Nutrient absorption by pea plants during dinitrogen fixation. 1. Comparison with nitrate nutrition.

In experiments with pea cv. Rondo grown hydroponically for 6 wk with nitrate as the only N source, an acidic nutrient uptake pattern was observed. When effectively nodulated plants were fixing nitrogen, however, cation absorption exceeded anion absorption resulting in an alkaline ion uptake pattern. Maintaining ambient temp. at 13 deg C allowed for comparison of the effects of N acquisition on nutrient absorption and proton or hydroxyl/bicarbonate excretion by the roots in plants with similar DM yield and N content.The amount of excreted alkalinity or acidity for both nitrate-supplied and nitrogen-fixing plants corresponded well with the respective excess absorption of nutritive anions or cations. Physiological and agronomic consequences of the alkaline nutrient uptake pattern and acidity generation by nitrogen-fixing legumes are discussed. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Non-ionic nitrogen nutrition of plants : nutrient uptake and assimilation and proton extrusion during utilization of urea or symbiotically fixed nitrogen

This thesis encompasses six papers, dealing with mainly ionic balance aspects of non-ionic nitrogen nutrition of plants. In most cases urea nutrition or symbiotic N 2 -fixation were compared with NH 4+ - or NO 3- -supply with respect to nutrient uptake and assimilation.From ionic balance and proton release data it was established that maize and sugar-beet plants are able to absorb urea as an undestructed molecule. Results of xylem sap analyses learned that urea, like NH 4+ , is almost quantitatively metabolized in the roots.Complete ionic uptake balances, including direct measurements of respective H + - and OH - /HCO 3- -release from the roots of N 2 -fixing and NO 3- -supplied pea plants are presented. Excess nutrient cation over anion uptake and hence H + -release by N 2 -fixing plants increased at higher pH of the nutrient solution. When such plants were grown in soil, cation uptake also exceeded anion uptake, but root growth was severely reduced at low soil pH. This effect could be eliminated completely by liming. Root growth was not inhibited when NO 3- was the form of N-nutrition.In soils, mineralized N may confuse the comparison between NO 3- -nutrition and N 2 -fixation. It is suggested that the relative contribution of N 2 -fixation to the total N- accumulation in plants reflects the point of time at which ( 15 N-)NO 3- in the soil was depleted and the N 2 -fixing process started.Different ionic uptake patterns of plants in relation to the form of nitrogen nutrition necessarily invoke essential differences in both inorganic and organic chemical composition of the xylem sap of these plants. Complete xylary ionic balances and data about partitioning of the nitrogenous compounds In xylem saps allowed the conclusion that N 2 -fixing pea plants belong to the group of amidetransporting legumes and that in NO 3- -supplied pea plants no phloem transport of cation-organate is necessary for. the regulation of Intracellular pH and electroneutrality

Firms and Financial Markets

This dissertation contains three empirical studies that contribute to our understanding of dividend, governance and transparency policies of Dutch listed firms. The first study describes the dividend policy decisions of Dutch firms in the twentieth century. The fraction of dividend-paying firms has increased but the proportion of the profits which are paid out has declined steadily over the century. We identify three dividend regimes, each with a specific set of rationales. We exploit the variation across periods and apply Shapley decomposition algorithms to map changes in the dominant logic. The dominant logic of dividend policies has been revised twice and earnings have decoupled from dividend policies. In the second study, we analyse the stock price effects of block sales and purchases and the disclosures thereof for Dutch firms over the period 2000-2004. Shareholders have to disclose ownership and trading date information when passing specific ownership thresholds. We measure a significant positive price effect for block purchases but not for block sales. We do not measure a significant price effect for their disclosures. We find two opposing effects about the agency role of large shareholders. The final study describes the development of reporting transparency based on annual reports of Dutch non-financial listed firms for the periods before and after IFRS became mandatory. We analyse the relationship between corporate governance and reporting transparency and we investigate the effect of reporting transparency on future firm performance. In particular, after the introduction of IFRS, we observe a strong increase in transparency and with a much lower variation