Comparing the reliability of maize variety data from on-farm trials and experimental stations

Sortenempfehlungen basieren in der Regel auf regionalspezifischen Exaktversuchen. Dabei können die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Sorte und Umwelt sowie zwischen Sorte und Management zu steigenden Problemen bei der Sortenwahl führen. Eine ergänzende Möglichkeit sind daher dezentralisierte Sortenversuche in Landwirtschaftsbetrieben. Für die direkte Sortenwahl bieten diese On-Farm-Versuche eine hohe Praxisrelevanz, da die tatsächlichen Einflussgrößen im Betrieb getreuer abgebildet werden können, als es Exaktversuche vermögen, wenn sie nur an wenigen, zum Teil eingeschränkt repräsentativen Standorten durchgeführt werden. Andererseits ist die Aussagefähigkeit von On-Farm-Versuchen häufig durch Störgrößen und fehlende Feldwiederholungen begrenzt. Anhand von Maissortenversuchen mit sechs verschiedenen Sorten wurden auf vier Brandenburger Landwirtschaftsbetrieben sowie auf zwei Versuchsstationen die Sortenleistung in On-Farm- und Exaktversuchen auf Sandböden geprüft. An jedem Standort wurde die Varianz der Sortenrankings über die Jahre genutzt, um Informationen über die Konsistenz der Sortenleistung an jedem der Standorte zu gewinnen. Für den Trockenmasse-Ertrag zeigten die On-Farm-Versuche sowohl die höchste, als auch die niedrigste Konsistenz der Rankings. Einige Qualitätsparameter, wie die Nichtfaser-Kohlenhydrate (NFC) und der Stärkegehalt, zeigten in den On-Farm-Versuchen eine bessere Konsistenz des Sortenrankings über die Jahre als in beiden Exaktversuchen. Dies legt nahe, dass On-Farm-Versuche das Potenzial haben, die regionale Leistungsprüfung von Sorten zu unterstützen. DOI: 10.5073/JfK.2014.11.03, https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2014.11.03While current variety recommendations are based on replicated small-plot trials in a specific region for which the trial is thought to be representative, genotype × envi­ronment interactions, genotype × management interactions, and increasing weather fluctuations make it increasingly difficult to predict which variety will be best in a given environment. An additional approach is therefore to decentralize variety trials and place them on working farms. However, although on-farm trials offer potentially more relevance for direct variety selection on site, they are also likely to be subject to more noise and trial entries can often not be fully replicated. To evaluate the relative merit of on-farm trials vs. fully replicated trials conducted at experimental stations, we tested 6 maize varieties at four farms and at two stations in a region dominated by sandy soils. The variance of variety rankings over the years within each site was used as proxy to evaluate the consistency of variety information gained at each location. For dry matter yield, on-farm trials showed both the highest and the lowest consistency of variety ranking, with the consistency being intermediate at the experimental stations. For some quality parameters, namely non-fibre carbohydrate and starch content, the majority of on-farm trials showed more consistent variety ranking over the years than the more consistent of the two replicated trials. This suggests that in terms of year-on-year reliability of maize yield and quality, on-farm trials may have the potential to complement replicated variety trials. For both types of trials, however, there is also scope for decreasing technical sources of variation. DOI: 10.5073/JfK.2014.11.03, https://doi.org/10.5073/JfK.2014.11.0

Effects of different long-term soil management systems on some physical and chemical properties and crop production in soils in Berlin-Dahlem and Dedelow- Zalf Müncheberg (Germany)

