Nutrient Availability for Lactuca sativa Cultivated in an Amended Peatland: An Ionic Exchange Study

Few conservation strategies have been applied to cultivated peatland. This field study over one growth cycle of Lactuca sativa examined the effect of plant-based, high-C/N-ratio amendments in a real farming situation on peatland. Plant Root Simulator (PRS®) probes were used directly in the field to assess the impacts of incorporating Miscanthus x giganteus straw and Salix miyabeana chips on nutrient availability for lettuce. The results showed that lettuce yield decreased by 35% in the miscanthus straw treatment and by 14% in the willow chip treatment. In addition, the nitrogen flux rate was severely reduced during crop growth (75% reduction) and the plant N uptake index was much lower in the amended treatments than in the control. The phosphorus supply rate was also significantly lower (24% reduction) in the willow treatment. The influence of sampling zone was significant as well, with most macro-nutrients being depleted in the root zone and most micro-nutrients being mobilized. Additional work is needed to optimize the proposed conservation strategy and investigate the effects of consecutive years of soil amendment on different vegetable crops and in different types of cultivated peatlands to confirm and generalize the findings of this study. Future field studies should also explore the long-term carbon dynamics under plant-based, high-C/N-ratio amendments to determine if they can offset annual C losses.

Effect of soil moisture stress on growth light azimuth and yield of dryland sorghum

Based on weekly data for 4 years (1986-1989) at Bellary, soil moisture balance for rabi sorghum has been worked out for both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions. These soil moisture values have been used to identify periods of water stress which the crop experienced. during the growth cycle. The extent of yield reduction due to the stress was then evaluated from the actual soil water content and total available water extent and discussed. The ratio of evapotranspiration to potential evapotranspiration and water requirement of the crop has also been worked out to assess the stress situation of the crop during its growing period. This ratio has been found to be related to moisture availability at the root zone.

Sugar content variation in elephant grass germplasm

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to estimate sugar content variation (°Brix) in 95 accessions from the elephant grass germplasm active bank of Embrapa Dairy Cattle research center, located in Coronel Pacheco, MG, Brazil. The accessions with the highest sugar content were identified, and the effect of plant age on sugar concentration was evaluated. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks design with two replications. Sugar content analysis occurred twice during the growth-cycle (at 70 and 100 days) along two points of the stem, one 30 cm from the base and the other at the midpoint. The analysis of variance considered the split plot model, with accessions as main plots and plant age as subplots. The means were compared using the Scott Knott test. While there was sugar content variation between accessions, increased plant age had no significant effect on the sugar content. However, some accessions did have a significant increase or decrease in sugar content as they aged. The highest and lowest mean sugar content was 6.96% (in the accession BAG80) and 4.03% (in the accession BAG13) °Brix, respectively.

Human Behaviors Encountered During the Different Phases of the Kondratieff Cycle

There are different behaviors appropriate to the different phases of growth. This has been observed among species in nature as they go through the four seasons, but also among humans in society as different economic-growth phases succeed one another. Typically, difficult times stimulate entrepreneurship whereas prosperity nurtures conservatism. Less obviously, preoccupation with the "what" characterizes formative times whereas preoccupation with the "how" characterizes periods of maturity. A multitude of different behaviors can be mapped on the four phases of any growth cycle. On a larger scale, and to the extent that society is anthropomorphic, society as a whole goes through different behaviors while experiencing transitionsbetween cyclical phases of growth. Given a growth phase we can expect specific behaviors, and inversely, given a specific behavior we can deduce the growth phase being traversed. It follows that WWII may have been survival-driven whereas WWI greed-driven.

Non-coding RNA regulates phage sensitivity in Listeria monocytogenes

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have gained increasing attention as their diverse roles in virulence and environmental stress in Listeria monocytogenes have become clearer. The ncRNA rliB is an atypical member of the CRISPR family, conserved at the same genomic locus in all analyzed L. monocytogenes genomes and also in other Listeria species. In this study, rliB defective mutants (Lm3-22-ΔrliB) were constructed by homologous recombination. The growth cycle of Lm3-22-ΔrliB mutants was slower than that of wild-type Lm3-22. The sensitivity of Lm3-22-ΔrliB to the Listeria phage vB-LmoM-SH3-3 was significantly increased, and the efficiency of plaque formation was enhanced by 128 fold. Compared with wild type, the adhesion and invasion of Lm3-22-ΔrliB decreased significantly (9.3% and 1.33%, respectively). After 4 hours of infection, the proliferation of Lm3-22-ΔrliB in RAW264.7 cells also decreased significantly. Transcription level of invasion-related surface proteins showed that the internalin genes lmo0610 and lm0514, and the peptidoglycan binding protein gene lmo1799 in Lm3-22-ΔrliB were significantly increased. In addition, after interaction with phage, the transcription levels of inlA, lmo0610, lmo1799, lmo2085, and lmo0514 in Lm3-22-ΔrliB cells were significantly upregulated, while inlB was downregulated, compared with Lm3-22 control group with phage treatment. Therefore, rliB deletion effectively regulated the interaction between Listeria and phage, weaken its invasion ability, and provided a new theoretical basis for biocontrol of phage.

