This paper describes POND, a planner developed to solve problems characterized by partial observability and nondeterminism. POND searches in the space of belief states, guided by a relaxed plan heuristic. Many of the more interesting theoretical issues showcased by POND show up within its relaxed plan heuristics. Namely, the exciting topics are defining distance estimates between belief states,...

Two identical pilot-scale reactors – one as an oxidation pond (OP) and the other as a freewater-surface-flow constructed wetland (CW) planted with Cyperus papyrus – were fed with a lowstrength domestic wastewater at the organic loading rate of 16 kg BOD/ha-d. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the solar energy dissipated into the biomass productivities during the wastewater treatm...

Ponds throughout the world are subjected to a variety of management measures for purposes of biodiversity conservation. Current conservation efforts typically comprise a combination of multiple measures that directly and indirectly impact a wide range of organism groups. Knowledge of the relative impact of individual measures on different taxonomic groups is important for the development of eff...

The addition of pond ash (fly ash that has been placed in evaporative ponds and subsequently dewatered) to feedlot surfaces provides a healthier environment for livestock and economic advantages for the feedlot operator. However, the water quality effects of pond ash amended surfaces are not well understood. The objectives of this field investigation were to: (1) compare feedlot soil properties...

A tree frog (Hyla arborea L., 1758) metapopulation in western Switzerland was studied during spring 2001. All potential calling ponds in an area of 350 km were searched for tree frog calling males. Twenty-nine out of 111 ponds sheltered between 1 and 250 callers. Most ponds were occupied by less than 12 males. Pond parameters were measured at three different levels using field analysis and a Ge...

In recent years, Enteromorpha prolifera blooms had serious impacts on costal environments and fisheries in China. Nevertheless, the effects of E. prolifera on microbial ecology remain unknown. In this study, for the first time, an Illumina sequencing analysis was used to investigate bacterial communities in source water, aquaculture ponds with E. prolifera, and an aquaculture pond in which E. p...

This study deals with development of decision support tools for warmwater pond aquaculture. Efforts are directed at refining the POND© software and developing a new farm-level decision support tool. Refinements to POND© focus on general issues related to program maintenance, enhancements to the enterprise budgeting tool within POND©, and a task-oriented interface for assisting users in accompli...

background: yazd waste stabilization pond facilities consist of three stabilization pond systems, module 1, module 2 and module 3 that awsp module 1 has started its operation. the existing facilities have had several problems in their operation. the objectives of this research were to evaluate the performance of stabilization ponds in wastewater treatment of the city of yazd, due to several pro...

The surface water quality of some stagnant water bodies (ponds and lakes—Obi Lake, Usede pond, Oguta lake, Omuku pond, Ugheghe pond, Karabodone lake, Abua lake, Ikarama lake, Tenmako lake, and Adiegbe lake) in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria have been investigated experimentally by analysing the physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the surface water samples. Results show: pH (5.10...

In this work a set of experiments was undertaken in a pilot-scale WSP system to determine the importance of organic nitrogen sedimentation on ammonium and total nitrogen removals in maturation ponds and its seasonal variation under British weather conditions, from September 2004 to May 2007. The nitrogen content in collected sediment samples varied from 4.17 to 6.78 percent (dry weight) and cal...