South Dakota Range and Pasture Judging Handbook

This publication provides information on range and pasture judging schools and contest guidelines. It describes the kinds and condition of rangeland, degree of use, possible treatments, and provides a master range plant list. Pasture land factors and recommended treatments are also included

Conducting Polymers and Corrosion III. A Scanning Vibrating Electrode Study of Poly(3-octyl pyrrole) on Steel and Aluminum

Electroactive conducting polymers (ECPs) continue to be of considerable interest as components of corrosion-resistant coating systems. ECPs, in addition to being conductive, are redox active materials, typically with potentials that are positive of iron and aluminum. Thus, as with chromate, interesting and potentially beneficial interactions of ECPs with active metal alloys such as steel and aluminum are anticipated. In this work, the scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET), also known as the current density probe, was used to probe such interactions between a poly(3-octyl pyrrole) coating (POP) and cold-rolled steel and aluminum (Al 2024-T3) substrates. The POP coatings were scribed to simulate a defect through the coating to the metal substrate surface. The SVET was used to map the current flowing in and around the defect while the sample was immersed in either 3% NaCl (steel) or in dilute Harrison solution (aluminum), an aqueous solution consisting of 0.35% (NH4)2SO4, 0.05% NaCl. Although there were significant differences in the behavior of the POP-coated steel and POP-coated aluminum substrates, both exhibited a significant delay before the onset of any observable current compared to uncoated or epoxy-coated samples. Current density maps for the steel clearly indicate that the reduction reaction occurred on the conducting polymer surface, with oxidation confined to the defect. Current density maps for the aluminum alloy never displayed significant oxidation at the defect. Rather, reduction (after a significant delay) occurred at the defect as well as across the polymer surface, with concomitant localized undercoating oxidation of the aluminum substrate

Growing a Sustainable Biofuels Industry: Economics, Environmental Considerations, and the Role of the Conservation Reserve Program

Biofuels are expected to be a major contributor to renewable energy in the coming decades under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). These fuels have many attractive properties including the promotion of energy independence, rural development, and the reduction of national carbon emissions. However, several unresolved environmental and economic concerns remain. Environmentally, much of the biomass is expected to come from agricultural expansion and/or intensification, which may greatly affect the net environmental impact, and economically, the lack of a developed infrastructure and bottlenecks along the supply chain may affect the industry\u27s economic vitality. The approximately 30 million acres (12 million hectares) under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) represent one land base for possible expansion. Here, we examine the potential role of the CRP in biofuels industry development, by (1) assessing the range of environmental effects on six end points of concern, and (2) simulating differences in potential industry growth nationally using a systems dynamics model. The model examines seven land-use scenarios (various percentages of CRP cultivation for biofuel) and five economic scenarios (subsidy schemes) to explore the benefits of using the CRP. The environmental assessment revealed wide variation in potential impacts. Lignocellulosic feedstocks had the greatest potential to improve the environmental condition relative to row crops, but the most plausible impacts were considered to be neutral or slightly negative. Model simulations revealed that industry growth was much more sensitive to economic scenarios than land-use scenarios—similar volumes of biofuels could be produced with no CRP as with 100% utilization. The range of responses to economic policy was substantial, including long-term market stagnation at current levels of first-generation biofuels under minimal policy intervention, or RFS-scale quantities of biofuels if policy or market conditions were more favorable. In total, the combination of the environmental assessment and the supply chain model suggests that large-scale conversion of the CRP to row crops would likely incur a significant environmental cost, without a concomitant benefit in terms of biofuel production

Evaluation of the possibility of using diatomite natural mineral as a composite agent in acrylic coating

WOS: 000427736200014In the present study the possibility of the commercially available acryl and diatomite earth (DE) mineral as a composite coating for corrosion protection of Mg alloys has been evaluated. The acrylic coating is used as a top coating in a wide field of applications like automotive, aerospace, medicine and electronics where it shows beneficial properties. Diatomite-dispersed acrylic paint was applied over the substrate by conventional spray technique with an air pressure of 3 kg cm(-2). Firstly the acryl was mixed with hardener and then the DE was added to the mixture. Four types of coating with 0, 2, 4, 8 g/L DE have been prepared. The results show that adding up to 4 g/L of the DE improved the corrosion resistance and produced a coating with acceptable surface roughness

Meal-derived glucagon responses are related to lower hepatic phosphate concentrations in obesity and type 2 diabetes

Aim. - Type 2 diabetes (T2D) alters glucagon, glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and hepatic energy metabolism, yet the possible relationships remain unclear.Methods. - In this observational study, lean insulin-sensitive control subjects (BMI: 23.2 +/- 1.5 kg/m(2)), age-matched insulin-resistant obese subjects (BMI: 34.3 +/- 1.7 kg/m(2)) and similarly obese elderly T2D patients (BMI: 32.0 +/- 2.4 kg/m(2)) underwent mixed-meal tolerance tests (MMTTs), and assessment of hepatic gamma ATP, inorganic phosphate (P-i) and lipids using P-31/H-1 magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Meal-induced secretion of glucagon and incretins was calculated from incremental areas under the concentration-time curves (iAUCs). Peripheral and adipose tissue insulin sensitivity were assessed from time courses of circulating glucose, insulin and free fatty acids.Results. - MMTT-derived peripheral insulin sensitivity was lowest in T2D patients (P &lt;0.001), while glucagon concentrations were comparable across all three groups. At 260 min, GLP-1 was lower in T2D patients than in controls, whereas GIP was lowest in obese individuals. Fasting glucagon concentrations correlated positively with fasting (r = 0.60) and postprandial hepatocellular lipid levels (160 min: r= 0.51, 240 min: r = 0.59), and negatively with adipose tissue insulin sensitivity (r = -0.73). Higher meal-induced glucagon release (iAUC(0)(-260) (min)) correlated with lower fasting (r = -0.62) and postprandial P(i )levels (160 min: r = -0.43, 240 min: r = -0.42; all P &lt;0.05). Higher meal-induced release of GIP (iAUC(0-260) (min)) correlated positively with fasting (r = 0.54) and postprandial serum triglyceride concentrations (iAUC(0-260 min, )r = 0.54; all P &lt;0.01).Conclusion. - Correlations between fasting glucagon and hepatic lipids and between meal-induced glucagon and hepatic P-i suggest a role for glucagon in hepatic energy metabolism. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.</p

Delayed crystallization of ultrathin Gd2O3 layers on Si(111) observed by in situ X-ray diffraction

We studied the early stages of Gd2O3 epitaxy on Si(111) in real time by synchrotron-based, high-resolution X-ray diffraction and by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. A comparison between model calculations and the measured X-ray scattering, and the change of reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns both indicate that the growth begins without forming a three-dimensional crystalline film. The cubic bixbyite structure of Gd2O3 appears only after a few monolayers of deposition

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations