Feedstock nitrogen content mediates maximum possible Pb sorption capacity of biochars.

The use of biochar for the adsorption of contaminants from soil and water has received considerable interest due to biochar's high surface area, negative charge, and resistance to degradation. However, a knowledge gap still exists concerning the optimum selection of feedstocks and pyrolysis temperatures to maximise sorption capacity for metals. In this study, biochars were produced from 4 different feedstock materials (hay, wheat straw, coco coir, and pine bark) at 10 pyrolysis temperatures ranging from 300 °C to 750 °C, at 50 °C intervals.

Organosolv Pretreatment of Cocoa Pod Husks: Isolation, Analysis, and Use of Lignin from an Abundant Waste Product.

Cocoa pod husks (CPHs) represent an underutilized component of the chocolate manufacturing process. While industry's current focus is understandably on the cocoa beans, the husks make up around 75 wt % of the fruit. Previous studies have been dominated by the carbohydrate polymers present in CPHs, but this work highlights the presence of the biopolymer lignin in this biomass.

Effects of anthropogenic nitrogen additions and elevated CO on microbial community, carbon and nitrogen content in a replicated wetland.

Anthropogenic deposition of nitrogen (N) and elevated CO (CO) are expected to increase continuously and rapidly in the near future and influence global carbon cycling. These parameters affect the ecosystem by regulating the microbial community and contribute to soil organic matter decomposition. The study was performed to understand the effects of N additions (4 and 6mgl) and CO (700 ppm) on carbon (C)/nitrogen (N) content in the soil, microbial community, and plant biomass (Alternanthera philoxeroides species).

Exploiting High-Throughput Indoor Phenotyping to Characterize the Founders of a Structured Breeding Population.

Phenotyping is considered a significant bottleneck impeding fast and efficient crop improvement. Similar to many crops, , an internationally important oilseed crop, suffers from low genetic diversity, and will require exploitation of diverse genetic resources to develop locally adapted, high yielding and stress resistant cultivars. A pilot study was completed to assess the feasibility of using indoor high-throughput phenotyping (HTP), semi-automated image processing, and machine learning to capture the phenotypic diversity of agronomically important traits in a diverse breeding population, SKBnNAM, introduced here for the first time.

Analyzing a faculty online learning community as a mechanism for supporting faculty implementation of a guided-inquiry curriculum.

Background: Adoption and use of effective, research-based instructional strategies (RBISs) for STEM education is less widespread than hoped. To promote further use of RBISs, the propagation paradigm suggests that developers work with potential adopters during the development process, and provide ongoing support after adoption. This article investigates the impact of a faculty online learning community (FOLC) as a professional development mechanism for supporting faculty adopting a research-based curriculum.

Haploidentical stem cell transplantation for patients with lymphoma: a position statement from the Lymphoma Working Party-European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) continues to be the only potentially curative treatment for patients with refractory lymphomas or relapsing after autologous stem cell transplantation. Until recently, alloSCT was restricted to patients who had a matched donor, sibling or unrelated. In the past years, substantial progress in haploidentical transplantation (haploSCT) has resulted in a significant increase in the number of patients treated with this procedure, worldwide.

Risk factors for loss of epithelial flap integrity in laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy surgery.

Purpose: To evaluate risk factors leading to loss of epithelial flap integrity in laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK).

Setting: Boston Eye Group, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA.

Design: Retrospective case study.

Risk Factors for Retreatment Following Myopic LASIK with Femtosecond Laser and Custom Ablation for the Treatment of Myopia.

Purpose: To identify risks factors for retreatment post-laser in situ keratomeliusis (LASIK).

Materials & Methods: A retrospective chart review from December 2008 to September 2012 identified 1,402 patients (2,581 eyes) that underwent LASIK treatment for myopia with the Intralase™ FS, STAR S4 IR™ Excimer Laser, and WaveScan WaveFront™ technology. In this group, 83 patients were retreated.

Outcomes of 44 Consecutive Complete Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients Treated With Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting and Premaxillary Osteotomy.

Objective: To report the surgical outcomes of secondary alveolar bone grafting with premaxillary osteotomy in a single surgeon cohort of complete bilateral cleft lip and palate patients.

Design: Retrospective review of 44 consecutive patients using hospital notes and radiographs.

Setting: Single specialist cleft lip and palate center, UK.

Multiple Individual Audit Outcome Web--a novel tool to evaluate patient outcomes.

Multiple Individual Audit Outcome Web (MIAOW) is a pictorial representation of outcomes, which is used widely in industry, finance, and sports, but not, to the best of our knowledge, in our specialty. It was developed to display multiple audit outcomes for patients in cleft surgery and we show its use in that area, but equally it could be applied to other areas such as orthognathic surgery, and head and neck oncology. We report how it can be used to display surgical outcomes.

Computational methodologies for modelling, analysis and simulation of signalling networks.

This article is a critical review of computational techniques used to model, analyse and simulate signalling networks. We propose a conceptual framework, and discuss the role of signalling networks in three major areas: signal transduction, cellular rhythms and cell-to-cell communication. In order to avoid an overly abstract and general discussion, we focus on three case studies in the areas of receptor signalling and kinase cascades, cell-cycle regulation and wound healing.

Determination of human ventricular repolarization by noncontact mapping: validation with monophasic action potential recordings.

Background: Noncontact mapping (NCM) has not been validated as a clinical technique to measure ventricular repolarization. We used NCM to determine repolarization characteristics by analysis of reconstructed unipolar electrograms (UEs) at the same sites as monophasic action potential (MAP) recordings in the human ventricle.

Methods And Results: MAPs were recorded from a total of 355 beats at 46 sites in the left or right ventricle of 9 patients undergoing ablation of ventricular tachycardia guided by NCM (EnSite system).