School District Reorganization in New York: An Examination of Fiscal Outcomes

The New York State Division of the Budget provides Reorganization Incentive Operating Aid to reorganized school districts for fourteen years following their reorganization. This incentive entitles school districts to millions of dollars of additional school aid and is meant to help financially inefficient districts reorganize to create more efficient and effective units. This paper examines the effects of reorganization on school districts and whether reorganization actually produces more efficient and effective units

Lignite Liquefaction Using Carbon Monoxide and Water in a Hot-Charge Batch Autoclave

The effects of temperature history on the liquefaction of lignite were investigated using the UND hot-charge, time-sampled batch autoclave facility. Approximately two hundred grams of moisture- and ash-free lig nite, one hundred grams of water, four hundred grams of hydrogenated anthracene oil solvent and carbon monoxide gas were reacted in both cold- charge and hot-charge experiments. The oil yields and overall conver sions were determined by extraction with cyclohexane and tetrahydrofuran, respectively. Maximum operating pressures ranged from 3670 psig to 3925 psig and the maximum reaction temperature was approximately 420°C in all cases. Oil yields and overall conversion ranged from 16.0 percent to 34.3 percent and 80.6 percent to 92.5 percent, respectively. Increasing the hot-charge temperature above 320°C significantly increased the oil yields and conversions. The increased oil yields and conversions were due to the increase in time at temperatures above 360°C. Increasing the hot- charge temperature above 360°C did not change the oil yields or conver sions. The oil yields and conversions for the cold-charge, slow-cooling runs were found to be similar to the results obtained by hot-charging the feed slurry at temperatures above 360°C. The unchanged conversions and oil yields were the result of the time above 360°C being longer than necessary for the liquefaction reactions to reach completion

Advanced High-Temperature, High-Pressure Transport Reactor Gasification

The transport reactor development unit (TRDU) was modified to accommodate oxygen-blown operation in support of a Vision 21-type energy plex that could produce power, chemicals, and fuel. These modifications consisted of changing the loop seal design from a J-leg to an L-valve configuration, thereby increasing the mixing zone length and residence time. In addition, the standpipe, dipleg, and L-valve diameters were increased to reduce slugging caused by bubble formation in the lightly fluidized sections of the solid return legs. A seal pot was added to the bottom of the dipleg so that the level of solids in the standpipe could be operated independently of the dipleg return leg. A separate coal feed nozzle was added that could inject the coal upward into the outlet of the mixing zone, thereby precluding any chance of the fresh coal feed back-mixing into the oxidizing zone of the mixing zone; however, difficulties with this coal feed configuration led to a switch back to the original downward configuration. Instrumentation to measure and control the flow of oxygen and steam to the burner and mix zone ports was added to allow the TRDU to be operated under full oxygen-blown conditions. In total, ten test campaigns have been conducted under enriched-air or full oxygen-blown conditions. During these tests, 1515 hours of coal feed with 660 hours of air-blown gasification and 720 hours of enriched-air or oxygen-blown coal gasification were completed under this particular contract. During these tests, approximately 366 hours of operation with Wyodak, 123 hours with Navajo sub-bituminous coal, 143 hours with Illinois No. 6, 106 hours with SUFCo, 110 hours with Prater Creek, 48 hours with Calumet, and 134 hours with a Pittsburgh No. 8 bituminous coal were completed. In addition, 331 hours of operation on low-rank coals such as North Dakota lignite, Australian brown coal, and a 90:10 wt% mixture of lignite and wood waste were completed. Also included in these test campaigns was 50 hours of gasification on a petroleum coke from the Hunt Oil Refinery and an additional 73 hours of operation on a high-ash coal from India. Data from these tests indicate that while acceptable fuel gas heating value was achieved with these fuels, the transport gasifier performs better on the lower-rank feedstocks because of their higher char reactivity. Comparable carbon conversions have been achieved at similar oxygen/coal ratios for both air-blown and oxygen-blown operation for each fuel; however, carbon conversion was lower for the less reactive feedstocks. While separation of fines from the feed coals is not needed with this technology, some testing has suggested that feedstocks with higher levels of fines have resulted in reduced carbon conversion, presumably due to the inability of the finer carbon particles to be captured by the cyclones. These data show that these low-rank feedstocks provided similar fuel gas heating values; however, even among the high-reactivity low-rank coals, the carbon conversion did appear to be lower for the fuels (brown coal in particular) that contained a significant amount of fines. The fuel gas under oxygen-blown operation has been higher in hydrogen and carbon dioxide concentration since the higher steam injection rate promotes the water-gas shift reaction to produce more CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2} at the expense of the CO and water vapor. However, the high water and CO{sub 2} partial pressures have also significantly reduced the reaction of (Abstract truncated

