AN IRRIGATION MODEL FOR MANAGEMENT OF LIMITED WATER SUPPLIES

A two-stage simulation/mathematical programming model is presented for determining the optimal intraseasonal allocation of irrigation water under conditions of limited water supply. The model is applied to a series of water shortage scenarios under both surface and center pivot irrigation. Economically efficient irrigation management is shown to involve the coordination of a number of managerial decisions, including irrigation scheduling, crop substitution, the adoption of improved irrigation labor practices, and idling land. The results indicate that significant opportunities exist for conserving water in the study area under both surface and center pivot irrigation.Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

WFMOS - Sounding the Dark Cosmos

Vast sound waves traveling through the relativistic plasma during the first million years of the universe imprint a preferred scale in the density of matter. We now have the ability to detect this characteristic fingerprint in the clustering of galaxies at various redshifts and use it to measure the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. The Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) would use this test to shed significant light on the true nature of dark energy, the mysterious source of this cosmic acceleration. WFMOS would also revolutionise studies of the kinematics of the Milky Way and provide deep insights into the clustering of galaxies at redshifts up to z~4. In this article we discuss the recent progress in large galaxy redshift surveys and detail how WFMOS will help unravel the mystery of dark energy.Comment: 6 pages, pure pdf. An introduction to WFMOS and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations for a general audienc

Gravitational waves in preheating

We study the evolution of gravitational waves through the preheating era that follows inflation. The oscillating inflaton drives parametric resonant growth of scalar field fluctuations, and although super-Hubble tensor modes are not strongly amplified, they do carry an imprint of preheating. This is clearly seen in the Weyl tensor, which provides a covariant description of gravitational waves.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, Revte

COOKING TIME AND SENSORY ANALYSIS OF A DRY BEAN DIVERSITY PANEL

INTRODUCTION - Cooking time and sensory quality are two important traits when selecting dry beans for consumption, but have largely been overlooked by breeders in favor of yield and other traits. Dry beans are an affordable, nutrient-rich food, but often require long cooking times, particularly without prior soaking. They also display a range of sensory characteristics, with consumers preferring cooked beans that are sweet and soft1. Increased interest in dry beans to make new products necessitates studies assessing the diversity of sensory traits in beans, which would allow beans to be selected for specific products. In this study, the Andean Diversity Panel2 (ADP) was assessed for cooking time and sensory characteristics in order to identify diversity for these traits. MATERIALS AND METHODS - Cooking Time Evaluation: 398 genotypes of the ADP were harvested in Hawassa, Ethiopia in 2015, six months prior to evaluation. Prior to cooking, each sample was soaked for 12 hours in 250 ml distilled water after ensuring moisture content was between 10-14%. Two replicates per genotype of 25 seeds each were cooked in random order in boiling distilled water using the Mattson cooker method for determining cooking time3. The Mattson cooker uses twenty-five 85g stainless steel rods with 2mm diameter pins that pierce beans loaded in wells when sufficiently cooked. For this study, the 50% and 80% cooking times were recorded, and the 80% cook time is regarded as the time required to cook each genotype to completion. The cooking time data was analyzed using the MIXED procedure in SAS with genotype as a fixed effect and rep as a random effect

