Developing a country specific method for estimating nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils in Canada

Accurate estimates of nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural soils and management factors that influence emissions are necessary to capture the impact of mitigation measures and carry out life cycle analyses aimed at identifying best practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We propose improvements to a country specific method for estimating N₂O emissions from agricultural soils in Canada based on a compilation of soil N₂O flux data from recent published literature. We provide a framework for the development of empirical models that could be applied in regions where similar data and information on N₂O emissions are available. The method considers spatial elements such as soil texture, topography and climate based on a quantitative empirical relationship between synthetic N-induced soil N₂O emission factor (EF) and growing season precipitation (P) {N₂OEF?=?e^{(0.00558P?7.7)}}. Emission factors vary from less than 0.0025 kg N₂O-N kg N^?1 in semi-arid regions of Canada to greater than 0.025 kg N₂O-N kg N^?1 in humid regions. This approach differentiates soil N₂O EFs based on management factors. Specifically, empirical ratio factors are applied for sources of N of 1.0, 0.84, and 0.28 for synthetic N, animal manure N and crop residue N, respectively. Crop type ratio factors where soil N₂O EFs from applied manure- and synthetic-N on perennial crops are approximately 19% of those on annual crops. This proposed approach improves the accuracy of the dominant factors that modulate N₂O emissions from N application to soils.

     

New cation-deficient spinel oxides,Mn1−x□xV2−2xMo2xO4 (0⩽ x ⩽ 0.33)

New Mn_1?x□_xV_2?2xMo_2xO₄ (0 ? x ? 0.33) oxides have been prepared by hydrogen-reduction of the corresponding defect brannerite-type Mn_1?x□_xV_2?2xMo_2xO₆ oxide precursors. These solid solutions crystallize in a cation-deficient spinel structure. The cation distribution in these oxides has been determined by X-ray powder diffraction intensity analysis and the results indicate a cation distribution of (Mn_1?x□_x) _t[V_2?2xMo_2x]_oO₄.     

Effect of strain rate on the mode of fracture in elastoidin

The mechanical properties and fracture behaviour of dry and native elastoidin are studied as a function of strain rate, and the plastic set behaviour of the dry elastoidin is found to be sensitive to strain rate. The results are correlated with the scanning electron microscopy of the fractured ends of dry and native elastoidin. Broken ends of dry elastoidin, fractured at a strain rate of 10.0 min^–1, appear blunt and under the same conditions the native specimen's ends appear sharp.     

A vision-based approach to collision prediction at traffic intersections

Monitoring traffic intersections in real time and predicting possible collisions is an important first step towards building an early collision-warning system. We present a vision-based system addressing this problem and describe the practical adaptations necessary to achieve real-time performance. Innovative low-overhead collision-prediction algorithms (such as the one using the time-as-axis paradigm) are presented. The proposed system was able to perform successfully in real time on videos of quarter-video graphics array (VGA) (320 /spl times/ 240) resolution under various weather conditions. The errors in target position and dimension estimates in a test video sequence are quantified and several experimental results are presented.     

Mechanical properties of grafted casein films

Casein was grafted with mixtures of acrylonitrile (AN) and n-butyl methacrylate (n-BMA). The mole ratios of AN: n-BMA were 0.9:0.1 and 0.8:0.2. The mechanical properties of the grafted casein films were studied under uniaxial and biaxial stress conditions. A reduction in longitudinal stress and elongation at break was observed with the simultaneous application of lateral stress. Scanning electron micrographs of the stretched films (uniaxial and biaxial stress) are also presented.     

