Characterization of the woody biomass feedstock potential resulting from California's drought.

Regional tree die-off events generate large quantities of standing dead wood, raising concern over catastrophic wildfire and other hazards. Governmental responses to tree die-off have often focused on incentivizing biomass energy production that utilizes standing dead trees removed for safety concerns. However, the full distribution of potential woody bioenergy feedstock after tree die-off has not been evaluated due to the complexities of surveying and precisely measuring large forested areas. In this paper, we present a novel method for estimating standing dead biomass at a fine spatial resolution that combines aerial survey data with forest structure maps. Using this method, we quantify biomass generated by the unprecedented tree die-off that occurred in California following a 4-year drought and widespread pest outbreaks. The results are used to estimate feasibly recoverable feedstock for energy production. We find that approximately 95.1 million bone-dry tons (BDT) of dead biomass resulted from 2012-2017 mortality, with a lower bound of 26.2 million BDT. In other words, of the aboveground live tree biomass in 2012, ~1.3-4.8% died by 2017. Of the standing dead biomass, 29% meets minimum constraints for potential cost-effective bioenergy feedstock. This proportion drops to as low as 15% in the most affected areas due to terrain slope, wilderness status, and other factors, highlighting the need to complement disposal via biomass energy with other strategies to mitigate the risks of the tree mortality crisis, which is likely to only become more severe over time due to climate change

Effects of Human Land Use on Prey Availability and Body Condition in the Green Anole Lizard, \u3cem\u3eAnolis carolinensis\u3c/em\u3e

Lizards frequently occur in disturbed habitats, yet the impacts of human activity on lizard biology remain understudied. Here, we examined the effects of land use on the body condition of Green Anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis) and the availability of their arthropod prey. Because human activity generally alters abiotic and biotic habitat features, we predicted that areas modified by humans would differ from areas with natural, intact vegetation in arthropod abundance and biomass. In addition, because biological communities in high use areas are often relatively homogenized, we predicted that higher human land use would result in lower prey diversity. Regardless of land use, we also predicted that areas with greater prey availability and diversity would support lizards with higher body condition. We studied anoles in six plots with varying levels of human modification in Palmetto State Park in Gonzales County, Texas. We quantified arthropod abundance, biomass, and diversity in each plot via transects and insect traps. We also determined lizard body condition using mass:length ratios and residuals, fat pad mass, and liver lipid content. We found that, although arthropod abundance did not differ across plots, arthropod biomass was higher in natural than in disturbed plots. Diversity indices showed that the plots varied in their arthropod community diversity, but not in relation to disturbance. Female (but not male) lizard body condition differed across plots, with body condition higher in natural plots than disturbed plots. Together, these results suggest that land use is associated with lizard body condition, but not through a direct relationship with prey availability

What e-patients want from the doctor-patient relationship: content analysis of posts on discussion boards.

People with long-term conditions are encouraged to take control and ownership of managing their condition. Interactions between health care staff and patients become partnerships with sharing of expertise. This has changed the doctor-patient relationship and the division of roles and responsibilities that traditionally existed, but what each party expects from the other may not always be clear. Information that people with long-term conditions share on Internet discussion boards can provide useful insights into their expectations of health care staff. This paper reports on a small study about the expectations that people with a long-term condition (diabetes) have of their doctors using information gleaned from Internet discussion boards

Linking modern pollen accumulation rates to biomass: Quantitative vegetation reconstruction in the western Klamath Mountains, NW California, USA

Quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance from sediment-derived pollen systems provide unique insights into past ecological conditions. Recently, the use of pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm−2 year−1) has shown promise as a bioproxy for plant abundance. However, successfully reconstructing region-specific vegetation dynamics using PAR requires that accurate assessments of pollen deposition processes be quantitatively linked to spatially-explicit measures of plant abundance. Our study addressed these methodological challenges. Modern PAR and vegetation data were obtained from seven lakes in the western Klamath Mountains, California. To determine how to best calibrate our PAR-biomass model, we first calculated the spatial area of vegetation where vegetation composition and patterning is recorded by changes in the pollen signal using two metrics. These metrics were an assemblage-level relevant source area of pollen (aRSAP) derived from extended R-value analysis (sensu Sugita, 1993) and a taxon-specific relevant source area of pollen (tRSAP) derived from PAR regression (sensu Jackson, 1990). To the best of our knowledge, aRSAP and tRSAP have not been directly compared. We found that the tRSAP estimated a smaller area for some taxa (e.g. a circular area with a 225 m radius for Pinus) than the aRSAP (a circular area with a 625 m radius). We fit linear models to relate PAR values from modern lake sediments with empirical, distance-weighted estimates of aboveground live biomass (AGLdw) for both the aRSAP and tRSAP distances. In both cases, we found that the PARs of major tree taxa – Pseudotsuga, Pinus, Notholithocarpus, and TCT (Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae, and Taxaceae families) – were statistically significant and reasonably precise estimators of contemporary AGLdw. However, predictions weighted by the distance defined by aRSAP tended to be more precise. The relative root-mean squared error for the aRSAP biomass estimates was 9% compared to 12% for tRSAP. Our results demonstrate that calibrated PAR-biomass relationships provide a robust method to infer changes in past plant biomass

