bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cover Crop and Nitrogen Fertilization Influence Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Under Bioenergy Sweet Sorghum
Authors: Sainju Upendra M. , Singh Hari P. , Singh Bharat P. , Whitehead Wayne F. , Chiluwal Anuj , Paudel Rajesh 
Published: January 2018

Core Ideas
Removal of aboveground biomass may affect soil C and N under sweet sorghum.The effect of cover crop and N fertilization on soil C and N under sweet sorghum was examined.SOC and STN were greater with vetch and vetch/rye mixture than other cover cropsNH4‐N was greater with rye and NO3‐N greater with vetch/rye than other cover crops.Vetch and vetch/rye can enhance soil C and N storage and optimize N availability.
Sustainable production of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) grown for bioenergy production depends on practices that maintain soil C and N levels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of winter cover crops (hairy vetch [Vicia villosa Roth], rye [Secaele cereale L.], hairy vetch/rye mixture, and the control [no cover crop]) and N fertilization rates (0 and 90 kg N ha−) on soil organic C (SOC), total N (STN), NH4–N, and NO3–N contents at the 0‐ to 30‐cm depth from 2010 to 2014 in the southeastern USA. Cover crop biomass yield and C content were greater with vetch/rye than vetch and the control and N content greater with vetch and vetch/rye than the control in 2013 and 2014. The SOC and STN at 0 to 5 cm were greater with vetch/rye than the control and at 15 to 30 cm were greater with vetch than vetch/rye. At 0 to 5 cm, SOC increased at 0.55 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 and STN at 0.06 Mg N ha−1 yr−1, regardless of treatments. At most depths, NH4–N content was greater with rye than the control and greater with 0 than 90 kg N ha−1, but NO3–N content was greater with vetch/rye than rye. Because of greater cover crop C and N inputs, soil C and N stocks can be enhanced and N availability can be optimized by growing vetch and vetch/rye mixture cover crops to replace the stocks reduced by the removal of aboveground sweet sorghum biomass.
Urea Hydrolysis and Calcium Carbonate Precipitation in Gypsum‐Amended Broiler Litter
Authors: Burt Christopher D. , Cabrera Miguel L. , Rothrock Michael J. , Kissel D. E. 
Published: January 2018

Broiler (Gallus gallus domesticus) litter is subject to ammonia (NH3) volatilization losses. Previous work has shown that the addition of gypsum to broiler litter can increase nitrogen mineralization and decrease NH3losses due to a decrease in pH, but the mechanisms responsible for these effects are not well understood. Therefore, three laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of gypsum addition to broiler litter on (i) urease activity at three water contents, (ii) calcium carbonate precipitation, and (iii) pH. The addition of gypsum to broiler litter increased ammonium concentrations (p< 0.0033) and decreased litter pH by 0.43 to 0.49 pH units after 5 d (p< 0.0001); however, the rate of urea hydrolysis in treated litter only increased on Day 0 for broiler litter with low (0.29 g H2O g−1) and high (0.69 g H2O g−1) water contents, and on Day 3 for litter with medium (0.40 g H2O g−1) water content (p< 0.05). Amending broiler litter with gypsum also caused an immediate decrease in litter pH (0.22 pH units) due to the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from gypsum‐derived calcium and litter bicarbonate. Furthermore, as urea was hydrolyzed, more urea‐derived carbon precipitated as CaCO3in gypsum‐treated litter than in untreated litter (p< 0.001). These results indicate that amending broiler litter with gypsum favors the precipitation of CaCO3, which buffers against increases in litter pH that are known to facilitate NH3volatilization.Core IdeasThe rate of urea hydrolysis briefly increases when gypsum is added to broiler litter.Treating broiler litter with gypsum causes an immediate decrease in litter pH.Calcium carbonate precipitation in gypsum‐amended litter decreases litter pH.
Sorption of Nitro Explosives to Polymer/Biomass‐Derived Biochar
Authors: Oh Seok‐Young , Seo Yong‐Deuk , Jeong Tae‐Yong , Kim Sang‐Don 
Published: January 2018

