Reducing energy-related CO2 emissions using accelerated weathering of limestone

The use and impacts of accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL; reaction: CO₂+H₂O+CaCO₃→Ca²⁺+2(HCO₃⁻) is explored as a CO₂ capture and sequestration method. It is shown that significant limestone resources are relatively close to a majority of CO₂-emitting power plants along the coastal US, a favored siting location for AWL. Waste fines, representing more than 20% of current US crushed limestone production (>10⁹ tonnes/yr), could provide an inexpensive or free source of AWL carbonate. With limestone transportation then as the dominant cost variable, CO₂ mitigation costs of $3-$4/tonne appear to be possible in certain locations. Perhaps 10–20% of US point–source CO₂ emissions could be mitigated in this fashion. It is experimentally shown that CO₂ sequestration rates of 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻⁵ moles/sec per m² of limestone surface area are achievable, with reaction densities on the order of 10⁻² tonnes CO₂ m⁻³day⁻¹, highly dependent on limestone particle size, solution turbulence and flow, and CO₂ concentration. Modeling shows that AWL would allow carbon storage in the ocean with significantly reduced impacts to seawater pH relative to direct CO₂ disposal into the atmosphere or sea. The addition of AWL-derived alkalinity to the ocean may itself be beneficial for marine biota.     

Synergistic interaction of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors in the modulation of the reinforcing effect of brain stimulation.

Rats were trained to press a bar for hypothalamic stimulation, and a frequency-response function was plotted. Quinpirole (a selective D2 agonist) facilitated self-stimulation when injected alone but failed to show the facilitatory effect when injected either 1 hr before or 1 hr after injection of SCH 23390 (a D1 antagonist). Injection of reserpine followed by α-methyl-p-tyrosine virtually eliminated self-stimulation. Subsequent injection of either SKF 38393 (a D1 agonist) alone or quinpirole alone did not restore self-stimulation, but a combination of quinpirole and SKF 38393 did. Results suggest that a D2 dopamine agonist facilitates the reinforcing effect of brain stimulation only if D1 receptors are activated by endogenous dopamine or by an exogenous agonist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Morphological changes of epithelial rests of Malassez in rat molars induced by local administration of N-methylnitrosourea

The objective was to examine the possibility that epithelial rests of Malassez can give origin to odontogenic tumours. A mixture of N-methylnitrosourea (MNU) and alginate impression material for dental use was injected onto the periosteum of the buccal side of the left mandible of 5-week-old, male Wistar rats (300 mg/kg body wt). The mixture was left at the site for several months. The rats were killed 1, 3, 5, and 8 months after the injection. After 5 and 8 months, the epithelial rests of Malassez in the cervical and bifurcational regions of the first, second, and third left mandibular molars were significantly enlarged and the alveolar bone around the lesion was resorbed by multinucleated cells in all rats. The epithelial masses were characterized by enamel organ-like structures, deposition of eosinophilic amorphous material, duct-like structures, and squamous metaplasia. In addition to these masses in the molar regions, odontogenic tumours were induced in the incisal region and carcinomas and sarcomas in the buccal region, knee, bladder, and skin. Local administration of a mixture of MNU and alginate impression material can induce odontogenic tumours from the epithelial rests of Malassez at high incidence.     

Plasma lens experiment at the final focus test beam

The proposed plasma lens experiment at the Final focus Test Beam (FFTB) facility of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center has been approved by the adminstration. The experiment would allow the examination of plasma focusing devices for particle beams in the parameter regime of interest to future high-energy colliders. It is expected to lead to compact plasma lens designs capable of focusing the beam to unprecedented small spot sizes.     

Hyper-gourd theory: solving simultaneously the mysteries in particle physics, biology, oncology, neurology, economics, and cosmology

The inevitability of various particle masses for hadrons, quarks, leptons, atoms, biological molecules, liquid droplets of fossil fuel and water, living cells including microorganisms and cancers, multi-cellar systems such as organs, neural systems, and the brain, stars, galaxies, and the cosmos is synthetically revealed. This is possible because each flexible particle is commonly generated by a mode in which a larger particle breaks up into two smaller ones through a gourd shape with two lumps. These masses, sizes, frequencies, and diversity dominated by super-magic numbers including the silver ratio, in fractal nature can be derived by the fusion of the quasi-stability principle defined between absolute instability and neutral stability, the indeterminacy principle extended for quantum, statistical, and continuum mechanics, and the spherical Lie group theory. The analyses also result in a new mathematical definition of living beings and non-living systems and further explain the standard network patterns of various particles and also the relation between information, structure, and function, because the proposed theory based on gourds posits a new hyper-interdisciplinary physics that explains a very wide range of scales, while the Newton, Schr?dinger, and Boltzmann equations describe only a narrow range of scales.