A Preliminary Evaluation of Resin Extractable Molybdenum as a Soil Test

Resin extractable Mo explained 72% of the variation in yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown on ten acid soils as measured by the relative yield of the tops or by the uptake of Mo by the youngest emerged blade

Al Toxicity of Wheat Grown in Acidic Subsoils in Relation to Soil Solution Properties and Exchangeable Cations

Toxic concentrations of soluble A1 in the subsoil decrease the yield of wheat grown on many yellow earths in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. In our previous research (Carr et al. 1991), we observed variable plant response to high concentrations of soluble Al in subsoils of yellow earths in different regions of the wheatbelt. Environmental conditions (e.g. water supply) and/or an unidentified soil mitigating factor may have contributed to the variable plant response to soluble Al in some of the regions studied. We collected ten soils from four regions of the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. In a glasshouse experiment using these soils, we studied the effect of soil solution and KCl extract properties on wheat growth under uniform environmental conditions. The concentration of Al in a 0.005 M KCl extract was able to explain 97% of the variation in root fresh weight of wheat grown in the 10 soils, even though the soil solution properties were found to differ markedly between regions. For example, 97% of the variation in root fresh weight (RFW) was explained by the total [Al] in soil solution extracted from soils in one region (Merredin). In comparison, 58% of the variation in RFW was explained by the total [Al] in the soil solution extracted from soils collected from all four regions studied. Ionic strength differences and possibly [SO4] were the major chemical properties that differed between Merredin and the other regions studied. These chemical differences presumably altered the toxic proportion of Al in the soil solution, and hence, the plant response in some regions. The effect of ionic strength on toxic Al appeared to be simulated by extraction of the soil with 0.005 M KCl

Estimates of Soil Solution Ionic Strength and the Determination of pH in West Australian Soils

The average ionic strength of 20 West Australian soils was found to be 0.0048. The effects of three electrolytes (deionized water, CaCl2 and KNO3), three ionic strengths (0.03, 0.005 and soil ionic strength at field capacity, Is) and two soil liquid ratios (1:5 and 1:10) on the pH of 15 soils were investigated. pH measurements in solutions of ionic strength 0.005 differed the least from measurements made at Is. The differences that occurred in comparisons with distilled water or CaCl2 of ionic strength 0.03 (0.01 M) were much greater (≥0.4 pH units). An extractant with an ionic strength of 0.005 may provide a more realistic measure of pH in the field than distilled water or 0.01 M CaCl2 for West Australian soils

Changes with Time in the Availability of Soil Applied Zinc to Navy Beans and in the Chemical Extraction of Zinc from Soils

The effect of the incubation of zinc (Zn) applied to the soil on Zn uptake and the Zn concentrations in chemical extractants was studied. In a glasshouse experiment using a Zn-deficient gravelly sandy loam, the effect of recently applied Zn was compared with that of Zn incubated with the soil for 15 days at 40°C on growth and Zn uptake by navy beans (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Gallaroy). At the second harvest (33 days after sowing), the dry weight of shoots of recently applied Zn was consistently higher than that of incubated Zn, except at the highest rate of 1 µg Zn g-1 soil, where yields were similar. Comparisons of the slope of the linear regressions of Zn uptake as a function of rate of application showed that incubated Zn was approximately 80% as effective as recently applied Zn. A laboratory experiment measured the decrease in Zn concentration in HCl, EDTA, DTPA, and dilute CaCl2 with incubation for up to 8 days at 40°C in four contrasting soils from Western Australia and Queensland. An addition of 2.5 µg Zn g-1 soil increased the concentration of Zn in all extractants at all times of incubation compared with the untreated soil. The recovery of the added Zn was generally highest with HCl and lowest with 0.002 M CaCl2 and decreased exponentially in all extractants with increasing time of incubation in all soils. The order of the rate of decrease in Zn concentration for all extractants was krasnozem \u3e gravelly sandy loam \u3e sand \u3e sandy clay loam. The model, Y = CtB, where C and B are constants, was used to describe the relationship between the recovery of added Zn and time of incubation

H\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e/OH\u3csup\u3e-\u3c/sup\u3e Excretion and Nutrient Uptake in Upper and Lower Parts of Lupin (\u3cem\u3eLupinus angustifolius\u3c/em\u3e L.) Root Systems