Genetic spider monkey‐based routing protocol to increase the lifetime of the network and energy management in WSN

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) include large distributed nodes in the sensing field. However, the sensor nodes may die due to energy deficiency as they are situated in a hostile environment. Therefore, an energy‐efficient WSN routing protocol is necessary in order to better accommodate the various environmental conditions. In this paper, we have proposed a new Energy‐Efficient Genetic Spider Monkey‐based Routing Protocol (EGSMRP) to improve the stability and lifetime of sensor nodes. The operation of EGSMRP is classified into two stages: (i) setup phase and (ii) steady‐state phase. In the setup phase, GSMO‐based cluster head selection procedure is done. In this phase, the base station utilizes the GSMO algorithm as a device to generate energy‐efficient clusters. Followed with this, the steady‐state phase solves the load balancing issue by utilizing the intracluster data broadcast and dual‐hop intercluster broadcasting algorithm. Thereby, the proposed EGSMRP protocol has shown the energy‐based opportunistic broadcasting with reduced control overhead. Simulation is performed in various conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed EGSMRP protocol using different metrics such as throughput, control overhead, energy consumption, end‐to‐end delay, and network lifetime. From the simulation results, it was evident that EGSMRP has achieved a higher performance compared to other traditional approaches such as EBAR, MCTRP, IEEMARP, HMCEER, and EFTETRP.     

Enhanced Interfacial Stability of Hybrid‐Electrolyte Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries with a Layer of Multifunctional Polymer with Intrinsic Nanoporosity

The use of lithium‐ion conductive solid electrolytes offers a promising approach to address the polysulfide shuttle and the lithium‐dendrite problems in lithium‐sulfur (Li‐S) batteries. One critical issue with the development of solid‐electrolyte Li‐S batteries is the electrode–electrolyte interfaces. Herein, a strategic approach is presented by employing a thin layer of a polymer with intrinsic nanoporosity (PIN) on a Li⁺‐ion conductive solid electrolyte, which significantly enhances the ionic interfaces between the electrodes and the solid electrolyte. Among the various types of Li⁺‐ion solid electrolytes, NASICON‐type Li_1+xAl_xTi_2‐x(PO₄)₃ (LATP) offers advantages in terms of Li⁺‐ion conductivity, stability in ambient environment, and practical viability. However, LATP is susceptible to reaction with both the Li‐metal anode and polysulfides in Li‐S batteries due to the presence of easily reducible Ti⁴⁺ ions in it. The coating with a thin layer of PIN presented in this study overcomes the above issues. At the negative‐electrode side, the PIN layer prevents the direct contact of Li‐metal with the LATP solid electrolyte, circumventing the reduction of LATP by Li metal. At the positive electrode side, the PIN layer prevents the migration of polysulfides to the surface of LATP, preventing the reduction of LATP by polysulfides.     

On the use of secret sharing as a secure multi-use pad

Secret sharing (SS) is a cryptographic method proposed independently by Adi Shamir and George Blakley in 1979 to encode the keys of public-key cryptography by splitting them into maximally entropic shares that are distributed to participants, only revealing the secret when combined. Each new sharing instance, even of the same key, produces a different set of shares to distribute anew. This paper investigates SS as an independent cipher to secure confidential messages between a limited set of trusted participants by eliminating the need to redistribute shares. A participant’s master share is permanently fixed and unlimited temporary shares are created and combined with it to reveal new messages. Security is argued against specific and general attacks.     

A comprehensive bulk chlorine decay model for simulating residuals in water distribution systems

Chlorine decay models provide efficient ways to develop disinfection strategies for water distribution systems, provided they account separately for bulk and wall decay, and accurately describe decay with a single set of coefficients. The augmented two-reactant (2RA) model is shown to be the simplest model to accurately describe effects of rechlorination dose/timing on bulk chlorine decay, in combination with effects of initial concentration and temperature over long periods. The two-reactant (2R) and variable reaction-coefficient (VRC) models provided predictions of comparable accuracy under higher and successive rechlorination doses at constant temperature. However, the 2RA model provides a more general basis for strategy development, as the VRC model cannot describe the effect of temperature variation. The minimal data-set required for 2RA calibration was similar for all cases considered. The 2RA model is readily applied by incorporation into system modelling software such as the multi-species extension (MSX) to EPANET software.