California Methanol Assessment; Volume II, Technical Report

A joint effort by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has brought together sponsors from both the public and private sectors for an analysis of the prospects for methanol use as a fuel in California, primarily for the transportation and stationary application sectors. Increasing optimism in 1982 for a slower rise in oil prices and a more realistic understanding of the costs of methanol production have had a negative effect on methanol viability in the near term (before the year 2000). Methanol was determined to have some promise in the transportation sector, but is not forecasted for large-scale use until beyond the year 2000. Similarly, while alternative use of methanol can have a positive effect on air quality (reducing NOx, SOx, and other emissions), a best case estimate is for less than 4% reduction in peak ozone by 2000 at realistic neat methanol vehicle adoption rates. Methanol is not likely to be a viable fuel in the stationary application sector because it cannot compete economically with conventional fuels except in very limited cases. On the production end, it was determined that methanol produced from natural gas will continue to dominate supply options through the year 2000, and the present and planned industry capacity is somewhat in excess of all projected needs. Nonsubsidized coal-based methanol cannot compete with conventional feedstocks using current technology, but coal-based methanol has promise in the long term (after the year 2000), providing that industry is willing to take the technical and market risks and that government agencies will help facilitate the environment for methanol. Given that the prospects for viable major markets (stationary applications and neat fuel in passenger cars) are unlikely in the 1980s and early 1990s, the next steps for methanol are in further experimentation and research of production and utilization technologies, expanded use as an octane enhancer, and selected fleet implementation. In the view of the study, it is not advantageous at this time to establish policies within California that attempt to expand methanol use rapidly as a neat fuel for passenger cars or to induce electric utility use of methanol on a widespread basis

IMPLICATIONS OF THE TAX REFORM ACT OF 1976 FOR FARM ESTATE PLANNING

An intergeneration transfer simulation model is used to project estate transfer costs and the value of transfers to the heirs before and after the tax reform act of 1976. Lower Federal estate taxes result for estates that qualify for the special use valuation of farmland provision of the new law. Replacing the $60,000 estate exemption with the$47,000 estate tax credit and revising the tax rate schedule increases Federal estate taxes when the taxable estate is between $1.175 million and$9.353 million. The new carryover basis rules for estate assets acquired from decedents dying after 1979 also increase transfer costs.Agricultural Finance,

California methanol assessment. Volume 1: Summary report

The near term methanol industry, the competitive environment, long term methanol market, the transition period, air quality impacts of methanol, roles of the public and private sectors are considered

Group selection models in prebiotic evolution

The evolution of enzyme production is studied analytically using ideas of the group selection theory for the evolution of altruistic behavior. In particular, we argue that the mathematical formulation of Wilson's structured deme model ({\it The Evolution of Populations and Communities}, Benjamin/Cumings, Menlo Park, 1980) is a mean-field approach in which the actual environment that a particular individual experiences is replaced by an {\it average} environment. That formalism is further developed so as to avoid the mean-field approximation and then applied to the problem of enzyme production in the prebiotic context, where the enzyme producer molecules play the altruists role while the molecules that benefit from the catalyst without paying its production cost play the non-altruists role. The effects of synergism (i.e., division of labor) as well as of mutations are also considered and the results of the equilibrium analysis are summarized in phase diagrams showing the regions of the space of parameters where the altruistic, non-altruistic and the coexistence regimes are stable. In general, those regions are delimitated by discontinuous transition lines which end at critical points.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figure

Microbial Decontamination and Weight of Carcass Beef as Affected by Automated Washing Pressure and Length of Time of Spray

Carcass beef has traditionally been washed by hand to remove foreign material such as hair, soil particles, and microbiological organisms that have contaminated the surfaces. These carcasses are inspected by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)to detect defects related to carcass cleanliness. Recent research and development of technology have emphasized automated machine washing. At pressures above that normally used, it is conceivable that water could penetrate tissue surfaces and be absorbed by the carcasses. Also, longer wash periods may enhance water uptake by carcasses. According to the ASH RAE Handbook and Product Directory, the average shrinkage of carcass beef using good current practices was 1.3% at 20 hr postmortem. USDA meat inspection regulations required that carcasses sustain no net increase in weight due to absorption of water during the washing process. There is no available literature on the effects of various automated washing techniques on carcass weights after a 20-hr chill. The objectives of the study reported presently were to determine the effects of nozzle pressure and length of time washed on the microflora and weights of carcass beef at 20 hr postmortem

Exposure to males, but not receipt of sex peptide, accelerates functional aging in female fruit flies

1. Increased exposure to males can affect females negatively, reducing female life span and fitness. These costs could derive from increased mating rate and also harassment by males. Additionally, early investment in reproduction can increase the onset or rate of senescence in reproductive traits. Hence, there is a tight link between reproduction and ageing. 2. Here, we assess how mating and encounter rate with males impacts declines in female functional traits that are not directly involved in reproduction. In Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, exposure to males and mating reduces female life span through harassment and receipt of seminal proteins, including sex peptide (SP). We manipulated the intensity of female exposure to males and regularly assessed female stress responses and recorded physiological traits over her lifetime. 3. Both mating itself and increased exposure to males accelerate declines in female climbing ability and starvation resistance. However, this is not related to changes in female body mass or fat storage. Moreover, these declines are not driven by the receipt of SP. 4. Our results suggest some synchrony in senescence across traits in response to female exposure to males; however, this is not universal, as we did not find this for physiological traits. Synchrony in senescence has been theorized but little supported in the literature. It is clear that ageing is a multifaceted trait; to understand environmental impacts on ageing rates, we must measure more than life span and indeed measure senescence in multiple traits. Specifically, our work shows that we must identify which female traits are sensitive to elevated mating activity to understand the impact of antagonistic interactions between the sexes on female ageing patterns

Effects of precompetition state anxiety interventions on performance time and accuracy among amateur soccer players: Revisiting the matching hypothesis

In this study, we tested the matching ypothesis, which contends that administration of a cognitive or somatic anxiety intervention should be matched to a participant's dominant anxiety response. Sixty-one male soccer players (mean age 31.6 years, s=6.3) were assigned to one of four groups based on their responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, which was modified to include a directional scale. Interventions were randomly administered in a counterbalanced order 10 min before each performance trial on a soccer skill test. The dominantly cognitive anxious group (n=17), the dominantly somatic anxious group (n=17), and the non-anxious control intervention group (n=14) completed a baseline performance trial. The second and third trials were completed with random administration of brief cognitive and somatic interventions. The non-anxious control group (n=13) completed three trials with no intervention. A mixed-model, GroupTreatment multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant (P0.05), or performance time or accuracy (P>0.05). The present findings do not provide support for the matching hypothesis for state anxiety intensity and direction, or for performance