Impact of Plant Growth Regulators to Development of the Second Generation Energy Crop Miscanthus × giganteus Produced Two Years in Marginal Post-Military Soil

The impact of the plant growth regulators (PGRs) Stimpo, Regoplant, and Charkor on the production of the second-generation energy crop Miscanthus × giganteus on marginal post-military soil was investigated during two vegetation seasons. The land, previously a tank training polygon, has not been in use since 1990 and has become marginal. Biological parameters (stem, shoot, and root lengths) and dry biomass values were evaluated in relation to the applied treatments. The multivariate general linear model (M-GLM) results showed a positive influence of Charkor on M. × giganteus development; the effect was markedly higher in the second year of vegetation. The impact of Stimpo and Regoplant was less noticeable; nevertheless, certain combinations of treatments showed satisfactory results. The M-GLM approach detected the inter-influence of the main factors of the production process, i.e., PGRs, soil, and year of growing. The results showed the predominant influence of year, PGRs and combined factor PGRs × year on the biological parameters; the other studied factors and their combinations were not as effective. Further research should focus on verifying the field-scale results for the M. × giganteus plantation established in a post-military area and compare the lab and field studies.

Caenorhabditis nematodes colonize ephemeral resource patches in neotropical forests.

Factors shaping the distribution and abundance of species include life-history traits, population structure, and stochastic colonization-extinction dynamics. Field studies of model species groups help reveal the roles of these factors. Species of Caenorhabditis nematodes are highly divergent at the sequence level but exhibit highly conserved morphological uniformity, and many of these species live in sympatry on microbe-rich patches of rotten material. Here, we use field experiments and large-scale opportunistic collections to investigate species composition, abundance, and colonization efficiency of Caenorhabditis in two of the world's best studied lowland tropical field sites: Barro Colorado Island in Panamá and La Selva in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica. We observed seven species of Caenorhabditis, four of them known only from these collections. While these localities contain species from many parts of the phylogeny, both localities were dominated by globally distributed androdiecious species. We found that Caenorhabditis were able to colonize baits accessible only by phoresy, preferring to colonize baits making direct contact with the ground. We estimate founder numbers per colonization event to be low.

Impact of Surface Improvement Measures on Low-yielding Summer Pastures on Pasture Productivity and Forage Quality

Cultivation of soil on the slopes of mountainous areas leads to a decrease in organic matter and nutrients in the soil and severe soil erosion. Grazing is one of the main reasons for the degradation of pastures and natural landscape, which increases the sensitivity of the soil to erosion. Soil erosion, in turn, pollutes water by increasing its turbidity and sometimes causes atrophy due to leakage of phosphorus and nitrogen. An average of 30.6 quintals of green mass or 7.8 quintals of dry grass per hectare was produced in the variant of grass seed sowing (without fertilizer), compared to the control variant, in the variant of grass seed sowing + N60P60K40 this indicator averaged 39.9 centners/ha of green mass. or more than 15.0%, resulting in the production of 10.0 quintals of dry or 14.7% more dry grass. Experimental field studies to improve pastures have shown that the fodder produced in each of the tested variants; green mass and dry grass supply and their nutritional value were higher than control.

Charge radii of potassium isotopes in the RMF(BCS)* approach

We apply the recently proposed RMF(BCS)* ansatz to study the charge radii of the potassium isotopic chain up to $^{52}$K. It is shown that the experimental data can be reproduced rather well, qualitatively similar to the Fayans nuclear density functional theory, but with a slightly better description of the odd-even staggerings (OES). Nonetheless, both methods fail for $^{50}$K and to a lesser extent for $^{48,52}$K. It is shown that if these nuclei are deformed with a $\beta_{20}\approx-0.2$, then one can obtain results consistent with experiments for both charge radii and spin-parities. We argue that beyond mean field studies are needed to properly describe the charge radii of these three nuclei, particularly for $^{50}$K.

Fluvial processes and landforms

The period 1965-2000 saw a sustained increase in research and publication on fluvial processes and landforms. The trend toward generalisation and/or mechanistic understanding, rather than site-specific history, continued. Research was multi-disciplinary, with important contributions from hydraulic engineers, geologists and physical geographers and from experimental and theoretical approaches as well as geomorphological and sedimentological fieldwork. Rapidly increasing computer power underpinned new measurement methods and greatly increased the scope of data analysis and numerical modelling. There were major advances in understanding the interaction of river process and form at reach scale, with growing recognition of differences between sand-bed and coarse-bed rivers. Field studies outside Europe and North America led to greater awareness of the diversity of river planforms and deposition landforms. Conceptual models of how rivers respond to natural or anthropogenic change in boundary conditions at different timescales were refined, taking advantage of studies of response to land use change, major floods, and volcanic eruptions. Dating of sediments allowed greater appreciation of fluctuations in the incidence of extreme driving events over centuries and thousands of years. Towards the end of the period research on bedrock rivers began to take off.

Noise as a Criterion for Designating Sanitary Protection Zones of Traffic Arteries

The article is devoted to the study of a possibility of designating the boundaries of sanitary zones (distancing) for traffic arteries outside settlements within the right-of-way.The study was conducted regarding the current Russian laws, projects of possible changes in legislation and draft amendments. It offers definitions of the right-of-way and of sanitary zone and highlights topics that have not yet been regulated.At the same time, the research methods are of universal character and after introducing other regulatory parameters may be applied for similar research in other countries as well.Calculations and field studies allowed to find that within the railway right-of-way and with the existing train traffic intensity, equivalent continuous sound pressure level in aggregate does not exceed the established maximum permissible level of 80dBA for personnel performing their labour functions within the railway rightof-way.A growth in the Leq/LAeq on the right-of-way from 80,0 to 95,0 dBA may lead to an increase in the hazard class (subclass).An analysis of the actual results of a special assessment of working conditions at JSC Russian Railways showed in the vast majority of cases the acceptability of working conditions evaluated according to noise factor measured at the workplaces of employees working during full or part-time shift on the right-of-way. Hazardous working conditions at the level of some subclasses for certain professions (operator of track measurement, railway track worker) arise rather due to indicators of severity of the labour process.

Sri Lankan Footprint in Global Aquatic Science Research: A Scientometric Analysis

The present study summarizes the research productivity and international collaboration in aquatic studies conducted by Sri Lankan scholars during 2000-2019. The study was based on the SCOPUS® database. R programming language, package bibliometrix and Vosviewer software were employed in the analysis. Results of the present study indicate that increasing growth trend in the annual number of publications. A significant correlation (p<0.05) between the number of articles and per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Production) was also observed. Senior authors dominated in terms of the article count, citation count, h index, and other author productivity indices. Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka had the highest article count (n=33). Aquatic studies in Sri Lanka were more locally funded. Sri Lanka had strong research collaborations with Japan, South Korea and Australia. During 2000-2019, the transition of aquatic studies from lacustrine field studies to molecular lab-based studies were observed. The findings of the present study may provide a comprehensive understanding on the current context and future directions of aquatic studies in Sri Lanka.