Factors affecting the sorptive removal of nitro explosives (2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene [TNT] and hexahydro‐1,3,5‐trinitro‐1,3,5‐triazine [RDX]) to polymer/biomass‐derived biochar were investigated through batch experiments. Compared with that of rice (Oryza sativa L.) straw (RS)‐derived biochar, the sorption of TNT and RDX to polymer/RS‐derived biochar was greatly enhanced by >2.5 and 4 times, respectively. The type and amount of polymer did not significantly affect the sorption of nitro explosives to polymer/RS‐derived biochar. Pyrolysis temperature did not affect the sorption capacity. Surface treatment with acid or an oxidant did not significantly change the sorption capacity, suggesting that polymer residues may be strongly responsible for the enhancement. Possible polymer residues were identified via gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and Microtox bioassay analyses indicated that polymer/RS‐derived biochar did not show possible harmful effects. Our results suggest that polymer/RS‐derived biochar can be effectively used as a sorbent to remove nitro explosives both in the natural environment and engineered systems.Core Ideas
Polymer/rice straw‐derived biochar enhances the sorption of TNT and RDX.
The effect of the pyrolysis temperature at elevated temperatures is not marked.
The sorption capacity is not enhanced by surface treatment with acid or an oxidant.
Possible polymer residues in the biochar are identified via GC‐MS analysis.
TCLP and Microtox bioassay analyses show no harmful effects of the biochar.
Understory Vegetation and Drought Effects on Soil Aggregate Stability and Aggregate‐Associated Carbon on the Loess Plateau in China
Authors: Zhang Qingyin , Shao Ming'an , Jia Xiaoxu , Zhang Chencheng 
Published: January 2018

Core Ideas
Precipitation–throughfall exclusion and the removal of understory had no influence on total SOC.
Throughfall exclusion and removal of the understory significantly affected soil aggregate stability.
Throughfall exclusion and lack of understory also affected aggregate‐associated organic C pools.
Restoration of understory vegetation had some potential to increase total SOC sequestration.
Artificial afforestation is a common strategy for ecological recovery on the Loess Plateau, China, which causes the development of understory vegetation and drought stress. However, the influence of the understory vegetation and drought conditions on soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated soil organic carbon (SOC) are still not well understood. We evaluated the impacts of understory development and drought stress on soil aggregate stability and associated SOC during 2015 and 2016 in an artificial afforestation area in Shaanxi Province, China. The study had four treatments: control (CK), precipitation and throughfall excluded + understory present (TE), precipitation and throughfall allowed + understory removed (NU), and precipitation and throughfall excluded + understory removed (TE‐NU). Soil moisture was significantly reduced by the exclusion of precipitation and throughfall. Aboveground biomass in the CK was significantly higher than that of TE. Precipitation–throughfall exclusion and the removal of understory vegetation significantly decreased soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated organic C pools, while they had no influence on the total SOC pools. This indicated that soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated organic C may be more sensitive to changes in the external environment. These suggest that understory vegetation restoration had some potential to increase total SOC sequestration in the artificial afforestation on the Loess Plateau of China.
Water Flow Modeling with Dry Bulk Density Optimization to Determine Hydraulic Properties in Mountain Soils
Authors: Fullhart A. T. , Kelleners T. J. , Chandler D. G. , McNamara J. P. , Seyfried M. S. 
Published: January 2018

