The effect of farmyard manure and calcium ammonium nitrate fertilisers on micronutrient density (iron, zinc, manganese, calcium and potassium) and seed yields of solanium villosum (black nightshade) and cleome gynandra (cat whiskers) on uetric nitisol

The overall objective of the study was to investigate the effect of farmyard manure (FYM) and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) and cooking on micronutrient content (iron, zinc, potassium, calcium, manganese) and seed yield in two African leafy vegetables (ALVs), Solanum villosum and Cleome gynandra in Keiyo District of the Rift Valley Province. The micronutrients were determined using the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis method. Results from the study indicated that addition of various levels of fertilisers either had no effect, depressed or slightly increased the amounts of various micronutrients in the two ALVs. Edible portions of Solanum villosum were found to be richer than their Cleome gynandra counterparts in iron, manganese and potassium content.Cleome gynandra on the other hand contained more zinc and calcium than Solanum villosum. Incorporation of either FYM or CAN decreased the iron accumulation in leafy tissues of the two ALVs. Application of FYM or CAN had no significant or clear effect on the levels of zinc and potassium in both ALVs, while moderately high levels of FYM increased the levels of manganese in Cleome gynandra but showed no clear trend in Solanum villosum edible tissues. The farmer’s crop was comparable in the  measured attributes to the produce grown on soil amended with low levels of either FYM or CAN. Boiling significantly decreased the amount of micronutrients retained in edible portions of both vegetables, except formanganese where it had no effect. The FYM and CAN fertilisers significantly increased seed yields of both ALVs. In conclusion, Solanum villosum and Cleome gynandra are rich sources of iron, zinc, calcium, potassium and manganese and incorporation of various levels of FYM and CAN improved seed yields in the two ALVs, although showing no major influence on themicronutrient densities. Traditional methods of prolonged boiling to reduce the bitter antinutrients and make them palatable seriously eroded the levels of micronutrients in some instances by up to 65%

Effect of accel, sucrose and silver thiosulphate on substrate utilization in cut tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) flowers

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of Accel™, sucrose and silver thiosulphate (STS) on the dry weight, accumulation of sucrose and reducing sugars in cut tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L) petals at various positions along the spike. Cut stems of Tuberose were held in optimum treatments that prolonged their vase life (Hutchinson et al., 2003): continuous holding in 25 mg/L BA equivalent of Accel; pulsing in 20% sucrose for 24 hrs and subsequently holding in either deionized water (DIW) or in 25 mg/L BA; pulsing in 2 mM STS for 1 hr and subsequent holding in DIW. The middle and bottom florets of cut flowers held in DIW were heavier than the top florets. Pulsing tuberose cut flowers in sucrose or in STS improved the dry weights of the middle and bottom florets in the 1st 3 days but up to 6 days of top florets. Florets of cut flowers pulsed in sucrose and subsequently held in Accel were heavier than those subsequently held in DIW or those held continuously in Accel. Sucrose, STS and Accel increased floret opening but had varied influence on the accumulation of sucrose and reducing sugars in petals of florets along the spike. Cut tuberose stems pulsed in sucrose and subsequently held in either DIW or 25 mg/L BA equivalent of Accel accumulated the largest amounts of sucrose and reducing sugars. Pulsing cut tuberose flowers in 10% sucrose and subsequently holding them in Accel or DIW or pulsing in STS, while having no influence on sucrose levels in bottom florets, significantly increased levels in top florets for the 1st 3 days before a sharp decline in petals pulsed in sucrose. The main difference was that while most of the sucrose accumulated in the middle florets, reducing sugars was concentrated on the bottom florets along the spike. Unexpectedly, pulsing stems in STS or holding them in Accel had no significant influence on levels of sucrose or reducing sugars within the 9 days of testing even though most florets had opened by this time. The results of the present study suggest that while sucrose had a direct influence on accumulating of sucrose and reducing sugars in florets, Accel and STS improved vase life and floret opening in cut tuberose stems either indirectly through substrate mobilization and increased metabolism or may have played another different role other than substrate mobilization

Effect of accel on the vase life and post harvest quality of alstroemeria (alstroemeria aurantiaca l.) cut flowers

