Diagnostic Yield of Computed Tomography Scan for Pediatric Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Chen, Jenny X.; Kachniarz, Bart; Shin, Jennifer J.

2015-01-01

Background Computed tomography (CT) has been used in the assessment of pediatric hearing loss, but concern regarding radiation risk and increased utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have prompted us toward a more quantitative and sophisticated understanding of CT’s potential diagnostic yield. Objective To perform a systematic review to analyze the diagnostic yield of CT for pediatric hearing loss, including subgroup evaluation according to impairment severity and laterality, as well as the specific findings of enlarged vestibular aqueduct and narrow cochlear nerve canal. Data Sources PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were assessed from the date of their inception to December 2013. In addition, manual searches of bibliographies were performed and topic experts were contacted. Review Methods Data from studies describing the use of CT in the diagnostic evaluation of pediatric patients with hearing loss of unknown etiology were evaluated, according to a priori inclusion/exclusion criteria. Two independent evaluators corroborated the extracted data. Heterogeneity was evaluated according to the I2 statistic. Results In 50 criteria-meeting studies, the overall diagnostic yield of CT ranged from 7% to 74%, with the strongest and aggregate data demonstrating a point estimate of 30%. This estimate corresponded to a number needed to image of 4 (range, 2–15). The most commonly identified findings were enlarged vestibular aqueduct and cochlear anomalies. The largest studies showed a 4% to 7% yield for narrow cochlear nerve canal. Conclusion These data, along with similar analyses of radiation risk and risks/benefits of sedated MRI, may be used to help guide the choice of diagnostic imaging. PMID:25186339

Influence of vapor wall loss in laboratory chambers on yields of secondary organic aerosol

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xuan; Cappa, Christopher D.; Jathar, Shantanu H.; McVay, Renee C.; Ensberg, Joseph J.; Kleeman, Michael J.; Seinfeld, John H.

2014-01-01

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) constitutes a major fraction of submicrometer atmospheric particulate matter. Quantitative simulation of SOA within air-quality and climate models—and its resulting impacts—depends on the translation of SOA formation observed in laboratory chambers into robust parameterizations. Worldwide data have been accumulating indicating that model predictions of SOA are substantially lower than ambient observations. Although possible explanations for this mismatch have been advanced, none has addressed the laboratory chamber data themselves. Losses of particles to the walls of chambers are routinely accounted for, but there has been little evaluation of the effects on SOA formation of losses of semivolatile vapors to chamber walls. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that such vapor losses can lead to substantially underestimated SOA formation, by factors as much as 4. Accounting for such losses has the clear potential to bring model predictions and observations of organic aerosol levels into much closer agreement. PMID:24711404

An economic assessment of the health effects and crop yield losses caused by air pollution in mainland China.

PubMed

Miao, Weijie; Huang, Xin; Song, Yu

2017-06-01

Air pollution is severe in China, and pollutants such as PM 2.5 and surface O 3 may cause major damage to human health and crops, respectively. Few studies have considered the health effects of PM 2.5 or the loss of crop yields due to surface O 3 using model-simulated air pollution data in China. We used gridded outputs from the WRF-Chem model, high resolution population data, and crop yield data to evaluate the effects on human health and crop yield in mainland China. Our results showed that outdoor PM 2.5 pollution was responsible for 1.70-1.99 million cases of all-cause mortality in 2006. The economic costs of these health effects were estimated to be 151.1-176.9 billion USD, of which 90% were attributed to mortality. The estimated crop yield losses for wheat, rice, maize, and soybean were approximately 9, 4.6, 0.44, and 0.34 million tons, respectively, resulting in economic losses of 3.4 billion USD. The total economic losses due to ambient air pollution were estimated to be 154.5-180.3 billion USD, accounting for approximately 5.7%-6.6% of the total GDP of China in 2006. Our results show that both population health and staple crop yields in China have been significantly affected by exposure to air pollution. Measures should be taken to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and mitigate the economic loss. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Assessment of crop yield losses in Punjab and Haryana using 2 years of continuous in situ ozone measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, B.; Singh Sangwan, K.; Maurya, Y.; Kumar, V.; Sarkar, C.; Chandra, B. P.; Sinha, V.

2015-08-01

In this study we use a high-quality data set of in situ ozone measurements at a suburban site called Mohali in the state of Punjab to estimate ozone-related crop yield losses for wheat, rice, cotton and maize for Punjab and the neighbouring state Haryana for the years 2011-2013. We intercompare crop yield loss estimates according to different exposure metrics, such as AOT40 (accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of 40) and M7 (mean 7-hour ozone mixing ratio from 09:00 to 15:59), for the two major crop growing seasons of kharif (June-October) and rabi (November-April) and establish a new crop-yield-exposure relationship for southern Asian wheat, maize and rice cultivars. These are a factor of 2 more sensitive to ozone-induced crop yield losses compared to their European and American counterparts. Relative yield losses based on the AOT40 metrics ranged from 27 to 41 % for wheat, 21 to 26 % for rice, 3 to 5 % for maize and 47 to 58 % for cotton. Crop production losses for wheat amounted to 20.8 ± 10.4 million t in the fiscal year of 2012-2013 and 10.3 ± 4.7 million t in the fiscal year of 2013-2014 for Punjab and Haryana taken together. Crop production losses for rice totalled 5.4 ± 1.2 million t in the fiscal year of 2012-2013 and 3.2 ± 0.8 million t in the year 2013-2014 for Punjab and Haryana taken together. The Indian National Food Security Ordinance entitles ~ 820 million of India's poor to purchase about 60 kg of rice or wheat per person annually at subsidized rates. The scheme requires 27.6 Mt of wheat and 33.6 Mt of rice per year. The mitigation of ozone-related crop production losses in Punjab and Haryana alone could provide > 50 % of the wheat and ~ 10 % of the rice required for the scheme. The total economic cost losses in Punjab and Haryana amounted to USD 6.5 ± 2.2 billion in the fiscal year of 2012-2013 and USD 3.7 ± 1.2 billion in the fiscal year of 2013-2014. This economic loss estimate represents a very conservative lower limit based on

Managing tile drainage, subirrigation, and nitrogen fertilization to enhance crop yields and reduce nitrate loss.

PubMed

Drury, C F; Tan, C S; Reynolds, W D; Welacky, T W; Oloya, T O; Gaynor, J D

2009-01-01

Improving field-crop use of fertilizer nitrogen is essential for protecting water quality and increasing crop yields. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of controlled tile drainage (CD) and controlled tile drainage with subsurface irrigation (CDS) for mitigating off-field nitrate losses and enhancing crop yields. The CD and CDS systems were compared on a clay loam soil to traditional unrestricted tile drainage (UTD) under a corn (Zea Mays L.)-soybean (Glycine Max. (L.) Merr.) rotation at two nitrogen (N) fertilization rates (N1: 150 kg N ha(-1) applied to corn, no N applied to soybean; N2: 200 kg N ha(-1) applied to corn, 50 kg N ha(-1) applied to soybean). The N concentrations in tile flow events with the UTD treatment exceeded the provisional long-term aquatic life limit (LT-ALL) for freshwater (4.7 mg N L(-1)) 72% of the time at the N1 rate and 78% at the N2 rate, whereas only 24% of tile flow events at N1 and 40% at N2 exceeded the LT-ALL for the CDS treatment. Exceedances in N concentration for surface runoff and tile drainage were greater during the growing season than the non-growing season. At the N1 rate, CD and CDS reduced average annual N losses via tile drainage by 44 and 66%, respectively, relative to UTD. At the N2 rate, the average annual decreases in N loss were 31 and 68%, respectively. Crop yields from CDS were increased by an average of 2.8% relative to UTD at the N2 rate but were reduced by an average of 6.5% at the N1 rate. Hence, CD and CDS were effective for reducing average nitrate losses in tile drainage, but CDS increased average crop yields only when additional N fertilizer was applied.

A systematic worldwide review of the direct monetary losses in cattle due to bovine viral diarrhoea virus infection.

PubMed

Richter, Veronika; Lebl, Karin; Baumgartner, Walter; Obritzhauser, Walter; Käsbohrer, Annemarie; Pinior, Beate

2017-02-01

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is an important infectious agent of cattle worldwide that affects herd productivity and reproduction. In this systematic review of the impact of BVDV, studies were analysed with a particular focus on the monetary implications and types of direct losses, the initial infection status of herds, production systems, time periods of assessment, calculation level, study types and whether or not country-specific assessments were published. A linear mixed model was applied to analyse factors that influence the level of monetary direct losses due to BVDV infection. The 44 studies included in this review covered 15 countries and assessed direct monetary losses due to BVDV incurred over the past 30 years. Direct losses between and within countries were largely heterogeneous with respect to the monetary level and types of direct losses, ranging from 0.50 to 687.80 US dollars (USD) per animal. 1 Average direct losses per naïve dairy cow were USD24.85 higher than per beef cow. Country-specific assessments of direct losses due to BVDV were provided in 38/44 (86.4%) studies. Mortality, morbidity, premature culling, stillbirths, abortion, reinfection, country and study type had a significant influence on the monetary level of direct losses (r 2  = 0.69). Countries recording direct losses were more likely to carry out voluntary or compulsory control and eradication programmes (odds ratio = 10.2; 95% confidence interval 1.7-81.9; P = 0.004). Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A genome-wide association study of resistance to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) in a worldwide collection of hexaploid spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

New races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the causal pathogen of wheat stripe rust, show high virulence to previously deployed resistance genes and are causing large yield losses worldwide. To identify new sources of resistance we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using...

Maintaining yields and reducing nitrogen loss in rice-wheat rotation system in Taihu Lake region with proper fertilizer management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Lihong; Yu, Yingliang; Yang, Linzhang

2014-11-01

In the Tailake region of China, heavy nitrogen (N) loss of rice-wheat rotation systems, due to high fertilizer-N input with low N use efficiency (NUE), was widely reported. To alleviate the detrimental impacts caused by N loss, it is necessary to improve the fertilizer management practices. Therefore, a 3 yr field experiments with different N managements including organic combined chemical N treatment (OCN, 390 kg N ha-1 yr-1, 20% organic fertilizer), control-released urea treatment (CRU, 390 kg N ha-1 yr-1, 70% resin-coated urea), reduced chemical N treatment (RCN, 390 kg N ha-1 yr-1, all common chemical fertilizer), and site-specific N management (SSNM, 333 kg N ha-1 yr-1, all common chemical fertilizer) were conducted in the Taihu Lake region with the ‘farmer’s N’ treatment (FN, 510 kg N ha-1 yr-1, all common chemical fertilizer) as a control. Grain yield, plant N uptake (PNU), NUE, and N losses via runoff, leaching, and ammonia volatilization were assessed. In the rice season, the FN treatment had the highest N loss and lowest NUE, which can be attributed to an excessive rate of N application. Treatments of OCN and RCN with a 22% reduced N rate from FN had no significant effect on PNU nor the yield of rice in the 3 yr; however, the NUE was improved and N loss was reduced 20-32%. OCN treatment achieved the highest yield, while SSNM has the lowest N loss and highest NUE due to the lowest N rate. In wheat season, N loss decreased about 28-48% with the continuous reduction of N input, but the yield also declined, with the exception of OCN treatment. N loss through runoff, leaching and ammonia volatilization was positively correlated with the N input rate. When compared with the pure chemical fertilizer treatment of RCN under the same N input, OCN treatment has better NUE, better yield, and lower N loss. 70% of the urea replaced with resin-coated urea had no significant effect on yield and NUE improvement, but decreased the ammonia volatilization loss. Soil

Impacts of Soil and Water Conservation Practices on Crop Yield, Run-off, Soil Loss and Nutrient Loss in Ethiopia: Review and Synthesis.

PubMed

Adimassu, Zenebe; Langan, Simon; Johnston, Robyn; Mekuria, Wolde; Amede, Tilahun

2017-01-01

Research results published regarding the impact of soil and water conservation practices in the highland areas of Ethiopia have been inconsistent and scattered. In this paper, a detailed review and synthesis is reported that was conducted to identify the impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, surface run-off, soil loss, nutrient loss, and the economic viability, as well as to discuss the implications for an integrated approach and ecosystem services. The review and synthesis showed that most physical soil and water conservation practices such as soil bunds and stone bunds were very effective in reducing run-off, soil erosion and nutrient depletion. Despite these positive impacts on these services, the impact of physical soil and water conservation practices on crop yield was negative mainly due to the reduction of effective cultivable area by soil/stone bunds. In contrast, most agronomic soil and water conservation practices increase crop yield and reduce run-off and soil losses. This implies that integrating physical soil and water conservation practices with agronomic soil and water conservation practices are essential to increase both provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. Additionally, effective use of unutilized land (the area occupied by bunds) by planting multipurpose grasses and trees on the bunds may offset the yield lost due to a reduction in planting area. If high value grasses and trees can be grown on this land, farmers can harvest fodder for animals or fuel wood, both in scarce supply in Ethiopia. Growing of these grasses and trees can also help the stability of the bunds and reduce maintenance cost. Economic feasibility analysis also showed that, soil and water conservation practices became economically more viable if physical and agronomic soil and water conservation practices are integrated.

Impacts of Soil and Water Conservation Practices on Crop Yield, Run-off, Soil Loss and Nutrient Loss in Ethiopia: Review and Synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adimassu, Zenebe; Langan, Simon; Johnston, Robyn; Mekuria, Wolde; Amede, Tilahun

2017-01-01

Research results published regarding the impact of soil and water conservation practices in the highland areas of Ethiopia have been inconsistent and scattered. In this paper, a detailed review and synthesis is reported that was conducted to identify the impacts of soil and water conservation practices on crop yield, surface run-off, soil loss, nutrient loss, and the economic viability, as well as to discuss the implications for an integrated approach and ecosystem services. The review and synthesis showed that most physical soil and water conservation practices such as soil bunds and stone bunds were very effective in reducing run-off, soil erosion and nutrient depletion. Despite these positive impacts on these services, the impact of physical soil and water conservation practices on crop yield was negative mainly due to the reduction of effective cultivable area by soil/stone bunds. In contrast, most agronomic soil and water conservation practices increase crop yield and reduce run-off and soil losses. This implies that integrating physical soil and water conservation practices with agronomic soil and water conservation practices are essential to increase both provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. Additionally, effective use of unutilized land (the area occupied by bunds) by planting multipurpose grasses and trees on the bunds may offset the yield lost due to a reduction in planting area. If high value grasses and trees can be grown on this land, farmers can harvest fodder for animals or fuel wood, both in scarce supply in Ethiopia. Growing of these grasses and trees can also help the stability of the bunds and reduce maintenance cost. Economic feasibility analysis also showed that, soil and water conservation practices became economically more viable if physical and agronomic soil and water conservation practices are integrated.

Aircraft Loss of Control Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobson, Steven R.

2010-01-01

Loss of control has become the leading cause of jet fatalities worldwide. Aside from their frequency of occurrence, accidents resulting from loss of aircraft control seize the public s attention by yielding large numbers of fatalities in a single event. In response to the rising threat to aviation safety, NASA's Aviation Safety Program has conducted a study of the loss of control problem. This study gathered four types of information pertaining to loss of control accidents: (1) statistical data; (2) individual accident reports that cite loss of control as a contributing factor; (3) previous meta-analyses of loss of control accidents; and (4) inputs solicited from aircraft manufacturers, air carriers, researchers, and other industry stakeholders. Using these information resources, the study team identified causal factors that were cited in the greatest number of loss of control accidents, and which were emphasized most by industry stakeholders. For each causal factor that was linked to loss of control, the team solicited ideas about what solutions are required and future research efforts that could potentially help avoid their occurrence or mitigate their consequences when they occurred in flight.

Ozone-Induced Rice Grain Yield Loss Is Triggered via a Change in Panicle Morphology That Is Controlled by ABERRANT PANICLE ORGANIZATION 1 Gene

PubMed Central

Tsukahara, Keita; Sawada, Hiroko; Kohno, Yoshihisa; Matsuura, Takakazu; Mori, Izumi C.; Terao, Tomio; Ioki, Motohide; Tamaoki, Masanori

2015-01-01

Rice grain yield is predicted to decrease in the future because of an increase in tropospheric ozone concentration. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigated the responses to ozone of two rice (Oryza Sativa L.) cultivars, Sasanishiki and Habataki. Sasanishiki showed ozone-induced leaf injury, but no grain yield loss. By contrast, Habataki showed grain yield loss with minimal leaf injury. A QTL associated with grain yield loss caused by ozone was identified in Sasanishiki/Habataki chromosome segment substitution lines and included the ABERRANT PANICLE ORGANIZATION 1 (APO1) gene. The Habataki allele of the APO1 locus in a near-isogenic line also resulted in grain yield loss upon ozone exposure, suggesting APO1 involvement in ozone-induced yield loss. Only a few differences in the APO1 amino acid sequences were detected between the cultivars, but the APO1 transcript level was oppositely regulated by ozone exposure: i.e., it increased in Sasanishiki and decreased in Habataki. Interestingly, the levels of some phytohormones (jasmonic acid, jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine, and abscisic acid) known to be involved in attenuation of ozone-induced leaf injury tended to decrease in Sasanishiki but to increase in Habataki upon ozone exposure. These data indicate that ozone-induced grain yield loss in Habataki is caused by a reduction in the APO1 transcript level through an increase in the levels of phytohormones that reduce leaf damage. PMID:25923431

Use of Drought Index and Crop Modelling for Drought Impacts Analysis on Maize (Zea mays L.) Yield Loss in Bandung District

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurniasih, E.; Impron; Perdinan

2017-03-01

Drought impacts on crop yield loss depend on drought magnitude and duration and on plant genotype at every plant growth stages when droughts occur. This research aims to assess the difference calculation results of 2 drought index methods and to study the maize yield loss variability impacted by drought magnitude and duration during maize growth stages in Bandung district, province of West Java, Indonesia. Droughts were quantified by the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at 1- to 3-month lags for the January1986-December 2015 period data. Maize yield responses to droughts were simulated by AquaCrop for the January 1986-May 2016 period of growing season. The analysis showed that the SPI and SPEI methods provided similar results in quantifying drought event. Droughts during maize reproductive stages caused the highest maize yield loss.

STREPTOCOCCUS: A WORLDWIDE FISH HEALTH PROBLEM

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Streptococcus iniae and S. agalactiae are important emergent pathogens that affect many fish species worldwide, especially in warm-water regions. In marine and freshwater systems, these Gram-positive bacteria cause significant economic losses, estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. ...

Exploring the effects of nitrogen fertilization management alternatives on nitrate loss and crop yields in tile-drained fields in Illinois.

PubMed

Jeong, Hanseok; Bhattarai, Rabin

2018-05-01

It is vital to manage the excessive use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in corn production, the single largest consumer of N fertilizer in the United States, in order to achieve more sustainable agroecosystems. This study comprehensively explored the effects of N fertilization alternatives on nitrate loss and crop yields using the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) in tile-drained fields in central Illinois. The RZWQM was tested for the prediction of tile flow, nitrate loss, and crop yields using eight years (1993-2000) of observed data and showed satisfactory model performances from statistical and graphical evaluations. Our model simulations demonstrated the maximum return to nitrogen (MRTN) rate (193 kgha -1 ), a newly advised N recommendation by the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (INLRS), can be further reduced. Nitrate loss was reduced by 10.3% and 29.8%, but corn yields decreased by 0.3% and 1.9% at 156 and 150 kgha -1 of N fertilizer rate in the study sites A and E, respectively. Although adjustment of N fertilization timing presented a further reduction in nitrate loss, there was no optimal timing to ensure nitrate loss reduction and corn productivity. For site A, 100% spring application was the most productive and 40% fall, 10% pre-plant, and 50% side dress application generated the lowest nitrate loss. For site E, the conventional N application timing was verified as the best practice in both corn production and nitrate loss reduction. Compared to surface broadcast placement, injected N fertilizer in spring increased corn yield, but may also escalate nitrate loss. This study presented the need of an adaptive N fertilizer management due to the heterogeneity in agricultural systems, and raised the importance of timing and placement of N fertilizer, as well as further reduction in fertilizer rate to devise a better in-field N management practice. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PROPOSED MEASURES OF CONTROL MANAGEMENT OF THE GRAPE MOTH, LOBESIA BOTRANA DEN AND SCHIFF (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE), IN REFERENCE TO INFESTATION PERCENTAGES, YIELD LOSS AND ECONOMICS OF CONTROL IN EGYPT.

PubMed

Kordy, A M; Zaghloul, O A; Mourad, A K

2014-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of five measures; including the release of two strains of Trichogramma, Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.). Sweetened B.t. and the environmentally friend insecticide (Tracer®), to manage the grape moth, Lobesia botrana that infested the grape vines c.v. "Thompson seedless " in Egypt severely during the two successive years of 2011 and 2012. In concern to the release of the worldwide, Trichogramma evanescens Westwood., the mean total grape yield ranged from 8.00 to 14.00 ton/fed and from 6.90 to 11.9, in respect to the two seasons and the mean infestation percentages fluctuated between 50.00 and 16.14; 43.48 and 21.01 in sequence for the same years. The corresponding grape bunches loss percentages averaged from 21.43 to 6.91; 18.63 to 9.00,respectively for the same periods of this study. Whereas, it was noticed that in releasing the indigenous T. bourarchae was more effective than T. evanescens in reducing all the above mentioned grape yield particularly. Applying Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) and/or adding sugar as a stimulant to improve yields reduced the infestation and the crop loss percentage. However, Bacillus thuringiensis mixed with sugar which overweighed the use of Bacillus thuringiensis alone. Although Tracer® provided good harvest in both years, but unfortunately it affected the grape berries components rather than the other treatments. Control plots indicated 48 and 50% infestation, with very low yield compared with the other five trials to manage the assigned insect pest. For the first time worldwide economics and profits were computed taking into account the whole market sale, the total control costs and the gross income to decide the most profitable treatment for the table grape growers under the Egyptian conditions. It was found that the mean (L.E.) profits/fed were arranged in a descending order as follows: 470.95, 513.28, 504.78, 500.82, 397.25 and 0.00 for Bacillus thuringiensis + sugar, Trichogramma

Modelling drought-related yield losses in Iberia using remote sensing and multiscalar indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, Andreia F. S.; Russo, Ana; Gouveia, Célia M.; Páscoa, Patrícia

2018-04-01

The response of two rainfed winter cereal yields (wheat and barley) to drought conditions in the Iberian Peninsula (IP) was investigated for a long period (1986-2012). Drought hazard was evaluated based on the multiscalar Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and three remote sensing indices, namely the Vegetation Condition (VCI), the Temperature Condition (TCI), and the Vegetation Health (VHI) Indices. A correlation analysis between the yield and the drought indicators was conducted, and multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models were established to estimate yield at the regional level. The correlation values suggested that yield reduces with moisture depletion (low values of VCI) during early-spring and with too high temperatures (low values of TCI) close to the harvest time. Generally, all drought indicators displayed greatest influence during the plant stages in which the crop is photosynthetically more active (spring and summer), rather than the earlier moments of plants life cycle (autumn/winter). Our results suggested that SPEI is more relevant in the southern sector of the IP, while remote sensing indices are rather good in estimating cereal yield in the northern sector of the IP. The strength of the statistical relationships found by MLR and ANN methods is quite similar, with some improvements found by the ANN. A great number of true positives (hits) of occurrence of yield-losses exhibiting hit rate (HR) values higher than 69% was obtained.

Causes of vision loss worldwide, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis.

PubMed

Bourne, Rupert R A; Stevens, Gretchen A; White, Richard A; Smith, Jennifer L; Flaxman, Seth R; Price, Holly; Jonas, Jost B; Keeffe, Jill; Leasher, Janet; Naidoo, Kovin; Pesudovs, Konrad; Resnikoff, Serge; Taylor, Hugh R

2013-12-01

Data on causes of vision impairment and blindness are important for development of public health policies, but comprehensive analysis of change in prevalence over time is lacking. We did a systematic analysis of published and unpublished data on the causes of blindness (visual acuity in the better eye less than 3/60) and moderate and severe vision impairment ([MSVI] visual acuity in the better eye less than 6/18 but at least 3/60) from 1980 to 2012. We estimated the proportions of overall vision impairment attributable to cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, trachoma, and uncorrected refractive error in 1990-2010 by age, geographical region, and year. In 2010, 65% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 61-68) of 32·4 million blind people and 76% (73-79) of 191 million people with MSVI worldwide had a preventable or treatable cause, compared with 68% (95% UI 65-70) of 31·8 million and 80% (78-83) of 172 million in 1990. Leading causes worldwide in 1990 and 2010 for blindness were cataract (39% and 33%, respectively), uncorrected refractive error (20% and 21%), and macular degeneration (5% and 7%), and for MSVI were uncorrected refractive error (51% and 53%), cataract (26% and 18%), and macular degeneration (2% and 3%). Causes of blindness varied substantially by region. Worldwide and in all regions more women than men were blind or had MSVI due to cataract and macular degeneration. The differences and temporal changes we found in causes of blindness and MSVI have implications for planning and resource allocation in eye care. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Fight for Sight, Fred Hollows Foundation, and Brien Holden Vision Institute. Copyright © 2013 Bourne et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY. Published by .. All rights reserved.

Heat treatment of wheat straw by immersion in hot water decreases mushroom yield in Pleurotus ostreatus.

PubMed

Jaramillo Mejía, Santiago; Albertó, Edgardo

2013-01-01

The oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, is cultivated worldwide. It is one of the most appreciated mushrooms due to its high nutritional value. Immersion of the substrate in hot water is one of the most popular and worldwide treatment used for mushroom farmers. It is cheap and easy to implement. To compare the yields obtained during mushroom production of P. ostreatus using different pre-treatments (immersion in hot water, sterilization by steam and the use of fungicide) to determine if they influence mushroom crop. Four different treatments of substrate (wheat straw) were carried out: (i) immersion in hot water (IHW); (ii) steam sterilization; (iii) chemical; and (iv) untreated. The residual water from the IHW treatment was used to evaluate the mycelium growth and the production of P. ostreatus. Carbendazim treatment produced highest yields (BE: 106.93%) while IHW produced the lowest BE with 75.83%. Sugars, N, P, K and Ca were found in residual water of IHW treatment. The residual water increased the mycelium growth but did not increase yields. We have proved that IHW treatment of substrate reduced yields at least 20% when compared with other straw treatments such as steam, chemical or untreated wheat straw. Nutrients like sugars, proteins and minerals were found in the residual water extract which is the resultant water where the immersion treatment is carried out. The loss of these nutrients would be the cause of yield decrease. Alternative methods to the use of IHW as treatment of the substrate should be considered to reduce economical loss. Copyright © 2012 Revista Iberoamericana de Micología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Trade-off between reservoir yield and evaporation losses as a function of lake morphology in semi-arid Brazil.

PubMed

Campos, José N B; Lima, Iran E; Studart, Ticiana M C; Nascimento, Luiz S V

2016-05-31

This study investigates the relationships between yield and evaporation as a function of lake morphology in semi-arid Brazil. First, a new methodology was proposed to classify the morphology of 40 reservoirs in the Ceará State, with storage capacities ranging from approximately 5 to 4500 hm3. Then, Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to study the effect of reservoir morphology (including real and simplified conical forms) on the water storage process at different reliability levels. The reservoirs were categorized as convex (60.0%), slightly convex (27.5%) or linear (12.5%). When the conical approximation was used instead of the real lake form, a trade-off occurred between reservoir yield and evaporation losses, with different trends for the convex, slightly convex and linear reservoirs. Using the conical approximation, the water yield prediction errors reached approximately 5% of the mean annual inflow, which is negligible for large reservoirs. However, for smaller reservoirs, this error became important. Therefore, this paper presents a new procedure for correcting the yield-evaporation relationships that were obtained by assuming a conical approximation rather than the real reservoir morphology. The combination of this correction with the Regulation Triangle Diagram is useful for rapidly and objectively predicting reservoir yield and evaporation losses in semi-arid environments.

Breeding cassava for higher yield

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cassava is a root crop grown for food and for starch production. Breeding progress is slowed by asexual production and high levels of heterozygosity. Germplasm resources are rich and accessible to breeders through genebanks worldwide. Breeding objectives include high root yield, yield stability, dis...

Aircraft Loss of Control Causal Factors and Mitigation Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobson, Steven R.

2010-01-01

Loss of control is the leading cause of jet fatalities worldwide. Aside from their frequency of occurrence, accidents resulting from loss of aircraft control seize the public s attention by yielding a large number of fatalities in a single event. In response to the rising threat to aviation safety, the NASA Aviation Safety Program has conducted a study of the loss of control problem. This study gathered four types of information pertaining to loss of control accidents: (1) statistical data; (2) individual accident reports that cite loss of control as a contributing factor; (3) previous meta-analyses of loss of control accidents; and (4) inputs solicited from aircraft manufacturers, air carriers, researchers, and other industry stakeholders. Using these information resources, the study team identified the causal factors that were cited in the greatest number of loss of control accidents, and which were emphasized most by industry stakeholders. This report describes the study approach, the key causal factors for aircraft loss of control, and recommended mitigation strategies to make near-term impacts, mid-term impacts, and Next Generation Air Transportation System impacts on the loss of control accident statistics

No-tillage effects on grain yield, N use efficiency, and nutrient runoff losses in paddy fields.

PubMed

Liang, Xinqiang; Zhang, Huifang; He, Miaomiao; Yuan, Junli; Xu, Lixian; Tian, Guangming

2016-11-01

The effect of no-tillage (NT) on rice yield and nitrogen (N) behavior often varies considerably from individual studies. A meta-analysis was performed to assess quantitatively the effect of NT on rice yield and N uptake by rice, N use efficiency (NUE, i.e., fertilizer N recovery efficiency), and nutrient runoff losses. We obtained data from 74 rice-field experiments reported during the last three decades (1983-2013). Results showed the NT system brought a reduction of 3.8 % in the rice yield compared with conventional tillage (CT). Soil pH of 6.5-7.5 was favorable for the improvement of rice yield with the NT system, while a significant negative NT effect on rice yield was observed in sandy soils (p < 0.05). N rate, ranging from 120 to 180 kg N ha -1 , for at least 3 years was necessary for NT to enable rice yield comparable with that of CT. Furthermore, the observations indicated NT reduced N uptake and NUE of the rice by 5.4 and 16.9 %, while increased the N and P exports via runoff by 15.4 and 40.1 % compared with CT, respectively. Seedling cast transplantation, N rate within the range 120-180 kg N ha -1 , and employing NT for longer than 3 years should be encouraged to compromise between productivity and environmental effects of NT implementation in rice fields.

Heat waves imposed during early pod development in soybean (Glycine max) cause significant yield loss despite a rapid recovery from oxidative stress.

PubMed

Siebers, Matthew H; Yendrek, Craig R; Drag, David; Locke, Anna M; Rios Acosta, Lorena; Leakey, Andrew D B; Ainsworth, Elizabeth A; Bernacchi, Carl J; Ort, Donald R

2015-08-01

Heat waves already have a large impact on crops and are predicted to become more intense and more frequent in the future. In this study, heat waves were imposed on soybean using infrared heating technology in a fully open-air field experiment. Five separate heat waves were applied to field-grown soybean (Glycine max) in central Illinois, three in 2010 and two in 2011. Thirty years of historical weather data from Illinois were analyzed to determine the length and intensity of a regionally realistic heat wave resulting in experimental heat wave treatments during which day and night canopy temperatures were elevated 6 °C above ambient for 3 days. Heat waves were applied during early or late reproductive stages to determine whether and when heat waves had an impact on carbon metabolism and seed yield. By the third day of each heat wave, net photosynthesis (A), specific leaf weight (SLW), and leaf total nonstructural carbohydrate concentration (TNC) were decreased, while leaf oxidative stress was increased. However, A, SLW, TNC, and measures of oxidative stress were no different than the control ca. 12 h after the heat waves ended, indicating rapid physiological recovery from the high-temperature stress. That end of season seed yield was reduced (~10%) only when heat waves were applied during early pod developmental stages indicates the yield loss had more to do with direct impacts of the heat waves on reproductive process than on photosynthesis. Soybean was unable to mitigate yield loss after heat waves given during late reproductive stages. This study shows that short high-temperature stress events that reduce photosynthesis and increase oxidative stress resulted in significant losses to soybean production in the Midwest, U.S. The study also suggests that to mitigate heat wave-induced yield loss, soybean needs improved reproductive and photosynthetic tolerance to high but increasingly common temperatures. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is

Post-flowering night respiration and altered sink activity account for high night temperature-induced grain yield and quality loss in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

PubMed

Bahuguna, Rajeev N; Solis, Celymar A; Shi, Wanju; Jagadish, Krishna S V

2017-01-01

High night temperature (HNT) is a major constraint to sustaining global rice production under future climate. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms were elucidated for HNT-induced grain yield and quality loss in rice. Contrasting rice cultivars (N22, tolerant; Gharib, susceptible; IR64, high yielding with superior grain quality) were tested under control (23°C) and HNT (29°C) using unique field-based tents from panicle initiation till physiological maturity. HNT affected 1000 grain weight, grain yield, grain chalk and amylose content in Gharib and IR64. HNT increased night respiration (Rn) accounted for higher carbon losses during post-flowering phase. Gharib and IR64 recorded 16 and 9% yield reduction with a 63 and 35% increase in average post-flowering Rn under HNT, respectively. HNT altered sugar accumulation in the rachis and spikelets across the cultivars with Gharib and IR64 recording higher sugar accumulation in the rachis. HNT reduced panicle starch content in Gharib (22%) and IR64 (11%) at physiological maturity, but not in the tolerant N22. At the enzymatic level, HNT reduced sink strength with lower cell wall invertase and sucrose synthase activity in Gharib and IR64, which affected starch accumulation in the developing grain, thereby reducing grain weight and quality. Interestingly, N22 recorded lower Rn-mediated carbon losses and minimum impact on sink strength under HNT. Mechanistic responses identified will facilitate crop models to precisely estimate HNT-induced damage under future warming scenarios. © 2016 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

Impact of vetch cover crop on runoff, soil loss, soil chemical properties and yield of chickpea in North Gondar, Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demelash, Nigus; Klik, Andreas; Holzmann, Hubert; Ziadat, Feras; Strohmeier, Stefan; Bayu, Wondimu; Zucca, Claudio; Abera, Atikilt

2016-04-01

Cover crops improve the sustainability and quality of both natural system and agro ecosystem. In Gumara-Maksegnit watershed which is located in Lake Tana basin, farmers usually use fallow during the rainy season for the preceding chickpea production system. The fallowing period can lead to soil erosion and nutrient losses. A field experiment was conducted during growing seasons 2014 and 2015 to evaluate the effect of cover crops on runoff, soil loss, soil chemical properties and yield of chickpea in North Gondar, Ethiopia. The plot experiment contained four treatments arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications: 1) Control plot (Farmers' practice: fallowing- without cover crop), 2) Chickpea planted with Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer with 46 k ha-1 P2O5 and 23 k ha-1 nitrogen after harvesting vetch cover crop, 3) Chick pea planted with vetch cover crop incorporated with the soil as green manure without fertilizer, 4) Chick pea planted with vetch cover crop and incorporated with the soil as green manure and with 23 k ha-1 P2O5 and 12.5 k ha-1 nitrogen. Each plot with an area of 36 m² was equipped with a runoff monitoring system. Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) was planted as cover crop at the onset of the rain in June and used as green manure. The results of the experiment showed statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences on the number of pods per plant, above ground biomass and grain yield of chick pea. However, there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) on average plant height, average number of branches and hundred seed weight. Similarly, the results indicated that cover crop has a clear impact on runoff volume and sediment loss. Plots with vetch cover crop reduce the average runoff by 65% and the average soil loss decreased from 15.7 in the bare land plot to 8.6 t ha-1 with plots covered by vetch. In general, this result reveales that the cover crops, especially vetch, can be used to improve chickpea grain yield

Analysis of the trade-off between high crop yield and low yield instability at the global scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben-Ari, Tamara; Makowski, David

2016-10-01

Yield dynamics of major crops species vary remarkably among continents. Worldwide distribution of cropland influences both the expected levels and the interannual variability of global yields. An expansion of cultivated land in the most productive areas could theoretically increase global production, but also increase global yield instability if the most productive regions are characterized by high interannual yield variability. In this letter, we use portfolio analysis to quantify the tradeoff between the expected values and the interannual variance of global yield. We compute optimal frontiers for four crop species i.e., maize, rice, soybean and wheat and show how the distribution of cropland among large world regions can be optimized to either increase expected global crop production or decrease its interannual variability. We also show that a preferential allocation of cropland in the most productive regions can increase global expected yield at the expense of yield stability. Theoretically, optimizing the distribution of a small fraction of total cultivated areas can help find a good compromise between low instability and high crop yields at the global scale.

Tile Drainage Nitrate Losses and Corn Yield Response to Fall and Spring Nitrogen Management.

PubMed

Pittelkow, Cameron M; Clover, Matthew W; Hoeft, Robert G; Nafziger, Emerson D; Warren, Jeffery J; Gonzini, Lisa C; Greer, Kristin D

2017-09-01

Nitrogen (N) management strategies that maintain high crop productivity with reduced water quality impacts are needed for tile-drained landscapes of the US Midwest. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of N application rate, timing, and fall nitrapyrin addition on tile drainage nitrate losses, corn ( L.) yield, N recovery efficiency, and postharvest soil nitrate content over 3 yr in a corn-soybean [ (L.) Merr.] rotation. In addition to an unfertilized control, the following eight N treatments were applied as anhydrous ammonia in a replicated, field-scale experiment with both corn and soybean phases present each year in Illinois: fall and spring applications of 78, 156, and 234 kg N ha, fall application of 156 kg N ha + nitrapyrin, and sidedress (V5-V6) application of 156 kg N ha. Across the 3-yr study period, increases in flow-weighted NO concentrations were found with increasing N rate for fall and spring N applications, whereas N load results were variable. At the same N rate, spring vs. fall N applications reduced flow-weighted NO concentrations only in the corn-soybean-corn rotation. Fall nitrapyrin and sidedress N treatments did not decrease flo8w-weighted NO concentrations in either rotation compared with fall and spring N applications, respectively, or increase corn yield, crop N uptake, or N recovery efficiency in any year. This study indicates that compared with fall N application, spring and sidedress N applications (for corn-soybean-corn) and sidedress N applications (for soybean-corn-soybean) reduced 3-yr mean flow-weighted NO concentrations while maintaining yields. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

A new method for the production of social fragility functions and the result of its use in worldwide fatality loss estimation for earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniell, James; Wenzel, Friedemann

2014-05-01

A review of over 200 fatality models over the past 50 years for earthquake loss estimation from various authors has identified key parameters that influence fatality estimation in each of these models. These are often very specific and cannot be readily adapted globally. In the doctoral dissertation of the author, a new method is used for regression of fatalities to intensity using loss functions based not only on fatalities, but also using population models and other socioeconomic parameters created through time for every country worldwide for the period 1900-2013. A calibration of functions was undertaken from 1900-2008, and each individual quake analysed from 2009-2013 in real-time, in conjunction with www.earthquake-report.com. Using the CATDAT Damaging Earthquakes Database containing socioeconomic loss information for 7208 damaging earthquake events from 1900-2013 including disaggregation of secondary effects, fatality estimates for over 2035 events have been re-examined from 1900-2013. In addition, 99 of these events have detailed data for the individual cities and towns or have been reconstructed to create a death rate as a percentage of population. Many historical isoseismal maps and macroseismic intensity datapoint surveys collected globally, have been digitised and modelled covering around 1353 of these 2035 fatal events, to include an estimate of population, occupancy and socioeconomic climate at the time of the event at each intensity bracket. In addition, 1651 events without fatalities but causing damage have also been examined in this way. The production of socioeconomic and engineering indices such as HDI and building vulnerability has been undertaken on a country-level and state/province-level leading to a dataset allowing regressions not only using a static view of risk, but also allowing for the change in the socioeconomic climate between the earthquake events to be undertaken. This means that a year 1920 event in a country, will not simply be

Cacao Cultivation under Diverse Shade Tree Cover Allows High Carbon Storage and Sequestration without Yield Losses

PubMed Central

Abou Rajab, Yasmin; Leuschner, Christoph; Barus, Henry; Tjoa, Aiyen; Hertel, Dietrich

2016-01-01

One of the main drivers of tropical forest loss is their conversion to oil palm, soy or cacao plantations with low biodiversity and greatly reduced carbon storage. Southeast Asian cacao plantations are often established under shade tree cover, but are later converted to non-shaded monocultures to avoid resource competition. We compared three co-occurring cacao cultivation systems (3 replicate stands each) with different shade intensity (non-shaded monoculture, cacao with the legume Gliricidia sepium shade trees, and cacao with several shade tree species) in Sulawesi (Indonesia) with respect to above- and belowground biomass and productivity, and cacao bean yield. Total biomass C stocks (above- and belowground) increased fivefold from the monoculture to the multi-shade tree system (from 11 to 57 Mg ha-1), total net primary production rose twofold (from 9 to 18 Mg C ha-1 yr-1). This increase was associated with a 6fold increase in aboveground biomass, but only a 3.5fold increase in root biomass, indicating a clear shift in C allocation to aboveground tree organs with increasing shade for both cacao and shade trees. Despite a canopy cover increase from 50 to 93%, cacao bean yield remained invariant across the systems (variation: 1.1–1.2 Mg C ha-1 yr-1). The monocultures had a twice as rapid leaf turnover suggesting that shading reduces the exposure of cacao to atmospheric drought, probably resulting in greater leaf longevity. Thus, contrary to general belief, cacao bean yield does not necessarily decrease under shading which seems to reduce physical stress. If planned properly, cacao plantations under a shade tree cover allow combining high yield with benefits for carbon sequestration and storage, production system stability under stress, and higher levels of animal and plant diversity. PMID:26927428

Cacao Cultivation under Diverse Shade Tree Cover Allows High Carbon Storage and Sequestration without Yield Losses.

PubMed

Abou Rajab, Yasmin; Leuschner, Christoph; Barus, Henry; Tjoa, Aiyen; Hertel, Dietrich

2016-01-01

One of the main drivers of tropical forest loss is their conversion to oil palm, soy or cacao plantations with low biodiversity and greatly reduced carbon storage. Southeast Asian cacao plantations are often established under shade tree cover, but are later converted to non-shaded monocultures to avoid resource competition. We compared three co-occurring cacao cultivation systems (3 replicate stands each) with different shade intensity (non-shaded monoculture, cacao with the legume Gliricidia sepium shade trees, and cacao with several shade tree species) in Sulawesi (Indonesia) with respect to above- and belowground biomass and productivity, and cacao bean yield. Total biomass C stocks (above- and belowground) increased fivefold from the monoculture to the multi-shade tree system (from 11 to 57 Mg ha-1), total net primary production rose twofold (from 9 to 18 Mg C ha-1 yr-1). This increase was associated with a 6fold increase in aboveground biomass, but only a 3.5fold increase in root biomass, indicating a clear shift in C allocation to aboveground tree organs with increasing shade for both cacao and shade trees. Despite a canopy cover increase from 50 to 93%, cacao bean yield remained invariant across the systems (variation: 1.1-1.2 Mg C ha-1 yr-1). The monocultures had a twice as rapid leaf turnover suggesting that shading reduces the exposure of cacao to atmospheric drought, probably resulting in greater leaf longevity. Thus, contrary to general belief, cacao bean yield does not necessarily decrease under shading which seems to reduce physical stress. If planned properly, cacao plantations under a shade tree cover allow combining high yield with benefits for carbon sequestration and storage, production system stability under stress, and higher levels of animal and plant diversity.

Global climate change increases risk of crop yield losses and food insecurity in the tropical Andes.

PubMed

Tito, Richard; Vasconcelos, Heraldo L; Feeley, Kenneth J

2018-02-01

One of the greatest current challenges to human society is ensuring adequate food production and security for a rapidly growing population under changing climatic conditions. Climate change, and specifically rising temperatures, will alter the suitability of areas for specific crops and cultivation systems. In order to maintain yields, farmers may be forced to change cultivation practices, the timing of cultivation, or even the type of crops grown. Alternatively, farmers can change the location where crops are cultivated (e.g., to higher elevations) to track suitable climates (in which case the plants will have to grow in different soils), as cultivated plants will otherwise have to tolerate warmer temperatures and possibly face novel enemies. We simulated these two last possible scenarios (for temperature increases of 1.3°C and 2.6°C) in the Peruvian Andes through a field experiment in which several traditionally grown varieties of potato and maize were planted at different elevations (and thus temperatures) using either the local soil or soil translocated from higher elevations. Maize production declined by 21%-29% in response to new soil conditions. The production of maize and potatoes declined by >87% when plants were grown under warmer temperatures, mainly as a result of the greater incidence of novel pests. Crop quality and value also declined under simulated migration and warming scenarios. We estimated that local farmers may experience severe economic losses of up to 2,300 US$ ha -1  yr -1 . These findings reveal that climate change is a real and imminent threat to agriculture and that there is a pressing need to develop effective management strategies to reduce yield losses and prevent food insecurity. Importantly, such strategies should take into account the influences of non-climatic and/or biotic factors (e.g., novel pests) on plant development. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The global historical and future economic loss and cost of earthquakes during the production of adaptive worldwide economic fragility functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniell, James; Wenzel, Friedemann

2014-05-01

macroseismic intensity, capital stock estimate, GDP estimate, year and the combined seismic building index (a created combination of the global seismic code index, building practice factor, building age and infrastructure vulnerability). The analysis provided three key results: a) The production of economic fragility functions from the 1900-2008 events showed very good correlation to the economic loss and cost from earthquakes from 2009-2013, in real-time. This methodology has been extended to other natural disaster types (typhoon, flood, drought). b) The reanalysis of historical earthquake events in order to check associated historical loss and costs versus the expected exposure in terms of intensities. The 1939 Chillan, 1948 Turkmenistan, 1950 Iran, 1972 Managua, 1980 Western Nepal and 1992 Erzincan earthquake events were seen as huge outliers compared with the modelled capital stock and GDP and thus additional studies were undertaken to check the original loss results. c) A worldwide GIS layer database of capital stock (gross and net), GDP, infrastructure age and economic indices over the period 1900-2013 have been created in conjunction with the CATDAT database in order to define correct economic loss and costs.

Worldwide distribution of Waardenburg syndrome.

PubMed

Nayak, Chetan S; Isaacson, Glenn

2003-09-01

To clarify the multiracial occurrence of Waardenburg syndrome, we present a case series and literature review. A computerized review of the English-language literature was conducted to assess the distribution of reported occurrences of Waardenburg syndrome in populations around the world. We detail the clinical features of 2 family cohorts: one of Western European origin and the other from South Asia. A computerized literature review found sporadic cases of the syndrome in many ethnic groups, including Japanese, Taiwanese, and Middle Eastern families. The highest reported incidence is among Kenyan Africans. Waardenburg syndrome accounts for between 2% and 5% of cases of congenital deafness. It was first described in Northern European cohorts and is widely identified in fair-skinned populations. We hope to raise awareness of the worldwide distribution of this important cause of hearing loss.

Epidemiology and impact of Fasciola hepatica exposure in high-yielding dairy herds

PubMed Central

Howell, Alison; Baylis, Matthew; Smith, Rob; Pinchbeck, Gina; Williams, Diana

2015-01-01

The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica is a trematode parasite with a worldwide distribution and is the cause of important production losses in the dairy industry. The aim of this observational study was to assess the prevalence of exposure to F. hepatica in a group of high yielding dairy herds, to determine the risk factors and investigate their associations with production and fertility parameters. Bulk milk tank samples from 606 herds that supply a single retailer with liquid milk were tested with an antibody ELISA for F. hepatica. Multivariable linear regression was used to investigate the effect of farm management and environmental risk factors on F. hepatica exposure. Higher rainfall, grazing boggy pasture, presence of beef cattle on farm, access to a stream or pond and smaller herd size were associated with an increased risk of exposure. Univariable regression was used to look for associations between fluke exposure and production-related variables including milk yield, composition, somatic cell count and calving index. Although causation cannot be assumed, a significant (p < 0.001) negative association was seen between F. hepatica exposure and estimated milk yield at the herd level, representing a 15% decrease in yield for an increase in F. hepatica exposure from the 25th to the 75th percentile. This remained significant when fertility, farm management and environmental factors were controlled for. No associations were found between F. hepatica exposure and any of the other production, disease or fertility variables. PMID:26093971

Intrinsic light yield and light loss coefficient of Bi4Ge3O12 single crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yawai, Nattasuda; Chewpraditkul, Weerapong; Wanarak, Chalerm; Nikl, Martin; Ratanatongchai, Wichian

2014-10-01

In this paper we present the scintillation properties of polished Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) crystals grown by the Bridgman method. The light yield (LY) and energy resolution were measured using XP5200B photomultiplier. At 662 keV γ-rays, high LY of 9680 photons/MeV and good energy resolution of 8.6% were obtained for a 5 × 5 × 1 mm3 BGO sample. The intrinsic LY and light loss coefficient were evaluated. The photofraction in pulse height spectrum of 662 keV γ-rays and the mass attenuation coefficient at 59.5 and 662 keV γ-rays were also determined and compared with the theoretical ones calculated using the WinXCom program.

Rain-induced spring wheat harvest losses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, A.; Black, A. L. (Principal Investigator)

1983-01-01

When rain or a combination of rain and high humidity delay wheat harvest, losses can occur in grain yield and/or grain quality. Yield losses can result from shattering, from reduction in test weight, and in the case of windrowed grain, from rooting of sprouting grain at the soil: windrow contact. Losses in grain quality can result from reduction in test weight and from sprouting. Sprouting causes a degradation of grain proteins and starches, hence flour quality is reduced, and the grain price deteriorates to the value of feed grain. Although losses in grain yield and quality are rain-induced, these losses do not necessarily occur because a standing or windrowed crop is wetted by rain. Spike water concentration in hard red spring wheat must be increased to about 45-49% before sprouting is initiated in grain that has overcome dormancy. The time required to overcome this dormancy after the cultivar has dried to 12 to 14% water concentration differs with hard red spring cultivars. The effect of rain on threshing-ready standing and windrowed hard red spring wheat grain yeild and quality was evaluated. A goal was to develop the capability to forecast the extent of expected loss of grain yield and quality from specific climatic events that delay threshing.

Interactive effects of pests increase seed yield.

PubMed

Gagic, Vesna; Riggi, Laura Ga; Ekbom, Barbara; Malsher, Gerard; Rusch, Adrien; Bommarco, Riccardo

2016-04-01

Loss in seed yield and therefore decrease in plant fitness due to simultaneous attacks by multiple herbivores is not necessarily additive, as demonstrated in evolutionary studies on wild plants. However, it is not clear how this transfers to crop plants that grow in very different conditions compared to wild plants. Nevertheless, loss in crop seed yield caused by any single pest is most often studied in isolation although crop plants are attacked by many pests that can cause substantial yield losses. This is especially important for crops able to compensate and even overcompensate for the damage. We investigated the interactive impacts on crop yield of four insect pests attacking different plant parts at different times during the cropping season. In 15 oilseed rape fields in Sweden, we estimated the damage caused by seed and stem weevils, pollen beetles, and pod midges. Pest pressure varied drastically among fields with very low correlation among pests, allowing us to explore interactive impacts on yield from attacks by multiple species. The plant damage caused by each pest species individually had, as expected, either no, or a negative impact on seed yield and the strongest negative effect was caused by pollen beetles. However, seed yield increased when plant damage caused by both seed and stem weevils was high, presumably due to the joint plant compensatory reaction to insect attack leading to overcompensation. Hence, attacks by several pests can change the impact on yield of individual pest species. Economic thresholds based on single species, on which pest management decisions currently rely, may therefore result in economically suboptimal choices being made and unnecessary excessive use of insecticides.

Pleiotropic effects of herbicide-resistance genes on crop yield: a review.

PubMed

Darmency, Henri

2013-08-01

The rapid adoption of genetically engineered herbicide-resistant crop varieties (HRCVs)-encompassing 83% of all GM crops and nearly 8% of the worldwide arable area-is due to technical efficiency and higher returns. Other herbicide-resistant varieties obtained from genetic resources and mutagenesis have also been successfully released. Although the benefit for weed control is the main criteria for choosing HRCVs, the pleiotropic costs of genes endowing resistance have rarely been investigated in crops. Here the available data of comparisons between isogenic resistant and susceptible varieties are reviewed. Pleiotropic harmful effects on yield are reported in half of the cases, mostly with resistance mechanisms that originate from genetic resources and mutagenesis (atrazine in oilseed rape and millet, trifluralin in millet, imazamox in cotton) rather than genetic engineering (chlorsulfuron and glufosinate in some oilseed rape varieties, glyphosate in soybean). No effect was found for sethoxydim and bromoxynil resistance. Variable minor effects were found for imazamox, chlorsulfuron, glufosinate and glyphosate resistance. The importance of the breeding plan and the genetic background on the emergence of these effects is pointed out. Breeders' efforts to produce better varieties could compensate for the yield loss, which eliminates any possibility of formulating generic conclusions on pleiotropic effects that can be applied to all resistant crops. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Assessing the impacts of current and future concentrations of surface ozone on crop yield with meta-analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zhaozhong; Kobayashi, Kazuhiko

Meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively assess the effects of rising ozone concentrations ([O 3]) on yield and yield components of major food crops: potato, barley, wheat, rice, bean and soybean in 406 experimental observations. Yield loss of the crops under current and future [O 3] was expressed relative to the yield under base [O 3] (≤26 ppb). With potato, current [O 3] (31-50 ppb) reduced the yield by 5.3%, and it reduced the yield of barley, wheat and rice by 8.9%, 9.7% and 17.5%, respectively. In bean and soybean, the yield losses were 19.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Compared with yield loss at current [O 3], future [O 3] (51-75 ppb) drove a further 10% loss in yield of soybean, wheat and rice, and 20% loss in bean. Mass of individual grain, seed, or tuber was often the major cause of the yield loss at current and future [O 3], whereas other yield components also contributed to the yield loss in some cases. No significant difference was found between the responses in crops grown in pots and those in the ground for any yield parameters. The ameliorating effect of elevated [CO 2] was significant in the yields of wheat and potato, and the individual grain weight in wheat exposed to future [O 3]. These findings confirm the rising [O 3] as a threat to food security for the growing global population in this century.

Aircraft Loss-of-Control Accident Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belcastro, Christine M.; Foster, John V.

2010-01-01

Loss of control remains one of the largest contributors to fatal aircraft accidents worldwide. Aircraft loss-of-control accidents are complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or (more often) in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. To gain a better understanding into aircraft loss-of-control events and possible intervention strategies, this paper presents a detailed analysis of loss-of-control accident data (predominantly from Part 121), including worst case combinations of causal and contributing factors and their sequencing. Future potential risks are also considered.

Estimating the Worldwide Extent of Illegal Fishing

PubMed Central

Agnew, David J.; Pearce, John; Pramod, Ganapathiraju; Peatman, Tom; Watson, Reg; Beddington, John R.; Pitcher, Tony J.

2009-01-01

Illegal and unreported fishing contributes to overexploitation of fish stocks and is a hindrance to the recovery of fish populations and ecosystems. This study is the first to undertake a world-wide analysis of illegal and unreported fishing. Reviewing the situation in 54 countries and on the high seas, we estimate that lower and upper estimates of the total value of current illegal and unreported fishing losses worldwide are between $10 bn and $23.5 bn annually, representing between 11 and 26 million tonnes. Our data are of sufficient resolution to detect regional differences in the level and trend of illegal fishing over the last 20 years, and we can report a significant correlation between governance and the level of illegal fishing. Developing countries are most at risk from illegal fishing, with total estimated catches in West Africa being 40% higher than reported catches. Such levels of exploitation severely hamper the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. Although there have been some successes in reducing the level of illegal fishing in some areas, these developments are relatively recent and follow growing international focus on the problem. This paper provides the baseline against which successful action to curb illegal fishing can be judged. PMID:19240812

Sharka epidemiology and worldwide management strategies: learning lessons to optimize disease control in perennial plants

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Many plant epidemics that cause major economic losses cannot be controlled with pesticides. Among them, sharka epidemics severely affect prunus trees worldwide. Its causal agent, Plum pox virus (PPV;, genus Potyvirus), has been classified as a quarantine pathogen in numerous countries. As a result, ...

Water limits to closing yield gaps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Kyle Frankel; Rulli, Maria Cristina; Garrassino, Francesco; Chiarelli, Davide; Seveso, Antonio; D'Odorico, Paolo

2017-01-01

Agricultural intensification is often seen as a suitable approach to meet the growing demand for agricultural products and improve food security. It typically entails the use of fertilizers, new cultivars, irrigation, and other modern technology. In regions of the world affected by seasonal or chronic water scarcity, yield gap closure is strongly dependent on irrigation (blue water). Global yield gap assessments have often ignored whether the water required to close the yield gap is locally available. Here we perform a gridded global analysis (10 km resolution) of the blue water consumption that is needed annually to close the yield gap worldwide and evaluate the associated pressure on renewable freshwater resources. We find that, to close the yield gap, human appropriation of freshwater resources for irrigation would have to increase at least by 146%. Most study countries would experience at least a doubling in blue water requirement, with 71% of the additional blue water being required by only four crops - maize, rice, soybeans, and wheat. Further, in some countries (e.g., Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen) the total volume of blue water required for yield gap closure would exceed sustainable levels of freshwater consumption (i.e., 40% of total renewable surface and groundwater resources).

Evaluation of the biomass potential for the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol from various agricultural residues in Austria and Worldwide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahr, Heike; Steindl, Daniel; Wimberger, Julia; Schürz, Daniel; Jäger, Alexander

2013-04-01

Due to the fact that the resources of fossil fuels are steadily decreasing, researchers have been trying to find alternatives over the past few years. As bioethanol of the first generation is based on potential food, its production has become an increasingly controversial topic. Therefore the focus of research currently is on the production of bioethanol of the second generation, which is made from cellulosic and lignocellulosic materials. However, for the production of bioethanol of the second generation the fibres have to be pre-treated. In this work the mass balances of various agricultural residues available in Austria were generated and examined in lab scale experiments for their bioethanol potential. The residues were pretreatment by means of state of the art technology (steam explosion), enzymatically hydrolysed and fermented with yeast to produce ethanol. Special attention was paid the mass balance of the overall process. Due to the pretreatment the proportion of cellulose increases with the duration of the pre-treatment, whereby the amount of hemicellulose decreases greatly. However, the total losses were increasing with the duration of the pre-treatment, and the losses largely consist of hemicellulose. The ethanol yield varied depending on the cellulose content of the substrates. So rye straw 200 °C 20 min reaches an ethanol yield of 169 kg/t, by far the largest yield. As result on the basis of the annual straw yield in Austria, approximately 210 000 t of bioethanol (266 million litres) could be produced from the straw of wheat (Triticum vulgare), rye (Secale cereale), oat (Avena sativa) and corn (Zea mays) as well as elephant grass (Miscanthus sinensis) using appropriate pre-treatment. So the greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil fuels could be reduced significantly. About 1.8 million tons of motor gasoline are consumed in Austria every year. The needed quantity for a transition to E10 biofuels could thus be easily provided by bioethanol

CTFS-ForestGEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J.; Davies, Stuart J.; Bennett, Amy C.

2014-09-25

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services, including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamic research sites useful for characterizing forest responses to global change. The broad suite of measurements made at the CTFS-ForestGEO sites make it possible to investigate the complex ways in which global change is impacting forest dynamics. ongoing research across the network is yielding insights into how and why the forests are changing, and continued monitoring will provide vital contributions to understanding worldwide forestmore » diversity and dynamics in a era of global change« less

[Assessment on the yield loss risk of longan caused by cold damage in South China].

