Teff: What Is It? Where Does It Fit in Kentucky

Teff (Eragrostis tef (zucc)) is an annual, warm season grass native to Ethiopia. Throughout its history, teff has been used more as a gluten-free grain for flour than as forage. However, in recent years, forage agronomists and producers have become increasingly interested in its potential contribution as a hay crop. Teff is characterized by a fairly large crown, many tillers, fine stems, a very shallow root system, rapid growth and high tonnage capability. During the vegetative stage, teff plants look somewhat similar to tall fescue in size and color. Teff tends to germinate quickly with good moisture, regrow quickly after being cut and a combination of timely planting, good soil fertility and favorable summer rainfall may allow for three to four harvests before the onset of cold temperatures kills the stand in the fall

It\u27s Not Meant for Us : Exploring the Intersection of Gentrification, Public Education, and Black Identity in Washington, D.C.

This dissertation discusses themes of racial identity, meaning of space, and class through an exploration of the intersection of gentrification and public education in Washington, D.C. Through analysis of middle-class responses to gentrification I argue, 1) that the public education system is a site of gentrification, as it has become a site of capitalistic development and Black displacement; 2) that the American concept of race, including race relations, is not an aberration of typical American society, but a defining cultural feature; and 3) the best way to understand race and class in America is to use theory constructed from the philosophical writings of W.E.B Du Bois. I ultimately conclude that both Black and White middle-class Washingtonians view gentrification as an economic process, however, in discussing ownership of the city, White middle-class Washingtonians feel as though the right to claim ownership of the city is shaped by politician-backed developers who craft the city focusing on consumption and not on community cohesiveness. They thus feel excluded from the city based on being reduced to simply a consumer. The Black middle-class on the other hand, as exemplified by teachers, feels excluded from the city because the consumer options presented in the context of gentrification are “not for them” and in their eyes appeals to an aesthetic that is simultaneously White and middle-class. Moreover, Black Washingtonian educators embrace the discourse of displacement associated with gentrification, defining gentrification ultimately as “White take-over” of Black spaces and marking the public education system of the city as a site of such take over

Fate of fertilizer nitrogen in a subarctic agricultural soil

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1988A nitrogen balance approach was taken to determine the fate of fertilizer nitrogen in a subarctic agricultural soil. Urea and calcium nitrate fertilizers were compared in a three-year spring barley recrop field study. Methods of N application included incorporating the N fertilizer into the soil during spring tillage versus broadcasting it on the soil surface after planting. \sp{15}N labeled urea was applied on one-meter square subplots within the main fertilizer plots. Nitrogen transformations and movement were monitored with ammonia volatilization traps, suction cup lysimeters, deep soil cores, plant tissue samples, and grain samples. Environmental data including precipitation, soil temperatures and soil moisture tensions were collected. Fertilizer N loss by ammonia volatilization was negligible, amounting to only a few grams N/ha/day. Rate of urea hydrolysis was rapid in the cool soil and was not considered to be a limiting factor affecting N availability to the crop. There appeared to be a little nitrate leaching during the growing season, but some may have occurred between cropping seasons. Only 16 percent of the fertilizer N could not be detected when the crop was physiologically mature, and that loss was accredited mostly to denitrification. Fertilizer N use efficiency, determined by the Difference Method, was 73 and 60 percent for calcium nitrate and urea, respectively. When the crop was physiologically mature, average fertilizer N recovery rates determined by the Isotope Dilution Method were: 40 percent in the plants, 43 percent immobilized in the soil, 1 percent available in the soil, and 16 percent unrecovered. Barley yields were not significantly affected by N source, but plants took up more N where nitrate had been applied. Position of N placement had little effect on either N loss or barley yield, but the surface application of N resulted in delayed barley maturity when spring rains were deficient

Problems of small watershed districts in Tennessee organized under Public Law 566

A large amount of time and money has been spent on watershed programs in an effort to assist local landowners. Since landowners in most districts had not found the program appealing, it seemed that some attempt should be made to identify some of the factors associated with landowners’ attitudes toward the watershed district. This is the main problem with which this study is concerned. It also points out some of the features of the program, or parts of it, which landowners do not like. Realizing that a watershed program is not necessarily in the best interest of all, or even most, of the people In a watershed district, an attempt is also made to identify groups of landowners which may be benefited or abused by the program

Intraspecific Variation In Two Cosmopolitan Myxomycetes, Didymium Squamulosum And Didymium Difforme (physarales: Didymiaceae)

The myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds or myxogastrids) are one of three groups considered to be true slime molds (class Eumycetozoa sensu Olive 1975). Two vegetative states--amoebae and plasmodia--along with a spore-producing fruiting body characterize the life cycle of the myxomycetes. These organisms are associated with decaying plant material and are found in all terrestrial habitats worldwide. A number of species are considered cosmopolitan, being found worldwide, where they are associated with a diversity of microhabitats and substrates. A review of the literature, including molecular investigations in all three groups of slime molds, is presented, and this is followed by four original studies of the intraspecific variation that exists in two cosmopolitan species of myxomycetes. Molecular intraspecific variation in these two species, Didymium squamulosum (Alb. & Schwein.) Fr. and Didymium difforme (Pers.) S.F. Gray, was investigated using DNA sequence analysis. Initially, 14 specimens of Didymium squamulosum from widely distributed localities were examined, using the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). Although this genetic marker was found to be too variable for continued analysis, it did offer the first evidence that significant intraspecific variation exists within cosmopolitan species of myxomycetes. An additional genetic marker located within the mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU) was investigated for 96 collections of Didymium squamulosum from worldwide localities and 56 collections of Didymium difforme distributed among three widely separated regions. For both species, conclusions were derived from molecular analyses using Bayesian methods and a haplotype network from TCS. It was concluded in both species that for this genetic marker no clear geographical assemblages emerged. While some sequences formed groups based on biogeography, there were a number of instances in which sequences from specimens that originated from distant geographical localities were more closely related to each other than to sequences from specimens obtained in nearby localities. In Didymium squamulosum, four morphological characters were observed for each collection and mapped onto the gene tree produced using Bayesian methods. While this species is known to have great diversity in morphology, no patterns emerged which would suggest that observed morphological diversity was related to molecular variation. This is the first molecular evidence that morphological diversity in a cosmopolitan species of myxomycete is the result of phenotypic plasticity rather than genetic divergence. Further evidence for phenotypic plasticity was obtained from an effort to culture each specimen of Didymium squamulosum spore-to-spore on agar, which resulted in only two successful cultures. In both cases, the fruiting bodies exhibited a degree of variation in morphological diversity that was different from the original specimen that had developed under natural conditions in the field