Potassium and Cultivar Effects on Carbohydrate Partitioning in Upland Cotton

The indeterminate growth habit of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) reduces the efficiency of yield formation when grown as an annual for its lint. Altering the determinacy may provide greater carbohydrate partitioning to reproductive structures, allowing higher yields. Another factor that may influence partitioning is potassium (K) nutrition. Potassium is essential for physiological and biochemical processes including translocation. It is necessary for ATP production, which is crucial for phloem loading and unloading. A three-year experiment was conducted at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center to evaluate carbohydrate partitioning in Paymaster 1218BG/RR (PM1218), a relatively determinate cultivar, and Deltapine 555BG/RR (DP555), a more indeterminate variety. The two cultivars were grown in the field under two levels of potassium fertilization, 60 and 120 lbs K2O/acre/year, representing adequate and excessive K fertility, respectively. Plots containing cultivars and K treatments were arranged in randomized complete blocks with six replications per year. Plant samples were harvested at early bloom and after cutout, to evaluate partitioning during boll filling. Eight stem samples per plot were collected immediately below the cotyledonary node, freeze dried and ground for carbohydrate analysis by enzymatic methods. The two sampling dates were treated as subplots in the statistical analysis. Plots were mechanically harvested and samples of seedcotton were ginned to determine lint yields. Results showed that K had significant effects on monosaccharide concentrations of both cultivars and on lint yields of PM1218. Lint yields of PM1218 were lower than DP555 with 60 lb K2O/ac/yr, but were equivalent at 120 lb K2O/ac/yr. Total soluble sugar concentrations were higher in DP555 than in PM1218 at early bloom but declined to equivalent concentrations after cutout. Starch analysis revealed both a cultivar and harvest sample date interaction. In all years, PM1218 had more starch than DP555 at early bloom. Accumulation or depletion of starch reserves during boll filling differed by year, along with lint yields. Relating these results to shoot biomass data, also collected at both harvest dates for another study, confirms that the determinate variety PM1218 allotted more photoassimilates for reproductive growth during this time than DP555, despite similar lint yields. Previous research has found decreased vegetative growth during reproductive development in more determinate cultivars. Lower lint yields in PM1218 at 60 lbs K2O/ac/yr could be due to soil nutrient uptake efficiency and may explain the need for additional potassium in the more determinate cultivar. The two cultivars differed in carbohydrate concentrations at early bloom but by cutout were similar. Further investigation into the components of carbohydrate sink strength, such as seed constituents and root growth, may help in determining the carbohydrate partitioning trends of cultivars. Additional research is needed to establish potassium fertilization for optimum reproductive partitioning in determinate cultivars

The Teaching Librarian\u27s Toolkit

Engaging students is critical to maximizing the effectiveness of information literacy sessions. But when you\u27re faced with heavy teaching loads, back-to-back sessions, and balancing your other professional responsibilities, it can seem that there\u27s never enough time to develop effective, engaging, and creative classroom activities. Enter the Teaching Librarian\u27s Toolkit - flexible, modular activities that can be mixed and matched to align with student learning outcomes and enhance your information literacy sessions. In this interactive workshop, you\u27ll participate in sample activities, share your strategies, and develop a sample lesson plan to use or adapt in your teaching

Addressing the needs of the children’s integrated workforce: A method for developing collaborative practice through joint learning

The delivery of welfare, health and educational provision to the majority of children aged 0–18 in England is primarily led by local authorities via their children’s integrated service. In 2004 the children’s integrated service model was launched and it promised the benefits of an integrated and collaborative system of working, regarding flexibility and responsiveness to national policy, local development and capacity building (Robinson et al, 2008). However, the implementation and emergence of this model has been characterised by competing local and national agendas, practitioner misunderstanding and lack of trust, a lack of strong leadership and also financial restrictions. It can therefore be contended that conceptually children’s integrated services are not operating fully with a collaborative and integrated workforce. As a possible solution to the current situation, it is proposed that joint learning, along with a combined continual professional development (CPD) framework, be made available as a valuable starting point for such organisations. Learning and working together has benefits for children and practitioners, and especially, as this article will argue, for playwork practitioners

The mid-infrared Tully-Fisher relation: Spitzer Surface Photometry

The availability of photometric imaging of several thousand galaxies with the Spitzer Space Telescope enables a mid-infrared calibration of the correlation between luminosity and rotation in spiral galaxies. The most important advantage of the new calibration in the 3.6 micron band, IRAC ch.1, is photometric consistency across the entire sky. Additional advantages are minimal obscuration, observations of flux dominated by old stars, and sensitivity to low surface brightness levels due to favorable backgrounds. Through Spitzer cycle 7 roughly 3000 galaxies had been observed and images of these are available at the Spitzer archive. In cycle 8 a program called Cosmic Flows with Spitzer has been initiated that will increase by 1274 the available sample of spiral galaxies with inclinations greater than 45 degrees from face-on suitable for distance measurements. This paper describes procedures based on the photometry package Archangel that are being employed to analyze both the archival and the new data in a uniform way. We give results for 235 galaxies, our calibrator sample for the Tully-Fisher relation. Galaxy magnitudes are determined with uncertainties held below 0.05 mag for normal spiral systems. A subsequent paper will describe the calibration of the [3.6] luminosity-rotation relation.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, 12 pages, 9 figure

