Assessment of free-living nitrogen fixing microorganisms for commercial nitrogen fixation

Ammonia production by Klebsiella pneumoniae is not economical with present strains and improving nitrogen fixation to its theoretical limits in this organism is not sufficient to achieve economic viability. Because the value of both the hydrogen produced by this organism and the methane value of the carbon source required greatly exceed the value of the ammonia formed, ammonia (fixed nitrogen) should be considered the by-product. The production of hydrogen by KLEBSIELLA or other anaerobic nitrogen fixers should receive additional study, because the activity of nitrogenase offers a significant improvement in hydrogen production. The production of fixed nitrogen in the form of cell mass by Azotobacter is also uneconomical and the methane value of the carbon substrate exceeds the value of the nitrogen fixed. Parametric studies indicate that as efficiencies approach the theoretical limits the economics may become competitive. The use of nif-derepressed microorganisms, particularly blue-green algae, may have significant potential for in situ fertilization in the environment

Barium release system

A chemical system is described for releasing a good yield of free barium neutral atoms and barium ions in the upper atmosphere and interplanetary space for the study of the geophysical properties of the medium. The barium is released in the vapor phase so that it can be ionized by solar radiation and also be excited to emit resonance radiation in the visible range. The ionized luminous cloud of barium becomes a visible indication of magnetic and electrical characteristics in space and allows determination of these properties over relatively large areas at a given time

Rocket having barium release system to create ion clouds in the upper atmosphere

A chemical system for releasing a good yield of free barium atoms and barium ions to create ion clouds in the upper atmosphere and interplanetary space for the study of the geophysical properties of the medium is presented

Parity-expanded variational analysis for non-zero momentum

In recent years, the use of variational analysis techniques in lattice QCD has been demonstrated to be successful in the investigation of the rest-mass spectrum of many hadrons. However, due to parity-mixing, more care must be taken for investigations of boosted states to ensure that the projected correlation functions provided by the variational analysis correspond to the same states at zero momentum. In this paper we present the Parity-Expanded Variational Analysis (PEVA) technique, a novel method for ensuring the successful and consistent isolation of boosted baryons through a parity expansion of the operator basis used to construct the correlation matrix.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Symmetry Analysis of Multiferroic Co_3TeO_6

A phenomenological explanation of the magnetoelectric behavior of Co_3TeO_6 is developed. We explain the second harmonic generation data and the magnetic field induced spontaneous polarization in the magnetically ordered phase below 20K.Comment: Phys rev B Rapids, to appea

Thin-film flow in helically wound shallow channels of arbitrary cross-sectional shape

We consider the steady, gravity-driven flow of a thin film of viscous fluid down a helically wound shallow channel of arbitrary cross-sectional shape with arbitrary torsion and curvature. This extends our previous work [D. J. Arnold et al., “Thin-film flow in helically-wound rectangular channels of arbitrary torsion and curvature,” J. Fluid Mech. 764, 76–94 (2015)] on channels of rectangular cross section. The Navier-Stokes equations are expressed in a novel, non-orthogonal coordinate system fitted to the channel bottom. By assuming that the channel depth is small compared to its width and that the fluid depth in the vertical direction is also small compared to its typical horizontal extent, we are able to solve for the velocity components and pressure analytically. Using these results, a differential equation for the free surface shape is obtained, which must in general be solved numerically. Motivated by the aim of understanding flows in static spiral particle separators used in mineral processing, we investigate the effect of cross-sectional shape on the secondary flow in the channel cross section. We show that the competition between gravity and inertia in non-rectangular channels is qualitatively similar to that in rectangular channels, but that the cross-sectional shape has a strong influence on the breakup of the secondary flow into multiple clockwise-rotating cells. This may be triggered by small changes to the channel geometry, such as one or more bumps in the channel bottom that are small relative to the fluid depth. In contrast to the secondary flow which is quite sensitive to small bumps in the channel bottom, the free-surface profile is relatively insensitive to these. The sensitivity of the flow to the channel geometry may have important implications for the design of efficient spiral particle separators.D. J. Arnold, Y. M. Stokes, and J. E. F. Gree

Impact of new technology on timber harvesting costs: Evaluation methods and literature

Timber harvesting and transport are crucial components of the cost of delivered wood to forest products processing facilities. In fact, harvesting and delivering wood often costs more than the entire costs of growing wood until harvest. As such, timber harvesting research and development are important. Additionally, research in this area is worthwhile because efficiency gains, cost improvements, and environmental benefits due to timber harvesting research can be realized in a very short time period, rather than the decades-long wait required for research investments in timber growing. This paper provides an overview of the means of measuring the impact of new technology on timber harvesting costs. In recent years, there have been many efforts to increase research for developing better harvesting equipment and methods. In conjunction with these efforts, greater demands have been made for research efficiency and accountability (Silversides et al. 1988); several studies have therefore been completed to measure the impacts of timber harvesting research and development. These studies, other means of evaluating timber harvesting research, and suggestions for future evaluations are discussed