Analysis of line x environment interactions for yield in navy beans. 3. Pattern analysis of environments over years

Yield trials of navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) lines were grown over a diverse range of locations for 7 years in Queensland, with changes in entries and locations in each year. The yield data were analysed over years using 3 recently developed pattern analysis techniques for the integration of historical, severely unbalanced data from plant breeding programs to derive relationships among environments in the way they discriminate among the entries grown in them. These techniques have been named as cumulative analysis, sequential analysis, and status analysis. The relationships among the locations for testing navy bean lines, although sensitive to the addition of new locations, quickly stabilised. These relationships were related to management (irrigation and row width) and latitude (north v. central v. Kingaroy v. southern Queensland)

Contaminant Transport in Hydrogeologic Systems

Contaminant transport in hydrogeologic systems requires knowledge of transmissivity, storage coefficient, and dispersivity. Techniques for evaluating transmissivity and storage coefficient under field conditions are well known. However, the evaluation of dispersivity under field conditions is a costly and time consuming job. The process of transporting a specific conservative ion species in an aquifer is analogous to the transport of heat in the system. Because of this analogy, the original objective of this research project was to evaluate the use of low-grade thermal water to measure aquifer dispersivity. However, available thermal models of groundwater aquifers proved difficult to use for evaluating the thermal properties (and dispersivity) of an aquifer. Therefore, additional objectives were developed to (1) derive analytical solutions describing the steady and unsteady temperature distribution around a well with a finite caprock thickness and (2) establish a technique for determining the thermal properties (including thermal dispersivity) of an aquifer using field measurements of temperature distribution within the aquifer. Analytical models of hot water injection into groundwater aquifers were developed in this study. Available analytical models of this problem assume that the caprock overlying the aquifer is of infinite thickness. However, many groundwater aquifers have caprock thicknesses of only a few meters. This paper shows two mathematical models which were developed to examine the influence of a caprock with finite thickness on the thermal response of an aquifer. In both models, the horizontal heat conduction and heat convection in the aquifer plus the vertical heat conduction in the caprock are considered. The first model (Model I) assumed that the vertical temperature gradient in the caprock is linear, which can be approached in a caprock with a relatively small thickness. The second model (Model II) removed this restriction and allowed the vertical temperature gradient in the caprock to be nonlinear. For Model I, a steady state and an unsteady state solution for the water temperature distribution surrounding an injection well were obtained. For Model II, a steady state and two unsteady state solutions for the water temperature distribution surrounding an injection well were obtained. One of the two unsteady state solutions is for a short-time period and the other one is for a long-time period. A graphical technique was developed for determining four pertinent aquifer thermal properties: (1) the horizontal thermal conductivity of the aquifer (thermal dispersivity), (2) the thermal capacity of the aquifer, (3) the vertical thermal conductivity of the caprock, and (4) the thermal capacity of the caprock. Dimensionless type curves are constructed from the steady state solution and the unsteady state solution for short time periods in Model II, respectively. Using field data, one curve is constructed using long-term temperature observations (approaching steady state) from several observation wells, and a second curve is constructed using short-time temperature observations from any one of the observation wells. These curves are then matched with the dimensionless type curves, respectively, and values of the four aquifer thermal properties evaluated. Since the steady state condition is difficult to attain in the field, an approximate graphical technique for evaluating the thermal parameters is developed without using the steady state field date. In this approximate method, the vertical thermal conductivity of the caprock is assumed equal to the horizontal thermal conductivity of the aquifer, and the thermal capacity of the caprock is assumed equal to the thermal capacity of the aquifer

Inheritance of seed size in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.)

The inheritance of seed weight in cowpea was examined in a field planting of the parents, reciprocal F,s, F2 s and backcrosses to both parents of a cross between TVu 1977-OD (small seeded) and ACC 70002 (large) . Seed weight was inherited quantitatively and small seed was partially domiminant to large seed size . Gene action was predominantly additive but dominance and additive x additive epistatic effects were also significant. Broad and narrow sense heritabilities were 85 .1 ± 5 .3% and 75 .4 ± 18 .6% respectively . The minimum number of loci involved in the inheritance of seed size was eight, and each gene pair contributed up to 1 .02 g increase to seed weight . The estimate of genetic advance from F 2 to F 3 generations with 5% selection intensity was 3 .58 g