Using Field Data to Assess Model Predictions of Surface and Ground Fuel Consumption by Wildfire in Coniferous Forests of California

Inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wildfire provide essential information to the state of California, USA, and other governments that have enacted emission reductions. Wildfires can release a substantial amount of GHGs and other compounds to the atmosphere, so recent increases in fire activity may be increasing GHG emissions. Quantifying wildfire emissions however can be difficult due to inherent variability in fuel loads and consumption and a lack of field data of fuel consumption by wildfire. We compare a unique set of fuel data collected immediately before and after six wildfires in coniferous forests of California to fuel consumption predictions of the first-order fire effects model (FOFEM), based on two different available fuel characterizations. We found strong regional differences in the performance of different fuel characterizations, with FOFEM overestimating the fuel consumption to a greater extent in the Klamath Mountains than in the Sierra Nevada. Inaccurate fuel load inputs caused the largest differences between predicted and observed fuel consumption. Fuel classifications tended to overestimate duff load and underestimate litter load, leading to differences in predicted emissions for some pollutants. When considering total ground and surface fuels, modeled consumption was fairly accurate on average, although the range of error in estimates of plot level consumption was very large. These results highlight the importance of fuel load input to the accuracy of modeled fuel consumption and GHG emissions from wildfires in coniferous forests

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

The Mark 1A lithium/iron sulfide electric-vehicle battery, which consisted of two 20-kW-hr modules containing 60 cells each, was fabricated by Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. and delivered to ANL for testing in May 1979. During startup heating prior to electrical testing, a short circuit developed in one of the modules, which resulted in a progressive failure of the cells. The other module, which was alongside and connected in series, was unaffected by the failure. The initial indication of difficulty was a small drop in the voltage of several cells, followed by short circuits in the balance of the cells and localized temperatures above 1000 C. A team consisting of ANL and Eagle-Picher personnel conducted a detailed failure analysis as the failed module was disassembled. The other module was also examined for purposes of comparison. The general conclusion was that the short circuit was initiated by electrolyte leakage and resulting corrosion in the nearby region which formed metallic bridges between cells and the cell ray, or arcing between cells and the cell tray through the butt joints in the electrical insulation. The above two mechanisms were also believed to be responsible for the failure propagation

Long term (5 Year) safety of bronchial thermoplasty: Asthma Intervention Research (AIR) trial

<b>Background:</b> Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a bronchoscopic procedure that improves asthma control by reducing excess airway smooth muscle. Treated patients have been followed out to 5 years to evaluate long-term safety of this procedure. <br></br> <br></br> <b>Methods:</b> Patients enrolled in the Asthma Intervention Research Trial were on inhaled corticosteroids ≥200 μg beclomethasone or equivalent + long-acting-beta2-agonists and demonstrated worsening of asthma on long-acting-β2-agonist withdrawal. Following initial evaluation at 1 year, subjects were invited to participate in a 4 year safety study. Adverse events (AEs) and spirometry data were used to assess long-term safety out to 5 years post-BT. <br></br> <br></br> <b>Results:</b> 45 of 52 treated and 24 of 49 control group subjects participated in long-term follow-up of 5 years and 3 years respectively. The rate of respiratory adverse events (AEs/subject) was stable in years 2 to 5 following BT (1.2, 1.3, 1.2, and 1.1, respectively,). There was no increase in hospitalizations or emergency room visits for respiratory symptoms in Years 2, 3, 4, and 5 compared to Year 1. The FVC and FEV1 values showed no deterioration over the 5 year period in the BT group. Similar results were obtained for the Control group. <br></br><br></br> <b>Conclusions:</b> The absence of clinical complications (based on AE reporting) and the maintenance of stable lung function (no deterioration of FVC and FEV1) over a 5-year period post-BT in this group of patients with moderate to severe asthma support the long-term safety of the procedure out to 5 years

IFR fuel cycle

The next major milestone of the IFR program is engineering-scale demonstration of the pyroprocess fuel cycle. The EBR-II Fuel Cycle Facility has just entered a startup phase, which includes completion of facility modifications and installation and cold checkout of process equipment. This paper reviews the development of the electrorefining pyroprocess, the design and construction of the facility for the hot demonstration, the design and fabrication of the equipment, and the schedule and initial plan for its operation

Centennial-scale reductions in nitrogen availability in temperate forests of the United States

Forests cover 30% of the terrestrial Earth surface and are a major component of the global carbon (C) cycle. Humans have doubled the amount of global reactive nitrogen (N), increasing deposition of N onto forests worldwide. However, other global changes—especially climate change and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations—are increasing demand for N, the element limiting primary productivity in temperate forests, which could be reducing N availability. To determine the long-term, integrated effects of global changes on forest N cycling, we measured stable N isotopes in wood, a proxy for N supply relative to demand, on large spatial and temporal scales across the continental U.S.A. Here, we show that forest N availability has generally declined across much of the U.S. since at least 1850 C.E. with cool, wet forests demonstrating the greatest declines. Across sites, recent trajectories of N availability were independent of recent atmospheric N deposition rates, implying a minor role for modern N deposition on the trajectory of N status of North American forests. Our results demonstrate that current trends of global changes are likely to be consistent with forest oligotrophication into theforeseeable future, further constraining forest C fixation and potentially storage