Regeneration in gap models: priority issues for studying forest responses to climate change

Recruitment algorithms in forest gap models are examined with particular regard to their suitability for simulating forest ecosystem responses to a changing climate. The traditional formulation of recruitment is found limiting in three areas. First, the aggregation of different regeneration stages (seed production, dispersal, storage, germination and seedling establishment) is likely to result in less accurate predictions of responses as compared to treating each stage separately. Second, the relatedassumptions that seeds of all species are uniformly available and that environmental conditions are homogeneous, are likely to cause overestimates of future species diversity and forest migration rates. Third, interactions between herbivores (ungulates and insect pests) and forest vegetation are a big unknown with potentially serious impacts in many regions. Possible strategies for developing better gap model representations for the climate-sensitive aspects of each of these key areas are discussed. A working example of a relatively new model that addresses some of these limitations is also presented for each case. We conclude that better models of regeneration processes are desirable for predicting effects of climate change, but that it is presently impossible to determine what improvements can be expected without carrying out rigorous tests for each new formulation

A Review of 105 Consecutive Uniport Endoscopic Plantar Fascial Release Procedures for the Treatment of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain in the U.S. Army soldier, resulting in a significant loss of man hours. Given the heavy operations tempo of the U.S. military, successful treatment options need to be considered and used as quickly as possible. Plantar fasciitis can be successfully treated in up to 90% of patients using conservative measures. Operative intervention might need to be considered for those in whom conservative measures have failed. The present report is a review of 105 consecutive uniport endoscopic plantar fascial release procedures performed by the principal investigator during a 9-year period. The following data were collected and analyzed: gender, age, weight, height, body mass index, medical treatment facility, procedure laterality, preoperative pain levels, postoperative pain levels at 3 months, first ambulatory day in the controlled ankle motion boot, return to activity as tolerated, and complications. Three major points were of interest: evidence of improvement in chronic plantar fasciitis when treated with uniport endoscopic procedures; the patient attributes associated with self-reported pain levels 90 days postoperatively; and the patient attributes associated with the average time until patients were able to return to activities as tolerated in a controlled ankle motion boot. It was noted that 44.5% of those with a body mass index of 29.80 kg/m2 or greater reported a postoperative pain level of 0; and 96.3% of those with a body mass index of 25.53 kg/m2 or less reported postoperative pain levels of 0. The analyzed data were used to characterize the clinical outcomes of the procedure, identify changes in outcome with surgeon experience, and identify whether certain patient subgroups have better outcomes, allowing surgeons to identify which patient might be the best candidates for an endoscopic release procedure

A Review of 105 Consecutive Uniport Endoscopic Plantar Fascial Release Procedures for the Treatment of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain in the U.S. Army soldier, resulting in a significant loss of man hours. Given the heavy operations tempo of the U.S. military, successful treatment options need to be considered and used as quickly as possible. Plantar fasciitis can be successfully treated in up to 90% of patients using conservative measures. Operative intervention might need to be considered for those in whom conservative measures have failed. The present report is a review of 105 consecutive uniport endoscopic plantar fascial release procedures performed by the principal investigator during a 9-year period. The following data were collected and analyzed: gender, age, weight, height, body mass index, medical treatment facility, procedure laterality, preoperative pain levels, postoperative pain levels at 3 months, first ambulatory day in the controlled ankle motion boot, return to activity as tolerated, and complications. Three major points were of interest: evidence of improvement in chronic plantar fasciitis when treated with uniport endoscopic procedures; the patient attributes associated with self-reported pain levels 90 days postoperatively; and the patient attributes associated with the average time until patients were able to return to activities as tolerated in a controlled ankle motion boot. It was noted that 44.5% of those with a body mass index of 29.80 kg/m2 or greater reported a postoperative pain level of 0; and 96.3% of those with a body mass index of 25.53 kg/m2 or less reported postoperative pain levels of 0. The analyzed data were used to characterize the clinical outcomes of the procedure, identify changes in outcome with surgeon experience, and identify whether certain patient subgroups have better outcomes, allowing surgeons to identify which patient might be the best candidates for an endoscopic release procedure

Assessment of sweep net and suction sampling for evaluating pest insect populations in hay alfalfa

Insect populations in alfalfa grown for hay can be sampled using several methods. However, in a pest management program a relatively easy, quick, and reliable method of sampling is essential for making effective pest control decisions. A study was conducted to determine if two different sampling methods, sweepnet sampling and suction sampling, led to similar pest control decisions. Differences between sweepnet and D-Vac insect population estimates varied over sampling dates and years and were dependent on the insect species, their developmental stages, and abiotic factors. Our results indicate that, for many sampling dates, decisions on control of some pest insects would be similar for the two sampling methods.Keywords: Insecta; Medicago sativa; alfalfa weevil; pea aph

