THE U.S. PESTICIDE INDUSTRY: USAGE TRENDS AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

THE U.S. FERTILIZER INDUSTRY: DEMAND TRENDS AND MARKET STRUCTURE

Agribusiness,

A REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF PLANTING DATE AND VARIETY ON CORN YIELDS IN MINNESOTA

This paper reports the results of a regression analysis of the relationship between planting date and corn yield. The study is based on experiments done at Agricultural Experiment Stations in Waseca, Lamberton and Morris, Minnesota. The experiments were conducted with several corn varieties. In addition to the date of planting, the estimated yield response equations include relative maturity as an explanatory variable. Other management practices included in the models are seeding and fertilization rates. Interactions among explanatory variables are estimated, also.Crop Production/Industries,

Dissection of Nodule Development by Supplementation of \u3cem\u3eRhizobium leguminosarum\u3c/em\u3e biovar \u3cem\u3ephaseoli\u3c/em\u3e Purine Auxotrophs with 4-Aminoimidazole-5-Carboxamide Riboside

Purine auxotrophs of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar phaseoli CFN42 elicit uninfected pseudonodules on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Addition of 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxamide (AICA) riboside to the root medium during incubation of the plant with these mutants leads to enhanced nodule development, although nitrogenase activity is not detected. Nodules elicited in this manner had infection threads and anatomical features characteristic of normal nodules, such as peripheral vasculature rather than the central vasculature of the pseudonodules that were elicited without AICA riboside supplementation. Although 105 to 106 bacteria could be recovered from these nodules after full development, bacteria were not observed in the interior nodule cells. Instead, large cells with extensive internal membranes were present. Approximately 5% of the normal amount of leghemoglobin and 10% of the normal amount of uricase were detected in these nodules. To promote the development of true nodules rather than pseudonodules, AICA riboside was required no later than the second day through no more than the sixth day following inoculation. After this period, removal of AICA riboside from the root medium did not prevent the formation of true nodules. This observation suggests that there is a critical stage of infection, reached before nodule emergence, at which development becomes committed to forming a true nodule rather than a pseudonodule

Shared affinities : the effect of shared neoliberal orientation on foreign policy behaviors /

In the literature, scholars have linked various aspects of the economic philosophy of neoliberalism to a variety of foreign policy behaviors. However, these studies typically only utilize one aspect of neoliberalism in their analyses. In this dissertation, I examine three types of foreign policy behaviors, foreign aid efforts, economic sanctioning behavior, and interstate conflict onset, using a multi-faceted definition of neoliberalism. By using this definition to create proxies, I provide a more comprehensive analysis of the effect of neoliberalism on behaviors. Further, this definition allows me to include individual level factors capture the effect of leadership on foreign policy behaviors. In three empirical chapters, I examine the effect of neoliberalism on behavior and generally find results matching my expectations.Dr. A. Cooper Drury, Dissertation Supervisor.Includes bibliographical references

Trace Metal Characterization and Ion Exchange Capacity of Devonian to Pennsylvanian Age Bedrock in New York and Pennsylvania in Relation to Drinking Water Quality

