Region Of Pennsylvania Research Articles

Generating Surface Models of Population Using Dasymetric Mapping*

Aggregated demographic datasets are associated with analytical and cartographic problems due to the arbitrary nature of areal unit partitioning. This article describes a methodology for generating a surface-based representation of population that mitigates these problems. This methodology uses dasymetric mapping and incorporates areal weighting and empirical sampling techniques to assess the relationship between categorical ancillary data and population distribution. As a demonstration, a 100-meter-resolution population surface is generated from U.S. Census block group data for the southeast Pennsylvania region. Remote-sensing-derived urban land-cover data serve as ancillary data in the dasymetric mapping. *The author would like to thank Cory Eicher and Alan MacEacren for many helpful conversations regarding dasymetric mapping and Barbara Buttenfield for her constructive comments on a previous draft of this article.

Impacts of Rainfall Data on Model Refinement in Greater Pittsburgh

The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) and its 83 member municipalities in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region are in the process of impleme…

Exodus!: Religion, Race, and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America

Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America. By Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Pp. x, 216. Index. Cloth, $42.00; paper, $16.00.) Even U. B. Phillips, who could be positively obtuse when it came to slave culture, understood the importance of the biblical saga of to the black community. But only Eddie S. Glaude Jr., former student of Albeit Raboteau and Cornel West, has thought the subject worthy of an entire monograph. He was right; the result is an eloquent and thoughtful explication of the ways in which the ancient tale provided the African-- American community-South and North-with metaphorical framework for understanding their enslavement and their flight into freedom. Black Americans recognized themselves in the story, and as they began to forge independent African congregations in the wake of the American Revolution, they situated their religious and political struggles within the sacred narrative, which gave their demands divine sanction. Some of what Glaude presents here will be familiar to readers of this journal, yet his insights into the topic are consistently fresh and original. He argues, as has John B. Boles, that black dreams of liberation were expressed as verbal reenactments of the Israelites' flight from Egypt. In the slave quarters, rhetorical comparisons to the legend of Moses kept hope alive that God would deliver his chosen people once again, especially if they behaved according to his will. Jews in Babylon were held against their will, Glaude quotes Daniel Coker as preaching to his Bethel Church congregation in Philadelphia. So were our brethren (29). Coker's somewhat confused metaphor (which in fact referred to the Book of Ezra) nonetheless helped former bondpeople in the Pennsylvania region to collapse the past into the present in way that allowed them to imagine brighter future. The God of the righteous promised African Americans freedom even in the land of the new pharaoh. Racist street action, such as New York City's July Days riots of 1834, provide case in point for Glaude's analysis. As the promise of the revolutionary era collapsed into white mob activity directed against black churches and integrated patriotic celebrations, black ministers returned to the lessons of Exodus. Rhetorical reminders of God's covenant, the trials in Egypt, and the struggles in the wilderness as prelude to the promised land became commonplace in northern oratory as the black community sought to make sense out of the habitual violence visited upon their homes, their businesses, and their bodies. The subsequent movement that Glaude dubs Exodus politics was a form of common complaint against oppression, faith in eventual deliverance, and the belief that democracy and justice in America ultimately rested with the nation's darker sons and daughters (111). …

Using Geographic Information Systems to Create and Analyze Statistical Surfaces of Population and Risk for Environmental Justice Analysis

Objective. Methodological issues associated with the conventional statistical approach to environmental justice research, such as scale of analysis, continue to make assessments of environmental injustice problematic. Geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to facilitate multiscale analysis through the generation of statistical surface representations of both socioeconomic character and environmental risk. Methods. As a case study, U.S. Bureau of the Census and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data sets were used to generate statistical surfaces of socioeconomic character and environmental risk for the southeast Pennsylvania region. Results. Analysis of these statistical surfaces reveals that socioeconomic status decreases with proximity to, and density of, hazardous facilities. Conclusions. Further research calls for incorporating other relevant information, such as amount and toxicity of toxic release, into GIS‐based statistical surface representations of risk.

