Fall Armyworm as a Pest of Corn

The fall armyworm can cause major damage to corn, generally by causing whorl-stage leaf damage. This publication provides an overview of the biology and management of the insect for growers, consultants, and all other agricultural professionals

Integrated pest management of the Mexican rice borer in Louisiana and Texas sugarcane and rice

Interactions between sugarcane, Saccharum spp., and the invasive species Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar), were evaluated in field experiments and in the greenhouse with rice, Oryza sativa L., as an additional host. By determining adult emergence holes together with percent bored internodes, a novel method for evaluating sugarcane cultivar resistance was developed. In 2001, LCP 85-384 had the greatest moth production per hectare, significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than HoCP 85-845. High levels of sodium and magnesium salt stress in the soil were associated with higher E. loftini injury in all cultivars except HoCP 91-555 and CP 70-321. Irrigation reduced injury in both susceptible (LCP 85-384) and resistant (HoCP 85-845) cultivars by 2.5-fold. The combination of irrigation, plant resistance, and insecticide applications of tebufenozide decreased injury from 70% bored internodes to less than 10%. Several free amino acids essential for insect development increased in sugarcane leaves under drought stressed conditions, which exacerbated E. loftini infestations. Drought stressed sugarcane was 1.8-fold more attractive based on egg masses/plant than non stressed sugarcane. Based on egg masses/plant and eggs/egg mass, cultivar LCP 85-384 was more attractive than the resistant HoCP 85-845. Egg masses were 9.2-fold more abundant on sugarcane than on rice. Oviposition on sugarcane occurred exclusively on dry leaf material, and the number of dry leaves was positively correlated with egg masses per plant. Several free amino acids essential for insect development increased in sugarcane leaves under drought stressed conditions, and were highly correlated with egg masses per plant. Rice leaves, despite being less attractive for oviposition, had higher levels of free amino acids than sugarcane. Based on boundary movement monitoring with pheromone traps, the average rate of spread from 1980 (Weslaco, TX) to 2004 (Chambers County, TX) was 23.2 km/yr. From 2000 to 2004, annual mean centroids of moth trap counts moved 29.3 km, however 95% C.I. overlapped across years. Minimizing sugarcane stress will play a major role in managing this invasive pest when it becomes established in Louisiana

Choice and information in the public sector: a Higher Education case study

Successive governments have encouraged the view of users of public services as consumers, choosing between different providers on the basis of information about the quality of service. As part of this approach, prospective students are expected to make their decisions about which universities to apply to with reference to the consumer evaluations provided by the National Student Survey. However, a case study of a post-1992 university showed that not all students made genuine choices and those who did tended to be in stronger social and economic positions. Where choices were made, they were infrequently based on external evaluations of quality

Sugarcane Aphid as a Pest of Sorghum

A new pest of grain and forage sorghum, the sugarcane aphid (Melanaphis sacchari), was found for the first time in South Carolina in October 2014. The insect rapidly became a key pest of sorghum. This publication provides an overview of the insect’s biology and recommended management practices. Melanaphis sacchar