I report the results of an evaluation on the factors that control the quality of potable water produced in domestic and other wells in the shallow sedimentary rock formations of the Appalachian Basin. I collected 49 samples from the upper 120 meters of Devonian to Pennsylvanian aged bedrock between Marcellus, NY and State College, PA and analyzed their bulk geochemical composition. In particular, I quantified the mobile and total metals for which there are health concerns related to unconventional gas exploitation in the Appalachian Basin; Fe, Mn, Sr, Ba, As, and Pb. Measured bulk concentrations for several formations reached maximum concentrations of 65 ppm As, 4,900 ppm Ba, 63,000 ppm Fe, 130 ppm Ni, and 68 ppm Pb. To assess the mobility of these metals in the subsurface I used a variation of the U.S. Geological Survey Field Leaching Test. Metals such as Al, Zn, and U potentially can be leached from aquifer rocks naturally under acidic conditions, such as where pyrite might oxidize, to above current allowable regulatory values for these metals (2 mg/L, 5 mg/L, and 0.03 mg/L respectively) from some of the clay-rich formations. Small percentages (typically \u3c1%) of the bulk concentrations were mobilized into solution but were still sufficient to exceed current EPA drinking water maximum contaminant levels (MCL) in many of the samples. In total, 74% of our samples exceeded MCL values for Al, 18% for As, 6% for Fe, 12% for Mn, 98% for Pb (above MCL Goal of 0 ppb), and 70% for U (above MCL Goal of 0 ppb). Groundwater analyses from both New York and Pennsylvania show that natural ion exchange occurs along flow paths from ridge tops to valleys. I measured the total cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the samples and observed that they do not span the expected values for illite-rich clays (typically 10-40 milliequivalents/100g) commonly found in the Appalachian Basin. Instead, 88% of the samples had CEC values below 10 meq/100g with only 1 sample above 20 meq/100g. I quantified the hypothetical ground water flow path lengths necessary for the observed cation exchange to occur along fracture planes by combining CEC values with surface area measurements on three samples which ranged from 10.32-13.59 m2/g. These three estimates resulted in plausible flow path lengths of 2 km, 3 km, and 30 km. Many state and federal regulations do not require water from domestic wells or groundwater samples collected for metal analysis to be filtered. I argue that these regulations expose residents to drinking water with turbidity caused by suspended minerals that have metals attached leading to total concentrations at or above the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) MCL levels. I quantified the effects of turbid water at the EPA MCL of 5 NTU and improper filtration of turbid groundwater samples at the EPA MCL of 10 NTU on total metal concentrations used to trigger regulatory compliance related to possible contamination and health effects. Along with this broad scale study area I compared my geochemical results to the Fiorentino II (2015) study on a Devonian outcrop 4 miles North of Cortland, NY to evaluate small-scale trace metal heterogeneity within a single stratigraphic section. My regional collection of single data points at outcrops plotted within the 10th and 90th percentiles of the small-scale outcrop study. Together these two studies provide important information to determine the extent to which ground water might be naturally high in trace metal composition, either because of geochemical conditions or entrainment of suspended material not removed prior to sampling

Beginning Principals and Their Educational Training Programs

Summary. The Bureau of Statistics estimates there will be a l 0% increase in job employment for all types of school administrators by the year 2006. Also, by the year 2003 it is estimated that 50% of all current principals will retire. In the absence of seasoned administrators, school districts will be searching a field that is primarily composed of skilled teachers that lack the experience of administration. Most college and university programs in Missouri present knowledge about school administration and require an internship regarding school administration. However, this framework does not fully help students develop skills that translate that knowledge into practice. There are numerous induction programs offered by educational state departments and school districts that are trying to meet the need of administrative vacancies. This paper will reveal some of these programs and offer recommendations on what colleges and universities may do to keep up with the demand for school principals

Approaches to modeling pathogen and natural organic matter removals in slow-rate biofilters

There are limited expressions capable of estimating removals in one of the world\u27s oldest and most sustainable water treatment systems: slow-rate biofilters. This research addresses the problem by deriving semi-empirical models that predict pathogen and natural organic matter removals within these natural and engineered sand filters. The more complex pathogen model, or phenomenological colloidal filtration theory (pCFT), applies the 1937 Iwasaki solution to New England pilot scale E. coli observations. The derived pCFT was then calibrated through a series of experimental bench scale phases. Further pCFT validation came by way of a seamless application to multiple microorganisms. Viruses (MS2 as surrogate) and aerobic spore-forming bacteria (ASFB) appear to be less subjected to phenomenological filtration than that of Enterococci, E. coli and total coliforms. While variables remain unknown, the aforementioned microbiological contamination indicators can be modeled to within one log removal for a given source water and filter. Modeling natural organic matter, on the other hand, is primarily based on biological processes in SRBFs following first order kinetics as a function of filter residence time. This makes the above natural organic matter model directly proportional to the amount of biologically degradable dissolved organic carbon available in a given source water and filter. While multiple questions remain within the derived expressions, the resulting math provides a new level of efficacy in modeling removal capabilities for slow-rate biofilters

Factors Forecasting the Effect of Rapid Prototyping Technologies on Engineering Design Education.

This dissertation presents information gathered and analyzed through an electronic internet-based Delphi Survey process. The purpose of this study is to identify a consensus of factors that might forecast the future effects of Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology on engineering design education when used for the purpose of overcoming the limitations of 2D representation of 3D space. The identification of consensus was developed from the collection of opinions from a panel of experts in RP technology. Early adopters of emerging technologies can reduce risk through careful research, but decisions must often be made before significant quantitative data are available. Expert subjective judgment may be a valuable source of information for making decisions. RP is just one of the tools used in engineering design education for visualization. This research should help to guide faculty members in making decisions regarding the use of RP technology in the curriculum. The one consensus reached by the panel is that 3D CAD will replace 2D CAD as the default modeling tool in most product-design related curricula within 5 years. The general conclusion of the study is that the appropriate use of the technology in the curriculum is largely situational