Although talc slurry pleurodesis is effective for control of malignant pleural effusions and recurrent pneumothorax, the mechanisms of pleurodesis remain incompletely defined. We instilled 70 mg/kg of sterile asbestos-free talc slurry into the pleural space of New Zealand white rabbits and studied the inflammatory response at 1, 2, 3, 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days by observing pleural fluid a...

While many small dairy farms have shut down milk production, the livestock density and number of livestock farms have increased in certain regions in western and central Finland during recent decades. At present, most dairy farms prefer almost continuous grass cultivation to crop rotation with cereals and grasses. Consequently, slurry is spread onto fields of silage grass instead of using earli...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different covers (oil, plastic film, perforated polystyrene float, peat and zeolites) on slurry settling characteristics and ammonia emission during storage and following surface application in the field. Laboratory trials were carried out for 15 days using a pilot scale device. Samples of 5 kg slurry were used. At the end of the storage peri...

The dielectric nanosize dependence of BaTiO₃ powders was investigated by the slurry method, where two series of BaTiO₃ slurries with 10 vol% and 30 vol% solids loadings were prepared as model samples. Applying the Bruggeman-Hanai equation, the high-frequency limiting permittivity (ε(h)) of the slurries was extracted from the dielectric spectra. The ε(h) of the 10 vol% slurry showed abnormal siz...

The bioreduction of solid TNT by a Pseudomonas fluorescens strain was investigated in a stirred tank reactor. Experiments in which TNT beads were the only solids present indicated that the biodegradation mechanism is dissolution followed by degradation in bulk solution. Dissolution may limit the overall rate, in which case degradation can be enhanced through increased agitation. Since soil slur...

Knowledge of the actual content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) in animal slurry is highly important to optimize crop production and avoid environmental pollution when slurry is spread on agricultural fields. Here, we present a mobile, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor suitable for online monitoring of the NPK content in animal slurry as an alternative to crude esti...

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is usually carried out using fixed coefficients for resource use and emissions as the basis for the calculation of the environmental impact of a product or a service. However, in agriculture, where the systems’ functioning largely depends on the dynamic organisation of agricultural practices and on variable climatic conditions, coupling dynamic simulation models with...

The design of cement slurry for horizontal wellbores is challenging as it must present very high quality cement slurry properties e.g. zero free water, less than 50 cc API fluid loss value, appropriate rheology and yield point for effective displacement, adequate compressive strength, which is critical for lightweight slurries, and finally stable cement column behind casing. The main objective ...

The diversity of bacteriophages in slurry from dairy cows remains largely unknown. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of 14 bacteriophages isolated from dairy cow slurry using Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 as a host.

Pot and field experiments were done to establish the effect of Rhizobium inoculation, Molybdenum and lime supply on the availability of micronutrients (Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, B and Mo) in Phaseolus vulgaris L. In both field and pot experiments, Rhizobium inoculation significantly improved uptake of Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, B and Mo in all organs (roots, shoots, pods and whole plants) except the Mo uptake in ro...