The effect of application of potassium, magnesium and sulphur on wheat and barley grain yield and protein content

ArticleThe objective of our experiment was to study the effect of mineral fertilizers, rich mainly in the K, Mg and S content, and compare their effect on grain yield and protein content of winter wheat and winter barley with fertilizer treatments without these elements. The analyzed fertilizer treatments were 1) Control, 2) mineral nitrogen treatment (N), 3) mineral nitrogen with phosphorus (NP), 4) NP with potassium, magnesium, and sulphur (NP+KMgS), and 5) NP with magnesium, sulphur and minor part of manganese (4%) and zinc (1%) (NP+MgSMnZn). The experiment was established in Lukavec experimental station (the Czech Republic) in 2013 and lasted until 2017. The crop rotation consisted of four arable crops: winter wheat, winter barley, rapeseed, and potatoes, but only winter wheat and winter barley are analyzed in this paper (grain yields and crude protein content). In comparison with the Control, the application of mineral fertilizers significantly increased grain yield and protein content of both kinds of cereal. Comparing mineral fertilizers, no significant differences were recorded between N, NP, NP+KMgS and NP+MgSMnZn treatments, showing that nitrogen was the most limiting factor affecting yield and protein content, and initial concentrations of K and Mg were suitable and capable to cover cereal’s demands. However, application of fertilizers has increased the K and Mg soil content and thus prevents the soil from the element’s deficiency, which does not has to be recognized in the early stages by visual observation of arable plants. The effect of the year was also significant as two out of four seasons were characterized by high temperatures and drought

THE FOOD SPECTRUM OF SPARROWHAWK (Accipiter nisus L.) AND KESTREL (Falco tinnunculus L.) IN THE CHŘIBY UPLAND, THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Abstract TOMEŠEK, M., ČERMÁK, P.: The food spectrum of sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus L.) and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus L.) in the Chřiby Upland. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2009, LVII, No. 2, pp. 145-150 In 2006-2008, mapping the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus L.) and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus L.) occurred in the SE part of the Chřiby Upland. At the same time, the food spectrum of these birds of prey was determined during nesting periods. The area under monitoring represented about 25-30 km 2 . In each of the species, food was always monitored in a period from February to July at four nesting localities. The food spectrum was analysed by the direct observation of birds of prey, according to le overs of food in the surroundings of nests and in nests of the predators. In Accipiter nisus, the food spectrum consisted of birds (85 %), mammals (3 %) and other animals (12 %). Turdus merula was the most frequent prey. In Falco tinnunculus, the food spectrum consisted of birds (18 %), mammals (76 %) and other animals (6 %). Microtus arvalis was unambiguously the most frequent prey. Accipiter nisus, Falco tinnunculus, food spectrum This paper deals with the food spectrum of two bird of prey species living in the hilly agriculturalforest country of the Chřiby Upland, namely sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus L.) and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus L.). Both predators are virtually of the same size but diff er in their nesting bionomy and food. In recent years, populations of both species show stabilized and slightly increasing character in the CR a er declines in the eighties. Nevertheless, detailed fi ndings on the food spectrum are virtually insuffi cient. Literature sources on the food ecology of these preda tors are rather obsolete (particularly as for sparrowhawk). MATERIALS AND METHODS The food composition of feathered birds of prey can be determined by various methods (Mlíkovský, 1998). Since the studied nesting localities were known very well the method of direct monitoring could be used. Particular nesting localities were monitored in regular intervals. The monitoring was always carried out in suffi cient distance and safe hiding place for birds not to be disturbed in no way. Conventional binoculars were used for monitoring. Although it is possible to determine some types of prey very well as well as what the predator subsequently does with the prey, this method is considerably time-consuming and includes always only certain part of the food spectrum and in many cases even not quite exactly. Therefore, analyses of le overs of prey were par ticu lar ly used. Not-swallowed le overs of prey were determined in the period of nesting right in nests, in places of the regular processing of food, such as tear-off stumps in sparrowhawks, places under trees in kestrels, where the prey is swallowed or at least partly processed. Food residues were collected and subsequently determined with a certain periodicity. Easily detectable residues of prey were determined and recorded right in place; hardly identifi able residues were examined in detail. The type of prey was determined according to a key or the own collection of feather established already in previous years and including feather of our most common birds. In kestrel, the food spectrum was examined rather li mited ly because of the considerable demandingness of the prey type determination. Kestrel feeds on small mammals (about 95 %), which can be largely determined from remaining bones (ie mainly accordin

