Nitrogen and Sulfur Fertilization Effects on Camelina Sativa in West Central Kansas

Camelina sativa is early maturing and possesses characteristics that make it a good fit as a rotation crop in dryland wheat cropping systems. Nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) play very important roles in oilseed production, including camelina. This study was undertaken in 2013 and 2014 to determine N and S rates necessary for optimum camelina production in West Central Kansas. The experiment was set up as randomized complete blocks with four replications in a split-plot arrangement. Treatments were two S rates (0 and 18 lb/a) as the main plots, and N rates (0, 20, 40, and 80 lb/a) were the subplots. The results showed that plant stand, plant height, harvest index, biomass yield, and protein and oil content were unaffected by N and S application. Similarly, S application had no effect on seed yield. However, N rate had a significant (P \u3c 0.05) effect on seed yield. Yield differences were realized for 2013 (~450 lb/a) and 2014 (~900 lb/a)

Seeding Date Effects on Camelina Seed Yield and Quality Traits

Identifying crops that are adapted to dryland environments of the central and northern Great Plains (GP) has been a major challenge. An alternative crop with potential for dryland crop production in the GP is camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz). Time of planting is an important management consideration that can affect camelina production. Early planting allows camelina to mature before the onset of hot summer temperatures in the central GP that can affect seed yield. A study was carried out in the spring of 2013 and 2014 to evaluate planting date effects on spring camelina varieties grown under dryland conditions in western Kansas. In this study, three spring varieties (Blaine Creek, Pronghorn, and Shoshone) were planted at three seeding dates (early, mid, and late). Parameters collected included plant height, harvest index, seed yield, and oil and protein content. Our findings indicate that seeding date affected time of flowering and physiological maturity (P \u3c 0.05) but had no effect on oil content. Year × camelina variety interaction had a significant effect on seed yield. Similarly, protein content differed among the varieties (Blaine Creek \u3e Pronghorn \u3e Shoshone). Blaine Creek consistently produced the highest yield in both years and had a protein content of 30%

Commonwealth Professional Fellowship: the wealth of experience and lessons learned.

The Commonwealth Professional Fellowship (CPF) is a programme of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in association with the British Council. The Fellowship is aimed at providing a professional development opportunity for mid-career professionals from Commonwealth developing countries in diverse disciplines. Fellows who take part in this programme spend a period of one to three months in the United Kingdom to keep abreast of current trends and developments, and receive training in appropriate fields

Giving Reference to the Pronominal ‘e’ in Ga.

The paper investigates the third person singular pronoun anaphor e in Ga, a Kwa Language. The pronominal e which is prefixed may be glossed as ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’. This pronominal which is prefixed refers to a definite third person discourse entity. It has no gender distinctions and it has also no animate distinctions. In Ga the pronominal e is attached to the verbs when in subjective position. When the pronominal is prefixed to the noun it marks possessive. However there are certain contexts in which the interpretation of the pronominal can be ‘he’ only or ‘she’ only and  other instances cannot be either of them  The aim  is to find how the singular pronoun anaphor  could be disambiguated  in discourse especially where giving the referent to the anaphor is not simple. The paper applies the Centering Theory to analyse utterances in which this pronoun occurs and also the Givenness Hierarchy was considered in some cases where the referent resolution process involves a choice between two candidate referents. Data used was elicited by the researchers after having several chats with other natives of Ga. It came to light that in addition to the theories applied, the sociocultural norms and the lexical verb give clues in resolution of the third person singular pronoun. Keywords: pronominal, anaphor, centering theory, disambiguate, referen

Seeding Date Effects on Camelina Seed Yield and Quality Traits

An alternative crop with potential for dryland crop production in the Great Plains is camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz). Time of planting is an important management consideration that can affect camelina production. A study was carried out in the spring of 2013, 2014, and 2015 to evaluate seeding date effects on spring camelina varieties grown under dryland conditions in western Kansas. Three spring varieties (Blaine Creek, Pronghorn, and Shoshone) were planted at three seeding dates: early (April 3, 2013; March 17, 2014; and March 18, 2015); mid (April 16, 2013; April 1, 2014; and April 1, 2015); and late (April 30, 2013; April 15, 2014; and April 15, 2015). Parameters collected included time of flowering and physiological maturity, stand count at maturity, seed yield, biomass yield, harvest index, oil and protein content. Our findings indicate that seeding date can affect the time of flowering and physiological maturity, stand count, seed yield, biomass yield, harvest index, and protein content, but it did not affect oil content. Harvest index and oil content was significantly different among varieties. In general, mid and late seeding dates produced the highest yield across the three years. There were yield differences among varieties; Blaine Creek produced the highest seed yield and was significantly different from Pronghorn and Shoshone. Seed yield ranged between 340 and 440 lb/a. Average oil and protein content was 26% and 30%, respectively. Based on environmental factors and agronomic characteristics, camelina varieties were more productive when planted between early and mid-April