Core Ideas
The GEOtop model was used to calculate water flow in mountain soils.
Dry soil bulk density was optimized to determine soil hydraulic properties.
Soil water contents for two watersheds were used to test the optimization procedure.
A new method for determining profile‐average and depth‐wise hydraulic properties in heterogeneous mountain soils is presented using the GEOtop watershed model in 1‐D vertical mode. Dry soil bulk density–converted volumetric soil water retention data are used to determine van Genuchten soil water retention parameters, and the Kozeny–Carman equation is used to determine saturated soil hydraulic conductivity. Optimum dry soil bulk densities are identified by minimizing the sum of squared error between measured and calculated soil water content time series. The new method was tested using soil moisture data from soil profiles at the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed, Boise, ID, and the Libby Creek Experimental Watershed, Laramie, WY. Results of different scenarios showed that the optimization of a single profile‐average dry soil bulk density is a good option for describing soil water flow in the heterogeneous mountain soils. Soil water content modeling efficiency (ME) values of 0.084 ≤ ME ≤ 0.745 and –2.443 ≤ ME ≤ 0.373 were found for the Dry Creek and Libby Creek sites, respectively. Relatively low ME values for the deepest sensor depths for some scenarios were attributed to the overestimation of soil water freezing and uncertainty in the soil water retention function near saturation. The resulting calibration procedure is computationally efficient because only one parameter (dry soil bulk density) is optimized.
Infiltration Model Based on Traveling Characteristics of Wetting Front
Authors: Cui Guotao , Zhu Jianting 
Published: January 2018

Core Ideas
A new infiltration model based on characteristics of wetting front was developed.
The model describes evolution of water content by ordinary differential equation.
Infiltration rate is used as input, and wetting front profile and time are back‐solved.
The model captures the evolution of wetting front and infiltration amount.
This study presents a one‐dimensional infiltration model based on the traveling characteristics of wetting front (TCWF) model. The TCWF model predicts the infiltration process by solving an ordinary differential equation linking infiltration rate and wetting front profile, which avoids numerically solving the highly nonlinear Richards equation and eliminates associated numerical difficulties. This is achieved by an assumption of normalized equality between flux and soil moisture within wetting front before the time when infiltration rate reaches steady value and traveling wave property of wetting front in the equilibrium state. With the two traveling characteristics, the TCWF model uses infiltration rate as input and back solves wetting front profile, time, and cumulative infiltration. We examine the accuracy and capability of TCWF model by comparing 48 infiltration cases with different setups of soil profile and infiltration conditions to the numerical solutions of the Richards equation for vertical infiltration and exact solutions for horizontal infiltration. Results demonstrate that the TCWF model can effectively capture the evolution of wetting front and predict infiltration. The TCWF model can be applied to any soil type, soil hydraulic model, and infiltration on any slope angle. Good agreements with maximum percent bias for cumulative infiltration of 3.525% are found in the vertical infiltration cases with initially dry and initially wet conditions and in the horizontal case with initially dry conditions. In the absence of gravity, the TCWF model slightly overestimates horizontal infiltration, especially under initially wet conditions. The developed TCWF model provides a simple and accurate approach to simulate infiltration.
As disputas sino-vietnamitas no Mar do Sul: desafios para além da questão regional
Authors: Pautasso Diego , Leite Alexandre Cesar Cunha , Doria Gaio 
Published: January 2018

O presente artigo tem por objetivo analisar a situação atual das relações entre a China e o Vietnã na questão relativa às disputas territoriais no Mar do Sul da China. Por um lado, China e Vietnã convergem em seus regimes políticos e modelos econômicos, além de participar de processos de integração regional conjuntos. Por outro, possuem interesses políticos e territoriais divergentes sobre espaços no Mar do Sul da China, região estratégica nos âmbitos comercial e geopolítico. Trata-se de um dos litígios territoriais mais importantes envolvendo os países da região e seus potenciais aliados, com destaque para a forte penetração dos Estados Unidos (EUA). É, pois, um tema complexo que engloba questões militares, econômicas e diplomáticas, com desdobramentos para o sistema internacional. O argumento proposto é que esse litígio tende a determinar não apenas a evolução das relações bilaterais sino-vietnamitas, mas a dinâmica de integração regional e, sobretudo, a projeção de poder dos Estados Unidos em uma porção chave do mundo oriental.
A NATION BECOMING? MEDIATING POST-APARTHEID IDENTITIES IN ANTJIE KROGâ€™S COUNTRY OF MY SKULL
Authors: Mwapangidza Solomon 
Published: January 2018

