To better understand the effects of biological soil crusts (BSCs) on soil moisture and wind erosion and study the necessity and feasibility of disturbance of BSCs in the Mu Us sandland, the effects of four treatments, including moss-dominated crusts alone, Artemisia ordosica alone, bare sand, and Artemisia ordosica combined with moss-dominated crusts, on rainwater infiltration, soil moisture, a...

Biomass, mainly in the form of wood, is the oldest form of energy used by humans. Gasification is a process of conversion of solid carbonaceous fuel into combustible gas by partial combustion. In the present study, a model developed by us in our earlier study is used for predicting the steady-state composition and rate of reaction profiles for the reduction zone of the downdraft biomass gasifie...

UNLABELLED The public health risk and economic impact of dampness and mold exposures was assessed using current asthma as a health endpoint. Individual risk of current asthma from exposure to dampness and mold in homes from W.J. Fisk, Q. Lei-Gomez & M.J. Mendell [(2007) Indoor Air, [corrected] 17, 284-296], and [corrected] asthma risks calculated from additional studies that reported the preval...

Field dry hay needs to be reduced from near 80% moisture to 20% or less to prevent spoilage during storage. Drying hay to safe baling moistures often takes several days. Sources of loss during forage harvest include mechanical losses such as mowing, conditioning, chopping, raking, packaging and handling as well as respiration and leaching. The general relationship between forage moisture concen...

In this study, the influence of aerosols, surface roughness length, soil moisture, and synergistic interactions among these factors on tropical convective rainfall focused along a sea breeze front are explored within idealized cloud-resolving modeling simulations using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). The idealized RAMS domain setup is representative of the coastal Cameroon rain...

Fat and moisture analysis by microwave drying and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a direct method that yields accurate results in minutes without solvents or the frequent calibration required by indirect methods such as near infrared (NIR) or Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). In the past, NMR was unreliable for determining fat content in foods because the signal from moisture present in th...

Selecting the proper stock type for reforestation on dry sites can be critical for the long-term survival and growth of seedlings. In this study, we use a novel approach to understand stock type selection on a site where drought was induced with vegetative competition. Three ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson var. ponderosa C. Lawson) seedling stock types were planted in the fie...

AIM The aim of this study was to evaluate red deer (maral) meat quality based on chemical composition, pH, water-binding capacity (WBC), and amino acid content. MATERIALS AND METHODS Maral meat surface morphology measurements were obtained by scanning electron microscopy. Active acidity (pH) was determined by potentiometry. Samples were analyzed for WBC by exudation of moisture to a filter pa...