PubMed

Zhao, Jun-fang; Yu, Hui-kang

2016-02-01

Using daily climate variables gathered from 64 meteorological stations in South China from 1961 to 2012, recognized hazard indicators about disaster grades of cold damage for longan, and methods on agricultural meteorological disasters risk and simulation technology, the yield loss risks of longan caused by cold damage in South China during different developmental periods were assessed. The results showed that during the period of physiologic differentiation of flower bud, the disasters of longan affected by mild cold damage in South China were the most common, followed by severe cold damage and moderate cold damage. The hazards caused by cold damage under different grades varied. In particular, under mild cold damage, light disaster of longan was found in Fujian, followed by Guangdong and Hainan, and Guangxi was serious. Under moderate cold damage, light disaster of longan was found in Hainan, followed by Guangdong and Guangxi, and Fujian was serious. Under severe cold damage, light disaster of longan was found in Hainan, followed by Guangdong and Guangxi, Fujian was serious. During the period of morphologic differentiation of flower bud, the disasters of longan affected by mild cold damage in South China were the most common, followed by severe cold damage and moderate cold damage, while the disasters of longan under mild, moderate and severe cold damages within this period were similar. Specifically, light disasters of longan were all found in Hainan, followed by Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian. During the period of dormancy, the disaster of longan affected by mild cold damage in South China was the most common, followed by severe cold damage and moderate cold damage. Under mild and severe cold damage, light disaster of longan was found in Fujian, followed by Guangdong and Hainan, and Guangxi was serious. However, under moderate cold damage, light disaster of longan was found in Hainan and Guangxi, followed by Guangdong, and Fujian was serious. At the same level

[Effects of different nitrogen application rates on 15N-urea absorption, utilization, loss and fruit yield and quality of dwarf apple].

PubMed

Chen, Qian; Ding, Ning; Peng, Ling; Ge, Shun Feng; Jiang, Yuan Mao

2017-07-18

Seven-year-old 'Yanfu3'/M 26 /M. hupehensis Rehd. seedlings and 15 N trace technique were used to explore the characteristics of 15 N-urea absorption, utilization, loss and fruit yield and quality under different nitrogen application rates (N 100 , N 200 and N 300 ). The main results were as follows: the plant growth, 15 N absorption, utilization and loss differed significantly under different treatments. The plant leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD value), photosynthetic rate (P n ), total N content of leaves and the biomass, as well as the root-shoot ratio of N 200 treatment were obviously higher than the N 100 and N 300 treatments. Significant differences were observed in the 15 N derived from fertilizer (Ndff value) of different organs under different nitrogen application rates. The Ndff of fruits (flowers), leaves, one-year-old branch, and perennial branches in each measurement period was N 100 >N 200 ＞N 300 , while that of the roots at full-bloom and spring shoot growing slowly stage was N 100 >N 200 ＞N 300 , and in a trend of N 200 >N 100 ＞N 300 at autumn shoot growing stage, fruit rapid-swel-ling stage and fruit maturity stage. At fruit maturity stage, plant 15 N nitrogen utilization ratio of N 200 treatment was 23.6%, which was obviously higher than the N 100 (16.3%) and N 300 (14.4%) treatments, with the 15 N loss rate of 56.4%, obviously lower than the N 100 (60.6%) and N 300 (66.1%) treatments. There were significant differences among the treatments in fruit mass, yield per plant, soluble solid, fruit firmness, soluble sugar, titratable acids and sugar-acid ratio of different nitrogen rates, and the N 200 treatment showed the best performance, followed by the N 300 treatment, and then the N 100 treatment.

Detecting temporal change in watershed nutrient yields

Treesearch

James D. Wickham; Timothy G. Wade; Kurt H. Riitters

2008-01-01

Meta-analyses reveal that nutrient yields tend to be higher for watersheds dominated by anthropogenic uses (e.g., urban, agriculture) and lower for watersheds dominated by natural vegetation. One implication of this pattern is that loss of natural vegetation will produce increases in watershed nutrient yields. Yet, the same meta-analyses also reveal that, absent land-...

Detecting Temporal Change in Watershed Nutrient Yields

Treesearch

James D. Wickham; Timothy G. Wade; Kurt H. Riitters

2008-01-01

Meta-analyses reveal that nutrient yields tend to be higher for watersheds dominated by anthropogenic uses (e.g., urban, agriculture) and lower for watersheds dominated by natural vegetation. One implication of this pattern is that loss of natural vegetation will produce increases in watershed nutrient yields. Yet, the same meta-analyses also reveal that, absent land-...

Worldwide Lineages of Clinical Pneumococci in a Japanese Teaching Hospital Identified by DiversiLab System.

PubMed

Kashiwaya, Kiyoshi; Saga, Tomoo; Ishii, Yoshikazu; Sakata, Ryuji; Iwata, Morihiro; Yoshizawa, Sadako; Chang, Bin; Ohnishi, Makoto; Tateda, Kazuhiro

2016-06-01

Pneumococcal Molecular Epidemiology Network (PMEN) clones are representatives of worldwide-spreading pathogens. DiversiLab system, a repetitive PCR system, has been proposed as a less labor-and time-intensive genotyping platform alternative to conventional methods. However, the utility and analysis parameters of DiversiLab for identifying worldwide lineages was not established. To evaluate and optimize the performance of DiversiLab for identifying worldwide pneumococcal lineages, we examined 245 consecutive isolates of clinical Streptococcus pneumoniae from all age-group patients at a teaching hospital in Japan. The capsular swelling reaction of all isolates yielded 24 different serotypes. Intensive visual observation (VO) of DiversiLab band pattern difference divided all isolates into 73 clusters. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of representative 73 isolates from each VO cluster yielded 51 different STs. Among them, PMEN-related lineages accounted for 63% (46/73). Although the serotype of PMEN-related isolates was identical to that of the original PMEN clone in 70% (32/46), CC156-related PMEN lineages, namely Greece(6B)-22 and Colombia(23F)-26, harbored various capsular types discordant to the original PMEN clones. Regarding automated analysis, genotyping by extended Jaccard (XJ) with a 75% similarity index cutoff (SIC) showed the highest correlation with serotyping (adjusted Rand's coefficient, 0.528). Elevating the SIC for XJ to 85% increased the discriminatory power sufficient for distinguishing two major PMEN-related isolates of Taiwan(19F)-14 and Netherlands(3)-31. These results demonstrated a potential utility of DiversiLab for identifying worldwide lineage of pneumococcus. An optimized parameters of automated analysis should be useful especially for comparison for reference strains by "identification" function of DiversiLab. Copyright © 2016 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Is Yield Increase Sufficient to Achieve Food Security in China?

PubMed Central

Wei, Xing; Zhang, Zhao; Shi, Peijun; Wang, Pin; Chen, Yi; Song, Xiao; Tao, Fulu

2015-01-01

Increasing demand for food, driven by unprecedented population growth and increasing consumption, will keep challenging food security in China. Although cereal yields have substantially improved during the last three decades, whether it will keep thriving to meet the increasing demand is not known yet. Thus, an integrated analysis on the trends of crop yield and cultivated area is essential to better understand current state of food security in China, especially on county scale. So far, yield stagnation has extensively dominated the main cereal-growing areas across China. Rice yield is facing the most severe stagnation that 53.9% counties tracked in the study have stagnated significantly, followed by maize (42.4%) and wheat (41.9%). As another important element for production sustainability, but often neglected is the planted area patterns. It has been further demonstrated that the loss in productive arable land for rice and wheat have dramatically increased the pressure on achieving food security. Not only a great deal of the planted areas have stagnated since 1980, but also collapsed. 48.4% and 54.4% of rice- and wheat-growing counties have lost their cropland areas to varying degrees. Besides, 27.6% and 35.8% of them have retrograded below the level of the 1980s. The combined influence (both loss in yield and area) has determined the crop sustainable production in China to be pessimistic for rice and wheat, and consequently no surprise to find that more than half of counties rank a lower level of production sustainability. Therefore, given the potential yield increase in wheat and maize, as well as substantial area loss of rice and wheat, the possible targeted adaptation measures for both yield and cropping area is required at county scale. Moreover, policies on food trade, alongside advocation of low calorie diets, reducing food loss and waste can help to enhance food security. PMID:25680193

Nitrogen rate strategies for reducing yield-scaled nitrous oxide emissions in maize

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xu; Nafziger, Emerson D.; Pittelkow, Cameron M.

2017-12-01

Mitigating nitrogen (N) losses from agriculture without negatively impacting crop productivity is a pressing environmental and economic challenge. Reductions in N fertilizer rate are often highlighted as a solution, yet the degree to which crop yields and economic returns may be impacted at the field-level remains unclear, in part due to limited data availability. Farmers are risk averse and potential yield losses may limit the success of voluntary N loss mitigation protocols, thus understanding field-level yield tradeoffs is critical to inform policy development. Using a case study of soil N2O mitigation in the US Midwest, we conducted an ex-post assessment of two economic and two environmental N rate reduction strategies to identify promising practices for maintaining maize yields and economic returns while reducing N2O emissions per unit yield (i.e. yield-scaled emissions) compared to an assumed baseline N input level. Maize yield response data from 201 on-farm N rate experiments were combined with an empirical equation predicting N2O emissions as a function of N rate. Results indicate that the economic strategy aimed at maximizing returns to N (MRTN) led to moderate but consistent reductions in yield-scaled N2O emissions with small negative impacts on yield and slight increases in median returns. The economic optimum N rate strategy reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions in 75% of cases but increased them otherwise, challenging the assumption that this strategy will automatically reduce environmental impacts per unit production. Both environmental strategies, one designed to increase N recovery efficiency and one to balance N inputs with grain N removal, further reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions but were also associated with negative yield penalties and decreased returns. These results highlight the inherent tension between achieving agronomic and economic goals while reducing environmental impacts which is often overlooked in policy discussions. To enable the

Monte Carlo simulation of the neutron monitor yield function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangeard, P.-S.; Ruffolo, D.; Sáiz, A.; Madlee, S.; Nutaro, T.

2016-08-01

Neutron monitors (NMs) are ground-based detectors that measure variations of the Galactic cosmic ray flux at GV range rigidities. Differences in configuration, electronics, surroundings, and location induce systematic effects on the calculation of the yield functions of NMs worldwide. Different estimates of NM yield functions can differ by a factor of 2 or more. In this work, we present new Monte Carlo simulations to calculate NM yield functions and perform an absolute (not relative) comparison with the count rate of the Princess Sirindhorn Neutron Monitor (PSNM) at Doi Inthanon, Thailand, both for the entire monitor and for individual counter tubes. We model the atmosphere using profiles from the Global Data Assimilation System database and the Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer, Incoherent Scatter Radar Extended model. Using FLUKA software and the detailed geometry of PSNM, we calculated the PSNM yield functions for protons and alpha particles. An agreement better than 9% was achieved between the PSNM observations and the simulated count rate during the solar minimum of December 2009. The systematic effect from the electronic dead time was studied as a function of primary cosmic ray rigidity at the top of the atmosphere up to 1 TV. We show that the effect is not negligible and can reach 35% at high rigidity for a dead time >1 ms. We analyzed the response function of each counter tube at PSNM using its actual dead time, and we provide normalization coefficients between count rates for various tube configurations in the standard NM64 design that are valid to within ˜1% for such stations worldwide.

Climate variation explains a third of global crop yield variability

PubMed Central

Ray, Deepak K.; Gerber, James S.; MacDonald, Graham K.; West, Paul C.

2015-01-01

Many studies have examined the role of mean climate change in agriculture, but an understanding of the influence of inter-annual climate variations on crop yields in different regions remains elusive. We use detailed crop statistics time series for ~13,500 political units to examine how recent climate variability led to variations in maize, rice, wheat and soybean crop yields worldwide. While some areas show no significant influence of climate variability, in substantial areas of the global breadbaskets, >60% of the yield variability can be explained by climate variability. Globally, climate variability accounts for roughly a third (~32–39%) of the observed yield variability. Our study uniquely illustrates spatial patterns in the relationship between climate variability and crop yield variability, highlighting where variations in temperature, precipitation or their interaction explain yield variability. We discuss key drivers for the observed variations to target further research and policy interventions geared towards buffering future crop production from climate variability. PMID:25609225

[Effects of applying controlled-release fertilizer blended with conventional nitrogen fertilizer on Chinese cabbage yield and quality as well as nitrogen losses].

PubMed

Yang, Jun-gang; Xu, Kai; Tong, Er-jian; Cao, Bing; Ni, Xiao-hui; Xu, Jun-xiang

2010-12-01

An open field experiment was conducted to study the effects of applying controlled-release fertilizer blended with rapidly available chemical N fertilizer on Chinese cabbage yield and quality as well as nitrogen losses, including ammonia volatilization and NO3- -N accumulation and leaching in Beijing suburb. The results showed that a combined application of 2:1 controlled-release fertilizer and urea fertilizer (total N rate 150 kg x hm(-2)) did not induce the reduction of Chinese cabbage yield, and decreased the leaf nitrate and organic acid contents significantly, compared with conventional urea N application (300 kg x hm(-2)), and had no significant difference in the cabbage yield and leaf nitrate content, compared with applying 150 kg x hm(-2) of urea N. The combined application of 2:1 controlled-release fertilizer and urea fertilizer improved the N use efficiency of Chinese cabbage, and reduced the ammonia volatilization and NO3- -N leaching. At harvest, the NO3- -N concentrations in 20-40, 60-80 and 80-100 cm soil layers were significantly lower in the combined application treatment than in urea N treatment.

Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

PubMed Central

Glen, Alistair S.; Nimmo, Dale G.; Ritchie, Euan G.; Dickman, Chris R.

2016-01-01

Invasive species threaten biodiversity globally, and invasive mammalian predators are particularly damaging, having contributed to considerable species decline and extinction. We provide a global metaanalysis of these impacts and reveal their full extent. Invasive predators are implicated in 87 bird, 45 mammal, and 10 reptile species extinctions—58% of these groups’ contemporary extinctions worldwide. These figures are likely underestimated because 23 critically endangered species that we assessed are classed as “possibly extinct.” Invasive mammalian predators endanger a further 596 species at risk of extinction, with cats, rodents, dogs, and pigs threatening the most species overall. Species most at risk from predators have high evolutionary distinctiveness and inhabit insular environments. Invasive mammalian predators are therefore important drivers of irreversible loss of phylogenetic diversity worldwide. That most impacted species are insular indicates that management of invasive predators on islands should be a global conservation priority. Understanding and mitigating the impact of invasive mammalian predators is essential for reducing the rate of global biodiversity loss. PMID:27638204

Reproductive losses caused by bovine viral diarrhea virus and leptospirosis.

PubMed

Grooms, Daniel L

2006-08-01

Bovine viral diarrhea virus and Leptospira spp. are two of the common pathogenic organisms responsible for reproductive losses in cattle worldwide. Both can be come endemic in herds resulting in chronic low-grade reproductive losses or they can be introduced into relatively naïve herds, resulting in substantial reproductive losses over a short period of time. Both organisms are a differential diagnoses for common reproductive losses that veterinarians investigate, including low conception rates and abortions.

Climate Change Impacts on Worldwide Coffee Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foreman, T.; Rising, J. A.

2015-12-01

Coffee (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora) plays a vital role in many countries' economies, providing necessary income to 25 million members of tropical countries, and supporting a $81 billion industry, making it one of the most valuable commodities in the world. At the same time, coffee is at the center of many issues of sustainability. It is vulnerable to climate change, with disease outbreaks becoming more common and suitable regions beginning to shift. We develop a statistical production model for coffee which incorporates temperature, precipitation, frost, and humidity effects using a new database of worldwide coffee production. We then use this model to project coffee yields and production into the future based on a variety of climate forecasts. This model can then be used together with a market model to forecast the locations of future coffee production as well as future prices, supply, and demand.

Detection of meteorological extreme effect on historical crop yield anomaly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, W.; Iizumi, T.; Nishimori, M.

2017-12-01

Meteorological extremes of temperature and precipitation are a critical issue in the global climate change, and some studies investigating how the extreme changes in accordance with the climate change are continuously reported. However, it is rarely understandable that the extremes affect crop yield worldwide as heatwave, coolwave, drought, and flood, albeit some local or national reports are available. Therefore, we globally investigated the extremes effects on the variability of historical yield of maize, rice, soy, and wheat with a standardized index and a historical yield anomaly. For the regression analysis, the standardized index is annually aggregated in the consideration of a crop calendar, and the historical yield is detrended with 5-year moving average. Throughout this investigation, we found that the relationship between the aggregated standardized index and the historical yield anomaly shows not merely positive correlation but also negative correlation in all crops in the globe. Namely, the extremes cause decrease of crop yield as a matter of course, but increase in some regions contrastingly. These results help us to quantify the extremes effect on historical crop yield anomaly.

Draft genome of the most devastating insect pest of coffee worldwide: the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei, is the most economically important insect pest of coffee worldwide, causing millions of dollars in yearly losses to coffee growers. We present the third genomic analysis for a Coleopteran species, a draft genome of female coffee berry borers. The genome s...

7 CFR 1437.105 - Determining payments for low yield.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Determining payments for low yield. 1437.105 Section 1437.105 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COMMODITY CREDIT... for low yield. (a) Except to the extent that the loss calculation provisions of other subparts apply...

Atmospheric Fluorescence Yield

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, James H., Jr.; Christl, M. J.; Fountain, W. F.; Gregory, J. C.; Martens, K.; Sokolsky, P.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Several existing and planned experiments estimate the energies of ultra-high energy cosmic rays from air showers using the atmospheric fluorescence from these showers. Accurate knowledge of the conversion from atmospheric fluorescence to energy loss by ionizing particles in the atmosphere is key to this technique. In this paper we discuss a small balloon-borne instrument to make the first in situ measurements versus altitude of the atmospheric fluorescence yield. The instrument can also be used in the lab to investigate the dependence of the fluorescence yield in air on temperature, pressure and the concentrations of other gases that present in the atmosphere. The results can be used to explore environmental effects on and improve the accuracy of cosmic ray energy measurements for existing ground-based experiments and future space-based experiments.

Yield gap analyses to estimate attainable bovine milk yields and evaluate options to increase production in Ethiopia and India.

PubMed

Mayberry, Dianne; Ash, Andrew; Prestwidge, Di; Godde, Cécile M; Henderson, Ben; Duncan, Alan; Blummel, Michael; Ramana Reddy, Y; Herrero, Mario

2017-07-01

Livestock provides an important source of income and nourishment for around one billion rural households worldwide. Demand for livestock food products is increasing, especially in developing countries, and there are opportunities to increase production to meet local demand and increase farm incomes. Estimating the scale of livestock yield gaps and better understanding factors limiting current production will help to define the technological and investment needs in each livestock sector. The aim of this paper is to quantify livestock yield gaps and evaluate opportunities to increase dairy production in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, using case studies from Ethiopia and India. We combined three different methods in our approach. Benchmarking and a frontier analysis were used to estimate attainable milk yields based on survey data. Household modelling was then used to simulate the effects of various interventions on dairy production and income. We tested interventions based on improved livestock nutrition and genetics in the extensive lowland grazing zone and highland mixed crop-livestock zones of Ethiopia, and the intensive irrigated and rainfed zones of India. Our analyses indicate that there are considerable yield gaps for dairy production in both countries, and opportunities to increase production using the interventions tested. In some cases, combined interventions could increase production past currently attainable livestock yields.

Future Integrated Systems Concept for Preventing Aircraft Loss-of-Control Accidents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belcastro, Christine M.; Jacobson, Steven r.

2010-01-01

Loss of control remains one of the largest contributors to aircraft fatal accidents worldwide. Aircraft loss-of-control accidents are highly complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or (more often) in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. This paper presents future system concepts and research directions for preventing aircraft loss-of-control accidents.

Fault tree analysis for data-loss in long-term monitoring networks.

PubMed

Dirksen, J; ten Veldhuis, J A E; Schilperoort, R P S

2009-01-01

Prevention of data-loss is an important aspect in the design as well as the operational phase of monitoring networks since data-loss can seriously limit intended information yield. In the literature limited attention has been paid to the origin of unreliable or doubtful data from monitoring networks. Better understanding of causes of data-loss points out effective solutions to increase data yield. This paper introduces FTA as a diagnostic tool to systematically deduce causes of data-loss in long-term monitoring networks in urban drainage systems. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of FTA, a fault tree is developed for a monitoring network and FTA is applied to analyze the data yield of a UV/VIS submersible spectrophotometer. Although some of the causes of data-loss cannot be recovered because the historical database of metadata has been updated infrequently, the example points out that FTA still is a powerful tool to analyze the causes of data-loss and provides useful information on effective data-loss prevention.

Rooting traits of peanut genotypes with different yield responses to terminal drought

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Drought at pod filling can severely reduce yield of peanut. Better root systems can reduce yield loss from drought. However, the relationship of root characters with yield under terminal drought is not well understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the responses of peanut genotyp...

Site-Specific Management of Miscanthus Genotypes for Combustion and Anaerobic Digestion: A Comparison of Energy Yields.

PubMed

Kiesel, Andreas; Nunn, Christopher; Iqbal, Yasir; Van der Weijde, Tim; Wagner, Moritz; Özgüven, Mensure; Tarakanov, Ivan; Kalinina, Olena; Trindade, Luisa M; Clifton-Brown, John; Lewandowski, Iris

2017-01-01

In Europe, the perennial C 4 grass miscanthus is currently mainly cultivated for energy generation via combustion. In recent years, anaerobic digestion has been identified as a promising alternative utilization pathway. Anaerobic digestion produces a higher-value intermediate (biogas), which can be upgraded to biomethane, stored in the existing natural gas infrastructure and further utilized as a transport fuel or in combined heat and power plants. However, the upgrading of the solid biomass into gaseous fuel leads to conversion-related energy losses, the level of which depends on the cultivation parameters genotype, location, and harvest date. Thus, site-specific crop management needs to be adapted to the intended utilization pathway. The objectives of this paper are to quantify (i) the impact of genotype, location and harvest date on energy yields of anaerobic digestion and combustion and (ii) the conversion losses of upgrading solid biomass into biogas. For this purpose, five miscanthus genotypes (OPM 3, 6, 9, 11, 14), three cultivation locations (Adana, Moscow, Stuttgart), and up to six harvest dates (August-March) were assessed. Anaerobic digestion yielded, on average, 35% less energy than combustion. Genotype, location, and harvest date all had significant impacts on the energy yield. For both, this is determined by dry matter yield and ash content and additionally by substrate-specific methane yield for anaerobic digestion and moisture content for combustion. Averaged over all locations and genotypes, an early harvest in August led to 25% and a late harvest to 45% conversion losses. However, each utilization option has its own optimal harvest date, determined by biomass yield, biomass quality, and cutting tolerance. By applying an autumn green harvest for anaerobic digestion and a delayed harvest for combustion, the conversion-related energy loss was reduced to an average of 18%. This clearly shows that the delayed harvest required to maintain biomass

Comparison of carrier multiplication yields in PbS and PbSe nanocrystals: the role of competing energy-loss processes.

PubMed

Stewart, John T; Padilha, Lazaro A; Qazilbash, M Mumtaz; Pietryga, Jeffrey M; Midgett, Aaron G; Luther, Joseph M; Beard, Matthew C; Nozik, Arthur J; Klimov, Victor I

2012-02-08

Infrared band gap semiconductor nanocrystals are promising materials for exploring generation III photovoltaic concepts that rely on carrier multiplication or multiple exciton generation, the process in which a single high-energy photon generates more than one electron-hole pair. In this work, we present measurements of carrier multiplication yields and biexciton lifetimes for a large selection of PbS nanocrystals and compare these results to the well-studied PbSe nanocrystals. The similar bulk properties of PbS and PbSe make this an important comparison for discerning the pertinent properties that determine efficient carrier multiplication. We observe that PbS and PbSe have very similar biexciton lifetimes as a function of confinement energy. Together with the similar bulk properties, this suggests that the rates of multiexciton generation, which is the inverse of Auger recombination, are also similar. The carrier multiplication yields in PbS nanocrystals, however, are strikingly lower than those observed for PbSe nanocrystals. We suggest that this implies the rate of competing processes, such as phonon emission, is higher in PbS nanocrystals than in PbSe nanocrystals. Indeed, our estimations for phonon emission mediated by the polar Fröhlich-type interaction indicate that the corresponding energy-loss rate is approximately twice as large in PbS than in PbSe. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Forkhead Transcription Factors: Formulating a FOXO Target for Cognitive Loss.

PubMed

Maiese, Kenneth

2017-01-01

With almost 47 million individuals worldwide suffering from some aspect of dementia, it is clear that cognitive loss impacts a significant proportion of the global population. Unfortunately, definitive treatments to resolve or prevent the onset of cognitive loss are limited. In most cases such care is currently non-existent prompting the need for novel treatment strategies. Mammalian forkhead transcription factors of the O class (FoxO) are one such avenue of investigation that offer an exciting potential to bring new treatments forward for disorders that involve cognitive loss. Here we examine the background, structure, expression, and function of FoxO transcription factors and their role in cognitive loss, programmed cell death in the nervous system with apoptosis and autophagy, and areas to target FoxOs for dementia and specific disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. FoxO proteins work in concert with a number of other cell survival pathways that involve growth factors, such as erythropoietin and neurotrophins, silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (SIRT1), Wnt1 inducible signaling pathway protein 1 (WISP1), Wnt signaling, and cancer-related pathways. FoxO transcription factors oversee proinflammatory pathways, affect nervous system amyloid (Aβ) production and toxicity, lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, foster neuronal apoptotic cell death, and accelerate the progression of degenerative disease. However, under some scenarios such as those involving autophagy, FoxOs also can offer protection in the nervous system and reduce toxic intracellular protein accumulations and potentially limit Aβ toxicity. Given the ability of FoxOs to not only promote apoptotic cell death in the nervous system, but also through the induction of autophagy offer protection against degenerative disease that can lead to dementia, a fine balance in the activity of FoxOs may be required to target cognitive loss in individuals. Future work should

Degradation Mechanisms in Blue Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Devices by Exciton-Polaron Interactions: Loss in Quantum Yield versus Loss in Charge Balance.

PubMed

Zhang, Yingjie; Aziz, Hany

2017-01-11

We study the relative importance of deterioration of material quantum yield and charge balance to the electroluminescence stability of PHOLEDs, with a special emphasis on blue devices. Investigations show that the quantum yields of both host and emitter in the emission layer degrade due to exciton-polaron interactions and that the deterioration in material quantum yield plays the primary role in device degradation under operation. On the other hand, the results show that the charge balance factor is also affected by exciton-polaron interactions but only plays a secondary role in determining device stability. Finally, we show that the degradation mechanisms in blue PHOLEDs are fundamentally the same as those in green PHOLEDs. The limited stability of the blue devices is a result of faster deterioration in the quantum yield of the emitter.

Pre-enlistment hearing loss and hearing loss disability among US soldiers and marines.

PubMed

Gubata, Marlene E; Packnett, Elizabeth R; Feng, Xiaoshu; Cowan, David N; Niebuhr, David W

2013-01-01

Hearing loss is a common condition among US adults, with some evidence of increasing prevalence in young adults. Noise-induced hearing loss attributable to employment is a significant source of preventable morbidity world-wide. The US military population is largely comprised of young adult males serving in a wide variety of occupations, many in high noise-level conditions, at least episodically. To identify accession and service-related risk factors for hearing-related disability, matched case-control study of US military personnel was conducted. Individuals evaluated for hearing loss disability in the US Army and Marine Corps were frequency matched to controls without history of disability evaluation on service and enlistment year. Conditional logistic regression was used to examine the association between accession and service-related factors and hearing-related disability evaluations between October 2002 and September 2010. Individuals with medically disqualifying audiograms or hearing loss diagnoses at application for military service were 8 and 4 times more likely, respectively, to have a disability evaluation related to hearing loss, after controlling for relevant accession, demographic, and service-related factors. Conservative hearing loss thresholds on pre-enlistment audiograms, stricter hearing loss medical waiver policies or qualified baseline audiograms pre-enlistment are needed in the U.S military. Industrial corporations or labor unions may also benefit from identifying individuals with moderate hearing loss at the time of employment to ensure use of personal protective equipment and engineer controls of noise.

DETECTING TEMPORAL CHANGE IN WATERSHED NUTRIENT YIELDS

EPA Science Inventory

Meta-analyses reveal that nutrient yields tend to be higher for watersheds dominated by anthropogenic uses (e.g., urban, agriculture) and lower for watersheds dominated by natural vegetation. One implication of this pattern is that loss of natural vegetation will produce increase...

Worldwide trends in Universal Service Funds and telemedicine.

PubMed

Nakajima, Isao

2010-12-01

A survey of recent worldwide trends in Universal Service Funds (USFs) and the assistance provided for their application indicates that industrialized countries and developing nations alike have offered or plan to offer tax-relief measures or reimbursement for communications costs incurred by telemedicine programs, thus finding a way to actively apply USFs in rural areas. There are three main systems used to calculate the amount of reimbursement from a USF. While many countries adopt a service-area net-loss estimation method, Japan uses a benchmark method and provides financial assistance only to unprofitable areas. The USA has proactively introduced telemedicine to rural areas and isolated islands in order to minimize rapidly rising healthcare costs and to improve the efficiency of healthcare services. In the USA, the USF is used to pay back communications costs incurred through telemedicine programs. For instance, the budget allocated from the USF for reimbursements for telemedicine in Alaska reached USD 30 Mil. in 2007. Developing countries in Africa and Asia are operating various forms of telemedicine on a trial basis, but a tax-relief measure or payback of communications costs, which are a large portion of the running costs, will need to be implemented to ensure sustainable and autonomous operation of telemedicine. In Japan, up until January 2007, the USF system assumed the use of an NTS (non-traffic sensitive cost) system to obtain funds from connection fees, and this system would receive funds from each telecommunications carrier (payer: the telecommunications carriers). The beneficiaries would be limited to two companies, namely NTT East and NTT West. However, the Japanese USF system was revised in February 2007, and a fee is now collected from each telephone number (payer: the user). The collected funds are used to cover losses in unprofitable areas (not limited to remote areas) among 7,000 business areas in Japan. In view of worldwide trends, the author

Simulating crop yield losses in Switzerland for historical and present Tambora climate scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flückiger, Simon; Brönnimann, Stefan; Holzkämper, Annelie; Fuhrer, Jürg; Krämer, Daniel; Pfister, Christian; Rohr, Christian

2017-07-01

Severe climatic anomalies in summer 1816, partly due to the eruption of Tambora in April 1815, contributed to delayed growth and poor harvests of important crops in Central Europe. Coinciding with adverse socio-economic conditions, this event triggered the last subsistence crisis in the western World. Here, we model reductions in potential crop yields for 1816 and 1817 and address the question, what impact a similar climatic anomaly would have today. We reconstructed daily weather for Switzerland for 1816/17 on a 2 km grid using historical observations and an analogue resampling method. These data were used to simulate potential crop yields for potato, grain maize, and winter barley using the CropSyst model calibrated for current crop cultivars. We also simulated yields for the same weather anomalies, but referenced to a present-day baseline temperature. Results show that reduced temperature delayed growth and harvest considerably, and in combination with reduced solar irradiance led to a substantial reduction (20%-50%) in the potential yield of potato in 1816. Effects on winter barley were smaller. Significant reductions were also modelled for 1817 and were mainly due to a cold late spring. Relative reductions for the present-day scenario for the two crops were almost indistinguishable from the historical ones. An even stronger response was found for maize, which was not yet common in 1816/17. Waterlogging, which we assessed using a stress-day approach, likely added to the simulated reductions. The documented, strong east-west gradient in malnutrition across Switzerland in 1817/18 could not be explained by biophysical yield limitations (though excess-water limitation might have contributed), but rather by economic, political and social factors. This highlights the importance of these factors for a societies’ ability to cope with extreme climate events. While the adaptive capacity of today’s society in Switzerland is much greater than in the early 19th century

Site-Specific Management of Miscanthus Genotypes for Combustion and Anaerobic Digestion: A Comparison of Energy Yields

PubMed Central

Kiesel, Andreas; Nunn, Christopher; Iqbal, Yasir; Van der Weijde, Tim; Wagner, Moritz; Özgüven, Mensure; Tarakanov, Ivan; Kalinina, Olena; Trindade, Luisa M.; Clifton-Brown, John; Lewandowski, Iris

2017-01-01

In Europe, the perennial C4 grass miscanthus is currently mainly cultivated for energy generation via combustion. In recent years, anaerobic digestion has been identified as a promising alternative utilization pathway. Anaerobic digestion produces a higher-value intermediate (biogas), which can be upgraded to biomethane, stored in the existing natural gas infrastructure and further utilized as a transport fuel or in combined heat and power plants. However, the upgrading of the solid biomass into gaseous fuel leads to conversion-related energy losses, the level of which depends on the cultivation parameters genotype, location, and harvest date. Thus, site-specific crop management needs to be adapted to the intended utilization pathway. The objectives of this paper are to quantify (i) the impact of genotype, location and harvest date on energy yields of anaerobic digestion and combustion and (ii) the conversion losses of upgrading solid biomass into biogas. For this purpose, five miscanthus genotypes (OPM 3, 6, 9, 11, 14), three cultivation locations (Adana, Moscow, Stuttgart), and up to six harvest dates (August–March) were assessed. Anaerobic digestion yielded, on average, 35% less energy than combustion. Genotype, location, and harvest date all had significant impacts on the energy yield. For both, this is determined by dry matter yield and ash content and additionally by substrate-specific methane yield for anaerobic digestion and moisture content for combustion. Averaged over all locations and genotypes, an early harvest in August led to 25% and a late harvest to 45% conversion losses. However, each utilization option has its own optimal harvest date, determined by biomass yield, biomass quality, and cutting tolerance. By applying an autumn green harvest for anaerobic digestion and a delayed harvest for combustion, the conversion-related energy loss was reduced to an average of 18%. This clearly shows that the delayed harvest required to maintain biomass

Residential surface soil guidance values applied worldwide to the original 2001 Stockholm Convention POP pesticides.

PubMed

Jennings, Aaron A; Li, Zijian

2015-09-01

Surface soil contamination is a worldwide problem. Many regulatory jurisdictions attempt to control human exposures with regulatory guidance values (RGVs) that specify a soil's maximum allowable concentration. Pesticides are important soil contaminants because of their intentional toxicity and widespread surface soil application. Worldwide, at least 174 regulatory jurisdictions from 54 United Nations member states have published more than 19,400 pesticide RGVs for at least 739 chemically unique pesticides. This manuscript examines the variability of the guidance values that are applied worldwide to the original 2001 Stockholm Convention persistent organic pollutants (POP) pesticides (Aldrin, Chlordane, DDT, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Mirex, and Toxaphene) for which at least 1667 RGVs have been promulgated. Results indicate that the spans of the RGVs applied to each of these pesticides vary from 6.1 orders of magnitude for Toxaphene to 10.0 orders of magnitude for Mirex. The distribution of values across these value spans resembles the distribution of lognormal random variables, but also contain non-random value clusters. Approximately 40% of all the POP RGVs fall within uncertainty bounds computed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) RGV cancer risk model. Another 22% of the values fall within uncertainty bounds computed from the USEPA's non-cancer risk model, but the cancer risk calculations yield the binding (lowest) value for all POP pesticides except Endrin. The results presented emphasize the continued need to rationalize the RGVs applied worldwide to important soil contaminants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Remote-sensing-based rapid assessment of flood crop loss to support USDA flooding decision-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di, L.; Yu, G.; Yang, Z.; Hipple, J.; Shrestha, R.

2016-12-01

Floods often cause significant crop loss in the United States. Timely and objective assessment of flood-related crop loss is very important for crop monitoring and risk management in agricultural and disaster-related decision-making in USDA. Among all flood-related information, crop yield loss is particularly important. Decision on proper mitigation, relief, and monetary compensation relies on it. Currently USDA mostly relies on field surveys to obtain crop loss information and compensate farmers' loss claim. Such methods are expensive, labor intensive, and time consumptive, especially for a large flood that affects a large geographic area. Recent studies have demonstrated that Earth observation (EO) data are useful in post-flood crop loss assessment for a large geographic area objectively, timely, accurately, and cost effectively. There are three stages of flood damage assessment, including rapid assessment, early recovery assessment, and in-depth assessment. EO-based flood assessment methods currently rely on the time-series of vegetation index to assess the yield loss. Such methods are suitable for in-depth assessment but are less suitable for rapid assessment since the after-flood vegetation index time series is not available. This presentation presents a new EO-based method for the rapid assessment of crop yield loss immediately after a flood event to support the USDA flood decision making. The method is based on the historic records of flood severity, flood duration, flood date, crop type, EO-based both before- and immediate-after-flood crop conditions, and corresponding crop yield loss. It hypotheses that a flood of same severity occurring at the same pheonological stage of a crop will cause the similar damage to the crop yield regardless the flood years. With this hypothesis, a regression-based rapid assessment algorithm can be developed by learning from historic records of flood events and corresponding crop yield loss. In this study, historic records of

Increasing water productivity, nitrogen economy, and grain yield of rice by water saving irrigation and fertilizer-N management.

PubMed

Aziz, Omar; Hussain, Saddam; Rizwan, Muhammad; Riaz, Muhammad; Bashir, Saqib; Lin, Lirong; Mehmood, Sajid; Imran, Muhammad; Yaseen, Rizwan; Lu, Guoan

2018-06-01

The looming water resources worldwide necessitate the development of water-saving technologies in rice production. An open greenhouse experiment was conducted on rice during the summer season of 2016 at Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China, in order to study the influence of irrigation methods and nitrogen (N) inputs on water productivity, N economy, and grain yield of rice. Two irrigation methods, viz. conventional irrigation (CI) and "thin-shallow-moist-dry" irrigation (TSMDI), and three levels of nitrogen, viz. 0 kg N ha -1 (N 0 ), 90 kg N ha -1 (N 1 ), and 180 kg N ha -1 (N 2 ), were examined with three replications. Study data indicated that no significant water by nitrogen interaction on grain yield, biomass, water productivity, N uptake, NUE, and fertilizer N balance was observed. Results revealed that TSMDI method showed significantly higher water productivity and irrigation water applications were reduced by 17.49% in TSMDI compared to CI. Thus, TSMDI enhanced root growth and offered significantly greater water saving along with getting more grain yield compared to CI. Nitrogen tracer ( 15 N) technique accurately assessed the absorption and distribution of added N in the soil crop environment and divulge higher nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) influenced by TSMDI. At the same N inputs, the TSMDI was the optimal method to minimize nitrogen leaching loss by decreasing water leakage about 18.63%, which are beneficial for the ecological environment.

Insular threat associations within taxa worldwide.

PubMed

Leclerc, Camille; Courchamp, Franck; Bellard, Céline

2018-04-23

The global loss of biodiversity can be attributed to numerous threats. While pioneer studies have investigated their relative importance, the majority of those studies are restricted to specific geographic regions and/or taxonomic groups and only consider a small subset of threats, generally in isolation despite their frequent interaction. Here, we investigated 11 major threats responsible for species decline on islands worldwide. We applied an innovative method of network analyses to disentangle the associations of multiple threats on vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants in 15 insular regions. Biological invasions, wildlife exploitation, and cultivation, either alone or in association, were found to be the three most important drivers of species extinction and decline on islands. Specifically, wildlife exploitation and cultivation are largely associated with the decline of threatened plants and terrestrial vertebrates, whereas biological invasions mostly threaten invertebrates and freshwater fish. Furthermore, biodiversity in the Indian Ocean and near the Asian coasts is mostly affected by wildlife exploitation and cultivation compared to biological invasions in the Pacific and Atlantic insular regions. We highlighted specific associations of threats at different scales, showing that the analysis of each threat in isolation might be inadequate for developing effective conservation policies and managements.

The grain drain. Ozone effects on historical maize and soybean yields

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Numerous controlled experiments find that elevated ground-level ozone concentrations ([O3]) damage crops and reduce yield. There have been no estimates of the actual field yield losses in the USA from [O3], even though such estimates would be valuable for projections of future food production and fo...

Waterlogging effects on growth and yield components in late-planted soybean.

PubMed

Linkemer, G; Board, J E; Musgrave, M E

1998-01-01

A major agronomic problem in the southeastern USA is low yield of late-planted soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. This problem is aggravated by the adverse effect of waterlogging on crop growth. Our objectives were to identify soybean growth stages sensitive to waterlogging; identify yield components and physiological parameters explaining yield losses induced by waterlogging; and determine the extent of yield losses induced by waterlogging under natural field conditions. Greenhouse and field studies were conducted during 1993 and 1994 near Baton Rouge, LA, (30 degrees N Lat) on a Commerce silt loam. Waterlogging tolerance was assessed in cultivar Centennial (Maturity Group VI) at three vegetative and five reproductive growth stages by maintaining the water level at the soil surface in a greenhouse study. Using the same cultivar, we evaluated the effect of drainage in the field for late-planted soybean. Rain episodes determined the timing of waterlogging; redox potential and oxygen concentration of the soil were used to quantify the intensity of waterlogging stress. Results of the greenhouse study indicated that the early vegetative period (V2) and the early reproductive stages (R1, R3, and R5) were most sensitive to waterlogging. Three to 5 cm of rain per day falling on poorly drained soil was sufficient to reduce crop growth rate, resulting in a yield decline from 2453 to 1550 kg ha-1. Yield loss in both field and greenhouse studies was induced primarily by decreased pod production resulting from fewer pods per reproductive node. In conclusion, waterlogging was determined to be an important stress for late-planted soybean in high rainfall areas such as the Gulf Coast Region.

Assessment of winter wheat loss risk impacted by climate change from 1982 to 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Xin

2017-04-01

The world's farmers will face increasing pressure to grow more food on less land in succeeding few decades, because it seems that the continuous population growth and agricultural products turning to biofuels would extend several decades into the future. Therefore, the increased demand for food supply worldwide calls for improved accuracy of crop productivity estimation and assessment of grain production loss risk. Extensive studies have been launched to evaluate the impacts of climate change on crop production based on various crop models drove with global or regional climate model (GCM/RCM) output. However, assessment of climate change impacts on agriculture productivity is plagued with uncertainties of the future climate change scenarios and complexity of crop model. Therefore, given uncertain climate conditions and a lack of model parameters, these methods are strictly limited in application. In this study, an empirical assessment approach for crop loss risk impacted by water stress has been established and used to evaluate the risk of winter wheat loss in China, United States, Germany, France and United Kingdom. The average value of winter wheat loss risk impacted by water stress for the three countries of Europe is about -931kg/ha, which is obviously higher in contrast with that in China (-570kg/ha) and in United States (-367kg/ha). Our study has important implications for further application of operational assessment of crop loss risk at a country or region scale. Future studies should focus on using higher spatial resolution remote sensing data, combining actual evapo-transpiration to estimate water stress, improving the method for downscaling of statistic crop yield data, and establishing much more rational and elaborate zoning method.

Interrelationships of somatic cell count, mastitis, and milk yield in a low somatic cell count herd.

PubMed

Deluyker, H A; Gay, J M; Weaver, L D

1993-11-01

In a high yielding low SCC herd, changes in milk yield associated with SCC and occurrence of clinical mastitis and differences in SCC with parity, clinical mastitis, and DIM were investigated. Milk yield data were obtained at every milking, and SCC was measured once every 48 h in 117 cows during the first 119 d postpartum. Effects of SCC and clinical mastitis on cumulative milk yield in the first 119 d postpartum were evaluated with least squares linear regression. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to detect changes in SCC. The SCC was highest at lactation onset, and cows with clinical mastitis had significantly higher SCC. During the 10 d prior to onset of clinical mastitis, SCC was higher in affected cows than in matched unaffected controls and surged just prior to diagnosis. During the 10-d period following a mastitis treatment, SCC differences between treated and control cows remained significant but became smaller with time and returned to the premastitis differences. Occurrence of clinical mastitis was associated with 5% milk yield loss. Cows with mean SCC > 245,000 cells/ml over the 119 d showed 6.2% yield loss compared with cows with SCC < or = 90,000 cells/ml. Cows with clinical mastitis had higher SCC prior to and following the end of treatment for mastitis than did controls. Clinical mastitis and SCC were associated with significant yield loss. Milk yield loss attributed to clinical mastitis was greater than that associated with elevated SCC (> 245,000 cells/ml) because a greater percentage of cows (26%) had clinical mastitis than elevated SCC (12.5%).

Integrated model for predicting rice yield with climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Jin-Ki; Das, Amrita; Park, Jong-Hwa

2018-04-01

Rice is the chief agricultural product and one of the primary food source. For this reason, it is of pivotal importance for worldwide economy and development. Therefore, in a decision-support-system both for the farmers and in the planning and management of the country's economy, forecasting yield is vital. However, crop yield, which is a dependent of the soil-bio-atmospheric system, is difficult to represent in statistical language. This paper describes a novel approach for predicting rice yield using artificial neural network, spatial interpolation, remote sensing and GIS methods. Herein, the variation in the yield is attributed to climatic parameters and crop health, and the normalized difference vegetation index from MODIS is used as an indicator of plant health and growth. Due importance was given to scaling up the input parameters using spatial interpolation and GIS and minimising the sources of error in every step of the modelling. The low percentage error (2.91) and high correlation (0.76) signifies the robust performance of the proposed model. This simple but effective approach is then used to estimate the influence of climate change on South Korean rice production. As proposed in the RCP8.5 scenario, an upswing in temperature may increase the rice yield throughout South Korea.

[Effects of nitrogen application level on soil nitrate accumulation and ammonia volatilization in high-yielding wheat field].

PubMed

Wang, Dong; Yu, Zhenwen; Yu, Wenming; Shi, Yu; Zhou, Zhongxin

2006-09-01

The study showed that during the period from sowing to pre-wintering, the soil nitrate in high-yielding wheat field moved down to deeper layers, and accumulated in the layers below 140 cm. An application rate of 96-168 kg N x hm(-2) increased the nitrate content in 0-60 cm soil layer and the wheat grain yield and its protein content, and decreased the proportion of apparent N loss to applied N and the ammonia volatilization loss from basal nitrogen. Applying 240 kg N x hm(-2) promoted the downward movement of soil nitrate and its accumulation in deeper layers, increased the proportion of apparent N loss to applied N and the ammonia volatilization loss from basal nitrogen, had no significant effect on the protein content of wheat grain, but decreased the grain yield. The appropriate application rate of nitrogen on high-yielding wheat field was 132-204 kg N x hm(-2).

Innovation in Science Education - World-Wide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baez, Albert V.

The purpose of this book is to promote improvements in science education, world-wide, but particularly in developing countries. It is addressed to those in positions to make effective contributions to the improvement of science education. The world-wide role of science education, the goals of innovative activities, past experience in efforts to…

Balancing Immunity and Yield in Crop Plants.

PubMed

Ning, Yuese; Liu, Wende; Wang, Guo-Liang

2017-12-01

Crop diseases cause enormous yield losses and threaten global food[ED1] security. The use of highly resistant cultivars can effectively control plant diseases, but in crops, genetic immunity to disease often comes with an unintended reduction in growth and yield. Here, we review recent advances in understanding how nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors and cell wall-associated kinase (WAK) proteins function in balancing immunity and yield. We also discuss the role of plant hormones and transcription factors in regulating the trade-offs between plant growth and immunity. Finally, we describe how a novel mechanism of translational control of defense proteins can enhance immunity without the reduction in fitness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benefits of seasonal forecasts of crop yields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakurai, G.; Okada, M.; Nishimori, M.; Yokozawa, M.

2017-12-01

Major factors behind recent fluctuations in food prices include increased biofuel production and oil price fluctuations. In addition, several extreme climate events that reduced worldwide food production coincided with upward spikes in food prices. The stabilization of crop yields is one of the most important tasks to stabilize food prices and thereby enhance food security. Recent development of technologies related to crop modeling and seasonal weather forecasting has made it possible to forecast future crop yields for maize and soybean. However, the effective use of these technologies remains limited. Here we present the potential benefits of seasonal crop-yield forecasts on a global scale for choice of planting day. For this purpose, we used a model (PRYSBI-2) that can well replicate past crop yields both for maize and soybean. This model system uses a Bayesian statistical approach to estimate the parameters of a basic process-based model of crop growth. The spatial variability of model parameters was considered by estimating the posterior distribution of the parameters from historical yield data by using the Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method with a resolution of 1.125° × 1.125°. The posterior distributions of model parameters were estimated for each spatial grid with 30 000 MCMC steps of 10 chains each. By using this model and the estimated parameter distributions, we were able to estimate not only crop yield but also levels of associated uncertainty. We found that the global average crop yield increased about 30% as the result of the optimal selection of planting day and that the seasonal forecast of crop yield had a large benefit in and near the eastern part of Brazil and India for maize and the northern area of China for soybean. In these countries, the effects of El Niño and Indian Ocean dipole are large. The results highlight the importance of developing a system to forecast global crop yields.

Cascadia's Staggering Losses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Vogt, B.

2001-05-01

Recent worldwide earthquakes have resulted in staggering losses. The Northridge, California; Kobe, Japan; Loma Prieta, California; Izmit, Turkey; Chi-Chi, Taiwan; and Bhuj, India earthquakes, which range from magnitudes 6.7 to 7.7, have all occurred near populated areas. These earthquakes have resulted in estimated losses between \\3 and \\300 billion, with tens to tens of thousands of fatalities. Subduction zones are capable of producing the largest earthquakes. The 1939 M7.8 Chilean, the 1960 M9.5 Chilean, the 1964 M9.2 Alaskan, the 1970 M7.8 Peruvian, the 1985 M7.9 Mexico City and the 2001 M7.7 Bhuj earthquakes are damaging subduction zone quakes. The Cascadia fault zone poses a tremendous hazard in the Pacific Northwest due to the ground shaking and tsunami inundation hazards combined with the population. To address the Cascadia subduction zone threat, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries conducted a preliminary statewide loss study. The 1998 Oregon study incorporated a M8.5 quake, the influence of near surface soil effects and default building, social and economic data available in FEMA's HAZUS97 software. Direct financial losses are projected at over \\$12 billion. Casualties are estimated at about 13,000. Over 5,000 of the casualties are estimated to result in fatalities from hazards relating to tsunamis and unreinforced masonry buildings.

An assessment of climate change impacts on maize yields in Hebei Province of China.

PubMed

Chen, Yongfu; Han, Xinru; Si, Wei; Wu, Zhigang; Chien, Hsiaoping; Okamoto, Katsuo

2017-03-01

The climate change impacts on maize yields are quantified in this paper using statistical models with panel data from 3731 farmers' observations across nine sample villages in Hebei Province of China. The marginal impacts of climate change and the simulated impacts on maize yields based on scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathways 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 from the global climate models of Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate version 5 (MIROC5) and Meteorological Research Institute Coupled General Circulation Model version 3 (MRI-CGCM3) were then calculated, analyzed, and explained. The results indicate that, first, the most important finding was that climate change impacts on maize yields were significant and a 1°C warming or a 1mm decrease in precipitation resulted in a 150.255kg or a 1.941kg loss in maize yields per hectare, respectively. Second, villages with latitudes of less than 39.832 and longitudes of more than 114.839 in Hebei province suffered losses due to warm weather. Third, the simulated impacts for the full sample are all negative based on scenarios from MIROC5, and their magnitudes are more than those of MRI-CGCM3 are. Based on scenarios in the 2050s, the biggest loss for maize yields per hectare for the full sample accounts for about one-tenth of the mean maize yield from 2004 to 2010, and all of the villages are impacted. Hence, it is important to help farms adopt an adaptation strategy to tackle the risk of loss for maize yields from climate change, and it is necessary to develop agricultural synthesis services as a public adaptation policy at the village level to interact with the adaptation strategy at the farm level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modelling crop yield in Iberia under drought conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, Andreia; Páscoa, Patrícia; Russo, Ana; Gouveia, Célia

2017-04-01

The improved assessment of the cereal yield and crop loss under drought conditions are essential to meet the increasing economy demands. The growing frequency and severity of the extreme drought conditions in the Iberian Peninsula (IP) has been likely responsible for negative impacts on agriculture, namely on crop yield losses. Therefore, a continuous monitoring of vegetation activity and a reliable estimation of drought impacts is crucial to contribute for the agricultural drought management and development of suitable information tools. This works aims to assess the influence of drought conditions in agricultural yields over the IP, considering cereal yields from mainly rainfed agriculture for the provinces with higher productivity. The main target is to develop a strategy to model drought risk on agriculture for wheat yield at a province level. In order to achieve this goal a combined assessment was made using a drought indicator (Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI) to evaluate drought conditions together with a widely used vegetation index (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) to monitor vegetation activity. A correlation analysis between detrended wheat yield and SPEI was performed in order to assess the vegetation response to each time scale of drought occurrence and also identify the moment of the vegetative cycle when the crop yields are more vulnerable to drought conditions. The time scales and months of SPEI, together with the months of NDVI, better related with wheat yield were chosen to perform a multivariate regression analysis to simulate crop yield. Model results are satisfactory and highlighted the usefulness of such analysis in the framework of developing a drought risk model for crop yields. In terms of an operational point of view, the results aim to contribute to an improved understanding of crop yield management under dry conditions, particularly adding substantial information on the advantages of combining

Children Worldwide, 1992.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lejeune, Genevieve, Ed.

1992-01-01

Each of the three journal issues comprising volume 19 (1992) of "Children Worldwide" focuses on a specific theme. Issue 1 contains six articles about refugee children, including essays about a community self-help approach in Pakistan, unaccompanied minors in Hong Kong, and refugee families raising children in a new culture; guidelines…

Comparative role of neem seed extract, moringa leaf extract and imidacloprid in the management of wheat aphids in relation to yield losses in Pakistan

PubMed Central

Shah, Farhan Mahmood; Razaq, Muhammad; Han, Peng; Chen, Julian

2017-01-01

Wheat being staple food of Pakistan is constantly attacked by major wheat aphid species, Schizaphis graminum (R.), Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) and Sitobion avenae (F.). Due to concern on synthetic chemical use in wheat, it is imperative to search for alternative environment- and human- friendly control measures such as botanical pesticides. In the present study, we evaluated the comparative role of neem seed extract (NSE), moringa leaf extract (MLE) and imidacloprid (I) in the management of the aphid as well as the yield losses parameters in late planted wheat fields. Imidacloprid reduced significantly aphids infestation compared to the other treatments, hence resulting in higher yield, particularly when applied with MLE. The percentages of yield increase in I+MLE treated plots over the control were 19.15–81.89% for grains per spike, 5.33–37.62% for thousand grain weight and 27.59–61.12% for yield kg/ha. NSE was the second most effective control measure in suppressing aphid population, but the yield protected by NSE treatment over the control was comparable to that by imidacloprid. Population densities of coccinellids and syrphids in the plots treated with NSE-2 were higher than those treated with imidacloprid in two out of three experiments during 2013–14. Low predator density in imidacloprid-treated plots was attributed to the lower availability of prey aphids. The efficacy of NSE against aphids varied depending on degree of synchronization among the application timing, the activity of aphids, crop variety and environmental conditions. Despite that, we suggested NSE to be a promising alternative botanical insecticide compared to the most commonly recommended imidiacloprid. Further studies should consider the side effects of biopesticides on non-target organisms in order to provide better management practices in the field. PMID:28953894

Comparative role of neem seed extract, moringa leaf extract and imidacloprid in the management of wheat aphids in relation to yield losses in Pakistan.

PubMed

Shah, Farhan Mahmood; Razaq, Muhammad; Ali, Abid; Han, Peng; Chen, Julian

2017-01-01

Wheat being staple food of Pakistan is constantly attacked by major wheat aphid species, Schizaphis graminum (R.), Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) and Sitobion avenae (F.). Due to concern on synthetic chemical use in wheat, it is imperative to search for alternative environment- and human- friendly control measures such as botanical pesticides. In the present study, we evaluated the comparative role of neem seed extract (NSE), moringa leaf extract (MLE) and imidacloprid (I) in the management of the aphid as well as the yield losses parameters in late planted wheat fields. Imidacloprid reduced significantly aphids infestation compared to the other treatments, hence resulting in higher yield, particularly when applied with MLE. The percentages of yield increase in I+MLE treated plots over the control were 19.15-81.89% for grains per spike, 5.33-37.62% for thousand grain weight and 27.59-61.12% for yield kg/ha. NSE was the second most effective control measure in suppressing aphid population, but the yield protected by NSE treatment over the control was comparable to that by imidacloprid. Population densities of coccinellids and syrphids in the plots treated with NSE-2 were higher than those treated with imidacloprid in two out of three experiments during 2013-14. Low predator density in imidacloprid-treated plots was attributed to the lower availability of prey aphids. The efficacy of NSE against aphids varied depending on degree of synchronization among the application timing, the activity of aphids, crop variety and environmental conditions. Despite that, we suggested NSE to be a promising alternative botanical insecticide compared to the most commonly recommended imidiacloprid. Further studies should consider the side effects of biopesticides on non-target organisms in order to provide better management practices in the field.

Genotypic diversity in the responses of yield and yield components to elevated ozone of diverse inbred and hybrid maize

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Current tropospheric ozone concentrations ([O3]), an important air pollutant, are phytotoxic and detrimental to crop yield causing significant losses of ~14-26 billion in 4 of the world’s major crops. Until recent years, it was believed that agricultural and economically important C4 plants, such as...

ROI on yield data analysis systems through a business process management strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rehani, Manu; Strader, Nathan; Hanson, Jeff

2005-05-01

The overriding motivation for yield engineering is profitability. This is achieved through application of yield management. The first application is to continually reduce waste in the form of yield loss. New products, new technologies and the dynamic state of the process and equipment keep introducing new ways to cause yield loss. In response, the yield management efforts have to continually come up with new solutions to minimize it. The second application of yield engineering is to aid in accurate product pricing. This is achieved through predicting future results of the yield engineering effort. The more accurate the yield prediction, the more accurate the wafer start volume, the more accurate the wafer pricing. Another aspect of yield prediction pertains to gauging the impact of a yield problem and predicting how long that will last. The ability to predict such impacts again feeds into wafer start calculations and wafer pricing. The question then is that if the stakes on yield management are so high why is it that most yield management efforts are run like science and engineering projects and less like manufacturing? In the eighties manufacturing put the theory of constraints1 into practice and put a premium on stability and predictability in manufacturing activities, why can't the same be done for yield management activities? This line of introspection led us to define and implement a business process to manage the yield engineering activities. We analyzed the best known methods (BKM) and deployed a workflow tool to make them the standard operating procedure (SOP) for yield managment. We present a case study in deploying a Business Process Management solution for Semiconductor Yield Engineering in a high-mix ASIC environment. We will present a description of the situation prior to deployment, a window into the development process and a valuation of the benefits.

Gypsum's influence on corn yield and p loss from an eroded southern piedmont soil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Gypsum (CaSO4) has been shown to reduce dissolved P in surface water runoff from pastures fertilized with poultry litter (PL). However, limited research has evaluated gypsum’s influence on P loss under row crops. Moreover, can gypsum effectively reduce P loss when applied only to grass buffer strips...

A Growth and Yield Model for Thinned Stands of Yellow-Poplar

Treesearch

Bruce R. Knoebel; Harold E. Burkhart; Donald E. Beck

1986-01-01

Simultaneous growth and yield equations were developed for predicting basal area growth and cubic-foot volume growth and yield in thinned stands of yellow-poplar. A joint loss function involving both volume and basal area was used to estimate the coefficients in the system of equations. The estimates obtained were analytically compatible, invariant for projection...

