Sprinkler Irrigation as an Energy and Water Saving Approach to Rice Production and Management of Riceland Pests

Rice is currently produced on approximately 400,000 acres in the Texas Coastal Prairie. This rice consumes 1.8 million acre-feet of water a year or 13 percent of Texas' renewable water resources. The Texas Coastal Prairie is a delicate ecosystem providing winter homes for many birds and water fowl and breeding grounds for marine life in the marshes of the Gulf Coast. The Texas Coastal Prairie has been experiencing rapid population and industrial growth. These areas of growth are placing increased demands on the water of the area. Continued rice production will require water conservation practices. This research evaluated the potential water conservation for sprinkler irrigation in rice production. The research evaluated the potential production of prominent commercial cultivars under various levels of moisture stress, the adaptability of 10 major soil series to the utilization of sprinkler irrigation, and the use of adjuvants to increase the infiltration on one low infiltration soil. Some cultivars did exhibit resistance defined as sustained production under reduced water supply. However, these cultivars were not the most productive. The cultivars which are the highest yielding under flood irrigation were also the highest yielding under sprinkler irrigation. The medium grains appear to be the most adaptive. However, some long grains did show potential. Adjuvants tested did increase the water infiltration into the Nada soil. Yield levels within 15 percent of those from flood irrigations were achieved. However, the high levels of adjuvants used were phytotoxic to the rice. Lower rates or other adjuvants might be better adapted to use on rice. Soil water infiltration as determined by rainfall simulator did reveal differences in infiltration rates of the soils tested. The clay soils had the highest infiltration rate at saturation. The fine sandy loam soils developed a crust after initial applications which reduced later infiltration rates significantly. All soils could be irrigated but some of the soils such as the Nada fine sandy loam had a saturated infiltration of less than 0.65 cm per hour which could be prohibitive to a commercial rice production system

Water infiltration studies of the major rice producing soil series of the Texas Gulf Coast

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Architectural style and green spaces predict older adults’ evaluations of residential facilities

The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects of residential facilities’ design features on older adults’ psychosocial responses. Participants (N = 192) were over 65-year-old residents who were randomly exposed to different experimental scenarios concerning a hypothetical residential facility for older adults, using a 3 × 2 between-subjects design (i.e. home-like vs. hotel-like vs. usual-standard architectural style; presence vs. absence of green spaces). After the experimental session, participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire that measured their attitudes towards short- and long-term relocation, anticipated residential satisfaction with the facility, and feelings of broken home attachment. The results showed (1) more positive responses to “home-like” and “hotel-like” architectural styles than the usual-standard type and (2) the positive impact of green spaces on the assessment of the facilities. These design features should thus play a role in both reducing the stressful impact of leaving home and promoting beneficial patterns, hence fostering “successful ageing”

Ezetimibe added to statin therapy after acute coronary syndromes

BACKGROUND: Statin therapy reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular events, but whether the addition of ezetimibe, a nonstatin drug that reduces intestinal cholesterol absorption, can reduce the rate of cardiovascular events further is not known. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, randomized trial involving 18,144 patients who had been hospitalized for an acute coronary syndrome within the preceding 10 days and had LDL cholesterol levels of 50 to 100 mg per deciliter (1.3 to 2.6 mmol per liter) if they were receiving lipid-lowering therapy or 50 to 125 mg per deciliter (1.3 to 3.2 mmol per liter) if they were not receiving lipid-lowering therapy. The combination of simvastatin (40 mg) and ezetimibe (10 mg) (simvastatin-ezetimibe) was compared with simvastatin (40 mg) and placebo (simvastatin monotherapy). The primary end point was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina requiring rehospitalization, coronary revascularization ( 6530 days after randomization), or nonfatal stroke. The median follow-up was 6 years. RESULTS: The median time-weighted average LDL cholesterol level during the study was 53.7 mg per deciliter (1.4 mmol per liter) in the simvastatin-ezetimibe group, as compared with 69.5 mg per deciliter (1.8 mmol per liter) in the simvastatin-monotherapy group (P<0.001). The Kaplan-Meier event rate for the primary end point at 7 years was 32.7% in the simvastatin-ezetimibe group, as compared with 34.7% in the simvastatin-monotherapy group (absolute risk difference, 2.0 percentage points; hazard ratio, 0.936; 95% confidence interval, 0.89 to 0.99; P = 0.016). Rates of pre-specified muscle, gallbladder, and hepatic adverse effects and cancer were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: When added to statin therapy, ezetimibe resulted in incremental lowering of LDL cholesterol levels and improved cardiovascular outcomes. Moreover, lowering LDL cholesterol to levels below previous targets provided additional benefit