Bedding plant nutrition

1979 Fall.Covers not scanned.Includes bibliographical references.Three nutrition experiments were conducted to determine the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium nutrient levels necessary to obtain quality bedding plant growth. A soil medium of equal parts (by volume) Fort Collins Clay Loam, Canadian peat moss, and perlite, and soilless medium of equal parts (by volume) Canadian peat moss and vermiculite were used in all experiments. Pelargonium hortorum 'Sprinter Scarlet' and Petunia hybrida 'Candy Apple' seedlings were grown in the 2 media and watered with 5 nutrient solutions containing varying ratios of NO3-:NH4+, each resulting in a total NO3- plus NH4+ concentration of 15 meq 1-1. There were no significant differences in height, fresh and dry weights, or number of vegetative breaks in soil-grown plants due to the N sources. Plant growth in the soilless medium was substantially reduced as the proportion of NH4+ increased above 50%. Plant quality of Pelargonium hortorum 'Sprinter Scarlet' and Petunia hybrida 'Candy Apple' were also evaluated in the 2 media when watered with 12 nutrient solutions containing 4 nitrogen concentrations (half NO3-, half NH4+) of 7.0, 11.5, 14.0, and 17.5 meq 1-1, and 3 potassium concentrations of 2, 4, and 6 meq 1-1. Potassium concentrations above 2 meq 1-1 had little or no affect on plant growth in either media. Increasing nitrogen rates caused increased plant height, and fresh and dry weights. The 7.0 meq 1-1 nitrogen-grown plants showed signs of nitrogen deficiency. Maturity, in terms of flowering and number of vegetative breaks, was not affected by the nutrient regime. Optimum plant growth in both media was produced with 11.5 meq 1-1 nitrogen and 2 meq 1-1 potassium treatment. Seedlings of Pelargonium hortorum 'Sprinter Scarlet', Petunia hybrida ' Pink Magic ', Impatiens holstii 'Elfin Red', and Tagetes patula 'Goldie' were grown in the 2 media with 4 phosphorus treatments consisting of 0 kg m-3 treble superphosphate preplant plus a continuous feed using 25-0-25 (1.408 meq 1-1 H2PO4-, 200 ppm P2O5), and 0, 3, and 6 kg m-3 treble superphosphate preplant plus a continuous feed of 20-20-20 (1.408 meq 1-1 H2PO4-, 200 ppm P2O5). All species, except impatiens, showed increased growth with increased phosphorus levels; impatiens gave little or no response to phosphorus treatments. Flowering time of all species was unaffected by the treatments. The 3 kg m-3 treble superphosphate plus a continuous feed of 20-20-20 (1.408 meq 1-1 H2PO4-, 200 ppm P2O5) gave the best plant response in both media

Analyzing consumer-related nitrogen flows: A case study on food and material use in Austria

Nitrogen budgets cover pools and flows of nitrogen (N) contained in human-made goods and compounds, wich may potentially affect the global nitrogen cycle and in consequence the human environment. Acknowledging the importance of food and other agricultural products, this paper additionally investigates frequently neglected flows of N related to consumers and estimates their magnitude, using Austria in 2010 as an example. Specifically, N in non-food industrial products (synthetic & natural polymers, wood & paper products, waste), and N related to pets, gardens, and energy use is considered. Over the last five decades, both food and material consumption have increased distinctly. While food supply accounts for 52% of total directly consumer-related nitrogen inflows covered in this study (66,000t Na^1), also material products account for a considerable share of 28% (36,000t Na^1). N application in gardens (12%) and N in pet food (7%) do also play a role. Quantified outflows are human excretion (54%), food waste (13%), garden waste (16%), material waste (7%) and waste from pets (10%). The detected balance surplus of 34,000t Na^1, corresponding to 27% of total inflows, points to some accumulation of N in the form of durable consumer goods and to potentially missing flows. The analysis focusses on the apparent knowledge gaps. Especially flows involving material products are poorly understood and would require better understanding of nitrogen contents of products and of waste. This indicates that improvements may be possible by providing more complete nitrogen budgets in the future that cover all environmental pools

Performance Models for Split-execution Computing Systems

Split-execution computing leverages the capabilities of multiple computational models to solve problems, but splitting program execution across different computational models incurs costs associated with the translation between domains. We analyze the performance of a split-execution computing system developed from conventional and quantum processing units (QPUs) by using behavioral models that track resource usage. We focus on asymmetric processing models built using conventional CPUs and a family of special-purpose QPUs that employ quantum computing principles. Our performance models account for the translation of a classical optimization problem into the physical representation required by the quantum processor while also accounting for hardware limitations and conventional processor speed and memory. We conclude that the bottleneck in this split-execution computing system lies at the quantum-classical interface and that the primary time cost is independent of quantum processor behavior.Comment: Presented at 18th Workshop on Advances in Parallel and Distributed Computational Models [APDCM2016] on 23 May 2016; 10 page

A mosaic maternal splice donor mutation in the EHMT1 gene leads to aberrant transcripts and to Kleefstra syndrome in the offspring