The cultivation of narrow-leafed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.) increase rates of subsoil acidification, and this is thought to be partly related to their pattern of nutrient uptake and H+/OH- excretion. The main hypothesis of this study was that H+ and OH- excretion is not distributed evenly over the entire length of the root system but is limited to zones where excess cation or anion uptake occur. Seedlings of nodulated lupins were grown in solution culture using vertically split pots that allowed the upper and lower zones of the root system to be supplied with varying concentrations of K+ and NO-3. Net H+/OH- excretion was equated to the addition of NaOH/HCl required to maintain a constant pH in the nutrient solution during a 4-d treatment period and nutrient uptake was measured by depletion from solution in each zone of the split pots. The excess of cation over anion uptake was positively correlated with H+ excretion in each rooting zone. In zones where K+ was supplied at 1200 µM, cation uptake was dominated by K+ and up to twice as much H+ was excreted than in zones where K+ was absent. In zones where NO-3 was supplied at 750 µM, the anion/cation uptake was balanced, however H+ excretion continued to occur in the zone. When NO-3 was supplied at 5000 µM, anion uptake exceeded cation uptake but there was no OH- excretion. Organic acid anions may be excreted by lupins to maintain their internal electroneutrality when anion uptake exceeds cation uptake. Rhizosphere pH would not increase unless the pKa of the excreted organic anions was greater than the external pH

Phosphorus Leaching in Sandy Soils. I. Short-term Effects of Fertilizer Applications and Environmental Conditions

The consequences of previous as well as current environmental conditions and management practices on the potential for phosphorus (P) to be lost by drainage from sandy soils in the short term (\u3c 1 year) were studied in the laboratory and the field. The potential for P losses by drainage was estimated by measuring soil solution P levels and rapidly released P. Rapidly released P was measured by determining the concentration of dissolved inorganic P contained in filtered (µm) soil solutions after incubating soil at saturation for 15 min at ambient temperature. In the laboratory, sandy soils were incubated with ordinary superphosphate, coastal superphosphate (a granulated mixture of equal parts of superphospate, rock phosphate and elemental sulfur) or lime-superphosphate (a lime-reverted superphosphate with 18% kiln dust) and sequentially desorbed with deionized water. The effects of the extent of leaching, fertilizer type, application rate and the time of contact with the soil on soil solution P levels were investigated. The influence of annual pasture death and summer rainfall on rapidly released P in soils that had been pre-treated by leaching were also investigated. Phosphorus concentrations decreased logarithmically in the successive supernatants of the sequentially desorbed soils. More P was desorbed from soils incubated with superphosphate and lime-superphosphate than soil incubated with coastal superphosphate. At each level of pre-leaching, the P concentrations in the soil solution increased with increasing time. The level, to which the P concentration in the soil solution increased at each time, decreased with increased extent of pre-leaching. The addition of P fertilizers increased the concentration of P in the soil solution. The concentrations increased with increasing application rate and were much higher for superphosphate than for coastal superphosphate; however, there was little effect of contact time on soil solution P levels. Rapidly released P levels after leaching increased during a period of no further leaching. Additional moisture or plant material during this period of no further leaching increased the rate and extent to which rapidly released P increased. Monitoring of rapidly released P in the 0-2, 2-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm layers of field plots, with and without applications of superphosphate, showed that sampling depth, water flow path, fertilizer management, rainfall pattern and background P levels would affect the estimate of short-term P losses. Rapidly released P in the 0-2 cm layer varied markedly with time and was higher (P \u3c 0.05) than that in lower soil layers. Rapidly released P increased after the winter and spring rains diminished and then decreased after the rains commenced again at the end of the summer. A possible annual cycle of P in sandy soils in a mediterranean climate is postulated by considering the laboratory and field data in combination

Shared genetic aetiology between cognitive functions and physical and mental health in UK Biobank (N=112 151) and 24 GWAS consortia.