SecurEarth: A Crosscutting Initiative for the Geo- and Environmental Sciences

"..addressing critical energy and environmental problems will probably have a larger societal impact than curing cancer. Now we just have to convince Congress of that." - Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate and Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in a 2005 presentation at the LBNL "..a new national energy program is essential and must be initiated with the intensity and commitment of the Manhattan Project, and sustained until this problem is solved" "Considering the urgency of the energy problem, the magnitude of the needed scientific breakthroughs, and the historic rate of scientific discovery, current efforts will likely be too little, too late." - 2003, Basic Energy Science Advisory Committee recommendation Over the next several decades, the U.S. will be facing critical decisions regarding extraction and utilization of the Earth’s resources and stewardship of the Earth. Demands for energy (e.g., fossil, geothermal) and useable water supplies, as well as for places and methods to deal with waste products (e.g., carbon dioxide, radioactive waste), are increasing rapidly. Moreover, the demands are usually interdependent and conflicting. Postponing decisions will become increasingly difficult and unpopular. Complex policy decisions (examples?) with long-range consequences that must be made in the near future will depend on several types of information: social, economic, political and scientific. To balance the urgency with which social, economic, and political information will be used, pertinent scientific information must also be readily available, practical, and possessed with high degree of certainty. Therefore, there is a vital need for timely and relevant scientific information related to energy, resource and environmental issues that will enable decision makers to make better decisions related to public policy. SECUREarth was launched several years ago as a proposition by scientists from DOE national laboratories, universities and industry who recognized two fundamental issues related to the role of the earth sciences, particularly subsurface science, in addressing resource and environmental issues. The first is that we are still struggling to make connections between pore-, molecular- and cellular-scale information and the complex, large-scale systems where we most need predictive capabilities. To take advantage of the growing wealth of scientific information about physical, chemical and biological processes we need to facilitate research leading to an understanding of how individual processes are coupled, how whole-systems behave and can be modeled, and how the response of large-scale systems to natural or engineered changes can be reasonably predicted. It will also be important to assess both the level of uncertainty associated with predictions and the potential consequences of that uncertainty, as well as to develop strategies for minimizing that uncertainty. The second issue for SECUREarth is that the rate at which the science related to the earth’s environment is progressing will not produce some of the most critically needed information by the time policy decisions must be made. Therefore, SECUREarth is concerned both with opening new frontiers for the earth sciences, and also with increasing the rate at which the science becomes useful and available to inform decision makers. The vision for SECUREarth is to facilitate the direction of funding from government and industry sources in order t

Hybrid Numerical Methods for Multiscale Simulations of Subsurface Biogeochemical Processes

Many subsurface flow and transport problems of importance today involve coupled non-linear flow, transport, and reaction in media exhibiting complex heterogeneity. In particular, problems involving biological mediation of reactions fall into this class of problems. Recent experimental research has revealed important details about the physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms involved in these processes at a variety of scales ranging from molecular to laboratory scales. However, it has not been practical or possible to translate detailed knowledge at small scales into reliable predictions of field-scale phenomena important for environmental management applications. A large assortment of numerical simulation tools have been developed, each with its own characteristic scale including molecular (e.g., molecular dynamics), microbial (e.g., cellular automata or particle individual-based models), pore (e.g., lattice-Boltzmann, pore network models, and discrete particle methods such as smoothed particle hydrodynamics) and continuum scales (e.g., traditional partial differential equations solved by finite difference or finite element methods). While many problems can be effectively addressed by one of these models at a single scale, some problems may require explicit integration of models across multiple scales. We are developing a hybrid multi-scale subsurface reactive transport modeling framework that integrates models with diverse representations of physics, chemistry and biology at different scales (sub-pore, pore and continuum). The modeling framework is being designed to take advantage of advanced computational technologies including parallel code components using the Common Component Architecture, parallel solvers, gridding, data and workflow management, and visualization. This paper describes the specific methods/codes being used at each scale, techniques used to directly and adaptively couple across model scales, and preliminary results of application to a multi-scale model of mineral precipitation at a solute mixing interface

Advancing Reactive Tracer Methods for Measurement of Thermal Evolution in Geothermal Reservoirs: Final Report

The injection of cold fluids into engineered geothermal system (EGS) and conventional geothermal reservoirs may be done to help extract heat from the subsurface or to maintain pressures within the reservoir (e.g., Rose et al., 2001). As these injected fluids move along fractures, they acquire heat from the rock matrix and remove it from the reservoir as they are extracted to the surface. A consequence of such injection is the migration of a cold-fluid front through the reservoir (Figure 1) that could eventually reach the production well and result in the lowering of the temperature of the produced fluids (thermal breakthrough). Efficient operation of an EGS as well as conventional geothermal systems involving cold-fluid injection requires accurate and timely information about thermal depletion of the reservoir in response to operation. In particular, accurate predictions of the time to thermal breakthrough and subsequent rate of thermal drawdown are necessary for reservoir management, design of fracture stimulation and well drilling programs, and forecasting of economic return. A potential method for estimating migration of a cold front between an injection well and a production well is through application of reactive tracer tests, using chemical whose rate of degradation is dependent on the reservoir temperature between the two wells (e.g., Robinson 1985). With repeated tests, the rate of migration of the thermal front can be determined, and the time to thermal breakthrough calculated. While the basic theory behind the concept of thermal tracers has been understood for some time, effective application of the method has yet to be demonstrated. This report describes results of a study that used several methods to investigate application of reactive tracers to monitoring the thermal evolution of a geothermal reservoir. These methods included (1) mathematical investigation of the sensitivity of known and hypothetical reactive tracers, (2) laboratory testing of novel tracers that would improve method sensitivity, (3) development of a software tool for design and interpretation of reactive tracer tests and (4) field testing of the reactive tracer temperature monitoring concept

Association Analysis in African Americans of European-Derived Type 2 Diabetes Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms From Whole-Genome Association Studies

OBJECTIVE— Several whole-genome association studies have reported identification of type 2 diabetes susceptibility genes in various European-derived study populations. Little investigation of these loci has been reported in other ethnic groups, specifically African Americans. Striking differences exist between these populations, suggesting they may not share identical genetic risk factors. Our objective was to examine the influence of type 2 diabetes genes identified in whole-genome association studies in a large African American case-control population