343 research outputs found
Genotypic diversity effects on biomass production in native perennial bioenergy cropping systems
Citation: Morris, G. P., Hu, Z., Grabowski, P. P., Borevitz, J. O., de Graaff, M. A., Miller, R. M., & Jastrow, J. D. (2016). Genotypic diversity effects on biomass production in native perennial bioenergy cropping systems. GCB Bioenergy. doi:10.1111/gcbb.12309Article: Version of RecordThe perennial grass species that are being developed as biomass feedstock crops harbor extensive genotypic diversity, but the effects of this diversity on biomass production are not well understood. We investigated the effects of genotypic diversity in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) on perennial biomass cropping systems in two experiments conducted over 2008-2014 at a 5.4-ha fertile field site in northeastern Illinois, USA. We varied levels of switchgrass and big bluestem genotypic diversity using various local and nonlocal cultivars - under low or high species diversity, with or without nitrogen inputs - and quantified establishment, biomass yield, and biomass composition. In one experiment ('agronomic trial'), we compared three switchgrass cultivars in monoculture to a switchgrass cultivar mixture and three different species mixtures, with or without N fertilization. In another experiment ('diversity gradient'), we varied diversity levels in switchgrass and big bluestem (1, 2, 4, or 6 cultivars per plot), with one or two species per plot. In both experiments, cultivar mixtures produced yields equivalent to or greater than the best cultivars. In the agronomic trial, the three switchgrass mixture showed the highest production overall, though not significantly different than best cultivar monoculture. In the diversity gradient, genotypic mixtures had one-third higher biomass production than the average monoculture, and none of the monocultures were significantly higher yielding than the average mixture. Year-to-year variation in yields was lowest in the three-cultivar switchgrass mixtures and Cave-In-Rock (the southern Illinois cultivar) and also reduced in the mixture of switchgrass and big bluestem relative to the species monocultures. The effects of genotypic diversity on biomass composition were modest relative to the differences among species and genotypes. Our findings suggest that local genotypes can be included in biomass cropping systems without compromising yields and that genotypic mixtures could help provide high, stable yields of high-quality biomass feedstocks. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
A Perturbative/Variational Approach to Quantum Lattice Hamiltonians
We propose a method to construct the ground state of local
lattice hamiltonians with the generic form , where
is a coupling constant and is a hamiltonian with a non degenerate ground
state . The method is based on the choice of an exponential ansatz
, which is a sort of generalized
lattice version of a Jastrow wave function. We combine perturbative and
variational techniques to get succesive approximations of the operator
. Perturbation theory is used to set up a variational method which
in turn produces non perturbative results. The computation with this kind of
ansatzs leads to associate to the original quantum mechanical problem a
statistical mechanical system defined in the same spatial dimension. In some
cases these statistical mechanical systems turn out to be integrable, which
allow us to obtain exact upper bounds to the energy. The general ideas of our
method are illustrated in the example of the Ising model in a transverse field.Comment: 27 pages, three .ps figures appended, DFTUZ 94-2
Cold Bose gases with large scattering lengths
We calculate the energy and condensate fraction for a dense system of bosons
interacting through an attractive short range interaction with positive s-wave
scattering length . At high densities, , the energy per particle,
chemical potential, and square of the sound speed are independent of the
scattering length and proportional to , as in Fermi systems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Self-Consistent Relativistic Calculation of Nucleon Mean Free Path
We present a fully self-consistent and relativistic calculation of the
nucleon mean free path in nuclear matter and finite nuclei. Starting from the
Bonn potential, the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock results for nuclear matter are
parametrized in terms of an effective - Lagrangian suitable for
the relativistic density-dependent Hartree-Fock (RDHF) approximation. The
nucleon mean free path in nuclear matter is derived from this effective
Lagrangian taking diagrams up to fourth-order into account. For the nucleon
mean free path in finite nuclei, we make use of the density determined by the
RDHF calculation in the local density approximation. Our microscopic results
are in good agreement with the empirical data and predictions by Dirac
phenomenology.Comment: 16 pages RevTex and 6 figures (paper, available upon request from
[email protected]) UI-NTH-931
Posterior lung herniation after a coughing spell: a case report
Lung hernias are rare, occurring most commonly after trauma or surgery. Spontaneous lung hernias are even rarer and have only been reported as occurring anteriorly. We present a 72-year-old male who developed a spontaneous posterior lung hernia after a severe coughing episode. We describe the evaluation and surgical management of this unusual condition and provide a brief review of the literature
NN Core Interactions and Differential Cross Sections from One Gluon Exchange
We derive nonstrange baryon-baryon scattering amplitudes in the
nonrelativistic quark model using the ``quark Born diagram" formalism. This
approach describes the scattering as a single interaction, here the
one-gluon-exchange (OGE) spin-spin term followed by constituent interchange,
with external nonrelativistic baryon wavefunctions attached to the scattering
diagrams to incorporate higher-twist wavefunction effects. The short-range
repulsive core in the NN interaction has previously been attributed to this
spin-spin interaction in the literature; we find that these perturbative
constituent-interchange diagrams do indeed predict repulsive interactions in
all I,S channels of the nucleon-nucleon system, and we compare our results for
the equivalent short-range potentials to the core potentials found by other
authors using nonperturbative methods. We also apply our perturbative
techniques to the N and systems: Some
channels are found to have attractive core potentials and may accommodate
``molecular" bound states near threshold. Finally we use our Born formalism to
calculate the NN differential cross section, which we compare with experimental
results for unpolarised proton-proton elastic scattering. We find that several
familiar features of the experimental differential cross section are reproduced
by our Born-order result.Comment: 27 pages, figures available from the authors, revtex, CEBAF-TH-93-04,
MIT-CTP-2187, ORNL-CCIP-93-0
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Results after ten years of field testing low-level radioactive waste forms using lysimeters
The Field Lysimeter Investigations: Low-Level Waste Data Base Development Program is obtaining information on the performance of radioactive waste forms. These experiments were recently shut down and have been examined in accordance with a detailed waste form and soil sampling plan. Ion-exchange resins from a commercial nuclear power station were solidified into waste forms using portland cement and vinyl ester-styrene. These waste forms were tested to (a) obtain information on performance of waste forms in typical disposal environments, (b) compare field results with bench leach studies, (c) develop a low-level waste data base for use in performance assessment source term calculations, and (d) apply the DUST computer code to compare predicted cumulative release to actual field data. The program, funded by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), includes observed radionuclide releases from waste forms in field lysimeters. The purpose of this paper is to present the experimental results of two lysimeter arrays after 10 years of operation, and to compare those results to bench test results and to DUST code predictions of releases using recently developed partition coefficients. This paper discusses soil and waste form sampling in which vertical cores were removed from the lysimeter soil columns for laboratory characterization. Soils will be analyzed for radionuclide movement. Further analysis of soil cores taken to define the observed upward migration of radionuclides in one lysimeter is also presented
Jastrow-type calculations of one-nucleon removal reactions on open - shell nuclei
Single-particle overlap functions and spectroscopic factors are calculated on
the basis of Jastrow-type one-body density matrices of open-shell nuclei
constructed by using a factor cluster expansion. The calculations use the
relationship between the overlap functions corresponding to bound states of the
-particle system and the one-body density matrix for the ground state of
the -particle system. In this work we extend our previous analyses of
reactions on closed-shell nuclei by using the resulting overlap functions for
the description of the cross sections of reactions on the open -
shell nuclei Mg, Si and S and of S
reaction. The relative role of both shell structure and short-range
correlations incorporated in the correlation approach on the spectroscopic
factors and the reaction cross sections is pointed out.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
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