Sites In Utah Research Articles

Characteristics of Intermittent Turbulent Temperature Fluxes in Stable Conditions

The behaviour of intermittent turbulent temperature fluxes is characterized in terms of a flux interval, defined as the time interval over which flux values are computed, and a flux threshold value. Fluxes whose magnitudes exceed the threshold value are defined as flux events while the times when the threshold is not exceeded are defined as gaps. Turbulent temperature flux data from five sites in Kansas, Utah, and Washington State, U.S.A. are examined within this descriptive framework. The turbulent event fraction fturb, the ratio of the time occupied by turbulent events to the total sampling time, is found to depend linearly on the average flux for the sampling period over a range of flux intervals, threshold values, and sampling times. As the average flux for a sampling period decreases toward zero, the median magnitude of the fluxes during the gaps also decreases but the median fluxes during the turbulent events become nearly independent of the sampling period average. A wide range of values of fturb is found for gradient Richardson numbers less than 0.3, indicating the possibility of considerable intermittency under weakly to moderately stable conditions

ON‐ROAD REMOTE SENSING OF MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS: ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EXHAUST POLLUTANT LEVELS AND VEHICLE YEAR

On‐road remote sensing operates in real‐time, under real world conditions, making it ideal for detecting high pollution emitters on roads and highways. Remote sensing measurements of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxide (NO) were compiled from study sites in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, and Utah. Collectively, the studies took place from 1989 to 1999, producing 278,642 measurements from vehicles manufactured between 1926 and 2000. Median emissions of five‐year categories peaked in the 1950s and decreased steadily thereafter, with steepest declines from the late 1970s to early 1980s. Observed emissions decreases coincide with advances in emissions control technology, oxygenated gasoline, more fuel‐efficient engines (up to 1988), and emissions testing.

Soil morphology and organic matter dynamics under cheatgrass and sagebrush-steppe plant communities

Widespread cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum L.) invasion represents a major shift in species dominance that may alter ecosystem processes across much of the western US. To investigate differences following such conversion, soil morphology and organic matter under cheatgrass-dominated and native shrub-steppe vegetation were compared by standard soil analysis procedures at seven paired sites in Idaho and Utah. Results suggest that, following conversion to cheatgrass dominance, increased porosity and labile organic inputs enhance microbial decomposition in near-surface horizons beneath cheatgrass compared to adjacent soils under native vegetation. Enhanced decomposition could result in depletion of long-term SOM, leading to impoverished sites difficult to restore to native perennial vegetation.

Seedling Survival from Locally and Commercially Obtained Seeds on Two Semiarid Sites

AbstractLocal populations of plants are likely to be better adapted to a site than populations from elsewhere. Thus, local seeds should yield higher survival in restoration attempts than commercial seed stocks. We compared seedling survival from locally and commercially obtained seeds of seven species, Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass), Elymus elymoides (squirreltail), Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass), Stipa hymenoides (Indian ricegrass), Stipa comata (needle‐and‐thread), Chrysothamnus nauseosus (rubber rabbitbrush) and Ephedra nevadensis (Mormon tea) over three years on two sites in Utah (Dugway and Tintic) that were dominated by the introduced annual Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass). At the Dugway site we included burned and unburned seedbed treatments. For all species at Dugway, seedling survival to the first summer was higher on burned plots where B. tectorum densities were greatly reduced. First‐year seedling survival was 20–30% for most species on the Dugway burned plots and at Tintic. At the drier Dugway site, only S. hymenoides and Ephedra had substantial third‐year survival. Elymus and Pascopyrum survived to the third year only at the moister Tintic site. Survival to the third year was less than 3% for all species except S. comata (6% survival), and densities were low (0.2–1.0 plants/m2). However, third‐year plants were well established and the grasses flowered. Pseudoroegneria and Ephedra at Dugway (on burned plots) and S. comata and Elymus at Tintic had higher first‐year survival or higher survival based on survival curves from local than from commercial seeds. However, final survival was never significantly higher, although such a trend was suggested. Seed dormancy traits could also provide advantages to local populations, and we observed differences in dormancy between local and commercial S. comata and S. hymenoides seeds that may be an example.

Secretin Studies Fail to Show Efficacy in Autism Treatment

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & Research NewsFull AccessSecretin Studies Fail to Show Efficacy in Autism TreatmentJoan Arehart-TreichelJoan Arehart-TreichelSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:4 Jan 2002https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.37.1.0018In 1998 a boy with autism and chronic diarrhea received an injection of the digestive hormone secretin to assess the function of his pancreas. Days later, the child’s parents noticed that he could hold still and interact better with adults. Parents of other autistic children thus sought out secretin injections for their youngsters. Some then reported that their children improved dramatically, some saw no effect, and still others attested that their children got worse, not better. So the pressing question was, Can secretin injections help children with autism or not?The first scientific study designed to answer this question, which was reported in the December 9, 1999, New England Journal of Medicine, did not find that a single intravenous dose of synthetic secretin helped autistic children perform better on a battery of behavioral tests, including the Autism Behavior Checklist, than a saline injection did (Psychiatric News, February 4, 2000). Three subsequent scientific studies published on secretin, either in the synthetic form or in the porcine form (which is what had been used in most cases of autistic children receiving secretin), likewise failed to find a positive effect. And now a fifth one also has produced negative results. It was conducted by Thomas Owley, M.D., an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Chicago, and his colleagues and is reported in the November Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.Owley and his coworkers conducted their study at sites in Illinois, California, and Utah. Fifty-six children with autistic disorder, ranging in age from 3 to 12 years, were randomized to receive either an intravenous dose of porcine secretin, followed by a saline injection four weeks later, or an intravenous dose of saline, followed by a dose of secretin four weeks later. Neither researchers nor subjects knew when the subjects were getting secretin or saline.The children underwent detailed evaluations before receiving treatment, and then every two weeks thereafter, to determine whether their symptoms of autism showed any change. These evaluations continued until eight weeks after treatment to ensure that the investigators would not miss any positive effects.Using a change in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule social-communication score as a primary measure, the researchers found no statistically significant differences in the subjects’ social and communication skills when they received secretin compared with when they received the placebo. In certain secondary measures of autism, patients receiving secretin also showed no improvement when compared with when they received a placebo.“Our study reiterates the need to perform careful studies of any new treatment—even one that appears promising—before routinely prescribing it to patients,” Owley said in a press statement released by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in conjunction with the publication of the study.“These results, in addition to those from other secretin clinical trials, do not provide evidence to support using the hormone to treat the symptoms of autism,” Duane Alexander, M.D., director of NICHD, said in the same press statement.The study was conducted as part of the Collaborative Network on the Neurobiology and Genetics of Autism, supported by the NICHD and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Additional support for the trial came from the National Institute of Mental Health and the University of California at Davis.An abstract of the report, “Multisite, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Porcine Secretin in Autism,” can be accessed on the Web at www.jaacap.com by searching under the issue “November 2001.” ▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Indicators of Great Basin rangeland health

Early-warning indicators of rangeland health can be used to estimate the functional integrity of a site and may allow sustainable management of desert rangelands. The utility of several vegetation canopy-based indicators of rangeland health at 32 Great Basin rangeland locations was investigated. The indicators were originally developed in rangelands of the Chihuahuan Desert. Soil resources are lost through wind and water-driven erosion mainly from areas unprotected by plant canopies (i.e. bare soil). Study sites in Idaho had the smallest bare patches, followed by sites in Oregon. The more arid Great Basin Sagebrush Zone sites in Utah had the largest bare patches. Several vegetational indicators including percent cover by vegetation, percent cover by life-form, percent cover by sagebrush, and percent cover by resilient species were negatively related to mean bare patch size and are potential indicators of Great Basin rangeland condition. Plant community composition and the range of bare patch sizes were different at sites in the three locations in Idaho, Oregon and Utah. Therefore, expected indicator values are location specific and should not be extrapolated to other locations. The condition of study sites were often ranked differently by different indicators. Therefore, the condition of rangeland sites should be evaluated using several indicators.

Perimortem processing of human remains among the Great Basin Fremont

The perimortem butchering of human remains has been proposed for many sites in the Anasazi Culture Area of the southwestern United States at around ad 1000. This paper presents evidence that similar practices occurred in an adjacent culture area to the north. A cluster of Fremont sites in south-central Utah show evidence of this same processing pattern including scalping, dismemberment, cooking, and fracturing of long bones. The material from one of these Fremont sites, Backhoe Village, is presented to illustrate the similarities with butchering patterns found among the Anasazi. These parallels raise questions of contact between the two populations as well as having implications for the motives involved in these butchering practices. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Estimating Risk Assessment Exposure Point Concentrations when the Data Are Not Normal or Lognormal