Supporting Crop Loss Insurance Policy of Indonesia through Rice Yield Modelling and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Verseveld, Willem; Weerts, Albrecht; Trambauer, Patricia; de Vries, Sander; Conijn, Sjaak; van Valkengoed, Eric; Hoekman, Dirk; Grondard, Nicolas; Hengsdijk, Huib; Schrevel, Aart; Vlasbloem, Pieter; Klauser, Dominik

2017-04-01

The Government of Indonesia has decided on a crop insurance policy to assist Indonesia's farmers and to boost food security. To support the Indonesian government, the G4INDO project (www.g4indo.org) is developing/constructing an integrated platform implemented in the Delft-FEWS forecasting system (Werner et al., 2013). The integrated platform brings together remote sensed data (both visible and radar) and hydrologic, crop and reservoir modelling and forecasting to improve the modelling and forecasting of rice yield. The hydrological model (wflow_sbm), crop model (wflow_lintul) and reservoir models (RTC-Tools) are coupled on time stepping basis in the OpenStreams framework (see https://github.com/openstreams/wflow) and deployed in the integrated platform to support seasonal forecasting of water availability and crop yield. First we will show the general idea about the G4INDO project, the integrated platform (including Sentinel 1 & 2 data) followed by first (reforecast) results of the coupled models for predicting water availability and crop yield in the Brantas catchment in Java, Indonesia. Werner, M., Schellekens, J., Gijsbers, P., Van Dijk, M., Van den Akker, O. and Heynert K, 2013. The Delft-FEWS flow forecasting system, Environmental Modelling & Software; 40:65-77. DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.07.010.

Overexpression of a soybean salicylic acid methlyltransferase gene confers resistance to soybean cyst nematode

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, SCN) is the most pervasive pest of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in the USA and worldwide. SCN reduced soybean yields worldwide by an estimated billion dollars annually. These losses remained stable with the use of resistant cultivars but over ...

Incidence and factors associated with early pregnancy losses in Simmental dairy cows.

PubMed

Zobel, R; Tkalčić, S; Pipal, I; Buić, V

2011-09-01

It has been suggested that management system, milk yield, parity, body condition score and ambient temperature can significantly influence the rate of early pregnancy loss in dairy cattle. The objectives of this study were to establish the extent and patterns of early pregnancy loss from days 32 to 86 of gestation, and to check relationships between management system, milk yield, ambient temperature (quartile), body condition score, bull and parity on the early pregnancy loss rate for Simmental dairy cattle in Croatia. Animals were housed in two dairy farms with two different management systems (pasture based-group A, n=435 and intensive-group B, n=425) with a total of 151 heifers and 709 cows. Overall pregnancy losses were recorded in 67 (7.79%) animals, with late embryonic losses in 30 (44.77%) and early fetal losses in 37 (55.23%) animals (P>0.05). Early pregnancy losses were twofold higher in group B when compared to the group A (P<0.05). More than the half of pregnancy losses were recorded during the III quartile (P<0.05). There was no significant relationship between the paternal bull and pregnancy loss rate. Low body condition score (BCS 2-3) was associated with the highest, while BCS 3.25-4 showed the lowest pregnancy loss rate (P<0.05). The pregnancy loss rate increased in parallel with parity and milk yield increase. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of autosomal dominant form of progressive hearing loss, DFNA2.

PubMed

Kim, Hyo Jeong; Lv, Ping; Sihn, Choong-Ryoul; Yamoah, Ebenezer N

2011-01-14

Despite advances in identifying deafness genes, determination of the underlying cellular and functional mechanisms for auditory diseases remains a challenge. Mutations of the human K(+) channel hKv7.4 lead to post-lingual progressive hearing loss (DFNA2), which affects world-wide population with diverse racial backgrounds. Here, we have generated the spectrum of point mutations in the hKv7.4 that have been identified as diseased mutants. We report that expression of five point mutations in the pore region, namely L274H, W276S, L281S, G285C, and G296S, as well as the C-terminal mutant G321S in the heterologous expression system, yielded non-functional channels because of endoplasmic reticulum retention of the mutant channels. We mimicked the dominant diseased conditions by co-expressing the wild-type and mutant channels. As compared with expression of wild-type channel alone, the blend of wild-type and mutant channel subunits resulted in reduced currents. Moreover, the combinatorial ratios of wild type:mutant and the ensuing current magnitude could not be explained by the predictions of a tetrameric channel and a dominant negative effect of the mutant subunits. The results can be explained by the dependence of cell surface expression of the mutant on the wild-type subunit. Surprisingly, a transmembrane mutation F182L, which has been identified in a pre-lingual progressive hearing loss patient in Taiwan, yielded cell surface expression and functional features that were similar to that of the wild type, suggesting that this mutation may represent redundant polymorphism. Collectively, these findings provide traces of the cellular mechanisms for DFNA2.

Global pattern for the effect of climate and land cover on water yield

Treesearch

Guoy Zhou; Xiaohua Wei; Xiuzhi Chen; Ping Zhou; Xiaodong Liu; Yin Xiao; Ge Sun; David F. Scott; Shuyidan Zhou; Liusheng Hano; Yongxian Su

2015-01-01

Research results on the effects of land cover change on water resources vary greatly and the topic remains controversial. Here we use published data worldwide to examine the validity of Fuh’s equation, which relates annual water yield (R) to a wetness index (precipitation/ potential evapotranspiration; P/PET) and watershed characteristics (m). We identify two critical...

Worldwide satellite market demand forecast

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowyer, J. M.; Frankfort, M.; Steinnagel, K. M.

1981-01-01

The forecast is for the years 1981 - 2000 with benchmark years at 1985, 1990 and 2000. Two typs of markets are considered for this study: Hardware (worldwide total) - satellites, earth stations and control facilities (includes replacements and spares); and non-hardware (addressable by U.S. industry) - planning, launch, turnkey systems and operations. These markets were examined for the INTELSAT System (international systems and domestic and regional systems using leased transponders) and domestic and regional systems. Forecasts were determined for six worldwide regions encompassing 185 countries using actual costs for existing equipment and engineering estimates of costs for advanced systems. Most likely (conservative growth rate estimates) and optimistic (mid range growth rate estimates) scenarios were employed for arriving at the forecasts which are presented in constant 1980 U.S. dollars. The worldwide satellite market demand forecast predicts that the market between 181 and 2000 will range from $35 to $50 billion. Approximately one-half of the world market, $16 to $20 billion, will be generated in the United States.

Worldwide satellite market demand forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowyer, J. M.; Frankfort, M.; Steinnagel, K. M.

1981-06-01

The forecast is for the years 1981 - 2000 with benchmark years at 1985, 1990 and 2000. Two typs of markets are considered for this study: Hardware (worldwide total) - satellites, earth stations and control facilities (includes replacements and spares); and non-hardware (addressable by U.S. industry) - planning, launch, turnkey systems and operations. These markets were examined for the INTELSAT System (international systems and domestic and regional systems using leased transponders) and domestic and regional systems. Forecasts were determined for six worldwide regions encompassing 185 countries using actual costs for existing equipment and engineering estimates of costs for advanced systems. Most likely (conservative growth rate estimates) and optimistic (mid range growth rate estimates) scenarios were employed for arriving at the forecasts which are presented in constant 1980 U.S. dollars. The worldwide satellite market demand forecast predicts that the market between 181 and 2000 will range from $35 to $50 billion. Approximately one-half of the world market, $16 to $20 billion, will be generated in the United States.

Worldwide Report, Nuclear Development and Proliferation

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-06-07

A 201204 JPRS-TND-84-013 7 June 1984 Worldwide Report NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION \\ y0& ^ KK0 %>$JJMXSTT JWRTF-Tnuyy...Publications Research Service, 1000 North Glebe Road, Arlington, Virginia 22201. JPRS-TND-84-013 7 June 1984 WORLDWIDE REPORT NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND...But China by no means favors nuclear proliferation by helping other countries to develop nuclear weapons, he declared. China holds, he said, that

Rice yield in response to climate trends and drought index in the Mun River Basin, Thailand.

PubMed

Prabnakorn, Saowanit; Maskey, Shreedhar; Suryadi, F X; de Fraiture, Charlotte

2018-04-15

Rice yields in Thailand are among the lowest in Asia. In northeast Thailand where about 90% of rice cultivation is rain-fed, climate variability and change affect rice yields. Understanding climate characteristics and their impacts on the rice yield is important for establishing proper adaptation and mitigation measures to enhance productivity. In this paper, we investigate climatic conditions of the past 30years (1984-2013) and assess the impacts of the recent climate trends on rice yields in the Mun River Basin in northeast Thailand. We also analyze the relationship between rice yield and a drought indicator (Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI), and the impact of SPEI trends on the yield. Our results indicate that the total yield losses due to past climate trends are rather low, in the range of <50kg/ha per decade (3% of actual average yields). In general, increasing trends in minimum and maximum temperatures lead to modest yield losses. In contrast, precipitation and SPEI-1, i.e. SPEI based on one monthly data, show positive correlations with yields in all months, except in the wettest month (September). If increasing trends of temperatures during the growing season persist, a likely climate change scenario, there is high possibility that the yield losses will become more serious in future. In this paper, we show that the drought index SPEI-1 detects soil moisture deficiency and crop stress in rice better than precipitation or precipitation based indicators. Further, our results emphasize the importance of spatial and temporal resolutions in detecting climate trends and impacts on yields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical and adhesive properties of dust deposits on solar mirrors and their effects on specular reflectivity and electrodynamic cleaning for mitigating energy-yield loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazumder, Malay; Yellowhair, Julius; Stark, Jeremy; Heiling, Calvin; Hudelson, John; Hao, Fang; Gibson, Hannah; Horenstein, Mark

2014-10-01

Large-scale solar plants are mostly installed in semi-arid and desert areas. In those areas, dust layer buildup on solar collectors becomes a major cause for energy yield loss. Development of transparent electrodynamic screens (EDS) and their applications for self-cleaning operation of solar mirrors are presented with a primary focus on the removal dust particles smaller than 30 µm in diameter while maintaining specular reflection efficiency < 90%. An EDS consists of thin rectangular array of parallel transparent conducting electrodes deposited on a transparent dielectric surface. The electrodes are insulated from each other and are embedded within a thin transparent dielectric film. The electrodes are activated using three-phase high-voltage pulses at low current (< 1 mA/m2 ). The three-phase electric field charges the deposited particles, lifts them form the substrate by electrostatic forces and propels the dust layer off of the collector's surface by a traveling wave. The cleaning process takes less than 2 minutes; needs energy less than 1 Wh/m2 without requiring any water or manual labor. The reflection efficiency can be restored > 95% of the original clean-mirror efficiency. We briefly present (1) loss of specular reflection efficiency as a function of particle size distribution of deposited dust, and (2) the effects of the electrode design and materials used for minimizing initial loss of specular reflectivity in producing EDS-integrated solar mirrors. Optimization of EDS by using a figure of merit defined by the ratio of dust removal efficiency to the initial loss of specular reflection efficiency is discussed.

Anomalous effects in the aluminum oxide sputtering yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schelfhout, R.; Strijckmans, K.; Depla, D.

2018-04-01

The sputtering yield of aluminum oxide during reactive magnetron sputtering has been quantified by a new and fast method. The method is based on the meticulous determination of the reactive gas consumption during reactive DC magnetron sputtering and has been deployed to determine the sputtering yield of aluminum oxide. The accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing its results to the common weight loss method excluding secondary effects such as redeposition. Both methods exhibit a decrease in sputtering yield with increasing discharge current. This feature of the aluminum oxide sputtering yield is described for the first time. It resembles the discrepancy between published high sputtering yield values determined by low current ion beams and the low deposition rate in the poisoned mode during reactive magnetron sputtering. Moreover, the usefulness of the new method arises from its time-resolved capabilities. The evolution of the alumina sputtering yield can now be measured up to a resolution of seconds. This reveals the complex dynamical behavior of the sputtering yield. A plausible explanation of the observed anomalies seems to originate from the balance between retention and out-diffusion of implanted gas atoms, while other possible causes are commented.

A long-term forecast analysis on worldwide land uses.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenjun; Qi, Yanhong; Zhang, Zhiguo

2006-08-01

More and more lands worldwide are being cultivated for food production while forests are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. This paper aims to make a long-term forecast on land uses worldwide and provide the public, researchers, and government officials with a clear profile for land uses in the future. Data of land uses since 1961 were used to fit historical trajectories and make the forecast. The results show that trajectories of land areas can be well fitted with univariate linear regressions. The forecasts of land uses during the coming 25 years were given in detail. Areas of agricultural land, arable land, and permanent pasture land worldwide would increase by 6.6%, 7.2%, and 6.3% respectively in the year 2030 as compared to the current areas. Permanent crops land area all over the world is forecasted to increase 0.64% by 2030. By the year 2030 the areas of forests and woodland, nonarable and nonpermanent land worldwide would decrease by 2.4% and 0.9% against the current areas. All other land area in the world would dramatically decline by 6.4% by the year 2030. Overall the land area related to agriculture would tend to decrease in developed countries, industrialized countries, Europe, and North and Central America. The agriculture related land area would considerably increase in developing countries, least developed countries, low-income countries, Asia, Africa, South America, etc. Developing countries hold larger total land area than developed countries. Dramatic and continuous growth in agricultural land area of developing countries would largely contribute to the expected growth of world agricultural land area in the coming years. Population explosion, food shortage and poverty in the world, especially in developing countries, together caused the excessive cultivation of land for agricultural uses in the past years. Increasing agricultural land area exacerbates the climate changes and degradation of environment. How to limit the growth of human

7 CFR 1437.10 - Notice of loss, appraisal requirements, and application for payment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... the final planting date, (2) For low yield claims and allowable value loss, the earlier of: (i) 15 calendar days after the damaging weather or adverse natural occurrence, or date loss of the crop or commodity becomes apparent for low yield claims; and (ii) 15 calendar days after the normal harvest date. (b...

7 CFR 1437.10 - Notice of loss, appraisal requirements, and application for payment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... the final planting date, (2) For low yield claims and allowable value loss, the earlier of: (i) 15 calendar days after the damaging weather or adverse natural occurrence, or date loss of the crop or commodity becomes apparent for low yield claims; and (ii) 15 calendar days after the normal harvest date. (b...

7 CFR 1437.10 - Notice of loss, appraisal requirements, and application for payment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... the final planting date, (2) For low yield claims and allowable value loss, the earlier of: (i) 15 calendar days after the damaging weather or adverse natural occurrence, or date loss of the crop or commodity becomes apparent for low yield claims; and (ii) 15 calendar days after the normal harvest date. (b...

7 CFR 1437.10 - Notice of loss, appraisal requirements, and application for payment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... the final planting date, (2) For low yield claims and allowable value loss, the earlier of: (i) 15 calendar days after the damaging weather or adverse natural occurrence, or date loss of the crop or commodity becomes apparent for low yield claims; and (ii) 15 calendar days after the normal harvest date. (b...

Rooting traits of peanut genotypes with different yield response to terminal drought

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Drought at pod filling and maturity stages can severely reduce yield of peanut. Better root systems can reduce yield loss from drought. The goal of this study was to investigate the responses to terminal drought of peanut genotypes for root dry weight and root length density. A field experiment was ...

First report of mango malformation disease caused by Fusarium pseudocircinatum in Mexico

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) malformation disease (MMD) is one of the most important diseases affecting this crop worldwide, causing severe economic loss due to reduction of yield. Subsequent to the first report in India in 1891 (3), MMD has spread worldwide to most mango-growing regions. Several spe...

Worldwide cloud cover model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, O. E.; Sommerville, P. N.

1979-01-01

Classifying worldwide cloudiness into homogeneous regions, using a satellite data set containing day IR, night IR, incoming, and absorbed solar radiation measurements on a 2.5-degree latitude-longitude grid is considered. Methods of analysis are presented.

Reductions in India's crop yield due to ozone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghude, Sachin D.; Jena, Chinmay; Chate, D. M.; Beig, G.; Pfister, G. G.; Kumar, Rajesh; Ramanathan, V.

2014-08-01

This bottom-up modeling study, supported by emission inventories and crop production, simulates ozone on local to regional scales. It quantifies, for the first time, potential impact of ozone on district-wise cotton, soybeans, rice, and wheat crops in India for the first decade of the 21st century. Wheat is the most impacted crop with losses of 3.5 ± 0.8 million tons (Mt), followed by rice at 2.1 ± 0.8 Mt, with the losses concentrated in central and north India. On the national scale, this loss is about 9.2% of the cereals required every year (61.2 Mt) under the provision of the recently implemented National Food Security Bill (in 2013) by the Government of India. The nationally aggregated yield loss is sufficient to feed about 94 million people living below poverty line in India.

Integrated remote sensing imagery and two-dimensional hydraulic modeling approach for impact evaluation of flood on crop yields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Huili; Liang, Zhongyao; Liu, Yong; Liang, Qiuhua; Xie, Shuguang

2017-10-01

The projected frequent occurrences of extreme flood events will cause significant losses to crops and will threaten food security. To reduce the potential risk and provide support for agricultural flood management, prevention, and mitigation, it is important to account for flood damage to crop production and to understand the relationship between flood characteristics and crop losses. A quantitative and effective evaluation tool is therefore essential to explore what and how flood characteristics will affect the associated crop loss, based on accurately understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of flood evolution and crop growth. Current evaluation methods are generally integrally or qualitatively based on statistic data or ex-post survey with less diagnosis into the process and dynamics of historical flood events. Therefore, a quantitative and spatial evaluation framework is presented in this study that integrates remote sensing imagery and hydraulic model simulation to facilitate the identification of historical flood characteristics that influence crop losses. Remote sensing imagery can capture the spatial variation of crop yields and yield losses from floods on a grid scale over large areas; however, it is incapable of providing spatial information regarding flood progress. Two-dimensional hydraulic model can simulate the dynamics of surface runoff and accomplish spatial and temporal quantification of flood characteristics on a grid scale over watersheds, i.e., flow velocity and flood duration. The methodological framework developed herein includes the following: (a) Vegetation indices for the critical period of crop growth from mid-high temporal and spatial remote sensing imagery in association with agricultural statistics data were used to develop empirical models to monitor the crop yield and evaluate yield losses from flood; (b) The two-dimensional hydraulic model coupled with the SCS-CN hydrologic model was employed to simulate the flood evolution process

Thresholds, injury, and loss relationships for thrips in Phleum pratense (Poales: Poaceae).

PubMed

Reisig, Dominic D; Godfrey, Larry D; Marcum, Daniel B

2009-12-01

Timothy (Phleum pratense L.) is an important forage crop in many Western U.S. states. Marketing of timothy hay is primarily based on esthetics, and green color is an important attribute. The objective of these studies was to determine a relationship between arthropod populations, yield, and esthetic injury in timothy. Economic injury levels (EILs) and economic thresholds were calculated based on these relationships. Thrips (Thripidae) numbers were manipulated with insecticides in small plot studies in 2006, 2007, and 2008, although tetranychid mite levels were incidentally flared by cyfluthrin in some experiments. Arthropod population densities were determined weekly, and yield and esthetic injury were measured at each harvest. Effects of arthropods on timothy were assessed using multilinear regression. Producers were also surveyed to relate economic loss from leaf color to the injury ratings for use in establishing EILs. Thrips population levels were significantly related to yield loss in only one of nine experiments. Thrips population levels were significantly related to injury once before the first annual harvest and twice before the second. Thrips were the most important pest in these experiments, and they were more often related to esthetic injury rather than yield loss. EILs and economic thresholds for thrips population levels were established using esthetic injury data. These results document the first example of a significant relationship between arthropod pest population levels and economic yield and quality losses in timothy.

The Z {yields} cc-bar {yields} {gamma}{gamma}*, Z {yields} bb-bar {yields} {gamma}{gamma}* triangle diagrams and the Z {yields} {gamma}{psi}, Z {yields} {gamma}Y decays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Achasov, N. N., E-mail: achasov@math.nsc.ru

2011-03-15

The approach to the Z {yields} {gamma}{psi} and Z {yields} {gamma}Y decay study is presented in detail, based on the sum rules for the Z {yields} cc-bar {yields} {gamma}{gamma}* and Z {yields} bb-bar {yields} {gamma}{gamma}* amplitudes and their derivatives. The branching ratios of the Z {yields} {gamma}{psi} and Z {yields} {gamma}Y decays are calculated for different hypotheses on saturation of the sum rules. The lower bounds of {Sigma}{sub {psi}} BR(Z {yields} {gamma}{psi}) = 1.95 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7} and {Sigma}{sub {upsilon}} BR(Z {yields} {gamma}Y) = 7.23 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7} are found. Deviations from the lower bounds are discussed, including the possibilitymore » of BR(Z {yields} {gamma}J/{psi}(1S)) {approx} BR(Z {yields} {gamma}Y(1S)) {approx} 10{sup -6}, that could be probably measured in LHC. The angular distributions in the Z {yields} {gamma}{psi} and Z {yields} {gamma}Y decays are also calculated.« less

Interactions of viruses in Cowpea: effects on growth and yield parameters

PubMed Central

Kareem, KT; Taiwo, MA

2007-01-01

The study was carried out to investigate the effects of inoculating three cowpea cultivars: "OLO II", "OLOYIN" and IT86D-719 with three unrelated viruses: Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus (CABMV), genus Potyvirus, Cowpea mottle virus (CMeV), genus Carmovirus and Southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV), genus Sobemovirus singly and in mixture on growth and yield of cultivars at 10 and 30 days after planting (DAP). Generally, the growth and yield of the buffer inoculated control plants were significantly higher than those of the virus inoculated plants. Inoculation of plants at an early age of 10 DAP resulted in more severe effect than inoculations at a later stage of 30 DAP. The average values of plant height and number of leaves produced by plants inoculated 30 DAP were higher than those produced by plants inoculated 10 DAP. Most of the plants inoculated 10 DAP died and did not produce seeds. However, " OLOYIN" cultivar was most tolerant and produced reasonable yields when infected 30 DAP. The effect of single viruses on growth and yield of cultivars showed that CABMV caused more severe effects in IT86D-719, SBMV had the greatest effect on "OLO II" while CMeV induced the greatest effect on "OLOYIN". Yield was greatly reduced in double infections involving CABMV in combination with either CMeV or SBMV in "OLOYIN" and "OLO II", however, there was complete loss in yield of IT86D-719. Triple infection led to complete yield loss in all the three cultivars. PMID:17286870

Worldwide Report, Nuclear Development and Proliferation

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-02

delegate welcomed the inclusion of a new item-disarmament and development -on the commission’s agenda. Miss Kunadi said the catalytic effects of arms...249199 JPRS-TND-84-016 2 July 1984 — """ , f L ~ tibiae iel<M99; Worldwide Report NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION mom m FBIS...Arlington, Virginia 22201. JPRS-TND-84- ■016 2 July 1984 WORLDWIDE REPORT NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION CONTENTS ASIA PEOPLE ’S REPUBLIC OF

Effects of geoengineering on crop yields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pongratz, J.; Lobell, D. B.; Cao, L.; Caldeira, K.

2011-12-01

The potential of "solar radiation management" (SRM) to reduce future climate change and associated risks has been receiving significant attention in scientific and policy circles. SRM schemes aim to reduce global warming despite increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations by diminishing the amount of solar insolation absorbed by the Earth, for example, by injecting scattering aerosols into the atmosphere. Climate models predict that SRM could fully compensate warming at the global mean in a high-CO2 world. While reduction of global warming may offset a part of the predicted negative effects of future climate change on crop yields, SRM schemes are expected to alter regional climate and to have substantial effects on climate variables other than temperature, such as precipitation. It has therefore been warned that, overall, SRM may pose a risk to food security. Assessments of benefits and risks of geoengineering are imperative, yet such assessments are only beginning to emerge; in particular, effects on global food security have not previously been assessed. Here, for the first time, we combine climate model simulations with models of crop yield responses to climate to assess large-scale changes in yields and food production under SRM. In most crop-growing regions, we find that yield losses caused by climate changes are substantially reduced under SRM as compared with a non-geoengineered doubling of atmospheric CO2. Substantial yield losses with SRM are only found for rice in high latitudes, where the limits of low temperatures are no longer alleviated. At the same time, the beneficial effect of CO2-fertilization on plant productivity remains active. Overall therefore, SRM in our models causes global crop yields to increase. We estimate the direct effects of climate and CO2 changes on crop production, and do not quantify effects of market dynamics and management changes. We note, however, that an SRM deployment would be unlikely to maintain the economic status quo, as

The 9-MilCA method as a rapid, partly automated protocol for simultaneously recording milk coagulation, curd firming, syneresis, cheese yield, and curd nutrients recovery or whey loss.

PubMed

Cipolat-Gotet, C; Cecchinato, A; Stocco, G; Bittante, G

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to propose and test a new laboratory cheesemaking procedure [9-mL milk cheesemaking assessment (9-MilCA)], which records 15 traits related to milk coagulation, curd firming, syneresis, cheese yield, and curd nutrients recovery or whey loss. This procedure involves instruments found in many laboratories (i.e., heaters and lacto-dynamographs), with an easy modification of the sample rack for the insertion of 10-mL glass tubes. Four trials were carried out to test the 9-MilCA procedure. The first trial compared 8 coagulation and curd firming traits obtained using regular or modified sample racks to process milk samples from 60 cows belonging to 5 breeds and 3 farms (480 tests). The obtained patterns exhibited significant but irrelevant between-procedure differences, with better repeatability seen for 9-MilCA. The second trial tested the reproducibility and repeatability of the 7 cheesemaking traits obtained using the 9-MilCA procedure on individual samples from 60 cows tested in duplicate in 2 instruments (232 tests). The method yielded very repeatable outcomes for all 7 tested cheese yield and nutrient recovery traits (repeatability >98%), with the exception of the fresh cheese yield (84%), which was affected by the lower repeatability (67%) of the water retained in the curd. In the third trial (96 tests), we found that using centrifugation in place of curd cooking and draining (as adopted in several published studies) reduced the efficiency of whey separation, overestimated all traits, and worsened the repeatability. The fourth trial compared 9-MilCA with a more complex model cheese-manufacturing process that mimics industry practices, using 1,500-mL milk samples (72 cows, 216 tests). The average results obtained from 9-MilCA were similar to those obtained from the model cheeses, with between-method correlations ranging from 78 to 99%, except for the water retained in the curd (r=54%). Our results indicate that new 9-MilCA method is a

Mutually beneficial pollinator diversity and crop yield outcomes in small and large farms.

PubMed

Garibaldi, Lucas A; Carvalheiro, Luísa G; Vaissière, Bernard E; Gemmill-Herren, Barbara; Hipólito, Juliana; Freitas, Breno M; Ngo, Hien T; Azzu, Nadine; Sáez, Agustín; Åström, Jens; An, Jiandong; Blochtein, Betina; Buchori, Damayanti; Chamorro García, Fermín J; Oliveira da Silva, Fabiana; Devkota, Kedar; Ribeiro, Márcia de Fátima; Freitas, Leandro; Gaglianone, Maria C; Goss, Maria; Irshad, Mohammad; Kasina, Muo; Pacheco Filho, Alípio J S; Kiill, Lucia H Piedade; Kwapong, Peter; Parra, Guiomar Nates; Pires, Carmen; Pires, Viviane; Rawal, Ranbeer S; Rizali, Akhmad; Saraiva, Antonio M; Veldtman, Ruan; Viana, Blandina F; Witter, Sidia; Zhang, Hong

2016-01-22

Ecological intensification, or the improvement of crop yield through enhancement of biodiversity, may be a sustainable pathway toward greater food supplies. Such sustainable increases may be especially important for the 2 billion people reliant on small farms, many of which are undernourished, yet we know little about the efficacy of this approach. Using a coordinated protocol across regions and crops, we quantify to what degree enhancing pollinator density and richness can improve yields on 344 fields from 33 pollinator-dependent crop systems in small and large farms from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For fields less than 2 hectares, we found that yield gaps could be closed by a median of 24% through higher flower-visitor density. For larger fields, such benefits only occurred at high flower-visitor richness. Worldwide, our study demonstrates that ecological intensification can create synchronous biodiversity and yield outcomes. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Neurology Training Worldwide.

PubMed

Hillis, James M; Berkowitz, Aaron L

2018-04-01

Neurology training is essential for providing neurologic care globally. Large disparities in availability of neurology training exist between higher- and lower-income countries. This review explores the worldwide distribution of neurology training programs and trainees, the characteristics of training programs in different parts of the world, and initiatives aimed at increasing access to neurology training in under-resourced regions. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Tillage impact on herbicide loss by surface runoff and lateral subsurface flow

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is worldwide interest in conservation tillage practices because they can reduce surface runoff, agrichemical, and sediment loss from farm fields. Since these practices typically increase infiltration, their use may increase subsurface transport of water-soluble contaminants. Thus, to assess lo...

Aircraft Loss-of-Control: Analysis and Requirements for Future Safety-Critical Systems and Their Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belcastro, Christine M.

2011-01-01

Loss of control remains one of the largest contributors to fatal aircraft accidents worldwide. Aircraft loss-of-control accidents are complex, resulting from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or more often in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. This paper summarizes recent analysis results in identifying worst-case combinations of loss-of-control accident precursors and their time sequences, a holistic approach to preventing loss-of-control accidents in the future, and key requirements for validating the associated technologies.

The worldwide costs of marine protected areas

PubMed Central

Balmford, Andrew; Gravestock, Pippa; Hockley, Neal; McClean, Colin J.; Roberts, Callum M.

2004-01-01

Declines in marine harvests, wildlife, and habitats have prompted calls at both the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2003 World Parks Congress for the establishment of a global system of marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs that restrict fishing and other human activities conserve habitats and populations and, by exporting biomass, may sustain or increase yields of nearby fisheries. Here we provide an estimate of the costs of a global MPA network, based on a survey of the running costs of 83 MPAs worldwide. Annual running costs per unit area spanned six orders of magnitude, and were higher in MPAs that were smaller, closer to coasts, and in high-cost, developed countries. Models extrapolating these findings suggest that a global MPA network meeting the World Parks Congress target of conserving 20–30% of the world's seas might cost between $5 billion and $19 billion annually to run and would probably create around one million jobs. Although substantial, gross network costs are less than current government expenditures on harmful subsidies to industrial fisheries. They also ignore potential private gains from improved fisheries and tourism and are dwarfed by likely social gains from increasing the sustainability of fisheries and securing vital ecosystem services. PMID:15205483

Relationships between Soil and Levels of Meloidogyne incognita and Tobacco Yield and Quality.

PubMed

Barker, K R; Weeks, W W

1991-01-01

A 2-year study with six soils and four levels of Meloidogyne incognita in microplots was designed to determine the effects of these parameters on nematode activity and tobacco yield and quality. Key components under study were affected by soil, nematode level, and season (year-cultivar). In 1980, low initial nematode numbers (1,250) enhanced tobacco yield in Cecil clay loam, but caused slight to moderate yield losses in the other soils. Yield losses to M. incognita were generally greatest in sandy and muck soils. In 1980, regression analyses of the independent parameters Pi - clay-sand vs. yield gave an R(2) of 0.40. Examples of other coefficients of determination for yield vs. selected factors were root-necrosis index, 0.40; root-gall index, 0.18; root-gall index-cation exchange capacity (CEC), 0.34; root-necrosis index-CEC, 0.56; and root-necrosis index-sand-soil acidity-calcium, 0.62. In contrast, the R(2) for Pi alone versus yield in 1981 was 0.84. Soil also affected nematode reproduction with the greatest increases occurring in the sandy soils. In both years, low nematode numbers enhanced the synthesis of sugar in tobacco, whereas leaves from all other nematode treatments had low sugar levels. A low nicotine content was associated with nematode infection. Tobacco from sandy soils had a higher nicotine content than tobacco from clay soils.

Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss.

PubMed

Deegan, Linda A; Johnson, David Samuel; Warren, R Scott; Peterson, Bruce J; Fleeger, John W; Fagherazzi, Sergio; Wollheim, Wilfred M

2012-10-18

Salt marshes are highly productive coastal wetlands that provide important ecosystem services such as storm protection for coastal cities, nutrient removal and carbon sequestration. Despite protective measures, however, worldwide losses of these ecosystems have accelerated in recent decades. Here we present data from a nine-year whole-ecosystem nutrient-enrichment experiment. Our study demonstrates that nutrient enrichment, a global problem for coastal ecosystems, can be a driver of salt marsh loss. We show that nutrient levels commonly associated with coastal eutrophication increased above-ground leaf biomass, decreased the dense, below-ground biomass of bank-stabilizing roots, and increased microbial decomposition of organic matter. Alterations in these key ecosystem properties reduced geomorphic stability, resulting in creek-bank collapse with significant areas of creek-bank marsh converted to unvegetated mud. This pattern of marsh loss parallels observations for anthropogenically nutrient-enriched marshes worldwide, with creek-edge and bay-edge marsh evolving into mudflats and wider creeks. Our work suggests that current nutrient loading rates to many coastal ecosystems have overwhelmed the capacity of marshes to remove nitrogen without deleterious effects. Projected increases in nitrogen flux to the coast, related to increased fertilizer use required to feed an expanding human population, may rapidly result in a coastal landscape with less marsh, which would reduce the capacity of coastal regions to provide important ecological and economic services.

Foreshock occurrence rates before large earthquakes worldwide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reasenberg, P.A.

1999-01-01

Global rates of foreshock occurrence involving shallow M ??? 6 and M ??? 7 mainshocks and M ??? 5 foreshocks were measured, using earthquakes listed in the Harvard CMT catalog for the period 1978-1996. These rates are similar to rates ones measured in previous worldwide and regional studies when they are normalized for the ranges of magnitude difference they each span. The observed worldwide rates were compared to a generic model of earthquake clustering, which is based on patterns of small and moderate aftershocks in California, and were found to exceed the California model by a factor of approximately 2. Significant differences in foreshock rate were found among subsets of earthquakes defined by their focal mechanism and tectonic region, with the rate before thrust events higher and the rate before strike-slip events lower than the worldwide average. Among the thrust events a large majority, composed of events located in shallow subduction zones, registered a high foreshock rate, while a minority, located in continental thrust belts, measured a low rate. These differences may explain why previous surveys have revealed low foreshock rates among thrust events in California (especially southern California), while the worldwide observations suggest the opposite: California, lacking an active subduction zone in most of its territory, and including a region of mountain-building thrusts in the south, reflects the low rate apparently typical for continental thrusts, while the worldwide observations, dominated by shallow subduction zone events, are foreshock-rich.

Transforming information from silicon testing and design characterization into numerical data sets for yield learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Thomas; Shen, Yang; Zhang, Yifan; Sweis, Jason; Lai, Ya-Chieh

2017-03-01

Silicon testing results are regularly collected for a particular lot of wafers to study yield loss from test result diagnostics. Product engineers will analyze the diagnostic results and perform a number of physical failure analyses to detect systematic defects which cause yield loss for these sets of wafers in order to feedback the information to process engineers for process improvements. Most of time, the systematic defects that are detected are major issues or just one of the causes for the overall yield loss. This paper will present a working flow for using design analysis techniques combined with diagnostic methods to systematically transform silicon testing information into physical layout information. A new set of the testing results are received from a new lot of wafers for the same product. We can then correlate all the diagnostic results from different periods of time to check which blocks or nets have been highlighted or stop occurring on the failure reports in order to monitor process changes which impact the yield. The design characteristic analysis flow is also implemented to find 1) the block connections on a design that have failed electrical test or 2) frequently used cells that been highlighted multiple times.

Control of the external photoluminescent quantum yield of emitters coupled to nanoantenna phased arrays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Ke; Verschuuren, Marc A.; Lozano, Gabriel

2015-08-21

Optical losses in metals represent the largest limitation to the external quantum yield of emitters coupled to plasmonic antennas. These losses can be at the emission wavelength, but they can be more important at shorter wavelengths, i.e., at the excitation wavelength of the emitters, where the conductivity of metals is usually lower. We present accurate measurements of the absolute external photoluminescent quantum yield of a thin layer of emitting material deposited over a periodic nanoantenna phased array. Emission and absorptance measurements of the sample are performed using a custom-made setup including an integrating sphere and variable angle excitation. The measurementsmore » reveal a strong dependence of the external quantum yield on the angle at which the optical field excites the sample. Such behavior is attributed to the coupling between far-field illumination and near-field excitation mediated by the collective resonances supported by the array. Numerical simulations confirm that the inherent losses associated with the metal can be greatly reduced by selecting an optimum angle of illumination, which boosts the light conversion efficiency in the emitting layer. This combined experimental and numerical characterization of the emission from plasmonic arrays reveals the need to carefully design the illumination to achieve the maximum external quantum yield.« less

Worldwide Radionavigation Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-01

apparent pole star changes over time. In 3,000 BC the pole star was a Draconis, the brightest star in the constellation Draco (the Dragon), located...the yet-to-be-completed Global Positioning System (GPS), have added a new dimension to the science of navigation. The gyrocompass and inertial platforms...funded as an IDA Central Research Project, is a collection of technical descriptions of worldwide radionavigation systems written by the author over a

Coupling loss characteristics of runoff-sediment-adsorbed and dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus on bare loess slope.

PubMed

Wu, Lei; Qiao, Shanshan; Peng, Mengling; Ma, Xiaoyi

2018-05-01

Soil and nutrient loss is a common natural phenomenon but it exhibits unclear understanding especially on bare loess soil with variable rainfall intensity and slope gradient, which makes it difficult to design control measures for agricultural diffuse pollution. We employ 30 artificial simulated rainfalls (six rainfall intensities and five slope gradients) to quantify the coupling loss correlation of runoff-sediment-adsorbed and dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus on bare loess slope. Here, we show that effects of rainfall intensity on runoff yield was stronger than slope gradient with prolongation of rainfall duration, and the effect of slope gradient on runoff yield reduced gradually with increased rainfall intensity. But the magnitude of initial sediment yield increased significantly from an average value of 6.98 g at 5° to 36.08 g at 25° with increased slope gradient. The main factor of sediment yield would be changed alternately with the dual increase of slope gradient and rainfall intensity. Dissolved total nitrogen (TN) and dissolved total phosphorus (TP) concentrations both showed significant fluctuations with rainfall intensity and slope gradient, and dissolved TP concentration was far less than dissolved TN. Under the double influences of rainfall intensity and slope gradient, adsorbed TN concentration accounted for 7-82% of TN loss concentration with an average of 58.6% which was the main loss form of soil nitrogen, adsorbed TP concentration accounted for 91.8-98.7% of TP loss concentration with an average of 96.6% which was also the predominant loss pathway of soil phosphorus. Nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 - -N) accounted for 14.59-73.92% of dissolved TN loss, and ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 + -N) accounted for 1.48-18.03%. NO 3 - -N was the main loss pattern of TN in runoff. Correlation between dissolved TN, runoff yield, and rainfall intensity was obvious, and a significant correlation was also found between adsorbed TP, sediment yield, and slope gradient. Our

The potential of plant microbiota in reducing postharvest food loss.

PubMed

Buchholz, Franziska; Kostić, Tanja; Sessitsch, Angela; Mitter, Birgit

2018-03-26

The role of the plant microbiota in plant establishment, growth and health is well studied, but the dynamics of postharvest crop microbiota and its role in postharvest crop quality are largely unexplored, although food loss is an enormous issue worldwide. The microbiota might be especially important during crop storage by either preventing or favouring rots, or quality loss due to, for example, sprouting, saccharification, water loss or spoilage. We need more research on plant-microbe interactions in postharvest crops to be in future able to provide microbial solutions for plant production along the whole food chain from field to fork. © 2018 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Cancer vulnerabilities unveiled by genomic loss

PubMed Central

Nijhawan, Deepak; Zack, Travis I.; Ren, Yin; Strickland, Matthew R.; Lamothe, Rebecca; Schumacher, Steven E.; Tsherniak, Aviad; Besche, Henrike C.; Rosenbluh, Joseph; Shehata, Shyemaa; Cowley, Glenn S.; Weir, Barbara A.; Goldberg, Alfred L.; Mesirov, Jill P.; Root, David E.; Bhatia, Sangeeta N.; Beroukhim, Rameen; Hahn, William C.

2012-01-01

Summary Due to genome instability, most cancers exhibit loss of regions containing tumor suppressor genes and collateral loss of other genes. To identify cancer-specific vulnerabilities that are the result of copy-number losses, we performed integrated analyses of genome-wide copy-number and RNAi profiles and identified 56 genes for which gene suppression specifically inhibited the proliferation of cells harboring partial copy-number loss of that gene. These CYCLOPS (Copy-number alterations Yielding Cancer Liabilities Owing to Partial losS) genes are enriched for spliceosome, proteasome and ribosome components. One CYCLOPS gene, PSMC2, encodes an essential member of the 19S proteasome. Normal cells express excess PSMC2, which resides in a complex with PSMC1, PSMD2, and PSMD5 and acts as a reservoir protecting cells from PSMC2 suppression. Cells harboring partial PSMC2 copy-number loss lack this complex and die after PSMC2 suppression. These observations define a distinct class of cancer-specific liabilities resulting from genome instability. PMID:22901813

Crop production and economic loss due to wind erosion in hot arid ecosystem of India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santra, Priyabrata; Moharana, P. C.; Kumar, Mahesh; Soni, M. L.; Pandey, C. B.; Chaudhari, S. K.; Sikka, A. K.

2017-10-01

Wind erosion is a severe land degradation process in hot arid western India and affects the agricultural production system. It affects crop yield directly by damaging the crops through abrasion, burial, dust deposition etc. and indirectly by reducing soil fertility. In this study, an attempt was made to quantify the indirect impact of wind erosion process on crop production loss and associated economic loss in hot arid ecosystem of India. It has been observed that soil loss due to wind erosion varies from minimum 1.3 t ha-1 to maximum 83.3 t ha-1 as per the severity. Yield loss due to wind erosion was found maximum for groundnut (Arachis hypogea) (5-331 kg ha-1 yr-1), whereas minimum for moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) (1-93 kg ha-1 yr-1). For pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), which covers a major portion of arable lands in western Rajasthan, the yield loss was found 3-195 kg ha-1 yr-1. Economic loss was found higher for groundnut and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) than rest crops, which are about

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Resistance to Stripe Rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) in a Worldwide Collection of Hexaploid Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

PubMed Central

Maccaferri, Marco; Zhang, Junli; Bulli, Peter; Abate, Zewdie; Chao, Shiaoman; Cantu, Dario; Bossolini, Eligio; Chen, Xianming; Pumphrey, Michael; Dubcovsky, Jorge

2015-01-01

New races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the causal pathogen of wheat stripe rust, show high virulence to previously deployed resistance genes and are responsible for large yield losses worldwide. To identify new sources of resistance we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a worldwide collection of 1000 spring wheat accessions. Adult plants were evaluated under field conditions in six environments in the western United States, and seedlings were tested with four Pst races. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Infinium 9K-assay provided 4585 SNPs suitable for GWAS. High correlations among environments and high heritabilities were observed for stripe rust infection type and severity. Greater levels of Pst resistance were observed in a subpopulation from Southern Asia than in other groups. GWAS identified 97 loci that were significant for at least three environments, including 10 with an experiment-wise adjusted Bonferroni probability < 0.10. These 10 quantitative trait loci (QTL) explained 15% of the phenotypic variation in infection type, a percentage that increased to 45% when all QTL were considered. Three of these 10 QTL were mapped far from previously identified Pst resistance genes and QTL, and likely represent new resistance loci. The other seven QTL mapped close to known resistance genes and allelism tests will be required to test their relationships. In summary, this study provides an integrated view of stripe rust resistance resources in spring wheat and identifies new resistance loci that will be useful to diversify the current set of resistance genes deployed to control this devastating disease. PMID:25609748

A genome-wide association study of resistance to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) in a worldwide collection of hexaploid spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

PubMed

Maccaferri, Marco; Zhang, Junli; Bulli, Peter; Abate, Zewdie; Chao, Shiaoman; Cantu, Dario; Bossolini, Eligio; Chen, Xianming; Pumphrey, Michael; Dubcovsky, Jorge

2015-01-20

New races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the causal pathogen of wheat stripe rust, show high virulence to previously deployed resistance genes and are responsible for large yield losses worldwide. To identify new sources of resistance we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a worldwide collection of 1000 spring wheat accessions. Adult plants were evaluated under field conditions in six environments in the western United States, and seedlings were tested with four Pst races. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Infinium 9K-assay provided 4585 SNPs suitable for GWAS. High correlations among environments and high heritabilities were observed for stripe rust infection type and severity. Greater levels of Pst resistance were observed in a subpopulation from Southern Asia than in other groups. GWAS identified 97 loci that were significant for at least three environments, including 10 with an experiment-wise adjusted Bonferroni probability < 0.10. These 10 quantitative trait loci (QTL) explained 15% of the phenotypic variation in infection type, a percentage that increased to 45% when all QTL were considered. Three of these 10 QTL were mapped far from previously identified Pst resistance genes and QTL, and likely represent new resistance loci. The other seven QTL mapped close to known resistance genes and allelism tests will be required to test their relationships. In summary, this study provides an integrated view of stripe rust resistance resources in spring wheat and identifies new resistance loci that will be useful to diversify the current set of resistance genes deployed to control this devastating disease. Copyright © 2015 Maccaferri et al.

Effect of warming temperatures on US wheat yields.

PubMed

Tack, Jesse; Barkley, Andrew; Nalley, Lawton Lanier

2015-06-02

Climate change is expected to increase future temperatures, potentially resulting in reduced crop production in many key production regions. Research quantifying the complex relationship between weather variables and wheat yields is rapidly growing, and recent advances have used a variety of model specifications that differ in how temperature data are included in the statistical yield equation. A unique data set that combines Kansas wheat variety field trial outcomes for 1985-2013 with location-specific weather data is used to analyze the effect of weather on wheat yield using regression analysis. Our results indicate that the effect of temperature exposure varies across the September-May growing season. The largest drivers of yield loss are freezing temperatures in the Fall and extreme heat events in the Spring. We also find that the overall effect of warming on yields is negative, even after accounting for the benefits of reduced exposure to freezing temperatures. Our analysis indicates that there exists a tradeoff between average (mean) yield and ability to resist extreme heat across varieties. More-recently released varieties are less able to resist heat than older lines. Our results also indicate that warming effects would be partially offset by increased rainfall in the Spring. Finally, we find that the method used to construct measures of temperature exposure matters for both the predictive performance of the regression model and the forecasted warming impacts on yields.

Random Forests for Global and Regional Crop Yield Predictions.

PubMed

Jeong, Jig Han; Resop, Jonathan P; Mueller, Nathaniel D; Fleisher, David H; Yun, Kyungdahm; Butler, Ethan E; Timlin, Dennis J; Shim, Kyo-Moon; Gerber, James S; Reddy, Vangimalla R; Kim, Soo-Hyung

2016-01-01

Accurate predictions of crop yield are critical for developing effective agricultural and food policies at the regional and global scales. We evaluated a machine-learning method, Random Forests (RF), for its ability to predict crop yield responses to climate and biophysical variables at global and regional scales in wheat, maize, and potato in comparison with multiple linear regressions (MLR) serving as a benchmark. We used crop yield data from various sources and regions for model training and testing: 1) gridded global wheat grain yield, 2) maize grain yield from US counties over thirty years, and 3) potato tuber and maize silage yield from the northeastern seaboard region. RF was found highly capable of predicting crop yields and outperformed MLR benchmarks in all performance statistics that were compared. For example, the root mean square errors (RMSE) ranged between 6 and 14% of the average observed yield with RF models in all test cases whereas these values ranged from 14% to 49% for MLR models. Our results show that RF is an effective and versatile machine-learning method for crop yield predictions at regional and global scales for its high accuracy and precision, ease of use, and utility in data analysis. RF may result in a loss of accuracy when predicting the extreme ends or responses beyond the boundaries of the training data.

Estimation of rice yield affected by drought and relation between rice yield and TVDI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hongo, C.; Tamura, E.; Sigit, G.

2016-12-01

Impact of climate change is not only seen on food production but also on food security and sustainable development of society. Adaptation to climate change is a pressing issue throughout the world to reduce the risks along with the plans and strategies for food security and sustainable development. As a key adaptation to the climate change, agricultural insurance is expected to play an important role in stabilizing agricultural production through compensating the losses caused by the climate change. As the adaptation, the Government of Indonesia has launched agricultural insurance program for damage of rice by drought, flood and pest and disease. The Government started a pilot project in 2013 and this year the pilot project has been extended to 22 provinces. Having the above as background, we conducted research on development of new damage assessment method for rice using remote sensing data which could be used for evaluation of damage ratio caused by drought in West Java, Indonesia. For assessment of the damage ratio, estimation of rice yield is a key. As the result of our study, rice yield affected by drought in dry season could be estimated at level of 1 % significance using SPOT 7 data taken in 2015, and the validation result was 0.8t/ha. Then, the decrease ratio in rice yield about each individual paddy field was calculated using data of the estimated result and the average yield of the past 10 years. In addition, TVDI (Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index) which was calculated from Landsat8 data in heading season indicated the dryness in low yield area. The result suggests that rice yield was affected by irrigation water shortage around heading season as a result of the decreased precipitation by El Nino. Through our study, it becomes clear that the utilization of remote sensing data can be promising for assessment of the damage ratio of rice production precisely, quickly and quantitatively, and also it can be incorporated into the insurance procedures.

African crop yield reductions due to increasingly unbalanced Nitrogen and Phosphorus consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Velde, Marijn; Folberth, Christian; Balkovič, Juraj; Ciais, Philippe; Fritz, Steffen; Janssens, Ivan A.; Obersteiner, Michael; See, Linda; Skalský, Rastislav; Xiong, Wei; Peñuealas, Josep

2014-05-01

The impact of soil nutrient depletion on crop production has been known for decades, but robust assessments of the impact of increasingly unbalanced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) application rates on crop production are lacking. Here, we use crop response functions based on 741 FAO maize crop trials and EPIC crop modeling across Africa to examine maize yield deficits resulting from unbalanced N:P applications under low, medium, and high input scenarios, for past (1975), current, and future N:P mass ratios of respectively, 1:0.29, 1:0.15, and 1:0.05. At low N inputs (10 kg/ha), current yield deficits amount to 10% but will increase up to 27% under the assumed future N:P ratio, while at medium N inputs (50 kg N/ha), future yield losses could amount to over 40%. The EPIC crop model was then used to simulate maize yields across Africa. The model results showed relative median future yield reductions at low N inputs of 40%, and 50% at medium and high inputs, albeit with large spatial variability. Dominant low-quality soils such as Ferralsols, which are strongly adsorbing P, and Arenosols with a low nutrient retention capacity, are associated with a strong yield decline, although Arenosols show very variable crop yield losses at low inputs. Optimal N:P ratios, i.e. those where the lowest amount of applied P produces the highest yield (given N input) where calculated with EPIC to be as low as 1:0.5. Finally, we estimated the additional P required given current N inputs, and given N inputs that would allow Africa to close yield gaps (ca. 70%). At current N inputs, P consumption would have to increase 2.3-fold to be optimal, and to increase 11.7-fold to close yield gaps. The P demand to overcome these yield deficits would provide a significant additional pressure on current global extraction of P resources.

Natural genetic variation for morphological and molecular determinants of plant growth and yield.

PubMed

Nunes-Nesi, Adriano; Nascimento, Vitor de Laia; de Oliveira Silva, Franklin Magnum; Zsögön, Agustin; Araújo, Wagner L; Sulpice, Ronan

2016-05-01

The rates of increase in yield of the main commercial crops have been steadily falling in many areas worldwide. This generates concerns because there is a growing demand for plant biomass due to the increasing population. Plant yield should thus be improved in the context of climate change and decreasing natural resources. It is a major challenge which could be tackled by improving and/or altering light-use efficiency, CO2 uptake and fixation, primary metabolism, plant architecture and leaf morphology, and developmental plant processes. In this review, we discuss some of the traits which could lead to yield increase, with a focus on how natural genetic variation could be harnessed. Moreover, we provide insights for advancing our understanding of the molecular aspects governing plant growth and yield, and propose future avenues for improvement of crop yield. We also suggest that knowledge accumulated over the last decade in the field of molecular physiology should be integrated into new ideotypes. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Progress report on the Worldwide Earthquake Risk Management (WWERM) Program

USGS Publications Warehouse

Algermissen, S.T.; Hays, Walter W.; Krumpe, Paul R.

1992-01-01

Considerable progress has been made in the Worldwide Earthquake Risk Management (WWERM) Program since its initiation in late 1989 as a cooperative program of the Agency for International Development (AID), Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), and the U.S. Geological Survey. Probabilistic peak acceleration and peak Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) maps have been prepared for Chile and for Sulawesi province in Indonesia. Earthquake risk (loss) studies for dwellings in Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, have been completed and risk studies for dwellings in selected areas of central Chile are underway. A special study of the effect of site response on earthquake ground motion estimation in central Chile has also been completed and indicates that site response may modify the ground shaking by as much as plus or minus two units of MMI. A program for the development of national probabilistic ground motion maps for the Philippines is now underway and pilot studies of earthquake ground motion and risk are being planned for Morocco.

Ozone's suffocating effect on soybean physiology, growth and yield

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is damaging air pollutant that is currently costing U.S. farmers hundreds of millions of dollars in yield losses each year. The detrimental effect of O3 on soybean production has been recognized over the past 30 to 40 years, yet there has been little effort to improve soybean...

Mechanisms of Weight Regain following Weight Loss.

PubMed

Blomain, Erik Scott; Dirhan, Dara Anne; Valentino, Michael Anthony; Kim, Gilbert Won; Waldman, Scott Arthur

2013-01-01

Obesity is a world-wide pandemic and its incidence is on the rise along with associated comorbidities. Currently, there are few effective therapies to combat obesity. The use of lifestyle modification therapy, namely, improvements in diet and exercise, is preferable over bariatric surgery or pharmacotherapy due to surgical risks and issues with drug efficacy and safety. Although they are initially successful in producing weight loss, such lifestyle intervention strategies are generally unsuccessful in achieving long-term weight maintenance, with the vast majority of obese patients regaining their lost weight during followup. Recently, various compensatory mechanisms have been elucidated by which the body may oppose new weight loss, and this compensation may result in weight regain back to the obese baseline. The present review summarizes the available evidence on these compensatory mechanisms, with a focus on weight loss-induced changes in energy expenditure, neuroendocrine pathways, nutrient metabolism, and gut physiology. These findings have added a major focus to the field of antiobesity research. In addition to investigating pathways that induce weight loss, the present work also focuses on pathways that may instead prevent weight regain. Such strategies will be necessary for improving long-term weight loss maintenance and outcomes for patients who struggle with obesity.

Hyperspectral sensing to detect the impact of herbicide drift on cotton growth and yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez, L. A.; Apan, A.; Werth, J.

2016-10-01

Yield loss in crops is often associated with plant disease or external factors such as environment, water supply and nutrient availability. Improper agricultural practices can also introduce risks into the equation. Herbicide drift can be a combination of improper practices and environmental conditions which can create a potential yield loss. As traditional assessment of plant damage is often imprecise and time consuming, the ability of remote and proximal sensing techniques to monitor various bio-chemical alterations in the plant may offer a faster, non-destructive and reliable approach to predict yield loss caused by herbicide drift. This paper examines the prediction capabilities of partial least squares regression (PLS-R) models for estimating yield. Models were constructed with hyperspectral data of a cotton crop sprayed with three simulated doses of the phenoxy herbicide 2,4-D at three different growth stages. Fibre quality, photosynthesis, conductance, and two main hormones, indole acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) were also analysed. Except for fibre quality and ABA, Spearman correlations have shown that these variables were highly affected by the chemical. Four PLS-R models for predicting yield were developed according to four timings of data collection: 2, 7, 14 and 28 days after the exposure (DAE). As indicated by the model performance, the analysis revealed that 7 DAE was the best time for data collection purposes (RMSEP = 2.6 and R2 = 0.88), followed by 28 DAE (RMSEP = 3.2 and R2 = 0.84). In summary, the results of this study show that it is possible to accurately predict yield after a simulated herbicide drift of 2,4-D on a cotton crop, through the analysis of hyperspectral data, thereby providing a reliable, effective and non-destructive alternative based on the internal response of the cotton leaves.

Worldwide Report, Arms Control.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-13

283086 JPRS-TAC-85-0 12 13 June 1985 Worldwide Report ARMS CONTROL 19980729 131 — . „_ | ^^CQWArpmr Approved fa pnbfi* nümam...retained. Headlines, editorial reports , and material enclosed in brackets [] are supplied by JPRS. Processing indicators such as [Text] or...JPRS number, title, date and author, if applicable, of publication be cited. Current JPRS publications are announced in Government Reports

Separating heat stress from moisture stress: analyzing yield response to high temperature in irrigated maize

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, Elizabeth K.; Melkonian, Jeff; Riha, Susan J.; Shaw, Stephen B.

2016-09-01

Several recent studies have indicated that high air temperatures are limiting maize (Zea mays L.) yields in the US Corn Belt and project significant yield losses with expected increases in growing season temperatures. Further work has suggested that high air temperatures are indicative of high evaporative demand, and that decreases in maize yields which correlate to high temperatures and vapor pressure deficits (VPD) likely reflect underlying soil moisture limitations. It remains unclear whether direct high temperature impacts on yields, independent of moisture stress, can be observed under current temperature regimes. Given that projected high temperature and moisture may not co-vary the same way as they have historically, quantitative analyzes of direct temperature impacts are critical for accurate yield projections and targeted mitigation strategies under shifting temperature regimes. To evaluate yield response to above optimum temperatures independent of soil moisture stress, we analyzed climate impacts on irrigated maize yields obtained from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) corn yield contests for Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. In irrigated maize, we found no evidence of a direct negative impact on yield by daytime air temperature, calculated canopy temperature, or VPD when analyzed seasonally. Solar radiation was the primary yield-limiting climate variable. Our analyses suggested that elevated night temperature impacted yield by increasing rates of phenological development. High temperatures during grain-fill significantly interacted with yields, but this effect was often beneficial and included evidence of acquired thermo-tolerance. Furthermore, genetics and management—information uniquely available in the NCGA contest data—explained more yield variability than climate, and significantly modified crop response to climate. Thermo-acclimation, improved genetics and changes to management practices have the potential to partially or completely

Technologies for Decreasing Mining Losses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valgma, Ingo; Väizene, Vivika; Kolats, Margit; Saarnak, Martin

2013-12-01

In case of stratified deposits like oil shale deposit in Estonia, mining losses depend on mining technologies. Current research focuses on extraction and separation possibilities of mineral resources. Selective mining, selective crushing and separation tests have been performed, showing possibilities of decreasing mining losses. Rock crushing and screening process simulations were used for optimizing rock fractions. In addition mine backfilling, fine separation, and optimized drilling and blasting have been analyzed. All tested methods show potential and depend on mineral usage. Usage in addition depends on the utilization technology. The questions like stability of the material flow and influences of the quality fluctuations to the final yield are raised.

LANDSAT-D Worldwide Reference System (WRS) users guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

A functional description of the LANDSAT-D Worldwide Reference System (WRS) and an overview of the main orbital parameters and instrument coverages are presented. The primary information required to understand the LANDSAT-D orbital characteristics, to effectively use the Worldwide Reference System (WRS) indexing scheme, and to request specific geographic coverage on the desired observation dates is provided.

Integrating WorldWide Telescope with Wordpress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sands, Mark; Luebbert, J.; Fay, J.; Gay, P. L.

2010-01-01

In this project we unite three major components of astronomy and new media: World Wide Telescope, Wordpress, and user supplied audio. Through an easy to use Wordpress plug-in users can create WorldWide Telescope sky tours that allow: a) astronomers and educators to spread the facts and awareness of astronomy, potentially bringing new and interested individuals into the astronomy community; b) bloggers/podcasters to create dynamic, virtual tours of the universe that are nearly boundless; and, c) readers to benefit from the alluring WorldWide Telescope tours by gaining a new and dramatic outlook on our universe. This software has the potential to augment, and in some cases replace, traditional methods of astronomy centered online lectures. With this plugin, it is possible to combine Wordpress-based website content with audio, and a sky tour that can be paused at any object. This ability to pause a sky tour allows the user to further explore the wealth of data provided within WWT. This fully customizable solution includes all of the necessary features required to reproduce a lecture in a more creative and appealing format then some of the standard, typically non-interactive, movies and podcasts currently found online. Through the creation of effective WorldWide Telescope tours, astronomers and educators can better extend astronomy content to astronomy-interested, but not yet engaged, members of the new media community. These tours will provide a better understanding and appreciation for what our universe has to offer. Through this new media approach of integrating WorldWide Telescope with blogs and podcasts, users can now extend their interest in astronomy by exploring the universe themselves, moving beyond provided content to gain a better understanding all on their own.