Assessing mine drainage pH from the color and spectral reflectance of chemical precipitates

The pH of mine impacted waters was estimated from the spectral reflectance of resident sediments composed mostly of chemical precipitates. Mine drainage sediments were collected from sites in the Anthracite Region of eastern Pennsylvania, representing acid to near neutral pH. Sediments occurring in acidic waters contained primarily schwertmannite and goethite while near neutral waters produced ferrihydrite. The minerals comprising the sediments occurring at each pH mode were spectrally separable. Spectral angle difference mapping was used to correlate sediment color with stream water pH ( r 2=0.76). Band-center and band-depth analysis of spectral absorption features were also used to discriminate ferrihydrite and goethite and/or schwertmannite by analyzing the 4T 1← 6A 1 crystal field transition (900–1000 nm). The presence of these minerals accurately predicted stream water pH ( r 2=0.87) and provided a qualitative estimate of dissolved SO 4 concentrations. Spectral analysis results were used to analyze airborne digital multispectral video (DMSV) imagery for several sites in the region. The high spatial resolution of the DMSV sensor allowed for precise mapping of the mine drainage sediments. The results from this study indicate that airborne and space-borne imaging spectrometers may be used to accurately classify streams impacted by acid vs. neutral-to-alkaline mine drainage after appropriate spectral libraries are developed.

Roles of Bioavailable Iron and Calcium in Coal Dust-induced Oxidative Stress: Possible Implications in Coal Workers' Lung Disease

Marked regional differences in prevalence of pneumoconiosis are apparent in the US despite comparable dust exposure. In the present study, we examined the ability of 28 coal samples to release bioavailable iron (BAI) and calcium, as well as other metals such as Cr, Ni, Cu, and Co, from three coalmine regions in Utah (UT), West Virginia (WV), and Pennsylvania (PA), respectively. BAI is defined as iron (both Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ ) released by the coals in 10 mM phosphate solution, pH 4.5, which mimics conditions of the phagolysosomes in cells. We found that coals from the UT, WV, and PA regions released average levels of BAI of 9.6, 4658.8, and 12149 parts per million (ppm, w/w), respectively, which correlated well with the prevalence of pneumoconiosis from that region (correlation coefficient r =0.92 ). The low levels of BAI in the UT coals were due to the presence of calcite (CaCO 3 ), which was shown to be preferentially acid solubilized before iron compounds. Release of iron by two coal samples from the PA and UT regions was further examined in vitro in human lung epithelial A549 cells. We found that the coal from PA, with a high prevalence of pneumoconiosis, released BAI in a dose-dependent manner, both in tissue culture media and in A549 cells. At 2 w g/cm 2 , levels of lipid peroxidation induced by the PA coal were increased 112% over control cells at 24 h treatment, and were sustained at this level for 3 days. The coal from UT, with a low prevalence of pneumoconiosis, induced a marginal increase in cellular iron at 5 and 10 w g/cm 2 treatments and had no effect on lipid peroxidation. Calcium levels in the cells treated with the PA and UT coals were 8.6 and 11.5 w moles/10 6 cells, respectively, and were significantly higher than that in the controls (53 w moles/10 6 cells). Our results suggest that the differences in the BAI content in the coals may be responsible for the observed regional differences in the prevalence of pneumoconiosis. Therefore, BAI may be a useful characteristic of coal for predicting coal's toxicity.

The Demand for Hedging with Futures and Options

AbstractThe optimal hedging portfolio is shown to include both futures and options under a variety of circumstances when the marginal cost of hedging is nonzero. Futures and options are treated as substitute goods, and the properties of the resulting hedging demand system are explained. The overall optimal hedge ratio is shown to increase when the marginal cost of trading options is reduced. The overall optimal hedge ratio is shown to decrease when the marginal cost of trading futures is decreased. One implication is that hedging demand can be stimulated by a reduction in the perceived cost of trading options through the education of hedgers about options and the initiation of programs such as the Dairy Options Pilot Program. The demand approach is applied to estimate optimal hedge ratios for dairy producers hedging corn inputs in five regions of Pennsylvania. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 21:693–712, 2001

14th U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

The US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics is sponsoring the 16th US National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNCTAM) on June 27 - July 2, 2010 at Penn State in University Park, PA. Congresses, held every four years, are the premier American forum for networking and technical information exchange for researchers and practitioners interested in mechanics. The Committee, established in 1948 by the National Academy of Sciences, represents the United States in international mechanics related activities. It is the focal point for the U.S. engineering, scientific, and mathematical communities working in mechanics and serves as the national forum for defining major issues in mechanics research, technology, and education. The 2010 USNCTAM agenda consists of a welcome reception, four plenary presentations, up to 19 parallel technical sessions, lunches, and a banquet. Technical sessions cover recent developments in materials and structures, fluid mechanics, dynamics, bio-mechanics, and computational mechanics. Approximately 900 papers by colleagues are scheduled for presentation. Technical sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday will be held all day. On Wednesday and Friday, technical sessions will be held in the morning only, allowing attendees some time to enjoy the State College area. Authors were required to provide an abstract in order to be placed on the program. Abstracts range in length from one to two pages. These proceedings contain all of the abstracts submitted in accordance with the posted format and schedule. Abstracts in these proceedings can be found by browsing under specific track titles and mini-symposium titles. Search tools are provided to allow the user to search for papers by other means such as paper title, author's name or affiliation, paper number, etc. On behalf of the US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, the Conference Chairs, Scientific Committee, and Penn State Organizing Committee welcome all Congress participants to the picturesque ridge-valley region of Central Pennsylvania. We hope you have a stimulating and enjoyable experience at the 2010 USNCTAM.

First Report of Plum Pox Potyvirus in Ontario, Canada.

Plum pox potyvirus (PPV) causes plum pox (sharka) disease, which is considered the most serious disease of stone fruits including peach, plum, nectarine, and apricot (2). The disease may cause losses as high as 80 to 100% of some crops (2). A survey was initiated in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, after it was reported that PPV was detected in Pennsylvania (1). The initial survey focused on Prunus material imported into Canada from the Pennsylvania region. Where imported trees could be identified, every tree was sampled. In cases where the imported trees were growing in mixed blocks with plants from other sources, 25% of the trees were sampled and tested as composites of four trees. PPV was detected in three symptomless Fantasia nectarine (Prunus persica var. nectarina) trees by triple-antibody sandwich (TAS) ELISA using the REAL Durviz kit (Valencia, Spain), which contains the universal PPV monoclonal 5B. PPV infection was confirmed by western blot analyses (a PPV polyclonal antibody and PPV 5B monoclonal were used as primary antibodies), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and TC/RT-PCR. In western blot analyses, the coat protein subunit sizes of the Canadian PPV isolates were estimated at 32 kDa based on electrophoretic mobility in 12% SDS-PAGE. RFLP analysis of the 243-bp fragment amplified using PPV specific primers P1 and P2 (4) indicated the presence of RsaI and AluI enzyme restriction sites, which is characteristic of PPV D strains. In RT-PCR analysis using D and M specific primers (3), only the D specific primers amplified a fragment 198 bp in size. This data provided conclusive evidence that the PPV isolates detected in Canada were PPV D, similar to the strain detected in Pennsylvania. The survey is continuing and is being expanded to determine the extent of spread and the exact distribution of the virus.

Personal accounts. Managed care wars: a first casualty.

Personal accounts. Managed care wars: a first casualty.

