Criteria for treatment selection of adult male public offenders

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

The Effect of Chemical Amendments Used for Phosphorus Abatement on Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Emissions from Dairy Cattle Slurry: Synergies and Pollution Swapping

peer-reviewedLand application of cattle slurry can result in incidental and chronic phosphorus (P) loss to waterbodies, leading to eutrophication. Chemical amendment of slurry has been proposed as a management practice, allowing slurry nutrients to remain available to plants whilst mitigating P losses in runoff. The effectiveness of amendments is well understood but their impacts on other loss pathways (so-called ‘pollution swapping’ potential) and therefore the feasibility of using such amendments has not been examined to date. The aim of this laboratory scale study was to determine how the chemical amendment of slurry affects losses of NH3, CH4, N2O, and CO2. Alum, FeCl2, Polyaluminium chloride (PAC)- and biochar reduced NH3 emissions by 92, 54, 65 and 77% compared to the slurry control, while lime increased emissions by 114%. Cumulative N2O emissions of cattle slurry increased when amended with alum and FeCl2 by 202% and 154% compared to the slurry only treatment. Lime, PAC and biochar resulted in a reduction of 44, 29 and 63% in cumulative N2O loss compared to the slurry only treatment. Addition of amendments to slurry did not significantly affect soil CO2 release during the study while CH4 emissions followed a similar trend for all of the amended slurries applied, with an initial increase in losses followed by a rapid decrease for the duration of the study. All of the amendments examined reduced the initial peak in CH4 emissions compared to the slurry only treatment. There was no significant effect of slurry amendments on global warming potential (GWP) caused by slurry land application, with the exception of biochar. After considering pollution swapping in conjunction with amendment effectiveness, the amendments recommended for further field study are PAC, alum and lime. This study has also shown that biochar has potential to reduce GHG losses arising from slurry application.This research was funded by the Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Scheme and the AnimalChange Framework 7 Project (FP7-KBBE-2010-4)

Energy coupled to matter for field–assisted processing

Energy Coupled to Matter (ECM) is an emerging technology area that goes beyond the traditional limits of materials research by exploring the use of applied physics-based fields and their influence over material structures, phase development, processing, properties, and responses over multiple length scales (i.e. from atomic to macroscale). The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) defines ECM as fundamental research to discover, explore, and exploit interactions between materials and intense energy fields in order to enable significant property enhancements and unique property combinations that overcome traditional engineering tradeoffs, and allow for responsive on-demand structure-property modifications. These field-material interactions can produce outcomes that are otherwise unattainable, expanding materials-by-design and processing/manufacturing science capabilities beyond the current state-of-the-art. The use of ECM for field-assisted processing has led to advances in materials development. The application of external electromagnetic (EM) fields to materials using techniques such as electric field-assisted sintering, flash sintering, microwave sintering, and high magnetic field processing has led to rapid production and improved properties. These methods have a few things in common, in that they use EM fields to contribute energy to heat treatment of materials, enabling full densification at lower temperatures (i.e. by hundreds of oC) and shorter times (i.e. from hours to second) as compared to conventional methods. The ability to rapidly densify materials under less extreme temperature conditions exemplifies one of the major advantages of ECM, as a smaller final grain size (i.e. nanoscale) can be preserved, resulting in enhancement of a number of physical and mechanical properties that are relevant to Army applications (i.e. strength, hardness, fracture toughness, etc.). As one example of successful ECM research at ARL, field-assisted processing has been used to investigate the development of transparent ceramics for laser host and protective system applications. In particular, single-mode microwave sintering has been explored, using a specially designed cavity as a waveguide to separate the electric and magnetic field components, enabling exposure of the material to pure electric or magnetic fields at microwave frequencies. By comparing conventional pressure-less sintering to two different types of microwave sintering, multi-mode and single-mode, the effect of different types of microwave fields on the sintering behavior of erbium-doped Al2O3 was studied. For single-mode microwave sintering, the percentages of electric and magnetic fields that the sample was exposed to during sintering were varied by adjusting the position of the sample along the chamber. Results shown in Table I suggest that the microwave sintering parameters had a profound influence on densification and rare earth migration/phase stability. Sintering in single-mode with a 30%E:70%H mixed field produced samples with significantly higher density than other samples sintered at 1400°C (and equal to samples conventionally sintered at 1700°C). These samples also contained the least amount of unwanted second phase, indicating that more Er formed a solid solution with Al2O3. Our findings suggested that the magnetic component may play a critical role in the processing of weakly magnetic materials such as Al2O3, and that the dopant material (rare earth in this case) may play an important role in the material response to EM fields

