Composting leaflet – Agroecological approach at your farm

This leaflet will help organic farmers to overcome barriers and get started with on-farm composting. With minimal additional work, vegetable and arable farmers can upgrade crop residues to compost. Compost application can be integrated in the crop rotation and combined with reduced tillage. Also on livestock farms composting can offer added value. Composted manure is more stable, because the decomposition process has already partly taken place. By mixing other materials in the manure, the N/P ratio in the compost can be adjusted. Moreover, composting kills off the pathogens in manure. This leaflet gives an overview of the characteristics of good quality compost and the different steps of making compost. It provides an update of recent compost research in Flanders (Belgium) and examples of real farmers. There is also a section about the legal requirements of making and using compost in Flanders

Controlled traffic farming: A new track for soil and weed control in organic farming (OK-Net Arable Practice abstract)

The soil between the tracks remains undisturbed. Its structure is crumbly and thus optimal for plant growth. Practical information • Controlled traffic farming is a system approach that has an effect on the entire farm. Good preparation is necessary, e.g., by getting informed from colleagues who already use CTF. • Depending on the farm and the available mechanization (esp. working width), there are several ways to work with tramlines. Examples are bed-cultivation with a 1.5 to 3.2 m track width or a default track-width (often 1.5 m) with standardized, often wide machines (3 to 9 m in width). • Use standard equipment and standard working widths that are used on your own and on neighbouring operations (e.g. farmer-colleagues, agricultural contractors) as much as possible. Also, bear future developments of your own operation in mind. • Provide tramlines that are 10 to 20 cm wider to minimize the impact on the crop. Light equipment is still required. • Ensure proper preparation in the field: How do you configure the parcels? Which driving direction will you use? Which side of the parcel will you choose as a reference? Choose AB lines with correct distances to the parcel border. • It also provides new possibilities for diversity in the plot e.g., strip cultivation/flowers strip that result in more resilient farming systems

Which harrow is suitable for weed control in organic cereals? (OK-Net Arable Practice abstract)

The precision tined harrow had the best impact on soil and weeds, as each tine leaves its own trace. The rotary hoe just created small holes, but broke up the soil crust. Two successive treatments doubled the efficiency against weeds. Practical recommendations • Weed management in organic farming requires an integrated approach, taking into account rotation, soil, available tools, prevalent weeds, etc. • The smaller the weeds, the more sensitive they are to mechanical treatment with the harrow. The best results are achieved between the ‘sprout’ and ‘first leaf’ stage of the weeds. However, for mechanical weed management, the crop must be well established. Therefore, between the rising of the crop and the 3-leaves growth stage, mechanical control is not recommended. • Soil conditions are crucial, especially in case of crust (e.g., after winter). An early harrowing or hoeing, when soil is ‘drying white’, is needed to break up the crust. The rotary hoe has proved to be the most effective tool for this. • Do not be afraid of damaging your cereal crop from the 3-leaves stage onwards. Cereals are capable of recovering. Adjust speed and drive rather slowly in young crops. The rotary hoe and the precision tine harrow allow earlier treatments than the traditional tined harrow. • If the results are not sufficient over the years, it is recommended to sow cereals with a row spacing of 30 cm. This allows the combination of hoeing and harrowing for better weed control. • If you intend to buy a new harrow, inform yourself about the different devices available. Ask colleagues and advisors about their experiences

The Flemish Organic Research & Knowledge Network: bridging research and practice for organic food and farming in Flanders

The Flemish Organic Research & Knowledge Network (FORK-Network) forms since 2012 the heart of research and knowledge exchange for the organic sector in Flanders. The Fork-Network involves CCBT, NOBL and BBN. Drivers of the network are participatory research and knowledge exchange and dissemination of knowledge tailored to farmers

Effect of tDCS with an extracephalic reference electrode on cardio-respiratory and autonomic functions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is used in human physiological studies and for therapeutic trials in patients with abnormalities of cortical excitability. Its safety profile places tDCS in the pole-position for translating in real-world therapeutic application. However, an episode of transient respiratory depression in a subject receiving tDCS with an extracephalic electrode led to the suggestion that such an electrode montage could modulate the brainstem autonomic centres.</p> <p>We investigated whether tDCS applied over the midline frontal cortex in 30 healthy volunteers (sham n = 10, cathodal n = 10, anodal n = 10) with an extracephalic reference electrode would modulate brainstem activity as reflected by the monitoring and stringent analysis of vital parameters: heart rate (variability), respiratory rate, blood pressure and sympatho-vagal balance.</p> <p>We reasoned that this study could lead to two opposite but equally interesting outcomes: 1) If tDCS with an extracephalic electrode modulated vital parameters, it could be used as a new tool to explore the autonomic nervous system and, even, to modulate its activity for therapeutic purposes. 2) On the opposite, if applying tDCS with an extracephalic electrode had no effect, it could thus be used safely in healthy human subjects. This outcome would significantly impact the field of non-invasive brain stimulation with tDCS. Indeed, on the one hand, using an extracephalic electrode as a genuine neutral reference (as opposed to the classical "bi-cephalic" tDCS montages which deliver bi-polar stimulation of the brain) would help to comfort the conclusions of several modern studies regarding the spatial location and polarity of tDCS. On the other hand, using an extracephalic reference electrode may impact differently on a given cortical target due to the change of direct current flow direction; this may enlarge the potential interventions with tDCS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Whereas the respiratory frequency decreased mildly over time and the blood pressure increased steadily, there was no differential impact of real (anodal or cathodal) <it>versus </it>sham tDCS. The heart rate remained stable during the monitoring period. The parameters reflecting the sympathovagal balance suggested a progressive shift over time favouring the sympathetic tone, again without differential impact of real <it>versus </it>sham tDCS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Applying tDCS with an extracephalic reference electrode in healthy volunteers did not significantly modulate the activity of the brainstem autonomic centres. Therefore, using an extracephalic reference electrode for tDCS appears safe in healthy volunteers, at least under similar experimental conditions.</p

Studienamiddag ‘Uitgangsmateriaal in de biologische akkerbouw en groenteteelt vandaag en in de toekomst'

Elk jaar nemen we nieuw zaaizaad in de hand. Vaak staan we er niet bij stil welke genetische rijkdom hierin vervat zit en op welke manier dit tot stand gekomen is. Ruim 35 aanwezigen vanuit diverse schakels in de biologische keten discussieerden over dit thema vanuit hun eigen leefwereld tijdens de studienamiddag ‘Uitgangsmateriaal in de biologische akkerbouw en groenteteelt vandaag en in de toekomst’ die op 11 maart door BioForum en Inagro georganiseerd werd

Boc-AzAla-Ala-OMe

The title compound (systematic name: tert-butyl 3-{[1-(methoxy­carbon­yl)eth­yl]amino­carbon­yl}-3-methyl­carbazate), C11H21N3O5, is a precursor for the study of a new class of foldamer based on aza/α-dipeptide oligomerization [Abbas et al. (2009 ▶). Tetra­hedron Lett. 50, 4158–4160]. The asymmetric unit consists of one mol­ecule in an extended conformation which is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonding

Di-tert-butyl 2-benzoyl­hydrazine-1,1-dicarboxyl­ate

The crystal structure of the title compound, C17H24N2O5, was determined in the course of our studies on the preparation of two families of pseudopeptides, viz. hydrazino- and N-amino- peptides. The most significant inter­action in the crystal structure is a bifurcated inter­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond