Aquatic nitrogen source elucidation using stable isotope analysis in the North Carolina Coastal Plain.

Eastern North Carolina has been subjected to widespread water quality degradation for decades, notably throughout the Cape Fear River Watershed, owing largely to the magnitude of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the region. Long-term nutrient monitoring data from numerous locations throughout southeastern North Carolina have shown significantly elevated organic nitrogen (Org-N) concentrations starting around the year 2000-a concerning development, as labile Org-N can stimulate algal blooms and subsequent bacterial production, thus enhancing eutrophication in freshwater systems. By measuring the stable isotope signatures (δC, δN) of particulate organic matter sampled from a range of southeastern North Carolina waters, the predominant sources to the observed Org-N loadings were elucidated.

Looking for the sponge loop: analyses of detritus on a Caribbean forereef using stable isotope and eDNA metabarcoding techniques.

Coral reefs are biodiverse ecosystems that rely on trophodynamic transfers from primary producers to consumers through the detrital pathway. The sponge loop hypothesis proposes that sponges consume dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and produce large quantities of detritus on coral reefs, with this turn-over approaching the daily gross primary production of the reef ecosystem. In this study, we collected samples of detritus in the epilithic algal matrix (EAM) and samples from potential sources of detritus over two seasons from the forereef at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize.

A Framework for Design of Conversational Agents to Support Health Self-Care for Older Adults.

Objective: We examined the potential of conversational agents (CAs) to support older adults' self-care related to chronic illness in light of lessons learned from decades of pedagogical agent research, which investigates the impact and efficacy of CAs for a wide range of learners.

Background: The role of CAs in education (i.e.

Effects of nitrogen fertilization and bioenergy crop type on topsoil organic carbon and total Nitrogen contents in middle Tennessee USA.

Nitrogen (N) fertilization affects bioenergy crop growth and productivity and consequently carbon (C) and N contents in soil, it however remains unclear whether N fertilization and crop type individually or interactively influence soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N (TN). In a three-year long fertilization experiment in switchgrass (SG: Panicum virgatum L.) and gamagrass (GG: Tripsacum dactyloides L.

Nitrogen Fertilization Restructured Spatial Patterns of Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen in Switchgrass and Gamagrass Croplands in Tennessee USA.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizers can potentially alter spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN)  concentrations in croplands such as switchgrass (SG: Panicum virgatum L.) and gamagrass (GG: Tripsacum dactyloides L.), but it remains unclear whether these effects are the same between crops and under different rates of fertilization.

Sediment Cores from White Pond, South Carolina, contain a Platinum Anomaly, Pyrogenic Carbon Peak, and Coprophilous Spore Decline at 12.8 ka.

A widespread platinum (Pt) anomaly was recently documented in Greenland ice and 11 North American sedimentary sequences at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) event (~12,800 cal yr BP), consistent with the YD Impact Hypothesis. We report high-resolution analyses of a 1-meter section of a lake core from White Pond, South Carolina, USA. After developing a Bayesian age-depth model that brackets the late Pleistocene through early Holocene, we analyzed and quantified the following: (1) Pt and palladium (Pd) abundance, (2) geochemistry of 58 elements, (3) coprophilous spores, (4) sedimentary organic matter (OC and sedaDNA), (5) stable isotopes of C (δC) and N (δN), (6) soot, (7) aciniform carbon, (8) cryptotephra, (9) mercury (Hg), and (10) magnetic susceptibility.

Compound-Specific Carbon Isotopic Composition of Ethanol in Brazil and US Vehicle Emissions and Wet Deposition.

Global atmospheric ethanol budget models include large uncertainties in the magnitude of ethanol emission sources and sinks. To apply stable isotope techniques to constrain ethanol emission sources, a headspace solid phase microextraction gas chromatograph-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry method (HS-SPME-GC-C-IRMS) was developed to measure the carbon isotopic composition of aqueous phase ethanol at natural abundance levels (1-30 μM) with a precision of 0.4‰.

Virtual Sprouts: A Virtual Gardening Pilot Intervention Increases Self-Efficacy to Cook and Eat Fruits and Vegetables in Minority Youth.

Objective: To examine the effect of the Virtual Sprouts intervention, an interactive multiplatform mobile gardening game, on dietary intake and psychosocial determinants of dietary behavior in minority youth.

Materials And Methods: In this quasi-experimental pilot intervention, 180 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in Los Angeles Unified School District participated in a 3-week program that included three Virtual Sprouts gaming sessions, three in-school lessons, and three in-home activities, using a nutrition- and gardening-focused curriculum. Pre- and postintervention questionnaires were used to assess psychosocial determinants of dietary behavior, including knowledge about and self-efficacy to eat fruits and vegetables (FV).

Learner-Adaptive Educational Technology for Simulation in Healthcare: Foundations and Opportunities.

Despite evidence that learners vary greatly in their learning needs, practical constraints tend to favor ''one-size-fits-all'' educational approaches, in simulation-based education as elsewhere. Adaptive educational technologies - devices and/or software applications that capture and analyze relevant data about learners to select and present individually tailored learning stimuli - are a promising aid in learners' and educators' efforts to provide learning experiences that meet individual needs. In this article, we summarize and build upon the 2017 Society for Simulation in Healthcare Research Summit panel discussion on adaptive learning.

Serious Games for Health: Features, Challenges, Next Steps.

As articles in this journal have demonstrated over the past 3 years, serious game development continues to flourish as a vehicle for formal and informal health education. How best to characterize a "serious" game remains somewhat elusive in the literature. Many researchers and practitioners view serious games as capitalizing on computer technology and state-of-the-art video graphics as an enjoyable means by which to provide and promote instruction and training, or to facilitate attitude change among its players.