Irrigation effects on growth, stress, visual quality and evapotranspiration of ornamental grasses

2016 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Deficit irrigation research has proven extremely effective for reducing the amount of irrigation applied to various types of landscape plants including trees, shrubs, and herbaceous ornamental plants. This research has yet to delve into one of the most common classes of drought tolerant plants, ornamental grasses. Deficit irrigation treatments were based on evapotranspiration of a short reference crop (Kentucky bluegrass evapotranspirtation, ETo). In 2012 three ornamental grass species were planted, and an on-site atmometer was used to estimate ETo. The three species used for trialing were Panicum virgatum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ (Rotstrahlbusch Switchgrass), Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’ (Blaze Little Bluestem), and Calamgrostis brachytricha (Korean Feather Reed Grass). Treatments were applied and data was collected in 2014 and 2015 on two separate studies. The first study was in-ground and consisted of four treatments based on ETo (0%, 25%, 50%, and 100%). The second study was a mini-lysimeter and consisted of three treatments based on ETo (25%, 50%, and 100%). Only Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’ (Blaze Little Bluestem) was used in the lysimeter study. Data collected in both studies included plant water potential, biomass accumulation, green up date, flowering date, height, width, circumference, floral impact, landscape impact, overall habit, self-seeding, and color. The in-ground component also measured infrared canopy temperature and soil water content, while the lysimeter study included daily weight measurements which were then transferred to evapotranspiration readings. Plants in the 0% treatment were smaller and not considered visually suitable for landscape use. All three species in the 25% treatment performed equivalent to the 50% and 100% treatments in all categories. The only exception was plants in the 25% mini-lysimeter study were more stressed than the 50% or 100% treatments during periods of drought. These plants were all considered visually suitable for landscape use based on visual ratings. This suggests that as long as ornamental grasses are kept on a strict weekly regiment of 25% ETo, and are never exposed to periods of drought, they will be physiologically as well as aesthetically usable in the landscape trade. A weekly amount of 0.25 inches of irrigation on weeks without precipitation was determined to be a usable number for those installing and maintaining ornamental grasses

SATCHMO-JS: a webserver for simultaneous protein multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction.

We present the jump-start simultaneous alignment and tree construction using hidden Markov models (SATCHMO-JS) web server for simultaneous estimation of protein multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) and phylogenetic trees. The server takes as input a set of sequences in FASTA format, and outputs a phylogenetic tree and MSA; these can be viewed online or downloaded from the website. SATCHMO-JS is an extension of the SATCHMO algorithm, and employs a divide-and-conquer strategy to jump-start SATCHMO at a higher point in the phylogenetic tree, reducing the computational complexity of the progressive all-versus-all HMM-HMM scoring and alignment. Results on a benchmark dataset of 983 structurally aligned pairs from the PREFAB benchmark dataset show that SATCHMO-JS provides a statistically significant improvement in alignment accuracy over MUSCLE, Multiple Alignment using Fast Fourier Transform (MAFFT), ClustalW and the original SATCHMO algorithm. The SATCHMO-JS webserver is available at http://phylogenomics.berkeley.edu/satchmo-js. The datasets used in these experiments are available for download at http://phylogenomics.berkeley.edu/satchmo-js/supplementary/

Pylephlebitis: An Uncommon Complication of Intra-Abdominal Infection

<p>We herein present a case of pylephlebitis, which is an infective suppurative thrombosis of the portal vein. Pylephlebitis is an uncommon complication of intra-abdominal infections and carries with it significant morbidity and mortality. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(4):575–576.]</p

Alignment Cube with One Diffractive Face

An enhanced alignment cube has been invented for use in a confined setting (e.g., a cryogenic chamber) in which optical access may be limited to a single line of sight. Whereas traditional alignment-cube practice entails the use of two theodolites aimed along two lines of sight, the enhanced alignment cube yields complete alignment information through use of a single theodolite aimed along a single line of sight. Typically, an alignment cube is placed in contact with a datum surface or other reference feature on a scientific instrument during assembly or testing of the instrument. The alignment cube is then used in measuring a small angular deviation of the feature from a precise required orientation. Commonly, the deviation is expressed in terms of rotations (Rx,Ry,Rz) of the cube about the corresponding Cartesian axes (x,y,z). In traditional practice, in order to measure all three rotations, it is necessary to use two theodolites aimed at two orthogonal faces of the alignment cube, as shown in the upper part of the figure. To be able to perform such a measurement, one needs optical access to these two faces. In the case of an alignment cube inside a cryogenic chamber or other enclosed space, the optical-access requirement translates to a requirement for two windows located along the corresponding two orthogonal lines of sight into the chamber. In a typical application, it is difficult or impossible to provide two windows. The present enhanced version of the alignment cube makes it possible to measure all three rotations by use of a single line of sight, thereby obviating a second window