Estimating economic losses from earthquakes using an empirical approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jaiswal, Kishor; Wald, David J.

2013-01-01

We extended the U.S. Geological Survey's Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) empirical fatality estimation methodology proposed by Jaiswal et al. (2009) to rapidly estimate economic losses after significant earthquakes worldwide. The requisite model inputs are shaking intensity estimates made by the ShakeMap system, the spatial distribution of population available from the LandScan database, modern and historic country or sub-country population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, and economic loss data from Munich Re's historical earthquakes catalog. We developed a strategy to approximately scale GDP-based economic exposure for historical and recent earthquakes in order to estimate economic losses. The process consists of using a country-specific multiplicative factor to accommodate the disparity between economic exposure and the annual per capita GDP, and it has proven successful in hindcast-ing past losses. Although loss, population, shaking estimates, and economic data used in the calibration process are uncertain, approximate ranges of losses can be estimated for the primary purpose of gauging the overall scope of the disaster and coordinating response. The proposed methodology is both indirect and approximate and is thus best suited as a rapid loss estimation model for applications like the PAGER system.

Worldwide distribution of subaquatic gas hydrates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kvenvolden, K.A.; Ginsburg, G.D.; Soloviev, V.A.

1993-01-01

Sediments containing natural gas hydrates occur worldwide on continental and insular slopes and rises of active and passive margins, on continental shelves of polar regions, and in deep-water (> 300 m) environments of inland lakes and seas. The potential amount of methane in natural gas hydrates is enormous, with current estimates at about 1019 g of methane carbon. Subaquatic gas hydrates have been recovered in 14 different areas of the world, and geophysical and geochemical evidence for them has been found in 33 other areas. The worldwide distribution of natural gas hydrates is updated here; their global importance to the chemical and physical properties of near-surface subaquatic sediments is affirmed. ?? 1993 Springer-Verlag.

STRONTIUM 90: ESTIMATION OF WORLDWIDE DEPOSITION.

PubMed

VOLCHOK, H L

1964-09-25

The relation between the worldwide deposition of strontium-90, as calculated by many investigators over the last decade, and that observed in rainfall in New York City has been relatively constant. On the average, for each millicurie of strontium-90 per square mile deposited in New York City, 0.055 megacurie has been deposited on the earth's total surface. Cumulative deposits of strontium-90 on the earth's surface at various intervals over the last 10 years have been computed from this ratio. From the mean quarterly fraction of the annual strontium-90 fallout in New York City for the last 9 years, the worldwide deposition of this nuclide, equal to 2.48 megacuries, is predicted for 1964.

Adapting the CROPGRO cotton model to simulate cotton biomass and yield under southern root-knot nematode parasitism

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) yield losses by southern root-knot nematode [Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood] (RKN) are usually estimated after significant damage has been caused. However, estimation of potential yield reduction before planting is possible by using crop simulation mod...

Worldwide electricity used in data centers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koomey, Jonathan G.

2008-07-01

The direct electricity used by data centers has become an important issue in recent years as demands for new Internet services (such as search, music downloads, video-on-demand, social networking, and telephony) have become more widespread. This study estimates historical electricity used by data centers worldwide and regionally on the basis of more detailed data than were available for previous assessments, including electricity used by servers, data center communications, and storage equipment. Aggregate electricity use for data centers doubled worldwide from 2000 to 2005. Three quarters of this growth was the result of growth in the number of the least expensive (volume) servers. Data center communications and storage equipment each contributed about 10% of the growth. Total electricity use grew at an average annual rate of 16.7% per year, with the Asia Pacific region (without Japan) being the only major world region with growth significantly exceeding that average. Direct electricity used by information technology equipment in data centers represented about 0.5% of total world electricity consumption in 2005. When electricity for cooling and power distribution is included, that figure is about 1%. Worldwide data center power demand in 2005 was equivalent (in capacity terms) to about seventeen 1000 MW power plants.

Cover Crops and Fertilization Alter Nitrogen Loss in Organic and Conventional Conservation Agriculture Systems

PubMed Central

Shelton, Rebecca E.; Jacobsen, Krista L.; McCulley, Rebecca L.

2018-01-01

Agroecosystem nitrogen (N) loss produces greenhouse gases, induces eutrophication, and is costly for farmers; therefore, conservation agricultural management practices aimed at reducing N loss are increasingly adopted. However, the ecosystem consequences of these practices have not been well-studied. We quantified N loss via leaching, NH3 volatilization, N2O emissions, and N retention in plant and soil pools of corn conservation agroecosystems in Kentucky, USA. Three systems were evaluated: (1) an unfertilized, organic system with cover crops hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum), or a mix of the two (bi-culture); (2) an organic system with a hairy vetch cover crop employing three fertilization schemes (0 N, organic N, or a fertilizer N-credit approach); and (3) a conventional system with a winter wheat cover crop and three fertilization schemes (0 N, urea N, or organic N). In the unfertilized organic system, cover crop species affected NO3-N leaching (vetch > bi-culture > wheat) and N2O-N emissions and yield during corn growth (vetch, bi-culture > wheat). Fertilization increased soil inorganic N, gaseous N loss, N leaching, and yield in the organic vetch and conventional wheat systems. Fertilizer scheme affected the magnitude of growing season N2O-N loss in the organic vetch system (organic N > fertilizer N-credit) and the timing of loss (organic N delayed N2O-N loss vs. urea) and NO3-N leaching (urea >> organic N) in the conventional wheat system, but had no effect on yield. Cover crop selection and N fertilization techniques can reduce N leaching and greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing yield, thereby enhancing N conservation in both organic and conventional conservation agriculture systems. PMID:29403512

1979 Worldwide Adventure TravelGuide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1979

Guidebook descriptions of the 3000 worldwide adventure trips open to public participation include highlights, itinerary, level of experience necessary, requirements, location, duration, dates, cost, and addresses and telephone numbers of the operating organizations. The guidebook is organized in four major sections and, within each section, into…

Osteoporosis affects both post-yield microdamage accumulation and plasticity degradation in vertebra of ovariectomized rats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Siwei; Niu, Guodong; Dong, Neil X.; Wang, Xiaodu; Liu, Zhongjun; Song, Chunli; Leng, Huijie

2017-04-01

Estrogen withdrawal in postmenopausal women increases bone loss and bone fragility in the vertebra. Bone loss with osteoporosis not only reduces bone mineral density (BMD), but actually alters bone quality, which can be comprehensively represented by bone post-yield behaviors. This study aimed to provide some information as to how osteoporosis induced by estrogen depletion could influence the evolution of post-yield microdamage accumulation and plastic deformation in vertebral bodies. This study also tried to reveal the part of the mechanisms of how estrogen deficiency-induced osteoporosis would increase the bone fracture risk. A rat bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) model was used to induce osteoporosis. Progressive cyclic compression loading was developed for vertebra testing to elucidate the post-yield behaviors. BMD, bone volume fraction, stiffness degradation, and plastic deformation evolution were compared among rats raised for 5 weeks (ovx5w and sham5w groups) and 35 weeks (ovx35w and sham35w groups) after sham surgery and OVX. The results showed that a higher bone loss in vertebral bodies corresponded to lower stiffness and higher plastic deformation. Thus, osteoporosis could increase the vertebral fracture risk probably through microdamage accumulation and plastic deforming degradation.

Lumber value loss associated with tapping sugar maples for sap production

Treesearch

Paul E. Sendak; Neil K. Huyler; Lawrence D. Garrett

1982-01-01

Tapping sugar maples for sap production yields an annual income, but there is a loss in timber quality if the tree is cut for factory lumber products. We estimate an average loss per tree of $2.87 based on a sample of 90 trees in Vermont that were formerly tapped.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping Reveals Novel QTL for Seedling Leaf Rust Resistance in a Worldwide Collection of Winter Wheat.

PubMed

Li, Genqiao; Xu, Xiangyang; Bai, Guihua; Carver, Brett F; Hunger, Robert; Bonman, J Michael; Kolmer, James; Dong, Hongxu

2016-11-01

Leaf rust of wheat ( L.) is a major disease that causes significant yield losses worldwide. The short-lived nature of leaf rust resistance () genes necessitates a continuous search for novel sources of resistance. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on a panel of 1596 wheat accessions. The panel was evaluated for leaf rust reaction by testing with a bulk of Eriks. () isolates collected from multiple fields of Oklahoma in 2013 and two predominant races in the fields of Oklahoma in 2015. The panel was genotyped with a set of 5011 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A total of 14 quantitative trait loci (QTL) for leaf rust resistance were identified at a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.01 using the mixed linear model (MLM). Of these, eight QTL reside in the vicinity of known genes or QTL, and more studies are needed to determine their relationship with known loci. is a new QTL to bread wheat but is close to a locus previously identified in durum wheat [ L. subsp. (Desf.) Husn.]. The other five QTL, including , , , , and , are likely novel loci for leaf rust resistance. The uneven distribution of the 14 QTL in the six subpopulations of the panel suggests that wheat breeders can enhance leaf rust resistance by selectively introgressing some of these QTL into their breeding materials. In addition, another 31 QTL were significantly associated with leaf rust resistance at a FDR of 0.05. Copyright © 2016 Crop Science Society of America.

The impact of tropospheric ozone pollution on trial plot winter wheat yields in Great Britain - an econometric approach.

PubMed

Kaliakatsou, Evridiki; Bell, J Nigel B; Thirtle, Colin; Rose, Daniel; Power, Sally A

2010-05-01

Numerous experiments have demonstrated reductions in the yields of cereal crops due to tropospheric O(3), with losses of up to 25%. However, the only British econometric study on O(3) impacts on winter wheat yields, found that a 10% increase in AOT40 would decrease yields by only 0.23%. An attempt is made here to reconcile these observations by developing AOT40 maps for Great Britain and matching levels with a large number of standardised trial plot wheat yields from many sites over a 13-year period. Panel estimates (repeated measures on the same plots with time) show a 0.54% decrease in yields and it is hypothesised that plant breeders may have inadvertently selected for O(3) tolerance in wheat. Some support for this is provided by fumigations of cultivars of differing introduction dates. A case is made for the use of econometric as well as experimental studies in prediction of air pollution induced crop loss. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy loss of fast quarks in nuclei.

PubMed

Johnson, M B; Kopeliovich, B Z; Potashnikova, I K; McGaughey, P L; Moss, J M; Peng, J C; Garvey, G T; Leitch, M J; Adams, M R; Alde, D M; Baer, H W; Barlett, M L; Brown, C N; Cooper, W E; Carey, T A; Danner, G; Hoffmann, G W; Hsiung, Y B; Kaplan, D M; Klein, A; Lee, C; Lillberg, J W; McCarthy, R L; Mishra, C S; Wang, M J

2001-05-14

We report an analysis of the nuclear dependence of the yield of Drell-Yan dimuons from the 800 GeV/c proton bombardment of 2H, C, Ca, Fe, and W targets. Employing a new formulation of the Drell-Yan process in the rest frame of the nucleus, this analysis examines the effect of initial-state energy loss and shadowing on the nuclear-dependence ratios versus the incident proton's momentum fraction and dimuon effective mass. The resulting energy loss per unit path length is -dE/dz = 2.32+/-0.52+/-0.5 GeV/fm. This is the first observation of a nonzero energy loss of partons traveling in a nuclear environment.

Application of wheat yield model to United States and India. [Great Plains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feyerherm, A. M. (Principal Investigator)

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The wheat yield model was applied to the major wheat-growing areas of the US and India. In the US Great Plains, estimates from the winter and spring wheat models agreed closely with USDA-SRS values in years with the lowest yields, but underestimated in years with the highest yields. Application to the Eastern Plains and Northwest indicated the importance of cultural factors, as well as meteorological ones in the model. It also demonstrated that the model could be used, in conjunction with USDA-SRRS estimates, to estimate yield losses due to factors not included in the model, particularly diseases and freezes. A fixed crop calendar for India was built from a limited amount of available plot data from that country. Application of the yield model gave measurable evidence that yield variation from state to state was due to different mixes of levels of meteorological and cultural factors.

CTFS-ForestGEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change.

PubMed

Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J; Davies, Stuart J; Bennett, Amy C; Gonzalez-Akre, Erika B; Muller-Landau, Helene C; Wright, S Joseph; Abu Salim, Kamariah; Almeyda Zambrano, Angélica M; Alonso, Alfonso; Baltzer, Jennifer L; Basset, Yves; Bourg, Norman A; Broadbent, Eben N; Brockelman, Warren Y; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Burslem, David F R P; Butt, Nathalie; Cao, Min; Cardenas, Dairon; Chuyong, George B; Clay, Keith; Cordell, Susan; Dattaraja, Handanakere S; Deng, Xiaobao; Detto, Matteo; Du, Xiaojun; Duque, Alvaro; Erikson, David L; Ewango, Corneille E N; Fischer, Gunter A; Fletcher, Christine; Foster, Robin B; Giardina, Christian P; Gilbert, Gregory S; Gunatilleke, Nimal; Gunatilleke, Savitri; Hao, Zhanqing; Hargrove, William W; Hart, Terese B; Hau, Billy C H; He, Fangliang; Hoffman, Forrest M; Howe, Robert W; Hubbell, Stephen P; Inman-Narahari, Faith M; Jansen, Patrick A; Jiang, Mingxi; Johnson, Daniel J; Kanzaki, Mamoru; Kassim, Abdul Rahman; Kenfack, David; Kibet, Staline; Kinnaird, Margaret F; Korte, Lisa; Kral, Kamil; Kumar, Jitendra; Larson, Andrew J; Li, Yide; Li, Xiankun; Liu, Shirong; Lum, Shawn K Y; Lutz, James A; Ma, Keping; Maddalena, Damian M; Makana, Jean-Remy; Malhi, Yadvinder; Marthews, Toby; Mat Serudin, Rafizah; McMahon, Sean M; McShea, William J; Memiaghe, Hervé R; Mi, Xiangcheng; Mizuno, Takashi; Morecroft, Michael; Myers, Jonathan A; Novotny, Vojtech; de Oliveira, Alexandre A; Ong, Perry S; Orwig, David A; Ostertag, Rebecca; den Ouden, Jan; Parker, Geoffrey G; Phillips, Richard P; Sack, Lawren; Sainge, Moses N; Sang, Weiguo; Sri-Ngernyuang, Kriangsak; Sukumar, Raman; Sun, I-Fang; Sungpalee, Witchaphart; Suresh, Hebbalalu Sathyanarayana; Tan, Sylvester; Thomas, Sean C; Thomas, Duncan W; Thompson, Jill; Turner, Benjamin L; Uriarte, Maria; Valencia, Renato; Vallejo, Marta I; Vicentini, Alberto; Vrška, Tomáš; Wang, Xihua; Wang, Xugao; Weiblen, George; Wolf, Amy; Xu, Han; Yap, Sandra; Zimmerman, Jess

2015-02-01

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamics research sites (CTFS-ForestGEO) useful for characterizing forest responses to global change. Within very large plots (median size 25 ha), all stems ≥ 1 cm diameter are identified to species, mapped, and regularly recensused according to standardized protocols. CTFS-ForestGEO spans 25 °S-61 °N latitude, is generally representative of the range of bioclimatic, edaphic, and topographic conditions experienced by forests worldwide, and is the only forest monitoring network that applies a standardized protocol to each of the world's major forest biomes. Supplementary standardized measurements at subsets of the sites provide additional information on plants, animals, and ecosystem and environmental variables. CTFS-ForestGEO sites are experiencing multifaceted anthropogenic global change pressures including warming (average 0.61 °C), changes in precipitation (up to ± 30% change), atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur compounds (up to 3.8 g N m(-2) yr(-1) and 3.1 g S m(-2) yr(-1)), and forest fragmentation in the surrounding landscape (up to 88% reduced tree cover within 5 km). The broad suite of measurements made at CTFS-ForestGEO sites makes it possible to investigate the complex ways in which global change is impacting forest dynamics. Ongoing research across the CTFS-ForestGEO network is yielding insights into how and why the forests are changing, and continued monitoring will provide vital contributions to understanding worldwide forest diversity and dynamics in an era of global change. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Simulating the effects of climate and agricultural management practices on global crop yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deryng, D.; Sacks, W. J.; Barford, C. C.; Ramankutty, N.

2011-06-01

Climate change is expected to significantly impact global food production, and it is important to understand the potential geographic distribution of yield losses and the means to alleviate them. This study presents a new global crop model, PEGASUS 1.0 (Predicting Ecosystem Goods And Services Using Scenarios) that integrates, in addition to climate, the effect of planting dates and cultivar choices, irrigation, and fertilizer application on crop yield for maize, soybean, and spring wheat. PEGASUS combines carbon dynamics for crops with a surface energy and soil water balance model. It also benefits from the recent development of a suite of global data sets and analyses that serve as model inputs or as calibration data. These include data on crop planting and harvesting dates, crop-specific irrigated areas, a global analysis of yield gaps, and harvested area and yield of major crops. Model results for present-day climate and farm management compare reasonably well with global data. Simulated planting and harvesting dates are within the range of crop calendar observations in more than 75% of the total crop-harvested areas. Correlation of simulated and observed crop yields indicates a weighted coefficient of determination, with the weighting based on crop-harvested area, of 0.81 for maize, 0.66 for soybean, and 0.45 for spring wheat. We found that changes in temperature and precipitation as predicted by global climate models for the 2050s lead to a global yield reduction if planting and harvesting dates remain unchanged. However, adapting planting dates and cultivar choices increases yield in temperate regions and avoids 7-18% of global losses.

The incidence of abortion worldwide.

PubMed

Henshaw, S K; Singh, S; Haas, T

1999-01-01

Accurate measurement of induced abortion levels has proven difficult in many parts of the world. Health care workers and policymakers need information on the incidence of both legal and illegal induced abortion to provide the needed services and to reduce the negative impact of unsafe abortion on women's health. Numbers and rates of induced abortions were estimated from four sources: official statistics or other national data on legal abortions in 57 countries; estimates based on population surveys for two countries without official statistics; special studies for 10 countries where abortion is highly restricted; and worldwide and regional estimates of unsafe abortion from the World Health Organization. Approximately 26 million legal and 20 million illegal abortions were performed worldwide in 1995, resulting in a worldwide abortion rate of 35 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. Among the subregions of the world, Eastern Europe had the highest abortion rate (90 per 1,000) and Western Europe to the lowest rate (11 per 1,000). Among countries where abortion is legal without restriction as to reason, the highest abortion rate, 83 per 1,000, was reported for Vietnam and the lowest, seven per 1,000, for Belgium and the Netherlands. Abortion rates are no lower overall in areas where abortion is generally restricted by law (and where many abortions are performed under unsafe conditions) than in areas where abortion is legally permitted. Both developed and developing countries can have low abortion rates. Most countries, however, have moderate to high abortion rates, reflecting lower prevalence and effectiveness of contraceptive use. Stringent legal restrictions do not guarantee a low abortion rate.

Nursing Informatics Certification Worldwide: History, Pathway, Roles, and Motivation

PubMed Central

Cummins, M. R.; Gundlapalli, A. V.; Murray, P.; Park, H.-A.; Lehmann, C. U.

2016-01-01

Summary Introduction Official recognition and certification for informatics professionals are essential aspects of workforce development. Objective: To describe the history, pathways, and nuances of certification in nursing informatics across the globe; compare and contrast those with board certification in clinical informatics for physicians. Methods (1) A review of the representative literature on informatics certification and related competencies for nurses and physicians, and relevant websites for nursing informatics associations and societies worldwide; (2) similarities and differences between certification processes for nurses and physicians, and (3) perspectives on roles for nursing informatics professionals in healthcare Results The literature search for ‘nursing informatics certification’ yielded few results in PubMed; Google Scholar yielded a large number of citations that extended to magazines and other non-peer reviewed sources. Worldwide, there are several nursing informatics associations, societies, and workgroups dedicated to nursing informatics associated with medical/health informatics societies. A formal certification program for nursing informatics appears to be available only in the United States. This certification was established in 1992, in concert with the formation and definition of nursing informatics as a specialty practice of nursing by the American Nurses Association. Although informatics is inherently interprofessional, certification pathways for nurses and physicians have developed separately, following long-standing professional structures, training, and pathways aligned with clinical licensure and direct patient care. There is substantial similarity with regard to the skills and competencies required for nurses and physicians to obtain informatics certification in their respective fields. Nurses may apply for and complete a certification examination if they have experience in the field, regardless of formal training. Increasing

Wildlife-friendly farming increases crop yield: evidence for ecological intensification.

PubMed

Pywell, Richard F; Heard, Matthew S; Woodcock, Ben A; Hinsley, Shelley; Ridding, Lucy; Nowakowski, Marek; Bullock, James M

2015-10-07

Ecological intensification has been promoted as a means to achieve environmentally sustainable increases in crop yields by enhancing ecosystem functions that regulate and support production. There is, however, little direct evidence of yield benefits from ecological intensification on commercial farms growing globally important foodstuffs (grains, oilseeds and pulses). We replicated two treatments removing 3 or 8% of land at the field edge from production to create wildlife habitat in 50-60 ha patches over a 900 ha commercial arable farm in central England, and compared these to a business as usual control (no land removed). In the control fields, crop yields were reduced by as much as 38% at the field edge. Habitat creation in these lower yielding areas led to increased yield in the cropped areas of the fields, and this positive effect became more pronounced over 6 years. As a consequence, yields at the field scale were maintained--and, indeed, enhanced for some crops--despite the loss of cropland for habitat creation. These results suggested that over a 5-year crop rotation, there would be no adverse impact on overall yield in terms of monetary value or nutritional energy. This study provides a clear demonstration that wildlife-friendly management which supports ecosystem services is compatible with, and can even increase, crop yields. © 2015 The Authors.

Wildlife-friendly farming increases crop yield: evidence for ecological intensification

PubMed Central

Pywell, Richard F.; Heard, Matthew S.; Woodcock, Ben A.; Hinsley, Shelley; Ridding, Lucy; Nowakowski, Marek; Bullock, James M.

2015-01-01

Ecological intensification has been promoted as a means to achieve environmentally sustainable increases in crop yields by enhancing ecosystem functions that regulate and support production. There is, however, little direct evidence of yield benefits from ecological intensification on commercial farms growing globally important foodstuffs (grains, oilseeds and pulses). We replicated two treatments removing 3 or 8% of land at the field edge from production to create wildlife habitat in 50–60 ha patches over a 900 ha commercial arable farm in central England, and compared these to a business as usual control (no land removed). In the control fields, crop yields were reduced by as much as 38% at the field edge. Habitat creation in these lower yielding areas led to increased yield in the cropped areas of the fields, and this positive effect became more pronounced over 6 years. As a consequence, yields at the field scale were maintained—and, indeed, enhanced for some crops—despite the loss of cropland for habitat creation. These results suggested that over a 5-year crop rotation, there would be no adverse impact on overall yield in terms of monetary value or nutritional energy. This study provides a clear demonstration that wildlife-friendly management which supports ecosystem services is compatible with, and can even increase, crop yields. PMID:26423846

Worldwide Research, Worldwide Participation: Web-Based Test Logger

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, David A.

1998-01-01

Thanks to the World Wide Web, a new paradigm has been born. ESCORT (steady state data system) facilities can now be configured to use a Web-based test logger, enabling worldwide participation in tests. NASA Lewis Research Center's new Web-based test logger for ESCORT automatically writes selected test and facility parameters to a browser and allows researchers to insert comments. All data can be viewed in real time via Internet connections, so anyone with a Web browser and the correct URL (universal resource locator, or Web address) can interactively participate. As the test proceeds and ESCORT data are taken, Web browsers connected to the logger are updated automatically. The use of this logger has demonstrated several benefits. First, researchers are free from manual data entry and are able to focus more on the tests. Second, research logs can be printed in report format immediately after (or during) a test. And finally, all test information is readily available to an international public.

Sources of nitrate yields in the Mississippi River Basin.

PubMed

David, Mark B; Drinkwater, Laurie E; McIsaac, Gregory F

2010-01-01

Riverine nitrate N in the Mississippi River leads to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Several recent modeling studies estimated major N inputs and suggested source areas that could be targeted for conservation programs. We conducted a similar analysis with more recent and extensive data that demonstrates the importance of hydrology in controlling the percentage of net N inputs (NNI) exported by rivers. The average fraction of annual riverine nitrate N export/NNI ranged from 0.05 for the lower Mississippi subbasin to 0.3 for the upper Mississippi River basin and as high as 1.4 (4.2 in a wet year) for the Embarras River watershed, a mostly tile-drained basin. Intensive corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] watersheds on Mollisols had low NNI values and when combined with riverine N losses suggest a net depletion of soil organic N. We used county-level data to develop a nonlinear model ofN inputs and landscape factors that were related to winter-spring riverine nitrate yields for 153 watersheds within the basin. We found that river runoff times fertilizer N input was the major predictive term, explaining 76% of the variation in the model. Fertilizer inputs were highly correlated with fraction of land area in row crops. Tile drainage explained 17% of the spatial variation in winter-spring nitrate yield, whereas human consumption of N (i.e., sewage effluent) accounted for 7%. Net N inputs were not a good predictor of riverine nitrate N yields, nor were other N balances. We used this model to predict the expected nitrate N yield from each county in the Mississippi River basin; the greatest nitrate N yields corresponded to the highly productive, tile-drained cornbelt from southwest Minnesota across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. This analysis can be used to guide decisions about where efforts to reduce nitrate N losses can be most effectively targeted to improve local water quality and reduce export to the Gulf of Mexico.

Biosecurity and Yield Improvement Technologies Are Strategic Complements in the Fight against Food Insecurity

PubMed Central

Cook, David C.; Fraser, Rob W.; Paini, Dean R.; Warden, Andrew C.; Lonsdale, W. Mark; De Barro, Paul J.

2011-01-01

The delivery of food security via continued crop yield improvement alone is not an effective food security strategy, and must be supported by pre- and post-border biosecurity policies to guard against perverse outcomes. In the wake of the green revolution, yield gains have been in steady decline, while post-harvest crop losses have increased as a result of insufficiently resourced and uncoordinated efforts to control spoilage throughout global transport and storage networks. This paper focuses on the role that biosecurity is set to play in future food security by preventing both pre- and post-harvest losses, thereby protecting crop yield. We model biosecurity as a food security technology that may complement conventional yield improvement policies if the gains in global farm profits are sufficient to offset the costs of implementation and maintenance. Using phytosanitary measures that slow global spread of the Ug99 strain of wheat stem rust as an example of pre-border biosecurity risk mitigation and combining it with post-border surveillance and invasive alien species control efforts, we estimate global farm profitability may be improved by over US$4.5 billion per annum. PMID:22022517

Aging Education: A Worldwide Imperative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGuire, Sandra L.

2017-01-01

Life expectancy is increasing worldwide. Unfortunately, people are generally not prepared for this long life ahead and have ageist attitudes that inhibit maximizing the "longevity dividend" they have been given. Aging education can prepare people for life's later years and combat ageism. It can reimage aging as a time of continued…

Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests.

PubMed

Clough, Yann; Barkmann, Jan; Juhrbandt, Jana; Kessler, Michael; Wanger, Thomas Cherico; Anshary, Alam; Buchori, Damayanti; Cicuzza, Daniele; Darras, Kevin; Putra, Dadang Dwi; Erasmi, Stefan; Pitopang, Ramadhanil; Schmidt, Carsten; Schulze, Christian H; Seidel, Dominik; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Stenchly, Kathrin; Vidal, Stefan; Weist, Maria; Wielgoss, Arno Christian; Tscharntke, Teja

2011-05-17

Local and landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Controversially discussed solutions include wildlife-friendly farming or combining high-intensity farming with land-sparing for nature. Here, we integrate biodiversity and crop productivity data for smallholder cacao in Indonesia to exemplify for tropical agroforests that there is little relationship between yield and biodiversity under current management, opening substantial opportunities for wildlife-friendly management. Species richness of trees, fungi, invertebrates, and vertebrates did not decrease with yield. Moderate shade, adequate labor, and input level can be combined with a complex habitat structure to provide high biodiversity as well as high yields. Although livelihood impacts are held up as a major obstacle for wildlife-friendly farming in the tropics, our results suggest that in some situations, agroforests can be designed to optimize both biodiversity and crop production benefits without adding pressure to convert natural habitat to farmland.

The impact exploration of agricultural drought on winter wheat yield in the North China Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jianhua; Wu, Jianjun; Han, Xinyi; Zhou, Hongkui

2017-04-01

Drought is one of the most serious agro-climatic disasters in the North China Plain, which has a great influence on winter wheat yield. Global warming exacerbates the drought trend of this region, so it is important to study the effect of drought on winter wheat yield. In order to assess the drought-induced winter wheat yield losses, SPEI (standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index), the widely used drought index, was selected to quantify the drought from 1981 to 2013. Additionally, the EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate) crop model was used to simulate winter wheat yield at 47 stations in this region from 1981 to 2013. We analyzed the relationship between winter wheat yield and the SPEI at different time scales in each month during the growing season. The trends of the SPEI and the trends of winter wheat yield at 47 stations over the past 32 years were compared with each other. To further quantify the effect of drought on winter wheat yield, we defined the year that SPEI varied from -0.5 to 0.5 as the normal year, and calculated the average winter wheat yield of the normal years as a reference yield, then calculated the reduction ratios of winter wheat based on the yields mentioned above in severe drought years. As a reference, we compared the results with the reduction ratios calculated from the statistical yield data. The results showed that the 9 to 12-month scales' SPEI in April, May and June had a high correlation with winter wheat yield. The trends of the SPEI and the trends of winter wheat yield over the past 32 years showed a positive correlation (p<0.01) and have similar spatial distributions. The proportion of the stations with the same change trend between the SPEI and winter wheat yield was 70%, indicating that drought was the main factor leading to a decline in winter wheat yield in this region. The reduction ratios based on the simulated yield and the reduction ratios calculated from the statistical yield data have a high positive

Ensiling and hydrothermal pretreatment of grass: consequences for enzymatic biomass conversion and total monosaccharide yields

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Ensiling may act as a pretreatment of fresh grass biomass and increase the enzymatic conversion of structural carbohydrates to fermentable sugars. However, ensiling does not provide sufficient severity to be a standalone pretreatment method. Here, ensiling of grass is combined with hydrothermal treatment (HTT) with the aim of improving the enzymatic biomass convertibility and decrease the required temperature of the HTT. Results Grass silage (Festulolium Hykor) was hydrothermally treated at temperatures of 170, 180, and 190°C for 10 minutes. Relative to HTT treated dry grass, ensiling increased the solubilization of dry matter (DM) during HTT and gave increased glucan content, but lower lignin in the insoluble fiber fraction. Ensiling improved glucose yields in the enzymatic hydrolysis of the washed solid fiber fraction at the lower HTT temperatures. At 170°C glucose yield improved from 17 to 24 (w/w)% (45 to 57% cellulose convertibility), and at 180°C glucose yield improved from 22 to 29 (w/w)% (54 to 69% cellulose convertibility). Direct HTT of grass at 190°C gave the same high glucose yield as for grass silage (35 (w/w)% (77% cellulose convertibility)) and improved xylan yields (27% xylan convertibility). The effect of ensiling of grass prior to HTT improved the enzymatic conversion of cellulose for HTT at 170 and 180°C, but the increased glucose release did not make up for the loss of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) during ensiling. Overall, sugar yields (C6 + C5) were similar for HTT of grass and grass silage at both 170 and 180°C, but at 190°C the overall sugar yield was better for HTT of dry grass. Conclusions This study unequivocally establishes that ensiling of grass as a biomass pretreatment method comes with a loss of WSC. The loss of WSC by ensiling is not necessarily compensated for by providing a lower temperature requirement for HTT for high enzymatic monosaccharide release. However, ensiling can be an advantageous storage

Atomic Oxygen Erosion Yield Prediction for Spacecraft Polymers in Low Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banks, Bruce A.; Backus, Jane A.; Manno, Michael V.; Waters, Deborah L.; Cameron, Kevin C.; deGroh, Kim K.

2009-01-01

The ability to predict the atomic oxygen erosion yield of polymers based on their chemistry and physical properties has been only partially successful because of a lack of reliable low Earth orbit (LEO) erosion yield data. Unfortunately, many of the early experiments did not utilize dehydrated mass loss measurements for erosion yield determination, and the resulting mass loss due to atomic oxygen exposure may have been compromised because samples were often not in consistent states of dehydration during the pre-flight and post-flight mass measurements. This is a particular problem for short duration mission exposures or low erosion yield materials. However, as a result of the retrieval of the Polymer Erosion and Contamination Experiment (PEACE) flown as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 2 (MISSE 2), the erosion yields of 38 polymers and pyrolytic graphite were accurately measured. The experiment was exposed to the LEO environment for 3.95 years from August 16, 2001 to July 30, 2005 and was successfully retrieved during a space walk on July 30, 2005 during Discovery s STS-114 Return to Flight mission. The 40 different materials tested (including Kapton H fluence witness samples) were selected specifically to represent a variety of polymers used in space as well as a wide variety of polymer chemical structures. The MISSE 2 PEACE Polymers experiment used carefully dehydrated mass measurements, as well as accurate density measurements to obtain accurate erosion yield data for high-fluence (8.43 1021 atoms/sq cm). The resulting data was used to develop an erosion yield predictive tool with a correlation coefficient of 0.895 and uncertainty of +/-6.3 10(exp -25)cu cm/atom. The predictive tool utilizes the chemical structures and physical properties of polymers to predict in-space atomic oxygen erosion yields. A predictive tool concept (September 2009 version) is presented which represents an improvement over an earlier (December 2008) version.

Chemical intervention in plant sugar signalling increases yield and resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffiths, Cara A.; Sagar, Ram; Geng, Yiqun; Primavesi, Lucia F.; Patel, Mitul K.; Passarelli, Melissa K.; Gilmore, Ian S.; Steven, Rory T.; Bunch, Josephine; Paul, Matthew J.; Davis, Benjamin G.

2016-12-01

The pressing global issue of food insecurity due to population growth, diminishing land and variable climate can only be addressed in agriculture by improving both maximum crop yield potential and resilience. Genetic modification is one potential solution, but has yet to achieve worldwide acceptance, particularly for crops such as wheat. Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), a central sugar signal in plants, regulates sucrose use and allocation, underpinning crop growth and development. Here we show that application of a chemical intervention strategy directly modulates T6P levels in planta. Plant-permeable analogues of T6P were designed and constructed based on a ‘signalling-precursor’ concept for permeability, ready uptake and sunlight-triggered release of T6P in planta. We show that chemical intervention in a potent sugar signal increases grain yield, whereas application to vegetative tissue improves recovery and resurrection from drought. This technology offers a means to combine increases in yield with crop stress resilience. Given the generality of the T6P pathway in plants and other small-molecule signals in biology, these studies suggest that suitable synthetic exogenous small-molecule signal precursors can be used to directly enhance plant performance and perhaps other organism function.

Understanding the weather signal in national crop-yield variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frieler, Katja; Schauberger, Bernhard; Arneth, Almut; Balkovič, Juraj; Chryssanthacopoulos, James; Deryng, Delphine; Elliott, Joshua; Folberth, Christian; Khabarov, Nikolay; Müller, Christoph; Olin, Stefan; Pugh, Thomas A. M.; Schaphoff, Sibyll; Schewe, Jacob; Schmid, Erwin; Warszawski, Lila; Levermann, Anders

2017-06-01

Year-to-year variations in crop yields can have major impacts on the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and may trigger significant global price fluctuations, with severe consequences for people in developing countries. Fluctuations can be induced by weather conditions, management decisions, weeds, diseases, and pests. Although an explicit quantification and deeper understanding of weather-induced crop-yield variability is essential for adaptation strategies, so far it has only been addressed by empirical models. Here, we provide conservative estimates of the fraction of reported national yield variabilities that can be attributed to weather by state-of-the-art, process-based crop model simulations. We find that observed weather variations can explain more than 50% of the variability in wheat yields in Australia, Canada, Spain, Hungary, and Romania. For maize, weather sensitivities exceed 50% in seven countries, including the United States. The explained variance exceeds 50% for rice in Japan and South Korea and for soy in Argentina. Avoiding water stress by simulating yields assuming full irrigation shows that water limitation is a major driver of the observed variations in most of these countries. Identifying the mechanisms leading to crop-yield fluctuations is not only fundamental for dampening fluctuations, but is also important in the context of the debate on the attribution of loss and damage to climate change. Since process-based crop models not only account for weather influences on crop yields, but also provide options to represent human-management measures, they could become essential tools for differentiating these drivers, and for exploring options to reduce future yield fluctuations.

Gastrointestinal Hormones and Bariatric Surgery-induced Weight Loss

PubMed Central

Ionut, Viorica; Burch, Miguel; Youdim, Adrienne; Bergman, Richard N.

2015-01-01

Obesity continues to be a major public health problem in the United States and worldwide. While recent statistics have demonstrated that obesity rates have begun to plateau, more severe classes of obesity are accelerating at a faster pace with important implications in regards to treatment. Bariatric surgery has a profound and durable effect on weight loss, being to date one of the most successful interventions for obesity. Objective To provide updates to the possible role of gut hormones in post bariatric surgery weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Design and Methods The current review examines the changes in gastro-intestinal hormones with bariatric surgery and the potential mechanisms by which these changes could result in decreased weight and adiposity. Results The mechanism by which bariatric surgery results in body weight changes is incompletely elucidated, but it clearly goes beyond caloric restriction and malabsorption. Conclusion Changes in gastro-intestinal hormones, including increases in GLP-1, PYY, and oxyntomodulin, decreases in GIP and ghrelin, or the combined action of all these hormones might play a role in induction and long-term maintenance of weight loss. PMID:23512841

Obesity Epidemiology Worldwide.

PubMed

Arroyo-Johnson, Cassandra; Mincey, Krista D

2016-12-01

Obesity continues to be a public health concern across the globe. Obesity has a demonstrated association with health behaviors and health outcomes, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. Over the past 2 decades, obesity has increased worldwide and remains highest in the United States. It is critical to understand the definition of obesity, using body mass index appropriately, recent estimates, and risk factors as a framework within which clinicians should work to help reduce the burden of obesity. This framework, including the Healthy People 2020 place-based approach to social determinants of health, is described in this article. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Data Reprocessing on Worldwide Distributed Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wicke, Daniel

The DØ experiment faces many challenges in terms of enabling access to large datasets for physicists on four continents. The strategy for solving these problems on worldwide distributed computing clusters is presented. Since the beginning of Run II of the Tevatron (March 2001) all Monte-Carlo simulations for the experiment have been produced at remote systems. For data analysis, a system of regional analysis centers (RACs) was established which supply the associated institutes with the data. This structure, which is similar to the tiered structure foreseen for the LHC was used in Fall 2003 to reprocess all DØ data with a much improved version of the reconstruction software. This makes DØ the first running experiment that has implemented and operated all important computing tasks of a high energy physics experiment on systems distributed worldwide.

Evaluation of a commercially available organic acid product on body weight loss, carcass yield, and meat quality during preslaughter feed withdrawal in broiler chickens: a poultry welfare and economic perspective.

PubMed

Menconi, A; Kuttappan, V A; Hernandez-Velasco, X; Urbano, T; Matté, F; Layton, S; Kallapura, G; Latorre, J; Morales, B E; Prado, O; Vicente, J L; Barton, J; Andreatti Filho, R L; Lovato, M; Hargis, B M; Tellez, G

2014-02-01

The effect of a commercial organic acid (OA) product on BW loss (BWL) during feed withdrawal and transportation, carcass yield, and meat quality was evaluated in broiler chickens. Two experiments were conducted in Brazil. Commercial houses were paired as control groups receiving regular water and treated groups receiving OA in the water. Treated birds had a reduction in BWL of 37 g in experiment 1 and 32.2 g in experiment 2. In experiment 2, no differences were observed in carcass yield between groups. Estimation of the cost benefit suggested a 1:16 ratio by using the OA. In experiment 3, conducted in Mexico, significant differences on water consumption, BWL, and meat quality characteristics were observed in chickens that were treated with the OA (P < 0.05). These data suggest this OA product may improve animal welfare and economic concerns in the poultry industry by reducing BWL and improving meat quality attributes.

Effect of reflection losses on stationary dielectric-filled nonimaging concentrators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madala, Srikanth; Boehm, Robert F.

2016-10-01

The effect of Fresnel reflection and total internal reflection (TIR) losses on the performance parameters in refractive solar concentrators has often been downplayed because most refractive solar concentrators are traditionally the imaging type, yielding a line or point image on the absorber surface when solely interacted with paraxial etendue ensured by solar tracking. Whereas, with refractive-type nonimaging solar concentrators that achieve two-dimensional (rectangular strip) focus or three-dimensional (circular or elliptical) focus through interaction with both paraxial and nonparaxial etendue within the acceptance angle, the Fresnel reflection and TIR losses are significant as they will affect the performance parameters and, thereby, energy collection. A raytracing analysis has been carried out to illustrate the effects of Fresnel reflection and TIR losses on four different types of stationary dielectric-filled nonimaging concentrators, namely V-trough, compound parabolic concentrator, compound elliptical concentrator, and compound hyperbolic concentrator. The refractive index (RI) of a dielectric fill material determines the acceptance angle of a solid nonimaging collector. Larger refractive indices yield larger acceptance angles and, thereby, larger energy collection. However, they also increase the Fresnel reflection losses. This paper also assesses the relative benefit of increasing RI from an energy collection standpoint.

Peanut peg strength and post harvest pod scavenging for full phenotypic yield over digging date and variety

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

New peanut cultivars are available with very high yield potential and high levels of disease resistance. With rising input costs and shrinking return margins, all efforts must be made to harvest the full yield produced. Peanut crops are susceptible to high levels of pod loss during digging from a ...

Microdebrider tonsillectomy associated with more intraoperative blood loss than electrocautery.

PubMed

Stansifer, Kyle J; Szramowski, Molly G; Barazsu, Lindsay; Buchinsky, Farrel J

2012-10-01

To describe and compare the intraoperative blood loss in children who underwent tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy during a transition from using electrocautery to a microdebrider. Retrospective case series of a single pediatric otolaryngologist at an urban general hospital. Patients aged 2-20 years who had tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, or adenotonsillectomy over a 12 month period were included. Tonsillectomy was performed by microdebrider or electrocautery and adenoidectomy was performed by microdebrider, curette, or suction electrocautery. Total intraoperative blood loss was measured and compared between surgical techniques. Of the 148 patients, 109 had tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy and 39 had adenoidectomy alone. The mean blood loss was 47 ml or 1.8 ± 1.6 ml/kg and the maximum blood loss was 11 ml/kg. Adenoid curette and adenoid microdebrider yielded similar blood loss but were associated with more bleeding than suction electrocautery (P<0.05). Microdebrider tonsillectomy yielded more blood loss than electrocautery tonsillectomy (mean of 2.6 ± 2.2 ml/kg versus 1.2 ± 1.2 ml/kg, P=0.0002). Eighteen percent of adenotonsillectomy patients lost greater than 5% of calculated circulating blood volume (95% CI, 9.8-26). Linear regression models did not show an association between the amount of blood loss and patient age, clinical indication, or the surgeon's experience with the microdebrider (P>0.05). Microdebrider tonsillectomy is associated with more intraoperative bleeding than electrocautery tonsillectomy. Approximately twice as much blood was lost with the microdebrider, but the absolute increase was insignificant from a hemodynamic perspective. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Galaxy Zoo - WorldWide Telescope Mashup: Expanding User Defined Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luebbert, Jarod; Sands, M.; Fay, J.; Smith, A.; Gay, P. L.; Galaxy Zoo Team

2010-01-01

We present a new way of exploring your favorite Galaxy Zoo galaxies within the context of the sky using Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope. Galaxy Zoo has a fantastic community that is eager to learn and contribute to science through morphological classifications of galaxies. WorldWide Telescope is an interactive observatory that allows users to explore the sky. WorldWide Telescope uses images from the world's best telescopes, including the galaxies of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. WorldWide Telescope provides a fantastic sense of size and distance that is hard to experience in Galaxy Zoo. Creating tours from favorite galaxies directly from Galaxy Zoo aims to solve this dilemma.The incorporation of Galaxy Zoo and WorldWide telescope provides a great resource for users to learn more about the galaxies they are classifying. Users can now explore the areas around certain galaxies and view information about that location from within WorldWide Telescope. Not only does this encourage self-motivated research but after tours are created they can be shared with anyone. We hope this will help spread citizen science to different audiences via email, Facebook, and Twitter.Without the WorldWide Telescope team at Microsoft Research this project would not have been possible. Please go start exploring at http://wwt.galaxyzoo.org. This project was funded through the Microsoft Research Academic Program.

Primary quantum yields of NO2 photodissociation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, Edward P.; Sperry, Paul D.; Calvert, Jack G.

1987-01-01

The quantum yields of formation of NO, O2, and NO2 loss are measured for NO2 vapor at low pressures (0.13-0.30 torr) irradiated at 334-405 nm wavelengths and temperature in the range 273-370 K in order to study the primary quantum efficiencies of NO2 photodecomposition. The temperature and wavelength dependences of the primary quantum efficiencies are examined. It is observed that the primary quantum efficiencies increase rapidly from near zero at 424 nm to near unity for excitation at wavelengths less than 394 nm. The theory of Pitts et al. (1964) that the energy deficiency for photodissociation of NO2 excited at wavelengths greater than 397.9 nm is due to the rotational and vibrational energy of the NO2 molecules is confirmed by the data. Values for the primary quantum yields of NO2 photodecomposition as a function of wavelength are presented.

National CPS Certification | A Program of Safe Kids Worldwide

Science.gov Websites

the Tech! ABOUT THE PROGRAM National CPS Certification Training is a program of Safe Kids Worldwide ; E-Vouchers FAQS/HELP FAQs Fees Forms Policies & Procedures Who We Are NHTSA Safe Kids CPS-board State Farm Follow us on Facebook Copyright © 2017 by Safe Kids Worldwide - Child Passenger Safety

Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests

PubMed Central

Clough, Yann; Barkmann, Jan; Juhrbandt, Jana; Kessler, Michael; Wanger, Thomas Cherico; Anshary, Alam; Buchori, Damayanti; Cicuzza, Daniele; Darras, Kevin; Putra, Dadang Dwi; Erasmi, Stefan; Pitopang, Ramadhanil; Schmidt, Carsten; Schulze, Christian H.; Seidel, Dominik; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Stenchly, Kathrin; Vidal, Stefan; Weist, Maria; Wielgoss, Arno Christian; Tscharntke, Teja

2011-01-01

Local and landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Controversially discussed solutions include wildlife-friendly farming or combining high-intensity farming with land-sparing for nature. Here, we integrate biodiversity and crop productivity data for smallholder cacao in Indonesia to exemplify for tropical agroforests that there is little relationship between yield and biodiversity under current management, opening substantial opportunities for wildlife-friendly management. Species richness of trees, fungi, invertebrates, and vertebrates did not decrease with yield. Moderate shade, adequate labor, and input level can be combined with a complex habitat structure to provide high biodiversity as well as high yields. Although livelihood impacts are held up as a major obstacle for wildlife-friendly farming in the tropics, our results suggest that in some situations, agroforests can be designed to optimize both biodiversity and crop production benefits without adding pressure to convert natural habitat to farmland. PMID:21536873

Brazilian Soybean Yields and Yield Gaps Vary with Farm Size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeffries, G. R.; Cohn, A.; Griffin, T. S.; Bragança, A.

2017-12-01

Understanding the farm size-specific characteristics of crop yields and yield gaps may help to improve yields by enabling better targeting of technical assistance and agricultural development programs. Linking remote sensing-based yield estimates with property boundaries provides a novel view of the relationship between farm size and yield structure (yield magnitude, gaps, and stability over time). A growing literature documents variations in yield gaps, but largely ignores the role of farm size as a factor shaping yield structure. Research on the inverse farm size-productivity relationship (IR) theory - that small farms are more productive than large ones all else equal - has documented that yield magnitude may vary by farm size, but has not considered other yield structure characteristics. We examined farm size - yield structure relationships for soybeans in Brazil for years 2001-2015. Using out-of-sample soybean yield predictions from a statistical model, we documented 1) gaps between the 95th percentile of attained yields and mean yields within counties and individual fields, and 2) yield stability defined as the standard deviation of time-detrended yields at given locations. We found a direct relationship between soy yields and farm size at the national level, while the strength and the sign of the relationship varied by region. Soybean yield gaps were found to be inversely related to farm size metrics, even when yields were only compared to farms of similar size. The relationship between farm size and yield stability was nonlinear, with mid-sized farms having the most stable yields. The work suggests that farm size is an important factor in understanding yield structure and that opportunities for improving soy yields in Brazil are greatest among smaller farms.

Crop yield changes induced by emissions of individual climate-altering pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shindell, Drew T.

2016-08-01

Climate change damages agriculture, causing deteriorating food security and increased malnutrition. Many studies have examined the role of distinct physical processes, but impacts have not been previously attributed to individual pollutants. Using a simple model incorporating process-level results from detailed models, here I show that although carbon dioxide (CO2) is the largest driver of climate change, other drivers appear to dominate agricultural yield changes. I calculate that anthropogenic emissions to date have decreased global agricultural yields by 9.5 ± 3.0%, with roughly 93% stemming from non-CO2 emissions, including methane (-5.2 ± 1.7%) and halocarbons (-1.4 ± 0.4%). The differing impacts stem from atmospheric composition responses: CO2 fertilizes crops, offsetting much of the loss induced by warming; halocarbons do not fertilize; methane leads to minimal fertilization but increases surface ozone which augments warming-induced losses. By the end of the century, strong CO2 mitigation improves agricultural yields by ˜3 ± 5%. In contrast, strong methane and hydrofluorocarbon mitigation improve yields by ˜16 ± 5% and ˜5 ± 4%, respectively. These are the first quantitative analyses to include climate, CO2 and ozone simultaneously, and hence, additional studies would be valuable. Nonetheless, as policy makers have leverage over pollutant emissions rather than isolated processes, the perspective presented here may be more useful for decision making than that in the prior work upon which this study builds. The results suggest that policies should target a broad portfolio of pollutant emissions in order to optimize mitigation of societal damages.

Quality of white cabbage yield and potential risk of ground water nitrogen pollution, as affected by nitrogen fertilisation and irrigation practices.

PubMed

Maršić, Nina Kacjan; Sturm, Martina; Zupanc, Vesna; Lojen, Sonja; Pintar, Marina

2012-01-15

The effect of different fertilisation (broadcast solid NPK application and fertigation with water-soluble fertiliser) and irrigation practices (sprinkler and drip irrigation) on yield, the nitrate content in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) and the cabbage N uptake was detected, in order to assess the potential risk for N losses, by cultivation on sandy-loam soil. The N rate applied on the plots was 200 kg N ha(-1). The highest yield (93 t ha(-1)) and nitrate content (1256 mg kg(-1) DW) were found with treatments using broadcast fertilisation and sprinkler irrigation. On those plots the negative N balance (-30 kg N ha(-1)) was recorded, which comes mainly from the highest crop N uptake (234 kg N ha(-1)) indicating the lowest potential for N losses. In terms of yield quality and the potential risk for N losses, broadcast fertilisation combined with sprinkler irrigation proved to be the most effective combination among the tested practices under the given experimental conditions. The importance of adequate irrigation is also evident, namely in plots on which 50% drip irrigation was applied, the lowest yield was detected and according to the positive N balance, a higher potential for N losses is expected. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Combining Costs and Benefits of Animal Activities to Assess Net Yield Outcomes in Apple Orchards

PubMed Central

Luck, Gary W.

2016-01-01

Diverse animal communities influence ecosystem function in agroecosystems through positive and negative plant-animal interactions. Yet, past research has largely failed to examine multiple interactions that can have opposing impacts on agricultural production in a given context. We collected data on arthropod communities and yield quality and quantity parameters (fruit set, yield loss and net outcomes) in three major apple-growing regions in south-eastern Australia. We quantified the net yield outcome (accounting for positive and negative interactions) of multiple animal activities (pollination, fruit damage, biological control) across the entire growing season on netted branches, which excluded vertebrate predators of arthropods, and open branches. Net outcome was calculated as the number of undamaged fruit at harvest as a proportion of the number of blossoms (i.e., potential fruit yield). Vertebrate exclusion resulted in lower levels of fruit set and higher levels of arthropod damage to apples, but did not affect net outcomes. Yield quality and quantity parameters (fruit set, yield loss, net outcomes) were not directly associated with arthropod functional groups. Model variance and significant differences between the ratio of pest to beneficial arthropods between regions indicated that complex relationships between environmental factors and multiple animal interactions have a combined effect on yield. Our results show that focusing on a single crop stage, species group or ecosystem function/service can overlook important complexity in ecological processes within the system. Accounting for this complexity and quantifying the net outcome of ecological interactions within the system, is more informative for research and management of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. PMID:27391022

Combining Costs and Benefits of Animal Activities to Assess Net Yield Outcomes in Apple Orchards.

PubMed

Saunders, Manu E; Luck, Gary W

2016-01-01

Diverse animal communities influence ecosystem function in agroecosystems through positive and negative plant-animal interactions. Yet, past research has largely failed to examine multiple interactions that can have opposing impacts on agricultural production in a given context. We collected data on arthropod communities and yield quality and quantity parameters (fruit set, yield loss and net outcomes) in three major apple-growing regions in south-eastern Australia. We quantified the net yield outcome (accounting for positive and negative interactions) of multiple animal activities (pollination, fruit damage, biological control) across the entire growing season on netted branches, which excluded vertebrate predators of arthropods, and open branches. Net outcome was calculated as the number of undamaged fruit at harvest as a proportion of the number of blossoms (i.e., potential fruit yield). Vertebrate exclusion resulted in lower levels of fruit set and higher levels of arthropod damage to apples, but did not affect net outcomes. Yield quality and quantity parameters (fruit set, yield loss, net outcomes) were not directly associated with arthropod functional groups. Model variance and significant differences between the ratio of pest to beneficial arthropods between regions indicated that complex relationships between environmental factors and multiple animal interactions have a combined effect on yield. Our results show that focusing on a single crop stage, species group or ecosystem function/service can overlook important complexity in ecological processes within the system. Accounting for this complexity and quantifying the net outcome of ecological interactions within the system, is more informative for research and management of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.

Worldwide Prevalence and Trends in Unintentional Drug Overdose: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Martins, Silvia S; Sampson, Laura; Cerdá, Magdalena; Galea, Sandro

2015-11-01

Drug overdose is an important, yet an inadequately understood, public health problem. Global attention to unintentional drug overdose has been limited by comparison with the scope of the problem. There has been a substantial increase in drug overdose incidence and prevalence in several countries worldwide over the past decade, contributing to both increased costs and mortality. The aim of this study was to systematically synthesize the peer-reviewed literature to document the global epidemiological profile of unintentional drug overdoses and the prevalence, time trends, mortality rates, and correlates of drug overdoses. We searched different combinations of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms in PubMed for articles published from 1980 until July 2013, and we organized these results in tabular spreadsheets and compared them. We restricted the search to English-language articles that deal with unintentional overdose, focusing on 1 or more of the following key constructs: prevalence, time trends, mortality rates, and correlates. The term "overdose" as a MeSH major topic yielded 1076 publications. In addition, we searched the following combinations of nonmajor MeSH terms: "street drugs" and "overdose" yielded 180, "death" and "overdose" yielded 114, and "poisoning" and "drug users" yielded 17. There was some overlap among the searches. Based on the search and inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected a total of 169 relevant articles for this article based on a close review of abstracts. We found wide variability in lifetime prevalence of experiencing a nonfatal overdose or witnessing an overdose, and in mortality rates attributable to overdose. Lifetime prevalence of witnessed overdose among drug users (n = 17 samples) ranged from 50% to 96%, with a mean of 73.3%, a median of 70%, and a standard deviation of 14.1%. Lifetime prevalence of drug users personally experiencing a nonfatal overdose (n = 27 samples), ranged from 16.6% to 68.0% with a mean of 45

Worldwide Prevalence and Trends in Unintentional Drug Overdose: A Systematic Review of the Literature

PubMed Central

Sampson, Laura; Cerdá, Magdalena; Galea, Sandro

2015-01-01

Background. Drug overdose is an important, yet an inadequately understood, public health problem. Global attention to unintentional drug overdose has been limited by comparison with the scope of the problem. There has been a substantial increase in drug overdose incidence and prevalence in several countries worldwide over the past decade, contributing to both increased costs and mortality. Objectives. The aim of this study was to systematically synthesize the peer-reviewed literature to document the global epidemiological profile of unintentional drug overdoses and the prevalence, time trends, mortality rates, and correlates of drug overdoses. We searched different combinations of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms in PubMed for articles published from 1980 until July 2013, and we organized these results in tabular spreadsheets and compared them. We restricted the search to English-language articles that deal with unintentional overdose, focusing on 1 or more of the following key constructs: prevalence, time trends, mortality rates, and correlates. The term “overdose” as a MeSH major topic yielded 1076 publications. In addition, we searched the following combinations of nonmajor MeSH terms: “street drugs” and “overdose” yielded 180, “death” and “overdose” yielded 114, and “poisoning” and “drug users” yielded 17. There was some overlap among the searches. Based on the search and inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected a total of 169 relevant articles for this article based on a close review of abstracts. Results. We found wide variability in lifetime prevalence of experiencing a nonfatal overdose or witnessing an overdose, and in mortality rates attributable to overdose. Lifetime prevalence of witnessed overdose among drug users (n = 17 samples) ranged from 50% to 96%, with a mean of 73.3%, a median of 70%, and a standard deviation of 14.1%. Lifetime prevalence of drug users personally experiencing a nonfatal overdose (n�

Wheat yield loss attributable to heat waves, drought and water excess at the global, national and subnational scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zampieri, M.; Ceglar, A.; Dentener, F.; Toreti, A.

2017-06-01

Heat waves and drought are often considered the most damaging climatic stressors for wheat. In this study, we characterize and attribute the effects of these climate extremes on wheat yield anomalies (at global and national scales) from 1980 to 2010. Using a combination of up-to-date heat wave and drought indexes (the latter capturing both excessively dry and wet conditions), we have developed a composite indicator that is able to capture the spatio-temporal characteristics of the underlying physical processes in the different agro-climatic regions of the world. At the global level, our diagnostic explains a significant portion (more than 40%) of the inter-annual production variability. By quantifying the contribution of national yield anomalies to global fluctuations, we have found that just two concurrent yield anomalies affecting the larger producers of the world could be responsible for more than half of the global annual fluctuations. The relative importance of heat stress and drought in determining the yield anomalies depends on the region. Moreover, in contrast to common perception, water excess affects wheat production more than drought in several countries. We have also performed the same analysis at the subnational level for France, which is the largest wheat producer of the European Union, and home to a range of climatic zones. Large subnational variability of inter-annual wheat yield is mostly captured by the heat and water stress indicators, consistently with the country-level result.

GeoCENS: a geospatial cyberinfrastructure for the world-wide sensor web.

