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During the last century coal extraction has degraded ecosystems in Appalachia, converting forested land into other cover types that have a diminished capacity to naturally progress to later stages of succession. This projects objective was to examine two options for land-use that can assist in returning the reclaimed surface mines to forested cover types, with increased ecosystem services, and a potential for economic gain. This project examined a biomass plantation and an American chestnut trial. In the biomass trial, greatest heights for American sycamore (12.3 m) and black locust (8.0 m) were found in the fertilizer plots. Mean individual tree biomass for American sycamore and black locust was 6.4 Kg and 5.3 Kg, respectively; no significant differences were found among treatments. In the American chestnut trial, experimental wide survival was 47.2% in 2009, dropping to 24.74% in 2017. No significant differences were found by genotype, stock type, or the interaction in 2017. Use of mined land for woody biomass plantations and locales for chestnut restoration shows potential if proper management techniques are followed. Given the vast amounts of land disrupted by mining activities in Appalachia, approaches such as these deserve further attention and additional research., Copyright © Joseph M Frederick 2019

Ballistic Aerosol Marking (BAM) is a radically new printing concept that combines the simplicity of a direct marking technique such as inkjet printing with the quality and color range/stability of Xerography. This is achieved by using high-speed gas jets as the transport fluid and Xerographic toner particles as the marking material. In this paper we will provide an introduction into this novel concept, discuss design considerations from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and electrostatics simulations, and show some proof-of-concept results from single channel experiments.

Echinocandin B (ECB) is a lipopeptide composed of a complex cyclic peptide acylated at the N-terminus by linoleic acid. Enzymatic deacylation of ECB provided the peptide "nucleus" as a biologically inactive substrate from which novel ECB analogs were generated by chemical reacylation at the N-terminus. Varying the acyl group revealed that the structure and physical properties of the side chain, particularly its geometry and lipophilicity, played a pivotal role in determining the antifungal potency properties of the analog. Using CLOGP values to describe and compare the lipophilicities of the side chain fragments, it was shown that values of > 3.5 were required for expression of antifungal activity. Secondly, a linearly rigid geometry of the side chain was the most effective shape in enhancing the antifungal potency. Using these parameters as a guide, a variety of novel ECB analogs were synthesized which included arylacyl groups that incorporated biphenyl, terphenyl, tetraphenyl, and arylethynyl groups. Generally the glucan synthase inhibition by these analogs correlated well with in vitro and in vivo activities and was likewise influenced by the structure of the side chain. These structural variations resulted in enhancement of antifungal activity in both in vitro and in vivo assays. Some of these analogs, including LY303366 (14a), were effective by the oral route of administration.