Metaliteracy in Practice [book review]

Metaliteracy is a reframing of information literacy that “emphasizes the metacognitive dimension of learning and the active roles we play as producers of original and repurposed information” (p. xvi). Editors Trudi Jacobson (Head of the Information Literacy Department, University Libraries, University at Albany SUNY) and Thomas Mackey (Vice-Provost for Academic Programs, SUNY Empire State College) coined the term in a 2011 article and further explored it in their 2014 book Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners. Metaliteracy has recently gained recognition in the field of information literacy, primarily through its influence on the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. A foreword by Allison Head (from Project Information Literacy) and a preface by the editors situate this book at the intersection of metaliteracy, the Framework, and teaching practice, briefly explaining the theoretical terrain in which the practical applications described in the case studies exist

Does the timing of cardiac rehabilitation impact fitness outcomes? : An observational analysis

OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the characteristics associated with delayed cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and determine if an association between CR timing and fitness outcomes exists in patients receiving routine care. METHODS: The study used data from the UK National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation, a data set which captures information on routine CR practice and patient outcomes. Data from 1 January 2012 to 8 September 2015 were included. Logistic regression models were used to explore the relationship between timing of CR and fitness-related outcomes as measured by patient-reported exercise level (150 min/week: yes/no), Dartmouth quality of life physical fitness scale and the incremental shuttle-walk test. RESULTS: Based on UK data current CR practice shows that programmes do not always adhere to recommendations on the start of prompt CR, that is, start CR within 28 days of referral (42 days for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)). Wait time exceeded recommendations in postmyocardial infarction (post-MI), elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), MI-PCI and post-CABG surgery patients. This was particularly pronounced in the medically managed post-MI group, median wait time 40 days. Furthermore, statistical analysis revealed that delayed CR significantly impacts fitness outcomes. For every 1-day increase in CR wait time, patients were 1% less likely to improve across all fitness-related measures (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: With the potential for suboptimal patient outcome if starting CR is delayed, efforts should be made to identify and overcome barriers to timely CR provision

Reframing the Narrative: Developing Information Literacy Learning Outcomes using Backward Design and Consensus Decision Making [Slides]

Slides from presentation given April 11, 2019 at the 2019 ACRL national conference in Cleveland, OH. Two librarians will lead workshop participants through the process they used to develop new information literacy program learning outcomes aligned to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy at their university. In groups, participants will hand code sample qualitative data based on survey responses from librarians about essential information literacy skills and habits of mind students at different levels of study should have. Group members will collaboratively compare their codes, develop higher-level categories, align categories to the Framework, and draft learning outcomes. Participants will be able to adapt this method at their home institutions using nothing more than common office supplies

Redesigning Online Library Tutorials Based on the ACRL Framework [slides]

Slides from a lightning talk given at the NCLA Biennial Conference in Winston-Salem, NC in October 2019

At the Corner of Personality and Competencies: Exploring Professional Personas for Librarians

Cultural representations of the profession are familiar to librarians. Stereotypes are common, and when librarians appear in the media—whether in song, television, or film—there are certain assumptions about what librarians should look like (e.g., cardigans, buns, and glasses) as well as how they should act (e.g., timidity, rigid adherence to rules). One common theme is the personalities of library workers, and this chapter will examine how assumptions and stereotypes about personality do not necessarily hold true in the field—and even across specialties within it. This discussion will also provide an explanation and exploration of a library worker’s “professional persona,” which is defined as the intersection of an individual’s personality, competencies, and professional interests. An individual’s persona is a complex system that might include some traits, perspectives, and tendencies that align with librarian stereotypes and some that are at odds with those stereotypes. This chapter will situate the concept of persona in the existing literature on core competencies and career selection and then examine the implications of personas in the profession with a specific eye toward organizational design

Assessing and meeting the information literacy needs of incoming transfer students: Implementing ACRL’s assessment in action program

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the information literacy skills and needs of incoming and current transfer students. Design/methodology/approach: Three studies are discussed, two of which were generated from ACRL’s Assessment in Action program. In the first, incoming transfer students were asked basic demographic questions and were tested on several basic information literacy skills. A combination of quantitative analysis and rubrics was used to assess results. A pre-test, post-test method was used in a basic introduction to campus life course for transfer students. Finally, the 2014 cohort of transfer student were resurveyed to test research skills and report interactions they had with reference librarians and library instruction during the previous year. Findings: Initial observations suggested older transfer students, and students transferring from community colleges were least knowledgeable about basic information literacy concepts, and that students who had attended library instruction sessions were more knowledgeable. In the pre-test, intervention and post-test study, students did not show significant improvements in knowledge, but did show a significantly improved comfort level with library research. In the follow-up survey, second year transfer students who had library instruction during the previous year were significantly more likely to have sought out their subject liaison for consultations. Originality/value: Research studies that focus on the information literacy needs and skills of transfer students and adult learners is somewhat scarce, compared to that of incoming freshmen. It is of use to both academic librarians in institutions that accept incoming transfer students, and to community college librarians who may be designing handoff library instruction