The US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the use of th one‐sided 95% upper confidence limit of the arithmetic mean based on eithe a normal or lognormal distribution for the contaminant (or exposure point) concentration term in the Superfund risk assessment process. When the data are not normal or lognormal this recommended approach may overestimate the exposure point concentration (EPC) and may lead to unecessary cleanup at a hazardous waste site. The EPA concentration term only seems to perform lik alternative EPC methods when the data are well fit by a lognormal distribution. Several alternative methods for calculating the EPC are investigated and compared using soil data collected from three hazardous waste sites in Montana, Utah, and Colorado. For data sets that are well fit by a lognormal distribution, values for the Chebychev inequality or the EPA concentration term may be appropriate EPCs. For data sets where the soil concentration data are well fit by gamma distributions, Wong's method may be used for calculating EPCs. The studentized bootstrap‐t and Hall's bootstrap‐t transformation are recommended for EPC calculation when all distributionfits are poor. If a data set is well fit by a distribution, parametric bootstrap may provide a suitable EPC.

Two new species of Solenostelopteris from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in Wyoming and Utah

Permineralized rhizomes of two new species of Solenostelopteris Kershaw, S. leithii, and S. medlynii, are described from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation from the Steiner and Scott's localities north of Greybull, Wyoming, and from Fremont Junction, east of Mt. Ellen, and Mussentuchit Wash sites in Utah. The species are characterized by having a heterogeneous ( S. leithii) to homogeneous ( S. medlynii) pith, rhizomes with branches ( S. leithii), a sclerenchymatous ( S. leithii) or parenchymatous ( S. medlynii) inner cortex, and both with a parenchymatous middle cortex. The outer cortex of S. leithii is parenchymatous, whereas in S. medlynii, it is composed of round to irregularly shaped, thick-walled cells. The C-shaped leaf traces in S. leithii usually arise single ranked, sometimes two ranked, with short leaf gaps and short internodes. Although the rhizomes of S. medlynii are incomplete and lack leaf traces, they still suggest very long internodes. Because fronds and epidermal trichomes are lacking in both, the affinity of these species to modern taxa, such as members of the Loxsomaceae, remains uncertain.

Estimating risk assessment exposure point concentrations when the data are not normal or lognormal.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the use of the one-sided 95% upper confidence limit of the arithmetic mean based on either a normal or lognormal distribution for the contaminant (or exposure point) concentration term in the Superfund risk assessment process. When the data are not normal or lognormal this recommended approach may overestimate the exposure point concentration (EPC) and may lead to unecessary cleanup at a hazardous waste site. The EPA concentration term only seems to perform like alternative EPC methods when the data are well fit by a lognormal distribution. Several alternative methods for calculating the EPC are investigated and compared using soil data collected from three hazardous waste sites in Montana, Utah, and Colorado. For data sets that are well fit by a lognormal distribution, values for the Chebychev inequality or the EPA concentration term may be appropriate EPCs. For data sets where the soil concentration data are well fit by gamma distributions, Wong's method may be used for calculating EPCs. The studentized bootstrap-t and Hall's bootstrap-t transformation are recommended for EPC calculation when all distribution fits are poor. If a data set is well fit by a distribution, parametric bootstrap may provide a suitable EPC.

Carpeted Roller Application of Herbicides for Larkspur (Delphiniumspp.) Control

A carpeted roller applicator and broadcast sprayer were compared for application of glyphosate, metsulfuron, and picloram to control duncecap and tall larkspur on mountain range sites in southern Idaho and central Utah, respectively. Glyphosate was the most effective herbicide, controlling 96% of both larkspur species when applied by the sprayer and 78% when applied by the roller. There was no difference in larkspur control between application methods using metsulfuron or picloram. Application of herbicides by the carpeted roller was less detrimental to forbs compared to the sprayer, and the roller application of glyphosate did not reduce grass cover. Grass cover doubled following treatments with picloram and metsulfuron.

Applications of ground penetrating radar in assessing some geological hazards: examples of groundwater contamination, faults, cavities

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used in appropriate geological settings to help map subsurface geological structures and groundwater contaminants. Associated engineering and environmental applications are numerous. In particular, GPR surveys can help to identify the approximate boundaries of contaminant plumes and provide stratigraphic information at a site. Case studies from sites in Arizona and Utah show that good correlation exists between GPR signatures and hydrocarbon contamination in strategically located wells. GPR data can also be very useful in identifying shallow faulting, and the characteristics of the associated subsurface deformation can be used to gain a better understanding of the potential for surface ruptures at a site. An example from along the Wasatch Fault Zone, Utah County, Utah, shows good correlation between GPR data and trench data. Finally, examples from Provo, Utah and Eureka, Utah demonstrate the utility of using GPR for locating underground excavations and/or cavities.