Freshly cut flowering stems of Alstroemeria ‘Yellow King’ and ‘Marina’ were placed in glass jars containing solutions of Accel at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/litre BA equivalent and arranged in a completely randomised design with 3 replicates. The effect of Accel on the vase life and qualityof Alstroemeria was investigated. Flowers held in Accel at 25 or 50 mg/litre BA equivalent consistently increased the number of days to full opening of primary florets and delayed the onset of flower senescence as measured by days to 50 % petal fall and days to 50 % leaf yellowing. Accel at 25mg/litre BA equivalent significantly increased the leaf nitrogen and chlorophyll content of Alstroemeria cut flowers. High Accel concentrations of 50, 75 and 100 mg/litre BA equivalent reduced significantly the leaf water content of Alstroemeria cut flowers. Accel at 75 and 100 mg/litre BA equivalentincreased leaf dry weight of Alstroemeria cut flowers. Our results indicate that Accel at 25 mg/litre BA equivalent has the potential to be used as a commercial cut flower preservative solution for delaying flower senescence, prolonging the vase life and enhancing post harvest quality of Alstroemeria cut flower

Effect of Thidiazuron, NAA and BAP on in vitro propagation of Alstroemeria aurantiaca CV. ‘Rosita’ from shoot tip explants

The objective of the study was to evaluate the potency of Thidiazuron (TDZ) as a plant growth regulator when compared to combined auxin (NAA) and cytokinin (BAP) in evoking morphogenic responses from Alstroemeria aurantiaca cv. ‘Rosita’ shoot tip explants. Shoot tips cultured on basal medium devoid of any plant growth regulators (PGRs) only increased slightly in length and formed only 1 leaf per shoot during the culture period. The addition of various PGRs to the induction or culture medium significantly influenced the number and length of shoots as well as the number of leaves formed. While low concentrations of TDZ (0.1 μM) had no significant effect and high concentrations (5.0 μM) were inhibitory, medium concentrations (0.4‐1.0 μM) significantly increased the number and length of shoots as well as the number of leaves formed from the explants. The longest shoots were formed from explants cultured in media supplemented with 1.0 μM TDZ. Slightly better but comparable responses were observed from explants cultured on media supplemented with 1.0 mg/L BAP and low concentrations (0.01 mg/L) of NAA. The explants cultured in 1.0 mg/L BAP + 0.01 mg/L NAA formed the greatest number of shoots while those cultured in 1.0 μM TDZ formed the greatest number of leaves/ ex‐plant. Increasing the NAA concentration to 0.1 mg/L and combining this with either 1.0 mg/L BAP or 1.0 μM TDZ depressed shoot formation and shoot length. In conclusion, TDZ at concentrations between 0.4 and 1.0 μM were just as effective as combined auxins (NAA) and cytokinin (BAP) in evoking morphogenic responses from Alstroemeria aurantiaca cv. ‘Rosita’ shoot tip explants.Key Words: Thidiazuron, Alstroemeria aurantiaca, explant

Egg shape changes at the theropod–bird transition, and a morphometric study of amniote eggs

The eggs of amniotes exhibit a remarkable variety of shapes, from spherical to elongate and from symmetrical to asymmetrical. We examine eggshell geometry in a diverse sample of fossil and living amniotes using geometric morphometrics and linear measurements. Our goal is to quantify patterns of morphospace occupation and shape variation in the eggs of recent through to Mesozoic birds (neornithe plus non-neornithe avialans), as well as in eggs attributed to non-avialan theropods. In most amniotes, eggs show significant deviation from sphericity, but departure from symmetry around the equatorial axis is mostly confined to theropods and birds. Mesozoic bird eggs differ significantly from extant bird eggs, but extinct Cenozoic bird eggs do not. This suggests that the range of egg shapes in extant birds had already been attained in the Cenozoic. We conclude with a discussion of possible biological factors imparting variation to egg shapes during their formation in the oviduct

Faster with CLEAN - An exploration of the effects of applying a nonlinear deconvolution method to a novel radiation mapper

This paper examines the suitability and potential of reducing the acquisition requirements of a novel radiation mapper through the application of the non-linear deconvolution technique, CLEAN. The radiation mapper generates a threshold image of the target scene, at a user defined distance, using a single pixel detector manually scanned across the scene. This paper provides a discussion of the factors involved and merits of incorporating CLEAN into the system. In this paper we describe the modifications to the system for the generation of an intensity map and the relationship between resolution and acquisition time for a target scene. The factors influencing image fidelity for a scene are identified and discussed with the impact on fill-factor of the intensity image, which in turn determines the ability of the operator to accurately identify features of the radiation source within a target scene. The CLEAN algorithm and its variants have been extensively developed by the radio astronomy community to improve the image fidelity of data collected by sparse interferometric arrays. However, the algorithm has demonstrated surprising adaptability including terrestrial imagery, as detailed in Taylor et al. SPIE 9078-19 and Bose et al., IEEE 2002. CLEAN can be applied directly to raw data via a bespoke algorithm. However, this investigation is a proof-of-concept and thus requires a well tested verification method. We have opted to use the public ally available implementation of CLEAN found in the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package. The use of CASA for this purpose dictates the use of simulated input data and radio astronomy standard parameters. Finally, this paper presents the results of applying CLEAN to our simulated target scene, with a discussion of the potential merits a bespoke implementation would yield

