Addressing the nitrogen problem in sugarcane production to reduce pollution of the Great Barrier Reef

The N pollution footprint of sugarcane cropping is large due to inefficiencies caused by mismatched N supply and crop N demand over sugarcane’s long N accumulation phase. The Great Barrier Reef lagoon receives excessive N loads that contribute to the rapidly declining reef health. Exceeding international average nitrous oxide emission rates several fold, sugarcane soils contribute significantly to Australia’s agricultural emissions. Nitrogen pollution reduction schemes over recent decades have mostly targeted reducing N fertiliser rates in line with expected yields and improving soil quality. Overall, these measures have not resulted in the desired N pollution reduction and further innovation is needed to address this problem. We present research that aims to aid agronomic innovation with (i) next-generation fertilisers that are based on repurposed nutrient-rich wastes and sorbent materials to better match N supply and crop demand and to improve soil function and carbon levels, (ii) understanding of soil N cycling and microbial processes, (iii) legume companion cropping as a source of biologically fixed N, and (iv) genetic improvement of sugarcane that more effectively captures and uses N. We conclude that evidence-based innovation has to support crop growers across climate and soil gradients in the 400,000 hectares of catchments of the Great Barrier Reef. This should include investment into new technologies to support ecologically-sound agriculture and a circular economy without waste and pollution

Parasitic Disease Surveillance, Mississippi, USA

Surveillance for soil-transmitted helminths, strongyloidiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and giardiasis was conducted in Mississippi, USA. PCR performed on 224 fecal samples for all soil-transmitted helminths and on 370 samples for only Necator americanus and Strongyloides stercoralis identified 1 S. stercoralis infection. Seroprevalences were 8.8% for Toxocara, 27.4% for Cryptosporidium, 5.7% for Giardia, and 0.2% for Strongyloides parasites

Investigating Executive Working Memory and Phonological Short-Term Memory in Relation to Fluency and Self-Repair Behavior in L2 Speech

This paper reports the findings of a study investigating the relationship of executive working memory (WM) and phonological short-term memory (PSTM) to fluency and self-repair behavior during an unrehearsed oral task performed by second language (L2) speakers of English at two levels of proficiency, elementary and lower intermediate. Correlational analyses revealed a negative relationship between executive WM and number of pauses in the lower intermediate L2 speakers. However, no reliable association was found in our sample between executive WM or PSTM and self-repair behavior in terms of either frequency or type of self-repair. Taken together, our findings suggest that while executive WM may enhance performance at the conceptualization and formulation stages of the speech production process, self-repair behavior in L2 speakers may depend on factors other than working memory