Hardiness in the apple as correlated with structure and composition

The breeding of hardy apples is naturally such a long time proposition that it would be a distinct advantage if by microscopic examination of the wood, by mechanical tests, or by other observations the hardiness of a tree could be determined while it was still in the nursery, The following is a summary of the facts brought out in the investigation of Hardiness in the Apple as Correlated with Structure and Composition. 1. The cutting, compression and penetration tests seemed to indicate some correlation between hardiness and hardness, but exceptions were found. 2, Twigs from northern sections, except the forms of Metlus rivularis, Red June and Patten, were no harder than twigs from Iowa and further south. 3, Specific gravity tests of dry wood showing density corresponded very closely with the mechanical tests showing hardness, indicating that the two tests are fairly accurate means to the same end. 4. Variat ions in the specific gravity of twigs of the same variety from different sources were noted, as was also the case in the mechanical tests. Twigs of the same variety from the same source gave pretty uniform results. 5. The specific gravity of twigs varies, to some extent depending upon what part of the twig is used. The tenderer varieties, which mature a little later in the summer, gave the greatest specific gravity a short distance back of the tip; earlier maturing varieties increased in specific gravity in proportion to the distance from the tip. As the tests were made in July this difference is in all probability due to the difference in the maturing of the twigs used. 6. The maturity of the wood at the time cold weather sets in undoubtedly has a most important bearing upon the ability of the tree to withstand cold. 7. By noting the formation of terminal buds and the time of leaf fall a pretty accurate idea of maturity can be secured, except in case of a few varieties. 8. The hardier varieties on the average had a slightly lower moisture content than the more tender varieties. 9. The difference in water content can be explained partly at least by the fact that the more tender sorts evaporate water more readily than do the hardy varieties. Freezing tends to dry the twig out, and after a period of very cold weather the twigs of the hardy varieties are generally found to contain the most moisture. 10. The rate of evaporation is due in part to small differences in thickness and structure of bark, including differences in the number of cutinized layers. 11. Most of the hardy varieties contained a large amount of starch stored in the pith and medullary rays. The Malus ioensis, however, proved to be an exception in this regard. 12. Large, thick petals are correlated with hardiness, although the converse of this is not always true. 13. The results of the freezing experiments show that within the limits observed a sudden drop in temperature is more injurious than the actual degree of cold. 14. While all twigs not previously dried were injured to some extent when held in a temperature of -10 degrees F. for 20 minutes, the injury was less in the hardier varieties, thus showing their ability better to withstand such a sudden drop in temperature. 15. While in the various lines of comparison which were made there were found many indications of morphological differences between hardy and tender varieties, yet from the practical view point as yet it is impossible to name anyone test by which the degree of constitutional hardiness of a seedling apple may be foretold. Among the various tests for hardiness, that of the length of season required by the tree to mature the season\u27s growth is of first importance. Perhaps by taking careful notes on a number of trees of any particular variety for two or three years or more, noting their time of starting and cessation of growth, their ability to produce a good root system from the cion, their water content, the resistance of their twigs to sudden zero temperatures, and their rate of evaporation, a pretty accurate idea of the ability of the tree to withstand, ,cold might be obtained. If in addition the variety has hard wood, a good amount of stored starch and large petals these would be further indications of hardiness, although from this study it appears that these points are of less importance than those first named

Dynamical screening in strongly correlated metal SrVO3

The consequences of dynamical screening of Coulomb interaction among correlated electrons in realistic materials have not been widely considered before. In this letter we try to incorporate a frequency dependent Coulomb interaction into the state-of-the-art ab initio electronic structure computing framework of local density approximation plus dynamical mean-field theory, and then choose SrVO3 as a prototype material to demonstrate the importance of dynamical screening effect. It is shown to renormalise the spectral weight near the Fermi level, to increase the effective mass, and to suppress the t2g quasiparticle band width apparently. The calculated results are in accordance with very recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments and Bose factor ansatz calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1107.312

Advanced secondary power system for transport aircraft

A concept for an advanced aircraft power system was identified that uses 20-kHz, 440-V, sin-wave power distribution. This system was integrated with an electrically powered flight control system and with other aircraft systems requiring secondary power. The resulting all-electric secondary power configuration reduced the empty weight of a modern 200-passenger, twin-engine transport by 10 percent and the mission fuel by 9 percent

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2020

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production. Adaptation of varieties is determined by evaluating the lines at five University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research sites (Manila, Keiser, Judd Hill, Marianna, and Rohwer). Entries in the 2020 Arkansas Cotton Variety Test were evaluated in two groups—transgenic and conventional varieties. The 51 entries in the transgenic test included 7 B2XF, 30 B3XF, 12 W3FE, and 2 GLTP lines which were evaluated at all five locations. The conventional test included 10 entries which were evaluated at all locations except Manila. Reported data include lint yield, lint percentage, plant height, percent open bolls, yield component variables, fiber properties, leaf pubescence, stem pubescence, and bract trichome density. All entries in the experiments were evaluated for response to tarnished plant bug and bacterial blight in separate tests at Keiser. This 2020 report includes results of large-plot variety tests in 10 counties that were coordinated by Bill Robertson

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2021

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production. Adaptation of varieties is determined by evaluating the lines at five University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research sites (Manila, Keiser, Judd Hill, Marianna, and Rohwer). The 2021 tests at Rohwer were abandoned due to excessive rain and flooding occurring on 8–9 June. Entries in the 2021 Arkansas Cotton Variety Test were evaluated in two groups—transgenic and conventional varieties. The 44 entries in the transgenic test included 3 B2XF, 30 B3XF, 10 W3FE, and 1 GLTP line, which were evaluated at all five locations. The conventional test included 16 entries which were evaluated at all locations except Manila. Reported data include lint yield, lint percentage, plant height, percent open bolls, yield component variables, fiber properties, leaf pubescence, stem pubescence, and bract trichome density. All entries in the experiments were evaluated for response to tarnished plant bug and bacterial blight in separate tests at Keiser. This 2021 report includes results of large-plot variety tests in 7 counties that were coordinated by Bill Robertson

