scholarly journals The Heat Pulse Method for Soil Physical Measurements: A Bibliometric Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailong He ◽  
Miles Dyck ◽  
Jialong Lv
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Pulse Method ◽  
The United States ◽  
Heat Pulse ◽  
Soil Science ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Soil Science Society ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
Wide Range

Heat pulse method is a transient method that estimates soil thermal properties by characterizing the radial transport of short-duration line-source heat applied to soils. It has been widely used to measure a wide range of soil physical properties including soil thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, heat capacity, water content, ice content, bulk density, water flux and evaporation in laboratory and field environments. Previous studies generally focus on the scientific aspects of heat pulse method based on selected publications, and there is a lack of study investigating the heat pulse publication as a whole. The objective of this study was to give an overall view of the use of heat pulse method for soil physical measurements from the bibliometric perspectives. The analyses were based on the Web of Science Core Collection data between 1992 and 2019 using HistCite Pro and VOSviewer. The results showed an increasing trend in the volume of publications on this field and Dr. Robert Horton was the most productive researcher coauthoring papers on the heat pulse method. The co-authorship analysis revealed that researchers from soil science are closely collaborated, but this is not true for researchers in other fields. There is a lack of new young scientists committing to this field while the older generation of researchers are retiring. The United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Servics (USDA-ARS), the China Agriculture University and the Chinese Academy of Science were the top three organizations applying the heat pulse method, while the USA, China and Canada were the top three countries. The Soil Science Society of America Journal, Water Resources Research and Agricultural and Forestry Meteorology were the most widely used journals. The con-occurrence and citation analysis could be used to map the development of the field and identify the most influential publications. The study showed that the bibliometric analysis is a useful tool to visualize research status as well as to provide the general information of novices and experts alike on the heat pulse method for soil physical measurements.

scholarly journals Conservation and Utilization of Livestock Genetic Diversity in the United States of America through Gene Banking

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey D. Blackburn ◽  
Carrie S. Wilson ◽  
Bethany Krehbiel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Germplasm Collection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
Span 60

A germplasm collection curated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Animal Germplasm Program contains of over one million samples from over 55,000 animals, representing 165 livestock and poultry breeds. The collection was developed to provide genetic conservation and security for the U.S. livestock sector. Samples in the collection span 60 years, suggesting a wide range of genetic diversity and genetic change is represented for rare and major breeds. Classifying breeds into four groups based upon registration or census estimates of population size of < 1000, < 5000, < 20,000, and > 20,000 indicated that 50% of the collection is comprised of rare breeds in the < 1000 category. As anticipated, collections for breeds in the < 20,000 and > 20,000 are more complete (86% and 98%, respectively) based upon an index combining the number of germplasm samples and the number of animals. For the rarest breeds (< 1000), collection completeness was 45%. Samples from over 6000 animals in the collection have been used for adding diversity to breeds, genomic evaluation, reconstituting populations, or various research projects. Several aspects of collecting germplasm samples from rare breeds are discussed. In addition, approaches that could be used to enhance the status of rare breeds via the repository use are presented. However, given the array of obstacles confronting rare breeds, the gene bank may be the most secure prospect for the long-term conservation of rare breed genetics.

Deep Learning-based Soil Property Prediction for Remediation of Radioactive Contamination in Agriculture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Albinet ◽  
Gerd Dercon ◽  
Tetsuya Eguchi
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Radioactive Contamination ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Transfer Factors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Plant Transfer

&lt;p&gt;The Joint IAEA/FAO Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, through its Soil and Water Management &amp; Crop Nutrition Laboratory (SWMCNL), launched in October 2019, a new Coordinated Research Project (D15019) called &amp;#8220;Monitoring and Predicting Radionuclide Uptake and Dynamics for Optimizing Remediation of Radioactive Contamination in Agriculture''. Within this context, the high-throughput characterization of soil properties in general and the estimation of soil-to-plant transfer factors of radionuclides are of critical importance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For several decades, soil researchers have been successfully using near and mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) techniques to estimate a wide range of soil physical, chemical and biological properties such as carbon (C), Cation Exchange Capacities (CEC), among others. However, models developed were often limited in scope as only small and region-specific MIR spectra libraries of soils were accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This situation of data scarcity is changing radically today with the availability of large and growing library of MIR-scanned soil samples maintained by the National Soil Survey Center (NSSC) Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-NRCS) and the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) initiative of the Food Agency Organization (FAO). As a result, the unprecedented volume of data now available allows soil science researchers to increasingly shift their focus from traditional modeling techniques such as PLSR (Partial Least Squares Regression) to classes of modeling approaches, such as Ensemble Learning or Deep Learning, that have proven to outperform PLSR on most soil properties prediction in a large data regime.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, the opportunity to train higher capacity models on the KSSL large dataset (all soil taxonomic orders included ~ 50K samples) makes it possible to reach a quality of prediction for exchangeable potassium so far unsurpassed with a Residual Prediction Deviation (RPD) around 3. Potassium is known for its difficulty of being predicted but remains extremely important in the context of remediation of radioactive contamination after a nuclear accident. Potassium can help reduce the uptake of radiocaesium by crops, as it competes with radiocaesium in soil-to-plant transfer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To ensure informed decision making, we also guarantee that (i) individual predictions uncertainty is estimated (using Monte Carlo Dropout) and (ii) individual predictions can be interpreted (i.e. how much specific MIRS wavenumber regions contribute to the prediction) using methods such as Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SWMCNL is now a member of the GLOSOLAN network, which helps enhance the usability of MIRS for soil monitoring worldwide. SWMCNL is further developing training packages on the use of traditional and advanced mathematical techniques to process MIRS data for predicting soil properties. This training package has been tested in October 2020 with thirteen staff members of the FAO/IAEA Laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria.&lt;/p&gt;