PubMed

Liang, Steve H L; Huang, Chih-Yuan

2013-10-02

The world-wide sensor web has become a very useful technique for monitoring the physical world at spatial and temporal scales that were previously impossible. Yet we believe that the full potential of sensor web has thus far not been revealed. In order to harvest the world-wide sensor web's full potential, a geospatial cyberinfrastructure is needed to store, process, and deliver large amount of sensor data collected worldwide. In this paper, we first define the issue of the sensor web long tail followed by our view of the world-wide sensor web architecture. Then, we introduce the Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental Sensing (GeoCENS) architecture and explain each of its components. Finally, with demonstration of three real-world powered-by-GeoCENS sensor web applications, we believe that the GeoCENS architecture can successfully address the sensor web long tail issue and consequently realize the world-wide sensor web vision.

Risk factors for islet loss during culture prior to transplantation.

PubMed

Kin, Tatsuya; Senior, Peter; O'Gorman, Doug; Richer, Brad; Salam, Abdul; Shapiro, Andrew Mark James

2008-11-01

Culturing islets can add great flexibility to a clinical islet transplant program. However, a reduction in the islet mass has been frequently observed during culture and its degree varies. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with a significant islet loss during culture. One-hundred and four islet preparations cultured in an attempt to use for transplantation constituted this study. After culture for 20 h (median), islet yield significantly decreased from 363 309 +/- 12 647 to 313 035 +/- 10 862 islet equivalent yield (IE) (mean +/- SE), accompanied by a reduction in packed tissue volume from 3.9 +/- 0.1 to 3.0 +/- 0.1 ml and islet index (IE/islet particle count) from 1.20 +/- 0.04 to 1.05 +/- 0.04. Culture did not markedly alter islet purity or percent of trapped islet. Morphology score and viability were significantly improved after culture. Of 104 islet preparations, 37 suffered a substantial islet loss (> 20%) over culture. Factors significantly associated with risk of islet loss identified by univariate analysis were longer cold ischemia time, two-layer method (TLM) preservation, lower islet purity, and higher islet index. Multivariate analysis revealed that independent predictors of islet loss were higher islet index and the use of TLM. This study provides novel information on the link between donor- isolation factors and islet loss during culture.

Distinct Trajectories of Massive Recent Gene Gains and Losses in Populations of a Microbial Eukaryotic Pathogen

PubMed Central

Hartmann, Fanny E.; Croll, Daniel

2017-01-01

Abstract Differences in gene content are a significant source of variability within species and have an impact on phenotypic traits. However, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for the most recent gene gains and losses. We screened the genomes of 123 worldwide isolates of the major pathogen of wheat Zymoseptoria tritici for robust evidence of gene copy number variation. Based on orthology relationships in three closely related fungi, we identified 599 gene gains and 1,024 gene losses that have not yet reached fixation within the focal species. Our analyses of gene gains and losses segregating in populations showed that gene copy number variation arose preferentially in subtelomeres and in proximity to transposable elements. Recently lost genes were enriched in virulence factors and secondary metabolite gene clusters. In contrast, recently gained genes encoded mostly secreted protein lacking a conserved domain. We analyzed the frequency spectrum at loci segregating a gene presence–absence polymorphism in four worldwide populations. Recent gene losses showed a significant excess in low-frequency variants compared with genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism, which is indicative of strong negative selection against gene losses. Recent gene gains were either under weak negative selection or neutral. We found evidence for strong divergent selection among populations at individual loci segregating a gene presence–absence polymorphism. Hence, gene gains and losses likely contributed to local adaptation. Our study shows that microbial eukaryotes harbor extensive copy number variation within populations and that functional differences among recently gained and lost genes led to distinct evolutionary trajectories. PMID:28981698

A New GIS-Nitrogen Trading Tool Concept to Minimize Reactive Nitrogen losses to the Environment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Nitrogen (N) is an essential element which is needed to maximize agricultural production and sustainability of worldwide agroecosystems. N losses to the environment are impacting water and air quality that has become an environmental concern for the future generations. It has led to the need for dev...

Frost trends and their estimated impact on yield in the Australian wheatbelt

PubMed Central

Zheng, Bangyou; Chapman, Scott C.; Christopher, Jack T.; Frederiks, Troy M.; Chenu, Karine

2015-01-01

Radiant spring frosts occurring during reproductive developmental stages can result in catastrophic yield loss for wheat producers. To better understand the spatial and temporal variability of frost, the occurrence and impact of frost events on rain-fed wheat production was estimated across the Australian wheatbelt for 1957–2013 using a 0.05 ° gridded weather data set. Simulated yield outcomes at 60 key locations were compared with those for virtual genotypes with different levels of frost tolerance. Over the last six decades, more frost events, later last frost day, and a significant increase in frost impact on yield were found in certain regions of the Australian wheatbelt, in particular in the South-East and West. Increasing trends in frost-related yield losses were simulated in regions where no significant trend of frost occurrence was observed, due to higher mean temperatures accelerating crop development and causing sensitive post-heading stages to occur earlier, during the frost risk period. Simulations indicated that with frost-tolerant lines the mean national yield could be improved by up to 20% through (i) reduced frost damage (~10% improvement) and (ii) the ability to use earlier sowing dates (adding a further 10% improvement). In the simulations, genotypes with an improved frost tolerance to temperatures 1 °C lower than the current 0 °C reference provided substantial benefit in most cropping regions, while greater tolerance (to 3 °C lower temperatures) brought further benefits in the East. The results indicate that breeding for improved reproductive frost tolerance should remain a priority for the Australian wheat industry, despite warming climates. PMID:25922479

Frost trends and their estimated impact on yield in the Australian wheatbelt.

PubMed

Zheng, Bangyou; Chapman, Scott C; Christopher, Jack T; Frederiks, Troy M; Chenu, Karine

2015-06-01

Radiant spring frosts occurring during reproductive developmental stages can result in catastrophic yield loss for wheat producers. To better understand the spatial and temporal variability of frost, the occurrence and impact of frost events on rain-fed wheat production was estimated across the Australian wheatbelt for 1957-2013 using a 0.05 ° gridded weather data set. Simulated yield outcomes at 60 key locations were compared with those for virtual genotypes with different levels of frost tolerance. Over the last six decades, more frost events, later last frost day, and a significant increase in frost impact on yield were found in certain regions of the Australian wheatbelt, in particular in the South-East and West. Increasing trends in frost-related yield losses were simulated in regions where no significant trend of frost occurrence was observed, due to higher mean temperatures accelerating crop development and causing sensitive post-heading stages to occur earlier, during the frost risk period. Simulations indicated that with frost-tolerant lines the mean national yield could be improved by up to 20% through (i) reduced frost damage (~10% improvement) and (ii) the ability to use earlier sowing dates (adding a further 10% improvement). In the simulations, genotypes with an improved frost tolerance to temperatures 1 °C lower than the current 0 °C reference provided substantial benefit in most cropping regions, while greater tolerance (to 3 °C lower temperatures) brought further benefits in the East. The results indicate that breeding for improved reproductive frost tolerance should remain a priority for the Australian wheat industry, despite warming climates. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

The effect of subclinical mastitis on milk yield in dairy goats.

PubMed

Koop, G; van Werven, T; Schuiling, H J; Nielen, M

2010-12-01

The aims of this study were to estimate milk yield (MY) losses associated with subclinical intramammary infection (IMI) in dairy goats and to assess if somatic cell count (SCC) can be used to estimate such MY losses. We used 2 data sets to study these questions. The first data set consisted of 5 herds. Milk production and SCC were recorded during 1 lactation. From approximately 100 does in each herd, milk samples were collected on 3 occasions during lactation for bacteriological culture. Linear mixed regression was used to estimate the effect of IMI on MY. The second data set consisted of 6 large herds, in which some of the goats had an extended lactation (≥2 yr). Milk yield and SCC data were recorded without bacteriological culture. The data showed that bacterial infection was related to an increase in SCC. Infections with major pathogens were rare and associated with a decreased MY; infection with coagulase-negative staphylococci did not affect MY, whereas infection with Corynebacterium bovis was associated with increased MY. A negative correlation was observed between SCC and MY, but the data suggested that this negative correlation was attenuated rather than caused by IMI. Furthermore, SCC seemed to be affected by MY via a dilution effect. Hypotheses about biological mechanisms behind these observations are discussed. This paper shows that MY losses caused by subclinical udder infections are limited in goats, and that SCC cannot be used to estimate the magnitude of these losses. Copyright © 2010 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Transient Hearing Loss in Adults Associated With Zika Virus Infection.

PubMed

Vinhaes, Eriko S; Santos, Luciane A; Dias, Lislane; Andrade, Nilvano A; Bezerra, Victor H; de Carvalho, Anderson T; de Moraes, Laise; Henriques, Daniele F; Azar, Sasha R; Vasilakis, Nikos; Ko, Albert I; Andrade, Bruno B; Siqueira, Isadora C; Khouri, Ricardo; Boaventura, Viviane S

2017-03-01

In 2015, during the outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Brazil, we identified 3 cases of acute hearing loss after exanthematous illness. Serology yielded finding compatible with ZIKV as the cause of a confirmed (n = 1) and a probable (n = 2) flavivirus infection, indicating an association between ZIKV infection and transient hearing loss. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Reducing sugar loss in enzymatic hydrolysis of ethylenediamine pretreated corn stover.

PubMed

Li, Wen-Chao; Li, Xia; Qin, Lei; Zhu, Jia-Qing; Han, Xiao; Li, Bing-Zhi; Yuan, Ying-Jin

2017-01-01

In this study, the effect of ethylenediamine (EDA) on enzymatic hydrolysis with different cellulosic substrates and the approaches to reduce sugar loss in enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated. During enzymatic hydrolysis, xylose yield reduced 21.2%, 18.1% and 13.0% with 7.5mL/L EDA for AFEX pretreated corn stover (CS), washed EDA pretreated CS and CS cellulose. FTIR and GPC analysis demonstrated EDA reacted with sugar and produced high molecular weight (MW) compounds. EDA was prone to react with xylose other than glucose. H 2 O 2 and Na 2 SO 3 cannot prevent sugar loss in glucose/xylose-EDA mixture, although they inhibited the browning and high MW compounds formation. By decreasing temperature to 30°C, the loss of xylose yield reduced to only 3.8%, 3.6% and 4.2% with 7.5mL/L EDA in the enzymatic hydrolysis of AFEX pretreated CS, washed EDA pretreated CS and CS cellulose. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide.

PubMed

Cornwell, William K; Cornelissen, Johannes H C; Amatangelo, Kathryn; Dorrepaal, Ellen; Eviner, Valerie T; Godoy, Oscar; Hobbie, Sarah E; Hoorens, Bart; Kurokawa, Hiroko; Pérez-Harguindeguy, Natalia; Quested, Helen M; Santiago, Louis S; Wardle, David A; Wright, Ian J; Aerts, Rien; Allison, Steven D; van Bodegom, Peter; Brovkin, Victor; Chatain, Alex; Callaghan, Terry V; Díaz, Sandra; Garnier, Eric; Gurvich, Diego E; Kazakou, Elena; Klein, Julia A; Read, Jenny; Reich, Peter B; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A; Vaieretti, M Victoria; Westoby, Mark

2008-10-01

Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

Impacts of 1.5 versus 2.0 °C on cereal yields in the West African Sudan Savanna

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faye, Babacar; Webber, Heidi; Naab, Jesse B.; MacCarthy, Dilys S.; Adam, Myriam; Ewert, Frank; Lamers, John P. A.; Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich; Ruane, Alex; Gessner, Ursula; Hoogenboom, Gerrit; Boote, Ken; Shelia, Vakhtang; Saeed, Fahad; Wisser, Dominik; Hadir, Sofia; Laux, Patrick; Gaiser, Thomas

2018-03-01

To reduce the risks of climate change, governments agreed in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to less than 2.0 °C above pre-industrial levels, with the ambition to keep warming to 1.5 °C. Charting appropriate mitigation responses requires information on the costs of mitigating versus associated damages for the two levels of warming. In this assessment, a critical consideration is the impact on crop yields and yield variability in regions currently challenged by food insecurity. The current study assessed impacts of 1.5 °C versus 2.0 °C on yields of maize, pearl millet and sorghum in the West African Sudan Savanna using two crop models that were calibrated with common varieties from experiments in the region with management reflecting a range of typical sowing windows. As sustainable intensification is promoted in the region for improving food security, simulations were conducted for both current fertilizer use and for an intensification case (fertility not limiting). With current fertilizer use, results indicated 2% units higher losses for maize and sorghum with 2.0 °C compared to 1.5 °C warming, with no change in millet yields for either scenario. In the intensification case, yield losses due to climate change were larger than with current fertilizer levels. However, despite the larger losses, yields were always two to three times higher with intensification, irrespective of the warming scenario. Though yield variability increased with intensification, there was no interaction with warming scenario. Risk and market analysis are needed to extend these results to understand implications for food security.

GeoCENS: A Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure for the World-Wide Sensor Web

PubMed Central

Liang, Steve H.L.; Huang, Chih-Yuan

2013-01-01

The world-wide sensor web has become a very useful technique for monitoring the physical world at spatial and temporal scales that were previously impossible. Yet we believe that the full potential of sensor web has thus far not been revealed. In order to harvest the world-wide sensor web's full potential, a geospatial cyberinfrastructure is needed to store, process, and deliver large amount of sensor data collected worldwide. In this paper, we first define the issue of the sensor web long tail followed by our view of the world-wide sensor web architecture. Then, we introduce the Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental Sensing (GeoCENS) architecture and explain each of its components. Finally, with demonstration of three real-world powered-by-GeoCENS sensor web applications, we believe that the GeoCENS architecture can successfully address the sensor web long tail issue and consequently realize the world-wide sensor web vision. PMID:24152921

Evaluation of a commercially available organic acid product on body weight loss, carcass yield, and meat quality during preslaughter feed withdrawal in broiler chickens: A poultry welfare and economic perspective1

PubMed Central

Menconi, A.; Kuttappan, V. A.; Hernandez-Velasco, X.; Urbano, T.; Matté, F.; Layton, S.; Kallapura, G.; Latorre, J.; Morales, B. E.; Prado, O.; Vicente, J. L.; Barton, J.; Filho, R. L. Andreatti; Lovato, M.; Hargis, B. M.; Tellez, G.

2014-01-01

The effect of a commercial organic acid (OA) product on BW loss (BWL) during feed withdrawal and transportation, carcass yield, and meat quality was evaluated in broiler chickens. Two experiments were conducted in Brazil. Commercial houses were paired as control groups receiving regular water and treated groups receiving OA in the water. Treated birds had a reduction in BWL of 37 g in experiment 1 and 32.2 g in experiment 2. In experiment 2, no differences were observed in carcass yield between groups. Estimation of the cost benefit suggested a 1:16 ratio by using the OA. In experiment 3, conducted in Mexico, significant differences on water consumption, BWL, and meat quality characteristics were observed in chickens that were treated with the OA (P < 0.05). These data suggest this OA product may improve animal welfare and economic concerns in the poultry industry by reducing BWL and improving meat quality attributes. PMID:24570468

Visual loss in a school for the blind in Nigeria.

PubMed

Okoye, O I; Aghaji, A E; Ikojo, I N

2009-01-01

There are an estimated 1.4 million blind children worldwide, it has been observed that almost 90% of the so-called blind population (children inclusive) do not have total loss of visual function, but retain a degree of usable residual vision. The study aims to determined the sites and causes of visual loss in the students of a school for the blind in Nigeria, and also the proportion of those students who could benefit from low vision devices. Forty-five students of the school were examined using the standard World Health Organization/Prevention of blindness examination record for childhood blindness. Refraction and assessment for low vision devices were conducted, where necessary. Glaucoma/buphthalmos (22.2%) and corneal lesions (20%) were the major causes of vision loss. Six students (13.3%) benefited from spectacles and/or low vision devices. Glaucoma/buphthalmos is assuming great significance in this study population, though most of the causes of vision loss are avoidable (77.7%). There is need for low vision service in the schools for the blind in South East Nigeria.

World-wide precision airports for SVS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiefele, Jens; Lugsch, Bill; Launer, Marc; Baca, Diana

2004-08-01

Future cockpit and aviation applications require high quality airport databases. Accuracy, resolution, integrity, completeness, traceability, and timeliness [1] are key requirements. For most aviation applications, attributed vector databases are needed. The geometry is based on points, lines, and closed polygons. To document the needs for aviation industry RTCA and EUROCAE developed in a joint committee, the DO-272/ED-99 document. It states industry needs for data features, attributes, coding, and capture rules for Airport Mapping Databases (AMDB). This paper describes the technical approach Jeppesen has taken to generate a world-wide set of three-hundred AMDB airports. All AMDB airports are DO-200A/ED-76 [1] and DO-272/ED-99 [2] compliant. Jeppesen airports have a 5m (CE90) accuracy and an 10-3 integrity. World-wide all AMDB data is delivered in WGS84 coordinates. Jeppesen continually updates the databases.

Exploring the Universe with the Worldwide Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fay, J. E.

2014-12-01

Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope is a software platform for exploring the universe. Whether you are a researcher, student or just a casual explorer WorldWide Telescope uses cutting edge technology to take you anywhere in the universe and visualize data collected by science programs from across the globe, including NASA great observatories and planetary probes. WWT leverages technologies such as Virtual reality headsets, multi-channel full dome projection and HTML5/WebGL to bring the WWT experience to any device and any scale. We will discuss how to use WWT to browse previously curated data, as well as how to process and visualize your own data, using examples from NASA Mars missions.

Worldwide end-of-life practice for patients in ICUs.

PubMed

Wong, Wai-Tat; Phua, Jason; Joynt, Gavin M

2018-04-01

Published data and practice recommendations on end-of-life (EOL) generally reflect Western practice frameworks. Understanding worldwide practices is important because improving economic conditions are promoting rapid expansion of intensive care services in many previously disadvantaged regions, and increasing migration has promoted a new cultural diversity previously predominantly unicultural societies. This review explores current knowledge of similarities and differences in EOL practice between regions and possible causes and implications of these differences. Recent observational and survey data shows a marked variability in the practice of withholding and withdrawing life sustaining therapy worldwide. Some evidence supports the view that culture, religion, and socioeconomic factors influence EOL practice, and individually or together account for differences observed. There are also likely to be commonly desired values and expectations for EOL practice, and recent attempts at establishing where worldwide consensus may lie have improved our understanding of shared values and practices. Awareness of differences, understanding their likely complex causes, and using this knowledge to inform individualized care at EOL is likely to improve the quality of care for patients. Further research should clarify the causes of EOL practice variability, monitor trends, and objectively evaluate the quality of EOL practice worldwide.

Enhanced Furfural Yields from Xylose Dehydration in the gamma-Valerolactone/Water Solvent System at Elevated Temperatures.

PubMed

Sener, Canan; Motagamwala, Ali Hussain; Alonso, David Martin; Dumesic, James

2018-05-18

High yields of furfural (>90%) were achieved from xylose dehydration in a sustainable solvent system composed of -valerolactone (GVL), a biomass derived solvent, and water. It is identified that high reaction temperatures (e.g., 498 K) are required to achieve high furfural yield. Additionally, it is shown that the furfural yield at these temperatures is independent of the initial xylose concentration, and high furfural yield is obtained for industrially relevant xylose concentrations (10 wt%). A reaction kinetics model is developed to describe the experimental data obtained with solvent system composed of 80 wt% GVL and 20 wt% water across the range of reaction conditions studied (473 - 523 K, 1-10 mM acid catalyst, 66 - 660 mM xylose concentration). The kinetic model demonstrates that furfural loss due to bimolecular condensation of xylose and furfural is minimized at elevated temperature, whereas carbon loss due to xylose degradation increases with increasing temperature. Accordingly, the optimal temperature range for xylose dehydration to furfural in the GVL/H2O solvent system is identified to be from 480 to 500 K. Under these reaction conditions, furfural yield of 93% is achieved at 97% xylan conversion from lignocellulosic biomass (maple wood). © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Decrease in milk yield associated with exposure to bluetongue virus serotype 8 in cattle herds.

PubMed

Nusinovici, S; Souty, C; Seegers, H; Beaudeau, F; Fourichon, C

2013-02-01

Decreased milk yield and reduced fertility are the primary consequences of infection by bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8). These effects must be quantified to fully assess the economic benefit of vaccination. This can be estimated by measuring the effect of BTV-8 exposure on milk yield and fertility for all cows belonging to an infected herd. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify the mean effect of exposure to BTV-8 on milk yield following natural challenge for cows in herds previously naïve, (2) to determine the duration of reduced milk yield before and after the date disease was first detected in the herd to estimate the cumulative loss of milk yield during this period, and (3) to evaluate the influence of the proportion of infected neighboring herds on the reduction in milk yield following exposure to BTV-8. The effects of exposure to BTV-8 during the French outbreak of 2007 were assessed using mixed linear models, which allow adjustment for factors known to influence milk yield. Exposure to BTV-8 was associated with a sharp decrease in milk yield over a period of 6 mo (2 mo before to 4 mo after the reported date of disease detection in the herd). The cumulative loss of milk yield was more than 3% of annual production. The relatively earlier reduction in milk yield in infected herds detected later in the outbreak period suggests that detection of clinical signs was delayed in these herds. Finally, the greatest decrease in milk yield was observed in herds detected early during the outbreak period and located in areas with the highest disease incidence. This may be due to a greater within-herd incidence or to a greater amount of virus injected by midges to individual cows in these herds. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Worldwide Report, Telecommunications Policy, Research and Development, No. 283.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-10

JPRS 84082 10 August 1983 ;-yry^7S-.-•-■■:■? TT h Worldwide Report TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT No. 283 tmC...POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT No, 283 CONTENTS WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS Satellite Hookup Between Moscow, California TV (Moscow Domestic Television...and mass communi- cations. One even talks about the world turning, from the viewpoint of all-permeating information, into one global village. It

Bulletin Board Ideas: Worldwide Scientific Events

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiffman, Maurice K.

1977-01-01

Describes a bulletin board activity that identifies scientific phenomena occurring worldwide during the school year. A map of the world is marked with colored pins as students find news information of places and kind of event (e.g.; volcanoes, floods, crop failures, human epidemics). (CS)

Assessment of growth and yield losses in two Zea mays L. cultivars (quality protein maize and nonquality protein maize) under projected levels of ozone.

PubMed

Singh, Aditya Abha; Agrawal, S B; Shahi, J P; Agrawal, Madhoolika

2014-02-01

Rapid industrialization and economic developments have increased the tropospheric ozone (O3) budget since preindustrial times, and presently, it is supposed to be a major threat to crop productivity. Maize (Zea mays L.), a C4 plant is the third most important staple crop at global level with a great deal of economic importance. The present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of two maize cultivars [HQPM1: quality protein maize (QPM)] and [DHM117: nonquality protein maize (NQPM)] to variable O3 doses. Experimental setup included filtered chambers, nonfiltered chambers (NFC), and two elevated doses of O3 viz. NFC+15 ppb O3 (NFC+15) and NFC+30 ppb O3 (NFC+30). During initial growth period, both QPM and NQPM plants showed hormetic effect that is beneficial due to exposure of low doses of a toxicant (NFC and NFC+15 ppb O3), but at later stages, growth attributes were negatively affected by O3. Growth indices showed the variable pattern of photosynthate translocation under O3 stress. Foliar injury in the form of interveinal chlorosis and reddening of leaves due to increased production of anthocyanin pigments was observed at higher concentrations of O3. One-dimensional gel electrophoresis of leaves taken from NFC+30 showed reductions of major photosynthetic proteins, and differential response was observed between the two test cultivars. Decline in the number of male flowers at elevated O3 doses suggested damaging effect of O3 on reproductive structures which might be a cause of productivity losses. Variable carbon allocation pattern particularly to husk leaves, foliar injury, and damage of photosynthetic proteins led to significant reductions in economic yield at higher O3 doses. PCA showed that both the cultivars responded more or less similarly to O3 stress in their respective groupings of growth and yield parameters, but magnitude of their response was variable. It is further supported by difference in the significance of correlations between variables of

No-tillage and fertilization management on crop yields and nitrate leaching in North China Plain

PubMed Central

Huang, Manxiang; Liang, Tao; Wang, Lingqing; Zhou, Chenghu

2015-01-01

A field experiment was performed from 2003 to 2008 to evaluate the effects of tillage system and nitrogen management regimes on crop yields and nitrate leaching from the fluvo-aquic soil with a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–maize (Zea mays L.) double-cropping system. The tillage systems consisted of conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT). Three nitrogen management regimes were included: 270 kg N ha−1 of urea for wheat and 225 kg N ha−1 of urea for maize (U), 180 kg N ha−1 of urea and 90 kg N ha−1 of straw for wheat and 180 kg N of urea and 45 kg N ha−1 of straw for maize (S), 180 kg N ha−1 of urea and 90 kg N ha−1 of manure for wheat and 180 kg N ha−1 of urea and 45 kg N ha−1 of manure for maize (M). An array of tension-free pan lysimeters (50 cm × 75 cm) were installed (1.2 m deep) to measure water flow and -N movement. No significant effect of the N management regime on yields of winter wheat and maize grain was found in the 5-year rotation. Tillage systems had significant influences on -N leaching from the second year and thereafter interacted with N management regimes on -N loads during all maize seasons. The average yield-scaled -N leaching losses were in order of CTS < NTS< CTU < NTU yield-scaled -N leaching losses while sustaining crop grain yields. Considering the lower costs, NTS could be a potential alternative to decrease yield-scaled -N leaching losses and improve soil fertility while maintaining crop yield for the winter wheat–maize double-cropping systems in the North China Plain. PMID:25859321

77 FR 20445 - eMax Worldwide, Inc.; Order of Suspension of Trading

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-04

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] eMax Worldwide, Inc.; Order of Suspension of... the protection of investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of eMax Worldwide, Inc.... eMax Worldwide, Inc. has failed to make periodic filings with the Commission and has more than 300...

Responses of Nitrogen Utilization and Apparent Nitrogen Loss to Different Control Measures in the Wheat and Maize Rotation System

PubMed Central

Peng, Zhengping; Liu, Yanan; Li, Yingchun; Abawi, Yahya; Wang, Yanqun; Men, Mingxin; An-Vo, Duc-Anh

2017-01-01

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth and excessive application rates can decrease crop yield and increase N loss into the environment. Field experiments were carried out to understand the effects of N fertilizers on N utilization, crop yield and net income in wheat and maize rotation system of the North China Plain (NCP). Compared to farmers’ N rate (FN), the yield of wheat and maize in reduction N rate by 21–24% based on FN (RN) was improved by 451 kg ha-1, N uptakes improved by 17 kg ha-1 and net income increased by 1671 CNY ha-1, while apparent N loss was reduced by 156 kg ha-1. The controlled-release fertilizer with a 20% reduction of RN (CRF80%), a 20% reduction of RN together with dicyandiamide (RN80%+DCD) and a 20% reduction of RN added with nano-carbon (RN80%+NC) all resulted in an improvement in crop yield and decreased the apparent N losses compared to RN. Contrasted with RN80%+NC, the total crop yield in RN80%+DCD improved by 1185 kg ha-1, N uptake enhanced by 9 kg ha-1 and net income increased by 3929 CNY ha-1, while apparent N loss was similar. Therefore, a 37–39% overall decrease in N rate compared to farmers plus the nitrification inhibitor, DCD, was effective N control measure that increased crop yields, enhanced N efficiencies, and improved economic benefits, while mitigating apparent N loss. There is considerable scope for improved N use effieincy in the intensive wheat -maize rotation of the NCP. PMID:28228772

Enhanced efficiency fertilizer’s effect on cotton yield and greenhouse gas emissions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Interest in the use of enhanced-efficiency nitrogen fertilizer (EENFs) sources has increased in recent years due to the potential of these new EENF sources to increase crop yield, while at the same time decreasing N loss from agricultural fields. Nitrogen is the most essential nutrient needed to op...

NATIONAL CROP LOSS ASSESSMENT NETWORK (NCLAN) 1982 ANNUAL REPORT

EPA Science Inventory

The National Crop Loss Assessment Network (NCLAN) is a group of organizations cooperating in research to assess the short- and long-term economic impact of air pollution on crop production. The primary objectives are (1) to define relationships between yield of major agricultural...

Genetic analysis of genetic basis of a physiological disorder "straighthead’’ in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Straighthead is a physiological disorder in rice that causes yield losses and is a serious threat to rice production worldwide. Identification of QTL conferring resistance will help develop resistant cultivars for straighthead control. We conducted linkage mapping to identify QTL involved with strai...

A comparative study of three detection techniques for Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli, the causal pathogen of sugarcane ratoon stunting disease

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Ratoon stunting disease (RSD), which is caused by the bacterium Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (Lxx), is now recognized worldwide as the most economically devastating disease impacting sugarcane. RSD causes significant yield losses and variety degradation. Diagnosis of RSD is challenging because it does...

Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: progress and prospects

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient cro...

Next generation sequencing provides rapid access to the genome of wheat stripe rust

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background: The wheat stripe rust fungus (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, PST) is responsible for significant yield losses in wheat production worldwide. In spite of its economic importance, the PST genomic sequence is not currently available. Fortunately Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) has ra...

Worldwide differential GPS for Space Shuttle landing operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loomis, Peter V. W.; Denaro, Robert P.; Saunders, Penny

1990-01-01

Worldwide differential Global Positioning System (WWDGPS) is viewed as an effective method of offering continuous high-quality navigation worldwide. The concept utilizes a network with as few as 33 ground stations to observe most of the error sources of GPS and provide error corrections to users on a worldwide basis. The WWDGPS real-time GPS tracking concept promises a threefold or fourfold improvement in accuracy for authorized dual-frequency users, and in addition maintains an accurate and current ionosphere model for single-frequency users. A real-time global tracking network also has the potential to reverse declarations of poor health on marginal satellites, increasing the number of satellites in the constellation and lessening the probability of GPS navigation outage. For Space Shuttle operations, the use of WWDGPS-aided P-code equipment promises performance equal to or better than other current landing guidance systems in terms of accuracy and reliability. This performance comes at significantly less cost to NASA, which will participate as a customer in a system designed as a commercial operation serving the global civil navigation community.

[Comparison of potential yield and resource utilization efficiency of main food crops in three provinces of Northeast China under climate change].

PubMed

Wang, Xiao-yu; Yang, Xiao-guang; Sun, Shuang; Xie, Wen-juan

2015-10-01

Based on the daily data of 65 meteorological stations from 1961 to 2010 and the crop phenology data in the potential cultivation zones of thermophilic and chimonophilous crops in Northeast China, the crop potential yields were calculated through step-by-step correction method. The spatio-temporal distribution of the crop potential yields at different levels was analyzed. And then we quantified the limitations of temperature and precipitation on the crop potential yields and compared the differences in the climatic resource utilization efficiency. The results showed that the thermal potential yields of six crops (including maize, rice, spring wheat, sorghum, millet and soybean) during the period 1961-2010 deceased from west to east. The climatic potential yields of the five crops (spring wheat not included) were higher in the south than in the north. The potential yield loss rate due to temperature limitations of the six crops presented a spatial distribution pattern and was higher in the east than in the west. Among the six main crops, the yield potential loss rate due to temperature limitation of the soybean was the highest (51%), and those of the other crops fluctuated within the range of 33%-41%. The potential yield loss rate due to water limitation had an obvious regional difference, and was high in Songnen Plain and Changbai Mountains. The potential yield loss rate of spring wheat was the highest (50%), and those of the other four rainfed crops fluctuated within the range of 8%-10%. The solar energy utilization efficiency of the six main crops ranged from 0.9% to 2.7%, in the order of maize> sorghum>rice>millet>spring wheat>soybean. The precipitation utilization efficiency of the maize, sorghum, spring wheat, millet and soybean under rainfed conditions ranged from 8 to 35 kg . hm-2 . mm-1, in the order of maize>sorghum>spring wheat>millet>soybean. In those areas with lower efficiency of solar energy utilization and precipitation utilization, such as Changbai

Nitrogen and phosphorus losses from agricultural systems in China: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Cao, Di; Cao, Wenzhi; Fang, Jing; Cai, Longyan

2014-08-30

Studies worldwide have indicated that agricultural pollution is the main source of nitrogen and phosphorus (N and P) in surface waters. A systematic understanding of N and P sources and sinks in agricultural systems is important for selecting the appropriate remedial strategies to control nutrient losses and water pollution. Based on nationwide data and a long-term monitoring program in Southeast China, the nationwide spatial and temporal patterns of N and P losses and the relationships between such losses and N and P inputs and rainfall were analyzed. The results showed that the annual nutrient losses from agricultural systems in China strongly varied, and the N/P values ranged from 0.01 to 51.0, with a majority at approximately 0-20, and an arithmetic mean of 9.73; these values mostly overlap the suitable range of N/P (6-15) for red bloom algae. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Worldwide Report, Epidemiology, No. 321.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-06-06

Africa To order, see inside front cover JPRS 83616 6 June 1983 WORLDWIDE REPORT EPIDEMIOLOGY No« 321 CONTENTS HUMAN DISEASES BELIZE Briefs...Reported (SPK, k May 83) 10 MALAYSIA Sabah. Cholera Deaths Reported (THE NATIONAL ECHO, 30 Apr 83) H Sarawak Reviews Anti- Dengue ...Outbreak (CAMEROON TRIBUNE, 27 Apr 83) ^3 ISRAEL Briefs identification, Control of Corn ■yirus- kk - d - BELIZE BRIEFS RISE IN MALARIA— Belize is

Improving PAGER's real-time earthquake casualty and loss estimation toolkit: a challenge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jaiswal, K.S.; Wald, D.J.

2012-01-01

We describe the on-going developments of PAGER’s loss estimation models, and discuss value-added web content that can be generated related to exposure, damage and loss outputs for a variety of PAGER users. These developments include identifying vulnerable building types in any given area, estimating earthquake-induced damage and loss statistics by building type, and developing visualization aids that help locate areas of concern for improving post-earthquake response efforts. While detailed exposure and damage information is highly useful and desirable, significant improvements are still necessary in order to improve underlying building stock and vulnerability data at a global scale. Existing efforts with the GEM’s GED4GEM and GVC consortia will help achieve some of these objectives. This will benefit PAGER especially in regions where PAGER’s empirical model is less-well constrained; there, the semi-empirical and analytical models will provide robust estimates of damage and losses. Finally, we outline some of the challenges associated with rapid casualty and loss estimation that we experienced while responding to recent large earthquakes worldwide.

Distinct Trajectories of Massive Recent Gene Gains and Losses in Populations of a Microbial Eukaryotic Pathogen.

PubMed

Hartmann, Fanny E; Croll, Daniel

2017-11-01

Differences in gene content are a significant source of variability within species and have an impact on phenotypic traits. However, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for the most recent gene gains and losses. We screened the genomes of 123 worldwide isolates of the major pathogen of wheat Zymoseptoria tritici for robust evidence of gene copy number variation. Based on orthology relationships in three closely related fungi, we identified 599 gene gains and 1,024 gene losses that have not yet reached fixation within the focal species. Our analyses of gene gains and losses segregating in populations showed that gene copy number variation arose preferentially in subtelomeres and in proximity to transposable elements. Recently lost genes were enriched in virulence factors and secondary metabolite gene clusters. In contrast, recently gained genes encoded mostly secreted protein lacking a conserved domain. We analyzed the frequency spectrum at loci segregating a gene presence-absence polymorphism in four worldwide populations. Recent gene losses showed a significant excess in low-frequency variants compared with genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism, which is indicative of strong negative selection against gene losses. Recent gene gains were either under weak negative selection or neutral. We found evidence for strong divergent selection among populations at individual loci segregating a gene presence-absence polymorphism. Hence, gene gains and losses likely contributed to local adaptation. Our study shows that microbial eukaryotes harbor extensive copy number variation within populations and that functional differences among recently gained and lost genes led to distinct evolutionary trajectories. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

The worldwide obesity epidemic.

PubMed

James, P T; Leach, R; Kalamara, E; Shayeghi, M

2001-11-01

The recent World Health Organization (WHO) agreement on the standardized classification of overweight and obese, based on body mass index (BMI), allows a comparable analysis of prevalence rates worldwide for the first time. In Asia, however, there is a demand for a more limited range for normal BMIs (i.e., 18.5 to 22.9 kg/m(2) rather than 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m(2)) because of the high prevalence of comorbidities, particularly diabetes and hypertension. In children, the International Obesity Task-Force age-, sex-, and BMI-specific cutoff points are increasingly being used. We are currently evaluating BMI data globally as part of a new millennium analysis of the Global Burden of Disease. WHO is analyzing data in terms of 20 or more principal risk factors contributing to the primary causes of disability and lost lives in the 191 countries within the WHO. The prevalence rates for overweight and obese people are different in each region, with the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and North America having higher prevalence rates. In most countries, women show a greater BMI distribution with higher obesity rates than do men. Obesity is usually now associated with poverty, even in developing countries. Relatively new data suggest that abdominal obesity in adults, with its associated enhanced morbidity, occurs particularly in those who had lower birth weights and early childhood stunting. Waist measurements in nationally representative studies are scarce but will now be needed to estimate the full impact of the worldwide obesity epidemic.

Quantifying the impacts of climatic trend and fluctuation on crop yields in northern China.

PubMed

Qiao, Jianmin; Yu, Deyong; Liu, Yupeng

2017-10-01

Climate change plays a critical role in crop yield variations, which has attracted a great deal of concern worldwide. However, the mechanisms of how climatic trend and fluctuations affect crop yields are not well understood and need to be further investigated. Thus, using the GIS-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model, we simulated the yields of major crops (i.e., wheat, maize, and rice) and evaluated the impacts of climatic factors on crop yields in the Agro-Pastoral Transitional Zone (APTZ) of northern China between 1980 and 2010. The partial least squares regression model was used to assess the contribution rates of climatic factors (i.e., precipitation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), minimum temperature (T min ), maximum temperature (T max )) to the variation of crop yields. The Breaks for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) model was adopted to decompose the climate factors into trend and fluctuation components, and the relative contributions of climate trend and fluctuation were then evaluated. The results indicated that the contributions of climatic factors to yield variations of wheat, maize, and rice were 31.7, 37.7, and 23.1%, respectively. That is, climate change had larger impacts on maize than wheat and rice. More cultivated areas were significantly and positively correlated with precipitation than with other climatic factors due to the limited precipitation in the APTZ. Also, climatic trend component had positive impacts on crop yields in the whole region, whereas the climate fluctuation was associated mainly with the areas where the crop yields decreased. This study helps improve our understanding of the mechanisms of climate change impacts on crop yields, and provides useful scientific information for designing regional-scale strategies of adaptation to climate change.

Progress toward polio eradication - worldwide, 2014-2015.

PubMed

Hagan, José E; Wassilak, Steven G F; Craig, Allen S; Tangermann, Rudolf H; Diop, Ousmane M; Burns, Cara C; Quddus, Arshad

2015-05-22

In 1988, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) resolved to eradicate polio worldwide. Wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission has been interrupted in all but three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan). No WPV type 2 cases have been detected worldwide since 1999, and the last WPV type 3 case was detected in Nigeria in November 2012; since 2012, only WPV type 1 has been detected. Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV), usually type 2, continues to cause cases of paralytic polio in communities with low population immunity. In 2012, the World Health Assembly declared global polio eradication "a programmatic emergency for global public health", and in 2014, WHO declared the international spread of WPV to previously polio-free countries to be "a public health emergency of international concern". This report summarizes global progress toward polio eradication during 2014-2015 and updates previous reports. In 2014, a total of 359 WPV cases were reported in nine countries worldwide. Although reported WPV cases increased in Pakistan and Afghanistan, cases in Nigeria decreased substantially in 2014, and encouraging progress toward global WPV transmission interruption has occurred. Overcoming ongoing challenges to interruption of WPV transmission globally will require sustained programmatic enhancements, including improving the quality of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) to interrupt transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to prevent WPV exportation to polio-free countries.

Two-dimensional isobutyl acetate production pathways to improve carbon yield

PubMed Central

Tashiro, Yohei; Desai, Shuchi H.; Atsumi, Shota

2015-01-01

For an economically competitive biological process, achieving high carbon yield of a target chemical is crucial. In biochemical production, pyruvate and acetyl-CoA are primary building blocks. When sugar is used as the sole biosynthetic substrate, acetyl-CoA is commonly generated by pyruvate decarboxylation. However, pyruvate decarboxylation during acetyl-CoA formation limits the theoretical maximum carbon yield (TMCY) by releasing carbon, and in some cases also leads to redox imbalance. To avoid these problems, we describe here the construction of a metabolic pathway that simultaneously utilizes glucose and acetate. Acetate is utilized to produce acetyl-CoA without carbon loss or redox imbalance. We demonstrate the utility of this approach for isobutyl acetate (IBA) production, wherein IBA production with glucose and acetate achieves a higher carbon yield than with either sole carbon source. These results highlight the potential for this multiple carbon source approach to improve the TMCY and balance redox in biosynthetic pathways. PMID:26108471

Yield gaps and yield relationships in US soybean production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The magnitude of yield gaps (YG) (potential yield – farmer yield) provides some indication of the prospects for increasing crop yield to meet the food demands of future populations. Quantile regression analysis was applied to county soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] yields (1971 – 2011) from Kentuc...

Global crop yield response to extreme heat stress under multiple climate change futures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deryng, D.; Conway, D.; Ramankutty, N.; Price, J.; Warren, R.

2014-12-01

Extreme heat stress during the crop reproductive period can be critical for crop productivity. Projected changes in the frequency and severity of extreme climatic events are expected to negatively impact crop yields and global food production. This study applies the global crop model PEGASUS to quantify, for the first time at the global scale, impacts of extreme heat stress on maize, spring wheat and soybean yields resulting from 72 climate change scenarios for the 21st century. Our results project maize to face progressively worse impacts under a range of RCPs but spring wheat and soybean to improve globally through to the 2080s due to CO2 fertilization effects, even though parts of the tropic and sub-tropic regions could face substantial yield declines. We find extreme heat stress at anthesis (HSA) by the 2080s (relative to the 1980s) under RCP 8.5, taking into account CO2 fertilization effects, could double global losses of maize yield (dY = -12.8 ± 6.7% versus -7.0 ± 5.3% without HSA), reduce projected gains in spring wheat yield by half (dY = 34.3 ± 13.5% versus 72.0 ± 10.9% without HSA) and in soybean yield by a quarter (dY = 15.3 ± 26.5% versus 20.4 ± 22.1% without HSA). The range reflects uncertainty due to differences between climate model scenarios; soybean exhibits both positive and negative impacts, maize is generally negative and spring wheat generally positive. Furthermore, when assuming CO2 fertilization effects to be negligible, we observe drastic climate mitigation policy as in RCP 2.6 could avoid more than 80% of the global average yield losses otherwise expected by the 2080s under RCP 8.5. We show large disparities in climate impacts across regions and find extreme heat stress adversely affects major producing regions and lower income countries.

Global crop yield response to extreme heat stress under multiple climate change futures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deryng, Delphine; Conway, Declan; Ramankutty, Navin; Price, Jeff; Warren, Rachel

2014-03-01

Extreme heat stress during the crop reproductive period can be critical for crop productivity. Projected changes in the frequency and severity of extreme climatic events are expected to negatively impact crop yields and global food production. This study applies the global crop model PEGASUS to quantify, for the first time at the global scale, impacts of extreme heat stress on maize, spring wheat and soybean yields resulting from 72 climate change scenarios for the 21st century. Our results project maize to face progressively worse impacts under a range of RCPs but spring wheat and soybean to improve globally through to the 2080s due to CO2 fertilization effects, even though parts of the tropic and sub-tropic regions could face substantial yield declines. We find extreme heat stress at anthesis (HSA) by the 2080s (relative to the 1980s) under RCP 8.5, taking into account CO2 fertilization effects, could double global losses of maize yield (ΔY = -12.8 ± 6.7% versus - 7.0 ± 5.3% without HSA), reduce projected gains in spring wheat yield by half (ΔY = 34.3 ± 13.5% versus 72.0 ± 10.9% without HSA) and in soybean yield by a quarter (ΔY = 15.3 ± 26.5% versus 20.4 ± 22.1% without HSA). The range reflects uncertainty due to differences between climate model scenarios; soybean exhibits both positive and negative impacts, maize is generally negative and spring wheat generally positive. Furthermore, when assuming CO2 fertilization effects to be negligible, we observe drastic climate mitigation policy as in RCP 2.6 could avoid more than 80% of the global average yield losses otherwise expected by the 2080s under RCP 8.5. We show large disparities in climate impacts across regions and find extreme heat stress adversely affects major producing regions and lower income countries.

Contribution of insect pollinators to crop yield and quality varies with agricultural intensification

PubMed Central

Potts, Simon G.; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Vaissière, Bernard E.; Woyciechowski, Michal; Krewenka, Kristin M.; Tscheulin, Thomas; Roberts, Stuart P.M.; Szentgyörgyi, Hajnalka; Westphal, Catrin; Bommarco, Riccardo

2014-01-01

Background. Up to 75% of crop species benefit at least to some degree from animal pollination for fruit or seed set and yield. However, basic information on the level of pollinator dependence and pollinator contribution to yield is lacking for many crops. Even less is known about how insect pollination affects crop quality. Given that habitat loss and agricultural intensification are known to decrease pollinator richness and abundance, there is a need to assess the consequences for different components of crop production. Methods. We used pollination exclusion on flowers or inflorescences on a whole plant basis to assess the contribution of insect pollination to crop yield and quality in four flowering crops (spring oilseed rape, field bean, strawberry, and buckwheat) located in four regions of Europe. For each crop, we recorded abundance and species richness of flower visiting insects in ten fields located along a gradient from simple to heterogeneous landscapes. Results. Insect pollination enhanced average crop yield between 18 and 71% depending on the crop. Yield quality was also enhanced in most crops. For instance, oilseed rape had higher oil and lower chlorophyll contents when adequately pollinated, the proportion of empty seeds decreased in buckwheat, and strawberries’ commercial grade improved; however, we did not find higher nitrogen content in open pollinated field beans. Complex landscapes had a higher overall species richness of wild pollinators across crops, but visitation rates were only higher in complex landscapes for some crops. On the contrary, the overall yield was consistently enhanced by higher visitation rates, but not by higher pollinator richness. Discussion. For the four crops in this study, there is clear benefit delivered by pollinators on yield quantity and/or quality, but it is not maximized under current agricultural intensification. Honeybees, the most abundant pollinator, might partially compensate the loss of wild pollinators in

Contribution of insect pollinators to crop yield and quality varies with agricultural intensification.

PubMed

Bartomeus, Ignasi; Potts, Simon G; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Vaissière, Bernard E; Woyciechowski, Michal; Krewenka, Kristin M; Tscheulin, Thomas; Roberts, Stuart P M; Szentgyörgyi, Hajnalka; Westphal, Catrin; Bommarco, Riccardo

2014-01-01

Background. Up to 75% of crop species benefit at least to some degree from animal pollination for fruit or seed set and yield. However, basic information on the level of pollinator dependence and pollinator contribution to yield is lacking for many crops. Even less is known about how insect pollination affects crop quality. Given that habitat loss and agricultural intensification are known to decrease pollinator richness and abundance, there is a need to assess the consequences for different components of crop production. Methods. We used pollination exclusion on flowers or inflorescences on a whole plant basis to assess the contribution of insect pollination to crop yield and quality in four flowering crops (spring oilseed rape, field bean, strawberry, and buckwheat) located in four regions of Europe. For each crop, we recorded abundance and species richness of flower visiting insects in ten fields located along a gradient from simple to heterogeneous landscapes. Results. Insect pollination enhanced average crop yield between 18 and 71% depending on the crop. Yield quality was also enhanced in most crops. For instance, oilseed rape had higher oil and lower chlorophyll contents when adequately pollinated, the proportion of empty seeds decreased in buckwheat, and strawberries' commercial grade improved; however, we did not find higher nitrogen content in open pollinated field beans. Complex landscapes had a higher overall species richness of wild pollinators across crops, but visitation rates were only higher in complex landscapes for some crops. On the contrary, the overall yield was consistently enhanced by higher visitation rates, but not by higher pollinator richness. Discussion. For the four crops in this study, there is clear benefit delivered by pollinators on yield quantity and/or quality, but it is not maximized under current agricultural intensification. Honeybees, the most abundant pollinator, might partially compensate the loss of wild pollinators in

WorldWide Web: Hypertext from CERN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickerson, Gord

1992-01-01

Discussion of software tools for accessing information on the Internet focuses on the WorldWideWeb (WWW) system, which was developed at the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) in Switzerland to build a worldwide network of hypertext links using available networking technology. Its potential for use with multimedia documents is also…

Worldwide epidemiology of fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Queiroz, Luiz Paulo

2013-08-01

Studying the epidemiology of fibromyalgia (FM) is very important to understand the impact of this disorder on persons, families and society. The recent modified 2010 classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), without the need of tender points palpation, allows that larger and nationwide surveys may be done, worldwide. This article reviews the prevalence and incidence studies done in the general population, in several countries/continents, the prevalence of FM in special groups/settings, the association of FM with some sociodemographic characteristics of the population, and the comorbidity of FM with others disorders, especially with headaches.

Smartphone applications to support weight loss: current perspectives

PubMed Central

Pellegrini, Christine A; Pfammatter, Angela F; Conroy, David E; Spring, Bonnie

2015-01-01

Lower cost alternatives are needed for the traditional in-person behavioral weight loss programs to overcome challenges of lowering the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity. Smartphones have become ubiquitous and provide a unique platform to aid in the delivery of a behavioral weight loss program. The technological capabilities of a smartphone may address certain limitations of a traditional weight loss program, while also reducing the cost and burden on participants, interventionists, and health care providers. Awareness of the advantages smartphones offer for weight loss has led to the rapid development and proliferation of weight loss applications (apps). The built-in features and the mechanisms by which they work vary across apps. Although there are an extraordinary number of a weight loss apps available, most lack the same magnitude of evidence-based behavior change strategies typically used in traditional programs. As features develop and new capabilities are identified, we propose a conceptual model as a framework to guide the inclusion of features that can facilitate behavior change and lead to reductions in weight. Whereas the conventional wisdom about behavior change asserts that more is better (with respect to the number of behavior change techniques involved), this model suggests that less may be more because extra techniques may add burden and adversely impact engagement. Current evidence is promising and continues to emerge on the potential of smartphone use within weight loss programs; yet research is unable to keep up with the rapidly improving smartphone technology. Future studies are needed to refine the conceptual model’s utility in the use of technology for weight loss, determine the effectiveness of intervention components utilizing smartphone technology, and identify novel and faster ways to evaluate the ever-changing technology. PMID:26236766

Reduced voltage losses yield 10% efficient fullerene free organic solar cells with >1 V open circuit voltages.

PubMed

Baran, D; Kirchartz, T; Wheeler, S; Dimitrov, S; Abdelsamie, M; Gorman, J; Ashraf, R S; Holliday, S; Wadsworth, A; Gasparini, N; Kaienburg, P; Yan, H; Amassian, A; Brabec, C J; Durrant, J R; McCulloch, I

2016-12-01

Optimization of the energy levels at the donor-acceptor interface of organic solar cells has driven their efficiencies to above 10%. However, further improvements towards efficiencies comparable with inorganic solar cells remain challenging because of high recombination losses, which empirically limit the open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) to typically less than 1 V. Here we show that this empirical limit can be overcome using non-fullerene acceptors blended with the low band gap polymer PffBT4T-2DT leading to efficiencies approaching 10% (9.95%). We achieve V oc up to 1.12 V, which corresponds to a loss of only E g / q - V oc = 0.5 ± 0.01 V between the optical bandgap E g of the polymer and V oc . This high V oc is shown to be associated with the achievement of remarkably low non-geminate and non-radiative recombination losses in these devices. Suppression of non-radiative recombination implies high external electroluminescence quantum efficiencies which are orders of magnitude higher than those of equivalent devices employing fullerene acceptors. Using the balance between reduced recombination losses and good photocurrent generation efficiencies achieved experimentally as a baseline for simulations of the efficiency potential of organic solar cells, we estimate that efficiencies of up to 20% are achievable if band gaps and fill factors are further optimized.

Resistance to Phakopsora pachyrhizi in soybean PI 587905 maps to the Rpp1 locus and exhibits variable dominance associated with plant ontogeny

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean rust, caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi Sydow, results in significant yield loss worldwide. Soybean accession PI 587905, previously identified as having resistance to P. pachyrhizi, was used to create two independent populations (F2 plants and F2-derived F3 lines) segregating for resistance. ...

Isolation of nematode DNA from 100 grams of soil using Fe3O4 super paramagnetic nanoparticles

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soilborne plant-parasitic nematodes cause losses through yield reductions and damage to a broad range of crops worldwide. Control of plant-parasitic nematodes often relies on application of fumigants or non-fumigant nematicides without knowledge of the presence of the nematodes or population densiti...

Sequence variation and recognition specificity of the avirulence gene AvrPiz-t in Magnaporthe oryzae field populations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Magnaporthe oryzae, the rice blast pathogen, causes significant annual yield loss of rice worldwide. Currently, the most effective disease control approach is deployment of host resistance through introduction of resistance (R) genes into elite cultivars. The function of each R gene relies on the sp...

Potato cyst nematodes: pests of national importance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN; G. rostochiensis and G. pallida) are internationally-recognized quarantine pests and considered the most devastating pests of potatoes due to annual worldwide yield losses estimated at 12.2%. PCNs continue to spread throughout North America and were recently detected in I...

Genome-scale examination of NBS-encoding genes in blueberry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Blueberry is an important crop worldwide. It is, however, susceptible to a variety of diseases, which can lead to losses in yield and fruit quality. Although screening studies have identified resistant germplasm for some important diseases, still little is known about the molecular basis underlying...

Developing a real-time PCR assay for direct identification and quantification of Pratylenchus penetrans in soil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans is a major pathogen of potato world-wide. Yield losses may be exacerbated by interaction with the fungus Verticillium dahliae in the Potato early dying disease complex. Accurate identification and quantification of P. penetrans prior to planting are es...

A threshold-based weather model for predicting stripe rust infection in winter wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Wheat stripe rust (WSR) (caused by Puccinia striiformis sp. tritici) is a major threat in most wheat growing regions worldwide, with potential to inflict regular yield losses when environmental conditions are favorable. We propose a threshold-based disease-forecasting model using a stepwise modeling...

Varroa destructor: research avenues towards sustainable control

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pollination by honeybees plays a key role in the functioning of ecosystems and optimization of agricultural yields. Severe honeybee colony losses worldwide have raised concerns about the sustainability of these pollination services. In most cases, bee morbidity appears to be the product of many inte...

Relationship of soil properties and sugarcane yields to red stripe in Louisiana

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Red stripe of sugarcane caused by Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae consists of two forms: leaf stripe and top rot. Symptoms of red stripe in Louisiana observed by the authors between 1985 and 2010 were limited to the leaf stripe form which caused no apparent yield loss. During 2010, the more severe t...

Species traits outweigh nested structure in driving the effects of realistic biodiversity loss on productivity.

PubMed

Wolfi, Amelia A; Zavaleta, Erika S

2015-01-01

While most studies of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have examined randomized diversity losses, several recent experiments have employed nested, realistic designs and found that realistic species losses had larger consequences than random losses for ecosystem functioning. Progressive, realistic, biodiversity losses are generally strongly nested, but this nestedness is a potentially confounding effect. Here, we address whether nonrandom trait loss or degree of nestedness drives the relationship between diversity and productivity in a realistic biodiversity-loss experiment. We isolated the effect of nestedness through post hoc analyses of data from an experimental biodiversity manipulation in a California serpentine grassland. We found that the order in which plant traits are lost as diversity declines influences the diversity-productivity relationship more than the degree of nestedness does. Understanding the relationship between the expected order of species loss and functional traits is becoming increasingly important in the face of ongoing biodiversity loss worldwide. Our findings illustrate the importance of species composition and the order of species loss, rather than nestedness per se, for understanding the mechanisms underlying the effects of realistic species losses on ecosystem functioning.

Predicting successful long-term weight loss from short-term weight-loss outcomes: new insights from a dynamic energy balance model (the POUNDS Lost study)123

PubMed Central

Ivanescu, Andrada E; Martin, Corby K; Heymsfield, Steven B; Marshall, Kaitlyn; Bodrato, Victoria E; Williamson, Donald A; Anton, Stephen D; Sacks, Frank M; Ryan, Donna; Bray, George A

2015-01-01

Background: Currently, early weight-loss predictions of long-term weight-loss success rely on fixed percent-weight-loss thresholds. Objective: The objective was to develop thresholds during the first 3 mo of intervention that include the influence of age, sex, baseline weight, percent weight loss, and deviations from expected weight to predict whether a participant is likely to lose 5% or more body weight by year 1. Design: Data consisting of month 1, 2, 3, and 12 treatment weights were obtained from the 2-y Preventing Obesity Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS Lost) intervention. Logistic regression models that included covariates of age, height, sex, baseline weight, target energy intake, percent weight loss, and deviation of actual weight from expected were developed for months 1, 2, and 3 that predicted the probability of losing <5% of body weight in 1 y. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, area under the curve (AUC), and thresholds were calculated for each model. The AUC statistic quantified the ROC curve’s capacity to classify participants likely to lose <5% of their body weight at the end of 1 y. The models yielding the highest AUC were retained as optimal. For comparison with current practice, ROC curves relying solely on percent weight loss were also calculated. Results: Optimal models for months 1, 2, and 3 yielded ROC curves with AUCs of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.63, 0.74), 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.81), and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.84), respectively. Percent weight loss alone was not better at identifying true positives than random chance (AUC ≤0.50). Conclusions: The newly derived models provide a personalized prediction of long-term success from early weight-loss variables. The predictions improve on existing fixed percent-weight-loss thresholds. Future research is needed to explore model application for informing treatment approaches during early intervention. The POUNDS Lost study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00072995. PMID:25733628

Optimizing rice yields while minimizing yield-scaled global warming potential.

PubMed

Pittelkow, Cameron M; Adviento-Borbe, Maria A; van Kessel, Chris; Hill, James E; Linquist, Bruce A

2014-05-01

To meet growing global food demand with limited land and reduced environmental impact, agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are increasingly evaluated with respect to crop productivity, i.e., on a yield-scaled as opposed to area basis. Here, we compiled available field data on CH4 and N2 O emissions from rice production systems to test the hypothesis that in response to fertilizer nitrogen (N) addition, yield-scaled global warming potential (GWP) will be minimized at N rates that maximize yields. Within each study, yield N surplus was calculated to estimate deficit or excess N application rates with respect to the optimal N rate (defined as the N rate at which maximum yield was achieved). Relationships between yield N surplus and GHG emissions were assessed using linear and nonlinear mixed-effects models. Results indicate that yields increased in response to increasing N surplus when moving from deficit to optimal N rates. At N rates contributing to a yield N surplus, N2 O and yield-scaled N2 O emissions increased exponentially. In contrast, CH4 emissions were not impacted by N inputs. Accordingly, yield-scaled CH4 emissions decreased with N addition. Overall, yield-scaled GWP was minimized at optimal N rates, decreasing by 21% compared to treatments without N addition. These results are unique compared to aerobic cropping systems in which N2 O emissions are the primary contributor to GWP, meaning yield-scaled GWP may not necessarily decrease for aerobic crops when yields are optimized by N fertilizer addition. Balancing gains in agricultural productivity with climate change concerns, this work supports the concept that high rice yields can be achieved with minimal yield-scaled GWP through optimal N application rates. Moreover, additional improvements in N use efficiency may further reduce yield-scaled GWP, thereby strengthening the economic and environmental sustainability of rice systems. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Subplots facilitate assessment of corn yield losses from weed competition in a long-term systems experiment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Weeds can potentially limit crop yield, particularly in organic systems where herbicide technologies are unavailable. Weedy and weed-free subplots were established within full plots of a long-term cropping systems experiment, the Farming Systems Project, at Beltsville, Maryland, USA, to determine t...

