Managing the Rotation from Alfalfa to Corn

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.This bulletin describes management practices for alfalfa termination and the two subsequent corn crops that will help utilize the benefits of alfalfa.This publication was funded by the Minnesota Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council. The research summarized in this publication was supported by the Minnesota Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council, the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, the North Central Region-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center, the Hueg-Harrison fellowship, the University of Minnesota, and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Influence of potassium fertilization on alfalfa leaf and stem yield, forage quality, nutrient removal, and plant health

Abstract Potassium (K) is an essential nutrient for plant growth. In K‐deficient soils, fertilization has been shown to increase herbage yield of alfalfa. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of K fertilization on alfalfa leaf and stem yield, forage quality, nutrient removal, and plant health of a nonlodging experimental germplasm. Five alfalfa rotations had K fertilizer applied at three rates (0, 186, and 372 kg K ha−1) to soils already containing sufficient soil test K (223 mg kg−1). No overall yield differences were found related to K application rates, though K removal in total herbage increased by 30–58% with K fertilization, depending on alfalfa stand age. Leaf:stem ratios were not impacted by K fertilization. The concentrations of B, Ca, and Na decreased with K fertilization, while K concentrations increased, which may have resulted in B deficiencies. Leaf in vitro digestibility decreased significantly with the application of K. There was no benefit to crown rot disease resistance with increased K fertilization. This study supports that the addition of K to already sufficient soils does not lead to any additional economic benefits and may reduce productivity due to the reduction of B uptake and in vitro digestibility

Design and performance of improved Column Parallel CCD, CPC2

The Linear Collider Flavour Identification (LCFI) Collaboration is developing the sensors, readout electronics and mechanical support structures for the vertex detector of the International Linear Collider (ILC). High speed readout is needed to ensure that the occupancy due to the pair production background at the ILC is kept below the 1% level. In order to satisfy this requirement, Column Parallel CCDs (CPCCDs), Column Parallel Readout chips (CPRs) and Column Parallel Driver chips (CPDs) have been developed. The CPCCD has to operate at a clock frequency of 50 MHz, which represents a difficult technical challenge due to the large sensor capacitance. The design and performance of the second generation CPCCD sensors, CPC2, and the new driver chip, CPD1, which meet these challenging requirements, are described