Input of sugarcane post-harvest residues into the soil

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) crops provide carbon (C) for soil through straw and root system decomposition. Recently, however, sugarcane producers are considering straw to be removed for electricity or second generation ethanol production. To elucidate the role of straw and root system on the carbon supply into the soil, the biomass inputs from sugarcane straw (tops and dry leaves) and from root system (rhizomes and roots) were quantified, and its contribution to provide C to the soil was estimated. Three trials were carried out in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 2006 to 2009. All sites were cultivated with the variety SP81 3250 under the green sugarcane harvest. Yearly, post-harvest sugarcane residues (tops, dry leaves, roots and rhizomes) were sampled; weighted and dried for the dry mass (DM) production to be estimated. On average, DM root system production was 4.6 Mg ha-1 year-1 (1.5 Mg C ha-1 year-1) and 11.5 Mg ha-1 year-1 (5.1 Mg C ha-1 year-1) of straw. In plant cane, 35 % of the total sugarcane DM was allocated into the root system, declining to 20 % in the third ratoon. The estimate of potential allocation of sugarcane residues to soil organic C was 1.1 t ha-1 year-1; out of which 33 % was from root system and 67 % from straw. The participation of root system should be higher if soil layer is evaluated, a deeper soil layer, if root exudates are accounted and if the period of higher production of roots is considered

Cognitive mechanisms associated with auditory sensory gating

Sensory gating is a neurophysiological measure of inhibition that is characterised by a reduction in the P50 event-related potential to a repeated identical stimulus. The objective of this work was to determine the cognitive mechanisms that relate to the neurological phenomenon of auditory sensory gating. Sixty participants underwent a battery of 10 cognitive tasks, including qualitatively different measures of attentional inhibition, working memory, and fluid intelligence. Participants additionally completed a paired-stimulus paradigm as a measure of auditory sensory gating. A correlational analysis revealed that several tasks correlated significantly with sensory gating. However once fluid intelligence and working memory were accounted for, only a measure of latent inhibition and accuracy scores on the continuous performance task showed significant sensitivity to sensory gating. We conclude that sensory gating reflects the identification of goal-irrelevant information at the encoding (input) stage and the subsequent ability to selectively attend to goal-relevant information based on that previous identification

Prospects for e+e- physics at Frascati between the phi and the psi

We present a detailed study, done in the framework of the INFN 2006 Roadmap, of the prospects for e+e- physics at the Frascati National Laboratories. The physics case for an e+e- collider running at high luminosity at the phi resonance energy and also reaching a maximum center of mass energy of 2.5 GeV is discussed, together with the specific aspects of a very high luminosity tau-charm factory. Subjects connected to Kaon decay physics are not discussed here, being part of another INFN Roadmap working group. The significance of the project and the impact on INFN are also discussed. All the documentation related to the activities of the working group can be found in http://www.roma1.infn.it/people/bini/roadmap.html.Comment: INFN Roadmap Report: 86 pages, 25 figures, 9 table

Chemical characterisation of water repellent materials in Australian sands

Water-repellency in non-wetting sands is due to hydrophobic waxes present on the surface of sand grains and contained in particulate organic matter present in these sands. This study investigates the physico-chemical characteristics of these natural waxes and compares them to waxes extracted from potential original source materials. Non-polar and polar hydrophobic wax extracts were obtained from whole non-wetting sand, and its individual constituents, and associated organic matter. These included the sand fraction, the intrinsic particulate organic matter, tree litter, eucalyptus leaves, bark, lucerne and lupin plants, and fungi and actinomycetes isolated from these sands. Waxes were characterised for their hydrophobic properties and composition of their chemical constituents. The hydrophobicities of the waxes were assessed by measuring the water-repellency induced after treating acid washed sand with wax extracts. Non-polar and polar wax extracts of the tree litter displayed hydrophobic properties that were similar to the corresponding waxes isolated from non-wetting sand and intrinsic particulate organic matter. Unlike these plant-derived waxes, the microbial wax extracts possessed different hydrophobic properties. Characterisation of the components of the extracted waxes by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis revealed a strong similarity in the composition of waxes isolated from non-wetting sand, tree litter and other plant material. The major components found were unbranched and branched C 16 to C 36 fatty acids and their esters, alkanes, phytanols, phytanes, and sterols. Some of these components were not detected in the microbial waxes. Unextracted samples, as well as wax extracts of non-wetting sand, intrinsic particulate organic matter, tree litter and fresh plant material were further analysed by solution and solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy which revealed the relative content of the different chemical species present. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.C.M.M. Franco, P.J. Clarke, M.E. Tate, J.M. Oade

Colonic stricture in a boy with cystic fibrosis.

Many problems may arise within the gastrointestinal tract of patients with cystic fibrosis. We report a new cause of subacute intestinal obstruction due to a fibrotic stricture of the ascending colon in a child with cystic fibrosis. Treatment was with a right hemicolectomy. There has been no recurrence after nine months follow-up. Recent similar cases suggest that this new pathology is linked to the use of enteric-coated high-strength pancreatin microspheres