Increasing compliance with wearing a medical device in children with autism

Health professionals often recommend the use of medical devices to assess the health, monitor the well-being, or improve the quality of life of their patients. Children with autism may present challenges in these situations as their sensory peculiarities may increase refusals to wear such devices. To address this issue, we systematically replicated prior research by examining the effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) to increase compliance with wearing a heart rate monitor in 2 children with autism. The intervention increased compliance to 100% for both participants when an edible reinforcer was delivered every 90 s. The results indicate that DRO does not require the implementation of extinction to increase compliance with wearing a medical device. More research is needed to examine whether the reinforcement schedule can be further thinned

Robotic Extrusion of Algae-Laden Hydrogels for Large-Scale Applications

A bioprinting technique for large‐scale, custom‐printed immobilization of microalgae is developed for potential applications within architecture and the built environment. Alginate‐based hydrogels with various rheology modifying polymers and varying water percentages are characterized to establish a window of operation suitable for layer‐by‐layer deposition on a large scale. Hydrogels formulated with methylcellulose and carrageenan, with water percentages ranging from 80% to 92.5%, demonstrate a dominant viscoelastic solid–like property with G′ > G″ and a low phase angle, making them the most suitable for extrusion‐based printing. A custom multimaterial pneumatic extrusion system is developed to be attached on the end effector of an industrial multiaxis robot arm, allowing precision‐based numerically controlled layered deposition of the viscous hydrogel. The relationship between the various printing parameters, namely air pressure, material viscosity, viscoelasticity, feed rate, printing distance, nozzle diameter, and the speed of printing, are characterized to achieve the desired resolution of the component. Printed prototypes are postcured in CaCl2 via crosslinking. Biocompatibility tests show that cells can survive for 21 days after printing the constructs. To demonstrate the methodology for scale‐up, a 1000 × 500 mm fibrous hydrogel panel is additively deposited with 3 different hydrogels with varying water percentages

Training and HIV-Treatment Scale-Up: Establishing an Implementation Research Agenda

McCarthy and colleagues discuss the various approaches to training the health workforce for an expanding HIV treatment program in a resource-limited setting

ππ\pi\pi scattering S wave from the data on the reaction π−p→π0π0n\pi^-p\to\pi^0\pi^0n

The results of the recent experiments on the reaction $\pi^-p\to\pi^0\pi^0n$ performed at KEK, BNL, IHEP, and CERN are analyzed in detail. For the I=0 $\pi\pi$ S wave phase shift $\delta^0_0$ and inelasticity $\eta^0_0$ a new set of data is obtained. Difficulties emerging when using the physical solutions for the $\pi^0\pi^0$ S and D wave amplitudes extracted with the partial wave analyses are discussed. Attention is drawn to the fact that, for the $\pi^0\pi^0$ invariant mass, m, above 1 GeV, the other solutions, in principle, are found to be more preferred. For clarifying the situation and further studying the $f_0(980)$ resonance thorough experimental investigations of the reaction $\pi^-p\to\pi^0\pi^0n$ in the m region near the $K\bar K$ threshold are required.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Challenges of Meeting Surgical Needs in the Developing World

The burden of surgical conditions and diseases is increasing in low-income and middle-income countries, but the capacity to meet the demands they present is not following pace. Ongoing initiatives, such as brief visits by surgeons from advantaged countries, sending surgical residents to spend time in a developing country as part of their training, or ships weighing anchor offshore and offering some limited on-shore or on-board services, have not proven successful. More comprehensive and sustainable solutions include the development of local training programs, better retention of trainees with adequate incentives particularly in rural areas, and engaging government and professional associations, as well as academic institutions, to develop and implement policies to address local training needs