Contemporary use and practice of electroconvulsive therapy worldwide

PubMed Central

Leiknes, Kari Ann; Jarosh-von Schweder, Lindy; Høie, Bjørg

2012-01-01

To explore contemporary (from 1990) utilization and practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) worldwide. Systematic search (limited to studies published 1990 and after) was undertaken in the databases Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, SveMed, and EBSCO/Cinahl. Primary data-based studies/surveys with reported ECT utilization and practice in psychiatric institutions internationally, nationally, and regionally; city were included. Two reviewers independently checked study titles and abstracts according to inclusion criteria, and extracted ECT utilization and practice data from those retrieved in full text. Seventy studies were included, seven from Australia and New Zealand, three Africa, 12 North and Latin America, 33 Europe, and 15 Asia. Worldwide ECT differences and trends were evident, average number ECTs administered per patient were eight; unmodified (without anesthesia) was used in Asia (over 90%), Africa, Latin America, Russia, Turkey, Spain. Worldwide preferred electrode placement was bilateral, except unilateral at some places (Europe and Australia/New Zealand). Although mainstream was brief-pulse wave, sine-wave devices were still used. Majority ECT treated were older women with depression in Western countries, versus younger men with schizophrenia in Asian countries. ECT under involuntary conditions (admissions), use of ambulatory-ECT, acute first line of treatment, as well as administered by other professions (geriatricians, nurses) were noted by some sites. General trends were only some institutions within the same country providing ECT, training inadequate, and guidelines not followed. Mandatory reporting and overall country ECT register data were sparse. Many patients are still treated with unmodified ECT today. Large global variation in ECT utilization, administration, and practice advocates a need for worldwide sharing of knowledge about ECT, reflection, and learning from each other's experiences. PMID:22741102

World-Wide Web: The Information Universe.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berners-Lee, Tim; And Others

1992-01-01

Describes the World-Wide Web (W3) project, which is designed to create a global information universe using techniques of hypertext, information retrieval, and wide area networking. Discussion covers the W3 data model, W3 architecture, the document naming scheme, protocols, document formats, comparison with other systems, experience with the W3…

Fiber-optic photoelastic pressure sensor with fiber-loss compensation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beheim, G.; Anthan, D. J.

1987-01-01

A new fiber-optic pressure sensor is described that has high immunity to the effects of fiber-loss variations. This device uses the photoelastic effect to modulate the proportion of the light from each of two input fibers that is coupled into each of two output fibers. This four-fiber link permits two detectors to be used to measure the sensor's responses to the light from each of two independently controlled sources. These four detector outputs are processed to yield a loss-compensated signal that is a stable and sensitive pressure indicator.

Nitrate loss in subsurface drainage and corn yield as affected by timing of sidedress nitrogen

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Using chlorophyll meters, crop sensors, or aerial photography to fine-tune sidedress N application rates have been proposed for optimizing and perhaps reducing overall N fertilizer use on corn (Zea mays L.) and thereby improving water quality by reducing NO3 losses to surface and ground waters. Howe...

Global genetic analyses reveal strong inter-ethnic variability in the loss of activity of the organic cation transporter OCT1.

PubMed

Seitz, Tina; Stalmann, Robert; Dalila, Nawar; Chen, Jiayin; Pojar, Sherin; Dos Santos Pereira, Joao N; Krätzner, Ralph; Brockmöller, Jürgen; Tzvetkov, Mladen V

2015-01-01

The organic cation transporter OCT1 (SLC22A1) mediates the uptake of vitamin B1, cationic drugs, and xenobiotics into hepatocytes. Nine percent of Caucasians lack or have very low OCT1 activity due to loss-of-function polymorphisms in OCT1 gene. Here we analyzed the global genetic variability in OCT1 to estimate the therapeutic relevance of OCT1 polymorphisms in populations beyond Caucasians and to identify evolutionary patterns of the common loss of OCT1 activity in humans. We applied massively parallel sequencing to screen for coding polymorphisms in 1,079 unrelated individuals from 53 populations worldwide. The obtained data was combined with the existing 1000 Genomes data comprising an additional 1,092 individuals from 14 populations. The identified OCT1 variants were characterized in vitro regarding their cellular localization and their ability to transport 10 known OCT1 substrates. Both the population genetics data and transport data were used in tandem to generate a world map of loss of OCT1 activity. We identified 16 amino acid substitutions potentially causing loss of OCT1 function and analyzed them together with five amino acid substitutions that were not expected to affect OCT1 function. The variants constituted 16 major alleles and 14 sub-alleles. Six major alleles showed improper subcellular localization leading to substrate-wide loss in activity. Five major alleles showed correct subcellular localization, but substrate-specific loss of activity. Striking differences were observed in the frequency of loss of OCT1 activity worldwide. While most East Asian and Oceanian individuals had completely functional OCT1, 80 % of native South American Indians lacked functional OCT1 alleles. In East Asia and Oceania the average nucleotide diversity of the loss-of-function variants was much lower than that of the variants that do not affect OCT1 function (ratio of 0.03) and was significantly lower than the theoretically expected heterozygosity (Tajima's D = -1

Enhanced-efficiency fertilizer effects on cotton yield and quality in the Coastal Plains

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Interest in the use of enhanced-efficiency N fertilizer (EENFs) sources has increased in recent years due to the potential of these new EENF sources to increase crop yield, while at the same time decreasing N loss from agricultural fields. The efficacy of these fertilizer sources on cotton productio...

Sputtering yields of carbon based materials under high particle flux with low energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, K.; Nagase, A.; Dairaku, M.; Akiba, M.; Araki, M.; Okumura, Y.

1995-04-01

A new ion source which can produce high particle flux beams at low energies has been developed. This paper presents preliminary results on the sputtering yield of the carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFCs) measured with the new ion source. The sputtering yields of 1D and 2D CFCs, which are candidate materials for the divertor armour tiles, have been measured by the weight loss method under the hydrogen and deuterium particle fluxes of 2 ˜ 7 × 10 20/m 2 s at 50 ˜ 150 eV. Preferential sputtering of the matrix was observed on CFCs which included the matrix of 40 ˜ 60 w%. The energy dependence of the sputtering yields was weak. The sputtering yields of CFCs normally irradiated with deuterium beam were from 0.073 to 0.095, and were around three times larger than those with hydrogen beam.

Probabilistic Forecasting of Life and Economic Losses due to Natural Disasters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barton, C. C.; Tebbens, S. F.

2014-12-01

The magnitude of natural hazard events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods are traditionally measured by wind speed, energy release, or discharge. In this study we investigate the scaling of the magnitude of individual events of the 20th and 21stcentury in terms of economic and life losses in the United States and worldwide. Economic losses are subdivided into insured and total losses. Some data sets are inflation or population adjusted. Forecasts associated with these events are of interest to insurance, reinsurance, and emergency management agencies. Plots of cumulative size-frequency distributions of economic and life loss are well-fit by power functions and thus exhibit self-similar scaling. This self-similar scaling property permits use of frequent small events to estimate the rate of occurrence of less frequent larger events. Examining the power scaling behavior of loss data for disasters permits: forecasting the probability of occurrence of a disaster over a wide range of years (1 to 10 to 1,000 years); comparing losses associated with one type of disaster to another; comparing disasters in one region to similar disasters in another region; and, measuring the effectiveness of planning and mitigation strategies. In the United States, life losses due to flood and tornado cumulative-frequency distributions have steeper slopes, indicating that frequent smaller events contribute the majority of losses. In contrast, life losses due to hurricanes and earthquakes have shallower slopes, indicating that the few larger events contribute the majority of losses. Disaster planning and mitigation strategies should incorporate these differences.

Neurocysticercosis as an infectious acquired epilepsy worldwide.

PubMed

Reddy, Doodipala Samba; Volkmer, Randy

2017-11-01

Aside from brain injury and genetic causes, there is emerging information on brain infection and inflammation as a common cause of epilepsy. Neurocysticercosis (NCC), the most common cause of epilepsy worldwide, is caused by brain cysts from the Taenia solium tapeworm. In this article, we provide a critical analysis of current and emerging information on the relationship between NCC infection and epilepsy occurrence. We searched PubMed and other databases for reports on the prevalence of NCC and incidence of epilepsy in certain regions worldwide. NCC is caused by brain cysts from the T. solium and related tapeworms. Many people with NCC infection may develop epilepsy but the rates are highly variable. MRI imaging shows many changes including localization of cysts as well as the host response to treatment. Epilepsy, in a subset of NCC patients, appears to be due to hippocampal sclerosis. Serologic and brain imaging profiles are likely diagnostic biomarkers of NCC infection and are also used to monitor the course of treatments. Limited access to these tools is a key limitation to identify and treat NCC-related epilepsy in places with high prevalence of this parasite infestation. Overall, NCC is a common infection in many patients with epilepsy worldwide. Additional clinical and animal studies could confirm common pathology of NCC as a postinfectious epilepsy that is curable. Copyright © 2017 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Yield Potential of Sugar Beet – Have We Hit the Ceiling?

PubMed Central

Hoffmann, Christa M.; Kenter, Christine

2018-01-01

The yield of sugar beet has continuously increased in the past decades. The question arises, whether this progress will continue in the future. A key factor for increasing yield potential of the crop is breeding progress. It was related to a shift in assimilate partitioning in the plant toward more storage carbohydrates (sucrose), whereas structural carbohydrates (leaves, cell wall compounds) unintendedly declined. The yield potential of sugar beet was estimated at 24 t sugar ha-1. For maximum yield, sufficient growth factors have to be available and the crop has to be able to fully utilize them. In sugar beet, limitations result from the lacking coincidence of maximum irradiation rates and full canopy cover, sink strength for carbon assimilation and high water demand, which cannot be met by rainfall alone. After harvest, sugar losses during storage occur. The paper discusses options for a further increase in yield potential, like autumn sowing of sugar beet, increasing sink strength and related constraints. It is prospected that yield increase by further widening the ratio of storage and structural carbohydrates will come to its natural limit as a certain cell wall stability is necessary. New challenges caused by climate change and by prolonged processing campaigns will occur. Thus breeding for improved pathogen resistance and storage properties will be even more important for successful sugar beet production than a further increase in yield potential itself. PMID:29599787

Using WorldWide Telescope in Observing, Research and Presentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, Douglas A.; Fay, J.

2014-01-01

WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is free software that enables researchers to interactively explore observational data using a user-friendly interface. Reference, all-sky datasets and pointed observations are available as layers along with the ability to easily overlay additional FITS images and catalog data. Connections to the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) are included which enable visual investigation using WWT to drive document searches in ADS. WWT can be used to capture and share visual exploration with colleagues during observational planning and analysis. Finally, researchers can use WorldWide Telescope to create videos for professional, education and outreach presentations. I will conclude with an example of how I have used WWT in a research project. Specifically, I will discuss how WorldWide Telescope helped our group to prepare for radio observations and following them, in the analysis of multi-wavelength data taken in the inner parsec of the Galaxy. A concluding video will show how WWT brought together disparate datasets in a unified interactive visualization environment.

Modeling stiffness loss in boron/aluminum below the fatigue limit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, W. S.

1982-01-01

Boron/aluminum can develop significant internal matrix cracking when fatigued. These matrix cracks can result in a 40 percent secant modulus loss in some laminates, even when fatigued below the fatigue limit. It is shown that the same amount of fatigue damage will develop during stress or strain-controlled tests. Stacking sequence has little influence on secant modulus loss. The secant modulus loss in unidirectional composites is small, whereas the losses are substantial in laminates containing off-axis plies. A simple analysis is presented that predicts unnotched laminate secant modulus loss due to fatigue. The analysis is based upon the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio of the fiber and matrix, fiber volume fraction, fiber orientations, and the cyclic-hardened yield stress of the matrix material. Excellent agreement was achieved between model predictions and experimental results. With this model, designers can project the material stiffness loss for design load or strain levels and assess the feasibility of its use in stiffness-critical parts.

CDK2 inhibitors as candidate therapeutics for cisplatin- and noise-induced hearing loss

PubMed Central

Teitz, Tal; Fang, Jie; Goktug, Asli N.; Bonga, Justine D.; Diao, Shiyong; Iconaru, Luigi; Morfouace, Marie; Currier, Duane; Zhou, Yinmei; Umans, Robyn A.; Taylor, Michael R.; Cheng, Cheng; Peng, Junmin; Roussel, Martine F.; Kriwacki, Richard; Guy, R. Kiplin; Chen, Taosheng

2018-01-01

Hearing loss caused by aging, noise, cisplatin toxicity, or other insults affects 360 million people worldwide, but there are no Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs to prevent or treat it. We screened 4,385 small molecules in a cochlear cell line and identified 10 compounds that protected against cisplatin toxicity in mouse cochlear explants. Among them, kenpaullone, an inhibitor of multiple kinases, including cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), protected zebrafish lateral-line neuromasts from cisplatin toxicity and, when delivered locally, protected adult mice and rats against cisplatin- and noise-induced hearing loss. CDK2-deficient mice displayed enhanced resistance to cisplatin toxicity in cochlear explants and to cisplatin- and noise-induced hearing loss in vivo. Mechanistically, we showed that kenpaullone directly inhibits CDK2 kinase activity and reduces cisplatin-induced mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species, thereby enhancing cell survival. Our experiments have revealed the proapoptotic function of CDK2 in postmitotic cochlear cells and have identified promising therapeutics for preventing hearing loss. PMID:29514916

Seasonal temperatures have more influence than nitrogen fertilizer rates on cucumber yield and nitrogen uptake in a double cropping system.

PubMed

Guo, Ruiying; Li, Xiaolin; Christie, Peter; Chen, Qing; Zhang, Fusuo

2008-02-01

Two-year greenhouse cucumber experiments were conducted to investigate seasonal effects on fruit yield, dry matter allocation, and N uptake in a double-cropping system with different fertilizer management. Seasonal effects were much greater than fertilizer effects, and winter-spring (WS) cucumber attained higher fruit yields and N uptake than autumn-winter (AW) cucumber due to lower cumulative air temperatures during fruit maturation in the AW season. Fertilizer N application and apparent N loss under recommended N management (Nmr) decreased by 40-78% and 33-48% without yield loss compared to conventional N management (Nmt) over four growing seasons. However, there were no seasonal differences in N recommendations, taking into consideration seasonal differences in crop N demand, critical nutrient supply in the root zone and N mineralization rate.

Estimation of soil loss by water erosion in the Chinese Loess Plateau using Universal Soil Loss Equation and GRACE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnitzer, S.; Seitz, F.; Eicker, A.; Güntner, A.; Wattenbach, M.; Menzel, A.

2013-06-01

For the estimation of soil loss by erosion in the strongly affected Chinese Loess Plateau we applied the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) using a number of input data sets (monthly precipitation, soil types, digital elevation model, land cover and soil conservation measures). Calculations were performed in ArcGIS and SAGA. The large-scale soil erosion in the Loess Plateau results in a strong non-hydrological mass change. In order to investigate whether the resulting mass change from USLE may be validated by the gravity field satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), we processed different GRACE level-2 products (ITG, GFZ and CSR). The mass variations estimated in the GRACE trend were relatively close to the observed sediment yield data of the Yellow River. However, the soil losses resulting from two USLE parameterizations were comparatively high since USLE does not consider the sediment delivery ratio. Most eroded soil stays in the study area and only a fraction is exported by the Yellow River. Thus, the resultant mass loss appears to be too small to be resolved by GRACE.

Development of DNA barcodes of genus Lygus Hahn (Hemiptera: Miridae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The genus Lygus (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important group of insects that contains 43 known species worldwide. Some species within this genus are important agricultural pests in North America. Annual economic impacts in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., from Lygus spp. due to yield losses and control ...

Genetic mapping of race-specific stem rust resistance in the synthetic hexaploid W7984 x Opata M85 mapping population

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) has historically caused severe yield losses of wheat (Triticum aestivum) worldwide and has been one of the most feared diseases of wheat and barley (Hordeum vulgare). Stem rust has been controlled successfully through the use of resistant varie...

Genome-wide association analysis of powdery mildew resistance in U.S. winter wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Wheat powdery mildew (PM), caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, is a major fungal disease of wheat worldwide. It can cause considerable yield losses when epidemics occur. Use of genetic resistance is the most effective approach to control the disease. To determine the genomic regions responsi...

Impacts of fungal stalk rot pathogens on physicochemical properties of sorghum grain

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stalk rot diseases are among the most ubiquitous and damaging fungal diseases of sorghum worldwide. Although reports of quantitative stalk rot yield losses are available, the impact of stalk rot on the physicochemical attributes of sorghum grain is currently unknown. This study was conducted to test...

Application of SWAT to assess the effects of land use change in the Murchison Bay catchment in Uganda

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a versatile model presently used worldwide to evaluate water quality and hydrological concerns under varying land use and environmental conditions. In this study, SWAT was used to simulate streamflow and to estimate sediment yield and nutrients loss from ...

Status of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus and its impact in different progenies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Yellow leaf disease caused by Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) a Polerovirus is an important disease for sugarcane industries worldwide. High yield losses up to 50% were reported in susceptible varieties. Most of the commercial cultivars in Florida are infected with SCYLV; therefore, there is a ...

Detection of novel QTLs for foxglove aphid resistance in soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Foxglove aphid, Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach), is a Hemipteran insect that infected a wide variety of plants worldwide and caused serious yield losses in crops. The objective of this study was to identify the putative QTL for foxglove aphid resistance in wild soybean, PI 366121, (Glycine soja Sieb...

A genome-wide association study of field and seedling response to stem rust pathogen races reveals combinations of race-specific resistance genes in North American spring wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stem rust of wheat caused by the fungal pathogen Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici historically caused major yield losses of wheat worldwide. To understand the genetic basis of stem rust resistance in conventional North American spring wheat, genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was conducted on a...

Rates of species loss from Amazonian forest fragments

PubMed Central

Ferraz, Gonçalo; Russell, Gareth J.; Stouffer, Philip C.; Bierregaard, Richard O.; Pimm, Stuart L.; Lovejoy, Thomas E.

2003-01-01

In the face of worldwide habitat fragmentation, managers need to devise a time frame for action. We ask how fast do understory bird species disappear from experimentally isolated plots in the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, central Amazon, Brazil. Our data consist of mist-net records obtained over a period of 13 years in 11 sites of 1, 10, and 100 hectares. The numbers of captures per species per unit time, analyzed under different simplifying assumptions, reveal a set of species-loss curves. From those declining numbers, we derive a scaling rule for the time it takes to lose half the species in a fragment as a function of its area. A 10-fold decrease in the rate of species loss requires a 1,000-fold increase in area. Fragments of 100 hectares lose one half of their species in <15 years, too short a time for implementing conservation measures. PMID:14614134

Environmental and plant community determinants of species loss following nitrogen enrichment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clark, C.M.; Cleland, E.E.; Collins, S.L.; Fargione, J.E.; Gough, L.; Gross, K.L.; Pennings, S.C.; Suding, K.N.; Grace, J.B.

2007-01-01

Global energy use and food production have increased nitrogen inputs to ecosystems worldwide, impacting plant community diversity, composition, and function. Previous studies show considerable variation across terrestrial herbaceous ecosystems in the magnitude of species loss following nitrogen (N) enrichment. What controls this variation remains unknown. We present results from 23 N-addition experiments across North America, representing a range of climatic, soil and plant community properties, to determine conditions that lead to greater diversity decline. Species loss in these communities ranged from 0 to 65% of control richness. Using hierarchical structural equation modelling, we found greater species loss in communities with a lower soil cation exchange capacity, colder regional temperature, and larger production increase following N addition, independent of initial species richness, plant productivity, and the relative abundance of most plant functional groups. Our results indicate sensitivity to N addition is co-determined by environmental conditions and production responsiveness, which overwhelm the effects of initial community structure and composition. ?? 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Relationships of Initial Population Densities of Meloidogyne incognita and M. hapla to Yield of Tomato

PubMed Central

Barker, K. R.; Shoemaker, P. B.; Nelson, L. A.

1976-01-01

Microplots 80 × 100 cm, infested with varying initial population densities (Pi) of Meloidogyne incognita or M. hapla, were planted to tomato at two locations. Experiments were conducted in a sandy loam soil at Fletcher, N. C. (mountains) where the mean temperature for May to September is ca 20.7 C, and in a loamy saml at Clayton, N. C. (coastal plain) where the mean temperature for May to Septemher is ca 24.8 C. In these experimentally infested plots, M. incognita and M. hapla caused maximunt yield losses of 20-30%, at lhe mountain site with Pi of 0-12,500 eggs and larvae/500 cm³ of soil. In the coaslal plain, M. incognita suppressed yields up to 85%, and M. hapla suppressed yields up to 50% in comparison with the noninfested control. A part of the high losses at this site apparently was due to M. incognita predisposing tomato to the early blight fungus. In a second experintent, in which a nematicide was used to obtain a range of Pis (with Pi as high as 25,000/50 cm³ of soil) at Fletcher, losses due to M. incognita were as great as 50%, but similar densities of M. hapla suppressed yields by only 10-25%. Approximate threshold densities for both species ranged from 500 to 1,000 larvae and eggs (higher for surviving larvae) for the mountain site, whereas nutnbers as low as 20 larvae/500 cm³ of soil of either species caused signiticant damage in the coastal plain. Chemical soil treatments proved useful in obtaining various initial population densities; however, problems were encountered in measuring effective inoculum after such treatments, especially in the heavier soil. PMID:19308228

Identification of saline soils with multi-year remote sensing of crop yields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lobell, D; Ortiz-Monasterio, I; Gurrola, F C

2006-10-17

Soil salinity is an important constraint to agricultural sustainability, but accurate information on its variation across agricultural regions or its impact on regional crop productivity remains sparse. We evaluated the relationships between remotely sensed wheat yields and salinity in an irrigation district in the Colorado River Delta Region. The goals of this study were to (1) document the relative importance of salinity as a constraint to regional wheat production and (2) develop techniques to accurately identify saline fields. Estimates of wheat yield from six years of Landsat data agreed well with ground-based records on individual fields (R{sup 2} = 0.65).more » Salinity measurements on 122 randomly selected fields revealed that average 0-60 cm salinity levels > 4 dS m{sup -1} reduced wheat yields, but the relative scarcity of such fields resulted in less than 1% regional yield loss attributable to salinity. Moreover, low yield was not a reliable indicator of high salinity, because many other factors contributed to yield variability in individual years. However, temporal analysis of yield images showed a significant fraction of fields exhibited consistently low yields over the six year period. A subsequent survey of 60 additional fields, half of which were consistently low yielding, revealed that this targeted subset had significantly higher salinity at 30-60 cm depth than the control group (p = 0.02). These results suggest that high subsurface salinity is associated with consistently low yields in this region, and that multi-year yield maps derived from remote sensing therefore provide an opportunity to map salinity across agricultural regions.« less

Postpartum body condition score and results from the first test day milk as predictors of disease, fertility, yield, and culling in commercial dairy herds.

PubMed

Heuer, C; Schukken, Y H; Dobbelaar, P

1999-02-01

The study used field data from a regular herd health service to investigate the relationships between body condition scores or first test day milk data and disease incidence, milk yield, fertility, and culling. Path model analysis with adjustment for time at risk was applied to delineate the time sequence of events. Milk fever occurred more often in fat cows, and endometritis occurred between calving and 20 d of lactation more often in thin cows. Fat cows were less likely to conceive at first service than were cows in normal condition. Fat body condition postpartum, higher first test day milk yield, and a fat to protein ratio of > 1.5 increased body condition loss. Fat or thin condition or condition loss was not related to other lactation diseases, fertility parameters, milk yield, or culling. First test day milk yield was 1.3 kg higher after milk fever and was 7.1 kg lower after displaced abomasum. Higher first test day milk yield directly increased the risk of ovarian cyst and lameness, increased 100-d milk yield, and reduced the risk of culling and indirectly decreased reproductive performance. Cows with a fat to protein ratio of > 1.5 had higher risks for ketosis, displaced abomasum, ovarian cyst, lameness, and mastitis. Those cows produced more milk but showed poor reproductive performance. Given this type of herd health data, we concluded that the first test day milk yield and the fat to protein ratio were more reliable indicators of disease, fertility, and milk yield than was body condition score or loss of body condition score.

Mangroves in the Gulf of California increase fishery yields

PubMed Central

Aburto-Oropeza, Octavio; Ezcurra, Exequiel; Danemann, Gustavo; Valdez, Víctor; Murray, Jason; Sala, Enric

2008-01-01

Mangroves are disappearing rapidly worldwide despite their well documented biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide. Failure to link ecological processes and their societal benefits has favored highly destructive aquaculture and tourism developments that threaten mangroves and result in costly “externalities.” Specifically, the potentially irreparable damage to fisheries because of mangrove loss has been belittled and is greatly underestimated. Here, we show that, in the Gulf of California, fisheries landings are positively related to the local abundance of mangroves and, in particular, to the productive area in the mangrove–water fringe that is used as nursery and/or feeding grounds by many commercial species. Mangrove-related fish and crab species account for 32% of the small-scale fisheries landings in the region. The annual economic median value of these fisheries is US $37,500 per hectare of mangrove fringe, falling within the higher end of values previously calculated worldwide for all mangrove services together. The ten-year discounted value of one hectare of fringe is >300 times the official cost set by the Mexican government. The destruction of mangroves has a strong economic impact on local fishing communities and on food production in the region. Our valuation of the services provided by mangroves may prove useful in making appropriate decisions for a more efficient and sustainable use of wetlands. PMID:18645185

Specific yield: compilation of specific yields for various materials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, A.I.

1967-01-01

Specific yield is defined as the ratio of (1) the volume of water that a saturated rock or soil will yield by gravity to (2) the total volume of the rock or soft. Specific yield is usually expressed as a percentage. The value is not definitive, because the quantity of water that will drain by gravity depends on variables such as duration of drainage, temperature, mineral composition of the water, and various physical characteristics of the rock or soil under consideration. Values of specific yields nevertheless offer a convenient means by which hydrologists can estimate the water-yielding capacities of earth materials and, as such, are very useful in hydrologic studies. The present report consists mostly of direct or modified quotations from many selected reports that present and evaluate methods for determining specific yield, limitations of those methods, and results of the determinations made on a wide variety of rock and soil materials. Although no particular values are recommended in this report, a table summarizes values of specific yield, and their averages, determined for 10 rock textures. The following is an abstract of the table. [Table

Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Crop genetic diversity is concentrated within specific geographic regions worldwide. While access to this diversity is critical to continued increases in agricultural productivity, the geopolitical significance of the geography of crop diversity has not been quantified. We assess the degree to which...

Using Socioeconomic Data to Calibrate Loss Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holliday, J. R.; Rundle, J. B.

2013-12-01

One of the loftier goals in seismic hazard analysis is the creation of an end-to-end earthquake prediction system: a "rupture to rafters" work flow that takes a prediction of fault rupture, propagates it with a ground shaking model, and outputs a damage or loss profile at a given location. So far, the initial prediction of an earthquake rupture (either as a point source or a fault system) has proven to be the most difficult and least solved step in this chain. However, this may soon change. The Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) has amassed a suite of earthquake source models for assorted testing regions worldwide. These models are capable of providing rate-based forecasts for earthquake (point) sources over a range of time horizons. Furthermore, these rate forecasts can be easily refined into probabilistic source forecasts. While it's still difficult to fully assess the "goodness" of each of these models, progress is being made: new evaluation procedures are being devised and earthquake statistics continue to accumulate. The scientific community appears to be heading towards a better understanding of rupture predictability. Ground shaking mechanics are better understood, and many different sophisticated models exists. While these models tend to be computationally expensive and often regionally specific, they do a good job at matching empirical data. It is perhaps time to start addressing the third step in the seismic hazard prediction system. We present a model for rapid economic loss estimation using ground motion (PGA or PGV) and socioeconomic measures as its input. We show that the model can be calibrated on a global scale and applied worldwide. We also suggest how the model can be improved and generalized to non-seismic natural disasters such as hurricane and severe wind storms.

Yield and yield gaps in central U.S. corn production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The magnitude of yield gaps (YG) (potential yield – farmer yield) provides some indication of the prospects for increasing crop yield. Quantile regression analysis was applied to county maize (Zea mays L.) yields (1972 – 2011) from Kentucky, Iowa and Nebraska (irrigated) (total of 115 counties) to e...

Hair loss in elderly women.

PubMed

Chen, WenChieh; Yang, Chao-Chun; Todorova, Antonia; Al Khuzaei, Safaa; Chiu, Hsien-Ching; Worret, Wolf-Ingo; Ring, Johannes

2010-01-01

Hair loss in elderly women has been becoming a major topic in the daily practice of dermatology. Aging of hair follicles seems to affect hair growth and pigmentation, the molecular mechanisms of which remain to be elucidated. Further senile changes in physiology and immunity may influence the onset and course of hair diseases. Some preexisting diseases such as androgenetic alopecia usually worsen after menopause, while others, like discoid lupus erythematosus, may attenuate. Hormone surveying, especially with regard to internal androgen-producing tumors, is indicated in postmenopausal women with androgenetic alopecia of sudden exacerbation or with unusual manifestation or other virilizing signs. The prevalence of alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis appears to be much lower in postmenopausal ages as compared to earlier onset. Acute or chronic telogen effluvium is not uncommonly superimposed on androgenetic alopecia. Trichotillomania shows a marked female predominance in the senile age group with a higher rate of psychopathology. Worldwide, tinea capitis has been increasingly observed in postmenopausal women. Frontal fibrosing alopecia, giant cell arteritis and erosive pustular dermatosis involve mainly elder women leading to scarring alopecia. Alopecia induced by tumor metastasis to the scalp must be considered in women with underlying neoplasms, especially breast cancer. Overall, hair loss in postmenopausal women is often multifactorial and warrants a close inspection.

Secondary electron emission yield from high aspect ratio carbon velvet surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Chenggang; Ottaviano, Angelica; Raitses, Yevgeny

2017-11-01

The plasma electrons bombarding a plasma-facing wall surface can induce secondary electron emission (SEE) from the wall. A strong SEE can enhance the power losses by reducing the wall sheath potential and thereby increasing the electron flux from the plasma to the wall. The use of the materials with surface roughness and the engineered materials with surface architecture is known to reduce the effective SEE by trapping the secondary electrons. In this work, we demonstrate a 65% reduction of SEE yield using a velvet material consisting of high aspect ratio carbon fibers. The measurements of SEE yield for different velvet samples using the electron beam in vacuum demonstrate the dependence of the SEE yield on the fiber length and the packing density, which is strongly affected by the alignment of long velvet fibers with respect to the electron beam impinging on the velvet sample. The results of SEE measurements support the previous observations of the reduced SEE measured in Hall thrusters.

The impact of physician weight discussion on weight loss in US adults.

PubMed

Pool, Andrew C; Kraschnewski, Jennifer L; Cover, Lindsay A; Lehman, Erik B; Stuckey, Heather L; Hwang, Kevin O; Pollak, Kathryn I; Sciamanna, Christopher N

2014-01-01

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States and worldwide is at epidemic levels. Physicians may play a vital role in addressing this epidemic. We aimed to examine the association of a physician's discussion of patients’ weight status with self-reported weight loss. We hypothesized that physician discussion of patients’ being overweight is associated with increased weight loss in patients with overweight and obesity. Data analysis of participants (n = 5054) in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2005-2008. The main outcome was rates of self-reported weight loss and the association with physicians’ discussion of their patients’ weight status. Overweight and obese participants were significantly more likely to report a 5% weight loss in the past year if their doctor had told them they were overweight (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.88; 95% CI 1.45-2.44; AOR 1.79; 95% CI 1.30-2.46, respectively). Physicians’ direct discussion of their patients’ weight status is associated with clinically significant patient weight loss and may be a targetable intervention. Further studies are needed to determine if increasing physician discussion of patients’ weight status leads to significant weight loss. © 2014 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity . Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Similar Estimates of Temperature Impacts on Global Wheat Yield by Three Independent Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Bing; Asseng, Senthold; Muller, Christoph; Ewart, Frank; Elliott, Joshua; Lobell, David B.; Martre, Pierre; Ruane, Alex C.; Wallach, Daniel; Jones, James W.;

Similar estimates of temperature impacts on global wheat yield by three independent methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bing; Asseng, Senthold; Müller, Christoph; Ewert, Frank; Elliott, Joshua; Lobell, David B.; Martre, Pierre; Ruane, Alex C.; Wallach, Daniel; Jones, James W.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Aggarwal, Pramod K.; Alderman, Phillip D.; Anothai, Jakarat; Basso, Bruno; Biernath, Christian; Cammarano, Davide; Challinor, Andy; Deryng, Delphine; Sanctis, Giacomo De; Doltra, Jordi; Fereres, Elias; Folberth, Christian; Garcia-Vila, Margarita; Gayler, Sebastian; Hoogenboom, Gerrit; Hunt, Leslie A.; Izaurralde, Roberto C.; Jabloun, Mohamed; Jones, Curtis D.; Kersebaum, Kurt C.; Kimball, Bruce A.; Koehler, Ann-Kristin; Kumar, Soora Naresh; Nendel, Claas; O'Leary, Garry J.; Olesen, Jørgen E.; Ottman, Michael J.; Palosuo, Taru; Prasad, P. V. Vara; Priesack, Eckart; Pugh, Thomas A. M.; Reynolds, Matthew; Rezaei, Ehsan E.; Rötter, Reimund P.; Schmid, Erwin; Semenov, Mikhail A.; Shcherbak, Iurii; Stehfest, Elke; Stöckle, Claudio O.; Stratonovitch, Pierre; Streck, Thilo; Supit, Iwan; Tao, Fulu; Thorburn, Peter; Waha, Katharina; Wall, Gerard W.; Wang, Enli; White, Jeffrey W.; Wolf, Joost; Zhao, Zhigan; Zhu, Yan

2016-12-01

The potential impact of global temperature change on global crop yield has recently been assessed with different methods. Here we show that grid-based and point-based simulations and statistical regressions (from historic records), without deliberate adaptation or CO2 fertilization effects, produce similar estimates of temperature impact on wheat yields at global and national scales. With a 1 °C global temperature increase, global wheat yield is projected to decline between 4.1% and 6.4%. Projected relative temperature impacts from different methods were similar for major wheat-producing countries China, India, USA and France, but less so for Russia. Point-based and grid-based simulations, and to some extent the statistical regressions, were consistent in projecting that warmer regions are likely to suffer more yield loss with increasing temperature than cooler regions. By forming a multi-method ensemble, it was possible to quantify `method uncertainty’ in addition to model uncertainty. This significantly improves confidence in estimates of climate impacts on global food security.

Impacts of forest restoration on water yield: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Filoso, Solange; Bezerra, Maíra Ometto; Weiss, Katherine C. B.; Palmer, Margaret A.

2017-01-01

Background Enhancing water provision services is a common target in forest restoration projects worldwide due to growing concerns over freshwater scarcity. However, whether or not forest cover expansion or restoration can improve water provision services is still unclear and highly disputed. Purpose The goal of this review is to provide a balanced and impartial assessment of the impacts of forest restoration and forest cover expansion on water yields as informed by the scientific literature. Potential sources of bias on the results of papers published are also examined. Data sources English, Spanish and Portuguese peer-review articles in Agricola, CAB Abstracts, ISI Web of Science, JSTOR, Google Scholar, and SciELO. Databases were searched through 2015. Search terms Intervention terms included forest restoration, regeneration/regrowth, forest second-growth, forestation/afforestation, and forestry. Target terms included water yield/quantity, streamflow, discharge, channel runoff, and annual flow. Study selection and eligibility criteria Articles were pre-selected based on key words in the title, abstract or text. Eligible articles addressed relevant interventions and targets and included quantitative information. Results Most studies reported decreases in water yields following the intervention, while other hydrological benefits have been observed. However, relatively few studies focused specifically on forest restoration, especially with native species, and/or on projects done at large spatial or temporal scales. Information is especially limited for the humid tropics and subtropics. Conclusions and implications of key findings While most studies reported a decrease in water yields, meta-analyses from a sub-set of studies suggest the potential influence of temporal and/or spatial scales on the outcomes of forest cover expansion or restoration projects. Given the many other benefits of forest restoration, improving our understanding of when and why forest

Impact of thermal processing on sulforaphane yield from broccoli ( Brassica oleracea L. ssp. italica).

PubMed

Wang, Grace C; Farnham, Mark; Jeffery, Elizabeth H

2012-07-11

In broccoli, sulforaphane forms when the glucosinolate glucoraphanin is hydrolyzed by the endogenous plant thiohydrolase myrosinase. A myrosinase cofactor directs hydrolysis away from the formation of bioactive sulforaphane and toward an inactive product, sulforaphane nitrile. The cofactor is more heat sensitive than myrosinase, presenting an opportunity to preferentially direct hydrolysis toward sulforaphane formation through regulation of thermal processing. Four broccoli cultivars were microwave heated, boiled, or steamed for various lengths of time. Production of nitrile during hydrolysis of unheated broccoli varied among cultivars from 91 to 52% of hydrolysis products (Pinnacle > Marathon > Patriot > Brigadier). Boiling and microwave heating caused an initial loss of nitrile, with a concomitant increase in sulforaphane, followed by loss of sulforaphane, all within 1 min. In contrast, steaming enhanced sulforaphane yield between 1.0 and 3.0 min in all but Brigadier. These data are proof of concept that steaming for 1.0-3.0 min provides less nitrile and more sulforaphane yield from a broccoli meal.

Evaluation of maturity group III soybean lines for resistance to purple seed stain in Mississippi, 2010

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Purple seed stain (PSS) of soybean is an important disease caused by Cercospora kikuchii. PSS reduces seed quality and market grade, affects seed germination and vigor, and has been reported wherever soybeans are grown worldwide. In 2009, PSS caused 6.4 million bushels of yield losses in 16 southern...

Evaluation of maturity group IV soybean lines for resistance to purple seed stains in Mississippi 2010

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Purple seed stain (PSS) of soybean is an important disease caused by Cercospora kikuchii. PSS reduces seed quality and market grade, affects seed germination and vigor, and has been reported wherever soybeans are grown worldwide. In 2009, PSS caused 6.4 million bushels of yield losses in 16 southern...

Postulation and mapping of seedling stripe rust resistance genes in Ethiopian bread wheat cultivars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most important diseases of wheat worldwide. In Ethiopia, grain yield loss in wheat cultivars ranges from 30 to 69%. The use of resistant cultivars is the most economical and environmentally friendly method of controlling ...

Field evaluation of three sources of genetic resistance to sudden death syndrome of soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is a disease that causes yield loss in soybean growing regions across the USA and worldwide. While several quantitative trait loci (QTL) for SDS resistance have been mapped, studies to further evaluate these QTL are limited. The objec...

Screening of sorghum lines against long smut and grain mold pathogens

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Long smut infection is severe in the drier regions of Africa and Asia; whereas, grain mold is the most important widespread complex disease where sorghum is grown worldwide. Both fungal diseases cause significant losses in grain yield and quality. Long smut has not yet been observed in the United ...

Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for sheath blight resistance in rice using recombinant inbred line population of Lemont X Jasmine 85

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rice sheath blight (RSB) caused by the soil borne pathogen Rhizoctonia solani, is one of the most destructive diseases of rice, causing severe losses in rice yield and quality annually. The major gene (s) governing the resistance to RSB have not been found in cultivated rice worldwide. However, ri...

Elucidation of molecular dynamics of invasive species of rice

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cultivated rice fields are aggressively invaded by weedy rice in the U.S. and worldwide. Weedy rice results in loss of yield and seed contamination. The molecular dynamics of the evolutionary adaptive traits of weedy rice are not fully understood. To understand the molecular basis and identify the i...

Root rot symptoms in sugar beet lines caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. betae

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum may cause both Fusarium yellows and Fusarium root rot diseases with severe yield losses in cultivated sugar beet worldwide. These two diseases cause similar foliar symptoms but different root response and have been proposed to be due to two distinct F. oxyspo...

Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics.

PubMed

Islam, M R; Clark, C E F; Garcia, S C; Kerrisk, K L

2015-07-01

The aim of this modelling study was to investigate the effect of large herd size (and land areas) on walking distances and milking interval (MI), and their impact on milk yield and economic penalties when 50% of the total diets were provided from home grown feed either as pasture or grazeable complementary forage rotation (CFR) in an automatic milking system (AMS). Twelve scenarios consisting of 3 AMS herds (400, 600, 800 cows), 2 levels of pasture utilisation (current AMS utilisation of 15.0 t dry matter [DM]/ha, termed as 'moderate'; optimum pasture utilisation of 19.7 t DM/ha, termed as 'high') and 2 rates of incorporation of grazeable complementary forage system (CFS: 0, 30%; CFS = 65% farm is CFR and 35% of farm is pasture) were investigated. Walking distances, energy loss due to walking, MI, reduction in milk yield and income loss were calculated for each treatment based on information available in the literature. With moderate pasture utilisation and 0% CFR, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in an increase in total walking distances between the parlour and the paddock from 3.5 to 6.3 km. Consequently, MI increased from 15.2 to 16.4 h with increased herd size from 400 to 800 cows. High pasture utilisation (allowing for an increased stocking density) reduced the total walking distances up to 1 km, thus reduced the MI by up to 0.5 h compared to the moderate pasture, 800 cow herd combination. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm reduced the total walking distances by up to 1.7 km and MI by up to 0.8 h compared to the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd combination. For moderate pasture utilisation, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in more dramatic milk yield penalty as yield increasing from c.f. 2.6 and 5.1 kg/cow/d respectively, which incurred a loss of up to $AU 1.9/cow/d. Milk yield losses of 0.61 kg and 0.25 kg for every km increase in total walking distance (voluntary return

International organizations to enable world-wide mobile satellite services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anglin, Richard L., Jr.

1993-01-01

Numbers of systems exist or have been proposed to provide world-wide mobile satellite services (MSS). Developers of these systems have formulated institutional structures they consider most appropriate for profitable delivery of these services. MSS systems provide niche services and complement traditional telecommunications networks; they are not integrated into world-wide networks. To be successful, MSS system operators must be able to provide an integrated suite of services to support the increasing globalization, interconnectivity, and mobility of business. The critical issue to enabling 'universal roaming' is securing authority to provide MSS in all of the nations of the world. Such authority must be secured in the context of evolving trends in international telecommunications, and must specifically address issues of standardization, regulation and organization. Today, only one existing organization has such world-wide authority. The question is how proponents of new MSS systems and services can gain similar authority. Securing the appropriate authorizations requires that these new organizations reflect the objectives of the nations in which services are to be delivered.

MISSE 2 PEACE Polymers Experiment Atomic Oxygen Erosion Yield Error Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCarthy, Catherine E.; Banks, Bruce A.; deGroh, Kim, K.

2010-01-01

Atomic oxygen erosion of polymers in low Earth orbit (LEO) poses a serious threat to spacecraft performance and durability. To address this, 40 different polymer samples and a sample of pyrolytic graphite, collectively called the PEACE (Polymer Erosion and Contamination Experiment) Polymers, were exposed to the LEO space environment on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly 4 years as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 1 & 2 (MISSE 1 & 2). The purpose of the PEACE Polymers experiment was to obtain accurate mass loss measurements in space to combine with ground measurements in order to accurately calculate the atomic oxygen erosion yields of a wide variety of polymeric materials exposed to the LEO space environment for a long period of time. Error calculations were performed in order to determine the accuracy of the mass measurements and therefore of the erosion yield values. The standard deviation, or error, of each factor was incorporated into the fractional uncertainty of the erosion yield for each of three different situations, depending on the post-flight weighing procedure. The resulting error calculations showed the erosion yield values to be very accurate, with an average error of 3.30 percent.

Volatile element loss during planetary magma ocean phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhaliwal, Jasmeet K.; Day, James M. D.; Moynier, Frédéric

2018-01-01

Moderately volatile elements (MVE) are key tracers of volatile depletion in planetary bodies. Zinc is an especially useful MVE because of its generally elevated abundances in planetary basalts, relative to other MVE, and limited evidence for mass-dependent isotopic fractionation under high-temperature igneous processes. Compared with terrestrial basalts, which have δ66Zn values (per mille deviation of the 66Zn/64Zn ratio from the JMC-Lyon standard) similar to some chondrite meteorites (∼+0.3‰), lunar mare basalts yield a mean δ66Zn value of +1.4 ± 0.5‰ (2 st. dev.). Furthermore, mare basalts have average Zn concentrations ∼50 times lower than in typical terrestrial basaltic rocks. Late-stage lunar magmatic products, including ferroan anorthosite, Mg- and Alkali-suite rocks have even higher δ66Zn values (+3 to +6‰). Differences in Zn abundance and isotopic compositions between lunar and terrestrial rocks have previously been interpreted to reflect evaporative loss of Zn, either during the Earth-Moon forming Giant Impact, or in a lunar magma ocean (LMO) phase. To explore the mechanisms and processes under which volatile element loss may have occurred during a LMO phase, we developed models of Zn isotopic fractionation that are generally applicable to planetary magma oceans. Our objective was to identify conditions that would yield a δ66Zn signature of ∼+1.4‰ within the lunar mantle. For the sake of simplicity, we neglect possible Zn isotopic fractionation during the Giant Impact, and assumed a starting composition equal to the composition of the present-day terrestrial mantle, assuming both the Earth and Moon had zinc 'consanguinity' following their formation. We developed two models: the first simulates evaporative fractionation of Zn only prior to LMO mixing and crystallization; the second simulates continued evaporative fractionation of Zn that persists until ∼75% LMO crystallization. The first model yields a relatively homogenous bulk solid

The metabolic costs of improving ethanol yield by reducing glycerol formation capacity under anaerobic conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Pagliardini, Julien; Hubmann, Georg; Alfenore, Sandrine; Nevoigt, Elke; Bideaux, Carine; Guillouet, Stephane E

2013-03-28

Finely regulating the carbon flux through the glycerol pathway by regulating the expression of the rate controlling enzyme, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), has been a promising approach to redirect carbon from glycerol to ethanol and thereby increasing the ethanol yield in ethanol production. Here, strains engineered in the promoter of GPD1 and deleted in GPD2 were used to investigate the possibility of reducing glycerol production of Saccharomyces cerevisiae without jeopardising its ability to cope with process stress during ethanol production. For this purpose, the mutant strains TEFmut7 and TEFmut2 with different GPD1 residual expression were studied in Very High Ethanol Performance (VHEP) fed-batch process under anaerobic conditions. Both strains showed a drastic reduction of the glycerol yield by 44 and 61% while the ethanol yield improved by 2 and 7% respectively. TEFmut2 strain showing the highest ethanol yield was accompanied by a 28% reduction of the biomass yield. The modulation of the glycerol formation led to profound redox and energetic changes resulting in a reduction of the ATP yield (YATP) and a modulation of the production of organic acids (acetate, pyruvate and succinate). Those metabolic rearrangements resulted in a loss of ethanol and stress tolerance of the mutants, contrarily to what was previously observed under aerobiosis. This work demonstrates the potential of fine-tuned pathway engineering, particularly when a compromise has to be found between high product yield on one hand and acceptable growth, productivity and stress resistance on the other hand. Previous study showed that, contrarily to anaerobiosis, the resulting gain in ethanol yield was accompanied with no loss of ethanol tolerance under aerobiosis. Moreover those mutants were still able to produce up to 90 gl-1 ethanol in an anaerobic SSF process. Fine tuning metabolic strategy may then open encouraging possibilities for further developing robust strains with improved

Bacterial impregnation of mineral fertilizers improves yield and nutrient use efficiency of wheat.

PubMed

Ahmad, Shakeel; Imran, Muhammad; Hussain, Sabir; Mahmood, Sajid; Hussain, Azhar; Hasnain, Muhammad

2017-08-01

The fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) of agricultural crops is generally low, which results in poor crop yields and low economic benefits to farmers. Among the various approaches used to enhance FUE, impregnation of mineral fertilizers with plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) is attracting worldwide attention. The present study was aimed to improve growth, yield and nutrient use efficiency of wheat by bacterially impregnated mineral fertilizers. Results of the pot study revealed that impregnation of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea with PGPB was helpful in enhancing the growth, yield, photosynthetic rate, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) of wheat. However, the plants treated with F8 type DAP and urea, prepared by coating a slurry of PGPB (Bacillus sp. strain KAP6) and compost on DAP and urea granules at the rate of 2.0 g 100 g -1 fertilizer, produced better results than other fertilizer treatments. In this treatment, growth parameters including plant height, root length, straw yield and root biomass significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased from 58.8 to 70.0 cm, 41.2 to 50.0 cm, 19.6 to 24.2 g per pot and 1.8 to 2.2 g per pot, respectively. The same treatment improved grain yield of wheat by 20% compared to unimpregnated DAP and urea (F0). Likewise, the maximum increase in photosynthetic rate, grain NP content, grain NP uptake, NUE and PUE of wheat were also recorded with F8 treatment. The results suggest that the application of bacterially impregnated DAP and urea is highly effective for improving growth, yield and FUE of wheat. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Changing patterns of thalassemia worldwide.

PubMed

Vichinsky, Elliott P

2005-01-01

Thalassemia is a growing global public health problem with an estimated 900,000 births of clinically significant thalassemia disorders expected to occur in the next 20 years. This growth will occur in disorders previously uncommon in many parts of the world. In particular, hemoglobin (Hb) E-beta-thalassemia and Hb H disease account for much of the projected increases in thalassemia. Worldwide, Hb E-beta-thalassemia is one of the most frequent hemoglobinopathies. The incidence of Hb E approaches 60% of the populations in many regions of Southeast Asia. In coastal regions of North America, its prevalence is rapidly growing. The severity of Hb E-beta-thalassemia ranges from a complete lack of symptoms to transfusion dependence. alpha-Thalassemia diseases, often considered benign, are now recognized to be more severe than originally reported. Hb H, Hb H-Constant Spring (CS), and homozygous alpha-thalassemia affect at least a million people worldwide. California considers Hb H disease a public health problem and has initiated a neonatal screening program for Hb H and particularly Hb H-CS. Homozygous alpha-thalassemia, usually fatal, is also being more commonly detected. Several regions have initiated universal prenatal screening programs to address homozygous alpha-thalassemia. In summary, the prognosis for thalassemia disorders is improving, but prenatal diagnosis and neonatal screenings are needed. Comprehensive services that address language and social barriers as well as access to Hb F-enhancing agents and transfusions are needed.

World-wide increase in tropospheric methane, 1978-1983

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blake, D. R.; Rowland, F. S.

1986-01-01

Techniques used to assess methane concentration in the troposphere are described, and data obtained during the period from 1978 to 1983 are presented in detail. Tropospheric methane concentrations in remote locations averaged a yearly world-wide increase of 0.018 + or - 0.002 parts per million by volume (ppmv). Average world-wide tropospheric concentration of methane in dry air was 1.625 ppmv at the end of 1983 measured against an NBS standard certified as 0.97 ppmv. Contributing to this steady increase in methane concentration are increases in the source strengths from cattle and rice fields, which in turn result from CO, CH4 and HO coupling. Among the physical and chemical effects is an increase in greenhouse warming of about 0.04 C per decade.

Toward more accurate loss tangent measurements in reentrant cavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moyer, R. D.

1980-05-01

Karpova has described an absolute method for measurement of dielectric properties of a solid in a coaxial reentrant cavity. His cavity resonance equation yields very accurate results for dielectric constants. However, he presented only approximate expressions for the loss tangent. This report presents more exact expressions for that quantity and summarizes some experimental results.

Consensus statement: appropriate consumer education and communication programs for weight- loss agents in Asia.

PubMed

Chan, Siew Pheng; Chui, William C; Lo, Kwok Wing; Huang, Kuo-Chin; Leyesa, Normita D; Lin, Wen-Yuan; Mirasol, Roberto C; Robles, Yolanda R; Tey, Beng Hea; Paraidathathu, Thomas

2012-07-01

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity worldwide demands increased efforts in the prevention and management of obesity. This article aims to present consensus statements promoting appropriate consumer education and communication programs for weight-loss agents in Asia. Panel members from various disciplines developed consensus statements based on an expert meeting on the benefits of consumer education and communication programs for over-the-counter weight-loss agents. Key opinion leaders discussed relevant data that served as the basis of the recommendations. Obesity is a growing epidemic in Asia, turning the region into a potential market for weight-loss products and services. Current trends in direct-to-consumer advertising demonstrate the pervasiveness of false representations lacking adequate substantiation. Relevant issues and recommendations were established. Public education on weight management is a shared responsibility; there is a need to raise public awareness of obesity and its health-related consequences. Advertising guidelines should ensure responsible direct-to-consumer advertising of weight-loss agents.

Worldwide dispersion and deposition of radionuclides produced in atmospheric tests.

PubMed

Bennett, Burton G

2002-05-01

Radionuclides produced in atmospheric nuclear tests were widely dispersed in the global environment. From the many measurements of the concentrations in air and the deposition amounts, much was learned of atmospheric circulation and environmental processes. Based on these results and the reported fission and total yields of individual tests, it has been possible to devise an empirical model of the movement and residence times of particles in the various atmospheric regions. This model, applied to all atmospheric weapons tests, allows extensive calculations of air concentrations and deposition amounts for the entire range of radionuclides produced throughout the testing period. Especially for the shorter-lived fission radionuclides, for which measurement results at the time of the tests are less extensive, a more complete picture of levels and isotope ratios can be obtained, forming a basis for improved dose estimations. The contributions to worldwide fallout can be inferred from individual tests, from tests at specific sites, or by specific countries. Progress was also made in understanding the global hydrological and carbon cycles from the tritium and 14C measurements. A review of the global measurements and modeling results is presented in this paper. In the future, if injections of materials into the atmosphere occur, their anticipated motions and fates can be predicted from the knowledge gained from the fallout experience.

Rupture dynamics with energy loss outside the slip zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andrews, D.J.

2005-01-01

Energy loss in a fault damage zone, outside the slip zone, contributes to the fracture energy that determines rupture velocity of an earthquake. A nonelastic two-dimensional dynamic calculation is done in which the slip zone is modeled as a fault plane and material off the fault is subject to a Coulomb yield condition. In a mode 2 crack-like solution in which an abrupt uniform drop of shear traction on the fault spreads from a point, Coulomb yielding occurs on the extensional side of the fault. Plastic strain is distributed with uniform magnitude along the fault, and it has a thickness normal to the fault proportional to propagation distance. Energy loss off the fault is also proportional to propagation distance, and it can become much larger than energy loss on the fault specified by the fault constitutive relation. The slip velocity function could be produced in an equivalent elastic problem by a slip-weakening friction law with breakdown slip Dc increasing with distance. Fracture energy G and equivalent Dc will be different in ruptures with different initiation points and stress drops, so they are not constitutive properties; they are determined by the dynamic solution that arrives at a particular point. Peak slip velocity is, however, a property of a fault location. Nonelastic response can be mimicked by imposing a limit on slip velocity on a fault in an elastic medium.

Fusion yield rate recovery by escaping hot-spot fast ions in the neighboring fuel layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Xian-Zhu; McDevitt, C. J.; Guo, Zehua; Berk, H. L.

2014-02-01

Free-streaming loss by fast ions can deplete the tail population in the hot spot of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target. Escaping fast ions in the neighboring fuel layer of a cryogenic target can produce a surplus of fast ions locally. In contrast to the Knudsen layer effect that reduces hot-spot fusion reactivity due to tail ion depletion, the inverse Knudsen layer effect increases fusion reactivity in the neighboring fuel layer. In the case of a burning ICF target in the presence of significant hydrodynamic mix which aggravates the Knudsen layer effect, the yield recovery largely compensates for the yield reduction. For mix-dominated sub-ignition targets, the yield reduction is the dominant process.

Groundwater subsidies and penalties to corn yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zipper, S. C.; Booth, E.; Loheide, S. P.

2013-12-01

directly related to year-end yield. During 2012 (a drier-than-normal growing season) corn in parts of the field with shallow groundwater had significantly higher yields than the rest of the field, indicating that groundwater can provide significant yield benefits during drought. In contrast, during 2013 (a wetter-than-normal growing season) areas with the shallowest groundwater experienced total yield losses due to early-season groundwater flooding and oxygen stress. This demonstrates that the optimal DTGW for agricultural production is variable and depends on growing season weather conditions. The presence or absence of shallow groundwater is an important and dynamic feature of many agroecosystems, and should be considered when making both field- and watershed-scale management decisions.

Nitrogen losses and greenhouse gas emissions under different N and water management in a subtropical double-season rice cropping system.

PubMed

Liang, Kaiming; Zhong, Xuhua; Huang, Nongrong; Lampayan, Rubenito M; Liu, Yanzhuo; Pan, Junfeng; Peng, Bilin; Hu, Xiangyu; Fu, Youqiang

2017-12-31

Nitrogen non-point pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission are major challenges in rice production. This study examined options for both economic and environmental sustainability through optimizing water and N management. Field experiments were conducted to examine the crop yields, N use efficiency (NUE), greenhouse gas emissions, N losses under different N and water management. There were four treatments: zero N input with farmer's water management (N0), farmer's N and water management (FP), optimized N management with farmer's water management (OPT N ) and optimized N management with alternate wetting and drying irrigation (OPT N +AWD). Grain yields in OPT N and OPT N +AWD treatments increased by 13.0-17.3% compared with FP. Ammonia volatilization (AV) was the primary pathway for N loss for all treatments and accounted for over 50% of the total losses. N losses mainly occurred before mid-tillering. N losses through AV, leaching and surface runoff in OPT N were reduced by 18.9-51.6% compared with FP. OPT N +AWD further reduced N losses from surface runoff and leaching by 39.1% and 6.2% in early rice season, and by 46.7% and 23.5% in late rice season, respectively, compared with OPT N . The CH 4 emissions in OPT N +AWD were 20.4-45.4% lower than in OPT N and FP. Total global warming potential of CH 4 and N 2 O was the lowest in OPT N +AWD. On-farm comparison confirmed that N loss through runoff in OPT N +AWD was reduced by over 40% as compared with FP. OPT N and OPT N +AWD significantly increased grain yield by 6.7-13.9%. These results indicated that optimizing water and N management can be a simple and effective approach for enhancing yield with reduced environmental footprints. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Climate Change, Habitat Loss, Protected Areas and the Climate Adaptation Potential of Species in Mediterranean Ecosystems Worldwide

PubMed Central

Klausmeyer, Kirk R.; Shaw, M. Rebecca

2009-01-01

Mediterranean climate is found on five continents and supports five global biodiversity hotspots. Based on combined downscaled results from 23 atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) for three emissions scenarios, we determined the projected spatial shifts in the mediterranean climate extent (MCE) over the next century. Although most AOGCMs project a moderate expansion in the global MCE, regional impacts are large and uneven. The median AOGCM simulation output for the three emissions scenarios project the MCE at the end of the 21st century in Chile will range from 129–153% of its current size, while in Australia, it will contract to only 77–49% of its current size losing an area equivalent to over twice the size of Portugal. Only 4% of the land area within the current MCE worldwide is in protected status (compared to a global average of 12% for all biome types), and, depending on the emissions scenario, only 50–60% of these protected areas are likely to be in the future MCE. To exacerbate the climate impact, nearly one third (29–31%) of the land where the MCE is projected to remain stable has already been converted to human use, limiting the size of the potential climate refuges and diminishing the adaptation potential of native biota. High conversion and low protection in projected stable areas make Australia the highest priority region for investment in climate-adaptation strategies to reduce the threat of climate change to the rich biodiversity of the mediterranean biome. PMID:19641600

Reducing nitrate loss in tile drainage water with cover crops and water-table management systems.