Â In this paper I use postmodernism to explore Antjie Krogâ€™s engagement with post-Apartheid identities in Country of My Skull. These identities, often complex and multiple, are mediated in the process of nation-building. I take the exercise of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as metonymy for the nation-building project, and I argue that Krog quite deliberately chose an ambiguous and complex genre to represent equally ambiguous and complex identities. One of the salient features of postmodernism is its anti-systemic, anti-form impulse, and the form that Krog uses refuses to be conscripted into any single conventional form. Dominated by testimonies of victims and perpetrators of apartheid violence, the form also bears aspects of autobiography, novel, poetry and journalistic snippets interlaced with quotes from psychoanalysts and philosophers. From time to time, anecdotes, fairytales, myths and legends are interpolated into the narrative to remind the reader of the porous borders between fiction and reality.
MATHIAS MHERE'S FUNCTIONAL USES OF GOSPEL MUSIC IN THE ZIMBABWEAN POST-2000 MALADIES
Authors: Magosvongwe Ruby 
Published: January 2018

The article critiques Mathias Mhere’s gospel music from an Afrocentric perspective within the context of complexities and maladies that have impacted negatively on the majority’s livelihoods in Zimbabwe’s post-2000 period. The maladies have seen society marshalling different strategies and oral art forms to keep people’s spirits buoyant. Oral art forms have always been at the centre of African experience, constituting a repository of the philosophy of life as desired, imagined, and treasured among most indigenous families and communities. In the absence of the oral folklore and oral art forms of yesteryear that were used to inculcate communal values and skills to self-define and safeguard cultural spaces, gospel music has made inroads and carved an indelible niche that needs critical attention. This strategy is not novel to Zimbabwe. Music as an oral and performance art has always been deeply ingrained in most social activities to raise and censure conduct across all ages for society’s greater good, including cementing the social fabric, and fostering social cohesion and stability among most indigenous families and communities. In the recalcitrant environment, fraught with a myriad of maladies and many a family in dispersion, gospel music in the indigenous languages becomes critical in exhorting and censuring attitudes, conduct and desires in order to uphold treasured values. Family dispersions disrupted institutions and fractured relationships, further fanning insecurities and imbalances. It is from this angle that this article makes a critical analysis of Mathias Mhere’s gospel lyrics. Mhere is one of the most popular young gospel artists whose albums have been hits on the Zimbabwean music charts. The article therefore examines the forte behind Mhere’s gospel music in the Zimbabwean post-2000 maladies. It also interrogates Mhere’s artistic creativity, sensitivity and commitment to sustainable livelihoods and survival in post-2000 Zimbabwe’s fractious environment.
MIND YOUR P(EDERAST)S AND Q(UEER)S: THE SCHOOL AS PHALLIC PARENT IN MARK BEHRâ€™S EMBRACE
Authors: Reef Anne M. 
Published: January 2018

This study examines the role of the school in Mark Behrâ€™s Embrace , and situates the institutionâ€™s location at the nexus of gender studies, childrenâ€™s literature scholarship and Lacanian psychoanalytic theory. The article argues that in the novel, the school is a phallic parent in locoÂ and an agent of the apartheid state, eager to enforce white male and heterosexual hegemony in psychologically and physically violent ways. Behr focuses on the vicious abuse of queer boys particularly. The article applies contemporary scholarship in childrenâ€™s literature to what is unquestionably a novel for and by an adult, precisely so because of the bookâ€™s bold grappling with the questions of what is a child, what constitutes sex, who or what is the phallus, and what constitutes violence; it also situates Behrâ€™s thinly veiled autobiography in a (queer) school story tradition. Specific thinkers on whose work the article draws include Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser and Michel Foucault; gender theorists Judith Butler and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick; psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan; and childrenâ€™s literature scholars Karen Coats, Kenneth Kidd and others.
The Impact of an HIV Community Engagement Programme among Men Who Have Sex with Men in a Rural Community in South Africa
Authors: Mampane Johannes Ntshilagane 
Published: January 2018

