Role of the heat shock transcription factor, Hsf1, in a major fungal pathogen that is obligately associated with warm-blooded animals

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Relative effectiveness of various Cu fertilizers in improving grain yield of wheat after two annual applications on a Cu-deficient soil

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Relative effectiveness of various Cu fertilizers in improving grain yield of wheat after four annual applications on a Cu-deficient soil

Non-Peer ReviewedThe deficiency of Cu is not wide spread in Saskatchewan, but whenever it occurs it can have a serious reduction in grain yield and quality of wheat. A 4-year experiment was initiated in spring, 1999 to study the response of grain yield of wheat to Cu fertilization on a Cu-deficient soil near Porcupine Plain in northeastern Saskatchewan. Relative effectiveness of soil application of four granular Cu fertilizers (# 1, 2, 3 and 4) as soil incorporated (at 0.5 and 2.0 kg Cu ha-1) and seedrow placed (at 0.25 and 1.0 kg Cu ha-1); foliar application of four liquid Cu fertilizers (# 5, 6, 7 and 8 at 0.25 kg Cu ha-1) at four-leaf and flag-leaf stages; and a zero-Cu check was compared in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. The wheat crop showed Cu deficiency in the growing season in all the three years. In 1999, the zero-Cu check produced grain yield of 1566 kg ha-1. The grain yield increased to 2709, 2571 and 2555 kg ha-1 with the foliar application of Cu Fertilizers 5, 6 and 7 at the flag-leaf growth stage, respectively. In 2000, the grain yield increased from 1620 kg ha-1 in the zero-Cu check to 2676, 2812, 2697 and 2574 kg ha-1 with the foliar application of Cu Fertilizers 5, 6, 7 and 8 at the flag-leaf growth stage, respectively. The Cu Fertilizer 5 also increased grain yield to 2440 kg ha-1 with the foliar application at 4-leaf growth stage. When incorporated into soil or placed in seedrow or foliar applied at four-leaf stage, the Cu fertilizers were not effective in correcting Cu deficiency on wheat in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, the grain yield in the zero-Cu check was 1262 kg ha-1. With foliar application, the grain yield increased markedly with Cu Fertilizers 5, 6, 7 and 8 at the flag-leaf growth stage, and with Cu Fertilizers 5, 6 and 7 at the 4-leaf growth stage. With incorporation treatments, the grain yield increased with Cu Fertilizers 1, 2, 3 and 4 at 2 kg Cu ha-1, and with Cu Fertilizers 1 and 2 at 0.5 kg Cu ha-1. Some seedrow Cu placements (Cu Fertilizers 1 and 2 at 1 kg Cu ha-1) also increased grain yield of wheat. In 2002, the grain yield in the zero-Cu check was 334 kg ha-1. With foliar application, the grain yield increased significantly with Cu Fertilizers 5, 6, 7 and 8 at the flag-leaf growth stage, and with Cu Fertilizers 6 at the 4-leaf growth stage. With incorporation treatments, the grain yield increased with Cu Fertilizers 1 and 2 at 2 kg Cu ha-1. Some seedrow Cu placements (Cu Fertilizers 1 at 1 kg Cu ha-1) tended to increase grain yield of wheat. In summary, the results suggest that for immediate correction of Cu deficiency in wheat foliar application of some Cu fertilizers at flag-leaf growth stage can be used, but soil applications of granular Cu fertilizers may take three or more years (depending on soil-climatic conditions and management practices) to prevent any Cu deficiency in wheat on Cu-deficient soils

Influence of seeding date on forage dry matter yield and quality of four annual crops cut for greenfeed in northeastern Saskatchewan

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Development of probabilistic models for quantitative pathway analysis of plant pest introduction for the EU territory

