Analysis of peat-based biochar as an additive to control greenhouse gas emissions in manure management systems

The agricultural sector accounts for 10-12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Within the agricultural sector manure management causes almost 10% of these agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, making it an important target area for mitigation strategies. The role of biochar as a regulator of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil has been well established, while its application in manure management holds promise considerable uncertainties remain regarding operational setting and efficacy. Traditional applications of biochar have used a wide variety of feedstock sources and production pathways which in turn determine the outputs of the resultant biochar as a GHG regulator. In this study slow pyrolysis, at temperatures of 450 - 750 °C with a heating rate of 7.5 °C min-1 and a residence time of 20 minutes, was used to produce biochar in a muffle furnace. Different temperatures were used to explore the unique characteristics of biochar and compare them throughout the temperature values in production. Even though the biochar production from many sources is well understood, there remains considerable uncertainty over the effectiveness of biochar production from defined peat sources and the ability to reliably replicate feedstock-production systems. This study attempts to explore the production and utilization of biochar produced from harvested peat in the Irish midlands relative to other feedstock sources to mediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for manure management systems. To do so a detailed analysis of the feedstocks and biochars will be carried out in order to establish appropriate protocols for the optimal production and application of biochar in GHG-manure management. Results indicate that drying as a pre-treatment in production does not increase the peat-based biochar yield, if calculated on a dry matter basis, making the process less emission intensive. It was also observed that the thermal treatment increases the pH of the tested materials irrespective of whether they were fresh or pre-dried, making the biochars more alkaline than the original materials. At the same time, rising process temperatures have been noted to lead to a decrease in yield for all materials used. The yield reduction with increasing temperatures was found to be slightly lower for pre-dried materials than for fresh materials. When focusing on yield and costs for drying, these preliminary results indicate that biochars produced from untreated feedstocks at lower temperatures are more environmental and economically viable than biochars produced from pre-dried material at high temperatures

Part II: Sex Differences in Persons Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: ~nalysis of Data from the Connecticut NGRI Registry

Thirty-one female insanity acquittees from Connecticut were matched to a group of 31 male NGRls. The samples were compared with regard to demographic, criminal, and clinical characteristics. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine predictors of criminal recidivism for the sample. Results indicated that women NGRls were older, more likely to be married, less likely to be substance abusers, had less extensive criminal records, and were released from hospitals sooner than the men. A significant racial difference was noted: white women had less extensive criminal records and were hospitalized for shorter periods than minority women. Results of the logistic regression analyses showed that the strongest independent predictors of criminal recidivism were race and having a diagnosis other than psychosis (schizophrenia, affective or organic disorders). Findings support recent APA policy guidelines on the insanity defense

Survival of Del17p CLL Depends on Genomic Complexity and Somatic Mutation.

PURPOSE: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with 17p deletion typically progresses quickly and is refractory to most conventional therapies. However, some del(17p) patients do not progress for years, suggesting that del(17p) is not the only driving event in CLL progression. We hypothesize that other concomitant genetic abnormalities underlie the clinical heterogeneity of del(17p) CLL. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We profiled the somatic mutations and copy number alterations (CNA) in a large group of del(17p) CLLs as well as wild-type CLL and analyzed the genetic basis of their clinical heterogeneity. RESULTS: We found that increased somatic mutation number associates with poor overall survival independent of 17p deletion (P = 0.003). TP53 mutation was present in 81% of del(17p) CLL, mostly clonal (82%), and clonal mutations with del(17p) exhibit shorter overall survival than subclonal mutations with del(17p) (P = 0.019). Del(17p) CLL has a unique driver mutation profile, including NOTCH1 (15%), RPS15 (12%), DDX3X (8%), and GPS2 (6%). We found that about half of del(17p) CLL cases have recurrent deletions at 3p, 4p, or 9p and that any of these deletions significantly predicts shorter overall survival. In addition, the number of CNAs, but not somatic mutations, predicts shorter time to treatment among patients untreated at sampling. Indolent del(17p) CLLs were characterized by absent or subclonal TP53 mutation and few CNAs, with no difference in somatic mutation number. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that del(17p) has a unique genomic profile and that clonal TP53 mutations, 3p, 4p, or 9p deletions, and genomic complexity are associated with shorter overall survival. Clin Cancer Res; 23(3); 735-45. ©2016 AACR

Toxicity screening of biochar-mineral composites using germination tests

This study assessed the properties and toxicity (water cress germination trials) of 38 waste-derived, novel biochar-mineral composites (BMCs) produced via slow pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization (hydrochars). The biochars were produced from sewage sludge and compost-like output (CLO) by varying the type of mineral additive (zeolite, wood ash and lignite fly ash), the mineral-to-feedstock ratio and the carbonization process. While pure hydrochars completely inhibited germination of water cress, this effect was ameliorated by mineral additives. Seedlings grew best in pyrolysis chars and while wood ash addition decreased plant growth in many cases, 1:10 addition to CLO doubled germination rate. The factors responsible for the phytotoxicity can be attributed to pH, salinity and organic contaminants. Importantly, while pure minerals inhibited germination, conversion of minerals into BMCs reduced their inhibitory effects due to buffered release of minerals. Overall, mineral wastes (e.g., combustion ashes) and waste biomass can be used safely as sources of nutrients and stable organic carbon (for soil carbon sequestration) when converted into specific biochar-mineral composites, exploiting synergies between the constituents to deliver superior performance. © 2018 Elsevier Lt