Cut-rose production in response to planting density in two contrasting cultivars

Growing in lower planting density, rose plants produce more assimilates, which can be used to produce more and/or heavier flowering shoots. The effect of planting density was investigated during a period including the first five flowering flushes of a young crop. In a heated greenhouse two cut-rose cultivars were grown under bent canopy management. ‘Akito’ on own-roots and ‘Ilios’ on ‘Natal Briar’ rootstock were planted with densities of 8 and 4 plants per m2. Starting at the end of June 2007, flowering shoots were harvested over a time span of eight months. Based on ‘flowering flushes’, times of high harvest rate, the harvesting time span could be divided into five consecutive periods, each including one flush. The cultivars showed contrasting responses to planting density. In the first three periods the response in ‘Ilios’ was extraordinary, because at low density plants did not produce more flowering shoots, as would be expected. However, the response in shoot fresh weight was larger for ‘Ilios’ than for ‘Akito’, 35% compared to 21% over the entire study period. The results imply that there was a genetic difference in the effect of assimilate availability and/or local light environment. During the first three periods, these factors can not have influenced shoot number in ‘Ilios’, while they did in ‘Akito’. It is suggested that decreases of assimilate availability in winter caused the shoot number response to emerge for ‘Ilios’ later on

Temperature-dependent out-of-plane anisotropy in compressively strained La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ thin films

We studied the temperature and strain dependence of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films by performing temperature- and angle-dependent magnetotransport measurements. Three films of similar thickness (14 u.c., 14 u.c. and 15 u.c.) but with different out-of-plane crystallographic strain (1.9%, 0.9% and -0.7%) are studied. The films are grown on LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. We observe a clear increase in the out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy with increasing out-of-plane strain in the angle-dependent magnetotransport measurements which is present up to 80 K for the highest (1.9%) strained sample. The deformation of the unit cell, as discussed in earlier reports, point to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy as the main driver altering the magnetic easy axis direction. Our results highlight the utility of the effective magnetocrystalline anisotropy as a tool to control the desired anisotropy in crystalline thin films of La0.67Sr0.33MnO3

Body fatness, relative weight and frame size in young adults

1. Body-weight, body height, knee width, wrist width and skinfold measurements were made on males (n 139) and females (n 167) in three age-groups (20–22, 25–27 and 30–32 years). Percentage of body fal was calculated from skinfold thicknesses using regression equations according to Durnin & Womersley (1974), Three indices of relative weight were calculated: W/H2, W/Hp and W/Ŵ, where W is body-weight, H is body height, p is the exponent that made the index of relative weight independent of height and W is the weight, estimated from body height and frame size. 2. The standard error of the estimate of body-weight was only reduced by 5% in males and by 13% in females when, in addition to body height, knee width was taken into account.The addition of wrist width did not improve the accuracy of estimation of body-weight in either sex. Therefore in further analyses W was estimated from body height and knee width. In the present population the exponent p was 1·7 in males and 1·6 in females. 3. The correlations between the percentage of body fat and the indices, W/H2, W/HP, and W/Ŵ, were all very similar, being approximately 0·8 in both sexes. 4. A positive relationship was observed between percentage of body fat and knee width in females, which may be explained by an artifact of measurement. 5. In conclusion it can be stated that the accuracy of estimation of percentage of body fat was not improved when the index of relative weight was adjusted for knee width or wrist width in the present population. The W/H2was the most preferable of the three indices which were calculated

Investigating the Electromechanical Behavior of Unconventionally Ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2-Based Capacitors Through Operando Nanobeam X-Ray Diffraction

Understanding various aspects of ferroelectricity in hafnia-based nanomaterials is of vital importance for the development of future nonvolatile memory and logic devices. Here, the unconventional and weak electromechanical response of epitaxial La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 ferroelectric capacitors is investigated, via the sensitivity offered by nanobeam X-ray diffraction experiments during application of electrical bias. It is shown that the pristine rhombohedral phase exhibits a linear piezoelectric effect with piezoelectric coefficient (|d33|) ≈ 0.5–0.8 pmV−1. It is found that the piezoelectric response is suppressed above the coercive voltage. For higher voltages, and with the onset of DC conductivity throughout the capacitor, a second-order effect is observed. The work sheds light into the electromechanical response of rhombohedral Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 and suggests its (un)correlation with ferroelectric switching

Efficacy of iron fortification compared to iron supplementation among Vietnamese schoolchildren

The effect of iron fortification is generally assumed to be less than iron supplementation; however, the magnitude of difference in effects is not known. The present study aims to compare the efficacy of these two strategies on anaemia and iron status. After screening on low Hb, 425 anaemic children in six primary schools in Tam Nong district of Phu Tho province were included in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial comparing two groups receiving iron fortified instant noodles or iron supplementation for 6 months and a control group, with children in all groups having been dewormed. Blood samples were collected before and after intervention for haemoglobin, serum ferritin (SF), serum transferrin receptor (TfR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and haemoglobinopathies analysis. Regression analysis was used to assess the effect of iron fortification and iron supplementation on haemoglobin concentration, SF, TfR, body iron, and anaemic status as outcome variables. The improvement of haemoglobin, SF, and body iron level in the group receiving iron fortification was 42% (2.6 g/L versus 6.2 g/L), 20% (23.5 μg/L versus 117.3 μg/L), and 31.3% (1.4 mg/kg versus 4.4 mg/kg) of that in the iron supplementation group. The prevalence of anaemia dropped to 15.1% in the control group, with an additional reduction of anaemia of 8.5% in the iron supplementation group. The additional reduction due to iron fortification was 5.4%, which amounts to well over 50% of the impact of supplementation. In conclusion, the efficacy of iron fortification based on reduction of prevalence of anaemia, and on the change in haemoglobin level, is about half of the maximum impact of supplementation in case of optimal compliance. Thus, in a population of anaemic children with mild iron deficiency, iron fortification should be the preferred strategy to combat anaemia