Impacts of pesticide cocktails and fertilizers on the soil microbial community and soil functioning

Agricultural intensification led to a multiplication of pesticide and fertilizer usage, which raised concerns about negative environmental impacts, especially the adverse effects on non-target soil organisms. The soil microbial community is involved in essential soil processes and performs a number of functions that improve soil fertility which is an important ecosystem service of soil. Therefore, changes in their composition and structure can impact the system’s productivity and sustainability. To date, many controversial effects of agrochemicals on soil organisms have been found, and mainly the impact of single active substances and the separate application of pesticides and fertilizers were studied. However, it is common agricultural practice to combine pesticide cocktails and fertilizers in today’s agriculture. Therefore, this thesis aims to assess the impact of synthetic and biological pesticide cocktails as well as organic and inorganic fertilizers applied as individual or combined treatments in a pot experiment with leaf lettuce in the greenhouse. The abundance and composition of the soil microbial community, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and soil functioning (litter decomposition, plant growth, nutrient content) were monitored for 60 days. Fertilizers influenced the soil microbial community composition and structure more than pesticide cocktails. However, the interaction between pesticide cocktails and fertilizers led to an even higher impact. Treatments with synthetic and biological pesticide cocktails as well as organic fertilizers did not show a significant effect on the abundances of the soil microbial groups. Only inorganic fertilizer application resulted in a significant increase in the abundance of all microbial groups (Gram+ and Grambacteria, and saprotrophic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) when applied without pesticides. When inorganic fertilizers were combined with one of the two pesticide cocktails, this stimulatory effect of inorganic fertilization was reduced and no longer significant. Furthermore, due to the low tolerance of leaf lettuce to the synthetic pesticide cocktail, its growth was strongly reduced, which further negatively influenced AMF root colonization and increased litter decomposition. As an impact on the soil microbial community and soil functioning was found by pesticides and fertilizers, further research is needed to understand the interaction of both substances in the context of agriculture

ANALISIS COVER ARTWORK ALBUM-ALBUM CHRISYE

Dimotivasi oleh panjangnya diskografi Chrisye di industri musik Indonesia, penelitian ini dibuat untuk menganalisis cover artwork Chrisye. Penelitian ini menggunakan baik teori desain maupun teori lainnya yang berhubungan, dengan harapan hasil dari pembelajaran ini dapat berguna bagi desainer serta pebisnis yang hendak melakukan pekerjaan yang sama. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif yang menyajikan data deskriptif dari desain cover artwork dan informasinya yang berkesinambungan dengan teori serta literatur yang digunakan. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah bentuk dari analisis dari setiap cover artwork album Chrisye yang masing-masing terdiri dari analisis ketertarikan visual dan tampilan praktis dari setiap karya.  Kata kunci: Cover, Artwork, Chrisye, Albu

Senate Bill 1383 Stinks

Climate change is no longer a prediction; it is a reality. Part of the climate change conversation revolves around increased methane emissions, focusing on the agricultural industry as a culprit. To address these concerns, the California legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1383, which aims to reduce methane emissions from one agricultural industry in particular--dairies. This far-fetched bill is the first in the country to attempt to regulate methane from dairy cattle. With so much uncertainty surrounding this bill\u27s effects, this Comment argues that the bill will hurt the dairy industry more than it helps combat climate change. This Comment also proposes possible alternatives to regulating dairy methane emissions while enabling the California dairy industry to stay afloat

A la Carte Urban Policies. Mega-Events: From Exceptionality to Construction of Ordinary Planning Practices. A Look at Italy: Case Study of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin

Considering the increasing focus on mega-events studies, in parallel to the growing interest demonstrated by local administrators and European cities towards hallmark events, the article aims to analyse this new trend and existing relationship between the regular policies and rise of new forms of urban management. It deals with Italy as a case study: since the 1990s several Italian cities have been systematically participating in competitions for mega-events in order to initiate development projects. More precisely, the article focuses on Turin, which is the first Italian city to have embraced this strategy systematically. The analysis of this case-study allows us to highlight a rise of a profound change within trends of mega-events: mega events have started to lose their main features – such as ephemerality, exceptionality and occasionality – and have turned into something close to the ordinary urban practices

Analisis Koreksi Fiskal Atas Laporan Keuangan Komersial Pada PT. Bank Perkreditan Rakyat Cipta Cemerlang Indonesia