The short-term effects of management changes on watertable position and nutrients in shallow groundwater in a harvested peatland forest

This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Environmental Protection Agency under the STRIVE program 2007 – 2013.peer-reviewedManagement changes such as drainage, fertilisation, afforestation and harvesting (clearfelling) of forested peatlands influence watertable (WT) position and groundwater concentrations of nutrients. This study investigated the impact of clearfelling of a peatland forest on WT and nutrient concentrations. Three areas were examined: (1) a regenerated riparian peatland buffer (RB) clearfelled four years prior to the present study (2) a recently clearfelled coniferous forest (CF) and (3) a standing, mature coniferous forest (SF), on which no harvesting took place. The WT remained consistently below 0.3 m during the pre-clearfelling period. Results showed there was an almost immediate rise in the WT after clearfelling and a rise to 0.15 m below ground level (bgl) within 10 months of clearfelling. Clearfelling of the forest increased dissolved reactive phosphorus concentrations (from an average of 28–230 μg L−1) in the shallow groundwater, likely caused by leaching from degrading brash mats.Environmental Protection AgencyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Pattern of physical activity can influence its efficacy on muscle and bone health in middle-aged men and women

Abstract Purpose This study aimed at investigating whether association between physical activity, and bone density and muscle strength depends on daily activity pattern. Methods Loading dose of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was measured using accelerometer on 54 men (Mage = 54.1 years) and 59 women (Mage = 52.1 years). Pattern of MVPA was quantified as number and length of MVPA bouts, and the length of break bouts between MVPA bouts. Knee extension torque (KET) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) of the calcaneus were also measured. Regression analysis was employed to examine the moderation effect of MVPA pattern. Results Loading dose had a larger effect on BUA (b = .002, p = .035) and KET (b = .004, p = .01) with the increase of median length of MVPA bout, but had a smaller effect on KET with the increase of maximal length of break bout (b = − .015, p = .024). Conclusions This study suggests that pattern of physical activity can influence its efficacy on muscle and bone health

Creating a Pharmacy Internship: A Toolbox for Success

  Objective: To describe available compensated student internships and provide guidance for new program development. Methods:  A search was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google with the following search terms: pharmacy, intern, internship, and student.  All English language publications were considered for inclusion.  Articles describing IPPE or APPE student utilization were excluded. Key findings: Pharmacy student internship programs are common in practice, though there are few with published outcome data.  Most often, interns serve as pharmacist extenders and participate in activities that center around extension of pharmacy services within the institution.  Development of new programs should include partnering with nearby pharmacy programs and state boards of pharmacy to develop a well matched curriculum and allow for interns to practice at the top of their license.  Lastly, outcomes should be measured and disseminated for the benefit of the academy.  Additional considerations for developing a student internship program and guidance are provided. Conclusions: Although in existence for decades, minimal published reports showcase institutional outcomes associated with student internships.  No data is available to show the downstream effect an internship can have on direct patient care activities.   Article Type:  Not

The effect of core-shell engineering on the energy product of magnetic nanometals.

