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Every student who studies atmospheric pressure in physics or chemistry learns the principles behind the construction of barometers. Cistern barometers, such as those found in most laboratories, consist of a long glass tube containing an inverted column of liquid having an open end in a cistern of the liquid. Students learn that the column of liquid is supported by air pressure and is equal in weight to a column of air of the same diameter.

Abstract We present the preparation, resources, results and analysis of three tasks of the BioNLP Shared Task 2011: the main tasks on Infectious Diseases (ID) and Epigenetics and Post-translational Modifications (EPI), and the supporting task on Entity Relations (REL). The two main tasks represent extensions of the event extraction model introduced in the BioNLP Shared Task 2009 (ST'09) to two new areas of biomedical scientific literature, each motivated by the needs of specific biocuration tasks. The ID task concerns the molecular mechanisms of infection, virulence and resistance, focusing in particular on the functions of a class of signaling systems that are ubiquitous in bacteria. The EPI task is dedicated to the extraction of statements regarding chemical modifications of DNA and proteins, with particular emphasis on changes relating to the epigenetic control of gene expression. By contrast to these two application-oriented main tasks, the REL task seeks to support extraction in general by separating challenges relating to part-of relations into a subproblem that can be addressed by independent systems. Seven groups participated in each of the two main tasks and four groups in the supporting task. The participating systems indicated advances in the capability of event extraction methods and demonstrated generalization in many aspects: from abstracts to full texts, from previously considered subdomains to new ones, and from the ST'09 extraction targets to other entities and events. The highest performance achieved in the supporting task REL, 58% F-score, is broadly comparable with levels reported for other relation extraction tasks. For the ID task, the highest-performing system achieved 56% F-score, comparable to the state-of-the-art performance at the established ST'09 task. In the EPI task, the best result was 53% F-score for the full set of extraction targets and 69% F-score for a reduced set of core extraction targets, approaching a level of performance sufficient for user-facing applications. In this study, we extend on previously reported results and perform further analyses of the outputs of the participating systems. We place specific emphasis on aspects of system performance relating to real-world applicability, considering alternate evaluation metrics and performing additional manual analysis of system outputs. We further demonstrate that the strengths of extraction systems can be combined to improve on the performance achieved by any system in isolation. The manually annotated corpora, supporting resources, and evaluation tools for all tasks are available from http://www.bionlp-st.org and the tasks continue as open challenges for all interested parties.

Abstract The case study method is proposed as a pedagogical approach to encourage and support dialogue and reflection on the role of values and ethics in educational leadership. In this [...]

Simple, reliable estimates of biosolids N availability are needed to develop land application programs that will benefit crops without risk of excess nitrate leaching. This study was conducted to assess the effect of biosolids processing on plant available nitrogen (PAN) release during the first and second growing seasons after application. We compared 14 sources of biosolids and a range of inorganic N rates in two replicated field experiments on established tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.). The biosolids encompassed a range of treatment and dewatering/drying processes. A single biosolids application was made in May of the first year, and tail fescue yield and N uptake were measured by harvest for the next two growing seasons. Inorganic N was split across multiple applications each year. Fertilizer efficiency regression equations were developed for the inorganic N treatments, and used to calculate biosolids PAN from N uptake data. Year 1 PAN was similar across a range of biosolids treatment processes. For nonlagoon biosolids, PAN averaged 37 [+ or -] 5% of total biosolids N. Lagoon biosolids PAN ranged from 8 to 25% of total N, with the oldest, most stable biosolids having the lowest PAN. Year 2 PAN averaged 13 [+ or -] 2% for nonlagoon biosolids, excluding heat-dried materials, which were lower (5 to 8%). Our calculations indicated that about half of the Year 2 PAN became available during the cool season, suggesting that winter cover cropping may be needed to reduce the potential for nitrate leaching loss in summer annual cropping systems.

Accurate predictions of the short-term reactivity of liming products are needed for situations where rapid soil pH adjustment is desired. Lime efficiency (LE) describes the capacity of a liming material to neutralize soil acidity in comparison with a finely ground CaCO3 standard (LE = 100%). Our objectives were to evaluate LE for calcitic liming materials varying in particle size at 1–12 months after soil incorporation using pH change (LEpH) and CO2 evolution (LECO2) as response indicators, and to evaluate a 15-min citric acid (CA) test as a predictor of LE. We evaluated LE for lime particle size separates from 10 to 200 USA mesh (< 2000 µm to 75 µm) and for three commercial liming products (65, 25 and 11 µm average particle size) in a sandy loam soil. In field microplots, it took 6 months to achieve LE of > 80% with lime particles of <60 mesh (< 250 µm). LEpH was linearly related to LECO2 at one month following lime incorporation into soil. Both LEpH and LECO2 increased as a function of CA test values, as described by logarithmic equations. Lime particle size, CO2 evolution, and CA test values were all useful indicators of short-term LE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]