Chemical thinning of 'Conference' pears

The increasing difference in the market value of small and larger sized ‘Conference’ pears (>65 mm) and the high labour costs for hand thinning, makes it interesting for growers to find a cheaper and reliable method for thinning pear trees. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 trials were carried out to test the thinning efficacy of several chemicals. Fruit set was only significantly reduced by a two-fold application of ammonium thiosulphate (ATS) or by a tankmix application of 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 1-naphtalene acetic acid (NAA). Unfortunately, russeting of ‘Conference’ pears was augmented by the treatments with ATS during bloom. Tankmix applications of NAA + BA, applied at an average fruit diameter of 8.8 mm, resulted in a severe overthinning of the trees in 2008. However, the same treatments applied at an average fruit diameter of 14.7 mm had much less of a thinning effect. In 2009 adequate thinning was obtained with lower concentrations of BA+NAA applied at 8-10 mm fruit diameter. Surprisingly, the reduction in fruit set by BA+NAA did not result in a proptional increase in the average fruit weight at harvest. In some treatments average fruit weight was even reduced compared to that of the hand-thinned trees, a size-reducing effect that was attributed to NAA. In conclusion, BA+NAA seems to thin ‘Conference’ pears more strongly than BA alone. However, the addition of NAA to BA has the disadvantage of a diminishing effect on the increment of fruit size, i.e. fruit size increased less than expected on basis of the reduction in crop load. Additional research will be carried out to further optimise the developmental stage, weather conditions, and concentrations at which a BA and NAA must be applied to obtain the desired level of thinning and gain in yield percentage of fruits over 65 mm in diameter

Improving Data Efficiency Using Content Management System

This project has been carried out to identify major problems in a website like look and feel of the web pages, branding qualities, website search engine compatibility and identifying/tracking the status of the pages. To achieve this, Responsive Web Design (RWD) concepts, Web Analytics, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) tags are implemented for sophisticated performance and adaptability. It’s very essential to have a well-organized and dynamic website. Website should be more professional to gain the fruitful outcomes. Website related content was updated dynamically through admin console using Content Management System (CMS). Admin / content manager / targeted preferred credential users could more effectively update the content via this Content Management System (CMS) web tool and was very easy to maintain huge content in a very effective way. There are many ways to achieve this, have many content driven tools and web-pages which do this job without any extra effort. The major benefit of this tool was even a nontechnical person could easily update or manage the webpage without any technical training. In today’s market, most of the data is written and deployed using small / medium form factors like mobiles or tablet devices. Users easily update the data while on the go. The content of the website could be effortlessly managed even by a non-technical person quickly and easily without any complicated programming. The website automatically spreads to fit mobiles, tablets and any browser windows using CMS. Using Agile Methodology, the project quality was improved in most effective way. Data was collected and analyzed using different tools and techniques

Review of Santa Fe: History of an Ancient City.

Without doubt, Santa Fe is one of the most fascinating and enchanting cities in this country. Pueblo Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Anglo-Americans have created over the past four centuries a rich, diverse culture of endearing mystique

Wechsel an der Spitze der Bank Russlands – Bankenreformen im Aufwind?

Auch wenn sich Wachstumstendenzen und Anzeichen von Stabilität in der russischen Volkswirtschaft in den letzten Jahren gezeigt haben, geben Unterkapitalisierung, Privatisierungsdefizite und die Neigung zu kurzfristigen Krediten russischer Banken nach wie vor Anlass zu Kritik und lassen Forderungen nach durchgreifenden Bankenreformen nicht verstummen. Um dem Reformstau im russischen Bankwesen beizukommen, waren bestimmte Änderungen im Zentralbankgesetz unumgänglich. Gleichzeitig hatten die Auseinandersetzungen um die Neufassung des Zentralbankgesetzes einen verfrühten Wechsel an der Zentralbankspitze zur Folge, den Präsident Vladimir Putin, seine wirtschaftsliberalen Berater und Amtsinhaber in der Präsidentenadministration und den einschlägigen Ministerien sicherlich begrüßt haben dürften. In ihrem Beitrag analysiert Dr. Josephine Bollinger-Kanne, Osteuropa-Expertin, München, die Korrekturen des Zentralbankgesetzes, die im Juli 2002 in Kraft traten. Ob die auf der Grundlage der neuen Gesetzgebung eingeleiteten bzw. angedachten Reformen des russischen Bankensektors die Banken als Finanzierungsmittler zwischen den einzelnen volkswirtschaftlichen Sektoren etablieren werden, bleibt zurzeit abzuwarten.Bankenreform, Zentralbank, Führungskräfte, Russland

Erdgasmengen und ihre Verknappung - Gazprom ein zuverlässiger strategischer Lieferant für Europa?

