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The lower 9 km of the Buffalo River that flows into the eastern end of Lake Erie has been designated by the International Joint Commission as a Great Lakes area of concern (AoC) because of poor water quality, degraded riparian and river habitat, and contaminated sediments—impairments related to a long history of contamination from the industrial legacy of the past century. As a designated AoC, attention is presently focused on sediment remediation, an endeavor requiring an assessment of the relationship between sediment transport processes and sediment contaminant concentrations. In 1990 a pilot sediment trend analysis (STA) revealed an upriver return of sediments from the mouth of the Buffalo River as far as 5 km inland. A complete STA conducted in 2004 confirmed the upriver transport regime. Examination of river discharge and Lake Erie water levels demonstrated that lake seiches occur at far greater frequencies than river discharges of a magnitude capable of transporting sediment. Thus the rive...

A combination of geological and engineering approaches was applied to better understand sediment movement along a contaminated river bed and provide support for remediation decision making. The geological approach, using sediment trend analysis (STA) and side‐scan sonar mapping, helps interpret sedimentary processes acting over longer terms, while the engineering approach, based on a three‐dimensional sediment transport model, illustrates sediment movement over shorter times, such as might be driven by storm events. The study site was the lower portions of the Buffalo River (Buffalo, NY), which is a tributary to Lake Erie and is an Area of Concern (AoC), as identified by the International Joint Commission due to beneficial use impairments primarily associated with contaminated sediment. Results from STA indicate two distinct flow regimes: a downstream regime dominated by fluvial processes and an upstream regime driven by changes in the level of Lake Erie. Where the two flow regimes intersect, sed...

The Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program recently released the program guidelines (NSF 09-529) for the next round of the program. There are several changes to the CCLI program and a new program opportunity that invites proposals for projects that would provide leadership and contribute to transforming undergraduate STEM education. This article provides some basic background about the program, points out changes in the new solicitation, and encourages geoscience faculty to submit proposals to this program. BACKGROUND The CCLI program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) makes grants for projects that improve undergraduate education in the sciences, engineering, mathematics, and technology at all types of institutions. The CCLI program has its 'roots' in several merged DUE programs (Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI), Course and Curriculum Development (CCD), and the Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement (UFE)). It would not be surprising for early career faculty who ask senior colleagues about the ILI program to receive in response a smile and a tour of a laboratory or instrument made possible by ILL The current CCLI program has evolved from earlier versions that included Adaptation and Implementation (A&I), Educational Material Development (EMD) proof-of-concept and full development, and National Dissemination (ND). More recently, CCLI introduced the 'cycle of innovation', phases (1, 2, and 3), and combined with the Assessment of Student Achievement (ASA) program. Suffice to say, CCLI has had a long history and remains one of DUE's most flexible programs that has and continues to support a wide range of activities aimed at improving the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate education for all students. Additional information about the CCLI program and examples of how this program can support student research activities can be found in the CUR Quarterly (McBride and Singer, 2002). CCLI has a wide scope The CCLI program supports efforts that: * Bring advances in STEM disciplinary knowledge into the curriculum * Create or adapt learning materials and teaching strategies * Develop faculty expertise * Promote widespread implementation of educational innovations * Prepare future K-1 2 teachers * Enhance our understanding of how students learn STEM topics * Enhance our understanding how faculty adopt instructional approaches * Build capacity for assessment and evaluation The program especially encourages projects that will have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education, produce widespread adoption of classroom practices based on how students learn, and explore cyberlearning. The most recent program solicitation (NSF 09-529) also invites proposals for Central Resource Projects that provide leadership and implementation of activities that sustain a community of practice engaged in transforming undergraduate STEM education. CCLI Central Resource projects would support activities intended to increase the communications among the STEM education community and increase the impact of CCLI projects. Central Resource projects could provide leadership in the dissemination of STEM instructional materials and practices and ways to integrate research experiences into the undergraduate curriculum. Resource projects could provide expertise about assessing student learning and findings on what we know about how students learn and what pedagogies work under what conditions. Resource Projects could provide for a series of meetings designed to increase cooperation and collaboration among large groups of PIs with similar interests. Examples of possible Central Resource projects are provided in the solicitation. It should be noted that Central Resource projects most likely would extend beyond a single discipline to impact CCLI grantees and other broad communities of NSF grantees. …

Simultaneous recordings of the fetal electrocardiogram and ultrasound Doppler-cardiogram were used for the determination of the pre-ejection period (PEP) of the fetal cardiac cycles. All 50 fetuses selected for the present study experienced uneventful perinatal lives despite maternal antepartum complications which required hospitalization. A significant positive correlation between the PEP and gestational age of the fetuses was again demonstrated. The PEP of the fetus measured within one week prior to delivery was also found to be significantly correlated with the newborn body weights at birth. Statistical analysis demonstrates that fetal body weight was more closely related to the physiologic lengthening of the PEP.