scholarly journals Introduction to the Special Issue on Tropical Forests: Management and Ecology in the Anthropocene

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Lugo ◽  
Grizelle González
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Land Restoration ◽  
75Th Anniversary ◽  
Degraded Land ◽  
Usda Forest Service ◽  
Tropical Forestry

This Special Issue of Forests is based on papers presented at the 75th anniversary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry as well as other papers relevant to the topic of the Special Issue. The Institute is but one leg of a conservation relay among cultures and institutions that began in Puerto Rico a millennium ago. The Institute began operations in 1939 and celebrated its 75th anniversary on May, 2014. Over its 75 years of operation, the Institute has focused its research on tropical forests, with the scope of the research expanding over the years. An analysis of the lines of research of the Institute showed that over its history about 69 lines of research have been established and that of the original 17 lines of research between 1939 and 1949, all but one remained active in 2014. This history and continuity of the research program has allowed the Institute to observe ecological phenomena over decades, including the evolving forest structure and functioning on degraded land restoration experiments that began before the formal establishment of the Institute and are now over 80 years old.

scholarly journals Concluding Remarks: Moving Forward on Scientific Knowledge and Management Approaches to Tropical Forests in the Anthropocene Epoch

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 572
Author(s):  
Grizelle González ◽  
Ariel E. Lugo
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Tropical Forestry ◽  
Atmospheric Sciences ◽  
Management Approaches

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry (the Institute) celebrates its 75th Anniversary with the publication of this Special Issue of Forests. This Issue is based on presentations delivered in a symposium held in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2014. It augments a quarter century of scientific knowledge and capitalizes on a unique set of synergies chartered by a strategy based on shared stewardship, innovative transdisciplinary collaborations, and breakthroughs in science and technology. The manuscripts contained here present advancements in our approach to the development of policies for effective governance and stewardship, long-term focus for the understanding of ecosystem processes and functions, novelties given attention to cross-boundary collaborative approaches to science, and proposed alternative institutional visions in the Anthropocene. As the Institute continues to collaboratively explore new frontiers in science, we recognize advances in forestry, atmospheric sciences, modeling, hydrology, plant physiology, and microbial ecology as core to the understanding of tropical forests in the Anthropocene.

scholarly journals The International Institute of Tropical Forestry: Antecedents and present influences on forest entomology in Puerto Rico

1969 ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Kevin D. Carlin
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Forest Health ◽  
Forest Service ◽  
Health Programs ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Usda Forest Service ◽  
Tropical Forestry ◽  
Forest Entomology

An overview of the evolution of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry and activities that have influenced present day forest entomology research and USDA-Forest Service cooperative forest health programs in Puerto Rico.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Soybean Germplasm for Resistance to Soybean Rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) in Nigeria

Plant Disease ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 947-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Twizeyimana ◽  
P. S. Ojiambo ◽  
T. Ikotun ◽  
J. L. Ladipo ◽  
G. L. Hartman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Severity ◽  
Rust Resistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Field Conditions ◽  
Soybean Rust ◽  
United States Department ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Phakopsora Pachyrhizi ◽  
Breeding Lines ◽  
Rust Severity

Soybean rust, caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is one of the most important constraints to soybean production worldwide. The absence of high levels of host resistance to the pathogen has necessitated the continued search and identification of sources of resistance. In one set of experiments, 178 soybean breeding lines from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture were rated for rust severity in the field in 2002 and 2003 at Ile-Ife, Yandev, and Ibadan, Nigeria. Thirty-six lines with disease severity ≤3 (based on a 0-to-5 scale) were selected for a second round of evaluation in 2004 at Ibadan. In the third round of evaluation under inoculated field conditions, 11 breeding lines with disease severity ≤2 were further evaluated for rust resistance at Ibadan in 2005 and 2006. The breeding lines TGx 1835-10E, TGx 1895-50F, and TGx 1903-3F consistently had the lowest level of disease severity across years and locations. In another set of experiments, 101 accessions from the United States Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service and National Agriculture Research Organization (Uganda) were evaluated in the first round in 2005 under inoculated conditions in the screenhouse; 12 accessions with disease severity ≤20% leaf area infected were selected for evaluation in the second round in 2005 and 2006 under inoculated field conditions at Ibadan. Highly significant differences (P < 0.0001) in disease severity were observed among the 101 accessions during this first round of rust evaluation. Significant (P < 0.0001) differences in rust severity and sporulation also were observed among the 12 selected accessions. Accessions PI 594538A, PI 417089A, and UG-5 had significantly (P < 0.05) lower disease severity than all other selected accessions in both years of evaluation, with rust severities ranging from 0.1 to 2.4%. These results indicate that some of the breeding lines (TGx 1835-10E, TGx 1895-50F, and TGx 1903-3F) and accessions (PI 594538A, PI 417089A, and UG-5) would be useful sources of soybean rust resistance genes for incorporation into high-yielding and adapted cultivars.