Der Erdgasanteil im Energiemix der EU-Mitgliedsländer hat sich im Verlauf der Jahre bis zu einem Viertel erhöht. Allein 23,8% entfielen beim Primärenergieverbrauch 2005 in Deutschland auf Erdgas. Ein Drittel der deutschen Erdgasimporte kommen aus der Russischen Föderation, die über die weltweit größten Erdgasvorkommen verfügt. Die Importabhängigkeit Europas für Erdgas wird von gegenwärtig bereits über 49% in 20 bis 30 Jahren voraussichtlich bis auf 70% ansteigen. Josephine Bollinger-Kanne, Research & Consulting Russia, gibt in diesem Beitrag einen Überblick über die Erdgasförderung in Rusland und speziell über die Politik des russischen Erdgasgiganten Gazprom.Erdgas, Erdgasmarkt, Erdgasförderung, Import, Konsum, Produktion, EU-Staaten, Rußland, Ukraine

TWO PATHWAYS OF SHEDDING OF L-SELECTIN AND CD23 FROM HUMAN B-LYMPHOCYTES

Lymphocytes from patients with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) express large numbers of P2X7 receptors for extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Activation of P2X7 receptors induces multiple downstream effects, of which the best documented is the opening of an ionic channel that is selective for divalent cations. Another effect of ATP is to induce the shedding of L-selectin (CD62L), a molecule which is involved in the adhesive interactions of lymphocytes on endothelial cells. High levels of soluble L-selectin and CD23 are found in the serum of patients with B-CLL, although the mechanisms involved in their production are poorly characterized. Because extracellular ATP causes shedding of L-selectin, we studied the effect of ATP on shedding of CD23, an adhesion molecule expressed on the surface of B-CLL lymphocytes. ATP induced the shedding of CD23 at an initial rate of 12% of that for L-selectin, while the EC50 of ATP (35 uM) and BzATP (10 uM) was identical for shedding of both molecules. Inactivation of the P2X7 receptor by pre-incubation with OxATP, an irreversible inhibitor of P2X7 purinoceptor, abolished ATP-induced shedding of both molecules. Moreover, KN-62, the most potent inhibitor for the P2X7 receptor inhibited ATP-induced shedding of both CD23 and L-selectin with the same IC50 (12 nM). Ro 31-9790, a membrane permeant zinc chelator which inhibits the phorbol-ester stimulated shedding of L-selectin also inhibited shedding of CD23 from B-CLL lymphocytes, but the IC50 was different for the two shed molecules (25 versus 1 ug/ml respectively). Although L-selectin was completely shed by incubation of cells with phorbol-ester no CD23 was lost under these conditions. Also, Ca2+ inhibits ATP-induced CD23 shedding but not L-selectin shedding. Since soluble CD23 and L-selectin are found in the serum of normal subjects and B-CLL patients, the expression of these two adhesion molecules on lymphocytes before and after transendothelial migration was studied in an in vitro model of this process. In normal and B-CLL subjects, 71±5% of L-selectin from both T and B cells and 90% of CD23 from B cells was lost following transmigration, while the expression of a range of other adhesion molecules such as VLA-4, ICAM-1, LFA-1 and CD44 was unchanged. Lymphocytes incubated with OxATP retained their capacity for transendothelial migration and showed the same loss of L-selectin as control leukaemic lymphocytes. Ro 31-9790, which can protect ATP-induced both L-selectin and CD23 shedding, had no effect on inhibiting L-selectin and CD23 lost during transmigration. These data show the presence of a second pathway for the downregulation of L-selectin and CD23 from the lymphocyte surface. Data in vivo from 'knock-out' mice show that L-selectin is essential for the emigration of lymphocytes through high endothelial venules into lymph nodes. The migration of normal and B-CLL lymphocytes across confluent human umbilical vein endothelial monolayers was studied in an in vitro model of this process. Lymphocytes treated with ATP or BzATP showed 56±25% or 67±16% loss of L-selectin on the surface and 36±24% or 64±19% decrease of transmigration, respectively, while OxATP, which does not alter the L-selectin level, had no effect on lymphocyte transmigration. Further experiments examined this correlation between L-selectin expression and lymphocyte transendothelial migration in this model system. A quantitative assay for cell surface L-selectin showed that expression of L-selectin was lower on B-CLL lymphocytes (8,880±5,700 molecules/cell) than on normal lymphocytes (29,500±7,500 molecules/cell, p less than 0.001). Also the rate of transmigration of B-CLL lymphocytes (1.5±0.9 migrated cells/HUVEC) was lower than normal peripheral lymphocytes (2.4±0.9 migrated cells/HUVEC, p=0.04). Incubation of lymphocytes in complete medium for 24 hrs increased the expression of L-selectin on B-CLL lymphocytes by 1.5 to 2 fold while the normal lymphocyte L-selectin remained at the initial level. This upregulation of B-CLL L-selectin correlated with a 2 fold increased rate of transendothelial migration. A correlation was found between L-selectin expression on lymphocytes and their ability for transendothelial migration (r^2=0.6). This study shows that the adhesion molecules L-selectin and CD23 can be lost from lymphocytes by two different physiological pathways. One is by P2X7 receptor activation by extracellular ATP while the second is activated by transendothelial migration of these cells. A second finding is that B-CLL lymphocytes have lower level of L-selectin expression and an impaired ability for transendothelial migration compared with normal peripheral blood lymphocytes. Do these results explain the high serum levels of soluble L-selectin and CD23 observed in B-CLL? Although B-CLL lymphocytes do not recirculate as rapidly as normal peripheral blood lymphocytes, the greatly increased number of leukaemic cells in B-CLL ensures that much more soluble L-selectin and CD23 is generated during the recirculation of these cells through the body

Messaging Rules as a Programming Model for Enterprise Application Integration

Rule-based systems and languages are successful in many application areas such as business rules or active database systems. The goal of the Demaq project is to investigate the feasibility and benefits of using a declarative, rule-based programming language to simplify the development of complex, distributed applications. For this purpose, we propose a novel programming paradigm based on messaging, queues and declarative rules. We focus on evaluating whether the proposed, rule-based approach can be used to implement complex application patterns. We use Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) as an example application domain, as EAI applications involve multiple, heterogeneous systems with complex interaction patterns. We discuss whether and how these application patterns can be implemented using our rule language