The impact of sulphur content of diesel fuel on ultrafine particle formation

Early this year the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage commissioned a desktop literature review with a focus on ultrafine particles including analysis of health impacts of the particles as well as the impact of sulphur content of diesel fuel on ultrafine particle emission. This paper summarizes the findings of the report on the link between the sulphur content of diesel fuels and the number of ultrafine particles in diesel emissions. The literature search on this topic resulted in over 150 publications. The majority of these publications, although investigating different aspects of the influence of fuel sulphur level on diesel vehicle emissions, were not directly concerned with ultrafine particle emissions. A specific focus of the paper is on: ----- ----- summary of state of knowledge established by the review, and ----- ----- summary of recommendations on the research priorities for Australia to address the information gaps for this issue, and on the appropriate management responses

Yeast Sgf73/Ataxin-7 serves to anchor the deubiquitination module into both SAGA and Slik(SALSA) HAT complexes

Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a physically devastating, genetically inherited disorder characterized by abnormal brain function that results in the progressive loss of the ability to coordinate movements. There are many types of SCAs as there are various gene mutations that can cause this disease. SCA types 1–3, 6–10, 12, and 17 result from a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the DNA-coding sequence. Intriguingly, recent work has demonstrated that increased trinucleotde expansions in the SCA7 gene result in defect in the function of the SAGA histone acetyltransferase complex. The SCA7 gene encodes a subunit of the SAGA complex. This subunit is conserved in yeast as the SGF73 gene. We demonstrate that Sgf73 is required to recruit the histone deubiquitination module into both SAGA and the related SliK(SALSA) complex, and to maintain levels of histone ubiquitination, which is necessary for regulation of transcription at a number of genes

Aspen biology, community classification, and management in the Blue Mountains

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is a valuable species that is declining in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. This publication is a compilation of over 20 years of aspen management experience by USDA Forest Service workers in the Blue Mountains. It includes a summary of aspen biology and occurrence in the Blue Mountains, and a discussion of aspen conservation and management techniques such as fencing, conifer removal, and artificial propagation. Local data on bird use of aspen stands, insects and diseases in aspen, and genetic studies of aspen are also included. An aspen community classification developed from over 200 sample plots is presented, with plant species composition and cover, environment and soils, and management considerations

Sorting growing-finishing pigs by weight fails to improve growth performance or weight variation

A trial was conducted to determine the effects of sorting pigs by body weight at placement on growth performance and weight variation at finishing. Unsorted pigs and heavy sorted pigs had higher ADG than medium or light sorted pigs. By the end of the trial, final body weights ranked in the following descending order: heavy sorted, unsorted, medium sorted, and light sorted. Final weights of unsorted pigs were heavier than the average final weight of all sorted pigs. Additionally, differences in body weight variation were not detectable by the end of the study. These data suggest that sorting pigs uniformly by weight to pens has little effect on final variability in individual body weights and placing pigs into pens regardless of weight may increase the amount of pork produced from a system and reduce turnaround time in barns