This report demonstrates a probabilistic quantitative pathway analysis model that can be used in risk assessment for plant pest introduction into EU territory on a range of edible commodities (apples, oranges, stone fruits and wheat). Two types of model were developed: a general commodity model that simulates distribution of an imported infested/infected commodity to and within the EU from source countries by month; and a consignment model that simulates the movement and distribution of individual consignments from source countries to destinations in the EU. The general pathway model has two modules. Module 1 is a trade pathway model, with a Eurostat database of five years of monthly trade volumes for each specific commodity into the EU28 from all source countries and territories. Infestation levels based on interception records, commercial quality standards or other information determine volume of infested commodity entering and transhipped within the EU. Module 2 allocates commodity volumes to processing, retail use and waste streams and overlays the distribution onto EU NUTS2 regions based on population densities and processing unit locations. Transfer potential to domestic host crops is a function of distribution of imported infested product and area of domestic production in NUTS2 regions, pest dispersal potential, and phenology of susceptibility in domestic crops. The consignment model covers the several routes on supply chains for processing and retail use. The output of the general pathway model is a distribution of estimated volumes of infested produce by NUTS2 region across the EU28, by month or annually; this is then related to the accessible susceptible domestic crop. Risk is expressed as a potential volume of infested fruit in potential contact with an area of susceptible domestic host crop. The output of the consignment model is a volume of infested produce retained at each stage along the specific consignment trade chain

Fire-cracked Rock Use and Reuse in the Hueco Bolson, Fort Bliss, Texas

The Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted an analysis of 29,058 pieces of fire-cracked rock and burned caliche selected from a sample of hundreds of features tested as part of the Hueco Mountain Archaeological Project at Fort Bliss, Texas. Feature and non-feature material included in this analysis were collected from site FB 13237 located on the proximal fan, FB 12719 within the basin area, and FB 12412 situated in the transitional zone between the two. The goal of the analysis was to identify patterns of attribute variability in burned rock that could be used to infer function of the various features and sites in the sample. Specific burned rock attributes used in the study were material type, size, weight, and the presence or absence of fracturing, cortex, and discoloration. These attributes were recorded and compared in various combinations at course- and fme-grained levels of intensity to address issues of reuse, recycling, feature function, thermally induced morphological variability, and how these variables might relate to specific land forms through time. Through these comparisons, patterns relating to expedient material selection, feature type, reuse and feature function were identified

An analysis of type F2 software measurement standards for profile surface texture parameters

This paper reports on an in-depth analysis of ISO 5436 part 2 type F2 reference software for the calculation of profile surface texture parameters that has been performed on the input, implementation and output results of the reference software developed by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Surface texture parameters have been calculated for a selection of 17 test data files obtained from the type F1 reference data sets on offer from NPL and NIST. The surface texture parameter calculation results show some disagreements between the software methods of the National Metrology Institutes. These disagreements have been investigated further, and some potential explanations are given

Study of manufacturing and measurement reproducibility on a laser textured structured surface

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of structured surfaces to provide specific functional performance. Such surfaces often consist of localised micro-scale surface features with predetermined geometries. The performance of the feature manufacturing process affects the functional performance of the surface, and can be assessed by measurement of the resulting surface features. Measurement of the resulting micromanufactured surface features necessitates use of areal optical surface topography instruments. However, conventional characterisation methods, based on areal surface texture parameters, often prove inadequate, and may fail to capture the relevant geometric properties needed for an effective dimensional verification. This paper investigates an alternative route to verification, based on the determination of geometric attributes of the microfabricated features. This approach allows for direct assessment of manufacturing process performance, by comparison of the geometric attributes with their nominal values. An example application is shown in which a micromachining process (laser texturing) is used to fabricate a periodic pattern of dimples, which provide a low friction bearing surface. In this paper, manufacturing process performance is assessed by characterisation of the diameter and out-of-roundness. Sources of uncertainty associated with these geometric parameters are also considered

An integrating factor matrix method to find first integrals

In this paper we developed an integrating factor matrix method to derive conditions for the existence of first integrals. We use this novel method to obtain first integrals, along with the conditions for their existence, for two and three dimensional Lotka-Volterra systems with constant terms. The results are compared to previous results obtained by other methods