Influence of Different Seeding Dates on Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) Forage Yield and Nutritive Value

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is used as medicinal plant in many Asian countries and has been reported to have forage quality similar to alfalfa. Fenugreek is an annual crop and may have the potential to diversify forage production systems in the central High Plains. This study evaluated forage dry matter (DM) production and the nutritive value of three fenugreek cultivars as influenced by planting date at Hays and Garden City, KS, in 2014. Results at Hays showed forage DM yield of fenugreek cultivars was not affected by planting date, but fenugreek cultivars differed significantly (P \u3c 0.05) in forage DM yield. Averaged across planting date, forage DM production was 760 lb/a for ‘Amber,’ 910 lb/a for ‘F96,’ and 672 lb/a for ‘Tristar.’ Forage crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total digestible nutrient (TDN) concentrations, and relative feed value (RFV) did not differ (P \u3e 0.05) among fenugreek cultivars. Planting early, however, did increase CP levels and lower ADF and NDF concentrations. Despite the lower yields observed in 2014, our preliminary results showed that fenugreek can produce forage with nutritive value comparable to alfalfa and that further testing is needed to determine if fenugreek can provide an option for producers who want to diversify their forage production operations, particularly under limited irrigation conditions

Nitrogen and Sulfur Fertilization Effects on Camelina Sativa in West Central Kansas

Camelina sativa is early maturing and possesses characteristics that make it a good fit as a rotation crop in dryland wheat cropping systems. Nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) play very important roles in oilseed production, including camelina. This study was conducted over 3 years to determine N and S rates necessary for optimum camelina production in west central Kansas. The experiment was set up as randomized complete blocks with four replications in a split-plot arrangement. Treatments were two sulfur rates (0 and 18 lb/a) as the main plots, and four N rates (0, 20, 40, and 80 lb/a) as the sub-plot. Sulfur application did not affect stand count, biomass yield, harvest index, seed yield, oil and protein content. However, stand count, biomass yield, seed yield, and protein content were affected by N application (P \u3c 0.05). Average oil and protein content were 28.1% and 33.9% respectively. The optimum N rate for yield was 20 lb N/a, which produced around 680 lb/a seed yield. Based on soil test levels of 25 lb N/a, N requirement for camelina production is 45 lb N/a

The Implications of Insurance Status on Presentation, Surgical Management and Mortality among Non-Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients in Indiana

Background The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program seeks to reduce health care disparities by providing uninsured and underinsured women access to screening mammograms. The objective of this study is to identify the differences in presentation, surgical management, and mortality among nonmetastatic uninsured patients diagnosed through Indiana's Breast and Cervical Cancer Program compared with patients with private and government (Medicare or Medicaid) insurance. Methods Study data were obtained using the Indiana state cancer registry and Indiana's Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. Women aged 50 to 64 with an index diagnosis of stage 0 to III breast cancer from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2013, were included in the study. Bivariate intergroup analysis was conducted. Kaplan-Meier estimates between insurance types were compared using the log rank test. All-cause mortality was evaluated using a mixed effects model. Results The groups differed significantly for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Uninsured Indiana Breast and Cervical Cancer Program patients presented with later disease stage (P < .001) and had the highest overall mortality (hazard ratio 2.2, P = .003). Surgical management only differed among stage III patients (P = .012). Conclusion To improve insurance-based disparities in Indiana, implementation of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program in conjunction with expansion of insurance coverage to vulnerable low-income populations need to be optimized

Modeling host-associating microbes under selection

The concept of fitness is often reduced to a single component, such as the replication rate in a given habitat. For species with multi-step life cycles, this can be an unjustified oversimplification, as every step of the life cycle can contribute to the overall reproductive success in a specific way. In particular, this applies to microbes that spend part of their life cycles associated to a host. In this case, there is a selection pressure not only on the replication rates, but also on the phenotypic traits associated to migrating from the external environment to the host and vice-versa (i.e., the migration rates). Here, we investigate a simple model of a microbial lineage living, replicating, migrating and competing in and between two compartments: a host and an environment. We perform a sensitivity analysis on the overall growth rate to determine the selection gradient experienced by the microbial lineage. We focus on the direction of selection at each point of the phenotypic space, defining an optimal way for the microbial lineage to increase its fitness. We show that microbes can adapt to the two-compartment life cycle through either changes in replication or migration rates, depending on the initial values of the traits, the initial distribution across the two compartments, the intensity of competition, and the time scales involved in the life cycle versus the time scale of adaptation (which determines the adequate probing time to measure fitness). Overall, our model provides a conceptual framework to study the selection on microbes experiencing a host-associated life cycle