Root Growth and Development of Float Tobacco Transplants Before and After Transplanting

In the production of float tobacco transplants, the seedling produces at least two different kinds of roots. The “media” roots are those that grow in the soilless medium within the float tray cell. They have a normal branched appearance similar to roots produced on soil-bed grown transplants. The “water” roots grow through the soilless medium in tray cells and into the nutrient solution below the float tray. They tend to be very fragile and less branched than roots growing in the soilless medium. In removal of seedlings from tray cells during transplanting, “water” roots are usually badly damaged or destroyed, which could affect establishment of transplants in the field since the most critical period in the development of tobacco plants occurs immediately after transplanting. When these young plants are removed from the protective environment of the float bed system and are subjected to radically different and sometimes adverse field conditions, stress on the juvenile plants is created. Field establishment of these young plants is dependent upon growth or new formation of the “media” and “water” roots. To maximize establishment of transplants, it is important to know how the \u27\u27water roots and the media roots develop in the float system and their contribution to transplant establishment during the first few weeks after transplanting. The objectives of this study were: 1) to characterize the growth of media and \u27\u27water roots on tobacco seedlings in the float system, and 2) to assess tobacco transplant growth with or without \u27\u27water\u27\u27 roots, at two and four weeks after transplanting

Ergovaline and Ergovalinine and Tall Fescue Content of Pastures in Central Kentucky

Kentucky has \u3e 2Mha of tall fescue (Festuca arundianacea Schreb.) grown mainly for livestock consumption. Many alkaloids in tall fescue are produced in a mutualistic association between tall fescue and an endophytic fungus (Neotyphodium coenophialum) (Long et al., 2002). Ingestion of tall fescue by livestock may depress reproduction and growth (Schultz & Bush, 2002). Not all Kentucky fields of tall fescue are thought to be infected with endophyte, but forage samples from all surveyed pastures had measurable ergopeptine alkaloids. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that some of the tall fescue plants in these fields were infected. We estimated tall fescue content and evaluated ergopeptine alkaloids in tall fescue monocultures and composite pastures of several central Kentucky horse farms

Measurement of Bystander Actions in Violence Intervention Evaluation: Opportunities and Challenges

Purpose of Review This review discusses design and methodological challenges specific to measuring bystander actions in the evaluation of bystander-based violence prevention programming. “Bystanders” are defined as people who are present immediately before, during and/or after a violent event, but are not a perpetrator nor the intended victim. Bystander-based violence prevention programs seek to prevent or mitigate violent events by empowering bystanders to intervene on acts of violence and social norms that promulgate violence. Recent Findings Effective bystander-based violence prevention programs demonstrate increased bystander intentions, actions, and attitudes [Bringing in the Bystander: Banyard et al. J Community Psychol. 2007;35:463-481; iSCREAM: McMahon et al. Health Education Research. 2015;30(4):554-568; The Men\u27s Project: Gidycz et al. Violence Against Women. 2011;7(6):720-742; and Green Dot: Coker et al. Violence Against Women 2011;17:777-796] lowered violence acceptance scores (Coker et al. Violence Against Women 2011;17:777-796; Banyard et al. J Coll Stud Dev 2009;50(4)446-457; Cares et al. Violence Against Women. 2015;21:65-87; McMahon et al. Health Education Research. 2015;30(4):554-568; Moynihan et al. J Interper Viol. 2015;30:110-132) and reduce sexual violence perpetration and victimization (Coker et al. Am J Prev Med. 2017;52(5):566-578; Millet et al. Am J Prev Med 2013;45(1):108-112; Gidcyz et al. Violence Against Women. 2011;7(6):720-742). However, bystander-based violence prevention programs are methodologically challenging to evaluate, due to the wide diversity of programs being implemented and the multifactorial and contextual nature of acts of violence. Summary Measures of bystander actions temporally-connected to specific, high-risk opportunities are recommended approaches to capture bystander experiences and address the methodological challenges in measuring bystander actions and evaluating violence prevention programming

What do adolescents with asthma really think about adherence to inhalers? Insights from a qualitative analysis of a UK online forum

ADS is funded by an NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship. AB is an NIHR Senior Investigator and additionally was supported by the NIHR Respiratory Disease. RH was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research (CLAHRC) North Thames at Barts NHS Trust. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or Department of Health

Effect of Seed Pellet Modification on Spiral Root Formation of Tobacco Seedlings

Tobacco seeds are often pelleted to facilitate precision seeding into float trays. Pelleting consists of the application of solid particles, such as clay, to seeds with a binder in a coating pan or tumbling drum to form spherically shaped dispersal units. One of the several advantages of pelleting is to provide seeds with a vastly enlarged bulk size to ensure proper placement of the seed at the surface of the growing medium

Maternal metabolic factors during pregnancy predict early childhood growth trajectories and obesity risk: the CANDLE Study.

BackgroundWe investigated the individual and additive effects of three modifiable maternal metabolic factors, including pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity, gestational weight gain (GWG), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), on early childhood growth trajectories and obesity risk.MethodsA total of 1425 mother-offspring dyads (953 black and 472 white) from a longitudinal birth cohort were included in this study. Latent class growth modeling was performed to identify the trajectories of body mass index (BMI) from birth to 4 years in children. Poisson regression models were used to examine the associations between the maternal metabolic risk factors and child BMI trajectories and obesity risk at 4 years.ResultsWe identified three discrete BMI trajectory groups, characterized as rising-high-BMI (12.6%), moderate-BMI (61.0%), or low-BMI (26.4%) growth. Both maternal pre-pregnancy obesity (adjusted relative risk [adjRR] = 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.36-2.83) and excessive GWG (adjRR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.13-2.58) were significantly associated with the rising-high-BMI trajectory, as manifested by rapid weight gain during infancy and a stable but high BMI until 4 years. All three maternal metabolic indices were significantly associated with childhood obesity at age 4 years (adjRR for pre-pregnancy obesity = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.62-3.10; adjRR for excessive GWG = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.01-2.09; and adjRR for GDM = 2.14, 95% = 1.47-3.12). In addition, risk of rising-high BMI trajectory or obesity at age 4 years was stronger among mothers with more than one metabolic risk factor. We did not observe any difference in these associations by race.ConclusionMaternal pre-pregnancy obesity, excessive GWG, and GDM individually and jointly predict rapid growth and obesity at age 4 years in offspring, regardless of race. Interventions targeting maternal obesity and metabolism may prevent or slow the rate of development of childhood obesity

The Effects of Exposure to Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Seed on Faecal and Urine Concentrations of Ergovaline and Lysergic Acid in Mature Gelding Horses

Despite the good nutritive value of endophyte-infected tall fescue, consumption by livestock results in a decrease in both reproductive and growth performance due to ergot alkaloids produced by an endophytic fungus (Cross et al., 1995). Little research has investigated the metabolic fate of ergot alkaloids and/or their metabolites in grazing horses. Thus, the objectives of this experiment were: a) to determine concentrations of ergovaline (EV) and lysergic acid (LA) in the faeces and urine of geldings exposed to tall fescue seed over a time course experiment and b) to measure the effects of alkaloid-containing tall fescue on nutrient digestibility and serum clinical enzyme profiles