The Method of Measuring Carbon Sinks Based on the Changes of oxygen concentration in Forest Canopy

Measuring Forest Carbon Sinks is becoming a popular topic as the need of many countries’ carbon neutrality plans. We demonstrate a simple and accurate method of Forest Carbon Sinks measurement. By observing the daily average oxygen concentration in the canopy, we found it presented a parabolic distribution from Spring to Fall in a year. The forest finished the cycle from releasing oxygen and sequestrating carbon dioxide to using oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide in this period. We calculated the carbon sequestration of the forest was 101.39t/hm2/y, the Carbon Sink was 15.09t/hm2/y by calculating the changes of oxygen concentration in a growth cycle, the Carbon Sink is 16.29% of the carbon sequestration.

Strengths and weaknesses of the logistic function used in forecasting

This work describes strengths and weaknesses of the logistic function used in forecasting from a theoretical and a practical point of view. Theoretical topics treated are: generalizing the concept of competition, dividing the growth cycle in four "seasons", and using logistics simply qualitatively to obtain rare insights and intuitive understanding. Practical topics addresses are: determination of the uncertainties, how to decide whether to fit cumulative or per unit of time data, and how to deal with a bias toward a low ceiling.

Greenhouse Gas Impact of Algal Bio-Crude Production for a Range of CO2 Supply Scenarios

Refined bio-crude production from hydrothermal liquefaction of algae holds the potential to replace fossil-based conventional liquid fuels. The microalgae act as natural carbon sequestrators by consuming CO2. However, this absorbed CO2 is released to the atmosphere during the combustion of the bio-crude. Thus, the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of refined bio-crude are linked to the production and supply of the materials involved and the process energy demands. One prominent raw material is CO2, which is the main source of carbon for algae and the subsequent products. The emissions associated with the supply of CO2 can have a considerable impact on the sustainability of the algae-based refined bio-crude production process. Furthermore, the diurnal algae growth cycle complicates the CO2 supply scenarios. Traditionally, studies have relied on CO2 supplied from existing power plants. However, there is potential for building natural gas or biomass-based power plants with the primary aim of supplying CO2 to the biorefinery. Alternately, a direct air capture (DAC) process can extract CO2 directly from the air. The life-cycle GHG emissions associated with the production of refined bio-crude through hydrothermal liquefaction of algae are presented in this study. Different CO2 supply scenarios, including existing fossil fuel power plants and purpose-built CO2 sources, are compared. The integration of the CO2 sources with the algal biorefinery is also presented. The CO2 supply from biomass-based power plants has the highest potential for GHG reduction, with a GHG footprint of −57 g CO2 eq./MJ refined bio-crude. The CO2 supply from the DAC process has a GHG footprint of 49 CO2 eq./MJ refined bio-crude, which is very similar to the scenario that considers the supply of CO2 from an existing conventional natural gas-based plant and takes credit for the carbon utilization.

Seed Priming: An Interlinking Technology between Seeds, Seed Germination and Seedling Establishment

Biologically seed is a small embryonic plant along with either endosperm or cotyledons, enclosed with in an outer protecting covering called seed coat. During the time of seed development large metabolic conversions take place, including proper partitioning of photo-assimilates and the formation of complex polymeric forms of carbohydrate, protein and fats for storing as seed reserves. In developing phase of seeds, every detail information stored in the embryonic plant are genetically and sometimes epigenetically also predetermined and influenced by various environmental/external factors already faced by the mother plant. In the growth cycle of plants, seed germination and seedling establishment are the two critical phases where survivability of the seedlings in natural habitats is a matter of question until the onset of photosynthesis by the established seedling. The various sequence of complex processes known to occur in both the phases i.e., an array of metabolic activities are initiating which eventually leads to the renewal of embryo growth of the dormant seeds and ultimately seedlings are established. Efficient seed germination is an important factor for agricultural sciences and successful establishment of germinated seedling requires a rapid and uniform emergence and root growth. With these aspects of seed physiology kept in mind the present chapter will be designed in such a way where, a gap filling, inter linking, eco- and farmers\' friendly technology i.e., ‘seed priming’ (a pre-sowing partial hydration of seeds) will be considered to improve the rate and uniformity of germination and seedling establishment. Under optimal and adverse environmental conditions, the primed seeds of diversified species lead to an enhanced germination performance with increased vigor index has been reported by various scientists which indicates a good establishment of seedlings in the field and thereafter enhance the performance of crops as a whole.

Selenium-Functionalized Corn Starch as a Biodegradable GPx Mimic with High Catalytic Performance

Selenium-functionalized starch (Se-starch80) is one of the main functional foods used for selenium supplementation. In traditional agriculture, Se-starch has some deficiencies such as long growth cycle and unstable selenium content that prevent its antioxidant performance. In this study, Se-starch was prepared by the nucleophilic addition between NaSeH and carbon-carbon double bond of octenyl succinic anhydride waxy corn starch ester (OSA starch). Some techniques such as 1HNMR, XPS, SEM-EDS, XRD and FT-IR were used to characterize the relevant samples and the results showed that the modification did not destroy the starch framework significantly and the catalytic center (negative divalent selenium) was anchored on the starch framework. The intensive distribution of catalytic center on the starch surface and the hydrophobic microenvironments derived from the OSA chains furnished the Se-starch80 with a high GPx-like catalytic activity (initial reaction rate = 3.64 μM/min). This value was about 1.5 × 105 times higher than that of a typical small-molecule GPx mimic (PhSeSePh). In addition, the Se-starch80, without any cytotoxicity, showed a saturated kinetic catalytic behavior that is similar to a typical enzyme. This work exemplifies a biodegradable selenium-functionalized polymer platform for the high-performing GPx mimic.