The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project: resources for online learning in or out of a pandemic

The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project is a collaborative initiative bringing palaeoscientists together to locate, access and share online educational resources (OERs). It began as a response to the 2020 shift to online learning when the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed field and lab work. We outline the development and initial outcomes of the project and consider future directions post-pandemic. Our initial focus was to create a searchable list of OERs (now numbers 600+). The project has also promoted co-operation across institutions and created new collaborations. It became clear that even experienced and teaching-focused educators were anxious about how to incorporate virtual materials and develop alternatives to field and laboratory work and deliver their intended learning outcomes. ViPs aim to become a “hub” for palaeoscience teaching resources. While some face-to-face teaching has returned in Higher Education, the benefits of online elements have become clear to students and educators alike. Therefore, following the pandemic, an increasing shift towards a blended delivery with greater use of OERs in palaeoscience and other disciplines is likely. Longer term, the ViPs project also seeks to increase inclusive, accessible education in the palaeosciences through the digital enhancement of provision, by supporting both users and creators of virtual teaching materials

Beyond Gross-Pitaevskii Mean Field Theory

A large number of effects related to the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) can be understood in terms of lowest order mean field theory, whereby the entire system is assumed to be condensed, with thermal and quantum fluctuations completely ignored. Such a treatment leads to the Gross-Pitaevskii Equation (GPE) used extensively throughout this book. Although this theory works remarkably well for a broad range of experimental parameters, a more complete treatment is required for understanding various experiments, including experiments with solitons and vortices. Such treatments should include the dynamical coupling of the condensate to the thermal cloud, the effect of dimensionality, the role of quantum fluctuations, and should also describe the critical regime, including the process of condensate formation. The aim of this Chapter is to give a brief but insightful overview of various recent theories, which extend beyond the GPE. To keep the discussion brief, only the main notions and conclusions will be presented. This Chapter generalizes the presentation of Chapter 1, by explicitly maintaining fluctuations around the condensate order parameter. While the theoretical arguments outlined here are generic, the emphasis is on approaches suitable for describing single weakly-interacting atomic Bose gases in harmonic traps. Interesting effects arising when condensates are trapped in double-well potentials and optical lattices, as well as the cases of spinor condensates, and atomic-molecular coupling, along with the modified or alternative theories needed to describe them, will not be covered here.Comment: Review Article (19 Pages) - To appear in 'Emergent Nonlinear Phenomena in Bose-Einstein Condensates: Theory and Experiment', Edited by P.G. Kevrekidis, D.J. Frantzeskakis and R. Carretero-Gonzalez (Springer Verlag

A record-linkage study of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in persons with hepatitis C infection in Scotland

We investigated trends in first time hospital admissions and deaths attributable to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a large population based cohort of 22 073 individuals diagnosed with hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection through laboratory testing in Scotland in 1991 2006. We identified new cases of HCC through record linkage to the national inpatient hospital discharge database and deaths registry. A total of 172 persons diagnosed with HCV were admitted to hospital or died with first time mention of HCC. Hepatocellular carcinoma incidence increased between 1996 and 2006 (average annual change of 6.1, 95% confidence interval (CI):0.9 11.6%, P¼0.021). The adjusted relative risk of HCC was greater for males (hazard ratio¼2.7, 95% CI: 1.7 4.2), for those aged 60 years or older (hazard ratio ¼2.7, 95% CI: 1.9 4.1) compared with 50 59 years, and for those with a previous alcohol related hospital admission (hazard ratio¼2.5, 95% CI: 1.7 3.7). The risk of individuals diagnosed with HCV developing HCC was greatlyincreased compared with the general Scottish population (standardised incidence ratio¼127, 95% CI: 102 156). Owing to the advancing age of the Scottish HCV diagnosed population, the annual number of HCC cases is projected to increase, with a consequent increasing burden on the public healthcare system

The role of lifestyle on NHS ambulance workers’ wellbeing

The role of lifestyle on mental health in the ambulance worker population is unclear. The aim of this paper is to explore the role and impact of lifestyle on the mental health of ambulance workers within the United Kingdom (UK). Participants (N = 160) were recruited from 4 NHS ambulance trusts in England. Data were collected on lifestyle factors (sleep, physical activity and alcohol use) and mental health outcomes (trauma, anxiety, depression and stress); these were assessed by use of various questionnaires including validated measures. Sleep was shown to be the single biggest unique and significant predictor to all mental health outcomes. Suggestions for future research and intervention are considered