Transition from Mixed-Valence to Trivalent Cerium State in Ce(Ni,Cu)Al Series

In this work we present the study of the part of Ce(Ni,Cu)Al series from the pure CeNiAl to 30% of copper concentration, which illustrates the transition from mixed-valence state of CeNiAl to the trivalent state in CeCuAl. The work is based on X-ray diffraction, magnetization and specific heat measurement. The results indicate smooth transition between the mixed-valence and trivalent cerium state. The specific-heat data reveal increase of the Sommerfeld γ coefficient with copper concentration

Magnetic and structural transitions in La0.4_{0.4}Na0.6_{0.6}Fe2_2As2_2 single crystals

La$_{0.4}$Na$_{0.6}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals have been grown out of an NaAs flux in an alumina crucible and characterized by measuring magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, specific heat, as well as single crystal x-ray and neutron diffraction. La$_{0.4}$Na$_{0.6}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals show a structural phase transition from a high temperature tetragonal phase to a low-temperature orthorhombic phase at T$_s$\,=\,125\,K. This structural transition is accompanied by an anomaly in the temperature dependence of electrical resistivity, anisotropic magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat. Concomitant with the structural phase transition, the Fe moments order along the \emph{a} direction with an ordered moment of 0.7(1)\,$\mu_{\textup{B}}$ at \emph{T}\,=\,5 K. The low temperature stripe antiferromagnetic structure is the same as that in other \emph{A}Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ (\emph{A}\,=\,Ca, Sr, Ba) compounds. La$_{0.5-x}$Na$_{0.5+x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ provides a new material platform for the study of iron-based superconductors where the electron-hole asymmetry could be studied by simply varying La/Na ratio.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Physical Review

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BROWSING DAMAGE AND THE SPECIES DOMINANCE BY THE HIGHLY FOOD-ATTRACTIVE AND LESS FOOD-ATTRACTIVE TREES

Abstract ČERMÁK, P., BERANOVÁ, P., ORÁLKOVÁ, J., HORSÁK, P., PLŠEK, J.: Relationships between browsing damage and the species dominance by the highly food-attractive and less food-attractive trees. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2011, LIX, No. 1, pp. 29-36 The paper analyses data on the browsing damage to Acer pseudoplatanus, Carpinus betulus, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus spp., Tilia cordata and Fagus sylvatica. Field research was carried out in the period 2007-2010 and analysed data came from 33 transects at 10 localities with the various abundance of game in the CR (everywhere Capreolus capreolus, on several plots also Cervus elaphus, Ovis musimon or Dama dama). Trees were monitored up to a height of 150 cm in natural regeneration under stands and in plantations and the occurrence was noted of new browsing damage. Diff erences between the percentage of damaged individuals of the given species of a food-attractive species (A. p., C. b., F. e.) and the percentage of damaged individuals of all tree species on a transect as well as the proportion of these parameters correlate negatively with the given species dominance and thus, they appear to be suitable parameters for the analysis of relationships between the damage intensity and dominance. The higher the percentage proportions of highly food-attractive species and the lower the percentage of less-attractive species, the lower the relative intensity of damage to highly food-attractive species. At the same time, the higher the percentage proportion of highly food-attractive species and the lower the percentage of less-attractive species then the lower a diff erence between damage to less food-attractive species and all species. browsing, dominance, highly food-attractive species, less food-attractive species, correlation The attractiveness of tree species for ruminant consumers is highly species-specifi c, however, dama ge to particular tree species markedly diff ers at various localities, namely in absolute values and in relation to other species. Generally, the species structure of advance regeneration and the species rareness are the most mentioned factors aff ecting the preference of a species by browsing animals. That is, tree species are usually more intensively searched if they are in combination with less attractive species and relative damage is o en in relation to the species relative abundance or its dominance. In some cases, the damage increases with the relative proportion of a species, in other cases increases with the decreasing proportion of these species in advance growth both polarities of relationships being interpretabl

