Electric Field Effect on Polarized Photon Emission of Foil Excited Hydrogen Atoms

We have calculated the beam current density effect on the degree of polarization of the Balmer a line emission from the foil-excited hydrogen atoms, by the model of a static electric field at the exit surface of the carbom foil. The results agree with the experiments. The disagreements still left are discussed

Yield and Mineral Concentration Changes in Maize and Italian Ryegrass Cropping Systems

Mineral balance between plants and soil to which fertilizer has been applied is important in sustainable agriculture. Cropping systems are chosen based on considerations of crop yield, soil physical and chemical properties and climatic conditions. Thus, the sustainability of a forage cropping system should only be assessed after continuous cultivation has been practiced for several years. Forage crop production is employed in the rice paddies of Japan during summer. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the yield and mineral concentration of forage crops cultivated in hard-textured soils for 4 years

Biosensing Techniques in Yeast: G-Protein Signaling and Protein-Protein Interaction Assays for Monitoring Ligand Stimulation and Oligomer Formation of Heterologous GPCRs

Guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G-proteins) act as transducers of external stimuli for intracellular signaling, and control various cellular processes in cooperation with seven transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Because GPCRs constitute the largest family of eukaryotic membrane proteins and enable the selective recognition of a diverse range of molecules (ligands), they are the major molecular targets in pharmaceutical and medicinal fields. In addition, GPCRs have been known to form heteromers as well as homomers, which may result in vast physiological diversity and provide opportunities for drug discovery. G-proteins and their signal transduction machinery are universally conserved in eukaryotes; thereby, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used to construct artificial in vivo GPCR biosensors. In this chapter, we focus on the yeast-based GPCR biosensors that can detect ligand stimulation and oligomer formation, and summarize their techniques using the G-protein signaling and protein-protein interaction assays

The Effects of Planting Density on the Dry Matter Yield and the Overwintering Ability of the Dwarf and Normal Napiergrasses in Two Years after Planting

The objective of this study is to determine the optimum planting density in napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) among two dwarf varieties introduced from Thailand and two normal ones under three levels of density. Dwarf varieties showed lower plant height and mean tiller weight, and higher leaf area index (LAI) and leaf blade percentage. Crop growth rate was positively correlated with LAI, and net assimilation rate and canopy extinction coefficient (K) were negatively correlated with LAI in the second year, including all dwarf and normal varieties, while K tended to be lower in the dwarf varieties. With the increase in the planting density, dry matter yield tended to increase, the difference between the normal varieties and early-heading dwarf variety was reduced, and the over wintering ability in all varieties was decreased. It was concluded that late-heading dwarf and normal varieties should be planted at the medium density by a desirable combination of productivity and considerable over wintering ability

Composting Characteristics of Bovine Manure Produced by Conventional Stacked Processing and an Experimental Small-Scale Apparatus

Southern Kyushu is an important center of beef production in Japan and the large amounts of bovine waste that are produced in the region need to be utilized in a way that is not harmful to the environment. One such method is to use the manure to produce organic fertilizer, which can then be used to replace the chemical fertilizer that is used for forage production (Hasyim et al., 2014). The composting of bovine manure involves co-digestion of cow manure with substrates such as sawdust and hay. The composting characteristics of these mixtures are influenced by the relative amounts of manure and the substrate used, and by external and internal composting conditions (Guo et al., 2012). Conventional stacked composting requires large volumes of materials, and repeating the composting procedure to produce compost with uniform characteristics is difficult (Kajiya et al., 2013). However, optimization of bovine manure composting has been established using a small-scale apparatus that can be operated by hand (Kajiya et al., 2014). However, the composting characteristics of the apparatus have not yet been compared with those associated with conventional stacked processing. The present study therefore compared the composting characteristics of these two methods in terms of the temperature profile during the composting process, physicochemical properties of composted manure, and percentage germination of plants; all of these methods have been advocated for use as safety indices for compost intended for application to cultivated crops (Cobo et al., 2002)

Temperature Response Comparison of Controlled and Field Environments for Four Tropical Grasses

Tropical grasses are cultivated mostly as annuals in the warm region of SW Japan. They have a long-term sowing time after harvesting temperate Italian ryegrass. We compared the early growth of tropical grasses in a controlled environment vs. field data at 2 sowing times to determine their temperate response

Development of mechanical methods for cell-tray propagation and field transplanting of dwarf napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.)

Since dwarf napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) must be propagated vegetatively due to lack of viable seeds, root splitting and stem cuttings are generally used to obtain true-to-type plant populations. These ordinary methods are laborious and costly, and are the greatest barriers for expanding the cultivation area of this crop. The objectives of this research were to develop nursery production of dwarf napiergrass in cell trays and to compare the efficiency of mechanical versus manual methods for cell-tray propagation and field transplanting. After defoliation of herbage either by a sickle (manually) or hand-mowing machine, every potential aerial tiller bud was cut to a single one for transplanting into cell trays as stem cuttings and placed in a glasshouse over winter. The following June, nursery plants were trimmed to a 25–cm length and transplanted in an experimental field (sandy soil) with 20,000 plants ha^(−1) either by shovel (manually) or Welsh onion planter. Labour time was recorded for each process. The manual defoliation of plants required 44% more labour time for preparing the stem cuttings (0.73 person-min. stemcutting^(−1)) compared to using hand-mowing machinery (0.51 person-min. stem-cutting^(−1)). In contrast, labour time for transplanting required an extra 0.30 person-min. m^(−2) (14%) using the machinery compared to manual transplanting, possibly due to the limited plot size for machinery operation. The transplanting method had no significant effect on plant establishment or plant growth, except for herbage yield 110 days after planting. Defoliation of herbage by machinery, production using a cell-tray nursery and mechanical transplanting reduced the labour intensity of dwarf napiergrass propagation