggesting a quasi-permanent northward flow on the western flank of the EPR. Helium isotope variations in the plume show a uniquely high 3He/4He source in the tongue compared with typical mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), consistent with the anomalously high ratios observed in MORB glasses from the EPR segment just south of this transect. The water column data also reveal that the background 3He/4He east of the EPR is significantly lower than values characteristic of MORB, suggesting an additional, more geographically distributed radiogenic 4He flux of order 107 mol/y into the deep Pacific. In the western end of the section, incoming bottom waters have relatively less hydrothermal hydrothermal helium, more radiocarbon, and more oxygen, as well as negative saturation anomalies for the heavy noble gases (Ar, Kr, and Xe). During the basin-scale upwelling of this water, diapycnal mixing serves to erase these negative anomalies. The relative magnitudes of the increases for the heavy noble gases (Ar, Kr, and Xe) are quantitatively consistent with this process. This leads us to estimate the relatively smaller effects on He and Ne saturations, which range from near zero to 0.2% and 0.3% respectively. With this information, we are able to refine our estimates of the magnitude of 3He and 4He excesses and the absolute 3He/4He ratio of non-atmospheric helium introduced into deep Pacific waters.The work was funded under National Science Foundation grant number OCE-1232991 for WJJ and OCE-1130870 for CRG

Alien Registration- Goudreau, Joseph (Van Buren, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/33279/thumbnail.jp