Soil management systems influence the agricultural system as they have in short- and long term period different effects on soil physical and chemical properties, therefore influencing the efficiency of production as well. A well directed choice of tillage equipments leads to a better soil protection and enables a higher fertility which is an important requirement for sustainable agriculture. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of different soil management systems on some physical and chemical properties and the crop production of these sandy soils. This study demonstrates the first results obtained from the year 2006, performed on the long-term land use experiment with the effects of three different factors (deep and shallow tillage; 17 and 28 cm, lime application; +Ca and –Ca and Farmyard manure; +FYM and –FYM) in Berlin-Dahlem (Germany), Humboldt University of Berlin and the ZALF experimental station at Dedelow (Germany) in 5 different tillage systems (no-tillage, mulch; 10 cm, cultivator; 15 cm, plough; 15 cm and plough; 25 cm). The soil heterogeneity were determined and evaluated with the computer program “Surfer” depending on the different depths of the sand and loam layers. The penetration resistances of both experimental fields showed that the deep tillage systems caused a higher compacted zone in deeper soil layers. It was found that there are significant differences in the soil aggregate stability and pH values between the shallow and deep tillage systems in Berlin-Dahlem. The pH values were significantly higher in the deep tillage systems. The soil organic matter contents were found higher in the deep tillage systems but there were no significant differences. There were also no significant differences in grain yield between these two tillage systems in Berlin-Dahlem

GPS displacement dataset for the study of elastic surface mass variations

Quantification of uncertainty in surface mass change signals derived from Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements poses challenges, especially when dealing with large datasets with continental or global coverage. We present a new GPS station displacement dataset that reflects surface mass load signals and their uncertainties. We assess the structure and quantify the uncertainty of vertical land displacement derived from 3045 GPS stations distributed across the continental US. Monthly means of daily positions are available for 15 years. We list the required corrections to isolate surface mass signals in GPS estimates and screen the data using GRACE(-FO) as external validation. Evaluation of GPS time series is a critical step, which identifies (a) corrections that were missed, (b) sites that contain non-elastic signals (e.g., close to aquifers), and (c) sites affected by background modeling errors (e.g., errors in the glacial isostatic model). Finally, we quantify uncertainty of GPS vertical displacement estimates through stochastic modeling and quantification of spatially correlated errors. Our aim is to assign weights to GPS estimates of vertical displacements, which will be used in a joint solution with GRACE(-FO). We prescribe white, colored, and spatially correlated noise. To quantify spatially correlated noise, we build on the common mode imaging approach by adding a geophysical constraint (i.e., surface hydrology) to derive an error estimate for the surface mass signal. We study the uncertainty of the GPS displacement time series and find an average noise level between 2 and 3 mm when white noise, flicker noise, and the root mean square (rms) of residuals about a seasonality and trend fit are used to describe uncertainty. Prescribing random walk noise increases the error level such that half of the stations have noise &gt; 4 mm, which is systematic with the noise level derived through modeling of spatially correlated noise. The new dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8184285 (Peidou et al., 2023) and is suitable for use in a future joint solution with GRACE(-FO)-like observations.</p

Nuclear fission time measurements as a function of excitation energy - A crystal blocking experiment

CASFission times of lead and uranium nuclei have been measured at GANIL by the crystal blocking method. The inverse kinematics was used. Fragment atomic numbers and total excitation energies were determined. For data analysis, full Monte-Carlo trajectory calculations were used to simulate the blocking patterns. The effect of post-scission emissions, included in our simulations, is discussed. At high excitation energies, the scissions occur dominantly at times shorter than 10−19 s, whereas at low excitation energies (E∗<250–300 MeV), scissions occurring at much longer times with sizeable probabilities are observed both for uranium and for lead nuclei, leading to average scission times much longer than those inferred from pre-scission emission

Flexible Indium-Tin Oxide Crystal on Plastic Substrates Supported by Graphene Monolayer