Potencials of sap flow evaluation by means of acoustic emission measurements

The work deals with measurement techniques of water conducting system in the trees. Water conducting system (including xylem and phloem) indicates its importance for related physiological processes. There are still problems how to measure its functioning (which variables and how), especially in the open field (e.g., forests and orchards) in order to get maximum information about it. Simple band dendrometers measuring seasonal dynamics of stem growth have been already applied for many years, being gradually replaced by their more sophisticated electronic versions most recently. The sap fl ow is a suitable variable, because it links roots and crowns and provide information about transporting the largest amount of mass in plants, which can be decisive for their behavior. Following pioneering work in the last centur

Thin static charged dust Majumdar-Papapetrou shells with high symmetry in D >= 4

We present a systematical study of static D >= 4 space-times of high symmetry with the matter source being a thin charged dust hypersurface shell. The shell manifold is assumed to have the following structure S_(beta) X R^(D-2-beta), beta (in the interval ) is dimension of a sphere S_(beta). In case of (beta) = 0, we assume that there are two parallel hyper-plane shells instead of only one. The space-time has Majumdar-Papapetrou form and it inherits the symmetries of the shell manifold - it is invariant under both rotations of the S_(beta) and translations along R^(D-2-beta). We find a general solution to the Einstein-Maxwell equations with a given shell. Then, we examine some flat interior solutions with special attention paid to D = 4. A connection to D = 4 non-relativistic theory is pointed out. We also comment on a straightforward generalisation to the case of Kastor-Traschen space-time, i.e. adding a non-negative cosmological constant to the charged dust matter source.Comment: Accepted in Int. J. Theor. Phy

Neutron Spin Resonance in the Heavily Hole-doped KFe2_{2}As2_{2} Superconductor

We report high-resolution neutron scattering measurements of the low energy spin fluctuations of KFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$, the end member of the hole-doped Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ family with only hole pockets, above and below its superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ ($\sim$ 3.5 K). Our data reveals clear spin fluctuations at the incommensurate wave vector ($0.5\pm\delta$, 0, $L$), ($\delta$ = 0.2)(1-Fe unit cell), which exhibit $L$-modulation peaking at $L=0.5$. Upon cooling to the superconducting state, the incommensurate spin fluctuations gradually open a spin-gap and form a sharp spin resonance mode. The incommensurability ($2\delta$ = 0.4) of the resonance mode ($\sim1.2$ meV) is considerably larger than the previously reported value ($2\delta$ $\approx0.32$) at higher energies ($\ge\sim6$ meV). The determination of the momentum structure of spin fluctuation in the low energy limit allows a direct comparison with the realistic Fermi surface and superconducting gap structure. Our results point to an $s$-wave pairing with a reversed sign between the hole pockets near the zone center in KFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Redescription of Diastolaimus grossus (Truskova & Eroshenko, 1977) Andrassy, 1984 (Rhabditida, Chambersiellidae) from Europe and comments on its phylogenetic position

Two populations of the species Diastolaimus grossus have been obtained from bark of trees in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic. The species is described and characterized in detail using morphological techniques (light and electron scanning microscopy) and morphometrical (Gower General Similarity coefficient of morphological characters) and molecular analyses, including phylogenetic analysis of all related and already sequenced species of the family Chambersiellidae. Morphological and molecular analyses, based on 18S and 28S ribosomal DNA sequences, show that the family Chambersiellidae is polyphyletic, being the subfamily Chambersiellinae related with Cephalobomorpha and Tylenchomorpha, and the subfamily Macrolaiminae is located into Panagrolaimomorpha. The genus Diastolaimus, previously belonging to Macrolaiminae, is transferred to Chambersiellinae. Diastolaimus mexicanus is proposed as a junior synonym of D. grossus.OA-hybri

The homeopathy as a possibility for treating inflammations of the mammary gland in dairy cows

The aim of the present work was to assess recurrence rates of the inflammation of the mammary gland in cattle treated either with allopathic, homeopathic or combined medications. The effect of a combination of medications was greater than effects of allopathic drugs alone. In the group of cows, where only allopathic medication was used (control group), the recurrence of inflammations was observed in 70.6 % of the cows during a three month period. Cows, which were given homoeopathic drugs in order to prevent inflammations of the mammary gland (treatment group), had a recurrence rate, which was observed to be 42% during a 3 month period of application