Detection of Phosphorus and Nitrogen Deficiencies in Corn Using Spectral Radiance Measurements

Applications of remote sensing in crop production are becoming increasingly popular due in part to an increased concern with pollution of surface and ground waters due to over-fertilization of agricultural lands and the need to compensate for spatial variability in a field. Past research in this area has focused primarily on N stress in crops. Other stresses and the interactions have not been fully evaluated. A field experiment was conducted to determine wavelengths and/or combinations of wavelengths that are indicative of P and N deficiency and also the interaction between these in corn (Zea mays L.). The field experiment was a randomized complete block design with four replications using a factorial arrangement of treatments in an irrigated continuous corn system. The treatment included four N rates (0, 67, 134, and 269 kg N ha-1) and four P rates (0, 22, 45, and 67 kg P ha-1). Spectral radiance measurements were taken at various growth stages in increments from 350 to 1000 nm and correlated with plant N and P concentration, plant biomass, grain N and P concentration, and grain yield. Reflectance in the near-infrared (NIR) and blue regions was found to predict early season P stress between growth stages V6 and V8. Late season detection of P stress was not achieved. Plant N concentration was best predicted using reflectance in the red and green regions of the spectrum, while grain yield was estimated using reflectance in the NIR region, with the particular wavelengths of importance changing with growth stage

An assessment of organisational values culture and performance in Cape Town's primary healthcare services

Objectives: Improving the quality of primary health care in South Africa is a national priority and the Western Cape Department of Health has identified staff and patient experience as a key component. Its strategic plan, Vision 2020, espouses caring, competence, accountability, integrity, responsiveness and respect as the most important organisational values. This study aimed to measure the personal values of staff, as well as current and desired organisational values. Design: A cross-sectional survey used the cultural values assessment tool. Data were analysed by the Barrett Value Centre. Setting and subjects: Staff and managers at five community health centres in the Cape Town Metropole. Outcome measures: Personal values, current and desired organisational values, organisational entropy and organisational scorecard. Results: In total, 154 staff members completed the survey. Participants reported personal values that are congruent with a move towards more patient-centred care. The top 10 current organisational values were not sharing information, cost reduction, community involvement, confusion, control, manipulation, blame, power, results orientation, hierarchy, long hours and teamwork. Desired organisational values were open communication, shared decision-making, accountability, staff recognition, leadership development and professionalism. Organisational entropy was high at 36% of all values. Only teamwork and community involvement were found in both the current and desired culture. The organisational scorecard showed a lack of current focus on finances, evolution and patient experience. Conclusion: The organisational culture of the Metro District Health Services is currently not well aligned with the values expressed in Vision 2020, and the goal of delivering patient-centred care

Activity and side effects of imatinib in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors: data from a german multicenter trial

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are mesenchymal tumors that in the past were classified as leiomyosarcomas or leiomyomas not responding to standard sarcoma chemotherapy. In several phase I and II trials the efficacy and safety of imatinib was shown before the largest trial ever performed in a single sarcoma entity revealed response rates (CR/PR) of 52%. This multicenter phase II trial presented here was performed to open access to imatinib for patients with unresectable or metastastatic GIST when the EORTC 62005 trial had been closed before imatinib was approved in Germany. It was designed to follow the best clinical response and to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of imatinib 400 mg/d in patients with unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor

On the equivalence of two deformation schemes in quantum field theory

Two recent deformation schemes for quantum field theories on the two-dimensional Minkowski space, making use of deformed field operators and Longo-Witten endomorphisms, respectively, are shown to be equivalent.Comment: 14 pages, no figure. The final version is available under Open Access. CC-B

Re-establishment of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) between human endometrial carcinomas by prostaglandin E2

Reduced intercellular communication via gap junctions is correlated with carcinogenesis. Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC), between normal human endometrial epithelial cells is enhanced when endometrial stromal cells were present in culture. This enhancement of GJIC between normal epithelial cells also occurs when they are cultured in medium conditioned by stromal cells. This observation indicated that a soluble compound (or compounds) produced and secreted by stromal cells mediates GJIC in epithelial cells. Previous studies have shown that endometrial stromal cells release prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) under physiological conditions. When we evaluated the response of normal endometrial epithelial cells to various concentrations of PGE2, we found enhanced GJIC with 1 nM PGE2. This is a smaller increase in GJIC than that induced by medium conditioned by stromal cells. When the extracellular concentration of PGE2 was measured after incubation with stromal cells, it was found to be similar to the concentrations showing maximal GJIC between the normal epithelial cells. When indomethecin was used to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis by stromal cells, GJIC was reduced but not eliminated between normal endometrial epithelial cells. These observations suggest that although PGE2 secreted by stromal cells is an important mediator of GJIC between the epithelial cells, it is not the sole mediator. Transformed endometrial epithelial cells did not demonstrate GJIC even in the presence of stromal cells. However, we were able to re-establish GJIC in transformed epithelial cells when we added PGE2 to the cells. Our findings show that PGE2 may serve as an intercellular mediator between stromal and epithelial cells that regulates GJIC in normal and malignant epithelial cells. This suggests that maintenance of GJIC by preserving or replacing PGE2 secretion by endometrial stromal cells may have the potential to suppress carcinogenesis in endometrial epithelial cells

Rotational spectroscopy of the thioformaldehyde isotopologues H2_2CS and H2_2C34^{34}S in four interacting excited vibrational states and an account on the rotational spectrum of thioketene, H2_2CCS

An investigation of the rotational spectrum of the interstellar molecule thioformaldehyde between 110 and 377 GHz through a pyrolysis reaction revealed a multitude of absorption lines assignable to H$_2$CS and H$_2$C$^{34}$S in their lowest four excited vibrational states besides lines of numerous thioformaldehyde isotopologues in their ground vibrational states reported earlier as well as lines pertaining to several by-products. Additional transitions of H$_2$CS in its lowest four excited vibrational states were recorded in selected regions between 571 and 1386 GHz. Slight to strong Coriolis interactions occur between all four vibrational states with the exception of the two highest lying states because both are totally symmetric vibrations. We present combined analyses of the ground and the four interacting states for our rotational data of H$_2$CS and H$_2$C$^{34}$S. The H$_2$CS data were supplemented with two sets of high-resultion IR data in two separate analyses. The $v_2 = 1$ state has been included in analyses of Coriolis interactions of low-lying fundamental states of H$_2$CS for the first time and this improved the quality of the fits substantially. We extended furthermore assignments in $J$ of transition frequencies of thioketene in its ground vibrational state.Comment: 23 pages including figures, tables, and references; Mol. Phys., accepted (for the Tim Lee memorial issue

Possible contribution of olefins and heteroatoms to the Unidentified Infrared Bands

The current assignments of the 11.3 feature are shown to be incompatible with observations. An unbiased survey of correlation charts suggests that the olefinic group R2=CH2 is a good alternative candidate. For the 12.7 feature, the best fits are provided by nitrites, R-O-N=O, and amines, R-N=H2. Sulfones, SO2, exhibit strong features near 7.7 and 8.6 microns, which may contribute to the UIBs. These additional functional groups are likely to be attached to the main hydrocarbon dust skeleton previously hypothesized in the coal/kerogen model. They provide further leeway in modelling the large variety of relative band intensities observed in the sky.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted by A and A Letter

Global Challenges for Cancer Imaging

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