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Given the common use of chemical concentration data to define ceramic groups that aid in the exploration of ancient technology, trade and provenance, it is important to reflect on how we collectively establish and define both chemical groups and outliers. In this paper, we argue that commonly used data analysis procedures, such as principal component analysis and centred log-ratio principal component analysis favoured in the examination of ceramic chemical data, although rapid and easy, may overlook existing chemical groups and outliers, especially when the ratio of non-diagnostic to diagnostic elements is high. To evaluate whether geochemistry is more important than data dispersion in data assessment, we re-examine chemical concentration data from previously published ceramic, clay and daub samples from the lower Ohio River Valley. We begin by briefly discussing steps we took to ensure that the data set reflects geochemical differences, rather than analytical or data transfer errors. Next, we use bivariate plots, as well as PCA and CLR-PCA, to examine different versions of our altered data, using varying numbers of element combinations. We propose that the careful examination of bivariate plots is critical in establishing the elements that should be included in PCA and other multivariate analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses several deficiencies in the existing formulations for terrestrial hydrologic processes in the Common Land Model (CLM) and presents improved solutions, focusing on runoff prediction. In particular, this paper has 1) incorporated a realistic geographic distribution of bedrock depth to improve estimates of the actual soil water capacity; 2) replaced an equilibrium approximation with a dynamic prediction of the water table to produce more reasonable variations of the saturated zone depth; 3) used an exponential decay function with soil depth for the saturated hydraulic conductivity to consider the effect of macropores near the ground surface; 4) formulated an effective hydraulic conductivity of the liquid part at the frozen soil interface and imposed a maximum surface infiltration limit to eliminate numerically generated negative or excessive soil moisture solution; and 5) examined an additional contribution to subsurface runoff from saturation lateral runoff or baseflow controlled by topography. To assess the performance of these modifications, runoff results from a set of offline simulations are validated at a catchment-scaled study domain around the Ohio Valley region. Together, these new schemes enable the CLM to capture well the major characteristics of the observed total runoff variations. The improvement is especially significant at peak discharges under high flow conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shell-tempered pottery is a common occurrence in late prehistoric assemblages from the southeastern and midwestern United States. The use of shell temper in the middle Ohio Valley began during the Late Woodland period (ca. A.D. 800) but was not common until Fort Ancient times (ca. A.D. 1000-1650). Initially, shell was mixed with other tempering agents, but between ca. A.D. 1300 and 1500 it became the primary temper form, during a time of clear and region-wide Mississippian/Fort Ancient interaction. Assessing whether or not tire Fort Ancient shift to use of shell tempering was associated with these Mississippian interactions is the subject of this paper, in which we combine petrographic analyses at a selection of western Fort Ancient sites with data pertaining to specific social contexts within a single village. A working hypothesis is offered that this temper type was initially mixed with local nonshell tempers alongside other Mississippian characteristics being combined with local traditions (e.g., wall trenches incorporated into post houses) throughout the study region, focused on the Miami-Ohio River confluence area of the middle Ohio Valley. In a well-defined social context in one village, the movement of nonlocal shell-tempered vessels is associated with a village wide leader (and possibly green corn ceremonialism) during a time of increased network strategies of cultural integration across the Fort Ancient region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ozone is produced by chemical interactions involving nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. At high concentrations, ground-level ozone has been shown to be harmful to human health and to the environment. It has been recognized that ozone is a regional-scale problem and that regionwide control strategies would be needed to improve ozone air quality in the eastern United States. To mitigate interstate transport of ozone and its precursors, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a regional rule in 1998 known as the “NOx State Implementation Plan (SIP) Call,” requiring 21 states in the eastern United States to reduce their summertime NOx emissions by 30 May 2004. In this paper, the effectiveness of the new emission control measures mandated by the NOx SIP Call is assessed by quantifying the changes that occurred in the daily maximum 8-h ozone concentrations measured at nearly 50 locations, most of which are rural (33 sites of the Clean Air Status and Trend Network and 16 sites of the Air Quality System), over the eastern United States. Given the strong dependence of ozone formation and accumulation on meteorological conditions, the incidence of the latter is first mitigated, and meteorologically adjusted ozone concentrations are extracted using a multiple regression technique. By examining the differences between the cumulative distribution functions of the meteorologically adjusted ozone concentrations, it is shown that ozone concentrations in the eastern United States are now on average 13% less than those prior to the NOx SIP Call. Using back-trajectory analyses, it is also shown that emission controls on the electricity-generating units located in the Ohio River Valley have contributed toward the improvement of ozone air quality in downwind regions, especially east and northeast of the Ohio River Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research on sexual deviance on university and college campuses is limited by its narrow focus on group affiliation. In this study, it is argued that prior deviance and opportunity serve as more robust predictor variables of sexual deviance. Using a sample of 304 male college students from four universities within the Ohio Valley Conference, this paper utilizes Analytic moment structures (AMOS) analyses to examine the relationship between prior deviance and sexual deviance. Results support the assumption that sexual aggression is significantly (β=.17) mediated or accounted for by opportunity. Overall, the relationships among variables lend support to the argument that alternative explanations of sexual deviance may provide a better understanding of such a complex societal problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Source water quality is of major concern to all drinking water utilities. The accidental introduction of contaminants to their source water is a constant threat to utilities withdrawing water from navigable or industrialized rivers. The events of 11 September, 2001 in the United States have heightened concern for drinking water utility security as their source water and finished water may be targets for terrorist acts. Efforts are underway in several parts of the United States to strengthen early warning capabilities. This paper will focus on those efforts in the Ohio River Valley Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]