LONG-TERM LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THEIR EFFECT ON SOIL HEALTH AND CROP PRODUCTIVITY

Agricultural intensification reliant on monocrops could change soil health in a way that does not support maximum crop productivity. Twenty-nine-year-old no-till field plots at the University of Kentucky Spindletop research farm showed a significant reduction in corn yields from continuous corn plots compared to those from plots in various types of rotation. The objective of this study was to determine what role soil microbes might play in yield reduction and how management and time effects microbial community structure. Samples were collected from the following treatments: continuous corn (CC), continuous soybean (SS), a 2-year corn/soybean rotation (CCSS), Corn in rotation with soybean with winter wheat cover (C/W/S), and sod controls (SOD). Soil health-related parameters were determined along with microbial community structure using phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). Results show that there is a strong seasonal dynamic in microbial communities with May, July and September showing the greatest differentiation between treatments. Nonparametric multidimensional analysis (NMDS) shows that microbial communities under SS, CC treatments were significantly different from the CS and CWS treatments across all four years of the study. My findings will prove useful for assessing the contribution of biological indicators to agroecosystem function and will aid in making recommendations of when and how to manage these parameters to improve soil health and maximize yield

Colorimetric qualification of shear sensitive liquid crystal coatings

The work that has been done to date on the Shear Sensitive Liquid Crystal Project demonstrated that cholesteric liquid crystal coatings respond to both the direction and magnitude of a shearing force. The response of the coating is to selectively scatter incident white light into a spectrum of colors. Discernible color changes at a fixed angle of observation and illumination are the result of an applied shear stress. The intention was to be able to convert these observable color patterns from a flow visualization technique into a quantitative tool. One of the earlier intentions was to be able to use liquid crystals in dynamic flow fields. This was assumed possible because liquid crystals had made it possible to visualize transients in surface shear forces. Although the transients were visualized by color changes to an order one micro second, the time response of a coating to align to a shearing force is dependent on the magnitude of the change between its initial and final states. Unfortunately, the response is not instantaneous. It is for this reason any future attempt at quantifying the magnitude and directions of a shearing force are limited to surface shear stress vector fields in three dimensional steady state flows. This limitation does not significantly detract from the utility of liquid crystal coatings. The measurement of skin friction in the study of transition on wings, prediction of drag forces, performance assessment, and the investigation of boundary layer behavior is of great importance in aerodynamics. There exist numerous examples of techniques for the measurement of surface shear stress. Most techniques require arduous calibrations and necessitate extensive preparation of the receiving surfaces. However, the main draw back of instruments such as Preston tubes, hot films, buried wire gages, and floating element balances is that they only provide a point measurement. The advantages of capturing global shear data would be appreciable when compared with conventional point measurement sensors. It has yet to be determined if a repeatable correlation exists between the measured color of a liquid crystal coating and the magnitude/directional components of a shear vector imposed onto it

The Landmarks of Federal Hill: The Pushcart Struggle 1930-1942 (Part IV)

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The Landmarks of Federal Hill: Historical Broadway Armory

As we mentioned in our previous article, we would give in further detail, the inventory of those structures which are, or have been, proposed to be registered on the National Register of Historic Places, in the Broadway-Armory Historic District. The following is a list of those homes by street names and addresses.https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/jm_newspaper_columns/1018/thumbnail.jp

The effect of micro-elevation changes on the distribution of tidal freshwater wetland plant communities

Vegetation community structures within tidal freshwater wetlands are subject to control by diurnal tides. Elevation affects the degree of inundation of wetland soils and ultimately controls reduction potentials, a stressor placed on wetland plants. Previous studies have not looked at the affect micro elevation changes have on plant community structures. In order to understand the community structures, relative elevation, reduction potential (Eh), reactive nitrogen, and species diversity were recorded. Sites 1 and 2 were identified on the Pamunkey River and variables were recorded every 2.4 meters and 1.5 meters, respectively. There was a positive correlation between elevation and redox potential and species diversity, while a negative trend was seen between elevation and nitrate concentrations. Relative elevations recorded in this study ranged from -0.08 meters to 0.214 meters. The data suggests that elevation changes over 30 cm significantly affect physiochemical conditions and plant community structure

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

The Landmarks of Federal Hill: Description of the duties and activities of the Italian Vice Consulate office of RI

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The Landmarks of Federal Hill: Developmental History of Our Lady of Mount Caramel Church

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The Landmarks of Federal Hill: The Development of Federal Hill

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The Landmarks of Federal Hill: Amos Atwell, businessman and leader

In the 1780\u27s, most of Federal Hill was still open fields - a place for the cows to graze on, overlooking the great salt cove to the north and the east, and there were marshes to the south, (now, South Providence), and the wild open spaces were to the west. In 1788, Amos Maine Atwell (named after a ancestory who owned the entire Province of Maine) and several other businessmen formed a syndicate (a type of corporation) to improve and develop the West side of the city of Providence.https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/jm_newspaper_columns/1004/thumbnail.jp