A Rapid Screening Psychometric Test

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66666/2/10.1177_000992286900800506.pd

Biochar versus hydrochar as growth media constituents for ornamental plant cultivation

[EN] Biochar and hydrochar have been proposed as novel materials for providing soilless growth media. However, much more knowledge is required before reliable advice can be given on the use of these materials for this purpose. Depending on the material and the technology applied (pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization), phytotoxicity and greenhouse gas emissions have been found for certain chars. In this study, our aim was to assess the feasibility of three chars as substrate constituents. We compared two biochars, one from forest waste and the other from olive mill waste, and a hydrochar from forest waste. We studied how chars affected substrate characteristics, plant performance, water economy and respiratory CO2 emission. Substrates containing biochar from forest waste showed the best characteristics, with good air/water relationships and adequate electrical conductivity. Those with biochar from olive mill waste were highly saline and, consequently, low quality. The substrates with hydrochar retained too much water and were poorly aerated, presenting high CO2 concentrations due to high respiratory activity. Plants performed well only when grown in substrates containing a maximum of 25 % biochar from forest waste or hydrochar. After analyzing the char characteristics, we concluded that biochar from forest waste could be safely used as a substrate constituent and is environmentally friendly when applied due to its low salinity and low CO2 emission. However, biochar from olive mill waste and hydrochar need to be improved before they can be used as substrate constituents.This study was funded by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Projects on New Multidisciplinary Research; PAID-05-12). We thank Molly Marcus-McBride for supervising the English.Fornes Sebastiá, F.; Belda Navarro, RM. (2018). Biochar versus hydrochar as growth media constituents for ornamental plant cultivation. Scientia Agricola (Online). 75(4):304-312. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-992X-2017-0062S304312754Abad, M., Noguera, P., & Burés, S. (2001). National inventory of organic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental potted plant production: case study in Spain. Bioresource Technology, 77(2), 197-200. doi:10.1016/s0960-8524(00)00152-8Bargmann, I., Martens, R., Rillig, M. C., Kruse, A., & Kücke, M. (2013). Hydrochar amendment promotes microbial immobilization of mineral nitrogen. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 177(1), 59-67. doi:10.1002/jpln.201300154Bargmann, I., Rillig, M. C., Buss, W., Kruse, A., & Kuecke, M. (2013). Hydrochar and Biochar Effects on Germination of Spring Barley. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 199(5), 360-373. doi:10.1111/jac.12024Bedussi, F., Zaccheo, P., & Crippa, L. (2015). Pattern of pore water nutrients in planted and non-planted soilless substrates as affected by the addition of biochars from wood gasification. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 51(5), 625-635. doi:10.1007/s00374-015-1011-6Belda, R. M., Lidón, A., & Fornes, F. (2016). Biochars and hydrochars as substrate constituents for soilless growth of myrtle and mastic. Industrial Crops and Products, 94, 132-142. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2016.08.024Costello, R. C., & Sullivan, D. M. (2013). Determining the pH Buffering Capacity of Compost Via Titration with Dilute Sulfuric Acid. Waste and Biomass Valorization, 5(3), 505-513. doi:10.1007/s12649-013-9279-yFernandes, C., & Corá, J. E. (2004). Bulk density and relationship air/water of horticultural substrate. Scientia Agricola, 61(4), 446-450. doi:10.1590/s0103-90162004000400015Fornes, F., Belda, R. M., Carrión, C., Noguera, V., García-Agustín, P., & Abad, M. (2007). Pre-conditioning ornamental plants to drought by means of saline water irrigation as related to salinity tolerance. Scientia Horticulturae, 113(1), 52-59. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2007.01.008Fornes, F., Belda, R. M., & Lidón, A. (2015). Analysis of two biochars and one hydrochar from different feedstock: focus set on environmental, nutritional and horticultural considerations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 86, 40-48. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.08.057Fornes, F., & Belda, R. M. (2017). Acidification with nitric acid improves chemical characteristics and reduces phytotoxicity of alkaline chars. Journal of Environmental Management, 191, 237-243. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.026Fornes, F., Belda, R. M., Fernández de Córdova, P., & Cebolla-Cornejo, J. (2017). Assessment of biochar and hydrochar as minor to major constituents of growing media for containerized tomato production. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 97(11), 3675-3684. doi:10.1002/jsfa.8227Fornes, F., Carrión, C., García-de-la-Fuente, R., Puchades, R., & Abad, M. (2010). Leaching composted lignocellulosic wastes to prepare container media: Feasibility and environmental concerns. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(8), 1747-1755. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.03.017GARCIADELAFUENTE, R., CARRION, C., BOTELLA, S., FORNES, F., NOGUERA, V., & ABAD, M. (2007). Biological oxidation of elemental sulphur added to three composts from different feedstocks to reduce their pH for horticultural purposes. Bioresource Technology, 98(18), 3561-3569. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2006.11.008Genty, B., Briantais, J.-M., & Baker, N. R. (1989). The relationship between the quantum yield of photosynthetic electron transport and quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, 990(1), 87-92. doi:10.1016/s0304-4165(89)80016-9Hoitink, H. A. J., Stone, A. G., & Han, D. Y. (1997). Suppression of Plant Diseases by Composts. HortScience, 32(2), 184-187. doi:10.21273/hortsci.32.2.184Libra, J. A., Ro, K. S., Kammann, C., Funke, A., Berge, N. D., Neubauer, Y., … Emmerich, K.-H. (2011). Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass residuals: a comparative review of the chemistry, processes and applications of wet and dry pyrolysis. Biofuels, 2(1), 71-106. doi:10.4155/bfs.10.81Mazuela, P., Salas, M. del C., & Urrestarazu, M. (2005). Vegetable Waste Compost as Substrate for Melon. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 36(11-12), 1557-1572. doi:10.1081/css-200059054Méndez, A., Paz-Ferreiro, J., Gil, E., & Gascó, G. (2015). The effect of paper sludge and biochar addition on brown peat and coir based growing media properties. Scientia Horticulturae, 193, 225-230. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.07.032Nieto, A., Gascó, G., Paz-Ferreiro, J., Fernández, J. M., Plaza, C., & Méndez, A. (2016). The effect of pruning waste and biochar addition on brown peat based growing media properties. Scientia Horticulturae, 199, 142-148. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.12.012Sáez, J. A., Belda, R. M., Bernal, M. P., & Fornes, F. (2016). Biochar improves agro-environmental aspects of pig slurry compost as a substrate for crops with energy and remediation uses. Industrial Crops and Products, 94, 97-106. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2016.08.035Smith, B. R., Fisher, P. R., & Argo, W. R. (2004). Growth and Pigment Content of Container-grown Impatiens and Petunia in Relation to Root Substrate pH and Applied Micronutrient Concentration. HortScience, 39(6), 1421-1425. doi:10.21273/hortsci.39.6.1421Solaiman, Z. M., Murphy, D. V., & Abbott, L. K. (2011). Biochars influence seed germination and early growth of seedlings. Plant and Soil, 353(1-2), 273-287. doi:10.1007/s11104-011-1031-4Steiner, C., & Harttung, T. (2014). Biochar as a growing media additive and peat substitute. Solid Earth, 5(2), 995-999. doi:10.5194/se-5-995-2014Tian, Y., Sun, X., Li, S., Wang, H., Wang, L., Cao, J., & Zhang, L. (2012). Biochar made from green waste as peat substitute in growth media for Calathea rotundifola cv. Fasciata. Scientia Horticulturae, 143, 15-18. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2012.05.018Vaughn, S. F., Eller, F. J., Evangelista, R. L., Moser, B. R., Lee, E., Wagner, R. E., & Peterson, S. C. (2015). Evaluation of biochar-anaerobic potato digestate mixtures as renewable components of horticultural potting media. Industrial Crops and Products, 65, 467-471. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2014.10.04

Do Nurses Use Discourse Markers Differently when Using Their Second Language as Opposed to Their First while Interviewing Patients?

This study examined whether discourse-marker use changes in nurse-patient interactions as a function of nurses using their first (L1) or second (L2) language. Discourse markers were analyzed as turn-maintenance markers that indicate acknowledgement and discourse-shift markers that signal shifts of a topic or speaker in the conversation. These two categories differ in terms of degree of discourse management and interactional control. Sixteen nurses conducted a pain-assessment interview with a patient native speaker of English and with a patient native speaker of French, where the nurses used their own L1 in one case and their own weaker L2 in the other. The first hypothesis, that nurses would generally use discourse markers more frequently in the L1 than in the L2, was not supported. The second hypothesis, that nurses would use discourse-shift markers less frequently in their L2 compared to the L1, relative to their (baseline) use of turn-maintenance markers, was supported. The findings, especially the support for the second hypothesis, could have implications for the development of L2 training for health practitioners.</p

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data