Causes of the well-documented association between low levels of cognitive functioning and many adverse neuropsychiatric outcomes, poorer physical health and earlier death remain unknown. We used linkage disequilibrium regression and polygenic profile scoring to test for shared genetic aetiology between cognitive functions and neuropsychiatric disorders and physical health. Using information provided by many published genome-wide association study consortia, we created polygenic profile scores for 24 vascular-metabolic, neuropsychiatric, physiological-anthropometric and cognitive traits in the participants of UK Biobank, a very large population-based sample (N=112?151). Pleiotropy between cognitive and health traits was quantified by deriving genetic correlations using summary genome-wide association study statistics and to the method of linkage disequilibrium score regression. Substantial and significant genetic correlations were observed between cognitive test scores in the UK Biobank sample and many of the mental and physical health-related traits and disorders assessed here. In addition, highly significant associations were observed between the cognitive test scores in the UK Biobank sample and many polygenic profile scores, including coronary artery disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, autism, major depressive disorder, body mass index, intracranial volume, infant head circumference and childhood cognitive ability. Where disease diagnosis was available for UK Biobank participants, we were able to show that these results were not confounded by those who had the relevant disease. These findings indicate that a substantial level of pleiotropy exists between cognitive abilities and many human mental and physical health disorders and traits and that it can be used to predict phenotypic variance across samples.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 26 January 2016; doi:10.1038/mp.2015.225

New exact solution of Dirac-Coulomb equation with exact boundary condition

It usually writes the boundary condition of the wave equation in the Coulomb field as a rough form without considering the size of the atomic nucleus. The rough expression brings on that the solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation and the Dirac equation with the Coulomb potential are divergent at the origin of the coordinates, also the virtual energies, when the nuclear charges number Z > 137, meaning the original solutions do not satisfy the conditions for determining solution. Any divergences of the wave functions also imply that the probability density of the meson or the electron would rapidly increase when they are closing to the atomic nucleus. What it predicts is not a truth that the atom in ground state would rapidly collapse to the neutron-like. We consider that the atomic nucleus has definite radius and write the exact boundary condition for the hydrogen and hydrogen-like atom, then newly solve the radial Dirac-Coulomb equation and obtain a new exact solution without any mathematical and physical difficulties. Unexpectedly, the K value constructed by Dirac is naturally written in the barrier width or the equivalent radius of the atomic nucleus in solving the Dirac equation with the exact boundary condition, and it is independent of the quantum energy. Without any divergent wave function and the virtual energies, we obtain a new formula of the energy levels that is different from the Dirac formula of the energy levels in the Coulomb field.Comment: 12 pages,no figure

APOE ɛ4 exacerbates age-dependent deficits in cortical microstructure

The apolipoprotein E ɛ4 allele is the primary genetic risk factor for the sporadic type of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the mechanisms by which apolipoprotein E ɛ4 are associated with neurodegeneration are still poorly understood. We applied the Neurite Orientation Dispersion Model to characterize the effects of apolipoprotein ɛ4 and its interactions with age and education on cortical microstructure in cognitively normal individuals. Data from 1954 participants were included from the PREVENT-Dementia and ALFA (ALzheimer and FAmilies) studies (mean age = 57, 1197 non-carriers and 757 apolipoprotein E ɛ4 carriers). Structural MRI datasets were processed with FreeSurfer v7.2. The Microstructure Diffusion Toolbox was used to derive Orientation Dispersion Index maps from diffusion MRI datasets. Primary analyses were focused on (i) the main effects of apolipoprotein E ɛ4, and (ii) the interactions of apolipoprotein E ɛ4 with age and education on lobar and vertex-wise Orientation Dispersion Index and implemented using Permutation Analysis of Linear Models. There were apolipoprotein E ɛ4 × age interactions in the temporo-parietal and frontal lobes, indicating steeper age-dependent Orientation Dispersion Index changes in apolipoprotein E ɛ4 carriers. Steeper age-related Orientation Dispersion Index declines were observed among apolipoprotein E ɛ4 carriers with lower years of education. We demonstrated that apolipoprotein E ɛ4 worsened age-related Orientation Dispersion Index decreases in brain regions typically associated with atrophy patterns of Alzheimer’s disease. This finding also suggests that apolipoprotein E ɛ4 may hasten the onset age of dementia by accelerating age-dependent reductions in cortical Orientation Dispersion Index