William empson and the common sense of theory

'As for teaching---I quite like talking to myself in public. The thing is to look at the blackboard or anyway not at the assembled frogs. They can read what you write on the board though they can't understand what you say. If you write steadily on the board and keep up a spoken patter, never waiting for signs of intelligence or making jokes, the hour gets through all right' (SL 40). Thus wrote William Empson from Japan in a letter to John Hayward in 1932. Empson's early experience as an English teacher in the Far East helped shape the formation of his ambivalent attitudes towards the varied audiences he felt himself compelled to address as a publicly-minded intellectual who always wrote in fear of the charges of elitism and solipsism. Yet there is a sense in which Empson was not always altogether able, nor perhaps even willing, to resist the trappings of solipsistic eccentricity. Aware of his own idiosyncratic critical vision, Empson struggled with the social and theoretical implications of the ultra-refined rationalising drive that motivated his analytical concentration on 'the words on the page'. And though as a critic with distinct and highly sophisticated philosophical inclinations, he was not averse to engaging in spirited controversy with contemporary academic theorists and philosophers, still he was also keen to foster a sense of common belonging with the 'ordinary tolerably informed reader', to cultivate a sense of pastoral intimacy with a broader, non-specialised community, the 'assembled frogs' in the classroom and beyond. The resulting tension in his work between the democratic, commonsensical impulse of a publicly-minded intellectual speaking for our common 'social experience' (a key Empson phrase), translating for the greatest possible number, and the unarticulated, elitist products of an idiosyncratic critical consciousness, is the central topic of this dissertation. Empson scholar-theorists have often dealt elliptically with this sturdy resistance to theory by stressing the man's 'common sense rationalism' (Christopher Norris), the 'reasonableness' (Paul Fry) of a 'reluctant metacritic' (John HafTenden) keen to resist the professionalization of Eng. Lit. in its varied 'bother-headed theoretical' forms. Yet both Empson's homespun rationalism and his resistance to theory are shot through with tensions similar to those which structure his difficult attempt to reconcile the conflicting voices of articulate populism and elitist marginality. The recent publication of Haffenden's two-volume biography (OUP 2005-2006) and of his edition of the Selected Letters (OUP 2006), as well as the forthcoming publication of a collection of essays edited by Matthew Bevis entitled Some Versions of Empson (OUP 2007), give Empson scholars and enthusiasts an opportunity to reflect on the ambiguities of Empson's theoretical and pedagogical legacy.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

William empson and the common sense of theory

'As for teaching---I quite like talking to myself in public. The thing is to look at the blackboard or anyway not at the assembled frogs. They can read what you write on the board though they can't understand what you say. If you write steadily on the board and keep up a spoken patter, never waiting for signs of intelligence or making jokes, the hour gets through all right' (SL 40). Thus wrote William Empson from Japan in a letter to John Hayward in 1932. Empson's early experience as an English teacher in the Far East helped shape the formation of his ambivalent attitudes towards the varied audiences he felt himself compelled to address as a publicly-minded intellectual who always wrote in fear of the charges of elitism and solipsism. Yet there is a sense in which Empson was not always altogether able, nor perhaps even willing, to resist the trappings of solipsistic eccentricity. Aware of his own idiosyncratic critical vision, Empson struggled with the social and theoretical implications of the ultra-refined rationalising drive that motivated his analytical concentration on 'the words on the page'. And though as a critic with distinct and highly sophisticated philosophical inclinations, he was not averse to engaging in spirited controversy with contemporary academic theorists and philosophers, still he was also keen to foster a sense of common belonging with the 'ordinary tolerably informed reader', to cultivate a sense of pastoral intimacy with a broader, non-specialised community, the 'assembled frogs' in the classroom and beyond. The resulting tension in his work between the democratic, commonsensical impulse of a publicly-minded intellectual speaking for our common 'social experience' (a key Empson phrase), translating for the greatest possible number, and the unarticulated, elitist products of an idiosyncratic critical consciousness, is the central topic of this dissertation. Empson scholar-theorists have often dealt elliptically with this sturdy resistance to theory by stressing the man's 'common sense rationalism' (Christopher Norris), the 'reasonableness' (Paul Fry) of a 'reluctant metacritic' (John HafTenden) keen to resist the professionalization of Eng. Lit. in its varied 'bother-headed theoretical' forms. Yet both Empson's homespun rationalism and his resistance to theory are shot through with tensions similar to those which structure his difficult attempt to reconcile the conflicting voices of articulate populism and elitist marginality. The recent publication of Haffenden's two-volume biography (OUP 2005-2006) and of his edition of the Selected Letters (OUP 2006), as well as the forthcoming publication of a collection of essays edited by Matthew Bevis entitled Some Versions of Empson (OUP 2007), give Empson scholars and enthusiasts an opportunity to reflect on the ambiguities of Empson's theoretical and pedagogical legacy