Prevention of mist formation in amine based carbon capture : field testing using a Wet ElectroStatic Precipitator (WESP) and a Gas-Gas Heater (GGH)

This study presents the results of two field tests that aimed at evaluating two countermeasures (WESP and GGH) to avoid acid mist formation. A WESP is shown to be very efficient for the removal of nuclei from the flue gas (100 % efficient) and thus can prevent aerosol formation inside an amine based absorber. This is however only valid in the absence of SO2 in the flue gas entering the WESP. A decreasing WESP efficiency is noted in the presence of SO2 with increasing voltages as a result of newly formed aerosols inside the WESP. This implies that no or very low levels of SO2 should be present in the flue gas entering the WESP. Since most of the amine carbon capture installations have a pre-scrubber (usually using NaOH to remove residual SO2 in the flue gas leaving the power plant's Flue Gas Desulphurisation) in front of their amine absorber, the WESP must be installed behind this pre-scrubber and not in front of it. Having a Gas-Gas Heater (or any type of flue gas cooling such as a Low Temperature Heat Exchanger) installed upstream of the wet scrubbing may prevent homogenous nucleation and thus prevent the conversion of H2SO4 into sulfuric acid aerosols and consequently mist formation issues in the amine based carbon capture installation. Which option to choose amongst the two countermeasures presented in this study will depend on whether a new built installation is being considered or whether a carbon capture is planned as a retrofit into an existing installation. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Prevention of Mist Formation in Amine Based Carbon Capture: Field Testing Using a Wet ElectroStatic Precipitator (WESP) and a Gas-Gas Heater (GGH)

This study presents the results of two field tests that aimed at evaluating two countermeasures (WESP and GGH) to avoid acid mist formation. A WESP is shown to be very efficient for the removal of nuclei from the flue gas (100 % efficient) and thus can prevent aerosol formation inside an amine based absorber. This is however only valid in the absence of SO2 in the flue gas entering the WESP. A decreasing WESP efficiency is noted in the presence of SO2 with increasing voltages as a result of newly formed aerosols inside the WESP. This implies that no or very low levels of SO2 should be present in the flue gas entering the WESP. Since most of the amine carbon capture installations have a pre-scrubber (usually using NaOH to remove residual SO2 in the flue gas leaving the power plant's Flue Gas Desulphurisation) in front of their amine absorber, the WESP must be installed behind this pre-scrubber and not in front of it. Having a Gas-Gas Heater (or any type of flue gas cooling such as a Low Temperature Heat Exchanger) installed upstream of the wet scrubbing may prevent homogenous nucleation and thus prevent the conversion of H2SO4 into sulfuric acid aerosols and consequently mist formation issues in the amine based carbon capture installation. Which option to choose amongst the two countermeasures presented in this study will depend on whether a new built installation is being considered or whether a carbon capture is planned as a retrofit into an existing installation. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Description and evaluation of the process-based forest model 4C v2.2 at four European forest sites

The process-based model 4C (FORESEE) has been developed over the past 20 years to study climate impacts on forests and is now freely available as an open-source tool. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive description of this 4C version (v2.2) for scientific users of the model and to present an evaluation of 4C at four different forest sites across Europe. The evaluation focuses on forest growth as well as carbon (net ecosystem exchange, gross primary production), water (actual evapotranspiration, soil water content), and heat fluxes (soil temperature) using data from the PROFOUND database. We applied different evaluation metrics and compared the daily, monthly, and annual variability of observed and simulated values. The ability to reproduce forest growth (stem diameter and biomass) differs from site to site and is best for a pine stand in Germany (Peitz, model efficiency ME=0.98). 4C is able to reproduce soil temperature at different depths in Sorø and Hyytiälä with good accuracy (for all soil depths ME > 0.8). The dynamics in simulating carbon and water fluxes are well captured on daily and monthly timescales (0.51 < ME < 0.983) but less so on an annual timescale (ME < 0). This model–data mismatch is possibly due to the accumulation of errors because of processes that are missing or represented in a very general way in 4C but not with enough specific detail to cover strong, site-specific dependencies such as ground vegetation growth. These processes need to be further elaborated to improve the projections of climate change on forests. We conclude that, despite shortcomings, 4C is widely applicable, reliable, and therefore ready to be released to the scientific community to use and further develop the model