PubMed

Drury, C F; Tan, C S; Welacky, T W; Reynolds, W D; Zhang, T Q; Oloya, T O; McLaughlin, N B; Gaynor, J D

2014-03-01

Nitrate lost from agricultural soils is an economic cost to producers, an environmental concern when it enters rivers and lakes, and a health risk when it enters wells and aquifers used for drinking water. Planting a winter wheat cover crop (CC) and/or use of controlled tile drainage-subirrigation (CDS) may reduce losses of nitrate (NO) relative to no cover crop (NCC) and/or traditional unrestricted tile drainage (UTD). A 6-yr (1999-2005) corn-soybean study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of CC+CDS, CC+UTD, NCC+CDS, and NCC+UTD treatments for reducing NO loss. Flow volume and NO concentration in surface runoff and tile drainage were measured continuously, and CC reduced the 5-yr flow-weighted mean (FWM) NO concentration in tile drainage water by 21 to 38% and cumulative NO loss by 14 to 16% relative to NCC. Controlled tile drainage-subirrigation reduced FWM NO concentration by 15 to 33% and cumulative NO loss by 38 to 39% relative to UTD. When CC and CDS were combined, 5-yr cumulative FWM NO concentrations and loss in tile drainage were decreased by 47% (from 9.45 to 4.99 mg N L and from 102 to 53.6 kg N ha) relative to NCC+UTD. The reductions in runoff and concomitant increases in tile drainage under CC occurred primarily because of increases in near-surface soil hydraulic conductivity. Cover crops increased corn grain yields by 4 to 7% in 2004 increased 3-yr average soybean yields by 8 to 15%, whereas CDS did not affect corn or soybean yields over the 6 yr. The combined use of a cover crop and water-table management system was highly effective for reducing NO loss from cool, humid agricultural soils. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Measurement of fission yields and isomeric yield ratios at IGISOL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pomp, Stephan; Mattera, Andrea; Rakopoulos, Vasileios; Al-Adili, Ali; Lantz, Mattias; Solders, Andreas; Jansson, Kaj; Prokofiev, Alexander V.; Eronen, Tommi; Gorelov, Dimitri; Jokinen, Ari; Kankainen, Anu; Moore, Iain D.; Penttilä, Heikki; Rinta-Antila, Sami

2018-03-01

Data on fission yields and isomeric yield ratios (IYR) are tools to study the fission process, in particular the generation of angular momentum. We use the IGISOL facility with the Penning trap JYFLTRAP in Jyväskylä, Finland, for such measurements on 232Th and natU targets. Previously published fission yield data from IGISOL concern the 232Th(p,f) and 238U(p,f) reactions at 25 and 50 MeV. Recently, a neutron source, using the Be(p,n) reaction, has been developed, installed and tested. We summarize the results for (p,f) focusing on the first measurement of IYR by direct ion counting. We also present first results for IYR and relative yields for Sn and Sb isotopes in the 128-133 mass range from natU(n,f) based on γ-spectrometry. We find a staggering behaviour in the cumulative yields for Sn and a shift in the independent fission yields for Sb as compared to current evaluations. Plans for the future experimental program on fission yields and IYR measurements are discussed.

Discovery of a new genotype of Squash mosaic virus through deep sequencing of small RNAs and development of a qRT-PCR for broad spectrum detection

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Squash mosaic virus (SqMV), a seed-borne virus belonging to the genus Commovirus in the family Comoviridae, could cause a serious yield loss on cucurbit crops worldwide. SqMV has a bipartite single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome (RNA-1 and RNA-2) encapsidated separately with two capsid prote...

Commercially sterilized mussel meats (Mytilus chilensis): a study on process yield.

PubMed

Almonacid, S; Bustamante, J; Simpson, R; Urtubia, A; Pinto, M; Teixeira, A

2012-06-01

The processing steps most responsible for yield loss in the manufacture of canned mussel meats are the thermal treatments of precooking to remove meats from shells, and thermal processing (retorting) to render the final canned product commercially sterile for long-term shelf stability. The objective of this study was to investigate and evaluate the impact of different combinations of process variables on the ultimate drained weight in the final mussel product (Mytilu chilensis), while verifying that any differences found were statistically and economically significant. The process variables selected for this study were precooking time, brine salt concentration, and retort temperature. Results indicated 2 combinations of process variables producing the widest difference in final drained weight, designated best combination and worst combination with 35% and 29% yield, respectively. Significance of this difference was determined by employing a Bootstrap methodology, which assumes an empirical distribution of statistical error. A difference of nearly 6 percentage points in total yield was found. This represents a 20% increase in annual sales from the same quantity of raw material, in addition to increase in yield, the conditions for the best process included a retort process time 65% shorter than that for the worst process, this difference in yield could have significant economic impact, important to the mussel canning industry. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Worldwide prevalence and incidence of osteoporotic vertebral fractures.

PubMed

Ballane, G; Cauley, J A; Luckey, M M; El-Hajj Fuleihan, G

2017-05-01

We investigated the prevalence and incidence of vertebral fractures worldwide. We used a systematic Medline search current to 2015 and updated as per authors' libraries. A total of 62 articles of fair to good quality and comparable methods for vertebral fracture identification were considered. The prevalence of morphometric vertebral fractures in European women is highest in Scandinavia (26%) and lowest in Eastern Europe (18%). Prevalence rates in North America (NA) for White women ≥50 are 20-24%, with a White/Black ratio of 1.6. Rates in women ≥50 years in Latin America are overall lower than Europe and NA (11-19%). In Asia, rates in women above ≥65 are highest in Japan (24%), lowest in Indonesia (9%), and in the Middle East, Lebanon, rates are 20%. The highest-lowest ratio between countries, within and across continents, varied from 1.4-2.6. Incidence data is less abundant and more heterogeneous. Age-standardized rates in studies combining hospitalized and ambulatory vertebral fractures are highest in South Korea, USA, and Hong Kong and lowest in the UK. Neither a North-South gradient nor a relation to urbanization is evident. Conversely, the incidence of hospitalized vertebral fractures in European patients ≥50 shows a North-South gradient with 3-3.7-fold variability. In the USA, rates in Whites are approximately 4-fold higher than in Blacks. Vertebral fractures variation worldwide is lower than observed with hip fractures, and some of highest rates are unexpectedly from Asia. Better quality representative studies are needed. We investigate the occurrence of vertebral fractures, worldwide, using published data current until the present. Worldwide, the variation in vertebral fractures is lower than observed for hip fractures. Some of the highest rates are from North America and unexpectedly Asia. The highest-lowest ratio between countries, within and across continents, varied from 1.4-2.6. Better quality representative data is needed.

Tillage, Fungicide, and Cultivar Effects on Frogeye Leaf Spot Severity and Yield in Soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Frogeye leaf spot (FLS) of soybean, caused by Cercospora sojina K. Hara, has been a problem in the southern USA for many years but has recently become an increasing problem causing significant yield losses in the northern USA. This increase in disease severity in the north USA has been attributed t...

Whole season compared to growth-stage resolved temperature trends: implications for US maize yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, E. E.; Mueller, N. D.; Huybers, P. J.

2014-12-01

The effect of temperature on maize yield has generally been considered using a single value for the entire growing season. We compare the effect of temperature trends on yield between two distinct models: a single temperature sensitivity for the whole season and a variable sensitivity across four distinct agronomic development stages. The more resolved variable-sensitivity model indicates roughly a factor of two greater influence of temperature on yield than that implied by the single-sensitivity model. The largest discrepancies occur in silking, which is demonstrated to be the most sensitive stage in the variable-sensitivity model. For instance, whereas median yields are observed to be only 53% of typical values during the hottest 1% of silking-stage temperatures, the single-sensitivity model over predicts median yields of 68% whereas the variable-sensitivity model more correctly predicts median yields of 61%. That the variable sensitivity model is also not capable of capturing the full extent of yield losses suggests that further refinement to represent the non-linear response would be useful. Results from the variable sensitivity model also indicate that management decisions regarding planting times, which have generally shifted toward earlier dates, have led to greater yield benefit than that implied by the single-sensitivity model. Together, the variation of both temperature trends and yield variability within growing stages calls for closer attention to how changes in management interact with changes in climate to ultimately affect yields.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: pathologic staging data.

PubMed

Rice, T W; Chen, L-Q; Hofstetter, W L; Smithers, B M; Rusch, V W; Wijnhoven, B P L; Chen, K L; Davies, A R; D'Journo, X B; Kesler, K A; Luketich, J D; Ferguson, M K; Räsänen, J V; van Hillegersberg, R; Fang, W; Durand, L; Cecconello, I; Allum, W H; Cerfolio, R J; Pera, M; Griffin, S M; Burger, R; Liu, J-F; Allen, M S; Law, S; Watson, T J; Darling, G E; Scott, W J; Duranceau, A; Denlinger, C E; Schipper, P H; Lerut, T E M R; Orringer, M B; Ishwaran, H; Apperson-Hansen, C; DiPaola, L M; Semple, M E; Blackstone, E H

2016-10-01

We report data-simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non-risk-adjusted survival-for patients with pathologically staged cancer of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction after resection or ablation with no preoperative therapy from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted de-identified data using standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 13,300 patients, 5,631 had squamous cell carcinoma, 7,558 adenocarcinoma, 85 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 26 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (51%), little weight loss (1.8 kg), 0-2 ECOG performance status (83%), and a history of smoking (70%). Cancers were pT1 (24%), pT2 (15%), pT3 (50%), pN0 (52%), pM0 (93%), and pG2-G3 (78%); most involved distal esophagus (71%). Non-risk-adjusted survival for both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma was monotonic and distinctive across pTNM. Survival was more distinctive for adenocarcinoma than squamous cell carcinoma when pT was ordered by pN. Survival for pTis-1 adenocarcinoma was better than for squamous cell carcinoma, although monotonic and distinctive for both. WECC pathologic staging data is improved over that of the 7th edition, with more patients studied and patient and cancer variables collected. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient, cancer, and treatment characteristics, and should direct 9th edition data collection. However, the role of pure pathologic staging as the principal point of reference for esophageal cancer staging is waning. © 2016 International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: clinical staging data.

PubMed

Rice, T W; Apperson-Hansen, C; DiPaola, L M; Semple, M E; Lerut, T E M R; Orringer, M B; Chen, L-Q; Hofstetter, W L; Smithers, B M; Rusch, V W; Wijnhoven, B P L; Chen, K N; Davies, A R; D'Journo, X B; Kesler, K A; Luketich, J D; Ferguson, M K; Räsänen, J V; van Hillegersberg, R; Fang, W; Durand, L; Allum, W H; Cecconello, I; Cerfolio, R J; Pera, M; Griffin, S M; Burger, R; Liu, J-F; Allen, M S; Law, S; Watson, T J; Darling, G E; Scott, W J; Duranceau, A; Denlinger, C E; Schipper, P H; Ishwaran, H; Blackstone, E H

2016-10-01

To address uncertainty of whether clinical stage groupings (cTNM) for esophageal cancer share prognostic implications with pathologic groupings after esophagectomy alone (pTNM), we report data-simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non-risk-adjusted survival-for clinically staged patients from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted data using variables with standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 22,123 clinically staged patients, 8,156 had squamous cell carcinoma, 13,814 adenocarcinoma, 116 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 37 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (18.5-25 mg/kg 2 , 47%), little weight loss (2.4 ± 7.8 kg), 0-1 ECOG performance status (67%), and history of smoking (67%). Cancers were cT1 (12%), cT2 (22%), cT3 (56%), cN0 (44%), cM0 (95%), and cG2-G3 (89%); most involved the distal esophagus (73%). Non-risk-adjusted survival for squamous cell carcinoma was not distinctive for early cT or cN; for adenocarcinoma, it was distinctive for early versus advanced cT and for cN0 versus cN+. Patients with early cancers had worse survival and those with advanced cancers better survival than expected from equivalent pathologic categories based on prior WECC pathologic data. Thus, clinical and pathologic categories do not share prognostic implications. This makes clinically based treatment decisions difficult and pre-treatment prognostication inaccurate. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient characteristics, cancer categories, and treatment characteristics and should direct 9th edition data collection. © 2016 International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: clinical staging data

PubMed Central

Rice, T. W.; Apperson-Hansen, C.; DiPaola, L. M.; Semple, M. E.; Lerut, T. E. M. R.; Orringer, M. B.; Chen, L.-Q.; Hofstetter, W. L.; Smithers, B. M.; Rusch, V. W.; Wijnhoven, B. P. L.; Chen, K. N.; Davies, A. R.; D’Journo, X. B.; Kesler, K. A.; Luketich, J. D.; Ferguson, M. K.; Räsänen, J. V.; van Hillegersberg, R.; Fang, W.; Durand, L.; Allum, W. H.; Cecconello, I.; Cerfolio, R. J.; Pera, M.; Griffin, S. M.; Burger, R.; Liu, J.-F; Allen, M. S.; Law, S.; Watson, T. J.; Darling, G. E.; Scott, W. J.; Duranceau, A.; Denlinger, C. E.; Schipper, P. H.; Ishwaran, H.; Blackstone, E. H.

2017-01-01

SUMMARY To address uncertainty of whether clinical stage groupings (cTNM) for esophageal cancer share prognostic implications with pathologic groupings after esophagectomy alone (pTNM), we report data—simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non-risk-adjusted survival—for clinically staged patients from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted data using variables with standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 22,123 clinically staged patients, 8,156 had squamous cell carcinoma, 13,814 adenocarcinoma, 116 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 37 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (18.5–25 mg/kg2, 47%), little weight loss (2.4 ± 7.8 kg), 0–1 ECOG performance status (67%), and history of smoking (67%). Cancers were cT1 (12%), cT2 (22%), cT3 (56%), cNO (44%), cMO (95%), and cG2–G3 (89%); most involved the distal esophagus (73%). Non-risk-adjusted survival for squamous cell carcinoma was not distinctive for early cT or cN; for adenocarcinoma, it was distinctive for early versus advanced cT and for cNO versus cN+. Patients with early cancers had worse survival and those with advanced cancers better survival than expected from equivalent pathologic categories based on prior WECC pathologic data. Thus, clinical and pathologic categories do not share prognostic implications. This makes clinically based treatment decisions difficult and pre-treatment prognostication inaccurate. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient characteristics, cancer categories, and treatment characteristics and should direct 9th edition data collection. PMID:27731549

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: pathologic staging data

PubMed Central

Rice, T. W.; Chen, L.-Q.; Hofstetter, W. L.; Smithers, B.M.; Rusch, V. W.; Wijnhoven, B. P. L.; Chen, K. L.; Davies, A. R.; D’Journo, X. B.; Kesler, K. A.; Luketich, J. D.; Ferguson, M. K.; Räsänen, J. V.; van Hillegersberg, R.; Fang, W.; Durand, L.; Cecconello, I.; Allum, W. H.; Cerfolio, R. J.; Pera, M.; Griffin, S. M.; Burger, R.; Liu, J.-F; Allen, M. S.; Law, S.; Watson, T. J.; Darling, G. E.; Scott, W. J.; Duranceau, A.; Denlinger, C. E.; Schipper, P. H.; Lerut, T. E. M. R.; Orringer, M. B.; Ishwaran, H.; Apperson-Hansen, C.; DiPaola, L. M.; Semple, M. E.; Blackstone, E. H.

2017-01-01

SUMMARY We report data—simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non–risk-adjusted survival—for patients with pathologically staged cancer of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction after resection or ablation with no preoperative therapy from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted de-identified data using standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 13,300 patients, 5,631 had squamous cell carcinoma, 7,558 adenocarcinoma, 85 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 26 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (51%), little weight loss (1.8 kg), 0–2 ECOG performance status (83%), and a history of smoking (70%). Cancers were pT1 (24%), pT2 (15%), pT3 (50%), pN0 (52%), pM0 (93%), and pG2–G3 (78%); most involved distal esophagus (71%). Non–risk-adjusted survival for both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma was monotonic and distinctive across pTNM. Survival was more distinctive for adenocarcinoma than squamous cell carcinoma when pT was ordered by pN. Survival for pTis-1 adenocarcinoma was better than for squamous cell carcinoma, although monotonic and distinctive for both. WECC pathologic staging data is improved over that of the 7th edition, with more patients studied and patient and cancer variables collected. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient, cancer, and treatment characteristics, and should direct 9th edition data collection. However, the role of pure pathologic staging as the principal point of reference for esophageal cancer staging is waning. PMID:27731547

Targeted surveillance for postnatal hearing loss: a program evaluation.

PubMed

Beswick, Rachael; Driscoll, Carlie; Kei, Joseph; Glennon, Shirley

2012-07-01

The importance of monitoring hearing throughout early childhood cannot be understated. However, there is a lack of evidence available regarding the most effective method of monitoring hearing following the newborn screen. The goal of this study was to describe a targeted surveillance program using a risk factor registry to identify children with a postnatal hearing loss. All children who were born in Queensland, Australia between September 2004 and December 2009, received a bilateral 'pass' on newborn hearing screening, and had at least one risk factor, were referred for targeted surveillance and were included in this study. The cohort was assessed throughout early childhood in accordance with Queensland's diagnostic assessment protocols. During the study period, 7320 (2.8% of 261,328) children were referred for targeted surveillance, of which 56 were identified with a postnatal hearing loss (0.77%). Of these, half (50.0%) were identified with a mild hearing loss, and 64.3% were identified with a sensorineural hearing loss. In regards to risk factors, syndrome, craniofacial anomalies, and severe asphyxia had the highest yield of positive cases of postnatal hearing loss for children referred for targeted surveillance, whereas, low birth weight, bacterial meningitis, and professional concern had a particularly low yield. Limitations of the targeted surveillance program were noted and include: (1) a lost contact rate of 32.4%; (2) delays in first surveillance assessment; (3) a large number of children who required on-going monitoring; and (4) extensive diagnostic assessments were completed on children with normal hearing. Examination of the lost contact rate revealed indigenous children were more likely to be documented as lost contact. In addition, children with one risk factor only were significantly more likely to not attend a surveillance appointment. Positive cases of postnatal hearing loss were detected through the targeted surveillance program. However, the

Integrated analysis of phenome, genome, and transcriptome of hybrid rice uncovered multiple heterosis-related loci for yield increase

PubMed Central

Li, Dayong; Huang, Zhiyuan; Song, Shuhui; Xin, Yeyun; Mao, Donghai; Lv, Qiming; Zhou, Ming; Tian, Dongmei; Tang, Mingfeng; Wu, Qi; Liu, Xue; Chen, Tingting; Song, Xianwei; Fu, Xiqin; Zhao, Bingran; Liang, Chengzhi; Li, Aihong; Liu, Guozhen; Li, Shigui; Hu, Songnian; Cao, Xiaofeng; Yu, Jun; Yuan, Longping; Chen, Caiyan; Zhu, Lihuang

2016-01-01

Hybrid rice is the dominant form of rice planted in China, and its use has extended worldwide since the 1970s. It offers great yield advantages and has contributed greatly to the world’s food security. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying heterosis have remained a mystery. In this study we integrated genetics and omics analyses to determine the candidate genes for yield heterosis in a model two-line rice hybrid system, Liang-you-pei 9 (LYP9) and its parents. Phenomics study revealed that the better parent heterosis (BPH) of yield in hybrid is not ascribed to BPH of all the yield components but is specific to the BPH of spikelet number per panicle (SPP) and paternal parent heterosis (PPH) of effective panicle number (EPN). Genetic analyses then identified multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these two components. Moreover, a number of differentially expressed genes and alleles in the hybrid were mapped by transcriptome profiling to the QTL regions as possible candidate genes. In parallel, a major QTL for yield heterosis, rice heterosis 8 (RH8), was found to be the DTH8/Ghd8/LHD1 gene. Based on the shared allelic heterozygosity of RH8 in many hybrid rice cultivars, a common mechanism for yield heterosis in the present commercial hybrid rice is proposed. PMID:27663737

Youth Purpose Worldwide: A Tapestry of Possibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Seana

2017-01-01

Interest in youth purpose is growing among scholars around the world. With globalization, better understanding of life purposes in different countries becomes more important as this generation's youth are influenced by ideas and events anywhere. This special issue contributes to this inclusive, worldwide frame of mind by showcasing work done…

Curriculum Development in a Worldwide School System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Edwin R.; And Others

1994-01-01

Describes how the Department of Defense Dependent Schools developed and implemented a new K-12 physical education curriculum for schools serving American students in 19 countries worldwide. The new curriculum integrates physical fitness assessment and education at all levels. Inservice workshops and one-week summer programs were held for teachers.…

Lifestyle medicine consulting walking meetings for sustained weight loss

PubMed Central

Frates, Elizabeth Pegg; Crane, Margaret E

2016-01-01

With rates of obesity and diabetes rising worldwide, effective ways of managing weight are becoming more important. We present the case study of a middle-aged Caucasian-American woman (body mass index (BMI) 27.8, overweight category) who wanted to lose weight. The patient participated in a behaviour modification programme with a physician trained in lifestyle medicine as well as health and wellness coaching. After the 14-week programme, which included 9, 1 h long walking sessions with the clinician, the patient lost 11 Ibs (BMI 24.7, normal category). The programme included a combination of increasing physical activity, eating appropriate quantities of healthy foods, goal setting and a positive attitude. The patient has kept her BMI at or below 24.1 for over 2 years. This case demonstrates a novel approach to weight loss management—walking therapeutic sessions—and also outlines critical components of lifestyle medicine counselling that facilitate the process of sustainable weight loss and lasting change. PMID:26833954

The impact of the worldwide Millennium Development Goals campaign on maternal and under-five child mortality reduction: 'Where did the worldwide campaign work most effectively?'

PubMed

Cha, Seungman

2017-01-01

As the Millennium Development Goals campaign (MDGs) came to a close, clear evidence was needed on the contribution of the worldwide MDG campaign. We seek to determine the degree of difference in the reduction rate between the pre-MDG and MDG campaign periods and its statistical significance by region. Unlike the prevailing studies that measured progress in 1990-2010, this study explores by percentage how much MDG progress has been achieved during the MDG campaign period and quantifies the impact of the MDG campaign on the maternal and under-five child mortality reduction during the MDG era by comparing observed values with counterfactual values estimated on the basis of the historical trend. The low accomplishment of sub-Saharan Africa toward the MDG target mainly resulted from the debilitated progress of mortality reduction during 1990-2000, which was not related to the worldwide MDG campaign. In contrast, the other regions had already achieved substantial progress before the Millennium Declaration was proclaimed. Sub-Saharan African countries have seen the most remarkable impact of the worldwide MDG campaign on maternal and child mortality reduction across all different measurements. In sub-Saharan Africa, the MDG campaign has advanced the progress of the declining maternal mortality ratio and under-five mortality rate, respectively, by 4.29 and 4.37 years. Sub-Saharan African countries were frequently labeled as 'off-track', 'insufficient progress', or 'no progress' even though the greatest progress was achieved here during the worldwide MDG campaign period and the impact of the worldwide MDG campaign was most pronounced in this region in all respects. It is time to learn from the success stories of the sub-Saharan African countries. Erroneous and biased measurement should be avoided for the sustainable development goals to progress.

Yield gap mapping as a support tool for risk management in agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lahlou, Ouiam; Imani, Yasmina; Slimani, Imane; Van Wart, Justin; Yang, Haishun

2016-04-01

The increasing frequency and magnitude of droughts in Morocco and the mounting losses from extended droughts in the agricultural sector emphasized the need to develop reliable and timely tools to manage drought and to mitigate resulting catastrophic damage. In 2011, Morocco launched a cereals multi-risk insurance with drought as the most threatening and the most frequent hazard in the country. However, and in order to assess the gap and to implement the more suitable compensation, it is essential to quantify the potential yield in each area. In collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a study is carried out in Morocco and aims to determine the yield potentials and the yield gaps in the different agro-climatic zones of the country. It fits into the large project: Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas: http://www.yieldgap.org/. The yield gap (Yg) is the magnitude and difference between crop yield potential (Yp) or water limited yield potential (Yw) and actual yields, reached by farmers. World Food Studies (WOFOST), which is a Crop simulation mechanistic model, has been used for this purpose. Prior to simulations, reliable information about actual yields, weather data, crop management data and soil data have been collected in 7 Moroccan buffer zones considered, each, within a circle of 100 km around a weather station point, homogenously spread across the country and where cereals are widely grown. The model calibration was also carried out using WOFOST default varieties data. The map-based results represent a robust tool, not only for drought insurance organization, but for agricultural and agricultural risk management. Moreover, accurate and geospatially granular estimates of Yg and Yw will allow to focus on regions with largest unexploited yield gaps and greatest potential to close them, and consequently to improve food security in the country.

The MVAD pump: motor stator core loss characterization.

PubMed

Mesa, Kelly J; Ferreira, Antonio; Castillo, Samir; Reyes, Carlos; Wolman, Justin; Casas, Fernando

2015-01-01

Investigation of the miniature ventricular assist device (MVAD) pump motor stator core loss behavior was conducted. During operation, the ferromagnetic core in the pump's motor is magnetized by alternating magnetic fields, which, in turn, create intrinsic energy losses in the core material; these losses are known as core losses. A core loss fixture and a method to characterize the magnetic behavior of the MVAD pump stator over a range of frequencies were developed. The MVAD pump motor design features a three phase brushless DC stator with ferromagnetic laminations and copper wire windings arranged in a six slot configuration. The stator's magnetic behavior is important because its core magnetic losses impact pump system efficiency. A system to measure the core loss of MVAD pump stators was developed using a custom core loss fixture consisting of 16 copper wire turns wound in a closed loop geometry bundle; the stator under test was then placed within this bundle. The instrumentation consisted of a signal generator, a power amplifier, and a power analyzer. Power analyzer parameters of current, voltage, and power were collected for several runs with a sinusoidal frequency sweep of 0 to 50 kHz; data were collected for the fixture with and without stators. The magnetic losses inherent to the fixture were characterized independently as a baseline presenting a flat frequency response. The core loss power measurements of individual stators yielded a characteristic bandpass frequency response morphology with a peak core loss found around 2.3 to 2.5 kHz. In conclusion, this method could be used to describe the transfer function of the stator's core magnetic behavior. It also has the potential to be used for future motor evaluation and for investigation of core loss performance variability between different stators during manufacturing operations. Investigational device. Limited by United States law to investigational use.

Slope Controls Grain Yield and Climatic Yield in Mountainous Yunnan province, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, X.; Rong, L.; Gu, Z.; Feng, D.

2017-12-01

Mountainous regions are increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity because of limited arable land, growing population pressure, and climate change. Development of sustainable mountain agriculture will require an increased understanding of the effects of environmental factors on grain and climatic yields. The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between actual grain yield, climatic yield, and environmental factors in a mountainous region in China. We collected data on the average grain yield per unit area in 119 counties in Yunnan province from 1985 to 2012, and chose 17 environmental factors for the same period. Our results showed that actual grain yield ranged from 1.43 to 6.92 t·ha-1, and the climatic yield ranged from -0.15 to -0.01 t·ha-1. Lower climatic yield but higher grain yield was generally found in central areas and at lower slopes and elevations in the western and southwestern counties of Yunnan province. Higher climatic yield but lower grain yield were found in northwestern parts of Yunnan province on steep slopes. Annual precipation and temperature had a weak influence on the climatic yield. Slope explained 44.62 and 26.29% of the variation in grain yield and climatic yield. The effects of topography on grain and climatic yields were greater than climatic factors. Slope was the most important environmental variable for the variability in climatic and grain yields in the mountainous Yunnan province due to the highly heterogeneous topographic conditions. Conversion of slopes to terraces in areas with higher climatic yields is an effective way to maintain grain production in response to climate variability. Additionally, soil amendments and soil and water conservation measures should be considered to maintain soil fertility and aid in sustainable development in central areas, and in counties at lower slopes and elevations in western and southwestern Yunnan province.

Cosmic-Ray Nucleosynthesis of p-nuclei: Yields and Routes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusakabe, Motohiko; Mathews, Grant J.

2018-02-01

We investigate the cosmic-ray nucleosynthesis (CRN) of proton-rich stable nuclides (p-nuclides). We calculate the cosmic-ray (CR) energy spectra of heavy nuclides with mass number A=[74,209], taking into account the detailed nuclear spallation, decay, energy loss, and escape from the Galaxy during the CR propagation. We adopt the latest semiempirical formula SPACS for the spallation cross sections and the latest data on nuclear decay. Effective electron-capture decay rates are calculated using the proper cross sections for recombination and ionization in the whole CR energy region. Calculated CR spectral shapes vary for different nuclides. Abundances of proton-rich unstable nuclides increase in CRs with increasing energy relative to those of other nuclides. Yields of the primary and secondary spallation processes and differential yields from respective seed nuclides are calculated. We find that the CR energy region of ≤slant { \\mathcal O }(100) MeV/nucleon predominantly contributes to the total yields. The atomic cross sections in the low-energy range adopted in this study are then necessary. Effects of CRN on the Galactic chemical evolution of p-nuclides are calculated. Important seed nuclides are identified for respective p-nuclides. The contribution of CRN is significant for 180m Ta, accounting for about 20% of the solar abundance. About 87% of the 180m Ta CRN yield can be attributed to the primary process. The most important production routes are reactions of 181Ta, 180Hf, and 182W. CRN yields of other p-nuclides are typically about { \\mathcal O }(10‑4–10‑2) of solar abundances.

CDK2 inhibitors as candidate therapeutics for cisplatin- and noise-induced hearing loss.

PubMed

Teitz, Tal; Fang, Jie; Goktug, Asli N; Bonga, Justine D; Diao, Shiyong; Hazlitt, Robert A; Iconaru, Luigi; Morfouace, Marie; Currier, Duane; Zhou, Yinmei; Umans, Robyn A; Taylor, Michael R; Cheng, Cheng; Min, Jaeki; Freeman, Burgess; Peng, Junmin; Roussel, Martine F; Kriwacki, Richard; Guy, R Kiplin; Chen, Taosheng; Zuo, Jian

2018-04-02

Hearing loss caused by aging, noise, cisplatin toxicity, or other insults affects 360 million people worldwide, but there are no Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to prevent or treat it. We screened 4,385 small molecules in a cochlear cell line and identified 10 compounds that protected against cisplatin toxicity in mouse cochlear explants. Among them, kenpaullone, an inhibitor of multiple kinases, including cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), protected zebrafish lateral-line neuromasts from cisplatin toxicity and, when delivered locally, protected adult mice and rats against cisplatin- and noise-induced hearing loss. CDK2-deficient mice displayed enhanced resistance to cisplatin toxicity in cochlear explants and to cisplatin- and noise-induced hearing loss in vivo. Mechanistically, we showed that kenpaullone directly inhibits CDK2 kinase activity and reduces cisplatin-induced mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species, thereby enhancing cell survival. Our experiments have revealed the proapoptotic function of CDK2 in postmitotic cochlear cells and have identified promising therapeutics for preventing hearing loss. © 2018 Teitz et al.

Effect of wheat stem sawfly damage on yield and quality of selected Canadian spring wheat.

PubMed

Beres, B L; Cárcamo, H A; Byers, J R

2007-02-01

The wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), has reached outbreak status at most locations in the southern Canadian prairies. Solid-stemmed wheat, Triticum aestivum L., cultivars, which are less susceptible to damage, remain the primary management option. This article quantifies the effect of wheat stem sawfly damage on grain yield and quality at harvest and determines how cultivar selection affects harvest losses. Solid-stemmed cultivars were compared with hollow-stemmed cultivars and with blends of a 1:1 ratio of each. The hollow-stemmed cultivars with the exception of'McKenzie', which had intermediate levels of stem cutting, were all significantly more susceptible to stem cutting than solid-stemmed cultivars. Cultivar blends had lower damage but were still significantly higher than the solid-stemmed cultivars. The solid-stemmed 'AC Eatonia' and 'AC Abbey' had the lowest levels of stem cutting and ranked second and third overall for yield in 2001 and 2002. McKenzie ranked first, which reflects its yield potential in combination with its partial resistance to stem cutting. Lower cutting in AC Eatonia, AC Abbey, McKenzie, and the blend of AC Abbey/ McKenzie was significantly correlated with lower grain losses. Grain lost at harvest has major economic implications if sawfly pressure is moderate to high and susceptible cultivars predominate.

Two-body loss rates for reactive collisions of cold atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cop, C.; Walser, R.

2018-01-01

We present an effective two-channel model for reactive collisions of cold atoms. It augments elastic molecular channels with an irreversible, inelastic loss channel. Scattering is studied with the distorted-wave Born approximation and yields general expressions for angular momentum resolved cross sections as well as two-body loss rates. Explicit expressions are obtained for piecewise constant potentials. A pole expansion reveals simple universal shape functions for cross sections and two-body loss rates in agreement with the Wigner threshold laws. This is applied to collisions of metastable 20Ne and 21Ne atoms, which decay primarily through exothermic Penning or associative ionization processes. From a numerical solution of the multichannel Schrödinger equation using the best currently available molecular potentials, we have obtained synthetic scattering data. Using the two-body loss shape functions derived in this paper, we can match these scattering data very well.

Maize yield response to nitrogen as influenced by spatio-temporal variations of soil-water-topography dynamics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Reducing N loss from agricultural lands and applying N fertilizer at rates that satisfy both economic and environmental objectives is critical for sustainable agricultural management. This study investigated spatial variability in maize yield response to N and its controlling factors along a typical...

A Model For Rapid Estimation of Economic Loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holliday, J. R.; Rundle, J. B.

2012-12-01

One of the loftier goals in seismic hazard analysis is the creation of an end-to-end earthquake prediction system: a "rupture to rafters" work flow that takes a prediction of fault rupture, propagates it with a ground shaking model, and outputs a damage or loss profile at a given location. So far, the initial prediction of an earthquake rupture (either as a point source or a fault system) has proven to be the most difficult and least solved step in this chain. However, this may soon change. The Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) has amassed a suite of earthquake source models for assorted testing regions worldwide. These models are capable of providing rate-based forecasts for earthquake (point) sources over a range of time horizons. Furthermore, these rate forecasts can be easily refined into probabilistic source forecasts. While it's still difficult to fully assess the "goodness" of each of these models, progress is being made: new evaluation procedures are being devised and earthquake statistics continue to accumulate. The scientific community appears to be heading towards a better understanding of rupture predictability. Ground shaking mechanics are better understood, and many different sophisticated models exists. While these models tend to be computationally expensive and often regionally specific, they do a good job at matching empirical data. It is perhaps time to start addressing the third step in the seismic hazard prediction system. We present a model for rapid economic loss estimation using ground motion (PGA or PGV) and socioeconomic measures as its input. We show that the model can be calibrated on a global scale and applied worldwide. We also suggest how the model can be improved and generalized to non-seismic natural disasters such as hurricane and severe wind storms.

World-Wide Web: Adding Multimedia to Cyberspace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Descy, Don E.

1994-01-01

Describes the World-Wide Web (WWW), a network information resource based on hypertext. How to access WWW browsers through remote login (telnet) or though free browser software, such as Mosaic, is provided. Eight information sources that can be accessed through the WWW are listed. The address of a listserv reporting on Internet developments is…

Globalization of flora: inviting worldwide ecosystem disaster.

Treesearch

Andrew B. Carey

2002-01-01

Meeting the needs of expanding human populations has changed land use worldwide and presented a biodiversity crisis. Emerging related concerns are threats to native species from homogenization of world flora and the spread of exotic species by human activities (Soule 1990, United States Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1993, Wilcove and others 1998, Soule and...

Deformed wing virus implicated in overwintering honeybee colony losses.

PubMed

Highfield, Andrea C; El Nagar, Aliya; Mackinder, Luke C M; Noël, Laure M-L J; Hall, Matthew J; Martin, Stephen J; Schroeder, Declan C

2009-11-01

The worldwide decline in honeybee colonies during the past 50 years has often been linked to the spread of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and its interaction with certain honeybee viruses. Recently in the United States, dramatic honeybee losses (colony collapse disorder) have been reported; however, there remains no clear explanation for these colony losses, with parasitic mites, viruses, bacteria, and fungal diseases all being proposed as possible candidates. Common characteristics that most failing colonies share is a lack of overt disease symptoms and the disappearance of workers from what appears to be normally functioning colonies. In this study, we used quantitative PCR to monitor the presence of three honeybee viruses, deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), and black queen cell virus (BQCV), during a 1-year period in 15 asymptomatic, varroa mite-positive honeybee colonies in Southern England, and 3 asymptomatic colonies confirmed to be varroa mite free. All colonies with varroa mites underwent control treatments to ensure that mite populations remained low throughout the study. Despite this, multiple virus infections were detected, yet a significant correlation was observed only between DWV viral load and overwintering colony losses. The long-held view has been that DWV is relatively harmless to the overall health status of honeybee colonies unless it is in association with severe varroa mite infestations. Our findings suggest that DWV can potentially act independently of varroa mites to bring about colony losses. Therefore, DWV may be a major factor in overwintering colony losses.

Overexpression of GmCaM4 in soybean enhances resistance to pathogens and tolerance to salt stress

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is the major oilseed crop in the world and is a main source of oil and high-quality protein for both humans and animals worldwide. Plant diseases inflict heavy losses on soybean yield that negatively impact the US economy. Implicit in the high economic value of this ...

Holographic lens spectrum splitting photovoltaic system for increased diffuse collection and annual energy yield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorndran, Shelby D.; Wu, Yuechen; Ayala, Silvana; Kostuk, Raymond K.

2015-09-01

Concentrating and spectrum splitting photovoltaic (PV) modules have a limited acceptance angle and thus suffer from optical loss under off-axis illumination. This loss manifests itself as a substantial reduction in energy yield in locations where a significant portion of insulation is diffuse. In this work, a spectrum splitting PV system is designed to efficiently collect and convert light in a range of illumination conditions. The system uses a holographic lens to concentrate shortwavelength light onto a smaller, more expensive indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) PV cell. The high efficiency PV cell near the axis is surrounded with silicon (Si), a less expensive material that collects a broader portion of the solar spectrum. Under direct illumination, the device achieves increased conversion efficiency from spectrum splitting. Under diffuse illumination, the device collects light with efficiency comparable to a flat-panel Si module. Design of the holographic lens is discussed. Optical efficiency and power output of the module under a range of illumination conditions from direct to diffuse are simulated with non-sequential raytracing software. Using direct and diffuse Typical Metrological Year (TMY3) irradiance measurements, annual energy yield of the module is calculated for several installation sites. Energy yield of the spectrum splitting module is compared to that of a full flat-panel Si reference module.

Potential worldwide distribution of Fusarium dry root rot in common beans based on the optimal environment for disease occurrence.

PubMed

Macedo, Renan; Sales, Lilian Patrícia; Yoshida, Fernanda; Silva-Abud, Lidianne Lemes; Lobo, Murillo

2017-01-01

Root rots are a constraint for staple food crops and a long-lasting food security problem worldwide. In common beans, yield losses originating from root damage are frequently attributed to dry root rot, a disease caused by the Fusarium solani species complex. The aim of this study was to model the current potential distribution of common bean dry root rot on a global scale and to project changes based on future expectations of climate change. Our approach used a spatial proxy of the field disease occurrence, instead of solely the pathogen distribution. We modeled the pathogen environmental requirements in locations where in-situ inoculum density seems ideal for disease manifestation. A dataset of 2,311 soil samples from commercial farms assessed from 2002 to 2015 allowed us to evaluate the environmental conditions associated with the pathogen's optimum inoculum density for disease occurrence, using a lower threshold as a spatial proxy. We encompassed not only the optimal conditions for disease occurrence but also the optimal pathogen's density required for host infection. An intermediate inoculum density of the pathogen was the best disease proxy, suggesting density-dependent mechanisms on host infection. We found a strong convergence on the environmental requirements of both the host and the disease development in tropical areas, mostly in Brazil, Central America, and African countries. Precipitation and temperature variables were important for explaining the disease occurrence (from 17.63% to 43.84%). Climate change will probably move the disease toward cooler regions, which in Brazil are more representative of small-scale farming, although an overall shrink in total area (from 48% to 49% in 2050 and 26% to 41% in 2070) was also predicted. Understanding pathogen distribution and disease risks in an evolutionary context will therefore support breeding for resistance programs and strategies for dry root rot management in common beans.

Potential worldwide distribution of Fusarium dry root rot in common beans based on the optimal environment for disease occurrence

PubMed Central

Macedo, Renan; Sales, Lilian Patrícia; Yoshida, Fernanda; Silva-Abud, Lidianne Lemes

2017-01-01

Root rots are a constraint for staple food crops and a long-lasting food security problem worldwide. In common beans, yield losses originating from root damage are frequently attributed to dry root rot, a disease caused by the Fusarium solani species complex. The aim of this study was to model the current potential distribution of common bean dry root rot on a global scale and to project changes based on future expectations of climate change. Our approach used a spatial proxy of the field disease occurrence, instead of solely the pathogen distribution. We modeled the pathogen environmental requirements in locations where in-situ inoculum density seems ideal for disease manifestation. A dataset of 2,311 soil samples from commercial farms assessed from 2002 to 2015 allowed us to evaluate the environmental conditions associated with the pathogen’s optimum inoculum density for disease occurrence, using a lower threshold as a spatial proxy. We encompassed not only the optimal conditions for disease occurrence but also the optimal pathogen’s density required for host infection. An intermediate inoculum density of the pathogen was the best disease proxy, suggesting density-dependent mechanisms on host infection. We found a strong convergence on the environmental requirements of both the host and the disease development in tropical areas, mostly in Brazil, Central America, and African countries. Precipitation and temperature variables were important for explaining the disease occurrence (from 17.63% to 43.84%). Climate change will probably move the disease toward cooler regions, which in Brazil are more representative of small-scale farming, although an overall shrink in total area (from 48% to 49% in 2050 and 26% to 41% in 2070) was also predicted. Understanding pathogen distribution and disease risks in an evolutionary context will therefore support breeding for resistance programs and strategies for dry root rot management in common beans. PMID:29107985

Noise-induced hearing loss in small-scale metal industry in Nepal.

PubMed

Whittaker, J D; Robinson, T; Acharya, A; Singh, D; Smith, M

2014-10-01

There has been no previous research to demonstrate the risk of noise-induced hearing loss in industry in Nepal. Limited research on occupational noise-induced hearing loss has been conducted within small-scale industry worldwide, despite it being a substantial and growing cause of deafness in the developing world. The study involved a cross-sectional audiometric assessment, with questionnaire-based examinations of noise and occupational history, and workplace noise level assessment. A total of 115 metal workers and 123 hotel workers (control subjects) were recruited. Noise-induced hearing loss prevalence was 30.4 per cent in metal workers and 4.1 per cent in hotel workers, with a significant odds ratio of 10.3. Except for age and time in occupation, none of the demographic factors were significant in predicting outcomes in regression analyses. When adjusted for this finding, and previous noise-exposed occupations, the odds ratio was 13.8. Workplace noise was significantly different between the groups, ranging from 65.3 to 84.7 dBA in metal worker sites, and from 51.4 to 68.6 dBA in the control sites. Metal workers appear to have a greater risk of noise-induced hearing loss than controls. Additional research on occupational noise-induced hearing loss in Nepal and small-scale industry globally is needed.

Secondary electron emission yield from high aspect ratio carbon velvet surfaces

DOE PAGES

Jin, Chenggang; Ottaviano, Angelica; Raitses, Yevgeny

2017-11-01

The plasma electrons bombarding a plasma-facing wall surface can induce secondary electron emission (SEE) from the wall. A strong SEE can enhance the power losses by reducing the wall sheath potential and thereby increasing the electron flux from the plasma to the wall. The use of the materials with surface roughness and the engineered materials with surface architecture is known to reduce the effective SEE by trapping the secondary electrons. In this work, we demonstrate a 65% reduction of SEE yield using a velvet material consisting of high aspect ratio carbon fibers. The measurements of SEE yield for different velvetmore » samples using the electron beam in vacuum demonstrate the dependence of the SEE yield on the fiber length and the packing density, which is strongly affected by the alignment of long velvet fibers with respect to the electron beam impinging on the velvet sample. Furthermore, the results of SEE measurements support the previous observations of the reduced SEE measured in Hall thrusters.« less

[Yield of starch extraction from plantain (Musa paradisiaca). Pilot plant study].

PubMed

Flores-Gorosquera, Emigdia; García-Suárez, Francisco J; Flores-Huicochea, Emmanuel; Núñez-Santiago, María C; González-Soto, Rosalia A; Bello-Pérez, Luis A

2004-01-01

In México, the banana (Musa paradisiaca) is cooked (boiling or deep frying) before being eaten, but the consumption is not very popular and a big quantity of the product is lost after harvesting. The unripe plantain has a high level of starch and due to this the use of banana can be diversified as raw material for starch isolation. The objective of this work was to study the starch yield at pilot plant scale. Experiments at laboratory scale were carried out using the pulp with citric acid to 0,3 % (antioxidant), in order to evaluate the different unitary operations of the process. The starch yield, based on starch presence in the pulp that can be isolated, were between 76 and 86 %, and the values at pilot plant scale were between 63 and 71 %, in different lots of banana fruit. Starch yield values were similar among the diverse lots, showing that the process is reproducible. The lower values of starch recovery at pilot plant scale are due to the loss during sieving operations; however, the amount of starch recovery is good.

Burden of high fracture probability worldwide: secular increases 2010-2040.

PubMed

Odén, A; McCloskey, E V; Kanis, J A; Harvey, N C; Johansson, H

2015-09-01

The number of individuals aged 50 years or more at high risk of osteoporotic fracture worldwide in 2010 was estimated at 158 million and is set to double by 2040. The aim of this study was to quantify the number of individuals worldwide aged 50 years or more at high risk of osteoporotic fracture in 2010 and 2040. A threshold of high fracture probability was set at the age-specific 10-year probability of a major fracture (clinical vertebral, forearm, humeral or hip fracture) which was equivalent to that of a woman with a BMI of 24 kg/m(2) and a prior fragility fracture but no other clinical risk factors. The prevalence of high risk was determined worldwide and by continent using all available country-specific FRAX models and applied the population demography for each country. Twenty-one million men and 137 million women had a fracture probability at or above the threshold in the world for the year 2010. The greatest number of men and women at high risk were from Asia (55 %). Worldwide, the number of high-risk individuals is expected to double over the next 40 years. We conclude that individuals with high probability of osteoporotic fractures comprise a very significant disease burden to society, particularly in Asia, and that this burden is set to increase markedly in the future. These analyses provide a platform for the evaluation of risk assessment and intervention strategies.

Examination of worldwide hardwood lumber production, trade, and apparent consumption: 1995-2013

Treesearch

William G. Luppold; Matthew S. Bumgardner

2015-01-01

Worldwide hardwood lumber production fluctuated between 1995 and 2013 and changed considerably with respect to regional market shares. Similarly, worldwide hardwood lumber imports and exports have been constantly changing. Understanding these changes is important because collectively, they define the hardwood lumber consumption of a region or country. In 1995, North...

Global Ionosphere Perturbations Monitored by the Worldwide GPS Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ho, C. M.; Manucci, A. T.; Lindqwister, U. J.; Pi, X.

1996-01-01

For the first time, measurements from the Global Positioning System (GPS) worldwide network are employed to study the global ionospheric total electron content(TEC) changes during a magnetic storm (November 26, 1994). These measurements are obtained from more than 60 world-wide GPS stations which continuously receive dual-frequency signals. Based on the delays of the signals, we have generated high resolution global ionospheric maps (GIM) of TEC at 15 minute intervals. Using a differential method comparing storm time maps with quiet time maps, we find that significant TEC increases (the positive effect ) are the major feature in the winter hemisphere during this storm (the maximum percent change relative to quiet times is about 150 percent).

Main components and characteristics of landslide early warning systems operational worldwide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piciullo, Luca; Cepeda, José

2017-04-01

During the last decades the number of victims and economic losses due to natural hazards are dramatically increased worldwide. The reason can be mainly ascribed to climate changes and urbanization in areas exposed at high level of risk. Among the many mitigation measures available for reducing the risk to life related to natural hazards, early warning systems certainly constitute a significant cost-effective option available to the authorities in charge of risk management and governance. The aim is to help and protect populations exposed to natural hazards, reducing fatalities when major events occur. Landslide is one of the natural hazards addressed by early warning systems. Landslide early warning systems (LEWSs) are mainly composed by the following four components: set-up, correlation laws, decisional algorithm and warning management. Within this framework, the set-up includes all the preliminary actions and choices necessary for designing a LEWS, such as: the area covered by the system, the types of landslides and the monitoring instruments. The monitoring phase provides a series of important information on different variables, considered as triggering factors for landslides, in order to define correlation laws and thresholds. Then, a decisional algorithm is necessary for defining the: number of warning levels to be employed in the system, decision making procedures, and everything else system managers may need for issuing warnings in different warning zones. Finally the warning management is composed by: monitoring and warning strategy; communication strategy; emergency plan and, everything connected to the social sphere. Among LEWSs operational worldwide, two categories can be defined as a function of the scale of analysis: "local" and "territorial" systems. The scale of analysis influences several actions and aspects connected to the design and employment of the system, such as: the actors involved, the monitoring systems, type of landslide phenomena

Effects of ditch-buried straw return on water percolation, nitrogen leaching and crop yields in a rice-wheat rotation system.

PubMed

Yang, Haishui; Xu, Mingmin; Koide, Roger T; Liu, Qian; Dai, Yajun; Liu, Ling; Bian, Xinmin

2016-03-15

Crop residue management and nitrogen loss are two important environmental problems in the rice-wheat rotation system in China. This study investigated the effects of burial of straw on water percolation, nitrogen loss by leaching, crop growth and yield. Greenhouse mesocosm experiments were conducted over the course of three simulated cropping seasons in a rice1-wheat-rice2 rotation. Greater amounts of straw resulted in more water percolation, irrespective of crop season. Burial at 20 and 35 cm significantly reduced, but burial at 50 cm increased nitrogen leaching. Straw at 500 kg ha(-1) reduced, but at 1000 kg ha(-1) and at 1500 kg ha(-1) straw increased nitrogen leaching in three consecutive crop rotations. In addition, straw at 500 kg ha(-1) buried at 35 cm significantly increased yield and its components for both crops. This study suggests that N losses via leaching from the rice-wheat rotation may be reduced by the burial of the appropriate amount of straw at the appropriate depth. Greater amounts of buried straw, however, may promote nitrogen leaching and negatively affect crop growth and yields. Complementary field experiments must be performed to make specific agronomic recommendations. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Adverse Psychiatric Effects Associated with Herbal Weight-Loss Products

PubMed Central

Coviello, Marialuce; Francesconi, Marta; Hough, Christina M.; De Stefano, Gianfranco; Bolzan Mariotti Posocco, Flaminia; Minichino, Amedeo; Corazza, Ornella

2015-01-01

Obesity and overeating are among the most prevalent health concerns worldwide and individuals are increasingly using performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) as an easy and fast way to control their weight. Among these, herbal weight-loss products (HWLPs) often attract users due to their health claims, assumed safety, easy availability, affordable price, extensive marketing, and the perceived lack of need for professional oversight. Reports suggest that certain HWLPs may lead to onset or exacerbation of psychiatric disturbances. Here we review the available evidence on psychiatric adverse effects of HWLPs due to their intrinsic toxicity and potential for interaction with psychiatric medications. PMID:26457296

Combining Urease and Nitrification Inhibitors with Incorporation Reduces Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Increases Corn Yields.

PubMed

Drury, Craig F; Yang, Xueming; Reynolds, W Dan; Calder, Wayne; Oloya, Tom O; Woodley, Alex L

2017-09-01

Less than 50% of applied nitrogen (N) fertilizer is typically recovered by corn ( L.) due to climatic constraints, soil degradation, overapplication, and losses to air and water. Two application methods, two N sources, and two inhibitors were evaluated to reduce N losses and enhance crop uptake. The treatments included broadcast urea (BrUrea), BrUrea with a urease inhibitor (BrUrea+UI), BrUrea with a urease and a nitrification inhibitor (BrUrea+UI+NI), injection of urea ammonium nitrate (InjUAN), and injected with one or both inhibitors (InjUAN+UI, InjUAN+UI+NI), and a control. The BrUrea treatment lost 50% (64.4 kg N ha) of the applied N due to ammonia volatilization, but losses were reduced by 64% with BrUrea+UI+NI (23.0 kg N ha) and by 60% with InjUAN (26.1 kg N ha). Ammonia losses were lower and crop yields were greater in 2014 than 2013 as a result of the more favorable weather when N was applied in 2014. When ammonia volatilization was reduced by adding a urease inhibitor, NO emissions were increased by 30 to 31% with BrUrea+UI and InjUAN+UI compared with BrUrea and InjUAN, respectively. Pollution swapping was avoided when both inhibitors were used (BrUrea+UI+NI, InjUAN+UI+NI) as both ammonia volatilization and NO emissions were reduced, and corn grain yields increased by 5% with BrUrea+UI+NI and by 7% with InjUAN+UI+NI compared with BrUrea and InjUAN, respectively. The combination of two N management strategies (InjUAN+UI+NI) increased yields by 19% (12.9 t ha) compared with BrUrea (10.8 t ha). Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Gene therapy clinical trials worldwide to 2017: An update.

PubMed

Ginn, Samantha L; Amaya, Anais K; Alexander, Ian E; Edelstein, Michael; Abedi, Mohammad R

2018-03-25

To date, almost 2600 gene therapy clinical trials have been completed, are ongoing or have been approved worldwide. Our database brings together global information on gene therapy clinical activity from trial databases, official agency sources, published literature, conference presentations and posters kindly provided to us by individual investigators or trial sponsors. This review presents our analysis of clinical trials that, to the best of our knowledge, have been or are being performed worldwide. As of our November 2017 update, we have entries on 2597 trials undertaken in 38 countries. We have analysed the geographical distribution of trials, the disease indications (or other reasons) for trials, the proportions to which different vector types are used, and the genes that have been transferred. Details of the analyses presented, and our searchable database are available via The Journal of Gene Medicine Gene Therapy Clinical Trials Worldwide website at: http://www.wiley.co.uk/genmed/clinical. We also provide an overview of the progress being made in gene therapy clinical trials around the world, and discuss key trends since the previous review, namely the use of chimeric antigen receptor T cells for the treatment of cancer and advancements in genome editing technologies, which have the potential to transform the field moving forward. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Breeding approaches and genomics technologies to increase crop yield under low-temperature stress.

PubMed

Jha, Uday Chand; Bohra, Abhishek; Jha, Rintu

2017-01-01

Improved knowledge about plant cold stress tolerance offered by modern omics technologies will greatly inform future crop improvement strategies that aim to breed cultivars yielding substantially high under low-temperature conditions. Alarmingly rising temperature extremities present a substantial impediment to the projected target of 70% more food production by 2050. Low-temperature (LT) stress severely constrains crop production worldwide, thereby demanding an urgent yet sustainable solution. Considerable research progress has been achieved on this front. Here, we review the crucial cellular and metabolic alterations in plants that follow LT stress along with the signal transduction and the regulatory network describing the plant cold tolerance. The significance of plant genetic resources to expand the genetic base of breeding programmes with regard to cold tolerance is highlighted. Also, the genetic architecture of cold tolerance trait as elucidated by conventional QTL mapping and genome-wide association mapping is described. Further, global expression profiling techniques including RNA-Seq along with diverse omics platforms are briefly discussed to better understand the underlying mechanism and prioritize the candidate gene (s) for downstream applications. These latest additions to breeders' toolbox hold immense potential to support plant breeding schemes that seek development of LT-tolerant cultivars. High-yielding cultivars endowed with greater cold tolerance are urgently required to sustain the crop yield under conditions severely challenged by low-temperature.

Excitation cross sections for the ns 2S yields np 2P resonance transitions in Mg(+) (n = 3) and Zn(+) (n = 4) using electron-energy-loss and merged-beams methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Steven J.; Chutjian, A.; Mitroy, J.; Tayal, S. S.; Henry, Ronald J. W.; Man, K.-F.; Mawhorter, R. J.; Williams, I. D.

1993-01-01

Electron-excitation cross sections are reported for the 3s 2S yields 3p 2P(h, k) resonance transition in Mg(+) at energies from threshold (4.43 eV) to approximately 9 times threshold (40.0 eV). The electron-energy-loss merged-beams technique used in these measurements is described in detail. In addition, the method of separating contributions of the elastically scattered (Coulomb) and the inelastically scattered electrons in the present Mg(+) case and previously reported Zn(+) results is described. Comparisons in the experimental energy range are made for Mg(+) with the two five-state close-coupling theoretical calculations carried out herein, and with other published close-coupling, distorted-wave, and semiempirical calculations. The present Mg(+) cross sections and Zn(+) cross sections from earlier measurements are tabulated.

Results of a faith-based weight loss intervention for black women.

PubMed

Fitzgibbon, Marian L; Stolley, Melinda R; Ganschow, Pamela; Schiffer, Linda; Wells, Anita; Simon, Nolanna; Dyer, Alan

2005-10-01

Obesity is a risk factor for a variety of chronic diseases. Although weight loss may reduce these risks, weight loss programs designed for black women have yielded mixed results. Studies suggest that religion/spirituality is a prominent component of black culture. Given this, the inclusion of religion/spirituality as an active component of a weight loss program may enhance the benefits of the program. The role of religion/spirituality, however, has not been specifically tested as a mechanism that enhances the weight loss process. This paper presents the results of "Faith on the Move," a randomized pilot study of a faith-based weight loss program for black women. The goals of the study were to estimate the effects of a 12-week culturally tailored, faith-based weight loss intervention on weight loss, dietary fat consumption and physical activity. The culturally tailored, faith-based weight loss intervention was compared to a culturally tailored weight loss intervention with no active faith component. Fifty-nine overweight/obese black women were randomized to one of the two interventions. Although the results were not statistically significant, the effect size suggests that the addition of the faith component improved results. These promising preliminary results will need to be tested in an adequately powered trial.

The metabolic costs of improving ethanol yield by reducing glycerol formation capacity under anaerobic conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Finely regulating the carbon flux through the glycerol pathway by regulating the expression of the rate controlling enzyme, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), has been a promising approach to redirect carbon from glycerol to ethanol and thereby increasing the ethanol yield in ethanol production. Here, strains engineered in the promoter of GPD1 and deleted in GPD2 were used to investigate the possibility of reducing glycerol production of Saccharomyces cerevisiae without jeopardising its ability to cope with process stress during ethanol production. For this purpose, the mutant strains TEFmut7 and TEFmut2 with different GPD1 residual expression were studied in Very High Ethanol Performance (VHEP) fed-batch process under anaerobic conditions. Results Both strains showed a drastic reduction of the glycerol yield by 44 and 61% while the ethanol yield improved by 2 and 7% respectively. TEFmut2 strain showing the highest ethanol yield was accompanied by a 28% reduction of the biomass yield. The modulation of the glycerol formation led to profound redox and energetic changes resulting in a reduction of the ATP yield (YATP) and a modulation of the production of organic acids (acetate, pyruvate and succinate). Those metabolic rearrangements resulted in a loss of ethanol and stress tolerance of the mutants, contrarily to what was previously observed under aerobiosis. Conclusions This work demonstrates the potential of fine-tuned pathway engineering, particularly when a compromise has to be found between high product yield on one hand and acceptable growth, productivity and stress resistance on the other hand. Previous study showed that, contrarily to anaerobiosis, the resulting gain in ethanol yield was accompanied with no loss of ethanol tolerance under aerobiosis. Moreover those mutants were still able to produce up to 90 gl-1 ethanol in an anaerobic SSF process. Fine tuning metabolic strategy may then open encouraging possibilities for further

Estimating the responses of winter wheat yields to moisture variations in the past 35 years in Jiangsu Province of China

PubMed Central

Ding, Jinfeng; Li, Chunyan

2018-01-01

Jiangsu is an important agricultural province in China. Winter wheat, as the second major grain crop in the province, is greatly affected by moisture variations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there were significant trends in changes in the moisture conditions during wheat growing seasons over the past decades and how the wheat yields responded to different moisture levels by means of a popular drought index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The study started with a trend analysis and quantification of the moisture conditions with the Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s Slope method, respectively. Then, correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between de-trended wheat yields and multi-scalar SPEI. Finally, a multivariate panel regression model was established to reveal the quantitative yield responses to moisture variations. The results showed that the moisture conditions in Jiangsu were generally at a normal level, but this century appeared slightly drier in because of the relatively high temperatures. There was a significant correlation between short time scale SPEI values and wheat yields. Among the three critical stages of wheat development, the SPEI values in the late growth stage (April-June) had a closer linkage to the yields than in the seedling stage (October-November) and the over-wintering stage (December-February). Moreover, the yield responses displayed an asymmetric characteristic, namely, moisture excess led to higher yield losses compared to moisture deficit in this region. The maximum yield increment could be obtained under the moisture level of slight drought according to the 3-month SPEI at the late growth stage, while extreme wetting resulted in the most severe yield losses. The moisture conditions in the first 15 years of the 21st century were more favorable than in the last 20 years of the 20th century for wheat production in Jiangsu. PMID:29329353

Estimating the responses of winter wheat yields to moisture variations in the past 35 years in Jiangsu Province of China.

