Chemical oxygen demand fate from cottage cheese (acid) whey applied to a sodic soil

Cottage cheese (acid) whey is an effective amendment in sodic soil reclamation, but the high chemical oxygen demand (COD) of whey is of concern in land application. The objective of this research was to determine the fate of COD from cottage cheese whey applied to a sodic soil. Treatments of 0, 25, 50, and 100 mm (0, 20, 40, and 80 Mg COD ha-1) of whey were applied to dry-unacclimated Freedom silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, mesic, Xerollic Calciorthids) in greenhouse lysimeters. The COD from lysimeter leachate at 1 m depth was monitored. Ninety days after whey application, total accumulative leachate COD for 0-, 25-, and 50-mm whey applications was not significantly different. Leachate COD concentrations from the 100-mm application reached 37% (29 400 mg COD L-1) of the applied whey COD. Twenty-eight days after whey treatment, infiltration was reduced in all whey-treated lysimeters, probably as a result of increased microbial activity. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L cv. Ludd) grain yield was 0.0, 0.0, 0.44, and 0.26 kg m-2 and total dry matter yield was 0.54, 0.72, 2.0, and 1.4 kg m-2 for the 0-, 25-, 50-, and 100-mm treatments, respectively. Salts and/or organic overloading appeared to inhibit initial barley growth in the 100-mm treatment. Results indicate a single 100-mm application to be excessive in terms of organic matter and/or salts

Cottage cheese (acid) whey effects on sodic soil aggregate stability

Whey applications reduce a sodic soil's exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and increase its infiltration rate. Whey's effects on aggregate stability (AS), however, have been less well documented. A greenhouse study was conducted to determine: ( 1 ) AS response to whey additions, (2) the profile depth to which surface-applied whey affected AS, and (3) the relationship between AS and SAR for an illitic soil. Greenhouse lysimeters packed with a Freedom silt loam (Xerollic Calciorthid) received either 0, 25, 50, or 100 mm of whey (equivalent to 0, 253, 505, and 1010 Mg ha-1 of liquid whey). After drying, the surface 150 mm was removed, mixed, and replaced. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L. `Ludd') was then planted and grown to maturity by irrigating weekly. After harvest, AS was measured by wet sieving. A companion field study was conducted to determine the effects of whey applications and flood irrigations on AS. In Declo silt loam (Xerollic Calciorthid), 2 x 2 m basins received 0, 25, 50, or 100 mm of whey, followed by 100, 75, 50, or 0 mm of water, respectively. One week later, each basin was cultivated (to z = 100 mm) and smoothed. After four 150-mm irrigations, AS was measured on the 0- to 10-, 10- to 50-, and 50- to 150-mm depth increments. Greenhouse results indicated that AS increased significantly with whey additions, though only in the tilled 0- to 150-mm depth increment. Over two ranges, AS increased linearly with SAR decreases resulting from whey applications. In the upper 50 mm of soil in the field basins, AS also increased linearly from 33 to 75% with whey additions up to 50 mm. Cottage cheese whey improved the AS of sodic soil horizons into which it was incorporated

The Energy Density of "Wound" Fields in a Toroidal Universe

The observational limits on the present energy density of the Universe allow for a component that redshifts like $1/a^2$ and can contribute significantly to the total. We show that a possible origin for such a contribution is that the universe has a toroidal topology with "wound" scalar fields around its cycles.Comment: 11 pages, 1figur

Phosphorus status of calcareous and sodic soils treated with cheese whey

Acid cheese whey, made using phosphoric acid, contains up to 1200 mg total P kg-1 whey, and cultured cheese or sweet wheys contain up to 500 mg total P kg-1 whey. Much of the 32 x 106 m3 of whey produced in the United States each year is applied to soil. Whey P mobility has not been documented for calcareous or sodic soils. This study was conducted to determine the ratio between ortho- and the more soluble organic P forms in freshly produced cheese whey, and to determine ortho- and organic P concentrations by depth within calcareous and sodic soils within one to two years of different whey rates and time of the year applications. Applications of up to 1050 kg P ha-1 in acid whey were applied to a sodic soil (in green house lysimeters) and up to 750 kg P ha-1 in sweet whey were applied to calcareous soils (field plots). Bicarbonate-extractable ortho-P did not move below 0.3 m in the sodic Freedom silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, mesic, Xerollic Calciorthid) soil by the end of one growing season. Neither bicarbonate-extractable nor saturation extract ortho- or organic P moved below 0.6 m in the calcareous Portneuf silt loam (coarse-silty, mixed, mesic, Durixerollic Calciorthid) soil after three growing seasons or below 0.3 m in the calcareous Nibley silty clay loam (fine, mixed, mesic Aquic Argiustolls) soil after two growing seasons. Even though the wheys contained up to 42% organic P, these soils retained the applied ortho- and organic P against leaching. The winter-applied whey-P did not move deeper into the soil than that applied during the growing season

Extractable Potassium and Soluble Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, and Potassium in Two-Whey-Treated Calcareous Soils