Physical Activity and Reduced Risk of Ovarian Cancer

In Brief Objective To examine the relation between leisure-time physical activity and ovarian cancer. Methods We used data from a population based case-control study. Cases (n = 767) were women 20–69 years of age in whom epithelial ovarian cancer was diagnosed during 1994–1998 and who resided in a defined region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware. Controls (n = 1367) were ascertained by using random-digit dialing and Health Care Financing Administration files and were frequency-matched to cases for age and county of residence. Information on lifetime leisure-time physical activity was obtained during in-person interviews. Results Leisure-time physical activity was significantly associated with reduced occurrence of ovarian cancer (P = .01). After adjustment for age, parity, oral contraceptive use, tubal ligation, family history of ovarian cancer, race, and body mass index, women with the highest level of activity had an odds ratio of 0.73 (95% CI 0.56, 0.94) for ovarian cancer compared with women with the lowest level of activity. When the relation was analyzed by various recalled time periods during life, the odds ratios for the highest versus the lowest category of activity at ages 14–17, 18–21, 22–29, 30–39, 40–49, and >50 years ranged from 0.64–0.78. Conclusion Leisure-time physical activity is associated with reduced occurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer. Leisure-time physical activity is associated with reduced risk of ovarian cancer after adjustment for age, parity, oral contraceptive use, tubal ligation, family history of ovarian cancer, body mass index, education, and race.

Physical activity and reduced risk of ovarian cancer

Objective: To examine the relation between leisure-time physical activity and ovarian cancer. Methods: We used data from a population based case-control study. Cases ( n = 767) were women 20–69 years of age in whom epithelial ovarian cancer was diagnosed during 1994–1998 and who resided in a defined region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware. Controls ( n = 1367) were ascertained by using random-digit dialing and Health Care Financing Administration files and were frequency-matched to cases for age and county of residence. Information on lifetime leisure-time physical activity was obtained during in-person interviews. Results: Leisure-time physical activity was significantly associated with reduced occurrence of ovarian cancer ( P = .01). After adjustment for age, parity, oral contraceptive use, tubal ligation, family history of ovarian cancer, race, and body mass index, women with the highest level of activity had an odds ratio of 0.73 (95% CI 0.56, 0.94) for ovarian cancer compared with women with the lowest level of activity. When the relation was analyzed by various recalled time periods during life, the odds ratios for the highest versus the lowest category of activity at ages 14–17, 18–21, 22–29, 30–39, 40–49, and >50 years ranged from 0.64–0.78. Conclusion: Leisure-time physical activity is associated with reduced occurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer.

00/00397 Demonstration program for wood/coal co-firing in western Pennsylvania

National interest in the combustion of wood and wood/coal mixtures is growing rapidly in response to the world-wide concern for global warming, the US concern for SO{sub 2} and NOx emissions, and regional interest in expanding the utilization of forest products and byproducts. Throughout the forest product sector, combustion of wood and wood byproducts is widely practiced. Numerous small combustors for use by the homeowner to burn seasoned firewood are on the market. Lumber and paper mills produce large amounts of raw wood wastes, which many of them combust in industrial boilers to provide process heat and mechanical energy for their operations. In the case of both small and large combustors, the feed systems, burners, thermal recovery systems and flues have been specially designed for 100% wood use. Within the industrial and utility coal-fired boiler sector, furnaces are designed for 100% coal combustion and there is very little experience with wood/coal cofiring in these systems. Moreover, what experience is out there has not been documented in the open literature. Thus, it is proving very difficult for operators of coal-fired boilers to join quickly the national effort to increase wood firing. To provide assistance in this direction, the Northeastern Area Statemore » and Private Forestry Program of the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service has initiated a program with the University of Pittsburgh to demonstrate wood/coal cofiring into stoker and fluid-bed boilers in the western Pennsylvania region. The first project under this program was a demonstration at the traveling-grate stoker boiler of the Pittsburgh Brewing Company. The program staff at the University is currently working on several new projects: initiating commercial wood/coal cofiring at the brewery, organizing a demonstration at the underfed stoker boiler plant at a state-owned facility, conceptualizing projects for a spreader stoker boiler at a federally-owned facility and a fluid-bed boiler operated by an independent power producer, and consulting with several companies and agencies.« less

A Serious Outbreak of Blast Disease (Gray Leaf Spot) of Perennial Ryegrass in Golf Course Fairways in Pennsylvania.