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are regarded as a high-risk group for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection worldwide. In South Africa, which is home to the largest number of people living with HIV, research has revealed that HIV prevalence and incidence rates among MSM have reached crisis proportions. African MSM in particular are more susceptible to the risk of HIV infection due to increasing homophobia on the African continent coupled with poor socio-economic backgrounds such as poverty, unemployment and low educational levels. In this regard, there is a need to develop appropriate and relevant interventions such as community engagement approaches which have shown to be effective in improving the health and wellbeing of marginalised and minority populations in disadvantaged and underprivileged communities. In the context of this study, the latter refers to Black MSM who live in rural areas. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of MSM and health care providers (HCPs) regarding the impact of community engagement on HIV testing, prevention, treatment, care and support among MSM in rural villages in North West province, South Africa. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 4 MSM and 4 HCPs who have been involved in a community engagement programme in these rural villages. In a nutshell, the findings of the study revealed that community engagement has encouraged MSM to access and utilise HIV testing, prevention, treatment, care and support than they used to previously. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
'They are going tomorrow, isn't it?' On the Use of Tag Questions in Indian English and Hong Kong English
Authors: Criado Peña Miriam 
Published: January 2018

Tag questions in standard British English (BrE) follow a standard pattern consisting of an operator and a subject. This operator generally coincides with the preceding statement while the auxiliary “do” is the choice when the operator is absent. More importantly, a negative tag is generally attached to a positive statement and vice versa (i.e. you know her, don’t you?) (Quirk et al. 1985: 810).The Asian varieties of English are an exception insofar as apparently no standard rule is observed. The present paper investigates the use and distribution of regular and irregular tag questions in Indian English and Hong Kong English with the following objectives: a) to analyze the distribution of the construction of regular and irregular tag questions across these varieties; b) to assess their frequency across speech and writing, text types included; and c) to evaluate the sociolinguistic variation, if any. For the purpose, the Indian and Hong Kong components of the International Corpus of English (ICE-Ind and ICE-HK) will be used as sources of analysis.
Las Competencias de Comunicación Intercultural en la Empresa Global y su Desarrollo en el Aula de Español Para Fines Económicos y Comerciales.
Authors: García Luís , Silveira Paulo , Morgado Margarida 
Published: January 2018

La presente investigación surge en el ámbito del proyecto financiado por la Unión Europea a través de la agencia Erasmus +, ICCAGE-Intercultural Communicative Competence: an advantage for global employability (http://iccageproject.wixsite.com/presentation), cuya finalidad es, mediante el incremento de la competencia comunicativa intercultural de los estudiantes de la educación superior de Portugal, España, Hungría y la República Checa, mejorar los índices de inserción laboral de los recién graduados de estos cuatro países especialmente damnificados por el desempleo juvenil.Pretendemos con este estudio determinar qué competencias de comunicación intercultural empresarial son requeridas en la actualidad por los empleadores internacionales, y averiguar cuál es el modo más adecuado de activarlas e incorporarlas a los estudiantes de español para fines económicos y comerciales (ELEFEC) en la enseñanza superior.El instrumento de recogida de datos destinado a averiguar cuál es el papel que juega en nuestros días la comunicación empresarial internacional, es un cuestionario/entrevista que fue creado por un conjunto de especialistas en comunicación intercultural empresarial de Hungría, España, Portugal y la República Checa. El cuestionario/entrevista se aplicó, entre noviembre de 2015 y enero de 2016, a un total de 28 empleadores que desarrollaban su actividad profesional en empresas de ámbito internacional.Los datos obtenidos nos permiten identificar cuáles son las competencias en comunicación empresarial internacional imprescindibles para integrarse con éxito en los contextos multiculturales y multilingües que caracterizan a las empresas actuales, así como averiguar cuál es la metodología más adecuada para desarrollar estas destrezas, conocimientos, actitudes y conciencia crítica intercultural en el marco de la enseñanza y aprendizaje de ELEFEC en la educación superior.
Diagnosis of supervision patterns on bounded labeled Petri nets by Model Checking
Authors: Pencolé Yannick , Subias Audine 
Published: January 2018

This paper investigates the problem of pattern diagnosis of systems modeled as bounded labeled Petri nets that extends the diagnosis problem on single fault events to more complex behaviors. An effective method to solve the diagnosis problem is proposed. Itrelies on a matching relation between the system and the pattern that turns the pattern diagnosis problem into a model-checking problem.