Solution-based growth of magnetic FePt-FeCo (core-shell) nanoparticles with a controllable shell thickness has been demonstrated. The transition from spin canting to exchange coupling of FePt-FeCo core-shell nanostructures leads to a 28% increase in the coercivity (12.8 KOe) and a two-fold enhancement in the energy product (9.11 MGOe)

Flash sintering of armor materials: Challenges and opportunities

Flash sintering has been found to enable rapid densification of a wide range of ceramics at lower processing temperatures and shorter times than conventional sintering. This is of particular interest for materials that are difficult to conventionally sinter, including those used in ceramic armor systems, such as B4C, SiC, and B6O. However, the driving mechanisms behind flash sintering are still hotly debated, and the interactions between the processing parameters and the materials being sintered are only in the early stages of being explored. Furthermore, there has been little documented effort to flash sinter these materials and characterize the process. The Army Research Laboratory strategy for research on flash and field-enhanced sintering of ceramics is described, with particular focus on the challenges and opportunities for sintering boron carbide and other relevant armor materials. The design of a scalable flash sintering apparatus and the observed effects of various process parameters such as contact mechanism, atmosphere, current/voltage profile, and part shape as they relate to flash and densification behavior are discussed. This research was supported in part by an appointment to the Postgraduate Research Participation Program at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and USARL. Research was sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-16-2-0050-P0003. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. The research reported in this document was performed in connection with contract/instrument W911QX-16-D-0014 with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of SURVICE Engineering and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. Citation of manufacturer\u27s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use thereof. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation hereon

The economic implications of HLA matching in cadaveric renal transplantation.

Abstract Background: The potential economic effects of the allocation of cadaveric kidneys on the basis of tissue-matching criteria are controversial. We analyzed the economic costs associated with the transplantation of cadaveric kidneys with various numbers of HLA mismatches and examined the potential economic benefits of a local, as compared with a national, system designed to minimize HLA mismatches between donor and recipient in first cadaveric renal transplantations. Methods: All data were supplied by the U.S. Renal Data System. Data on all payments made by Medicare from 1991 through 1997 for the care of recipients of a first cadaveric renal transplant were analyzed according to the number of HLA-A, B, and DR mismatches between donor and recipient and the duration of cold ischemia before transplantation. Results: Average Medicare payments for renal-transplant recipients in the three years after transplantation increased from $60,436 per patient for fully HLA-matched kidneys (those with no HLA-A, B, or DR mismatches) to$80,807 for kidneys with six HLA mismatches between donor and recipient, a difference of 34 percent (P\u3c0.001). By three years after transplantation, the average Medicare payments were $64,119 for transplantations of kidneys with less than 12 hours of cold-ischemia time and$74,997 for those with more than 36 hours (P\u3c0.001). In simulations, the assignment of cadaveric kidneys to recipients by a method that minimized HLA mismatching within a local geographic area (i.e., within one of the approximately 50 organ-procurement organizations, which cover widely varying geographic areas) produced the largest cost savings ($4,290 per patient over a period of three years) and the largest improvements in the graft-survival rate (2.3 percent) when the potential costs of longer cold-ischemia time were considered. Conclusions: Transplantation of better-matched cadaveric kidneys could have substantial economic advantages. In our simulations, HLA-based allocation of kidneys at the local level produced the largest estimated cost savings, when the duration of cold ischemia was taken into account. No additional savings were estimated to result from a national allocation program, because the additional costs of longer cold-ischemia time were greater than the advantages of optimizing HLA matching

Akt1-Inhibitor of DNA binding2 is essential for growth cone formation and axon growth and promotes central nervous system axon regeneration.

Mechanistic studies of axon growth during development are beneficial to the search for neuron-intrinsic regulators of axon regeneration. Here, we discovered that, in the developing neuron from rat, Akt signaling regulates axon growth and growth cone formation through phosphorylation of serine 14 (S14) on Inhibitor of DNA binding 2 (Id2). This enhances Id2 protein stability by means of escape from proteasomal degradation, and steers its localization to the growth cone, where Id2 interacts with radixin that is critical for growth cone formation. Knockdown of Id2, or abrogation of Id2 phosphorylation at S14, greatly impairs axon growth and the architecture of growth cone. Intriguingly, reinstatement of Akt/Id2 signaling after injury in mouse hippocampal slices redeemed growth promoting ability, leading to obvious axon regeneration. Our results suggest that Akt/Id2 signaling is a key module for growth cone formation and axon growth, and its augmentation plays a potential role in CNS axonal regeneration