Ethanol in an Era of High Energy Prices

With an increased demand for energy in the world and stagnant petroleum production, high energy costs are unlikely to abate. To respond, the U.S. ethanol industry has been expanding its current production This study analyzes the impact of an ethanol plant on local corn markets, finding that ethanol production can have positive effects on the local cash corn markets. Another reason for this U.S. production, despite the ability to import ethanol cheaper from Brazil, is Americans’ perception of homegrown fuels and an increased interest in less reliance in foreign sources of fuel. This study compares the cost of ethanol produced in the U.S. and the cost of imported ethanol. As long as consumption exceeds production, ethanol will continue to be imported, despite the large tariff currently in place. The potential increased usage of ethanol as a replacement for MTBE and as an alternative fuel has the ability to use what the U.S. is producing domestically, as well as import some ethanol from Brazil. The largest change needed in the ethanol industry is a new subsidy policy. With a fixed subsidy, the government is wasting taxpayers’ money by subsidizing large profits for ethanol producers. This study proposes a flexible subsidy policy, which would allow producers would get help from the government only as needed when indicated by gasoline and corn prices. The U.S. ethanol industry is only going to continue growing in the coming years. To meet the needs of this industry, ethanol policy must also continue to evolve.Summer Research Internship, The Ohio State University Honors CenterUndergraduate Honors Research Scholarship, The Ohio State University Honors Cente

The benefits--and limits-- of PPIs with warfarin regimens

Patients on warfarin + antiplatelet/NSAID regimens are likely to benefit from the gastroprotective effect of PPIs. For patients taking warfarin alone, it's a different story. PRACTICE CHANGER: Prescribe a proton pump inhibitor for patients taking dual antiplatelet/antithrombotic therapy to reduce the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding

A lattice of microtraps for ultracold atoms based on patterned magnetic films

We have realized a two dimensional permanent magnetic lattice of Ioffe-Pritchard microtraps for ultracold atoms. The lattice is formed by a single 300 nm magnetized layer of FePt, patterned using optical lithography. Our magnetic lattice consists of more than 15000 tightly confining microtraps with a density of 1250 traps/mm$^2$. Simple analytical approximations for the magnetic fields produced by the lattice are used to derive relevant trap parameters. We load ultracold atoms into at least 30 lattice sites at a distance of approximately 10 $\mu$m from the film surface. The present result is an important first step towards quantum information processing with neutral atoms in magnetic lattice potentials.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Do wildflower strips enhance pest control in organic cabbage?

Within this project we assess whether wildflower strips and companion plants increase the control of cabbage pests Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), Mamestra brassicae L. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Pieris rapae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) by (1) naturally occurring parasitoids and predators and (2) mass‐releasedn Trichogramma brassciae (Bezdenko) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitoids. Two organic cabbage fields were used for this study: adjacent to each field a wildflower strip was sown and companion plants (Centaurea cyanus L. (Asteraceae)) intermixed within the crop. Within each field ~15,000 M. brassicae eggs were placed out to determine the parasitism rates by mass‐released T. brassicae and to assess the levels of egg predation. Over 1,000 lepidopteran larvae were collected and screened for hymenopteran and tachinid parasitoid DNA using a multiplex PCR assay. Invertebrate generalist predators (n=1,063) were collected for DNA‐based gut content analysis. The wildflower strip had a significant positive effect on M. brassicae egg parasitism rates as rates increased 5‐fold in the vicinity to the strip. Moreover, companion plants enhanced invertebrate predation on M. brassicae eggs. Both, the release of T. brassicae and the use of companion plants, however, did not significantly increase egg parasitism rates. The infestation of plants by caterpillars increased with distance to the wildflower strip and there was a trend of decreasing larval parasitism rates with distance to the strip. Currently the invertebrate predators are being molecularly analysed to assess predation on unparasitized and parasitized lepidopteran pests