Sexual hormones in Achyla. V. Properties of hormone A of Achyla bisexualis

1. The hormonal coordinating mechanism of the sexual process in Achlya is briefly reviewed. 2. A technique is described for culturing the female plant of Achlya bisexualis in sufficient quantity to furnish material for the chemical study of hormone A. 3. A modification of the biological assay for hormone A is described. 4. Many of the properties of hormone A have been determined: (a) solubilities in common organic solvents, (b) adsorption, (c) stability, (d) inactivation, and (e) reactions with certain reagents. 5. A procedure is described whereby enormous enrichment of the active principle has been achieved

Industrial wastewater treatment through bioaugmentation

Bioaugmentation of activated sludge processes through the addition of microorganisms is employed with the aim of enhancing treatment, in particular the removal of priority pollutants. With industrial wastewaters, studies have covered target pollutants including ammonia and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): compounds that are regulated around the globe. However, bioaugmentation is a technique that has been associated with doubt in regard to its ability to benefit treatment processes. Failure of bioaugmentation has been reported to be associated with numerous factors that include the growth rate being lower than the rate of washout, insufficient inoculum size and substrate availability. Limitations of bioaugmentation can be overcome through techniques that include increased inocula dosing, pre-acclimatisation of inocula in side-stream reactors, addition of nutrients and surfactants and application of sufficient acclimatisation periods. Surveys of the literature show that a key area for further research should be towards acquiring a better understanding of the degradation pathways where bioaugmentation is applied. There also remains a need to undertake bioaugmentation efficacy studies at full scale with test and control streams. Further reporting on the economic viability of the technique is also necessary

Nitrogen removal from coke making wastewater through a pre-denitrification activated sludge process

Under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), coke production wastewater must be treated to produce an effluent characterised by a total nitrogen (TN) 5.7 to produce an effluent TN 5.7 or, alternately, the addition of an external carbon source should be considered

Sexual hormones in Achlya. V. Hormone A', a male-secreted augmenter or activator of hormone A

The role of specific sexual hormones in the sexual reaction of two heterothallic species of Achlya has been described in earlier papers of this series.(1) Four specific substances were postulated, two secreted by the ♀, bringing about specific reactions in the ♂ , and two secreted by the ♂, inducing specific responses in the ♀. On the basis of evidence available at that time it seemed that the entire sexual reaction was initiated with the secretion of hormone A by the vegetative mycelium of the ♀, which induced the formation of sexual organ initials, antheridial branches, on the ♂. In the course of a more detailed analysis of the response of the ♂ plant to hormone A from the ♀, (2) it was found that the vegetative mycelium of the ♂ secreted some factor which profoundly influenced its response to hormone A from the ♀. This factor, produced by the vegetative ♂ plant independently of any response to the ♀, will hereafter be referred to as hormone A' (A prime)

Demographic Factors Affecting the Adoption of Multiple Value-Added Practices by Oklahoma Cow-Calf Producers

The utilization of marketing programs to enhance feeder calf value has been met with modest success in Oklahoma. Value-added programs are continually promoted as avenues for improving cow-calf profitability, but producer adoption of value-added practices lags in spite of research showing the value of these practices. Identifying producer characteristics that increase their likelihood to adopt value-added practices is critical to developing successful outreach efforts. Results from a survey of Oklahoma producers on value-added practice adoption indicate that multiple demographic variables influence a producer’s likelihood of practice adoption. For Extension specialists, results can help in targeting likely adopters and developing methods to overcome barriers to adoption by producers less likely to adopt.Beef producers, value-added practices, practice adoption, negative binomial regression, Poisson regression, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Q12, Q16,

Flight tests of Viking parachute system in three Mach number regimes. 1: Vehicle description, test operations, and performance

Flight qualifications for parachutes were tested on full-scale simulated Viking spacecraft at entry conditions for the Viking 1975 mission to Mars. The vehicle was carried to an altitude of 36.6 km for the supersonic and transonic tests by a 980.000 cu m balloon. The vehicles were released and propelled to test conditions with rocket engines. A 117,940 cu m balloon carried the test vehicle to an altitude of 27.5 km and the conditions for the subsonic tests were achieved in free fall. Aeroshell separation occurred on all test vehicles from 8 to 14 seconds after parachute deployment. This report describes: (1) the test vehicle; (2) methods used to insure that the test conditions were achieved; and (3) the balloon system design and operations. The report also presents the performance data from onboard and ground based instruments and the results from a statistical trajectory program which gives a continuous history of test-vehicle motions

