Evaluation of Drainage Performance by Reduction of Excess Soil Moisture on Corn Fields Converted from Rice Paddy Using Satellite Remote Sensing

Poster Session

Mineral Acquisition and Utilization Strategy of Three Tropical Forages at Different Phosphorus and Nitrogen Supply

A glasshouse experiment was conducted to examine mineral acquisition and utilization strategies of Brachiaria decumbens (BD), Brachiaria brizantha (BB) and Panicum maximum (PM). The plants were grown under nine treatments resulted from the combination of three levels of phosphorus (0, 25 and 50 kgP/ha) and three levels of nitrogen (25, 150 and 300 kgN/ha). BD showed the lowest value of root weight and root length per pot, but the highest efficiency of P and N uptake (P and N uptake mg / unit root weight g). On the other hand, PM showed lower mineral uptake efficiency, but the highest mineral use efficiency (dry matter production g / absorbed P and N mg). Moreover, total P and N uptake in BB was the highest, and this seems to be achieved by the multiplicative effect of moderate mineral uptake efficiency and the moderate size of the root system

Effects of Fertilization and Legume Introduction on the Forage Production of \u3ci\u3eBrachiaria decumbens\u3c/i\u3e Pastures

A grazing experiment was conducted to examine the effects of P and K fertilization and legume introduction on the forage production of Brachiaria decumbens (BD) pastures. Amount of biomass, dry matter production and forage quality were evaluated on BD pastures where three treatments were applied: without maintenance fertilizer (BD-N), with maintenance fertilizer (BD-F), and BD and Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirao (SG) mixture with maintenance fertilizer (BD-FL). The fertilizer application increased an annual average of biomass and the contents of P and K in the leaves. On the other hand, the legume introduction had a positive influence on crude protein and digestibility, and the effect was obvious in the rainy season. The introduction of legume also increased litter decomposition constants, although the difference in the constants among the treatments was not significant

Forage Productivity of \u3ci\u3ePanicum maximum\u3c/i\u3e Pastures in Two Different Agropastoral Systems

Forage productivity was evaluated for Panicum maximum pastures established after 4 years of soybean cultivation in the summer (PM-SO), and 4 years of rotation of soybeans in the summer and millet for winter grazing (PM-MI). In the PM-MI pasture, biomass and dry matter production were much lower than in the PM-SO, and the amount of copper and nitrogen in the top part of the plants in PM-MI were significantly lower than that in PM-SO. Thus, it was considered that the shortage of copper and nitrogen restricted photosynthesis and forage production in PM-MI

Enhancement of average thermoelectric figure of merit by increasing the grain-size of Mg_(3.2)Sb_(1.5)Bi_(0.49)Te_(0.01)

Zintl compound n-type Mg_3(Sb,Bi)_2 was recently found to exhibit excellent thermoelectric figure of merit zT (∼1.5 at around 700 K). To improve the thermoelectric performance in the whole temperature range of operation from room temperature to 720 K, we investigated how the grain size of sintered samples influences electronic and thermal transport. By increasing the average grain size from 1.0 μm to 7.8 μm, the Hall mobility below 500 K was significantly improved, possibly due to suppression of grain boundary scattering. We also confirmed that the thermal conductivity did not change by increasing the grain size. Consequently, the sample with larger grains exhibited enhanced average zT. The calculated efficiency of thermoelectric power generation reaches 14.5% (ΔT = 420 K), which is quite high for a polycrystalline pristine material

Agropastoral Systems an Alternative to Revert Pasture Degradation in the Cerrados of Brazil: Preliminary Results

A long term experiment was set to test the hypothesis that agropastoral systems could improve crop and animal production, being more profitable and sustainable relative to economical, biological and environmental aspects, than continuous and traditional crop and grazing pasture systems. Five farming systems are being tested: two traditional (continuous soybean annual cropping and continuous pasture cropping) and three agropastoral systems (two combinations of four by four years of rotational crop-pasture systems and one by three years of crop-pasture rotation). Animal production in continuous pasture cropping measured as liveweight gain/ha (LWG) are declining along the years in the sub-treatment without fertilizer maintenance. After five cycles of animal performance evaluation, average yields were 397 as compared to 444 kg of LWG/ha, in fertilized pasture. Agropastoral systems, in the other hand, have shown promising results of LWG, either in the one by three or in the four by four cropping combination, with animal production ranking from 547 to 789 kg of LWG/ha/year. Soil fertility in agropastoral systems increased substantially

Airway management in cardiac arrest -- not a question of choice but of quality?

This study presented an innovative method in order to estimate training required for skilful and successful intubations during ED cardiac arrests. Video reviews were taken from a system that routinely records ED staff during cardiac arrests and as these recordings are already part of everyday clinical practice, it is likely that there is minimal Hawthorne effect. Cardiac arrest research often reiterates the fact that the basics should be done well. It is commendable that intubations by the residents in this observational study resulted in a modest mean delay in chest compressions of only 8.6 seconds for the intubation attempt. However, nearly a third of intubation attempts were unsuccessful at the first attempt, and there were 11 oesophageal intubations (albeit they were all recognised) in the 93 patients that were included