Armillaria novae-zelandiae.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Hood
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Nutrient Recycling ◽  
The United States ◽  
Laboratory Culture ◽  
Root Disease ◽  
White Rot ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Planted Forests ◽  
Global Database

Abstract Armillaria novae-zelandiae is a white rot wood decay fungus and root disease pathogen that occurs in a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere and in parts of tropical and subtropical Asia. It is not known to have been introduced to these regions, where it is presumed to be indigenous. Its designation as "invasive" is based on its propensity to establish colonies and disease centres in disease-free areas by dispersal of basidiospores from "toadstool" fruit bodies that appear on wood during the winter months. As a wood decomposer fungus A. novae-zelandiae contributes beneficially to carbon and nutrient recycling. Like many other Armillaria species it is recognized by characteristic white mycelial fans or ribbons produced beneath host bark and by its bootlace-like rhizomorphs by which it spreads vegetatively from colonized buried woody material or stump root systems to infect living host plants.Armillaria novae-zelandiae was the cause of substantial disease losses in plantations of Pinus radiata and orchards of kiwifruit vines (Actinidia deliciosa) in New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1990s. Its importance has since declined with changes in patterns of crop management, although it remains widely distributed. Much research into its control was undertaken during this period. In eastern states in Australia, A. novae-zelandiae is a minor cause of root disease in natural and planted forests, where it is of lesser importance than Armillaria luteobubalina. Its impact in other regions is unknown, but it has not been associated with reports of significant disease. Risk of unintended international spread appears to be low to negligible but should not be discounted. If intercepted, isolates of A. novae-zelandiae may be identified by laboratory culture testing or more rapidly and precisely by molecular sequencing procedures. A. novae-zelandiae is listed in the EPPO Global Database and features in the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service fungal databases. It is considered a risk organism in Hawai'i.

scholarly journals Development and Application of the Heat Pulse Method for Soil Physical Measurements

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailong He ◽  
Miles F. Dyck ◽  
Robert Horton ◽  
Tusheng Ren ◽  
Keith L. Bristow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pulse Method ◽  
Heat Pulse ◽  
Physical Measurements

Conceptual Analysis of the Economic Feasibility of Fission Electric Cell Reactors

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Morrow ◽  
G. Rochau ◽  
J. Cash ◽  
D. King
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Value Analysis ◽  
Direct Energy Conversion ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Direct Energy

The United States Department of Energy, Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) Direct Energy Conversion (DEC) project began in August of 1998 with the goal of developing a direct energy conversion process suitable for commercial development. With roughly two thirds of the project completed, we believe a viable direct energy device could be economic. This paper describes the financial basis behind that belief for one proposed DEC reactor, the magnetically insulated fission electric cell (FEC). It also illustrates the value of economic analysis even in these early phases of a research project. The financial basis consists of a conceptual level Economic Model comprised of five modules. The Design Model provides technical specification to other modules. The Fuel Cost Model estimates fuel expenses based on current spot market prices applied over a wide range of fuel enrichment. The Operating Cost Model uses published correlations to provide rough order of magnitude non-fuel operating costs. The Capital Cost model uses analogy and parametric estimating techniques to generate capital cost estimates for a DEC power plant. Finally, the financial model combines output from the other models to produce a Net Present Value analysis with cost of generation as the independent variable. Model results indicate that several FEC geometric configurations could be economic. Within these configurations, optimums exist. Finally, the model demonstrates that the most efficient design is not necessarily the most economic.

scholarly journals Detection and Classification of SPLCV Isolates in the U.S. Sweetpotato Germplasm Collection via a Real-Time PCR Assay and Phylogenetic Analysis

Plant Disease ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 95 (11) ◽  
pp. 1385-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Barkley ◽  
D. L. Pinnow ◽  
M. L. Wang ◽  
K. S. Ling ◽  
R. L. Jarret
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Ipomoea Batatas ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Germplasm Collection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Potato Leaf ◽  
In Vitro Plantlets

The United States Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) germplasm collection contains accessions that were initially collected from various countries worldwide. These materials have been maintained and distributed as in vitro plantlets since the mid-1980s. The status of viral infection by the emerging Sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) and other Begomovirus spp. in this germplasm has yet to be determined. In order to minimize the potential distribution of virus-infected clones, all accessions in the collection were tested for SPLCV using a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. In total, 47 of 701 accessions of in vitro plantlets tested positive for SPLCV. The presence of SPLCV detected in these materials was confirmed via biological indexing using the indicator plants I. nil and I. muricata. Symptoms appeared more rapidly on I. muricata than on I. nil. Nucleotide polymorphisms among the isolates were evaluated by sequencing the AV1 coat protein gene from 24 SPLCV-infected accessions. The results revealed that the SPLCV isolates shared high sequence identity. Ten nucleotide substitutions were identified, most of which were synonymous changes. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted on those 24 SPLCV isolates in combination with six described SPLCV species and various SPLCV strains from GenBank to evaluate the relationships among viral species or strains. The results from this analysis indicated that most of the AV1 genes derived from previously classified SPLCV species clustered together, some of which formed well-supported monophyletic clades, further supporting the current taxonomy. Overall, identification of SPLCV-infected germplasm will allow approaches to be employed to eliminate the virus from the collection and limit the distribution of infected materials.

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