Advanced Gasification Mercury/Trace Metal Control with Monolith Traps

Three potential additives for controlling mercury emissions from syngas at temperatures ranging from 350 to 500 F (177 to 260 C) were developed. Current efforts are being directed at increasing the effective working temperature for these sorbents and also being able to either eliminate any potential mercury desorption or trying to engineer a trace metal removal system that can utilize the observed desorption process to repeatedly regenerate the same sorbent monolith for extended use. Project results also indicate that one of these same sorbents can also successfully be utilized for arsenic removal. Capture of the hydrogen selenide in the passivated tubing at elevated temperatures has resulted in limited results on the effective control of hydrogen selenide with these current sorbents, although lower-temperature results are promising. Preliminary economic analysis suggests that these Corning monoliths potentially could be more cost-effective than the conventional cold-gas (presulfided activated carbon beds) technology currently being utilized. Recent Hg-loading results might suggest that the annualized costs might be as high as 2.5 times the cost of the conventional technology. However, this annualized cost does not take into account the significantly improved thermal efficiency of any plant utilizing the warm-gas monolith technology currently being developed

The ATAC Acetyltransferase Complex Coordinates MAP Kinases to Regulate JNK Target Genes

SummaryIn response to extracellular cues, signal transduction activates downstream transcription factors like c-Jun to induce expression of target genes. We demonstrate that the ATAC (Ada two A containing) histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complex serves as a transcriptional cofactor for c-Jun at the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) target genes Jra and chickadee. ATAC subunits are required for c-Jun occupancy of these genes and for H4K16 acetylation at the Jra enhancer, promoter, and transcribed sequences. Under conditions of osmotic stress, ATAC colocalizes with c-Jun, recruits the upstream kinases Misshapen, MKK4, and JNK, and suppresses further activation of JNK. Relocalization of these MAPKs and suppression of JNK activation by ATAC are dependent on the CG10238 subunit of ATAC. Thus, ATAC governs the transcriptional response to MAP kinase signaling by serving as both a coactivator of transcription and as a suppressor of upstream signaling

Ultrahigh-temperature granulite-facies metamorphism and exhumation of deep crust in a migmatite dome during late- to post-orogenic collapse and extension in the central Adirondack Highlands (New York, USA)

This study combines field observations, mineral and whole-rock geochemistry, phase equilibrium modeling, and U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon geochronology to investigate sillimanite-bearing felsic migmatites exposed on Ledge Mountain in the central Adirondack Highlands (New York, USA), part of an extensive belt of mid-crustal rocks comprising the hinterland of the Mesoproterozoic Grenville orogen. Phase equilibrium modeling suggests minimum peak metamorphic conditions of 960-1025 °C and 11-12.5 kbar during the Ottawan orogeny—sig-nificantly higher pressure-temperature conditions than previously determined—followed by a period of near-isothermal decompression, then isobaric cooling. Petrography reveals abundant melt-related microstructures, and pseudosection models show the presence of at least ~15%-30% melt during buoyancy-driven exhumation and decompression. New zircon data document late Ottawan (re)crys-tallization at ca. 1047 ± 5 to 1035 ± 2 Ma following ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism and anatexis on the retrograde cooling path. Inherited zircon cores give a mean date of 1136 ± 5 Ma, which suggests derivation of these felsic granulites by partial melting of older igneous rocks. The ferroan, anhydrous character of the granulites is similar to that of the ca. 1050 Ma Lyon Mountain Granite and consistent with origin in a late- to post-Ottawan extensional environment. We present a model for development of a late Ottawan migmatitic gneiss dome in the central Adirondacks that exhumed deep crustal rocks including the Snowy Mountain and Oregon anorthosite massifs with UHT Ledge Mountain migmatites. Recognition of deep crustal meta-plutonic rocks recording UHT metamorphism in a migmatite gneiss dome has significant implications for crustal behavior in this formerly thickened orogen