Current and historical rates of input of mercury to the Penobscot River, Maine, from a chlor-alkali plant.

Mercury inputs by surface and ground water sources to Penobscot River from a defunct Hg-cell chlor-alkali plant were measured in 2009-10 and estimated for the entire period of operation of this facility. Over the measured interval (422 days) approximately 2.3 kg (5.4 g day-1) of mercury was discharged to the Penobscot River by the two surface streams that drain the site, with most of the combined loading (1.8 kg Hg, 78%) associated with a single storm with rainfall in excess of 100 mm. Groundwater seepage rates from the site, as estimated from both a radon tracer and seepage meter methods were in the range of 3 to 4 cm day-1 and, when combined with a best estimate of the area of groundwater discharge (11,000 m2) and average seepage/porewater mercury concentration (242 ng L-1, UCL95), yielded a loading of 0.11 g day-1 for site groundwater. None of the municipal or other industrial point sources of mercury to the river between Veazie and Bucksport, Maine exceeded 1 g day-1 individually, nor was the aggregate loading of all such sources >3 g day-1 (based on State of Maine data). Mercury loadings for the three largest tributaries downstream of Veazie Dam were estimated to contribute 4.2, 3.7 and 2.5 g day-1, respectively, to the Penobscot River. Based on sampling (total Hg ~ 2 to 4 ng L-1) and historical mean discharge data (340-460 m3 s-1), the Penobscot River upstream of the plant site contributes as much as 160 g day-1 to the downstream reach depending on river discharge. Estimates of historical (1967-2012) mercury loading using both generic emission factors and measured releases ranged from 2.6 to 27 MT while the mass of mercury found in downstream sediments amounted to 9 MT.

Treating the adolescent: the initial meeting.

In this article, we have tried to point out ways in which the initial interview can be facilitated, and in which it can be made to be both a pleasant and informative experience for the adolescent patients, and a productive and enjoyable encounter for the practitioner. The major areas include appropriate attitudes of personnel and the physical environment in which the patient is seen; the way in which a physician can introduce him- or herself to the family; methods of obtaining information from adolescent patients; differences of which one should be aware when interviewing adolescent patients at different developmental levels; and ways in which to establish rapport and to approach especially sensitive issues. Techniques to reduce anxiety in the physical examination and how to conclude the encounter are also reviewed. By using some of the techniques discussed for the initial encounter, and by incorporating those into his or her own style, the ability to care for adolescent patients can be enhance so that the physician can enjoy and, therefore, be willing to address effectively the health needs of adolescent patients.

Increasing the precision and accuracy of top-loading balances: application of experimental design.

The traditional method of estimating the weight of multiple objects is to obtain the weight of each object individually. We demonstrate that the precision and accuracy of these estimates can be improved by using a weighing scheme in which multiple objects are simultaneously on the balance. The resulting system of linear equations is solved to yield the weight estimates for the objects. Precision and accuracy improvements can be made by using a weighing scheme without requiring any more weighings than the number of objects when a total of at least six objects are to be weighed. It is also necessary that multiple objects can be weighed with about the same precision as that obtained with a single object, and the scale bias remains relatively constant over the set of weighings. Simulated and empirical examples are given for a system of eight objects in which up to five objects can be weighed simultaneously. A modified Plackett-Burman weighing scheme yields a 25% improvement in precision over the traditional method and implicitly removes the scale bias from seven of the eight objects. Applications of this novel use of experimental design techniques are shown to have potential commercial importance for quality control methods that rely on the mass change rate of an object.