Plow Power Requirements for Forestry Site Preparation

In this field study, data were collected to determine power requirements required by a trailing site preparation plow and the magnitudes of dynamic forces experienced by a plow during normal operation and during impact with stumps or other obstructions. Drawbar pull data were collected from five different tillage treatments on a recently harvested loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) site in central Alabama. The five treatments were: 1) a coulter, ripping shank, and four bedding disks; 2) a coulter, ripping shank, and two bedding disks; 3) a coulter and ripping shank; 4) a coulter alone; and 5) a ripping shank alone. A 330 kN [75 000 lb] capacity tension load cell was used to measure the drawbar load, a GPS receiver recorded tractor speed, four direct current displacement transducers (DCDT's) monitored the depth of the disks, and two optical tachometers measured the speed of the tractor's front and rear drive shafts. Each treatment produced significantly different drawbar loads (to alpha levels less than 0.001). The resulting mean loads were 46.0 kN [10 300 lb], 33.5 kN [7530 lb], 31.5 kN [7080 lb], 15.8 kN [3560 lb], and 43.4 kN [9760 lb] for treatments one through five, respectively. Maximum recorded drawbar load during a collision with a stump was 338.9 kN [76 188 lb]

Sexual selection in mushroom-forming basidiomycetes

We expect that sexual selection may play an important role in the evolution of mushroom-forming basidiomycete fungi. Although these fungi do not have separate sexes, they do play female and male roles: the acceptance and the donation of a nucleus, respectively. The primary mycelium (monokaryon) of basidiomycete fungi, growing from a germinating sexual spore, is hermaphroditic, but it loses female function upon the acceptance of a second nucleus. The resulting dikaryon with two different nuclei in each cell retains a male potential as both nuclei can fertilize receptive mycelia. We tested the occurrence of sexual selection in the model species of mushroom-forming basidiomycetes, Schizophyllum commune, by pairing monokaryons with fully compatible dikaryons. In most pairings, we found a strong bias for one of the two nuclei although both were compatible with the monokaryon when paired alone. This shows that sexual selection can occur in mushroom-forming basidiomycetes. Since the winning nucleus of a dikaryon occasionally varied depending on the receiving monokaryon, we infer that sexual selection can operate through choosiness of the receiving individual (analogous to female choice). However, in other cases the same nucleus won, irrespective of the receiving monokaryon, suggesting that competition between the two nuclei of the donating mycelium (analogous to male–male competition) might also play a role

Enhancing the removal of pollutants from coke wastewater by bioaugmentation: a scoping study

BACKGROUND Bioaugmentation and biostimulation were investigated for their ability to improve the removal of thiocyanate (SCN-), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenol and trace metals in coke wastewater. Additionally, the ability of the microorganisms supplemented with the bioaugmentation product to survive in a simulated river water discharge was evaluated. RESULTS A commercially available bioaugmentation product composed mainly of Bacillus sp. was mixed with activated sludge biomass. A dose of 0.5 g/L increased the removal of Ʃ6PAHs (sum of fluoranthene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and benzo[g,h,i]perylene) by 51% and reduced SCN- below 4 mg/L enabling compliance with the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). Biostimulation (supplementing micronutrients and alkalinity) allowed compliance for both SCN- and phenol (<0.5 mg/L). Bacillus sp. accounted for 4.4% of the microbial population after 25 hours (1.5 g/L dose) which declined to 0.06% after exposure to river water (24 hours). Exposure of the activated sludge biomass to river water resulted in a 98.6% decline in viable cell counts. CONCLUSION To comply with the IED, bioaugmentation and biostimulation are recommended for the treatment of coke wastewater to enable an effluent Ʃ6PAHs of 6.6 μg/L, 0.3 mg/L phenol and 1.2 mg/L SCN-. Such techniques are not anticipated to impact on downstream river water quality