The emerging biochar industry

Biochar is basically charcoal. The term “charcoal” is preferred when the material is use as a fuel for cooking or heating, whereas the term “biochar” is appropriate when the material is use as a soil amendment. In recent years there has been rapid growth in interest in biochar among soil scientists, environmentalists, and entrepreneurs

Mice Hemizygous for a Pathogenic Mitofusin-2 Allele Exhibit Hind Limb/Foot Gait Deficits and Phenotypic Perturbations in Nerve and Muscle.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A (CMT2A), the most common axonal form of hereditary sensory motor neuropathy, is caused by mutations of mitofusin-2 (MFN2). Mitofusin-2 is a GTPase required for fusion of mitochondrial outer membranes, repair of damaged mitochondria, efficient mitochondrial energetics, regulation of mitochondrial-endoplasmic reticulum calcium coupling and axonal transport of mitochondria. We knocked T105M MFN2 preceded by a loxP-flanked STOP sequence into the mouse Rosa26 locus to permit cell type-specific expression of this pathogenic allele. Crossing these mice with nestin-Cre transgenic mice elicited T105M MFN2 expression in neuroectoderm, and resulted in diminished numbers of mitochondria in peripheral nerve axons, an alteration in skeletal muscle fiber type distribution, and a gait abnormality

Wind tunnel testing of shelterbelt effects on dust emissions from swine production facilities

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3776027

The Investigation of Hypervelocity Gouging

The slipper/rail interface of a hypervelocity rocket sled is subject to immense forces due to dynamic loads and impact of the slipper with the rail, and tremendous heating due to aerodynamic and frictional effects is produced at the interface. Under these severe loading conditions, the material in the rail will sometimes experience large non-linear deformations known as gouging. Hydrocodes are computational solvers designed to handle such non-linear, large deformation, high shock, hydrodynamic applications. The ability of the hydrocode CTH to handle gouge modeling is considered, as well as the manner in which temperature environments affect deformation and plastic strain. The solution techniques and material modeling are described. Using this numerical analysis tool, a study of how gouging occurs and tracing of its development at various impact velocities was undertaken, with emphasis on the effect of shock wave distribution. Modeling the intense aerodynamic and frictional heating near the contact region, the effects of temperature on gouge initiation were evaluated through the application of several thermal environment scenarios that have been developed. The effects of friction, slipper geometry, slipper velocity, and impact method have been considered. Finally, the differences between three-dimensional and two-dimensional analysis considering gouging have been evaluated

Evaluation of Constant Potential Method in Simulating Electric Double-Layer Capacitors

A major challenge in the molecular simulation of electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) is the choice of an appropriate model for the electrode. Typically, in such simulations the electrode surface is modeled using a uniform fixed charge on each of the electrode atoms, which ignores the electrode response to local charge fluctuations induced by charge fluctuations in the electrolyte. In this work, we evaluate and compare this Fixed Charge Method (FCM) with the more realistic Constant Potential Method (CPM), [Reed, et al., J. Chem. Phys., 126, 084704 (2007)], in which the electrode charges fluctuate in order to maintain constant electric potential in each electrode. For this comparison, we utilize a simplified LiClO$_4$-acetonitrile/graphite EDLC. At low potential difference ($\Delta\Psi\le 2V$), the two methods yield essentially identical results for ion and solvent density profiles; however, significant differences appear at higher $\Delta\Psi$. At $\Delta\Psi\ge 4V$, the CPM ion density profiles show significant enhancement (over FCM) of "partially electrode solvated" Li$^+$ ions very close to the electrode surface. The ability of the CPM electrode to respond to local charge fluctuations in the electrolyte is seen to significantly lower the energy (and barrier) for the approach of Li$^+$ ions to the electrode surface.Comment: Corrected typo

Toxicity of pesticides adsorbed to suspended sediment to larval fish in the Cedar River

How do suspended sediment and pesticides introduced into Iowa streams and rivers by erosion of agricultural soil affect warm water fish? This study looks at how chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide, and suspended sediment interact with each other in river water and their effects on the survival of larval walleye