Blast disease (gray leaf spot) of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), caused by Pyricularia grisea (Cooke) Sacc., in golf course fairways in Pennsylvania, was first reported in 1991 (1). The disease was primarily confined to the southeastern region of the state. In August and September 1998, severe outbreaks of blast disease occurred in perennial ryegrass fairways in numerous golf courses in the same region in Pennsylvania. Additionally, in 1998, the disease was diagnosed in ryegrass fairways for the first time in the western region of the state, where serious disease outbreaks occurred. The disease develops on leaf blades as small, watersoaked lesions that become necrotic spots. The spots expand rapidly, and develop into gray, grayish-brown, or light brown, circular spots with purple to dark brown borders often surrounded by a yellow halo on the leaf blades. As the disease progresses, the circular necrotic spots coalesce, become irregular in shape, and cause partial (tip blight) or complete blighting of the leaf blades. The blighted blades may often appear twisted. Turfgrass loss due to the disease was over 90% in several golf courses. During the 1998 epidemics, a survey was conducted in the affected regions, which included three golf courses in western Pennsylvania and 15 golf courses in southeastern Pennsylvania. P. grisea was consistently isolated from the symptomatic ryegrass leaf blades of turf samples (12 to 28 samples per location) collected from the blighted fairways. Of the 122 isolates of P. grisea collected from the 18 golf courses, seven isolates (two from western Pennsylvania and five from southeastern Pennsylvania) were selected for pathogenicity assays. Five Pennfine perennial ryegrass plants were grown in each Cone-Tainer (4 mm in diameter) that was filled to 1 cm below the rim with granular calcine clay medium (Turface MVP; Allied Industrial Material, Buffalo Grove, IL). Three weeks after seeding, grasses were fertilized with water-soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer (1.3 g per liter of water) once a week to field capacity of the growing medium. Treatments (the isolates) were arranged as a randomized complete block with four replications (a Cone-Tainer per replication). Six-week-old ryegrass plants were atomized with an aqueous suspension of P. grisea conidia (approximately 8 × 104 conidia per ml of sterilized, distilled water) until the leaves were completely wet. Individual Cone-Tainers were placed in clear polyethylene bags, enclosed, and were placed in an incubator that was maintained at continuous 28°C and 12-h-day fluorescent light (72 μE s-1 m-2). Three days after inoculation, water-soaked lesions (<2 mm in diameter) developed on leaves of the ryegrass inoculated with each isolate of P. grisea. No lesions developed on leaves of the control plants. Seven days after inoculation, the polyethylene bags were removed, and disease incidence (percent infected leaves) was assessed. P. grisea was isolated from the necrotic lesions or the blighted leaf blades of every plant inoculated with the fungus. This is the first report of blast disease outbreak in golf course fairways in western Pennsylvania. The impact of blast disease epidemics on golf courses in the northeastern United States in 1998 was significant, and caused serious concern to turf managers. The survey indicates that blast disease of perennial ryegrass may be emerging as a new problem for the turfgrass industry in the northeastern United States. Reference: (1) P. J. Landschoot and B. F. Hoyland. Plant Dis. 76:1280, 1992.

Exposure Rates Associated with High Level Fluoroscopic Equipment and Data Recording Modes

The 1993 Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) and Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, Inc. (CRCPD) study focused on exposure rates from high level fluoroscopic equipment. As a part of the Pennsylvania study, only eight facilities within our region were surveyed, with exposure rates varying from 6 to 398 roentgens per minute. With so great a range, a more detailed survey on all facilities possessing equipment capable of high level fluoroscopy and its associated data recording modes was undertaken. This study encompassed 108 units from 42 facilities within the 22 counties of the Western Pennsylvania region. It is possible that typical fluoroscopy may not be responsible for the highest patient exposures, but that the recording of the images, primarily in the cineradiographic mode, produces the highest patient exposure rates.

Pow-wowing: the Pennsylvania Dutch way to heal.

Since ancient times, Germanic tribes from the Palatine valley relied on faith healers, brauchers, when health problems developed. Several hundred years ago, brauchers immigrated to the New World with various Germanic religious sects. Cooperative, instructional meetings, or pow wows, between Native American medicine men and newly immigrated brauchers allowed the newcomers to learn about herbs and remedies indigenous to North America. The brauchers, now known as pow wowers, practice within Pennsylvania Dutch communities across the country, especially in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania region. A review of the literature explores the history and development of the Pennsylvania Dutch practice of pow-wowing.

Coalbed methane resource potential and current prospects in Pennsylvania

Coalbed methane gas content analyses from exploratory coal cores and existing data indicate that gas content generally increases with increasing depth and rank. The coal beds studied are from the Main Bituminous field of Pennsylvania (which currently contains 24 coalbed methane pools) and the Northern and Southern Anthracite coal fields. They range from the Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Group to the Late Pennsylvanian–Early Permian Dunkard Group. Previous US Bureau of Mines studies revealed gas contents from 0.4 to 13.8 cm 3/g at depths of 99 to 432 m for the bituminous coal beds of the Allegheny Group. More recent core data from the Allegheny Group yielded gas contents from 2.2 to 8.9 cm 3/g at depths from 167 to 387 m. In the Anthracite region of eastern Pennsylvania, the little data that are available show that gas content is anomalously high or low. Gas yields from test holes in eastern Pennsylvania are low with or without artificial stimulation mainly due to the lack of a good cleat system. Overall estimates of coalbed methane resources indicate there may be 1.7 Tm 3 (61 Tcf) of gas-in-place contained in the Northern Appalachian coal basin. The amount of technically recoverable coalbed methane resources is projected by the US Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Team [US Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Resource Assessment Team, 1996. 1995 National assessment of United States oil and gas resources—results, methodology, and supporting data, US Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-30, CD-ROM, Denver, CO, 80 pp.] and Lyons [Lyons, P.C., 1997. Central-northern Appalachian coalbed methane flow grows. Oil and Gas Journal 95 (27) 76–79] at 0.3 Tm 3 (11.48 Tcf). This includes portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and a small part of Maryland. Consequently, a mapping investigation was conducted to evaluate the regional geology of the bituminous coal-bearing intervals in southwestern Pennsylvania and its influence on coalbed methane potential. Phase I of this study involved the entire Pennsylvanian coal-bearing interval of southwestern Pennsylvania. Phase II focused on a stratigraphic delineation and evaluation of Allegheny Group coal beds and associated sandstones. Several prospective coal beds and associated facies relationships with channel–fill sandstones were determined. Possible non-coal scenarios for coalbed methane include erosional contacts between coal beds and overlying channel–fill sandstones and areas of stacked channel–fill sandstones. Repetitive sequences of coal accumulation are stacked, commonly with shale interburden, and are also potential coalbed methane targets. Additional Pennsylvania Geological Survey drilling/coalbed methane sampling occurred in Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Greene, Lawrence, Somerset, and Washington Counties. Raw coalbed methane desorption data tables/graphical displays of gas contents versus depth, thickness, and time, and average composition and heating values from coal beds of the Allegheny Group to the Dunkard Group are available at the Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Further information on cross-sections, isopleth maps, isopach maps, raw drillhole data, and ownership issues can also be obtained from the same source.