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2019

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production. Adaptation of varieties is determined by evaluating the lines at five University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research sites (Manila, Keiser, Judd Hill, Marianna, and Rohwer). Entries in the 2019 Arkansas Cotton Variety Test were evaluated in two groups—transgenic and conventional varieties. The 50 entries in the transgenic test included 9 B2XF, 25 B3XF, 13 W3FE, and 3 GLTP lines which were evaluated at all five locations. The conventional test included 15 entries which were evaluated at all locations except Manila. Reported data include lint yield, lint percentage, plant height, percent open bolls, yield component variables, fiber properties, leaf pubescence, stem pubescence, and bract trichome density. All entries in the experiments were evaluated for response to tarnished plant bug and bacterial blight in separate tests at Keiser. This 2019 report includes results of large-plot variety tests in 10 counties that were coordinated by Bill Robertson

A reliable Pade analytical continuation method based on a high accuracy symbolic computation algorithm

We critique a Pade analytic continuation method whereby a rational polynomial function is fit to a set of input points by means of a single matrix inversion. This procedure is accomplished to an extremely high accuracy using a novel symbolic computation algorithm. As an example of this method in action we apply it to the problem of determining the spectral function of a one-particle thermal Green's function known only at a finite number of Matsubara frequencies with two example self energies drawn from the T-matrix theory of the Hubbard model. We present a systematic analysis of the effects of error in the input points on the analytic continuation, and this leads us to propose a procedure to test quantitatively the reliability of the resulting continuation, thus eliminating the black magic label frequently attached to this procedure.Comment: 11 pages, 8 eps figs, revtex format; revised version includes reference to anonymous ftp site containing example codes (MapleVr5.1 worksheets) displaying the implementation of the algorithm, including the padematinv.m library packag

Lithocholic bile acid selectively kills neuroblastoma cells, while sparing normal neuronal cells

Aging is one of the major risk factors of cancer. The onset of cancer can be postponed by pharmacological and dietary anti-aging interventions. We recently found in yeast cellular models of aging that lithocholic acid (LCA) extends longevity. Here we show that, at concentrations that are not cytotoxic to primary cultures of human neurons, LCA kills the neuroblastoma (NB) cell lines BE(2)-m17, SK-n-SH, SK-n-MCIXC and Lan-1. In BE(2)-m17, SK-n-SH and SK-n-MCIXC cells, the LCA anti-tumor effect is due to apoptotic cell death. In contrast, the LCA-triggered death of Lan-1 cells is not caused by apoptosis. While low concentrations of LCA sensitize BE(2)-m17 and SK-n-MCIXC cells to hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptotic cell death controlled by mitochondria, these LCA concentrations make primary cultures of human neurons resistant to such a form of cell death. LCA kills BE(2)-m17 and SK-n-MCIXC cell lines by triggering not only the intrinsic (mitochondrial) apoptotic cell death pathway driven by mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization and initiator caspase-9 activation, but also the extrinsic (death receptor) pathway of apoptosis involving activation of the initiator caspase-8. Based on these data, we propose a mechanism underlying a potent and selective anti-tumor effect of LCA in cultured human NB cells. Moreover, our finding that LCA kills cultured human breast cancer and rat glioma cells implies that it has a broad anti-tumor effect on cancer cells derived from different tissues and organisms

Enhanced magnetic moment and conductive behavior in NiFe2O4 spinel ultrathin films

Bulk NiFe2O4 is an insulating ferrimagnet. Here, we report on the epitaxial growth of spinel NiFe2O4 ultrathin films onto SrTiO3 single-crystals. We will show that - under appropriate growth conditions - epitaxial stabilization leads to the formation of a spinel phase with magnetic and electrical properties that radically differ from those of the bulk material : an enhanced magnetic moment (Ms) - about 250% larger - and a metallic character. A systematic study of the thickness dependence of Ms allows to conclude that its enhanced value is due to an anomalous distribution of the Fe and Ni cations among the A and B sites of the spinel structure resulting from the off-equilibrium growth conditions and to interface effects. The relevance of these findings for spinel- and, more generally, oxide-based heterostructures is discussed. We will argue that this novel material could be an alternative ferromagetic-metallic electrode in magnetic tunnel junctions.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2022

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production. Adaptation of varieties is determined by evaluating the lines at five University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research sites (Manila, Keiser, Judd Hill, Marianna, and Rohwer). The 2022 tests at Rohwer were adversely affected by herbicides. The tests were replanted but did not achieve acceptable maturity. Yields from Rohwer are reported but not included in the overall location means. Entries in the 2022 Arkansas Cotton Variety Test were evaluated in two groups—transgenic and conventional varieties. The 40 entries in the transgenic test included 1 B2XF, 27 B3XF, 11 W3FE, and 1 GLTP line, which were evaluated at all five locations. The conventional test included 20 entries, which were evaluated at all locations except Manila. Reported data include lint yield, lint percentage, plant height, percent open bolls, yield component variables, fiber properties, leaf pubescence, stem pubescence, and bract trichome density. All entries in the experiments were evaluated for response to tarnished plant bug and bacterial blight in separate tests at Keiser. This 2022 report includes results of large-plot variety tests in 7 counties that were coordinated by Bill Robertson