PubMed

Xu, Xiangying; Gao, Ping; Zhu, Xinkai; Guo, Wenshan; Ding, Jinfeng; Li, Chunyan

2018-01-01

Jiangsu is an important agricultural province in China. Winter wheat, as the second major grain crop in the province, is greatly affected by moisture variations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there were significant trends in changes in the moisture conditions during wheat growing seasons over the past decades and how the wheat yields responded to different moisture levels by means of a popular drought index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The study started with a trend analysis and quantification of the moisture conditions with the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's Slope method, respectively. Then, correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between de-trended wheat yields and multi-scalar SPEI. Finally, a multivariate panel regression model was established to reveal the quantitative yield responses to moisture variations. The results showed that the moisture conditions in Jiangsu were generally at a normal level, but this century appeared slightly drier in because of the relatively high temperatures. There was a significant correlation between short time scale SPEI values and wheat yields. Among the three critical stages of wheat development, the SPEI values in the late growth stage (April-June) had a closer linkage to the yields than in the seedling stage (October-November) and the over-wintering stage (December-February). Moreover, the yield responses displayed an asymmetric characteristic, namely, moisture excess led to higher yield losses compared to moisture deficit in this region. The maximum yield increment could be obtained under the moisture level of slight drought according to the 3-month SPEI at the late growth stage, while extreme wetting resulted in the most severe yield losses. The moisture conditions in the first 15 years of the 21st century were more favorable than in the last 20 years of the 20th century for wheat production in Jiangsu.

Milk losses associated with somatic cell counts by parity and stage of lactation.

PubMed

Gonçalves, Juliano L; Cue, Roger I; Botaro, Bruno G; Horst, José A; Valloto, Altair A; Santos, Marcos V

2018-05-01

The reduction of milk production caused by subclinical mastitis in dairy cows was evaluated through the regression of test-day milk yield on log-transformed somatic cell counts (LnSCC). Official test-day records (n = 1,688,054) of Holstein cows (n = 87,695) were obtained from 719 herds from January 2010 to December 2015. Editing was performed to ensure both reliability and consistency for the statistical analysis, and the final data set comprised 232,937 test-day records from 31,692 Holstein cows in 243 herds. A segmented regression was fitted to estimate the cutoff point in the LnSCC scale where milk yield started to be affected by mastitis. The statistical model used to explain daily milk yield included the effect of herd as a random effect and days in milk and LnSCC as fixed effects regressions, and analyses were performed by parity and stage of lactation. The cutoff point where milk yield starts to be affected by changes in LnSCC was estimated to be around 2.52 (the average of all estimates of approximately 12,400 cells/mL) for Holsteins cows from Brazilian herds. For first-lactation cows, milk losses per unit increase of LnSCC had estimates around 0.68 kg/d in the beginning of the lactation [5 to 19 d in milk (DIM)], 0.55 kg/d in mid-lactation (110 to 124 DIM), and 0.97 kg/d at the end of the lactation (289 to 304 DIM). For second-lactation cows, milk losses per unit increase of LnSCC had estimates around 1.47 kg/d in the beginning of the lactation (5 to 19 DIM), 1.09 kg/d in mid-lactation (110 to 124 DIM), and 2.45 kg/d at the end of the lactation (289 to 304 DIM). For third-lactation cows, milk losses per unit increase of LnSCC had estimates around 2.22 kg/d in the beginning of the lactation (5 to 19 DIM), 1.13 kg/d in mid-lactation (140 to 154 DIM), and 2.65 kg/d at the end of the lactation (289 to 304 DIM). Daily milk losses caused by increased LnSCC were dependent on parity and stage of lactation, and these factors should be considered when estimating

Quantification of ozone exposure- and stomatal uptake-yield response relationships for soybean in Northeast China.

PubMed

Zhang, Weiwei; Feng, Zhaozhong; Wang, Xiaoke; Liu, Xiaobing; Hu, Enzhu

2017-12-01

High ground-level O 3 is a new threat to agricultural production in Northeast China with the increasing ambient O 3 concentration. Little is known about its impacts on soybean production in this key agricultural region. Accumulated O 3 exposure-response and stomatal O 3 flux-response relationships were developed during two continuous growing seasons to evaluate O 3 -induced yield reduction of four typical soybean cultivars in Northeast China. Results showed that critical levels of AOT40 (accumulated hourly O 3 concentrations over a threshold of 40nmol·mol -1 ), SUM06 (sum of all hourly average O 3 concentrations over 0.06μmol·mol -1 ) and W126 (sum of O 3 concentrations weighted by a sigmoidal function) in relation to 5% reduction in relative seed yield were 4.2, 7.6 and 6.8μmol·mol -1 ·h, respectively. The effect of O 3 on plants was influenced by leaf position in canopy. An improved Jarvis stomatal conductance model including leaf (node) position fitted well with field measurements. The best linear relationship between stomatal O 3 flux and relative soybean yield was obtained when phytotoxic ozone dose was integrated over a threshold of 9.6nmol·m -2 ·s -1 (POD 9.6 ) to represent the detoxification capacity of soybean. POD 9.6 and the commonly used POD 6 in relation to 5% reduction in relative seed yield of soybean were 0.9mmol·m -2 and 1.8mmol·m -2 , respectively. O 3 concentrations above ~38nmol·mol -1 contributed to POD 9.6 and caused seed yield loss in soybean. Current annual yield loss of soybean at ambient O 3 was estimated to range between 23.4% and 30.2%. The O 3 dose-response relationships and corresponding thresholds obtained here will benefit regional O 3 risk assessment on soybean production in Northeast China. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased Night Temperature Negatively Affects Grain Yield, Biomass and Grain Number in Chilean Quinoa

PubMed Central

Lesjak, Jurka; Calderini, Daniel F.

2017-01-01

Quinoa high nutritive value increases interest worldwide, especially as a crop that could potentially feature in different cropping systems, however, climate change, particularly rising temperatures, challenges this and other crop species. Currently, only limited knowledge exists regarding the grain yield and other key traits response to higher temperatures of this crop, especially to increased night temperatures. In this context, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of increased night temperature on quinoa yield, grain number, individual grain weight and processes involved in crop growth under the environmental conditions (control treatment) and night thermal increase at two phases: flowering (T1) and grain filling (T2) in southern Chile. A commercial genotype, Regalona, and a quinoa accession (Cod. BO5, N°191, grain bank from Semillas Baer, hereby referred to as Accession) were used, due to their adaptability to Southern Chilean conditions and contrasting grain yield potential, grain weight and size of plants. Temperature was increased ≈4°C above the ambient from 8 pm until 9 am the next morning. Control treatments reached a high grain yield (600 and 397 g m-2, i.e., Regalona and Accession). Temperature increase reduced grain yield by 31% under T1 treatment and 12% when under T2 in Regalona and 23 and 26% in Accession, respectively. Aboveground biomass was negatively affected by the thermal treatments and a positive linear association was found between grain yield and aboveground biomass across treatments. By contrast, the harvest index was unaffected either by genotype, or by thermal treatments. Grain number was significantly affected between treatments and this key trait was linearly associated with grain yield. On the other hand, grain weight showed a narrow range of variation across treatments. Additionally, leaf area index was not affected, but significant differences were found in SPAD values at the end of T1 treatment, compared

Effect of drying on yield and calorific values of extractables from leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wiatr, S.M.

1984-04-01

The effect of dehydration on yield and calorific values has been investigated for oils, hydrocarbons, and poly-phenols extracted from leaves of Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). Methods of dehydration employed were with a warm oven (50 degrees C), a hot oven (105 degrees C), at room temperature (25 degrees C), and with freeze drying. Generally, dehydration resulted in a loss of yield for all extractives. Noteworthy exceptions were oil yields from the warm-oven or air-dried biomass which did not differ significantly from fresh tissue. Significant differences in calorific values (range 4643-5192 cal/g) were observed for each category of whole leafy biomassmore » dehydrated as indicated above. Dehydration reduced the calorific value of oils (range 9483-10,095 cal/g) but tended to increase the calorific values of polyphenols (range 4178-6033 cal/g). NMR spectroscopy of the oil fraction suggested that dehydration did not grossly alter the composition of oils, despite differences in yield and calorific values.« less

Effect of drying on yield and calorific values of extractables from leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wiatr, S.M.

1984-01-01

The effect of dehydration on yield and calorific values has been investigated for oils, hydrocarbons, and polyphenols extracted from leaves of Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). Methods of dehydration employed were with a warm oven (50/sup 0/C), a hot oven (105/sup 0/C), at room temperature (25/sup 0/C), and with freeze drying. Generally, dehydration resulted in a loss of yield for all extractives. Noteworthy exceptions were oil yields from the warm-oven- or air-dried biomass which did not differ significantly from fresh tissue. Significant differences in calorific values (range 4643-5192 cal/g) were observed for each category of whole leafy biomass dehydrated as indicatedmore » above. Dehydration reduced the calorific value of oils (range 9483-10,095 cal/g) but tended to increase the calorific values of polyphenols (range 4178-6033 cal/g). NMR spectroscopy of the oil fraction suggested that dehydration did not grossly alter the composition of oils, despite differences in yield and calorific values.« less

Psychological predictors of weight loss after bariatric surgery: a review of the recent research.

PubMed

Wimmelmann, Cathrine L; Dela, Flemming; Mortensen, Erik L

2014-01-01

Morbid obesity is the fastest growing BMI group in the U.S. and the prevalence of morbid obesity worldwide has never been higher. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for severe forms of obesity especially with regard to a sustained long-term weight loss. Psychological factors are thought to play an important role for maintaining the surgical weight loss. However, results from prior research examining preoperative psychological predictors of weight loss outcome are inconsistent. The aim of this article was to review more recent literature on psychological predictors of surgical weight loss. We searched PubMed, PsycInfo and Web of Science, for original prospective studies with a sample size >30 and at least one year follow-up, using a combination of search terms such as 'bariatric surgery', 'morbid obesity', 'psychological predictors', and 'weight loss'. Only studies published after 2003 were included. 19 eligible studies were identified. Psychological predictors of surgical weight loss investigated in the reviewed studies include cognitive function, personality, psychiatric disorder, and eating behaviour. In general, recent research remains inconsistent, but the findings suggest that pre-surgical cognitive function, personality, mental health, composite psychological variables and binge eating may predict post-surgical weight loss to the extent that these factors influence post-operative eating behaviour. Copyright © 2013 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information loss in approximately bayesian data assimilation: a comparison of generative and discriminative approaches to estimating agricultural yield

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Data assimilation and regression are two commonly used methods for predicting agricultural yield from remote sensing observations. Data assimilation is a generative approach because it requires explicit approximations of the Bayesian prior and likelihood to compute the probability density function...

Chlorhexidine Prevents Root Dentine Mineral Loss and Fracture Caused by Calcium Hydroxide over Time

PubMed Central

Thomaz, Érika Bárbara Abreu Fonseca; Lima, Darlon Martins; Bauer, José

2017-01-01

Purpose. To evaluate the mineral ion loss of root dentine after treatment with 2% chlorhexidine solution (CHX) and to compare its yield and flexural strength (fs) after exposure to calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2]. Materials and Methods. Dentine bars (DB) were made from 90 roots of bovine incisors and randomized into three groups: GControl: distilled/deionized water (DDW), GNaOCl: 2.5% sodium hypochlorite + 17% EDTA, and GCHX: CHX + DDW. The release of phosphate (PO4) and calcium (Ca) ions was measured by spectrophotometry. The DB were exposed to Ca(OH)2 paste for 0, 30, 90, and 180 days. DB were subjected to the three-point bending test to obtain yield and fs values. The fracture patterns were evaluated (20x). Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's post hoc tests or one- and two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test (α = 0.05). Results. GCHX showed lower PO43− and Ca2+ ionic release than GNaOCl (p < 0.001). For yield and fs, GCHX > GNaOCl in all periods (p < 0.001), except for yield strength values on 90 days (p = 0.791). A larger frequency of vertical fractures was observed in GNaOCl and that of oblique fractures in GCHX (p < 0.05). Conclusions. CHX prevented PO43− and Ca2+ loss and showed a tendency to preserve the yield and fs of root dentine over time following exposure to Ca(OH)2 paste. PMID:28539937

The yield and post-yield behavior of high-density polyethylene

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Semeliss, M. A.; Wong, R.; Tuttle, M. E.

1990-01-01

An experimental and analytical evaluation was made of the yield and post-yield behavior of high-density polyethylene, a semi-crystalline thermoplastic. Polyethylene was selected for study because it is very inexpensive and readily available in the form of thin-walled tubes. Thin-walled tubular specimens were subjected to axial loads and internal pressures, such that the specimens were subjected to a known biaxial loading. A constant octahederal shear stress rate was imposed during all tests. The measured yield and post-yield behavior was compared with predictions based on both isotropic and anisotropic models. Of particular interest was whether inelastic behavior was sensitive to the hydrostatic stress level. The major achievements and conclusions reached are discussed.

Modeling Long-Term Corn Yield Response to Nitrogen Rate and Crop Rotation

PubMed Central

Puntel, Laila A.; Sawyer, John E.; Barker, Daniel W.; Dietzel, Ranae; Poffenbarger, Hanna; Castellano, Michael J.; Moore, Kenneth J.; Thorburn, Peter; Archontoulis, Sotirios V.

2016-01-01

Improved prediction of optimal N fertilizer rates for corn (Zea mays L.) can reduce N losses and increase profits. We tested the ability of the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to simulate corn and soybean (Glycine max L.) yields, the economic optimum N rate (EONR) using a 16-year field-experiment dataset from central Iowa, USA that included two crop sequences (continuous corn and soybean-corn) and five N fertilizer rates (0, 67, 134, 201, and 268 kg N ha-1) applied to corn. Our objectives were to: (a) quantify model prediction accuracy before and after calibration, and report calibration steps; (b) compare crop model-based techniques in estimating optimal N rate for corn; and (c) utilize the calibrated model to explain factors causing year to year variability in yield and optimal N. Results indicated that the model simulated well long-term crop yields response to N (relative root mean square error, RRMSE of 19.6% before and 12.3% after calibration), which provided strong evidence that important soil and crop processes were accounted for in the model. The prediction of EONR was more complex and had greater uncertainty than the prediction of crop yield (RRMSE of 44.5% before and 36.6% after calibration). For long-term site mean EONR predictions, both calibrated and uncalibrated versions can be used as the 16-year mean differences in EONR’s were within the historical N rate error range (40–50 kg N ha-1). However, for accurate year-by-year simulation of EONR the calibrated version should be used. Model analysis revealed that higher EONR values in years with above normal spring precipitation were caused by an exponential increase in N loss (denitrification and leaching) with precipitation. We concluded that long-term experimental data were valuable in testing and refining APSIM predictions. The model can be used as a tool to assist N management guidelines in the US Midwest and we identified five avenues on how the model can add value toward

Modeling Long-Term Corn Yield Response to Nitrogen Rate and Crop Rotation.

PubMed

Puntel, Laila A; Sawyer, John E; Barker, Daniel W; Dietzel, Ranae; Poffenbarger, Hanna; Castellano, Michael J; Moore, Kenneth J; Thorburn, Peter; Archontoulis, Sotirios V

2016-01-01

Improved prediction of optimal N fertilizer rates for corn ( Zea mays L. ) can reduce N losses and increase profits. We tested the ability of the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to simulate corn and soybean ( Glycine max L. ) yields, the economic optimum N rate (EONR) using a 16-year field-experiment dataset from central Iowa, USA that included two crop sequences (continuous corn and soybean-corn) and five N fertilizer rates (0, 67, 134, 201, and 268 kg N ha -1 ) applied to corn. Our objectives were to: (a) quantify model prediction accuracy before and after calibration, and report calibration steps; (b) compare crop model-based techniques in estimating optimal N rate for corn; and (c) utilize the calibrated model to explain factors causing year to year variability in yield and optimal N. Results indicated that the model simulated well long-term crop yields response to N (relative root mean square error, RRMSE of 19.6% before and 12.3% after calibration), which provided strong evidence that important soil and crop processes were accounted for in the model. The prediction of EONR was more complex and had greater uncertainty than the prediction of crop yield (RRMSE of 44.5% before and 36.6% after calibration). For long-term site mean EONR predictions, both calibrated and uncalibrated versions can be used as the 16-year mean differences in EONR's were within the historical N rate error range (40-50 kg N ha -1 ). However, for accurate year-by-year simulation of EONR the calibrated version should be used. Model analysis revealed that higher EONR values in years with above normal spring precipitation were caused by an exponential increase in N loss (denitrification and leaching) with precipitation. We concluded that long-term experimental data were valuable in testing and refining APSIM predictions. The model can be used as a tool to assist N management guidelines in the US Midwest and we identified five avenues on how the model can add value toward

Preliminary investigation on the relationship of Raman spectra of sheep meat with shear force and cooking loss.

PubMed

Schmidt, Heinar; Scheier, Rico; Hopkins, David L

2013-01-01

A prototype handheld Raman system was used as a rapid non-invasive optical device to measure raw sheep meat to estimate cooked meat tenderness and cooking loss. Raman measurements were conducted on m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum samples from two sheep flocks from two different origins which had been aged for five days at 3-4°C before deep freezing and further analysis. The Raman data of 140 samples were correlated with shear force and cooking loss data using PLS regression. Both sample origins could be discriminated and separate correlation models yielded better correlations than the joint correlation model. For shear force, R(2)=0.79 and R(2)=0.86 were obtained for the two sites. Results for cooking loss were comparable: separate models yielded R(2)=0.79 and R(2)=0.83 for the two sites. The results show the potential usefulness of Raman spectra which can be recorded during meat processing for the prediction of quality traits such as tenderness and cooking loss. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association of Xylella fastidiosa with Yield Loss and Altered Fruit Quality in a Naturally Infected Rabbiteye Blueberry Orchard

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Xylella fastidiosa causes disease in a number of plants in the southeastern United States, including southern highbush blueberry, but little was known concerning its potential impact in rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum). In a naturally infected orchard in Louisiana, mean yields of X. fastidi...

An adapted yield criterion for the evolution of subsequent yield surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Küsters, N.; Brosius, A.

2017-09-01

In numerical analysis of sheet metal forming processes, the anisotropic material behaviour is often modelled with isotropic work hardening and an average Lankford coefficient. In contrast, experimental observations show an evolution of the Lankford coefficients, which can be associated with a yield surface change due to kinematic and distortional hardening. Commonly, extensive efforts are carried out to describe these phenomena. In this paper an isotropic material model based on the Yld2000-2d criterion is adapted with an evolving yield exponent in order to change the yield surface shape. The yield exponent is linked to the accumulative plastic strain. This change has the effect of a rotating yield surface normal. As the normal is directly related to the Lankford coefficient, the change can be used to model the evolution of the Lankford coefficient during yielding. The paper will focus on the numerical implementation of the adapted material model for the FE-code LS-Dyna, mpi-version R7.1.2-d. A recently introduced identification scheme [1] is used to obtain the parameters for the evolving yield surface and will be briefly described for the proposed model. The suitability for numerical analysis will be discussed for deep drawing processes in general. Efforts for material characterization and modelling will be compared to other common yield surface descriptions. Besides experimental efforts and achieved accuracy, the potential of flexibility in material models and the risk of ambiguity during identification are of major interest in this paper.

The impact of the worldwide Millennium Development Goals campaign on maternal and under-five child mortality reduction: ‘Where did the worldwide campaign work most effectively?’

PubMed Central

Cha, Seungman

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: As the Millennium Development Goals campaign (MDGs) came to a close, clear evidence was needed on the contribution of the worldwide MDG campaign. Objective: We seek to determine the degree of difference in the reduction rate between the pre-MDG and MDG campaign periods and its statistical significance by region. Design: Unlike the prevailing studies that measured progress in 1990–2010, this study explores by percentage how much MDG progress has been achieved during the MDG campaign period and quantifies the impact of the MDG campaign on the maternal and under-five child mortality reduction during the MDG era by comparing observed values with counterfactual values estimated on the basis of the historical trend. Results: The low accomplishment of sub-Saharan Africa toward the MDG target mainly resulted from the debilitated progress of mortality reduction during 1990–2000, which was not related to the worldwide MDG campaign. In contrast, the other regions had already achieved substantial progress before the Millennium Declaration was proclaimed. Sub-Saharan African countries have seen the most remarkable impact of the worldwide MDG campaign on maternal and child mortality reduction across all different measurements. In sub-Saharan Africa, the MDG campaign has advanced the progress of the declining maternal mortality ratio and under-five mortality rate, respectively, by 4.29 and 4.37 years. Conclusions: Sub-Saharan African countries were frequently labeled as ‘off-track’, ‘insufficient progress’, or ‘no progress’ even though the greatest progress was achieved here during the worldwide MDG campaign period and the impact of the worldwide MDG campaign was most pronounced in this region in all respects. It is time to learn from the success stories of the sub-Saharan African countries. Erroneous and biased measurement should be avoided for the sustainable development goals to progress. PMID:28168932

Automated enforcement : a compendium of worldwide evaluations of results

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-03-14

Powerpoint presentation of the report "Automated enforcement : a compendium of worldwide evaluations of results". This compendium details automated enforcement systems (AES) implemented around the world and characterizes the safety impacts of such de...

World-Wide Outreach through International Observe the Moon Night

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Jones, A. P.; Bleacher, L.; Shaner, A. J.; Day, B. H.; Wenger, M.; Joseph, E.; Canipe, M.

2016-12-01

International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is an annual worldwide public event that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration. Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting or attending an InOMN event - and uniting on one day each year to look at and learn about the Moon together. Events are hosted by a variety of institutions including astronomy clubs, observatories, schools, and universities, museums, planetaria, schools, universities, observatories, parks, private businesses and private homes. Events hosts are supported with event flyers, information sheets, Moon maps for observing, activities to use during events, presentations, certificates of participation, and evaluation materials to be used by hosts. 2016 is the seventh year of worldwide participation in InOMN which will be held on October 8th. In the last six years, over 3,000 events were registered worldwide from almost 100 different countries and almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the United States. Evaluation of InOMN is conducted by an external evaluation group and includes analysis of event registrations, facilitator surveys, and visitor surveys. Evaluation results demonstrate that InOMN events are successful in raising visitors' awareness of lunar science and exploration, providing audiences with information about lunar science and exploration, and inspiring visitors to want to learn more about the Moon. Additionally, preliminary analysis of social media has shown that there is a virtual network of individuals connecting about InOMN. A large fraction of events have been held by institutions for more than one year showing sustained interest in participation. During this presentation, we will present data for all seven years of InOMN including lessons learned through supporting and evaluating a worldwide event. InOMN is sponsored by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA

Traumatic Spinal Injury: Global Epidemiology and Worldwide Volume.

PubMed

Kumar, Ramesh; Lim, Jaims; Mekary, Rania A; Rattani, Abbas; Dewan, Michael C; Sharif, Salman Y; Osorio-Fonseca, Enrique; Park, Kee B

2018-05-01

Traumatic spinal injury (TSI) results from injury to bony, ligamentous, and/or neurologic structures of the spinal column and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. The global burden of TSI is poorly understood, so we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the global volume of TSI. We performed a systematic review through PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Databases on TSI studies reported from 2000 to 2016. Collected data were used to perform a meta-analysis to estimate the annual incidence of TSI across World Health Organization regions and World Bank income groups using random-effect models. Incorporating global population figures, the annual worldwide volume of TSI was estimated. A total of 102 studies were included in the systematic review and 19 studies in the meta-analysis. The overall global incidence of TSI was 10.5 cases per 100,000 persons, resulting in an estimated 768,473 [95% confidence interval, 597,213-939,732] new cases of TSI annually worldwide. The incidence of TSI was higher in low- and middle-income countries (8.72 per 100,000 persons) compared with high-income countries (13.69 per 100,000 persons). Road traffic accidents, followed by falls, were the most common mechanism of TSI worldwide. Overall, 48.8% of patients with TSI required surgery. TSI is a major source of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Largely preventable mechanisms, including road traffic accidents and falls, are the main causes of TSI globally. Further investigation is needed to delineate local and regional TSI incidences and causes, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fatal accidents and injuries among merchant seafarers worldwide.

PubMed

Roberts, S E; Nielsen, D; Kotłowski, A; Jaremin, B

2014-06-01

The British merchant fleet has expanded in recent years but it is not known whether this expansion has led to proportionate changes in mortality. To investigate mortality from accidents and injuries in British merchant shipping, to determine whether this has increased in recent years, to compare fatal accident rates across British industries and to review fatal accident rates in merchant shipping worldwide over the last 70 years. Examinations of marine accident investigation files, death registers and death inquiry files, national mortality statistics, worldwide surveys and review methodology. The main outcome measure was the fatal accident rate per 100 000 worker-years. Of 66 deaths in British shipping from 2003 to 2012, 49 were caused by accidents, which largely affected deck ratings. The fatal accident rate in British shipping increased by 4.7% per annum from 2003, although this was not significant (95% confidence interval: -5.1 to 15.6%). During 2003-12, the fatal accident rate in shipping (14.5 per 100 000) was 21 times that in the general British workforce, 4.7 times that in the construction industry and 13 times that in manufacturing. Of 20 merchant fleets worldwide with population-based fatal accident rates, most have shown large reductions over time. The expansion of the British merchant fleet in recent years does not appear to have had a major impact on fatal accidents. Further preventive measures should target fatalities during mooring and towing operations. Internationally, most shipping fleets have over time experienced large decreases in fatal accident rates. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Land-surface initialisation improves seasonal climate prediction skill for maize yield forecast.

PubMed

Ceglar, Andrej; Toreti, Andrea; Prodhomme, Chloe; Zampieri, Matteo; Turco, Marco; Doblas-Reyes, Francisco J

2018-01-22

Seasonal crop yield forecasting represents an important source of information to maintain market stability, minimise socio-economic impacts of crop losses and guarantee humanitarian food assistance, while it fosters the use of climate information favouring adaptation strategies. As climate variability and extremes have significant influence on agricultural production, the early prediction of severe weather events and unfavourable conditions can contribute to the mitigation of adverse effects. Seasonal climate forecasts provide additional value for agricultural applications in several regions of the world. However, they currently play a very limited role in supporting agricultural decisions in Europe, mainly due to the poor skill of relevant surface variables. Here we show how a combined stress index (CSI), considering both drought and heat stress in summer, can predict maize yield in Europe and how land-surface initialised seasonal climate forecasts can be used to predict it. The CSI explains on average nearly 53% of the inter-annual maize yield variability under observed climate conditions and shows how concurrent heat stress and drought events have influenced recent yield anomalies. Seasonal climate forecast initialised with realistic land-surface achieves better (and marginally useful) skill in predicting the CSI than with climatological land-surface initialisation in south-eastern Europe, part of central Europe, France and Italy.

Crop yield response to climate change varies with crop spatial distribution pattern

DOE PAGES

Leng, Guoyong; Huang, Maoyi

2017-05-03

The linkage between crop yield and climate variability has been confirmed in numerous studies using statistical approaches. A crucial assumption in these studies is that crop spatial distribution pattern is constant over time. Here, we explore how changes in county-level corn spatial distribution pattern modulate the response of its yields to climate change at the state level over the Contiguous United States. Our results show that corn yield response to climate change varies with crop spatial distribution pattern, with distinct impacts on the magnitude and even the direction at the state level. Corn yield is predicted to decrease by 20~40%more » by 2050s when considering crop spatial distribution pattern changes, which is 6~12% less than the estimates with fixed cropping pattern. The beneficial effects are mainly achieved by reducing the negative impacts of daily maximum temperature and strengthening the positive impacts of precipitation. Our results indicate that previous empirical studies could be biased in assessing climate change impacts by ignoring the changes in crop spatial distribution pattern. As a result, this has great implications for understanding the increasing debates on whether climate change will be a net gain or loss for regional agriculture.« less

Crop yield response to climate change varies with crop spatial distribution pattern

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leng, Guoyong; Huang, Maoyi

The linkage between crop yield and climate variability has been confirmed in numerous studies using statistical approaches. A crucial assumption in these studies is that crop spatial distribution pattern is constant over time. Here, we explore how changes in county-level corn spatial distribution pattern modulate the response of its yields to climate change at the state level over the Contiguous United States. Our results show that corn yield response to climate change varies with crop spatial distribution pattern, with distinct impacts on the magnitude and even the direction at the state level. Corn yield is predicted to decrease by 20~40%more » by 2050s when considering crop spatial distribution pattern changes, which is 6~12% less than the estimates with fixed cropping pattern. The beneficial effects are mainly achieved by reducing the negative impacts of daily maximum temperature and strengthening the positive impacts of precipitation. Our results indicate that previous empirical studies could be biased in assessing climate change impacts by ignoring the changes in crop spatial distribution pattern. As a result, this has great implications for understanding the increasing debates on whether climate change will be a net gain or loss for regional agriculture.« less

If War--How to Minimize the Loss for School Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gentry, Ruben

2008-01-01

War is so devastating that if at all possible, it should be avoided. But if reasoning and negotiation fail to yield peace between nations and countries and war results, the loss to children must be minimized. In the last decade, two million children have been killed in wars and conflicts, 4.5 million have been disabled and 12 million have been…

Genetic variations in ARE1 mediate grain yield by modulating nitrogen utilization in rice.

PubMed

Wang, Qing; Nian, Jinqiang; Xie, Xianzhi; Yu, Hong; Zhang, Jian; Bai, Jiaoteng; Dong, Guojun; Hu, Jiang; Bai, Bo; Chen, Lichao; Xie, Qingjun; Feng, Jian; Yang, Xiaolu; Peng, Juli; Chen, Fan; Qian, Qian; Li, Jiayang; Zuo, Jianru

2018-02-21

In crops, nitrogen directly determines productivity and biomass. However, the improvement of nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE) is still a major challenge in modern agriculture. Here, we report the characterization of are1, a genetic suppressor of a rice fd-gogat mutant defective in nitrogen assimilation. ARE1 is a highly conserved gene, encoding a chloroplast-localized protein. Loss-of-function mutations in ARE1 cause delayed senescence and result in 10-20% grain yield increases, hence enhance NUE under nitrogen-limiting conditions. Analysis of a panel of 2155 rice varieties reveals that 18% indica and 48% aus accessions carry small insertions in the ARE1 promoter, which result in a reduction in ARE1 expression and an increase in grain yield under nitrogen-limiting conditions. We propose that ARE1 is a key mediator of NUE and represents a promising target for breeding high-yield cultivars under nitrogen-limiting condition.

The worldwide market for photovoltaics in the rural sector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brainard, W. A.

1982-01-01

The worldwide market for stand-alone photovoltaic power systems in three specific segments of the rural sector were determined. The worldwide market for photovoltaic power systems for village power, cottage industry, and agricultural applications were addressed. The objectives of these studies were to: The market potential for small stand-alone photovoltaic power system in specific application areas was assessed. Technical, social and institutional barriers to PV utilization were identified. Funding sources available to potential users was also identified and marketing strategies appropriate for each sector were recommended to PV product manufacturers. The studies were prepared on the basis of data gathered from domestic sources and from field trips to representative countries. Both country-specific and sector-specific results are discussed, and broadly applicable barriers pertinent to international marketing of PV products are presented.

Atomic complex: a worldwide political history of nuclear energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goldschmidt, B.

The author presents a personal memoir of the effort to harness energy from the atom as well as telling the story of worldwide development, from its military use in the 1940s to its peaceful use of generating electricity in the world's 263 operating nuclear power plants. As a scientist turned statesman, Goldsmith reviews nearly half a century of worldwide political moves, countermoves, international intrigue, and manipulation. His perspective is portrayed against the personal backdrop of world leaders. Taking a pragmatic look at the nuclear world of today, he describes how the mistakes of the past set the tone for today'smore » nuclear problems. Goldsmith balances the terror due to nuclear weapons with the benefits nuclear energy can bring to an economically troubled and energy-starved population.« less

Runoff and sediment variation in the areas with high and coarse sediment yield of the middle Yellow River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Pan; Yao, Wenyi; Xiao, Peiqing; Sun, Weiying

2018-02-01

Massive water and soil conservation works (WSCW) have been conducted in the areas with high and coarse sediment yield of the middle Yellow River since 1982. With the impending effects of climate change, it is necessary to reconsider the effects of WSCW on runoff and sediment variation at decadal and regional scales. Using long-term official and synthesized data, the WSCW impacts on reducing water and soil loss were studied in Sanchuanhe River watershed. Results showed that the sediment and runoff generated from this area showed a decreasing trend in the past 50 years. A great progress has been achieved in erosion control since the 1970s. After the 4 soil and water conservation harnessing stages during the period from 1970 to 2006, the sediment and runoff yield showed decreases with the extension of harnessing. The results revealed that human activities exerted the largest effects on the sediment reduction and explained 66.6% of the variation in the specific sediment yield. The contribution of rainfall variation to runoff reduction was as large as human activities. A great benefit have been obtained in water and soil loss control in this area.

Effect of Emamectin Benzoate on Root-Knot Nematodes and Tomato Yield

PubMed Central

Cheng, Xingkai; Liu, Xiumei; Wang, Hongyan; Ji, Xiaoxue; Wang, Kaiyun; Wei, Min; Qiao, Kang

2015-01-01

Southern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is an obligate, sedentary endoparasite of more than 3000 plant species, that causes heavy economic losses and limit the development of protected agriculture of China. As a biological pesticide, emamectin benzoate has effectively prevented lepidopteran pests; however, its efficacy to control M. incognita remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to test soil application of emamectin benzoate for management of M. incognita in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials. Laboratory results showed that emamectin benzoate exhibited high toxicity to M. incognita, with LC50 and LC90 values 3.59 and 18.20 mg L-1, respectively. In greenhouse tests, emamectin benzoate soil application offered good efficacy against M. incognita while maintaining excellent plant growth. In field trials, emamectin benzoate provided control efficacy against M. incognita and resulted in increased tomato yields. Compared with the untreated control, there was a 36.5% to 81.3% yield increase obtained from all treatments and the highest yield was received from the highest rate of emamectin benzoate. The results confirmed that emamectin benzoate has enormous potential for the control of M. incognita in tomato production in China. PMID:26509680

Effect of Emamectin Benzoate on Root-Knot Nematodes and Tomato Yield.

PubMed

Cheng, Xingkai; Liu, Xiumei; Wang, Hongyan; Ji, Xiaoxue; Wang, Kaiyun; Wei, Min; Qiao, Kang

2015-01-01

Southern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is an obligate, sedentary endoparasite of more than 3000 plant species, that causes heavy economic losses and limit the development of protected agriculture of China. As a biological pesticide, emamectin benzoate has effectively prevented lepidopteran pests; however, its efficacy to control M. incognita remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to test soil application of emamectin benzoate for management of M. incognita in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials. Laboratory results showed that emamectin benzoate exhibited high toxicity to M. incognita, with LC50 and LC90 values 3.59 and 18.20 mg L(-1), respectively. In greenhouse tests, emamectin benzoate soil application offered good efficacy against M. incognita while maintaining excellent plant growth. In field trials, emamectin benzoate provided control efficacy against M. incognita and resulted in increased tomato yields. Compared with the untreated control, there was a 36.5% to 81.3% yield increase obtained from all treatments and the highest yield was received from the highest rate of emamectin benzoate. The results confirmed that emamectin benzoate has enormous potential for the control of M. incognita in tomato production in China.

Acid soil infertility effects on peanut yields and yield components

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blamey, F.P.C.

1983-01-01

The interpretation of soil amelioration experiments with peanuts is made difficult by the unpredictibility of the crop and by the many factors altered when ameliorating acid soils. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of lime and gypsum applications on peanut kernel yield via the three first order yield components, pods per ha, kernels per pod, and kernel mass. On an acid medium sandy loam soil (typic Plinthustult), liming resulted in a highly significant kernel yield increase of 117% whereas gypsum applications were of no significant benefit. As indicated by path coefficient analysis, an increase in the numbermore » of pods per ha was markedly more important in increasing yield than an increase in either the number of kernels per pod or kernel mass. Furthermore, exch. Al was found to be particularly detrimental to pod number. It was postulated that poor peanut yields resulting from acid soil infertility were mainly due to the depressive effect of exch. Al on pod number. Exch. Ca appeared to play a secondary role by ameliorating the adverse effects of exch. Al.« less

Nitrate-nitrogen losses through subsurface drainage under various agricultural land covers.

PubMed

Qi, Zhiming; Helmers, Matthew J; Christianson, Reid D; Pederson, Carl H

2011-01-01

Nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N) loading to surface water bodies from subsurface drainage is an environmental concern in the midwestern United States. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various land covers on NO₃-N loss through subsurface drainage. Land-cover treatments included (i) conventional corn ( L.) (C) and soybean [ (L.) Merr.] (S); (ii) winter rye ( L.) cover crop before corn (rC) and before soybean (rS); (iii) kura clover ( M. Bieb.) as a living mulch for corn (kC); and (iv) perennial forage of orchardgrass ( L.) mixed with clovers (PF). In spring, total N uptake by aboveground biomass of rye in rC, rye in rS, kura clover in kC, and grasses in PF were 14.2, 31.8, 87.0, and 46.3 kg N ha, respectively. Effect of land covers on subsurface drainage was not significant. The NO₃-N loss was significantly lower for kC and PF than C and S treatments (p < 0.05); rye cover crop did not reduce NO₃-N loss, but NO₃-N concentration was significantly reduced in rC during March to June and in rS during July to November (p < 0.05). Moreover, the increase of soil NO₃-N from early to late spring in rS was significantly lower than the S treatment (p < 0.05). This study suggests that kC and PF are effective in reducing NO₃-N loss, but these systems could lead to concerns relative to grain yield loss and change in farming practices. Management strategies for kC need further study to achieve reasonable corn yield. The effectiveness of rye cover crop on NO-N loss reduction needs further investigation under conditions of different N rates, wider weather patterns, and fall tillage. by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Essays on the Future of Continuing Education Worldwide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegler, Warren L., Ed.

Topics chosen for these eight seminar papers divide basically into three categories: discussions on processes and methods for planning for the future of adult education; attempts to project into the future such worldwide problems as urbanism, conflict, the population explosion, and specific adult education trends; and discussion of the current…

Low yield of routine duodenal biopsies for evaluation of abdominal pain

PubMed Central

Dubin, Sterling M; Kwong, Wilson T; Kalmaz, Denise; Savides, Thomas J

2015-01-01

AIM: To determine the yield of biopsying normal duodenal mucosa for investigation of abdominal pain. METHODS: This is a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with duodenal biopsies of normal appearing duodenal mucosa for an indication that included abdominal pain. All the patients in this study were identified from an electronic endoscopy database at a single academic medical center and had an EGD with duodenal biopsies performed over a 4-year period. New diagnoses that were made as a direct result of duodenal biopsies were identified. All duodenal pathology reports and endoscopy records were reviewed for indications to perform the examination as well as the findings; all the medical records were reviewed. Exclusion criteria included age less than 18 years, duodenal mass, nodule, or polyp, endoscopic duodenitis, duodenal scalloping, known celiac disease, positive celiac serology, Crohns disease, or history of bone marrow transplant. Information was collected in a de-identified database with pertinent demographic information including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, and descriptive statistics were performed. RESULTS: About 300 patients underwent EGD with biopsies of benign appearing or normal appearing duodenal mucosa. The mean age of patients was 44.1 ± 16.8 years; 189 of 300 (63%) were female. A mean of 4.3 duodenal biopsies were performed in each patient. In the subgroup of patients with abdominal pain without anemia, diarrhea, or weight loss the mean age was 43.4 ± 16.3 years. Duodenal biopsies performed for an indication that included abdominal pain resulting in 4 new diagnoses (3 celiac disease and 1 giardiasis) for an overall yield of 1.3%. 183 patients with abdominal pain without anemia, diarrhea, or weight loss (out of the total 300 patients) underwent duodenal biopsy of duodenal mucosa resulting in three new diagnoses (two cases of celiac disease and one giardiasis) for a yield of 1

Error behaviors associated with loss of competency in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Marson, D C; Annis, S M; McInturff, B; Bartolucci, A; Harrell, L E

1999-12-10

To investigate qualitative behavioral changes associated with declining medical decision-making capacity (competency) in patients with AD. Qualitative measures can yield clinical information about functional changes in neurologic disease not available through quantitative measures. Normal older controls (n = 21) and patients with mild and moderate probable AD (n = 72) were compared using a standardized competency measure and neuropsychological measures. A system of 16 qualitative error scores representing conceptual domains of language, executive dysfunction, affective dysfunction, and compensatory responses was used to analyze errors produced on the competency measure. Patterns of errors were examined across groups. Relationships between error behaviors and competency performance were determined, and neurocognitive correlates of specific error behaviors were identified. AD patients demonstrated more miscomprehension, factual confusion, intrusions, incoherent responses, nonresponsive answers, loss of task, and delegation than controls. Errors in the executive domain (loss of task, nonresponsive answer, and loss of detachment) were key predictors of declining competency performance by AD patients. Neuropsychological analyses in the AD group generally confirmed the conceptual domain assignments of the qualitative scores. Loss of task, nonresponsive answers, and loss of detachment were key behavioral changes associated with declining competency of AD patients and with neurocognitive measures of executive dysfunction. These findings support the growing linkage between executive dysfunction and competency loss.

Aggressiveness of Fusarium species and impact of root infection on growth and yield of soybeans.

PubMed

Arias, María M Díaz; Leandro, Leonor F; Munkvold, Gary P

2013-08-01

Fusarium spp. are commonly isolated from soybean roots but the pathogenic activity of most species is poorly documented. Aggressiveness and yield impact of nine species of Fusarium were determined on soybean in greenhouse (50 isolates) and field microplot (19 isolates) experiments. Root rot severity and shoot and root dry weights were compared at growth stages V3 or R1. Root systems were scanned and digital image analysis was conducted; yield was measured in microplots. Disease severity and root morphology impacts varied among and within species. Fusarium graminearum was highly aggressive (root rot severity >90%), followed by F. proliferatum and F. virguliforme. Significant variation in damping-off (20 to 75%) and root rot severity (<20 to >60%) was observed among F. oxysporum isolates. In artificially-infested microplots, root rot severity was low (<25%) and mean yield was not significantly reduced. However, there were significant linear relationships between yield and root symptoms for some isolates. Root morphological characteristics were more consistent indicators of yield loss than root rot severity. This study provides the first characterization of aggressiveness and yield impact of Fusarium root rot species on soybean at different plant stages and introduces root image analysis to assess the impact of root pathogens on soybean.

Unhappiness Intensifies the Avoidance of Frequent Losses While Happiness Overcomes It.

PubMed

Yechiam, Eldad; Telpaz, Ariel; Krupenia, Stas; Rafaeli, Anat

2016-01-01

The implication of spontaneous and induced unhappiness to people's decision style is examined. It is postulated that unhappy individuals have a greater tendency to avoid frequent losses because these can have depleting effects, and unhappy individuals are more sensitive to such effects. This is evaluated in Study 1 by using an annoying customer call manipulation to induce negative affect; and by examining the effect of this manipulation on choices in an experiential decision task (the Iowa Gambling task). In Study 2 we examined the association between self-reported (un)happiness and choices on the same decision task. In Study 1 the induction of negative affect led to avoidance of choice alternatives with frequent losses, compared to those yielding rarer but larger losses. Specifically, this pertained to the advantageous alternatives with frequent vs. non-frequent losses. In Study 2 unhappiness was similarly associated with less exposure to frequent losses; while extreme high happiness was associated with no tendency to avoid frequent losses when these were part of an advantageous alternative. The findings clarify the role of happiness in decision making processes by indicating that unhappiness induces sensitivity to the frequency rather than to the total effect of negative events.

Mediation analysis to estimate direct and indirect milk losses due to clinical mastitis in dairy cattle.

PubMed

Detilleux, J; Kastelic, J P; Barkema, H W

2015-03-01

Milk losses associated with mastitis can be attributed to either effects of pathogens per se (i.e., direct losses) or effects of the immune response triggered by intramammary infection (indirect losses). The distinction is important in terms of mastitis prevention and treatment. Regardless, the number of pathogens is often unknown (particularly in field studies), making it difficult to estimate direct losses, whereas indirect losses can be approximated by measuring the association between increased somatic cell count (SCC) and milk production. An alternative is to perform a mediation analysis in which changes in milk yield are allocated into their direct and indirect components. We applied this method on data for clinical mastitis, milk and SCC test-day recordings, results of bacteriological cultures (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, and streptococci other than Strep. dysgalactiae and Strep. uberis), and cow characteristics. Following a diagnosis of clinical mastitis, the cow was treated and changes (increase or decrease) in milk production before and after a diagnosis were interpreted counterfactually. On a daily basis, indirect changes, mediated by SCC increase, were significantly different from zero for all bacterial species, with a milk yield decrease (ranging among species from 4 to 33g and mediated by an increase of 1000 SCC/mL/day) before and a daily milk increase (ranging among species from 2 to 12g and mediated by a decrease of 1000 SCC/mL/day) after detection. Direct changes, not mediated by SCC, were only different from zero for coagulase-negative staphylococci before diagnosis (72g per day). We concluded that mixed structural equation models were useful to estimate direct and indirect effects of the presence of clinical mastitis on milk yield. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Straw incorporation increases crop yield and soil organic carbon sequestration but varies under different natural conditions and farming practices in China: a system analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Xiao; Xu, Cong; Dungait, Jennifer A. J.; Bol, Roland; Wang, Xiaojie; Wu, Wenliang; Meng, Fanqiao

2018-04-01

Loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) from agricultural soils is a key indicator of soil degradation associated with reductions in net primary productivity in crop production systems worldwide. Technically simple and locally appropriate solutions are required for farmers to increase SOC and to improve cropland management. In the last 30 years, straw incorporation (SI) has gradually been implemented across China in the context of agricultural intensification and rural livelihood improvement. A meta-analysis of data published before the end of 2016 was undertaken to investigate the effects of SI on crop production and SOC sequestration. The results of 68 experimental studies throughout China in different edaphic conditions, climate regions and farming regimes were analyzed. Compared with straw removal (SR), SI significantly sequestered SOC (0-20 cm depth) at the rate of 0.35 (95 % CI, 0.31-0.40) Mg C ha-1 yr-1, increased crop grain yield by 13.4 % (9.3-18.4 %) and had a conversion efficiency of the incorporated straw C of 16 % ± 2 % across China. The combined SI at the rate of 3 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 with mineral fertilizer of 200-400 kg N ha-1 yr-1 was demonstrated to be the best farming practice, where crop yield increased by 32.7 % (17.9-56.4 %) and SOC sequestrated by the rate of 0.85 (0.54-1.15) Mg C ha-1 yr-1. SI achieved a higher SOC sequestration rate and crop yield increment when applied to clay soils under high cropping intensities, and in areas such as northeast China where the soil is being degraded. The SOC responses were highest in the initial starting phase of SI, then subsequently declined and finally became negligible after 28-62 years. However, crop yield responses were initially low and then increased, reaching their highest level at 11-15 years after SI. Overall, our study confirmed that SI created a positive feedback loop of SOC enhancement together with increased crop production, and this is of great practical importance to straw management as agriculture

Effect of Integrated Water-Nutrient Management Strategies on Soil Erosion Mediated Nutrient Loss and Crop Productivity in Cabo Verde Drylands

PubMed Central

Baptista, Isaurinda; Ritsema, Coen; Geissen, Violette

2015-01-01

Soil erosion, runoff and related nutrient losses are a big risk for soil fertility in Cabo Verde drylands. In 2012, field trials were conducted in two agro-ecological zones to evaluate the effects of selected techniques of soil-water management combined with organic amendments (T1: compost/manure + soil surfactant; T2: compost/animal or green manure + pigeon-pea hedges + soil surfactant; T3: compost/animal or green manure + mulch + pigeon-pea hedges) on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses in eroded soil and runoff and on crop yields. Three treatments and one control (traditional practice) were tested in field plots at three sites with a local maize variety and two types of beans. Runoff and eroded soil were collected after each erosive rain, quantified, and analysed for NO3-N and PO4-P concentrations. In all treatments runoff had higher concentrations of NO3-N (2.20-4.83 mg L-1) than of PO4-P (0.02-0.07 mg L-1), and the eroded soil had higher content of PO4-P (5.27-18.8 mg g-1) than of NO3-N (1.30-8.51 mg g-1). The control had significantly higher losses of both NO3-N (5.4, 4.4 and 19 kg ha-1) and PO4-P (0.2, 0.1 and 0.4 kg ha-1) than the other treatments. T3 reduced soil loss, runoff and nutrient losses to nearly a 100% while T1 and T2 reduced those losses from 43 to 88%. The losses of NO3-N and PO4-P were highly correlated with the amounts of runoff and eroded soil. Nutrient losses from the applied amendments were low (5.7% maximum), but the losses in the control could indicate long-term nutrient depletion in the soil (19 and 0.4 kg ha-1 of NO3-N and PO4-P, respectively). T1-T3 did not consistently increase crop yield or biomass in all three sites, but T1 increased both crop yield and biomass. We conclude that T3 (combining crop-residue mulch with organic amendment and runoff hedges) is the best treatment for steep slope areas but, the pigeon-pea hedges need to be managed for higher maize yield. T1 (combining organic amendment with soil surfactant) could be a

Effect of Integrated Water-Nutrient Management Strategies on Soil Erosion Mediated Nutrient Loss and Crop Productivity in Cabo Verde Drylands.

PubMed

Baptista, Isaurinda; Ritsema, Coen; Geissen, Violette

2015-01-01

Soil erosion, runoff and related nutrient losses are a big risk for soil fertility in Cabo Verde drylands. In 2012, field trials were conducted in two agro-ecological zones to evaluate the effects of selected techniques of soil-water management combined with organic amendments (T1: compost/manure + soil surfactant; T2: compost/animal or green manure + pigeon-pea hedges + soil surfactant; T3: compost/animal or green manure + mulch + pigeon-pea hedges) on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses in eroded soil and runoff and on crop yields. Three treatments and one control (traditional practice) were tested in field plots at three sites with a local maize variety and two types of beans. Runoff and eroded soil were collected after each erosive rain, quantified, and analysed for NO3-N and PO4-P concentrations. In all treatments runoff had higher concentrations of NO3-N (2.20-4.83 mg L-1) than of PO4-P (0.02-0.07 mg L-1), and the eroded soil had higher content of PO4-P (5.27-18.8 mg g-1) than of NO3-N (1.30-8.51 mg g-1). The control had significantly higher losses of both NO3-N (5.4, 4.4 and 19 kg ha-1) and PO4-P (0.2, 0.1 and 0.4 kg ha-1) than the other treatments. T3 reduced soil loss, runoff and nutrient losses to nearly a 100% while T1 and T2 reduced those losses from 43 to 88%. The losses of NO3-N and PO4-P were highly correlated with the amounts of runoff and eroded soil. Nutrient losses from the applied amendments were low (5.7% maximum), but the losses in the control could indicate long-term nutrient depletion in the soil (19 and 0.4 kg ha-1 of NO3-N and PO4-P, respectively). T1-T3 did not consistently increase crop yield or biomass in all three sites, but T1 increased both crop yield and biomass. We conclude that T3 (combining crop-residue mulch with organic amendment and runoff hedges) is the best treatment for steep slope areas but, the pigeon-pea hedges need to be managed for higher maize yield. T1 (combining organic amendment with soil surfactant) could be a

Yield Advances in Peanut

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Average yields of peanut in the U.S. set an all time record of 4,695 kg ha-1 in 2012. This far exceeded the previous record yield of 3,837 kg ha-1 in 2008. Favorable weather conditions undoubtedly contributed to the record yields in 2012; however, these record yields would not have been achievable...

Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide

PubMed Central

Achicanoy, Harold A.; Bjorkman, Anne D.; Navarro-Racines, Carlos; Guarino, Luigi; Flores-Palacios, Ximena; Engels, Johannes M. M.; Wiersema, John H.; Dempewolf, Hannes; Sotelo, Steven; Ramírez-Villegas, Julian; Castañeda-Álvarez, Nora P.; Fowler, Cary; Jarvis, Andy; Rieseberg, Loren H.; Struik, Paul C.

2016-01-01

Research into the origins of food plants has led to the recognition that specific geographical regions around the world have been of particular importance to the development of agricultural crops. Yet the relative contributions of these different regions in the context of current food systems have not been quantified. Here we determine the origins (‘primary regions of diversity’) of the crops comprising the food supplies and agricultural production of countries worldwide. We estimate the degree to which countries use crops from regions of diversity other than their own (‘foreign crops’), and quantify changes in this usage over the past 50 years. Countries are highly interconnected with regard to primary regions of diversity of the crops they cultivate and/or consume. Foreign crops are extensively used in food supplies (68.7% of national food supplies as a global mean are derived from foreign crops) and production systems (69.3% of crops grown are foreign). Foreign crop usage has increased significantly over the past 50 years, including in countries with high indigenous crop diversity. The results provide a novel perspective on the ongoing globalization of food systems worldwide, and bolster evidence for the importance of international collaboration on genetic resource conservation and exchange.

Worldwide status of burbot and conservation measures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stapanian, Martin A.; Paragamian, Vaughn L.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Jackson, James R.; Lappalainen, Jyrki; Evenson, Matthew J.; Neufeld, Matthew D.

2010-01-01

Although burbot (Lota lota Gadidae) are widespread and abundant throughout much of their natural range, there are many populations that have been extirpated, endangered or are in serious decline. Due in part to the species’ lack of popularity as a game and commercial fish, few regions consider burbot in management plans. We review the worldwide population status of burbot and synthesize reasons why some burbot populations are endangered or declining, some burbot populations have recovered and some burbot populations do not recover despite management measures. Burbot have been extirpated in much of Western Europe and the United Kingdom and are threatened or endangered in much of North America and Eurasia. Pollution and habitat change, particularly the effects of dams, appear to be the main causes for declines in riverine burbot populations. Pollution and the adverse effects of invasive species appear to be the main reasons for declines in lacustrine populations. Warmer water temperatures, due either to discharge from dams or climate change, have been noted in declining burbot populations at the southern extent of their range. Currently, fishing pressure does not appear to be limiting burbot populations world-wide. We suggest mitigation measures for burbot population recovery, particularly those impacted by dams and invasive species.

The use of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to predict cheese yield and nutrient recovery or whey loss traits from unprocessed bovine milk samples.

PubMed

Ferragina, A; Cipolat-Gotet, C; Cecchinato, A; Bittante, G

2013-01-01

Cheese yield is an important technological trait in the dairy industry in many countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectral analysis of fresh unprocessed milk samples for predicting cheese yield and nutrient recovery traits. A total of 1,264 model cheeses were obtained from 1,500-mL milk samples collected from individual Brown Swiss cows. Individual measurements of 7 new cheese yield-related traits were obtained from the laboratory cheese-making procedure, including the fresh cheese yield, total solid cheese yield, and the water retained in curd, all as a percentage of the processed milk, and nutrient recovery (fat, protein, total solids, and energy) in the curd as a percentage of the same nutrient contained in the milk. All individual milk samples were analyzed using a MilkoScan FT6000 over the spectral range from 5,000 to 900 wavenumber × cm(-1). Two spectral acquisitions were carried out for each sample and the results were averaged before data analysis. Different chemometric models were fitted and compared with the aim of improving the accuracy of the calibration equations for predicting these traits. The most accurate predictions were obtained for total solid cheese yield and fresh cheese yield, which exhibited coefficients of determination between the predicted and measured values in cross-validation (1-VR) of 0.95 and 0.83, respectively. A less favorable result was obtained for water retained in curd (1-VR=0.65). Promising results were obtained for recovered protein (1-VR=0.81), total solids (1-VR=0.86), and energy (1-VR=0.76), whereas recovered fat exhibited a low accuracy (1-VR=0.41). As FTIR spectroscopy is a rapid, cheap, high-throughput technique that is already used to collect standard milk recording data, these FTIR calibrations for cheese yield and nutrient recovery highlight additional potential applications of the technique in the dairy industry, especially for monitoring cheese

Global forest loss disproportionately erodes biodiversity in intact landscapes.

PubMed

Betts, Matthew G; Wolf, Christopher; Ripple, William J; Phalan, Ben; Millers, Kimberley A; Duarte, Adam; Butchart, Stuart H M; Levi, Taal

2017-07-27

Global biodiversity loss is a critical environmental crisis, yet the lack of spatial data on biodiversity threats has hindered conservation strategies. Theory predicts that abrupt biodiversity declines are most likely to occur when habitat availability is reduced to very low levels in the landscape (10-30%). Alternatively, recent evidence indicates that biodiversity is best conserved by minimizing human intrusion into intact and relatively unfragmented landscapes. Here we use recently available forest loss data to test deforestation effects on International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List categories of extinction risk for 19,432 vertebrate species worldwide. As expected, deforestation substantially increased the odds of a species being listed as threatened, undergoing recent upgrading to a higher threat category and exhibiting declining populations. More importantly, we show that these risks were disproportionately high in relatively intact landscapes; even minimal deforestation has had severe consequences for vertebrate biodiversity. We found little support for the alternative hypothesis that forest loss is most detrimental in already fragmented landscapes. Spatial analysis revealed high-risk hot spots in Borneo, the central Amazon and the Congo Basin. In these regions, our model predicts that 121-219 species will become threatened under current rates of forest loss over the next 30 years. Given that only 17.9% of these high-risk areas are formally protected and only 8.9% have strict protection, new large-scale conservation efforts to protect intact forests are necessary to slow deforestation rates and to avert a new wave of global extinctions.

Post-heading heat stress and yield impact in winter wheat of China.

PubMed

Liu, Bing; Liu, Leilei; Tian, Liying; Cao, Weixing; Zhu, Yan; Asseng, Senthold

2014-02-01

Wheat is sensitive to high temperatures, but the spatial and temporal variability of high temperature and its impact on yield are often not known. An analysis of historical climate and yield data was undertaken to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of heat stress between heading and maturity and its impact on wheat grain yield in China. Several heat stress indices were developed to quantify heat intensity, frequency, and duration between heading and maturity based on measured maximum temperature records of the last 50 years from 166 stations in the main wheat-growing region of China. Surprisingly, heat stress between heading and maturity was more severe in the generally cooler northern wheat-growing regions than the generally warmer southern regions of China, because of the delayed time of heading with low temperatures during the earlier growing season and the exposure of the post-heading phase into the warmer part of the year. Heat stress between heading and maturity has increased in the last decades in most of the main winter wheat production areas of China, but the rate was higher in the south than in the north. The correlation between measured grain yields and post-heading heat stress and average temperature were statistically significant in the entire wheat-producing region, and explained about 29% of the observed spatial and temporal yield variability. A heat stress index considering the duration and intensity of heat between heading and maturity was required to describe the correlation of heat stress and yield variability. Because heat stress is a major cause of yield loss and the number of heat events is projected to increase in the future, quantifying the future impact of heat stress on wheat production and developing appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies are critical for developing food security policies in China and elsewhere. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.