Genetic variability and genome-wide association analysis of flavor and texture in cooked beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Key message Cooked bean flavor and texture vary within and across 20 Andean seed types; SNPs are significantly associated with total flavor, beany, earthy, starchy, bitter, seed-coat perception, and cotyledon texture. Abstract Common dry beans are a nutritious food recognized as a staple globally, but their consumption is low in the USA. Improving bean flavor and texture through breeding has the potential to improve consumer acceptance and suitability for new end-use products. Little is known about genetic variability and inheritance of bean sensory characteristics. A total of 430 genotypes of the Andean Diversity Panel representing twenty seed types were grown in three locations, and cooked seeds were evaluated by a trained sensory panel for flavor and texture attribute intensities, including total flavor, beany, vegetative, earthy, starchy, sweet, bitter, seed-coat perception, and cotyledon texture. Extensive variation in sensory attributes was found across and within seed types. A set of genotypes was identified that exhibit extreme attribute intensities generally stable across all three environments. seed-coat perception and total flavor intensity had the highest broad-sense heritability (0.39 and 0.38, respectively), while earthy and vegetative intensities exhibited the lowest (0.14 and 0.15, respectively). Starchy and sweet flavors were positively correlated and highest in white bean genotypes according to principal component analysis. SNPs associated with total flavor intensity (six SNPs across three chromosomes), beany (five SNPs across four chromosomes), earthy (three SNPs across two chromosomes), starchy (one SNP), bitter (one SNP), seed-coat perception (three SNPs across two chromosomes), and cotyledon texture (two SNPs across two chromosomes) were detected. These findings lay a foundation for incorporating flavor and texture in breeding programs for the development of new varieties that entice growers, consumers, and product developers alike

3-D Velocity Structure of the Northern Hikurangi Margin: Implications for Crustal Growth

Onshore-offshore wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data are combined with multi-channel seismic reflection profiles to model crustal structure within a 32,000 km2 block of the northern Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. A 3-D onshore-offshore dataset comprising ~250,000 seismic traces is analysed as a suite of 81 receiver-gathers. These receiver-gathers contain reflected and refracted arrivals and constrain a 3-D P-wave velocity forward model. Southwest along the strike of the subduction zone, velocity forward models resolve a > 10 km increase in Moho depth and a > 20 km increase in basement thickness between Raukumara Basin and the Raukumara Peninsula. Beneath the topographic crest of the East Cape Ridge and Raukumara Peninsula, low velocities (3.0-5.0 km/sec) are resolved within a triangular prism (> 200 km3 /km-1 ie per km of strike) positioned on top of the subducting slab. The arcward/inboard edge of this prism coincides with the intersection of the subducting slab with the Moho and southward along East Cape Ridge, both the prism and topographic crest are observed migrating arcward, concomitant with the increase in Moho depth beneath the continental shelf. Second-order seismic-stratigraphic sequences within Raukumara Basin record a southeast-northwest migration of the Neogene depocenter. Internal deformation increases east and south of the central basin at East Cape Ridge and within the continental shelf where strata tilt up toward the topographic crest. Refracted arrivals place the first controlled-source seismic constraints on the thickness of the about-to-be subducted northern Hikurangi Plateau. The Hikurangi Plateau crust is modelled as two layers with velocities of 4.9-6.3 km/sec and 7.1-7.3 km/sec with a combined thickness of 17-18 km. The upper 10 km of the subducting mantle lithosphere is modelled with velocities of 8.1-8.4 km/sec. The geometry of the plate interface is also constrained by wide-angle reflections. Low velocities (3.0-5.0 km/sec) beneath the topographic crest of the East Cape Ridge and the Raukumara Peninsula are interpreted as underplated sedimentary and crustal material and a rate of accretion of 10-25 km3 Myr-1 km-1 is calculated. The migration of the Neogene Raukumara Basin depocenter and what is considered postdepositional internal deformation are associated with uplift and protuberant growth at East Cape Ridge and Raukumara Peninsula in response to lower crustal underplating. The underplating process appears modulated by Moho depth and a cyclical crustal dynamic is proposed to provide a viable means of maintaining or increasing the netvolume of the forearc in the presence of trench slope collapse and subduction erosion. At present, a discrepancy exists between published estimates of continental creation at volcanic arcs and continental destruction at subduction margins. Nd isotopic evidence and continental freeboard arguments require a constant volume of continental crust throughout the Phanerozoic. The crustal dynamic developed in this thesis highlights the importance of lower crustal underplating as a means of retaining subducted sediment within the forearc, thus reducing the flux of continental material to the mantle. The calculated rates at which subducted sediment is underplated and accreted to the upper plate (10-25 km3 Myr-1 km-1) are considered sufficient to solve the discrepancy between the inputs and outputs at subduction margins within analytical uncertainty