Laporan keuangan Perusahaan disusun mengacu pada Standar Akuntansi Keuangan (SAK), sedangkan untuk memenuhi kewajiban pajaknya Perusahaan harus melakukan koreksi fiskal atas laporan keuangan yang sesuai dengan undang–undang perpajakan. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui apakah semua pendapatan atau beban yang dikoreksi telah sesuai dengan undang-undang perpajakan dan berapakah jumlah pajak penghasilan PT. Bank Perkreditan Rakyat Cipta Cemerlang Indonesia (PT. BPR CCI) tahun 2013 setelah dilakukan koreksi fiskal. Dalam penelitian yang dilakukan, penulis menganalisis data dengan metode analisis deskriptif, yaitu menganalisis data dengan menggambarkan keadaan laporan keuangan atas fenomena yang terjadi dengan melakukan pengumpulan data, melakukan koreksi fiskal sesuai dengan Undang-undang Nomor 36 Tahun 2008, dan menghitung pajak penghasilan setelah dikoreksi fiskal.. Hasil penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa PT. Bank Perkreditan Rakyat Cipta Cemerlang Indonesia dalam melakukan koreksi fiskal masih terdapat biaya-biaya yang tidak dikoreksi Perusahaan yang seharusnya dikoreksi. Hal ini terlihat dari koreksi Perusahaan sebesar Rp. (356.081.831), akan tetapi setelah penulis lakukan penelitian dan disesuaikan dengan peraturan perpajakan yang berlaku terdapat koreksi tambahan dari penulis sebesar Rp. (168.620.530). Dengan demikian total koreksi adalah Rp. (187.461.301) yang terdiri dari koreksi positif sebesar Rp. 168.660.530 dan koreksi negatif sebesar Rp. 356.121.831. Akibat dari adanya koreksi positif dan negatif tersebut maka terjadi kenaikan besarnya penghasilan kena pajak dari Rp. 234.194.750,- menjadi sebesar Rp. 266.183.493

Surgical Innovations for GERD: Comparing Outcomes of Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation and Nissen Fundoplication

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common chronic upper gastrointestinal disease with both objective and subjective components. It is defined as a reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus, which causes symptoms such as heartburn, regurgitation, and dysphagia. Severity of the disease is dependent on both severity of the symptoms and severity of the mucosal damage done by the reflux. While many cases of GERD can be managed with oral medication, persistent and refractory cases require surgical intervention. The purpose of this literature review is to compare the efficacy of GERD’s gold standard surgical technique, the Nissen fundoplication, with a new surgical technique, magnetic sphincter augmentation. Studies were included if they analyzed either procedure against itself or directly compared the two procedures. No specific requirements were set, but special attention was paid to the patient inclusion criteria to assess for common themes between the studies. The data available at this time indicates that in patients who qualify for both procedures, magnetic sphincter augmentation and Nissen fundoplication produce similar levels of efficacy and patient satisfaction

Method for Using a Laser and Camera to Determine the Turbidity of a Liquid System

The surface of Titan hosts lakes of liquid methane. Evidence suggests the presence of suspended particles in these lakes. A method utilizing a laser and camera to find turbidity is explored. Extinction coefficients were found by measuring the backscatter of light from a laser with a camera. Lasers of various wavelengths were pointed at a specified angle into an aquarium filled with water. Five images are taken of the laser. TiO2 and SiO2 particles were incrementally added to the system. Five more images are taken. Images were analyzed to find the extinction coefficient. The change in extinction coefficients against the number concentration of particles was then plotted. This data was fitted to equations, which showed the number concentration of particles could be determined from the observed extinction coefficient

SPATIAL COMPARISONS OF POPULATIONS OF AN INDIGENOUS LIMPET SCUTELLASTRA ARGENVILLEI AND AN ALIEN MUSSEL MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS ALONG A GRADIENT OF WAVE ENERGY

In the 1970s, the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis invaded the South African coast and spread rapidly to dominate much of the West Coast, indicating either the opportunity to occupy a vacant niche or its superior competitive capability over indigenous species. In Namaqualand on the West Coast it appears to compete with a large indigenous limpet, Scutellastra argenvillei, which is capable of forming dense, almost monospecific stands low on the shore. A survey on the Namaqualand coast indicated that the abundance of M. galloprovincialis changes with wave exposure. At wave-exposed locations, the mussel covered up to 90&#37 of the primary substratum, whereas in semi-exposed situations it was never abundant. As the cover of M. galloprovincialis increased, the abundance and size of S. argenvillei on rock declined and it became confined to patches within a matrix of mussel bed. Both species were absent from sheltered shores and diminished where wave action was extreme. Comparisons with previous surveys indicated that exposed sites now largely covered by the alien mussel were once dominated by dense populations of the limpet. Therefore, the results of this survey provide circumstantial correlative evidence of a competitive interaction between M. galloprovincialis and S. argenvillei, and suggest that wave action mediates the strength of this interaction. The presence of mussel beds provides a novel settlement and living substratum for recruits and juveniles of S. argenvillei, albeit at much lower densities than in limpet patches. Adult limpets were virtually excluded from the mussel beds owing to their large size, which indicates the unsuitability of this habitat as a replacement substratum after competitive exclusion from primary rock space.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 195–21