Flexible and crystallized indium-tin oxide (ITO) thin films were successfully obtained on plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films with monolayered graphene as a platform. The highly crystalline ITO (c-ITO) was first fabricated on a rigid substrate of graphene on copper foil and it was subsequently transferred onto a PET substrate by a well-established technique. Despite the plasma damage during ITO deposition, the graphene layer effectively acted as a Cu-diffusion barrier. The c-ITO/graphene/ PET electrode with the 60-nm-thick ITO exhibited a reasonable sheet resistance of similar to 45 Omega sq(-1) and a transmittance of similar to 92% at a wavelength of 550 nm. The c-ITO on the monolayered graphene support showed significant enhancement in flexibility compared with the ITO/PET film without graphene because the atomically controlled monolayered graphene acted as a mechanically robust support. The prepared flexible transparent c-ITO/graphene/PET electrode was applied as the anode in a bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell (PSC) to evaluate its performance, which was comparable with that of the commonly used c-ITO/glass electrode. These results represent important progress in the fabrication of flexible transparent electrodes for future optoelectronics applications

Pbca-Type In2O3: the high-pressure post-corundum phase at room temperature

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Physical Chemistry C, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp5061599High-pressure powder X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements in cubic bixbyite-type indium oxide (c-In2O3) have been performed at room temperature. On increasing pressure c-In2O3 undergoes a transition to the Rh2O3-II structure but on decreasing pressure Rh2O3-II-type In2O3 undergoes a transition to a previously unknown phase with Pbca space group which is isostructural to Rh2O3-III. On further decrease of pressure, we observed a phase transition to the metastable corundum-type In2O3 near room conditions. Recompression of the metastable corundum-type In2O3 at room temperature leads to a transition to the Rh2O3-III phase, thus showing that the Rh2O3-III phase is the post-corundum phase at room temperature. Our results are supported by theoretical ab initio calculations. Furthermore, they show that the Rh2O3-III phase could be present in other sesquioxides, thus prompting to a revision of the pressure-temperature phase diagrams of sesquioxidesFinancial support by the Spanish MEC under Grant No. MAT2010-21270-C04-01/03/04, MAT2013-46649-C4-1/2/3-P, by MALTA Consolider Ingenio 2010 project (CSD2007-00045) and by Generalitat Valenciana (GVA-ACOMP-2013-012). Red Espanola de Supercomputacion (RES) and ALBA Synchrotron Light Source are also acknowledged. B.G.-D. and J.A.S. acknowledge financial support through the FPI program and Juan de la Cierva fellowship, respectively. We also thank J. L. Jorda for fruitful discussions. A.L.J.P. acknowledges financial support through Brazilian CNPq. A.S. expresses thanks to FEDER Grant UNLV10-3E-1253 for financial support.García-Domene, B.; Sans Tresserras, JÁ.; Gomis, O.; Manjón Herrera, FJ.; Ortiz, HM.; Errandonea, D.; Santamaría Pérez, D.... (2014). Pbca-Type In2O3: the high-pressure post-corundum phase at room temperature. Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 118(35):20545-20552. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp5061599S20545205521183

Interactions between metal oxides and biomolecules: from fundamental understanding to applications

Metallo-oxide (MO) based bioinorganic nanocomposites promise unique structures, physico-chemical properties and novel bio-chemical functionalities and within the last decade, investment in research on materials such as ZnO, TiO2, SiO2 and GeO2 has significantly increased. Besides traditional approaches, the synthesis, shaping, structural patterning and post-processing chemical functionalization of the materials surface is inspired by strategies which mimic processes in nature. Would such materials deliver new technologies? Answering this question requires the merging of historical knowledge and current research from different fields of science. Practically, we need an effective defragmentation of the research area. From our perspective, the superficial accounting of material properties, chemistry of the surfaces and the behaviour of biomolecules next to such surfaces is a problem. This is particularly of concern when we wish to bridge between technologies in vitro and biotechnologies in vivo. Further, besides the potential practical technological efficiency and advantages such materials might exhibit, we have to consider the wider long-term implications of material stability and toxicity. In this contribution we present a critical review of recent advances in the chemistry and engineering of MO based biocomposites highlighting the role of interactions at the interface and the techniques by which these can be studied. At the end of the article we outline the challenges which hamper progress in research and extrapolate to developing and promising directions including additive manufacturing and synthetic biology that could benefit from molecular level understanding of interactions occurring between inanimate (abiotic) and living (biotic) materials