The euchromatic histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 1 (EHMT1) gene was examined in a 3-year-old boy with characteristic clinical features of Kleefstra syndrome. Sequencing of all 27 EHMT1 exons revealed a novel mutation, NM_024757.4:c.2712+1G>A, which affects the splice donor of intron 18. Whereas the index patient is heterozygous for that mutation, his phenotypically normal mother shows tissue-specific mosaicism. Sequencing of EHMT1 RT-PCR products revealed two aberrant transcript variants: in one variant, exon 18 was skipped; in the other, a near-by GT motif was used as splice donor and intronic sequence was inserted between exons 18 and 19. Both transcript variants were found in the patient and his mother. The latter had lower amounts of these transcripts consistent with mosaic status. This is the first description of an EHMT1 point mutation being inherited from a parent with verified mosaicism. The constitutive c.2712+1G>A splice site mutation in EHMT1 is fully pathogenic, and the transcript variants produced do not attenuate the severity of the disease.European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication, 12 December 2012; doi:10.1038/ejhg.2012.267

Application of firefly luciferase assay for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to antimicrobial drug sensitivity testing

The development of a rapid method for determining microbial susceptibilities to antibiotics using the firefly luciferase assay for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is documented. The reduction of bacterial ATP by an antimicrobial agent was determined to be a valid measure of drug effect in most cases. The effect of 12 antibiotics on 8 different bacterial species gave a 94 percent correlation with the standard Kirby-Buer-Agar disc diffusion method. A 93 percent correlation was obtained when the ATP assay method was applied directly to 50 urine specimens from patients with urinary tract infections. Urine samples were centrifuged first to that bacterial pellets could be suspended in broth. No primary isolation or subculturing was required. Mixed cultures in which one species was predominant gave accurate results for the most abundant organism. Since the method is based on an increase in bacterial ATP with time, the presence of leukocytes did not interfere with the interpretation of results. Both the incubation procedure and the ATP assays are compatible with automation

Syrian Refugees and the Digital Passage to Europe: Smartphone Infrastructures and Affordances

This research examines the role of smartphones in refugees’ journeys. It traces the risks and possibilities afforded by smartphones for facilitating information, communication, and migration flows in the digital passage to Europe. For the Syrian and Iraqi refugee respondents in this France-based qualitative study, smartphones are lifelines, as important as water and food. They afford the planning, navigation, and documentation of journeys, enabling regular contact with family, friends, smugglers, and those who help them. However, refugees are simultaneously exposed to new forms of exploitation and surveillance with smartphones as migrations are financialised by smugglers and criminalized by European policies, and the digital passage is dependent on a contingent range of sociotechnical and material assemblages. Through an infrastructural lens, we capture the dialectical dynamics of opportunity and vulnerability, and the forms of resilience and solidarity, that arise as forced migration and digital connectivity coincide

Coherence of neutrino flavor mixing in quantum field theory

In the simplistic quantum mechanical picture of flavor mixing, conditions on the maximum size and minimum coherence time of the source and detector regions for the observation of interference---as well as the very viability of the approach---can only be argued in an ad hoc way from principles external to the formalism itself. To examine these conditions in a more fundamental way, the quantum field theoretical $S$-matrix approach is employed in this paper, without the unrealistic assumption of microscopic stationarity. The fully normalized, time-dependent neutrino flavor mixing event rates presented here automatically reveal the coherence conditions in a natural, self-contained, and physically unambiguous way, while quantitatively describing the transition to their failure.Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

IMPACT EVALUATION FOR THE MANUFACTURED HOUSING ACQUISITION PROGRAM (MAP)

This report presents the results of an impact evaluation of the Manufactured Housing Acquisition Program. This evaluation was conducted for Bonneville by Pacific Northwest Laboratory to determine MAP's energy impacts and cost-effectiveness. We conducted a three-tiered analysis of the utility billing data to estimate program electriccty savings. The first (a raw billing data comparison and simple regression analysis) and second (PRISM) tier analyses provided useful findings for the third-tier analysis by which program savings were estimated. The third-tier approach used a conditional demand type regression analysis to analyze monthly energy consumption, taking into account significant factors likely to influence electricrty usage. We used the regression results to estimate energy savings under "normal" weather conditions for each climate zone. We determined cost-effectiveness by calculating levelized costs using a methodology published by Bonneville. We analyzed potential market transformation effects from a conceptual viewpoint. Our results suggested that MAP's market transformation benefits probably reduced the levelized cost to utilities by 40% or more

Penta­carbon­yl{3-[(2S)-1-methyl­pyrrolidin-2-yl]pyridine}tungsten(0)

The title compound, [W(C10H14N2)(CO)5], contains five carbonyl ligands and a nicotine ligand in an octa­hedral arrangement around the tungsten atom. The metal atom shows cis angles in the range 87.30 (16)–94.2 (2)°, and trans angles between 175.2 (2) and 178.1 (4)°. The W—CO bond trans to the pyridine N atom [1.987 (6) Å] is noticeably shorter than the others, which range between 2.036 (3) and 2.064 (3) Å, possibly due to the well-known trans effect. The distance between the W atom and the pyridine N atom is 2.278 (4) Å