Qualitatively capturing institutional logics

There is an ever-increasing volume of studies investigating institutional logics, and yet qualitative methods for studying this phenomenon are not clear. In this essay, we examine how qualitative scholars convince their readers that they are actually studying institutional logics. We identify three different, but non-exclusive techniques that have been employed: pattern deducing, pattern matching, and pattern inducing. For each of these approaches, we explain the ontological assumptions, methodological techniques, challenges, and benefits. In addition, we provide examples of how specific studies have analyzed and presented qualitative data to improve theory about institutional logics.</jats:p

¹⁵N-amino sugar stable isotope probing (¹⁵N-SIP) to trace the assimilation of fertiliser-N by soil bacterial and fungal communities

Although amino sugars represent a major component of soil organic nitrogen (ON), the assimilation of nitrate (NO3−) and ammonium (NH4+) into amino sugars (AS) by soil bacteria and fungi represents a neglected aspect of the global N cycle. A deeper knowledge of AS responses to N fertiliser addition may help enhance N use efficiency (NUE) within agricultural systems. Our aim was to extend a sensitive compound-specific 15N-stable isotope probing (SIP) approach developed for amino acids (AAs) to investigate the immobilization of inorganic N into a range of amino sugars (muramic acid, glucosamine, galactosamine, mannosamine). Laboratory incubations using 15N-ammonium and 15N-nitrate applied at agriculturally relevant rates (190 and 100 kg N ha−1 for 15NH4+ and 15NO3−, respectively) were carried out to obtain quantitative measures of N-assimilation into the AS pool of a grassland soil over a 32-d period. Using gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) we found that δ15N values for individual AS reflected differences in routing of the applied ammonium and nitrate. The contrasting N-assimilation dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities were demonstrated through determinations of percentage 15N incorporation into diagnostic AS. N-assimilation dynamics of the bacterial community were altered with the applied substrate whilst fungal N-assimilation dynamics were unaffected. Rates and fluxes of the applied N-substrates into the bacterial AS pool reflected known biosynthetic pathways for AS, with fungal glucosamine appearing to be biosynthetically further from the applied substrates than bacterial glucosamine due to different turnover rates. This sensitive and specific compound specific 15N-SIP approach using AS, building on existing approaches with AAs, enables differentiation of N assimilation dynamics within the microbial community and assessment of microbial NUE with agriculturally relevant fertilisation rates

Development of Alditol Acetate Derivatives for the Determination of 15N-Enriched Amino Sugars by Gas Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry

Amino sugars can be used as indices to evaluate the role of soil microorganisms in active nitrogen (N) cycling in soil. This paper details the assessment of the suitability of gas chromatography–combustion–isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC–C–IRMS) for the analysis of ¹⁵N-enriched amino sugars as alditol acetate derivatives prior to application of a novel ¹⁵N stable isotope probing (SIP) approach to amino sugars. The efficient derivatization and cleanup of alditol acetate derivatives for GC was achieved using commercially available amino sugars, including glucosamine, mannosamine, galactosamine, and muramic acid, as laboratory standards. A VF-23ms stationary phase was found to produce optimal separations of all four compounds. The structure of the alditol acetate derivatives was confirmed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). For GC–C–IRMS determinations, implementation of a two-point normalization confirmed the optimal carrier gas flow rate to be 1.7 mL min^–1. Linearity of δ¹⁵N value determinations up to δ¹⁵N_t of 469 ± 3.1‰ (where δ¹⁵N_t is the independently measured δ¹⁵N value) was confirmed when 30 nmol N was injected on-column, with the direction of deviation from δ¹⁵N_t at low sample amount dependent on the ¹⁵N abundance of the analyte. Observed between- and within-run memory effects were significant (<i>P</i> < 0.007) when a highly enriched standard (469 ± 3.1‰) was run; therefore, analytical run order and variation in ¹⁵N enrichment of analytes within the same sample must be considered. The investigated parameters have confirmed the isotopic robustness of alditol acetate derivatives of amino sugars for the GC–C–IRMS analysis of ¹⁵N-enriched amino sugars in terms of linearity over an enrichment range (natural abundance to 469 ± 3.1‰) with on-column analyte amount over 30 nmol N