Demonstrating Nutrient Cost Gradients: A Brooklyn Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 244-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Karp ◽  
Gary Wong ◽  
Marguerite Orsi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Caloric Density ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Introduction: Foods dense in micronutrients are generally more expensive than those with higher energy content. These cost-differentials may put low-income families at risk of diminished micronutrient intake. Objectives: We sought to determine differences in the cost for iron, folate, and choline in foods available for purchase in a low-income community when assessed for energy content and serving size. Methods: Sixty-nine foods listed in the menu plans provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for low-income families were considered, in 10 domains. The cost and micronutrient content for-energy and per-serving of these foods were determined for the three micronutrients. Exact Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons of energy costs; Spearman rho tests for comparisons of micronutrient content. Ninety families were interviewed in a pediatric clinic to assess the impact of food cost on food selection. Results: Significant differences between domains were shown for energy density with both cost-for-energy (p < 0.001) and cost-per-serving (p < 0.05) comparisons. All three micronutrient contents were significantly correlated with cost-for-energy (p < 0.01). Both iron and choline contents were significantly correlated with cost-per-serving (p < 0.05). Of the 90 families, 38 (42 %) worried about food costs; 40 (44 %) had chosen foods of high caloric density in response to that fear, and 29 of 40 families experiencing both worry and making such food selection. Conclusion: Adjustments to USDA meal plans using cost-for-energy analysis showed differentials for both energy and micronutrients. These differentials were reduced using cost-per-serving analysis, but were not eliminated. A substantial proportion of low-income families are vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies.

EDITORIAL: Migration and competitiveness: Japan and the United States

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-124
Author(s):  
Philip L. Martin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Variable Cost ◽  
Fixed Cost ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
Key Sectors ◽  
Past Half

Japan and the United States, the world’s largest economies for most of the past half century, have very different immigration policies. Japan is the G7 economy most closed to immigrants, while the United States is the large economy most open to immigrants. Both Japan and the United States are debating how immigrants are and can con-tribute to the competitiveness of their economies in the 21st centuries. The papers in this special issue review the employment of and impacts of immigrants in some of the key sectors of the Japanese and US economies, including agriculture, health care, science and engineering, and construction and manufacturing. For example, in Japanese agriculture migrant trainees are a fixed cost to farmers during the three years they are in Japan, while US farmers who hire mostly unauthorized migrants hire and lay off workers as needed, making labour a variable cost.

Magic and Politics

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Sabina Magliocco
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Cultural Expression ◽  
Spirit World

This essay introduces a special issue of Nova Religio on magic and politics in the United States in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The articles in this issue address a gap in the literature examining intersections of religion, magic, and politics in contemporary North America. They approach political magic as an essentially religious phenomenon, in that it deals with the spirit world and attempts to motivate human behavior through the use of symbols. Covering a range of practices from the far right to the far left, the articles argue against prevailing scholarly treatments of the use of esoteric technologies as a predominantly right-wing phenomenon, showing how they have also been operationalized by the left in recent history. They showcase the creativity of magic as a form of human cultural expression, and demonstrate how magic coexists with rationality in contemporary western settings.

Unifying Calibration Parameters for Dielectric Moisture Meter

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Mészáros ◽  
David B. Funk
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Temperature Correction ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Correction Coefficient ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Grain Moisture ◽  
University Of Budapest ◽  
Improved Accuracy

The Unified Grain Moisture Algorithm is capable of improved accuracy and allows the combination of many grain types into a single “unified calibration”. The purposes of this research were to establish processes for determining unifying parameters from the chemical and physical properties of grains. The data used in this research were obtained as part of the United States Department of Agriculture-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration's Annual Moisture Calibration Study. More than 5,000 grain samples were tested with a Hewlett-Packard 4291A Material/Impedance Analyzer. Temperature tests were done with a Very High Frequency prototype system at Corvinus University of Budapest. Typical chemical and physical parameters for each of the major grain types were obtained from the literature. Data were analyzed by multivariate chemometric methods. One of the most important unifying parameters (Slope) and the temperature correction coefficient were successfully modeled. The Offset and Translation unifying parameters were not modeled successfully, but these parameters can be estimated relatively easily through limited grain tests.

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