Effect of the Use of Noni Leaf Extract as a Natural Disinfectant on the Percentage of Hatchability and Day Old Quail (DOQ) Hatching

This study aims to determine the effect of noni leaf (Morinda citrifolia lignosae) extract as a natural disinfectant on the percentage of hatchability and the hatchability weight of quail (Coturnix-coturnix japonica). This study used 1,500 quail hatch eggs with a male and female parent ratio of 1: 4. This study used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) method, with five treatments and three replications each repetition consisting of 100 quail eggs with 10-gram weight. The treatments used were: T0 (control treatment), T1 (commercial disinfectant), T2 (noni leaf extract 10%), T3 (noni leaf extract 20%) and T4 (noni leaf extract 30%). The results of variance showed the average percentage of hatchability produced during the study, namely T0 (85%), T1 (83%), T2 (86%), T3 (84%), and T4 (93%). Furthermore, the average weight of hatchability produced, namely T0 (6.67 grams), T1 (6.76 grams, T2 (6.89 grams), T3 (6.84 grams) and T4 (6.89 grams). Overall administration of noni leaf extract had no significant effect (P> 0.05) on the percentage of hatchability and DOQ hatching weight of the quail.

An Analysis of the Judicial Rulings for Transition Services Under the IDEA

Starting with a constructive critique of legal articles in special education journals concerning transition services under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this article presents an empirical analysis of relevant judicial rulings for the period 1990–2016 that shows a prevailing prodistrict approach that is not otherwise evident in the prior articles. The findings include an increased frequency of these judicial rulings generally in accord with the trajectory of special education litigation and, more significantly, an approximate 3:1 district–parent ratio in the outcomes of these rulings that, with up-and-down variation, prevails for the entire period. The conclusion is that the time is ripe for an elevated substantive standard for law-based articles in special education journals as well as a continued, but differentiated, rigorous normative standard for transition services.

A method to correct sampling ghosts in historic near-infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) measurements

The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) has been established to provide ground-based remote sensing measurements of the column-average dry air mole fractions of key greenhouse gases. To ensure the network wide consistency, biases between Fourier Transform spectrometers at different sites have to be well controlled. In this study we investigate a fundamental correction scheme for errors in the sampling of the interferogram. This is a two-step procedure in which the laser sampling error (LSE) is quantified using a subset of suitable interferograms and then used to resample all the interferograms in the timeseries. Timeseries of measurements acquired at the TCCON sites Izaña and Lauder are used to demonstrate the method. At both sites the sampling error histories show changes in LSE due to instrument interventions. Estimated LSE are in good agreement with sampling errors inferred from lamp measurements of the ghost to parent ratio (Lauder). The LSE introduce retrieval biases which are minimised when the interferograms are resampled. The original timeseries of Xair and XCO2 at both sites show discrepancies of 0.2–0.5% due to changes in the LSE associated with instrument interventions or changes in the measurement sample rate. After resampling discrepancies are reduced to 0.1% at Lauder and 0.2% at Izaña. In the latter case, coincident changes in interferometer alignment may also contribute to the residual difference.

A mechanism for swarming in the tunicate Salpa thompsoni (Foxton, 1961)

Two populations of Salpa thompsoni, collected from the Weddell–Scotia confluence area at the end of two summers (1994 and 1995) with contrasting densities, are compared. The present study was aimed at corroborating whether fluctuations in abundance could be related to some life history parameters considered as indicators of growth rate in salp populations, such as the body size of solitary reproductive individuals, number of buds per block or chain in the stolon, and the offspring to parent ratio. No differences were observed in the sizes reached by aggregate individuals, or in the size at which oocyte maturity was attained (moment at which the development of the embryo can be detected). There were no differences in the size reached by the embryos during their residence inside the mother's blastozooid. In 1995, the percentage of non-fecundated blastozooids (which included even the largest individuals) was higher than in 1994. The mean size of the solitary individuals was significantly higher in 1994 than in 1995. The number of buds per block was also significantly higher in most of the stages, confirming that this is the mechanism used by these organisms to produce swarms. This species eventually attains high population densities under favorable environmental conditions such as poor sea-ice cover in winter. Under optimal conditions, the number of potential descendants produced by a single solitary individual would exceed 800.

Prediction of poplar leaf rust epidemics from a leaf-disk assay

The reliability of a leaf-disk assay to assess resistance of Populusdeltoides Bartr. to Melampsoramedusae Thuëm. f.sp. deltoidae, the causal agent of poplar leaf rust, was evaluated. Leaf disks of eight host genotypes were inoculated in a spore settling tower with 11 isolates of the pathogen in all possible combinations, and the latent period, infection probability, sporulation, and progeny/parent ratio were recorded. Correlations were established between these measures and measures derived from field epidemics, namely the relative area under the disease progress curve, the apparent rate of infection, the final disease severity, and the number of days before defoliation. Four genotypes were highly resistant to all 11 isolates tested with the leaf-disk assay and to the local inoculum in field tests. Three genotypes were highly susceptible in inoculation assays and were also susceptible in the field. One genotype was highly resistant in inoculation assays but had intermediate resistance in the field. Significant correlations (p < 0.05) were found between all leaf-disk and all field parameters.