Applications of ground penetrating radar in assessing some geological hazards: examples of groundwater contamination, faults, cavities

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used in appropriate geological settings to help map subsurface geological structures and groundwater contaminants. Associated engineering and environmental applications are numerous. In particular, GPR surveys can help to identify the approximate boundaries of contaminant plumes and provide stratigraphic information at a site. Case studies from sites in Arizona and Utah show that good correlation exists between GPR signatures and hydrocarbon contamination in strategically located wells. GPR data can also be very useful in identifying shallow faulting, and the characteristics of the associated subsurface deformation can be used to gain a better understanding of the potential for surface ruptures at a site. An example from along the Wasatch Fault Zone, Utah County, Utah, shows good correlation between GPR data and trench data. Finally, examples from Provo, Utah and Eureka, Utah demonstrate the utility of using GPR for locating underground excavations and/or cavities.

Cannibalism in the Prehistoric American Southwest. Occurrence, Taphonomy, Explanation, and Suggestions for Standardized World Definition.

Intentionally-damaged human skeletal remains indicating cannibalism and/or violence have been found scattered on room floors and deposited in pits in more than 40 archeological sites in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Most of the bone assemblages were in Anasazi sites. Using five standardized taphonomic criteria (perimortem cut marks, intentional breakage, burning, anvil/hammerstone abrasions, and many missing vertebrae), 32 assemblages meet our minimal requirement for proposing cannibalism. In the 32 cannibalized series, the minimal number of individuals (MNI) ranges from 1 to 35. The average MNI is 9.2 per site. The total MNI is 295. All ages and both sexes are represented. The earliest grouping of sites with evidence of cannibalism date around A.D. 900; the latest single site, A.D. 1700. The average date for the 32 sites is ca. A.D. 1100. Two proximate explanations involve social pathology and/or Mesoamerican influence. Prehistoric Southwest cannibalism has been explained by starvation (3 sites), social pathology (several sites), and recently, as a violent form of institutionalized social control associated with the post-A.D. 900 rise of the highly complex Chacoan social and religious center in New Mexico, its regional road system, and the linked outlier multi-storied Great House communities that were built elsewhere in New Mexico and also in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. There is no identifiable direct connection with cannibalism in Mexico. When considered with the sites evidencing extensive violence, Southwest cannibalism appears to be part of a socially-pathological and chaotic development that began in the Anasazi area, possibly triggered by Mesoamerican influences such as Mexican traders.

Integrating Geosciences into Instruction-Based Archeological Research on the Anasazi in Southern Utah

Geology and anthropology students and faculty at California State University at Long Beach are integrating multidisciplinary approaches to the study of prehistoric Anasazi sites in southern Utah. Students enrolled in field-study courses participate in archeological data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Concurrently, they enhance their understanding of the Anasazi sites through application of advanced geophysical exploration techniques and concepts of field geology and paleoclimatology. This complementary educational and research program offers the students diverse strategies to thoroughly address cultural heritage assessment, not only within a site-specific framework, but also within a broader environmental context.

Possible halo depictions in the prehistoric rock art of Utah

In western American rock art the concentric circle symbol, which is widely regarded as a sun symbol, is ubiquitous. We provide evidence from Archaic and Fremont Indian rock art sites in northwestern Utah that at least one depiction was motivated by an observation of a complex halo display. Cirrus cloud optical displays are linked in both folklore and meteorology to precipitation-producing weather situations, which, in combination with an abundance of weather-related rock art symbolism, indicate that such images reflected the ceremonial concerns of the indigenous cultures for ensuring adequate precipitation. As has been shown to be the case with rock art rainbows, conventionalization of the halo image may have resulted in simple patterns that lacked recognizable details of atmospheric optical phenomena. However, in one case in which an Archaic-style petroglyph (probably 1500 yr or more old) satisfactorily reproduced a complicated halo display that contained parhelia and tangent arcs, sufficient geometricinformation is rendered to indicate a solar elevation angle of ~ 40° at the time of observation.

Particulate carbonate matter in snow from selected sites in the south-central rocky mountains

Trends in snow acidity reflect the balance between strong acid inputs and reactions with neutralizing materials. Carbonate dust can be an important contributor of buffering capacity to snow; however, its concentration in snow is difficult to quantify because it dissolves rapidly in snowmelt. In snow with neutral or acidic pH, most calcite would dissolve during sample melting if snow samples were processed using standard techniques. Here a method is described for separating particulate carbonate matter from snow. Snow samples were melted in solutions close to saturation with calcite, decreasing the dissolution rate by a factor of 100–200 compared with natural melting of snow. Particulate matter larger than 0.45 μm in diameter was then filtered from solution and analysed for carbonate content. Particulate carbonate matter concentrations are reported for 25 sites in the south-central Rocky Mountains. Results are compared with Ca 2+ and H + concentrations and regional trends are evaluated. In Colorado, mean particulate carbonate in snow was 43 μg kg −1 at sampling sites in the southern mountains and only 4 μg kg −1 at sites in the northern mountains. The higher calcite concentrations in the south probably are related to the proximity of sampling sites to major outcrops of limestone. Particulate carbonate at sampling sites in Utah and Wyoming ranged from 3–35 μg kg t-1. The levels of particulate calcite measured in snow samples are sufficient to neutralize an average of 0.4 μeq H + kg −1 snow. Strong acid anion concentrations in samples from east of Craig, Colorado, were 30–50% higher than in samples from the Colorado Front Range, but H + concentrations were 400–600% higher east of Craig. Relatively low Ca 2+ concentrations in the samples from east of Craig indicate that the difference in snow acidity was due mostly to lower concentrations of neutralizing materials.

Interactions of Pinyon and Juniper Trees with Tebuthiuron Applications at 2 Matched Reinvaded Sites in Utah

Tebuthiuron [N-[5-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]N,N'-dimethylurea] controls small trees in regrown pinyon-juniper woodland chainings. Precise applications by hand minimize cost and damage to forage plants. Little information exists on the applicability of local trials to varying Intermountain sites slated for reinvestment. We conducted 2 balanced factorial experiments at well-separated sites in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau. Four rates (0.12, 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 gm a.i. per 130 dm3 crown volume) of tebuthiuron boluses were applied to tree stembase, mid-crown, or dripline placements. Four size classes (12-99, 100-299, 300-599, and 600-1099 dm3 crown volume) of Utah juniper [Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little] and single needle (Pinus monophylla Torr. and Frem.), and Rocky Mountain (P. edulis Engelm.) pinyon trees were treated in September 1985. Defoliation and mortality levels were estimated 24 and 36 months following treatments. Both sites received highly similar amounts of herbicide and cumulative precipitation. Analysis of variance showed that the presence and strength of main effects and first order interactions was largely site-specific. Pinyon was more susceptible than juniper at tither site. Medium-sized and large saplings were apparently more readily defoliated than seedlings and small saplings. Dosage effects were generally nonlinear for both species. The highest, most rapid and most uniform defoliation and mortality of trees resulted from application of tebuthiuron at the stem bases. This placement option has strong operational advantages and minimizes damage to forage plants beneath trees.

Sprinkler Irrigation-Pesticide Best Management Systems

The relative reduction in potential groundwater contamination due to pesticides at several sites in Utah was determined by comparing alternative irrigation system designs, water management practices, and pesticides.

Mineral‐nutrient concentrations in the mountain mahogany speciesCercocarpus montanusandCercocarpus intricatusand in their associated soils

Abstract Data taken from study sites in northeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona were used to describe the mineral‐nutrient relationships of C. montanus and C. intricatus. General habitat and soil relationships are discussed as well as nutrient dynamics with respect to beneath and between plants, uptake patterns ‐soil to plant, transfer within the plant and ideas of leaf duration (evergreen vs. deciduous) in relation to nutrient conservation. The shrubs exhibited three patterns of nutrient concentration along a gradient from shrub to adjacent open area (accumulation, depletion and no change). Nutrient concentrations in the plant were significantly correlated with the “available” minerals in the soil. All ions became concentrated from soil to plant with phosphorus and nitrogen being the most highly magnified and micronutrients being pumped at much higher levels than macronutrients. All nutrients (except iron) concentrated toward stem tip and leaf. Four ions (nitrogen, magnesium, iron, manganese) increased in concentration from stem to leaf 1.6 times. Overall, the leaves and growing shoots had 70 times greater concentrations of nutrients than were available in the soil complex. Evergreen leaves appear to function as a nutrient conservation mechanism and allow plants (C. intricatus) to grow in highly infertile sites.