The Death of Sohio - A Case History

Published in Oil &amp; Gas Executive, Volume 1, Number 2, 1998, pages 24-33. In its 116-year life, Standard Oil Co. went through an adventurous adolescence of incredible growth, painful and improbable middle years, and a spectacular rebirth at age 100. The rebirth followed a life-giving trade with British Petroleum (BP) and boom years fueled by massive oil production in Alaska and unexpectedly high oil prices. This was followed by the death of the company after the oil price collapse in 1986. The history of Sohio, which began and ended as Standard Oil, demonstrates the impact outside events can have on business; the importance of integration for an oil company; and the vision, guts, deep pockets, and luck needed for successful oil exploration. It also shows that coping with adversity is easier than managing a massive windfall of cash and investing it prudently. Early Years In February 1865, an aggressive, growth-oriented John D. Rockefeller and his more conservative partner, Maurice Clark, agreed to resolve conflicting business philosophies by holding a private auction between themselves for a jointly owned oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio. Rockefeller won, igniting the growth phenomenon that was Standard Oil Co. (D. Yergin, The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, Simon &amp; Schuster, 1991). The oil refinery in Cleveland was the largest of 30 located in that refining capital of the world, near what was then the center of U.S. oil production, northwest Pennsylvania. The use of kerosene for lighting grew at a rate difficult to conceive today, and Rockefeller grew his business even more rapidly until he dominated refining. He built a second refinery in Cleveland in1866 and, on 10 January 1870, incorporated Standard Oil Co. in Ohio to raise capital for ever-accelerating expansion plans. In 1870, he controlled 10% of all U.S. refining capacity. Just 9 years later, he controlled 90%. Rockefeller introduced improvements to the refining business, increasing efficiency and reducing the refiner's margin (cost difference between kerosene and crude oil) from nearly U.S. $10/bbl in 1866 to U.S. $3.70/bbl in 1875, a two-thirds decrease. He also saw the advantages of integrating the entire oil business. In 1881, he took the first step: "backward integration" into company-owned crude-oil transportation. He then quickly moved downstream into the chaotic marketing business and, by the mid-1880's, controlled 80% of U.S. kerosene marketing and 90% of kerosene exports. By 1890, with production from the oil regions of northwest Pennsylvania declining, Rockefeller completed integration into crude-oil production by investing in the new Lima-Indiana oil boom. By 1891, he controlled one-fourth of all U.S. crude-oil production.

Increasing Intensity of Pasture Use with Dairy Cattle: An Economic Analysis

Intensive grazing is a fast growing dairy production system in the USA, New Zealand, and Ireland. The key concept underlying intensive grazing systems is the substitution of cow-harvest for machinery harvest of forages. Study objectives were: (i) to determine whether randomly selected, representative dairy farms using intensive grazing were profitable, (ii) to determine whether grazing was more or less profitable than other crop enterprises, and (iii) to identify factors statistically associated with increasing intensity of grazing. Data were collected on 53 farms in a prominent dairy region of Pennsylvania in 1993. Results indicated that moderate intensive grazing achieved a $129/acre return to operator management and labor, compared with $20 and $58 returns for all hay and corn silage enterprises, respectively. Dairy enterprise returns averaged about $317/cow. Debt per cow was substantially higher for farmers increasing grazing intensity. Pasture acres per cow, high debt-to-assets, and negative cash flows were statistically associated with increasing intensity of pasture use. Thus, this study suggests that farm financial constraints of high debt and poor cash flows provide an important motivation to increase grazing intensity. A major drawback of intensive grazing is the likelihood of achieving slightly lower milk production than with confinement feeding. The primary economic benefit of intensive grazing was the reduction of costs associated with the production of pasture forage vs. production of other crops.

Relationship of atmospheric deposition to the water chemistry and biota of treehole habitats

AbstractWe monitored water chemistry of rain, stemflow, and treehole invertebrate communities in three landscape‐scale regions in Pennsylvania receiving high, but different, atmospheric inputs of hydrogen and sulfate ions. We predicted that treeholes in the westernmost plateau region receiving the highest levels of those ions would have different water chemistry than those in other regions. We found that the plateau region had significantly lower pH and higher [SO4] than the central valley and easternmost ridge regions. This was correlated with higher [SO4] in plateau rain. Higher [SO4] in stemflow than rain indicated substantial dry deposition, and correlation of stemflow [SO4] and treehole [SO4] indicated that dry deposition influenced water chemistry of treeholes. Treehole [NO3] differed with time and region and was highest in August. Other chemical parameters in rain and stemflow were correlated with treehole water chemistry. Treehole [Mg] followed the pattern in stemflow, which was also correlated with rain [Mg]. However, higher [Mg], [Ca], and [K] in treehole water than in aqueous inputs indicated contribution of these cations via alternate pathways, such as the breakdown of leaf litter. No regional effects of deposition on treehole fauna were found, however, treehole insect densities and species richness were related to water volume, [SO4], [Na], and dissolved organic carbon (DOC).