Cheese whey contains 1.0 to 1.4 g K kg-1 and 5.0 to 10.0 g total salts kg-1 (electrical conductivity [EC] of 7 to 15 dS m-1) and has a pH of 3.3 to 4.6. Much of the 38 x 10^9 L of whey produced in the USA each year is applied to soils. Whey application effect on the K and salinity status of irrigated calcareous soils has not been documented. Objectives of this study were to measure soil pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), saturation paste extract (EC,), and extractable Ca, Mg, Na, and K changes due to whey application to irrigated calcareous soils at different whey rates and different times of the year. Whey was applied to two calcareous Portneuf silt loam (coarse-silty, mixed, mesic, Durixerollic Calciorthids) soils and a calcareous Nibley silty clay loam (fine, mixes, mesic Aquic Argiustolls) soil at rates up to 2200 m3 ha-1 These treatments added up to 1050 kg Ca, 200 kg Mg, 790 kg Na, and 2200 kg K ha-1 during winter-time, growing season, or year-round whey application. Soil bicarbonate-extractable K increased to more than 500 mg K kg-1 in the surface 0.3 m at the highest whey rates and may induce grass tetany in livestock grazed on high whey-treated pastures. Soil K did not increase below 0.6 m in any treatment. Soil pH and SAR were not affected sufficiently to be of concern under these conditions. The EC, increased to nearly 2.0 dS m-1 in the surface 0.3 m under the highest whey rates and would likely affect salt-sensitive crop yields. After a 1-yr whey application rest period under irrigated alfalfa (Medicago saliva L.), the EC, levels returned to background levels

Possible Localized Modes in the Uniform Quantum Heisenberg Chains of Sr2CuO3

A model of mobile-bond defects is tentatively proposed to analyze the "anomalies" observed on the NMR spectrum of the quantum Heisenberg chains of Sr2CuO3. A bond-defect is a local change in the exchange coupling. It results in a local alternating magnetization (LAM), which when the defect moves, creates a flipping process of the local field seen by each nuclear spin. At low temperature, when the overlap of the LAM becomes large, the defects form a periodic structure, which extends over almost all the chains. In that regime, the density of bond-defects decreases linearly with T.Comment: 4 pages + 3 figures. To appear in Physical Review

A Framework for Local Mechanical Characterization of Atherosclerotic Plaques: Combination of Ultrasound Displacement Imaging and Inverse Finite Element Analysis

Biomechanical models have the potential to predict plaque rupture. For reliable models, correct material properties of plaque components are a prerequisite. This study presents a new technique, where high resolution ultrasound displacement imaging and inverse finite element (FE) modeling is combined, to estimate material properties of plaque components. Iliac arteries with plaques were excised from 6 atherosclerotic pigs and subjected to an inflation test with pressures ranging from 10 to 120 mmHg. The arteries were imaged with high frequ

Precision Primordial 4^4He Measurement with CMB Experiments

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are two major pillars of cosmology. Standard BBN accurately predicts the primordial light element abundances ($^4$He, D, $^3$He and $^7$Li), depending on one parameter, the baryon density. Light element observations are used as a baryometers. The CMB anisotropies also contain information about the content of the universe which allows an important consistency check on the Big Bang model. In addition CMB observations now have sufficient accuracy to not only determine the total baryon density, but also resolve its principal constituents, H and $^4$He. We present a global analysis of all recent CMB data, with special emphasis on the concordance with BBN theory and light element observations. We find $\Omega_{B}h^{2}=0.025+0.0019-0.0026$ and $Y_{p}=0.250+0.010-0.014$ (fraction of baryon mass as $^4$He) using CMB data alone, in agreement with $^4$He abundance observations. With this concordance established we show that the inclusion of BBN theory priors significantly reduces the volume of parameter space. In this case, we find $\Omega_{B}h^2=0.0244+0.00137-0.00284$ and $Y_p = 0.2493+0.0006-0.001$. We also find that the inclusion of deuterium abundance observations reduces the $Y_p$ and $\Omega_{B}h^2$ ranges by a factor of $\sim$2. Further light element observations and CMB anisotropy experiments will refine this concordance and sharpen BBN and the CMB as tools for precision cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 3 color figures made minor changes to bring inline with journal versio

Antimatter from the cosmological baryogenesis and the anisotropies and polarization of the CMB radiation

We discuss the hypotheses that cosmological baryon asymmetry and entropy were produced in the early Universe by phase transition of the scalar fields in the framework of spontaneous baryogenesis scenario. We show that annihilation of the matter-antimatter clouds during the cosmological hydrogen recombination could distort of the CMB anisotropies and polarization by delay of the recombination. After recombination the annihilation of the antibaryonic clouds (ABC) and baryonic matter can produce peak-like reionization at the high redshifts before formation of quasars and early galaxy formation. We discuss the constraints on the parameters of spontaneous baryogenesis scenario by the recent WMAP CMB anisotropy and polarization data and on possible manifestation of the antimatter clouds in the upcoming PLANCK data.Comment: PRD in press with minor change