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The delivery of precipitation through large and small scale precipitation features plays a key role in the hydrological cycle. Therefore, it is important to understand how the organization of precipitation will change as the earth warms. The organization of precipitation can be characterized into either widespread, mesoscale precipitation features (MPF) or short-lived, isolated precipitation features (IPF). The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to simulate precipitation features at a 3 km resolution during the 17-22 June 2010 period in the Southeast US under present and future climate conditions. In this methodology, the model is first run in present climate mode and then rerun with an adjusted initial state that adds projected temperature anomalies for the 2090s based on Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). In the future climate simulations, small changes in precipitation occurred under RCP4.5 warming, but many significant changes were noted under RCP8.5 warming. Domain-averaged precipitation increased in the future climate simulations, with the largest changes over the ocean relative to the continent. In the future climates, IPF grew larger in length and eventually coalesced into MPF, reducing the total number of IPF and increasing the number of MPF. IPF and MPF also extended deeper into the troposphere and produced more precipitation overall.

Performed in cooperation with the School of Mineral Engineering, University of Washington. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Mode of access: Internet.

The United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification Program will be irradiating eight separate tri-isotopic (TRISO) particle fuel (in compact form) experiments in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These irradiations and fuel development are being accomplished to support development of the next generation reactors in the United States. The ATR has a long history of irradiation testing in support of reactor development and the INL has been designated as the United States Department of Energy’s lead laboratory for nuclear energy development. These AGR fuel experiments will be irradiated over the next ten years to demonstrate and qualify new particle fuel for use in high temperature gas reactors. The experiments, which will each consist of six separate capsules, will be irradiated in an inert sweep gas atmosphere with individual on-line temperature monitoring and control for each capsule. The swept gas will also have on-line fission product monitoring to track performance of the fuel in each individual capsule during irradiation. The design of the first experiment (designated AGR-1) was completed in 2005, and the fabrication and assembly of the test train as well as the support systems and fission product monitoring system that monitor and control the experiment during irradiation were completed in September 2006. The experiment was inserted in the ATR in December 2006, and is serving as a shakedown test of the multi-capsule experiment design that will be used in the subsequent irradiations as well as a test of the early variants of the fuel produced under this program. The experiment test train as well as the monitoring, control, and data collection systems are discussed and the status of the experiment is provided.

We are currently amidst a 6th mass extinction event precipitated by anthropogenic alterations of the environment, specifically urbanization. There have been declines across all classes of vertebrates, however amphibians have suffered the greatest declines among vertebrates. Urbanization is among the most detrimental types of habitat modifications because as areas are converted and modified to meet human needs it increases susceptibility and exposure to disease and chemicals, increases the probability of encountering invasive species, alters climate and microclimates, and ultimately leads to decreased recruitment and population size in amphibian populations. This disrupts the moist, cool conditions many amphibians rely on for basic survival conditions, and if these conditions for reproduction and foraging are not met, alteration in behavior or physiological processes may be observed. In response to stressors, many amphibians release a stress hormone called corticosterone. Corticosterone helps amphibians respond to a stressor appropriately by suppressing acutely nonessential functions such as digestion, reproduction, and growth, thereby freeing energy for vital processes such as muscle metabolism. It has been shown that some species of salamanders respond physiologically to environmental changes, suggesting a link between habitat quality and physiological stress response that could be crucial for evaluating the effects of habitat alterations. This study looks at the physiological response of Eastern red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, living in urban and non-urban sites using a novel method of stress hormone collection. We found that salamanders living in urban sites had lower levels of dermal corticosterone than those living in non-urban areas. This finding could be explained by microclimate effects that differ at each site or by the effects chronic stress may be having on the salamanders in the urban sites. ; URAP - Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program ; No embargo ; Academic Major: ...

In this paper, implications of the quasi-steady approach to numerical solutions of two-phase flow problems are addressed by the application of basic principles. First, a simple criterion to determine the limitations of the quasi-steady approach is discussed. This criterion is used to determine the minimum time-step size required during the quasi-steady solution. Using this same concept, a method for making truly transient problems artifically quasi-steady is developed. Finally, these concepts are applied to a simple interfacial heat-transfer problem. The numerical instability that results from the quasi-steady approach during the explicit solution of this problem is investigated.

To improve the overall quality of education within under-performing schools across the United States and, in particular, to improve outcomes for diverse learners, it is imperative to find ways to increase the adoption of evidence-based practices. This study aims to illuminate the barriers and facilitators that confront teachers in the sustained implementation of arts integration using a scientifically research-based Constructivist methodology. Arts Integration (AI) has been proven to increase students’ literacy, mathematics, and critical thinking skills. For decades, the U.S. Department of Education has funded research studies revealing the efficacy of arts integration. Data, however, indicate a lack of sustained implementation of arts integration, most notably in schools where interventions targeting student literacy development are sorely needed. As observed in many schools hosting government-funded arts integration programs, AI curricula and strategies are often not sustained beyond the exit of the teaching artists and the depletion of grant-based funding. This qualitative study utilizes an educational ecosystem as the theoretical framework. The levels of the ecosystem are the microsystem (the individual teacher), the mesosystem (school culture), the exosystem (accountability structures), and the macrosystem (American public schools). The study, designed as a narrative inquiry, draws narrative accounts from participating teachers and teaching artists through semi-structured interviews. Interview questions elicit data to address the five research questions.

Исследование ландшафтов всегда было традиционным научным направлением географии. В России подобная направленность исследований остаётся актуальной, несмотря на то, что термины «геоэкология» и «ландшафтная экология» сегодня более распространены в англоязычном научном сообществе. Наш краткий обзор показывает значительное ускорение антропогенных ландшафтных изменений в Европе, Центральной Азии и азиатской части России за последние пять десятилетий. Ландшафтные исследования в антропоцене должны быть направлены на достижение и сохранение устойчивости ландшафта при его высокой производительности, что включает в себя прекращение деградации ландшафтов, развитие культурных и сохранение природных ландшафтов. Чистая вода и чистый воздух, плодородные и здоровые почвы для производства продуктов питания и других экосистемных услуг, а также биологически разнообразная зеленая среда являются атрибутами ландшафтов, обеспечивающих выживание и благополучие населения. Дисциплинарные и междисциплинарные исследования должны генерировать знания, инновации и правила принятия действенных решений. Генерация знаний в глобализованном мире основана на сборе больших массивов данных и моделировании сценариев. Международные длительные полевые опыты и системы агроэкологического мониторинга будут предоставлять данные для экосистемных моделей и систем поддержки принимаемых решений. Landscape research has been a traditional scientific discipline of geography. This is still the case in Russia, whilst the terms geo-ecology and landscape ecology have become established in the English speaking scientific community. Our short review reveals huge and accelerating anthropogenic landscape transformations in Europe, Central Asia and Asian Russia since the end the 1960s. Landscape research in the Anthropocene has to focus on achieving landscape sustainability at high productivity. This includes halting landscape degradation, developing cultural landscapes, and maintaining semi-natural landscapes. Clean water and air, fertile and healthy soils for food and other ecosystem services and a green and bio-diverse environment are attributes of landscapes for the survival and well-being of humans. Research has to generate knowledge, innovations and decision rules by disciplinary, interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary work. Knowledge generation in a globalized world is based on big data gathering and scenario modelling. International long-term experiments and agri-environmental monitoring systems will deliver data for ecosystem models and decision support systems.

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013 ; An examination of two computer programs used for estimating wind energy, RETScreen and System Advisor Model (SAM), are examined and compared to measured data from a wind farm. Wind speed and electrical production estimated by these programs are examined and compared to the measured data. Both programs assume no losses and predict data for an ideal wind farm. Measured data on the other hand includes losses within the farm (e.g. array loss, airfoil loss and availability loss). According to results, RETScreen underestimates the electrical production by 35% and SAM overestimates it by 26%.